"Pecko" is the German name for Peeko. Key was playing the German version of Emerald and we decided that we liked "Pecko" better, so we went with it. Just a little clarifier since, the fic being in English, I feel it safe to assume that most readers have played the English version of the game.

Saylee Pokémon: 3 Deaths: 0

Key Pokémon: 4 Deaths: 1

Saylee and Key set out early next morning, heading for Petalburg Woods. At Key's insistence, they detoured up Petalburg Beach, and it wasn't long before they drew the attention of the local wild Pokémon, allowing Key to capture a new Pokémon.

"Marill's a water-type," Saylee prompted as she and Key watched Thomas circle a bouncy little Marill.

"C'mon, bring it!" the Marill squeaked, waving her tiny, stubby fists at Thomas.

"Planning to, soon as somebody tells me how to play this," Thomas said, rolling his eyes at Key.

"Okay… ooh, try out Absorb!" Key suggested.

With a muttered "Finally", Thomas leapt at the Marill and latched onto her, the sticky pads of his fingers glowing green as he absorbed her energy.

"Get off! Ew!" the Marill whined, spinning around and flailing at Thomas. Her tail bounced wildly as she tried to dislodge him. "Get off, get off, get… off… get…" She slowed down, starting to mumble and move more slowly, finally dropping unconscious onto the sand.

"Good job," Saylee said, glancing up the beach at the rest of their Pokémon. Zac, Leslie and Teddy had all been watching the fight, as had Wanda from Key's arms, but Polly and Python were both snarling at a Wingull that kept divebombing them, laughing all the time. "I'm just gonna go give Polly some pointers…"

Key nodded, grinning excitedly as she threw a pokéball at the unconscious Marill and watched it shake weakly before clicking shut. "Good job, Thomas," she said, jogging over and giving him a pat on the head. He scurried up her arm to take his perch on her shoulder.

"'Course it was, I did it," Thomas said, unfurling his tail in the sun. Teddy spat a cinder at him. "You're just jealous that you ain't this hot, Ted."

"I'm a fire-type, dumbass," Teddy replied. "You ain't never gonna be hotter than me."

Key picked up the pokéball and blew sand off of it. "Can you hold this?" she said, handing it to Thomas. "I need to get a potion for her."

"Sure," Thomas said, dangling the pokéball off of the sticky tips of his fingers while Key dug one-handedly in her bag for an e-potion. Unlike real potions, which were spray bottles, they came in the form of little tabs that attached to the buttons of pokéballs and uploaded an energy surge that allowed a Pokémon to heal in data form. Once healed, she released the Marill, excited to meet her new Pokémon.

"Hey there," she said, crouching in front of the Marill as she yawned. "I'm Key. Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Manami," the bouncy little Marill replied, grinning up at her new trainer. "Hullo!" She patted Wanda, who hummed gaily at her. Zac and Leslie both sniffed at her, and then Leslie licked Manami's cheek.

"That means we like you," Zac said. "She's Leslie, and I'm Zac. Oh, and the other little quiet one is Wanda. And the guy who beat you up is Thomas, but it's okay, we're not all jerks like him, I promise. Well, Peaches can be kinda dumb…" Key grinned, glad to see that her Pokémon were already taking well to their new teammate.

Thomas just gave a lazy wave and then looked up the beach at Saylee, Polly and Python. "Peaches, stop flirting and come say hi."

"It's Python!" Python yapped sharply, "and I'm just... giving Polly some moral support!" He turned back to where the other Poochyena was trying to wrestle a squawking Wingull to the sand. "Go on, Polly! Get her!"

"I've got her, I've got her!" Polly said proudly, lying on the Wingull's wings. Saylee, resigned to the idea that it might be a while until a system admin called her back and told her how to get her Pokémon, threw a pokéball and caught the Wingull easily. She then pressed the tab of an e-potion to the connector on the front of the pokéball to restore the Wingull's energy.

"Well done, Polly," Saylee said, scratching Polly's ears. She flipped her pokédex open and scanned the pokéball, allowing the device to quickly record all of the Wingull's vital stats. "She'll be a Pelipper one day. They're quite versatile, and very powerful. Let's meet her!" She opened the pokéball again, and the Wingull reappeared, preening her wings and settling ruffled feathers back into place.

"Hi there!" Polly yapped, running up to lick the Wingull's cheek. "Sorry to rough you up, but a battle's a battle. I'm Polly, who're you?"

"Winnie," the seabird said, looking unruffled by her foe from minutes before suddenly becoming friendly. She leaned over and pecked Polly lightly on the snout. "Very nice to meet you, honey."

"I'm Saylee," Saylee said, reaching down and stroking her on the beak. "This is Teddy over here, and... where did Zac and Leslie get to?"

"Wandered off, looking at things in the surf," Key giggled, picking up Manami and hugging the bouncy Pokémon. "They're curious about everything!"

"Well, let's go find them," Saylee said, getting back to her feet. "Polly, can you sniff them out?"

"I can too!" Python insisted. He began sniffing around, but he did it a bit too enthusiastically and snorted up a noseful of sand. "Aaaaagh! Ew! I can taste it!" he gagged, coughing repeatedly. Polly sniffed a bit more cautiously and led them down the beach. Saylee allowed Winnie to perch on her shoulder before following the pair of Poochyena.

They found Zac and Leslie playing with a full potion bottle, batting it back and forth. After retrieving the bottle and finding that Zac refused to explain where he found it, they continued up the beach. At the end of the sand was a small quay, where a small motorboat was tethered next to an equally small shack. Saylee peered in the windows, but there was nobody there.

"I wonder where Pecko and her human are," Winnie commented, looking around the sky. "Another Wingull lives here, a nice girl named Pecko. Has a human that's been around here for a very long time. But the only times they're not here, that boat ain't either. Where did they go without the boat?"

"A walk in the forest?" Saylee suggested with a shrug.

Key shook her head. "I wouldn't think so," she said. "We lived in Petalburg when I was a kid. That forest's not very... hospitable…"

{}

Key pushed one-handedly through some of the lower-hanging branches and into a patch of second-hand sunlight. The forest floor seemed to consist entirely of tangled roots and slick moss—enough of the latter that Key simply slid her feet across the forest floor instead of properly walking. Saylee did likewise and found herself moving faster and more smoothly, although it took her a while to get the hang of balancing. The path was so slippery and narrow that most of their Pokémon were having trouble keeping up, so they returned all of their Pokémon except Winnie, who could fly, and Wanda. Saylee was starting to think that Key had taken her a little too seriously about the need to have Wanda experience as much as possible to encourage her growth. Key also left out Thomas, who was having the time of his life, hopping from tree to tree. "Used to play in here as a little kid," Key explained, stepping automatically over some protruding roots. "I wasn't supposed to, but we all did a bit. Used to pretend we were teams of explorers, stuff like that..."

"The light's not bad," Saylee said, grabbing a couple of branches to pull herself up a slight slope. "You should see the Fuchsia forests. The only light there comes from Venomoth eyes." She turned to watch Key pull herself up the slope, which she did easily despite keeping Wanda clutched under one arm. "Why don't you live in Petalburg anymore?"

"Didn't want to," Key said flippantly, grabbing a tree and peering up into the branches. "So me and Mom moved to Littleroot. Y'know what else is in here?" She climbed up onto a low branch and reached up to shake every branch she could reach. Something brown rolled out of the tree and collapsed at Saylee's feet.

"What's that?" Saylee said, backing carefully away as claws suddenly flashed out and hooked into the roots under their feet, allowing the soft brown creature to pull itself to its feet.

"Slakoth!" Key said brightly, releasing Manami. The Slakoth yawned, turned to her, and grinned wickedly before darting forwards with surprising speed, slashing out with its claws. "Manami, duck and tackle!"

Manami dodged Slakoth's claws, ducking and then slamming into its midsection. It buckled limply and collapsed to the ground, already out of energy. Key threw a pokéball and captured it.

"I know Dad's Slakoth," she explained, tossing and catching the pokéball. "They all want to evolve into Vigoroth, but they're far too lazy to do anything about it on their own."

"I wonder what her name is?" Manami said curiously, bouncing around to peer at the pokéball.

"Let's find out," Key said, smiling. She pressed an e-potion to the pokéball, opened it again, and ended up with an armful of sleeping Slakoth.

"Oi, wake up!" Thomas snapped, hopping down from the trees and onto Key's shoulder, leaning over to peer at the new Pokémon.

"Hmm?" The Slakoth scratched the top of her head slowly and looked up at her new trainer. "Hey, hon. I'm Serena. And you're kinda comfortable..." she rolled over and dozed off in Key's arms as Key scrambled not to drop her or Wanda.

Key rolled her eyes and set Serena down on the ground to free up her hand so she could return the Slakoth to her pokéball. "Slow going, but they're worth it, according to Dad," she explained.

"Some of the most powerful Pokémon are like that," Saylee agreed, sliding along again. "Do you have Magikarp here? Possibly the most useless Pokémon ever to live. All they can do is splash and they've got seriously short lifespans. Unless you put in the time to train them..."

"Then what happens?" Key said, tugging Saylee down a different path in the forest. "You get through quicker this way."

"Thanks," Saylee said. "And have you ever heard of Gyarados?"

Key whistled. "Nice. Wait… those come from Magikarp?"

"Yep," Saylee laughed. "And then of course there's Alakazam... who thought sleepy little Abra would be that powerful?" She pulled herself along, tightening her grip around another branch and pulling it down a bit too hard. A Wurmple rolled down the branch and into her arms. "Oh, hello there!"

"Whoops!" The Wurmple yelped, looking up at Saylee. "Oh, hi there—AHH!" He scurried up onto the shoulder opposite from the one that Winnie was perched on. "BIRDS!"

"It's fine," Saylee laughed. "Winnie won't eat you, will you?"

"Not at all," Winnie said, leaning around Saylee's head to look at the little bug. "He doesn't look very tasty."

"What's your name, not-tasty?" Saylee said as the fat little worm leaned up her neck in an attempt to hide under some inch-long strands of brown hair.

"William," he murmured, before peering out of the hair and spotting Key with Wanda in her arms. "Cool, a Silcoon!" he said, stretching out to look. "Although I want to be a Cascoon, myself. Purple's cooler. White's kinda... girly." Wanda hummed indignantly. "Oh, you're a girl. That's okay then. Let's be friends, Wanda!" He then climbed up onto Saylee's head and tried to wrap himself in Saylee's green headscarf.

"Oi!" Saylee yelped, pulling him off of her head and depositing him firmly on her shoulder. "You must be pretty close to evolving, too, if you're trying to cocoon yourself. Well, don't worry. I'll get you there soon enough."

"Why do you wear that thing anyway?" Key said, trying not to laugh as Saylee rolled up her headscarf and tied it back in as a hairband. It was almost funny to see her smile turn into a gape when Saylee brushed her hair aside and revealed a nasty scar across her right temple.

"Because my hat got blown off when I was riding on top of a truck and I need some kind of shade in this heat," Saylee muttered, tightening the knot and tugging her hair back over the scar. "Is this country always this hot?"

"It's not that hot, is it?" Key said with a shrug, quickly trying to look like she hadn't been staring at Saylee's forehead.

"Hotter than Kanto and Johto," Saylee sighed. "You're further south here. More extreme weather. Well, that and there's no dust clouds."

"Dust clouds?" Key asked in confusion. "What's that about?"

"A war in Kanto a long time ago," Saylee said, focusing on steadying her slide down another slope. "It ended badly. A lot of pulverized debris ended up in the air and really messed up the weather. Rainclouds ought to wash the rest of it out over the next few years." She looked up at the dense foliage. "The sky here's a lot clearer. You've got a beautiful country here."

"We like to think so," Key said lightly, skidding expertly down the next slope ahead of Saylee. "You've sure got a lot of scars. I heard Kanto was messed up… did you get into a lot of fights there?"

"Yep," Saylee said, glancing down her arms. The biggest visible scar was a large flame-shaped burn on her right shoulder that spread across her back. "It's a hard-knock life, as they say. Although not so much now."

"I think you freaked out my mom a little," Key laughed, skidding backwards down another slope. "With all those scars you look like… Whoops, sorry, sir," she said as she ran into a guy in a green suit. "Uh... I didn't see you."

"You haven't seen any Shroomish around here, have you?" the man said nervously, looking around their feet. "I love them, you see."

"Well... no, we haven't," Saylee said, trying not to stare at the man like she thought he was weird, which she did. "Are we nearly out of the forest?"

"Well, it's another hour or so walk's this way..." the man said, pointing the way. Someone was already coming down the path towards them. He was wearing a blue headscarf and a striped shirt, and seemed to be in a bad mood.

"You! Devon researcher!" The man snarled, reaching out and grabbing the man by his green lapels. "I've been waiting for you outside of this damn forest all day and I'm SICK of it!"

"Let me go!" The Devon man yelled, panicking.

"Hand over the goods!" The thug demanded, drawing back a fist.

"Hold up there," Saylee said, reaching over and grabbing the guy's wrist. He was pretty meaty, but Saylee had spent years camping, hiking and fighting alongside her Pokémon. She'd done Hernan's workouts with him and had a deceptive amount of arm strength. The thug tugged at his arm, trying to knock her aside, but she didn't budge. "Look, are you trying to buy something from this guy? There's no need for violence." She looked at Key. "I thought Hoenn was peaceful," she said accusingly.

"Hey, random muggers aren't my fault," Key said, looking from Saylee to the thug and then down to Winnie. When Saylee had moved, Winnie had flown out of the way, grabbing William and moving him to safety with her. The thug let go of the Devon man's shirt to throw a punch at Saylee. She ducked, forced to let go of his wrist to get out of the reach of his punch. The guy immediately backed away as soon as he was free, grabbing a pokéball out of his pocket. Saylee stepped back as a large, angry Poochyena leapt out of the ball towards her.

"Teddy!" she called, releasing the short fire-type, who was still the strongest of her new team, to cover her. "Scratch!"

"Tackle them!" the thug ordered. The Poochyena attacked again, aiming not at Teddy, but Saylee. Teddy moved to take the hit instead, scratching back, but the Poochyena seemed to have been trained to go for people. It kept going for Saylee, and Teddy kept faithfully blocking before attacking. It was taking its toll on him.

Saylee released Winnie. "Winnie, Water Gun!" Saylee ordered. "Teddy needs you to cover him!"

"I'm on it!" Winnie said, flying down to disorient the Poochyena with a Water Gun to the face. "Heal Teddy!" She set down William next to Saylee and flew back into the fray. William was watching the fight excitedly, layers of fine purple string beginning to dribble out of his mouth and wind themselves around him. Saylee crouched down by Teddy, rifling desperately in her bag for a potion.

"Here!" Key said, cramming a potion into her hand. "And hurry, I think that Poochyena's stronger than Winnie!"

"I know, I know," Saylee muttered, spraying the healing concoction over Teddy's wounds. They began to heal over, but the bruises weren't gone entirely. "Dammit, I need another!"

"I can hold out for a few more seconds!" Winnie called, charging up another water gun and knocking the enemy over.

"Right!" Saylee responded, pulling another potion out of her bag and spraying it over Teddy's wounds. He perked up, getting up, ready to hop back into the fray—

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

"No, Winnie!" Saylee shouted, spinning around in time to see the Poochyena bring Winnie down, landing on top of her with a vicious-sounding snap. Winnie collapsed and lay still.

"Winnie!" Teddy yelled, suddenly blazing hot. He leapt forward and scratched viciously at the foe. Already heavily wounded, the Poochyena fell unconcious. Teddy then charged the thug, who screamed as Teddy's talons raked across his arm. The thug barely remembered to return his fallen Pokémon before fleeing. Teddy spat fire at him, but stopped chasing after a few feet, turning to look back at Winnie.

"Is she okay?" Key asked, running over as Saylee dropped to her knees next to her fallen Pokémon, scooping her up and cradling her. Saylee clutched Winnie to her chest, breathing heavily. It had been so fast, so sudden, so unexpected…

Hoenn is supposed to be safer! she thought angrily. If I had my Pokémon, this wouldn't have happened… I'm sorry, Winnie… She rearranged Winnie's wings to make her look more comfortable, then stood up and made for the soft earth under the trees nearby.

"No, Winnie..." William moaned, curling up on himself. The silk wound ever thicker around him, hiding him entirely.

"It's too late," she said, kneeling down by the soft soil and taking out her small hand shovel to dig a grave. She seemed to only be able to see the hole in the ground and feel the shovel in her hand, as if she'd developed tunnel vision. Of recent years, it was the same whenever she had to deal with death; she became very functional, very focused on whatever practical task she could do, unable to cry in the immediate wake of a death. This focus had saved her life more than once in dangerous situations, but she could still feel the burning tears waiting to be cried. "I'm sorry, Winnie," she muttered quietly while digging the grave, as if speaking a prayer. "Thank you for saving Teddy. Your sacrifice helped William grow, too. You achieved so much in your short time with us and died proudly." She gently settled Winnie into her grave, stroking her beak before she began scooping soil back over her. "I'm so sorry, and thank you."

"There is no such thing as dying proudly."

Saylee turned to see Key standing there, clutching Wanda with both arms, glaring angrily at Saylee. Tears were running down the girl's cheeks.

"I'm sorry," Saylee said softly, unable to meet Key's furious glare. "It's very hard to see Pokémon die... but there are much worse ways to go..."

"And that makes it alright?!" Key yelled. "If you're gonna say something as ridiculous as that, then at least sound like you mean it!" With that, she spun on her heel and ran off, Manami chasing after her. William, now a Cascoon, was also eyeing Saylee warily.

"...I'm sorry, Saylee," Teddy said quietly. Saylee just turned back to the grave, patting the soil into place and muttering ancient Marowak grave prayers.

{}

"Ummm... thank you so much for saving me," the Devon man said as they left the treeline, finding themselves on a riverbank. Unable to catch up to Key, he'd hung around to follow Saylee out of the forest, claiming that she'd need a guide. Saylee figured that he just wanted a bodyguard. "I'm so sorry about your Pokémon... I hope that you and your friend make up."

"You're welcome," Saylee said, cradling William gently. The purple silk was solid but impossibly smooth and slightly warm to the touch. "Take care."

"Oh... you too!" The Devon man said, waving and heading off along the riverbank. Saylee just sat down by the river, Teddy sitting by her side and William in her arms. The man's presence had kept her in the detached state of functionality, but tears began to well up as soon as he'd left.

"How do I tell Polly and Zac?" she said aloud. "About Winnie? And if Key doesn't want to hang out with me anymore—not that I blame her—then they won't see Python and Leslie anymore. I'm sorry," she said to Teddy. "You won't get to see Thomas either. Maybe you should all go with Key instead…"

"That ain't your fault," Teddy said, pecking her hand. "Y'all was just tryin' ta help." He looked down at his reflection in the water. "Y'all said that's how it always happen. Before, in the lab."

"It is," Saylee said, bending over William, not looking at herself. "That's why... it was supposed to be peaceful here! No gangs, no fighting... no..."

"Are you alright, sweetie?"

Saylee looked up and saw a Marill. She thought of Manami for a moment, but this one was larger, and had slightly more oblong ears. She swam across the river towards Saylee with her tail bobbing behind her. She crawled up onto the bank and sat by Saylee's side, looking sympathetically at her. "You don't look very happy, sweetie."

"Just a bit lonely," Saylee said, forcing herself to smile at her, wiping at her tears. "It's fine. I end up like this a lot."

"Which is not fine at all," the Marill admonished her. "You've got a couple of lovely friends here, though. I'll be your friend too, if you want, sweetie. I'm Molly."

"Saylee," Saylee said, reaching out and shaking Molly's tail as the Marill extended it to Saylee. "Nice to meet you, Molly. Well, if nothing else, I'm meeting lots of new people and Pokémon out here..."

"Seems like the best way to go about things," Molly said pleasantly. "You're new around here, aren't you, sweetie?"

"Just passing through on my way to Rustboro," Saylee said, looking across the river to the distant towers silhouetted in the setting sun. It reminded her of the Saffron and Celadon skylines, how the skyscrapers peered over the trees, but most of the taller buildings in those cities were still ruined, the lower buildings being much easier to repair early on. This city was solid and functioning, much more like Goldenrod, and likely full of technologies that Kanto had yet to redevelop. "And then... I don't know where I'm going. Onwards."

"Do you think you'll go to the sea?" Molly said hopefully. "I've always wanted to go to the sea, you know. So much water, all the way to the horizon..." she sighed wistfully. "It must be lovely."

"Y'all could come with us," Teddy offered. "We just... lost someone. We don't have us a water-type now."

"Oh, sweetie, that's so sad!" Molly gasped. "I'm so sorry!"

"Thanks," Saylee said, pushing herself to her feet. "You're welcome to come with us, if you really want to."

"Of course I do, sweetie!" Molly insisted. "Lead the way!"

Saylee managed to bring up something of a smile again, though she knew that Winnie's death would be a shadow over her for the next few days, longer than she'd been with Saylee. It was always like that. "Come on, then. To Rustboro."

{}

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Goddamn critical hits.

Saylee

Name: Winnie. Species: Wingull. Nature: Careful. Ability: Keen Eye. Level: 4

Name: William. Species: Wurmple. Nature: Hasty. Ability: Shield Dust. Level: 5

Name: Molly. Species: Marill. Nature: Careful. Ability: Thick Fat. Level: 5

RIP Winnie the Wingull, level 4-6

Key

Name: Manami. Species: Marill. Nature: Quirky. Ability: Huge Power. Level: 4

Name: Serena. Species: Slakoth. Nature: Bold. Ability: Truant. Level: 5