I bothered and questioned Florence about that strange Pokemon for at least three minutes straight, but she just kept her mouth shut and eyes focused forwards. I didn't manage to get a single useful word out of her about the matter until a few days later when we managed to escape the adults for a while, and I think she only told me then because she knew no one would believe me if I repeated her words.

I'll pass on her story now, though, since it was mainly relevant to the situation at hand. Knowing the facts earlier wouldn't have helped me, anyway; nothing could keep us from the path we were headed down at that point.

When I was very young, the rules were simple. Know your place- respect your elders- have pride in your people.

I knew my place. I was no different from any other child, neither better nor worse. I was ordinary.

I respected my elders. That was simple; they held the power, as any fool could see. They were the leaders, and we were merely following.

I had great pride in my people, my village. We were- are- nomads, never settling in one place for more than a season, and it fits our lifestyle well. We would find an open plain, unclaimed, and we would root there until the weather changed, moving north and south as needed. Travelers may call us poor or simple, but we have culture and community and a livelihood that never fails to support us. We need nothing more of life.

We had only one Trainer then- Trainer Richard. He would lead the way with his majū, scaling the oceans to find the largest schools of Magikarp or Krabby. We children would wave the boats off as they left in the morning, though we were often pulled back by our mothers and the oldest adults. The older ones always spent the mornings in fear, for we had no Trainer to stay with the people in the village, to protect them in case of attack. But we younger ones were too naïve to know this fear as more than something abstract, and we would sometimes escape to roam the land inside our territory on our own.

It was during an autumn, when we were located directly on the edge of Ilex, when I first saw her. I was not alone at the time- two other children were with me. We were being fools, going further and further into the forest without reason or care on idiotic dares. Actually, that was the only reason why we saw her at all- because we were in a part of the forest no human was supposed to enter. She didn't seem to mind, though, and I even heard her giggling when the three of us ran screaming at the sight of her.

One of the boys told Trainer Richard that we had seen a strange green majū on the edge of the forest (we weren't about to tell the truth about our location), one we had never seen before, but he brushed it off. Trainer Richard did not see why the creature should concern him, if it kept to itself; he only cared for the water and the village.

The boys never dared venture into the trees again, but something drew me back to the clearing after a week had passed. I didn't understand why, and I didn't truly expect to make sense of it. It was simply something true.

I didn't see her on my first attempt, nor my second, but I did manage to run into her the third time I went wandering through the forest on my own. She took an interest in me, then. We would play simple games sometimes- I think she was lonely, or just bored. But she found me amusing. I even wondered to myself if we could become p-partners, once I had grown older. It was a stupid thought- she was always the one in control in those situations, and I was only there because she permitted it- but I had it all the same.

We moved again when cold winds swept across the plains, away from the forest. I tried to say goodbye, but couldn't find her, and she never came to find me or showed any sign that I had meant anything to her at all.

Her name was Celebi.

A name was almost all I got out of that talk, a name and a few facts. Celebi seemed to be one of a kind, as Florence never spotted her with other Pokemon like her; she was also fond of growing things (a grass type, perhaps?), and had at least one psychic attack which she occasionally used to move things around. She was whimsical and childish, but powerful.

Yeah. None of that was particularly helpful, especially after the fact.

So, back in the forest, I had eventually given up on bothering Florence into revealing anything. She was being as stubborn and stuck-up as ever, and if Michael couldn't intimidate her into talking, I certainly couldn't. I felt kind of hurt, though, since she seemed to be snubbing me on purpose and I still couldn't see what I had done wrong. Other than landing right in the middle of her world without warning, but whatever.

Luckily, I didn't have to wait too long for information- less than ten minutes had passed by the time we reached Florence's destination. I knew we were in the right place right away because she suddenly flung her arm out, making me nearly lose my balance.

"See!" she hissed, glaring over at me. I backed up a step at the intensity of her glare- I had done nothing to deserve it, after all, why wasn't she aiming it at Michael?- but then looked around for whatever she had found. It didn't take long to realize what it was.

A simple wooden structure was centered in the clearing up ahead, a plain little thing that reminded me more of a statue than anything else- a decorative piece. There were a few faded flowers and berries on the ground in front of it, like people had been making offerings. The wood itself looked weathered but not necessarily old.

And right there, hovering right over the structure- there was my fairy.

She hadn't seen me yet, since the three of us were still in the shadows cast by the trees; that reminded me of our first meeting, eerily enough. I had a feeling that she'd be able to notice me if she cared. Celebi was focused on the sapling that had rooted itself a foot away from the structure, perfectly intent as she hovered next to it. A fine spray of green light was being cast out of her tiny hands, and it settled itself over the young tree elegantly.

Michael caught his breath behind me as he pulled even with us. I glanced over my shoulder quickly to see that he was more puzzled than stunned or scared- his eyes were flicking over Celebi's wings, antenna, and the sapling in a calculating way. He had classified her as a potential threat, I realized, and was trying to figure out exactly what she could do.

My eyes slid over Florence on their way back around to Celebi, and I vaguely noted that the girl was watching the surrounding forest, not the Pokemon. She was nervous, but I couldn't tell why. Drowzee, on the other hand, had his trunk wrinkled up and looked more intent than I'd ever seen him before.

I finally looked back to Celebi- she had stopped casting the green light and had clapped her hands together with a happy little "Ce!"- and made a split-second decision. She had gotten me into the entire mess; she would get me out of it. My problem was solved, I could get home right then and there, and wouldn't my mother and father be so shocked? Grinning in anticipation at the thought, I stepped out into the clearing.

Celebi was whirling around even as Florence grabbed the back of my jacket and tried to yank me backwards, and for a moment our eyes locked. I saw her stare at me with much more innocence this time, with good nature and a tiny trace of fear- then she suddenly blinked out of existence.

"What were you thinking?" Florence hissed at me, struggling her way out of the foliage as well and turning me around so she could shake me (which really didn't do much except make me even more confused). "I've found her for the first time since- since- you fool!"

"Florence, what was that?" Michael growled from behind us, stepping over and out of the taller grass and undergrowth. His Hoothoot had taken wing as soon as Celebi had disappeared and she was currently circling the structure, cooing quietly. I glanced at my own Pokemon on reflex and discovered that Drowzee was sniffing around the area, almost acting professional.

"You idiot," Florence continued to rant, rattling me for emphasis and ignoring Michael. I could see the older man rolling his eyes in the background as she continued to shake me and as I continued to try to fight my way free.

"Flo- stop it, Florence, you're being ridi- stop shaking-"

"You just ruined everything, you know that, yes? Monroe, you are indisputably a--"

All three of us were cut off by the sound of something crunching through the grass off to the side. We all froze and watched as, after a few seconds had passed, a man in a dark brown coat fell through the foliage right flat onto the ground and stared up at us all.

"Hello," he ventured after a moment, grinning feebly; "anyone mind giving me a hand up?"

"--you," Florence breathed out to me, much more quietly now, "are a genius."