"E-easy, Beck, it won't hurt as bad if you hold still..."

Lying on the ground as Rye put his hand on the wounds on my legs, I shook my head in yet another fruitless effort to get the Treecko to stop with his flimsy plan.

"Shrye... sh-SHAA!"

I cringed violently as Grass-type energy flowed into my body. Although my wounds were closing up slowly, the burning pain flowing through my body didn't help this come across as a good thing.

"S-sorry! I-I haven't done this before, just...!", Rye said through clenched teeth.

After our little escapade through Amber Meadow, we had started back home, only to realize that my wounds from the incidents on the first floor hadn't entirely gone away. Upon Rye's insistence that they'd get infected, he had the bright idea to try to take care of it himself, despite us having used our last Oran back in the dungeon.

After some thought, Rye's best plan to do so was, as he called it, "Absorb but in reverse". The problem was that not only were our respective typings not very convenient for such a process, but his Absorb technique had apparently been entirely replaced with Mega Drain, which he had barely any experience with. Where that had led us was an increasingly tired Rye trying to pump painful energy into my struggling form.

"Beck, please hold still, I'm-"

"SHA!"

Finally fed up with my kicking, an exasperated Rye groaned and raised his hands in the air.

"Alright, alright, fine then, we'll just wait till we get back to the Guild.", he said.

He tried to help me onto my feet, but the already present sharp pain only intensified once I put weight on my legs. As I faceplanted into the ground, I heard Rye let out another frustrated yell. After a little while, he defeatedly sat down.

"Ugh, j-just stay there. The sun's going down soon, anyways."

'At least the universe gave us that.'

The stinging in my legs had mostly subsided by the time the stars came out, so the two of us could sit and watch them in peace. Although clouds were now partially obscuring the sky and the moon was beginning to wax, it was still a worthwhile view, I'd say. As I itched at one of the many scabs on my leg, Rye, who had stopped fidgeting with the Reviver Seed we had been gifted, turned to me.

"H-hey, Beck? Uh, sorry about earlier... you know, th-the whole reverse Absorb thing. I really just need more practice with it, I guess...", he said. He sat there for a minute before letting out a bitter chuckle.

"Heh. Everyone says Treecko are supposed to be calm and collected, and here I am worrying about everything, ruining everything I try, being a general waste of space..."

"Sha...", I said, reaching over to console him. Cracking a small smile at this, he continued.

"Maybe, uh, it's fate, y'know? A Treecko who can't stand his ground and an Oshawott who used to be human getting together to form a team; maybe someone out there wants us both to become better through this. I mean, it's been about two weeks since we met, and you're already learning to be a Pokémon pretty well, aren't you? Who knows, I might just learn enough to prove Mom and Dad wrong! I-it doesn't matter what they say, just because I failed Dill doesn't mean I'm a complete..."

Rye visibly paled as he trailed off, turning to look at me.

"...sorry, g-got a little carried away..."

I stared at him skeptically, causing him to shrink back.

"L-look, it's... it's really personal, alright?", he managed. I looked into his pleading eyes for a while, eventually sighing and turning away, much to his relief. We both continued to stare up into the sky as I pondered silently.

'What are you hiding, Rye?'

It was well into the afternoon the next day when we arrived in Impetus Town. Aside from the expected rest stops, we found that we had made better time than before. As expected, an ecstatic Nidoran was waiting in the town square for us.

"Oh, thank you! After that Murkrow made off into the meadow with this, I thought I'd never see it again!", she piped as we gave her the slightly torn scarf.

"Uh, a-anytime!", Rye stammered, looking at her expectantly. She cocked her head before her eyes widened.

"Oh, th-the Poké... er... about that..."

She timidly shrank back as I felt my eye twitch. Rye, his friendly demeanor visibly shifting into one of uncertainty as to what to do next, stepped forward.

"Y-you mean you don't have-"

"I-I'm sorry! I got robbed outside town this morning, I promise I'll pay you back!", Nidoran cried out. As Rye tried to form a response, I raised my paw.

"Shwaah?", I asked, gesturing to the road and pointing at my head.

"Uh... are you asking what I remember? Oh, uh... all I remember is that there was a Poliwrath, that they kept going on about the greater good, and that they were heading north when I was chasing them. I'd give you more, but Officer Magnezone said he needed a day to process it...", Nidoran said.

"Sha, shaa!", I exclaimed with what I hoped was determination, turning to Rye.

"Y-you want to go after them?", he asked. Grinning confidently, I nodded.

"What? B-but Officer Magnezone said he'd send out a request, though!", Nidoran exclaimed.

"I-I think it'll be fine. I think we'll caught up with the thieves by then. You know, if we're taking this.", Rye said, looking at me warily. "W-we don't have any items and we're a rookie team, Beck. Are you sure you want to do this?"

'...no, I'm not. I've got my footing in this world now, though! If there's a chance that we'll succeed...'

"Sha!", I proclaimed, pointing my scalchop northwards. Rye stared in that direction before reluctantly nodding.

"I-if you say so, I guess..."

Nidoran's expression brightened as I stuck my scalchop back, ignoring Rye's dread.

"I'll mail you two once Officer Magnezone finds them, then... thanks again, Team Reach!", she said before trotting off, the Pecha scarf wrapped up atop her head. Rye chuckled nervously.

"H-here's hoping you know what you're doing...", he asked as we started back towards the Guild.

"Hey, we have a day, right?", he suddenly asked as we passed Cinccino's office. "H-how about we stop and see if we can get you a trainer after we stop by Ms. Audino? I mean, it's a Poliwrath, right? Honestly, we're gonna need all the help we can get..."

"Shya.", I agreed as we began our stroll to the sick bay.

"What did you say happened to Beck?", Ms. Audino asked Rye, her brow furrowed as she examined my leg, a bottle of liquid in her hand.

"Uh... he tried to jump into the side brush in the meadow, ma'am.", Rye replied. Ms. Audino sighed as she rubbed some of the liquid onto my leg, causing the scratches on them to sting as she quickly bandaged them.

"The berry juice should take care of whatever got in there. You should be able to take those off by tomorrow. I don't have much else to say other than never go off the path. I thought that would be common sense, especially for a Pokémon who apparently lived inside a mystery dungeon, but I suppose life has its surprises.", Ms. Audino said, much to my chagrin.

"Th-thanks again, ma'am.", Rye said. As we turned to leave, Ms. Audino stopped us.

"Oh, is Beck's mental state getting any better?", she asked. Rye looked back at her confusedly.

"...er, his what, ma'am?"

"His delusions about being human?"

Rye and I shrunk back. I knew she had walked in on us that one time, but had she really heard enough to assume this was a problem? As Ms. Audino watched on curiously, Rye swallowed hard.

"Uh, th-they're getting better, ma'am. Thanks... uh, th-thanks for asking."

Before the nurse could question us any further, we had hurried out the door. As we stopped to catch our breaths, I looked up to find that we had been in there long enough for the sun to have started setting. Rye quickly took notice of this as well.

"...uh, w-we can go train tomorrow.", he said. "Let's head to bed, alright? We'll need it, I think."

"Sha.", I agreed.

With that, we retired to our little hut. Although I wasn't sleeping in quiet woods under a starry sky, there was something about using that place for the first time that struck me as just as peaceful. As I lied on my straw bed listening to Rye shift in his own, I couldn't help but find myself wondering if I had made the right choice by dragging him into an outlaw chase like this so suddenly.

'I just hope I wasn't too rash about things... only one way to find out, I guess.'