Chikorita

Like moths to the flame, they followed a path of promise. Her heart ached, sore as a flesh wound, but that didn't stop her stubby feet from trudging alongside everyone else. It hadn't really hit her yet, hadn't pierced the fabric of her soul the way it already had Piplup. But she knew it, understood it just as everyone else did. Froakie was gone. It didn't matter how many answers they'd just received, and it certainly didn't matter that they deserved it after traversing through so much hell. None of it was going to bring Froakie back, so what did it matter?

They had stopped what must have been a half hour ago, just as Charmander had finished explaining to Tranquill and Lucario everything they had been through. He even tossed in her father's death, as if today wasn't bad enough already. She knew she shouldn't be glowering at Charmander behind his back, but she couldn't help it. Not when he was going to speak of the dead with such nonchalance after what just happened. Not when she would never again be able to kiss the only person left who loved her.

A crackle from the fire drew her attention. Lucario had tossed another dry stick into it. The flames popped, beads of ember rising from the wood and dissipating into the night. It wasn't that cold out, so she didn't understand why they'd decided to build a fire. Perhaps it was just the need for light. She couldn't blame them. In fact, despite the arid heat of the darkening night, she appreciated the radiance of the light. Her father would have told her to enjoy the beauty of such a small light in such a big, dark world. But just thinking of him sent a chill down her spine, pushing her to get closer to the fire.

Everyone was circled around it. Tranquill was across from her, sitting as though in a nest, his legs invisible while the bottom part of his body was planted to the forest floor beneath. He stared into the fire with intensity, though what emotion lay beyond remained untraceable. Chikorita couldn't help but glance around at her compatriots, analyzing who was doing what. Charmander and Torchic sat very close to one another on her right. Any closer and their bodies would be smooshed together. Chikorita felt a jealous stab in her heart, but kept it sunk within. Lucario, on her left, had turned his head, staring at Piplup who remained farthest from the fire, his back turned away from everyone. She couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness for him. They had all lost Froakie, yes, but in different forms. Charmander and Torchic had lost a good friend. She had lost a lover. But Piplup, he had lost a brother for the second time in his life. She couldn't even imagine his pain.

"I went too fast, didn't I?" Tranquill, from the other end of the fire, raised his eyes and turned to face Charmander. Chikorita watched as they gazed at one another. In that moment, she felt there to be an almost electrifying equality between the two of them, two generals on the same side of a war they had only just begun to fight. Tranquill continued. "When we escaped Terra, I said everything I could think of. Explained everything I thought you all needed to hear. But you lost someone close to you, someone you've traveled with this whole time. Someone who deserves to be sitting around this fire with the rest of us. I'm…I'm sorry for going off-the-cuff and not taking your feelings into consideration. Please, forgive me."

Tranquill bowed his head a bit, his eyes darting away from Charmander's for only a second. Chikorita felt her heart beating, tense, as Charmander eyed the Warden, scanning him for something. Then, he spoke. "You've never lost someone like that before, Tranquill. Have you?"

"No," he replied. "I've lost many someones like that before. Sooner or later…" he trailed off, turned away. "Sooner or later, it just becomes a part of life."

There was something else he was neglecting to say, but he kept his mouth shut. Chikorita didn't pry, didn't care, really, about the inner workings of the mind of a complete stranger. Because no matter how much he and Lucario had told them, they were still foreign Pokémon fighting a foreign war none of them fully understood. Sure, they knew their side of the story, but there were so many unanswered questions. What did the Reapers want? What was so important about the Warriors Emerald? What even was it? Why did they have abilities that lay beyond those of other Pokémon? She was certain, now, that hers had been whatever she'd done to the Rock Nation camp after her father died. But what kind of a power was that? How could someone control it? What about everyone else? What did their powers entail? How were they supposed to use them in conjunction with and Emerald they knew nothing about?

Tranquill had been right, she realized. He'd given them too much information all at once, so much so that it was spinning in her head, orbiting her mind, eclipsing the very thing she should have been thinking about at that moment: Froakie.

To never feel the tenderness of his touch again (But where was the Warrior's Emerald now?). To never kiss him, feel the warmth of his breath against her skin (What did the Reapers want with it?). Never again to feel him reach her in spots she never thought she'd let him explore, feel his love in ways only two hearts matched by the universe could muster (What was so important about Smoke Mountain?).

She wanted to scream.

He was quiet, but everyone turned as he stood up. His back facing the fire, Piplup straightened up. His shoulders heaved a little bit as he exercised the muscles in them. Then they slouched as, like a zombie, he shambled away from the makeshift firepit. Tranquill opened his beak in protest, then shut it. Lucario watched him go with a stern expression on his face. She knew Piplup would rather be alone at this moment than anything else, and so, in vain, she tried to change the subject.

"So, how did Krookodile and Tyrunt get to Grass Nation so fast?"

"Huh? Who?" Tranquill turned his head back to the group.

"Krookodile and Tyrunt. They rescued me after I was injured in a battle with Rock Nation. How did they get down to the Grass Nation so fast?"

"Oh! Well, now that you mention it, I have no idea." He looked to Lucario for assistance, but the senior Warden was still looking back towards Piplup. Tranquill turned back and shrugged. "I'm sure they were on some mission close by. It's all I can think of anyway. Don't know how they got ahold of hologram callers, though, since I was so sure they left base without them. You, uh, you said you met Tyrunt?"

Chikorita nodded. Tranquill did the same. "Good kid," he said. "Good kid. He's lucky to have someone as understanding as Krookodile for a mentor."

"A mentor?" Chikorita asked. "I mean, from the way they presented themselves, I assumed they were master and apprentice."

"Yeah. We've got kind of a loose mentor system when it comes to Wardens-in-training. We like to cycle them through a couple different senior Wardens so they can learn the ropes from as many possible perspectives as they can. Diversify their arsenal, in a sense. I know Nations are a little bit like that, right Lucario?"

His attention finally had by the conversation, Lucario turned back to the fire. "Yeah," he mustered. "Little bit. In Nations no one has any designated trainer, but with the Wardens there is one." He sat back on his haunches. "That the only real difference."

"Oh." Chikorita sat in silence. What else was there to say? She looked to Charmander and Torchic for guidance, but Charmander appeared to be staring into the fire, thinking to himself. Torchic, however, did look over at her. Perhaps she would be able to start up a new conversation. But, of couse, the conversation she began only served to sting Chikorita even more.

"You say Senators Charizard and Blaziken have been captured by the Reapers?" Torchic asked.

Chikorita flinched.

"That's what we've been able to gather," Tranquill replied.

"Why keep them alive?" That was Charmander. Chikorita flinched at what he said as well, but not because of the words coming from his mouth. It was more because of the way he said it, his vocal cords emanating a near-deserted husk in place of where his vibrant, semi-authoritative voice used to be. It sounded as if he were fighting a battle within himself that no one else could witness.

Tranquill, however, didn't know this, and so answered him without hesitation. "It's because of the Emerald," he explained. "When we get to our base, we'll introduce you to the Leaders. They'll give you the rundown if they see it fit. Which, might I add, they probably will, given that practically everyone save for the younger trainees understands the importance of the Emerald. And seeing as you're all descended from the Guardians…well, it's a given."

"What does that even mean? Descended from the Guardians?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Tranquill said. "Like I said, I'd give you all the answers, but I can't just yet. As it stands right now, we're probably a little way into Steel Nation territory, if not then close to it. We just have to go a little into Dragon Nation to get to the very northern part of Ground, cut past that through Dark, then into Ice. Go a little further north, and we're exactly where we need to be."

"You said that already," Charmander whispered.

"Well I'm saying it again so you understand. We've got about a week, two weeks tops of travel time before you get your answers."

"Do we even have enough time for that? What about my father? Torchic's father?"

"They're going to be completely unharmed unless the Reapers get ahold of the Emerald. And believe me, there's not a stone throw's chance in Hell they're getting it anytime soon."

Chikorita perked up at this. "You know where the Emerald is?"

"We both do," Lucario replied. "We're some of the few that know of its location. All we can tell you for right now is that it's in Warden possession. Only a miracle for the Reapers would bring it to their claws."

Charmander didn't reply to any of this.

After a brief pause, Tranquill sighed. "Well, I think today…today's been a day." He nodded. "Again I'm…I'm sorry to have given you so much, especially on a day like today. So…yeah. Sorry." His monotone-like statement complete, Tranquill stood up, curled himself once more on the forest floor, and wrapped his head behind his wing. Chikorita watched this, intent, as the bird began to descend into the sleeping world with ease. It wasn't heartbreaking or horrific to see so much as it was awkward and off-putting. She didn't know why, but she felt like she should be either angry or empathetic, yet all she felt was a cringe roll up her spine.

Looking to her left, she watched as Lucario sighed and hung his head a bit. He shook it, but the look on his face didn't showcase any disappointment or surprise. In some sense, it felt as if it had always been this way. Or perhaps the former Fighting Nation Senator (had to be former now after what just happened, right?) saw something deeper, something they couldn't grasp at the moment but would eventually understand.

Although Chikorita wasn't as concerned about Tranquill's behavior as much as she was about Piplup's. He wasn't even within view of the fire anymore, lost to the physical shadows just as he was to his own. A pang of sympathy rang in Chikorita's heart, spoiled only by a dash of anger buried deep within. Froakie was gone, yes, but Piplup had also learned his father was alive. They didn't balance out, and of course she still knew he had gone through the most difficult loss out of all of them. Even so, a dark speck in her heart brought about bitter jealousy. It was small, yes, but it was there. It made her feel like a monster. How could she be jealous of someone who had just lost their brother all over again, and to the same Nation that had taken his other one away?

No, she corrected herself. Not the same Nation. A different type of group altogether. But now she was thinking, the gears turning in her head as she darted her eyes toward Lucario, whose own head had reverted back to the darkness Piplup had disappeared into. She didn't remember much about the way Prinplup had been killed, if Piplup had ever spoken about it before today at all. What she did know, however, was that no matter the likeness of their current situation, Lucario had killed Piplup's brother. There was no easy way to forgive someone of such an act, even if they were not begrudgingly on the same team.

Lucario turned back to the fire. He looked over at Tranquill once more, this time betraying his associated emotion, giving up the mask in favor of the truth. It was sorrow. A clear, undignified type of sorrow plastered on his face as if it had been there the whole time. Chikorita didn't know if anyone else had noticed, but it just being there, present on his face, was enough to end another chill down her spine. There was less pertinent information they weren't being told. Something about the two of them, about Tranquill, about Lucario's actions, that had yet to be revealed. In due time, she thought. For now, she should be mourning her loss. Even in a world like this, it should have been a possibility.

Turning toward her true companions, she hoped to garner their attention. And, like beings understanding one another in the same mindset as each other, the two of them turned towards her. She gazed into their faces, watching their eyes for a betrayal of emotion. Torchic's eyes were only a little shiny, and she couldn't tell whether that was because of tears or the reflection of the fire. Charmander's eyes, however, were steely, as if a howling, frostbitten storm were raging inside of him. Looking into those eyes was akin to staring into the face of an animal. It wasn't necessarily rage, but it certainly wasn't sadness. But this only brought a coldness to her own chest, a chill that wasn't like the one she received when Lucario was watching Tranquill sleep. This was a deeper realization, one so sunken she couldn't begin to grasp it yet.

"Why aren't you sad?" she asked them. "Why aren't you…do you feel anything for what happened?"

Torchic looked down at her talons. "It's just a lot to take in right now," she admitted. "Froakie was such a good Pokémon, but…but he's only one part of today."

"How dare you say that!" Chikorita shocked even herself with how violent her outburst was. "Froakie isn't just some random thought to be discarded! He's one of us! Our companion! He wanted answers just as much as we did! I…I love him." She nodded to herself. "Even now. Especially now. I love him. But he'll never…"

Her heart felt like a stone. Breathing in and out in rapid spurts, she felt the panic of everything overtake her. Gone, never to be seen again. Never to touch or hold her, never to whisper in her ear in the dead of night. Never to make her feel in ways only a loved one could, never to share trauma and heal together. She would never listen to his voice again, never hear his reason, never understand what his end goal was. Because everything had been cut short, his life energy depleted by monsters most Nations didn't even know existed. All because, in the grand scheme of things, he wasn't important.

And maybe that was the worst part of today. Discovering that he wasn't important, but she most certainly was. The last remaining member of her bloodline that could be considered a Guardian of the Warriors Emerald. She didn't even know what that meant, but it held more of an honorary ring to it than "random traveler" ever could. And that's all Froakie ever amounted to. A companion. A companion she loved dearly, but still, a companion.

It broke her heart to realize just how insignificant he'd been.

Pressure squeezed around the top of her neck. For a strange moment, she was sure she was about to die. Welcomed the feeling, even, if it would bring her closer to Froakie. Looking up and to her right, she saw that Charmander had wrapped an arm around her. There was a lighter touch to her left. Turning, she saw Torchic there, reaching out with the stubs of her feathers in comfort. For her part, Chikorita reached out to her, caressed her feathers with her front leg for a moment. Why was her vision so blurred? She took her leg and put it up to her cheek, caressing it, realizing with a skipping thump of her heart tears were pouring out.

Her breath hitched over and over again as she wept. The arm around her tightened. Torchic's body pressed against her side. Her nose was stuffed with emotion, giving her pause to sniff back her worry and let the water flow freely. She missed him already, wanted him to be the one pressing against her instead of two Fire Nation trainees. It was the only thing she wanted at this moment, for Froakie to comfort her, to tell her that everything was going to be okay, to confirm his existence in a better place that, one day, she too would reach. But none of that was possible. She could only sit with what she had. And as her friends, the only family she had left, pressed in closer against her, she understood that this could be enough. She desperately wanted Froakie to hold her again. But in a way, he was. He lived on in them, in their love for one another, in their unconditional bond that was slowly starting to develop. In some sick way, his death had strengthened him. In being unable to fulfill his own purpose in life, he had unwittingly brought them closer together. But maybe that had been his purpose this whole time.

Maybe he hadn't been insignificant after all.

Movement to her left caught her attention. She looked up, her eyes still blurred, as a fuzzy blue figure towered above the fire. Lucario had stood, was looking at them. Her eyes were too obscured to see his face, but something about the awkward way he watched them said more than enough. "I'll be right back," he said. Turning away, he walked into the shadows of the forest. Chikorita understood, and so bowed her head and allowed her friends—her family—to keep holding her. Her body shook as she continued to weep, but not only in mourning. She wept because an understanding had reached her, an understanding that somehow, Froakie's death was meant to happen, and the events that transpired afterwards would occur in his name. Events she felt in the stirring strings of her heart would make this big, dark world a smaller, brighter place.

She hoped for that as the tears spilled out. Even if he was gone, she would never let go. They would never let go. Because Froakie was still their family. And she still loved him.