Calem was mostly quiet as he walked alongside Serena, only occasionally losing a word to answer her attempts to lighten the mood and to spark a conversation. However, despite how it might have looked from the outside, Calem was not so much actively trying to avoid interacting with her, instead, he was more than lost in thought as the two of them were on their way back to Illumina City, having promised to meet up with the rest once again.

Several days had passed, and Calem simply couldn't get Yveltal out of his mind.

"... is everything alright? You seem to be spacing out again.", Serena almost muttered in concern as she turned her head slightly to look at him, albeit it took him a small moment to acknowledge her words with a small nod. Suppressing a small sigh, Serena shifted her eyes back onto the road, not knowing how else she could attempt to speak to him.

"You know, in the past days you have been leaving quite often to wander off somewhere, I… I know it's not my right to know, but would you mind telling me where, or why…?", truthfully, she feared that their friendship had suffered so much in the last few days that, perhaps, she really did make a wrong decision to stubbornly stay behind instead of giving him the space he needed, and all he wanted now was to create as much space as possible.

But unbeknownst to her, images and memories flared in front of his mental eye once she mentioned his little trips, and he was once again lost in thought.

Calem's eyes widened in embarrassment and shame as his stomach suddenly started to growl, not only reminding him that he had not eaten anything for days, but also effectively causing Yveltal to shift its head towards him, its gaze now lingering on him directly. Calem could not discern anything from its expression, feeling utterly small and fragile under its watchful eyes, until it suddenly shifted its body and rose from the ground entirely.

The forest around them was devoid of any Pokémon, either hiding in fear of the Death Pokémon or having fled entirely upon catching sight of it. Thus, Yveltal reached for one of the highest trees with its head, retrieving something from it before it pulled back with a large fruit within its mouth. Calem's eyes widened, a barely audible gasp escaping him as it placed the fruit down in front of him before settling down upon the ground once again, resting its head upon its wings with an expectant stare.

Hesitating for but a moment, he slowly reached out for the fruit and took it carefully into his hands, all the while glancing at Yveltal in a silent and unasked question for confirmation.

"It would not serve me well to leave you in a state like this… if you insist, I might take the rest of whatever this forest has to offer."

Just before Calem took a small bite of the fruit, he stopped, his eyes meeting its own with shock.

"What…? It would be a waste, all for only one single person. It belongs to all of the Pokémon who live in this forest, I couldn't…"

"If there is something I want, I will take it as I need it. You ought to know this… but you are not graced with misfortune now, are you?"

Despite its words, Calem couldn't stop himself from glancing at the fruit it had still offered to him, despite what it had said. It didn't matter if he was on the receiving end of its rare act of kindness, not like this… however, Yveltal merely reared its head back slightly, regarding him more closely.

"You say one thing, but your mind says another. Directing my efforts to see to your needs, it evokes another feeling within you than what you proclaim…"

Silence reigned between them for a long while as Yveltal carefully surveyed him, but after a moment, it laid its head back onto its wings, intent to take away any pressure Calem might have felt within this moment. After all, that was not what it wanted to achieve.

"... then what am I giving you?", his voice was barely more than a whisper, but still, Yveltal shifted its eyes towards him once more with interest. Knowing that he had its full attention, Calem took his remaining courage and met its gaze.

"You said that you would simply take whatever you want. Then why would a being like you now waste your time with me…? What am I giving you in return?", for a single moment, he wondered if its eyes gleamed for a fracture of a second, but in the end, its voice sounded within his mind once again.

"Why, I have no need to ask for anything else from you…"

Waiting for another long moment, it didn't say anything further before it simply closed its eyes, leaving Calem to silently ponder about what it meant. Anything else…?

What did he have to offer in the first place…?

Almost every day it had visited him, sometimes he would catch sight of it in the skies and he was sure that it circled above him a few times before flying away to whatever destination it had in mind, other times it would indicate its presence nearby with a dark grey feather that it left in an obvious spot for him to find, giving him the choice to meet with it if he so wished.

And to say that these chance encounters had occupied his mind would have been an understatement. But up until now, he never mentioned anything about them to anyone…

Hours passed until the sun was slowly replaced by the night sky, and Serena suggested to rest for the time being in their tents, with no other town being nearby. Just like before, Serena kept quiet this time to give him the space that he needed, wishing him a good night before she retreated into her respective tent.

Calem regarded the night sky for another long moment, allowing his thoughts to wander. He knew that he wouldn't get much sleep after all that happened, he knew that much, if the previous nights with barely any sleep were any indication. But he also knew that it wasn't long until they would finally arrive in Illumina City, and he wanted to rest for at least a little bit before they met the rest of their friends…

… however, it was then that he suddenly halted in his motions, his eyes catching sight of the dark feather that was lying on the ground in front of his tent. And any thoughts about going to sleep were pushed into the back of his mind.

Calem halted immediately once he stepped into a clearing, and sure enough, he witnessed Yveltal staring up into the night sky, the majestic mane around its neck flowing in the slight breeze. But as soon as it became aware of his presence, it shifted its attention towards him, meeting his eyes. Regardless how often it happened, Calem could still not get entirely used to the voice within his mind, and yet, the moment he felt its aura once again, he couldn't shake the small feeling of excitement as it spoke to him.

"Greetings to you…"

"And to you as well… you are visiting quite often lately.", Yveltal turned its body towards him, the claws at the end of its wings serving to give it enough balance.

"I do happen to cross paths with you quite frequently… the inhabitants of Kalos are seldom aware whether or not I am actively roaming free."

Normally, Calem would have raised an eyebrow at its first words, but he was once again reminded of whom he was actually talking to. Here he was, having met with it on several occasions whereas researchers all across Kalos would die for a single chance to see it directly. Or even to catch a mere glimpse of it.

"I hope I am not intruding in your daily life."

Raising his head slightly upon hearing this, Calem almost instinctively shook his head in response, something that confused him himself directly afterwards. But despite anything he might have believed after their small but frequent encounters… he strangely found himself almost having gotten used to its presence. And still, he never found out what it was that Yveltal saw within him, for regardless how often he pondered about it, he never believed that his mere attempts to save it on that day were in any way worth to be mentioned…

And despite how often he tried to coax an answer out of it, its response always remained the same.

"Might I ask you a question…?", tilting its head to the side slightly, he almost believed that he could hear the faintest trace of amusement in its voice.

"I would not be here if I did not want to speak with you."

For a brief moment, he felt silly for that, but in the end he realized that he was purely self conscious and nervous about what was on his mind.

"Has there ever been an instance where you felt… envy?", the moment these words left him, he already started to overthink them, and the way it reared its head back slightly, its eyes seemingly analyzing him closely, it only served to increase his anxiety. But in the end, its voice sounded in his mind in a more considering way, almost as if it was pondering about something.

"Envy? As I once mentioned, if there is something I desire, I will do anything to claim it as my own… what leads you to inquire about something as particular as this?"

As he found himself unable to form any kind of response, it was almost evident to the Legendary as it shifted its head down to his level, not intent to simply let it go. Not when it presented such an opportunity to spark something new within him, something that he had yet to embrace.

"But whatever is there for someone like you to be envious about…?"

Its voice almost echoed in his mind, comforting and encouraging, inviting him to speak further about whatever it was that was ailing his heart.

"I don't want to feel this way… of not having something that…", words failed him in that moment before the voice in his head sounded even more gentle than before.

"Ah, do not feel ashamed about these feelings. Even so, you have no need to feel this way…"

His eyes shifted ever so slightly to glance at Yveltal in confusion, its gaze not leaving him.

"You do have-"

Suddenly, an eruption sounded in the distance, causing both Yveltal and Calem to shift their eyes towards the source of the interruption, a trail of smoke soaring into the air. Feeling the urge to help, Calem moved as quickly as he possibly could, running into the forest without a second thought even as Yveltal looked after him.

It raised its head into the air, its eyes narrowing when it felt the presence of several humans nearby, their malicious intent evident in their minds.

And it took off into the sky immediately afterwards.

…

Calem stopped within the cover of several bushes and trees, his hand instinctively moving onto his Pokeball before he froze in place, his eyes widening in recognition. A few paces away, a tiny and green Pokémon was getting cornered by three figures, their overalls colored in a fiery red and their eyes hidden by a pair of respective glasses that matched their uniform. It only possessed a single eye on its left side, and all he could think of while regarding it was that it almost resembled the form of a cell…

Two of them were aiming a device at the cornered Pokémon, and he remembered their leader. The purple haired scientist was smirking with smugness, only causing the unknown Pokémon to glare at the trio, its form shaking ever so slightly in uneasiness.

"Well, you've caused us quite enough trouble, but you won't get away anymore this time.", she raised her hand, and the grunts aimed their devices at the Pokémon once more. Calem narrowed his eyes, grabbing the Pokeball from his belt. He couldn't believe it, after all that transpired, he was sure that he would never catch sight of them again… but if there were still leftovers who didn't cease their activities, then he wouldn't just stand by and watch.

The grunts shifted their attention towards him as Calem stepped forth from the cover of the trees, and the scientist heaved a frustrated sigh once she caught sight of him as well.

"You again? I didn't quite expect to be forced to see you again after what happened to our headquarters.", her voice was filled with frustration and annoyance, but even still, her smirk returned only a moment after.

"However, it seems your friend isn't with you this time, is she? Well, I guess that luck isn't with you today.", he could almost see her narrowed eyes even through the pair of glasses she was wearing, and it only served to irritate Calem even further, a strong feeling of hatred starting to dwell within him.

"If you believe that it will make a difference, then you're gravely mistaken…", his grip on his Pokeball tightened, and he couldn't see the way the small Pokémon that was still cornered was looking back at him with a widened eye.

But suddenly, a terrible scream echoed from the sky, and the moment the Team Flare grunts looked up in horror at the sound, Calem's eyes merely widened in recognition. Only a few seconds passed before Yveltal emerged from above the line of trees, its eyes regarding Calem for the briefest of moments before its gaze fixated upon those who were threatening him, and it released another ear piercing scream with rage filling its eyes.

The scientist trembled in utter fear as it began to emanate a crimson light before releasing a giant beam of pure destruction, and the grunts barely managed to jump out of the way in time, narrowly avoiding it as it impacted in a straight line on where they stood a mere moment ago. Anything the horrifying red beam managed to come into contact with began to wither immediately, the grass and any kind of fauna crumbling to dust, devoid of any life.

"Retreat, abandon the target!", the grunts were more than happy to obey before they all but fled, leaving Yveltal to watch them from the air with narrowed eyes, its rage only slightly subsiding from its gaze before it took note of the green cell Pokémon that stared up at the Death Pokémon from below.

Calem regarded the scene with slight confusion as both of them seemingly stared at one another without a word, and moreover, he was surprised that the tiny Pokémon didn't seem to be afraid at all…

However, after another small moment of silence, the cell Pokémon closed its eye for a brief second before hopping away, disappearing into the forest. Yveltal merely reared its head back slightly before it finally landed on the ground and next to Calem, its eyes searching him for any kind of injury.

"Thank you…", he could only mutter as he glanced onto the ground, thinking about how else it might have ended if it hadn't been for its interference. Would he have been able to be any kind of help against three of them…? He didn't doubt that Serena would have been far more capable than him…

… which suddenly brought him out of his trance, reminding him of the time. Witnessing that the sun was already slowly beginning to rise, he barely had the time to give the Legendary a quick apology before he rushed off to return to their small camp, hoping that she wasn't yet awake. He wanted to avoid creating any more distance like that…

Yveltal looked after him for a long moment until Calem disappeared from sight, its words not reaching him anymore.

"Farewell, for now… until we meet again."

Something that would really interest me would be… do you have a favorite Legendary Pokémon and why? While writing this, I'm always slightly torn and I'd be very interested in knowing what kind of favorite others have.

Aside from that, I hope you enjoyed!