For the first time in weeks, Louis sank into a restless slumber, with the words 'I want to go home' repeatedly playing in his head. The boy tossed and turned in his bed as the night grew longer, but he just couldn't get to sleep.

Then, Louis heard a noise. One that was unfamiliar to him. He sat up in the bed and rubbed his eyes, groaning.

"Nothing's gonna get me to sleep at this rate," he muttered.

He looked left and right, wondering where the sound was coming from. But then, a sudden movement out the corner of the boy's eyes caught his attention. He spun to his bedside table to see that one of the six Pokéballs was swaying from side to side. Louis' eyes widened up a fraction.

"Huh?" he said.

Louis leaned over and picked up the Pokéball. As it lay in his hand, the sphere continued to rock sideways. The boy considered opening it up to see which creature was still awake, but being inside the dorms, it would most likely wake the other students up.

With careful planning, Louis placed his vest over his pyjamas, carried the Pokéball with him, exited his room at a slow and quiet pace, and tiptoed out of the dorms and onto nearby grass. When he knew the coast was clear, Louis tossed the spherical device into the air and released...Cubone.

Upon close examination, Louis could see that Cubone was crying and that its skull mask was slightly shaking.

"Cubone?" he said.

Cubone's watery eyes shifted its gaze to the human boy.

"Oh...h-hey...Louis…" it stammered, sniffling.

Louis leaned in closer to his Pokemon and placed a hand on its shoulder, concerned for its feelings.

"Are you ok? What's wrong?"

Cubone struggled to answer, it's sadness overwhelmed the creature. Louis had a feeling he knew the reason why Cubone was upset.

"Was it...about earlier?" the boy asked.

"...no..." replied Cubone, whimpering.

"No? ...then what's the matter?"

Trying its best to hold back tears, Cubone answered;

"...it's...my Mom."

This answer surprised the boy.

"Y-...your Mom?" he blurted.

"...yes," replied Cubone.

The boy blinked twice, curious about Cubone's mother.

"Um...did something happen?" he asked.

Cubone shifted on the spot, with tears continuing to stream down its face.

"She...she..." it stuttered.

"...she died when I was younger."

Louis' eyes widened in shock.

"What?" he gasped.

It was then that more tears began to flow from the creature's eyes.

"...there was a really bad storm where we used to live a long time ago..." Cubone began. "We found shelter during it, but the temperature was decreasing by the minute. I was really young at the time so I couldn't do much, but then..."

Louis noticed the pause.

"What?" he prodded.

"...she wrapped herself around me to preserve the heat in my body. I made it through the night...but she never woke up afterwards."

Both of Louis' eyebrows raised, shocked and saddened by the outcome.

Hearing this story made Louis' heart shatter.

At that moment, Louis began to recall an almost similar experience as Cubone's. The important memory of having to watch Venusaur slowly pass on began to play out.

A single tear broke free from the boy's eyes. A tear not missed by the little Pokémon next to him. Louis wiped away the tear, catching himself. He looked at the little Cubone beside him and produced a small smile.

"Hey, Cubone?" he began. "You remember how I talked about the Venusaur I met in Johto?"

Cubone nodded, trying to hold back more tears. Louis took in a deep breath before he continued.

"Well...there's one memory of her that I'll never forget," he said.

"...what?" asked Cubone.

"It was me and her, sitting in a soft glade, and...she told me a lot of important things about my family. Especially how I have the ability to talk to Pokémon."

Louis' heart began to warm inside.

"She was the wisest Pokémon I ever met," he finished.

Louis focused his attention on the little Pokémon, who wasn't shedding as many tears as before.

"Do you have any good memories of her? ...your mother?" the boy asked.

Cubone had to think for a moment. With all of the time grieving its mother, it never had the time to remember the good moments with her.

"Well..." Cubone paused. "...there was this one time where my Mom tried teaching me how to swim."

Louis became confused.

"Swim?" he said. "I thought Rock-type Pokémon weren't able to swim."

"...it didn't stop her from trying," replied Cubone.

"Anyway, it was hard, but I learned the basics of trying to swim."

"Really?"

Cubone nodded.

"Thanks to her, I haven't been afraid of water, or water-type Pokémon, for a long time."

Louis smiled.

"Was that all?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" responded Cubone.

"Well, there must've been a reason as to why she taught you to swim, right?"

Cubone had to think hard at this point, trying to recall why it got swimming lessons.

Then, the memory was unlocked.

"Ah, that's it!" exclaimed Cubone.

Realising that this could wake other people up, Louis gestured at Cubone for it to hush.

"Oh...sorry," it apologised.

"Um...one time, my mother jumped into a pool of water. I thought she disappeared, but then, when she reemerged, she held out a shiny bundle of crystals. I couldn't believe that she found those underwater."

Even though it was difficult to see, Louis had a feeling that Cubone was now smiling.

"Never forget that memory," the boy said.

Cubone turned its head to the human.

"Whenever I think of Venusaur, I always keep the best memory of her in my heart," explained Louis, pointing at his chest.

He then leaned in closer to Cubone.

"So if you ever feel sad about your mother, always remember the good times you had together and keep them here," continued Louis, now pointing at the centre of Cubone's chest.

"In fact, she'll always be in your heart."

"You...really think so?" asked Cubone.

Louis gestured another smile.

"I know so," he said, beginning to take his own advice.

At that moment, Cubone embraced the boy in a tight hug. It began to shed tears of relief and joy, comforted by the human's words.

"There there," said Louis.

Then, the boy noticed something. That longing to return home he felt so powerfully earlier, had begun to fade away.

'...what have you been thinking, Louis?' he thought to himself. 'Why would you want to go home if this is what you would've left behind?'

The position of the moon in the night sky pulled a deep yawn from Louis.

"Come on, let's go back inside and get some sleep."

Louis picked up Cubone and returned to his dorm room, tiptoeing through the hallways. When he entered his room, instead of returning Cubone to his Pokéball, he decided to let Cubone sleep with him in the bed.

He tucked Cubone in and wrapped himself in the cover, tightly.

"Goodnight, Cubone," said Louis.

"Night," replied Cubone.

Both Pokémon and human began to drift off.

"...hey, Louis?" said Cubone.

Louis opened his eyes, shifting them to Cubone's position.

"Mm-hmm?" he said.

"...thank you."

Louis mustered up a smile before falling asleep.

"You're welcome."

The amount of pressure and frustration that had built up in the boy's subconscious disappeared as he slept peacefully. He no longer wanted to go home.

After a number of hours, the sun began to rise over the horizon, warming Poké Island with its light. The rays of the sun glowed through the curtains of Louis' room. The boy slowly fluttered his eyes open. He sat up, yawned and stretched his arms.

"What a night," he muttered.

Before turning to wake up Cubone, Louis felt that something was...different. He looked to his legs and saw what appeared to be Cubone's bone club, except it was bigger and longer.

This confused the boy.

"That's weird..." he said.

Then, he looked to his left. However, instead of a Cubone sleeping beside him, there was a Marowak instead.

"Whoa!" shrieked Louis.

Louis rubbed his eyes and shook his head, thinking he was still dreaming. The slumbering Marowak was soon awoken by the sun's light. Just like Louis, it yawned, sat up and stretched his arms.

"...morning, Louis," it said.

The Marowak turned its head to see Louis gazing at it, in shock.

"What?" it said.

"Y-...you..." stuttered Louis. "...you evolved!"

"Huh?" it said.

The Marowak looked at its Bone Club, noticing how much bigger it was. He then got out of the bed and looked at his reflection in the mirror located on Louis' desk. Its eyes widened.

"I...I did," it said.

Marowak continued looking in the mirror.

"Check it out," it said. "I must be bigger than the others now, huh?"

"Probably..." said Louis.

Then, an idea popped up in the boy's mind.

"Oh, I have to show them this," he said, grabbing each Pokéball from the bedside table.

He tossed them up, releasing the rest of his Pokémon team.

"Huh? Is it morning already?" said Riolu.

The party, except Marowak, saw Louis standing proudly.

"Louis, what are you smiling about?" asked Staravia. "And...where's Cubone?"

The boy pointed to his right. The other Pokémon turned to that direction to see Marowak holding its Bone Club over its shoulder. Each of the Pokémon's eyes widened.

"No way!" exclaimed Fennekin.

"He evolved!" shrieked Riolu.

Staravia, Azul, and Torracat looked at the newly evolved Pokémon, impressed.

"Wow!" said Staravia.

"That's awesome," smiled Azul.

"Ok...I'm honestly a little jealous," blurted Torracat.

As they were all gazing upon Marowak, Azul began to feel regretful in some way.

"Hey listen, guys?" it began.

"About last night...I...I'm sorry. It's just that...after the battle, I was just so adrenaline rushed that I let my pride get the better of me."

"...and you were kind of a jerk," said Louis, before immediately covering his mouth.

"Louis!" scolded Staravia.

"No, he's right," responded Azul. "I was a jerk."

The blue, frog Pokémon continued. "So, guys... I'm back, and I'm sorry for everything. Now I realise that I can't do these things alone."

Azul paused.

"I am part of a team."

After a few brief moments, the party smiled, happy that Azul was not thinking about himself.

Then, Louis got another idea.

"Wait a minute..." he muttered.

He proceeded to approach the videophone and dial his home number.

"Louis, what are you doing?" asked Riolu.

"I'm calling my family," answered Louis. "I just got the greatest idea."

The boy waited for a response as a ringing sequence of sounds emitted from the receiver.

Eventually, the screen to the videophone lit up and Miguel appeared on the screen, with a sizzling of food frying in the background.

"Hello?" the man said.

"Hey Dad, it's Louis," replied the boy.

"Ah. This is quite early for you to ring," Miguel grinned.

"Yeah, I can see that."

Miguel looked through the screen, gazing at Louis' team of Pokémon behind him.

"Say...are those your Pokémon?" he asked.

"Yep. They sure are," answered Louis.

The various Pokémon gazed at the boy talking to his father through the videophone.

"Is that your Dad?" asked Fennekin.

Fennekin leapt up onto the desk and gazed at the screen. This was followed by the rest of the Pokémon moving in closer so they could get a good view. It was then that Miguel noticed Marowak peering from the side.

"Hey, you didn't tell me your Cubone evolved into a Marowak," said Miguel.

Then, Louis felt something tap him on the shoulder. He turned his head to see Marowak leaning closer to the boy.

"Um...can he talk to Pokémon too?" it asked.

Louis nodded.

The boy moved the receiver close to Marowak, signalling it to speak to his father.

"I evolved during the night, while I was asleep," it said.

"Really?" inquired Miguel.

"Heh, that would explain it," he added.

Both human and Pokémon chuckled.

"Um...anyway, is something up, Louis?" the father asked.

"Yeah," said Louis. "I need to tell you and Mom something."

Miguel called Janet over to the phone.

"Hi, Louis," greeted Janet.

"Hey, Mom," replied Louis.

"Um...I forgot to tell you guys this yesterday," he added.

"What is it?" asked Miguel.

"About my first Pokémon battle yesterday, I never told you what it was for," the boy began.

"It was no ordinary battle, it was-"

Louis stopped as Azul tapped his chest, getting the boy's attention.

"May I?" it asked.

"Oh, uh...sure," replied Louis.

The boy moved the receiver close to the frog Pokémon.

"It was a match to qualify for a tournament here at the academy," said Azul.

Miguel's eyes widened.

"A tournament?!" he blurted.

Miguel moved closer to Janet's ear and whispered what Azul had said.

"Really?" she questioned. "That's great!"

"I know, right?" said Azul.

Louis chuckled.

"Anyway, I was thinking it over just now, and I thought that you two, plus Taki and Crocanaw..."

Louis paused.

"...would like to come over and watch?"

Wow! Cubone evolved into a Marowak! Sweet! Also, thank goodness Louis is staying.

Thanks for reading. Is there something you enjoyed? Can you guess what happens next? Or...what do you hope to see in future chapters? If so, go ahead and leave a review explaining any of these reasons. (Please don't leave hurtful reviews)

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