Once again, she tiptoed through the grass, minding her own business, ready to take flight at the slightest sign of movement. Apart from some bird Pokemon chirping in the air though, it was a quiet afternoon, and there wasn't any Pokemon to bother her at all.

Coming to think of it, she observed the area was nearly empty, but the forest was teeming with wild Pokemon just a while ago. The absence of Pokemon unsettled her more than wild Pokemon appearing, which was ironic.

"I wonder what happened here,"she said. Not a moment too soon, a Pokemon shot out of the bushes next to them like an arrow, and Jessi screamed at the jumpscare.

"Ahhh!" Cyndaquil and her ran in the opposite direction as fast as they could.

Behind her, a Pachirisu stood there in bewilderment, wondering what it had done wrong.

"Did we lose it?" Jessi asked Cyndaquil, panting in exhaustion. The fire porcupine looked behind them and nodded, looking very relieved.

Jessi scanned the surroundings. In their panic, they wandered off the main path, the trees appearing darker and taller. Thorned bushes circled the area like a maze, and the terrain was muddier and more humid, with a musty smell in the air. She had no idea how they got here, and her map wouldn't help at all.

They wandered around aimlessly, searching for an exit. If they couldn't get out before it turned dark, chances are they'd be stuck for a while. Out of the blue, Jessi heard a neigh. It sounded to be in pain. She wasn't sure if it was the correct path, but her curiosity was piqued, so they headed toward the sound.

The two eventually arrived in a clearing, adorned with beautiful peonies and a thin layer of grass. The exit was surely closer now, and so was the neighing.

In the distance, she saw a white horse, burning with a blue mane, roll on the ground in pain. She flipped through the pages of the Pokedex, and found its entry.

"Ponyta. The Fire Horse Pokemon. It is capable of jumping very high, its hooves absorbing the impact of landing. If you are accepted by one, its mane no longer burns." She read, and noted that unlike the drawing on the index, which showed Ponyta's flame as red, this one burned with a blue color. Jessi dismissed the thought and ran over to help it.

At closer scrutiny, she saw the pony's neck was ensnared by a rope, coated with some kind of brown goo. Jessi briefly wondered why, but she had no time for that.

"Calm down, Ponyta," she said soothingly, patting its head softly, but the horse wouldn't stop thrashing and struggling. "If you do that, you'll only make it worse!" Jessi knew she could untie it, and Cyndaquil could burn or rip through it as well given enough time, but not if the horse kept moving around. She considered getting Cyndaquil to knock it out so they could work on the ropes, but if they couldn't pull it off in one move, the Ponyta might struggle even harder and cause serious harm to itself.

No, there had to be another way. She remembered the horses back in her village loved eating apples, and on the few occasions she left home, she would always go by the stables to feed them. Unlike humans, she was more attuned to Pokemon, who seemed to understand her feelings, her grief.

She grabbed an apple from her rucksack and repeated, at the sight of food, the poor horse almost immediately stopped fidgeting, so she could tell it hadn't eaten in a long while. As the girl fed it, she nodded to Cyndaquil, who immediately got to work, biting at Ponyta's bonds, careful not to hurt it.

"Stealing someone else's property isn't good, girlie!" A man's voice echoed across the clearing, and Jessi turned around in shock. She didn't notice anyone there.

The man was dressed in a green cowl to blend in with the surroundings, a thick brown beard the only facial feature exposed. A saxe knife, in its scabbard, hung at his waist, and at his shoulder, a bow and a quiver of arrows.

Of course. The rope was soaked with ? to prevent the Ponyta from burning it off. Whoever put it there was definitely experienced. It was obviously a trap, set by –

A Pokemon Hunter.

Jessi stood up, spreading her arms wide so Cyndaquil and Ponyta were obscured from sight. "Can't you see Ponyta is hurt? Let it go!"

"Can't do that," He drawled, releasing a Houndour from its Pokeball, and it growled aggressively. "A shiny Ponyta's gonna fetch me a fortune on the black market!"

Jessi was trembling in fear, her hands shuddering with terror, but she remembered Fennel's words about treating Pokemon with love, and that gave her the strength and courage to stand up to the hunter. She took a quick peek at Cyndaquil, who ripped through the rope (just in time!), and she exclaimed, " Im not go-going to let you sell Pokemon for profit!" Cyndaquil cried in response, emerging behind her.

"Hmmph. I gave you your chance. That porcupine is coming with me as well! Houndour, Flamethrower!" The black dog opened its maw, and a stream of red hot flames shot straight at Rowlet. Common sense told her fighting fire with a Fire-type wasn't exactly the greatest of ideas, so they couldn't take it head on.

'Dodge!' Cyndaquil ducked and evaded the flames, then made a nosedive towards Houndour. "Tackle!"

Cyndaquil's Tackle was blocked by Houndour's Bite, and the porcupine was stuck in its jaws! It writhed and struggled to no avail. 'Cyndaquil, get out of there! Use Ember!' Jessi screamed.

The Fire porcupine fired its fire straight at Houndour's gums, and it reflexively let go of the porcupine, howling in pain. However, Cyndaquil suffered a lot of damage from the Bite too. "Burn it, you dumb mutt! Flamethrower!"

Cyndaquil was still shaken from the clash just now, so it couldn't dodge in time.

"Cyndaquil" Jessi whispered, speechless at the sight of Cyndaquil giving its all for its Trainer.

"That'll teach you to disobey a Pokemon Hunter! Flamethrower!" The hunter shouted gruffly. Jessi crossed her fingers and hoped for the best. "Tackle again, one more time!" In the cover of the smoke, Cyndaquil managed to get behind the black dog, and it charged head first.

The fire-type dog didn't even have any time to react, and was slammed onto a tree. With a jolt, its pupils turned white, and it just slumped to the ground, unmoving.

They had won! Jessi hugged Cyndaquil happily.

But the danger was far from over.

"You little..." The Pokemon Hunter cursed in a fit of rage, and he pulled out an arrow from his quiver. "I'll kill you" He howled, nocking it to his bow and pointed it at Jessi.

She was paralysed with fear. Her mind froze as her life flashed before her eyes. Cundaquil wanted to tackle the weapon off his hands, but it was running on its final reserves of stamina. It wasn't going to make it in time…

But someone else was.

While they were distracted with the battle, the Ponyta had recovered and sneakily cantered to the side. It wanted revenge on the scummy hunter, and seeing it threaten the human that saved it, the horse galloped to full speed and rammed into the man so hard, the arrow completely missed its target, and he was knocked back several metres before rolling to a stop.

The mare raised its head proudly, as though asserting its dominance. It then rushed over to Jessi and Cyndaquil's side, licking them to check for injuries.

Suddenly a boy with black hair wearing the same uniform as Jessi and some in red a version of the uniform joined them in the clearing.

One saw the unconscious hunter and gasped. Some gawked at the shiny Ponyta instead.

Jessi replied shyly, reluctant to say any more. "I was fighting that bad man over there" "You've done us a real service, the captain will be please," Rei replied. Meanwhile, Jessi patted Ponyta's head and said, "Goodbye, Ponyta." She gave it her last apple, and turned around to leave as well.

Suddenly, the horse galloped over and nudged her on the shoulder. "What's wrong?" She asked. The Fire Horse Pokemon prodded her waist, motioning to her Pokeballs.

Jessi couldn't believe her luck. "You want to go with me?" Ponyta gave an affirmative nod.

"Well then…" She continued gleefully, "Welcome to the team, Ponyta!" She tapped the ball on its nose, and with a brilliant white glow, it seemed to dissolve into light and was absorbed into the sphere. It swiveled once, swiveled twice… after one last resounding shake, steam came out from the top of the wooden capsule, and Ponyta was hers.

"We did it, Cyndaquil! We caught a new friend!" Jessi shook Cyndaquil excitedly.

Jessi's team

Cyndaquil

Pidgey

Ponyta