Our mother died a few months later. The doctors said it was probably from depression…apparently this kind of thing happens a lot, especially with terminally ill patients…The sadness gets to be too much and the body just…gives up.

We couldn't afford a funeral really…besides, no one would have come; we didn't really have family friends anymore since my mother had rarely left the house since the divorce….So we just had a simple burial…a priest came and said a few words…it was nice enough as funerals go I guess…

The problems arose after the funeral. Our mother hadn't made any sort of preparations prior to her death, or if she had years ago, they were all long gone now, so all the money we had left went toward taking care of her death rites. And with me and Jessee just barely out of high school, we by no means had any sort of steady job that could take care of our needs.

I rode Rapidash a few miles to the nearest library a couple days after my mom's burial. My vow echoed loudly in my head. My mother had called me in shortly before her final breath. "Jess…" She had said her voice barely audible. "I need you to promise me something…"

"Of course, Mom. Anything!" I'd replied, assuringly grasping her thin bony hand tightly in my own.

She stared into my eyes. "You're such a good girl…You've taken such good care of Jessee and James when he was still with us…" She whispered. "I need you to promise me…you'll keep this family together. You and Jessee…you only have each other now…"

"But…Mom, what about James?" I asked, trying to keep my voice level.

"James…I don't know where he is any more…" My mom whispered looking up toward the ceiling and closing her eyes. "The day your father took him away…it was like the day he died inside me…" She opened her eyes vaguely again. "If you ever find him again, protect him, but Jessee is your priority now. As far as I'm concerned she is the only one you have left." She squeezed my hand as tightly as she could muster, which wasn't much. "Promise me that you will look out for her. You two must stick together. You're both Newkens….Never forget that…"

I cupped her hands in both of my own, my eyes misting. "I won't, Mom. I promise, I'll take care of her."

My mother smiled, for the first time I'd seen in years. "That's my girl…" Then she closed her eyes and that was the last I'd ever heard her speak.

Now, I sat at the library and searched through their archives for Pokemon Medical School phone numbers, as well as help wanted ads for part time work. My mom was right, Jessee and James were the only people I had left, and I was determined to make good on my promise and keep us together. As soon as we were out of risk of being homeless, I would start my search for James.

That's when we ran into a bit of a problem…you see, nationally, the pokemon centers are run by the Joy family…And unless you were somehow related to a Joy, or had one as a reference, it was almost IMPOSSIBLE to get in…Unless you were a pokemon.

That gave me an idea. It was, admittedly, a stupid and crazy idea, but it was worth the shot. I filled out an application for admittance, mailed it in, and waited.

Three days later a letter came it a firm crisp envelope. I tore it open and had to hold my breath as I read through the fine black ink. Then my excitement welled and I gave a whoop and ran all the way back to the house.

I burst in the front door. "Jessee! Jessee! You won't believe it! I have great news!"

"Perfect timing, Jess, I have to talk to you too…" Jessee replied, coming around the corner from the kitchen, her face serious.

"Ok, but my news first." I interjected, sure that whatever bad news she had for me would be forgotten once I told her my good tidings. "Look what we got in the mail today!" I thrust the torn envelope into Jessee's hands. "We just got accepted into the Chansey school of Pokemon medicine! They said, despite being human, you and I showed incredible promise, and they would be willing to make an exception to the rules for us! We're going to be Pokemon nurses!"

I was expecting a squeal of delight but to my surprise Jessee just smiled at me. "That's great news, Jess. I'm so glad. Thank you."

My wide grin dropped. "Jessee, what's wrong, I was expecting you to be a lot more excited! I mean, this is your dream!"

"Jess…It's been a couple months now…I know you don't want to but…You have to let your pikachu go back into the wild…"

My heart felt like it stopped. "What…Why? It—it's too soon!"

"Jess, all his injuries are healed. And we can't afford to feed another mouth. Honestly, I think you should sell your rapidash too, but I'm not going to make you do that. I know how much she means to you. And at least she has a poke ball she can be kept in." she was silent for a while. "Jess, we're broke. I already talked to a real estate agent about putting the house up on the market. And besides, if we're going to go away to this school, we'd need to get rid of everything anyway."

I pursed my lips together. She was right after all…I had just…I'd grown attached to the little pokemon. I never had many friends and Pikachu…he was like the best friend I'd never had. But it was true. He was still a wild pokemon. And a deal was a deal…

That afternoon I took Pikachu and Rapidash and went for one last ride deep into the woods. I did this all the time with Pikachu, but he seemed to sense that this time was different, as he sat silently on the back of the saddle clinging tightly to my waist, instead of hopping on my shoulders or hanging onto the saddle horn and looking excitedly around as we galloped through the pastures.

Finally we reached the heart of the woods where it was too dense for Rapidash to run anymore. I pulled her to a halt and dismounted, picking Pikachu up with me. I tied Rapidash's reins loosely to a branch and carried Pikachu a little further into the underbrush, so as to have some time alone with him. Finally, about a hundred feet in, I stopped and set him onto the ground. Pikachu looked up at me, cocking his ears in confusion.

I tried to smile and look happy. "Well, little guy, you seem to have healed up perfectly. I don't think you'll have to worry about that poacher any more."

"Pi?" Pikachu asked cocking his head.

I struggled to swallow the lump in my throat. "Y-you're free to go now Pikachu. Go home to your herd. The poacher won't bother you any more."

"Pika?" Pikachu asked again.

I gritted my teeth. "Pikachu, you need to go! I can't take care of you! You have to live among your own kind! You'll be safe there!"

"Pika! Pi pikachu!" Pikachu exclaimed grasping tightly to my leg and shaking his head.

"What's there not to understand!" I yelled at him, shoving him off harshly, but tears welling up visibly in my eyes. "You can't stay with me!"

"P-pika…?" Pikachu whimpered, taking a step back, tears forming in his eyes as well.

"No, you can't. You have to leave!" I yelled again, trying to mask my own pain with harshness. "I never intended to have you stay with me, so just go away!"

"P-pi…?" Pikachu shrunk back again, his jagged lightning-bolt tail drooping.

"Goodbye, Pikachu." I snapped, turning my back to hide my face, but unable to hide my voice cracking. I moved back toward where Rapidash was still standing.

Pikachu bounded after me. "Pika pi!" He latched onto my boot as I put my other in the stirrup "Pika pi pikachu!"

"Let go, Pikachu!" I scolded, trying to kick him off, but Pikachu thrashed his head and wouldn't relent, tears running down his cheeks.

I clamped my eyes shut, forcing out tears of my own. "Rapidash," I commanded, "Ember attack"

Pikachu reacted just a moment too late, as the small balls of fire burst forth from Rapidash's mouth. Pikachu let out a horrible cry as the ember attack hit him head on. The sound speared through my heart and made my stomach clench, but I lifted myself into the saddle anyway. I forced myself to look at my friend on the ground, fur now matted and burned, a look of pure hurt and betrayal on his face. But I saw in his eyes that he still intended to chase me down. I gritted my teeth, stifling a sob. "Rapidash, stomp attack."

Pikachu's eyes widened as Rapidash reared up with a whinny. But I clamped my eyes shut and closed my ears so I wouldn't hear the horrible sound if the attack made contact. As soon as I felt Rapidash hit the ground I kicked her flanks turning her back to the house. After only a few strides though, I couldn't keep my composure any more and burst into sobs. I held onto Rapidash's neck and let the warm flames of her mane lap at my face as she guided us both back home.

I lay on curled up on my bed, clenching a small pillow to my chest. I'd run out of tears a long time ago, and now was just trying to fill up the empty feeling in my heart somehow. But the small round pillow made a poor substitute for what I really wanted. It lacked the soft silky fur, the warm body heat, the little static shocks that it gave as it nuzzled its face into my skin…

Jessee was leaving me alone, and probably for the better. I didn't want to see anyone. I felt so torn up inside. On one hand I was finally able to do the stuff I'd wanted to do; travel, become a pokemon nurse, find my brother—on the other hand so much bad had happened; out mother just died, I had to say goodbye to one of my best friends, we were losing our home and had no money to live on…Was I supposed to be happy or upset? I couldn't even tell anymore. Right now I just felt empty.

It had started raining about an hour ago. The sound of the rain hitting the roof and the distant thunder was at least comforting me a little. I buried my face into the pillow. The vague scent of Pikachu's fur was still there. I tried to focus solely on the positive memories and not dwell on the image of him lying injured on the ground at my command.

I rolled onto my back, throwing the pillow onto its place on the bed. It wasn't helping me feel any better, so what was the point…I thought about letting Rapidash out of her ball to give me some comfort, but as I reached for the ball I thought better of it. The floorboards were in no way strong enough to hold a pokemon of her size; she'd fall straight through the living room ceiling. I sighed and let my hand flop back beside me.

The house was quiet. Jessee must have gone to bed some time ago. The only sound I could hear was my own breathing, the rain against the roof, the thunder rolling a few miles away, and a faint "Chuuu"

Wait…a what?

I sat up in my dark room and listened again. No, I definitely heard it, a pikachu's cry coming from downstairs. I got up and snuck out of my room so as not to wake Jessee. I tip-toed down the steps. The cries got louder and were followed by a flash of light reflected in the front window. I slinked closer and grasped the door handle, getting a nice sharp shock in the process. It couldn't be, could it? I turned it slowly and opened the door. Sure enough Pikachu stood there, breathing heavy from the strain of trying to shock the door down. His tiny shoulders heaved up and down with each breath but he seemed to brighten when he saw me standing there, letting off a small squeaky, "Cha."

The poor thing looked awful. Wet matted fur, singed from ember attack, some small blisters appearing on its skin where the fur had been completely burned off, bruises and scrapes all over its body from trying to chase me down, but I'd never been so happy to see a pokemon in my entire life.

I fell on my knees in the doorway, tears again pouring out of my eyes. I wasn't able to say anything, I just reached out my arms and he lunged into them, soaking my nightgown with mud, rainwater, and blood, but I was beyond caring. I had my buddy back and this time I was never EVER going to let him go again!