I stayed up the entire rest of the night treating Pikachu's injuries with what supplies we had left in the house. Fortunately we still had quite a bit of unused burn ointment from when we still had the herd of rapidash, so after spraying a bit of that on his skin Pikachu looked a lot better. I wrapped up the rest of his injuries in nice clean bandages and took Rapidash's curry comb to the rest of his fur. After he'd dried and been brushed out he looked much better. The medicine had made the blisters go down and the skin around them was no longer as red and inflamed. As soon as his fur grew back in in a couple of days he would be as good as new.

I leaned back in my chair at the kitchen table and took a moment to admire my work. Pikachu seemed to harbor no ill will toward me, as he sat up onto his haunches and perked his ears at me with a happy little "pi!"

"I'm glad to have you back too, buddy." I said as I reached over and scratched between his ears, careful not to mess up the bandaging on his head. He just smiled and pressed his head into my hand with a "Cha!"

It was at this point I heard the stairs creak. My heart jumped a little. What was Jessee going to think when she saw Pikachu back. Would she think that I had gone back out to find him when she was asleep? That I didn't understand how dire our situation was? Would she try to make me abandon him again? Or would she even go so far as to try to get rid of him herself? I steeled my will. No. Pikachu had come to find me. If he was willing to still chase me down despite the horrible thing I tried to do to him it had to have been fate, right? Besides, I was the head of the family now. She couldn't make me do anything I didn't want to, and I was not going to let this pokemon go again.

Jessee came around the corner. "Good morning, Jess. You're up early. How are you…" She stopped when she saw Pikachu. I saw every emotion pass over her face but interrupted her before she could say anything.

"Before you ask, yes. I did try to let Pikachu go like you suggested. But it was a horrible mistake. Despite all odds he came back to find me. He is my Pokemon now, and I will not be leaving him again. That is final."

Jessee pursed her lips together. I thought she was going to fight my decision but after a few moments of silence she just shook her head. "Fine. But I will not be taking any responsibility for that rodent. If he gets us into trouble or we're not able to eat because of him, I'm blaming you."

I sighed in relief. Pikachu jumped into my arms with a whoop of joy. "He won't be a problem. I promise you that."

"I'll believe it when I see it." Jessee replied shaking her head noncommittally. She threw a towel in my direction. "Here. Go clean yourself up. You look disgusting."

I shot her a dirty look but tossed the towel over my shoulder anyway, still holding Pikachu in one arm. "Just because you can't stand it when your appearance gets messed up doesn't mean the rest of us even care."

"Yeah yeah. Whatever." Jessee replied, not even looking at me as she went about preparing a small breakfast for herself. "Seriously though. You are getting dirt all over the kitchen floor. We're having a real-estate agent come this afternoon and I'd like to have the house look somewhat presentable…"

I rolled my eyes, but she was right. My nightgown was covered in dirt and blood from Pikachu's injuries and I did still have to take a shower anyway. So, up I went toting Pikachu along.

Two days later, the house was empty. All our bags were packed, and Jess and I were in our nicest clothes ready for our first day of school. I had pulled my hair back into a nice lavender bow, even putting on some of Jessee's makeup. Jessee came out with her plaid skirt and blazer with her favorite peridot earrings Mom had given her as a birthday gift a few years ago. I was taken back to when she was a young girl back in middle school and felt a little flush of love and pride come over me for her.

"Here, Jessee," I volunteered, "Let me do your hair really quick." I sat her down and braided her hair into two french braids on either side of her head. She'd loved this style when she was young. Mom always put her hair up like this before school. I tied them each off with a tiny lavender bow that matched my own. When I finished I stood up proudly. "There. Beautiful."

"Pika Chaaa!" Pikachu agreed as Jessee looked up at herself in the mirror. She smiled. "This brings back memories, doesn't it, Jess."

I chuckled leaning on her head teasingly. "You could pass for no older than 13 years old if you wanted to."

Jessee shoved me. "Oh please, I'm a bit too tall and too developed for that." She looked back in the mirror. "Still though…It does remind me of when we were in school. Things were so much simpler then…"

I put my hands on her shoulders and turned her around to look at me. "Things will get better. I promise. Look, your already going to fulfill your dream. It's only upwards from here, right?" Pikachu leaped onto my shoulders, and raised a tiny fist of determination into the air. "Pika!"

Jessee gave me a confident smile. "Right. Let's get moving. We have a destiny to fulfill!"

Jess and I called our Rapidash and loaded what few belongings we had left into their saddlebags. The Chansey School was a few towns over, so we would have to take a train, but we would be riding the horse pokemon to the train station. Once everything was tied down and secured we mounted and started off. After only a few feet though, I had to stop and look back.

"Jess? is everything ok?" Jessee asked, turning her mount and coming up alongside me.

I stared back at the old childhood home. It looked so cold, barren and empty now, with the grass no longer lush and full, the paint on the old barn pealing, the fences in disrepair and a brand new "For Sale" sign posted out front. Yet, still the memories of living and playing there my whole life came flooding back and the realization that I would never see the old place again. "I…I'm just going to miss it…that's all…." I replied to Jessee, my voice hardly over a whisper.

Pikachu sat from where he was comfortably snuggled between the packs and saddlebags. He cocked his head sympathetically at me. "Pika pi?"

Jessee on the other hand didn't care about the sentiment. "Oh come on." She said, taking a hold of one of my rapidash's reins and pulling her forward. "We can't keep looking to the past or we'll miss the now."

Rapidash lurched, bringing me back to myself and yanking the rein away from Jessee's grasp. Jessee rode on, her rapidash's hooves making small clouds of dust behind her as she trotted down the dirt road. I sighed and allowed myself one last look at the farmhouse that used to be my home, trying to memorize every inch of it as though I was afraid I would forget what it looked like and all the memories that came with it. Then I turned away and kicked Rapidash into a canter to catch up to Jessee.