Polaris–Ponyta, Tsuki–Snivy, Mamoru–Oshawott, Tlaloc-Braviary

Cast Out

"So… what are you going to do with that thing now that you've caught it?" Ben asked, dubiously eying the Pokéball that I was holding.

I shrugged. "Send him back to Avalon. There aren't any Audino there… so even though they're a bit…"

"Freaky looking?" Ben suggested.

I grinned. "Kind of like an emaciated mutant Chansey?"

Ben nodded, half grimacing and half grinning.

"You're not going to use this one at all?" Hari asked.

"Well, not much, for now at least. But if there are any Pokémon that aren't on Avalon, I like to catch at least one and send it over. It's not like I'm leaving him in a storage box forever."

Hari nodded. "Yeah. The other Pokémon will play with him. Avalon's a fun place."

"So you haven't found any Pokémon you want to add to your team yet?"

I shook my head. "What about you, Ben? You never catch any new Pokémon. You should find at least one new pal in Unova."

Ben shrugged. "If I see anything I like, I'll try to catch it." I kind of like the look of Zweilous."

I almost offered to give Hari a Pokéball in case he wanted to catch something, but figured it would be pointless. He'd never shown the slightest interest in keeping any Pokémon with him besides Gro. Though he was always thrilled to spend time with other Pokémon. Having grown up among wild Pokémon, he thought of them differently than anyone else.

I hopped up onto Polaris's back, and Ben rode his Tauros with Hari sitting behind him. Mamoru rode on my lap, and Tsuki clung to Polaris's forehead. We continued north towards Striaton.

Tlaloc, my Braviary, soared overhead. While we were out in the wilderness, I took the opportunity to let him stretch his wings. He hadn't been out much for the couple days we spent in Accumula.

Then a dark blur pelted out of the bushes, charging at Polaris's legs. Polaris gave a startled whinny and half reared up. I reeled and quickly tightened my knees, bracing myself against her neck. I managed to catch Tsuki's tail as she fell from her perch.

Polaris backed up and swatted out with her forehooves at the Pokémon. It was a Purrloin. She was hissing and spitting madly as she dashed in repeatedly, swiping at Polaris's ankles.

Polaris snorted and lunged forwards, stomping with her forefeet. The Purrloin hastily retreated. Tsuki jumped to the ground and charged at the cat. It crouched low, hissing and slashing out.

Tlaloc swooped low, raking the air above Purrloin with his claws. As purloin flinched, Tsuki used Vine Whip and charged in with tackle. Purrloin backed away, panting and baring her teeth.

"What are you doing?" Hari shouted at the Purrloin. "Why'd you attack like that?"

Purrloin stared at me and let out a low hiss. It's all your fault! You're the reason I'm stuck out here.

I blinked, startled, and slid off of Polaris's back, still holding Mamoru. "What do you mean? You're stuck out here? Why is it my fault?"

It's because you beat me, Purrloin spat. You and your Oshawott beat me, so he let me go.

Then I understood. This was the Purrloin that N had used during our battle. The one that Mamoru defeated.

"Are you saying that when he lost, he let you go?" If that was true, that he let a Pokémon go because it didn't win a battle… "Did he tell you that's why he made you lave?"

He didn't say why. He said I'd be happier on my own. I asked to stay with him, but he said I should leave.

So, maybe it really was because he thought Pokémon were happier away from people. But with Purrloin saying that she didn't want to be released, why'd he go and release her anyway?

I took a few steps towards Purrloin and knelt in front of her. She bared her teeth again. "Listen. I don't think he would let you go just because he didn't think you were strong enough. I think that he really believed that you would be happier if you were free."

Purrloin shook her head. But why? Why would he think that when I say that I want to travel with him?

"I don't know," I admitted. I stood up, pacing as I thought. "Do you want to travel with us for a while? We can look around for him, and ask him why he let you go. And if you want, maybe you can ask him to take you back?"

Purroin flattened her ears, as if not wanting to take my advice seriously.

"And for the record, I don't think you're weak. You put up a good fight. You even attacked a Pokémon ten times your size." I gestured to Polaris, who let out a snort of annoyance. She hadn't appreciated being ambushed.

Purrloin looked away. I'll think about it.

"Well, we're leaving now. If you want, you can follow us, or you can ride along with us.

Oh.

I stared at her, but she continued looking away from us. I wanted to help her, but I didn't want to force her along. Okay. Let's go, Polaris.

Tsuki jumped back up onto my lap and we continued on. Hari stared behind us, watching as Purrloin faded into the distance.

"Will she be okay?" Hari asked.

"I hope so."

"She was wild up till now," Ben pointed out. "So she should be fine."

That wasn't quite what I was worried about, but he was right. I glanced back again, but we'd turned a corner and Purrloin was no longer in view.

Tlaloc swooped down low over the trail.

That Purrloin is following us.

I smiled.

…

It was later that day when we finally arrived at Striaton City. We went to the Pokémon Center for the night, and I left out a bowl of food for the Purrloin.

I wanted to spend a couple days training Tsuki and Mamoru before I took on the gym. I hoped that I could get the both of them to evolve before then. I didn't want to rely solely on Polaris and Tlaloc for all of the harder battles. One of my favorite things about exploring a new region was catching and training new Pokémon. Even so, I didn't want to leave Polaris behind. And I always liked to have a large flying Pokémon with me, in case of emergencies. Emergencies were a bit more common than I would like, so it was always good to have more than one strong Pokémon.

We headed out to the Dreamyard the next morning to train. Polaris and Tlaloc trained together on their own. Gro and some of Ben's Pokémon watched or joined in. I occasionally called out advice to them, but spent most of my attention on directing Tsuki and Mamoru in practice battles against each other.

We went back to the city to get lunch at the gym café. Tsuki and Mo were grateful for the rest. We walked round town a bit before heading back to the Dreamyard. But just before we entered, I paused.

There seemed to be some sort of battle going on. A man was standing across the yard, directing a Simisage. The Simisage was attacking something.

Something felt wrong. I started across the yard, and as I got closer, I realized what it was. The man was wearing an outfit I'd seen before. The same uniform worn by the man that stole Lillipup. And as I rounded one of the broken walls standing around the Dreamyard, I saw that Simisage was attacking a Blitzle. A young Blitzle that was covered in scratches and limping, obviously terrified.

I wanted to go attack this guy. He was with the other man that stole Pokémon. But I held back. Maybe… just maybe there was an explanation.

I strode forward and stopped in front of the guy, who finally looked up at me. Tlaloc swooped down and landed between Simisage and Blitzle. Simisage stopped, confused and Hari went over to check out Blitze's injuries. Blitzle tried to retreat, but staggered and fell in the grass. Hari managed to soothe her and kneel by her side.

"You know," I said, trying to keep the ice out of my voice, "If you want to catch a Pokémon, you don't need beat it up and scare it to death."

"It got away. I need to get it back," the man replied, obviously caught off guard by my interference.

"Got away from what? Why is a little Blitzle important enough that you need to chase it until it collapses?"

"How is that any of your business? Someone decided to surrender a newly caught Blitzle to us so we could release it, and it managed to get away."

I stared at him, dumbfounded and disgusted. "If you're going to let her go, isn't she supposed to get away?"

The man let out a frustrated growl. "Go away! You have no business with Team Plasma unless you plan to release your Pokémon!"

"Team Plasma," I repeated. It clicked. The man who gave the speech in Accumula Town – Ghetsis – had a symbol on his chest. The same symbol on the uniform of these Team Plasma guys. That Ghetsis guy was going around, talking about releasing Pokémon while his men were stealing Pokémon from children, and pursuing Pokémon to the point where they couldn't even run anymore.

"You say a person handed their Pokémon over to you? Don't make me laugh! You stole it!"

The man blinked, somewhat startled. "No! She really wanted her Pokémon to be freed!"

Maybe he really hadn't stolen it? Not that that excused what he was doing, "Someone trusts you to release a Pokémon, and this is what you do to it?" I grit my teeth and clenched my fists. "Polaris!" I shouted.

Polaris cantered up to my side, snorting and stomping her hooves.

The startled Team Plasma man backed away and pulled out another Pokéball. He sent out an Unfezant.

At that moment, Simisage sprang at Tlaloc, who reared back and flapped as he took to the air. Blitzle, still scared and in pain, bolted across the yard towards the Plasma guy. The man obviously wanted to stop Blitzle from escaping, but Polaris and Tlaloc were already attacking his Pokémon. So the man took a step forwards and kicked out at the fleeing Blitzle.

Blitzle bleated in pain as the foot connected with her ribs and stomach. She tumbled sideways and flailed weakly in the grass.

In two steps, I was in front of the man. I smashed my fist forward, directly into his solar plexus. He gasped and doubled over. I shoved him to the ground and rushed to Blitzle's side. But Simisage was already there, ready to deliver the final blow to the fallen Pokémon.

Then something emerged out of the grass and launched into Simisage's face.

It was Purrloin.

She drove Simisage back, giving me time to stoop and lift the trembling, panting Blitzle. She struggled weakly, but I whispered assurances to her, trying to soothe her. She fell still, but only because she'd finally passed out.

Purrloin finished off Simisage, and Tlaloc drove Unfezant down so that Polaris could use Flamethrower and finish her off. With our enemy Pokémon down (as well as the Plasma guy who was still splayed on his back) we retreated back to the city.

"Ben, can you go contact the police?" I asked as we walked. "You know, tell them about the Lillipup, and that Ghetsis guy and stuff. I mean, this guy said that Blitzle was handed over willingly, so they're probably tricking the public. People need to be warned."

Ben nodded and went on ahead. Hari moved up beside me, mashing up some herbs and grasses he'd picked in the Dreamyard. He rubbed the green pulp over the worst of the scratches on Blitzle's sides and face.

Polaris trotted alongside me, anxiously. I felt a clenching in my stomach as I remembered when I had first met Polaris. It was right before I was going to start my Pokémon journey. Some boys had tied her down and were hurting her, trying to make her obey. I'd stood up to them, and helped Polaris get away. This incident no doubt made her remember that frightening time. This little Blitzle was very much like she had been…

Will she be okay? I looked down to see that Purrloin was following us. She looked concerned.

"We're going to take her to the Pokémon center," I assured her. "They'll take care of her."

What about after that?

"I guess I'll bring her with me. She's a young Blitzle, so it might not be safe for her to be on her own."

I see.

We arrived at the Pokémon Center and Purrloin stopped at the doors.

"Come on," Hari urged.

Purrloin hesitated, then followed.