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Chapter 10:

"Someone... anyone..."

I have no idea how long we stayed there, lying on the ground, hugging tightly onto Blue. It could've been five minutes, ten even, but I'm not really sure. Some passerby had walked past, giving us curious, maybe even amused, glances, but it didn't matter to me. I just continued to cling onto Blue as if he'll disappear again if I let go.

I let my head rest against his warm chest, feeling it rise and fall as he breathed. It was comforting to me. All the panic and worry, all the exhaustion and fear inside of me was being drained away just by being with him. I let out a loud yawn and closed my eyes. Maybe not all of my exhaustion had vanished just yet.

Then, right before I fell asleep, a sharp puff of wind blew into one of my ears. My eyes shot wide open at the strange, tingling sensation on top of my head. Yelping, I leapt off Blue's body and frantically patted my ears. As I tried to get rid of the ticklish feeling, I saw Blue and Azurill silently tittering away at me.

"Sorry Fée," Blue apologized when I shot him an angry look, "You just looked so cozy and snug there that I wanted to play a little prank on you."

I huffed and looked away, pretending to look more offended than I actually was. It made me a little gleeful when I saw the worried look on Blue's face.

"Fée! How come you never told me you knew Blue?" I turned around and saw Azurill giving me an accusatory look, "I didn't know you two were friends already!"

I shook my head, "I'm just as surprised as you are, Azurill," I said as I sat down, "I didn't know you knew this guy as well."

"'This guy?'" Blue glanced at me curiously. I ignored him.

"I just met him today!" Azurill said cheerfully, "I was walking around the big crowd, trying to get a good look at what's going on, and then he suddenly stepped on me!"

"What?!" I gave an aghast look at Blue, who quickly shook his head and waved his arms around frantically.

"And then he tripped and fell onto the ground!" Azurill continued, completely unperturbed. I glanced over to Blue again. Dirt was caked around the side of his bruised – looking snout. He probably noticed my stare, since he began to sheepishly wipe away the dirt from his nose.

I turned back to Azurill, "So what happened next? Did either of you get hurt?"

Azurill shook her head and said, "No, I didn't get hurt at all. I lied, he actually only tripped over my tail!" She said shamelessly, sticking her tongue out. I sighed in relief and reached over to pick Azurill up. She happily jumped into my paws and settled herself underneath my ruff.

"But then, something scary happened," She said, her voice losing some of the gaiety from before, "After I ran away from Blue and out of the crowd, I bumped into a scary Pokémon." She poked her head out from under my ruff. I noticed that her face wasn't smiling anymore.

"Who was it?" I asked, gently patting her head. Azurill just shook her head in response.

"I dunno," She looked over to Blue, who had adopted a serious look on his face, "I've never met that Pokémon before."

"Blue?" I addressed my friend, who looked like he knew something about what happened.

Blue nodded and began to recount the events, "It's as Azurill said. She ran away from me after I accidentally tripped over her tail." He gestured over to Azurill, who ducked under my ruff with a small giggle, "I was afraid that I had hurt her, so I chased after her into the crowd." He grimaced and said with a strained voice, "It... wasn't easy."

He crossed his arms and glanced down at his legs. I noticed that the scars from the Kabuto attack from yesterday still haven't fully healed yet. In fact, they looked even worse than before. It would've been hard for him to chase after Azurill, in a crowd no less, with an injured leg like that. Suddenly, I felt a pang of guilt inside me. It was my fault that he got hurt, after all...

"Fée, are you blaming yourself again?" I quickly looked up at Blue. Did he read my mind? He smirked when he saw the surprise etched on my face, "Bingo."

"B – but, your leg got hurt because of m –," I tried to say, but he just held up a hand in front of my face, interrupting me.

"I already told you," He said, grinning, "It doesn't hurt that much, really." To emphasize his point, he slapped his leg with his paw. Unfortunately, his bravado wasn't enough to mask the pain. He winced and coughed a few times before forcing himself to give me a thumbs up and a smile. I sighed.

He's such an idiot. You don't have to pretend to be strong like that, Blue.

"Blue..."

"I'm telling you, I'm fine. No need to worry." He said, closing the lid on the discussion.

I just shook my head. I made a mental note to collect more Oran Berries later. At this rate, he'll be completely covered in sticky Oran Berry juice before his entire body's healed. The thought of Blue walking around, completely covered from head to toe in blue goop made me giggle a bit.

"So what happened after you chased Azurill through the crowd?" I asked, "Did you meet that scary Pokémon she talked about?"

Blue nodded solemnly, "Yeah. I did." He glanced at my ruff, where Azurill was hiding under. She was quavering a little, so I wrapped my paws around her comfortingly. Blue began to trace a picture in the road with his paw. I watched as he sketched out a strange – looking Pokémon with a pudgy body and a long, trailing nose.

"Is this... a Drowzee?" I said, recognizing the Pokémon's long, snout.

"You know this guy?" Blue questioned, staring curiously at me. I quickly shook my head and explained.

"I once read a book about Pokémon with psychic powers before," I jabbed a paw at the sketch on the ground, "I remember seeing this Pokémon in the book. They're called Drowzee, and they're known to have powerful hypnotic abilities."

"Hypnotic abilities?"

I nodded, "Yeah. Hold on, let me see if I can remember more," I scrunched up my face, trying to recall the details of the book, "Um... I think it means Drowzee have the ability to put Pokémon to sleep with their powers..."

"That's it?" Blue said, rolling his eyes, "Then I really should've just beat him up when I had the chance."

"Beat him up?!" I goggled at Blue, startled by what he just said, "What do you mean beat him up?Is that why you have that big bruise on your chest? Were you in a fight?"

"Err... heh," Blue scratched his head sheepishly while I glared suspiciously at him, "Well, you see..."

"Blue saved me from that big, ugly Drowzee!" Azurill retorted, popping her face out of my ruff, "Don't be mad at him, Fée! He didn't do anything bad!"

"That's not the point, Azurill," I replied, still staring at Blue, "Tell me what happened with that Drowzee."

Blue shrugged and said, "It's like Azurill said, I saved her from the Drowzee." I raised an eyebrow, unsatisfied with that answer. Blue sighed and explained further, "When I finally got out of the crowd, I saw Azurill and that creep – Drowzee – standing over her. I didn't know what happened between the two, but whatever it was, it didn't seem like anything good was going to come out of it."

"So I ran in between them, trying to keep Drowzee away from Azurill."

"And that's when you got hurt?" I said, eying his bruise warily. He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest, blocking my view.

"Nah, the Drowzee didn't attack me," He replied, "I threatened to fight him if he didn't leave immediately. I managed to scare him away with that," He lifted a fist triumphantly, "See? I didn't need to throw a punch at all."

I remained unconvinced, my eyes narrowing at his story. If he really didn't fight the Drowzee, then how did he end up on the side of the road, unconscious? His story didn't add up.

"So what happened after that?" I said, "You shooed away the Drowzee and then?"

"Err..." Blue lowered his fist and looked surprised. He fell silent and turned away from me, scratching his head.

"Blue?"

He didn't respond immediately, but instead, he closed his eyes. He looked like he was thinking deeply about something. I glanced down worriedly at Azurill, who just gave me a puzzled glance in response. After a moment of silence, he finally reopened his eyes and stared at me. But his eyes weren't directed to me, but rather, at Azurill.

"After I scared away Drowzee," He said in a low, serious voice, "I became acquainted with Azurill."

"Yeah, we chatted and joked a bit!" Azurill concurred, smiling back at Blue. But, Blue wasn't making his usual grin, but instead, he seemed to be frowning a bit.

"Yeah, we joked around a bit. But then, when I went and picked up Azurill, something happened," Blue raised up his right paw up and tapped the side of his head, "I suddenly felt a horrible pain inside my head. Then, the entire world blacked out."

I looked at him, confused for a second. Then, I gasped. I remembered Blue describing something extremely similar happening to him when he first met me on the beach yesterday. He described how he got a headache, then how the world around him suddenly vanished. Then, he fainted.

Blue nodded solemnly at me. The pieces were beginning to come together now. When he touched Azurill, he must've experienced the same thing as when he first met me. I looked down at Azurill, who looked confused at what we were talking about. When Blue fainted, the sight of him collapsing must've terrified her. No wonder she was crying so hard when she found me. I gently rubbed Azurill's head, she must've been really scared. I know I was.

"So... that means," I said in a quiet voice, "Did you... did you see something?"

Blue didn't immediately respond. Instead, he closed his eyes and looked like he was thinking hard about my question. After another moment of silence, he frowned and shrugged.

"I didn't see anything," he stated bluntly, "everything was all black and murky. I couldn't make out anything at all."

I tilted my head in confusion, "But... you said yesterday that you clearly saw what happened to me," I remembered his startlingly accurate description of the beach, "How come it's different this time?"

Blue just shrugged and tapped his head, "I wish I knew the answers to that," He frowned again, "Actually, I wish I knew why this happens in the first place. Fée, have you ever read any books about headaches and blackouts?"

I shook my head. I've read books about blackouts and headaches before, but those books only described mundane things like accidentally hitting your head too hard or oversleeping for too long. Nothing I've read has ever talked about suddenly losing your vision and fainting afterward from a painful headache by just touching somebody.

"I see," Blue shook his head and shrugged, "well, I guess it can't be helped," he stretched out his arms and legs and looked up at the sky.

"Actually, now that I think about it," Blue said, staring idly at the clouds overhead, "There was something odd during my blank vision."

"What was it?"

"I told you, I didn't see anything at all, right?"

"Yeah, you did."

"But, even though I was standing there in the complete darkness, I could hear voices around me. Two voices."

"Did you recognize them?"

Blue shook his head, "No. Even if I could, my headache was so painful that I couldn't really focus anyway."

"Then, what did you hear?"

He paused. He mulled over the question for a moment before answering.

"I couldn't really understand what the voices were saying," Blue said, "But there was one word I managed to make out through my pounding headache."

"What was it?"

"I heard someone screaming help."

Xatu rushed through the crowd, his eyes darting left and right frantically. It's been over half an hour since he last saw the Riolu. From what he had heard, the Riolu had won his first match during the event, and for that, he was grateful. However, the second match involving the Riolu had to be passed over since the Riolu was absent.

When he heard the floating Buneary announce that, he felt as though his wings had been clipped whilst he was flying. Thankfully, it only meant that the Riolu would have to skip a match and that he wasn't disqualified, but it still made a terrifying shiver go down his spine. He thought back to the Persian and the horde of Meowth.

Why, oh why did he had to go and make that wager? Why did he have to go and dig himself into such a deep hole? He looked down at the small, golden coin in his wing and gulped. He didn't have a choice. For the sake of his own livelihood, he had to make that wager. There was no other way. He had to win the gamble.

And for that, he needed to find that Riolu. At first, he didn't know what to think about the little blue Pokémon. It was a little startling to find a Riolu wandering around the streets of Treasure Town, the gigantic immigration wave notwithstanding. Riolu were known to be isolationist and rather self – centered, preferring to stay amongst their own kind and not associate with the rest of the world. Therefore, he was incredibly surprised to find one in the crowd.

He thought he could stick to his usual tactics, say some bogus phrases about mystical charms and maybe namedrop his ancestors a bit to fool the Riolu. An easy catch, Xatu believed, and he could make some quick money from him. But he didn't expect the Riolu to be so clueless about everything. He didn't even know what money was, nor could he read!

Xatu was both flabbergasted and disappointed. But he quickly thought of a plan. Riolu, despite their negative image, were known to be skilled fighters. And it just so happens that one of the big adventuring guilds in the town was holding some sort of brutish combat show in the plaza. Xatu believed that if he entered this Pokémon into the event, he could go to Persian and strike a wager.

Luckily for him, the Riolu was interested in his wares. It was easy for Xatu to offer the Riolu a proposition. A few victories in the arena, and the Riolu gets what he wants. Simple, right? At least, that was what he thought.

He heard that the first match that the Riolu participated in was a hard – fought battle, with both sides taking severe damage in the process. At that point, Xatu became worried. It no longer felt like a foolproof plan, and only now did he realize the shortcomings of his cunning strategy to get out of debt. It all relied on the Riolu to win. To win, and win and win.

But what if the Riolu lost? What then? He would be in deep trouble, both financially and physically. He had gambled on the Riolu would be a skilled fighter, a tier above the rest. Perhaps the money signs in his eyes blinded him from seeing all sides of the situation. He had imagined a straight victory by the Riolu. After all, Riolu were strong, right?

Xatu grimaced. If only he had the same capabilities as his ancestors. If he had the power to see like they did, then possibly, he would've been able to predict this outcome. No, if he had the power to see, then he wouldn't even be in this situation in the first place.

Xatu thought back to the Persian. The Persian seemed to know about his shortcomings. The way the cat kept sarcastically referring to him as 'prophet' both frustrated and irritated him to no end. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't see, it wasn't his fault.

Alas, all the complaining in the world wouldn't be able to fix his problems, nor fill his purse. Xatu broke out of the crowd and looked around the plaza for the Riolu, hoping to find him before another battle comes and goes.

"Wow! This is delicious! Fée, what is this?!"

I watched as Blue's eyes sparkled gleefully as he took another bite out of the slice of apple pie. Smiling, I pulled out another slice of pie and put it in front of him. He eagerly picked it up with his other paw and gave me a crumbly grin.

"It's just an apple pie," I said matter – of – factly, "You've never had an apple pie before?"

Blue shook his head, scattering crumbs everywhere. He gleefully devoured the first pie in one bite and immediately started on the second. I shook my head at his childishness. It was strange seeing Blue so happy about something so simple. I've always imagined him to be strong and dignified, but that idea shattered when I saw him choke from stuffing too much pie into his mouth.

A while had passed since we wrapped up our discussion about Blue's strange vision. At that time, I didn't know what to think about it. I wanted to take Blue over to somewhere quieter and maybe get someone to properly look over his injuries. But Blue just shrugged off my suggestions and said that all he needed was some food and some rest, and he'll be just fine.

I wasn't convinced though, but I decided that it probably would be better for him to stay here and rest instead of forcing him to move across town when there's so many Pokémon moving around.

"Fée..." I looked down and saw Azurill nudging my paw with her tail. She was staring at me imploringly, "Can I have one of these?"

She pointed at the small white box that I was holding. Inside the box were the leftovers from the meal we had earlier with Sunflora and Loudred. I saved some apple pie and some of the sweet berry slices that Sunflora made to share with Blue later.

"Sure, go ahead," I said, offering the box to Azurill. She cheered gleefully and picked out several colorful berry slices.

I gave her a little pat on the head before returning to my task. I scooped up several fallen berries on the ground and dusted them off before putting them back inside my bag. Speaking of my bag, I mentally apologized as I stared forlornly at its current state. I had hastily torn it off my neck when I found Blue, and it resulted in the bag's straps being torn into two pieces, again, as well as the body now sporting a rather large tear down the side.

I sighed as I prodded the hole on the bag. I saw my precious treasure peeking through the hole, as if it was staring at me. I gently nudged it deeper into the bag. The last thing I want now is for it to roll out and when we walk through town. Especially after all the trouble we went through to get it back.

"Hold on Azurill, that one's mine!" I raised up my head to see Blue and Azurill fighting over the last slice of pie in the box.

"No way! You already ate three whole slices!"

"I'm bigger, so I need to eat more!"

"You're selfish!"

They both pulled at the pie. Eventually, the poor pie slice couldn't handle the pressure and was torn into two pieces. Jam and pie crust splattered all over the ground as Blue and Azurill sat in a stunned silence, holding their halves of the pie while jam dripped down their faces.

"This seems like a good compromise," I could barely hold back my laughter as I walked toward them, "You both now get half of the pie. Plus some extra splattered all over you two."

Blue and Azurill glared at each other for a second before suddenly breaking out in mirthful laughter. I joined in the laughter, unable to hold back my own.

I sat down next to Azurill and patted her on the head. She gave me a jam – covered smile and wrapped her tail affectionately around my paw.

"Did you have fun today, Azurill?" I asked, shaking her tail up and down.

"Yep!" She said cheerfully, "I'm having so much fun right now! I met all sorts of new Pokémon, I found a new friend," She gestured to Blue, who was already half – way done with his pie, "and I got to run around all over town!"

"Marill usually never lets me go out on my own," She continued, sounding a little less cheerful, "Usually, he just makes me stay at home while he goes out and does whatever he does outside."

Azurill tightened her grip on my paw, "That's no fun. I hate staying at home and doing nothing all day. I wanna go out and play, and have adventures like today!"

"Azurill..." I said, giving her a worried look.

"I wish he would stop being so clingy!" She said, taking a big bite out of her pie, "I think I'd like him more if he would just stop being so afraid of everything all the time."

"You mean Marill?" I asked.

She nodded, "Yep, Marill," She took another bite out of her pie before continuing, "He's always going on and on about how dangerous it is outside, or how scared he is about me getting hurt. But I'm not afraid!"

Her little head drooped down, "I wish he would understand," She looked at me with a small frown on her face, "I'm not a child anymore, you know? I don't want him to always be so worried about me. He's always overdoing it and tiring himself out all the time. I hate that."

"Azurill, I'm sure your brother does that because he cares about you. He just wants you to be safe."

"I know..." She said quietly, "I love him, you know? I know how much he cares about me. I wish I could grow up faster so he wouldn't be so worried all the time."

I glanced over to Blue, who was silently listening in on our conversation. He walked over to Azurill and gently placed a paw on her head.

"Azurill," I said in a calm voice, "The reason why he works so hard is so you don't have to grow up so fast. He wants you to have fun, and enjoy yourself some more."

"He does?"

"That's right," I smiled at her, "If it wasn't for Marill, you wouldn't be able to have as much fun as you have now."

"So don't be so hard on your brother, alright?"

"Okay, Fée," She said, untangling herself from my paw. She pointed at the sky with her tail and announced loudly, "I still wanna grow up though! I wanna be taller and stronger than Blue is!

She pointed her tail at Blue, who grinned and placed his paw against it.

"And," She continued, "I wanna go out of Treasure Town! I wanna go and explore the world! I bet you that there's probably hundreds, no, more than hundreds of places out there that's super fun to visit!"

I smiled at her. I was just about to reply to her boast when suddenly, a new voice rang out from behind us.

"Well, it seems like you're all having a lot of fun,"

Sunflora and Loudred were standing on the road behind us with big smiles plastered on their faces.

"Sunflora! Loudred!" I stood up and greeted my new friends happily, "It's nice to see you two again!"

"Has it really been that long?" Loudred mused, rubbing his chin. He stared at my two jam – covered companions and remarked, "So is he the friend you were talking about back then?"

"Yep!" I trotted over to Blue and nudged him playfully with my paw, "This is my friend, Blue!"

"'Blue?'" Loudred repeated in a puzzled voice, "... I didn't know that was actually his name..."

Sunflora slapped Loudred over the head hard with her leaf, making him cry out in surprise.

"Ow! What the heck Sunflora?"

"Oh my gosh! Why must you always be so rude?" She chided. She turned to Blue and bowed apologetically, "I'm so sorry about my companion's rudeness, eek!"

"It's not a big deal," Blue said, waving off her apology, "Don't worry about it."

"Ooh, he's so cool!" Sunflora said gleefully, "I've never met a Riolu before, so this is a new experience for me! Eek!"

"Thanks...?" Blue said, looking a little confused and maybe a little taken aback by how enthusiastic Sunflora was.

I giggled at Blue's apprehension and decided to throw him a bone. I nudged Sunflora and asked, "So did you find Azurill's brother?"

"Oh, yes!" She said, clapping her leaves together as if she just remembered, "Marill, where are you? Come on ou –!"

Before she even finished her sentence, a sudden blue blur came zooming out from behind Loudred toward Azurill. Blue quickly stood up, his leftover pie splattering on the ground as he took a fighting stance, his eyes steely.

"Oh, Azurill! Azurill! Where have you been? I was so worried about you!"

Blue stared at me for a second, evidently confused. I shook my head and just pointed at Azurill.

"Gah! Brother, stop hugging me, you're suffocating me! Ew! You're crying all over me, let me go!"

"I'm so sorry Azurill! I'm such an awful brother to you, I'm so sorry! I ran all over town, looking for you, but there was just too many Pokémon, and I couldn't find you anywhere! Please forgive me, Azurill!"

I couldn't help but smile at the scene. Azurill's brother, Marill had pulled her into a big, heartwarming hug. He was crying huge tears while he clung tightly onto her, despite Azurill's protests and struggling.

"Aww, isn't that just adorable?" Sunflora squealed happily, "A family reunion always feels so nice, doesn't it Loudred?"

"I dunno, it looks more like a fight to me than a reunion – ow!"

I laughed as Sunflora slapped Loudred over the head again.

"Gyeeh!" Azurill squealed as she managed to escape Marill's clutches. She ran behind Blue and peeked out from behind his legs, sticking her tongue out at her brother.

"Are you the one who found Azurill?" Marill said in a surprised voice, as if he just noticed Blue's presence, "Thank you, thank you so much! I don't know how I can repay you for your troubles."

Blue looked uncomfortable at the sight of Marill practically prostrating in front of him. He looked over to me with an expression that practically screamed 'help me!' I giggled at his desperation and walked over to Marill and tapped him on the back. He spun around and looked at me in surprise.

"Fée? You're here too?" He sounded so genuinely surprised that I almost laughed out loud in front of him.

"Yes, Marill, I'm here too," I said, barely holding back my mirth, "How are you?"

"I'm fine...!" He said, looking decidedly not – fine, "I've just been running all over town looking for my sister all day. I was so scared when she suddenly grabbed onto that Drifblim. I mean, have you ever seen a Drifblim before? They're massive! Then she got carried away by that balloon – I mean Drifblim – and I couldn't see her anymore! I felt like I was going to faint on the spot!"

I shook my head, trying to process the sheer tidal wave of words that Marill was throwing at me. I glanced over to Azurill in Blue's paws, who just gave me an amused look and tittered silently as I tried to brave her brother's worries.

"...and then I ran into a crowd of Meowth and Persian, and I thought they were gonna rob me!"

I turned toward Loudred and Sunflora. Loudred shrugged while Sunflora seemed like she was listening intently to Marill's tale of woe.

"To cut a long story short," Loudred said in a loud, commanding voice, "We found Marill running around the guild district, frantically writing all sorts of requests for someone to find his dear sister."

"It's true!" Sunflora said when I glanced over to her for confirmation, "Marill was practically inconsolable, eek! He was just running all over the place, begging for someone to help him! He even had a bag of Poké that he was shaking around!"

"Marill, you didn't!" Azurill yelled, glaring angrily at him, blushing. Marill ashamedly fiddled around with his tail, staring intently at his feet.

"Well, thankfully we found him before he blew his entire life's savings away," Loudred remarked, patting Marill playfully on the back, "You have a great brother, Azurill. Hahaha!"

"Mmhh..." Marill mumbled nervously as the big blue Pokémon beside him roared with laughter. Azurill blushed furiously while Blue just stared with confusion and amusement on his face.

"That's not a bad thing, Marill," I said, smiling at him, "Loudred's right. You were being a good brother."

Marill looked at me and gave me a small smile, "Thanks Fée, I really appreciate it." He sighed and straightened up. He looked over at Blue and gave him a nod. Blue seemed to understand what he meant, and put Azurill down on the ground.

"Azurill, I'm sorry for overreacting like that," Marill said softly at Azurill, "But you have to understand. You're my younger sister, my family. I can't help it if I get worried when you're gone."

"But you didn't have to go around begging for help!" Azurill shouted back, "I was fine the entire day, you know? I didn't need you to go around and try and pay people to find me!"

I gave Blue a worried glance. The incident with the Drowzee resurfaced in my mind. But Blue just shook his head and remained silent.

"Azurill, I know you want to go out and play," Marill held Azurill's tail and patted it, "There would be nothing I'd like more than to let you go out and romp around with your friends. But... I'm scared, Azurill. You're my... you're my only family now, and I don't want to lose you too. That's why I don't want to let you out of my sight if possible."

"I'm sorry if I'm always so... so panicky. I know I'm always sheltering you, preventing you from going out and having fun all the time, but I just can't help it. You're still so young... and you know mom wouldn't want you to be hurt..."

"Don't talk about mom!" Azurill shouted in an unexpectedly harsh voice, making me, and everyone else, jump with shock. She smacked Marill's paws away from her tail and send him tumbling on the ground. Azurill leapt away from him, snarling.

"Azurill...!" Marill tried to reach toward Azurill, his voice cracking and sounding hurt, "Azurill please, I didn't mean to –"

"You're always trying to be like mom!" Azurill screamed, tears were beginning to well up in her eyes, "You're not mom, Marill! You're not!"

Suddenly, she turned her back on Marill and began to run. Blue reached out and tried to grab onto her tail, but she slipped past his paws and ran away.

"Azurill!" I shouted out in shock, "Azurill come back!"

"I'll catch her," Blue nodded at Sunflora and Loudred and the three of them took off running after the little girl. I glanced nervously at Marill, who looked as though someone had just poured an entire bucket of iced water over him.

"Marill... are you alright?" I said, worried. Tears suddenly started rolling down his face as he tried to pull himself back up. He covered his eyes with his paws, trying to staunch the flow of tears.

"I – I did something stupid... I completely forgot..."

"Marill, calm down..." I tried to comfort him, but he continued to sob.

"I... Azurill... she was always closer to mom than I was," He said, choking a little, "When mom left us, she... Azurill was devastated..."

"When we moved to Treasure Town, I had hoped that Azurill would eventually get over mom, but I guess she never could let go. I've tried so long, so hard to be a good brother, but... I guess I'm just terrible. Terrible at being a brother or a replacement for her mother."

He stared at Azurill's half – eaten pie on the ground and said bitterly, "I guess I never could replace mom in her eyes. I bet... she hates me even more now..."

"Marill..."

I just didn't know what to say. I've always known that Azurill and Marill lived alone, but that was the norm in Treasure Town. Many Pokémon moved to Treasure Town to seek out new lives and forget their past, and I've always assume that that was why Marill and Azurill lived here. But I never imagined that this was the reason.

I picked up my bag with my mouth. I patted Marill on the back to get his attention.

"Marill, let's go," I said, my voice muffled by the straps in my mouth.

"Go? Go where?" He said, confused.

"Isn't it obvious? We're going to find Azurill and talk to her."

"No... no, no, I don't think that's a good idea," Marill said, looking despondent, "I... I don't think she wants to see me anymore, not after that."

"That's not true!" I replied, giving him a confident look, "Azurill doesn't hate you, Marill. She never did, and you know that."

"So don't say that you're a terrible brother, Marill. You were worried about her, weren't you? Loudred said you were running around the guilds, begging for help."

"She hated that, didn't you hear her yell?"

I shook my head, "She was just embarrassed, that's all. I'm sure the appreciates how hard you tried to find her. Even if it was a little over the top."

"Fée..."

I gave him another pat on the back and smiled, "Now come on, let's go find your sister and apologize to her."

He sniffled and wiped his eyes, giving me a strange sense of déjà vu. He stood up and nodded, "Thank you, Fée. Azurill's lucky to have a friend like you."

"Aren't we friends as well?" I remarked, nudging him playfully. He blushed and quickly waved his arms around.

"Y – yeah, we're friends too, sorry, I forgot."

I giggled and ran off, leaving Marill behind. I turned around and shouted at him.

"Come on, let's go!"

Azurill sat down on the ground, sighing to herself. She knew that what she did was childish and stupid, but she couldn't help it. When she heard that he had been looking for her all day, she secretly felt a little happy, even though she pretended to be annoyed. But that all changed when Loudred brought up the fact that Marill tried to spend money to find her.

Azurill knew that Marill worked hard to support the both of them, and sometimes, they had to live through hard times because of bad luck. But she didn't complain, and in fact, she secretly respected her brother for working so hard all the time. For her, but never for himself.

A small flame of anger grew inside of her. Marill was so stupid. Ever since mom vanished, Marill never seemed to slow down and take a rest. Azurill recalled the morning, when she somehow managed to convince him to go outside with her and check out the commotion. But no matter how much Azurill tried to point out how interesting and exciting everything was, her brother would always fret and worry about Azurill getting hurt. It made her sad and frustrated that her brother just couldn't calm down and enjoy the atmosphere.

Eventually, she just couldn't take it anymore and saw a big, floating balloon – like Pokémon in the air. She decided that, if Marill was going to keep worrying, then she might as well make it exciting. The next thing Azurill knew, she was floating high, high up in the sky. She couldn't see Marill anymore, and she was scared of falling. Thankfully, the Pokémon she hitched a ride with was kind and understanding, and let her down somewhere else in town.

Of course, she was now alone and scared. It pained her to admit that, without her brother around, she was a little frightened of everything. The kind Drifblim had floated away, and it seemed like everything around her was foreign and scary. Luckily for her, she managed to spot a familiar face eventually.

"Hey, isn't that Fée?"

"It is! Fée! Hello Fée!"

She recognized the brown furred Pokémon. The little Eevee that lived close to them, even though Azurill had never visited her home before. Azurill felt relieved that she found a familiar, friendly face, and immediately attached herself onto the Eevee.

Since then, everything became a crazy blur. Azurill met new friends, Sunflora and Loudred. She got separated from Fée and accidentally tripped another new friend, Blue. She was scared by Drowzee, but her cool new friend Blue saved her.

It was so strange, and everything felt so new. It was an adventure that she'd never been on before. It was fun, exciting, and even a little scary. But it was such a fresh new experience.

But then, everything stopped when she reunited with Marill again. She knew that Marill was probably worried and afraid about her. Azurill felt a little guilty when he hugged her so happily. He didn't blame her, and instead kept calling himself an awful brother. That made Azurill mad. It wasn't his fault that she went missing, it was hers.

And then he said that he tried to beg someone to help him find her. With his hard earned money.

Azurill felt sick. She felt awful that Marill had to go to such lengths to try and find her. She never wanted him to do that. She only wanted to scare him a bit, but for him to sacrifice something like that for her, it just made her feel guilty. Then, he had to remind her about mom...

Azurill felt tears beginning to well up in her eyes. Why did he have to bring up mom? She knew that Marill was trying to take care of her as much as he could, to do what mom would've done if she was still around. It's already been a few years, but she still just couldn't get over it.

"U...u..." She couldn't stop the tears anymore. Warm droplets of water came pouring out of her eyes as she tried to stem the flow with her tail. But it wouldn't stop. Marill... Mom...

She sat on the ground in her pitiable state, sobbing, crying alone. She didn't even know where she was anymore, but she continued to cry.

"Well... what do you know? No bodyguard this time, little girl...?

Startled, Azurill quickly turned around. But she couldn't see anything, as a large hand suddenly exploded into her view, grabbing tightly onto her face and roughly yanking her off the ground.

"G – gaah!" She tried to scream for help, but the stranger's hand was muffling her mouth. She tried to bite him, but her tiny teeth could only barely tickle his palm.

"You never should've left that Riolu's side, little girl..." She froze. She recognized that slow, drawling voice, "Hm hm hm... I thought I had to give up on you when that blasted Riolu appeared... but look at you now, walking right into me like a Farfetch'd into a boiling pot."

Her captor shifted his grip on Azurill. Suddenly, she could breath. Taking a deep breath, Azurill shouted as loud as she could.

"HEEEEEEELP!"

Stars erupted in her eyes as the Drowzee violently slammed a fist on her head, shutting her up.

"Don't do that, brat," He said furiously as he readjusted his grip again to cover up her mouth, "Or else worse punishment will come to you..."

Azurill was terrified. She begged for someone... anyone... to have heard her plea. Unfortunately, no one came, making the Drowzee chuckle darkly.

"What a shame... your only hope, dashed..."

He shifted his hand so that Azurill's eyes would be freed, but still kept her mouth muffled.

"Take a good look, little girl..." Drowzee said with a perverse glee as he placed his other hand on top of Azurill's head, "For this will be the last time you'll ever see Treasure Town again, hm hm hm..."

She didn't even get to see anything. Her vision was too blurred by tears.