It was on the other side of the riverbank that what was left of Hina's old home remained, and that was where Hina hastily began to shuffle her friend. After crossing the bridge she pulled him playfully through the dense overgrown thicket that bordered the yard. "It's right past here."

Simisear gazed around the stretch of clearing before him. It was a small area of around 30 square feet completely vacant of trees. Instead it was furnished with remnants of untrimmed hedges, patches of dying vegetables, and rows of wilting flowerbeds that were bordered by decorative pebbles. What once could have been a few berry saplings was now dried out and bare, leaning against a stone wall covered in ivy. Simisear looked at Hina's excited face awkwardly as she continued to lead him through the yard. You've gotta be kidding me. This place seems completely beyond help to me. THIS is what she's been gushing over? Suddenly he froze.

Hina, who had been leading him eagerly, felt him stop in his tracks behind her and looked over her shoulder. She'd been taking his silence for amazement at her abode, but could now feel a rigid, tense feeling in his arm. "What is it?"

His eyes were wide and he looked nervously at her. "Don't go any closer. There's something over there. " His tone had turned almost fearful, and he pointed forward. Following his gaze, Hina looked and saw he was indicating a small wood cabin nestled in the brush, about thirty yards away and almost hidden by the wild foliage growing around it. It was her old house. A wave of nostalgia came over her as she looked it over, and then she turned back to Simisear with a small smile. He must not know what they are, she thought. I doubt he's ever been this close to anything manmade in his life. "It's alright, that's actually-"

"It's human. Stay away from it!" He was genuinely upset now, glaring at the building viciously. He took a nervous step back forcefully.

Hina stumbled as she was pulled backward with him, and let out a gasp of surprise. She hadn't expected him to know what humans were at all, let alone recognize things belonging to them. "Simisear, what are you talking about? This is my old-"

Simisear jerked her towards him again as he took a step back, and Hina abruptly fell at him with a yelp. Her forehead buried into his chest, and she let out a few breaths of surprise, his rapid heartbeat pulsing against her temple. "Hina." Simisear's voice was on edge, and she rose her face up to look at him uncertainly. This was the first time he had used her name. Their eyes locked and Simisear turned away quickly, leering back at the lodge. He shoved her off of him and she felt his body shivering in fear.

"I think you're naïve and way too trusting. And in a way I'm envious of you for that." He said these words tensely, and Hina's stomach knotted. Without realizing it she gripped his arm tighter as she stared into his face, drawn to his piercing eyes. "…trust me, you don't know anything about humans. And if you're lucky and smart, it will stay that way. They're nothing but trouble."

Humans? Bad? Hina's mind spun in shock. Surely the humans she and Simisear were thinking of were completely different entities. There's no way Master and his family were 'trouble'. She opened her mouth to retort, to explain to Simisear he was surely mistaken, but she was silenced by one of his fingers to her lips. He was now looking down at her, and an odd expression on his face. His eyes almost seemed to be glazed over as he looked at her, or was it into and past her? "I don't want you to be corrupted by them the way so many others have been…." He struggled to say the next few words, his tail bristling and lashing back and forth in irritation. "You're innocent, and I don't want to see someone like you end up hurt."

She gazed into his eyes and felt a blush creep over her face; a warm quiver tickled her backside and something in her chest squeezed as she gazed into his amber eyes glaring at her, looking into her, really seeming to see her. He's completely wrong, though, she thought wildly, yet he's steadfast and seems so worried about it…it's terrible to see him like that. He continued to watch her pleadingly, and her heart gave an excited pang. It won't hurt anyone to go along with it, right? He doesn't have to know about my past…

She swallowed and then nodded. "Okay, Simisear. I promise." His eyes lit up, and he beamed at her as he released her from his tight hold. Had he seen a flicker of anxiety in her as he had protested? Never mind. She was agreeing to it, and that alone made all the difference. He felt the small seed of unease in the pit of his stomach shrink. Who am I, a compete stranger, to just show up and tell her how to live her life, though? He mulled. …but do I really want to the past to repeat itself? It's for everybody's wellbeing here, I'm sure…

"Simisear?" Hina was in unease at his silence, and a nervous feeling began to breed in her stomach as she regarded his brooding figure. "Simisear, answer me!" She waved her hand over his eyes and he jumped with a start, looking at his friend at first with confusion, then with compassion. She really is a naïve fool, but certainly a kind one, he thought, detecting the concern in his voice. I've never really met anyone like that.

"What do you say I start taking you up on my half of our deal?" he smiled, and tossed her a playful wink. "After all, I'm a nice guy, right? It's only fair."

Hina didn't waste a second after he had spoken before she began grinning and erupted into a dance of joy. "Ahhh, right now? Ohhhhh yes! I say we do, yessss!" she bounced on her tiptoes, hair jiggling over her shoulders, and clapped her hands eagerly. While she is bubbly and peppy normally, the excited Hina is a completely different matter, Simisear thought in amusement as she began to skip around him. "Where should we start, you think? Should we gather the weeds? Do you want to-"

"Settle down," Simisear said, grabbing hold of her. "And don't go thanking me just yet. I haven't ever done something like this before. I may end up burning the whole forest down." He smirked, but he cast his eyes downward as he spoke shamefully. "You'll have to go first and tell me what I'm doing, sister."

"Just follow my lead and nothing can go wrong," she replied, smiling with enthusiasm. "I'm sure you know that Pokémon are capable of using weather changing moves, right? Like Sandstorm, Hail, and others." Simisear nodded. "Well, as of late there's not been enough rain or sunlight in the forest. I don't know why, but the atmosphere has just been…stale. Muggy, like it's choked with some kind of poison. I don't know how to describe it." She shrugged.

Simisear considered saying something then, but decided against it. Hina continued, "What I need from you is your help in making sure the forest, especially here, is getting the sunlight it needs. I'll take care of the water! Simple, right?" She clasped her hands together and rocked her head back and forth.

"I've never seen any use for those moves," Simisear remarked, brow raised. "They're not of much use out here in the wild. What gave you that idea?"

Hina flushed, and reminded herself not to speak of her past life. So long ago she had been trained to participate in Pokémon Contests, and she'd specialized in utilizing the Rain Dance technique. With another tremor of sad nostalgia, she remembered how she and Master would dance in the rain, in front of crowds in the nearby town so many years ago; she remembered how she once had taken first place and Master had been so proud.

"Ohh, just came to me one day," she said hastily. "I mean, after all, not only does the weather help grow food to make us strong, but apparently the moves themselves can boost our power. "

"I suppose," Simisear considered, looking at Hina with a newfound respect. I really never thought of that, he thought. "Let's try it out now."

Hina knelt down beside him by the flowerbed and held her tail upward. "We should start small," she explained. "I don't want a giant storm like last night, especially since you're out here right now." Not to mention I can barely manage what happens when things start to get moving…and I don't want to embarrass myself here.

Abruptly a jet of water flew from the tip of her tail and sailed upward. Simisear jumped back slightly in alarm, and Hina laughed pleasantly. "Now some clouds are going to form, but it shouldn't be much more than a drizzle." Noting Simisear's nervous face, she smiled. "If you go ahead, then your move will override mine."

Simisear looked up at the sky to see indeed a fat grey raincloud was now perched in the otherwise clear, dullish afternoon sky. A plump drop landed on his nose out of nowhere and he shuddered in surprise. "Yeah, I think I'll go now."

He raised his palms and in the centers appeared glowing white orbs of light. Hina watched earnestly, she'd never seen the Sunny Day move used before. Simisear thrust the balls of light skyward, like she had done, and as they shot up the heavens gradually grew brighter. Upon meeting the low cloud, which had birthed a few more sleepy raindrops, they both began to fade slowly. Beyond, a strip of bright sunlight pierced through the bitter sky. Several more drops continued to fall through the air, catching the sun, but vanishing before they got near the ground.

Hina ogled in amazement. I haven't seen any sun in so long…and this was just a weak, warm-up attempt. Once we both really get going, it will be so much brighter.

She turned to Simisear, whom despite trying to play it cool, looked pretty pleased with his results. "It looks wonderful!"

Simisear rolled his eyes dramatically. "I should be glad there's not a rainbow around. You'd probably go on about that thing forever."

Hina halted. "…What's a…rainbow?" The word sounds somewhat familiar, I just can't place it…

Simisear gawked at her. "You're kidding me, right? 'Cause I'm pretty sure you're kidding me." She cocked her head at him, a blush growing on her face and he realized she was serious. "Ohh, man. You have GOT to get out more." He put his palm to his face and sighed. "Rainbows…technically are just colors that appear in the sky after it rains sometimes. But where I come from we believe that when they appear it's a message from Ho-oh. A symbol of good luck."

"Ho-oh?"

Simisear sighed. "Of course, you wouldn't know. It's a legendary Pokémon and a deity to many of us." Then he frowned, putting his head upon his knees. "But then again, I probably don't have the right to follow those ways of life anymore."

Compassion filled Hina and she scooted closer to Simisear. "What happened? You can tell me."

Glancing up, he saw her staring at him intently, but with a different way than he was used to; in her eyes he saw understanding and kindness. Before he could stop himself, he began to speak. "I got kicked out of my own clan."

"That's awful!" Hina cried, not even being able to imagine how she'd survive being forced to leave her home. "How could they do that to you?"

"It doesn't matter," Simisear responded, cursing himself for saying anything at all. "I just did something stupid. But you know what? I don't care. 'Cause since then, I've been a free guy." He managed a smile as he looked at Hina. "No responsibilities except looking out for me, myself, and I. I can go anywhere I want, do anything I want, now that I'm a stray."

Hina watched him carefully, noting that despite his nonchalant tone he seemed somehow bothered. A pang filled her, but of what she couldn't say. "But…don't you ever get lonely?"

"I prefer to be independent," Simisear said. "So now, whenever I see a rainbow, what I'm going to think is that at the end is my next adventure. If I follow it, I'm bound to end up somewhere good." His eyes had the glazed look again Hina had saw before, and her heart gave a sad pang as she watched him. You don't have to hide things from me, she wanted to say, I won't judge you. I'm the last one who would want to judge you. But she couldn't push herself to do it.

The two sat in silence for a while, although Hina had the feeling it was only awkward for her…Simisear seemed completely absorbed in thought, a melancholic blankness on his face. "It's getting kind of late," Hina finally spoke up, lifting herself off the ground. "We should probably head back and have dinner. I'll change your wrap again, too."

Simisear, again, jolted awake at the sound of her voice and looked up at her. "Oh, right." He smiled and brushed himself off. "Guess we lost track of time, huh?"

Hina helped him up and kept stride with him as they began to make their way back. She kept throwing quick glances at him as they walked, her curiosity piqued.