My name is Elm Leaf, a Deerling, and I live in a large herd of others of my kind. Living in a herd is useful, because it will be harder for predators to catch any specific members. Although we do sometimes lose some of our own, young Deerling like me are told that it is only the natural order of the world. So how come I can't get over… Well, I suppose I should start from the beginning.

It was a peaceful spring day, nearly summer, and my herd was looking for a new place to move to. We had to do that a lot. There's only so much grass in the world. My friend Cerise and I were discussing where we could possibly live.

"How about the place near that stream?" she said. Cerise was very talkative. I used to be talkative too…
"Maybe, but there's a lot of rocks there. I don't like stepping on rocks," I replied.
"Well wherever we end up, I hope it's a good place!" she exclaimed.

I'd been friends with her for as long as I remember. One summer, it was really hot, and to cool down we played in a river together. Some male Deerling were bothering me once, and she bravely told them to go away. Such great memories…

Oh, Cerise…

"Okay, herd, we're on the move!" shouted the leader of the group, a large male Sawsbuck. My kind are very fast runners, and we all ran as fast as we could to our new location. "Watch out for any predators!"

And so we ran for miles and miles without tiring. We ran through grasslands, across rivers, near forests, and all sorts of other locations.

Eventually, it was getting dark, and we had decided to temporarily stop for the night. The ground was rocky, and there were a few trees in the area, so we wouldn't be completely out in the open. Me and Cerise moved to under one of the trees.

"Um… Elmie? I think something's coming…" said Cerise, looking at the horizon.
"Whatever it is, it's nothing to worry about. Just let me get to sleep…" I yawned.

But little did I know…

"WAKE UP, EVERYONE!" shouted a female Sawsbuck. "RUN!"

There was a lot of commotion as everyone woke up. I could hear running in the distance, and it was coming closer…

"ARCANINE ARE COMING!"

Arcanine are one of my kind's natural predators. I don't understand why you humans find the concept of Pokémon eating other Pokémon strange. It's only a fact of life.

We quickly gathered into a group again, Cerise and I sticking together. The two of us went everywhere together. The Arcanine were getting closer and closer and closer…

We'd been running for what felt like a while, but the Arcanine pack still hadn't given up. I didn't know they had that much stamina. The rocky ground was starting to wear on my hooves, but I had to keep running.

Suddenly, Cerise tripped over on a rock. The two of us were near the back of the group, and my kind can't really get up easily after falling over. But I couldn't look back. I couldn't. I had to keep running forward. I had to. I had to survive.

"Elmie!"

"Cerise…!"

What happened after that was all a blur. The next thing I remember is eventually making it to a grassland with less rocky ground. The old Sawsbuck who warned us that the Arcanine were coming wanted to talk to the whole herd.

"We regret to inform you that not everyone survived the attack," she said. She then started listing off the names of various members of the herd I didn't know. Death was part of the natural order of the world, right? But then I was shocked when she said a certain name: Cerise.

I couldn't believe it. Cerise, who would stand up for me when the other Deerling bothered me. Cerise, who I played with in a river on a really hot summer's day. Cerise, who was always there for me.
Cerise, who I didn't believe when she warned me that something was coming.
That Cerise couldn't be dead.

I didn't notice it at first, but I started crying. The Sawsbuck seemed to notice, though.

"Elm Leaf, you don't need to cry. Cerise may be gone, yes, but that's just the way the world works," she said, trying to comfort me.

"You don't understand!" I angrily responded. "Cerise wasn't just part of some systematic world. Cerise was my friend… my closest companion… Don't you understand?!"

Anything the Sawsbuck tried to say to me at the time was lost on me. I was too angry to accept what was going on. I never thought I'd have to deal with something like this at such a young age.

I couldn't think clearly for days afterwards.

What's that white Pokémon in the sky…?

After a few days, I managed to calm down and think clearly. Cerise may be gone, but on the other end of the spectrum, the Arcanine got something good in return. Maybe losing a close friend like that was some kind of lesson for me. If I don't lose things, how will I learn to cope? Eventually, I will join Cerise, and all of the other members of our herd we lost. They may not have meant much to me, but some other members of the herd must've been as distraught as I was. I'm still not sure if I'll ever get over losing Cerise, but it's something I'll just have to live with. I still sometimes remember that day and start to cry. But sadness is perfectly normal, and it's okay to miss someone who died. Even if there are some things we can never mend, it all worked out fine in the end.

You can't gain anything without giving something in return. I like to call that equivalent exchange.