"So you're the one who was making all that racket the other day while I was trying to talk to my friends." she said. "And you tried to kill my brother? Even more reason to teach you a lesson." Meissa's shadow then delivered a swift punch to the Sceptile's stomach before throwing him to the ground and forming an orb of shadowy energy in it's hand.
Before the orb could be thrown, Varanus jumped up and fired more seeds in Meissa's direction, catching her by surprise with his speed. Unable to get out of the way in time, Meissa cried out in pain as she was hit by the seeds, causing her to lose the concentration needed to keep her shadow together. Using the distraction his Bullet Seed gave him, Varanus ran off into the trees, not wanting to fight Meissa and Rigel both.
"Where are you going, coward?" Rigel yelled after the Sceptile. "All that tough talk and you're gonna run away?" He then turned to his sister as Varanus jumped into the branches above him. "Thanks, Meissa. I guess you've payed me back now."
"No problem." Meissa said. "Man, those seeds hurt. I'm heading back to my burrow, try not to get attacked again please."
"I'll try." Rigel said with a smile as he resumed the walk back to his burrow. "See you tomorrow." After several minutes of listening intently and looking around as he walked, Rigel entered his home and dropped down onto his bed, his body still stinging from the seeds. "Alright, now to get some sleep." he thought to himself as he rolled around, trying to get comfortable. "Let's see what I dream of this time." He soon drifted off to sleep, getting a feeling of peace that he could not quite explain.
The next morning Rigel woke up and looked around his home with his eyes wide. "Where's the stone?" he thought. "The dream... did it stop?" While Rigel could often remember at least some details of his dreams, this time he didn't recall anything, as if he never had a dream that night. "Oh Arceus, finally that dream leaves me alone, I thought I would never sleep without dreaming again." He then stood up and walked out of his burrow, smiling as he looked around at the trees. "Well, I guess it's time to say goodbye to this place for now." he said. "I sure am gonna miss it." After a large breakfast of Tanga berries, he took one last look around before walking in the direction of Tarazed's tree to meet up with his friends.
As he went, he looked around at all the trees, listened to the sounds of the forest, and reminisced about the days he had spent in this forest. He remembered when the first time he came out of his parent's burrow, the sense of wonder he felt while looking at the trees and the sky, and when he first met his friends in a shaded grove not far from his home. It was like it had only happened yesterday, he walked into the grove after hearing laughter, curious as to it's source, when he saw Aludra playing in the grass by herself. She was the first pokemon he had ever seen up close that wasn't an Eevee, and Rigel hid in the bushes where he thought she couldn't see him because he was shy and scared to approach her. After a few minutes, Aludra looked at the bush Rigel was hiding in and saw him peeking out, causing her to walk towards the bush to investigate. As she approached, Rigel tried to run out of the bush, but it had only been a few days since he had first left his parent's burrow, and he was still not completely used to walking, so he tripped over his own feet and fell before he got very far.
He could remember Aludra walking over and bending down with a smile. "Hello there." she said. "I've never seen you around here before. What's your name?"
"Um, uh, I." Rigel stuttered, trying to get the words out. "R-Rigel. M-my name is Rigel."
"Oh, well It's nice to meet you Rigel." Aludra said. "I'm Aludra, the toughest Riolu in this whole forest."
"Hi." Rigel said quietly. Even though Aludra's tone comforted him, he was still afraid to speak.
"You're not much of a talker, are you Rigel?" Aludra asked. "Anyway, I was getting kind of bored, and you seem a bit lonely, so do you want to maybe go do something with me? I've got a friend who you could meet too, he's really fun."
Rigel didn't say anything, but he nodded silently in response to Aludra's question.
"Alright, good!" she exclaimed happily. "Let's go find him, he'll be happy that I found some company."She then began walking away as Rigel slowly followed. "Hey Tarazed!" Aludra yelled after she had walked a short distance. "Tarazed, come here!"
Rigel looked around to try and find who Aludra was talking to, and quickly ducked down and covered his head when he saw a Starly fly over him. "Hey Aludra." Tarazed said upon landing. "Who's this?"
"This is Rigel." Aludra said. "I met him a few minutes ago, and he seems nice. He's a little shy though."
"Hello there Rigel." Tarazed said. "I'm Tarazed, pleased to meet you."
"H-hello." said Rigel. "It's n-nice to meet you."
"Hey, you actually got out more than four words." said Aludra. "Looks like you're improving already. Anyway, now that we've introduced ourselves, how about we stop talking and go do something fun."
Rigel spent the rest of the day playing with his two friends, feeling happier than he ever had before. He knew he would have to come back and play some more the next day, and that night he couldn't sleep a wink because of his excitement.
The memories of those days with his friends caused a tear to form in Rigel's eye as he approached Tarazed's tree and saw them and his sister standing under it talking, but now was not the time for thinking of the past, now he needed to look to the future, and the wonders and adventures it would hold.
