Chapter 3: The Long Road Home

Autumn really was Ember's favorite season. It was chilly at times, but she was a Fire Pokémon and could easily tolerate it now that her wounds were healed. All around her, beautiful orange, red, and brown leaves were falling like rain, covering the ground in their dazzling colors. Since she had spent so much time in her pokeball or the PC, she had rarely ever gotten to see the fall season, but whenever she did it always raised her spirits.

She and Absol were strolling through the path he said should take them toward a mountainous region that would act as a shortcut through a larger part of the region. Ember took in as many sights, sounds and smells as she could while they went. The fresh air in the fall-blessed forest, combined with the strong scent of pine trees, was otherworldly. She noticed a few Pidgey bringing food to nests in the branches nearby, probably preparing for the coming winter.

Every now and then, she also noticed a Spinarak weaving a web between the trees. She hadn't thought of bug Pokémon as anything more than easy targets in combat thanks to her fire moves, but the webs they made fascinated her. She actually unconsciously stopped for a moment to watch one of them at work. Absol apparently noticed this and stopped as well, standing beside her.

"Things look a little different when you aren't seeing them in battle, don't they?" He asked.

Ember could only nod in reply as she watched the bug Pokémon weaving intricate patterns, moving back and forth across them without damaging the web in the slightest.

"I think you'll find there are many other wonderful aspects of the wild that are impossible to appreciate from the inside of a pokeball," Absol continued distantly.

After a few more moments of observing the beauty around her, Ember realized she had to keep moving. She nodded to Absol, and they continued down the path, though they were still moving at a relatively relaxed pace. As they reached a wide river with a few large stones they could use to get across, they saw a human on the other side of it. They recognized he was a Pokémon trainer because of the pokeballs on his belt. He was sitting at the water's edge, a fishing line cast into the water.

"Should we hide?" Ember asked when she saw the man.

Absol shook his head. "No need. He isn't looking in our direction, and we can easily hide if he does. I want to see if I can get that bag of his."

Confused, Ember followed Absol's gaze toward the man's right. She saw his trainer bag on the ground next to him.

"Why do you want his bag?" she asked.

"Well, we'll be traveling a really long distance through plenty of foreign areas. We'll need to be able to carry any food and items we may find on the way, and trainer bags are great for that."

Ember felt mortified. "You mean you're going to take it?"

"Of course. We need it badly. Don't worry, I'll empty out all his important items and leave them there. We couldn't use them anyway."

"But…that's stealing!"

Absol merely laughed. After a few minutes, the man walked to a different part of the river, casting his fishing line into the water again.

"Now's our chance," Absol said quietly. "Wait here for a moment."

With that, Absol moved forward swiftly and silently. He seemed to almost blend in whenever he stepped into the shade. No wonder he was able to hide from trainers so easily. Finally, Absol leapt carefully across the river stones and landed on the other side of the water, sneaking up behind a tree.

The trainer still hadn't seen Absol, as his back was turned in the opposite direction. Absol quickly moved forward and grabbed the bag with his teeth, turning it upside-down and quietly shaking loose all the items inside it. TMs, spare pokeballs, and many other trainer tools fell to the ground.

"Aha! I've got you now!" The trainer suddenly yelled.

Absol froze, and Ember's heart leapt in her throat. Absol hesitantly turned back and saw that the trainer was merely yelling at a Feebas he had caught on his line. Absol breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly hopped back across the river and ran toward Ember before the trainer noticed, dropping the bag on the ground.

"That was easy," Absol said smugly. "I only wish I could see his face when he finds it gone."

"It's nothing to be proud of," Ember spat.

Absol chuckled again. "Hey, I left everything he owned behind, and he can easily find another bag, whereas we can't. Here, help me strap this thing to my back and I'll carry it on the way."

Ember sighed and did as she was told, fastening the bag to Absol's back. He smirked, posing dramatically and flashing the bag.

"How do I look?" He asked jokingly.

"Like a crook," Ember shot back.

Absol merely grinned. Finally, now that they had a way to carry any supplies they found, the two circled the river and headed past it in a different direction. Ember couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard angry shouting back at the river as they went.

Ember was quite fit from all the training with her master, but after hours of walking, sometimes up and down steep hills, she was becoming exhausted. She looked to Absol, hoping he was tired too and that they could rest, but his stride was unchanged. He wasn't even breathing hard. She sighed inwardly. Absol must do things like this every day, she thought.

"You get used to it after a while," Absol said.

Ember jumped, looking back at him in shock.

"Are you psychic?" she asked, her heart suddenly hammering.

"If you mean, am I a Psychic type, no. But it was pretty obvious you were tired. Don't worry, we're almost there."

Ember felt relieved, both that they were apparently close, and that Absol couldn't actually read her mind. However, Ember was snapped out of her thoughts when she saw something strange on the ground ahead of her. It was small and round and looked vaguely familiar. She finally recognized it once she stopped to scrutinize it.

"Hey, Absol, look!" she said ecstatically. "I found a Rare Candy!"

Absol stopped, glancing at her. "What about it?"

"I can't believe we actually had the luck to find it! Do you want it, or can I take it? Here, maybe we can split it."

Absol frowned. "Why on earth would I want to eat that?"

Ember cocked her head in confusion. "What do you mean? They're really great! They boost your level and make you feel wonderful! My master always used to give them to me!"

"Alright, let's think about this," Absol said calmly. "You find a piece of candy that temporarily makes you feel good and forces your body to grow stronger. Doesn't that seem a little odd to you?"

Ember suddenly felt a worm of doubt creep into her mind.

"Uh…why?" she prodded tentatively. "What's wrong with it?"

"Rare Candies increase your level, but don't actually boost your body's development," Absol explained. "For example, your EVs don't increase with your levels. Rare Candies stifle your natural growth in favor of cheap, quick strength. Besides, once you eat one it is hard to stop. Even if you've been fully trained, you'd be better off dead than on those."

With that, Absol continued down the rural route. Ember shuddered slightly as she contemplated his words. Finally, she jogged to catch up with him, leaving the dubious candy behind. She'd never known about those facts before. How many had she eaten in the past? The thought sent chills down her spine. She shook herself out of it and continued to follow Absol, eager to get out of the woods.

After a few more minutes walking, they finally reached the end of the forest. Stepping outside the woods felt to Ember like she had just crossed an invisible border into another part of this unknown world. The sights, sounds and smell all suddenly changed dramatically as they entered a wide open field filled with tall grass.

Out in the distance, on the other side of the plains, Ember saw a few large mountains. She figured that was the general direction they were headed. She sighed inwardly. They were pretty far away, which would mean about another hour's walk. Absol chuckled when he saw her reaction.

"Have no fear, we can rest now. It's safe here. Pokemon trainers haven't discovered these fields yet, and there aren't too many wild Pokémon around."

Absol took a few steps forward. "At least, not any dangerous ones," he added over his shoulder.

Ember frowned a bit at his last comment, but still followed him through the tall grass. When they finally found a clearing, Absol stopped, glancing around.

"I think this is a good spot. We can rest here for a while and move on when we're ready."

Ember breathed a sigh of relief and plopped herself on the ground. Absol shrugged off the trainer bag on his back and opened it up, shaking out a few berries he picked up on the way.

"I bet you're glad we have this bag now, eh?" he said, smirking.

Ember stood up, giving him playful shove and taking a few berries from the pile. There were only two Sitrus Berries, so Ember left one and took the other. The rest were mostly Oran Berries and other kinds of fruit she recognized as ingredients her master would use when making poke-blocks. The two lie down and ate their meal, which didn't do much to ease her hunger.

"It's not enough, is it?" Absol said as he finished his pile. "Sorry, it was the best I could do while we were on the move."

"No, no, it's alright," she said quickly. "Besides, I'm sure we'll find more on the way."

"I'm afraid not. Berries don't usually grow in fields like this, and now that we're out of the forest, we'll probably see less and less of them as we go."

At this, a slight worm of fear crept into Ember's mind.

"Then what will we eat?" she asked worriedly.

Absol smiled knowingly. "Berries are mostly only useful for healing, but I know how to get real food."

"That is not real food," Ember said in shock.

She and Absol were watching a pack of Farfetch'd pecking at the ground nearby, probably for wild Caterpie.

"Oh, come on," Absol whispered from his hiding place in the tall grass next to her, much more quietly than her. "You must have guessed that there was a pecking order in the wild. Besides, as a powerful Fire type, you rank pretty high yourself."

"Are you crazy?" Ember whispered fiercely to Absol. "We can't eat them, can we?"

"Of course we can. They're a natural prey."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it. How can we eat other Pokémon?"

Absol glanced at her calmly, then looked back at the Farfetch'd.

"Well, they're not exactly above doing the same," he replied. "You can see them eating those poor Caterpie over there. It's just the way life works. Hunting wild game is the best way to survive."

Ember shook her head, watching the Farfetch'd. She knew he was probably right, but it still seemed incredibly distasteful, although a growl from her belly told her otherwise.

"Stay low to the ground and keep as quiet as possible," Absol warned. "Next to Delibird, Farfetch'd are some of the most stupid Pokémon on the face of the earth, but they at least know to flee from predators."

Ember felt appalled at being referred to as a predator, but she merely watched as Absol creep forward, moving toward the group of bird Pokémon. Finally, when he was only a few feet away from the gathering, he reared back slightly, then pounced at unbelievable speed into the gathering. He was right about one thing: Farfetch'd knew how to flee. They almost instantly took to the skies, a flurry of feathers falling behind them.

Absol returned to Ember, triumphantly carrying a limp Farfetch'd in his teeth. Ember jumped back in revulsion when he dropped it on the ground in front of her.

"Quick and easy," Absol announced cheerfully. "Don't worry, the rest of them should come back again once they think it's safe. Then you can take your turn."

Ember looked at him in horror. "MY turn?!"

"Of course. You need to learn how to catch your own game for when you are on you own. Ah, look, here they are already. I told you they were stupid."

They ducked back into the grass, seeing the flock of Farfetch'd fly back down and begin pecking the ground again as if nothing had happened. Ember had to admit, they didn't seem like the brightest Pokémon. But was it really okay to hunt them?

"You won't be causing them any pain," Absol said, as if sensing her thoughts. "You just need to be quick."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," Ember shot back.

"This is one time I'd say your scarf should actually help," Absol continued as if he hadn't heard her. "You can use the speed boost to catch one and quickly kill it so it won't suffer. I know it sounds cruel, but it really isn't, especially considering most other predators wouldn't care if they suffered or not. You may even be doing them a favor."

Ember glanced at Absol for a moment, his face calm and impassive. She looked back at the Farfetch'd. Maybe Absol was right. She considered how far she would have to travel to find her trainer again, and going the entire journey without any food wasn't exactly the most pleasant prospect. She finally decided to trust that Absol knew what he was doing.

With that resolution, Ember slowly crept forward to the clearing. She felt a slight sting of hesitation, but she forced herself to push it away. Finally, when she was at the very edge of the clearing, within just a few feet of the birds, feeling her Choice Scarf boosting her speed, she lunged at one. The other Farfetch'd flew off instantly, but the one she was aiming for was slightly too slow and she caught it. Remembering that she didn't want it to suffer, she quickly bit its neck. Ember tasted warm blood in her mouth, and the creature fell limp almost instantly.

When she returned, Absol greeted her with a cheerful smile.

"That was beautiful," he said. "It was only your first try, but you caught him even faster than I did."

"I'm not taking that as a compliment."

"Suit yourself."

Absol glanced at their caught game and grinned.

"I think this should tide us over for a while."

Later that evening, Ember and Absol were relaxing around a small fire she had started with some sticks and branches Absol brought back earlier as firewood.

"Strong Fire types in the wild are exceptionally rare," Absol commented. "Your abilities are really coming in handy."

Ember blushed from head to tails at the compliment and gently breathed another small stream of fire onto the wood to keep it burning, and also to keep him from seeing her redden. The two were finishing the last of their cooked game, and while Ember didn't like to admit it, she did enjoy it. She glanced at Absol, seeing him stand up and put the now-clean bones of the Farfetch'd in the bag.

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously.

"There's an old legend that if you eat a Pokémon, you pick the bones clean and place them in the water," Absol replied. "It's supposed to give them new life. It's probably just a silly old rumor, but you never know. There's a river nearby anyway, so it can't hurt. Besides, it keeps the route clean."

Ember thought for a moment. She then finished eating the last of the meat, then placed the bones of her own Farfetch'd in the bag as well. The two walked away from the clearing, putting out the fire before they left. They reached a small river after strolling through the peaceful fields under the starry, moonlit sky for a few minutes. Absol opened the bag and dropped the bones into the water. He and Ember watched the stream carry them away until they were out of sight.

They remained like that for a few moments, enjoying the stillness and tranquility of the wild. Ember heard what was probably a Noctowl hooting in the distance. The moon shone brightly in the river, complementing the scenery miraculously. It might have been a distant Pokémon using the move Moonlight. Ember used to be afraid that the wild was a harsh place, since the only time her master ever took her there was to battle or capture wild Pokémon, but she was beginning to see that there was indeed a grand world outside her pokeball.

After a few more moments, Ember looked to her friend and guide.

"Absol?"

"Yes?" he asked, his calm red eyes that seemed to hold all the mysteries in the universe meeting hers.

"Well…I just wanted to thank you for helping me. I mean, you didn't even know who I was, but you've guided me this far despite what a burden I must be, and you showed me another world I never knew existed."

Absol chuckled softly, like ripples in the icy water of his calm, level voice.

"You make it sound like I rewrote history," he said. "Actually, this has been pretty fun for me too. I've enjoyed travelling with you, but we still have a long way to go. And don't worry, you haven't been a burden."

With that, Absol turned back toward the clearing.

"At least, not too much," he added jokingly over his shoulder.

Ember grinned and followed him back to their little camp site. Despite having stolen the trainer bag and making her kill her own dinner, she was truly glad Absol was there with her now.

Chapter 4: A Visit from the East Side