Disclaimer: Pokémon is owned by The Pokémon Company, which in turn is owned by Nintendo, Game Freak, and probably others I forgot. The following fanfiction is me playing around in their sandbox, using characters they envisioned and created, except for the odd character that wasn't. I own nothing of this.

The boy his brother had been saved by had changed little in the past six seasons. The face was a bit less round, but the strange adornment resting on the boy's ears and nose was still present, and other visible features, discounting the second skin – 'clothing', the kirlia remembered – were similar to the point of easy recognition. When Max stood up, the kirlia saw that he was a bit taller, probably close to some of the smaller gardevoir in the congregation. Nervousness raced through the boy, bubbling like a lake's surface in rain, while hope skipped and jumped around, even after the kirlia had explained he was not the ralts they were looking for. Other emotions were drowned out in the deluge of the two.

The other boy was an unknown. He was not one of the three that had been with Max. There were no adornments on his face, and his hair was brown, not blue, and held up by something defying gravity, looking like nidoran spikes. Eyes similar to Max's in colouration judged the kirlia. He was tall: fully twice as tall as the kirlia, easily on par with most gardevoir. Within him, there was surprise, whirling like leaves, but also curiosity that made the kirlia remember his time as a ralts, and a measure of wonder intruded on it. Lastly, there was fervent hope: a wish for the outcome his friend wanted.

The boys had said a few things, but mostly to each other and the one additional question they had asked would be answered soon enough. It was inconsequential to reply, since they would soon find out.

He contacted his mother, as agreed upon, and immediately received an image of where she was: a lakeside well within his reach to teleport to. "Take my arms," he communicated, and the boys did so. Their grips were firm, but not so firm as to squeeze hard. The kirlia concentrated, gathering energy, and in a rush of psychic power, he propelled the triad forward, nigh-instantaneously leaving the mountain road behind for a grassy field.

Max's emotions shifted, the contact of his hand on the kirlia's arm amplifying the Pokémon's innate empathy. Recognition soared as he took in the location; surprise swept down when the kirlia saw Max's dark eyes dart over to the gardevoir gracefully moving up to the newcomers, even as she greeted them. From his other hand, he felt surprise mingle with awe before they both let go, instructed by his mother to sit down, even as she did so on a log.

The boys sat down, using an old tree formerly home to a nest of wurmple as their backrest. The kirlia remained standing, alert for any hostile Pokémon that might interrupt the conversation.

"Where is ralts?" Max asked, polite and far more curious than impatient or demanding.

The gardevoir answered, measured, her rich voice tightly controlled. "The ralts you refer to, my son, is no longer here."

Despite the kirlia's focus on their surroundings, he felt the emotional shift within the boys. Shock appeared like lightning, before dissipating as quick, leaving worry and fear, with hope vanishing in those quicksand-like emotions. "What do you mean?" Max asked, voice far less assured than it had been mere moments ago.

"He was taken."

Again, the kirlia acutely felt the humans' emotions shift. There had been a tiny sliver of hope, but his mother's answer extinguished that as effectively as a Hydro Pump would an Ember. Fear morphed into defeat, crushing and bitter, for Max, yet fear remained and blossomed into sympathy for the other boy. "Taken by force, under two moons ago."

"Taken by force?" the other boy asked. "Not... captured?" he added, pulling out a red and white spherical object the kirlia was familiar with.

"No, Danny Birch," the gardevoir said, the mention of the name evoking a small jolt of surprise, "it was no capture by means of the containers you name pokéballs." The gardevoir rose. "If you so desire, I can show you."

Max did not hesitate to reply. "Yes, please," he said, standing up. Both his body and voice trembled ever so slightly, imperceptible but for the kirlia's attention to the reply. His friend – Danny – simultaneously asked a question about the possibility of showing a memory, but that was ignored.

The gardevoir advanced slowly, as did the kirlia. His mother lowered her arm, and the kirlia put his appendage on hers, concentrating on the memory as he had been shown it before. "Then touch our arms and see."

~~§~~§~~

The memory was that of a rocky flat, close to where the kirlia had found his quarry. It was a short-lived locale, as a heart-rending sense of urgency and fear tore through the gardevoir providing the memory. She teleported, instinctively knowing where to go, to the boundary between a mountain and the forest.

In front of her, encased in a net seeping with some form of energy, was her youngest son: a ralts about two years old. Behind him, two humans were pulling the net in while three black quadruped Pokémon stood guard. They were taking her son!

Energy blossomed within her, and she launched a bolt of it, attempting to grab the net, but the energy splashed upon it harmlessly, sliding off like rain on leaves. Then, a jet of flame was sent her way, necessitating a teleport, but upon reappearing, a set of feet nearly immediately landed on her back, sending her sprawling and leaving a cold impression where the feet had landed. A third Pokémon, fur black and grey, dashed forward, teeth bared and intent on biting her.

She shifted a rock into the biting Pokémon's path, vacating her location moments later as another jet of flame sped towards her. A push outwards hurtled loose stone towards the horned houndoom sending flame at her, but the third Pokémon, black with yellow rings, sped through the wall unaffected, a ball of obsidian forming at its mouth.

Her perspective changed as she was teleported away from the impending attack by another gardevoir. Her companion created glowing green leaves, lashing out at the third Pokémon, which moved just enough to avoid most of them. She ignored that, intent on getting her son back. The houndoom stood in her way, launching a third jet of flame at her, but she took the flame and redirected it back at its origins, causing the houndoom to dash out of the way.

A rock, twice the size of the gardevoir, sent flying with nary a thought, slammed into the houndoom mid-dash, sending it flying back into a tree, the rock following after it, impacting again before a trail of red power dissolved her opponent. She turned her attention towards the humans, and sent a vicious horizontal arc at them, intent on sweeping them backwards.

It landed halfway up their body, but the arc slid off and continued onward, slightly uprooting a tree.

The left human let out a shrill whistle as something slammed into her back, unbalancing her and leaving a throbbing sore, but a second ball of obsidian missed her by half an arm, it too hitting the tree and sending splinters flying.

A second attempt at biting her by the black and grey Pokémon was thwarted by levitation of a branch on the ground, and a red flash appeared in her peripheral vision as she gathered the energy to bind their will to hers. The short delay cost her, as she unleashed the force at the same time as a net flew at her, the enslavement vanishing as it hit the enhanced rope.

And then it entangled her.

Cold. Biting, gnawing, searing, debilitating, draining, binding cold. She felt weak, unfocused, dazed. Pushing energy outwards did nothing. Above her, red power lanced. She tried to shift the net off physically, but it was heavy and she was so, so cold.

One of the humans asked whether they should take her or her companion, but the other dissuaded him. They left, running, footsteps quickly vanishing in the sounds of the forest. By the time she freed herself, blessed warmth flooding into her, there was no sign of them or her son. All that remained was her and her unconscious companion, who lay partially buried, though not severely injured.

~~§~~§~~

The memory faded, and though no time had passed, the surrounding air still felt different, as it always did after a sharing. Awe and sorrow, unequally split, permeated the kirlia's senses as the boys sat down, processing what they had seen. Max's sorrow was mainly internal, broken shards piercing, body heaving, whereas Danny's was external, wrapped in sympathy, mingling with awe at the sharing. It was he who broke the silence. "Are you..." he said, trailing off as his voice did not want to finish his thought.

The kirlia's mother smiled ruefully, and she put her arm on Danny's arm while meeting his eyes, causing a change of expression and emotion. "I will recover, because I must. Do not worry for me. It has better targets." Her head turned slightly, and she used her other arm to touch Max's arm. "Look at me, Max," she commanded, and the boy raised his head, cheeks moist, eyes glistening, breath short and shallow, demeanour despondent.

The kirlia stepped forward to touch Max's other arm, which was tucked away against his side, only to recoil upon touching. It was excruciating, shattering to touch but a second, negativity overwhelming. It did elicit a response from the boy, and he gave a valiant but unsuccessful attempt at a grin. "'m sorry."

"It does not matter."

Max made a derisive sound. "Yes, it does."

"Listen to me, Max," the gardevoir said, causing Max's attention to shift towards her. "My son yet remains alive, even after all this time. This I sense."

A small ray of hope pierced the shroud of sorrow. "Really?"

"Yes. Should it be destiny that you and he meet, then you will," she said confidently, and kirlia felt some hope settle, though it was but a seedling amongst ancient trees. "And now, I shall return you to where you started this morning. It is by far the best place for you. Take my arm."

The boys took the gardevoir's arm, and they teleported away, the kirlia staying in wait. It was not long before his mother returned. "Will they be okay?" the kirlia wondered.

"The other boy, Danny, certainly. He was not as invested. Max... Possibly. His mind is in turmoil, and time might heal or fester that. He has seen much for someone his age, that I could tell, but this was personal, affecting him much more than anything he has ever experienced before. He feels like his dream was torn asunder, his hopes shattered and burned and times that could have been, erased."

"But you said you felt..."

"That your brother is alive?" his mother interrupted. "Yes, I do, my son. However, I do not know where he is. He could be elsewhere on this island, or he could be far away to the south and west, where they came from, or anywhere in between. There is no way of finding him. Any meeting would be truly preordained."

~~§~~§~~

The gardevoir teleported away, leaving Danny and Max on the road, directly in front of the two-story Pokémon Center. Danny immediately started walking to the doors, coming close enough to them to trigger the sensor that automatically opened the doors before he noticed Max hadn't followed.

His friend was staring at a spot, not far from where they'd landed. Danny couldn't see anything special about it, but then Max convulsed, forcing him to his knees. A moment later, he threw up, vomit splattering on stone, once, twice, three times.

Danny couldn't move. There'd been a first aid class, but they didn't cover this. More vomit and more shaking, and Danny finally found his voice. "Nurse Joy! Nurse Joy!"

The nurse came running from the nearby desk, alerted by Danny's cries. There were no questions asked; she walked up to Max and started muttering something that Danny couldn't understand from where he was standing. Before he could decide to walk back, Nurse Joy helped Max to a standing position, which he held, despite a slight tremble.

Danny hurried back over, ducking slightly and slinging Max's arm over his pack and shoulder, prompting Max to turn his head slightly. He looked terrible. His face was pale, there was a small trail of vomit at the corner of his mouth and his eyes were wet with tears that hadn't made it down his cheeks.

Nurse Joy led the way into the Center, and the duo followed her into a room marked as off-limits for anyone unauthorised. It was a lounge like the one at Danny's old school, but with more comfortable chairs, and the nurse offered an old-fashioned armchair for Max to sit in. Danny helped him there, taking off his friend's small backpack as he did.

Nurse Joy gave Max a glass of water and told him to drink small sips and to stay put before instructing Danny to come with her. He put his own backpack on the ground, following her, hearing a few vague sounds from the room he had just left as they walked to the lobby of the Center. They were the only ones present. "What happened?" she asked. "Did something go wrong?"

"The ralts we were looking for was... gone."

The nurse opposite him let out a sigh, closing her eyes. "Captured?"

"Taken. Poachers, I think," Danny answered after thinking about what to call the men in black suits. "They had this net that disabled all psychic power. Like a dark-type net."

"And you got away?"

"Oh, no, no. It was a memory of the ralts's mother and it happened..." Danny corrected, trying to remember how long ago it was, "'under two moons ago.'"

"Okay." The nurse walked over to the desk, Danny following, and took a strip of something from a cupboard, tearing off part of it. She handed the part to Danny, who found that it contained two tablets. "Max should take one before bed tonight. It's concentrated butterfree sleeping powder to let him get a good night's rest." She turned, making to move towards the Pokémon infirmary.

"Wait!" Danny exclaimed, stopping her. "Why did he throw up? He was fine this morning. Teleports never hurt him, too. Why are you leaving him alone?"

Nurse Joy turned around, stopping in front of Danny, and put her right hand under Danny's opened left hand, gently closing it. "He is grieving, Danny. That's why he threw up. He doesn't need me. He needs you. Be there for him. Listen. Be his friend. Can you do that?"

That made a lot of sense. Parts of it anyway. "Sure. I think," Danny said, unsure how he could help exactly, but determined to do his best. "And if I have a question?"

"You can ask me," Nurse Joy said, smiling kindly. "Tonight, after Max is sleeping. Now go to him, okay?"

Max had cleaned himself up a bit while Danny was with Nurse Joy, and his glass of water was emptier than it had been, too. He still looked pale, but not as bad as earlier. "Hey," he said, softly, after Danny entered, the door closing automatically.

"Hey. Feeling better?"

Max made a wobbly movement with his hand. "A bit. Don't feel like throwing up now." His voice sounded raw.

"That's good." Danny pulled a chair over, letting his mudkip come out of its pokéball. He absently scratched its head, the repetitive motion feeling familiar and calming. Max watched passively. "Come on. Let treecko out. Blame me if we're not allowed to," Danny said, winking.

"Okay," Max said, releasing treecko. The small grass-type took one look at Max before climbing up to his shoulder to paw at Max's glasses. When Max removed them, the green Pokémon gently wiped Max's eyes, crying out in satisfaction when it had cleaned both. "What is it, treecko?" Max asked, and the treecko then mimed wiping eyes with a big smile on its face before imitating tears falling down, followed by emphatic shaking of its head. "I shouldn't cry?" A nod. "Thanks treecko."

The treecko smiled, and jumped into Max's lap, snuggling against the boy's stomach and making content sounds, more so when Max gently started stroking its back.

They sat in that room for a long time. Danny could've checked how long exactly, but the he didn't want to break the silence that much by checking the Pokénav that didn't have a mute button. He did break the silence at times, exchanging words with Max. The replies were soft-spoken, and conversation always stopped after four or five sentences. Sounds from outside filtered in, but never close.

Just as Danny was about to ask another question, the door opened with a creak, revealing Nurse Joy. "Hey Max," she said, causing a head to look up, "are you feeling better now?"

"Kinda. Thanks for the water. It helped."

"Good to know." She smiled, but Max didn't return it. "Now, you can stay here, or you can go back to your room. Both are okay, but it's quiet now and it won't be in an hour," she explained. "Whichever one you pick, I'll make sure there's some light food for you for dinner, so you don't upset your stomach."

"Let's go back, Max," Danny added. "We have to sleep in our beds, and if it's quiet now, that's better."

"Yeah. Good idea." Both boys rose, the treecko on Max's stomach effortlessly landing on the tiled floor before climbing to Max's shoulder, where it stayed for a few seconds before hanging on for dear life as Max shook his right leg violently. "Sorry, leg sleeping," Max explained as he saw Danny's startled look.

Max made to lift his backpack, but Danny grabbed the other boy's wrist, shaking his head no. "I'll get that after we're in our room, okay." Max nodded in acceptance, and Nurse Joy led them out into the main lobby, which was fairly quiet. Danny saw a snorunt hopping on one of the bouncier couches, and he heard a nidoran cry out from somewhere, but it was nowhere near the chaotically cosy lobby that they'd been in the night before. Neither of them noticed the boys passing through, and when they entered their room, a glance at the clock revealed it was nearing five.

Nurse Joy was waiting in the corridor. She was doing something on the bulletin board, but when Danny closed the door, she immediately turned towards him. "How is he really?" she asked, even as they set off at a brisk pace.

"Quiet. I had to look to see if he was still there a few times. He seems okay enough when you look at him, but when he talks, it's..." Danny trailed off, lost for words. "Not Max."

"That's normal. Grief does strange things to us all," Nurse Joy stated as the door to the main lobby opened for her. "Just keep on doing what you're doing, and I'll inform the other Joys."

"Okay. Just... one thing," Danny said, hesitating in front of the nurse's desk. "Why did he throw up outside? He didn't when we were..."

"It's just a memory. He said goodbye to that ralts in that driveway. So when he saw the driveway..."

"It reminded him of ralts and made him throw up," Danny finished, feeling a bit proud and a lot less confused.

"Yes. Now go. Get that backpack before Max thinks you got yourself frozen in the lobby," Nurse Joy quipped. There'd been an overeager dewgong night before, and its trainer had ended up with his legs in a block of ice.

Danny's return into the room they shared coincided with the sound of a shower turning on. Danny put his cargo down close to his own travel pack, which had been opened, some of the cloth used to set up camps in the wild partially hanging out of it. He had a good idea of what Max had taken, and he stuck his head into the en-suite bathroom, closing his eyes. "Max, did you take one of my towels?" The reply was nearly inaudible over the sound of water splashing down. "I'll take one of yours then!" he replied before exiting the bathroom.

That night, after Max had taken the sleeping tablet, Danny placed a call. "Littleroot Pokém... Hello Danny!" his uncle interrupted his own greeting when he saw Danny's face for the first time in five days. "How have you been? Did you make it to Izabe safely?"

"Hey Uncle. We're on Izabe, yeah," Danny replied, somewhat flatly. "Can you get Max's parents in the call?"

"Sure. Give me a minute to set things up. You go get Max," his uncle said, before reaching forward to press a button that apparently put the call on hold, if the message on the screen was true. Danny stayed put, and the screen soon showed both the Hoenn Pokémon Professor and the Petalburg City Gym Leader. "All set up. Should we wait for Max?"

Danny took a deep breath. "No. He's sleeping," he said, which led to some surprised looks. "It... today was..." he tried to state, but something was constricting his throat, and when he tried to clear it, it felt dry as dirt.

"Easy Danny," Max's father said. "Take a deep breath and hold it. That's good. You have anything to drink?" Danny showed the mug of hot chocolate that he'd grabbed before coming to the video phone. "Good. Drink some of that." Danny did so, and when he put the mug back down, the Gym Leader spoke up again. "Something went wrong?"

"Yeah. Went looking for Max's ralts this morning, but..." Danny broke off, unable to say the words he'd said to Nurse Joy earlier. He took another sip of his drink, and the adults on the other side waited patiently. Both of them were frowning. "He... He was taken by poachers."

Max's father muttered a choice oath under his breath, one that Danny had heard spoken once before. The boy that had said it ended up with two hundred lines. Danny's uncle knocked him out of his memories. "How do you know it was poachers? Did you see it happen?"

"We... we met ralts's mother. She showed us what happened. Ralts got taken and the gardevoir couldn't stop it."

"But wouldn't a ralts just teleport away?" Max's mother said, sitting down next to her husband. "I know Max said he teleported away when they first met."

"Not if they tranquillised him, or negated that power," Danny's uncle stated. "Did you see anything in that memory, Danny?"

"There was this net. It felt cold, and all the attacks just couldn't hit it, even the powerful ones. The gardevoir got hit by it and it just... drained everything."

Max's parents looked confused, but Professor Birch nodded. "It's a net interwoven with dark-type Pokémon hairs, often mightyena or absol hair. It's a lot like using growlithe or flareon fur for heat-resistant coats."

"Right," Norman said, one hand holding his wife close. "And Max..." he added, letting a silence fall.

"Is grieving, Nurse Joy said." Danny filled in the silence. "Spent most of the afternoon in a room in silence."

Norman frowned, while Caroline beside him looked unsure. "Nurse Joy probably said you should be there with him, right?" he asked, and Danny could only nod. It was true, but he didn't know where this was going. "I'm sure Max appreciated it a lot, but take it from me: Max is going to want to be alone."

"Huh?" Danny did not follow. "But Nurse Joy..."

"Nurse Joy means well, Danny," Caroline interjected gently, "but people deal with things differently. Max always runs away someplace when things really don't go his way." She smiled. "You should ask him what he did when Ash beat his father."

"You did nothing wrong." Norman took over the conversation again. "You stuck with my son, and I know he appreciates that. It's all you could do. But tomorrow, try giving him some room. You can look in on him every hour or so, that's okay, but he'll feel a lot better."

"So he... just stays in our room all day?"

"Or use that room you stayed in this afternoon, if Nurse Joy agrees," Norman suggested.

"Right. I'll ask Nurse Joy about that."

"Do that." Norman said as a bell in the background rang. Danny had heard that bell before: it meant someone was looking to fight the Gym Leader. "Duty calls. Danny, thank you for being there for Max. We'll talk the day after tomorrow."

The connection to Petalburg was broken, leaving only Danny and his uncle. They spent another five minutes talking about normal things, but Danny's thoughts kept drifting to what he'd been told, and the conversation soon ended, leaving Danny to go straight to bed after asking Nurse Joy about using the same room tomorrow. She saw no problem with it, and would tell the other nurses to steer Max there.

As Danny pulled the covers over his head, lying on the top half of the bunk bed with a silently sleeping Max in the bottom bed, he thought about the way their Pokémon journey had started. It had all looked so bright and good, but now, just five days after they had left, things had gone down the drain.

Hopefully, the future would be better.

~~§~~§~~§~~§~~

Pokémon perceive things much like humans do, yet not. Many types, including, but not limited to, the Electric, Water, and Psychic type, have an affinity for their element. Indeed, this affinity is the reason why certain Electric-types, like magnemite and voltorb, are primarily found near power plants, as they sense the presence of their element. A similar case can be made for Ghost-types and cemeteries, as best exemplified in Hoenn's Mt. Pyre or various Pokémon Towers. These affinities are not a mere addendum to their senses, but rather an extra sense that humans lack.

From: Sense and Perception: a Pokémon's Perspective.

Author's Note: It was never going to be as easy as making a trip to Izabe. The best laid plans often go awry, after all.