It was so long ago, but I can still remember, I was running through the grass, the exact reason escapes me, it could have been just for the sake of it, or trying to look for my next meal. Regardless, I encountered you, standing next to The Old Man (whom I later learned was called Oak)
Being in the ball was confining. The setup looked too good to be true, I needed to feel the ground beneath my feet, not that of the ball's room. And you knew that, you understood that. And let me walk behind you, beside you as we made our way through the world.
Truth be told, I disliked you when we first met. Because I was so used to being free, being wild. But then, as we journeyed together, you looked after me, made me stronger and I in turn grew to acknowledge you as my trainer, be proud of my success and of yours. You gave me a family, siblings many, and loved us all in spite of, or maybe because of, our differences.
And as we made our mark on this world, I soon understood what none of the others would, at least, not for a long while.
You loved him. You loved that boy who always seem to run ahead of us, who you tried so hard to catch up to. And even more than that, I realised something even greater.
He loved you back. In the same way he ran ahead of us, the same way I recall a male would try to impress a female. In the same way he dashed forward and you tried to never lose sight of him, he tried to make sure that you, and us by association, would follow the path that he had ensured was safe.
But it took years before the courtship would bear fruit. Somehow, both of you believed that you had irreparably hurt the other. Was being rejected. So you both grew, apart away, to be yourself.
There was the hurt, the pain, the regret. It made the hard decisions harder, but made you stronger all the same. Made you more sure of yourself, now that you were on a road on your own, on a road that he no longer walked. And he on a road you no longer followed.
When you brought us with you on the mountain, into the cave - we worried. Your gentle voice grew softer until we could no longer hear it. Your warm hands grew colder, rougher for all that your gestures still brought the same comfort. Your body grew weaker and your heart lonelier for all that we tried to keep you with us, before Darkrai took you to join the eternal sleep.
His visits were sporadic before he hardly came by. And we despaired. For you were so close from leaving us alone forever, too early before your time. Then the other girl came and defeated us. We, who had stood so strong to never let you down, had been defeated. And when I fell, I tried to stay awake, to not fall back into the darkness. And I saw you fall. Fall into the snow, and your body was so weak already. I screamed.
The girl picked me up and ran over to you, setting me beside you as I tried to bring you back. She dug out the talking machine and I could hear his panicked voice over the line. How he instructed her to check and make sure you were alright. Pidgeot's cry could be heard through the line as he calmed the girl down, instructing her on what to do. She tried to heal us but the toll on some of us was too much, so her team had to set up a basic shelter as per his instructions. And you looked so pale, so fragile as she rested you on the bed.
It wasn't long before I could hear the wingbeats of Pidgeot. Soon after, I heard his rushing footsteps. 'Ah,' I thought. 'You'll be safe now that's he's here,' I recalled thinking before I fell into darkness as well.
When I came to, we were in the same room as you, the scent of disinfectant heavy in the air. You were so pale still, tube connecting you to the bag hanging from the stand. Each slow drip was loud, it was amazing that it neither woke you, nor the others sleeping beside me. Soon, the steady sounds drew me back to sleep. Maybe, for all of your growing, perhaps you wouldn't need us to guard you from this anymore.