Chapter 26 - Old Friends, New Ideas

I'm on my way home…

It still feels, in a way, impossible to accept as the truth. Ever since first waking up in this forest, it had felt like my old life was something that was just gone forever. Oh sure I always had hope, but nothing ever seemed to take me a step towards actually going home. That village had been my prison, no matter how nice the 'jailors' had been.

Then, one thing led to another, and itself to yet another thing, and now Taka was leading me home. It didn't feel real when we first left the village. Now, about a week later, it still doesn't feel real.

A whole week of nothing but running through this seemingly endless forest. Since day one, it has been basically hammered into my brain that this forest is chock full of danger. We have left behind the territory of the Thunder Clan. Then, we left behind the territory of those that directly neighboured the Thunder Clan. Finally, only a few days ago, Taka had informed me that we had stepped past the boundaries of all tribes explicitly known to the Thunder Clan. If I were to ask him now where we were, he would not be able to tell me. I am here now, still living and breathing, but I dare not take that for granted.

In one way, the journey so far has been incredibly dull. To explain it on paper would take only half a sheet. Every day we wake up, eat a single berry, figure out which direction is north, and then run. We usually run on our hind legs. It is slightly slower than running on all fours, but it is worth it to always have our weapons at the ready. I run only about a single body length behind Taka, and follow him like a shadow. He is the one leading the expedition; he is in charge.

So far, we have not had any confrontation with anyone. We have encountered a fair share of other Pokémon, which almost always turn out to be either a predator or just very dangerous-looking, but we always manage to avoid detection. There were a few close calls when we were sure a Mightyena nearby had picked up our scent, but we have so far been able to manage avoiding fights altogether. Even Taka has commented that this is fortuitous.

We end up covering as much ground as we can, the landscape hardly changing at all, and then find a sturdy tree to sleep in. I sleep for the first four hours of the night, then Taka wakes me and I keep watch while he sleeps the other four. Admittedly, getting only four hours of sleep each night has gotten pretty exhausting, but I can feel myself learning to adapt. As long as I have enough wakefulness to stay alert.

The flip side of the coin, though, is that this journey has been anything but dull so far. I constantly have to lasso my own fears so that I can focus and remain alert. The fear of being surrounded by predators is always there. Taka says this is a good thing in moderation, as it keeps me alert. Whenever I feel myself start to panic too much, I force myself to remember how well I had reacted when Adi had attacked me disguised as a shadowy creature. I knew the moves, or at least enough moves to get by, and I had Taka by my side. There was certainly lots to worry about, but definitely nothing to panic about.

It was off-putting at first, living life without the rest of the Thunder Clan around me. There have been a couple of times where some thought enters my mind and makes me chuckle, and I will think that some Thunder Clan member will find it interesting. I then feel disappointed when I remember they aren't around me anymore, and probably never will be again. That had been a life that I had wanted to leave behind, so I could go home, yet it feels like I have been displaced. For better or worse, I had really gotten used to living in the village. It was hard to adjust to a whole new modus operandi.

At the end of every day, though, I looked back and thought about how many days we had traveled so far. Every day, the number went higher. It was silly, but seeing that number climb felt encouraging. I still can't believe a whole week of traveling has happened already. It feels like a blur. I wonder how close I am to home, or at least to the forest's edge?

"Roxy! Are you listening?!"

The distracted Pikachu snapped to attention suddenly, turning her gaze over to Taka. She closed her mental journal and stashed it away realizing that she had been daydreaming. "Yeah," she lied.

Taka gave her a flat look. "You were off in another world. I will not bore you with the details of what horrible consequences that could have held for you, because I know that you already know them."

Roxy deflated a little. "Sorry…" she muttered half-apologetically, "I was just reflecting."

"Reflect another time," he barked, "We just had to sneak away from a huge Arcanine."

A tiny shiver ran up her spine upon the mention of that particular event. "His whole head was bigger than me…"

Taka rolled his eyes. He then indicated for her to follow, and set off at a relaxed pace. Roxy fell into step beside him. "I need to get my bearings," he informed her, "Help me find a tall enough tree."

Roxy nodded and began to scan the nearby treetops. "How much longer until-?" She cut herself off. She could just feel Taka's irritated glare. "I mean," she corrected, "About how much time do you think it will take us?"

Taka was silent for a moment. "On the one paw," he finally replied, "We have been making good time each day without stopping for very much."

Roxy felt a bit of pride swell in her chest. The Roxy of half a year ago would have collapsed panting and exhausted after only an hour of running.

"However," Taka continued, "You are a lot slower than I am."

Just like that, her smile vanished. She understood what he meant by that without him having to say it. She was holding him back. He was being forced to curtail his top speed so she wouldn't be left behind. The implication was that, if she wasn't there, he would get to the forest's edge a lot faster.

She found herself pouting. That wasn't exactly something fair to get upset about. Then again, could she really deny it? She thought about it for a moment, then sighed softly as she realized it was the truth. Not only was Taka faster than her when it came to running, but so was everybody else in the Thunder Clan.

Yet again, Roxy found herself thinking back to the village she had left behind. She knew in her heart that as soon as she got home, she would have to paint a picture or something to remember them forever. She knew her master had some Pokémon-friendly paint somewhere in the house, though the last time she had used them she had been making a mess as a baby Pichu. That reminded her; she needed to burn those photographs.

"Roxy!"

Startled, and nearly jumping right out of her fur, Roxy gave Taka an incensed look. "What?"

"You were daydreaming again!" he said, coming to a stop so he could face her with his forepaws on his hips.

"I was not," she replied indignantly, also stopping to face him.

"This is not a stroll through one of your human city's parks, you know! We are most likely in an enemy's territory! Other tribes do not take kindly to trespassers, even if they are a tribe of prey! This is no time to get your head lost in the clouds!"

Roxy kept up her pouty expression for a few more seconds, but then sighed in defeat. "You're right," she admitted, "I'm sorry." Taka may have been irritating, but he was still the boss and he was the one almost entirely responsible for making sure she didn't die. It was unfortunate that the two seemed to be getting on one another's nerves today, for some reason.

"Don't apologize to me!" he shot back, "Your short attention span is not going to bring me any harm. When you come crying to me about the fact that a Seviper bit your foreleg off while you were not looking, do not expect my sympathy."

Roxy wasn't listening. She had started out listening, but something had caught her attention in the corner of her eye. She focused on it as Taka continued to prattle on, and saw that there seemed to be a rather thick vine hanging directly behind Taka's head. Then, her eyes opened as wide as dinner plates as the vine moved by itself, sliding lower towards the ground.

"I will tell you again," Taka continued, "You need to act as if you are surrounded by danger all the time, even when you think you are not! If you let something sneak up on you, then you will be dead!"

"Uhh…Taka?"

"What?!"

She started to lift her paw to point at the strange vine, and he started to turn his head back as she did. No more than a single millisecond later, the vine suddenly darted towards Taka's back. Before either of them could even react, it wrapped itself securely around both Taka's boomerang and his spear. All he could do was yelp in surprise as they were yanked clean off of his back.

Roxy tried to react, either to reach out and grab them before they were pulled out of reach, or to look and see where the vine was coming from. She ended up being distracted from doing either, because she felt her own spear get yanked away from her in the same way. "Hey!"

Now that they were both unarmed, Taka and Roxy both tensed up and got ready for a confrontation. Taka's eyes swept their surroundings, while Roxy's went straight up to the tree branch that was right above them. She couldn't see anything up there. Soon, Taka was following her gaze, but he couldn't see anything either.

As if on cue, they both brought their heads back down and gave each other a puzzled look. "Uhh…" Roxy ventured, "What was…?"

"Ssh…"

Roxy felt the familiar rush of both adrenaline and anxiety. She didn't believe in things like phantoms or spectres, so this had to be some kind of Pokémon doing it. Was it a Grass-Type, or maybe a Ghost-Type that had turned invisible? In this case, her anxiety started to outweigh her focus, primarily because she was unarmed. She had, of course, trained to fight without a weapon, but she was considerably more adept with one.

Taka stood still, his eyes slowly roaming their surroundings. Roxy thought he looked like a coiled up spring, ready to bounce as soon as their assailant showed themselves. She followed his gaze to the right, but still didn't see anything.

When she turned to look back at him, the vine had suddenly reappeared. Before she could even say anything, it tapped Taka on the shoulder and then darted back up into the tree before Taka could react in time. He span around on his paws, but obviously there was no-one behind him.

Roxy yelped as something tugged on her tail. She too turned around, but she didn't even get to see the vine.

"Taka…?" she said in a slightly quavering voice, "What do we do? Stay, or run?"

"Show yourself," Taka commanded in an unnervingly calm voice.

Roxy was really starting to get freaked out. She still didn't believe in supernatural things, but she had perhaps watched one too many horror movies on TV with her master. It was a challenge to focus her mind and skills on fighting an opponent that was actively fighting back. What could she do against a trickster like this?

Taka growled, obviously annoyed at being toyed with, and slowly turned around. That brief moment of distraction was all it took. The vine seized its opportunity by darting back down and coiling itself around Taka's midsection. He let out a surprised gasp, and then a distressed shout as the vine suddenly lifted him up into the air.

"Taka!" Roxy cried out in concern, reaching her paw out towards him in a futile effort to grab his onto his.

Taka gripped the vine with his forepaw and tried to rip them off, but they held strong. Once he started to struggle, the vine promptly flipped him around so that he was hanging upside down. His satchel dangled precariously in the air below him, but still too high for Roxy to reach. She began to panic. What was she supposed to do now?!

Once Taka's cheeks started to spark with electricity, that's when they both finally heard the voice of their aggressor. To their surprise, this came in the form of a derisive laugh. Taka froze, his eyes wide open, and the electricity died on his cheeks.

"How many times now?" the mysterious voice asked, "Three? Four?"

Roxy gazed around in confusion, and then looked at Taka. He furrowed his brow and hung there in silence for a moment, then let out a distinctly aggravated groan. "Of course," he grumbled, "I should have known."

"What a pleasure to see you again, Taka," the voice replied, "It is always a thrill seeing your helpless upside-down expression."

"Let me down or you get zapped."

After one last chuckle, the vine around Taka suddenly retracted and left him to the mercy of gravity. Taka easily flipped himself over in midair and landed squarely on his hindpaws. Then, a moment later, the perpetrator swiftly jumped down from the branch above and landed with equal grace.

It was a Snivy. That was it, just a small Snivy who was only a couple of inches shorter than she was. He bore the now-familiar marks on his body, though his were a dulled red colour and there weren't many of them. He wore a necklace of stones and had a pouch slung over his shoulder resting against his back.

Taka glared at the Snivy, who stared right back at him unflinchingly. After a few tense moments of not knowing what was going to happen next, Roxy was surprised to see a little smirk on Taka's lips. Then, the two of them stepped closer to one another and shook each other's paw.

"Aro," Taka spoke, "What an unexpected surprise."

"Likewise," the Snivy replied, "I was sure I had seen the last of you." He wore a smirk on his on face that was eerily similar to Taka's own.

"One could only hope to be so lucky…" Taka mused.

"I see you still hold yourself in high regard." The Snivy smiled to himself and shook his head. "It is good to see you, though. To what do I owe this unforeseen surprise?" He then glanced over in Roxy's direction, making her jump a little in surprise. "I must say…It was unexpected to be able to see you once more, but even more so to see you with a companion."

Taka glanced over at her as well, and she frowned. She had no idea how to react to this. She still wasn't even sure what was going on. It felt a little indignant to her, as if they had both suddenly realized she was still there. "Uhh…Context?" she said.

Rolling his eyes, Taka held out his paw in her direction. "This is Roxy. She is…Well, it is a long story." Then he looked at her and indicated the Snivy. "Roxy, this is Aro. He is a friend of mine."

Aro gave her a friendly wave. "I believe this belongs to you," he said.

At first Roxy was confused, but then she yelped when her spear suddenly appeared floating in front of her face. It took her a moment to realize that it was attached to Aro's vine still.

Taka sighed. "Although at times, he likes to test the limits of the word 'friend'…"

Roxy took her weapon back, and watched as Aro also returned Taka's two weapons. Taka was giving him a disapproving gaze as he did so.

"Anyway…" he mumbled as he sheathed his weapons, "I encountered Aro's tribe on my first journey," he explained, "His was the first welcoming tribe I had found. They provided me with food and a place to rest."

"Oh," Roxy said as she started to feel more at ease. Now that she knew the Snivy was a friend, she was happy to step closer to the two of them and reach out her own paw. "Well, hello then. It's nice to meet a friend of Taka's."

Aro shook her paw, and then gave Taka a look with an arched eyebrow. "Nothing is ever simple with you, is it?" he asked with a sort of teasing tone.

"I told you," he replied, "It is a long story."

Chuckling, Aro continued. "I would have thought you would be on the other side of the world by now. Were you not headed for the forest's edge last I saw you?"

Taka grimaced, and Roxy frowned sympathetically. "That…is also a long story," was all he said.

Aro shrugged. "Fair enough, I suppose. Well, in any case, I assume you are planning on just passing through. I can take you back to the patch with me. I am sure there are others in the Gaia Tribe who would like to see you again."

"I suppose that would be agreeable," Taka said with a nod, "We could use a good night's rest."

Aro smiled, though he still had that little touch of haughtiness that Roxy often saw in Taka's expressions. He then turned to regard her. "And you! I must hear your story. I am fascinated just seeing you!"

Roxy chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck. "Ah, sure. If you want. I'm not anything special, though…"

Aro arched an eyebrow. "You wear the clothing of humans, and the marks of the Thunder Clan. Your story is anything but dull, I am sure. Come!" With that, he turned on the spot and gestured for the two of them to follow, and then set off running at a rather surprising pace considering his size.

"'The patch'?" Roxy asked, turning to Taka with a quizzical look.

"Yes," he replied, "As in 'grass patch'. It is where the Gaia Tribe lives. His tribe."

"Oh. Is that the name of their village or something?"

Taka actually turned and gave her a wry sort of grin. "As far as I know, the Thunder Clan is the only tribe with a village."

"Hey!"

They both turned their heads up at Aro's shout, seeing that they had already nearly lost him in the trees. With a nod to one another, they took off running after him.

"This is cool," Roxy commented as she ran beside the other Pikachu, "The Gaia Tribe, huh? And you said they're friendly?" Roxy grinned, imagining a tribe of wild Grass-Type Pokémon all living together.

"Their general mindset is they do not attack others if others do not attack them."

"Oh, I see," she said with a nod, "Who's their leader? Like, a big Torterra?" She began imagining that as well, trying to remember just how large Torterra could get.

Taka gave her a look and shook his head. "He is," he said, gesturing forward with his paw.

Roxy arched her eyebrow at him, looked forward at the Snivy in front of them, and then back to Taka. "What? You mean Aro?"

"Yes. Aro."

Her brain became muddled with confusion. "Are- Really? How can he…?" Now she was looking at him like he was playing a joke on her. "He's the leader?" she asked in a voice not loud enough for the Snivy to hear, "…Of the whole tribe? He's a Snivy, Taka! He's just a cub!"

Taka actually stopped running. Roxy was forced to slam on the brakes and backtrack to where he was standing. "…What?" she asked him.

Taka was giving her a disapproving gaze. "Roxy, Aro is older than both of us."

"He-!" Roxy blanked for a moment. "…He is? Whaddya mean he's older than us?"

"What other way is there to say it? He has spent more years on this planet than you or I. I believe he is about as old as the wise ones."

Roxy blinked multiple times, trying to process this bizarre statement. No matter how many times she fed it through her brain, she kept getting an error. She looked back in the direction of Aro once more, and then back at Taka.

"I don't get it," she said, "If he's that old…why is he a Snivy? Wouldn't he have evolved? Especially considering where he lives…"

"Well-"

"Hey! Hurry up!"

The two glanced up to see that they had nearly lost sight of Aro in the woods once again. "I will explain later," Taka said before dashing off, leaving Roxy with no choice but to follow him.

After only about ten minutes of travel, Aro announced that they had reached their destination.

"Ro'a!" Aro called out, "I return with guests!"

No-one seemed to answer, so Roxy gave the Snivy a confused look. "What's 'Ro'a'? Is that someone's name?"

Aro gave her a sly look. "It is the syllables of my name, backwards," he explained, "It is a secret callsign, so we know if friend or foe approaches." He smiled proudly, as if he had come up with it himself, which could very well have been the case. "Our enemies hear us shout something different every time one of us comes back, so they cannot figure it out."

"Oh," Roxy said, nodding in understanding, "So if Taka lived here, he would say 'Kata'?"

"Indeed."

The group only took a few more steps forward before something massive suddenly towered over them, casting a shadow across all three. Roxy flinched and froze, her paw halfway to her spear, but relaxed a little when she looked up.

It was a Serperior. A huge Serperior. She could tell it was friendly, though, because it shared the same markings as Aro. Still, though, that didn't take away from the fact that it was massive and quite intimidating. Unlike Snivy, whom she had seen as pets and as part of teams back in Kanto, Roxy had never encountered a Serperior in the flesh before.

The Serperior briefly acknowledged Aro, before turning a scrutinizing eye across the two Pikachu. It paused for a moment once it got a good look at Taka.

"What a surprise…" it spoke in a deep, male voice.

"Kamazo," Taka greeted him, "Good to see you again."

Aro stepped forward, forced to crane his neck back quite a bit to look up at the much larger Pokémon. "I would wager," he spoke, "that you did not think we would see Taka again, did you little brother?"

Kamazo said something else, but Roxy didn't hear it. Her brain was busy fizzling out. 'Little brother'?!

"…and this is Roxy," Taka was saying, "She is my traveling companion."

Kamazo nodded in acceptance, and a smile finally graced his lips. "Very good," he spoke, "The Gaia Tribe welcomes you both." Then, he slithered off to the side, prompting Aro to start leading them forward again.

"Kamazo is the head of our defenses," Aro said, "Even vicious Zangoose tremble in fear when they see him."

"Yeah, no kidding…" Roxy murmured as she glanced over her shoulder. She didn't even want to imagine getting into a fight with something as large as that.

"Is that Taka…?"

Roxy's ears perked up upon hearing a new voice, and turned her head to see who it was. Instead, her eyes widened at what she saw.

There was an open glade sitting in the trees, letting the unfiltered sunshine beam down like a sunroof in a vehicle. It was filled with all manner of Grass-Type Pokémon. Aside from many other Snivy, Servine and Serperior, Roxy saw a lot of Pansage and Simisage, Treecko and Grovyle, Shroomish and Breloom, Nuzleaf and Shiftry, and a single Leafeon.

Most of them were sitting in clusters off to the side of the glade, around what Roxy assumed to be nests. True to what Taka had said, this was much closer to what she pictured when it came to wild Pokémon. There was no village here, just a tribe.

A small group of Pokémon immediately came forward to greet Taka. They all reacted in the same way as Aro, with each one expressing surprise at seeing him again. Once Taka had finished greeting all of his old acquaintances, the attention suddenly turned on her.

Roxy mentally flinched as a brief spike of social anxiety overcame her. "Uh, hi," she said, lamely waving her paw.

A few of them murmured quietly to one another. "She is with you?" a Simisage spoke up, addressing Taka.

"She is," he answered with a nod, "You can trust her. She is of no threat to any of you."

That seemed to visibly relax the group, though Roxy wondered why. It wasn't as if she projected an image of intimidation.

"Well then! Welcome to the patch, and welcome to the Gaia Tribe," said a Breloom, stepping forward to shake her paw, "It seems as though you two have been traveling for a while."

"Yeah, we have," Roxy replied.

"Come, and sit beneath a tree," the Breloom said with a gesture towards the open patch of grass, "Would you like some fruit?"

Roxy found herself suddenly ushered forward by the group, with Taka next to her. "Ah," she muttered in surprise, "Fruit?"

"We have plenty to share. The forest here is bountiful."

"I, uh…Well, I don't want to trouble you or-" Roxy stopped herself in mid-sentence as a thought occurred to her. She turned back to the Breloom and gave him a hopeful look. "Do you have…Leppa Berries?"

Five minutes later, Roxy, Taka and Aro were sitting under a tree next to the small glade, surrounded by a small pile of fresh berries. Roxy, in particular, had four Leppa Berries carefully cradled in her lap while she happily munched on a fifth one.

Taka was watching her with a neutral expression, and then rolled his eyes. "I will never understand why you like those so much…"

"Whah? Y'don' like L'pas?" she replied with her mouth full. It briefly registered in her mind that, apparently, the wild forest had sapped away her table manners. Hopefully it wouldn't be too hard to learn them again when she got home.

"Give me a Pomeg Berry any day…"

She shot him a look. "Ewwwww!" she quite loudly proclaimed, "Aw, yuck! Pomegs are gross!"

Aro laughed at their little back and forth. "Ah, Taka…You continue to surprise me."

Taka arched an eyebrow at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, perhaps you should tell me these 'long' stories," he replied cheekily, "because otherwise I am left to fill in the gaps, and the only things I can come up with are…strange…to say the least."

Roxy swallowed her last bite of the first Leppa. "I can do it if you want, Taka."

He shrugged. "Be my guest…"

Roxy then went on to explain her whole story to Aro, pausing at times to take a bite of a Leppa. She explained where she came from and that she was a pet, how she found herself in the forest, how the Thunder Clan had taken her in, and what had happened during her stay at the village. Though, she left out the more personal details, specifically about her tumultuous love life.

About halfway through her story, she noticed that other members of the tribe were listening in. No-one intruded on their bubble of personal space, but they were out in the open so their conversation was not exactly private. Roxy didn't mind.

Aro listened intently to the story and didn't ask many questions. When she finally finished by explaining what she and Taka were doing now, he nodded in understanding. "My, my…" he said, "Your story has certainly had quite a few chapters, young one. Even from your words alone, I feel I must congratulate you on your bravery.

Roxy blushed a little from the praise. "Heh…Thanks."

"So, you two are headed for…pretty much the same destination as Taka was going last time."

"Yeah," she said with a nod, "If I can just get back to the human world, no matter where it is, I'm confident I can find my way home."

Aro turned to Taka. "But, what happened to you? Did you not reach your destination? Or did you circle back for some reason?"

Roxy also glanced over at Taka, and saw his fur bristle at the question. She mentally grimaced, knowing what the answer was and how upsetting it was to Taka. The other Pikachu's lips were closed tightly and he was glancing away, looking as if he was going to remain silent instead of answering.

She decided to jump in before Aro could press him. "He decided to go back home."

Taka looked at her with a masked expression of surprise. She just shrugged at him.

"Oh, I see," Aro said, seeming to accept this answer, "You did make it to the humans though?"

For a moment, Taka continued to look at Roxy. She honestly couldn't tell if he was thankful for her intervention, or angry at her. "I did, yes," he finally answered.

"Well, at least you know the way, then," Aro said.

Roxy caught Taka giving her one more sidelong glance. He didn't seem angry at her.

"I imagine, then, that you will not be staying for long?"

Taka shook his head. "Unfortunately not."

Aro nodded in acceptance. "That is a shame," he said, "but even so, it is a pleasure to see you once again. As well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Roxy."

Roxy winced a little as he mispronounced her name. She had gotten used to everybody in the Thunder Clan, who had learned to say her name properly.

"Would you like to spend the night here, at least?" Aro asked them.

"That would be very much appreciated, Aro," Taka said with a nod.

Roxy smiled gratefully at the Snivy. She understood that sleeping here would mean they would both get a full eight hours of sleep tonight, maybe even more. She was already looking forward to that.

Aro stood up and clapped his paws together. "Excellent! I will go see if I can find some bedding for you two." Then, he turned and quickly ran off to the other side of the glade.

Now that he was gone, Roxy turned to Taka. "So…Why is he a Snivy?" she asked him.

"No-one knows for sure," Taka answered, though he didn't look at her, "Aro was just born that way. For whatever reason, no matter how old he grows or how much he battles, he cannot evolve. Years passed, his brothers grew up and became Serperior, and yet he stayed the same."

Roxy was stuck silent for a moment from sheer fascination. "Wow, really…?" she said, "That's wild. I've never heard of something like that before…" It was the truth. She had read about plenty of medical problems, including birth defects and diseases, from medical books with her master. Not once had she ever come across anything that would cause a Pokémon to be unable to evolve. It was like a Pokémon not being able to age; it just didn't make sense.

"And he's the only one?" she asked as a follow up question.

"Yes. No-one else in this tribe has been affected."

"Aw, wow…" Roxy said with a frown, "That must really suck."

He gave her a look and then shrugged. "Not necessarily." He then glanced over in the direction of where Aro had gone. "Aro is the kind of Pokémon that does not let obstacles stand in his way. He has trained just as hard as everyone else here, and it shows. Aro has learned to use his small size to his advantage. He is quick, nimble and deft in the arena. You should see the way he fights. He is not the leader of this whole tribe simply because everybody felt sorry for him."

"Really?" Roxy followed his gaze, spotting Aro talking to some other villagers.

"I will ask him if he is to take part in the arena tonight. I would encourage you to watch his skills. They are very impressive."

She turned back to looking at him. "Wait…What 'arena'?"

He smirked a little. "The Gaia Tribe enjoy combat for sport. There is an area set aside where members of the tribe battle one another in non-volatile combat. Sometimes, visitors take part as well."

"Holy smokes, really?"

When Taka nodded in answer, Roxy found herself gazing at her surroundings. Now that she was no longer telling her own backstory, most of the tribe had gone back to whatever they had been doing. Everyone seemed rather friendly, and Roxy couldn't find a single Pokémon that was sitting by themselves. Everyone seemed to be with either a friend, their family, or a mate. She was finding it a little difficult to imagine them as the type to engage in gladiatorial combat.

"They're very open and friendly," she commented, "We only had to pass one guard to get into their territory."

"Well, for one, we were with Aro."

"I guess that's true, but still… They're distinctly less…xenophobic than the rest of this forest."

She saw Taka shrug out the corner of her eye. "Who can say why? Whatever they are doing, they are doing it right. No neighbouring tribe has managed to drive then out of their territory."

Roxy giggled softly to herself. "It's probably because of Aro's brother. Anyone tries to invade, and he'll just eat'em."

Taka didn't seem to find her joke funny, but that was okay because Aro returned to them a minute later. "Two beds are being set up," he informed them.

"Good. Thank you, Aro," Taka replied.

"It is no trouble," he said with a wave of his paw. Then, he turned to address Roxy. "I instructed them to make your bedding especially soft." With a wink, he added, "I had a feeling that might be something you would enjoy."

"Oh, you have no idea!" she replied earnestly, "I'm so sick of lying on tree branches and waking up with such a stiff back!" She caught Taka off to the side shaking his head, but she ignored him.

"Say, Aro," Taka spoke up, "Will you be in the arena tonight, or perhaps tomorrow?"

Aro's face immediately brightened. "I was hoping you would bring that up. Yes, in fact! You are both very fortuitous. I am facing off against Zakata in unarmed combat this evening."

"Zakata? Hm, that should be interesting," Taka said with a paw under his chin in thought.

"Who's Zakata?" Roxy asked.

"He would be leader of this tribe if I were to perish," Aro replied, "There is disagreement amongst our tribe over which one of us is truly the strongest, and I always aim to sway the decision in my favour." He grinned to himself. He looked a little haughty and full of himself, but Roxy had also picked up a hint of a joking tone in his voice. If she had to guess, she would have said the two had nothing more than a friendly rivalry.

"He's a Grovyle," Taka added.

"Oh. So, it's like a skirmish then?"

"Indeed," Aro answered, "The objective is to pin or otherwise disable your opponent, not to actually defeat them in combat."

"Like wrestling?"

"Not really…There is still an element of 'battling' involved."

"Well, cool!" Roxy replied, "It sounds fun. I can't wait!"

Noon passed into the afternoon, until only a few hours of daylight remained. So far, Roxy had really enjoyed her time among this new tribe. She had eaten her fill of berries, gotten to talk with some interesting and friendly Pokémon, and, most importantly, had gotten to relax! It was like a mini-vacation on her perilous journey home.

She was spared the monotony of repeating her own story to the others, thanks to many of them having listened in earlier and spread the word to others. Instead, she found a great number of Pokémon from the tribe asking her about the human world. For a couple of hours, she became a living encyclopaedia. Roxy didn't mind in the least, though. It was worth it to see all of the fascinated looks on their faces, especially on the young cubs.

With about a half-hour to go until the arena match, Roxy was once again chatting with Aro. Taka had gone off somewhere, leaving her to talk to the Snivy alone.

He was a really friendly Pokémon and a generous host, but Roxy still couldn't help but feel weird whenever she looked at him. The fact that he was so much smaller and younger-looking than she was, and yet was at least five to ten years older than her. Even though she herself was still in the 'mid-stage' of her evolutionary line, she still associated many first-stage Pokémon like Snivy as cubs. This was especially evident because Snivy, among many other first-stagers, evolved early in life.

Roxy, of course, had met many Pokémon older than her who were her size or even smaller. Some Pokémon simply did not evolve, such as that one neighbour's Farfetch'd. The fact was that the Pokémon in front of her was clashing with the established link in her mind between evolution and ageing.

"So…If you don't mind me asking," she ventured, "What's it like?"

"Hm?" he said, glancing up from the berry he was eating.

"I'm trying to imagine going my whole life, making it to old age, as a Pichu…but I just can't picture it." A moment passed and she suddenly backpedaled. "N-Not to say that you're 'old age', I just mean-"

He cut her off by laughing. "I am old," he stated plainly, "Or at least compared to the rest of the village. I have been a part of the Gaia Tribe for a long time, Roxy. Years have passed by. Eventually, I just stopped worrying about it. I could not control it, I cannot change it, so I accepted that it is a part of who I am. I learned and I adapted. I found strengths instead of focusing on weaknesses." He smiled and shook his head softly. "If remaining as a Snivy is what the great Arceus has decided for me, well then that is fine."

"I just wonder why, though."

Aro simply shrugged. After a moment of silence, he then spoke. "Now then, if you will pemit me to ask you a potentially uncomfortable question…"

She glanced at him in confusion. "Huh?"

"What really happened to Taka?"

Roxy practically froze, as if her blood had chilled to ice. She felt like she had just been caught lying through her teeth. "Uhhhh…" She glanced at her surroundings, trying to see if Taka was anywhere nearby.

"If he has told you something in confidence, I will not ask you to repeat it. I am simply concerned. That is all."

When she was sure Taka was nowhere within earshot, she gave Aro a frown. She took a moment and weighed her options, trying to decide what to say to Aro, if anything at all.

"Something…really bad happened," she said, "Like…really, really bad…"

Aro frowned as well. "Oh, I see…"

"He did make it to the city, but something awful happened there that…changed him… After that, he turned around and never looked back. Eventually he made it back home to the Thunder Clan."

"He does seem different…" Aro commented.

"I'm really lucky that he's agreed to take me out of the forest at all…because it means going back to that city…"

A moment of melancholy silence passed.

"But…he is okay now?" Aro asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"I think so…For the most part, anyway. It's been hard for him, but he's had family and friends helping him. I think he's gonna have this dark cloud hovering over him for most of his life, unfortunately, but…He'll be okay. He's tough."

Aro simply nodded.

"So, uh…" Roxy said after a moment of silence, trying to change the topic, "Are those marks on your body the same kinda thing as the Thunder Clan has? Do they represent things like accomplishments?"

Aro nodded again. "They do. This is a custom that has spread fairly far throughout this forest."

"It's amazing. The human world has no idea that this is going on."

"I must say, though," Aro said, giving her a curious look, "It is very interesting to see you wearing the marks of the Thunder Clan."

"Oh!" Roxy glanced down at the green marks on her fur. "Didn't I mention that? Oh, oops. They gave them to me for my help in fighting off the Earth Tribe."

"That is a great honour, especially for someone like you; a pet from the human world who dropped out of the sky."

She blushed a little. "I dunno…For some reason, it still doesn't feel like they belong on me. Don't get me wrong, I was very excited to get them and I still smile when I see them, but…"

"If the Thunder Clan gave them to you, then you deserve them. Otherwise, they would not have given them to you." He smiled warmly, and for just a moment Roxy could see his age showing through his expression. "They must have truly valued you as a friend and tribesmate."

She sighed nostalgically. "They did…They were all so much nicer than they had to be. I was a stranger, after all. They could've just kicked me out. They were all so wonderful…and I miss them so much already."

"I have only had the pleasure of meeting Taka, and now yourself," Aro said, "but hearing your story almost makes me want to venture out just so I can meet the rest of them. They sound like a wonderful tribe."

Roxy smiled and nodded in agreement, thinking back to the wonderful times she'd had there. "You know…They welcomed me so warmly that I really did…and still do…feel like a family member with all of them." She chuckled a little and gazed off to the side for a moment. "But I still always felt like a Magikarp out of water. No matter what happened I was always a pet, never a wild tribal Pokémon."

Aro chuckled as well. "You are a tribal Pokémon, Roxy. Your tribe is your home, with your human. It may be much smaller and not what you imagine, but a tribe is just another word for friends and family." He held his forelimbs out in a sweeping motion. "There are so many tribes in this forest and we have seen visitors from so many of them. Each tribe is so vastly different from the next. Each one has its own unique customs and traditions, and it is fascinating to learn from these visitors and share knowledge with them."

He then looked back over at her. "Your situation is no different. Because you come from the human world, under the care of a human, you have brought with you your own unique customs and traditions. I wish you could stay longer so I could find out more about you."

His words caused her to smile a little. Feeling out of place in the forest had been something that she had just gotten used to, but the way he talked about her world helped put things in perspective a little. Except for a few exceptions like Taka, no Pokémon in this forest had even seen a human before.

"Are they really so different?" Roxy asked, "I've only really known the Thunder Clan, and the Earth Tribe was…Well, I didn't exactly have a chance to learn about their customs…"

Aro laughed. "I do not blame you."

"What sort of traditions do you have here?"

"Well…" Aro reached down and grasped the necklace of stones around his neck. "Promising youths are given a necklace with but a single stone on it. Whenever they prove themselves to the tribe in some way or another, a stone is added."

Roxy leaned in a little to look more closely at the necklace. She could see now that the 'string' was made of vines, and the stones were carefully woven in. Most of the stones were the size of a pebble, but she couldn't find any two that looked the same.

She then jumped back slightly as Aro started to remove the necklace and pull it up over his head. "Here," he said afterwards, offering it to her in his paw.

Roxy stared at it confused for a moment, then flushed as she realized what had happened. "Oh. Oops, I'm so sorry. I guess I did get a little too close to you, didn't I?"

He shrugged. "I was not bothered, but you did seem like you wanted a closer look. Here, go ahead."

She nodded in thanks and took the necklace into her own paws. Despite the number of stones woven into it, it was not that heavy. Roxy reasoned that she herself could comfortably wear it. "There's so many," she commented, "Wow, it's no wonder you're the leader of the tribe…"

Aro smiled humbly and made a dismissive gesture with his paw.

"And you did all of this without being able to evolve. Wow." She leaned in a little closer and inspected some of the stones. A couple of them seemed really smooth, and a couple even sparkled in the sunlight. Roxy wondered if some of them could actually be gems instead of rocks. She chuckled and said to herself, Imagine if one of these was a diamond…

"And with the passing of this necklace," Aro spoke in a solemn tone, "You are now officially the leader of this tribe."

Roxy shot him a panicked look. "What?!"

Aro immediately started laughing. "It was a joke, Roxy."

"…Oh," Roxy said once her heart started beating again. After a moment, she started to giggle as well at her own foolishness.

"Aro! There you are! Hurry up!"

Both of them glanced up to see a Simisage off in the distance waving at them. More specifically, he was waving at Aro.

"What?" he replied.

"Your match is starting soon!"

Aro immediately bolted up. "Is it really? Oh heavens, I have lost track of time…" He gave Roxy an apologetic look, but was already in the process of running off as he spoke. "Sorry, Roxy! I need to go prepare for the arena. I will see you there!"

"Oh! Uh…Yeah, okay! Good luck!" she called after him, slightly staggered by his sudden departure. Nevertheless, she watched him dash off to prepare for his bout. She couldn't miss the big smile on his face, and could easily tell how excited he was to get into the arena. Seeing this made Roxy all the more curious about what sort of fights went on there.

Then, something occurred to her. "Hey! Aro!" she shouted, hoping he would still hear her, "Your necklace!" She punctuated her exclamation by holding up the article in question and waving it back and forth in the air.

"I will retrieve it afterwards!" he called back.

He disappeared into the trees not a second later, leaving Roxy sitting there somewhat awkwardly with Aro's necklace. After a moment, she shrugged and reasoned that giving it back to him after his match would be all right.

With some time still left before the match, she found herself examining the various stones once more. There was a surprising amount of colour variance between them. There were green, blue, and even orange stones. She couldn't tell if they were naturally like that, or if they had been recoloured somehow.

About twenty minutes later, Taka returned to her. "Where did you get that?" he asked as he strode up.

Roxy lifted her gaze and gave him a nonplussed look. "Well, hello to you as well," she said flatly, "Aro gave it to me so I could get a closer look, but then he had to run off."

"Ah."

Roxy watched Taka shrug and then wander off to the side. She rolled her eyes, supposing that was the end of that conversation.

A short time later, the air was suddenly filled with a loud sound that sounded like a deep horn. Roxy straightened up in alarm and looked around in confusion.

"It is an instrument made out of a hollowed piece of wood," Taka explained before she could even ask her question, "Come. The match is to begin."

Roxy quickly slipped the necklace around her neck and stood up. "Really? They made their own horn?" she asked as she began to follow him across the glade, "Wow, this forest is just fascinating…"

She glanced around and saw almost the entire tribe were moving as well, slowly congregating in the same general direction. Only a few stayed behind, likely to remain on guard duty. Everyone looked rather jovial as they moved, speaking animatedly to each other. The cubs in particular all looked really excited.

"This looks like it's gonna be a lot of fun," Roxy said with a smile, "It's like going to a baseball game or a soccer game or something." She then giggled to herself. "I wish I had some popcorn!"

Taka groaned in front of her.

"What?" she asked, giving him a confused look.

He glanced back at her over his shoulder. "I happen to know what 'popcorn' is," he informed her in a flat tone, "Now you've gone and made me want some."

Roxy blinked and stared at him for a moment, then burst out in another fit of giggles. "Ah, don't worry Taka," she said as she stepped up to pat him on his shoulder, "I love popcorn too. I can probably get you some when we get to the city."

The two followed the flow of the crowd as they left the glade and moved through the trees for a fairly short distance. Soon enough, they began to pool around their destination. Roxy eagerly squeezed herself to the front of the crowd, and was astounded by what she saw.

In a small, very shallow valley, a vaguely circular arena had been carved out of the ground. Literally, the forest floor appeared to have been ripped out, along with several feet of dirt below it, to form what looked like an above-ground pool without the water. The walls of the shallow arena were smooth, and looked like they required constant upkeep. Splayed somewhat awkwardly overtop of the arena was a large fallen tree. It was mostly branchless, but a few odd limbs stuck out, and a few of them reached down to the bottom of the arena.

Taka stepped up next to her. "I will admit, it is rather impressive."

"Holy smokes…" she murmured, "What? Did they hire out Ground-Type contractors to dig this?"

"As far as I know, the Gaia Tribe created this themselves."

She looked over at Taka in disbelief, and then back at the arena itself. "That must have taken tons of work!"

Suddenly a voice rang out loudly. "Brethren of the Gaia Tribe, and honoured guests!"

Roxy turned to see that the Breloom from earlier had leapt up on top of the fallen tree and was addressing the crowd. She wondered what sort of status he held within the tribe.

"Welcome to this evening's arena match. Today, our mighty leader Aro is ready to face off once again against the mighty Zakata!"

A cheer erupted from the crowd, and Roxy saw the two named Pokémon step forward from the sea of villagers and hop down into the pit. Aro was on the side closest to her, while on the opposite end was a rather intimidating-looking Grovyle. There seemed to be an equal amount of body paint to scars covering his body, and the leaf on the top of his head had a massive rip in it. While he looked like a hardened warrior, though, he was smiling and acting like he hadn't seen an injury in his life.

"Featured today," the Breloom continued, "is unarmed combat with traditional victory rules. You all know how this goes, so I shall not waste any more time." He then made an impressive leap off of the tree and landed on the edge of the pit.

Down below, Aro and his foe gave each other determined and confident glares, though both still wore a half grin. The Grovyle, Zakata, had to be at least twice as tall as Aro, probably closer to three times as tall. Aro looked positively miniscule in comparison. It made Roxy feel a little worried. Though she couldn't see any malice in Zakata's expression, and figured that the two would fight fairly, she still couldn't imagine how the little Snivy could duel against such a larger opponent without getting really hurt.

"Begin!"

Roxy didn't have any more time to think about it, because the duel commenced like a gunshot. She blinked and Aro was gone from his starting point, and it took her a moment to find him again. Taka hadn't been lying; Aro was fast! He ran full tilt, with his head almost touching the ground and his leafy tail held out parallel behind him, and he zipped from spot to spot without ever going the same direction twice.

Zakata stood his ground and kept a careful eye on Aro. It looked like he was no stranger to Aro's movements and wasn't about to let himself get caught off guard. He looked like a tensed coil, ready to spring at any minute.

Aro struck first, and what happened next went by so fast that Roxy almost missed it. Aro had quickly leapt up from the ground, snaking through the air like a missile, aimed directly for Zakata's head. The Grovyle had retaliated just in the nick of time, bringing up his forelimb and whacking Aro away like a pesky Bug-Type. She watched the Snivy tumble off to the side.

A moment later, Roxy realized she was wrong. Aro hadn't been struck. He had managed to bound off of Zakata's limb as if it were a platform and was now sailing through the air in the opposite direction. Before a second could even pass, vines sprouted from behind Aro's shoulders and shot directly towards the fallen tree. They gripped onto one of the branches and then tightened, letting Aro use it to swing himself back around towards Zakata. His momentum now increased even more, Zakata could not block Aro's strike in time.

Aro landed on the ground behind Zakata, skidding to a stop with a triumphant grin on his face. Though Zakata had been struck right in the side of the head, he did not waste any time in lashing out at the Snivy a mere millisecond later. Aro darted to the side and dodged this.

It seemed Zakata had been expecting this, and was already diving through the air in mid-pounce, aimed directly for where Aro was standing. Before the Grovyle could make contact, though, Aro did something else spectacular. He sprouted his vines once more and pressed them straight down to the ground. Then, he used them to push himself straight up as if they were a set of really long legs, and Zakata passed right through the empty space below.

All of this happened in the span of a few seconds, leaving Roxy's head spinning.

She watched the two combatants move about, and was constantly surprised by Aro's grace. He moved through the air like water, never sitting still for more than a second. He was frequently making liberal use of his vines, almost as if they were the wires used by human performers on stage when they were meant to 'fly'.

Both of them eventually managed to land a few hits on each other, which never amounted to more than a striking blow with a limb or a vine. Zakata had tried to grab hold of Aro a few times, but hadn't been successful. In some ways it was similar to a Pokémon Battle, but in a lot of ways it was not. For one thing, they were not using very many official Moves.

"Aro's tactic is to exhaust his opponent," Taka commented, drawing her gaze for a moment, "At least, in combat such as this."

"Yeah?"

"Aro is forcing his opponent to lash out, but is able to evade almost every strike. Eventually, his opponent will tire simply due to their larger body mass, while Aro will have kept his own stamina carefully under control."

She glanced back down. As she did, she barely managed to catch a glimpse of Aro sliding along the ground like a baserunner in baseball, with one vine hooked onto a tree branch. When the vine became taut, he used the bungee-like momentum to lift himself back up and speeding off in the other direction. His Tackle then landed directly in Zakata's midsection, causing the Grovyle to stumble back a little.

"One of the ways to end combat like this is to pin one's opponent down," Taka continued, "but this is not usually an option for Aro."

Roxy nodded in understanding. It was obvious, considering his size.

"On the other paw, one can win by completely incapacitating their opponent. That is where his exceptional control over his vines becomes his advantage."

She then gave Taka a sidelong glance. "You seem to know quite a lot about how Aro fights."

Taka subtly shrugged. "Aro is an experienced and skilled fighter. Even I did not expect to win against him when I entered the arena."

Roxy gave him a brief surprised glance. Now that was a story she needed to hear at some point.

The match continued on for a couple more exciting minutes. The gathered crowd did not cheer, seeming to remain relatively quiet so that the combatants could focus. There was plenty of excited murmuring however, and many encouraging smiles and gestures.

Roxy started to notice that Zakata was starting to breathe a little more heavily. She thought about what Taka had told her about Aro exhausting his opponents.

A moment later, Aro struck. Nearly as fast as a bullet, Aro slammed right into Zakata's belly. Then, before the Grovyle could react, Aro quickly wrapped his vines around the wrists on Zakata's forelimbs. Using his forward momentum, Aro slid between Zakata's hind legs and ended up behind him, and then pulled hard with his vines. Zakata's forelimbs were yanked down between his own legs, causing him to easily topple forward onto his face.

Aro wasted no time. He deftly hopped onto Zakata's back and stood there, still holding his vines taut. With his forelimbs being pulled through his hind legs, Zakata was pretty effectively pretzeled. With no way to counterbalance his overturned body weight, Zakata was left with no option to push himself back up into a standing position.

Zakata did struggle as best he could. He thrashed with his hind legs, and even tried to hit Aro with a Razor Leaf attack from the leaf on his head. It didn't matter, though. Aro held strong and seemed to have effectively immobilized the Grovyle. A blow of the horn a few seconds later confirmed it; Aro had won.

The moment the sound of the horn resonated through the air, Aro retracted all of his vines and hopped off of Zakata. The Grovyle stood up, a defeated but humble look on his face, and dusted himself off. The two combatants faced each other, stood in silence for a moment, and then shared a simple pawshake.

Aro then turned to address the crowd and raised up his forelimbs in victory. Still there was no cheering from the crowd, like Roxy would have expected after a fight. Instead there was applause and a few impressed words shared between the villagers. It was like Aro had won a chess match instead of a rigorous battle against a strong foe, but Aro seemed to appreciate it just as much. Roxy happily joined in with the applause.

The tree cover was thick in this area, but a few stray beams of sunshine managed to force their way through. One of them must have been shining down on Aro, because he looked like he was simply glowing with triumph. Obviously winning this match meant a lot to him.

Roxy was thoroughly impressed. Size difference was usually not something that solely decided who would win a match, as some Pokémon species remained small even when fully evolved. Still, Snivy were very small, tiny creatures who didn't exactly project an image of strength. To take on a fully-grown Grovyle so much bigger than he was, and to make the victory look so easy, was simply astounding to her.

The murmurs in the crowd began to grow louder in volume, and Roxy noted a moment later that they almost sounded concerned. She glanced around, and saw that many of them were pointing down into the arena. Curious, Roxy turned and looked down as well, but all she saw was Aro and Zakata.

Her brow furrowed as she leaned in a little bit, looking at Aro. At first she wasn't sure if her eyes were playing tricks on her, but it became clear once Zakata let out a startled yelp when he saw it. Aro was glowing with much more than a sense of victory.

His whole body was beginning to glow white. Aro seemed confused for a moment when he saw all the concerned gazes being directed at him, but he caught a glimpse of his own paw a moment later and gasped. He frantically started inspecting his whole body, which was very slowly glowing brighter and brighter.

"Ah!" he gasped out, and then fell down onto all fours. Zakata stepped forward to help him, but hesitated.

At first Roxy was concerned, and then she went back to being confused. It took her a bit longer than she would have liked to realize what was happening, and she only really clued in once the other villagers started to shout it.

"He's…evolving!" she muttered in a stupefied voice.

"He is…!" Taka confirmed, equally as stupefied.

The murmurs of the villagers around them rose to a higher pitch, running the gambit of emotions. Many were confused, some still seemed concerned, but some others were starting to express joy and fascination. It wasn't long before everybody was atwitter about the dimly glowing Snivy down in the arena.

"Oh my gosh, this is really happening isn't it?" Roxy asked, starting to feel a little excitement of her own.

"It does seem that way," Taka replied, "but…How? Why?"

"Oh, he must be so excited! It's finally happening!" Roxy was grinning brightly. A few of the audience members started to applaud once more, and Roxy happily joined in. She couldn't imagine the feeling of finally getting to evolve after years of being denied it.

Aro was still on all fours. His back was arched, looking like he was ready to either pounce or throw up. The bright glow enveloping his body was slowly growing brighter, and was now starting to obscure the green colour in his skin.

Roxy hesitated in her applause when she saw his face, though. He had his teeth grit and his eyes clenched shut. When she looked a little closer, she thought she could see his digits squeezing and clawing at the dirt under him.

"Is he okay?" she asked.

"I am not so sure…" Taka answered, uncertainty in his tone.

She frowned. "Gosh, it looks like he's in pain." She turned to look at Taka. "Evolution's not supposed to be painful. It feels really weird, but it doesn't hurt," she said, speaking from experience.

"No, it does not…" Taka said in agreement.

Roxy regarded the Snivy once more. "Maybe it hurts because it's been put off for so long? I've never heard of anything like that, but he's been a Snivy for a long time, so maybe? I hope that's all it is, because a little pain will be worth it when he becomes a Servine, right?"

It seemed like some of the other villagers had noticed his distress as well. The applause had stopped, and some of the Pokémon were making their way down into the arena and heading out to aid him. She was too far away to hear him, but the way his face was twisted up made it look like he was groaning in pain. It almost looked like he was bracing himself on the ground, as if holding on against a powerful gust of wind. Roxy became increasingly worried, as well as confused.

"He doesn't want to…"

Roxy turned towards Taka, and saw that he looked as if a lightbulb had appeared over his head. "What?" she asked.

"He is trying to stop it," Taka clarified, "He is trying to keep the Evolution from happening. He is trying to stay as a Snivy!"

"What?!" Roxy blurted out, "Why?"

"How should I know? I am not psychic!"

She turned and looked at Aro once more, who was glowing almost too brightly to see. Now that she got another look at the way he was behaving, it did look like he was straining against something. Roxy had heard stories of Pokémon trying to stop their own Evolution, and it was always described as a nearly-impossible struggle. If that was the case, then it might be even more difficult if Evolution had been postponed for this long.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

She squinted and tried to see past the bright glow. The process would be over in only a few short seconds. Though it was hard to see much of anything, Roxy was just barely able to see one thing. Aro was shaking his head, as if saying 'no'.

He was trying to stop the Evolution.

Roxy's heart suddenly doubled its speed as she leapt up onto her paws. Aro was going to become a Servine faster than she could say 'Viridian City' if someone didn't do something. "Aro!" she shouted as loudly as she could.

It looked like Aro could barely move, but he did wrench open one of his eyes and look up at her.

Roxy grabbed the necklace that she was still wearing and frantically yanked it up over her head. "Catch!" she shouted before reeling back and tossing the necklace towards Aro as hard as she could.

The necklace tumbled awkwardly through the air, and Roxy had a brief moment of panic that she hadn't thrown it far enough. Her fears were assuaged when the necklace sailed flawlessly towards the downed Snivy in a perfect arc. Aro lifted up a single paw and caught it.

"Put it on!" she shouted.

Aro quickly slipped it over his rather large head, and then collapsed forward onto all fours again. For a moment, everybody silently waited. Ten tense seconds passed with no change. Aro continued to glow just as brightly.

Then, slowly but surely, the glow began to fade. The stress levels visible on Aro's face receded with it, and he took in a few heavy breaths. His glowing body grew dimmer and dimmer. Roxy could see some of the villagers in the arena giving each other perplexed looks, but she focused on Aro completely.

A few more tense, silent seconds passed by. Aro remained on all fours, staring ahead and simply panting as the glow receded from his body. Then, at last, his body stopped glowing completely and it looked as if nothing had happened to him in the first place. Aro promptly collapsed onto his stomach as he let out a haggard breath of relief. The other villagers immediately went to his aid.

Roxy, meanwhile, sighed in relief and sat back down. Her heart still thumped wildly in her chest from all of the excitement. She cocked her head to the side and saw that Taka was giving her a look that could only be called 'befuddled'.

She just offered him a smile and winked.

"I had a sneaking suspicion, but it turned out I was right!"

Roxy was seated back in the patch where she had been sitting before the arena match, with Aro and Taka sitting before her. They were both listening to her every word, as were about 75 percent of the rest of the village who had gathered around in a circle.

Aro was looking fine. He had been pretty exhausted after the ordeal, but after a few berries was none the worse for wear. Though he did his best to mask it, Roxy could tell he was still a little shaken by what had happened.

"A suspicion of what?" Taka asked, prodding her to explain further.

Roxy leaned forward and pointed to Aro's necklace. "One of these must be an Everstone."

Aro and Taka shared a perplexed look. "A what?" Aro replied.

She giggled softly. "It's a rare kind of stone that has unique properties," she explained, recalling what she had read in her master's books, "They are very valuable to humans, mostly because they are so hard to find."

The confused looks that remained on their faces told her that neither had ever heard of an Everstone before. "What does this…Everstone do?" Aro asked.

"If an Everstone is held by a Pokémon and kept in close contact with their body, it keeps them from Evolving. So long as a Pokémon holds one, they will never Evolve."

Now she heard a few gasps ring out through her audience. Aro had gasped as well, and then he glanced down at the necklace. "…Truly?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Yup."

"That is why I…The whole reason why I could not Evolve was because…"

Roxy smiled sympathetically and leaned forward to pat Aro on the shoulder. "I'm afraid so."

She expected him to sigh or lament this unfortunate fact, but she did not expect him to burst out chuckling all of a sudden. "Oh dear heavens…" he muttered through his laughter, "That is ridiculous. Of all the things…"

"I guess one of the first stones on there was the Everstone. I don't know how to tell them apart, so I couldn't show you which one was the Everstone if you were to ask me…"

Aro's laughter died down. "What are the odds, hm?"

"What I don't get, though…" Roxy said with a curious frown, "…is why you wanted it to stop. I thought you'd be happy to become a Servine at last. I thought you'd be over the moon, and yet you're still a Snivy."

He gave her a grin as he replied. "Because a Snivy is who I am." At her perplexed look, he chuckled and continued speaking. "If this Everstone had been discovered many years ago, then you would be right. I would have happily embraced the Evolution that had been kept from me for so long. But, as I told you before, I learned how to accept my fate. I have embraced being a Snivy for far more than a decade at this point… I would not want that to change now."

"Really?" Roxy said, slightly in disbelief, "So you really want to be a Snivy forever, even though you don't have to now?"

He nodded, and then chuckled once more. "Perhaps when I am on my deathbed…I will do it just to see what it is like."

A wave of laughter spread through the gathered audience.

Aro reached down and gently grasped the necklace in one of his paws. "If this is what will keep me as a Snivy, then I shall never part with it." A smile appeared on his face, and to Roxy it looked as if it contained a thousand different emotions.

She was silent for a moment, but then smiled and said, "Well, I'm happy for you, then. Glad to have the mystery solved at least, right?"

"Heh, yeah."

Taka then leaned in and finally contributed to the conversation. "I am happy for you as well, Aro. When I first met you, you had already accepted your fate and I was happy to see that this had not changed when I returned. I feel like this is the right decision. You know yourself, and you have gotten to know yourself for a great many years by now."

Roxy giggled and added, "As they say, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it!'"

The two at first gave her an odd look, but Aro joined in with her laughter a moment later. Roxy looked at him, and she saw how genuine his smile was. She had felt so sorry for Aro at first, thinking that he was beset with a handicap. Now, seeing just how happy he was even after being offered a chance to fix the issue, made her believe as well that he shouldn't change. She'd only known him for less than a day, but one thing was plainly obvious to her by this point.

Aro was a very strong, wise and skilled Snivy.

Evening fell, and most of the village prepared to go to sleep. Roxy knew that most Grass-Types preferred to only be active when the sun was out because of their physiology, and indeed it seemed like sundown was definitely 'lights out' around this village. She and Taka were settling themselves into the two separate grassy beds they had been provided.

"Taka."

He stopped what he was doing and looked over at her. "Hm?"

"You've been giving me weird looks all afternoon. Something you wanna say?"

"I have most certainly not been giving you 'weird' looks."

Roxy chuckled softly and shook her head.

A moment later, Taka spoke up. "I simply feel that I must say…Your knowledge from the human world was quite useful today. Certainly if it had not been for this knowledge, Aro's life would have been drastically changed."

She gave him a cheeky grin. "Thank you, Taka. You're too kind."

Taka sat down on his bedding. "I do not think very many Pokémon in this forest, if any at all, have ever heard of this stone. It makes me wonder if anyone else has been stricken with this 'affliction'."

"Well," Roxy replied, "Now that Aro and the Gaia Tribe know, they can help spread the word! You said they get a lot of visitors through here, didn't you?"

"That is true…"

Roxy shrugged and sat down on her own bedding. "I'm just glad I could throw the necklace to him in time. It all turned out good. Right now, I'm just stoked to get a whole night's sleep."

Taka looked like was going to say something, but hesitated.

"What?" she said, giving him a look.

"I suppose…I should learn to trust your viewpoints a little more often."

Roxy swelled with pride, and perhaps a touch of a sense of victory, upon hearing him say that. "Thank you, Taka," she said, more sincerely this time.

Taka then promptly laid down on his bedding, facing away from her. "Enough talk," he said, "We have been given safe shelter and should capitalize on this. Go to sleep."

For a moment, Roxy just sat there and looked at him. She considered saying something else, but shrugged it off and just chuckled to herself. She knew that he was right about getting some sleep. It had been a rather exciting day, but she had no doubts that she would be asleep as soon as her head hit the bedding.

So, that is exactly what happened.