It's always fun for me to look over my old author notes, some of them were so damn wordy. This one wasn't, but still fun.

This is Rai's bonus chapter, it goes into parts of his backstory and has some first person sections in italics! Unlike the original, it has some extra content~

Enjoy!

It's not a widely known thing that I am… or I guess 'was' a wild pokémon.

It's a little blurry with me since I mostly grew up in Treasure Town and joined the guild and everything. But I was hatched as a wild pokémon, to wild parents, with wild siblings, in a wild place.

I guess it's not widely known because the rest of the town sees me just like them, while my sister never got used to the town and left eventually, I was still young enough to adapt. I'm like… a wild pokémon coloured in like a civilised pokémon. It's why I can be a bit erratic, I think, and hasty.

I grew up in Treasure Town, and I love the pokémon there. I like the stability and the community. But a part of me never has forgetten where I started, and I hope I never will.

I'm Raigeki of Team Ion, son of Raiton and Kogeki of the Amp Plains tribe.

This is my story.

"Raigeki? Get back here!"

Shinx looked back curiously. The lightning-charred plains smelled of ozone and the tangy smell of sitrus berries. He was climbing an outcropping of rocks, wanting nothing but to see the other side.

Down below Mother frowned up at him. Her shaggy mane was full and fluffy and very warm, Raigeki knew that for a fact.

Confident she'd catch him if he fell, he just continued on like a little shit.

Raiton stared after her son with concern. He had big paws and a big head and no sense for what could go wrong. He was still too young to really understand consequences, she spoiled him she knew, but he was the first boy of her babies, and Kogeki was no better.

"Arashi!" Raiton called, looking around. "Fetch Raigeki."

They had stopped for the night, going a little farther than normal into the lightning fields. It was a nice little cove. There would be an entrance to a twisted labyrinth nearby in case there was the need to leave urgently, but with the thunderstorms growing fiercer it was highly unlikely anyone would come by.

A few large rocks were scattered about, one of which Kogeki was napping on, letting the cubs play while Raigeki, always the spirited lad, tried to climb the cliffs.

Arashi, oldest of the four was busy making sure Sa and Ji didn't roughhouse too much, looked up. "Coming Mother," she said, separating the young twins and trotting over.

Sa was a big fan of tossing sticks into the jaws of trapinch, while Ji had an unfortunate love of discharging a charged busrt of electricity into his parents when they picked him up.

Seeing his daughter move to fetch his oldest son, Kogeki also got up from his nap and made his way over.

It was getting awfully loud, and the smell of ozone permeated everything. This might have been a dangerous time for a wild family, unable to hear or smell the approach of anyone. But no one would be foolish enough to be out here right now.

Right?

The clouds were rumbling louder, but Raigeki wasn't afraid. He had been warned about the danger of being hit without Mother or Father, but it'd never happened, so he knew it never would.

As Arashi neared, Kogeki nuzzled his mate, getting shocked by Ji when he tried to pick him up. But he was a tough luxray and didn't drop him even as Ji giggled.

Raiton picked up Sa, it was just about time to leave this place and step into the fields so they couldn't let the twins run off.

It was Kogeki who's ears flicked first, sensing something wrong. It was Raiton, however, who smelled the taint that was approaching.

Raigeki climbed without a care in the world, his older sister staring up in concern.

He nearly cut his paws on the rocks, but he pushed through the discomfort, he was nearly to the top. Around his neck on a thick reed swung some old rock. He'd found it months back while exploring just like this.

It was proof that there was treasure about if only one was brave enough to look.

"Rai," Arashi called, from below. "Come back down, looks like the storm's getting close to beginning. Arashi was the only one who called him Rai, they weren't too different in age, and she couldn't quite manage Raigeki at first, settling on Rai.

It was their thing.

"Give me a moment, Ara," Rai returned, he too called her by a nickname. More out of fair play than anything else. "I'm almost to the top! Maybe everyone can come up too after-woah!"

He had hoisted himself up that last foot and had expected flat ground or at least some surface. Instead, he flipped himself over a steep cliff and immediately began to roll. "Aaahh!"

Gasping when her dumb little brother just vanished, the claws came out and the legs got-to-working. Arashi ascended the cliff in record time and jumped after him. She didn't hear Mother or Father drop the twins to yell out a warning, she was already running.

She may have been the oldest of the four, but she still was pretty young and prone to acting without thinking.

Arashi too tumbled down the cliffside until she landed on Raigeki, causing him to squeak. "Owww," he whimpered as she groaned and picked herself up.

"Why did you jump over?" Arashi demanded.

"Why did you jump on me?" Raigeki retorted, getting up on shaky legs. His back left leg was limp, and he whimpered again. "I-I-I hurt my leg."

His legs buckled and he sunk back onto his belly, whimpering as Arashi's anger turned to concern. "Okay, here let me take a look at it."

"No."

"Rai… come on."

"It hurts!"

"I know, but it won't get better unless I take a look." Raigeki still wasn't extending the leg, so she had to use her forepaws and nose to angle it out.

Rai squealed when she pulled it out, flinching back. "That HURTS!" he yelled.

Arashi didn't know what to do, she didn't want to leave him, so she looked back. "MOTHER!?" she yelled. "FATHER!?"

But the clouds were rumbling every few seconds, any call for help was drowned out before it could reach them. She could see bolts of lightning fall from afar and knew that, if nothing else, they'd come looking for them pretty soon.

Arashi looked back at the cliff, considering if she should climb it just to let them know where they were. Then, a titanic blast of lightning came upwards.

And over the storm, a bellow of pain could be heard. Gasping in shock, Arashi bolted up the cliff again, leaving Raigeki alone and afraid. She didn't vault over, instead poking her head over, muzzle resting on the rocks.

This is a story of what Rai suffered, and he did not suffer so much as to see what Arashi saw in the Amp Plains clearing, she never told him either. He could hear the sounds over the thunder, however, and he never liked thunder again after that.

Lightning tinged with purple was split in the sky by twin bolts of golden electricity, carving the corrupted attack and shattering it in the sky. The thunder itself seemed to pause at the display of carnage in the clearing.

The dungeon was far away, this was years back. One may remember hearing that the Amp Plains was a strange dungeon, unlike most it continued to spread, drawing in more land. During this time, it had not spread so close to this clearing.

"ACCEPT!" a voice screamed over the crashing of lightning. "ACCEPT! ACCEPT! ACCEPT! FALL-PERISH. DIE-DIE-DIE. FEED A HUNGER. FEED THE HUNGER. HUNGER! YOU FALL. She FALLS! YOU SUBMIT. YOU DIE AND FEED HUNGER! ACCEPT AND DIE."

Raigeki cried as Arashi bolted back down, ears flattened, and bellows of pain choked into screams of it.

She reached Rai and gripped his scruff in her jaws, squeezing down far too hard and biting into his scruff. He cried out as she flipped him onto her back. "Hang onto me as hard as you can!" she demanded, moving before he responded. He nearly fell before his forepaws anchored around her neck, nearly choking her.

Knowing the escape plan their parents had told her about, she went for the dungeon, knowing it was difficult to be chased through one.

Arashi ran.

Rai would never actually know that, not quite. Not of the guilt that Arashi held, wondering that had she gone to fight rather than to flee, maybe they would have survived?

Yet, what was a shinx barely out of being considered a cub going to do to tip the scales that two luxray couldn't?

Guilt didn't obey such logical thoughts, however, and so she wondered if maybe… just maybe she could have saved her other brothers as well. Maybe without having to protect them as well, Raiton and Kogeki could have fought harder?

Or maybe she just would have died as well, leaving Rai helpless for them to claim him too. He wasn't going to be able to run with an injured leg.

The doubt was a poison.

Raigeki was blind to all this, knowing only of the sounds of violence as his family was killed by a monster.

I don't really remember much of that night. I was young, but I think it was mostly just repressed stuff. All I remember is Ara telling me to hang on and the… sounds that the monster was making as it took my parents and brothers.

How long she ran for? I don't know. I think she ran the entire way to Treasure Town without stopping. She made it to the Amp Plains dungeon, smaller than it is today, and so had an even bigger distance to go than we did when I returned to Amp Plains back then.

It took us a day of travelling to make it. She was carrying me the entire time. I might not be the closest with my sister, since she's not really around much, but I always wanted to be as strong as someone who could do that.

I don't blame her for leaving. After all, she was still a child herself when she had to raise me.

I won't really go into detail about settling into Treasure Town. It's annoying to say, but I don't really remember. It's a haze of pain and confusion, going from the simple life I knew to my new life with that hole ripped out of me.

I don't know how Ara handled it. I was young enough to not entirely understand, but I know that she saw it. She saw what the monster did and could only run.

She was also too old to be comfortable in Treasure Town. She's a wild pokémon, still is. I mean, sure, she goes about the continent, acting as a mercenary for towns. She still pays with money and sleeps in the occasional hostel, but she's never been one to remain in place. She says our family was like that, always moving.

Living in Treasure Town, raising me, still a child herself… she stayed there for years, being a rock for me to brace on until I could stand on my own.

There's not so much I can say about that stuff that isn't me being fragile and helpless and Ara being fierce and difficult. So, I'll move onto the first time I met Mane. It was year two of my stay in Treasure Town, so I was pretty used to the place by then….

The day was like any other.

That is, it was sunny, and the town was lively.

The Wigglytuff Guild stood strong as Ponyta once again nearly tripped upon standing on the grate. He could be an apprentice forever, and he'd never be able to do it right.

It wasn't Diglett who read his hoofprint but a trapinch.

But this isn't about Ponyta the Wigglytuff Guild apprentice.

A new family had arrived in town. Well, they'd been around for a while on the outskirts. A stuttering morpeko avoided the Kecleon Brothers' eyes when he bought various healing items, and a stunningly beautiful pyroar caught the eyes of many.

The two weren't seen together at all, but there was a rumour they were involved, nonetheless. Likely based on the fact that both had appeared in town around the same time and both avoided bringing others back to their home, no matter what kinds of eyes Pyroar gave others.

Arashi didn't take much notice of Morpeko. Despite being another Electric-type, he was just another Electric-type. It wasn't like there were none around, Electabuzz taught pokémon new moves, and a dojo in town could help refine those moves better.

So, some random electric rat didn't take her notice. He was too nervous, anyway.

Pyroar, however, she hated on sight.

She didn't know why.

Pyroar moved with a silky fluidity that raised the fur on the back of her neck. She smiled in a hollow way that didn't reach her eyes. She spoke with a tone that could only be described as seductive one minute and patronising another, depending on who she was talking to.

Arashi hadn't been close enough to Manectric to notice much of anything. But if she had, she may have understood why she felt so uneasy. What aspect was triggering something in her head.

Rather, the two butt heads a few times. Arashi was compelled to start trouble and walked off steaming, looking like a rude bitch, or even got in trouble with Magnezone by attacking Pyroar with a Thundershock.

She was just a shinx, she couldn't do much to Pyroar and Pyroar, most graciously, insisted she not suffer any real punishment for her actions.

"The poor thing is wild," she justified to the police. "Cannot blame her, and she's caring for her sweet young cub. You can't lock her up, even for a day."

"He's my brother!"

"Of course he is, dear."

Rai wasn't allowed near her, and if they were together, Arashi would send him away.

But they weren't always together, and one day Pyroar came in with company.

Rai had been talking to snubbull from the guild about what it was like to find treasure when Pyroar strode into the marketplace.

All eyes naturally fell on her. Possessing a feline grace unlike the scruffy shinx who took care of her brother, Pyroar took centre stage whenever she stepped into a room.

Even if that room was as large as a town.

Her mane trailed silkily behind her, cascading along the edge of her back, and occasionally ruffling in an unfelt wind. It was said that when she smiled, Guildmaster Wigglytuff himself would sing, just to maintain the look.

It was not unusual for pokémon, male and female, to flock to speak with her. Some for her beauty, others for the mysterious nature she cultivated, and others for the simple charisma she had, hoping to learn it themselves.

But this time no one approached, for trailing in her wake were two litleo.

"Everyone," Pyroar said, pokémon having followed as she entered the town, "I would like to introduce you to my sons. Boys?" She looked left and right where both were. One was hiding slightly behind her and the other was trying to look confident but it came off as awkward.

"Go on," Pyroar said. "Mother will attend to her duties. Mingle, get to know someone, and come back once I call."

One litleo separated right away, the other one didn't move just yet.

Rai, who had forgotten that Snubbull existed, not that she remembered Rai was there either, approached Pyroar. "Hi!" Rai said.

"Why hello dear," Pyroar said, noting that one of her sons was still close by. "Could I trouble you to play with Litleo? He's rather shy."

"Sure!" Rai said, eager to play. Pyroar smiled at him, it was an empty sort of thing. An emotionless twitch of muscles. She caught the eye of a mightyena and drifted off to speak with him.

"Hi!" Rai repeated, this time to Litleo who held a most perplexed expression at the leave of his mother.

Fear but also a sense of relief mixed and Rai cocked his head. "Aren't you going to talk?"

"Of course not," Litleo scoffed. It wasn't the litleo in front of him.

Rai oof'd as he was bumped and the little saddlebag he had to carry some berries scattered its occupants. "Hey!"

Berries rolled, and the aggressive litleo speared one with his claws and took a bite. "Whoops," he said as Rai gave him a dirty look.

"That's mine!" he growled sparking. The show of threat immediately got the berry flicked back at it and he flinched as it bounced off his forehead.

"You shouldn't do that," the smaller litleo said, speaking up at last.

"What did you say?" the bigger litleo demanded.

"You shouldn't do that," Litleo replied, meeting his brother's eyes for just a moment. "Everyone is looking. Mother will be mad."

Litleo paused as he realised that, yes, there was a lot of pokémon staring at them. A few whispers were shared, a few curious looks were sent at Mother Pyroar.

Litleo swallowed, his bravado popping like a balloon. "S-sorry," he muttered out and slinked off, bumping into a fennekin and scuttling off.

"Your brother is mean," Rai complained, rubbing his head as he got back up. "But my sister can be mean too! Let's play."

Litleo stared at him curiously before the sound of his mother's laughter caused him to twitch, and a big, fake, smile took over his face. "Sure!"

They played tag. Shinx was pretty fast, but Litleo was cleverer, and they tagged each other multiple times. Eventually, Marill and Buizel got pulled into the game and took advantage of the river through Treasure Town.

Litleo loosened up a little over time, giggling without control for a time that let Rai give him a proper tackle hug and pin him for tag. "Gotcha!"

Litleo's paws immediately shot up and clamped him, holding him in place. "Nah, got you!" Litleo purred.

Rai blinked. "What?" He struggled out of the hold and eventually rolled his way off Litleo who looked embarrassed. "You're it!"

Shaking off the moment, the game was re-joined, but Litleo lost the energy for it, and Pyroar finished her tasks for the day.

"I've got to go," Litleo panted, nodding to where his mother and brother were waiting. Pyroar was smiling in a good way, older brother Litleo was scowling. Both things made the litleo called Mane pleased.

"Bye, Shinx," Litleo said shyly and slunk up to his family members. Rai didn't hear what they had to say before they were going.

He was lighter on berries by a significant amount, which Arashi would not be happy about, but was lighter in spirit, delighted in making a new friend.

Now that Mane and I are close I've remembered our first meeting as it really went.

Over the years I've twisted it around. Forgetting that his brother was the one who took the berry, convincing myself that it was Mane who did it.

Changing the story of our game of tag to him bumping and bullying me a lot. I thought I imagined all the bad stuff, although Mane did confirm he did grab me after I pinned him. He didn't know what he was doing, and neither did I, it was just something he had been taught to do by his mother.

I never noticed anything wrong with her and Ara didn't let me know what really happened to her, about what she really was. She shielded me from a lot of things in those years together.

Afterwards, Mane changed. He's never told me why exactly, but I can put enough pieces together to make a guess or two. But after that, our games became a bit harsher. He began to mock and tease me when I'd lose, and eventually, it spiralled into outright bullying.

I've forgiven him for it now, but for a long time, I hated him, or at least as much as I could hate. Major dislike really. It's in the past now, and I love him now.

Pokémon are tough. We often base our lives around fighting, and even young pokémon can take a pretty big hit before any real danger is had.

But there are things, tiny little things, that can make a joke out of that toughness. It was the infection that ultimately would have killed Scout, and he's as tough as they come especially for a meowth. I too got sick once, so sick I can barely even remember anything about it.

It's important, though.

Arashi was exhausted.

It wasn't uncommon for her to be exhausted. She was a growing shinx still, and she lived next to a waterfall.

A waterfall because it was loud enough to drown out thunder when it grew stormy but she still didn't sleep well.

It wasn't uncommon because what food she could scrounge up was mostly given to Rai. Their most common fight was over how much he ate and how little she did. So, she pretended like she ate more than she did to appease him.

She was a wild pokémon. She couldn't work for the Kecleon Brothers or for Kangaskhan for long. She was too caustic, too rough, too wild to handle it.

There were generous townsfolk who offered help, but Arashi was also proud. The only times she bent the knee, and accepted help was when it was just getting too hard, getting too weak and Rai getting too upset.

She entered dungeons and exited them. She occasionally brought items looted from the dungeons to sell, but then would spend all the money she earned to feed herself and Rai for a week or two.

She knew she could never adapt. She knew that Rai had a chance, though. So, she got him into the school, and she did her best to keep him fed, happy, and healthy.

She couldn't do the last.

What caused him to grow a fever, she didn't know. Was it from roughhousing? Was it some bad food? Did he not eat enough during a bad period? Or was it just simply, terrible, luck? She knew they'd had their pyroar's share of bad luck, especially when Pyroar had been around.

It started off mild, Rai just didn't feel well. He still went to school. He still ate. He didn't play much.

Two days later, he collapsed.

Arashi was no medic nor a rich mon, but she still dragged Rai to Chansey. It didn't matter that she didn't have any money or anything to pay with, Chansey was kind, and she'd pay her back later if she had to.

Chansey did her best, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't an injury that she could heal, it was already going too deep. Rai could barely wake up and couldn't move. He was vomiting and making noises so awful it reduced Arashi to tears.

She shouted. She roared. She demanded. She even cried and grovelled, but this wasn't Chansey holding healing for ransom. She simply couldn't do it. Neither could Chimecho when she came to the guild, a place she avoided, begging for help.

So, Arashi asked around. She avoided the town normally, but civilised pokémon kept records, someone somewhere had to know.

It was from wise old Torkoal that she learned of the Gabite Scale and rushed to let Chansey know of it.

She didn't have any.

The Kecleon Market didn't either, the difficulty of gaining them was far too much to reasonably sell.

It was Chimecho who suggested the guild, Ara could put in a request for help. Arashi did not like the guild. She never explained to Rai why, but he had a feeling it had to do with exploration teams entering Amp Plains when they still lived there.

"I have no money," Arashi barked when the guild came to her "Nor any trinkets that you like. I only have Rai!" Rai had something, though, and Arashi considered offering it.

The Relic Fragment. His treasure.

She hesitated on it, however. Rai had nothing else to call his own besides it. Even their saddlebag was technically Ara's.

She almost did, however. His life was worth so much more.

"Ahem." The bird of the guild, Chatot, cleared his throat as he hopped into the medical area of Chansey's nursery. "I believe you are in need of aid?"

"What do you want?" Arashi demanded. "I don't have money or items. But I'm strong. I can get them for you. I can join your guild, or, or, or something! Please just… he's all I have."

Chatot cast a compassionate eye on Rai, shivering under blankets, and nodded. "The guild will not demand anything of you," he said. "Already we have a team dispatched to Labyrinth Cave, where a feral gabite is known to be. You won't owe us anything."

"A favour then."

It's what she intended, no matter what Chatot or any guild member had to say. If they were to save Rai's life, then she'd give them anything they wanted.

The favour was never called, and she was then never around to see it be called. Rai was given the life-saving scale and made a full recovery, now bedazzled by the idea of the guild that would be so incredible to save his life for free.

Arashi never called them generous. In her mind, she owed them tremendously, more than she'd ever owed anyone. With his life saved, Rai became enamoured by the idea of the guild, by the thrill, and by the excitement of finding new places and rescuing people in need, his old treasure tucked safely in Sharpedo Bluff calling out a siren song of exciting times of finding and doing incredible things.

Outside Arashi's knowledge, anyone's besides Trill and Rhythm, it was not just the guild that she owed.

"Why are you doing this?" Chatot asked curiously, half an hour before he met with Arashi to tell her the guild would help. Arashi was too proud to tell the guild she needed help so quickly, and they had existed oblivious to Rai's failing health until someone else stepped in.

"Fuck off, that's my business," Litleo the Younger snapped. "Just take the cash and don't let ANYONE know I was here."

Chatot handled the bag of Poké, a hefty sum for a hefty job like obtaining a gabite scale. He'd bet a tenth of this that this was all Litleo had. "You're doing a good thing, but why would you not want them to know?"

"I already told you it's none of your business," the hot-headed feline said. "Just…." An unbidden flicker of concern washed nakedly over his face. "Make sure Little Shinx gets better, or I'll take the money back."

With that, he stomped off, head held high out of pride his tail stiff with nerves. He'd be going hungry for weeks, and risking injury or worse himself to dart into Apple Woods to survive.

Outside of Mane's knowledge, however, Chatot didn't take the money. Slowly, but surely, he snuck coins back into Mane's way. Never so much as to draw his suspicion, just enough to seem lucky. He'd plan his own ventures into Apple Woods on the days he knew Mane was struggling to leave a bit of a windfall in his wake. After all, you could find money in dungeons too.

He still did it, though. Not that he'd ever let Shinx know his role in filling his head with dreams about the guild, ironic in the end that was. And it was more than worth it in the end.

Being saved by the guild awoke something in me.

By that point, I was old enough to have adjusted to the town and not that I knew it, Arashi was thinking of leaving. Me getting sick caused her to stick around longer, but only for so long after that.

I didn't always want to join the guild, but after that, it was on my mind every waking moment. I did try and join not long after, but I was turned away because I was too young. Which is fair enough.

Afterwards, Mane really started getting nasty to me, seeking me out all the time to pick on me, and my confidence got shaken by him. I don't know why, maybe it was a weird sort of concern that I almost died and he didn't want me to get in over my head? I haven't actually asked him directly, I think I should but revisiting those memories is never fun for either of us.

Still, I'll always treasure the guild for what they did for me.

I know I've emphasised it a lot, but Arashi was not happy in Treasure Town.

She stayed for me. Because we could not have survived on our own. She's very proud, but she knew that she needed the community to back her up. She was still a kid. I can't stress that enough. Still so young herself when she had to take care of me.

I never really knew my mother, and she never pretended she was my mother, but she raised me, nonetheless.

Once I was old enough, once I could stand on my own feet, once she trusted the town enough to make sure I was okay in her stead, she left.

At least she explained herself.

"Rai… it's time for me to leave."

"What… what do you mean?"

"Treasure Town is… well, the place is fine. I won't deny that."

"Yeah…?"

"Rai, I don't belong here."

"…"

"I never did. That's why we live on the outskirts, well partly. It's why I never tried to hold one of their 'jobs' and why I don't really get along with anyone here."

"…"

"What do you want me to say, Rai?"

"…I want you to tell me this is some bad joke."

"I can't do that."

"Well, this IS a bad joke because I'm not laughing!"

"If you think you can convince me to stay by acting like a cub, well it's not going to work. Rai, I'm… restless. I'm cranky and zappy. I want to run through the leaves, climb the rocks, race along the lightning plains. This kind of place… I'm just choking here."

"I… I need you, though."

"That's why I stayed this long. But you don't."

"Yes, I do!"

"Raigeki, you are not a cub anymore. You're getting stronger, and you can handle yourself."

"Litleo would disagree."

"Fuck Litleo."

"Ara… I've never been alone before."

"You can handle it. You're strong, I know you are."

"I'm not you."

"You don't need to be in order to be strong."

"…"

"I'm sorry, Rai. I will come and visit, but I'm not asking you. I'm telling you. I'm not leaving right this minute, but I will be going soon."

"Then… take me with you."

"...Rai."

"Let's do it! Explore the world! Chase the storms!"

"Rai."

"There's so much we can do out there, and it'll be okay because we'll be-"

"Rai. Rai. Rai this is your home."

"No. You are my home, Arashi. Wherever you go, that's where home is."

"...Rai. I see the way you look at the guildhouse every morning. You talk about it in your sleep. I know, one day, that's going to be your home. And I can't take you away from that. I'll never join a guild, Rai. I don't belong there, I don't belong here, boxed in these walls. I'm not the kind soul you are, who wants to explore and save. You'd be miserable out on the road with me, and I just… I can't handle staying here any longer."

"I want to be able to. I don't want to go and leave you alone, I've held it together as long as I can but I'm going to go wild if I stay here much longer. But you? You're gonna save the world, one day. You're gonna save everyone you set out to rescue, find places no one else has ever found, and become king of that guild! But you won't do it with me still here. Rai, I love you but as long as it's safe you'll make excuses. Like me. We both do it. You gotta step it up and walk into that joint, you know they'll take you the moment you step on that footprint reader. You just gotta do it."

"And I'll be cheering you on."

"..."

"..."

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too."

Arashi had to go, but I still wasn't ready for her to go. She said her being a safety net kept me from stepping up to join the guild but losing her meant I was alone and Mane only got more vicious.

Still, though, I was older than she was when she had to take care of me. She had to grow up way too quickly and even though she tried to make sure I had a childhood, I think part of her resented that she gave up hers for mine.

I sometimes feel like I was ungrateful, especially when I still didn't join the guild after she left. I wondered where she was every day.

And she didn't come and visit.

I feel like there is some exaggeration on the idea of how many times I tried to join the guild.

I was definitely too nervous and a bit of a whimp, but I was rejected once for being too young and Mane really, really, wasn't helping.

I lived in Treasure Town for seven years before I joined the guild. I was around half a year when I lost my family. I was rejected from the guild at age three and a half, fair enough. And I knew Mane for five years. Five years of teasing and bullying and breaking my confidence.

I tried to join the guild a bunch of times, but I only really remember seven times in particular. Heh, seven times for seven years. I succeeded on my eighth.

Rai took a heavy breath, facing the Wigglytuff Guild looming before him.

He'd gone in before, sometimes just to hang out on the middle level and talk to the exploration teams. He knew he wasn't really supposed to, but the apprentices and Chatot and Wigglytuff didn't seem to mind.

Chimecho was always around and was nice.

To step in and ask to join felt different. Wigglytuff felt like he was looming over him, casting a judgemental look as if to ask, "You? Join MY guild? Mwehahahahaha."

He'd not seen much of the Guildmaster, and everyone spoke of his pure strength.

Rai had felt a couple of earthquakes that were not earthquakes.

The first time Rai tried to gather the nerve to join the guild, he ran away without even touching the grate.

He stopped entering the guild after that, unable to escape the feeling of being judged and judged poorly.

The second time he tried, he even wore the Relic Fragment to give him some strength. He mulled about, slinking closer and closer to the entrance as the setting sun beamed its last rays. He was almost there when he was interrupted.

"Well-well-well," a voice most unpleasantly familiar caused him to jump.

Spinning around, fragment swinging, he saw Litleo strutting up to him with a smirk. "Finally trying it then?"

"What do YOU want?" Rai growled, putting a paw over his Relic Fragment. He rarely wore it, fearing it to be stolen. And he never wanted Litleo to see it.

"What have you got there?" he asked, coming closer despite Rai growling. He pulled Rai's paw away and tapped the Relic Fragment. Rai swatted him with his other paw and edged to the side.

"None of YOUR business!" Rai snapped and then ran off before Litleo could say anything more, hoping that he'd just forget about seeing it.

The third and fourth time Rai didn't bring the Relic Fragment, paranoid that Litleo was lurking in the bushes or something. He briefly stepped on the grate the third time and managed to do it the fourth time but ran off before Diglett could finish his spiel.

He'd lived in Treasure Town for five years at this point. He'd try, run off, and pretend otherwise as he decided he didn't need to be an explorer, or didn't need to be a guild explorer, or didn't want to anyway.

He always came back, whether it took days or months.

Sometimes Rai would approach, and there were pokémon about, so he'd turn around. He tried to time it to be alone, so he'd have time to gather his nerve.

As failures mounted and Litleo's comments grew heavier, he began to drown in them.

"Is Little Shinx unable to survive without his big sister."

"Hey, Little Shinx, joined the guild yet?"

"Heey… it's Little Shinx. Tell you what, let's make a bet. If you join the guild today, I'll suck your-"

"You know, Shinx, you're really pathetic sometimes. If you want to join that bad, just DO it. What do you think they'll do? Eat you?"

"Hey Little Shinx, I heard Wigglytuff eats little shinx for breakfast."

Fifth time, as he walked away. "You know, the only one who's stopping you from joining is yourself." That one stung.

"Shinx, Shinx, Shinx. Say it enough times, and it doesn't even sound like words anymore. Is that why the guild hasn't let you join? You stutter when trying to introduce yourself. They don't even know you exist?"

"It's been years Shinx. Why would they want you now when it's so obvious you can't even muster the courage to ask?"

"Wow! Shinx! Looking strong today. Want to wrestle in the dojo? Hey. Come back, I'm serious you look… urgh."

"Hey, Shinx. Electabuzz told me to stay away from you but fuck him. We… hey, come back!"

"You know, I try to be nice, Little Shinx, but you're nasty too. Why would they want that?"

"Just go up to them and ask! There are guild members everywhere. It's not that hard to just talk to someone! Want me to do it?"

"Hi, Shinx. Oi, you're not running this time. Gotcha. Now. We're going to march up and, GYAH!"

"If you weren't the pet of the town you'd get in trouble for shocking me the other day."

"This is all you're going to be, Shinx. Because you don't have it in you to even try."

"Okay…," Rai breathed, nervously eyeing the guild. He still wanted to join. His spirit may have been battered but never broken. "I'm going to do it this time."

He strode forth and put his paws over the grate.

"Pokémon Detected! PokemonDetectedPokemonDetected!" Diglett sped up, recognising the feet already.

"Whose footprint? Whose foo-"

"SHINX! The footprint is Shinx!"

It was daytime, rather than evening, and Rai was trying a different way. Maybe the idea of other pokémon being around would help rather than hinder?

"OH!"

The gate opened up fast, clanking harshly. Rai steeled himself; it'd been years since he'd entered the guild. He began to walk forth.

"There he goes."

Only to pause in the mouth. He flinched and looked back, spotting Litleo who was grinning at him. All he saw was another mocking smirk. "I knew you had it in you!"

It felt facetious.

Mane wasn't a dumb pokémon, although he still was pretty dumb most of the time. He recognised what was going over Rai's face and tried to backpedal. "Well, whatever, have fun, Little Shinx."

Perhaps if he hadn't said it that way, calling him 'Little' again, or if he hadn't been around at all, Rai still would have gone in.

Yet, he was there and he did say it.

Mane cursed as Rai zoomed past him, guilt gnawing at his stomach. But he had to hold his head high, always save face. He couldn't look like he actually cared, then he could be hurt.

Mane explained to Rai later that that was how he justified his actions to himself.

Maybe if he hadn't been there, Rai wouldn't have met Scout or would have met him in a different way, the story already vastly different to what Scout knew.

Or maybe he would have run anyway. Not having someone to lean on, even a little bit, had always proven to be too much for him. Maybe if Mane had been that rock to steady Rai in the sea, rather than the water-rip dragging him under he would have done it much sooner?

Maybe Rai wouldn't go to bed, hating himself, and try again another day, only to back out again.

So… that's my story.

I know not much detail, but a lot of the more 'interesting' stuff I don't quite remember and the rest of it is kinda painful.

We've never been a group to treat our own pain as 'worse' than anyone else's. Mane and Scout had horrid upbringings. Mine was, by all accounts, a walk in the park compared to them. I don't really remember losing my family and Ara leaving… well I still made it through that.

Those two though. Mane got raised by a Shadow Pokémon, and I can't even imagine what she did to him. And Scout grew up in a time that I literally cannot imagine. I've been told about it, even told I was supposed to go to it myself.

Honestly, what happened when Striker, Sean, and I were going through the Hidden Land the first time and how those… things were nothing new to them speaks a lot.

Still, this is where I came from. Half wild and half civilised, with a sister who's too young and too old, with my dreams breaking.

Heh, whoever would have thought that that silly old daydream of the Relic Fragment's importance did mean something? I don't know why I was chosen for the Relic Fragment. Honestly, I'm not too convinced there was any magical choosing of the chosen one. I just found it because I explored to far, maybe I'll tell that story one day too?

…what's with the look, Azumarill?

Azumarill spent several sessions going over the above stuff with Rai in detail, helping him understand his own feelings and begin to work through buried issues healthily.

However, word had spread through the town about an incident that had happened a couple days ago.

"Oh, nothing, Shinx," Azumarill assured him. "We still have some time left today, is there anything else you wanted to dive into?"

Rai considered the question in silence for a time. Silence was a thing Azumarill had coached him through, letting him slow down and think about stuff as he'd talked about disliking how hasty and thoughtless he could be.

His face slowly darkened. "You're talking about what happened the other day, aren't you?"

Azumarill kept a neutral expression. "Only if you want to talk about it."

Rai breathed out heavily, thinking hard for a moment. Remembering….

Scout had been looking vaguely guilty for a couple of days already. Like he had something he wanted to say but couldn't find the words.

If things weren't so busy fixing up the town, I might have noticed it earlier. I don't know if I want to have noticed it earlier or not, I guess I want to. Being able to notice when my partner is struggling with something is important. It reminded me of the look he'd sometimes get before he came back.

He had a secret see. More than he was from the future. I won't say what it was, but it was really big and weighed on him the whole time we knew each other. He told us when he came back and I wish he'd told me sooner. I really, really, wish he had.

He puts too much pressure on himself.

Just like that day.

"Are you okay?" Rai asked, concerned as Scout continued to squirm in obvious anxiety. He had gone to talk to Wigglytuff and Armaldo with Team Celestial just a few minutes ago and came back looking both relieved and terrified.

He asked them to talk and they headed out to walk along the trail. Scout continued looking like he was preparing for something and Rai could tell that Mane was also getting anxious. Scout only looked like this when he told them The Big Secret, and that was earth-shattering and recontextualised everything they knew about him and the world at large.

Mane had admitted to Rai, and then Scout later, that it was harder for him than he admitted at first to move past learning that secret. After a couple of days, it really sunk in and he had difficulty. He and Scout had done a big, long, talk in privacy after Rai pushed for them to talk about it and came out closer than before. Rai didn't ask for details, but Mane thanked him.

They'd agreed that there would be no more big secrets between them after that. Scout promised, and Rai tensed as well as Scout gathered the words and began to speak. This wasn't something else he'd kept secret all this time, was it?

"I'm okay," Scout said, nodding to reassure them. "Really, I am. I just. There's been a thing going on for a bit now, since the attack on Treasure Town. The big feral attack. I saw. Something."

And then it all came tumbling out.

"Don't freak out, just let me finish talking before you respond. Luno is a Shadow Pokemon. He's been one since he was a kid, he went… I don't even know? Reverse something. When the ferals almost killed Sol, he just lost it and started doing Shadow attacks. But Sol and Twila calmed him down and and and well, he and Sol fucked on the beach. I asked Twila in The Dream and I saw… I saw how Luno died. She told me he's kept himself under control all these years, hasn't hurt anyone, and I believe her. After we left the Dream I told him I knew but I didn't tell you ONLY because we had Darkrai to deal with and I didn't want to distract you two or freak anyone out, but we've told Wigglytuff and Armaldo and they're gonna work on seeing if there is a way to fix the shadow stuff or or or something. But it's fine, he's not gonna be hurting anyone."

Scout said all of that with only one or two breaths in between.

Rai and Mane were a bit stunned.

More than a bit, maybe.

Mane began to blink quite an alarming amount as Rai slowly licked his lips, reminding himself that Azumarill was teaching him to breathe and think before responding.

It helped, barely.

"He's a Shadow Pokemon?" Rai asked, voice unnervingly empty of emotion.

"Y-yeah," Scout said, nodding. "But he-"

"And you knew?" Rai cut in, tone sharper.

Scout visibly flinched. "Yes, I did. But I only didn't say anything because we had to focus on Darkrai."

Rai's jaw clenched a bit and he had to work to unclench it. "Darkrai was stopped days ago."

Mane wasn't speaking.

Scout scrambled for words there, but he couldn't find a response for a few seconds. "I wanted to…."

"To what?" Rai asked. "You told… Wigglytuff and Armaldo before us?"

"I-"

"Okay," Rai said, stepping back. He couldn't listen to Scout try and explain this any longer. "I'm gonna need." He cleared his throat and shook his head. "I'm gonna need a bit of time not… here. Talk later." And then he turned and trotted off, trying hard not to run.

Mane flashed Scout a look that seared itself into his mind. A mix of confusion and hurt that stung worse than anything he had ever said before turning and running after Rai.

Scout watched them go, feeling weak. He slowly sat down and lost the fight of trying not to cry.

…sorry, Azumarill. I don't want to talk about what happened.

Rai woke slowly, almost sluggishly.

He gave a nice hard stretch as his mind slowly returned to the present. He felt warmth and safety around him and, like most mornings, wanted to burrow back into it and drift off again.

Unlike Scout and Mane, he wasn't so easily tempted by the cuddle pile and he pulled out of it anyway.

Scout was here because a fight or not they weren't going to make him sleep on his own. It'd been a couple of days since Scout told them about Luno and neither had taken it… well.

No one had slept well the first night. Scout stunk of guilt and neither Rai or Mane had much to say to him, besides an attempt at goodnight.

The rest of the guild had been informed of Luno's condition as well and reactions were mixed. Timber of all people barely seemed to care, looking more confused when Loudred reacted badly and helping calm him down.

He had not taken it well at all and had to be ordered to do nothing, threatened with harsh punishments if he told anyone outside the guild.

Diglett and Corphish leaned more on Loudred's side, but weren't as angry about it, while Sunflora was mostly herself, though shocked she then wasn't after a few hours of thinking about it. "It makes sense, honestly."

Flaaffy, Paras, and Marill were all disturbed by sharing a living space with a Shadow Pokemon but none were outright antagonistic about it.

Chimecho floated between Loudred and Sunflora's general reactions before settling somewhere closer to Sunflora, maintaining politeness at all times.

Lastly, Croagunk didn't so much as blink at the news. "Okay," he said and continued doing as he always did.

With the guildhouse still being rebuilt and their focus being more on the town being fixed up, the apprentices were dispersed through the town itself.

It made things harder to keep under wraps when the centre of the town was now the guild and the tension in the guild multiplied by ten overnight.

Though, as the guild was already tense, Wigglytuff had tucked a certain letter away somewhere private, it wasn't immediately noticed that Luno was no longer allowed to leave.

Such a restriction couldn't last without suspicion forever, but at the moment Loudred was loud and Vigoroth stuck to Luno like glue so no one noticed anything awry just yet.

Rai was an early riser.

Vigoroth wasn't, surprisingly. He had a lot of trouble sleeping and typically stayed up late into the night until he just crashed and slept until around midday. On a good day.

Lugging so much around town lately was good for exhausting him and he was still out when Rai walked out to watch the sunrise at Sharpedo Bluff.

The smell of grass and blood on the air told him he was not alone.

Turning to scan the area showcased nothing creeping up on him, but he did catch the tailend of a green mon walking away.

He huffed a breath, glanced back at his home, and then walked after him.

The town was not even waking up yet, thus it was just the two of them with only the Kecleon Brothers present but their shop not even open yet.

"Morning, Shinx. Grovyle." Purple yawned.

"Morning guys," Rai said walking past.

He followed Luno, not quite catching up to him on purpose until Luno turned left at the crossroads and headed up to the destroyed cliff.

The Wigglytuff Guilt once stood here.

Chatot's grave was made here.

Dugtrio died here.

Something about coming here rubbed Rai's nose the wrong way. He hadn't so much as spoken a word to Luno since they learned the truth. He almost found it funny. He'd looked up to Team Razor Wind, but they'd done terribly by Sol. He'd looked up to Striker, then Guardian. Both nearly cost him everything. And he'd admired Team Celestial so much. He really had a bad nose for admiring people, but at least Wigglytuff was secure.

"What do you want?" Rai asked lowly, almost growling but not quite.

Luno came to a stop near one of the totem poles and turned around to face him. "It's odd that nobody's told the town about me. Why haven't you, Rai?"

Luno always used people's names once he learned them, even if they hadn't been the ones to tell him. It was one of those oddities that people looked past that contextualised itself in other ways now that Rai knew.

Was it a taunt? Or did he just not understand? Scout's words said the latter, but everything anyone knew about a Shadow Pokemon demanded the former.

"Because Scout told me not to," Rai answered. Scout actually hadn't, but everything he had said was to that effect. Rai could hear what he was actually asking even if he didn't want to listen to the words. "And as much as I… don't like this. I." He had trouble finishing his thought.

"You don't have to dance around it. I'm well aware of what I am. And what the consequences would be if something went wrong."

Rai's eyes narrowed a fraction. Luno sounded so unbothered, he heard the insinuation of him killing a town member and turning them into one of him, and he sounded like he was commenting that the waves were a little more foamy today.

"Yeah," Rai agreed because the townsfolk killing Pyroar was something everyone had thought of when the guild was told. "But you have Guildmaster Wigglytuff backing you up. The last time a Shadow Pokemon was lynched was the event that made the town a bit scared of him, he wasn't happy."

Where did the story of Guildmaster Wigglytuff, so happy go lucky and ditzy, become a force in the town that everyone tensed at the word of his anger?

When the town killed Scorch he had lost it for the first time that anyone had seen. The guild used to be on a hilltop in the midst of others, with the sea farther out. After that day, the guild bordered the sea and no one in town spoke of Pyroar again.

Luno's eyes slowly dragged down to him, a look almost like puzzlement on his face. "I still don't understand why you're both mad at him," he said. "It's meaningless. He's not the Shadow."

Rai was not expecting this of all things to be what Luno wanted to talk about. "Well, it's. No. It's none of your business, actually. But it's not about you."

Luno's expression shifted. It was subtle, it was always subtle, but now he was looking for it. His expression became almost challenging. "I believe I have grounds to make it my business now that his partners have abandoned him."

"Don't you dare," Rai snarled. "You don't understand anything at all if you think being mad at Scout means we're going to leave him. He shouldn't have kept this from us, we agreed no more big secrets like this."

"It was the logical thing to do," Luno replied, frustratingly calm as always. "Not knowing would not affect the fight against Darkrai, but knowing likely would understanding in particular your traumas."

Rai had to take a breath so he wouldn't snap again. "See. That's exactly why you don't get it. But I'm not going to tell you why I'm mad or why Mane is upset. Because it's none of your business and Scout has to work out why on his own. That's all I want him to do."

Luno did not seem to understand. "How unexpectedly manipulative of you. I suppose I still have more to learn about you."

This time, Rai was sure it was trying to bait him, but to his own surprise… it didn't work. He didn't even have to suppress his anger, he just felt… sorry for him. "Is that really what you think?" he asked softly.

"Is it wrong? My sister did the same while we were growing up. Make them squirm until they either give up or plead for an answer."

"I don't want him to plead or squirm," Rai raised his voice that time, shaking his head. "I don't. But I just… it just hurts that…" he sighed again.

Luno was quiet a moment, thinking. Then he said, "It was my idea to keep it hidden as long as we did."

A lie. Maybe not a complete lie, but a lie nonetheless.

Rai looked up. His face was… difficult to parse. It looked like he was looking for the truth in Luno's expression, or that he was hoping to find it. Whatever he saw, Luno couldn't determine exactly what.

Rai's expression settled on puzzled. "Why are you trying to make this your fault?" he asked, genuinely curious. It sounded like Luno was trying to centre all the anger on him and not at Scout, or Twila for that matter. She knew all this time. Sol knew as well, for about as long as Scout did and also said nothing. Rai wasn't really upset with them, though.

"I don't have to make it my fault. It already is. The looks the people give me, the way they step away from me, everything. So when I see people look at Scout like that, it confuses me. All he wants to do is what he believes is best."

Luno glanced back to the sea. "Suppose it's just another facet of living that I won't understand."

"No," Rai said, deciding this conversation is over. "I suppose it's not."

He turned around and left the spot. Thoughts clouded his mind like stormclouds and he mulled over what to do as the day began.

When Mane eventually came out and passed by him, they rubbed against each other but didn't say anything and that was enough for Rai to decide.

He set his paws towards the bluff and walked until he found Scout hovering aimlessly around Kangaskhan. "Can we talk?" Rai asked.

"Yeah. Yeah of course," Scout said, nodding desperately.

"Beach," Rai said and they passed through town silently.

He knew the silence would be making Scout anxious, but he couldn't find anything to say and so just resolved to make up for it later.

Once the sand was getting between their toes and they were sitting on the beach, Rai began to speak. "Do you know… why we're so upset?" he asked.

Scout didn't answer for what felt like a minute, but was probably only ten seconds. "I… I think it's probably a lot of things."

Rai huffed a tiny smile. "Yeah, true but… what things?"

Scout's eyes flicked down to the sand. "Because I promised I wouldn't keep important stuff from you guys anymore?"

Rai nodded. "Yeah, that's part of it. I wish you'd told me back at Fogbound Lake. I wish you'd trusted me enough to share that with me. But I'm happy you did eventually, I know it wasn't an easy thing to keep secret, or tell anyone."

His claw played with some sand. "What else do you think?"

"...I guess saying hiding a Shadow Pokemon is too obvious."

Rai made another sound of short amusement. "Yeah, but sometimes the obvious is true too. I lost my family to one… and I wasn't even strong enough to beat it myself, it would have killed all of us if Guardian hadn't jumped in to save us. Hearing that yet another person I looked up to has been lying to me, has been one of those things all along… yeah, it bothers me a lot. I don't know why you think he's all this, but… I did talk to him a couple hours ago. I think I get it a little bit more, he's not like the stories about them say."

Scout hung on his words like life dew in the desert.

"It's not the main thing though."

Scout looked down, hope taking a hit again. After a time, he got out what he thought was the real issue. "Because you feel like I don't trust you?" he asked sadly. "Because I do, I do, I-"

"Scout," Rai said, lifting a paw to stall the word tumbling that was going to occur. "...yeah, that did hurt a lot. Because, like, of course, I was going to be upset about Luno. Of course I was going to be. Anyone would, even without what happened to my family. And I understand why you thought that way, why you didn't want to cause that division in the middle of fighting against Darkrai. Like, it makes sense."

He frowned, sense or not. "But… but did you not think that I'd know that? I'd hate to hear it, but did you really think that'd stop me from working with him and Twila to help save the world? Did you think I couldn't put it aside for the world's sake?"

"I… I don't know," Scout muttered softly. "I don't want to say I was too stressed to think clearly, but…."

"Heh, yeah, true," Rai allowed. "That's the thing. I get why you did it. I can't expect you to make every 'right' decision, especially in situations like that. I get why you hid it… but the fact you told Wigglytuff and Armaldo before us, that hurt more than anything else. It was after the case, at least."

"I didn't…." Scout sighed. "I was putting it off because I was scared of how you'd respond. I knew you'd be angry with me."

Rai nodded. This was all good to hear. It didn't magically wave everything over, but it was good to hear nonetheless. "Even though we'd be madder at you hiding it for longer?" he said, in a joking way but it was serious.

Scout hunched his shoulders.

"Scout, I love you," Rai said openly and honestly. Scout looked up. He looked relieved for a split second before it hit him that that was obvious and didn't need to be said. "I love you too," he said.

Rai licked him on the nose. "Stop thinking like we're gonna be mad at you forever over this. I don't like that you did this. Even though I get why, it doesn't mean that I'm cool with it happening at all. You promised and you broke that promise… but I do forgive you for it."

Scout smiled at him, shaky and a bit teary but very thankful. "Thanks, Rai."

Rai licked him again. "I gotta admit, that isn't really why I got so mad."

Scout looked up, flashing between relief and more sorrow. "...I'm sorry, I don't know why," he said.

"Because it hurt Mane too," Rai said. "So, I'm gonna need you to talk to him on your own. I won't tell you why he's upset either, and it's not all the same as me. He's gonna do the thing where he pretends he's fine, so please don't just let that be it."

Scout nodded. "Okay. Okay. I promise I'll do my best."

"That's all I ask for," Rai said, licking him one more time and then nuzzling him. "But if you do need help, ask. You can ask him for help. I think he just wants you to get it too. Good luck, I'll see you two later."

Rai let Scout depart before him, he wanted to watch the waves a few minutes longer. He was grateful to Azumarill for everything she'd taught him, one of those things was that some things had to be worked out between them and not just told to her.

Mane was with her right now. Hopefully ,he'd be in the right state of mind to have a real talk with Scout later on….

It's not that I feel like Scout doesn't actually trust us.

He does, I know that in my heart.

But yeah, emotions are funny sometimes. You can't help how you feel sometimes. I wish he wouldn't put so much pressure on himself, knowing the things he knows, I think Scout sometimes feels like he has to keep the world together on his own. Any success is other people, all the failings are his fault.

Well, better get back to work. Town won't fix itself.