Before we begin, I have a question I'd like to ask you. Have you grown up?
You don't know what I mean?
...That's fine.
I'll ask you again another time.
"Cha! Cha!"
A pair of bright red hands pressed against a boy's arm, urging him out of a dreamless sleep. The rolling beat of train tracks bumped him a little further out of his stupor, bumping his head against the cool glass of the window he'd pressed against during his nap. A squealing yawn slipped out as he rubbed his forehead against the glass, blinking just a few more times to focus his vision. The reflection staring back at him was a normal fifteen year old boy; wild, ashen black hair just shy of shoulder-length blasted off his head in some errant directions, and his dark olive-colored face was a little haggard from the long trip. The Charcadet pestering him, however, seemed no worse for wear at all. With a sigh, the boy flicked his little companion just beneath the flame atop his head.
"Crest!" he teased. "I'm up. We're not even -"
The hiss of the brakes, like a rapturous tone, signaled the end of this leg of their journey.
"-stopped."
Just ere daylight, the brilliant array of Lumiose City beckoned the passengers inside this train, after nearly a full day's travel from the Paldea region. The City of Light: a beacon of art, technology, and everything possible in the harmony of humankind and Pokemon.
And to a boy named Kuzey Ferris, it was his new home.
With his Pokemon clinging to his shoulder, Kuzey departed the train, passing through the terminal into a train station that felt almost palatial. Bathed in brilliant yellow light from hanging chandeliers almost a hundred feet above, the grand stone chamber felt too important to be where hundreds of tourists and travelers flitted about looking for a cab out into the city proper. Criss-crossing in a hundred weavey lines went people and Pokemon alike through turnstiles, down stairs, and into waiting shops aligning the sides; Paldea had some remarkable architecture of its own, but Kalosian construction had to be seen to be believed.
When he finally stepped outside, a brisk autumn wind caught Kuzey and drew his gaze up. That was when he really saw it. The North Boulevard was a dappled canvas of gleaming lights, every building dripping in strings and beams and even flows of light as keen as any star. And behind him were eight stories of massive windows framing Lumiose Station, catching the first purple peeks of the beckoning sunrise to bathe the entire scene in a color he didn't have words for.
"Chaaaa..."
"Tell me about it."
Their wistful reflection ended like any good one does - the irritated beeping of a car horn. Kuzey snapped out of his moment to see a little blue two-door car he'd seen pictures of before on the street below, down the flight of stairs leading out of the station. And impatiently laying into the horn was his aunt, a tall and sturdy woman by the name of
"Ohhhh, your Auntie Vi's missed you SO MUCH KUZEY!"
Bounvialle. A little too fast for anyone to catch, Auntie Vi had leaped from her vehicle, ascended the stairs, and caught her nephew in a gripping hug. A death-wheeze was all that got out of the boy's lungs in place of a greeting, to the chittering laughter of his Charcadet. She released him only long enough to get a better look at his face between her squishing hands, bent down from a towering height of 6'5" to admire him.
"Golly, look at you!" she tittered in a tone that baffled coming from her powerful physique. "You've grown so much since I saw you!"
"I-If you say so, Aunt Vi," he assented from a mere five feet off the floor.
Height aside, she and Kuzey were alike in hair and skin tone; he remembered growing up the countless times he'd heard he looked more like her than his own mother. They even shared the same eyes: a subtle magenta.
Taking his hand in her own, Vi led Kuzey down to her car and ushered him in, already going on about how absolutely thrilled she was he'd finally agreed to come and stay with her.
"-as kind as it was of La Primera to set you up like that, a boy your age can't be cooped up alone all day!"
He just nodded.
With a gentle smash of the gas pedal, Vi's little coupe careened onto the Boulevard with the grace of a Nidoking on ice. The sights sped past Kuzey's sight: a museum, countless shops, a - did that say Battle Cradily? - until she peeled off through the stately Northeastern Gate, departing the city center.
As metropolis faded to suburbia and rolling farmlands beyond, Kuzey felt his eyelids begin to droop again. It was a long trip, after all. Surely he could nod off just... a little...
Tunk. His head was knocking against glass yet again, Crest giggling to himself in the backseat. Vi just snickered, and smiled her warmest at the exhausted kid as she pulled down a quiet road, past golden trees to an old chateau. "Welcome home, little man."
"It's too late to have second thoughts, honey."
"I know. But he..."
"He'll be safe. If we're doing this for him, it has to be both of us. We can't risk failing."
Pressure. A pair of lips pressed into the top of a sleeping boy's head, a goodbye from a father that wiped his tears before they fell on his son.
"Kuzey... you're perfect."
As he woke, whatever had happened in his dream had already washed away, too dim to compare to the late morning light reaching through the curtains. He sat up in a cozy bed, in a room he had only the foggiest memory's of. This was his aunt's chateau, only a short trip away from Lumiose City proper; two stories and two dozen rooms - a generational home of his family's, from what he remembered being told. With a stretch, and a twist, the bones along his back popped in rhythm, and Kuzey hopped to his feet while Crest spun a sleepy circle on the pillow he'd claimed while they napped. The guest room Aunt Vi had placed him in was sparsely decorated, with an armoire to store his clothing, a slight mahogany desk suitable to set up a computer and study materials, and a night table beside the bed with a few photographs arranged in its center. Kuzey took the one furthest back and examined it with a slight smile; it was an old photo his parents had a copy of back home, from his mother's childhood.
On the steps of the chateau, a bespectacled aging man was grinning like his teeth were fit to burst out and head for the hills; over his shoulder was draped a beautiful woman, hefting up enough elegance to even prop up her goofy husband. Kuzey's grandparents. He never got the chance to know them, but seeing Gramps smile like that always made him smile back, to see if he could get his face into that outrageous position. At their feet were arranged an array of five children, two boys roughhousing on the right, and three girls wrapped in a giggly hug on the left. Kuzey didn't know the names of what he presumed were his other aunt and uncles, but Vi, the biggest girl nearly hefting the other two off the ground, and his own mother, her busy eyebrows nearly concealing her shocked expression were easy to spot. They looked like every day must have been the most fun of their lives; and in-between them was an aunt he'd never met, her pinprick eyes matching the squeal of clear shock on her face as she clutched what looked like a blanket, dark blue and dappled with a field of stars.
It must have been tough, living with a sister like Vi. His fingers traced across the back of the photo and caught smoothness. A sticker? Flipping it over, a logo for a company he didn't recognize was stuck to the back of the frame: FableGen. Huh.
The clock on his Rotomphone told Kuzey it wasn't even noon yet; he'd only dozed off for a few hours, and plenty of time was left to explore his new lodgings. After scooping Crest up from his blissful sleep he departed the bedroom to get reacquainted with his surroundings. His room was in the far corner of the second floor, adjacent to a lavish bath and a small nursery full of old and just a touch faded baby's toys. From there he went clockwise, find several more bedrooms, a closet or seven, another bath, and eventually the master unit reserved for Bounvialle (which he dared not enter.)
As he turned to the stairs, though, a large purple wall barred his way. A bweh slipped out of him as Crest started into a battle-ready panic, only to calm itself as the two of them realized they'd barged straight into a Pokemon – a massive purple thing with a gaping mouth and a few gigantic teeth looking at Kuzey with an almost parental adoration. Rotom elaborated on behalf of the bewildered boy:
"BZZT! That's Loudred! The BIG! VOICE! POKEMON! Teehee! It yells with its massive mouth and SCREAMS with those speakers on its ears, producing percussive sound powerful enough to tip a truck, spook a Salamence, or even huff, puff, and blow your house down! Don't be in front of it when it's mad! Or if it's too happy! BZZT!"
"Oh," Kuzey sighed. "Oh, right. Your Aunt Vi's Loudred, right? I haven't seen you since you were… well, a Whismur, huh?" He reached out and scritched between the big fella's speaker-ears, and in reciprocation he reached back, making a few heavy pats on Kuzey's fluffy head.
"Lou, LOUD!" he chortled, clearly recognizing the boy even after all this time.
"Glad to see you've come out of your shell," the boy joked, shuffling past the Pokemon before it circled around and followed him down the chateau's intricately-carved staircase. Into the banister were carved the shapes of various horse-Pokemon reared up in intimidating poses, and symbols that meant nothing to him raced along the handrail. On the opposite wall hung more photos than he even bothered to count, showing ancestors of the Ferris family stretching back ages back into Kalos's storied history. Their family, once, had been nobles with ties to the long-lost monarchy that ruled the land in times past, though today they were known mostly for their breakthroughs into research of the Pokemon genome. His own parents had been researchers working on such a project, though Aunt Vi…
When he reached the ground floor he noted the shift in decorative tastes – where the history of the family was collected up above, the world of music dominated the ground floor, to suit the lifestyle of Aunt Vi, or as she was professionally know, DJ ViBonVi. Every wall was dominated by draping banners, haphazardly-taped posters, and framed records from countless artists. He saw punk rockers from Galar and Unova; a pair of gorgeous boy and girl idols framed in opposing tones in a dynamic framing; a rapper he was pretty sure used to be huge back in Paldea. Even a… how Diglett and Dugtrio are expected to perform music, he didn't question.
Through the foyer was the living room – or maybe soundstage was a better word. Streaked in indigos, teals, and bright magentas, even in daylight the scene evoked a thrumming nightclub, and its prime attraction was at its center, draped over a blocky couch and thumbing an unplugged electric guitar, miming chords to a building rhythm in her head, 'til Vi noticed her nephew's presence and in a single spin was on her rear and lounging against the seat's backing. "Kuzey! C'mere, sit with me. We barely got to talk yet!"
He shuffled in beside her, and from his side a tray of cookies was presented to him – Loudred on snack duty now, it seemed. Kuzey graciously accepted a cookie, and Crest four, chowing down as Vi began her rounds of auntly questioning. How-was-your-trips and Did-you-pack-enough-clotheses soon gave way to more tangible interrogation.
"All right kiddo, dish – have they been treating you okay?"
"Y-yeah," Kuzey assured her. "They had me staying at a spare dorm in Naranja Academy. I wasn't officially enrolled, but they let me sit in on classes."
"Did you make some friends, at least?" Vi inquired. "I've been so worried, you all by yourself…"
"I wasn't alone," Kuzey assured her. "I've had Crest with me the whole time." The Charcadet reiterated the point with a puffed chest and affected CHAR! "But I made a couple friends. Everybody was nice to me, at least. La Primera was too busy to come by much, but she checked in on me whenever she could."
Vi twirled a lock of her hair around her pinky finger, toying with it as she prepared an uncomfortable question – Kuzey knew the habit; his mother used to do the same thing.
"…Has she found anything?"
"No," Kuzey replied. "At least she didn't tell me anything."
Two years, four months, and sixteen days. He'd never stopped counting since his parents had vanished overnight. There was no sign of struggle, no goodbye note, nothing. He'd gone to bed a boy with two loving parents, and woken up in a house all by himself – all they'd left him was a Pokeball. And inside…
Back in the moment, Kuzey was stroking his Pokemon partner's head as he told his aunt everything La Primera, the head of the Paldea Region's Pokemon League – and his legal guardian for the last two and counting years – had told him about the investigation.
"The International Police have been doing most of the legwork; I guess when two researchers like them go missing, their first guess is something sinister is going on."
Vi crunched a biscotti between her sparkling teeth and huffed before downing the coffee Loudred had provided her in a single gulp. "Well, even if I'm a more than a touch miffed I've had to sit here and wait to get you back with your family where you belong… it sounds like she's been looking out for you. I'm in La Primera's debt." She reached out and tousled her nephew's hair, admiring the untamed mess. "But I see she's left the grooming to me!" Reaching into her pocket, she produced a little plastic card and pressed it into Kuzey's palm. "That's tied to my account; I assume you'll be heading out to Lumiose City today to get your bearings. While you're there, shop around and get yourself some new clothes to wear!" Kuzey glanced down at his gray shirt and wondered what was so wrong with it. "I want you to come to my performance tonight, and we're gonna get you fashion-forward, Kalos style."
"You're not giving me a ride?" he asked, and only got a chuckle in response.
"Kuzey!" Vi said. "Look at your Pokemon; you're a trainer now! You should get there the old-fashioned way, and see if you can get some practice in." With a flourish, and a snap of her fingers, Loudred tossed her a stylish indigo satchel, and with twirl for flair she draped it over Kuzey's shoulder. "And while you're at it, an accessory to suit a Master in the making."
Kuzey explored the pockets of his new bag, to find a few potions and other medicine already packed inside, as well as a stash of multiple unused Pokeballs. "Auntie… are you su-"
"SHUSH!" She stopped that thought with thumb and finger clenching the boy's lips shut. "You've been through so much on your own, sweetie. It's time you got to start being a kid again. If there's anything, anything you need, just let me know." With a hup and hop, Vi was on her feet and lifting Kuzey by his hands onto his own, before pulling the boy into a hug. "That's what I'm here for. Got it, Kuzey?"
He hugged her a little tighter. "…Thanks, Aunt Vi."
"-And remember, if you get lost, follow the river!"
At the end of the chateau's winding drive, Kuzey waved back to Aunt Vi as she saw him off, Loudred beside her waving along. He looked back at those steps, and memorized the way the amber and orange leaves framed those steps. He imagined a hundred sets of footsteps beneath his own feet, and pictured all the members of the Ferris family who'd set out on a Pokemon journey from those same steps.
"And we're part of that now," he muttered. "Right, Crest?"
"Ca-Detto!~"
They departed down the path into the golden woods of Route 16; off to his right, Kuzey spotted the river Aunt Vi had told him of, winding down from somewhere off to the north and down, leading out to the distant skyline of Lumiose City. They walked at a pace Crest could easily match, so he wouldn't need to stay in his ball, and enjoyed the splashes of light from the low autumn sun peeking through the leaves above. It'd been some time since he was truly out in the wild; back in Paldea, he'd rarely left the city of Mesagoza, preferring to stay near the Academy. Some days, it was easier to just sit and wait for the time to while by.
But he was better now.
Kuzey's Rotomphone was a helpful guide, calling out the safest paths down the rolling, wooded hillsides that accentuated the route. It even pointed out nearby Pokemon. Under the densest trees, masses of Foongus converged; in the trees you could spot the outlines of sleeping Murkrow; in the livelier ponds they passed, you could even see Poliwag paddling just under the water's surface. They all seemed like they could be valuable experience for a young trainer and an eager Charcadet… but maybe that could wait a while longer, Kuzey thought.
He crouched at the water's edge, admiring a shiny pebble nestled in the mud underwater as he let cool water twist and swirl past his hand. There's no need to rush into Pokemon battling; he'll get to it in due "Are you gonna take that pebble?"
Huh?
His head spun left and nearly leapt off his neck when he saw a girl around his own age crouched beside him, misty purple eyes with heavy lids focused intently on the pebble down in the pond. She was dressed in a heavy-looking hooded dress, slate grey with several stripes of orange stitched onto each arm; beneath, a pair of bellbottom pants poofing out around her legs with thin slits exposing her calves. Her hair was the same shade of orange, pulled back into a pair of braided tails that hung down over her shoulders, while a few stray bangs fell over her blank expression.
"I, uh, what?"
To reiterate, the girl splashed the water with her fingers and pointed at the pebble. "Can I have that?"
After another blink or two, just to be certain she was there, Kuzey nodded. "S-sure."
"Score." Like a Frogadier's tongue, the girl's arm darted past his face, snatched the rock, and recoiled back to her. She stared down as the glistening stone enraptured – as something in her hood shuffled about. A little shadow with large, weepy eyes peered out behind the girl's neck, making a few sniffing sounds at her new prize. "Look at it," she encouraged it, tilting her head with that same blank expression to give it a better view.
"You have a Pokemon," Kuzey observed, as Crest poked at the girl's puffy pants. Her eyes drifted back to him, like she'd just realized he was still there.
"Yeah, that's Yayamaskaa." She pointed to her Pokemon, as it coiled itself around the little painted clay lump that formed its core, hugging the pebble in its inky arms.
"…A who now?" Kuzey double-checked.
"Yayamaskaa – I stutter?" The girl repeated, prodding her partner. "It told me so. What's your name?"
"Yayamask-aa!" trilled the little thing.
Where to – where do you start with that? Kuzey trailed off before he'd even begun to speak. "I think… that's just its call. Isn't it just called a Yamask?"
"BZZT!" beeped his helpful Rotomphone. "Yamask, also known as – YA! YA! MASK! AA!"
His unhelpful Rotomphone.
"Well, uh. I'm Kuzey," he introduced himself. "And that's my partner, Crest. Who are you?"
"Oh, right." She shrugged. "I'm running from a Pokemon."
The only warning he received was the sound of brush being crunched underfoot, before the girl lunged forward and pulled Kuzey forward; as they tumbled to the ground, a shadow shot above them before skidding to a halt almost twenty feet away. Brandishing its tail like a weapon above its back, a lithe purple and yellow Pokemon tensed on its four legs, eager for its next attack.
"A Liepard?!" Kuzey shouted, attention oscillating between the attacker and the girl clutching him in her arms. "Why are you being chased by a—"
"LIEPARD! BZZT! THE CRUEL POKEMON!" Rotomphone chimed in, its screen projecting a list of possible attacks it may know. "Don't be fooled by its elegant appearance, BZZT! This stealthy hunter is as vicious as it is persnickety!"
The pair scrambled to their feet, watching as the Liepard honed its claws against the dirt to prepare for its next strike. A narrow breath. Its tail flexed – was it about to? His muscles tensed.
The Liepard leapt.
Kuzey froze.
He was going to –
"Yaya!" called the girl, and her Pokemon leapt out, screaming as a crystal-like bubble erupted from its clay slab. The move called Protect surrounded Kuzey, and the Liepard ricocheted helplessly off it, twirling in the air as it landed back on its feet where it had begun. A panicked exhale. He was still alive, but through no feat of his own.
In the moment his life was on the line, he'd done nothing. Like a coward.
"Coward."
Huh?! He looked at the girl who'd just called him a coward, but her misty eyes were looking at him without judgment. "Stay behind me, we'll keep you safe."
Her Yamask tittered again even as its eyes spouted fake tears, and from the dirt it leapt up, winding up before its clay tablet swung down like a hammer, aiming a Slam at the Liepard. But with a sharp twist of its behind, the bigger Pokemon's tail snapped back with a Night Slash; the colliding moves burst with sound, like rock shattering, and a gust of wind sent the pond to their side rippling with waves. Yayamaskaa was rebuffed, and came hurtling back into the girl's arms. "Oh." She murmured. "Maybe not."
"Li-lie!" cried the Liepard, tensing up for its next charge. Kuzey's breathing was only getting more rapid, as cold needles of sweat crept down him. Do something. Do ANYTHING, he told himself over and over. But he was frozen. He didn't…
"I can't… I don't want…"
Nothing he wanted mattered when the Liepard charged again, its tail wide enough to swipe at both trainers at once – but was intercepted by a flaming speck.
"CAAAA-DETTO!" Crest's little arms snatched Liepard's tail, and absorbed the brunt of its Night Slash as he was slammed into the ground – but even as the dirt knocked up from the impact sprinkled Kuzey's face, the little flaming scamp's eyes burned brightly. He'd protected his trainer.
"Crest!" Kuzey cried on instinct, leaning forward as if to rush forward – but to do what? Liepard's tail raised up again, and a devilish plot seemed to run through the Pokemon's mind before it opted to slam its tail, Crest along for the ride, into the nearest tree. A squeal of pain slipped out of him, but the tenacious thing held on as the wood splintered on the second, fourth, and seventh strikes.
Kuzey's vision blurred not from tears, but the trembling of his own body as everything fell out of focus. He couldn't see Crest anymore, but he could hear his cries as he held on for dear life, enduring hit after hit punctuated by the snicker of the Liepard. It was… enjoying this? He hated it. He hated it so much, to hear that noise. Glee! What kind of creature enjoys hurting something else! The boy's jaw locked, and a drop of blood slipped out of his clenched fist. Fighting. Useless, useless fighting!
At about 7:00 PM, Kuzey sat alone in his dorm. He'd thought about stopping by the cafeteria for dinner, but tonight it felt more comfortable to just eat in the quiet. The malasada in his hand swirled listlessly in a rich brown curry broth as he debated taking a bite, staring at the social apps on the laptop he was sat in front of. Crest napped on the bed to his left, unaware as Kuzey soaked in the day's events. A new tournament in the Galar League was set to establish the title of Champion for the season, and all the creators he followed were speculating. Once known for its singular, unbeatable Champion, the title had been constantly up for grabs between four tenacious trainers in more recent years. The Spikemuth Gym Leader had narrowly eked out a win over the Swordswoman of Postwick last time around, but this year eyes were on Bede to edge her out in the projected semifinals.
A bing-bonging tone alerted him to an incoming video call, from a user he recognized. La Primera. He accepted it, of course, and the Top Champion of Paldea's serene face appeared on his laptop screen, fiddling with the wide brim of her hat. It seemed she had just gotten home.
"Er, hi—greetings, La Primera." Kuzey started. Her warm smile calmed his nerves.
"Heya, Kuzey. I haven't had the chance to check in since you moved in. How are things at the Academy? Are they treating you well?"
"Y-yeah," he replied. "Things are okay. Everybody's fine. To me."
She gave a little "mm" of understanding, but quickly riposted. "I did have a little chat with the Battle Studies instructor this afternoon."
Oh. She'd heard. "I, uh…"
"She mentioned that you've been having trouble – that you keep seizing up during practical exercises. Is there anything you'd like to talk about concerning this?"
Kuzey squirmed in his seat, trying to hide his face behind his food. "I just…"
"Kuzey," La Primera repeated in her soothing voice. "I'm not punishing you; you're part of the Academy's curriculum on a voluntary basis. You're not going to flunk, but you're not going to learn either, if you're stuck on something."
He sighed. "I just… hate battling." His shoulders drooped. "I don't get it like trainers do. There's no rush in it for me. It's just noise. And violence." He took a bite, the pastry mixing with the sweet curry sauce to almost overcome the sensation of embarrassment tightening up his throat. "And it's like I… like I'm seeing something that frightens me. I can't focus, I freeze up."
La Primera leaned back in her seat a little, playing with the braid of hair on the side of her head. "I see. You don't seem to have found what motivates you to battle, yet."
"Yet?"
That mysterious smirk of hers fastened into place. "Would it surprise you to know that when I started on my own Pokemon journey, I didn't care for battling at all?"
Kuzey's head started back, baffled. "Really? You?"
"Yup," she chuckled. "Exploring new places, seeking my treasure… that was fun. But the battling, it just brought up bad memories of some narrow scrapes when I was just starting out."
"That so? Then how'd you get to… being you?"
"Your Battle Studies instructor taught me another way to look at things. Pokemon battles are more than just fighting. They're an exercise in trust, between you and your Pokemon, and even between you and your opponent. It's the shared experience that draws you closer together, and teaches you things about them that words aren't able to."
"I'm still not sure I get it," Kuzey moaned.
"You don't need to right away," she consoled the boy. "But keep thinking about it. Sometimes the battle doesn't need to matter for you, so long as it matters for someone else."
Someone else…
"Coward. Hey, coward."
That girl's voice was ringing in Kuzey's ears. "Your partner needs you."
Kuzey's eyes opened. He saw him. And he knew exactly what he had to do.
"Crest!" he called, drawing both his partner and the Liepard's attention directly to himself. "Let go!"
"Ch-chaa…" Crest followed the order, and went tumbling down the side of the tree, now baring wood with the bark all but stripped. The Liepard was less relenting, and turned its attention straight to Kuzey, further accentuated by the wiggle of its hips preceding a jump. He couldn't do it, Kuzey was certain. He could never fight like this, not in a million years.
But if it's for his Pokemon…
Liepard pounced.
He can do it.
Kuzey dropped, sliding across the loose golden grass as his assailant soared above – in the one place he wouldn't be able to react. "Crest! Flame Charge!"
It was the first command to attack his trainer had ever given, and when Crest's flaming eyes burst opened, he obeyed with aplomb.
"Cha-ca-CHAR!" A tremendous bloom of orange flame let loose beneath the tree, and rocketed straight into the back of the Liepard; it only had time to hiss before it hurtled up and over the girl and her Yamask. The Dark-type was little more than signed, but as it scrambled to his feet Kuzey already knew what to do.
"Ember, now!" he called. "Aim for the branches above!" Crest heeded, and jets of fire spurt from its eyes to strike the trees above where Liepard had landed. A mass of flaming branches and brush descended on the now-panicked cat, eliciting yowls as it desperately backed away from the fire. Kuzey rushed forward to Crest's side, and the girl retreated to stand beside him as the quartet stared down the predator on the other side of the fire.
Liepard hissed, and it snarled, and it stalked a few times back and forth for good measure. But so long as the flames burned, it seemed, it had no desire to risk the heat. One last time, it made itself look threatening with a swish of its tail over the warbling waves of heat, before it turned its back and dashed off into the golden forests, headed northward.
And after what seemed like an eternity, Kuzey breathed out. Crest did the same, and fell straight backwards into his trainer's arms, scooped up and lifted to his shoulder. "Good job," he panted. "Good… good job." He fell himself, butt bruising against the forest floor while his vision blurred and smudged in a dizzy swirl. He could barely make out the girl as she crouched down in front of him and made a face as the flames began to die down. It wasn't quite a smile, but maybe it was approval?
"You scared it off. Winning without having to fight; good job, coward."
It almost sounded like a compliment now, and he responded with a dreary laugh. "My plan was to use the fire to run away. I guess it still worked out."
"Yeah," she confirmed. "It'll probably be back though."
"But why?"
The girl shrugged. "It's been after me for a few days now. You and that pebble slowed me down, so I guess it caught up."
"Now it's my fault?" he sighed.
"Yes," she explained succinctly. "Make it up to me, coward. Where are you going?"
She extended her hand, and pulled Kuzey back up to his feet so that he could point to the metropolis just over the far hills. "Lumiose City. I'm going shopping."
She shook her head. "We are going shopping." With a nudge, a push, and a violent shove, Kuzey was back on the move and marching toward the City of Lights once more, with two extra travelers in tow as the girl and her Yamask followed along, pressing her hands into his back to keep him at a brisk pace.
"Oh," she murmured. "You meant my name before. I'm Herri."