Chapter 1 – Birds are Singing

As the sun rose, the forest became alive once again. Long bright pine trees covered a vast beautiful land populated by the wild pokémon, those who prefered living surrounded by nature instead of the comforts of towns and cities. Wild pokémon left their little shelters and started doing their daily routines. Some went to get some food, other trained with their friends, most of them enjoyed a quiet and peaceful life. Most.

In that same forest, a civilized Riolu ran. Long fur in his neck, with a red pearl showing in front, tail ended in a black star with another red pearl on the tip, and a black spout on his forehead. Yup, a perfectly normal Riolu. He was carrying a cloth bag, gripping it as if he was protecting a little baby. He ran, until he eventually stopped in a clearing, looking back to his pursuer. A Scyther looked angrily at him.

“Can’t we talk this out? I really don’t want to do this” the Riolu said.

He was greeted with a sudden strike with fury cutter, which passed harmlessly near the riolu as he jumped to his side. The Riolu sighed.

“Well, I’m sorry for this, but if you won’t listen…” Then he attacked. His paw generated claws out of nowhere that looked reflective, and the metal claw scratched the Scyther in his back. The scyther flinched from the pain, but quickly got to his feet and launched towards the aura pup, aiming to strike with a wing attack, which was immediately blocked by a protect.

“Grah, why would you need to use a TM to learn protect if you riolus can use detect?” Scyther complained, annoyed by the absurdity of it.

“I didn’t use any TM, I learned it on my own!” He said as he dodged another strike. “Ah! I g-guess I’m a bit weird among my species, hehe…”

Scyther looked confused as he pondered that, so Riolu then took his chance and punched the foe hard with rock smash, which launched the bug-type a few meters away.

The Scyther smirked. “That barely did any damage!” But that wasn’t Riolu’s intention. Scyther looked around, he couldn’t spot the Riolu now. Suddenly, from one of the trees, Riolu jumped on top of him and bit him, a shadowy aura emanating from his fangs. Flinching from the pain, Scyther tried to shake himself to take the Riolu off him, until he let go.

Tired from all that, Scyther started running in circles around Riolu at a high speed, forming clones of himself with what looked like a double team. Riolu swallowed and began charging a sphere of energy in his hands. His signature move was ready. He launched the aura sphere, which chased the real Scyther and hit him, and even it was ineffective, it was enough to make the copies disappear. Scyther didn’t have time to think before the Riolu was upon him, his quick attack being fast enough to reach him and land a hit, finally ending the battle.

“Ugh… H-how? Aura sphere without evolving, really…?”

Riolu had quite a good moveset, even if he didn’t like having to resort to it. He knew that, a long time ago, pokémon could only learn up to four moves and needed to forget one in order to learn a new one. It was a good thing that investigations lead to uncover the true potential of pokémon, which made it possible to learn more than four moves. That didn’t explain the aura sphere, still.

Riolu approached the Scyther, who lied in the ground, defeated and clearly grumpy. “I already told you, I didn’t steal your stack of food!” The Riolu said. He then opened his bag and emptied it in front of him. “See? There’s just a single berry here!”

Scyther raised his head from where he lied, looking at the items scattered on the ground. Some seeds and orbs, a map, two scarves, a sitrus berry, a badge, a few wands and five little sacks. Riolu took one sack and opened it for Scyther to see that there were just mixed ingredients, mostly vegetables.

“Oh… So you’re not the thief?” Scyther asked.

“Of course not!” Riolu answered, arms extended sideways in annoyance. “I tried to explain, but you didn’t listen! I was just passing by…”

“Ah. Well… Oops. I’m so sorry. I got so mad and hungry I couldn’t think straight.”

The Riolu sighed and put the scattered items back in his bag. He then took one of the sacks with food and offered it to Scyther.

“Take this. It really seems like you need it more than I do. I… really don’t know why I’m doing this after you attacked me, but whatever…”

Scyther took the sack and smiled fondly. “Really? After all this, you’re giving me this?”

He nodded. “Yeah, why not… But please, think before attacking anyone you see next time, okay?

Scyther nodded rapidly before taking flight and disappearing from Riolu’s sight. Riolu kept watching as the bug type left, and started wondering what to do next. He had left his team and the guild months ago, wanting to go see the world and find his own purpose in life. He missed them so much, but knew this would be good for him. But he’d go back eventually, he was sure… Even if it’s just a visit.

 

---

 

Riolu kept walking, analyzing his map and trying to guess where he was. Running from that Scyther was very inconvenient, and now he was lost and couldn’t spot his current location in his map. But as he walked, he started hearing noises coming from the north. It sounded like pained screams, or even worse. The emanation pokémon was afraid sometimes, but he pushed himself to be brave. He had dealt with horrible things in the past, he couldn’t be scared of a random shouting mon.

After a couple of minutes, the shouting got worse. It began sounding almost like it wasn’t a pokémon anymore. And it was getting CLOSER. Riolu looked everywhere, tense, and closed his eyes to try and use his aura. He could feel his surroundings, other pokémon hiding in their little treehouses, most of them scared for the same reason as him. He could also feel something falling from a tree above him. It almost felt like it wasn’t-

A bird-like pokémon landed on the Riolu, shouting uncontrollably, and started hiting him with his wings. Riolu tried to stop the bird, an Archen it was, but luckily he wasn’t using a move, just shaking randomly. The aura pup tried desperately to pull him off, but the bird quickly got a grip on him, by just… hugging the Riolu.

“What’s wrong? W-what are you doing?” Riolu asked.

The Archen then calmed himself, his breathing getting a bit slower.

“H-h-help… Help me…”

“What? But what happened to you? Why were you shouting like that?”

The Archen didn’t let go, but did relax a little. “I… I don’t know… There was something, and I… Uh…”

Riolu looked at him, a puzzled expression in his face. “There was… What?”

“I can’t… remember…”

“What do you mean you can’t remember? You’re like… amnesiac or something?”

“No, I know who I am… I just don’t know what I’m doing here…”

“Uhhhh… I see…” Riolu said as he patted the Archen uncomfortably. He then noticed a wound on the bird’s left wing. “Well, uh… I don’t think there’s any danger here, I couldn’t sense anyone else nearby, so I guess you’re good?”

Archen looked at him with watery eyes. “Really? Am I… safe?”

“I already told you. You can… Uh… Get off me now.”

Archen didn’t let go. Instead, he hugged him tighter.

“But I’m scared… And there’s something calming about you.”

Riolu’s expression was priceless. “Huh. I… guess? You do realize we don’t even know each other, right? I could very well be an outlaw, or worse, a pinap berry enjoyer.”

“But you feel safe.”

“Why.”

“Dunno.”

“Oh for the love of… Uh, alright. Let’s start from the beginning. You said you don’t remember what happened to you, right?”

The Archen loosened his grip a bit and looked away. “Yeah… I’m always moving, finding food and just living each day by my own, but… The last thing I remember was sleeping under a tree and… then I think I saw something horrible. I don’t know what it was, it just…” Archen shook nervously.

Riolu tilted his head in concern. “Are you okay?”

“No… I can’t get this horrible feeling out of me. It won’t go away…”

“Oh… Sounds like you might have some trauma from it, you need some therapy.”

Archen hugged the Riolu again, looking uneasy. “But I can’t ask for therapy, I’m scared…”

“Why would you be scared of that? It’s therapy, it just… helps.”

Archen sighed. “I’m scared of everyone. I can’t talk to other pokémon, or get close, I always feel like they’re gonna do something bad to me…”

“But you’re literally hugging me. A stranger.”

“Oh. I am.”

Riolu stared at him for a long time, not knowing what to say, while the forest kept quiet as if it was listening to the conversation.

“And you’re not… scared of me?”

Archen thought for a moment. “No, for some reason you don’t scare me.”

“… Okay, let’s try to make this less awkward by at least knowing each other a bit. My name is Ari, nice to meet you!” Ari the Riolu extended his paw offering a handshake, which Archen took from the uncomfortable position of hugging him.

“I’m Nimb…” He took the paw and gently shook it.

“Good, and now that we know each other… Do you need me to take you to somewhere safe?”

“But… Where is it safe?”

Ari looked around, unsure. “Uhhhh… I don’t know, just… Away from here I guess.”

Nimb didn’t look too convinced, and he made it clear by not releasing his grip on Ari, who sighed. “Let’s just… Move, then,” Nimb said.

“Right, but first…” Ari then opened his bag and took a sitrus berry, squeezing it to drop some juice on the Archen’s wing wound. He flinched a bit, but stood still. Ari then took one of the scarves he had in his bag, the striped green one, and tied it around the wound. “This is better. You don’t want to get an infection.”

“Oh, thank you…”

Ari and Nimb started walking, the former holding his map and trying to pinpoint their current location. Nimb had eventually released Ari, but he stayed really close, occasionally gripping his arm with his wing while looking everywhere in fear. Ari didn’t like silence, so he was the first to talk.

“So… You have anything to do? Any destination you want to go to?”

“Not really… I just go wherever I feel like.”

“Well, just like me then. I left my guild some time ago to discover new places. Back where I lived, we haven’t got any of those ‘mystery dungeons’ you have in this country now. Still, people need help sometimes, and outlaws are a common issue, so guilds are very valuable even there. I used to go on a few missions every week.”

“That sounds dangerous.”

Ari put his map away and looked at Nimb. “It is if you go alone, but I had my team. That’s why you’re so scared all the time, you’re alone. You could really use some help from a friend, you know?”

“I suppose you’re right, but I just can’t help it…” Nimb looked very sad, and Ari regreted bringing up that topic. He patted him in the back.

“It’s okay, you just need time. Don’t worry about it now.”

Nimb nodded and kept walking, but he found himself eyeing the Riolu every now and then, something Ari noticed.

“Is something wrong?”

Nimb flinched. “O-oh, it’s just… You look weird for a Riolu.”

“Hehe, yeah… One day I just changed out of nowhere, I don’t know why…” Ari said as he chuckled awkwardly. “And that’s not the only weird thing you’re going to notice about me, but that’s a story for later.”

“Alright, I guess…” Nimb said. Ari then suddenly stopped, so Nimb did too. “What’s wrong?”

The air around them became dense, and weird bluish fog could be seen above them. Ari took his map and inspected it. “Oh. Oooohh. Good news, I know where we are now!” He then faced Nimb, smiling. “We’re in Reverb Grove, a mystery dungeon. Funny, huh? Hehe. Hehehe. Whoops.”

Nimb froze as he took in his surroundings. The pine trees were replaced with chayas that seemed to cover most space around them, making it hard to see the sunlight filtering between the thick foliage. The dirt on the ground was mostly covered with fallen leaves, making for a stunning view, if it wasn’t for the dense fog that covered the dungeon.

“No… Nononono, t-this can’t be happening…” Nimb stammered.

“Is it that bad?” Ari asked. “For what I’ve learned about mystery dungeons, it’s just a normal place but… With feral pokémon. I’m sure we can handle it together!”

“N-no, I can’t! I’m s-so scared of f-fighting…” He said as he gripped Ari’s arm for comfort. Ari just weirdly scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to say.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find a way out together,” the Riolu reassured.

Both of them stick close to each other while they traversed the dense forest, taking careful steps as it was hard to see in front of them. The fog and the dense trees were making it hard, but they didn’t stop, or at least, Ari didn’t stop.

“Say, what do you know about mystery dungeons? I know some basic info, but I wanna hear from someone who’s actually native to Syftelia,” Ari said.

“You’re n-not from here?”

“Nope, came to see the world, remember?”

“Ah, right… W-well, mystery dungeons are… mysterious. T-they started popping up in Syftelia a bunch of years ago, and no one knew why. These places were home to many pokémon, but one day, t-they became ferals…”

The Riolu looked up. “It’s because of this weird energy or radiation, right? Looks like normal fog, but there’s something wrong about it.”

Nimb nodded. “This fog showed up and pokémon just… Started acting like m-monsters. It’s so scary…” He took a shivering breath, and then continued. “They suddenly weren’t able to talk, or to think for that matter, and… T-they attack anyone without reason! And if we stay here for too long, w-we could turn into f-ferals too! I d-don’t wanna be here…”

Ari frowned and patted the Archen’s back. “It’s okay, that only happens after a long time, we’ll find a way out soon enough. It shouldn’t be hard, even if the fog is… strangely disorienting. I still find it so weird that this is what keeps ferals from leaving mystery dungeons…”

“A-also… New mystery dungeons k-keep appearing more frequently t-these recent years. I’m so worried…”

Ari didn’t know what to say. It sure was concerning, but if he said it would be okay, those would be empty words. He had no idea of what was happening, or if there was a way to fix that, for that matter. He didn’t have time to keep thinking about it since a pair of Morelulls jumped on them from behind the trees and attacked.

“AAAAAHHH, WE’RE BEING AMBUSHED!” Nimb panicked.

Ari quickly stood in front of Nimb, using protect to keep the bird safe as the ferals leaned closer, blocking a twin moonlight ray. He then ran ahead and slashed them with metallic claws, keeping them away, but then the Morelluls moved to their sides and attacked at the same time, with another flash of energy.

Ari took Nimb and jumped to the side, barely avoiding the attack. Ari quickly got to his feet and decided he’s had enough, and so he launched two aura spheres in a row. The Morelluls were hit and flew a few meters away, making them run away in panic. As soon as it started, it was already over, and Ari sighed in relief.

“Didn’t see that coming… Hey, are you okay?” Ari asked.

Nimb looked as scared as before, so it was hard to tell. “I… I…”

“Don’t worry, it’s a mystery dungeon, but for what I know, this one is not really dangerous. Okay, I’ll admit I was a bit scared too, but it’s alright! We just have to keep walking and we’ll eventually get out of this place. And in the meantime… Fight these creepy feral pokémon who lost all their sanity and want to tear our skin off. Easy task, right- aaaand you fainted.”

Nimb had panicked so hard he just couldn’t take it anymore, and so he lied unconscious on the ground. Ari sighed and picked him up, carrying him on his back, and then he started walking unsteadily.

“Don’t tell me I’m going to have to carry you all the way through the dungeon! As if I didn’t have enough…”

 

---

 

Ari kept going forwards, ignoring the noises from feral pokémon that lurked nearby. The trees extended infinitely, giving a sense of depth that looked like a labyrinth, even if it wasn’t. The weird radiation of the fog made him feel strange, and that was the reason why it was going to be hard to find the way out. Ari was worried about being lost for enough time to become a feral, even if he himself said that was unlikely. Still, the idea alone was terrifying for Ari, but he had to keep pushing onwards. He had been in much worse situations, it would be stupid to chicken out now.

Carrying Nimb limited his movement, but he could rely on his aura sphere to drive away any feral, as it was his only ranged attack. It worked fine, the attack never missed and he only needed one hand to use it, but it was beginning to wear him out.

The tiredness of it made Ari lose focus, and he couldn’t hear an enemy approaching from behind. Out of nowhere, a tackle sent both Ari and Nimb flying a few meters away. It was a Corvisquire, a flying-type; every fighting-type’s nightmare.

The impact made Nimb react, opening his eyes and watching in horror as Ari tried to defend himself from the Corvisquire, who was caught off guard and was receiving a fury attack without being able to block it.

Nimb started panicking again. “ARI! Uh… Do something!”

“I… Can’t! HELP!” Ari begged as he received some nasty blows.

“B-but…”

The Corvisquire intensified its attacks, making Ari yell in pain, but the Archen was frozen in place. He couldn’t stop watching, even if he wanted to. Ari was unable to move as the bird was attacking nonstop and wouldn’t let him do anything.

“PLEASE!” The Riolu yelled.

Right after the bird readied his finishing move, Nimb generated a sheer amount of rock fragments out of the air. And so, he used rock throw on the Corvisquire, who took the hit and finally got separated from Ari. The Riolu tried to stand up, trembling by the pain, and then saw the feral quickly approaching Nimb, who just stared frozen in place (again).

“Nimb, watch out!” Right as he yelled, Ari’s neck and tail pearls started glowing, and a reddish aura enveloped him. In a blink, he pointed his arm forward and the red aura was launched onto Nimb, enveloping him too. The Corvisquire used fury attack again, this time on Nimb, who stood there with his arms raised, but… He felt too little pain.

“Now, attack!” Ari yelled.

Confused, Nimb then launched another set of sharp rocks on the assaulter, who couldn’t avoid it and was thrown a few meters back, surprising Nimb by the sheer strenght of his own attack. The Corvisquire couldn’t take it anymore and fainted, and Ari and Nimb sighed in relief. The Riolu limped towards his savior, who stared at him with a puzzled expression.

“Are you okay?” It was Ari who asked.

“I… Uh… I should be the one asking! You took most of the damage, and I wasn’t doing anything, and…”

“It’s alright, I’ll tough it out. I’m more worried about you. You fainted out of fear before, and you clearly look like you barely know how to fight.”

Nimb looked down guiltily. “I only know rock throw and wing attack, even if that one is… Well, nevermind. It’s just that I always try to flee whenever there’s a battle…”

Ari rested a hand on Nimb’s shoulder, trying to reassure him. “It’s okay, I don’t like fighting either. I had to learn and get better because sometimes you just can’t avoid problems.”

“Yeah… Anyway, what was that?” Nimb asked with interest.

“What do you mean?”

“That… Thing… Red weird aura that you had, and then I had it and… I felt stronger.”

“Oh, yeah, I haven’t told you. That’s kind of my power, I can boost my strength, defense or speed… Or I can do it with others.”

Nimb gasped. “Wow, that’s so cool! How come you have that power? You’re a Riolu, and if I remember correctly, that wasn’t a thing with other Riolus…”

Ari pointed to his neck and tail, as to show the quirkyness of his body. “It’s because of these pearls I have, but I don’t know more than you do. It just happens.”

“Just like that? It’s the weirdest thing I’ve seen… YOU are the weirdest thing I’ve seen, no offense.”

“None taken.”

“So yeah… For some reason, it felt really good. If it wasn’t for that, I wouldn’t have been able to react and attack that feral, so… Thank you.”

Ari blushed. “Heh, it’s nothing.”

“Have you always had that power?”

“Actually, nope. I looked like a normal Riolu before, as I already told you, but almost a year ago, when my body changed, I also got this power when I tried to protect a friend.”

“Weird… But it’s really cool, I guess.”

Ari nodded, and started walking again, still limping a little. “Come on, we gotta keep moving if we want to get out of here.”

“Oh… Wait!” The Archen quickly reached Ari and gripped ari’s arm again. Ari simply smiled and kept walking.

 

---

 

After an hour of dungeon crawling, fighting weak ferals and running when there were many of them, Ari and Nimb reached a point where the bluish energy felt less dense.

Ari gasped. “Okay, judging by the air quality, we must be reaching the exit! Come on!” Both ran forward, and before they could notice, they were out of Reverb Grove. Ari looked around, trying to determine where they were, and studied his map.

“Mhm… Okay… Yeah, it seems we made it out of the dungeon! And this time I know where we are!”

“That’s good, I guess…” Nimb sighed in relief, feeling safer, now that they were out of the dungeon, but still not safe enough.

“Well, we’re definitely far away from were you were screaming all weirdly, so… You’re safe now! And I guess that means it’s time to say goodbye. Take care from now on!”

Nimb looked anxious. “You’re… Leaving me?”

“I uh… Yes? I mean, I helped you out of there and… Well.”

Nimb quickly enveloped Ari, trembling. “Please… Don’t leave me alone… I don’t want to be alone again…”

Ari didn’t know what to say. He kept his worried expression while looking everywhere thinking on what to do now.

Nimb insisted. “I know I’ve always been alone, but… I can’t go back to it now. I don’t know why… I just can’t.”

The Riolu tried to suppress the discomfort and hugged the Archen back. “Okay, okay, I won’t abandon you. Please, take deep breaths. I’ll stay with you, alright?”

Nimb sniffled. “You… You mean it?”

“Of course, I can’t see you like this. If it makes you feel better, you can come with me.”

“T-thank you… It means a lot.”

Ari patted Nimb on the back gently. “Don’t mention it. Now we should find a spot to rest for the day, we went through a lot.”

 

---

 

It was already nighttime. Both Ari and Nimb were exhausted and decided to rest under a dense tree near a clearing. The Riolu was a bit sore, having taken the worst part of that Corvisquire’s attack, so he didn’t bother with getting wood to start a campfire. The moonlight was enough, so at least he could see a bit of his surroundings. Most of his range of view was covered in feathers, as the Archen still wouldn’t let him go, and rested by his side, half-hugging him. Ari was weirded out by this at first, but he was getting used to it.

“How are you so strong?” Nimb eventually asked.

Ari’s ears perked up a little and he tilted his head. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“You carried me most of the way through the dungeon, and defeated all the ferals…”

“Not the Corvisquire.”

“Okay, not that one, but still.”

Ari thought for a moment. “I don’t know, I just have a lot of experience. I already told you, I was part of a guild before. Two guilds, in fact, but I have better memories from the second one. It’s a long story, really.”

“I see… But even after being so hurt, you were so brave back there. You kept encouraging me, and you said it was the first time you were in a mystery dungeon.”

Ari smiled at Nimb, but there was a hint of sadness there. “I… I was afraid too, you know?”

Nimb turned around to face him this time, a bit surprised. “Really?”

“Of course. I’m not a superhero, I get scared. A lot, actually. I told you that I don’t like fighting, right?” Nimb nodded. “Well, it’s for a good reason. I won’t get too much into details but… Let’s just say violence scared me a lot. I didn’t have a good experience with that.”

Ari stayed silent for a long moment, deep in thought. Then, he continued. “I had to fight because I wanted to protect my friends. I couldn’t see them suffer like I did, I couldn’t avoid conflicts because of it. I still hate it, but if it helps my friends, then it’s worth it.”

“Helping your friends?” Nimb pondered that for a while. What was it like? Would he want to protect someone if he trusted them? No, he would definitely run away, like always. That’s all he ever di-

“Just like you did before in the dungeon.”

Nimb’s eyes widened. “Huh?”

“When the Corvisquire attacked me,” Ari continued. “You know, you defeated it. I still haven’t thanked you for that.”

“What? No! You took care of the rest of the ferals, I should be the one thanking you! And I spent most of it unconscious…”

“Yes, but you said before that you always flee from battles. You didn’t.”

Nimb fell silent for a moment, leaving only the sound of the leaves dancing to the wind. It was soothing. “I guess…”

They stayed silent for a long while. This time it wasn’t an awkward silence, but pleasant It was a calm and pretty night, and getting to spend it with someone like this was definitely worth it. Ari was finally enjoying the company without feeling uncomfortable. After a while, Nimb spoke.

“How does it… Feel to have friends?”

Ari grimaced. “Huh? That’s a weird question. You’re weird, hehe.”

“I’m weird?”

“Not as much as me, though. But I see it’s contagious…” Ari said, letting out a light chuckle.

“You haven’t answered the question.”

“I was getting there,” Ari said and then locked his eyes in the vast starry sky. “You see, it’s like… Knowing someone enough to trust them and want to be with them… And wish them the very best.”

“That sounds nice…” Nimb said, looking at the sky as well, until he remembered something. “You had friends, right?”

“I still have them, they’re not dead,” Ari joked.

“Why would they be?”

“You spoke of them in past tense.”

Nimb pouted. “You know what I meant.”

“Okaaay, sorry hehe. But yeah, what about that?” He looked at his bird companion, and Nimb stared back.

“You said that when you have friends, you want to be with them. How come you left them behind?”

“…”

Ari thought silently, searching for the right answer. It just never came.

He looked aside, with a conflicted face. “I don’t know. I do want to be with them. I miss them a lot, you know? I…”

Nimb noticed Ari tearing up slightly, and saddened a bit. “Are you alright?”

Ari quickly wiped his tears and smiled back at him. “Yes, don’t worry. I just don’t know what to say.” He looked back up to the sky. “Somehow I feel like I can’t come back now, not until I become the pokémon I need to be. If I stayed, I wouldn’t make any progress. I would have felt miserable in the end. When you have a goal in life, sometimes it’s better to just… Follow it. Even if it means leaving everything behind.”

Nimb nodded. “I see… And what’s that goal?”

Ari’s smile slowly faded. “I…”

The Archen frowned. “You don’t know, don’t you?” As he saw the sad look in the Riolu’s face, that was all that he needed as an answer. Nimb could empathize with that. “I guess I’m the same.”

Ari looked at him as he was also looking up, expecting to find an answer written on the stars. He knew that feeling well, but he wasn’t going to find the answer there. He’d wish.

He looked back down and spoke, getting the Archen’s attention. “I could keep doing what I’ve done my whole life. That’s basically al that I know. But I’m just…”

“Tired?” Nimb said, getting a nod from Ari. “I understand…”

There was another long silence, as both of them reflected on everything they talked about. There wasn’t much more they could say, and they were getting sleepy.

“You know, Nimb? I’m sure there’s something out there that we’re both great at. We’ll find it eventually, I hope.”

“Yeah” Nimb was starting to feel his eyelids heavier. “I wish I could… ever see that… coming true…”

“Well… Now that you’re staying with me for now, we might as well be friends, right?” Ari asked.

He got no answer. When Ari looked to his right, he found Nimb asleep, resting on his shoulder. Ari smiled and closed his eyes too. He has been all alone for months now, so he also missed having someone to explore with. He could use a new friend, as weird as he was.

He reminded him of a certain noibat he once knew.

 

---

 

As the night went on, two figures, one much bigger than the other, approached the Riolu and his Archen companion, who were sleeping peacefully. They watched the two as if they were deciding on something, until it was settled.

“These two will do,” the big one whispered to his companion, who then nodded just before shooting a sleep powder upon the Riolu and Archen, ensuring that they wouldn’t wake up soon. And so, they took them and walked away.

Not too far away, another figure limped erratically, trying to move forwards, still getting used to their situation. Getting used to their new power. They stopped, and the flame in their head burned more intensely, with its wrong colors. It used to be red. Now it was white. They started moving, trying to get somewhere. They didn’t need to know where to go. They didn’t need to know what to do. They just had to give in to their recently gained monstrous instincts.