Swanna Song, Sung Throughout Sinnoh

The monster screamed wildly, her tongue slipping all over her bottom row of messed up, broken teeth.

June was on her knees, her hands pressed hard against her ears.

The monster kept screaming, the vocals of her voice rising horrifically.

June’s head exploded.

Gary sat up with a painful gasp, his heart beating so hard in his chest, he was almost willing to cut it open to ease the pain. He placed his hands against his heart and struggled to slow his breathing down, his body trembling against his will. Shit, man... Gary thought. He turned to the window and stared at the black, starless sky. June... He shook his head as anger started to fill his brain. Dreams mean nothing, he thought. It doesn’t mean you’re dead, or alive. Or anything else! He yawned and then closed his eyes, lowering his head. Melissa, he went on silently. I’m so sorry. I’ll call mom real soon. I love you both. So much. His eyes then swept around the room. Soon after, they started tearing up. Despite the time he had been traveling alone so far, he wasn’t used to the feeling, nor was he enjoying it.

*

“Then can I get ten more Poke Balls?” Gary asked.

The man behind the register turned to look behind himself at the almost completely bare shelves. “I can offer you six right now.” He stared back to Gary. “I’m really sorry. Believe me. This drought is killing me, too. I just got stock in!”

“I understand. I’ll take what you’ve got.”

“Alright, kid. And excuse me again. I didn’t think the Saffron City attack would still leave us in such a bad place. It’s been over a year or so already.”

The two made their exchange, what little funds that were left on Gary’s Pokedex being used to pay for some Poke Balls and even fewer Great Balls. Man, this is a lot tougher without June to spot me a few times, Gary was noticing. The funds I make as a Trainer suck! I have to be so careful. With June, I barely thought about it, I guess. I need to battle more Trainers to earn more money.

“Say, you know, you kinda look like that kid from the Saffron attack,” the cashier brought up, taking Gary out of his head. He scratched at the little beard on his chin, smiling and squinting at him. “A lot like him, maybe.”

“Yeah.” Gary looked away and walked out of the building, not saying another word. He went back to his Pokedex he’d been messing with most of the day so far. “Right, so Riolu is Timid. I guess that’s okay... Not great, but okay... Who else? Porygon-Z is... Quirky... Well doesn’t that make sense...” Gary went to the next Pokemon he owned. “Ah, right. Deino. That’s fine. I could use a change up on my team.” He looked over to Electivire.

“Virrrre...” Electivire growled at him, June’s bag hanging from one shoulder.

Gary held out the Pokedex to Electivire. “Brave...” he read and looked at the powerful brute. “Hmm,” he mumbled. “Not sure I expected that.” It was several minutes of Gary playing with his Pokedex before he faced Electivire again. “Listen, man, after this, we head out. But there’s no more of this interfering with my battles. I need to raise my own Pokemon, and you’re not mine, okay?”

Electivire snarled out at him.

His eyes widened with a thought. A realization. Melissa... She’s dead. Because of that, I own her Pokemon. But... June’s not dead! It was like something had just snapped in Gary, the breaking point suddenly reached. He frowned at Electivire. “June’s not dead, and you’re not mine either way, really! I never agreed to ownership. You don’t even listen to me! And I hate that you got that Badge from Jupiter! It wasn’t right! Stay outta my battles!!”

Electivire made fists and bared his teeth, leaning toward him.

“NO! BACK UP! I’m not June!” he went on. And then his voice softened as something else came to mind. “And I don’t think you think I am, either. You’re not expecting me to be your Trainer. You’re sticking with me because of June, isn’t it? You know she’s out there. You await her return. That’s it, isn’t it?”

Electivire sneered and growled lowly. “Electivire. Elect, Electivi...”

“You can play Mr. Toughie all you want, but you and her need to settle your issues once she’s back. She hasn’t done anything that can’t be forgiven. That she hasn’t apologized for! Why are you so... intolerant?!”

Electivire’s fists squeezed harder and began to spark.

Gary’s eyes leered at the sparking fists before going to Electivire’s red eyes. “She’s gonna be glad to see your arms are healed. Because she cares about you, Electivire!”

Both pairs of eyes hardened on each other, refusing to look away.

“She-!”

“Gary! Hey, man, I’m ready!” From a short distance, Rael was seen running over to Gary.

Electivire and Gary stared at him sternly, but only Gary lightened up and managed to smile at the new Trainer. “Rael,” he breathed out, trying to get himself to relax.

“Bro, there’s a great spot right outside the city we can battle in!” Rael smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, I’m familiar. Let’s go, and then I am heading out of here.”

“No problem! Just one quick one-on-one battle. I wanna fight whatever you used to take down Jupiter!”

Gary’s body stiffened. “Huh?”

“Which was it? Was it this Electivire?”

Gary stared at the Pokemon.

Electivire smiled sinisterly at Rael.

“NO! We talked about this, Elec-!”

“Electivire!” Electivire pushed Gary aside by the face, the kid falling over helplessly, crying out angrily. He punched sparking fists together and nodded at Rael, cackling lightly.

“Whoa, he looks kind of mean,” Rael managed to laugh nervously, an uncomfortable smile on his face, keeping widened eyes on the Pokemon.

“He’s not the one you're battling!” Gary got to his feet. “Stop it already!”

“I wanna battle him! Let’s go! He looks ready!” Rael took off, running along the path out of the city.

Electivire let June’s bag hit the ground and he took off after Rael, scowling.

“Electivirrrre!!” Gary charged after the Pokemon, scooping up June’s bag on the way, not enough time to dig into his pocket to get the Pokemon’s Poke Ball.

When Rael was out of the city and in the familiar, huge open field Gary had battled Robin in, he stopped and turned with a smile. But that smile vanished and he was now screaming!

Electivire didn’t stop, both of his fists in flames, and he swung on Rael!

Rael shrieked and fell down, avoiding the Fire Punch. He screamed at the top of his lungs as Electivire then reached out to grab him!

Electivire gripped the kid’s body right before he glowed red, being returned to his Poke Ball.

Rael looked petrified, unable to move even with the Pokemon attacking him gone. Trembling visibly, he stuttered incoherently, staring at the spot Electivire had been in as if he was still there.

“Rael! Are you okay?!” Letting June’s bag fall, Gary continued moving towards the kid and knelt beside him. “I’m so sorry about that! He usually doesn't do stuff like that! He usually just battles Pokemon!”

Rael looked to Gary. “I-I-I-I-I thought m-m-my l-l-l-l-life was over! That was terrifying! I-i-i-it’s disobedient?”

“Yeah...” Gary admitted, letting out his breath. And not mine, he kept to himself.

“So you mean you beat Jupiter with a disobedient Pokemon?” Rael managed to choke out.

“He has a lot of issues is all... I’m so sorry, dude.”

“You could’ve killed me, dude! Damn!” Rael got out a smile.

Seeing his smile, but not feeling in a good mood after what had occurred, Gary forced a big laugh, mostly out of relief. “I’m so sorry, man.” Gary’s smile was gone again.

Rael laughed and reached out. “Gimme a hand, will ya?”

Gary stood before helping Rael up, but his heart was beating a thousand beats a minute. He couldn’t believe what had just taken place with Electivire attacking a Trainer! But he also kept to himself that June had said back in Kanto that Electivire did try to attack a Trainer before. “How about a different battle, then? Maybe a three-on-three instead?”

“I wanna fight that Electivire, but only if it’s my Pokemon he’ll be fighting, not me! Ha ha ha ha!”

“Well...” Gary considered confessing about Electivire. I shouldn’t even let that Badge count. What about that first Badge of mine? I didn’t even win! I think I need to do this whole Badge thing all over again... “I’d rather use something else. I’m really not happy with him right now, and I have some other guys I’ve been dying to train. Could we do that instead?”

“Okay, okay. Fine.” Rael brushed off his clothes and backed up.

Gary also moved away.

Both Trainers grabbed a Poke Ball.

Gary smirked at Rael. “First up, I choose you!” He threw a ball and sent out a flopping fish.

“Magikarp! Magikarp! Magikarp!”

“Magikarp?!” Rael frowned at the Pokemon and then at his Trainer. “Hey, are you making fun of me, man?”

“Beat my Magikarp, then you can be upset!” Gary grinned big and hard.

“Right... Fine, then I’ll choose my Machoke to handle that!” Rael sent out his first choice.

“MAAAAAAchoke!” Machoke flexed hard on Magikarp.

“Magi? Karp!” Magikarp stopped flopping and balanced on his bottom end, glaring at Machoke. “Machoke, end this quick! Vital Throw!”

“MACHOKE!” Machoke charged at Magikarp.

“Magikarp, RAGE!” Gary beamed proudly.

Magikarp soared into Machoke’s abs, the muscular Pokemon’s eyes bulging in surprise as it took a step back.

Rael gasped loudly. “NO WAY!”

“Machoke!” Machoke moved after Magikarp and scooped him up, whipping around in a circle and slamming Magikarp down!

Magikarp straightened back up, his body briefly glowing red, and he eagerly bounced repeatedly.

“How does Magikarp know Rage??! It can only do Splash and Tackle!”

“This is a rare breed that knows a couple of surprise moves!” Gary smiled, loving the shock on his opponent’s face.

“That’s bullshit! No way! Machoke, let’s end this with Wake-Up Slap!” Rael shouted angrily.

“Magikarp, Rage again!”

Surprisingly, Magikarp was a lot faster than Machoke and slammed into it again.

Machoke took a couple of steps back this time but then moved forward and slapped Magikarp hard.

Magikarp’s body was glowing red, his Attack rising again.

Both Pokemon leered at each other, Magikarp looking a lot more worn out than Machoke, who looked just fine.

Maybe physical isn’t the way to go... Gary considered. “Dragon Rage right now!”

“Wait what?!” Rael looked like he couldn’t believe his ears. “There’s more??”

A flaming ball charged in front of Magikarp’s mouth and then shot out at Machoke, taking it down.

Gary was beaming at the opponent’s reaction, delighted, but his smile was exchanged for a more disappointed look as Machoke was quick to get up, brushing off its abs.

“Machoke, our turn! Karate Chop!” Rael ordered.

Machoke flew into Magikarp with a glowing hand and swiped at him.

Magikarp cried out and flopped on the ground several times, bouncing, sliding, and skidding to a stop. “Magikaaaarp...”

“Magikarp!” Gary ran over to his Pokemon. “Magikarp are you okay?” He touched his Pokemon gently.

“Magi. Karp...” The Pokemon was breathing hard, barely moving.

“Look, just because I’ve only got one Badge doesn’t mean you can send out a Magikarp on me, okay? I’m not here to train your weaker Pokemon! Okay?” Rael snapped. “Are you some kind of hacker?? How does your Magikarp know Rage and Dragon Rage?!”

“A hacker? What do you mean?” Gary questioned, confused.

“You know, people who manipulate Pokemon to have stats they can’t normally get!” Rael looked furious right now.

Gary was suddenly thinking of Scientist Gary. The scientist who was altering Pokemon stats for Trainers. “I don’t do that stuff! He really has those moves! I don’t play around with that type of crap with my Pokemon! I would never do that! He’s been checked and verified by Prof. Oak, in fact, okay?”

Rael’s face eased up. “Oh, if Prof. Oak said it was legit, then that’s just something I need to look into more. But there’s evil scientists out there who have been working on, according to them, ‘improving’ Pokemon to be more powerful by altering their stats. Seeing this Magikarp, I assumed if they could alter stats, they could maybe cheat and teach Pokemon wild moves they can’t learn, too. I guess that’s just impossible, though. I’m sorry, dude. I thought you were one of them for a sec.”

“No, it’s fine...” Gary responded softly. Could Scientist Gary be “evil”? Gary wondered. Would he do something like teaching impossible moves to Pokemon? Gary then shook his head. No way, he told himself. He wouldn’t do something that crazy. Like Rael said, that’s just impossible, anyway.

“Well, if that’s legit, then I just hate you, then!” Rael barked.

Snatched out of his thoughts, Gary blinked twice at Rael, his mouth open in shock. “Huh?”

“You have such a cool Pokemon! A Magikarp with moves other than Tackle or Splash?? And Dragon Rage?! Come on!”

“Oh, aha,” Gary smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah.”

“What’s next? Your special little Magikarp is out!” Rael added.

Gary looked sadly at his Pokemon and nodded. “Magikarp...” He grabbed his Pokemon’s Poke Ball and put a smile on. “I’m so sorry. You did so awesome!” Shame on me, sending out a Magikarp just to show up this kid and try and look cool with a Magikarp. Prof. Oak warned me of behaving like this. To not show off Magikarp like that. And I lost because of it. “Return, and thank you, Magikarp.” He recalled his Pokemon and his eyes glanced over the Poke Balls on his waist before he settled on one. Yeah, this is it. He grabbed it and smiled at Rael, his eyes then closing in on Machoke. “Riolu, let’s do it!” He threw the Poke Ball, sending out his next choice.

“Ri!” Riolu raised her fists, facing Machoke.

Machoke punched its fists together, looking down on the little Riolu. It then growled.

Riolu barked back lightly.

“Dude, are you kidding me?? Come on!!” Rael complained. “Now you’ve got a Baby?!”

Gary frowned at the kid. “I’m the experienced Trainer here, right? Defeat Riolu, and then talk! I think I know what I’m doing here!”

Rael’s mouth slanted but he nodded. “Okay, fine. Let’s start this one off. Machoke, Karate Chop again!”

“Foresight right away!” Gary said.

Riolu’s eyes glowed blue, and then a blue aura swept throughout the area.

Machoke roared, flying at Riolu with a glowing, swiping hand.

Riolu was howling in pain as she was taken down by Machoke’s attack.

Gary gasped in disbelief. “RIOLU!”

“Machoke, Seismic Toss, now!”

Machoke ran for the Baby Pokemon.

“Riolu, Counter that!” Gary pleaded.

Riolu’s body glowed light red.

Machoke wrapped both arms around her and then bent its knees. Looking up to the sky, Machoke leaped into the air and then tumbled. It released its arms and Riolu shot down to the ground.

A red aura blasted out from Riolu and hit Machoke, downing it.

Machoke stood up easily.

Riolu was the one struggling.

“RIOLU! Get up!” Gary begged.

“Now use Low Sweep!”

Machoke moved to Riolu as the Baby managed to stand.

“RIOLU, COUNTER!!” Gary shouted desperately.

Her body glowed light red again right before Machoke kicked her in the middle, sending her flying out to Gary while crying out helplessly.

Gary screamed and reached out. “OOOOOOOFFFF!!” He was taken down, his breath stopped by the impact of his Pokemon colliding into him. They both hit the ground, Riolu even tumbling out of Gary’s arms. Riolu... Gary reached out weakly with one arm, keeping his other arm around his sore stomach.

Riolu was on her side, eyes open, staring motionlessly at her Trainer.

“Gary!” Rael called out and ran to the kid.

“Riolu...” Gary coughed hard a few times, keeping his aching stomach tight.

Riolu’s eyes slowly closed.

“Gary!” Rael reached Gary. “Yo! Are you okay? You need help getting up?”

Gary groaned but used his hands to get to his knees. Placing his arm back around his stomach, he stared up at Rael and breathed out. “I’m fine,” he let out in a groan and then looked to Riolu, holding out her Poke Ball. “Riolu...”

“Gary, what are you thinking right now? I’m not sure if I should be offended or not. A Magikarp, and now a Baby Pokemon?”

Gary closed his eyes, returning his Pokemon. His hand fell to the ground. What was I thinking...? he wondered. Ffff... He held his tongue as tears got through his eyelids and went down his cheeks. Magikarp was one thing, but what was I thinking trying to continue with a Baby, Riolu?

Tyrogue flew through the air, fighting Weepinbell, Charmeleon, Pangoro, Mienshao, and Electivire.

Gary blinked in realization, his eyes on the Poke Ball. He nodded with understanding and shrunk it before clipping it to his belt. “Right,” he said so lowly. He didn’t even think about what came over him as he decided on his final choice to fight with. With anger boiling in his blood, and his eyes narrowing with impatience, he grabbed and then enlarged the Poke Ball. Getting to his feet, he hurled it in front of the so far unstoppable Machoke.

“PRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIME!!!” Gary’s Primeape glared at his opponent.

“Okay, finally something more reasonable!” Rael smiled.

“Heh,” Gary let out. “Reasonable.”

“Machoke, Seismic Toss!!”

“Primeape, Thrash, NOW!”

Primeape lunged wildly at Machoke as Machoke opened its arms to grab him. He flew right into the arms and was wrapped up.

“Chooooooke!” Machoke groaned as Primeape continued forward, right into it, ramming his head under Machoke’s chin and toppling it over.

Machoke was barely able to sit back up before Primeape was all over its face with punches, kicks, stomps and blows. He finally got off of Machoke and huffed angrily, stomping around and swinging wildly.

“My Machoke! Whoa! That quick!” Rael looked highly surprised. He returned his defeated Pokemon. “Wow! Alright, then I’ll go with a type advantage to win!” Grabbing up a new Poke Ball, he shouted, “Starly, you’re next! Let’s finish him off!”

The ball flew through the air and opened, sending out a little bird.

“Staarlyyy!” Starly called out and settled on the ground.

“Into the air, Starly! Stay away from it!” Rael demanded.

“Staaaaarlyyy!” Starly fluttered away from Primeape as he jumped at it.

Primeape landed on his feet. “Priiiiiiiime!” He jumped right after Starly again, reaching up with an extended fist and catching it right in the back!

“Staaaaaaaaarly!” Starly wailed out.

Primeape, unable to fight gravity, landed on his feet again, bending his knees, and kept his eyes on the bird like a cat waiting to catch a meal.

The prey didn’t even get to hit the ground.

Primeape pounced, tackling Starly. They both slid in the dirt. Primeape got up, huffing and grunting at the still Starly.

“That’s another one! But I had the type advantage! I guess they were right about type matchups not promising you a win!” Rael brushed aside his messy hair and sighed. After returning Starly, he just stared at the Poke Ball with disappointment. “Ah, man! Alright.” He soon had his last Poke Ball in his hand. “Then let’s go, Growlithe!” He threw the last Poke Ball.

“Grrrrrrrrr!” Growling, an angry-looking Growlithe appeared. It barked at Primeape.

Without an order given, Primeape ran out and kicked the Puppy in the face.

Growlithe whined in pain and slid on its side.

Primeape then punched, kicked, and swung fist after fist mercilessly. His eyes suddenly glowed red and he stopped his attacking, stumbling around, Confused. “Prrrriiiiime... Priiiime?”

“Growlithe! Growlithe!! Get up!! Come on!!” Rael begged.

“I think that’s it, man,” Gary smiled after seeing the red Confusion fade from Primeape’s eyes.

“Damn it, Growlithe!” Rael yelled at his Pokemon. “Ah, it’s alright,” he pulled back instantly, smiling sadly. “This is Gary, after all. You totally just embarrassed me. You were just toying with me, weren’t you? Testing me then breaking me down when I was most confident! I hate you! You’re crazy strong!”

That wasn’t really what I was going for... Gary thought to himself. “Hey, I really was at my limit there! I thought I’d do better than that.”

“My man, you sent out a Magikarp and Riolu! Come on, you weren’t really trying. I was just training for you, huh? And your Magikarp has crazy moves, too! You’re a powerhouse!”

“Thanks, but really, I do my best to raise all my Pokemon the same.” Deep down, Gary could feel that he knew Primeape was more than enough to handle this starting Trainer. He took in a deep breath, his stomach feeling a little better now but still pained.

“Nah, you beat Jupiter, man. Man, I hate you.” He recalled his Growlithe. “Hey, how many Pokemon do you own? I’ve got ten so far!”

“Uh...” Gary thought about what number should be stated; the Sinnoh number, or the total.

“Man, you must have like two hundred or something if you already did a whole region!”

“No, nothing that crazy, ha ha! Only fifty... three? I think?” He couldn’t say the low Sinnoh number now.

“I went a little far saying two hundred. I bet I can beat your fifty and top you at catching Pokemon!” Rael challenged. “Is catching Pokemon really that hard?”

Gary frowned at him. “No. I just...” He swallowed. “It’s harder than it looks. Especially when you’re fighting strong Pokemon.” Not that fighting strong Pokemon is the reason I don’t have more... Gary kept to himself.

“You must be fighting some powerful wild Pokemon! Any Legends??” Rael’s eyes were wide with excitement, like a starstruck child.

Gary just shook his head. “No, but, it’s just hard sometimes. I’m busy training.” Lazy excuse, Gary, he knew.

“I guess that’s why you’re so strong! But you only get stronger by catching more Pokemon.”

Is this guy lecturing me?! Gary looked to the ground, trying not to be bothered. “Well, next time we meet, we can check the score again.”

“Yeah!” Rael then walked up to Gary and reached out to him.

Gary took the hand and they shook.

“I’ll see you next time. And I’ll beat you, too!” Rael insisted.

“We’ll see about that. See ya next time.”

Rael turned from him and left the area, heading back to Jubilife.

Once the kid was out of sight, Gary let out his breath. Last time, he promised. And went back to the city, making his way for the Pokemon Center, feeling a little nausea now from the hit he took earlier.

*

“Riolu, Foresight!” Gary ordered.

When Riolu’s eyes glowed blue, a blue aura swept through the area.

“Electivire, use Thunderbolt!”

Electivire’s body glowed white and he scooped up Riolu with both huge hands.

“RIOLU! COME ON! GET OUT OF THERE!” Gary begged.

Electivire hurled Riolu.

She flew through the trees, sliding to a stop in the dirt.

“Electivire, stop that! Use Thunderbolt! Help out Riolu! Riolu, use Quick Attack to get in closer!”

Riolu got up and nodded at Gary. She yelled out shortly at Electivire and then vanished, moving at lightning speed to slam into Electivire.

Electivire sneered down at the Baby and then raised a sparking fist to come down on her.

“Bulk Up! Use your muscle against him and hold Electivire back!”

Riolu cried out, holding out her arms as her body was outlined in crimson. Her arms, legs, head, and entire body thickened and got muscular.

“Vire!” Electivire’s huge, sparking fist crushed down into Riolu’s face.

She didn’t even make a sound. The color around her vanished, and the muscles were gone.

Electivire made a sound like a cough, or maybe a snicker, his face hard and angry. “Vire.” He turned to Gary.

Gary’s arms and legs were trembling hard, his heart having its own panic as he stared back at the Electric Pokemon. He knew this was from the fright of realization and acceptance of what had just happened. Riolu, he thought sadly and looked down at her.

Gary saw Tyrogue.

Tyrogue’s hands tightened, and he shivered as he tried to get up and keep fighting. His hands pushed him up just about an inch before he fell forward again and didn’t move.

Gary blinked out tears.

Riolu remained still on the ground where she had fallen.

She isn’t Tyrogue... Gary took in. This is... a Baby Pokemon. But she’s not Tyrogue. What happened in Kanto isn’t... gonna happen again... He sniffled hard, letting more tears fall out of his eyes. At that moment, his eyebrows narrowed. “And you! You think you can keep doing this and getting away with it, but this has to stop! What do you get out of this? Riolu is supposed to be a friend! We’re all friends, here! This isn’t about proving your strength like against Gym Leaders and Trainers! Now you’re just being a bully!”

Electivire turned his back on Gary with a grunt and then went silent.

“NO! You answer me!” Gary was losing his cool, ready to start a fight he knew he couldn’t possibly win, but as his anger kept rising, his rationality was fading at the same time. He stepped up to the Pokemon, glaring at his back. “What is it?! Does this have to do with June? You were always difficult with her, even though June did nothing wrong to you! And now you’re passing your crap right onto me! Well I’m not her!”

Electivire’s fists sparked and he finally faced Gary.

“You keep attacking me, and getting in my way, and acting like I’m June! If you’re mad at her, zap her, but don’t zap me! I don’t belong to you! I mean, you don’t belong to me! Either way, that’s unacceptable! You must care for June! Why else are you still here?? So, if you care about her, and want her back, stop acting like a jerk!” His voice echoed in the setting they were in.

Trees surrounded them, but there were also open plains of grass visible around a wide stretch of water, wooden bridges built over them to cross.

“It’s like, you know she loves you, and wants to do better by you, and you just want to be the bad guy to her on purpose! What, you think that’s cool? You think you’re cool being the bad guy? Tell her how you feel, because back when you didn’t, you missed out on it and what if-?” Gary came to a stop, taking in a shaky breath. He couldn’t say what he had come so close to letting out. His own fears. A possible truth.

Electivire’s fists stopped sparking, and a look closer to angered confusion was now being worn.

“We’ll find her, Electivire, and when we do, you need to apologize and make right. The both of you. You get that, don’t you?”

Electivire’s entire body sparked. “Lectivire, Lectivire,” he grumbled and turned his back on Gary, walking away.

Gary could still see him, and his eyes focused on the Pokemon as he got away from the trees and moved through grass instead. The young Trainer finally gave out his breath and fell to his knees. “Ow,” he whispered. His eyes closed, and his head fell.

After a long while, Gary’s body started trembling as he began crying over what he had nearly said earlier.

The possibility that June could be dead. That it could be too late. He heard the creeping in the grass, and felt relatively certain of what it was.

Something rested against Gary’s side, breathing heavy with him and whimpering.

There was a sudden, familiar noise that grabbed Gary’s attention. This made him lift his weeping head. The first thing he saw was what he expected.

Riolu was leaning on his side. She was looking at what had caused the other noise, her eyes filled with tears, surprised by the interruption.

Gary turned from her to the sound, knowing it was that of a Pokemon coming out of a Poke Ball.

Far off in the distance, amongst the dark trees and swaying grass helpless to a slight breeze.

With a solemn look that held no true expression, and yet was unnerving all the same.

Stood Gary’s Kirlia, in complete silence, watching them both.