“I’ve noticed, every time a flying type comes anywhere near you inch closer to me.”

  We were back on our feet and Sunny’s statement almost tripped me up. I bit back my instinctive retort and reminded myself that Sunny was only being curious. I considered deflecting the question like I would usually. But I was adult now and it would be more mature to confront the topic directly. Besides, it was something that was likely to come up fairly often throughout our journey. I couldn’t avoid it forever. Fingers trembling, I undid my braid. Straightening out the strands, I showed my patient audience the mess that was the side of my head.

  “I was out playing in the fields one time with Mareep when...” I paused to gather my courage before continuing. “We were attacked by a Fearow. Mareep was very small back then so I tried to shield her and, well, a Fearow’s claws are sharp. It hurt, obviously, but fortunately I wasn’t seriously injured, it looks a lot worse than it is. But ever since I don’t really like flying types. I mean, they frighten me.”

  “That’s rough buddy,” said Darren. Sunny hummed in agreement.

  “I’m impressed that even after an experience like that you want to go around the circuit,” she said.

  My face hardened.

  “It’s because of it that I’m going,” I said. “I want to be strong enough that wild Pokémon learn not to attack human children.”

  The hike got a little awkward after that, though Sunny pulled me in protectively every time a Pidgy or a Wingull flew close.

  The sun was close to setting by the time I came upon familiar ground. This brought a spark of energy to my step which had been slowed to a trundle from the constant grumbling from behind me. My companions’ spirits were so low, I had been forced to play the role of a cheerleader the last few hours. They could both attest that was something that did not come to me naturally. In fact, I was worried that some of my attempts at lifting the mood had done the opposite. Maybe I shouldn’t have kept going on about Slowpokes during my pep talks. When I spotted the lighthouse in the distance, I made sure to point it out. We were getting close. I managed to quicken their pace and soon we came across some of our Mareep. The three Pokémon recognised me and trotted up to us when we approached. Sunny squealed and hugged the biggest one, burying her face in the wool. Darren was more restrained but no less affectionate as he petted another. I urged them to keep walking, there were more Mareep where we were going, and home was only twenty minutes away.

  “Twenty minutes!” said Darren. “I thought we were there already!”

  We made quick time with the Mareep nudging us forwards and before long, I saw another one. Not just any Mareep, though. My Mareep. I rushed up to cuddle against her and she gave me a friendly nibble in return.

  “How are you, big girl. Were you lonely without me?”

  “Maa, maa,” she replied.

  “I thought we were in a rush,” said Darren with a massive grin at having ruined the moment.

  With a growing herd of Mareep and Flaaffy following, it wasn’t long until we finally reached home. Stoutland bounded up to me first and gave my face a big lick. Daddy was waiting by the fence with Lily in his arms. Lily was my youngest sibling, with black hair and sharp eyes, she had more of Daddy’s looks than I did. Barely three years old, she reached out with her pudgy hands as soon as she saw me. I gave her a quick hug before Daddy embraced me in turn. He was trying hard to hide his worry. We were much later than predicted and he must have been waiting outside a long time. He didn’t mention it though, and instead brought us inside where Mum had prepared dinner for us.

  ***

  “It was tougher than we expected,” said Sunny. She gulped down the stew like a Swalot. It was a wonder she managed to speak at all between spoonful’s.

  “I think we’re going to have to shorten the distance we planned to cover each day,” she continued. “Other than that though, we got along well and had fun watching all the Pokémon.”

  It was a fairly typical scene at home, though with the inclusion of Darren and Sunny. Richard was using all of his twelve years of age to try to compete with Sunny at eating fast. I wasn't sure she'd noticed. Eddy was his usual quiet eight year old self, though he seemed a bit more reserved than normal. Out of my four siblings, he was the one I got along best with and I was worried me leaving was hitting him especially hard. I got along well with Godfrey too, of course, but he had moved to Rondo years ago. Mum was sitting very close beside me with her arms around my shoulders. That was not normal, but considering I would not be seeing her again for a long time, I let her take advantage. Besides, apparently she had torn into Daddy the other day for leaving me in Nocturne by myself and she clearly wasn't in a state to be refused. It took me long enough to get her to leave me go on my journey and I didn't want to jeopardise myself by not accepting cuddles. Grandma and her Blissey looked over the scene with a smirk on their faces. They had a weird sense of humour.

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  We went to bed shortly after finishing eating. We had spare rooms for Darren and Sunny to sleep in. It was where our helpers usually stayed during shedding season. I went to sleep quickly, after all, the hike was tiring and I hadn't slept much the night before.

  As soon as the sun was up, I was ready with my pencil and my notebook. I hadn't even eaten breakfast yet, but that could wait until after I drew Auri. Unfortunately, Darren was still asleep.

  “Relax darling,” said Mum. “You'll have plenty of time to draw her later.”

  “But Auri's super rare, Mum,” I argued. “She's like, ultra rare!”

  “And she'll be there after breakfast.”

  I did end up eating breakfast with the rest of the family - only Darren and Sunny weren't up yet - Mum could be like that sometimes. Halfway through my fried egg and beans on toast, Lily came up to me with a parcel in her hands.

  “Present. For you,” she said.

  “Aw, thank you Lily,” I said. She hummed proudly and took her place on my lap like it was her royal throne. I had a terrible feeling she was being too spoiled, but I certainly wasn't going to stop her. I wiped my hands on my napkin before eagerly ripping off the brown paper wrapping on my present. It was, rather predictably from its shape and size, a brand new notebook and a tin of sketching pencils. I was no less delighted, though, especially after a quick flick through it made it very clear the paper was of a very high quality. Thick, slightly rough, and smelling of cosiness.

  “Use it to keep a record of all the Pokémon you meet out there,” said Daddy.

  “And show us all when you return,” added Mum.

  “We were supposed to give it to you when you were actually leaving, but since you were being such a big cry-baby about drawing Auri now, Mummy said it would be better to give it to you today,” said Richard. It earned him an immediate scolding from our parents.

  “Your big brother is a Trubbish,” I told Lily. She nodded because she was the smartest person in the room.

  As we were clearing the table, Darren came in rubbing his eyes. He was followed by a yawning Sunny who looked wonderfully silly with her bed hair. Hector and Auri trailed behind them mimicking their trainer’s tired gestures. I wasn't sure, but I had a sneaking suspicion they were making fun of them.

  “Morning. Did we miss breakfast?” asked Darren.

  “There's some beans in the pot,” said Mum. “And I can fry up a couple of eggs for you two now.”

  “Actually, I'm okay with just beans,” said Sunny. “I'm not much of a breakfast person.”

  Their conversation was interrupted by Daddy clearing his throat. He had this scary face on. I tried not to giggle at my travelling companions sudden, terrified expressions.

  “Kids,” said Daddy. “I'm going to be trusting you with my daughter.”

  “We'll take care of her,” said Sunny.

  “That's the issue,” he said. “To take care of her, you need to be able to take care of yourselves. That means getting up early to make the most of your day, being fit enough to make the trek between towns, and eating breakfast so you have the energy to meet the day full on. I promised Calla you could stay here a week, but while you're here, I expect you to get up early and help around the farm, at least for a couple of hours each day. That will get you into shape in no time. Any questions?”

  “None at all, sir,” they chorused.

  “Good,” said Daddy. “Now make sure you eat well. There's a fence we need to move and I don't want anybody lagging.”

  “Can I draw Auri first?” I asked,

  “If Darren is okay with it, you can draw her while they eat.”

  “If Auri’s fine with it, then so am I,” said Darren. “I wanna see the picture when it's done though.”

  Auri had gained quite a bit of popularity while we were talking. Richard, Edward, and Lily were crowding around her, inflating her ego, and even Mum was looking over curiously at her while she was frying. It made sense, Auri was weird.

  I led her away from the spotlight despite the many protests from my siblings. They could follow me if they wanted more time with her. Besides, Auri needed to eat too, and all the dirt was outside.

  Mareep was waiting for me in the yard. I gave her a tight hug. With how late I had gotten home yesterday, I hadn't spent nearly enough time with her.

  “Do you want to come with me?” I asked her. She maaed in response which I hoped meant yes. I was never sure how much she could understand me, Mareep weren't known for their intelligence after all. In any case, she always followed me everywhere. We moved to a field with a mound of loose earth Auri could Munchlax out on. I sat with my back leaning against Mareep, half covered in her wool. I opened my new notebook on the first page, enjoying its scent, and chose a hard pencil to begin the sketch.

  Lily tottered over and fell into Mareep's wool beside me halfway through the outline.

  “Are you really leaving like Godfrey?” she asked.

  “I'll be back very soon,” I said. “You won't even notice I'm gone. And I'll ring very often. Why do you think Daddy and Mum gave me such a fancy phone for my birthday?”

  She was somewhat mollified and learned over my shoulder to watch we draw. I was getting quick, and by the time Daddy appeared with his new farm helpers plus Richard, I was already putting on the finishing touches.

  “Woah! That's actually good!” said Darren.

  I glared at him.

  “Of course it's good. What did you think I was going to draw?”

  “Don't get angry LBR,” said Richard. I didn't throw my pencil at him which proved I was a grown woman now.

  “Daddy calls her LBR for Little Ball of Rage because she can't control her temper,” he said,

  “Idiot!” I screamed as a 6B pencil nailed him on the forehead.

  “Richard,” snapped Daddy. “Don't annoy your sister. Lily, don't throw pencils at your brother. You'll break them, and possibly take his eye out.”

  I apologized appropriately, while the little Trubbish sulked.

  “Now come on, we've work to do.”