Still running, I jumped and grabbed Lily around the waist. She screamed again and started crying. The Drifloon jerked around in the air making me bite my tongue, which was fortunate as I would have commanded Mareep to Thunder Shock the three of us otherwise. Fear turned to angry tears and I hid my face in my little sister's stomach rather than show them to her. It could not hold us up for long. It dropped us and we fell in a pile on the stones. Fortunately, Lily landed on me, knocking the breath out of me. She curled up clutching her arm.

  I held her to my chest and looked up at Drifloon. It was gathering a purple energy in a ball in front of its balloon-like head.

  “Thunder Shock,” I gasped. It prematurely released the Shadow Ball to intercept the arc of lightening that came for it. It didn't seem harmed from the resulting explosion, but it was pushed back enough for Mareep to come between us. It's bloated body Minimized until it was no larger than Daddy's fist. It easily dodged a second Thunder Shock. Another Shadow Ball began forming but it was slow, suggesting it still wasn't used to the move.

  “Cotton Spore,” I said, my breath finally returning. “Spread it everywhere.”

  Bits of fluff filled the air, limiting Drifloon's mobility. Its Shadow Ball tore through though, and Mareep staggered backwards. I bit my lip. As long as Lily and I were behind her, Mareep couldn't dodge.

  “Use Charge. Keep it going.”

  Her wool crackled and when the next Shadow Ball hit her, she held her ground. By this time, sparks were flying all around her.

  “Use Haze,” said Sunny. I hadn't noticed her catching up. Hector walked into the battle, the fog around him turning a cleaner shade of white. It left Mareep more vulnerable but more importantly popped Drifloon back to full size. Without me needing to tell her, Mareep blasted a powered-up Thunder Shock directly at it. It let out a hideous screech and flew off into the air. I told Mareep to use Flash again, but we all remained on guard.

  Once it was clear it wasn't coming back, I turned my attention to Lily. She was sniffling all over my jumper. Her shoulder was swollen and there was a nasty bruise around her wrist. She clung onto my collar saying sorry over and over again.

  “It's okay, Lily,” I told her. “Don't apologise. We'll go back to the farm and Grandma and Blissey will heal you right up. Okay?”

  She nodded and with Sunny's support we made it to the house without further incident.

  ***

  “There you go,” said Grandma. “Don't put too much strain on it and you won't even notice you hurt it. Maybe it'll teach you not to go out when you're told it's dangerous. You almost gave your Grandma a heart attack when I noticed you were gone. You don't want to give your Grandma a heart attack, do you?”

  “No, Grandma,” said Lily.

  “That’s a good girl. Luckily nothing was broken. It was only a little sprained.”

  “Um, excuse me. I caught some Pokémon out there and they're a bit hurt. Could you take a look at them?” said Sunny.

  “Of course, girl. No need to be so polite.”

  We were in the living room huddled on the couches next to the fire. Sunny poured some of Hector’s kibble into a bowl. She clicked open Mareanie's pokeball. It appeared, dazed and frightened. Within the room, it's scent was strong, like dried seaweed with a hint of vinegar. It raised its tentacles in defence when it saw four humans, a Wooper, and a Blissey staring at it.

  “There, there,” said Sunny, offering it the food. “No need to be tense. Have something to eat. And Blissey here is going to make sure you feel better.”

  It took some time, but eventually Mareanie relaxed enough to nibble at the kibble and let Blissey approach. Heal Pulse startled it, but after it let its guard down completely. Sunny even picked it up and it only snuggled against her before reaching out for its food. She stroked it and it settled easily in her arms.

  “You're a hungry girl, aren't you?” said Sunny.

  “Girl?” I asked. “How do you know?”

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  “Just do,” she replied. “I mean look at her, isn't she the cutest thing you're ever seen? Her name’s Coraline, or Coral, for short. What do you say, Coral. Are you okay with coming with me to become champion?”

  Coral warbled happily. I opened my mouth to say something but couldn't find the words. The speed with which Sunny had made Coral comfortable around her amazed me.

  “Okay, Coral,” said Sunny. “There’s someone else you need to meet, and you're probably not going to be very happy. I'm going to ask you please not to attack them.”

  Remembering the Wingull, I made a quick excuse and left. Mareep was in the shed again. Her leg was sore again and the encounter with Drifloon had left her battered. Grandma had said she would be alright with a bit of rest. I sat down next to her and hugged her. She nuzzled my cheek.

  “Hey, big girl. I'm sorry to put you through all that when you're supposed to be taking it easy. It got scary for a while there, didn't it? You don't mind if sit here and talk nonsense to you a while. I need to get some of my thoughts in order.

  “You know, I was doubting myself after you got injured. Could I really stand to watch my team get injured one battle after another? It's not going to be an easy thing to do. It doesn't seem worth it for, for what? To become the champion? To be the best fighter? I mean, yes, that, I do want to be the champion, but not just to brag about it, that's not why I'm going on this journey. Today reminded me of what I really wanted. I want to be strong so I can protect people, I guess? I know it's silly when I'm barely able to take care of myself, but I'm an adult now and that's going to change. It doesn't matter if it's a Mareanie that’s gotten lost, a child being taken by a Drifloon, or a Mareep attacked by a Fearow, I'm going to be strong enough to help all of them. And, it's foolish to think I could do that without sometimes getting me or my team hurt sometimes. I won't let that stop me.

  “There's a problem, though. I can't have anyone on my team that doesn't think the same as me, or at least, have a general idea of what travelling with me means. Also, for you specifically, I never want to see you get hurt again. I don't know if I understand you, I think I do, a very small bit. Enough to know that you wouldn't forgive me if I didn't take you on my journey, which is the only reason I'm going to ask if you want to come. You could get injured again if you do, maybe worse. Are you really sure it's worth it?”

  I rolled a pokeball around in my palm. I had bought it in Nocturne City with money Daddy gave me. Nobody was giving me any weird grant, my parents loaned me enough to get started. I would be on my own once that ran out. With how expensive things were, that could be really soon. I shook my head to clear it. I was just making up reasons to hesitate.

  Mareep didn't have any doubts. She lifted a hoof and very deliberately clicked the button on the pokeball. I watched as she turned a translucent red and then get absorbed by the device a hundred times smaller than her. It sealed and I brought it up to my lips, unsure whether to thank her or apologise. I didn't do either. My voice was lost, and instead tears blurred my eyes.

  Not long after, I re-entered the house. Mareep was in the pokeball at my hip. She preferred it there than in the shed, if I was reading her right. The sitting room looked like it had been swept by a hurricane. Lily, looking greatly recovered from her ordeal, told me with many sound effects and hand gestures how, after being healed, the Wingull had immediately launched himself at Coral and the two had bouted it out until Blissey had put a sudden and definitive stop to it. At least the fire hadn't gone out completely. Granny had retired to her room and Sunny had gone out to release Wingull. She had promised she wouldn't go far.

  Darren and Edward came back before she did. They had no luck in their search and Edward had gotten a cramp and they had given up. Edward, Auri toddling behind him, ran to the fireplace and hogged all the heat for himself. Darren came to my corner of the couch and sat beside me.

  “What happened to this place?” he asked. Lily answered before I could. She explained that Sunny had caught two monsters of the sea, and they had summoned up a poisonous storm in their epic battle within the living room. If it wasn't for Blissey, you’d swear the world would have ended. We laughed and I told her to go annoy Edward because he was looking glum.

  “So, what I got out of that is that Sunny caught a new Pokémon.”

  “Two,” I said. “But she's gone to release one of them.”

  I told him of our encounter with the Mareanie and the Wingull, followed by the attempted kidnapping of Lily by the Drifloon. When I finished, he glanced at where my sister was attempting to lift Auri much to both, the Pokémon's and Edward’s, amusement.

  “She's a strong girl,” he said.

  “She is.”

  “Calla, I- we haven't spoken properly since, you know. I'm sorry.”

  My thumb stroked Mareep’s pokeball.

  “It's okay, and I'm sorry too. About how I reacted. Can we leave it in the past?”

  “Of course. How's Mareep?”

  “She’s good. In here.”

  I showed him her pokeball and he congratulated me warmly. My siblings also rushed over, giving me hugs and saying finally between cheers and rolling eyes. It put a smile on my face, and I felt warm in a way I hadn't since the nerves of getting a trainer licence had set in. Daddy and Richard returned and joined the celebration. It really wasn't as big a deal as they were all making it out to be, but I accepted their well wishes with good grace.

  The missing Mareep had been hiding in a ravine near the lighthouse. Richard had been the one to find her, which made me uncomfortably annoyed. They had visited Mum while they were there. She was going to stay with Ampharos until late unless the fog cleared unexpectedly, but if there were Drifloon about, it was probably going to last a few days at least. Daddy also said they had come across the strange spectacle of an unknown Pokémon and a Wingull fighting over Sunny. I was wondering what was taking her so long, but they didn't have any information other than she was incredibly frustrated, but didn't want any help. It wasn't long until we got an answer. Sunny came into the room, caught my eye, and smiled nervously.

  “I've made two new friends,” she said. “Caviar, that is, Wingull, decided to stay.”