Halation squeezes open one onyx eye and bellows, raising one wing the size of a sail, and flicks it, the Whirlwind shredding across the long grass. Eli watches the Magnemite go blasting off into the sunrise, a blot of shady, pale grey backdropped by the sweet weakness of crawling daylight, and looks back at Halation just in time to see the eye close and the wing slump slowly to the earth.
**
Eli gets Halation back into the Pokeball and starts sprinting down the road. Route 39 is so long, and the noises her Pokemon made as it fainted seemed so awful, fully as bad as the death of her own child (she imagines). She’s playing back the sounds in her mind, a disturbing loop of ragged breathing and the surprised noise as Halation was lit up in a golden silhouette. She hops a craggy ledge, landing with both feet directly in a nest of Ratata, who screech and flee in all directions, purple tails curling like waving commas into the distance. One Ratata creeps back to try its luck while Eli is shaking out dry reeds from her shoes with experimental motions. She sends out her Piplup, Ali, who jumps right in with a Water Gun unprompted. The soaked Ratata squeals, a drawn-out peal of indignation, and scurries into the undergrowth with a wounded pride.
She’s still quite worried about Halation, so she tips Ali a quick Oran Berry and scoops her up, holding the warm Piplup tight against her chest. Ali makes a chirpy noise and bites at Eli’s wrist, but gently, accepting the treat and then quickly retreating into her Pokeball with a blitz of orange energy.
As she huffs her way up a hill, Eli notices a trainer brushing a Slowpoke just off the side of the road. She fades into the shadow of the trees to avoid him, the crunch of pine needles the only sound of her passage as she wends her way off the beaten track. Just her luck. There’s a group of trainers clustered on the main road of the route, directly in the center of the dirt trail, all looking on as a Taurus Headbutts a tree, shaking leaves like a windstorm. A Beedrill colony surges out, the noise like an ocean even from this distance as they fall upon the Tauros, which bolts at once. She watches the trainers scream and run in circles. How is she going to get by these people without being challenged? She’s not even a League competitor, but if they see Halation, they’ll be all over her. The fastest way to Olivine is the main road, but… Eli scoops around her pocket for her Pokegear, long fingers scraping keys, Pokedex, and stray coins, and checks the map. The road bends ahead. If she can force her way through this thick copse of trees to her right, she can cut across the angle and maybe run into town before noon, as long as nothing unexpectedly bad happens. “Go, Cutie Panther,” she whispers, and releases her Meowth. He curls out of the Pokeball, grins impishly, and washes his face with one long, languid stretch of a paw. “Use Cut, on this bramble,” she says, and Cutie’s claws extend.
**
Something unexpectedly bad has happened. The Pokegear said nothing about a wide open pasture behind the treeline. Eli feels horrendously awkward as about seven Miltank raise wide, square heads to the sounds of Cutie Panther forcing his way through the forest - which, apparently, acted as a natural fence for the herd of Miltank just on the other side - but they rumble in confusion, the sound spreading like a low-grade earthquake.
“Hanazono! Use Mean Look!” Cutie Panther freezes as a bloating violet shadow erupts from the ground, scarlet eyes spread in wide malice.
“Hey!” Eli protests, and moves forward as the Miltank bumble themselves sideways to make room for the Gengar, which rises from the grassland like an ancient horror, keeping Cutie Panther still as a statue with fear. A woman approaches, patting the flanks of Miltank to scoot them from her way.
“You’re trespassing,” says the stranger, and her eyes flick over Eli’s athletic shorts and tank. “And you’re not wearing Ranger or Officer gear, which means you’re liable to be fined.” She notices the awkward gap in the tree-fence. “And you broke in. Man, you are not looking good right now.” Another pause as Eli scrambles to find words, her mouth moving like she’s a fish, like she’s underwater and can’t process her own thoughts that shower like bubbles over her stumbling mind. The woman’s gaze does a slightly more thorough once-over, and something lights up the back of her eyes, changing the sternness of her face. “Actually... You are looking pretty good in some ways.”
“Um,” says Eli. She finds her words. “Please, do you know of any place I can buy some potions?”
“I’m Toujou Nozomi,” says the woman, and Eli struggles to find professionalism within herself as she thinks again of Halation’s crash to the ground, the way it looked when the Thundershock went through it - does that move go all the way to the bone? “There’s actually a pretty bad case of Pokerus making its way through the Northern herd, so the farm here is low on medicines.” The Gengar, having released Cutie from the Mean Look, swoops in the air around Nozomi, sometimes vanishing into the distance to tease some Miltank, sometimes reaching out to touch Nozomi’s hand, like a child seeking reassurance. It’s weirdly cute, and Eli forces herself back to the conversation.
“I’m Ayase Eli. Nice to meet you. Anyway…I can’t go into Olivine’s Center, but I need potions, right away. My Pokemon got hurt rather badly by a Magnemite cloud. It managed to take out most of them, but with five on one, Halation just,” Eli runs a hand through her ponytailed hair, and Nozomi’s eyes follow the movement, “It dropped. I feel awful.”
“Why can’t you go into a Center?” asks Nozomi with a tiny frown.
“It’s complicated,” says Eli.
Nozomi bites her lip, and looks at the Gengar, which seems to make a shrugging motion despite not having shoulders. “Okay. Listen, I’m just a volunteer at the ranch. I have a cottage on the outskirts of Olivine, about forty minute’s walk from the main pastures. There are plenty of Pokemeds there, and it’s way faster than running into the city. If you don’t want to use my meds, or if there aren’t the ones you need, I can loan you my bike and you can go to the Mart in town.”
Eli blinks, struck. “That would be… amazing. Thank you.”
Nozomi’s smile is like a flash of a camera - the dazzling after-gleam makes Eli blink, unsure if she should look or not as Nozomi raises her wristwatch Pokegear, typing in a message. “Let me tell my boss I’m heading out. We’ll have Halation alright by noon.”
**
Before today, Eli considered herself quite fit - at least, hard to be winded, something that comes with the territory of being a delivery girl - but Nozomi puts her to shame, setting a hard walking pace that causes her calves and general butt region to ache almost at once. Eli sneaks a sideways glance at Nozomi, whose long hair swirls sweetly in the morning breeze, sunlight shading her straw hat and overalls and making her look like some sort of farmer goddess, but the cackling Gengar and aggressive strides like she’s charging a mountain cancel most of that impression almost at once.
Eli speeds up to walk next to Nozomi. “So you’re a volunteer?”
“Yeah,” she says, and her face splits into that Moltres-bright grin. “I’m a move tutor, relocated here from Southern Kanto. My parents run an Eevee breeding ranch there - fair trade, respectable treatment of the Eevee, of course - and I guess I missed the ranch life. Miltank are pretty different, since they don’t require nearly as much social interaction, but it’s nice to be able to look after tame Pokemon in the same sort of context.” She hums a little to herself. “And yourself?”
Nozomi’s certainly friendly, a perfectly open sort of woman with a quicksilver little grin. Eli lengthens her stride. “I’m a delivery girl, an extension of the Department Store in Goldenrod. I live on Route 36. I was trying to bring a package of Apricorn Pokeballs to Leader Jasmine, special-order from Azalea Town when those Magnemite came down…”
“I thought Jasmine was on vacation to Sinnoh? She was doing something, what, like tour of the Beauty Contests there?”
Eli shrugs, and a Miltank some distance away moos, startling Nozomi’s Gengar enough that it soars over and uses Lick on the Miltank, who moos a little sadder this time. “She must be back now, since I’ve got the order.” A pause as Nozomi calls back her Pokemon and shames it, wagging one finger adorned with a silver ring. “I’m from Sinnoh, actually,” Eli reveals, distractedly.
“The land of legends,” says Nozomi dreamily, and swats the Gengar as it reaches for her hand again. “Hanazono! If you’re going to be rude to the Miltank, I won’t hold your hand.” Hanazono droops, and Nozomi relents. “I’ve always wanted to visit regions other than the ones around the Indigo Plateau. See the Sky Pillar, climb Mt. Coronet. Cool stuff, like landmarks, but also the dumb tourist-y spots, like the Battle Frontier and the Slateport beach.”
“You’ve got a traveler’s soul, huh?” says Eli, and Nozomi slants her hat over her eyes.
“Maybe.”
“Are you a battler, then?” asks Eli.
“Well, I certainly can,” drawls Nozomi, back at it again with her smile. “My family didn’t raise Eevees for just cuddliness. You won’t find a member of my immediate family without a main party of perfect IV Pokemon.”
“Wow. Got a full team of Eeveelutions?”
“Care to find out?” Nozomi drops a full-lashed wink, like draping a wing over her eye, and it all comes off rather inappropriately, somehow. Eli tries not to stumble.
“I don’t think so,” she says when her footing seems to be secure. “I’m not out for the League. Battling isn’t my priority right now. I decided to continue with school after I turned 10.”
“Me too,” says Nozomi graciously. “I never saw the joy in pushing Pokemon to that breaking point. I mean, full evolutions are impressive, and I can see the merit in attaining power, but I prefer to live with my Pokemon, taking care of them. And they evolve when they trust me.”
“I know what you mean. None of mine have evolved, but I love them for what they are. If they happen to change, my feelings won’t.”
“Definitely.”
They’re quiet for the last stretch as the day breaks into true heat. Eli tries not to pant as they crest a hill, leaving behind the pastures of Miltank and the occasional flock of Pidgey. Nozomi isn’t skinny in any sense of the word, but her round face shows no hint of strain as they march toward a little cottage nestled in the crook of a curve of trees. From the way the path to the door swerves, Eli would guess they’re not too far off the main route’s path, but it’s enough that the whole picture seems serenely private, a hidden garden from a storybook half in shadow. Hanazono zooms around and past them, phasing directly through the door of the house. From inside come some soft mewing noises, and Nozomi fumbles with the key, apologizing to Eli over her shoulder.
The moment the door opens, an Umbreon and Espeon tumble from the crack, yipping excitedly as they fall over Nozomi’s feet in a furry tangle of lavender and jet-black paws and tails and ears. “Lucky, Prancer,” laughs Nozomi, and leans down to gather them into her arms, a squirming, shrieking excited mass. “Please come in, Eli.”
“Actually,” says Eli. “Halation probably won’t fit comfortably inside.”
**
“So here’s where you have to trust me,” says Eli anxiously as Nozomi lines up her medicines on the front lawn, a front line of defense against illness. It’s still not yet noon, but the day is promising to be a warm one, the sun beating down like a physical thing, or maybe it’s just nerves in Eli’s chest as she looks into Nozomi’s startling eyes.
“Whatever it is, I just want to help, Eli,” says Nozomi quietly. “We can start with a Revive.” Lucky, the Espeon, bunts against her overall-clad legs. Prancer is napping in the shade of the trees by the woodpile, and Hanazono sits on the ground, legs splayed, as Ali, Cutie Panther, and Holly, Eli’s Mareep, cuddle with him. Eli takes a deep breath.
“Halation,” she says, and raises the Pokeball. The burst of digital energy shudders and reforms into the familiar, gawky snow-white wings, the curved, wide feet, and the ridges of inky-blue feathers like spikes along Halation’s back. Nozomi gasps loud enough that a Spinarak falls from a tree by the house.
“A Lugia.”
**
Halation is awake, but the slow revolution of its head is stiff enough that Eli can see how much pain it’s in. Nozomi, lip huffed between her teeth, approaches with a few cartridges of potion in her full hands, oranges and pink plastic shells clenched between thumbs like treasures. “Can I touch it? Is that okay?” asks Nozomi, swiveling her head to Eli, who nods mutely, stroking Halation’s wings.
Nozomi busies herself around the Lugia, spraying potions and patting dry with a washrag, applying a thick layer of pasty berry coating to one of Halation’s furred feet. “There’s a scrape here, I’m guessing where it hit the ground,” she says. The Lugia makes a pleased rumbling noise as the fruity scent diffuses through the air - Eli smiles helplessly in response.
They stay like that for a little bit, curled on the fragrant grass out in the high sun, with Nozomi and Eli’s Pokemon watching Halation, head pillowed gently on Eli’s lap. Finally Nozomi wipes at her forehead with a forearm.
“I think it’ll be just fine now! With a few hour’s rest and some snacks, Halation will be right as rain.” Nozomi kind of glances at Eli, a flicker of attention. She barely catches the movement. “With some snacks for all of us, maybe we’ll all be fine,” continues Nozomi, and claps her hands, prompting Lucky and Prancer to dash up excitedly.
**
Halation sleeps in the lawn’s sun while Nozomi, Eli, and all the Pokemon except Hanazono retreat to the front stoop to eat lunch. The Gengar, purple tints weak in the afternoon light, sits patiently by the dozing Lugia. It sure is a sight.
“I’m a vegetarian,” says Nozomi, sprinkling Pokefood into a few scattered bowls. Ali and Prancer tussle over eating rights, and Lucky slides in unobtrusively to gobble down the contents. “Here’s some pastries, and a nice berry salad… I’ve got a few Tropius bananas, but they might not be ripe yet, I just went to town yesterday.”
“This is great, thank you,” says Eli, and looks at Nozomi as the farmer captures her hair and slides it into a high ponytail that cascades down her back in one sleek fall.
They eat in silence, just the click of utensils on ceramic as a backdrop, framed by the burble of some stream hidden in the forest and some bug Pokemon drones from the woods behind the house. Nozomi clears the plates, and Eli pets Lucky, who has hopped onto her lap.
“So I guess I know why you can’t go into a Pokemon Center,” says Nozomi as she reseats herself. “You probably can’t go anywhere with a god of the seas.”
“Not anywhere in public,” admits Eli.
Nozomi shades her eyes and she observes the snoozing legend. “Pardon me for saying, but I thought legendaries were supposed to be, you know, gigantic. Halation looks a bit smaller than a Rapidash.”
Eli scratches Lucky’s ears. The Espeon rolls over and purrs. “Halation is young. Very young, probably less than a decade. I was on vacation to the Sevii Isles when I found it on the beach, alone. It didn’t look lost or scared, but I was so worried, so I stayed the whole night with it, reading and singing and giving it food.” Eli feels her ears burning. “Another family came the next day and started attacking it with their Pokemon. It… it wouldn’t go back to the sea, just flew after me once I defeated their Pokemon, and I thought I’d keep Halation until it was big enough to defend itself. Guess I was being selfish, though. It’s probably not good to keep a god captive. It’s hard to keep up.”
Nozomi is watching Eli with a particular sadness. “Eli, I think if Halation didn’t want to be with you, it wouldn’t be here right now. You’ve got a kindness in you, I think.”
This whole conversation makes Eli blink. “Thank you.” She thinks that was a compliment. It sure was something.
**
Nozomi retires into the cottage, extending an invite to Eli, who declines and listens to Nozomi bang around the cabinets with the window open, chatting through the screen. Holly comes up to the stoop after a brief squabble with Prancer, and returns to her Pokeball.
Around two, Eli raises her head from her Pokegear to see Nozomi come out, wiping her hands on a towel. “How’s Halation?”
They wander over to the sleeping Lugia. Eli kneels down beside it, and is greeted by a hearty grunt, the blast like that of a Snorlax. “Resting, still.”
“Do you want to put it back in the Pokeball? I bet you’ve still got that delivery to Olivine.” Eli hesitates, and then says something that surprises herself.
“Can I borrow your bike and leave Halation here, with you?”
Nozomi stares hard at Eli. “You’d trust me like that?”
“I do already. I think… you’ve got a kindness in you, too. And it would be best for it to rest more. I could be back in just a few hours.”
“Okay, Eli.” That striking smile, the kind that transforms her face from a contemplative cheer to one of blinding beauty. “I’ll be right here when you get back.”
**
The road to Olivine is zippity quick on a bike, and Eli isn’t wearing any Pokeballs, so she isn’t challenged on the journey. The sea breeze is nice, she thinks, and feels vaguely guilty for not bringing Halation to enjoy the water. Jasmine’s wordless assistant at the Gym takes the package, pours some Pokedollars into Eli’s hands, and slams the doors.
When the Pokegear directs her to the proper off-road, she skids the bike sideways just before the clearing that opens to Nozomi’s house. She’s partially shaded by the foliage, Pokemon bird calls and stripes of sunlight dappling through the leaves. It’s almost uncomfortably peaceful, and she takes a few minutes to find her own relaxation, something she hasn’t done for a while. An odd sensation.
It’s breaking upon evening when she leans Nozomi’s bike up against the house siding and knocks at the door, thin electric lighting peeking from behind the closed curtain at the front. Hanazono phases straight through the door, knocking Eli backwards with his puffy grin. “It’s open,” Nozomi’s voice rings out, and Eli gets over herself enough to pluck at the handle.
Nozomi’s two-room house is deceptively simply furnished, plain butterscotch wood chairs, table, and bookshelves all shoved up against the cream-colored walls to make room in the center for a curled Halation next to the fireplace, snout right up against the bricks with Ali, Cutie, Lucky, and Prancer in various positions on and around the Lugia. Nozomi comes out of the bedroom with a bowl of nuts, cracking between her teeth like shots. “Hey, Eli.” She fishes a shell from her mouth, inelegantly.
“How is Halation?” At the sound of Eli’s voice, Ali waddles over, chirping sweetly. Eli picks her up and holds her gently, the weight in her arms familiar, relaxing.
“It’s good to go, I think,” says Nozomi, and offers Ali a nut, who refuses with a forceful peep, prompting smiles from both women. “It’s not yet sunset. If you leave right now, you could be most of the way to Goldenrod before true night.”
Eli looks at her Pokemon, all smushed together in a pile so cute it might be illegal, before a roaring fire. She finds she doesn’t want to leave, not just yet. “What do you think about tutoring Holly before I go?”
**
“There we are,” says Nozomi gently as Holly waves her tail gleefully, the fur rippling in the air like the tinkling of a bell. “Growl is switched out with Heal Bell! That will help out in the field, especially if you run into any bug types in the morning.”
Eli stretches out on the stoop, reaching her arms to the navy sky, Halation nested beside the house with its head near her feet, a resting giant. “Thanks Nozomi,” she says. “You’re quite talented, aren’t you?”
“Little old me?” She laughs. “You flatterer.”
“How much do I owe you?” Eli roots in her pack, thinking about how much she’s got in tips, but Nozomi touches her wrist, light as a Butterfree.
“It’s fine, Eli. You gave me an excuse to practice my craft; it’s been a little while.”
“Right,” says Eli. “Well. Thank you.”
They stand silent in the lengthening twilight. Slowly around them comes the hum of night Pokemon, and from the woods, lovely orange flickers appear in the slits between trees, like mercurial, trapped sunbeams. “Volbeat, and Illumise,” points Nozomi. “Doing their summer courtship dances.”
“How romantic,” says Eli nervously, and finds her feet crossing the gap. Nozomi watches as Eli gets closer, her slightly crooked teeth just visible behind the glory of her lips as her face widens into a bashful smile. Eli steels herself, gets one hand on each of Nozomi’s overall straps, and leans in for a kiss.