I settle in at Cherrygrove, walking into the pitifully empty Pokemon Center and landing on the couch. Usually, there are at least three of these and they're all still a privilege to end up on, but due to Cherrygrove's skimpy population size and low trainer traffic, there's no one on this one.

I curl up into it without bothering to put on blankets or some of the other amenities that the Centers usually provide, exhausted from the day's events. Ten, despite being nocturnal, perches on a leg above the couch and falls asleep in minutes, while Reginae curls up like a Purrloin near the other end. The Pokemon Center closes around us as we sit half-awake in the gloom, watching lights turn off and listening to the hum of machines in the shadow.

I lie there, slightly disturbed by the continued noise, only to feel the prick of tiny feet on my leg. Reginae is up and he's definitely not happy.

"What..." I murmur, hoping that he only needs to go outside or wants to be put in the Pokeball.

"It's just me." Reginae whispers, misinterpreting my question. Only his large eyes are distinguishable from the rest of his body in the dull light. "I just wanted to talk in private really quick about... the 'flash' thing."

"What about it?" I say, still drowsy.
"Earlier, when you first entered my mind, I tried to fight you out." he states.
"Yeah, I remember that. Is this an apology?" I ask, amused.
"No. I don't need to apologize to you, it should be the other way around! You're the one who busted into my mind! Argh, whatever! Next time... you have to tell me first. If we can't tell our opponents in battle, we make up some word for it or you tell me beforehand that we might have to do it."

"Alright, alright... but if you don't mind me asking, why is it such a big deal?" None of my other Pokemon ever complained. The perfect harmony between our souls was nothing short of ecstasy for us.

"Are you saying you wouldn't be scared if some stranger forced their way into your mind and turned you into a killing machine?"
"'Killing machine' is a pretty harsh term," I tell him.

"Whatever. The point is, I'm not going to stand for it." he says defiantly. "Are you okay with my terms or not?"

I nod solemnly. "Deal."

"Good." he says, turning away. "We should get some sleep."
I turn in quickly, the couch devouring me whole as I sink further and further into its well-worn recesses. After what could have been heartbeats or hours, I open an eye to see that I'm fully surrounded by darkness. The darkness is cut by a blinding light, and I stand up to find myself in the middle of nowhere.

"Hello?" I call. "Celebi, are you there?"

The room fills with the sound of breathing. The entire room is moist and slightly dank, with only the light in the distance to guide me through the shadow.

Disgusted, I touch the ground only to find my hands go right through. There's really nothing holding me up here. I'm levitating.
"Celebi?"
Wingbeats.

The air around me flows as if pushed by some great breeze, ruffling my hair in all directions as the choppy currents continue to twist around me. From the guttural darkness of wherever I stand comes a loud, screeching cry, deep as the ocean itself.

"Who are you?" I call.

The room begins to fill with water.

I try to move, but I'm stuck. Panic begins to blur my thoughts as the water passes my knees and ascends rapidly towards my chest, stroking it gently as it surges past that and up towards my face.

Ashley?

Are you there?

I try to answer, but I'm choking on water. It's surprisingly salty, like ocean water or tears. Regardless of its content, it's freezing cold and a single gasp sends me into shock. I thrash in the water, bubbles leaving my lips, and I can see dark spots closing in around my vision.

Ashley, please!

I can hear the beating of wings through the water, the dull sound pounding against the back of my brain, but its too late.

I gasp awake, throwing Reginae off the sofa. The tang of salt in my mouth is real, almost too real, and I feel nauseous. A glance around the room reveals that it's already daytime, and a few young trainers are in the Center together, healing up their Pokemon.

"Are you alright?" asks Ten, still using that clearly fake accent.

"Fine." I say. "Bad dreams."

"Oh." he says, shuffling off of the sofa and onto the ground. "It'll be fine, Ashley! They're just dreams. They can't hurt you."
Reginae gets to his feet, grumbling. "I'm not so sure. I had a nightmare that a certain someone pushed me off of the sofa and whoop-de-do, guess who got pushed off the sofa."

I roll my eyes. "Someone's grouchy. Aaaanyways," I yawn, "we should get going. It's going to be a long day."

Both of my Pokemon seem happy to comply (as happy as Reginae gets), so we head out. The morning air is warm and the sun is hot, almost the essence of Johto summers, and the purrs and sighs of Pokemon fill the air. It promises to be a good day for catching.

"Time for our first official catch!" I say, more excited than I've been for a majority of the journey thus far. A sort of anticipation fills the air as I rummage through the route where I first found Khrys. I stay on my toes in the knee-high grass, bracing myself for anything, but the route is quite bereft, despite there being an audible amount of Pokemon speaking in hushed tones in the background.

As I look around the trees for a Pidgey, I stumble into a spike. Looking down, I notice a Weedle at my feet. "Stay back! I have venom!"

I pop out a Pokeball. "Hello there."

"You are... a 'Pokemon Trainer?'" it asks, withdrawing the spike from my foot.

"There's... really no other reason I'd be out here. It's kind of itchy and unpleasant." I say.

"I am D'spinas, female Weedle, level 5, Rash nature. I need your assistance." she informs me, eyes narrowed and barb pointed straight at my chest. I really don't want to find out if she can hit me from here.

"I'll bite. What do you need?"

"Clair's head on a silver platter." she says with far more malice than I imagined possible for such a small Pokemon.

"You what?" I say, not sure if I should laugh or accept the offer. "You too?"

She nods. "You have a score to settle with her?"

"I... never mind that. I'll explain eventually." I shake my head. "What do you want with her?"

"My grandmother used to belong to a trainer named Anna Hart. We were informed she was murdered by one of Clair's dragons."

Anna Hart.

My mother.

"It's going to be pretty tough going," I tell her, thought I've already accepted her offer mentally. The descendant of my mother's Pokemon. She's standing before me, a perfect remnant of a life I lost years ago, and... she's perfect.
"I am an assassin." She informs me, as if bug-types in general were fit for jobs like that. Then again, I've met some extraordinary bug-types.

Khrys...
"You're in." I promise.

The Weedle looks up at me in earnest and nods. I press a Pokeball to her face and she goes in, the Pokeball clicking beneath my fingers. Something about her presence is reassuring. I stand for more than myself, after all. My mother. My Pokemon.

Ethan, maybe. If he's really gone...

Maybe he isn't. I might be able to find him.

Ten's voice distracts me from my thoughts. "Ashley, are you alright?"

"Fine." I say, releasing D'spinas. "This is our new team member. We should probably start grinding."
Grass flies as D'spinas cuts through the grass, neck and neck with a spiteful Reginae. Though her attacks do little damage, it seems like every hit poisons. Ten stays back, hopping along beside me.

"You need the experience too." I tell him.

"I'll be fine." He reassures me. "Hey, isn't that Dark Cave up there?"

I stare into the murky depths with a frown. "As if I could forget the most creatively named cave in all of Johto."

"The others are better?" he asks, sensing my sarcasm.

I reflect on this. "No."

"Do you think you could catch something in there?" Reginae asks, panting as he stops by me. His leaf flops over his face, and he blows it out of the way.

I open an empty Pokeball. "I could try." It takes me only a few steps into the cave to realize that this is a huge mistake. "Shoot, I can't see anything in here!" I say, swearing under my breath. I turn around, looking at the blinding entrance to find Reginae savagely smirking there, his dimly lit face the epitome of smugness.

"Just throw the Pokeball and let's get out of here!" calls Reginae from a distance.

I squint into the shadows and throw the Pokeball. A single blast of blue light cuts the darkness and the Pokeball falls to the ground with a click.
"Did you catch something?" asks D'Spinas. "We need to assemble the party!"
"I think so." I say, though I can't see a single thing in the darkness. "Well, I tried, and that's what really matters!" I yell sarcastically.
"Stop being sentimental and get out of the cave." snaps Reginae.

"Okay, okay." I reach down to pick up my Pokeball, opening it once I reach the outside. I turn towards the rest of the route. "Alright, what did we catch?"
A Geodude sits humbly before me. "My name's Clay. Glad to meet you." he says, extending one rocky hand. I bend down and shake it, smiling.

"He's going to slow us up." D'spinas says.

"I'm decently fast for a Geodude." Clay tucks and rolls past her. She turns around to see him looming above. "Too slow?"

D'spinas probably would have rolled her eyes had she not been a Weedle. Instead, she gives him a few seconds of blank-eyed stare before turning back to me. "I'll go now."

"Are you going to catch anything?" asks Reginae.

I hand him a Pokeball. "You can go ahead. I'm going to stay behind." I say.

Reginae takes it in his tiny mouth and dips his head before racing away. D'spinas is right on his back and Clay says, "I'll watch them. Impulsive young'ns are going to get into trouble on their own."

"Thank you." I say.

Ten asks, "So why did you want to stay back?"
I close my eyes and focus. Sure enough, the golden bonds begin to pull at the edges of my consciousness, although they're very, very weak. They spin around me, all stretching out in one direction excepting Ten's, which is far thicker than the rest. I reach out towards Reginae's, only lightly brushing it, to draw back in pain.

No.

I promised not to.

I open my eyes and Ten is gone. I look around to see him halfway down the route and the others gone. I race after, fearing the worst, and find them all sitting lazily by the Violet City gate. The sun is suspiciously lower in the sky than before as well. We have been training all day, but still... this is uncalled for.

"So, did you find anything?" I ask Reginae, mildly curious.

Reginae nods. "I did it your way."
"Which is?"
"I just threw it into the grass and hoped for the best."

This earns him a quick snort from the others as he rolls me the Pokeball with his leaf. I open it to reveal a Bellsprout. Although it is a nice catch, I'm not too keen on two grass types or two poison types. I bite my lip.

"My name's Tai Chi." he bows low, his bulbous head sweeping the ground. "I am pleased to be at your service."

"And I at yours," I say, returning the gesture, although it's more of a quick dip rather than the long, drawn out affair that the Bellsprout seems to have mastered.

He squints his eyes and I know I've somehow managed to screw it up, but a sharp glance tells him that no matter how respectful I am, there's still a trainer-Pokemon dynamic here. I need to remain in control.

"I must say, however, that I may only serve for a short time. I am attempting to return to Sprout Tower and was told that I could receive assistance."

Well, clearly that was a short journey for him. I nod.

Reginae says, "Hey Ten, can you lead the others into the city? I want to talk with Ashley."
Ten nods and they walk through the gate before I can say anything.

"What do you need?" I sigh, exasperated.

"I uh... just wanted to ask." Reginae looks up at me. "Are you going to... well... the goldeneye thing... with the others?"

I purse my lip at his terribly constructed question. "If you mean flashing, yes. Look... I have to ask you a favor. Whatever you do, don't tell them. They'll think you're crazy and they'll trust me even less. I know what I'm doing seems strange to you, but-"
"I know what you are. I know that was real. I'm not an idiot, Ashley." He looks at me resentfully. "I won't tell them. I just wish you'd give them a choice too."

"It's a bond between trainer and Pokemon. It's not like I'm forcing them into anything. I only had to reach out to you because otherwise you were going to leave. It'll be easier to hide now." I tell him.

His eyes narrow. "Right," he says, "Then we should catch up with the others. You have a team to lead and I want to check out the local flora."
"Local flora? Someone's a huge nerd."

"I have plants around my neck, Ashley. Of course I'm into them." His deadpan voice tells me I shouldn't interrogate him much further, so I shrug it off with a smile.

"You have fun. Don't stray too far."
"I'm not your kid, I'm your Pokemon. Chill." He turns dramatically, flipping his leaf, and walks away on his tiny little feet in a manner that isn't in the least dignified.

I sigh, knowing all too well how far my responsibility for them extends. On the bright side, I could always have Ten keep an eye on him while I try to get to know my other team members better.

As I walk through the gate, I look up at the sky almost reflexively, a breeze blowing through my hair and I remember painfully how short it was back when I was thirteen. All of the stars are so familiar, and in the amber sunset, the whole sky burns in a hundred colors. The horizon is only cut by the Sprout Tower and in the distance, a sea of trees that cover the Johto landscape like a green blanket dyed almost black by the setting sun. The entire town smells like scented candles and the scent that old things acquire over the years. I forgot how much I loved this place when I first came here. Then again, I didn't stay for long and every second I spent here was spent on either grinding or making bad jokes with a team I barely knew.

This time, I plan on savoring every minute.

Life is a lot more precious when you know how easily it can be wrested away from you.