Rosa's Pov

That same day we gathered the ingredients was the same day Alder and I had to go back home. School started tomorrow on Monday and I'm probably in enough trouble for leaving in the middle of the day.

The little girl in my arms that was with me all weekend turned out to be a Pokémon. The cutest Pokémon I've ever seen and one my favorite! I had known she was the one responsible for the illusions at the forest. I just didn't expect her to come up to me in the form of a little girl.

"So you promise you'll find a way to get a Lum Berry for us?" I asked Alder as we walked towards Pinwheel forest while the little Pokémon and I rode on Stoutland, and Alder was walking beside us.

"I'm going to try my best, okay?" He said. I looked back at the little Pokémon with me and pet her head "I can't promise how long it'll take, but it may be after graduation"

"No..." I frowned "It has to be sooner" I bit my lips "I found what I've been looking for... If I just had that one ingredient!" The little Pokémon frowned at me "Where N was taken care of... maybe there?! In the castle!" Alder seemed surprised that I said that before shaking him head.

"I can't take you that far without you missing any class. You'll have to wait" I bit my lips and grabbed Stoutland's fur to pull him to run into the forest "Rosa! Don't go in there!" I knew Alder was fast, so he would be able to catch us with Stoutland easily, but his voice fated so quickly... As if he was stopped.

I stopped Stoutland and threw myself on the ground, crying my eyes out "I can't wait that long to go into the castle!" I cupped my face "Where on earth can I get a Lum Berry?!"

"Agggn" the little Pokémon cried and laid on my lap. We stood beside a stream of water, listening to the peaceful sounds it was giving off.

"I'm sure there's someone out there who plants Lum berries for the heck of it... but how am I going to find that from?" I asked myself "I'm sorry, little one" I pet the little Pokémon's head "I can't help you like this..." I looked at her frowning at me "But I want to see who you want to help with my own eyes. Let me at least see if anything in my bag will be able to help" she nodded and hopped away. I got back on my feet, which made me dizzy and made me fall back down "I've lost a lot of sleep..." I couldn't sleep in the hotel that first night, and I stayed up all Saturday night to translate that ancient book... I didn't have enough energy to stand.

Stoutland lowered itself so I can crawl on its back. Once I was on, it followed the little Pokémon deeper into the forest. I didn't have enough energy to really think too much about it, but as soon as Stoutland stopped, I was wide awake and horrified at what I saw.

"Oh no!" I jumped off and looked at a field of thorns surrounded by a small bush of modella flowers behind a large version of the little Pokémon standing beside me. It was surrounded by pups "How long have they been there?!"

"Annggg..." the little Pokémon cried out. I turned to Stoutland.

"Stoutland! Please tell me you're able to use a fire type move!" Stoutland nodded "We have to be very careful! Those pups are in danger!" It's a good thing that big Pokémon is blocking them from getting close to the flowers. The bigger Pokémon noticed us near by and was staring with a growl.

"Don't burn the forest down! Go!" Stoutland's fangs caught on fire. It had grabbed every torn to bite on carefully and completely destroyed it. I followed the path it was making until we were inches away from the little Pokémon's parent and probably siblings.

"I can only guess that this Pokémon here jumped all the way to the bush, thinking it was food" I said, staring at the large Pokémon glaring at me while the pups hid on its belly "and so many pups... Luckily they weren't affected" The little Pokémon barked to it, but all the bigger Pokémon could think about was me and what dangers I might cause it "little one" I spoke to the Pokémon beside me while I pet Stoutland head "I'm going to carry you into the safe spot where the pups are and I want you to achieve as much as you can carry before taking them away to safety. Removing the thorn barrier will make the pups run into the path we created and they'll knock into the ones on the side. You understand?" It nodded, frowning.

I grabbed her neck and placed her by her parent. She got by her parents face and started whining. This made the parent calm down a little, but it kept its eyes on me.

The little Pokémon carried all its siblings to safety and stayed with them as Stoutland and I prepared for the next task "burn the rest" Stoutland removed the thorns keeping me away from the parent so I can approach it "Hey there" I kneeled down to it. It growled in response "It's okay. Your family is safe. I'll get you out of here..." I softly pet it's head to calm it down "It's alright... They're safe" it stopped growling for now. I pulled on its heavy body. I wanted to get it away from the bush, but once moving it just a little, the pollen of the flower burst on its hair. I flinched and cupped my nose, along with the parent.

"I don't have time for this... Stoutland! Fetch me a stick!" Stoutland ran off. I held my breath and continued to pull away the large Pokémon far enough so it wasn't touching the bush at the same time Stoutland returned "Great! Burn this" I took the stick and had it burn the tip of the stick so I could set the plant on fire. Stoutland helped me move the Pokémon as the plant burned.

"Finally!" I groaned with Stoutland when we got it to safety with the little Pokémon and pups. The parent was relieved and stared at its family "So this Pokémon ended up eating the flower instead of inhaling the pollen" I took out some modern medicine from my bag "Luckily I had some items here since I didn't want anything happening to Stoutland. Since you guys are wild, I'll experiment on these medicines since I will be able to take a response unlike my comadose friend" Friend...

I shook my head and first took out a paralyzing heal "If this doesn't work, we have to take it to a Pokémon center" the little Pokémon flinched "There's no other option! We don't have a Lum Berry with us! I can't use the remedy we put together" she looked back at her parent and cried to it, like she was explaining everything. All the parent did was sigh and blink.

"Okay, this may feel weird at first" I sprayed the modern medicine on its body, making it groan, but it didn't work "There's no other way around this..." I helped place it on Stoutland's back and picked up the pups to place in my bag "Let's go, now" the little one barked and nodded. I looked back at the flower and saw that it was there again! So it's true... It grows within minutes...

"And we made a path..." I groaned to myself, knowing I have to take care of this first. The Pokémon of this forest knows to not touch it... So why did this big guy get to it?

We traveled back to where Alder was panicking and on the phone. He saw me shakily standing on my feet while supporting the parent on Stoutland.

"Rosa! Are you crazy?!" Alder yelled at me "Why would you run away from me when I'm here to protect you!?" I looked down.

"I'm sorry... but I..." I shook my head "Can I explain later?" He sighed and looked at the parent Pokémon "We better take this Pokémon to Asperta city to the hospital"

"To Aspertia city? But can't we just-" I shook my head.

"I'm the only one that can do it! I'll be the only one who can help it! Please Alder... Help me!" Alder looked at my desperate eyes and tears before sighing again and took the Pokémon onto his back "Alder?"

"You can't get around without Stoutland. I'll carry this Pokémon to where we need to go" I looked down at the pups sleeping in my bag and smiled. The little Pokémon had climbed to my shoulder and smiled.

"Thank you... Alder!" I smiled and got on Stoutland, looking back at the forest as we made our way back home...

While on the way back to our side of the region, I thought back at that flower and why it existed... and exactly why the modern world doesn't know about it.

I've done research years on this flower and not once have I seen it pop up in any website. The only proof of the document was in that book... What can that possibly mean?

I felt awkward on how I decided to take a wild Pokémon away from it's natural habitat and take it to the city, but Alder won't allow me to stay another minute. I want to search for the closest Lum Berry out there, but school comes first for now... Everything will be settled as soon as I graduate, but I can't wait that long.

I looked at the little Pokémon, Zorua, taking the form of a little girl again to blend in with the crowd. Zoroark, her parents, did the same and became a man who was sleeping against my lap while we sailed back home.

Alder carried him on his back while I rode on Stoutland with Zorua and the pups when we arrived. We traveled through Virbank city, then to Floccesy town, where I decided to go to the daycare center.

"Rosa, it's been awhile since you've been to work" Becky leaned on the desk to talk to me "Is everything alright?"

"Yes, but I've been going through a lot... So I need a favor"

"Sure! I'll be happy to help. You've always done more than you're paid to do anyways. I'm always glad to help" I placed 5 pups on the counter "H-Huh?"

"I need you to take care of these pups for me" she waved her hands.

"H-hold on! The limit is two!" I placed my hands on the counter.

"I need you to do this for me, Becky! I'll work for free next week if that's what you want" She flinched and waved her hands even more.

"No! Don't do something crazy like that!" I sighed "Alright. I'll take them, only because I like you and you're a hard worker" Zorua frowned at me.

"Don't worry, they'll be safe" she slowly nodded, not really sure about this.

"Who's this?" Becky asked.

"She's a girl I met in town. Isn't she cute?" I pet her head "We're taking her ill parent to the hospital. That's why I'm depending on you to take care of her little pups" Becky nodded.

"I understand! I'll do my best!" I bowed and left the daycare center to see Alder placing Zoroark in human form on Stoutland.

"Is he getting heavy?" I asked, wondering why Zorua's mom was taking the form of a male. Am I missing something?

"No, just taking a break" Alder chuckled "Got the pups taken care of?" I nodded "That's good. I really hope what you're doing won't cause trouble. After all, you suddenly just picked up a Pokémon from the forest and told me we're going to take it with us. I would expect you to capture it"

"I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to capture a Pokémon before I treat Victini" Zorua looked at me as I start to speak to her "My Pokémon inhaled the pollen of that flower a long time ago. I know a girl who did the same. So you see, I'm pretty desperate to get things done, but don't you worry. I'd like you to help me out as much as you can while your mom is getting help" Zorua looked down.

"Shall we go?" I asked Alder. He nodded and later took me home. He offered to take Zoroark to the hospital while I rest up after so long of not sleeping this weekend. I bowed to pay him my respects and watched him leave with Zorua looking back at me.

"Don't worry" I waved "Everything will be fine. I'll keep your medicine safe" she nodded and followed Alder to the city. I watched them leave until they were so far in the distance that I can't even see them anymore.

I brought down my hand and hugged my bag "I'm so tired..." I shakily walked to my door to unlock it "So tired... I have to research... Berries..." I felt someone walking towards me. Is it Team Plasma..? Hurry... I have to get inside.

"Can't sleep... need... to research..." I fell back into someone's arms. I looked up to see shining redish brown eyes looking down at me. They're so blurry... but they're beautiful... "Don't ... wanna go to sleep..." my eyes were getting heavy "Research... Research..." my eyes were growing heavy as a few more people surrounded me. I felt their warmth and felt safe when they surrounded us "No sleep..." I closed my eyes, relaxing in the person's arms "Sleep... zzz"

Nate's Pov

I've stayed in my house for the majority of the weekend. My friends had came to play video games with me, but they didn't expect to see me all quiet. I played games with them, but I didn't even feel like joining or even reacted when I beat everyone in the match. Not even my favorite food could make me really care about what I was doing at the moment.

"Nate, you gotta pull yourself together!" Brendan shook my shoulders "Are you going to be like this for the rest of your life?!"

"It's kinda scary" Lucas said with his mouth full of chips "Give him some time. He just started acting like this"

"And it's happened before. He'll get over it" Hugh said, picking out another game for us to play "We gotta hope for better days. There's nothing much we can do now but cheer him up and give him attention"

"What am I? A Pokémon..?" I said, staring at my lap while in bed.

"Wow! He actually spoke" Calem chuckled, looking at a book that I had in my room "It's been awhile. How's it going?" I looked at Hugh still looking for a game.

"Well, you spoke! Getting any better?" Brendon asked, impatiently.

"Brendan" Calem warned. I sighed and nodded, knowing I shouldn't be behaving like this in front of the ones that care about me, so I just smiled to Brendan.

"Yeah" I gave a faint smile, but it was enough to make him look relieved "I'm good... Sorry I've worried you" Brendan sighed loudly and laughed.

"That's good to hear, buddy!" He sat next to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders for a side hug "What do you say we order some pizza now? The chips are almost gone because of Lucas!"

"Sorry" Lucas continued eating. I chuckled and got up from bed.

"I'll make the call, to make everything up. It's not much, but I'll try not to do it again" I said, picking up my phone.

"Don't push yourself. Take as much time as you need" Calem said, reassuring me "You've been through enough. Take your time to recover for your sake, not anybody else's" I nodded and looked out the window where he was sitting and I stared at Rosa's house.

I've watched her house all this weekend, wondering if she was coming home soon from the mainland. I hope she was safe... but if someone is with her, I believe she'll be fine.

The pizza delivery place answered my phone call "Yes, I would like Uh..." I saw Calem focusing outside the window. I saw Rosa with Alder and some other people, and dropped my phone "She's home..." I gasped. Lucas took my phone and made the order instead as I put my attention on Rosa.

"Looks like she just got back" Brendan said, looking outside. Hugh came up to me and held my shoulder as he was looking out as well.

"What? Do you want to go see her?" He asked me. My heart raced out my chest. I gulped and looked down. Calem stared more, noticing something.

"Huh..." he got off his seat and went downstairs. Confused on why he did that, we all followed him and saw Rosa waving Alder away with the little girl and a guy on his back, from the window.

"What is it?" I asked Calem.

"Come on" he opened the door and went outside. Rosa didn't seem to notice us, as she was still waving to Alder until he walked further and further. When he was gone, she turned to her door and kept missing the keyhole of her door every time.

"So tired... I have to research... Berries..." she said to herself, shaking to stand up. I didn't like what I was seeing, so I walked over to see if she was okay.

"Can't sleep... need... to research..." she said to herself before falling backwards into my arms. I caught her on time and looked at her tired eyes with dark bags looking at me with admiration. My heart pounded out my chest. Did she not sleep..? What is she researching?

Knowing her, when she sticks to something, she'll stick to it for a long time, even if it means losing her sleep. She hasn't changed much... That made me happy.

"Don't... Wanna go to sleep..." she said with heavy eyes "Research... Research..." my friends looked over at what was going on. There was a small smile forming on her lips "No sleep..." She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

"What do you think she was doing?" Brendan asked, poking her cheek. I brought her into my arms so I can carry her like a bride and admire her sleeping peacefully.

"Whatever she was doing, she was lucky that she passed out in front of us and not some crazy person who can enter her open house" Calem crossed his arms "Nate, take her inside"

"Or you can just hand her to us" We looked over at three individuals in black uniforms facing us in the street. Hugh's face turned into an expression that wanted to kill "We'll take the load off your shoulders" I kept Rosa close to me while my friends guarded me.

"You think we'll let you do what you want?" Hugh growled "Bite me! Nate get her inside!" I nodded and ran into the house I haven't been to in years.