By the time we had left Sandgem-Town, Claire had sworn repeatedly to never drink again. Getting her going had taken more time than I would have liked, but ultimately, we managed to replenish our supplies and get out of town before noon, so I counted that as a win.

“Did you really have to wake me up that loudly?” as we were walking across the fields. A hot shower, a lot of tea and a late breakfast had turned her into something approaching normal.

“Have to?” I paused for a minute, as if considering the answer. “No, I didn't have to. But I needed to, mostly because a certain someone dropped onto me, almost pushing me out of bed, before forcing me to retreat with a breath that was worse than a Charizard’s Flamethrower.” I snarked, causing her to cringe.

“Only to then realise that the same someone had, before forcing herself into my bed, despoiled the bathroom to the point that a Grimer would have evolved in bliss.” I continue, her head starting to hang in shame. It wasn’t the first time that I had laid out the circumstances and repeated performance had given me time to find a few, creative ways to describe them.

“Now, ask yourself, in your heart of hearts. Would you have done the same?” I prodded and if her head had dropped any lower, she’d have hit the ground.

“But on the positive side, I had my revenge and have now forgiven you.” I paused for a moment, parsing my statement, trying to find the right words. This was important.

“How do I put this. You are my companion and over the last few days, I’d like to believe that we’ve been becoming friends. We are partners on a Journey and need to be able to rely on each other.” I explained, reminding her of things she already knew.

“However, we are equals. I am not responsible for you, nor am I your mother. I will take care of you, if you are injured or hurt, but if you force that circumstance on me, it shifts that, by making me assume responsibility.” I tried to explain, not quite finding the right words for it.

“I think I get what you mean and I’m sorry.” she replied, finally looking me into the eyes again.

“Thank you. Friends?” I asked, opening my arms a little, for the first time inviting a hug. Which I received, at least a short one.

We managed to reach the forest without incident and made our way inside. It hadn’t changed in the day since we came through here last and we made good time.

A little before dusk, as we were approaching the area where we needed to leave the Route, to head towards the area where the Bidoof-dam was suspected, I heard the now familiar flapping of Starly-wings. Holding up my hand, I stopped Claire, putting my hand on Vio’s Pokéball.

“Starly incoming.” I told her, focusing on the flapping. It was a little faster than I’d have expected, but not too far off.

“I hear it.” she replied, moving a little behind me, keeping an eye on our surroundings.

When the Starly appeared, I was taken aback for a moment. Physical wounds lasted only an incredibly short time on Pokémon, their bodies returning to their natural state as the energy they were composed of replenished itself, but the approaching Starly was bearing visible wounds. It had fought, and very recently. Normally, a Pokémon that was wounded would retreat, lick its wounds and wait until its energy was restored, not seek more battles.

There were circumstances that could lead to such behaviour, but they were not too common.

“Can you let me?” Claire asked from behind me, her Pokédex pointed at the Starly, getting a reading on its energy.

“Certainly.” I stepped aside, taking the supporting position.

“Go, Twiggy.” she called out, her Turtwig appearing before her. The Starly immediately recognised its new foe and started to dive, it’s wings glowing white as it attacked.

“Withdraw to block, into Tackle:” she called out, and Twiggy reacted with trained precision.

Moments before the Starly crashed into him, the legs disappeared, leaving a hard, balanced shell for the bird to crash into, turning its attack against itself. While it wouldn’t help against non-physical attacks, like the Disarming Voice of Vio, it worked like a charm against the simpler attacks used by most of our current foes.

However, before Twiggy managed to connect with its tackle, the Starly had managed to get out of reach, leaving Twiggy jumping fruitlessly after it.

In the brief time, Twiggy was flying through the air after his tackle, the Starly managed to break its momentum, it’s body once more glowing white, but this time with what I recognised as a Quick Attack. Given that Claire had seen it before, she recognised it, too. Sadly, without ground to push against, there was no way for Twiggy to change his course and dodge.

“Withdraw again.” she called out and as directed, Twiggy’s legs hid within his shell, before the attack could hit. But without the ground to transfer the impact away from him, he continued his career as a ballistic object,

The Starly hadn’t come away from crashing into the hard shell without injury of its own, the earlier wounds continuing to hinder it, but it was not done just yet. Twiggy was just righting itself, after getting knocked through the air like a ball and not quite in a state to defend himself, when the Starly started its next attack.

Only now, instead of glowing with the clean, white glow of a Normal attack, the light shining from its right wing had an azure tint to it, reminding me of the clear, blue sky.

Claire hesitated for a moment, but caught herself, just in time.

“Twiggy, go right and tackle the middle.” she called out, choosing to attack instead of using her tried and true Withdraw-method. But after a second of consideration, I realised that it was the right tactic, just as it played out before me.

The Starly’s Wing Attack had been focused on it’s right wing, likely due to exhaustion, giving Claire additional information to plan. Just as the Starly was attacking, Twiggy stepped to his right, the Starly’s left, and tackled forward, avoiding the dangerous side of its foe, as it crashed against the body. Neither came away from the collision without harm, but from the way the Starly landed on the ground, trying to get back up, it was almost done. In comparison, Twiggy looked beaten, but ready to continue.

“Twiggy, stop.” Claire commanded, pulling out an empty Pokéball. A moment later, she had primed it and carefully threw it towards the Starly, the impact with the ground causing the internal mechanism to trigger, pulling the nearby Pokémon into its sealing-matrix. There had been a lesson about their function, but it had been incredibly complicated. While basic Pokéballs could be made with relative ease, higher-quality versions were the product of dedicated artisans and could be incredibly rare.

But in this case, it was only a normal Pokéball, the red syphon of energy enveloping the Starly and pulling it in, before snapping shut. There were a few twitches, as the internal matrix realigned itself, but then, it fully sealed and stilled. Claire had caught the Starly, while Twiggy was absorbing some of the energy both combatants had expended. It was far less than it would be, if he had knocked the Starly out, but some was better than nothing.

“Congratulations. You should call your new companion out, and take care of those wounds.” I reminded Claire, who was checking over Twiggy, potion-bottle already in hand.

“I know.” she nodded, a wide smile on her face. “As soon as Twiggy is comfortable, I’ll take care of it.”

A minute later, Twiggy returned to his Pokéball, well cared for and loved up. He had done quite well, as I had a feeling the Starly had been stronger than him, especially with the unfavourable type-match-up. Without its wounds, I wasn’t certain the fight would have ended the same way.

With a quiet hiss, the Starly emerged from its new home, hopping on the ground for a moment, staring at Claire.

“Come, let me take care of your wounds.” she told it, her voice gentle but firm. It was no question, it was a command and the Starly took it as such, hopping a few steps towards her.

Crouching, Claire carefully applied the potion, gently rubbing it into the Starly’s wings and body, making sure to get all the wounds, including the earlier ones.

“I’ll need to come up with a good name for this cutie. What do you think?” she asked, once the Starly was comfortable and resting within its Pokéball.

“Not sure. Maybe something referring it’s will or its bravery. Challenging us like that, it was either brave, foolish or desperate. I’d like to think it was brave.” I reasoned, a smile on my face.

“But, I think it turned out well, both for you and for it.” I added, leaving Claire to ponder her new companion’s name.