Darkness surrounded Lilith. Fragments of the past replayed before her eyes. Fog covered her mind. She was floating, almost unaware what was happening.

Lilith’s body stirred in a semi conscious state. She couldn't move, the trauma from a glancing blow left her debilitated. She could not even think clearly. Croagunk’s attack had left lasting damage. It was unknown how bad.

Trauma locked her mind into endless reruns of the past trauma. Dark shadows loomed in the darkness around her. Her head turned left and right, looking for something.

A shard of sunlight whizzed past.

‘I,… What?’ her mind couldn't process her surroundings

Another quickly followed behind the other.

‘Wasss… that?’ Lilith turned around.

Light reflected across the shards, scattering light and illuminating her surroundings. One reflection led to another as light increased. A unique drop of light broke away from the others. It floated out in front of her.

‘Pretty.’ She mumbled.

The darkness seemed afraid of it. The nothingness was slowly chased away by its very presence. Lilith reached out towards the glowing drop. Her hand made a grabbing motion toward it, but was left wanting. Her hand phased through, unable to even touch it.

‘Ahhk’ Lilith grew frustrated.

She tried again. This time with both hands. Lilith clapped down on her target.

“Smack!” Her goal still eluded her.

Each time Lilith made contact with the strange constantly falling drop, something peculiar happened. Each slap, grab, or jostle conversely calmed her down. Lilith’s frustration gave way to drowsiness.

It became harder for Lilith to think, despite not being fully conscious. The slippery slope slowly became more level. Soon enough, her mind became still. All thoughts ceased. Time went by as she slumbered, and soon she was awake.

***

Much time had passed since her healing. Absol sat perfectly still next to her. Pansage on the other hand became increasingly nervous. He wanted to go over and check on his friend, but feared that he would receive the same treatment as the other strange person and Pokemon.

Pansage could only quiver in fear following Aggrons reveal, and the new Pokemon scared even that enemy away. He stared back and forth between the two, before working up the courage.

Pansage didn’t get the chance, and almost didn’t believe his own senses when looking at the Pokemon. Despite laying eyes on Absol, he could not feel anything. No presence, nor his strength. A clever ruse for such an unassuming Pokemon.

Absol still did not acknowledge his presence despite the obvious stares.

“Eapp” Pansage jumped.

Absol had moved his head. He stared at Lilith as small, almost imperceptible, twitches passed along her fingers. Small movements turned into large ones, until her arm rested on her forehead.

“Uhgg” she groaned.

Lilith was awake.

***

“Ughhh” Lilith let out a groan. Her body felt weird. She didn’t even feel any pain.

‘Am I dead?’ she wondered.

The memories of what had transpired unfolded in her head. The lake, Croagunk, the chase, and Pansage's rescue that coincided with a superficial blow.

Lilith sat up abruptly. Her eyes went wide.

‘What?’ she thought.

Bewilderment overtook her as she touched the different parts of her body. Lilith ignored her surroundings while she poked and prodded. Nothing on her arms or legs. She even checked her stomach and back, but nothing was wrong. It was as if nothing had happened. The only evidence to the contrary were her feet, they didn’t hurt. Despite being healed, blood still lingered on them, proving it was no hallucination or something similar.

She calmed down rather quickly once she knew her body’s condition. Lilith looked around after realizing she had been ignoring them. The first thing she saw stuck out like a sore thumb. Absol’s white coat gave no camouflage, he stuck out like a sore thumb. She couldn’t help but stare at the magnificent creature sitting right next to her.

“Beautiful.” Lilith gasped and covered her mouth.

Slightly embarrassed, Lilith stared at him. She didn’t know how, but the Absol before her was male. Lilith could feel it just like she knew Absol meant her no harm.

He made no sounds or movement, it was like he was a statue. Lilith reached out her hand but stopped.

‘What am I even doing?’ she thought.

“Can I…” slipped out of her mouth before she could think.

Before Lilith could finish, Absol nudged his head against her hand in greeting. He was warm and inviting. She could feel his strength.

‘Soft.’ she thought.

The stigma Absol had in the world never even dawned upon her. Almost everyone saw them by their reputation to create Disasters. The thought had not clicked, Absol was just another Pokemon to Lilith. The games allowed her a different perspective than the natives.

“Did you save me?” she questioned aloud.

Absol backed away and shook his head. His tail swiped towards her benefactor. She followed the movement.

“Pansage!” the small monkey greeted her.

A soft smile formed on her lips.

“You saved me again.” she mumbled.

“Pansage!” he jumped up and down with his hands in the air.

Lilith gave him a head pat as he ran up to her and thanked him sincerely. The debt she owed had increased. She rustled his hair as a thought came to mind.

“If Pansage was the one to save me then, why are you here?” Lilith turned back to Absol. It wasn’t unwelcomed, but Absol’s presence felt strange. She was just glad he didn’t want to hurt her.

A strange feeling welled up inside her. It was like she could feel his emotions.

‘Sadness? And… something else…’ she thought.

Absol revealed his reason for staying. His tail swung to the opposite side.

Lilith followed the motion. Her eyes went wide, as recognition dawned on her face. In shock, Lilith turned back towards Absol. Instead of a Pokemon, she was greeted with nothing but air. Where he once stood now loomed nothing but the forest.

Absol had vanished.

“Pan” Pansage jumped in surprise.

He looked between the object and where Absol once stood. Lilith mimicked his movements in surprise.

“Sadness.” she whispered. Lilith identified his first emotion.

Curiosity overwhelmed her as Lilith walked up to the Egg. It was large. So big in fact, that it was easily the biggest egg she had ever seen. It was easily half a meter wide, even taller from top to bottom.

Lilith knew what it was the moment she laid eyes on it. The Egg would hatch, and a Pokemon would emerge from it. Presumably an Absol in this case.

She placed one hand on the outer shell. The outside contained small black crescent shaped horizontal moons. They dotted the Egg all around in a uniform pattern.

‘Warm.’ she thought.

Lilith felt the light gray colored Egg. She had no idea why, but Absol left her a Pokemon Egg. She knew it was an Absol that would emerge. It was that feeling again, the one she couldn’t identify.

“Was it hope?” She questioned aloud.

The clouded feeling Absol had hid slowly emerged. Silence greeted her. As if in a trance, Lilith picked up the Egg and started her long walk home. Pansage followed behind her, creating a picturesque scene.

Lilith had been so disoriented that she never even bothered to check the area, something she would have done if not preoccupied. The large Pokemon footprints that overlapped human ones slipped past her view.

***

Pansage had followed behind her. The small monkey seemed attached to her. Lilith could barely fit her arms around the Egg, but she refused the help each time Pansage had offered. It was her responsibility to watch over it. She had been given the Egg and wouldn’t let Absol down.

A strange connection formed between the two. A calming warmth radiated off the Egg when she held it. She even refused to let go of it when taking breaks from their long walk. The Egg was rather heavy and Lilith was unused to the stress that came with it.

Soon enough, the campsite came into view. Despite the relatively short amount of time, Lilith felt like it had been forever since her last visit.

***

Light gradually replaced darkness. The night woke, and with it came Impidimp.

He joined Lilith at her camp. She had decided to take the rest of the day off. It was a well deserved break after all their misadventures.

Pansage and Lilith greeted him with open arms in their relaxation. They hung around while she introduced them to games played in her childhood. Pansage especially liked hopscotch.

She used a stick and drew the boxes in the dirt. He didn’t especially care for the rules, just that he liked hopping in the squares.

They laughed and played as Lilith took the time to think. Her plans had shifted. She had decided to hatch the Egg. Whether it would be her Partner was unknown, but not raising the Pokemon just felt wrong.

Impidimp was hard to read, and had resisted when asked to join her at every turn despite being so helpful. With Pansage finally in front of her, she decided he was more a friend and ally than part of her team. They wouldn’t be able to take the next step.

This led to only one option. Hatching the Egg and raising an Absol.

Lilith still had reservations. Despite Absol’s strong Attack stat, all others were left wanting. The only upside would be if she could Mega Evolve the Absol.

‘Where would I even get a Mega Ring or the corresponding Stone for Absol?’ She thought.

There was also the thought that stats were less important than how strong the Pokemon actually was. Levels were the most defining point when it came to strength. Lilith held great confidence in herself. She knew that she had the potential to raise any Pokemon into greater heights, despite having nothing to back it up.

Her thoughts derailed into other topics.

Lilith thought back to Croagunk. Even Toxicroak, his evolution, was particularly bad in the game. Lilith understood that some Pokemon might have better starting points but generally most Pokemon had the potential to rise above in this new world. That thought settled in her mind as the decision was made. Absol would join her team.

It brought up her final thinking point.

“Hey Pansage,” Lilith grabbed his attention after zoning out.

“Do you want revenge on Croagunk? Because I sure do.”