Hannah rose to her feet, brushing her knees off and adjusting her cream shorts; she noticed a few grass stains on them that weren’t there before.
Muk … I really should spend some more money on good resilient clothes, but they’re so Mukin’ expensive…
Not allowing her irritation to show, she kept a bright tone. “Yeah, I’m ready! Umm … so, who do you think I should put on my team? My dad said Ledyba were underrated, but I haven’t figured out how to really utilize her Moves that well … I mean, I guess we only have two at the moment,” she mumbled, trying to remember the articles she’d looked up.
“Okay,” Amira whispered. “Tell me what you’ve discovered … oh?” She unclipped her phone while looking at a notification. “Lori bought the team package for Pokedex … that’s nice.”
What? That’s like … how much money does Mallory have?! That’s super expensive to get a premium subscription like a Team Pass.
“Uh … so, I’m not trying to sound mean, Limru knows that, but … every article I read said Ledyba and Ledian fall off around Gold-tier … they aren’t super reliable overall. My dad’s super confident that Trainers sleep on them, though. I just … what do you think?”
Amira had her phone up again, occasionally keeping track of where they were going and stepping over roots or ducking branches; their group was drawing quite a few Pokemon.
Waiting for her idol to respond, Hannah tried to test her link to Limru. Hey, did that … he was a Nickit, right? Did he want to join us?
The response was a solid negative.
Ah … got it. Thanks, Limru. We’ll find one! Umm … give me a little time, Limru. I’m sorry … I know I’m kind of failing as a Trainer. I get drugged … we’ve lost every battle we’ve been in … our rank is tanking … hard.
Limru paused for a moment giving her a concerned look.
I know … I’m being hard on myself, but I can’t help it. What if Amira or Rhea lookup how we’ve been doing since we left? It’d be so embarrassing…
She sighed, noticing Amira had the picture of a Ledyba on her phone; she was going through the Pokedex site’s information on them.
“Hmm … some of the Trainer comments do mention Ledyba and Ledian are difficult to make competitive, but there’s surprisingly little information overall since not many people move to the higher ladders. Let’s see … if I was going to get advice from someone, it’d be from someone qualified.”
“Like?” Hannah asked. “Uh, you don’t mean High Master Bugsy, right?” She chuckled. “How would I get advice from a Gym Leader?”
“Any of them, really,” Amira mumbled, performing a search. “Viola, Burgh, and Bugsy are all High Master Bug-Type Gym Leaders. Aaron would probably be the best to question as a Grandmaster, and he’s from Sinnoh … ugh, Guzma is considered a Grandmaster Bug-Type Trainer.”
“Eh…” Hannah adjusted her pack; the weight felt like boulders when she took it off for a bit and put it back on. “Should I really be looking for Top-tier advice at this level? How could I even use it?”
Amira shook her head, scanning down Pokemon reviews, speculations, and general thoughts on her Pokemon, using the filter to look for specific Master-tier Trainers giving their opinion.
“It’s important to know where your Pokemon can excel early on to min-max your efficiency. Ah … here we go. Bugsy has a big article on it, but it’s pretty dated … I think it was posted by another user ages ago.”
Hannah scooted closer to read with her; in short, Ledian had probably some of the worst Stats when it came to the currently known pool of Bug Pokemon. Period. Bug/Flying Type didn’t help much since it gave the Pokemon a ton of weaknesses. It had decent speed, but if they were outsped, Ledian would get KO’ed pretty fast. It was one reason why there were never territorial boss Ledian, forcing them to act as a swarm.
Ledian’s Ability, Swarm, was almost useless since increasing their already horrible Attack and Special Attack Stats would do little to help, even if you added their Dream World Ability, Iron Fist. Increasing the Punch-Series Moves provided minimal aid and required a lot of time investment from the Trainer and Pokemon to even accomplish that goal.
In the end, combining the 50% increased Offensive Stats of Swarm with Iron Fist’s 20% just wasn’t enough to push her Pokemon into High-tier competitive play on its own.
By questioning Limru, Hannah discovered her Ledyba had Early Bird, too … she couldn’t even get the offensive boost Bugsy was talking about. The Ability helped against any kind of sleep strategy, and did work with Rest tactics, but wasn’t exactly game-changing when other Pokemon could get Insomnia and still brought downtime in a match.
The news was a bit crushing for both Hannah and Limru; it was one of the first times she’d sensed her Pokemon’s feelings so strongly, which was heartbreaking, but near the end of the critical review, by one of the world’s foremost experts on Bug-Types, came a silver lining.
Bugsy went on to explain that Mega Evolution provided a much needed boost to the Fighting Bug Pokemon, redistributing their Stats in a way to dramatically increase their Attack Stat to rival heavy hitters like Heracross and Pinsir while increasing its Speed by a healthy degree, no longer requiring Rattled as their first Dream World choice.
The addition of Guts further helped Mega Ledian enter the competitive scene by having a way to increase its Attack by utilizing the opponent’s energy when targeting the Mega Ledian with a status condition, allowing it to intercept the Moves for its team.
When combining Swarm, Iron Fist, and Guts with Ledian’s Barrier Bash Ability, gained on its Evolution within Silver-tier, in addition to its changed Typing of Bug/Fighting and Stat redistribution, Ledian could finally become a physical offensive threat.
Barrier Bash gives the Pokemon a permanent Brick Break, able to outright shatter popular defensive choices such as Barrier, Light Screen, and Aurora Veil with any physical Move, and allowing Ledian to bypass up to a +2 Defense buff. All while simultaneously setting its own Reflect, Safeguard, and Light Screen defensive matrix, keeping offensive momentum to snowball.
Bugsy recommended Swarm as a starting Ability since it would provide high offensive pressure for the Bug Pokemon with a proper support to keep the Ledyba just within range of the Stat increase early on, but that wasn’t an option for them.
Ledian became a real offensive threat for set up and wall-breaking strats in Silver-tier, but fell off fairly hard in Gold-tier. It could function as a Baton Pass user to help their team, but with such low Defense and being an up-close and personal type of combatant, they were very susceptible to one shots and focus swap burst teams.
It wasn’t until Platinum-tier, the earliest a Ledian and their Trainer could perform Mega Evolution, when the Fighting Bug could really enter the scene again, and kept its viability into Master-tier if going for their Dream World Abilities. Of course, Mega-Evolution was even difficult for Top-tier Trainers at Platinum, like Rhea’s brother, but was possible.
The Bug Master recommended Iron Fist first but Rattled would be a wonderful addition if you decide to keep your Ledian on your Main Line-up and send it on its second Dream Journey heading into Grandmaster-tier. Hannah couldn’t even imagine that, though, and knew very little about the obscure Dream Dimension.
However, if she was able to meet most of those conditions it would be difficult to stop the rampaging Fighting Bug Pokemon when it started to snowball. It’s just that Ledian required a lot more dedication and time with their Trainer than most Pokemon to reach that Mega Evolution breaking point when they finally became viable.
Mega Evolution was recommended over Z-Moves and Syncro-Burst for obvious reasons.
In the end, her Ledyba would have a rough time in Bronze-tier, grow into a threat in Silver, fall-off hard in Gold before reaching the stars in Platinum … if Hannah could keep up. Limru also required a lot of resources to expand her great TM and Tutor Move Pool, but that came with time. Her dad hadn’t been wrong, but the road would be difficult for them.
Hannah encouraged her little Ledyba while sensing her mixed emotions. Don’t worry! We’ll get you there somehow … I know we will! Even if it’ll be rough … no, we have to believe, and we will get friends to help us! We can do it!
Limru flew a bit into the air as they picked up their pace again, and gave her a weak smile; she was still unsure how she’d make it to that big goal. Her little bug girl had no clue her journey would be so much more difficult than the other Pokemon around her.
Hannah smiled at her idol. “Thanks for giving us a path, Amira … that means so much to me and Limru. I know we can do it!”
“Yeah,” Amira chuckled while putting her phone away. “All I did was find an old article … Gym Leaders don’t post those kinds of Pokemon reviews much anymore … Trainers started to get mad at them for disrespecting their Pokemon.”
“Hmm…” Hannah’s gaze shifted to Limru, flying ahead of them through the ancient forest. “I can see that … I felt pretty bad when you were reading the earlier part. I mean, it’s not like Limru can change how she was born, but the last part showed that there’s a path for us … it’s not impossible.”
Amira nodded. “My grandpa always talks about that … there’s always a way to win, you just need to be smart and resourceful enough to make it happen.”
A fire was burning in Hannah’s chest. Meeting Rhea had been the best thing that had ever happened to her; she used to think there wasn’t anything she could do, these gifted Trainers would always be ahead of her, but after getting to know a few of those untouchable figures … she discovered they were no different than her in many ways.
However, the one thing they had was the confidence to push forward with their goals, and not let anyone else tell them otherwise. She never thought she’d be out here, less than a week after bonding with her first Pokemon, going for her second, but here she was, it wasn’t impossible for her.
Amira, Rhea, and Mallory had given her the confidence to reach beyond her lineage. Reading all the horrible things people said about Ledian and Ledyba online had thrown her for a spiral at first; it was probably why her bond with Limru was so turbulent between her own self-doubt and how far the two of them could go. That was in the past, though. She’d show the world what Limru could do, even if she didn’t have the best possible Abilities she could have.
Maybe she’d even challenge Bugsy and beat him one day before telling him how much his article inspired her. They entered into a wide open field, sunlight exploding across the grassy area, but much of the tall strands had been cut to a small height, and she caught sight of the two Pokemon they were led to, eyes widening with delight.
* * *
Comfey hovered above the ground with a bright smile. Togepi, her best buddy, had been practicing really hard to perfect their big combo recently, and she was ready to help him take the win against their biggest foe … the Boss!
“You ready, Togepi?”
He turned to give her a smug grin, jumping into a quick spin. “I’m ready to take him out; we so got this this time!”
Comfey wrapped her tail around to hold it, floating down to his level. “What should we do after? I can blow some leaves in his face. Will that help?”
Togepi waved his hand. “No, no, no, we’ll be fine; one shot is all it will take from our big show!”
The statement put a bit of unease in her; Togepi had always been a bit quirky with his plans, and sometimes hasty. This was another one of his random attack strategies, but this time, she’d managed to get the timing down to help him.
“Okay, I’ll try and buy time if it fails again,” she chimed. “Of course, that’s probably not gonna happen, though, right?”
“Yeah! I can feel this next one in the tips of my hands; we’re gonna floor Boss Butterfree today!”
Hmm … if we do fail again, which Move should I go with? Butterfree usually lets us get a few in before blowing us away. So … I should blind him for Togepi to build-up another attack, maybe?
Her attention swapped to a crowd of Pokemon that came out of the forest … with humans. “Oh, Togepi! It’s a human … don’t they look funny?”
“Mmh?” Togepi lifted an eye at the peanut gallery they’d attracted. “Ho, ho! We even drew in humans to see our awesome victory!”
Comfey released her tail to clap. “You’re so cool!”
They settled down as a flaming fox came forward with Nickit; the red-furred Pokemon would normally sit by the side of the field and watch them. Comfey thought he might idolize Togepi because the young fox was usually present for their training.
Ever since they’d heard a few Spearow talk about how powerful Pokemon could get when bonded with humans and the crazy battles they had, Togepi had been starstruck. He wanted to prove he was strong, too.
Comfey just thought it was fun to hang out with her best bud, and enjoyed helping him out. It was nice to be wanted and have a friend. She was all alone when she hatched, and Togepi was the first Pokemon to call her his friend.
She’d heard the stories the Pidgey told, but she wasn’t so sure they were being honest; humans couldn’t be that bad if the Spearow liked them. Although, the Hoothoot could be a bit suspicious with their stories about Pokemon ten-times bigger than Butterfree.
Snatching her tail again, Comfey did a few spins in the air. “Hello! We’re getting ready for our big fight today. Are you going to watch?”
The Fire Fox Pokemon sat down, tail swinging softly; she was really pretty, and even sparkled a bit, which drew her eyes from her fur to the flickering flames. The fire was a bit frightening, yet mesmerizing at the same time, and the female fox wasn’t all that scary. In fact, she looked super friendly.
Togepi puffed up his chest, pointing at Comfey. “We’re gonna be the new big bosses of this area and kick out all the bad Pokemon!”
The pretty fox gave them an innocent smile. “Mmh … is that right?”
Comfey was a little perplexed as the two humans began talking with each other; one was super excited while the other was looking at some kind of light that a flat crystal produced. “We’ve been practicing a lot,” she mumbled. “What are your humans doing? They are your humans, right?”
The Ledyba beside them nodded, giving her a bright expression. “Hi! I’m Limru, by the way, and this is Amber,” she pointed to the fox.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Amber added. “They are our Trainers … heh, I suppose you could call them our humans, and we are their Pokemon.”
Comfey’s eyes widened. “Oh, is that how it works? I didn’t know. So you’re theirs and they’re yours?”
Limru sat up on her two back legs. “We’re…”
She trailed-off as the group of Caterpie started to cheer.
“The Boss is coming!”
“Butterfree, our protector!”
“Come show these fools you are undefeated!”
“Beat back the infidels!”
A sad sigh, passed through Comfey’s mouth, giving Amber and Limru a forced smile. “Sorry, they get a little worked up when we battle the boss.”
“Infidels?” Amber mused, lifting an eye at the Caterpie.
Togepi chuckled, drawing their gaze. “It means we are strong; they recognize us as conquerors!”
“Boo!”
“Down with the infidels!”
“Long reign the Sleeping King!”
Yeah, I don’t think that’s what it means, Togepi…
Her best bud was utterly convinced everyone loved them, but the moment they hatched and started challenging Butterfree, they’d been labeled infidels; she was pretty sure it was some kind of unspoken rule not to challenge him. It made Togepi happy to hear their calls, though, and none of the other Pokemon in the area could handle their tag-team, which meant Butterfree was their goal at finally becoming strong Pokemon, like Amber and Limru. In fact…
Comfey grabbed her tail with glee, hugging it close to her chest. “Hey, hey, Togepi! What if we battle Amber and Limru next; we can see how strong human Pokemon are!”
Limru gave her reply a short chuckle. “Eh, heh … we aren’t human Pokemon … we’re just bonded Pokemon.”
“Bonded…” Togepi’s eyes widened. “Spearow talked about that, didn’t he, Comfey?”
She hummed, not recalling the word. “I don’t think I was there for that one.”
Togepi grinned. “Yeah, we can show them how strong we are, but first … ah, there you are Sleeping King!”
Comfey saw the pretty Butterfly hover through an open place in the woods with a low yawn, catching sight of them. The moment he saw the crowd that was gathering, he groaned. “Aww … c’mon, guys … humans, too. What’s the deal?” He questioned, floating over while a group of chanting Caterpie moved below him.
Amber eyed him with a small smirk. “You’re the leader over this area? Yeah … you are pretty strong.”
He groaned, glancing at the Trainers as they conversed with one another. “You’re here to pick-up a few Pokemon? This is a pretty chill area, but I don’t know if you’ll get many…”
Togepi jumped in with a bright smile. “Esskeetit! Let’s do this Comfey; we’re gonna blow you away today, Butterfree!”
Ledyba seemed a bit nervous by Butterfree’s appearance, the Caterpie noises, and Togepi’s response. “Can you two really fight him … he’s super strong.”
Butterfree waved a hand in his typical weak manner. “It’s cool … man, you got the looks, though, girl,” he chuckled.
“M-Me?” The Ledyba stammered, glancing at Amber.
He did a slow twirl. “Yeah … once you grow a bit more, you’ll have all the boys running. Uh … these two fighting me? They’ll be fine. This is … normal,” he grumbled, turning to give a sad glare at the two excited Pokemon.
Togepi jumped up, pointing a finger at him. “Normal that we toss you around!”
“Oh … c’mon, guys,” Butterfree pleaded, droopy eyes sweeping the chants for him to blow them away again or toss them into a tree. “I was up all night talking to Lilligant … she says Nidorino has been pushing a bit into her territory … gah, then the Black Rattata gang tried to make a raid … then the blue Sandshrew clique got into a fight with the Houndour group. Let me sleep…”
“Not until we battle!” Togepi grinned, “Or are you scared we’ll win this time?!”
Butterfree spun his hand in a circle with a short yawn. “Go on … do your worst.”
Comfey and Togepi set their faces; this was it. The others backed up, and low whispers were passed around that she couldn’t hear, but it wasn’t time to focus on them. She had to support her best friend.
White energy gathered around her as Togepi drew his own.
“Don’t regret this; I’m feeling this one, Butterfree!” Togepi shouted. “Let’s go, Comfey!”
“I got you!” She shouted, continuing to build all the helpful energy she could muster.
Spinning in a circle, the white aura condensed in the center of her loop, and she released her tail to push the gathered sphere at Togepi.
All eyes were on them, but Comfey had no doubt they saw their duo as villains. They were rebels to the peace of the area, yet Butterfree never kicked them out, letting them try every time they managed to push to a new level.
Their combined attack exploded within her bestie, supporting his next attack to the maximum. Togepi waved one of his hands back and forth with a devious grin. “Esskeetit!!”
An overwhelming, ominous wave slammed against Comfey’s chest; whatever was coming was far stronger than anything they’d done before. Oh, no … it keeps getting stronger.
Togepi was laughing as power surged from him; the white aura turned light brown before flashing neon green shades, and the air began to vibrate.
Butterfree’s mouth dropped open as hundreds upon hundreds of green shards blasted out from around Togepi’s green brilliance. “… Wha…” Butterfree watched the sky blot out with the projectiles, and with one motion of Togepi’s hand, they descended.
“Okay, what?” Amber shreaked.
The humans and Pokemon screamed with panic, retreating back to the forest, but all Comfey could do was watch in awe.
That’s way bigger than anything we’ve done before! Can we actually do it this time?
Butterfree pivoted, sending a burst of wind at a thousand beams collapsing around him; it stopped many, but was soon overpowered, striking him from every angle, and they lost sight of him from the exploding particles colliding with his body.
“Comfey, Comfey; we did it!” He cheered. “We’re so…”
He trailed off as the devastated battlefield cleared of green; Butterfree was now on the ground, wings lifting left and right while examining himself. “Huh … wow, a lot stronger than anything you’ve done before … I’m definitely awake now, heh.”
“No way…” Togepi mumbled, dropping to his butt.
Oh, I gotta follow up!
It took her a moment to regain her senses after the flashy Move; a four meter area was utterly devastated, only ripped up dirt visible below Butterfree.
Comfey shot forward, twisting around their opponent’s body, barely able to grab her tail before squeezing; white illuminated her frame. “I … I got him, Togepi! I…”
Butterfree chuckled, flexing his wings; her grip slipped, and he beat his wings, blowing her and Togepi back. A massive chunk of her defensive shield was instantly taken. “Nooo … Togepi!”
Sure enough, her bestie was on the ground, eyes spinning; they’d failed for the forty-eighth time, but she couldn’t give up yet just because she was running low on energy.
Turning around, she spun in a circle to blaze bright green. A swirl of leaves and wind expanded in a small tornado toward Butterfree to lift and blind him, but another casual flap of his wings sent it back in her face, negating her Move.
“We tried…”
“It was a nice try,” Butterfree encouraged with a smile and soft chuckle.
The reverse gust struck her and she blacked out.
* * *
Amira’s lips dropped open upon sensing the unusual aura expelling from the Togepi’s body; this was not a normal attack, and reminded her of the aura Legendary Pokemon naturally generated. A dome of green darts trapped everyone in the area.
You have to be kidding me; am I about to die to a random Metronome Move that hit the golden ticket? Amber let’s go!
She grabbed Hannah’s arm; the girl was too stunned to even move upon seeing the hundreds upon hundreds of darts shooting into the sky to lock the Butterfree in before attacking from all angles. “C’mon!”
“W-What is that?” Hannah gasped.
“Togepi luck!” Amira shouted, noticing the arrows instantly curve around them at light speed, leaving a sizzling trail of green dots across her vision.
It didn’t actually hold that much power, but was far stronger than the Togepi should have been able to produce since it had converted into the multipliciable force of a Legendary Pokemon’s energy.
The air hummed with the unique aura, pulsing through Amira’s body; she’d never felt this kind of weird signature waves, which meant this attack didn’t come from the Tower Duo or their subordinates since she’d met each of them when she was a little girl, and it’s hard to forget those kind of forces.
It was over before they even made it to the forest edge; dirt couldn’t even expand, each explosion sending it back to compact the earth with a dense gravitational impact. She slowed to a stop with the others, and she could feel Amber’s panic, wondering what she should do.
Amira soothed her, breathing a sigh of relief. Her mother hadn’t shown up, she had no doubt she would have if she’d actually been in danger, but who could stay calm in the face of such an attack?
The powerful Low Silver-tier Butterfree had taken the full brunt of the attack, and had clearly taken damage by the way it had been forced to the ground. Of course, when struck by Legendary Energy, even from a much lower-tier Pokemon, you didn’t come out unscathed.
Two gusts later, and both the Comfey and Togepi were knocked out; the Butterfree appeared to be taking the surprise attack surprisingly well.
Amber tentatively went over to talk to him, but all the other Pokemon had long since vanished into the forest in panic. While her Pokemon checked things out with him Amira searched Pokedex’s website and scanned for anything that matched what she saw; nothing came up. She couldn’t find any reference to anyone getting the same Metronome Move anywhere online.
Turning off her phone, she put it back on her belt. Setting her backpack down, she got out her Super Potion and went to heal the Comfey and Butterfree; Hannah had recovered and went to do the same to the Togepi.
“Uh … Amira, what was that?”
She shook her head, smoothing back a few strands of hair that had fallen out of place. “Honestly, I have no idea. I couldn’t find anything about it … I’ll have to ask my mom. Umm … how’s the Togepi?”
“Recovering … he seems a bit down.”
The Comfey floated over to comfort the Spike Ball Pokemon after Amira healed her; she seemed to thank her and Amber before hovering to her friend with concern. Togepi was tearing up a little with Hannah’s compassionate rubs to his shell.
“It’s okay … you were really strong; you did good!”
The Butterfree gave her a weak salute when she started healing him, too.
Geez … that nearly stopped my heart.
* * *
Comfey wrapped around Togepi and the human’s hand. “Hey, don’t cry … we did really good, Togepi!” She encouraged. “Look, even the humans think you’re awesome.”
“I … I just wanted to have them … them all like me. Everyone hates us, and now … now … how do we win if that doesn’t work? We tried … everything…”
“Don’t worry! We’ll get it one day, Togepi, and you’ve got me.”
He hugged her, sniffing a little. “… Thanks, Comfey … how do we get stronger?”
Limru rubbed Comfey’s back with a comforting smile. “Hey, if you want to get stronger, you can join Hannah and me. We’re gonna get to Gold-tier … no, Platinum, for sure; we gotta get back at this human woman that drugged my Trainer and made her feel bad.”
Comfey had no clue what Gold or Platinum was, but figured it must be something powerful.
“W-We can get stronger?” Togepi asked, tears still in his eyes.
Comfey frowned. “Will we be separated? I wanna stay with Togepi.”
“Hmm…” They turned to see Amber walking over to them with Butterfree and the other human by his side. “It’s not like you’ll never see each other again,” the fire fox said with a smile. “I could use your help, if you want to join. Amira’s really impressed by that Helping Hand Move you have, and if you want to get stronger, there’s no faster way than bonding with a Trainer.”
“We can still see each other?” Comfey asked. “Spearow said Trainers go to really far away places … I’ve never left this area.”
Togepi whipped his eyes, putting on a brave face. “We can get stronger, though? The bonding thing?”
“Without a doubt,” Amber grinned, glancing to Butterfree as he released a slow sigh.
“Hey, Comfey, Togepi … if you really want to get stronger, then they’re not wrong.”
Comfey’s eyes widened. “But … the Caterpie say humans can’t be trusted. You trust them, Butterfree?”
He chuckled. “It’s a bit more complicated than that, but … yeah, these girls seem fine,” he mumbled. “Plus … I could get some sleep if you two go off to get stronger,” he yawned. “Oh … I’m tired again…”
Comfey’s lips drew in, but Togepi seemed all in.
“I want to get stronger!”
Limru hovered over them to sit in front of him. “Hannah and I’d love to have you! We really want to get stronger, too, and there are lots of Pokemon even stronger than Butterfree out there.”
“Wha … no way,” Togepi mumbled, looking to the Pokemon for confirmation. “Butterfree’s never lost … not once!”
He rubbed his cheek absently. “Well, yeah, but there are way stronger Pokemon up the mountain. I run a pretty easy strat with sleeping groups and taking them out. It won’t work on stronger Pokemon, though.”
Amber’s tail started to wag again, giving her a charming smile. “We can be friends.”
A heat rose in Comfey’s chest. “We … can be friends?”
Limru got up on her hind legs again. “Yeah! We can all be friends. We help each other out in battles; there is this Triple Battle thing where all my other new friends join in and we try to win together. It’s really fun.”
Tears started shining in Comfey’s eyes, hands clamped against her chest. “I can … have more friends? I want more friends!” She cried. “I’ll help a lot, and … and I want to have fun … can we do that?”
“Heh,” Butterfree hovered down, whispering to Amber, but she could still hear him. “They only hatched a few months ago, and … they didn’t have the warmest welcome.”
Amber pressed her front paw against her human’s leg, and the Trainer took out a spherical thing. “Just go into here, and you’ll be bonded with Amira and me; we’ll be your new family,” she grinned. “We can have a lot of fun and make more friends all over the place.”
“Me, too!” Togepi shouted, and clapped with excitement as the other human brought out a similar device. “Esskeetit!!”
Comfey giggled as he jumped out of her grip and off the human’s lap to touch the sphere; her mouth dropped open when it swallowed him whole. “Wha … where…”
Limru waved her arms. “One sec, one sec … I need to go back in…”
The human tensed a little as if in a bit of pain, but Comfey thought she was smiling. In dismay, she watched Limru turn into energy and go into a similar sphere.
What’s happening?!
Togepi’s sphere opened, revealing her bestie’s ecstatic face. “Comfey, Comfey! It’s so warm and … and I can talk to them in my mind! I’m talking to Limru … heh, she’s like … so close to me, but … there, she’s right there!” He pointed at the ball in the human’s hand. “Oh, oh, she wants to give me a name like Limru … Star? Esskeetit!”
Amber lifted an eye. “Eh … what does esskeetit mean?”
Comfey smiled. “It means let’s get it … it’s like his cheer. Hehe … umm, yeah, okay. If Star wants to go with it, and he likes it … I’ll give it a shot.”
She swooped down and tentatively touched the sphere; a strange expansion felt like it entered her chest. Without warning, she was in a warm, safe place next to Amira’s heart. She knew her Trainer’s name, and could feel a wealth of strength within her that made her own look tiny.
Wow … this is so comfy.
“Heh, good one,” Amber commented.
We can talk! This is so cool.
Amber’s tone turned teasing. “Not going to say esskeetit?”
Nuh-uh, that’s Toge … Star’s thing, she giggled. Umm … so, do I get a name?
Her chest burned with wonder as all the new sensations swirled within her and around her; it was so strange sharing emotions and thoughts, but Amira somehow understood her question, and shockingly, she could understand her human.
“Hey, Comfey. I am so happy you decided to join us!”
Amber piped up. “She’s interested in making more friends. We have a team, by the way; you’ll meet them tomorrow.”
More friends?! H-How many? She cried, hands trembling against her mouth; this was the happiest moment in her life.
“We … oh … you want to meet more friends? We’ll be getting at least another four along our journey, probably more, and tomorrow you’ll meet Rhea and Mallory’s team. Lori will have a new Pokemon with her and Rhea has Nova and Mya.”
Four new friends … and they’ll be friends with Star?
“Yup, well … probably,” Amber mumbled. “Name, Amira, name!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Amira giggled, and Comfey could suddenly see the world through her Trainer’s eyes. “How about … Holly?”
This is so, so, so cool … uh, Holly? Holly … Holly … I’m Holly! I’m Holly! She cried. Thank you, Amber, Amira … I won’t … I’ll be a good support and help you as best I can!
It seemed Amira was a bit unique since she was able to have both Amber and her out at the same time, and they spent the rest of the day getting to know each other. Limru and Star took turns by the hour, but Hannah seemed to be pushing herself to do it; she was pretty sore by the nightfall.
A big surprise came when Ho-Oh burst into existence; Amira apparently had some connection to the bird as a little girl. The Legendary Pokemon was beyond anything Holly thought was possible, and it showed her the path they were on, and it excited her. She had a team and friends now; she wouldn’t be alone ever again like when she’d first hatched.
Amira and Holly went over her Moves and Ability, which was exciting for them both, and her Trainer showered her with praise; it was hard to keep modest with the human’s continual proud emotions. She was the key to beating someone named Forrest.
IVs: Average 21
Nature: Modest
Ability: Triage
Known Moves:
SME’s Request:
I hope you’ve been enjoying the free entertainment! The internet is divided into different echo-chambers; you have a specific group that only hovers around specific sites/content. So, by recommending my serials to others, you give it more exposure to different echo-chambers and help it grow. Ratings are excellent, Trending is terrific, but it only will appeal to a specific echo-chamber. If you like my content, then please share it in your own unique way.
Thank you! ^_^7
Normal Plugs:
Discord Link – Growing Community =D
View and help contribute to the Wiki
Support me with Merch (Spreadshirt & Teespring) or on Patreon for up to:
5 Chapters ahead in A Tail’s Misfortune.
11 Chapters in The Oscillation.
10 Chapters in Undying Empire.
10 Chapters in the Pokemon Fanfic
All pictures are up for free download on Patreon with the artist I commissioned listed.
