Lost and Found

Chapter One: Abandonment

With gratitude to Martial Arts Master.

The tiny Pokémon looked up with eyes obscured by her lengths of blue hair as her trainer walked away, arm-in-arm, with one of her fellow Pokémon. At least it looked somewhat like a Pokémon, but the Mawile that repeatedly glanced over its shoulder as the two of them departed looked more human for some reason.

The Hatenna couldn't understand why she had been left behind; she remembered being released from her Poke Ball just outside of a forest, only to find no wild Pokémon waiting for her to battle. Nor did she hear any of the familiar commands used to motivate her to action. Instead, when she looked back she found her trainer waving his hands at her as though to make her go away; next to him had been a young woman who 'felt' much like the Mawile she had trained alongside for the last few months.

The pair disappeared from view, and the Hatenna waited; surely there was some misunderstanding, and her trainer would come back shortly to retrieve her. Maybe he wanted her to train on her own? With this thought in mind she cautiously made her way into the forest.

The sun had set by the time she emerged a few hours later, stronger but noticeably battered and bruised, and she headed away from the forest in hopes of finding her trainer and a relieving potion or two.

There was no sign of him anywhere.

Nearing desperation, she closed her eyes and tried to sense her trainer via his emotions...but nothing. She began to panic...but only mildly, of course. Had he left her for good? Had she done something wrong? She wanted him to come back and talk to her so she could make things right.

Not knowing what else to do, she found a quiet place at the edge of the forest and lay down. Tears trickled from under her mop of blue as she gradually and fitfully slid into unconsciousness.

***

The next morning found her with her hair lightly coated with dew, and she grumbled softly as she tried to shake the unwelcome moisture from her body. Realizing that she wouldn't be able to rid herself of all of it she sighed heavily, only to twitch in surprise at a rumble accompanied by a slight pain, which she realized was the growling of her stomach. She wasn't familiar with the area, but she rummaged around the entrance to the forest to try to find something she could eat. In the end, the grass wasn't very tasty but it seemed to ease her hunger pangs for the time being.

Breakfast consumed, she wandered a short distance away from the forest while extending her senses once again to try to find her trainer, to no avail. She did, however, sense a presence approaching her and quickly hid under a nearby bush.

She was surprised to see the human-looking Mawile approaching, carrying a small bag. "Hatenna?" the young woman called. "Hatenna? It's me; Mawile. I have food for you."

The Hatenna didn't sense any hostility from her old comrade; in fact, she sensed compassion laced with sadness, so she cautiously left her hiding spot and headed over to the girl.

"Ah, there you are!" the Mawile-girl exclaimed when she saw her. "Please, don't be afraid." The Hatenna watched as the girl laid out a red-and-white checkered blanket and set the bag on it before sitting on the blanket herself. "Come over here; Donald doesn't know I'm here, so I can't stay for long."

The familiar smell of berries and fruit drew the Hatenna to the blanket, where she sat down and looked up at her former fellow Pokémon as the latter pulled out two containers, one of berries and another of bread. While the girl looked human, she still had some of her Mawile features; her hair was tied into a high ponytail, which resembled the long mouth that she used to have. Her eyes also had more of her old features, being somewhat wider than those of other humans.

The Hatenna sensed unease in her mealtime companion, which was confirmed when she spoke: "I'm really sorry for ma-what Donald did; he told me that he ma-was just going to leave you here for a ma-while to train to help you ma-with your evolutions. I really had no idea that he..." She quickly covered her mouth with her hand, and the Hatenna sensed a surge of sadness mixed with guilt. "I'm sorry about that; I know you're sensitive to strong feelings, so I'm trying to stay calm." She took a deep breath and released it. "I'll be coming here every day for as long as I can to bring you food, and to help you figure out ma-what's safe to eat and ma-what isn't." Another deep breath. "He... I'm sure you can tell I'm human now. That was his whole reason for catching us; he ma-wanted a girlfriend." She snapped her gaze to the side with a scoff, and the Hatenna sensed disgust. "Pathetic. I ma-wish I could join you, but I can't eat Pokémon food anymore; I'm...trapped."

Suddenly feeling sorry for the former Mawile, the Hatenna scooted forward enough to gently nudge the girl's knee, drawing a smile.

"Thank you," the girl said. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to come here and feel sorry for myself." She reached into the bag again and started rummaging around. "By the way, he finally gave me a name; it's 'Diamond'." She snorted. "He ma-waited until I'd transformed first, though; I figure he's trying to be the 'big man' or something. Ma-What a jerk. At least he could have named me 'Hakama' or something like that," she said while gesturing to her clothing.

The Hatenna didn't know what to say – not that she knew how to speak just yet – so she angled her body to show attention.

"Anyway!" Diamond chirped with a clap of her hands. "I have cake! You like cake, don't you?" At her guest's eager nod she grinned and pulled a clear plastic container holding two cupcakes out of the bag. "If I remember right, you like angel food cake..." she murmured as she removed one of the confections and took off the paper wrapper before placing it on the plate before the Hatenna. "I've never had it before, so I'm trying it for the first time today."

The tiny Pokémon regarded the dessert with a smile before reaching out with one of her ear-like flaps to pull it to her mouth. "Mmm!" she grunted after taking a bite. "Mmm!"

Diamond smiled down at her guest before taking a bit of her own; unlike the way she herself had been as a rather chatty Mawile, the Hatenna had never vocalized once during her time at trainer Donald's house, so hearing her voice for the first time was a treat in and of itself. "I'm glad you like it," she said while trying to not let her heart feel too heavy; she didn't want to upset the young Pokémon, after all. "Hey, this is pretty good!"

They finished lunch a few minutes later, and after cleaning up the picnic area Diamond started toward the forested area. "Let's see ma-what we can find for you to eat."

It took a couple of hours, but they managed to find a berry bush suitable for Pokémon consumption, as well as some bushes whose leaves were safe to eat.

"I should probably head home now," Diamond said after checking her watch. "I don't think Donald ma-would be mad if he knew I visited you, but I don't ma-want to take the chance." She looked sadly down at the Hatenna before quickly crouching to speak more at her height. "Listen, I'm going to say this now in case I can't later." She reached out and rested her hands on either side of the Pokémon. "I hope that you find someone who ma-will teach you how to talk and help you learn how to use your abilities, and..." She wiped a tear from her eye. "...someone who ma-will love you the ma-way you should have been, not one who ma-will use you for his – or her – selfish reasons." She shuddered, and the Hatenna shuddered along with her at the unintentionally shared sense of despair. "And ma-when you do, please try to find some ma-way to let me know; it's too late for me, but you still have a chance." She rose back to her feet and gathered up the bag and blanket before regarding her fellow Pokémon; she had the feeling that if she ever saw her again it wouldn't be for a long time. "Please be ma-well." With that, she turned and headed away, leaving a sad yet determined Hatenna watching as she crested the low hill, gradually disappearing from view.