Broken Souls

A Budding Relationship

"You're really not going to say anything." Reginae says for the fifth time.

"Not yet. I'm waiting on something." I tell him. Stalling out for us to flash for the first time is a lot harder than I thought it would be, especially because I can barely see the golden bonds linking us both.

It might just be me, but when I first met Bronze, something clicked. He chose me and I chose him.

Reginae mutters, "You know I can tell you're hiding something."
"Oh boy! What gave it away?" The sarcasm dripping from my voice obviously flusters him, because his leaf flicks in an angry yet sort of endearing way.

Angrily, he says, "For starters, you were hardly surprised I was talking. You know no one else I know of can hear us, right?"
"Bronze said something about 'gifted trainers', actually..." I muse.
"Who's Bronze?"

My heart stops in my chest, but I just say, "An old friend."

"Oh yeah? Well..."

"Shut up."

He looks away indignantly, clearly uncomfortable with me talking back to him. Angrily, he slices through another Rattata with his leaf and then tackles a Pidgey. His attacks are adorably harmless, yet the wildlife we've encountered seems to faint at his presence.

After a long period of silence, he begins talking again. "Alright, if I'm going to travel with you, we need ground rules. One! No psychic types. None. Two! Anything Grass is weak against-"

"You're aware that's almost every type, right?" I say, although I'm technically a Grass-type myself, as well as Psychic. Wonder what he'd think about that.

He shoots me a reproachful look, whatever small bit of a lip he has curled in contempt.

"Anything Grass is weak against is going to have to go through my personal approval. Three! If we get to libraries, we're stopping there. Four! If you don't tell me your mysterious backstory soon, I'm helping you get a new Pokemon and then striking it out on my own."

I bend down to his level. "You know what?! Fine! I don't care! Go now if you'd like. This is my team and I sure as hell don't have to cater to you."

His eyes narrow again. At this point, I don't think they can get any smaller or he'd have them closed. I'm also beginning to think he looks a lot more intimidating in his head. "I always imagined that my trainer would be a lot more organized."

"Oh yeah?! What did you expect, exactly?" I ask, throwing my hands up.
"Someone who'd protect me. Someone who valued my opinion. Someone..." He sighs. "You know what, I really don't know what I expected. What matters is that I got stuck with you and you are by far the coldest and most aggravating human I've ever met."

"You don't know anything about me." I tell him, holding his gaze.

"What is there to know? You're just a thirteen year old girl who's probably never left New Bark Town in her life."

Never left New Bark Town in her life. "Oh Arceus." I say, standing back up, and the tears are flowing again. They roll down my eyes like a waterfall, and my shrill laughter fills the air as I suck air in and out unevenly. "Oh my Arceus."

"Are you... crying?" he asks, staying close to me. "Really?!"

"Oh Arceus, I haven't left home before..." I look down at my hands. "I've never gone anywhere at all in this new world, have I? I could go up and talk to every single person who I met and they wouldn't know my name. He- Morty- he doesn't... and Clair... and Team Rocket..."

"What?! What are you going on about? Those are gym leaders!" Reginae backs up. "You're crazy, aren't you! You're completely crazy."

"No, actually." peeps a voice from a ways off. "If anything, I'd be the crazy one." There's an obvious fake accent and... oh dear Mew.
Reginae looks around frantically and through blurry eyes I look up and see a small Hoothoot land on the ground. I wipe away my tears to get a better look to find the Hoothoot up in my face.

"Hullo, Ashley! Nice day for a walk, isn't it?" It's definitely him, although his voice is hardly the one I remember from before. It's been well over a year ago, now, so it might just be my memory. It doesn't matter. I'm too relieved.

"Oh my god, Peckers." I say, my voice shaking with relief. "Is something... different about you?"

"Well, I'm a ginger now."

"I'm pretty sure that's just the sunset."

"Hush up."

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" Reginae yells.

We both look at the indignant Chikorita and Peckers shoots me a look and a quiet headshake. "You haven't told him anything."

"He's been hard to work with. After Bronze, I just can't have a new starter. I can't."

"Poor chap. He's probably confused." cooes Peckers.

"I'm extremely confused." Reginae points out.

"Bloody hell, Ashley. I guess this falls to me... Ashley and I are both from an alternate timeline where the entire world ended and Celebi sent us back to save the world, though unfortunately all of our other companions were erased from the timeline and sent into a realm far beyond our reach."

To my surprise, Reginae doesn't come up with any snarky comeback. He doesn't even speak. Instead, he closes his mouth and uses his leaf to finch my Pokeball off of me, sealing himself back inside with a solemn click.

I look at Peckers and he gives me a quizzical look, tilting his head slightly.

"I don't know what I'm going to do." I say. "I don't want to do this again. I don't want new friends. I just want the team back."

Peckers sits up against my leg reassuringly. "You have me, and we're bound to meet up with Celebi again. In the meantime, we need to get through to Reginae."

"If we could flash, he might trust me, and since he doesn't trust me, we can't flash. There is literally no bright side whatsoever to this situation." I say.

"If I know anything, it's that we always manage to find a way."

"The entire world blew up, Peckers."

"Please, call me Ten. It's more dignified."

I roll my eyes, taking out Reginae's Pokeball. "I'm going to find some way to make this work," I say. "You're never going to replace Bronze, but we're still going to be partners. I promise."

"We're in Cherrygrove." Ten points out. The familiar neighborhoods are a sight for sore eyes after dark. Humble street lamps and small yet familiar houses quietly adorn the streets of the town, the Pokemon center and Pokemart illuminated by bright red and blue signs in the distance. The wind smells familiar and I know if I run far enough east I'll see the lake. A smile creeps up on my face and stays there, stupidly plastered to my face and I enjoy it.

I take a step forwards only to be stopped by a kid about my age in dark clothes, a gloating grin on his face. "Well, well, well. Look who it is." A familiar red haired ruffian stands right outside the entrance to Cherrygrove, lazily tossing a Pokeball into the air and catching it. He wears the smug smile of someone who thinks they're tough but oh are they ever punchable. For my own sake, I decide to play it dumb. "Do I know you?"

"You're that kid from the lab earlier. I saw you put down that Cyndaquil. Too weak for you? Now that's just brutal."

Now that was low. "Actually, I-"

"I think you're missing a few brain cells. Cyndaquil, for the record, is by far the best starter. Do you even know what it's like to be abandoned? I'll show you."

"You stole that Pokemon." I say dully, arms crossed.

"Oh, it's on."

"Get ready." Ten says, "It's time for us to-"

It's a split second decision, but I have an idea and I am determined to make it work. With a perfect skyward arc honed by years of training, I send out my starter.

"Reginae, go!"