Destiny [Pokémon]

❥ chapter XXXVII

A/N:

I'm so sorry for dropping off the face of the earth again for the umpteenth time, my dearies! Good news is, I've re-edited all (and I mean all) of the chapters so far, nothing too crazy though--I didn't completely rewrite them, just changed the length of some sentences and paragraphs, reworded things here and there, all that stuff, in order to improve readability :)

Also, there is an important announcement at the end of this chapter!

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To your distress, the Umbreon was nowhere to be seen when you exited Caelum City, just as feared. Either he had been tired of waiting and left, or he hadn't come here in the first place—whichever the case was, it amounted to the same thing, hence it didn't really matter. Although you were a little sad (and just a smidgeon disappointed too), you couldn't—and wouldn't—force him to come with you.

"What a bummer. He seemed nice, all things considered. He would've been a good addition to our team. But it can't be helped," Raleia said and thus unknowingly expressed what was on your mind in words.

Amra nodded. "Indeed." She smiled up at you as you marched along the sidewalk, your gaze flickering about in hopes of seeing the Umbreon show up after all. "You did everything you could to help him. But if he wants to keep to himself, then there is nothing you can do about that, sadly."

"He had his chance, and he didn't take it. His loss." Faniola gave a dismissive snort. "You shouldn't shed any tears over that. I sure won't," she muttered and earned reproachful looks by everyone, including you yourself.

Neither did you stop walking nor did you scold her since you were among people right now. Starting to chide one of your Pokémon all of a sudden for no apparent reason whatsoever was nothing a normal person would do. But what you did was say the Fox Pokémon's nickname quietly and in an admonishing tone of voice, and that was enough to make her lower her head and put back her ears.

She kept her gaze averted as she grouched and grumbled, muttering incoherently to herself, her tail flicking back and forth. "Sorry ..." she eventually mumbled, very reluctantly and just loud enough for you to hear.

"He m-must have his r-reasons for n-not showing up," Rineis piped up. "M-Maybe he i-isn't ready t-to team up with a-another Trainer y-yet. Or maybe s-something got i-in the w-way, and he c-couldn't come h-here."

"Yeah ...!" Phiala agreed with an overly vigorous nod of her head, eager to comfort you. "Perhaps he'll catch up with us later. So don't be sad, [Name]." For a fleeting moment, she snuggled up to you, rubbing the side of her head against your leg. But then, as though her own act of boldness had embarrassed her, she shied away.

You couldn't help but laugh under your breath. It was so cute—and amusing too—to see her being torn between her shyness and her urge to express her affection towards you. "Thank you, my cutie pies," you whispered. Then, you motioned your Pokémon to follow you as you left the sidewalk with quick steps and wandered into the open field. There still was something you needed to talk about with them.

While manoeuvring around the patches of tall grass to avoid battles with hostile, wild Pokémon hiding inside—for now—you steered for a lone oak. It was a good distance away from the much-travelled road. There, you could talk with your Pokémon without having to worry about someone watching and/or listening in on you. As soon as you arrived at the gnarled old oak tree, you sat down on the carpet of lush grass, leaning with your backpack against the tree's huge trunk. "There's something I need to talk to you about," you began as your five Pokémon gathered around you.