After running for what felt like hours, trying to get away, Claire finally couldn’t continue. Stumbling to a halt, she leaned against a tree, trying to catch her breath. With quickly flapping wings, Myna landed nearby, chirping in greeting. Her feathers looked a little ruffled, reminding me of our initial meeting just a day ago, but otherwise, she was fine.

“Claire, call her back.” I told Claire, stepping up to straighten her out. That way, she could actually get air into her body and not just gasp like a fish out of water. “And keep walking, if only at a slow pace.” I added, pulling her with me. Myna vanished into her Pokéball, and I kept pushing us forward, even as my mind was worried about Prince Charming. He had only been knocked out, nothing more, just some rest and he’d be fine. Only a few hours, maybe a day.

That mantra circled in my mind, as I kept forcing Claire to move, even as I was almost certain we were far enough from the Bibarel to be safe, almost was not good enough. Not in this, not when my partner was knocked out.

Finally, I let go of Claire’s arm, causing her to stumble a little. There was a choice to be made, either keep going and risk running into other Pokémon, or remain here, rest, take care of our partners and hope that the distance we had crossed was enough to keep us safe.

For a moment, I closed my eyes and listened, trying to block out anything but the sounds of Pokémon, especially that Bibarel that might be after us.

When I heard nothing, I felt myself relax ever so slightly.

“Please keep an eye out on our rear. I need to take care of Charm.” I told her, pulling out the Pokéball and setting it into the port of my Pokédex. The scan-function was apparently one that had been added during an upgrade some time in the past, looking a little cobbled-together on the old Pokédex that had been upgraded by Lucian, but it did its job. In this case, it read the energy-levels of Charmander, assuring me that he was fine, but below the level needed to remain active, requiring more rest. There was special medicine that could act even within a Pokéball to restore that energy, but it was not something to be used recklessly. Cynthia had given me a set of ten doses, but only to be used in emergencies, for example when I was far from town, with no active Pokémon. This was not a sufficient dire emergency.

“Take care of your partners.” I told Claire, once I was certain that Charm would be fine. “I’ll keep watch.”

Taking care of Vio would have to wait, simply because I wanted to give her a gentle bath, with some additional care, not just a quick once-over. Standing there, staring into the forest behind us, I started to wonder. Did I mess up, causing Prince Charming to get hurt?

I had noticed the water, if I had focused, could I have given him enough warning to dodge? Or did I make a different mistake? Should I have asked more questions, to find out the likelihood of an evolved specimen in the area? Were there signs of it, signs that I had missed?

“Hey, are you alright?” Claire asked, her hand on my shoulder. I jumped, just a little, realising that I hadn’t focused on keeping watch, but on berating myself.

“I will be, I’m sorry.” I apologised, shaking my thoughts off.

“Twiggy and Myna are all taken care of. We can move on.” she told me, and I accepted her taking charge.

After covering a bit more distance, we decided to actually stop near a small brook, exhausted and muddy, but also relieved. Unless something really strange went on, we were out clear, having completed the task, despite the unexpected trouble.

“Want to take care of Vio first? I’ll keep watch.” Claire offered and after a moment of consideration, I accepted. Slipping off my shoes and pulling up the legs of my pants, I moved to the water, calling Vio out as I walked.

“Hey there, little one. I’m afraid there’s no warm water to be found. Prince Charming has been knocked out.” I quietly told her, shivering for a moment as I stepped into the cold water. Vio quietly cried in response, and I thought there was regret in her voice.

“Yeah, I didn’t pay attention, I gotta do better. A silly Bibarel hid under the water and managed to take us by surprise. Prince Charming never really had a chance.” I admitted, carefully ladling up water with my hand, letting it run down her body before starting to wash her as best as I could. A real shower would have worked better, but I thought that Vio was enjoying the attention and getting washed.

Throughout the process, I explained the events to Vio, maybe trying to make her understand what had happened, maybe simply trying to make sense of them in my own head. Or rather, trying to figure out if there had been something I could have done better.

A soft growl ripped me out of my thoughts and I realised that I had stopped cleaning Vio, instead simply standing in the cold water, lost in my head.

“Thank you, Vio.” I told her, stepping on a couple rocks, so I could leave the water without getting my legs all muddy again. “Do you want to return into your Pokéball, or keep me company?” I asked and to my suprise, she happily walked along with me, as I stepped back up to Claire.

“Do you want to wash up some? There’s hardly any ice floating in the water.” I asked, only half-joking. For a moment, she looked at me, before her eyes went down her own legs, caked in mud from our trek through the swamp.

“I guess…” she replied, sounding terribly enthusiastic. “I’ll fill our water-reserve as well.” she added and I handed her my canteen in response.

Standing there, looking out into the forest to make sure no trouble found us, I tried to figure out my earlier mistakes. I simply couldn’t find any, at least none that had mattered. Sure, maybe if I had recognised the movement in the water for what it was, Prince Charming might have been able to dodge, but even with Claire and me working together and using all our Pokémon, something very much discouraged for a variety of reasons, I doubted we could have beaten the Bibarel. Even the weakest Bibarel was more than double the level of our Pokémon and while the match-up favoured Twiggy, it heavily punished Prince Charming…

A soft hand slapped against my leg, not hard enough to hurt but more than enough to get my attention. Looking down, the red eyes of Vio stared up at me. After a moment of staring, once she was certain she had my attention, Vio hid behind my legs once more, squeezing herself into the space between them and the tree I was leaning against. Her actions, and the way she hid, made me giggle, just a little, because she was so adorable.

“You are right, Vio. It doesn’t matter what happened earlier. What matters is that I can’t let it weigh me down, I need to learn from it, even if the only lesson might be that there are fights that you can’t win, and continue forward.” I quietly said, reaching down to gently stroke her hair. When she reached up, taking my stroking hand and holding onto it for a moment, before letting me get back to petting her, I had to smile.

“You were quite impressive earlier, you know that? New move and all.” I grinned, thinking of the way she had mentally savaged the Bidoof. “You’re already growing, making progress. Soon, you might even evolve, it’s only a matter of time. Do you look forward to becoming an even more beautiful fairy?”

“I’m done, we should continue. It’ll be dark soon, and I’d prefer to have a dry camp-site.” Claire called out and I pushed myself off the tree.

“So, little one, want to walk, get carried or hop back into your ball? But remember, I’m relying on you to keep me safe, while Prince Charming is knocked out.” I asked Vio and after a moment, she hid behind my leg again, not wanting to make a decision.

Grabbing her Pokéball, I made it and with a stream of red light, she disappeared. She’d need her strength if we ran into trouble, not use some of it to remain active.

“Coming.” I called back to Claire, starting down the path we needed to take. Somehow, my pack felt a little lighter on my shoulder and the mud wasn’t dragging me down as bad.