Help arrived! …In the form of a very smug blonde. She’d let the arrogance slide, mostly because she had called for him. She was more relieved than anything else, and it showed from the way her face lit up. “You came! Thanks, Mister Samuel. Really means a lot to me.”

She stood up, slowly shaking her head. “It’s easy to say ‘don’t worry about it’ when it’s not your problem…” She gestured for the door and started heading for it. A deep breath preceded her explanation. “I went out to the mountains. There was this family of Pokemon. Big family, of reeeally big Pokemon. And it seemed like a good idea at the time, you know, to catch one. So I did.”

Her voice deflated. “…I kinda thought that’d be the end of that. But this big guy, it seems he’s… not too happy about being part of Camp Annie. Any time I send him out, he’s grumpy straight away, and pretty soon after things get violent. I’ve had Pokemon that are slow to come around to joining the team before, but it’s pretty hard to talk things out when he might want me in the hospital.”

She’d led them to the outskirts of town and towards a clearing. “I’ll just, er… get backup ready.” With that, Trixie was sent out. The Whimsicott cheered as it saw its trainer, but the look in Annie’s eyes and the open field made her slowly realize what was to come: more ‘fun times’ with the Goliath.

“I dunno. I thought, maybe, you might have some experience with this kind of thing.” Two pairs of hopeful eyes watched Samuel.

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Was that the problem? Most of the Pokemon Annie found were lone travellers; as far as she knew, they had no family, just like her. To have one, and then have some random human run in and take it away… She felt a pang of guilt. It might have been stronger, but the violence that stemmed from it had drained a lot of her sympathy. “I’m trustworthy,” was all she could muster in defence, but even that was half-hearted.

She nodded to Trixie, giving herself an easy excuse to avoid meeting Samuel’s eyes. The cotton ball started searching through the grass for something. “You’re gonna wanna to back up. He doesn’t take too kindly to strangers. Or anybody, really. Catching him wasn’t anything that fancy. I just threw a Pokeball into a crowd of them. Got lucky, because he didn’t break out. Sent my Scizor in to get the ball and then we ran like hell before they could kill us for it.” Her small frown grew as she realised a capture that enraged both her target and his family might have been the cause of her troubles.

Trixie returned to her trainer’s side, waving a tall blade of grass around. “Alright, we’re all set.” She hesitated to withdraw the Pokeball, but soon enough it clicked open. White energy contorted into a creature that dwarfed them all. Two metres of armoured beast stood on the field, but something was off about it. It wasn’t just that it was immediately annoyed; if Samuel had seen a Tyranitar before, he’d surely notice that Goliath’s colours weren’t quite right.

“Hey.” He followed the voice. Saw Annie. Roared. His cry carried for dozens of metres, which meant that for somebody as close as Annie, covering her ears was a reflex. If she’d been trying to act confident, she was off to a bad start, and the nervous wavering in her voice as she continued didn’t help. “I was hoping that, maybe, we could try talking again? Feels like we got off on the wrong foot last time.” The titan was glaring, and it was becoming clear that they were seconds away from a battle if nothing changed.

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Goliath’s glare was bad enough, but why did Samuel have to turn on her too? His scolding wasn’t doing her frown any favours. Quite the opposite, in fact – at least at first. Their little problem took note, snarling at his ‘master’. On the other end of the field, Trixie’s whimpers could barely be heard.

Bold talk, Annie thought. He wasn’t the one being stared down by a titan that could make a meal out of her. But… His bold words had earned him a pair of Pokemon that had shown unwavering obedience in the short time they’d worked together. He knew what he was doing, and she knew that he knew. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be there, chastising her for showing kindness. Weakness. Whatever he chose to call it.

“Alright, alright…” She gave him the side eye and frown most kids showed after a good telling-off. She stood up straight. Puffed up her chest. Closed her hands into fists. Stared down the Tyranitar. Or tried to. Her gaze fell to the side as he snarled at her.

“I… tried being nice, Goliath, but you just weren’t having it! Now the kid gloves are off, and it’s your fault!” She managed to lock eyes with her beast, erasing most of the fear from her eyes. Most. Human and Pokemon alike could tell within a second that she was worried. “You and I are a team now, whether you like it or not! So it’s about time that you get your act together! The sooner that you start behaving, the sooner we can get to fighting other trainers, instead of… each other…”

Her voice trailed off; her eyes instinctively fell to the ground. She wasn’t mistaken. It was shaking. Gentle, harmless tremors, but judging by the Pokemon’s foot slowly sinking into the ground, it was a mere warning. The Tyranitar may not have been paying Samuel any mind before, but if it was to attack, it would be indiscriminately.

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She looked back and forth between the man and the beast, the latter patient enough to let her brain catch up with them. Words from the Fairy Professor echoed through her mind – something about Pokemon being very capable of understanding intent, even if they couldn’t parse every word. Her gaze finally settled on the latter, and with the faintest of smiles, she continued.

“Er.. I mean it, big guy! I want you to get even stronger and more awesome with us, but we can’t make that happen if you’re just going to be a grump all day! Like, look at Trixie!” Both arms gestured to the Whimsicott across the field. “That little girl could totally kick your butt, because we’ve worked long and hard to make each other stronger. It takes a while, and sure, neither of us are perfect all the time, but we both care about each other and making each other better! That could be you too, if… er…”

She’d realised too late that the titan had stopped paying attention. The moment she’d hinted that a pint-sized puffball could challenge him, his glare had been dead-set on his next target. At least he had the decency to push Annie aside before he started walking, letting her trail off as his stomps carried him to Trixie… Who, of course, was having none of that. Worried whimpers turned into panicked calls, but Annie had chosen to stay silent.

The Tyranitar broke into a run. So did the Whimsicott, arms in the air as she sprinted for dear life. The two disappeared into the trees, and soon enough, their roars and cries faded too.

“…Huh.” A finger scratched against Annie’s chin. “Well!” She turned back to Samuel, eyes wide and full of hope. “I think that we’ve reached an understanding, and that we’re about to reach another one! Honestly, I think that worked out really well.”

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She looked back and forth between the man and the beast, the latter patient enough to let her brain catch up with them. Words from the Fairy Professor echoed through her mind – something about Pokemon being very capable of understanding intent, even if they couldn’t parse every word. Her gaze finally settled on the latter, and with the faintest of smiles, she continued.

“Er.. I mean it, big guy! I want you to get even stronger and more awesome with us, but we can’t make that happen if you’re just going to be a grump all day! Like, look at Trixie!” Both arms gestured to the Whimsicott across the field. “That little girl could totally kick your butt, because we’ve worked long and hard to make each other stronger. It takes a while, and sure, neither of us are perfect all the time, but we both care about each other and making each other better! That could be you too, if… er…”

She’d realised too late that the titan had stopped paying attention. The moment she’d hinted that a pint-sized puffball could challenge him, his glare had been dead-set on his next target. At least he had the decency to push Annie aside before he started walking, letting her trail off as his stomps carried him to Trixie… Who, of course, was having none of that. Worried whimpers turned into panicked calls, but Annie had chosen to stay silent.

The Tyranitar broke into a run. So did the Whimsicott, arms in the air as she sprinted for dear life. The two disappeared into the trees, and soon enough, their roars and cries faded too.

“…Huh.” A finger scratched against Annie’s chin. “Well!” She turned back to Samuel, eyes wide and full of hope. “I think that we’ve reached an understanding, and that we’re about to reach another one! Honestly, I think that worked out really well.”

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Annie’s toothy grin told that she’d taken is words as a compliment. “Life’s a lot more fun when you’ve got a good cast of characters around you. We may have our problems sometimes, but they always keep me on my feet.” As in on cue, a roar sent little birds flying out of the trees. It was quickly followed by the unmistakable yell of a Whimsicott, and then… Chaos. Judging by the sounds, off screen battles were reserved solely for cartoons and Annie Mei’s Pokemon.

Not that it seemed to bother her. She gave a moment’s pause, narrowed eyes trying to decide whether it was worth her following. She gave the trees a limp-handed gesture and turned back to Samuel. “We’ll get there, but we wouldn’t have gotten there as easily without your help. So… Thanks, Mister Samuel! I owe you one! …But I think I also owe it to Trixie to make sure I was right about her being stronger.” The thud of something falling – perhaps tree, perhaps titan – affirmed her decision.

“Alright, gonna go make sure my Pokemon don’t murder each other now! You take care, alright! I’m sure I’ll see you again soon!” With that, she was off, following the sounds of battle into the forest. She yelled to them as she ran: “Whoever wins gets extra noodles for dinner, but only if you don’t kill anything!”

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