“I hope your mom will be alright, Larry.” Arcanine barked out with Valerie and her Pokemon on its back. It had kept quiet, happy to simply serve as their mode of transportation. The Rangers' Pokemon set themselves apart by being far less conversational than any of the wild Pokemon Larry had met before. It wasn’t so much that they weren’t people with their own needs as that they had seemingly made their work their life. They were happy simply serving their trainers, instead of living by their own desires. ‘I make it sound nice, but nobody wants to lose their autonomy. I wonder…’

  “I hope so, too,” Larry answered. Enough time had passed that he could answer properly, but Valerie still kept a comforting hand on his head anytime she noticed his tone changing. “She’s a very tough Pokemon, I think she’ll be alright.”

  He had made his choice when he had decided to stay with Valerie, yet Larry couldn’t hide his curiosity. So Larry decided to ask a candid question, “How is life with a trainer? I only got caught recently, so I’m wondering what I should expect.”

  Whipping its head around, Arcanine had a giddy expression on its face, “Oh, it's such a fun time!”

  “Really?” He questioned.

  “Yeah! I put in some extra work during training, and Max gave me two treats! She said I did such a great job!” It panted excitedly as its tail wagged at the memory.

  The Fire-Types' simple-mindedness made Larry quite unsure, “What about, like, if you want to do something else?”

  “Like what?” It asked with an adorable head turn.

  “Like…I don’t know…Maxine made you do an exercise you didn’t want to do, instead of the one you wanted to do.”

  Arcanine turned its head back to the rangers and let the question run through its mind. Finally, it nodded, “That has happened before.”

  Larry finally hit him with his big question, “Then, what about instead of relying on Maxine, you simply make your own decisions? Why did you decide to go become Maxine's Pokemon?”

  Again, Arcanine's head turned adorably to the side as it spun its head back, “Decide? I’ve known Maxine my whole life!”

  “Oh,” Larry mumbled dumbly.

  As it turned out, Arcanine had been born a cute little Growlithe inside Maxine's family and simply became her Pokemon once she went on her journey.

  “She’s been my best friend for my whole life!” It barked back excitedly, “I wouldn’t want to leave her, even if I could. She cares about me!”

  “Oh,” Larry felt a bit stupid for asking such a blunt and impolite question, “I’m sorry!”

  “No problem!” Arcanine grinned back, not the least bit offended. “You’re still anxious about being with a trainer, aren’t you?”

  Slightly stunned at the Pokemon's sudden spike of intelligence, Larry simply nodded back embarrassingly.

  “Did you join Valerie on your own choice?” Acanine asked back candidly, “Or is she forcing you to be here?”

  “She caught me while I was unconscious, but I joined her of my own choice.” Larry answered back, “She gave me the option to be released.”

  “Then there’s no problem!” It backed slightly louder than normal, “That is the important thing, choice!”

  “Maxine’s family never forced me to be her Pokemon,” It smiled back fondly at the memory, “I decided to go with her on her journey, our journey.”

  “Where did you journey? Did you go far?” Larry asked curiously.

  “We did something with Gyms, we traveled around and had big fights.” It answered back simply, “I think we got…five gym fights?” It looked up at the cave ceiling, desperate to remember before shaking its head helplessly, “That was so long ago now, but I think five.”

  “Wow,” Larry didn’t know much about this world's version of the gym battles, but he assumed that they must’ve been hard-fought. It was clear, though, that Arcanine hadn’t had the same larger picture in mind when talking about what Larry assumed to be the Gym Challenge, it simply assumed it was some fun thing humans did with their Pokemon.

  Before Larry answered, Arcanine spoke up again, “So! Don’t fear that stuff about being with a trainer! It's obvious Valerie cares about you!”

  With her hand on his head, caressing his horn, Larry felt obliged to agree, “Yeah, she’s such a great trainer. Thanks.”

  …

  They had hiked downhill for around six hours and were taking a small break to catch their breath and drink something. Valerie had just changed the bandages on her shoulder and was now back on her phone, sitting with Larvitar in the soft plush of Arcanine's fur. She looked like she was about to pass out and simply sink into the depths of its pelt, “Arceus…”

  Larry cleared his throat in a demanding tone, and Valerie sprang up and quickly pulled him into a hug, “L-Larvitar! Don’t get the wrong idea!”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “Hmm, just had Larvitar for a day, and you’ve already found a new flame?” Maxine teased with a grin.

  “No!” Valerie quickly corrected herself, “I-It’s just Arcanine's fur is so-”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” Maxine moved closer and pet Arcanine on the head, “I know how lovely his fur is, I think Larvitar agrees as well.”

  Larry nodded and leaned deeper into Arcanine's fur as well, happy to show that he isn’t immune to Arcanine's fur either.

  “Just make sure to keep your eyes on your own Pokemon,” Maxine answered with a pat on Valerie's head, “In a way, you’re their entire world.”

  “I will, thanks, Maxine. How long do we still need to walk?”

  Arin spoke up from his seat, “Took us around eight hours to get in here, all while walking uphill and stuff, we’re in a bit of a corner right now, but I think we should be able to see the cave entrance when we get to a bit of a vantage point. Maybe another hour or a bit less than that?”

  “Can’t wait to finally be out of here.” Nick commented, “This place is just uncomfortable to be in for some reason.”

  Checking his watch, Arin finally clapped his hands together as he rose, “Alright, break times over. We still gotta get that Tyranitar to a healing station or more likely an operation table.” He tapped the camoed Pokeball on his belt for effect.

  “How is she staying healthy in there anyway?” Valerie questioned as she rose, earning a squeak of agreement at the question from Larry.

  “You probably know that Pokeballs act as a storage device, but they can also act as a stabilising device for the Pokemon inside. While they’re inside, they don’t get hungry as easily, and they don’t need to relieve themselves as frequently. It's why trainers recall they’re Pokemon after a fight instead of letting doctors on site tend to them, their injuries only progress very slowly inside a Pokeball, if at all.”

  “Yup,” Arin agreed as he pulled his backpack over his shoulder, “The problem is that it really saps a Pokeball's energy reserves, and after some time those features turn off if the Pokemon inside keeps relying on them. It's why we gotta hurry so much, I can only guess how long this Pokeball will keep charged. Your regular Pokeball will be able to handle that for a week or so, but severely injured Pokemon sap more power.”

  “Then, what are we still standing here for?!” Valerie asked anxiously, panicked squeaks for his mother also came from Larry right next to her, “What if the Pokeball suddenly conks out?!”

  “Well, the worst case I ever saw had the Pokeball only hold out for a day.” Arin confessed, “So, even with the flight back to the center, we should be in the clear for now.”

  Both Larry and Valerie breathed sighs of relief, “That’s good then. Let’s hurry along then,” She eyed the Safari Ball nervously, “That fact just made me far more stressed.”

  “Yup, let's quicken the pace for the end, we can relax on our fliers anyway.” The rangers agreed with a simple nod.

  “Your shoulder better yet?” Maxie inquired.

  Valerie tried moving her upper arm and grimaced, “It doesn’t hurt that much anymore, just feels gross and weird now…I wouldn’t want to walk with it.”

  “Then you’re in luck and get to enjoy some more time caressing Arcanine's fur.” She nodded at the Fire-Type, “You still up for it?”

  “Arf!” It backed back a simple “Yup!” and sat down to let Valerie and Larry sit up on its back.

  “Let’s go, people!” Arin announced as they continued their walk.

  …

  Cresting a hill, the cave entrance finally came into view to relieved sighs from everyone in the group. Not even twenty minutes or so later, they were finally making their way out of Mt. Silver.

  “I wonder how many people will believe me if I tell them I spent a night in Mt. Silver.” Valerie quirked to relieved laughs from their ranger escorts as they neared the mouth of the cave.

  “The trainer's life most definitely chose you more than you chose it.” Maxie commented wistfully, “I don’t think many trainers who end up with a Pseudo-Legendary end up with it the same way you do, usually it's all nepotism.”

  “Ehehe…” Valerie laughed bashfully before turning slightly somber, “It has been a bit of a shi- mess…” She quickly corrected, “I just hope everything calms back down from now on.”

  “Oh, sorry to disappoint, but the trainer life will definitely keep you on your toes.” Arin confessed to nods from the other rangers, “You are planning on running the gym circuit this spring, right?”

  “I want to… but with what happened with Dad and all the chaos surrounding what happened at Mt. Silver, I don’t know if I really can…” She had a sad look on her face, so Larry leaned more into her for comfort, and Valerie pulled him closer to her.

  “A journey is something important for kids,” Arin spoke, “Drew will be busy recuperating, so I don’t think he’d mind if you simply called him while on your journey instead of being there in person. If he is already going to be strapped to a hospital bed, I don’t think he’d want you stuck right next to him.”

  “But…” Valeire wanted to object, but Maxie continued.

  “And the mess at Mt. Silver is for us, the adults and people employed to deal with things like this, to clean up.” Maxie slowed and put a comforting hand on Valerie’s, who was holding onto Arcanine's fur, “It doesn’t concern you anymore, you know?”

  Valerie looked down at the ground in introspection, before shaking her head to clear her thoughts. She smiled back at her, clearly grateful, “You’re right. I’ll talk it over with Dad once we’re back. Thank you guys!”

  “Leave it to us!” Nick flexed an arm.

  “All in a day's work!” Arin smacked a fist into his open palm challengingly.

  “Just make sure to enjoy your journey and to come back a bigger person.” Maxie put a hand on her back, deftly avoiding her injury.

  “I will!” She nodded back earnestly, before turning down to her Pokemon, “Right, Larvitar?”

  He nodded back happily, “Of course we will!” squeaking out a short “Larvi-Larvitar!”

  …

  Larry felt the anticipation in their group rise with every step as they neared the cave exit. Arcanine was fidgeting around eagerly, bouncing with every step they got closer.

  Arin took in a big breath through his nose, “Ahh, you can already smell that fresh mountainside air!”

  The other agreed with happy nods, “Arceus, the air in there was so stale and musky.” Maxie complained.

  Taking the final few steps to the exit, Valerie hopped off Arcanine's back and jogged forward to the line where the sunlight from outside began, Larry following just after her, “C’mon, guys!”

  When the other rangers made their way over, she held them back before they could step over, “Wait!”

  “On three, two, one! Now!”

  In one large step, everyone crossed the line, bathing in the sweet morning sun which was just rising on the outside.

  Valerie knelt onto the earth theatrically. Larry followed suit, throwing himself onto the ground before rising back up and praising the sun. The rangers, too old to play out the act, simply smiled at the scene.

  “We’re out!”