“Alright team, first things first, we’re heading over to Mauville City Gym to see what we’re up against. From there, I’ll think up a strategy, and then we’ll train accordingly, okay? How’s that sound?” It was morning and I was finishing stuffing my bag before we left the Pokemon Center. The team yawned and stretched, but they seemed up for a good day of training, if indeed that’s what we needed to do.

We bowed our thanks to Nurse Joy and stepped out into the sun, turning right and walking down the path. Behind us lay several houses and a beach, and on our left, muffled clanging and dinging rang from the Game Corner. Right in front of us a ways was the gym, and….wait a minute, who was that outside of it?

Walking towards them, we realized that it was Wally and his Uncle, and the two were obviously in a heated discussion. As we neared them, we could hear Wally’s impassioned pleas and his Uncle’s patient but firm dismissals as he shook his head.

“Aww, Uncle, please? I want to challenge this gym and see how much better I’ve gotten! Please! I just know I’ve gotten a lot stronger?”

“Now hold on Wally, I know you’ve been with your Pokemon a lot already, but I just don’t know if you’re ready for a gym yet, especially this one. You remember how Wattson’s supposed to be really strong.”

“I know, but Uncle! I’ve trained so much! And when I combine power with Ralts, we can beat anyone!”

Wally’s Uncle seemed to catch me out of the corner of his eye and they both turned.

“Oh! Hey Sam! What brings you here?” But then Wally breaks in with obvious excitement.

“Sam! Hey!” and his cheeks get a bit red, “I’ve…I’ve gotten a lot stronger since you last saw me! Please! Battle me and help me convince my Uncle that I’m strong enough to challenge Wattson!”

I’m a bit caught off guard since this wasn’t in my plan for the day, but I recover and nod eagerly. “Alright, let’s go Wally, but I’m not going to hold back!”

“Works for me!” he says eagerly, “I won’t get stronger if people take it easy on me!”

Wally’s Uncle steps back and the battle begins. Wally sends out his Ralts, and it does seem stronger, and it’s look of determination mirrors Wally’s perfectly. I send out the Captain, figuring that neither have the type advantage, so it should be a fairer battle. Despite what I told Wally, I wasn’t going to go full on with Shaman Ruth and her super effective ghost moves unless I absolutely had to. Still….

“Captain! Give it a Peck!” And the Captain is off like a shot, and swoops in almost before Wally or his Ralts can realize what’s happening. Before the two can react, the Captain gives Ralts a solid peck on the head and it’s thrown backwards, landing at Wally’s feet, defeated in one blow.

The Captain flies back and gives me an uncertain look out of the corner of his eye. I give him a quick look back, and then turn my attention to Wally. I feel like a bully, and the battle which Wally was so excited about, I just ended in a single anticlimactic second.

Wally stoops down and picks up his unconscious Ralts off the ground. His head is bowed, and his face is mostly hidden by his hair. The look of determination and excitement is gone, and he doesn’t say anything for a while. The dust settles slightly before Wally whispers a quiet. “I lost….”

I feel terrible, and I’m about to say something when Wally suddenly looks up and turns to his Uncle, “I’ll go back to Verdantuft town.” His Uncle is surprised, and is about to say something when Wally turns back to me.

“Being a Pokemon trainer’s tough, isn’t it? It’s not enough to make them battle. You have to be strong too.”

“Wally, don’t be too hard on yourself!” his Uncle breaks in, “You lost this time, but there’s no reason why you can’t continue getting stronger! Come on, everyone’s waiting for you at home.”

Wally thinks for a bit, then turns to his Uncle, “You’re right. That’s true. I can’t get stronger if I don’t lose occasionally too. Sam, thank you. I’ll see you later okay?”

“Yeah, see you Wally.” I say, still feeling a bit awkward, but relieved that I still somehow didn’t mess things up. Wally’s Uncle stops suddenly, turns back, and walks up to me.

“It occurs to me that you must be the trainer he talked about who helped him catch his first Pokemon. Thank you so much for that. It really means the world to him and to us.”

I blush terribly and stammer that it’s nothing. His Uncle waves it away and says that whenever we’re in Verdantuft town to never hesitate to stop by. I nod, and say it sounds like a lovely idea, and then the two turn and continue walking down the street out of town.

“Well, I hope Wally’ll be okay.” I say as I give the retreating pair a last glance. “Alright, let’s take a look at this “Wattson” then.

As it turns out, Wattson’s gym specializes in Electric Pokemon, (which I find humorous, since his name is “Watt”son) so I decide the best course of action would be to see if I can train Zoe up enough for her to sweep the gym like Ruth did with Brawly back in Dewford Town. “Crush that Shock with a Rock!” and “Fighting Electricity? Stay Grounded!” I remember from my trainer book.

“Alright Captain, well, if it’s Electricity we face, I’ll have to send you to Birch for this one.” The Captain bows, “A fine idea Miss” he seems to say, and I stop by the PC to grab Grimer as well. We bow and say our goodbyes to the Captain and then his Pokeball is being energized into the computer and Grimer’s has taken it’s place.

It’s fun having the Captain around, (not that Grimer isn’t also fun to have around of course) and I long for the day when he might be able to carry us over the land and sea, but his flying type would be the one of the worst match-ups against electric. “Flying’s not to be feared, not when there’s Thunder to be heard!” I’ll admit, some of these catch phrases from the book were pretty groan-inducing, but they worked, and were short and easy to remember, which was always the most important. I felt like “Going against Steel? Electrify it with zeal!” wouldn’t have been out of place either, but for some reason, Electricity was only normally effective against Steel. I was never really sure why, but that’s just the way it was.

This was from the introductory book of course, but even though I had finished reading it a long time ago and moved on to more “Professional” ones, the introductory book was still the easiest to remember. A good primer for the up-and-coming trainer like myself.

When Grimer had flashed into the sun, along with his trademark scent before he pulled it back, I turned to the team and explained the plan. It’d be all Zoe, her chance to really shine. We’d train everyone up just in case Zoe needed a relief, but for the most part, I’d be concentrating on getting her a bit more powerful than everyone else. The team looked at Zoe, and seemed to imagine her twenty feet tall with bulging muscles. John Henry seemed amusedly envious. But Zoe smiled, seeming pleased, if a bit embarrassed by all the attention, and nodded. She’d do her best for the team.

A few minutes later and we’re rustling through the grass on the outskirts of Mauville, and presently find ourselves facing a Persian, it’s shining coat gleaming in the sun. Todd and Shaman Ruth swap places in their usual Pokemon-catching duet, and soon we find ourselves an 8th if we ever need one–Lyle the modest Persian.

We also find the path is full of trainers, which we happily engage. A few are a bit tough, but the team handles them well and after continuing on the route, we soon find ourselves on the outskirts of Verdantuft Town. I guess it was closer than I thought, and we walk into town to say hi to Wally and his Uncle while we’re here. I don’t plan to stay long, but we stop by and say our hellos anyway.

As it turns out, the man we saw in Rustboro Tunnel is actually the boyfriend of Wally’s cousin, Wanda, which is a neat coincidence. We mention we’re just passing through and let them know we’ll give a more prolonged visit another day. They wish us luck and we head towards the Verdantuft side of the tunnel, the lovely, fresh breeze doing wonders for our moral.

We meet a hiker who Todd is able to handily defeat, and wander around the dark tunnel for a bit before turning a corner and finding ourselves out in the sunlight. It’s an enclosed area with cliffs and forests on all sides, and it feels like a special little place. A man is walking around, looking like he’s lost something. He states that he’s lost his glasses, and I whip out our new handy dandy Itemfinder to see if we can find them. There’s a series of dings and the machine points behind me.

Turning, I see Zoe has been wandering around and has found a pair of glasses with dark lenses. “Hey! Good job Zoe! You found them! Are these what you were looking for sir?”I ask as Zoe hands me the glasses helpfully. The man looks, then shakes his head, saying his glasses must be somewhere else he supposes, and heads back through the tunnel.

“Well Zoe, I guess they’re yours then. The darkness of the lenses might help you channel the strength of your Bite, since it’s technically a Dark-type move too.” Zoe nods, and holds the glasses over her head,

“Larvitar Larv Larvi…” and puts the glasses on.

“Larvi Larvitar.” And puts her hands on her hips. A Fearow calls loudly in the background.

She looks really cool, and the team swarms around her, complimenting her. Fern’s got her Scarf, and now Zoe’s got her glasses, and the two lean back to back, an awesome-looking duo. Zoe scowls impressively, but then Fern hugs her and she laughs, her glasses knocked askew.

We take a short break here, as it’s just too beautiful and peaceful not to. My team and I relax for a bit on the soft grass of this remote location, playing and looking up at the sky. Fern leads John Henry around, looking for and showing him her favorite flowers. After a while, John Henry in turn tosses her up in the air playfully and catches her easily with one hand, much to Fern’s glee. Shaman Ruth always seems to meditate whenever we have breaks like this, and is doing so with her back against the cliff face, occasionally absorbing small pebbles from in and around the cliffside. A sort of gravely wailing noise comes from her contentedly. Todd and Zoe are laying peacefully on their backs, watching the clouds go by and enjoying the breeze. Todd turns and gives Zoe a light squirt, and Zoe giggles, tossing a pawful of dirt at him playfully. Meanwhile, Grimer seems to be enjoying the sun and has reduced himself to a flat, happy puddle which bubbles and curdles from time to time in obvious enjoyment.

After a spell, I decide we really do need to get back to/start training for real, and I rouse my team. They’re a bit disappointed but are understanding. I promise them we’ll come back at some point in time and that makes them happy. Heading back through the cave and walking through the delightful fresh air of Verdantuft town, we make our way back to the outskirts of Mauville to train in the grass around there.The training’s going well so far, and Zoe’s up first, handling her opponents with ease. At one point, she dodges a particularly strong tackle and summons a torrent of rocks from a nearby hillside, burying her foe and defeating it soundly. Zoe learned Rock Slide!

I’m thrilled, as she’s finally grown into her element. This is exactly the sort of thing that will come in handy later.Everyone is getting stronger; Fern sends opponents singed and tumbling, Todd’s doubleslapping and water gunning his opponents off the field, and Grimer’s been sludging like a champ, his aim and accuracy practically perfect. Shaman Ruth also had a significant battle, where she was able to lock eyes with her opponent and send a strange, vivid ray from her one eye. The ray seemed to swirl weirdly and the foe was instantly confused, stumbling about and finally taking itself out when it tripped over a rock fell flat on it’s face, defeated. Shaman Ruth learned Confuse Ray!

A few hours later and we were at the entrance of Cycling Road. I figured, since we had a bike now, and there was bound to be trainers up there, we might as well battle them for the experience before we took the low road again to fight through the wild grass. The woman at the desk tells us to ride safely, and we’re off.

It’s hard to describe the feeling of being on Cycling Road. You’re up high in the air, but it’s a road, and you can ride as fast as you want with no danger of falling off. On either side were high walls that you probably couldn’t even climb, and so any outside sound was faint. If you listened really hard, you could hear the ocean, and every now and then you heard the wind whistling overhead. Aside from that, it was just you, your breathing, and your bicycle. It was wonderful.

Of course, as we made our way down we ran into a lot of men and women doing Triathlon training, which I thought was fitting. What better place to hone your body than a long flat road in the sky? They all seemed to be concentrating hard on their breathing rates, or forcing their will to keep moving, but as we tried to ride by them unobtrusively, they’d all inevitably call out for a battle, then dismount, some with shaky legs under them. You’re not allowed to walk along the road, it’s too dangerous as there’s the chance you’ll get creamed by a speeding cyclist, but you are allowed to dismount far off to the side out of the way and rest, or battle if you felt like it. This kept the way clear for people on Mach Bikes, who I was told, ran contests with one another to see how fast they could get from one end to the other with the least amount of stopping or crashing. Sounded pretty dangerous to me, and I decided that training would better serve our interests instead.

Most of the triathletes had Doduos or Magnemites with them, which was good training for Zoe, but at one point, one of the them calls for his Magnemite to use “Sonicboom” and there’s a loud clap, not unlike thunder, and Zoe drops to a knee. I’m not sure exactly what’s happened, but I quickly switch her out for Shaman Ruth. The attack affects her just as much though, and seems to always do the same damage, like Ruth’s nightshade, and I have to keep an eye on Ruth carefully, less I have to toss her a Super Potion at a moment’s notice. She finally nightshades the foe for the second time and it goes down.

It was a tough battle, and it’s taught me that just because Zoe’s a Rock/Ground type doesn’t mean she’s immune to damage. And if these Triathletes’ Pokemon know this move, I can a bet Wattson and all of his trainers would know it too. We’ll have to do some serious training, even more than I thought, just to make sure.

We continue cycling, challenging or being challenged by the various other riders, and finally reach the end, having gotten a bit stronger, but also a bit battle worn. We stop in Slateport to heal, and then area about to return to Cycling Road to train in the grass near Mauville when we notice that unusual house we had ignored last time. We decide to take a look.We knock on the door and it opens for us weirdly. I step uncertainly inside, and feel someone watching me. A gleam shines from under a table and I step forward uncertainly.

All of a sudden a man pops up from underneath it with much gusto and announces himself as “The greatest mystery of men in all of Hoenn, the Trick Master!” Before we can say or do anything, he insists that we must be here to challenge his trick house. I try to stammer that we were just curious, but then he bowls us over with his enthusiasm, saying that the challenge is accepted, and instructs us to go through the door with the scroll on it. He gives a loud laugh, does a weird, fast, spinning motion and disappears. My team and I stand there for a moment, not quite sure what’s just happened. I look over at Ruth, who shrugs, and we head inside.

The back room is much bigger on the inside than you’d expect, and it’s been turned into a sort of labyrinth with thin trees at each junction. Not knowing exactly what we were supposed to be doing with these trees, I figured the only reason these particular trees had been planted was to be cut (which seemed a bit mean to the trees if you ask me). I sighed. We would need to leave and pick up the Captain. Excusing ourselves from the house, I couldn’t help but feel a little awkward. After swiftly riding down to Slateport we deposited Grimer who seemed confused but shrugged good-naturedly, and retrieved the Captain who bowed deeply and gave a sort of confused screeching laugh. A few minutes later, we once again found ourselves tentatively stepping through the scroll door. Nothing had changed and the so-called “Trick Master” was still nowhere to be seen.

As the Captain helped cut our way through the trees, we found a few other kids who were lost, and they asked if we could battle to pass the time. I agreed, but because of all our training, we beat them handily, and they reluctantly handed over our winnings, and grumbled about how now they were alone in the maze and still lost. I gave them all directions out and that seemed to revitalize their spirits.

At long last, the Captain gave one final slash and we found a small scroll pressed against a dead end. I approached, wondering if this was maybe a clue as to what we were supposed to be doing here or what the point was of all this. In beautiful, swirling calligraphy, the scroll read:

Trick Master is fabulous!

What. I looked at my team in confusion and they returned my look. Shaman Ruth laughs in amusement and Todd beams, as if nothing could be a finer truth. Not sure what I made of this, we turned, continuing through the maze until we finally reached a door. The door had a large sheet or parchment attached to it, and a pen hung from a string.

“I guess we write the, uh, password then?” I asked, gesturing to the door. I picked up the pen and scrawled the appraising message on it. There was a click, and the door swung open. Hardly believing our luck, we stepped inside and followed a long, quiet hallway filled with elaborate portraits of the Trick Master in various grand poses. Here he was riding a rearing Rapidash while brandishing a sword, there, fighting an intense boxing match with a Hitmonlee (and winning), and here strutting down the stage wrapped in a horribly gaudy (but somehow still fashionable) outfit, to the cheers of an admiring crowd. Finally reaching a door, we knocked uncertainly and entered.

The great Trick Master sat on a cushion pleasantly eating a bowl of noodles. As we entered he almost dropped the bowl in surprise, but recovered himself quickly.

“How did you pass–I mean, Ah! so you have completed my puzzle so soon! I did not expect you to get this far, it took me all night to plant those trees. Hmm, you may be my equal in one, two, three, four, five, six places! Here is your reward!” And he flips a Rare Candy into the air like a coin and I scramble awkwardly to catch it, feeling a little foolish but grinning in spite of myself. “Scrub that smug smirk off your face! I’ll make new tricks that will stump you! You may mock me only when you have truly beaten me! For now, so long! Wahahaha!” And he spins rapidly and disappears. I’m not really quite sure what to make of this guy, but he seems fun. Smiling in spite of the oddness of this whole situation, I pocket the gift and we make our way from the house, laughing.

“Well team, that was an odd little excursion, but let’s get back to training, shall we?” The give an enthusiastic cheer and we head out into the wild grass of the low road since we’re in the area A few battles in though, and it’s apparent that my team is now to strong to get much experience from these Pokemon. I feel bad that everyone’s grow stronger but the Captain, and decide to swap him out with Grimer so he can get stronger too, even if he won’t be with us in the gym. As we leave the Pokemon center, I decide to head back to Mauville; the new Pokemon there were better to train against, but I couldn’t help feeling that I was just making an excuse to ride along the Road though, since it was so nice. Though either reason was fine with me, I reflected, smiling.

————————————————————————————————————————————————–

It’s getting late in the day, and it’s John Henry’s turn now. He’s been doing well against his opponents, taking a few hits here and there, but overall doing great and growing stronger by the battle. He’s up against a Sunflora now, his second that he’s fought today, and he’s beating it handily.

Fern, who always insists on being present during John Henry’s battles to give him support is cheering loudly and calling her encouragement. A low kick to start out, and then a powerful Seismic Toss. The foe is slammed into the ground, and is slow to get up. I can tell that John Henry wants to rush in and finish it, as is his rash nature, but words from Fern call for him to use caution. I second the motion and he nods and takes a defensive stance, even though the foe hasn’t thrown a single attacking move yet. The foe’s down, but not out, he knows.

The foe seems too weak now though to do much, and I’m about to call for him to finish it with another low kick when all of a sudden the Sunflora gives a deafening cry. Razor-sharp leaves are torn from it’s body and the Sunflora hurls them at an incredible speed, the leaves whizzing through the air. John Henry is barely able to throw up a guard before I can even react, and then the leaves are cutting past him and into him, a swarm of them filling the air and thrumming terribly.

And then it’s over. John Henry staggers for a moment, and then falls with a crash. I called to him if he was alright. It was a vicious hit, definitely, and I’m worried about him. But I’m sure he’s stronger than that…..

He wasn’t moving. The Sunflora stood panting a distance away, but with sudden confusion in it’s eyes as if it had made a mistake.

“John…John Henry…?” I call, suddenly very afraid. Fern’s frozen on the sideline, an expression of pure shock on her face.

John Henry doesn’t stir.

I feel my blood run cold and suddenly felt like I had been punched in the gut. “C…Captain. Go.” I managed to get out, reaching for his ball and tossing him out. The Captain nodded, and shot towards the Sunflora, giving it a sharp peck. It was out in an instant.

I rushed to John Henry’s side, but Fern had already beat me there, struggling to roll him over. He wasn’t breathing, and it was obvious how hard the hit had been. He had barely been scratched before. And for one attack to do this much…This was supposed to be a training run…Just training.

Fern’s still pulling at his arm, calling for him to wake up. I feel cold and numb. Picking up John Henry, I called to the Captain. The others were still in their Pokeballs at the moment. Fern jumps on my shoulder and the Captain flaps his wings hard as we sprint to the Pokemon Center.It had been an accident, the Captain called at me, using Fern to translate, even as she gripped tight on my shoulder, shaking.

He had been sure of it now, and I agreed with him, managing only a nod. The Sunflora was getting beaten and was almost out, but in one last attempt, pulled together an incredible amount of strength for one last strike. But it went too far, and now the reason for the confusion on it’s face was clear. It hadn’t meant to….it was just trying to beat him….not….

— —- — —- —- —- —- —– —–

The scene that followed was surreal. I couldn’t remember much of it, just that Chansey relieved me of John Henry and I slumped into a seat with the Captain perched next to me. Fern crawled into my lap and was hugging me tight around the middle. He couldn’t be dead. Not John Henry. Not the strongest Pokemon I had ever known. Not for Fern’s sake. Oh Arceus please don’t let him be dead.

Nurse Joy and Chansey reappeared some time later, grave looks on their face. I knew what that meant. I had seen those looks when Sano had died. I nodded, not even aware of what they were saying, and took John Henry’s body, wrapped in a clean white sheet. He was cold, and the sudden facelessness of that bundle disturbed me.

I managed a slight bow, we left. and I found myself walking through town, heading to that lovely clearing surrounded by cliffs and forests. That’s where we’d bury him, I decided. A nice spot, where he could see the clouds go by, where the air was fresh and sweet.

Stepping out into the fading light of the clearing was surreal. It had only been a few hours ago that we had laid on this grass under this sky and relaxed, played even. I let the others out to learn what had happened. Shaman Ruth looked grave, and Todd and Zoe listened with looks of shock on their faces.

— —- — —- —- —- —- —– —–

We dug the hole together, all of us. Fern started to resist at first, wanting to do it all herself, but Shaman Ruth put a hand on her shoulder. Fern looked up at her, tears in her eyes, and Shaman Ruth nodded, gesturing, and gave a high, mournful cry like the wind through windows without glass.

We chose a nice spot surrounded by the flowers that just hours ago Fern was showing excitedly to John Henry and dug in silence. It felt good to work. To do something, to feel the burning of your muscles and the blisters forming on your hands. I picked up a rock and used it to carve away at the ground while the others used tails or wings or claws or hands.

Zoe helped a lot, the earth being a close part of her. She and the Captain had met John Henry only a few days prior, most of their time spent with him on Mr. Briney’s boat, sharing stories, listening, and getting to know one another. They had trained alongside each other, but they hadn’t known John Henry as well or for as long as the rest of the group.

As the Captain resolutely used his sharp wings to scoop up mounds of dirt, I suddenly reflected that he and John Henry had never gotten to have the sparring match they had promised each other. This afternoon would have been perfect weather for it, but they couldn’t do it; John Henry had been with Fern, and the Captain had been with Professor Birch. Perhaps if he had been there, they might have… I felt another pang of regret and lost opportunities and continued digging.

Why? Why did it have to go this way? It wasn’t grand. It wasn’t even noble. There wasn’t a reason for it, or a greater purpose. It was just a battle to help him grow stronger like he normally would. Just an accident….just…just something that happened.

When it was done, Shaman Ruth gently lifted John Henry’s body, and I uncovered his face and hands; it looked like he was wearing an oversized robe. The cuts on his face and hands were still there, but they were clean, with fresh bandages. But now he suddenly looked so small in Ruth’s arms and I kept forgetting how small he was in reality.

He was always so bold and rash, always showing off in good spirits that he never seemed very small to me. But Ruth, who was my size, now seemed to tower over him, and I was thankful when she laid him softly down. Giving a low murmuring call like a river coming to its end, Ruth tenderly stroked her fingers over his closed eyes and touched his hands one last time.

Zoe and the Captain followed after Ruth, somber, and with tears in their eyes. I could tell they really wished they both had had the time to know him better, had had more time to become friends and travel together. As a token of respect, The Captain bowed low, and pulled a sharp, gleaming feather from his wing and laid it gently at John Henry’s feet. Zoe, as her token reached down and retrieved a pawful of dirt, which she gently poured over John Henry’s hands. They said their goodbyes and stepped away to join the others.

Grimer slid over slowly next, sludgy tears rolling from his eyes and reached out to touch John Henry’s arm. He did so slightly, trying not to leave too much of his slime on him, but even with his delicacy, there was left a smudge of purple on John Henry’s white blanket. He and John Henry had always gotten along pretty well, but I could tell that Grimer had always looked up to him with respect for his strength and character. Todd was the next one to say goodbye, and he bent down and blew a few small bubbles at John Henry’s form; a tribute to their friendship and friendly sparring matches.

Fern was the last of the team, and bent down to put a flower in his hands, his strong, worn hands that she had folded over his chest. I don’t think John Henry had ever cared much for flowers, but I’m sure he would have enjoyed them for her. This was Fern’s final act: to put a part of her with him in the end. She had been adamant about carrying him into the woods, and positioning him for burial…. She brushed his cheek gently, looking hard at his face and then straightened up. She stood at his feet but could hardly speak,

“Plusle…Plus, plus. Plusle…. she manages to say in a strangled whisper.

She had loved John Henry, I knew, and he had loved her back, in his own way. Once, their eyes had shone with affection for each other, but the innocent joy that once filled Fern’s eyes has been replaced by sorrow, and loss. She looked as if she’d never be able to be cheerful again and I could’t blame the way she felt at all. The two of them had looked differently at each other since they first met, and had always shared secret glances every now and then. When we were on Mr. Briney’s ship the last few days, they had steadily started spending a lot of time talking together in a corner, or staring out into the ocean with each other. Now that was gone, and new tears began to form in Fern’s eyes as if she had seen my thoughts.

Now it was my turn, and I stepped forward, looked down at John Henry’s form, so still and peaceful, and took a breath.

“John Henry, you were strong. You were….the strongest Pokemon I’ve ever had…or known, or…” I stopped and tried to collect myself. Tried to just speak from the heart.

“I’ll miss you. I mean, I’ll really, really miss you. And the team will miss you, all of us, especially Fern here. Yeah. We’ll all miss you…We’ll all try to be stronger though, try to keep going for you, you know? I know you would have helped inspire and push us. You were always doing that and…it’ll be lonely without you. We won’t forget you. Thanks for everything,” and my voice cracks. I step back clumsily, wipe tears from my eyes and then nod to Zoe.

She’s able to move the earth slowly and carefully into the hole, steadily covering John Henry until a small mound is all that remains. I take the rock I had used to dig and ram it into the ground hard near his head. It’s nondescript, rough, and dirty, and I had had the Captain carve a crude “J. H.” into it with his wingtip. It’s all I can do now, but I feel like it somehow fit John Henry’s personality though, and felt that he wouldn’t have minded much.

Todd waddles over to Fern, who is weeping silently and wraps his tail around her, leaning against her. Ruth puts her hand on Fern’s shoulder, squeezing it tight and Zoe walks respectfully over and hugs Fern around the middle from behind. The Captain spreads his beautiful wings and covers the group and Grimer gently sludges his way into the mass to hug anyone and everyone. Even Grimer’s smell didn’t seem to make any indent on the sorrow of that moment.

I stood next to them, wishing I too could be enfolded in someone’s embrace. Wishing someone was there to comfort me too. But then a wave swept over me, and I sat down and wrapped them all in my arms. I was the one who would protect and comfort. This team was my responsibility now and it was I who would take care of them.

For a long while we were a bundle of softly crying entities. No humans. No Pokemon. Just seven small, individual specks of consciousness.

Mourning a life.

Mourning our friend.

Mourning John Henry.

End of Chapter 7