Angels
They made the trek out of the desert, lead by Topaz, in complete silence. The Pokémon Centre nurse was very sympathetic, promising to make arrangements to see to the proper disposal of Wanda’s remains and giving them a four-bed dorm room all to themselves.
“My first two losses were bugs,” Saylee said, being driven insane by the silence. The nurse was also seeing to getting her glasses repaired, and until they were repaired she was depending on her senses of hearing and touch. Being without her glasses always made her essentially blind, so silence unnerved her greatly. Besides, though her eyes could not perceive the world clearly on their own, her memory could distinctly see the death of Cal, over and over, far too similar to Wanda’s demise.
“...your first two?” Key asked. Saylee nodded.
“Wilma was a Kakuna,” she said, “like a Silcoon, a bit. She was killed by a wild Rattata. It bit clean through her shell and killed her. My second loss was Cal, who was a Butterfree. They’re very similar to Beautifly, just a bit larger. He... he died in a similar fashion, too. He was killed when he was crushed by a rock-type. They were some of the first Pokémon that I ever caught, and it was so hard to lose them...”
“I’m sorry,” Key said. “I know you’d lost Pokémon before...”
“It was a long time ago,” Saylee said, “but I still remember it clearly. I just want you to know that I know exactly how much it hurts, your first loss... so suddenly...”
“It’s... not my first loss,” Key said. Saylee’s eyes flashed open involuntarily there as she tried to read Key’s face, but then she acknowledged that she couldn’t actually see Key’s expression and closed them again. “It was a long time ago, too, when I was a kid. His name was Raphael.”
“Can you tell me about him?” Saylee asked. She heard Key sigh, and thought for a moment that the younger girl wasn’t going to say anything more, but then Key started in on her story.
~
"Zigzagoon, Zigzagoon~" the little girl chanted as she skipped down the path. She giggled as she proudly clutched her new prized possession in her hand. Saving up for a pokéball had demanded a lot of patience, but now she could finally wander out and prove to her father that she could very well do things on her own. He kept telling her how dangerous it was out there- if the Pokémon at the Gym weren't mean, how could Pokémon outside be any worse?
"You look happy."
The girl skidded to a halt, and turned to see who had talked. A little white figure- only slightly smaller than her- was standing a couple feet away from her. She couldn't see the eyes because of the blue helm, but the smile was kind. She grinned back.
"Yeah! I finally got to buy my own Pokéball," she explained, holding out her recently acquired item. "I want to show Daddy that I can have Pokémon too."
"He doesn't let you have any?"
"All my friends have a Pokémon," she sighed, "and Daddy offered to give me one of his Zigzagoon. But I don't want his Zigzagoon, I want my own friend."
"So you're looking for a Zigzagoon of your own?" the white boy looked like he was curious, asking all these questions, so she sat down.
"I really want a Wurmple, but all the girls hate bugs, and the boys keep saying that Bug Pokémon don't live long..."
"Why do you worry about what they think of your Pokémon? If you want a Wurmple, you can get a Wurmple. It's your friend, not theirs. That's why you didn't want one of your Daddy's Zigzagoon, right?"
"...Wow, I never thought of it like that. You're really smart!" she beamed. "And you look glittery...is that because of the sun? Or..." she suddenly gasped, "are you an angel?"
The white boy burst out laughing.
"No, I'm not an angel. I'm a Ralts."
"A Ralts?" she repeated, tilting her head. "Are all Ralts pretty like you?"
"I'm...different," he replied hesitantly. "I try to think I'm special, but most call me weird...in a bad way."
"Why? You're really nice...and cute!" she added, making him blush. "What's your name?"
"My name's Raphael," he answered, fidgeting slightly. Was it because she said he was cute? "And you're...Key, right?"
"How did you know?" she gasped.
"I can read minds," he smiled. "It's one of my powers. And I can talk to you in your mind, too."
"That's so cool! Can you really?"
"Ralts are psychic Pokémon, so we can all do it." This time she heard his voice in her head, and his lips didn't move. She beamed.
"...Hey, um...Key?" he started, fidgeting and blushing a little again. "Do you...um...do you think we can be...you know...um...friends?"
"Duh! We're already friends!" she grinned. This time it was Raphael's turn to beam at her.
Key quickly stood and ran over to sweep up Raphael in a giddy hug, when at the very same instant a loud bark erupted from the tall grass behind them. Key squeaked and jumped, and held Raphael as she watched an angry-looking Poochyena bounce out.
Raphael loudly growled at it, but it was only enough to make the Poochyena falter for a few seconds as it immediately responded with a howl. Key started to shiver.
"Poochyena are immune to Psychic moves, I can't do anything against it! Run!!"
She didn't need to be told twice, and immediately broke into the fastest run she could, practically squashing poor Raphael in her arms. But every time she looked back, the Poochyena kept getting closer. It was faster than them. It was going to catch up to them before she could reach the town.
She tripped and fell to the ground. The Poochyena pounced, she clutched Raphael tighter, she screamed-
Instead of feeling a weight on her back and pain in her body, there was an angry roar and a swatting sound, followed by a loud yelp and rustling grass. Key slowly opened an eye and sat up.
Only to find a towering figure staring down at her, hands on waist, clearly VERY unhappy.
"How many times have I told you not to wander out here on your own?!" her father scolded. "What if I hadn't come out to find you? What do you think that Poochyena would have done to you, tell me?"
Key stared up at him, still shaking. She didn't have the courage to answer, and soon enough couldn't help but break down into massive tears and clutch Raphael against her chest, the small Psychic quietly gripping her shirt and patiently waiting for her to calm down.
~
“He’s not doing very well, is he?” Raphael said. He and Key were sitting and watching one of Norman’s challenges, a foreign man in scruffy black clothes who was being thoroughly trounced by Slaking.
“Of course not!” Key giggled. The challenger heard her and glared back at them, muttering darkly. His Golbat got smacked down yet again and this time failed to get back up. Norman declared the match over and went to shake the man’s hand, but the challenger just cursed again and slapped his hand away. “He’s rude, isn’t he?”
“Very rude,” Raphael said, shaking his head. “And angry, too.” Key and Raphael had become inseparable over the past year. The little psychic followed Key everywhere and was an amazing judge of character due to his ability to read feelings. This power also allowed him to always know exactly how Key felt, so that he was the first to cheer her up when she was sad and always ready to play when she was. Reciprocally, Key had become very adept at reading his feelings, and right now she could tell that he didn’t like the man in black at all.
“Screw you and your damn fatass Pokémon!” the man raged, storming away from the field. Key shied away as he stomped towards the door, which she and Raphael were sitting directly next to. Raphael moved forward a little, seating himself protectively between Key and the angry man. The man reached the door, glaring at Key and Raphael. He looked back at Norman, who was heading for Key, and then down at Raphael, who was glaring right back at him, grinned horribly, raised one booted foot-
~
“Bloody hell,” Saylee exclaimed.
“Exactly,” Key said roughly. “It hurt like hell. It felt like he’d stamped on me. I think I passed out. I woke up hours later, crying and crying and crying, and I couldn’t stop. Dad offered me a Pokémon to replace Raphael, but it’s not like anyone could. Thomas is the first Pokémon I’ve had since.”
“I’m sorry, I had no idea,” Saylee said morosely. She heard a creaking of bedsprings as Key shifted on her bed.
“Of course you didn’t, I only just told you,” Key said lightly. “It just never came up. Besides, you’ve lost so many more than me, in comparison it didn’t seem...”
“Death isn’t a numbers game,” Saylee said sharply, standing up. She opened her eyes to discern where Key was seating, then reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Any loss at all is a terrible, terrible thing and not to be taken lightly. But you know what?” She smiled a little. “An old friend told me that friends never really leave each other. They’ll always be with you, as long as you remember them. And they’ll always protect you. Psychics have an especially powerful presence in this world even after they’ve left.” She dug in her bag for her dreamcatcher. She stared absentmindedly at the dancing confection of colours and flashes of light, before hanging it up over her bed.
“Get some sleep,” she said. “Dream about Wanda. Then in the morning, we’d better get on the road to get you your fifth badge!”