As I tried to finish clearing my mind of the influence, arguing with 'myself' about what I should or should not do in the future while walking through the woods my team was having their own discussion.
"I say let him do it, I mean actions have consequences" Sin put in.
"Totally agree with you there sonny, this bird has got fluff in her brain" Ian added.
"Woah woah woa-shock-you guys are still arguing on whether or not to kill me? -shock- I thought I was saved" the Spritzee was trying to stand behind Puff and away from the two arguing for his death.
"But food. I got food, why not eat food?" Fly compined. Puff was quick to whack her on the head. Fly crouched lower and looked much smaller than usual as she peered at Puff through watery eyes.
"He is NOT food, here why don't you get closer to the fire to dry off" Puff was moving with the Spritzee to the fire.
"Back in my day killing enemies was a good way to make sure they weren't enemies anymore. Like Sanzu-"
"I'll stop you right there, I don't have all night. Here Fly, I'll share my berries with you and Ian you're younger than I am so don't go pulling this back in my day nonsense" Puff moved back over to Fly, putting her berries on the ground not to be shocked by the overeager puppy.
"Thank you!" Fly eagerly dug into them, the quick turn around making her ploy to manipute them obvious. Sin closed his eyes and started practicing his control again. Something he did a lot now that he couldn't train all the time with his muscles since he was needed for fighting and escaping from wild Pokémon. Spritzee was quickly recovering from the paralysis as he sat by the fire that Ian was hovering over. His prepared swords dance wore off as his bde dulled and he reused the move to be prepared for any sudden attacks. This time was the most safe actually, with daytime predators going to sleep and the night ones only now waking, but prudence was needed with such a small troop.
Spritzee backed off, scared at the dancing swords and ghostly scene before him. "What a weakling" Sin muttered.
"What's your problem? You got your arm cut off and you think you get to act like this? Have some css honey" Puff was really ruffled about Sin's situation. Max might not be able to understand him but he wasn't a nice fellow. He had a lot of respect to give, reverence even for his grandmaster but looked down on the weak. And by that I mean he either ignored or insulted them to their face.
"Not for that reason, but because I am stronger" he said. "I lost that bet because I was weak, and Kubfu kept me on the right path despite her unreasonable methods."
Puff didn't know what to say to that. It was a losing battle anyways as with her limited knowledge that was exactly what happened. Suddenly thinking about a point she could bring up she did "Then be a better person than Kubfu. Here, we can start you out by helping me."
Sin gred at her but he wasn't able to speak before she added "I just need you to sp your knee in rhythm. Let's make this pce happy for when Maxy comes back, it will do him good." Sin thought about it and nodded, Max was stronger than him so he would help out.
The others watched what Puff would sing, turns out it was "You Make My Dreams Come True" by Daryl Hall and John Oates. She cpped her wings in time with the imagined beat and after a couple seconds Sin picked it up and started spping his knee in time with it. Puff started smiling as he did and began making some mist which she started filling the air with, making smileys, hearts, and other things that made people feel better.
Ian had heard the tune before he was sent to Max and started cpping along with some rock structures he made on the ground as the song picked up. He added more as he felt more comfortable and it started sounding like a crowd as the cps were somewhat offset from each other from his ck of control.
Puff had started emphasizing her voice with a weak hyper voice. Not too loud but enough to fill the campground. She also shot a smiley face at Sin, trying to tempt him into grinning instead of his ft face. To his credit he tried, but it looked so unnatural that it was terrifying with his sharp teeth and with how the corners of his lips didn't perk up. His eyes took on this weird look too as if he was a murderer so Puff turned away from him and Spritzee flinched away.
Fly was getting jumpy and wanted to join in too so she started howling, which offput the song. Puff tried to fix this but ended up letting the energized puppy do her thing. She blocked out that part of the camp from her ears, in a nice way of course.
The Spritzee joined in to make a duet, his voice adding to hers in a nice way.
Meanwhile Max was just walking for the sake of walking. He didn't go far, widely circling the campsite barely out of sight. Strong enough to fight my own battle eh grandpa? I looked at the cloudy night sky and tried to expin this. Grandpa had usually been more upbeat and bright about the future, going with the flow and hoping everything would turn out alright.
The advice didn't sound like him thinking back. Even with a clear mindset, a benefit of the dark TE sometimes, I thought that something was up. The letter was burned to a crisp, so I have to remember. But that was hard, each time I thought back to it, the message seemed so clear but the wording was foggy. Maybe there was emphasis on certain parts, he said to do what makes me happiest. I wanted to give back to my family, that hadn't changed. There was nothing else I had really set in stone that I wanted. Singing with the others is fun but I don't really know what else that would make a big difference to me. Save the Wailords? Nah, they can fly through the skies to escape hunting.
... Was that really all I could come up with? A disappointment was what I was then. That is what I am until I can accomplish something great enough.
Grandpa also had a quote, something about pain being good. It was hard but I pieced together my two readings to figure out and recall the letter well enough. The one line though was that I needed to fight for myself. Right up until death even, that was good advice. I was committed to this and wanted to live it too. I would accomplish something one day, that I promise on top of my other one.
I stepped over a log and crossed the path towards Darkuf. Maybe I wasn't thinking creatively enough, but I at least had a general direction now. I need to get strong so I can at the very least protect my family, if possible drive the wilds away. That would be pretty hard with centuries old alphas owning the nd, having changed it even. A Florges, Shiinotic, Sylveon, and finally a Togekiss. There were a lot of mentions of Gardeviors too but always as servants. Servants that together were strong enough to fight off armies.
I looked up again to see a star peaking through the clouds. Just one but it shone brightly for it. I watched that star and wondered if I could do it, if I could become as strong as a gym leader, a champion, THE Ash Ketchum maybe.
A story of humble beginnings followed Ash, slowly gaining experience and Pokémon. Owning over 50 Pokémon he had a massive selection, some capable of fighting legendarys one on one, some less so. It took years but he became a Pokémon master, finally winning a circuit tournament and even becoming the first champion of Alo before winning the league cup. Truly inspiring when in his first year he lost because of his sleeping Charizard.
I could be like that, someone from po-dunk nowhere, even worse off than Ash as even he had a professor in his hometown. But I first had to make a team. I looked back towards the camp, hearing some singing going on and howling.
I smiled, thinking about how annoyed Puff would be at Fly for messing with her song and started walking back. I'd let Spritzee come with us to see the world. Proof of our strength that we could move on and explore wild areas even with a tourist. A test for my self-control. And stly someone who had a goal. Someone who had figured out what he wanted to do in life, something I didn't know how to go about on my own.
I'd learn something about myself, that is for sure.
