The next morning came grey and soft through the curtains, the dim lighting not being enough to wake Kai from his deep sleep.
Sandshrew, on the other hand, had been awake for a while.
It had tried, in fairness, to let Kai sleep. It had sat on its pillow and waited. Then it had got down off the pillow and waited by the door. Then it had done a slow, deliberate circuit of the room — sniffing the bag, batting once at the lamp cord, inspecting the gap under the radiator with great seriousness — all the while glancing back at the lump in the bed that stubbornly refused to become a conscious human being.
Realising things weren't looking good, Sandshrew decided to take matters into its own hands.
So it climbed back up.
Not onto its own pillow. Onto Kai's. It walked up the duvet with the unhurried tread of a Pokémon that had run out of patience, planted itself square on his chest, and lowered its face until it was an inch from his.
And waited.
Kai surfaced slowly, feeling the weight of the small Pokémon on his chest.
A wide, flat, scaly face filled his entire field of vision.
"Shrew..."
"GAH—"
He jerked back into the headboard with a thud, heart going like a drum, the duvet flying. Sandshrew didn't so much as flinch. It simply rode the movement, claws folded, regarding him with the calm, faintly judgemental patience of something that had been up for an hour and considered this entirely his own fault.
"Shrew, Shrew" it said.
"You—" Kai pressed a hand to his chest, breathing hard, and then the laugh got him before the telling-off could. "Sandshrew! You little fucker, you got me good." Kai said, seeing the funny side.
"Sandshrew," it replied, unbothered, and finally hopped down onto the duvet.
"Right by my face. An inch off my face." He scrubbed both hands down over it, still half-laughing.
Kai could guess that Sandshrew had been awake for a while now, knowing it was time to make a move.
"Alright, alright. I'm up. You've made your point."
Breakfast was downstairs, and he made a proper job of it this time. The rest of the team was back from Nurse Joy's overnight machine, and he let every last one of them out onto the canteen floor to feed. Totodile snapped at its bowl like it had a grudge against it. Rattata went through its share in seconds and started eyeing Zubat's. Sentret kept its distance from the others, curling its tail around its food to protect it.
And there, off at the edge of the loose circle, was Mankey...
Kai had let it out. That was the thing he kept telling himself — he'd let it out, hadn't shut it away in its Ball like he had every day since the clearing. It ate with its back half-turned, shoulders hunched, and it didn't look at him once. But it ate. That was something. He didn't push it. He just set the bowl down a little closer than strictly necessary and went back to his own.
They all looked better. That was the truth of it. Fur settled, eyes bright, the gym battle a day behind them now. Even Snubbull, who'd taken the worst of Falkner's Pidgeotto, was bouncing about playing with the others after finishing its food.
Snubbull, Totodile, Rattata, Zubat and of course Sandshrew were all very close now, playing well together. However, Sentret and of course Mankey were another story, knowing they would still need work.
He was halfway through scratching Snubbull's ears when the Pokégear went off in his pocket.
Kai took it out and looked at the caller ID.
PROF. ELM, the little screen read.
"Morning, Professor."
"Kai! There you are." Elm's voice came through warm and slightly breathless, the way it always did, like he'd jogged to the phone. "I won't keep you long, I know you're busy out there. Just thought I'd check in. How's the journey treating you? How are they all getting on?"
"Yeah, good. Really good, actually." Kai glanced at the team scattered across the canteen floor. "Better than good. We took on the Violet gym yesterday and won the Zephyr Badge."
There was a beat of silence, and then a clatter on the other end that might have been Elm dropping whatever he'd been holding.
"You — Falkner? The Flying specialist? Already?" The delight in his voice was unmistakable. "Kai, that's marvellous. Marvellous, well done — Oh, I knew you had it in you." A rustle of papers, the sound of him collecting himself.
"Your first badge. Goodness. Wait until I tell the lab."
Kai found himself grinning at the floor. "Cheers, Professor."
"No, no, you've earned every bit of it." Another rustle. "Now — while I've got you, there is one small thing I wanted to ask. A favour, really."
Kai's grin went a touch wary, wondering what it would be this time, he thought, almost laughing to himself.
"Nothing dramatic, I promise. There's a Pokémon egg I've arranged to collect — from a breeder just outside Violet City. I'd send someone myself, but you're right there, and frankly I trust you with it more than I trust the post." A pause. "It's a delicate thing, an egg. Needs warmth, needs minding. Would you carry it for me until you're back this way?"
"Carry it? You mean keep it?"
"That's right."
Kai nodded, seeing why not.
"Sure, that shouldn't be a problem."
"Wonderful." The relief in Elm's voice was almost comic. "Oh — and one more thing. Ethan's in Violet City too, did you know? You two ought to meet up. He's a good lad, and I think the company would do you both good out there."
Kai's eyebrows went up at the mention of Ethan's name, excited.
"Yeah, I'll give him a ring."
"Good. Take care of yourself, Kai. And the egg until I see you next time."
The line clicked off.
Kai sat there a moment, turning the Pokégear over in his hand, then scrolled to Ethan's number and rang it before he could think too hard about it, watching it ring.
Here's the reworked park scene with the proper greeting, the Pokémon hellos, and a fuller catch-up:
"See you there," Kai said to himself, laughing as he looked at his Pokégear.
The park sat near the centre of the city, a long green strip with a pond at one end and a scatter of benches under the trees. Bell-flowers grew wild along the edges of it, and the morning had warmed enough that a few of them had opened.
Ethan was already there when Kai arrived, pacing by the pond with his cap on backwards, same as always, Cyndaquil snuffling about in the grass at his feet. He spotted Kai coming and his whole face lit up.
"There he is!"
Kai met him halfway. Their hands came together in a sharp clap, gripped, gave one good firm shake — the kind of greeting they'd not had the chance for since they'd gone their separate ways back at the start of all this.
"Good to see you, man," Ethan said, a large grin on his face.
"You too, man," Kai said, returning his smile.
He then crouched down as Cyndaquil came trundling over to investigate, its little back ports glowing faintly. "And hello to you. You've grown a bit, haven't you?"
"Cynda!" it chirped, puffing itself up.
Ethan grinned and turned to Kai's shoulder, where Sandshrew had perched, claws hooked into his collar, regarding the pair of them with its usual unbothered calm. "And the man of the hour himself. Or — Pokémon of the hour. Alright, Sandshrew?"
"Shrew," Sandshrew said, with a slow, almost regal nod, as though it had been expecting the acknowledgement.
Kai snorted. "Don't encourage it. Its head's big enough already."
They drifted over to the benches, the two Pokémon padding alongside, and dropped down side by side. And then it all came out at once — the way it does when you've not seen a mate in weeks, and there's too much to fit in your mouth at the same time.
The routes. The wild Pokémon. The near-misses. Ethan talked with his hands, sketching out his journey in the air; and Kai found himself talking more than he had in days.
"So go on," Ethan said eventually, leaning back. "Catch me up properly. What've you actually been up to since we last saw each other?"
"Bit of everything." Kai picked at the edge of the bench. "Caught a few new Pokémon. Took on Bellsprout Tower. Faced the elder at the top."
Ethan sat up. "You climbed the tower? And battled the elder?"
"Yeah, I beat him too." Kai paused. "Wasn't easy, mind. He's got a Noctowl up there that was a powerful opponent to face."
"A Noctowl?" Ethan let out a low whistle. "I've not even been up the tower yet. I've been meaning to, I just — kept finding reasons not to." He grinned, a bit sheepish. "Sounds like you've been busy, then."
"You could say that." Kai tapped his belt without quite meaning to draw attention to it.
But Ethan's eyes had already dropped. And stopped. On the badge — the little wing of metal, clipped on properly now, catching the light.
His mouth fell open.
"That's the Zephyr Badge." He pointed at it like it might be a trick. "You beat Falkner? Already?"
"Yesterday afternoon."
"KAI." Ethan grabbed him by both shoulders and shook him, Cyndaquil scrambling back from the sudden chaos. "That's — no, you've got to tell me everything, I want all of it." He sagged back against the bench, laughing in disbelief. "And here's me. Not even done the tower, never mind the gym."
"When are you thinking about challenging the gym?" Kai asked, wondering.
"Today..." Ethan's jaw set, and for a flicker there was something steelier under the easy grin. "We have been training all week for it. Cyndaquil's been working on something new, and I reckon we're ready." He glanced sideways, the grin going a touch rueful. "Bit more daunting now I know you've gone and done it first, mind."
Kai could see the determination in Ethan's eyes.
"I bet you will be fine." He said, feeling like Ethan had become stronger in their time apart.
"For once," Ethan agreed, and grinned. Then he tilted his head. "So is that why you rang? To rub a shiny new badge in my face before my own battle?"
"No." Kai dug the Pokégear out and waved it, laughing. "Elm wants a favour. There's an egg waiting with a breeder outside the city — he wants me to collect it and carry it for him." He paused. "Figured you might fancy the walk before your gym battle. Two of us, two teams — safer than one, out past the walls."
By their feet, Cyndaquil and Sandshrew were playing together, each showing the other something.
Ethan looked at them, then at Kai, and the grin came back one more time — smaller now, but no less real.
"An egg run." He stood, brushing grass off his shorts, and offered Cyndaquil a hand up onto his shoulder. "Yeah. Go on then. Let's go fetch the professor his egg before we take on the gym!"