A Brief Ending and a New Beginning

"Misdreavus."

Misdreavus glanced at her strangely chuckling Trainer, shook her head helplessly, then grabbed his hair and settled down to sleep.

Beedrill found a secluded patch of woodland and hid there.

With Misdreavus sensing emotions and Beedrill's Swarm, Dian could sleep soundly without a care. Otherwise, some nocturnal Pokémon might leave him slinking out of the forest stark naked.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Dian opened his eyes helplessly. He knew without looking that this had to be Misdreavus and Remoraid saying their "goodbyes."

Yes, probably goodbyes...

He was just about to roll over and get up when he noticed that he had practically been buried.

"No wonder I kept feeling like someone was lying on top of me."

A heap of colorful Berries slid off his body. Some he recognized, others he had never seen, but they all looked freshly picked. A few even had green leaves attached, glistening with moisture.

"What are these?"

Dian turned to Beedrill beside him in confusion, then took the damp washcloth Beedrill offered and wiped his face.

He really couldn't understand people who hired housekeepers. Why not just raise a few more Pokémon?

Beedrill could hand him towels and make honey, Jigglypuff could sing him to sleep, and Mr. Mime could handle the housework. Add a Ninetales for him to lean against, and everything would be taken care of. Perfect.

After giving it some thought, he realized that the question of who would warm his bed still needed consideration.

Unfortunately... he had no money.

Dian sighed silently. It seemed he still had a long way to go before he could live his ideal life.

He looked in the direction Beedrill pointed and spotted a prickly little Sentret stealing glances at him. As soon as Sentret noticed Dian looking over, it immediately turned its head away.

"Hmm, once Sentret evolves into Furret, its temperament becomes very gentle."

Dian thought it over. Furret could serve as a pillow too, and its tail looked quite comfortable to rest his head on.

Sentret seemed to sense that Dian was up to no good. It immediately reared up, shot him a threatening look, then ran toward its group.

That was right. Although this Sentret appeared to have no companions, it actually belonged to a group. It simply seemed particularly fond of basking in the sun by the lake.

That was why it usually went alone when it visited the lakeside, but stayed with its companions in the woods or at other times. That was their nature.

A Sentret truly separated from its group would barely be able to sleep, let alone feel relaxed enough to sunbathe here.

Dian smiled and waved at Sentret, who was hiding in the grass.

Rustle, rustle.

The grass stirred, and a figure quickly darted away.

"What am I going to do with all these?"

Dian looked ruefully at the Berries scattered across the ground. He would probably have to ask the Beedrill leader for more honey.

Yes, he would leave that mission to Beedrill!

In the end, Beedrill flew into the undergrowth carrying a pile of gifts.

Among them were the thick coat Dian no longer intended to keep and some Pokéblocks.

Perhaps because of the earlier downpour, the temperature in the forest had dropped considerably. The coat would probably come in useful.

Ultimately, Beedrill performed admirably as a diplomat and returned with a large quantity of honey. Some of it differed in both color and scent from the previous batch, perhaps because new ingredients had been used.

"Hoppip."

Hoppip folded the moisture-proof mat with its leaves and handed it over.

"Good job, Hoppip."

After forcefully stuffing the last item into his backpack, Dian stroked its head.

"Hoppip."

Hoppip smiled happily.

Misdreavus was originally supposed to help him pack.

But Her Ladyship Misdreavus seemed to have woken up too early and gotten sleepy again, so she had slipped into her Poké Ball for another nap.

Beedrill had gone off for some morning training, leaving only Hoppip to help him.

Dian put his backpack back on and picked Hoppip up. "If you sense any grass you want to eat along the way, let me know."

"Hoppip."

Hoppip answered, then swayed the leaves on its head.

Suddenly, several afterimages flashed past, and Beedrill appeared in front of Dian. On closer inspection, its body seemed to have grown a little sleeker, and its poisonous stingers were sharper.

"Does anything feel strange?"

Dian asked with concern.

That morning, he had added something special to Beedrill's Pokéblocks.

It was coelacanth grass extract mixed with the toxins from white Star Grass.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Beedrill swung its poisonous stingers twice at lightning speed, indicating that nothing was wrong.

Dian nodded, then headed out of the forest with Beedrill.

Although Beedrill showed no abnormalities—or rather, seemed even stronger—he was still a little worried. He planned to visit a Pokémon Center and have a professional check it over.

Yes, it was free, but in reality, he was still spending his own money. The League needed funding to operate, so it surely collected taxes in all sorts of areas. Otherwise, how could such a massive institution keep running?

To Dian, these Leagues were more like individual countries, except there were no clear barriers between them.

Besides, although Pokémon Centers were free, that only applied to legal citizens. Undocumented people weren't covered.

Before Dian had started working at the amusement park, he had been undocumented too.

If he had gone to a Pokémon Center for help before obtaining legal status, whether he received any would have depended on Nurse Joy's mood.

Although most Nurse Joys were gentle, beautiful ladies from distinguished families, exceptions could still exist.

If he encountered a rigid Nurse Joy, League regulations meant she might not only refuse to help him, but even hand him over to Officer Jenny.

All under the noble pretext of helping him return to the League's embrace and turn over a new leaf.

Yes, once he went in, he might even find himself a steady job with room and board included.

Dian had considered that easily obtained job back then, but after thinking it through, he had decided to behave himself and work at the Haunted House instead.

After all, getting in was easy, but getting out... well, that didn't seem quite so simple. At the very least, he definitely couldn't beat Officer Jenny's standard-issue Pokémon, Growlithe.

Bzz!

Beedrill swiftly passed through the woods, surveyed its surroundings, then turned and flew back the way it had come.

Before long, Dian followed Beedrill out of the forest.

That was right. Just because he only remembered the general route didn't mean Beedrill didn't know the way out.

Having a terrible sense of direction wasn't the problem. Knowing that and still running around everywhere was.

Someone with a terrible sense of direction should obediently follow a Pokémon with keen senses. That was the proper way for a directionally challenged person to get out of a forest.