By: Zhile Chen

Mizuki threw Ayako’s Pokeball at a tree that was growing pink berries. Ayako was so used to being instructed to tackle the tree that the Pokemon tackled the tree without even being commanded to do it. The pink berries fell to the ground. Mizuki walked over to where the berries lay and stuffed them into her satchel, which was full of items.

Mizuki then grabbed Ayako’s Pokeball and flicked the cool, iron latch open. Ayako was transformed into glowing blue energy and returned to the inside of the Pokeball.

Mizuki looked at the wooden ball in her hand and wondered how the people who crafted the Pokeball managed to make it work. Maybe the ball startled them into shrinking? Mizuki had heard that Pokemon could shrink and grow back to their normal size, but she has never seen an Eevee do it again after being captured. Does the Pokeball somehow take away their ability to stay a normal size? But then why can a Pokemon grow once they’re out of the Pokeballs? Do they only shrink when startled?

Mizuki was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of a Pokemon growling alarmingly nearby. Mizuki screamed and tried to run away in a blind panic as she spotted blue fur, her heart leaping to her throat.

There was Shinx nearby! How had she let it get so close! She must have been distracted too much by her thoughts. The small, blue, lion-like Pokémon looked cute from a distance, but now that it was growling at her, it looked absolutely menacing!

Mizuki dashed away only to find she was at the edge of a cliff. She looked down at the ground far below her and gulped. If she tried to jump down, she would definitely break her leg at the very least.

She fought the urge to scream again and desperately tried to find another way away from the Shinx that was rapidly approaching. Its footsteps grew louder and louder and she couldn’t help but look at the Shinx’s bared fangs and wonder how she had thought it was cute.

As the Shinx was only a couple of inches away from her, she tried to search her bag for anything that could help her. She felt something hard and threw a spoiled apricot at the Shinx, but that only made the creature growl louder and run towards her.

Mizuki felt something else that was hard in her bag and chucked it at the Shinx. Ayako’s wooden Pokeball bounced off the Shinx and hit the ground. Mizuki watched the Pokeball with wide eyes and she wondered if she had broken the Pokeball or killed Ayako. Tears sprang in her eyes, and she attempted to shield herself with her arms when a bright blue light spilled out of the wooden Pokeball and Ayako landed on the grass with a soft thud.

The scene reminded her of a practice battle she had seen once between Rei and Akari. Maybe, just maybe, she thought, she could battle the Shinx.

While she was thinking, the Shinx let out a discharge of electricity against Ayako, who was waiting for her command. She rushed to Ayako’s side and tears started springing to her eyes.

“Ayako, use tackle!” Mizuki cried without thinking. Ayako sprang to her feet and rammed into the Shinx. The Shinx hissed in pain and bit down hard on Ayako’s ear. Ayako reeled back and cried out in pain.

“Ay-Aya-Ayako! Use swift!” She cried out. Ayako jumped back and stars rushed towards the Shinx, leaving cuts and scratches behind.

The Shinx ran away, tail between legs with a whimper and Mizuki’s heart started to slow down. She took a deep breath to steady her heart.

She couldn’t believe it! She lived! She lived after making a Pokemon angry! She was going to stuff Ayako with so many treats that the Pokemon was going to explode.

But first, she needed to heal Ayako, so she ran back to camp immediately to get healing supplies.