This is the journey of a man named Chris, who had dreams shared by many, yet lived experiences known by so few... 
There are many people in the world of Pokemon, who come in just as many varieties as these strange creatures. And you 
are about to discover, perhaps, one you may just consider the rarest of all...


Chapter 15 - 


Chris walked further and further through the mountain borders... Pacing himself when going upwards, strolling when
heading down. The path took him through many twists and turns along the border, all the while Kirlia slept, sang while
patting his head, and slept some more. "Well... Glad one of us... Is able to take it easy..." he told her with a worn
out laugh, wiping the sweat off his face with a sigh. The more they traveled, the more Chris seemed to forget what had
happened back at the spring, getting himself lost along the ever winding road ahead. "Maybe we should have got a bike
back in town... Then again it would've been to hard for me to pedal all over this path the way it tends to be so steep.
Traveling really puts it in your face how unfit you are, doesn't it?" he laughed, making Kirlia tilt her head confused.
"Uhh... Fit... You know... Exercise! Muscles! Yearrrgh! Fitness!" he told her as he lifted his arms to flex, showing a
drop of sweat and laughing nervously when his arms only showed slight muscle in them.


..."Nevermind." he said with a slump, embarrassing himself. She tilted her head again and suddenly tried to copy the
same movements she felt him make, lifting her arms and shouting loudly as if to say "yearrrgh!" as well with a serious
look. Chris couldn't help but puff out his cheeks as he snickered, trying to cover his mouth yet laughing loudly anyways.
"You're such a cutie. No matter what you always make me feel better Kirlia." he said as he reached up and rubbed her on
the head. She flushed and made sounds of nervous laughter, poking her fingers shyly as always. She suddenly grabbed his
head, giving him a hug while making happy sounds, feeling how sweaty he had gotten away. As she pulled back, he laughed
nervously and told her he was sorry, handing her a tissue from his pocket to wipe herself off with. However, she also
used it to wipe off his face for him, clumsily poking him in the yes repeatedly since she couldn't see where she was
wiping. "Ow... Ow... Thanks... Ow..." he said silently in his mind, repeatedly having to squint either one eye or the
other. After a moment he thanked her nervously and said that was enough, rubbing his eyes and surprised they hadn't
bruised any. She nodded with a smile and handed it back, with Chris putting it back in his pocket. "Best not to litter!"
he chuckled.


Over time, he finally made his way to the other side of the border, now able to look at the seemingly endless horizon
before him. "Man... Within the circle, what you can see is huge already... But outside... You really get to realize
just how big the world is after being tucked away for so long... Nice view, huh Kirl..." and he suddenly paused, his
eyes drifting towards the ground sadly. She tilted her head and made a noise, as if asking what he was going to say,
but he suddenly shook his head and laughed nervously, telling her it was nothing as he held her up so she could sit on
his head and feel the heat from the sun now in front of them. She let out a sigh as she closed her glazed eyes. "Man...
Talk about insensitive... I really have to be more careful..." he mumbled to himself, his eyes looking back towards the
ground again. Kirlia was starting to pick up on his sudden... Change of mood... And she started to feel his head, rubbing
it and making sounds as if to ask him what was wrong. Jolting, he remembered she was able to read him like a book since
she was so close to his mind, and he quickly lifted her off his head and sat her on a rock, laughing nervously as he
told her everything was fine. "I'm just a little tired is all. Making it through the border was a long trip! Talk about
a climb and a half! I just need a drink and we'll be good to go!" he laughed, setting down his things and rummaging to
distract Kirlia from reading him as he sweat a bit.


However... While he WAS thirsty... He suddenly discovered there were no more bottles of water to drink, and he turned
slightly pale and wide eyed. "I... Forgot... Supplies... Son of... A..." and he slapped himself on the forehead with a
groan, slumping onto the ground with a sigh. Kirlia started flailing her amrs and making worried noises, hearing him
hit himself, and he told her he was alright. "I just feel a little dumb is all right now... Kinda forgot to get some
stuff for us to use on our trip to the next town, and this is the long route so... Ha ha... I definitely don't plan on
going all the way back so... Maybe we can find some fresh water nearby... I have an empty bottle or two in here I kept
just in case... We've got food but we could use something to eat on the side... Maybe there are berries around here?"
he said, standing and looking around. Kirlia remembered the water she drank this morning, and finding out it was the
last of what he had made her feel both, happy and bad all at once... Looking around, she closed her eyes and listened.
Carefully... Carefully... She hopped on the ground and tapped the ground with her feet, listening to the breeze as well.
Around here...? From over there...? From... Behind...? and after a moment she opened her eyes and pointed into the woods,
making sounds towards Chris as she pointed. "Uhh... Whats up...? Gotta go to the bathroom...?" he asked, suddenly causing
her to flush red and rapidly shake her head, screaming at him in response due to her humiliation. Stomping her foot,
she pointed in the woods again with loud noises, firmly pointing towards him and back to the woods. "O... Okay okay! I
didn't... Know what you were... I mean... I'm sorry." he told her with a slump, bowing his head slightly as he walked up
to her. Crossing her arms, she patted her foot waiting to be picked up as she faced him. Nodding, he sat her on his
shoulder as he walked into the woods, confused yet following where Kirlia pointed nonetheless.


Eventually, they reached a small stream of water flowing along some rocks into a large puddle of water, slowly streaming
towards a nearby river. "Ooohhh... A spring...? You... Actually found this... From all the way..." he said, facing back
towards where they came from in surprise. "Wow... You really are... Getting good... I'm... Actually shocked..." he said,
blinking at her in surprise as he took the lids off the bottles he brought. With a loud "hrmph!" like noise she crossed
her arms and stuck her nose up proudly, smiling from ear to ear in a... "Naturally!" sort of manner. He scowled in response
and reminded her that cockiness wasn't a favorable trait to most, and she let out a growl while showing an angry and
pouty expression. "Now now... I'm still really proud of you. Don't worry." he chuckled, rubbing her on the head. He slowly
filled both bottles with the trickling water, tasting it himself to make sure it was alright before handing some to Kirlia.
"Spring water really is something... It tastes even better than the bottled stuff... Then again, everything tastes better
the closer it is to the source!" he laughed, capping his bottles and smiling happily. "This should get us the rest of
the way... Thanks a lot!" he told her, suddenly shaking her small hand and slightly surprising her by the sudden contact.
She faced her hand as she held it up, slightly blushing as she nodded and made a quiet "welcome..." sound in response.
Heading back towards where he left his belongings, he suddenly came to find his rucksack had started... Moving... On its
own. Kirlia heard the strange rustling as well and tucked herself behind his head, poking her glazed eyes out curiously.


However... Chris thought it was the mischevious Pokemon trying to prank him with her abilities, and with a scowl, he told
her messing with people like that just because she could wasn't nice. She suddenly puffed out her cheeks and slapped him
on the side of the head in response, making a quiet yet firm noise as if to say "not me...!!!" as she vented behind him,
making irritated noises as she pulled at random hairs on his head. "Ow ow ow...!!! Okay I get it...!! S... Sorry..." he
responded, gently swatting her hands away. She let out another "hrmph!" like sound as he slowly climbed out of the bushes,
trying to look over his rucksack to see what might be inside. Slowly... Slooowly... Ever so slowly he inched closer,
tightly gripping both bottles should he need to throw them in defense. Kirlia whimpered behind him as she clutched his head,
shivering nervously and causing Chris to grow more and more cautious as a result. "S... Stop shaking...!!! Your making
my hairs stand on end...!!!" he told her in a loud yet hushed tone, with kirlia gulping and nodding in response. As he
finally reached his rucksack, he took a deep breath and carefully... Carefully... Reached for it... And as he slowly
flipped open the top...


"GEEEYYYAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!" he screamed, seeing a pair of red eyes glowing brightly inside, dagger like pupils glaring
up at him like a demon. He suddenly yanked his body backwards into the air, hurling his bottles into the sky as Kirlia
flew off his shoulders as well, with her landing in a bush as he fell flat on the ground. "Wa wa wa wa... What is that
THING??!!!" he shouted, scooting himself back as the rucksack rustled about wildly. Kirlia was freaking out, screaming
and flailing inside the bush as Chris gasped fo air, cutching his chest where his heart was racing within. He carefully
reached for Kirlia, pulling her out of the bushes with trembling hands and trying to decide if he should put her in front
of him for them to confront it together or hide her behind him to take care of it alone, with the both of them confused
as to which was the better option... However, they finally nodded at each other as he placed her on his shoulder to stand,
both of them with their fists up and putting on a brave face, even though they were both shaking enough to make the ground
rumble... As he made his way back towards the rucksack and told Kirlia to have her phsychic ready, it suddenly stopped
moving, causing Chris to freeze and take a step back cautiously. "...O...Okay...It...its se... Settled d... Down...?"
he gulped, with Kirlia clutching a wad of hair in her grasp nervously. "Ow ow ow ow ow... K... Kirlia..." he groaned with
a tear in his eye.


Suddenly... The pair of eyes poked out and back in the top of his rucksack rapidly, causing Chris to jolt every time they
came out. "C... Come on... Th... This is ridiculous... J... Just get out of my st... Stuff..." he muttered, sweating as
the darting eyes continued to freak him out. Finally, the creature inside his rucksack slowly raised up from the top,
and as it cautiously revealed itself, Chris suddenly blinked and slumped, letting out a loud and relieved sigh while
clutching his chest once again, his heart now seemingly skipping beats. "Oh m... Man... its just a Sn..." and suddenly
the small Pokemon made a slight noise, startling Kirlia on his shoulder, and in response making her unleash her phychic
abilities. She started flailing waves of evergy all over the place, knocking down limbs and sending rocks tumbling as
she screamed. "K k... Kirlia!!! C... Calm down!!! its ju j... Just a small Pokemon!!!" he shouted, suddenly grabbing her
and telling her to stop repeatedly. She slowly stopped releasing her energy as it began lifting Chris off the ground,
causing him to sigh as his feet touched the solid soil beneath him once again. Kirlia was sweating and gasping for air
with spiraled eyes, having been freaked out more than she could handle in a single moment. "...Aannnd out again..." he
said, laying her down on a patch of grass as he took another deep breath. Looking back towards his rucksack, he suddenly
scowled and stood, crossing his arms. "You really scared the past few meals out of us!! What's the deal going through
random peoples belongings?! Don't you know someone could really hurt you for that?!" he scolded as his rucksack started
shivering. "...Agh. Look we aren't going to hurt you. We were just startled in the moment... Come on out of there would
ya? Its got some important cargo I don't want messed up..." he scowled while tapping his foot.


Suddenly the Pokemon slowly raised up, its head hanging down as it shuddered. "Much better. If you had done that from
the start instead of being all...!!!" he shouted with a sudden pause, taking another close look at the small Pokemon.
It was indeed a Snivy, but it was extremely filthy and looked as if it hadn't had a proper meal in who knew how long,
showing bad signs of malnourishment and neglect. "H... Hey now... Are you... Alright...?" he asked, his irritated and
impatient expression and tone suddenly turning both, surprised and concerned. "Y... You don't look so good... Are you
not from around... Here...?" he asked, slowly walking up to the freightened Snivy. Getting closer, he saw it had tears
streaming from its eyes as it clutched something from his rucksack. "C... Come on now... I don't know what happened but
you... Can't steal..." he told it, slowly trying to reach out and coax it into handing what it had over. Unfortunately,
once he got too close it suddenly shouted and ran off in the opposite direction as quickly as it could, with Chris losing
sight of it nearly the second it got past the brush. Still reaching out with sweat on his face, he finally let out a groan
and sat down, frustrated as he pulled his rucksack close to see what had been tampered with.


"A bunch of stuff was nibbled on... But asides food everything seems he... Wa... Wait a sec... Wait a sec... W... Wait
a sec!!! Where is it?!!! WHERE IS IT?!!!" he shouted louder and louder, suddenly dumping all of his belongings all over
the ground. The commotion caused Kirlia to snap out of her dazed state and quickly stand, shouting and reaching her arms
out nervously. "Its gone!!! IT TOOK IT!!! ITS GONE!!!!" he shouted, throwing his belongings all over the place. This
terrified Kirlia as she tried to get close to him, being hit with clothes and towels as she inched her way up to him,
and she finally managed to grab onto his leg, pulling on it with scared shouts trying to find out what was wrong. She
closed her eyes and suddenly made her horns glow brightly, surrounding Chris in a dim aura. "G... Gone... Its... Gone..."
he said, calming down slowly as if suddenly given a tranquilizer. Sitting back, he groaned rubbing his head, looking
back at Kirlia and telling her thanks. She pulled away with a relieved sigh, patting him on the leg. "That Snivy... It
took my grandfathers Pokeball... I it managed to mess with it too much and get it open... His ashes are going to be
thrown all over the mountainside..." he said with a depressed tone, hanging his head in shame. "I should have made sure
to keep it with me at all times... I left my grandfathers ashes just... Sitting around..." he sulked, causing Kirlia to
show a sad expression as she rubbed his leg.


Feeling how depressed he was, she faced towards where the Snivy ran off to and closed her eyes, patting him on the leg
and putting her finger over her mouth as if to tell him "shush" quietly. Wiping a tear from the side of his eye, he
asked her what she was trying to do now, and as she suddenly shushed him for real, he looked towards the bottles of water
now laying on the ground nearby. "Ooohhh... I get it... But... Its traveling pretty fast... In who knows what directions...
You sure you can...?" he said, being cut off as she slapped his leg with another "shush" noise. Rubbing his leg with a
grumble, he sat quietly in obedience with a scowl, until suddenly Kirlia opened her glazed eyes with a slight glow in them
and pointed into the woods rapidly, making loud noises. Blinking suprised yet again, Chris quickly picked her up and set
off into the woods, hoping to find the small, and seemingly sickly... Pokeball thief!


"Don't you worry old man... I'll get those ashes back..." he grumbled with a scowl, rapidly making his way through the
trees where Kirlia guided.