The waning autumn moon hung high in the sky when Hitomi crept silently out of the front door of her grandfather's treehouse. With her backpack crammed full of food and clothes, and her eyes darting about warily as she scanned for witnesses, she seemed more like a burglar than a 14 year old girl in the process of running away. Surmising that no one was around, she quietly descended the ladder leading down to the ground, and she trotted as quietly as she could down the path that would take her through the woods and onto the main road out of Fortree City. She made a point of not looking back, but as she ran she couldn't help thinking the words that she hadn't had the courage to say in person.

"I'm sorry Grandpa," she thought bitterly. "I love you, and I know you want me to live with you and be happy. But as long as you have Pokemon, I'll always be anything but. I'm going to go to Lilycove City and live with Aunt Dorrie. She doesn't have any Pokemon. She may be a bit nuts, but it'll be better than having to put up with those beasts in your house!" Hitomi grit her teeth as fresh tears began to well up in her eyes, blurring her vision. She angrily wiped her eyes dry with her sleeve, and pressed on even harder. She hated Pokemon. She hated them all, and nothing would ever change that - not after what they'd done to Mom and Dad. She had no doubts that she'd hate Pokemon for the rest of her life.

The past week had seemed like a nightmare - a long, hideous, and sickening nightmare. Ever since she got the news last tuesday that her parents had been killed by an overly aggressive Tyranitar during a failed grooming attempt, Hitomi's world had come crashing down around her, piece by piece. Their house had been taken by the bank, as they hadn't had life insurance, and didn't leave enough money in their will to pay off the mortgage. What money they did have was barely enough to pay for a funeral, and while Hitomi had gone through that, all of their possessions had been auctioned off to pay off their debts. Now she was left with nothing but her clothes and a few books and mementos, and the sour taste of their passing. The Tyranitar had apparently been unwilling to allow himself to be groomed, but its owner had insisted. Her parents, being expert groomers, thought there was no Pokemon they couldn't handle. But in this case, they had been wrong. They were stomped to death in the Tyranitar's fit of rage. It was a case of a trainer whose Pokemon was too high-level and just wouldn't obey orders. Despite the Pokemon's brutal behavior, no discipline was to come to it at all. It was decided that it had acted out of self-defense, and the owner's lawyers maintained that it was unaccustomed to grooming, and was afraid.

That wasn't enough for Hitomi. That wouldn't bring her parents back, and it wouldn't bring back her life either. Now she'd been tossed into her Grandfather's house to live with him until she was old enough to live on her own. She wasn't afraid of him though; he was very kind to her, albeit a little senile. The real problem wasn't with how she was treated. It was the Pokemon. He had been a very successful trainer in his younger days, and he had many Pokemon companions that hung around the house. Hitomi had decided that Pokemon were no longer to be trusted, and deserved every bit of hatred and anger she could muster. But even she knew better than to try to get her grandfather to give his up. And besides, she didn't want to be a bother to him. It was just better all around if she went to live with her aunt instead.

As these rationalizations were running through her head, Hitomi was pressing farther and farther into the forest, and paying less and less attention to what she was doing. And that's when it happened. She didn't see it until it was too late, but as she made her way through a thick mass of brush and twigs, she tripped on something hard and round, and went flying face-first into the ground. As she lay there, dazed, she noticed a large egg roll up alongside her. It seemed that's what she had tripped on. It was a Pokemon egg!

"Stupid egg," she growled, getting to her feet and yelping at the biting pain that shot up her left leg when she rested her weight on her foot. "I think I twisted my ankle!"

She didn't have time to say anything else. Out from among the trees leapt a Marowak. She was brandishing her large bone club, and did she ever look angry! She was making a beeline for Hitomi, and it was with a sickening feeling that Hitomi realized that it was the Marowak's egg that she had relocated.

Crying aloud in fear and pain, Hitomi twirled around and lurched forward, desperately trying to run from the angry Pokemon. But with her ankle hurting her so much, the best she could do was limp, and very slowly at that. When the Marowak's bone club hit her squarely in the back of the head, unconsciousness was instantaneous. Hitomi's limp body went crashing into the ground, skidding a little before coming to a stop. Just before the Marowak got to her, a flash of green swooped down from the trees, and a tiny bird Pokemon landed on the ground beside Hitomi, placing itself between her and the Marowak. As the angry mother advanced, the little Natu's feathers ruffled with energy. With a shrill screech, it blasted the Marowak with powerful psychic waves, making it stop in its tracks. The Marowak made an odd grunting noise, and after teetering back and forth a bit, it fell flat on its face, out cold.

The Natu chirped proudly and turned to take a look at Hitomi. Her auburn, shoulder-length hair shone faintly in the moonlight, and it fell in soft curls around her face. Her face was pale, and her expression was emotionless, save for a few vertical lines between her eyebrows, which might be a result of the pain in her ankle. She was tall for her age, and slender too. She was what some people would call "pretty," although she didn't see herself that way. As she lay strewn across the leafy ground, bathed in moonlight, she looked very vulnerable indeed. It must have had an effect on the Natu, because it hopped lightly up onto her backpack and settled itself into a more comfortable position. It preened its feathers a bit, and sat there with an odd look of satisfaction on its face.

-----------------------------

It was well past three in the afternoon the next day when Hitomi finally came back to her senses. At first, the blurry sight in front of her didn't make any sense. There were strange, blurry figures hovering over her, and she felt an odd pressure on her chest. However, that was nothing compared to the pounding, excruciating pain that had begun to throb in her head. As her vision cleared, she realized she was back at her grandfather's house, and she was lying on her back in bed.

"Grandpa?" She said faintly, trying to distinguish which of the figures above her he was.

"You're awake!" He replied, leaning in closer to her. The others did the same. As her vision came into focus, Hitomi saw that he was there, and so were her two friends, Kyo and Asuka. "Thank goodness! Hitomi, you gave us all a real scare!"

"Yeah, what were you thinking, you knucklehead?" Kyo said hotly. "What's the big idea taking off in the middle of the night like that?"

"And how dare you try to do it without telling us goodbye first!" Asuka added, glaring at her angrily. "Have some consideration for others next time!"

Hitomi shrank a little under the covers and tried to force a laugh, which sounded pitiful and caused her head to hurt more. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "But I knew you guys would just try to talk me out of it."

"You're darn right we would," Kyo retorted. "What kind of moron takes off into the woods without even a Pokemon to protect herself?!"

"I can get along fine without Pokemon, thanks!" Hitomi cried shrilly, sitting up so abruptly that she knocked heads with her grandfather, making him grunt something unintelligible, and making her head nearly explode with pain. She was so overcome with agony that she didn't notice that her sitting up had caused a tiny green Pokemon to roll awkwardly off her chest and into her lap. It flopped around a bit before righting itself and chirping indignantly at Hitomi.

"Huh?" She exclaimed, wincing a bit as she looked down at it. "Who put this... THING on me?"

"Now Hitomi," her grandfather chided her, pushing her back down onto her pillow and pulling the covers up on her again. "You need to lie down and rest. The doctor said you shouldn't be moving around for another day or so."

"Don't change the subject!" Hitomi growled at him. "Get it off me! I don't want any of those... MONSTERS anywhere near me!"

"This monster saved your life, you twit," Asuka chuckled, patting the Natu on its head. It hopped back up onto Hitomi's chest and cocked its head as it peered down at her indignant, furious face. "When your grandfather saw that you were missing, he asked us to help him find you. Kyo got his Zigzagoon to track you down, and when we found you in the woods, this little guy was just sitting on top of you, pretty as you please, as if he owned you. When we tried to get him off of you so we could take you back with us, he tried pecking holes in us," she laughed, raising her hands to show her bandages. "That's when we saw the fainted Marowak, and its egg lying next to you. It didn't take a genius to figure out what happened, considering the knot on your head. You disturbed the Marowak's nest, and it attacked you. This little guy must have decided to help you out, although for the life of me, I can't see why. I know I wouldn't help an ungrateful brat like you," she chuckled, poking Hitomi's leg playfully.

"He wouldn't leave you alone, no matter what we did," Her grandfather continued, smiling at Hitomi. "We made a makeshift stretcher out of some tree limbs and some of the clothes in your backpack. We had to be careful to let your little protector know that we weren't going to make him leave you when we put you on it and carried you back. He hasn't left your side the whole time."

"Why the hell would he do anything like that for me?" Hitomi growled, glaring angrily at the Natu, who chirped curiously. "You three are making it all up. Well, it's not going to work! Pokemon are nothing but wild monsters, and even if they act tame sometimes, you can't trust them not to turn on you!"

Kyo and Asuka looked at each other anxiously, and Hitomi's grandfather just laughed aloud. "Don't carry on so, Hitomi dear," he chuckled, patting her hand affectionately. "You don't have to set him free on my account. You can keep him! You can keep as many Pokemon as you want! It won't bother me a bit!"

"Wait, that's not what I meant!" She cried angrily as he turned to leave. "You don't understand!"

"Such a selfless granddaughter," he sighed happily, opening her bedroom door. "I'll be back this evening with some dinner, Hitomi," he said with a warm smile. "You get some rest. You two don't stay with her too long, either. I want her to get some sleep in before dinner."

"Yeah, let's go, Asuka," Kyo said, taking her hand. "Let's leave Hitomi alone with her new friend." He grinned at the flabbergasted and infuriated Hitomi, and both he and Asuka retreated, laughing gaily at her as they left.

Hitomi was so angry she couldn't see straight. All she could do was stare stupidly at the Natu, who stared back at her with interest.

"What the hell do you want?!" She snarled at him.

He stared at her with those large, slanted eyes of his, and suddenly Hitomi was terrified to hear a response echo in her mind. "I protect Hitomi," it said with a childlike voice. "I protect her from the bad ones."

"Did... did you just speak?" Hitomi gasped, feeling a chill go down her spine.

"Hitomi mine," it said again, louder this time. "I protect Hitomi!"

Hitomi's head swam. She moaned, and covered her face with her hands. She was hallucinating. That's all. She'd been hit too hard in the head, and had suffered brain damage. This was just a mindless Pokemon. Of course it couldn't communicate with her!

"Fine, Hitomi yours," she said with a shrill giggle. "Sure she is. But right now she going to sleep."

Hitomi tried very hard indeed to convince herself that she was imagining the look of satisfaction on the Natu's face. Sighing in frustration, she closed her eyes and pretended she was home, and her parents were about to come in and chide her for letting this dirty urchin creep in and perch on her bed. She sighed and grimaced as the already familiar pain came bubbling to the surface again. "Mom... Dad..." She thought bitterly, feeling her face grow hot and tears begin to sting in her eyes. "Why'd you have to leave me like this?"

As she drifted off to sleep, Natu gazed at her face, his own oddly solemn. If one didn't know better, one would think he had begun to glow faintly with a strange, white energy.