Wini could hardly believe that Pikipek had gotten past her. They were so loud and obnoxious. But at least she hadn’t gone for Makani. She was totally unsuitable as a teammate, even if she and Makani needed anyone else, which they certainly didn’t. Imagine thinking those little swatches of fabric were berries! Her mother had told her that day birds had better color vision, but apparently they let it blind them to everything else. Berries didn’t move like that, didn’t rustle like that, weren’t even shaped like that! What an idiotic glutton of a mon.

Something rustled down below to the left of her trainer, and Wini spun and bobbed her head to pinpoint the sound. A pair of orange-tipped pincers poked out from beneath the leaves. With a quick glance to make sure the humans were looking the other way, she fired off three leaf darts. They sliced into the ground barely an inch in front of her target, and the Grubbin quickly turned and fled. Ha! She didn’t need any bugs eyeing her trainer.

“Would you stop that?” Malasada hissed, crawling out from under a nearby bush.

“No.”

The Litten glared up at her. “You’re going to need to let some mon join eventually.”

“I don’t see why.”

“That’s because you’re wild,” said Malasada with a with a dismissive lash of his tail.

Which is exactly why she knew that a pair was the ideal arrangement. Wini tuned away and shuffled her wings. Befriending mons of other species was all well and good—even interesting on occasion—but anything beyond that seemed very cumbersome and unnecessary. How could Makani be expected to devote the proper attention to her training if he had a bunch of other random mons to take care of?

“At least let me find another mon for my trainer.”

“Fine.”

Malasada raised his nose again, sniffing, and his lips parted to take it in. For such a knowledgeable mon, he looked quite silly and empty-headed sometimes.

“I can’t wait to be able to speak with Makani! I have so many questions!”

“You could always ask Dax to translate, you know.”

“It’s not the same!” Wini huffed. That should be obvious. “How long do you think it will take for the bond to form?”

“For us? Not long. A week or so if we get some good battling in. Nerium though…” They both turned to the Popplio, whose smooth coat was covered in scratches and clinging plants that his trainer seemed to take no notice of. “That may take longer.”

“Yes, they don’t seem the most diligent or experienced. Not like my trainer.”

Malasada rolled his eyes and ambled over to see if he could pull a few burrs off the Popplio. He could roll his eyes all he liked. He’d chosen the eldest grandson of a Kahuna, which was about as high as any rookie mon could aim—following diligently in his mother’s paw prints. Or so he thought anyway. Wini was confident hers was the stronger bet.

Below the trio of humans continued to wander. Hau scratched his head in puzzlement, Azophi grumbled as the Pikipek settled down in their hair for a nap, and Dax snapped a picture. Makani was looking increasingly disappointed, so Wini swept down to his shoulder and nuzzled him, nibbling lightly on the shell of his ear. He giggled and tickled around her neck in return. It was the best feeling in the world.

While she was distracted, a Pichu popped out of the bushes in front of them. Wini froze in horror, but before Makani could react, Malasada stepped forward to accept the challenge. Hau was terribly excited about it, so Wini could relax and watch the battle. The Pichu landed a few solid zaps on Malasada, but he powered through with his usual ease and confidence. Defeated, the Pichu accepted Hau and Malasada’s offer and went into a ball.

This was perfect, actually. Now that the others had their new pokemon, they wouldn’t want to keep searching, and with the sun well past zenith, it wouldn’t be too much longer until they all went home without a third catch.