"Where are they? Where? Find them now!"

I awoke to the distant shouting and shook my head clear. That was a mistake; bouts of pain instantly coursed through my brain. After a moment the pain settled to a dull thud that echoed in the back of my skull. Coughing through the thick dust I opened my eyes and found Pixie unconscious in my forelegs.

"Pixie," I croaked hoarsely. "Pixie wake up. Please wake up. Come on you have to wake up. You can't leave me now. Not yet. We're so close Pix, to our peaceful life in Sharpedo Bluff. Please wake up."

Pixie coughed and opened her eyes. I smiled weakly at her. "Good morning gorgeous."

"Jacob! Pixie!" Tertle called.

"Ov-over here!" I stuttered.

"Oh, thank goodness," Tertle muttered as he found us.

"Where are Glair and Ace?"

"They're safe. They're on their way."

"Good." I coughed a little more and tried to stand. I shouted in pain as I placed weight on my front left leg.

"Jacob what's wrong?" Tertle asked concerned.

"My leg's broken."

"Damn. You really know how to pick your moments."

I looked at Tertle in disbelief. Yes, I chose to break my leg. Yes, I wanted this to happen. It's all going according to plan. No, this is not because we just fell 500 metres whilst rocks spun wildly in every direction.

"Come on. I've got you." Tertle gently slid his fins under my belly and lifted me up. I winced in pain as my leg fell limply but I refused to show my discomfort.

"Glair! Ace! I found them! Over here!" Tertle bellowed. Moments later an Emolga and a Gligar landed nearby, but they weren't the only ones who'd heard Tertle's shout.

An Ursaring picked his way through the rubble. Flanking behind and beside him were heaps of Pokémon. Most had a scratch or bruise and were bleeding in some way. Ursaring growled at Pixie and me.

"Hand over the Eevee and Vulpix," he demanded.

I couldn't see Tertle's face but the way his muscles tensed had me worried. Tertle handed me off to Glair. She draped me like a cape over her back and held me in place using her tail like a belt.

"What quarrel do you have with them?" Tertle asked cautiously as he placed himself between us and the legion of forest Pokémon. Ursaring roared.

"What quarrel? They brought down Fogbound lake, the secret and sacred treasure of our home! They killed many in the collapse of the plateau and they destroyed our home. Have you forgotten the warning about them?!"

"I'm afraid you're mistaken. These two aren't responsible for the lake's collapse and I'm not familiar with the warning you speak of," Tertle replied evenly.

"It's you whose mistaken old timer! Uxie told me. They're the ones. Hand them over. Now."

Tertle grunted as he turned. He smiled sadly at us. Pixie, Glair, Ace and me, he picked us up and cradled us in his huge arms. (Arms now? Heck!) He smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry old friends. Glair, now's the time."

Glair's face dropped, she was scared.

"Tertle I can't. I'm not ready yet. I still need you."

"Oh Glair, you were ready long ago. I'm sorry for holding onto you for so long."

A tear fell from Glair's eyes. Clearly I was missing something, but still, even I could tell something was about to go down.

"What am I supposed to do?" Glair whispered.

Tertle smiled. His reply was simple and straightforward, "Fly." Tertle grunted with effort as he spun and flung his arms wide.

"No!" Ursaring shouted too late. We flew high into the sky and Tertle quickly grew smaller in the distance. (Onya Tert, that was one hell of a throw.)

Glair and Ace righted themselves in the air and began gliding. Ace caught Pixie and she stood unsteadily with her claws pinching his back. Glair blinked tears from her eyes but I could hear quiet sobbing as I lay across her back.

I was too confused to process what had happened. I looked over my shoulder to Tertle back in the forest. He and Ursaring were locked in a violent wrestling match while Pokémon ran after us. Tertle delivered an uppercut to the bear's jaw. Ursaring collapsed unconscious and Tertle began running and firing jets of water, trying to stop our pursuers.

"Hold on!" Glair shouted over the roaring wind. "We're going in fast!"

I looked ahead and saw she was right. As we fell the ground rapidly rose to meet us. Glair and Ace tried to land but weren't used to the extra weight and we crashed.

We had put a lot of distance between us and Fogbound forest in that small flight and we took a moment to rest. Pixie and I panted heavily beside each other. Ace stood doubled-over sucking in giant gulps of air. Glair stood dead still, back straight, turned away from us. I could see tears falling to the ground. It occurred to me now that after all this, after Zeraora, after leaving them, after coming back. These, my closest friends, I barely know them, but do I need to? No. I trust these Pokémon with my life. They always have my back and I've got theirs.

I stood on my three good legs and limped over to Glair. I paused a moment; what could I say? Well there is the obvious answer: I could start with the truth.

"Tertle's a sturdy fossil. He'll be okay."

Glair gave a choked laugh. "I know he will. He's always okay... but more than that, he's good. He's always so, so good. Even when you don't deserve it."

Glair looked at the ground and squeezed her claws tightly. "He was so good to me. When I met Tertle I was mean... I was cruel. I attacked random Pokémon and stole things. I was always so angry... with myself. I wanted to just fly away from it all, but I didn't know how. I didn't know how to fly."

Glair's vacant gaze was distant as she traced the ground with her toes. I waited quietly for her to speak again. She breathed deeply and lifted her eyes from the dirt. She tilted her head upwards and looked to the skies.

"I didn't know how to fly. Tertle taught me. I was young and naïve and cruel and stupid but he... he taught me... how to fly. He taught me how to smile. How to laugh. How to be brave and for the first time in my life I felt love. He taught me... how to love. He showed me how to leave the ground and fly, but I was scared. I thought that if he were to go I'd go back to being who I once was. I don't want that. So, I stayed with him. He was my first real family. He'd speak of all the things he'd seen and done. He'd lived a good life because he made it a good life. He smiled through it all. He was happy. Now all he wanted was to rest, but he couldn't. He stayed with me all this time because I'm selfish and... and I..." Glair trailed off and didn't speak again.

Funny how when you're in the moment, when you're at that point when it really matters, we, each and every one of us, despite it all, manage to dig deep: To reach inside ourselves and pull out treasures that we didn't even know were buried there.

"Glair. Tertle chose to stay beside you. He knew that you didn't need him anymore, but he stayed because he loved you and he still does. After all this time he still loves you. He believes in you Glair. So, what are you going to do? It doesn't matter all that we've done. It doesn't matter whether we win or lose. What matters is; our ability, our determination. Our stubbornness that through everything, when the day is done, and the dust has settled, they will look over the battlefield and still we will stand."

I paused, but only to take a breath. I quickly returned to my speech.

"We fall Glair. We do. All of us. We fall far. We fall as part of learning to fly. We fall and yet still we rise. We rise above. We never stop moving forwards in hopes that one day we will throw ourselves from the cliff with no fear of falling. When we no longer fear the fall, that is when we can rest. That is when we know that we've lived. When we reach that day when we can smile at the fall. When we reach that day when we can laugh with adversity like old friends. Until then, we strive. No excuses."

Glair nodded. Her mouth was a quivering smile as tears traced their way down her cheeks. She hugged me tight. "Thank you." She whispered.

I couldn't endure it. "My leg! My leg!" I shouted in pain.

"Sorry!" Glair shouted as she pulled away.

I winced and sucked in lungfuls of air. "It's okay. I'm fine." My voice was no more than a strained whisper.

"Well I hope so," a voice said from the shadows. Whipping in the direction of the voice I searched for its source and spotted it as a figure rose from the shadowy forest floor. "We've got a way to go yet," said Darkrai.

"A way to go huh?" Glair lifted a claw to her chin and assumed a thoughtful stance. Her tears dried and disappeared. She smiled brightly. "I guess we'll have to leg it!"

I rolled my eyes at the terrible joke. However, it may have been the morale booster we needed. Pixie laughed quietly. Ace outright roared with laughter. Only Darkrai remained sombre.

Glair slung an arm around Darkrai's shoulders. "Come on man! You need to brighten up! Why so dark Darkrai?"