New Friends, Old Memories The girl walked down the street, coming home from her trip to the pokémon cemetery. Her name was Maria, and she had just visited the grave of her late pet Growlithe, who had died a few months earlier. He had been a good, loyal pet, and she missed him terribly. Maria turned off the street and walked to the foot of a large tree about 20 feet away from the road. She turned and, facing the street, sat down, leaning her back against the rough bark of the tree. She was facing the very place her Growlithe died. If only that playful, red-furred puppy hadn't chased that Sentret across the road; he might not have been hit by that truck. She couldn't get over how sudden it was. One moment he was running by her side, alive and active; the next moment he was lying in the road, silent and still. Her eyes filled with tears as she gazed at the road. She could almost see him running down it with her... Wait a minute, she thought, Growlithe wasn't that dark. She wiped away the moisture that clouded her vision and looked again. Now that she could see the two figures better, it was clearly not her and her Growlithe. Instead, it was a larger, black dog with a red muzzle and belly, gray rings right above it's paws, gray bands on it's back, and gray fur on it's forehead. A Houndour, she remembered, as she got a better look at the person following it. The man was wearing a dark blue uniform, and was holding a gun of some sort in one hand. He once stopped, held the gun up, aimed it at the Houndour, and shoot a red- feathered dart at the Houndour. The Houndour, though, was clever. It took advantage of every bush and hollow in the ground, and moving in an unpredictable path, dodging and weaving back and forth to make it harder to target. When the man's dark missed, he growled out a curse, brushed his dark hair out of his eyes, and continued chasing the dog pokemon. Something about that Houndour reminded Maria of her former pet. Maybe it was the way it ran with its head lowered, like Growlithe had sometimes if they were racing. Or maybe it was that she wanted to give the Houndour the chance to get out of his predicament that Growlithe never had. Whatever it was, she took pity on it, and stood up quickly, searching for a way to help it. The Houndour suddenly turned her way and dashed past her to her right, between her tree and a large boulder that was beside it, into the forest beyond. Seizing her chance, Maria stood in the two or three foot gap before the man could get there, and, as he approached, tried to buy time for the Houndour to escape but asking. "What's going on?" The man stopped in front of her, rested a hand on the rock and replied, between heavy breaths, "I don't have time for this, kid, move out of the way!" To which Maria replied, "But why are you chasing that Houndour?" He answered, "That pokemon has been stealing, disrupting the public, and has wounded several trainers. It's my duty, as a member of the Department for the Control of Dangerous Pokémon to capture it so it can be relocated before it does any more damage, or so it, if need be, can be put down if it continues to exhibit excessive hostility." Maria thought she could see a dark shadow off to her left, a few trees over, slinking slowly towards them. "So why's your gun have darts in it?" she said, hoping to keep him from noticing. "Let me past, kid, I need to get that pokemon, fast!" But she refused to let him past. "It's a tranquilizer gun," he explained angrily. "The darts contain a sedative, which'll put the Houndour to sleep so it can be more easily captured." Suddenly the Houndour leaped from the shadows, swiftly used Crunch on the barrel of the gun (which the man had been holding by his side) and darted beyond the boulder and back into the woods. The man cursed again as he surveyed the Houndour's destruction. "I'll never be able to get this fixed. You!" He yelled turning to Maria, "You held me up when I was trying to get that troublesome pokemon. You'll be hearing from the Department for bothering an officer on duty!" With that he turned on his heel and stomped back down the street the way he had come. Maria watched him go, then turned to find the Houndour had silently crept up behind her. It bowed it head to her as in thanks. "You're welcome," she said sincerely. "You reminded me of a pet I used to have..." she sighed sadly. The Houndour looked concerned, and licked her hand comfortingly. "Thanks," said Maria. "Hey, why don't you come to my house. You can hide out there for the night, if you'd like." The Houndour nodded, and they set off for Maria's house. Later that evening, in the mountains not far from the town.... Dusk had just fallen. A pack of Houndour lounged around their den, a small cave that was little more than a deep cavity under a rock ledge. Some of the adults napped, while pups wrestled under the watchful eye of a pair of other adults. A few juveniles held a training session by Embering rocks and Biting branches. Suddenly a Houndour who was standing guard on a tall column of rock let out a loud howl, which rose and fell like a siren. All activity ceased for a moment as the Houndour heard the warning, then the pups were quickly shepherded into the cave, and most of the rest of the pack stood in a semicircle at the entrance, facing outward. The few not at the entrance leaped up onto the ledge above the den to battle those attacking from the rear. Having lost the element of surprise, a large group of Mankeys, Primeapes, Machops and Machamps popped up around the camp. Before leaping down to join in the defense, the sentry Houndour gave one last, long howl, which echoed across the mountains. Back in Maria's room, the lone Houndour came alert with a start. Houndour had been lying on the floor of Maria's room, next to her bed, which Maria was sitting on and reading a book. Maria's parents had just gone to bed, and Maria was just reading a little before she got ready for bed herself. Houndour jumped up, bounded over to the open window, and placed its paws on the windowsill, straining its ears. Maria, sensing that something important was going on, kept silent, but sat watching the Houndour. In a moment, Houndour released a couple sharp barks and a deep howl. Then it dashed over to Maria's bedroom door and, almost frantically, tried to turn the doorknob with its paw. "What's going on, Houndour?" Maria asked. "What happened?" Houndour stopped attempting to open the door and stood, looking at Maria. It seemed to be considering something. In a moment, it appeared to have come to a decision, and sat. It then raised it's muzzle and began to make an low sound, somewhere between a growl and a howl. At the same time, it was illuminated by a dark glow that only Maria could see. The sound rose and fell for a bit, like the introduction to a song. Then, abruptly, Maria could make out words spoken to the tune, words spoken in a man's voice. She was told of Houndour living in the mountains, and how an ancient feud was between them and the Fighting-type pokemon of the mountain. The feud that had gone on for so long that no one knew the cause any longer, yet still the two sides fought. The Houndour continued on, telling her of how he had been separated from his pack and wounded in a terrible battle. He had emerged victorious, but in no condition to search for his pack. Instead, he made his way painfully to a nearby town, and lived there by occasionally managing to catch a Pidgey or Rattata to eat, but mostly stealing food or eating out of garbage cans. As soon as he had been in any condition to travel, he had set out, only to be shortly discovered by local pokemon trainers, who promptly began trying to catch him. Naturally, he evaded capture, having to resort once or twice to knocking over a trainer to get by and escape. But he had never seriously injured anyone, he emphasized, only avoided being captured. After each battle, he had been forced to run and hide before trying to rejoin his pack once more. The last time he had tried to leave the town, he was set after by not a trainer, but by a man in a blue suit that shot at him. But he was a good fighter, and knew many evasive tactics. Still, he could barely keep ahead of his foe. He was beginning to tire from his long run and slow down, when Maria had unexpectedly helped him out. He expressed his gratitude at his timely rescue, then informed Maria that he had heard the summons to battle from his pack. Every time the pack was attacked, he told her, a call went out in case any of the pack were out hunting, telling them to come and defend the pack. He had heard the call, and was bound as a member of his pack to respond by traveling with all possible speed to the call's origin. He let out one last note, and lowered his muzzle to gaze at Maria. She stared at him for a moment, surprised. Then the urgency of the situation dawned on her. "So you have to leave right away, then?" Houndour nodded. "Let me come with you. No, really," she said seeing his look, "I know how I can help. Here, I've got a bag of potions and stuff," she said as she ran to her closet and got out the sack. It was a bag she had gotten from her brother, a pokemon trainer. It had a variety of Potions, mostly Super Potions, with some regular Potions and a few Hyper Potions. There was also an assortment of Antidotes, Paralyze Heals, etc. A small container was at the bottom, containing various Berries. If only I had had this with me when Growlithe got hit by the truck, she thought... She refused to get lost in memory; she had a friend that needed help now. She pulled her schoolbooks out of her backpack and tossed the Potions bag inside it instead. She then opened the door for Houndour, and followed him downstairs and outside, stopping only to grab her coat, and a bottle of water. Her mother had told her to never go on a long hike without water, just in case. And who knew how long this hike would be? The man was still looking for Houndour, patrolling the streets in his car. His name was Mike. Mike carefully searched both sides of the streets as he patrolled. I'll be rewarded If I'm the one to bring in the Houndour, he thought to himself. Suddenly Mike spotted two forms hurrying of into the forest; one running upright on two legs, one running lower to the ground on four paws. Mike smiled at the sight, but the smile was without mirth. It was cold and heartless, speaking of ill intentions to the two who were now in the forest. Mike parked the car, slipped quietly out, and followed the two who were unaware they had been seen. Maria and Houndour were traveling through the forest at a steady jog. They had been traveling for a few minutes, and while the pace was not particularly hard for Houndour, it was beginning to tell on Maria, who tried not to show how tired she was getting to be. When Houndour paused briefly to stop and check their direction by sniffing the forest floor, Maria leaned heavily against and tree and tried to catch her breath. Houndour, despite all she had done to hide it, had noticed her growing exhaustion, so he now sat down and waited for her to stop panting. Noticing this, Maria asked, "Are we stopping for a bit, then?" When Houndour nodded, she very sincerely said "Thank you," and flopped down on a convenient rock. After a moment, Maria dug through her backpack and pulled out her bottle of water, which she took a drink from. She then took stock of her supplies. Twelve Super Potions, 6 Potions, 3 Hyper Potions, 2 each of Antidotes, Paralyze Heals, Burn Heals, Ice Heals, Awakenings, Full Heals, and Revives. The small container of Berries held mostly normal Berries, With a few Psncureberries, Przcureberries, Mint Berries, Ice Berries, Burnt Berries, and Bitter Berries. When Maria reached in the bag to pull out the Berry container, her hand found two objects other than the potions; one the squared container she was looking for, the other round and smooth. She pulled out the latter and found herself looking at a pokeball. Growlithe's pokeball, she remembered. She had never used it, so she kept it in the bag. Not knowing what to do with it, she put the ball back in the bag. Maria looked up an was about to ask Houndour if he wanted a Berry, when she noticed a large bird asleep in a tree almost directly across from her. It had pale, cream-colored feathers, with light brown feathers on its back, head, and the tops of its wings. Its cheeks also had the cream-colored feathers, rimmed with black feathers. Long red feathers were on the top of its head, and feathers of that same red alternated with yellow feathers on its tail. As Maria looked at the Pidgeotto, and idea formed. Fighting-types were weak against Flying-types, so if she could use the empty pokeball to capture the Pidgeotto, she could have it fight the Fighting-types to help the Houndour. Before she could talk herself out of it, she grabbed the pokeball, stood up, and threw that pokeball at the Pidgeotto. Because it had been asleep, the ball rocked a few times, giving the impression that the pokemon was caught, before it popped back open. The Pidgeotto, obviously, was angry at being so rudely awakened, and dove straight at Maria. She tried to take a step backward, tripped on the rock she had been sitting on, and fell to the ground. Maria closed her eyes, then braced herself for the blow. But it never came. Instead, she felt a rush of heat and heard a loud squawking. She opened her eyes to view the bird pokemon flying out of Houndour's Ember. The Pidgeotto flew out of range of Houndour's flames, then turned around and began pumping out a Gust as fast and hard as possible. Houndour retaliated by running up to it and Biting it on the leg. Pidgeotto screeched, then tried to Whirlwind Houndour away. While trying to battle the winds, Houndour reared back his head and fired another large Ember at Pidgeotto's wing. The fire singed some of Pidgeotto's primary flight feathers, forcing it to make a rough landing on the ground. From there Pidgeotto dashed with lightning speed at Houndour in a Quick Attack. Houndour clamped his teeth back on Pidgeotto's hurt leg in one last Bite. Pidgeotto couldn't stand on it anymore and sank to the ground. Seeing her chance, Maria ran and grabbed the fallen pokeball, then pitched it back at Pidgeotto. This time, the ball barely wiggled before the light on the button when out. Maria just stared at it a moment, not quite believing it. Then she walked over to the pokeball and picked it up. She had actually captured a pokemon! And it was because of Houndour... Reminded of why she had caught Pidgeotto in the first place, Maria looked around to find the dog pokemon. He was not far away. He had found a Berry bush and was eating them to replenish his strength. Smiling, Maria walked over and picked a handful herself before letting Pidgeotto out. Noticing that its feathers were still burnt, she dug out an Ice Berry and fed it to the bird before feeding it the Berries she had just picked. As she fed it, Maria explained about the Houndours' need and asked for its help. Mike had been trailing them the entire time. He would stay out of sight as much as possible, stopping and resting if he got within sight of them, so while Maria had been tired, he was, if not completely rested, at least more so. It was a bit of a surprise when he heard a pokemon battle up ahead of him, and between a Houndour and a bird, too. He silently hurried to get closer for a good look. He arrived just as Maria threw the pokeball to capture it. Houndour was already in the bushes on the other end of the clearing, searching for Berries. He watched as Maria picked up the pokeball, picked some Berries, and let out the Pidgeotto. When she first let the bird out, it didn't look like much since it was scorched and wounded. But as Maria fed it Berries, it began to heal and stand up tall. Then Mike could get a good look at it. Although Pidgeotto are fairly common birds, this one looked fairly strong. If he brought this one in, it might do him credit... But wait, the girl was speaking. He listened carefully as she told her new pokemon about the big battle that would be going on shortly. He grinned evilly. Perfect, he would be able to snag some pokemon when they had worn themselves out battling. That would surely bring him merit. He prepared to follow them, keeping downwind so all those Houndour would not scent him. After Houndour and Pidgeotto both had eaten enough Berries so that their strength was restored, the three continued onward. They all made good time again, now that they had rested. Pidgeotto flew most of the time, but would sometimes stop and perch on Maria's wrist, making Maria look somewhat like a falconer. Suddenly, Houndour stopped in his tracks and perked his ears forward. Maria also stopped and listened as hard as she could. Only then could she hear the occasional faint sounds of battle up far ahead, a yelp of pain or a pokemon's battle cry. Both she and Houndour quickened their pace, and Pidgeotto flew for a while so it wouldn't weigh Maria down. They traveled for a while, the sounds of the brawl getting louder with each step. When they were almost in sight, Maria stopped and called the pokemon to her. "Listen, I've got an idea. The other Houndour would count me as an enemy as soon as they saw me, right?" Houndour nodded. "Well, if you went ahead of me and told the other Houndour that I'm not going to hurt them, they probably wouldn't hurt me, right?" Houndour thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. "OK, then. You go first and tell them that I'm not going to hurt them. And," she added as an afterthought, "that Pidgeotto won't hurt them, at least not on purpose." Houndour nodded once more, and began walking toward his pack. Maria followed, telling Pidgeotto, "You'd better use Gust mostly, and any other Flying-type attacks you might have on the Fighting-type pokemon. They have a weakness against Flying-type moves." Houndour stalked silently until he was right on the fringes of the clearing where the battle was taking place. He then suddenly leaped into the clearing, Biting a passing Machop in the leg. He then spoke out in a series of barks that only Houndour understand before continuing his attack on the Machop. Maria walked up to the edge of the clearing also, and sent Pidgeotto into the fray. Maria looked around, looking for a place to take shelter from the mass of battling pokemon in front of her. She noticed a little cave set into a hill across the clearing from her. Inside were the most injured of the Houndour fighters, and the pups who were too young to battle. It seemed the best shelter in the area, and she could use her Potions to heal the wounded Houndour. She set her mind to finding a way to get to the cave. She saw Pidgeotto diving at a group of Fighting-types who were ganging up on a Houndour, then sending the attackers flying in all directions by flapping its wings fast enough to form a small, short-lived tornado, a Whirlwind attack. Suddenly Maria had an idea. She called the bird over to her, and explained what she wanted it to do. "Do you think you can do it?" Maria asked her pokemon. Pidgeotto nodded, and went to carry out the plan. First, Pidgeotto called out to the Houndour, warning them. The Houndour between Maria and the cave got out of the way of their avian ally as it unleashed another Whirlwind attack, making the attack stronger so it would last longer. The cyclone again picked up any pokemon in its way, leaving a small path in the fighting behind it, which Maria ran through to gain the safety of the cave. Pidgeotto guided the twister to another clump of Fighting-types before it collapsed, so the pokemon caught in the high winds were dumped on top of the ones on the ground. Then it soared off to see where else it could be of help. Maria watched it for a moment, then looked around at the cave. It was low-ceilinged, so she had to crouch or sit down in order to avoid bumping her head. The injured pokemon looked at her from where they were resting, but did not show any visible signs of aggression. The mother who was watching over the puppies, however, did not seem to regard her as harmless, but growled a warning as she stood between Maria and the pups. Maria reassured the Houndour that she would harm the young pokemon, but the mother still looked wary, even after she stopped growling. Maria turned her attention again to the injured fighters in the cave. She knew that her stock of Potions could help them, but did not know how to offer it in a way that would not be interpreted as hostile. Finally, she took off her backpack, pulled out the bag of potions, and took out the container of Berries. Perhaps they would be more likely to accept these, which they were already familiar with, instead of man-made Potions. Carefully and slowly, so the Houndour guarding the puppies would not regard the action as a threat, Maria pulled off the top of the container and removed a few off the Berries from it. She crawled over to the nearest Houndour, and offered it the bright red fruits to it. As hurt as it was, it refused them, wincing in pain as it slowly shook it head. Maria left it one anyway, and offered Berries to the other injured warriors. A few of them accepted, others didn't. When she saw how fast the Berries would be used at that rate, she asked if any of them would mind if she used a Potion on it instead. There was silence in the cave for a moment (besides the noises from the battle outside), then one of the first Houndour to accept the Berries from her shakily lifted it's head and nodded. Maria pulled out a Super Potion and sprayed it carefully on the Houndour's injuries; a gash on a hind leg and various bruises, scrapes and cuts. The Houndour winced as the healing liquid stung in his open wounds, but the bruises soon faded and the cuts soon closed, with only a thin scar where the gash had been to show he was injured at all. The Houndour stood up carefully, decided it was again able to battle, and nodded a thanks at Maria before leaping back into the fray. After seeing the good it did to their comrade, the other Houndour also wanted to be healed. Maria sprayed the last few squirts of the partially used Potion on the next Houndour before staring another. From then on, the Houndour came to her when they were too hurt to battle any more. She was careful to conserve her supplies to make them last longer. All of a sudden, a pokeball flew out of the bushes bordering the clearing and hit a nearly- fainted Mankey, capturing it. Almost immediately, a second flew out and hit the Houndour it had been battling, imprisoning it, too. In a moment, pokeballs were flying everywhere, hitting Fighting-types and Houndour alike. When the thrower stepped forward to get a better shot, Maria recognized him. Although she did not know his name, it was Mike. "Quick," she told the Houndour she had just healed, "tell the other Houndour to get out of his range." The Houndour nodded, then barked loudly. The other Houndour, those not captured or too weak to move fast enough, ran, limped, and jumped to the other side of the cave. The pups, shepherded by the mother Houndour, moved deeper into the small cave. Mike looked around to see who was interrupting his fun, then noticed Maria and smirked. "You again. Well, you're not going to stop me any more!" He called out and pulled out a pokeball from his pocket. "Go, Poliwrath!" He shouted as he threw it in front of the cave to release the Water/Fighting type. "Water Gun attack!" Mike commanded, and the pokemon reared back, preparing to unleash the Water attack. Both people had momentarily forgotten about Pidgeotto. The bird dove down at Poliwrath and chopped down on it with its outstretched wing, a Wing Attack. It must have learned it during the battle, Maria thought as the Water gun went way off target, harmlessly into the bushes above the cave. The Poliwrath, angry at the interruption, turned to Pidgeotto and began to shoot Water Guns and streams of Bubbles at its flying foe, who Quick Attacked to stay out of their way. "No, get the girl, you stupid pokemon, the girl!" Mike yelled angrily at his pokemon. Poliwrath obediently turned away from Pidgeotto, who promptly dove down in a Quick Attack, administered another Wing Attack, and flew back up to avoid its adversary's continued attacks. Mike, frustrated with his pokemon's noncompliance, raised its pokeball to return it, when a Machoke ran up behind his and Low Kicked the back of his knees. Unable to stand, Mike toppled to the ground, where he looked behind him. He swore at what he saw, and Maria turned to look, too. All the uncaught Fighting types had released the captured pokemon, who in turn had released others, until all of them were free, and all of them turned angrily to Mike. Mike frantically grabbed another of his pokeballs at random and released the pokemon, a Rhyhorn. The Fighting-types ganged up on it and it was down in seconds, due to its type disadvantage. Mike again threw out the first pokeball his hand touched, revealing a Hypno. It lifted its pendulum to use hypnosis, but the Houndour dove at it, fangs first, and it was down after only a few Bites. Mike, terrified, tossed out yet another pokeball, revealing a mean-looking Rapidash. Mike calmed down somewhat, but grew even more panicked when it, too, went down quickly under the sheer strength of the group of pokemon. Mike let loose one more pokemon, an Ampharos. It begin building up electricity, but before it could let loose its attack it was also set on by the mass of angry pokemon and fainted. Mike reached again for his pocket and realized he had no pokemon left. As the pokemon saw this and begin to form a circle around him, he saw he was completely doomed and began yelling at the top of his lungs, "HELP! Police, somebody, anybody, Help!" alternated with, "NOOO! Please, don't hurt me, NOOooo!" and other calls of those natures. Maria turned away from the sight, wishing she could turn away from the sound, too. She was just in time to see her pokemon release one last Gust that slammed the Poliwrath into a tree, fainting it. The exhausted pokemon flew down to Maria who dug out a couple of Berries for it and let it eat them before returning it. Mike's shouting had turned into wordless screams of terror. Maria turned back to the yelling man and his attackers, feeling slightly sick. "Wait, stop!" she yelled suddenly, unable to take it anymore. The pokemon ceased the attack and turned toward her. Maria felt even more ill when she saw blood on the Houndours' muzzles and on the feet and fists of the other pokemon. "Um... even he doesn't deserve something this bad," she said just to say something. She then saw his ripped and bloody T-shirt, a black one with a large, dark red R on it. "Well, that explains it," she said, remembering hearing about Team Rocket, a gang dedicated to stealing, and often mistreating, pokemon. "Listen," she said to her audience, "the police are looking for men from his group. Letting them take him, alive, will help them stop attacks like this. If you stop attacking him and let me get word to them, it will benefit you more than just killing him, and he WILL be punished for all he's done." She waited to see how they would react. One by one, they saw the wisdom of Maria's suggestion, and backed away from Mike slowly, but not too far. Knowing that she'd never be able to run to the police fast enough to save Mike's life, let out Pidgeotto and sprayed it with a Super Potion before making her request. "Pidgeotto, will you fly back to town and bring a message to the Police Station?" Her pokemon, though tired, nodded. Maria ripped the paper label off a used Potion, then dug through her backpack and found an old pencil stub, which she used to write a short note on the back of the label. She rolled up the note, message out, and handed it to Pidgeotto, who grabbed it in one clawed foot. "When you give it to a police officer, lead them here, OK? And try to fly as fast as you can without hurting yourself, please," she told the bird before letting it zoom off toward the town. While she was waiting, she told the pokemon to get as much off Mike's blood off themselves as they could, and used her Potions to heal any of the pokemon that seriously needed it. After the worst of the pokemons' injuries were healed, Maria went over to Mike, and tentatively sprayed a little of a normal Potion on some scratches on one of his hands. She was not too surprised when they did not heal, like a pokemons' wounds. When Officer Jenny came, followed by a few emergency paramedics and escorted by Pidgeotto, Maria told her of all Mike's attempts to catch Houndour she had first saved from Mike, the other Houndour, and the Fighting-type pokemon. She told how Mike had told his pokemon to attack her, and how Pidgeotto saved her. She told how the other pokemon had beaten Mike's pokemon and attacked him, and how she called them off and sent for the police when she saw he was a Rocket. The paramedics then announced that he would live, and Officer Jenny thanked Maria, and the pokemon, for their help in capturing the criminal. Jenny then offered to escort Maria home, since she must be tired. "In a minute," Maria replied, there's one more thing I have to do." She called Pidgeotto, who had perched in a tree, to her, and walked to the other side of the clearing, away from everybody else. "Pidgeotto," she began quietly so that only her pokemon heard, "you can go free, if you want, and become a wild pokemon again," she said indicating the forest in front of them. "Or, if you wish, you can stay with me", she said holding up Pidgeotto's pokeball. "You were a great pokemon, and a good friend. I'd be happy to let you stay with me, but if you'd rather go back to your family and friends, I won't stop you." Maria stopped talking and waited to see what Pidgeotto decided. Pidgeotto looked at the pokeball, then at Maria, then turned and looked at the battlefield, then twisted around to look at the forest behind it, then looked up at the sky above, which was beginning to turn red, since dawn was nearing. Then Pidgeotto looked back at Maria. It stared at her face for a long moment, then pecked the pokeball she held out and let itself be sucked inside. "Thank you," she whispered to the pokeball, as a tear rolled down her cheek, happy that Pidgeotto had decided to give up its chance at freedom and stay with her. Maria kept the pokeball in her hand as she walked back to the other people. No one asked what went on. The paramedics called for a helicopter to fly Mike to the hospital, and the helicopter also flew Maria and Officer Jenny back to the police station. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Epilogue When Officer Jenny brought Maria home, they were initially frantic with worry at seeing their daughter, who they thought was still in bed, brought to the door by a police officer. They calmed down after Officer Jenny told them an abbreviated version of the story, accenting Maria's courage and bravery, and glossing over the danger Maria had been in. Though relieved, they still grounded Maria for bringing a wild pokemon in the house, running off in the middle of the night with it, although she was only grounded for a few days. With the information they got from Mike, the police were able to find a major Rocket base and arrest most of the gangsters. This forced the Rockets to go into hiding for a while, and they were not heard from, besides petty crimes, for a while. Maria afterward, would sometimes go to the Houndours' den and camp there with them. She was always welcome. Maria found that helping others reminded her of what she liked most about her late Growlithe; his friendly, helpful nature. After then, she became and avid volunteer, giving her and Pidgeotto's services to help others wherever they could. And most importantly, Maria never forgot her friends, new and old.