It started simply enough. With a boy and a Pokémon.

A young child was struggling to climb up the hill, but soon fell back down as he sniffled. "Aw man, it hurts..."

His legs were smeared with mud, and tears were falling. The sun was setting and yet he still couldn't get himself out of the hole. He had told his sister he would be back home soon, but at this point, he would be out here all day... and the Dreaded Den was just close by... 

He gripped his ogre mask over his face, the black-haired child trying to psych himself up to try one more time. "I-I can do it! I gotta get home now!"

 He knew his family had warned him to stay away from the mountain, but he had always been careful not to stay out too late. 

Well, today happened to be the exception, because a small Pokémon had caught his eye. 

Said Pokémon was now trying to nudge him up as well with its huge tail, even when its own wound was still healing from the thorn it had accidentally stepped on. When the child had tried to help and pull it out, the force had caused both to topple over off a cliff. Thankfully, the soft bushes underneath had broken their fall, but it left them stranded for the night, and that was actually scaring him a bit. He didn't know what to do; he knew there were dangerous Pokémon out in the wild that roamed at night, and right now all he had for company was a Sentret, which, if he remembered his reading correctly, did not have the best attack or defense stats.

The child inhaled, and small fingers gripped whatever he could find before starting to pull himself up again, even as his arms shook, not used to carrying his entire weight despite the boost from the Pokémon. Once he was sure he could pull himself up again, he slowly began to make his way up, one painful grip at a time. By now, the sun had completely sunken away, leaving the Miniors to roam high above while the Noctowls and friends began to awaken. 

He began to panic a bit, picking up the pace as much as he could. This was bad, this was REALLY bad, he HAD to get hom-

His hand slipped, and his body began to fall again, gravity pulling him down...

Until a spiky club made of plants suddenly appeared and lunged out. His hands instinctively reached out and grabbed the club, his eyes still trying to adjust to the darkness. "I-Is there anyone there? T-There's a Pokémon down there who needs help too!"

The club then retracted, pulling him up as well and setting him on the ground gently before a blur passed him and jumped down. 

He blinked, trying to reorient himself. Was it just him, or had that blur been green?

But soon enough, the blur returned, setting the Sentret down on the ground as well. "Ponio, grah pon!"

The Sentret made its own noises, even nuzzling the creature. His eyes finally adjusted to the faint moonlight above, and yellow met orange. The Pokémon (it was green all over minus its face, so maybe a Grass-type?) smiled at him, those star-shaped eyes bright while it said, "Grah grah!"

He had never seen this Pokémon before, but... "T-Thank you for saving me! I-I really appreciate it!"

"Ponio?!" It seemed to retract a bit, and with a start, he realized he was still wearing the mask. 

"O-Oh, 'm sorry if I startled ya!" He apologized while taking it off, revealing the purple hair underneath his black and his yellow eyes. "I-I'm Suguri, but Sis calls me Kiki or Sugu, c-cause my other name is Kieran."

"Yo yo!" Its eyes widened, but it didn't seem too scared of him anymore as it walked closer to him and nuzzled his cheek, and oh, that felt nice!

"Awww, I should be the one thanking you!" He said. "Wowzers, you're so cute!"

And that seemed to make it giggle at him, nuzzling him even more. He couldn't help but giggle back while the Sentret soon joined in, making him feel so fuzzy and warm inside! 

But then, a loud call of "Kiki!! Where are you?!" seemed to make the unknown Pokémon jostle like it had been hit with an Electric-type move, fear showing in its face as it turned around and ran.

"A-Ah, w-wait!" He called out to it, but soon his sister and grandparents showed up, with Carmine looking downright relieved. "Oh, Kiki, you're alright!"

"We were so worried for you!"

"Please don't wander off like that again!" 

"'M sorry, Sis, Gramps, Grandma... I needed to help a Pokémon, but things kinda... spiraled from there..." He decided to keep the appearance of his helper to himself for now. He was a bit curious why it had run for Oni Mountain, so he decided he could go check it out later.

For now, though... "C-Could we take this Pokémon in, Gramps, Grandma? I promise I'll take good care of the Sentret!" He turned to his family, begging them as much as he could.

"It's a wild Pokémon, Kieran, we can't-" his grandfather began, only to be stunned when the Normal-type nuzzled his cheek and hugged him, making Kieran giggle. 

His grandma giggled as well. "Well, I don't see the problem in doing that, Dear." 

Carmine added, "Plus, Kiki looks so happy. We can catch the Pokémon officially eventually, but for now, let him stay with him!"

This made him chuckle. He did see the point. "Very well then. But you two will need a bath. Both of you are covered in mud!"

With a start, the child and his soon-to-be starter stared at each other in surprise, realizing that he was right, before Kieran blushed. "A-Aw man, I totally didn't notice!"

This definitely made the others laugh, but as they walked back down the mountain, the mysterious Pokémon watched over them, feeling a bit sad that maybe she had lost a new friend. 

(Liquid she didn't know, only one of her precious memories left under his body while the four gloated...)

She shook her head. No, this human... she didn't want him to get hurt. Maybe it was better for him to stay away from her. 

To say she didn't expect him to show up again at night near where they had met was an understatement, but the child, no, Kieran, seemed fine with it. 

"I-I just wanted to show you some appreciation!" He said, holding out some Poffins he had tried making himself. According to Merkins (his male Sentret's name, and yes, he had it checked out in the Center to know that), well, his reactions at least, he had managed to make it edible in the first try. (Well, his Sis hadn't been happy to find out hers were pretty bad, nearly strangling his new friend if it weren't for Gramps stopping her.) "S-So I learnt how to make Poffins!"

Ogerpon leaned in, eyes wide in fascination as she looked at Kieran, as if begging for permission to try out these new things that looked absolutely delightful! When he gave a giggle and took one out to feed her, she happily ate it and immediately giggled, nuzzling him again as thanks. "Yo yo, Ponio!"

"Y-You really like it?!" He looked quite happy. "I'm so glad! I-I guess I CAN be good at something when I put my mind to it, huh?"

Ogerpon paused, and noticed the sadness in his eyes as he said that. "Grahpon?"

"O-Oh, s-sorry! It's just that people tend to make fun of me for supporting the ogre in the stories we're told," he admitted quietly. 

THAT definitely got her attention. "Ponyo?"

"I-I mean, w-we really don't know much about the story, it feels kinda vague, and all..." he admitted. "P-Plus, I think it's pretty strong and cool for taking down three Pokémon like that! A-and how aloof it seems. It feels like it doesn't care about what others think of it. I... I wish I could do that too."

Her eyes widened, and staring into his eyes, she just, somehow knew that he was being honest, that this was the truth as he saw it.

But how? How had he somehow intuited the truth about the story? Outside maybe the actual number of Pokémon there that day, and about how she didn't care about what others thought (she DEFINITELY feared the villagers' beliefs of her.), he had pretty much called her strong for taking down Pokémon while at a type disadvantage (not that he seemed to know that, at least.)

"Ponio!" She sprung up. "Grah grah!"

"H-Huh, w-what's wr-"

"Hey, Kiki! Where are you?! You better show up right now!" The voice from the other night yelled out. Carmine sounded pretty angry, although that was all Ogerpon needed to sprint away at the speed of light. Not another human! 

Kieran blinked in surprise. "I-It doesn't seem to like others, huh..."

 A soft smile then formed on his face, and he yelled out, "I-I'm coming back tomorrow with more of the treats! S-So I hope I can see ya tomorrow!"

Oh, that was something Ogerpon was looking forward to. She just hoped that one day, she could tell him the truth about the story...

Somehow it became their routine; every night, Kieran would sneak out and feed Poffins (and eventually other treats) to Ogerpon with Merkins there to have some fun. Maybe once or twice he made a detour to the Dreaded Den to check if the ogre was in, but strangely enough, his heart seemed to be saying that it wouldn't be in there. He didn't know where this feeling came from, but regardless he was happy that he had found another friend. Even in the town, most people barely associated with him cause of 1. His sister, and 2. His supporting the ogre. Plus, this Pokémon (he kept on forgetting to do research at the library about it! Darn it!), who he had nicknamed Diane to signify the night they met (it had seemingly accepted it right away, surprisingly), was so friendly and even taught him how to do Pokémon battles with Merkins, an Applin he had met a year before their meeting named Cada, and the latest addition to the "team", a Yanma named Aragog. It didn't seem to use Special Attacks much, he noticed, and instead used its cudgel for most of its attacks. Still, it was pretty fun getting to battle the other wild Pokémon around after two to three spars every day, and he definitely noticed how happy it was too. 

Years went on, and Kieran's love for battling really grew to the point a scout from a fancy Unova academy had noticed it when they came over to inform his sis of her acceptance (it was called Blueberry Academy or something? He found that funny at least.) and found them battling. In his words, "Your skills are out of this world! I must have you studying in the academy as soon as possible!" His sis had been ecstatic to see that he had been accepted too, even if she was sour he had beaten her during that battle and immediately demanded a rematch. 

Still, he had been told that he could study in the branch division in mainland Unova for three years after he turned ten before entering the actual academy itself. After all, formal education was required and both of them, being from the suburbs, had been raised with the basic skills needed to get through life without any fancy stuff clogging them. Carmine would study online before it was time for them to head to Unova, as apparently there was some weird nonsense going on there? He swore he heard about a Team Plasma, but it was a stupid name so no way was it real. Regardless, he was so excited to actually get to study how to battle! He wanted a way to thank his friend for her support all these years, for her teachings and all that, y'know? 

When he told the Pokémon about the news, she looked really happy for him, nuzzling him happily and chirping her usual words even when her heart felt heavy. Did that mean she would lose another friend? She didn't want to be alone...!

It must have shown on her face, because Kieran then spoke, "I-I mean, I would love to take you with me to Unova, Diane! It would be a fun trip, a-and you're already part of the team anyway!"

And his words, full of sincerity... made her smile and tackle him to the ground happily. "Grahhh!"

"A-ah that tickles, Diane!" He giggled, patting her head as she smiled. "I-I'll catch you, Merkins, Cada and Aragog the day I become a trainer!"

Awww man, he couldn't wait for that day to come!

Until it did.

A loud roar, a scream, blood, he stumbled back. 

Ogerpon stared back in shock, sorrow in her eyes as she came to realize. 

Oh... Oh Arceus, what had she done-

Yellow eyes shoot open, and Kieran, Suguri awakens. Those memories haunt his mind still, and as he holds onto his head tightly, he whispers, "Diane... why did you...?"