It's okay to fall, but remember to get back up.

"I'm really sorry to delay your journey, Sapphire," Citrine told the girl as they saw her off.

Lairon and Combusken sat on a mat at the side, munching on a pile of Poffins. Lairon and Whismy challenged each other over the spicy ones in an eating contest, whilst Lotty and Combusken shared theirs in relative peace.

Citrine, sitting on her wheelchair, watched the scene fondly. Sapphire stepped onto Donphan as they prepared to set off again.

"It's no problem for me! You really take good care of yourself, okay?" Sapphire pumped a fist, "thanks for those, though! They've never had anything other than Berries in a while."

"It's the least I can do," Citrine smiled. "Have a safe journey herein, Sapphire!"

Their meeting was brief, and they didn't really hit it off, but it was a pleasant meeting nonetheless. It was a simple passer-by's meeting, and after a short favour and return, they parted ways.

Short and sweet.

"Now then, it's about time we get going too," Citrine turned to her Pokemon.

Lombre and Loudred perked up, not too sure what lay in store herein. They cleaned up the Poffins, wrapping them up neatly in a pack before tucking it into the pouch of Citrine's wheelchair.

-

Rydel cried. Sobbed like a baby.

"Are you really leaving?" he whined, "are you really okay? Must you leave so soon?"

Citrine smiled awkwardly.

He had come to see the girl as a daughter to be cared for and pampered. Citrine wasn't exactly uncomfortable having a sugar daddy around, but independence was something she had to garner for herself soon.

"I've troubled you enough," she told them, resolved, "I want to go back out there and become stronger on my own. It's something I can't do while I'm still here."

Because she didn't set out on this journey simply to research Berries-- she set out to see the world, to explore, and to grow.

She can't let herself stagnate after one failure!

"I want to be independent!" Citrine told them, "so I'm going to challenge the world out there again."

At that, Rydel gave a relieved look.

With a resigned but gratuitous sigh, Rydel put a hand on Citrine's shoulder. "If you're going so far to say that, I guess I can only wish the best for you."

Rydel turned around, toward some of his merchandise, and unlatched a bike from the corner.

"But I'm not letting you go alone! Take a bike with you," and it's an order, "it's foldable, and light, and fast, and-- well, you get it! Take it with you!"

Rydel squeezed the bike into its compact form, tucking it into the back of Citrine's wheelchair.

"I can't possibly take something so expensive!" she told him, trying to refuse-- who gives a girl in a wheelchair a bike? "I don't have the money, anyways."

"I'm not making you pay for it," he poked her in the forehead, "I'm not Aunt Haruna from the daycare."

Citrine burst into laughter at that.

"Only bike it after your recuperation time, got it? Once you get to Lavaridge, consult the physician there about your legs. You're not allowed to bike until then, alright?" Rydel said, like he was reading off a notice board, "Loudred and Lombre, keep her close."

Lombre and Loudred saluted with a chirp of agreement.

-

"It feels like it's been ages since you first came in here, Vigoroth carrying you in in the ungodly hours of the night," Aunt Haruna sighed, "you grow up so fast."

"It's only been barely two weeks, Aunt Haruna," she responded, cradling an Azurill in her lap, "I'll probably miss this place. It's the most comfortable I've been in my life."

The Pokemon Daycare in Mauville was small, but full of love, sunshine, and warmth. It's the kindest place in the world, where peace radiated from the walls and the soil.

Citrine was crowded by Pokemon the second she wheeled in, which spoke volumes of how popular she was in there. Even the visitor's Pokemon crawled over curiously, some asking her for something, maybe to sing.

"The baby Pokemon love you too," Aunt Haruna told her, combing her hair out. Binding them into twintails, she said, "we'll miss your help here as well, so come back anytime, got it?"

Citrine felt warm inside.

Aunt Haruna was the mom she never knew she needed. Why were people in this world so kind, so loving? So accepting?

(Unlike the people in the other world.)

"I'll definitely come back," she promised.

-

"The journey's only getting harder herein. Do you have everything you need?"

The last one to greet was Wattson.

Citrine nodded.

"I have Lotty and Whismy with me," she told him. Lombre and Loudred raised their arms together like a pair of enthusiastic guard dogs, making Wattson laugh.

"Well, surprise surprise, there's something," Wattson opened the gym doors, and out flew two figures who charged right into Citrine's face.

Citrine squeaked, unable to escape.

Shaking off the dizzy spell, she found herself facing Magnemite and Zubat, who fluttered around her cheerfully, singing in their tongues.

"These two little gremlins have been waitin' since last night!" Wattson grinned wide, then laughed at his own joke.

"You're the Magnemite from the power plant," she remembered-- "is the loose screw okay now?"

Magnemite was floating stably, entirely comfortable and content. In its loose screw socket, tucked in the fault gap, was a plastic ring. Citrine had fit it in there yesterday as an experiment-- seemed it worked perfectly after all.

She turned to the Zubat.

"You're the one from the cave... and the one that stayed back yesterday?" she let it land on her shoulder.

"It's taken a liking to you," Wattson told her, "apparently it's the one that called for the horde to save you yesterday too."

Citrine gaped, "really?"

It's crazy smart. Were Pokemon supposed to be this intelligent?

Zubat swayed around happily.

Citrine felt the warm fuzz of fur-- and sighed, resigning herself to her fate. Reaching into her pocket, she retrieved a ring, and tucked it at the base of Zubat's wing.

"Guess you two are in the party now, then!" she welcome them gladly, "you'll be Magney, and hmm... Crowy!"

They fluttered around happily at that.

Citrine giggled.

(She may have lost something precious, but she gained two more.)

(It's by no means a replacement. The hole will always remain there.)

(But at the very least, the pain eases a little.)

-

"Citrine dear, take this with you."

Wattson set the Dynamo badge onto Citrine's hands, and Citrine stopped short.

"Wait-- wait, Mister Wattson? What's this for?"

Wattson laughed. As if it were obvious, he declared, "it's for you, of course!

Citrine spluttered, too surprised to be coherent, "but- But I-- I don't deser-- I didn't challenge you or anything!"

Wattson smiled proudly.

"I can give the badge to anyone I deem worthy. That's what the association told me," he said, "and I think, Citrine, you have the potential to soar far beyond right now. That's why you're worthy."

Citrine felt incredibly guilty. What part of her right now was worthy? She'd only shown Wattson all the pathetic sides of her so far.

"Are..." she didn't know what to say, "are you sure?"

This badge, and the badge under her vest, from Roxanne. She didn't feel like she deserved either of them, yet the leaders thought she did. She didn't understand.

What did they see in her?

(Expectations?)

"You work harder than anyone else I've seen," Wattson told her, "you care about everyone else more than you do your own self. Beyond anything-- that's important."

(Selflessness?)

"Take that badge and be proud of it!" Wattson told her, "a Gym Leader, two leaders of Hoenn have acknowledge you as a trainer, Citrine!"

Citrine smiled back, a little touched.

"I hope I can become someone who lives up to this badge," she said, "thanks so much, Mister Wattson."

-

Citrine set off the next day, with four Pokemon in tow, wheeling herself on the road toward Lavaridge.

"Lotty, Whismy, Magney and Crowy," she called them, "looks like it's getting a little crowded around here, huh?"

They chirped back with their individual calls, filled with energy and enthusiasm.

(The road ahead is long.)

(But with them, she can keep going.)