Chapter Nine
Katarina was smiling as she got off of the train with her poliwag in her arms. She had been riding the rails overnight from Tinko City after Marion and Spencer had helped her with charting a path to home along the network of trainlines that crisscrossed Tinko. Without their knowledge, Katarina would have had no idea of how to get back home except by walking, and that had not been nearly so appealing a prospect as it had been when she had first set out from home. According to what Marion had said, the whole train system was growing and changing every year with companies, routes, and prices all in a state of near-chaos, but there was no need to worry because she and Spencer would be accompanying Katarina for at least part of the way.

After Professor Oak had given her a small blue pokémon with a black and white spiral pattern on its stomach, its red and white poké ball, and its papers, and taught her on how to take care of it, he had bidden Katarina, Exo, and the others farewell and got on his boat to go back to the mainland. He hadn't said when he would be back in Tinko again, but he had given every impression that Katarina was lucky to have caught him when she did.

Once Professor Oak was out of sight, the formality that the children and pokémon had put on had been abandoned in a heartbeat and all of the excitement and relief that they had built up washed over them like a flood. Everyone had wanted to look at and play with Katarina's burbling new pokémon, herself most of all. Even Exo had tried his best to entertain the young poliwag, but it was obviously a skill that he had never had much opportunity to practice.

One of the first challenges that Katarina had run into as the owner of a new pokémon was what to call the little round creature in her arms. She had thought long and hard, but nothing had come to her until Spencer, after Katarina had dismissed yet another of her companions' suggestions, had told her to "stop being so wishy-washy". She had taken inspiration from his comment, and, for better or worse, had christened the baby poliwag Wishy.

After some of the initial excitement surrounding Wishy had worn off, Katarina and the other children had started thinking about their next course of action. It was clear that both of the girls needed to get home, and Spencer wasn't opposed to heading back west himself. "There's just too much competition for me and Ace in a place like this," he had explained when Katarina had asked him why. At first the three of them had talked about spending a few days more in Tinko City, but as they talked and the weight of their other obligations had grown heavy, they had reached a consensus first on only spending one more day, then only the night, and by the end of their deliberations they had agreed to try and leave for home that afternoon.

They had shared this plan with the pokémon as they were walking back to the hotel. All of them had understood and accepted it, with Ace flying quickly to the train station where they had first pulled into Tinko City and coming back with a train schedule held tightly in his beak. The exception to this agreed-upon pact had been Wishy, but only because she was too young to understand such things and was much more excited with the world outside of the poké ball where she had been sequestered for so long. At first, Katarina had set Wishy on the ground and had blithely expected the little poliwag to keep up with the group, but it had soon become clear that she was not up to the task. Not only were her clumsy little legs prone to tiring quickly, but Katarina had also failed to take into account all of the distractions that a bustling city could provide a young pokémon. The only thing that had kept Wishy from wandering off to far away from the group was how tired she would get. The little poliwag would sit down and catch her breath, Katarina would frantically come to her aid and lift Wishy up and carry her for a bit, but then would set her down and the cycle would begin again. Fortunately, Exo and Wanda were on hand and they had done their best to corral the younger pokémon while the children plotted their trip.

The obvious solution would have been for Katarina to just keep carrying her pokémon the whole way back to the hotel, but she had been reluctant to do so due to Wishy's weight and also because of the slick mucus that she was secreting through her skin. Professor Oak had mentioned offhandedly that poliwag needed to stay moist and drink plenty of water, but he had failed to give Katarina all of the details, so the first time that she had reached out to touch her new pokémon, she had instinctively pulled back and tried to wipe the slime off her hand on the ground. Spending some time playing with Wishy had helped her get over her initial disgust, but it had still been a challenge for her every time that she had needed to pick the poliwag up and carry her. If she held her in her arms, Wishy's slime would get all over Katarina's arms as well as her hands, and, more importantly, threaten to stain the beautiful green dress that Marion and Spencer had gotten her, but if she held Wishy out in front of her using only her hands then Katarina's arms got tired and she also felt like a bad pokémon trainer for handling Wishy the same way that she would have carried an unpleasant-smelling sack of fertilizer back on her family's farm.

In any case, they had made it back to the hotel and, after Katarina had changed into something more suitable for traveling and dirtying, had checked out of their rooms without incident. They only had time to grab a small lunch at one of the street-side cafés, and since Katarina had spent so much of her time there working to get Wishy to eat, she had to eat her own food during the cab ride back to the train station.

A train whistle had sounded just as the rapidash-drawn wagon had pulled up and continued to sound in three staccato bursts while Marion had paid the driver. Lugging their belongings after them, the children had purchased their tickets and boarded the train only to collapse into their seats. It was only then that the full impact of the day's events had hit Katarina. "I have a pokémon," she had said to herself, and allowed herself a big smile.

It had felt good to be traveling again, but Katarina had felt a little lost when the train built up its head of steam and pulled its clambering body out of the station, at least initially. When she had set out, Katarina had been wildly enthusiastic and confident in what she believed lay ahead of her. Now, on the other side of her quest, she had little knowledge of what the future would hold. After tasting the freedom and excitement of life off of her family farm, Katarina was not sure that she could go back to the way that things had been before.

Lost in her thoughts, Katarina had not been paying attention to Wishy until the little pokémon pressed her head through the space between her arm and her leg and squeezed her way into Katarina's lap. At first, she had shied away from the poliwag's touch, but that just eased Wishy's path and soon the round blue pokémon had been looking up at her happily and spewing a small stream of bubbles from out of her small pink mouth. For some reason, the feel of her slippery skin had not felt as detestable to Katarina then, and she had looked down at Wishy fondly and said softly, "My name is Katarina. Can you say that? Katarina."

Wishy had blinked at Katarina and then scrunched up her face and squeezed her eyes tight. Her first attempt had ended in a coughing fit that sent out a less controlled stream of bubbles, and Katarina had patted her pokémon on the back to help her clear her throat. But then Wishy had redoubled her efforts and managed to squeak out, "Kahtahwina."

"Did you hear that?" Katarina had said excitedly to the others. "Wishy just said my name!"

Spencer and Ace had looked up from the game of cards that they had been playing, and since Ace had been winning, Spencer had welcomed the distraction and had sidled over to the row of seats where Katarina, Exo, and Wishy were sitting. As he had done so, Spencer had taken a surreptitious peak at Ace's cards, but since the spearow was trying the same trick, neither of them had gained any advantage.

Because of their attempts at cheating, Spencer and Ace had both reached Katarina after Marion did and had to watch as the red-haired girl had fawned over Katarina and Wishy while still maintaining a fair distance from the slimy poliwag. Surrounded by the friends that she had made over the past week, Katarina had felt her worries wash away. That warm feeling had stayed with her and kept Katarina content over the hours to come, while Wishy kept her plenty busy.

During a changeover in Pryortown, Marion and Wanda had been the first to leave the group. Although it had been many hours past sunset, Katarina had worked hard to stay up. When the train had stopped and the conductor had told his passengers that it was safe to disembark, she had carried her half-awake poliwag off of the train. She had been more tired than she had thought and missed one of the steps on her way down to the platform. Fortunately, Spencer had been there waiting for her and he had caught her arm and helped Katarina and Wishy get safely to the ground. Exo had been able to manage the step on his own.

She had thought that getting up and moving would help her to stay awake, but at that late hour all of Pryortown looked to be asleep save for the passengers and railroad engineers milling about in anticipation of the next departing train. Someone had said something then, but Katarina had had to stop and shake the sleep from her eyes and her head before she had been ready to understand.

"I said, 'not a bad little place, huh?'" Spencer had repeated indulgently. When Katarina had tried to respond, she had to stop to stifle a yawn, and that had made Spencer chuckle. "Let's find our seats on the next train and you get go to sleep, okay?"

"But what about Marion?" Katarina had mumbled. "Where did she go?"

Spencer had taken off his cap and scratched his head. "I'm sorry, Kat. I tried to keep her, but she rushed off with her bags so quickly, and then she got lost in the crowd before I could stop her. She's probably-"

The words had died in his throat, because just then Spencer had seen Marion striding purposefully towards them with a demure but unmistakable smile on her face. She had been flanked on one side by the slithering form of Wanda and on the other by an impeccably dressed man who was obviously a servant of her father's. "Katarina!" Marion had yelled and then embraced the younger girl in a hug. "I'm afraid that this is where we must part, as my father's expecting me! Traveling with you has been a most educational experience, and I'm very happy for you and your new pokémon! Now, promise me that you'll answer my letters promptly, and if you ever are in the area, you simply must stop by and visit!"

"Thank you, Marion!" Katarina had said and returned the hug. "And if you ever come my way, please visit my farm! I'm sure my family would be delighted to have you for dinner and take care of you!"

"Eh," Marion had started to say, but then Spencer had stepped in to save her from saying something that she might regret.

"Will you even be around, Red?" he had asked with a friendly smile. "I thought you were going to use this trip to try and convince your old man to let you go to Kanto?"

"That's right!" Then the man standing beside Marion had coughed, and she had admitted, "I still have to talk with him when I get back."

Spencer had shifted from one foot to the other awkwardly and said, "Well, good luck with that, Red." He had started to walk away, towards the train, but Marion reached out and had grabbed him by the arm. "What?"

"Take care of yourself, Spencer," Marion had said with a smile, and then she had looked at Ace and told him, "Try and keep him out of trouble." Then she had blinked her blue eyes and said aloud, "What am I thinking? You're not going to be any help with that." Instead of trying to further fumble with words, Marion had just kissed Spencer on the cheek and said again, "Take care of yourself, Spencer, understood?"

"Yeah, ah, you too, Marion." With that, Spencer had beat a hasty retreat from the girls and the pokémon except for Ace who was flying after him and had been mocking him loud enough for the whole train station to hear.

Marion and Katarina had watched him go with matching smiles and then Marion had looked down at Exo who had been silently watching the whole spectacle and said to him, "You are an interesting little pokémon." Exo had not replied until Marion had added, "I'm glad to have met you," and offered her hand to him.

Then he had only taken it and said, "Thank you."

The servant had cleared his throat, and Marion had glared at him, but then the train whistle had blown, and it had been time to end the goodbye. "Goodbye, Marion," Katarina had said, and the two girls had hugged again.

"Goodbye, Katarina."

Once she had boarded the new train with Exo and Wishy, and had seated herself next to Spencer on the mostly-empty passenger car, Katarina had thought that she would be full of energy from moving from one train to another. Even though Wishy was sleeping peacefully in her arms and Exo was his usual withdrawn self, she had been confident that Spencer and Ace would have provided her with some conversation. But instead, Spencer had been strangely quiet, and Ace had followed his lead. When he had reclined back as far as he could in his unforgiving seat and tilted his cap low over his eyes, Katarina had given up on talking with him.

In the end, it had turned out that she did not feel the loss of his company. After the second train that Katarina and the others had boarded that day had pulled out of the station and reached its traveling speed, its swaying motions had rocked Katarina to sleep in much the same way as she had rocked her new pokémon earlier. She had awoken hours later with a start as the train passed over a rough section of track with a sudden jolt. She heard movement around her, but in the darkness of the cloudy night, Katarina's eyes had refused to adjust and so she had resorted to saying in a harsh whisper, "Who's there?"

In answer, someone had sworn, some wings had rustled, and then a familiar voice had hissed, "I told you that you were being too loud, Spence!"

"Me? I'm not the one clicking around on those nasty talons you've got!"

"Do you wanna take a closer look at them? 'cause I can make that happen!"

Katarina had cleared her throat and attempted to forestall any more bickering between Spencer and Ace by ordering, "Be quiet! You'll wake Wishy!" That had put an end to the arguing, but the silence was not entirely comforting as Katarina had not been able to see her hand in front of her face. She had kept her voice low and asked, "What are you two doing?"

When an answer had not been immediately forthcoming from his partner, Ace had said in a low, but not unfriendly tone, "Do you want me to tell her?"

"No, no," Spencer had said, and Katarina could perfectly picture him waving away the spearow's offer in her mind's eye, "I'll tell her." Then, he had cleared his throat and said, "What the two of us were trying to do…" Spencer had stopped and started speaking again, "See, we didn't want to bother you with-"

"We were just leaving," Ace had said simply, and once again Katarina's mind had provided her with a picture, this time of Spencer glaring at his pokémon.

But a question had occurred to her and Katarina had asked, "What do you mean? We aren't pulling into another station, are we?"

"Well, Kat, no. Ace and I were going to jump from the train."

"Jump from the train? Are you out of your minds?"

"Keep your voice down," Spencer had hissed, and Ace joined him by shushing her more loudly than Katarina had been talking. When it was clear that none of the other few passengers in their section of the train were disturbed by their conversation, Spencer had said, "We've done it plenty of times before. Besides, we, uh, aren't exactly going to be welcomed back into the next town with open arms. Let's just leave it at that, okay?"

"You were just going to leave without saying goodbye?"

Spencer had sighed, a painfully loud sound to Katarina's ears in the quiet of the rattling train car, and then he had said, "Look, I'm not really one for goodbyes, doll. I'd rather get out of here without you crying about how much you'll be missing me and thinking about me."

Despite his early admonition for her to keep quiet, Katarina's voice had risen in volume and pitch in response to that provocation. "I'm not going to cry! You big-"

Suddenly, Spencer's hand had shot out of the darkness and had covered Katarina's mouth and pushed the unkind words that she was going to say about him back down her throat. "Either way, you caught me attempting to sneak out, so you still get your tearful farewell." Katarina had heard the smug certainty in his voice and had pictured his lopsided smile as easily as if she could really see it.

She had wanted to huff, but the good humor in Spencer's voice had been contagious and Katarina had felt herself smiling in spite of herself. "Maybe," she had said, and then, "I will miss you, Spencer."

"I'll miss you too, Katarina. It's been a lot of fun going around this big beautiful country with you."

Between them there had been silence, filled only by the clambering of the train's wheels over tracks sounding from under their feet. Then, Katarina had said tentatively, "I want to write you, Spencer, but I suppose that you and Ace don't know where you'll be, so I can't send any letters to you."

"I've got an idea!" Ace had said with far more spirit than anyone, human or pokémon, should rightly have possessed at that late hour. "Tinko's only so big, right? So, Spence and I are bound to go back through at least some of the same towns. If you write a letter to him, you could send it to a bank or a sheriff…" Ace had paused and then said in a less triumphant tone, "I know, Spence, I know, but I can't think of anywhere else!

"Anyways, write up a letter and send it to a town we've been to before. Eventually we'll come back that way and we'll be able to respond to you. Easy!"

Katarina had nodded to show her understanding, having forgotten that such a gesture was useless in the dark. "What town would that be?"

"Well," Ace had said thoughtfully, "it will have to be a place that we haven't, er, made a name for ourselves yet."

"We'll figure it out and let you know later," Spencer had said. Then, after giving him her address, Katarina had stepped forward and forced him into a hug that had first made him stiffen but then he had relaxed and reciprocated the gesture. "I'm happy to have met you, Katarina."

True to his word, Spencer had not lingered for much longer. He and Ace had waited for the train to slow down in anticipation of rounding a curve of track, then, the boy had leapt off of the train from between two cars, followed by the bird, and the two of them had vanished into the night. Sleep had come slower to Katarina after this farewell, than it had when she had bid farewell to Marion, but it had still taken her eventually.

Now, Katarina was standing in a train station that she had not even known had existed in a town that she had only been to once or twice to accompany her father and the bounty of their land to market. Standing beside her was Exo, and in her arms was her very own pokémon. Holding onto Wishy was not altogether easy, as the round poliwag was not only slick but also very energetic after getting a full night's sleep. Difficult as it was, Katarina resolved not to let Wishy down until she was outside of the limits of the town, and that thought drove her to start walking south, towards home.

She was so preoccupied with Wishy that Katarina did not notice that Exo was walking with her until they had already walked a few yards. When she did, she looked down at the somber little cubone, but he did not say anything, and she decided to keep quiet. It was almost possible for the two of them to recapture the serenity that they had experienced while traveling only mere days earlier, before anyone else had joined them on Katarina's quest. There was still Wishy, however, and, by happily burbling and spewing bubbles, the poliwag was doing her best to make her presence known.

When the houses turned to open fields, Wishy began fussing in Katarina's arms and she reluctantly let the young pokémon down. Wishy waddled forward on her undeveloped legs, with her long-finned tail swinging back and forth as she rushed forward to examine the waving stalks of wheat that lined the dirt road. Katarina let her get close to the edge of the path, but then rushed forward to scoop Wishy up before the poliwag could stumble and fall over the side.

After they had resumed their progress, Exo said, "Keep an eye on her, Katarina."

"Kahtahwina!" chirped Wishy from her spot in the girl's arms.

"Thank you, Exo," said Katarina without thinking.

"Eckso!"

They walked for a while longer. Katarina wanted to say something, but she was not entirely sure of what Exo's response would be. Still, she pressed ahead and said, "Are you coming to my family's farm with us?"

Exo's response was too quiet for Katarina to understand at first, and, when she asked him to repeat himself, he looked as though doing so pained him. "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"But why?"

"Why!" echoed Wishy again, heedless of what was going on.

There was no wind, but the stalks of wheat roiled all the same. Underneath his mask, Exo's dark eyes narrowed, and he tightened his grip on his club. When a shape burst from one of the farm fields that bordered them, the cubone was ready and he met the sudden assault by putting his weapon and his body in front of Katarina.

He batted away the other pokémon and it was its snarl that Katarina recognized even before her eyes had registered its muted pink body covered in spines. It was the same nidorino that had accosted her when she had first set out on her journey. She could recognize him by the broken horn that cut a savage path from his forehead to end in an uneven point.

An instant later, the nidorino recognized her and Exo as well and he barked an ugly sound somewhere between a laugh and a growl, "You again?"

Katarina did not have any time to reply before the wild pokémon lunged at her again, eliciting a high-pitched squeal from Wishy in her arms. But, again, Exo stepped in front of her and he met the charging nidorino and he swung his club upwards to batter the side of his head. The force of the blow sent nidorino spinning and landed in a heap on the dirt ground of the road. He struggled to get up, but Exo walked over to the nidorino and hit him several times, bludgeoning his legs, side, and head.

Exo carried out his work in silence with grim efficiency. He did not look at Katarina as he did so, and she did not want him to. What brought him out of his trance was not the girl, but her pokémon. Wishy squirmed free from Katarina's arms and hopped down in front of her. The small poliwag shrieked her little lungs out and then sent out a string of bubbles at the prone form of the wild nidorino. They lazed through the summer air and popped pitifully against nidorino's pink flank. Exo looked up from his foe and stared at Wishy and lowered his club to the ground. Then, he started to walk away from the half-conscious pokémon he had defeated.

It was easy for Katarina and even Wishy to catch up to Exo, and although Katarina chanced a look backwards at the nidorino, she did not let up. Instead, she asked Exo, "Why won't you come to the farm with us?" Again, he did not say anything, so Katarina worked to convince him, saying, "I'll have to talk with my father, but I'm sure that you could stay with us and eat dinner with us. There's this great pond on our land that I know that Wishy is going to love."

"I can't be your pokémon," Exo said softly. "I'm sorry, Katarina, but I just can't."

"I'm not asking that of you! I only want for you to meet my parents, and to have dinner with us."

Exo shook his head slowly. "Even that would be too much, I think. I have spent so much time with you, traveling with you, and I need to go back to the way that things were before I met you, before I cannot."

"What do you mean by that? 'Back to the ways that things were before?’" Katarina's eyes narrowed and she raised her voice as she said, "What were you doing before you met me? Weren't you just a hermit walking around, with only fights with Endo every now and then to look forward to?"

"It was my life, and you have yours, and Wishy will have hers. If I go with you, I might want something that I can never have, and then I will never be happy. It may already have happened."

Katarina pressed him, "But what if you can have it?"

"Then I will always miss what I gave up."

It was quiet between them. Even Wishy had fallen silent. "Are you upset with me?" asked Katarina in a voice barely above the whisper of the swaying stalks of wheat in the fields around them. "Because I-"

"No," said Exo firmly. "I am happy to have met you Katarina, and I always will be, but I need time to think."

He started to walk onwards, but Katarina followed after him, trailed by Wishy on her little legs. "Wait!" The cubone did not say anything or even turn around, but he did stop. "Wishy is still too little, so she can't protect us if we get attacked by any other wild pokémon. So, would you come with us, at least until we're closer to home?"

At once, Exo said, "Yes," and he was stunned to feel Katarina's arms around him. She quickly let him go and busied herself with picking up Wishy and fussing over the happy little poliwag, and they walked onward together.

Not much was said between them as they walked. Both of them were wary of falling into another argument at first, but as those emotions faded they were replaced by new ones and the fear became of any talk turning into goodbye. But it was as sure in its coming as the sun's descent.

It was Katarina who began. They were still thirty minutes north of her family's farm and she could see that Exo was growing restless. She stopped walking and put a hand on the cubone's shoulder to have him do the same. Then she said, "I can find my own way home from here." Exo didn't say anything, but just nodded his masked head. Katarina set Wishy down and reached into her rucksack to pull out the polished red and white poké ball that Professor Oak had given her. It had held Wishy inside of it, but Katarina had no need for it any longer.

If Exo knew what she was planning, he gave no sign, and only watched as Katarina opened the capsule with a mechanical click and then bent its two halves back on the hinge connecting them until it broke in two. Katarina looked at the two domes that she held in her hands and then solemnly handed the white half of the sundered poke ball to Exo. "I don't know if you have anywhere to put it, but I want you to have this. I only got Wishy- I only got as far as I did because of you. If you hold onto it, maybe you'll remember me."

"I will."

"And don't forget that you'll always be welcome here, all right?"

"I won't forget." Then, Exo stepped forward and haltingly embraced Katarina. He lingered in her arms for longer than she expected, but still not nearly long enough. They separated and he started to walk away, following the sun west. Katarina watched him go, and Wishy watched her.

When Exo vanished over the horizon, Katarina picked Wishy up and completed the last leg of her journey feeling lonely, but not alone.

"Welcome home."

The End