We came to Silas house shortly after my parents left, roughly two days after. It wasn't that long of a trip really, just a few hours walking. Well, Grandpa walked, I was mostly on his shoulders or going slightly above ground with Skarmory.
A few meters to the side was a dirt trail that ended at a "official route", The house was to the east of the bifurcation that splitted route 104 and 108, so we were close to Petalburg, if we were to walk thorugh the forest or close to Brookmere town and Rustbory if going further north.
I've lived here for about a month now. Actually, I already had experience living with Silas, but this time was different, we were alone now. Nobody even visited this old man, just one or twice a week we would walk to a near location, mostly Brookmere to buy supplies to keep surviving the weather. At least, old man had electricity so I can actually watch TV and do something instead of watching how the trees move.
The sweetness from the Oran berries I've been eating this month really was something else though. Now I knew why Pokemon loved berries so much, maybe humans are Pokemon too, but we don't evolve as fast as them.
I grabbed a couple more of berries from inside and I sat outside, on the same tree again. The first few times I sat here when we just arrived, something werid would happen, mostly I would get chills all over my back and just over my shoulders. I was looking straight towards the reason of it, Silas' Zangoose apparently really liked to sit near the house's entrance porch. My body answered for itself, it knew it was being watched by a higher being, by an apex predator. But instead it eases me now, how I would be scared of the silly guy that liked belly rubs?
The leaves kept falling on the half bench half tree. When I sat here, I often thought about if I should have said more. If I should have done anything, maybe I should have told Mom to stay, that Dad was strong enough to do everything. But I didn't really know, when I think about it everything that I learned in militar school, my inner voice told me they would be a lot better going together. Silas told me Mom used to be an elite trainer, at her primer she collected 7 badges. A really high number considering the prematurity of the league's circuit. When I heard that, it really helped me connect the dots about why she had such strong and rare Pokemon, for the ones i've seen since I came here at least. The same could be said for my dad, but he never really was a trainer. He followed Silas steps his first years as an 'adult' and became a ranger. He peaked at rank B, but it was because he was poached by the police department. He was one of the youngest B rank all over the ranger union, and apparently Silas was one of the prior owners of that record too.
I still didn't kn--
My eyes followed up instinctively. From the top of a nearby Mahogany tree a blur of blue, red and white was falling. My body didn't answer for the first few moments until what my eyes were seeing reached my brain. Not a threat. This time I was frozen by decision.
A slight whistle cut through the air.
Rrrriiip
I blinked. The top of my left hand felt heavy and I couldn't control it completely. A warm sensation accompanied by a slight pain on the zone welcomed the little guy in front of me. My head swerved to my left, where my favorite mutant mongoose should be laying.
But it wasn't.
Right, this is better. That guy probably would have overreacted and slashed the air in front of me. I cackled internally when thinking about Zangoose potentially cutting my hands by an accident with a non-threatening Pokemon. Drops form cold sweat ran over my forehead.
The little bird was fluttering wildly on my hand, its chest was expanding quickly as its head moved erratically side to side trying to gain leverage over my poor sweater's fabric. At least I wasn't getting my hand mangled by it. I stood there frozen for a few seconds while the taillow flailed around, progressively it lost its edge and stopped acting so damn threatened.
When I fixed deeper on the bird's figure, I saw that its plumage was clean but some feathers weren't preened. It really looked like a swallow but a lot more 'compact'.
Unconsciusly I opened my left hand with my palm looking upwards. The glutonous beast still with one set of claws stucked on my sweater, came closer to my palm to eat one of the berries. Well, I could understand, they were really good and sweet. When it noticed it couldn't reach it, it started squeaking faintly as if it was my fault somehow. Maybe food really was the door to people hearts.
When I stopped over-fixing on the small creature, I saw Silas waiting patiently a few meters to my left coming from the house. He slowly walked towards me when we locked eyes.
Silas knelt beside me, taking his time, eyes locked on the struggling Taillow with a patience that felt almost deliberate.
"Look at this little guy," he muttered, fingers hovering just near the bird but not touching it yet. "No scars on the body, claws are clean. No signs of old wounds, no missing feathers. You see what that means?"
I stayed quiet, watching the slight tremble in the Taillow’s wings as it flailed against the fabric.
Silas moved with precision, his fingers gripping the spot where the bird’s talon was stuck. With one practiced twist, he freed it in a single motion.
"The dive was too sharp," he went on, like he was thinking out loud. "Angles were all wrong, no fluidity in the motion. Young ones always do that, they think they’re faster than they actually are."
The Taillow let out a sharp cry, flapping its wings wildly before launching itself into the air in a clumsy, erratic burst of movement that left a faint trail.
He's in his early explorati-
"He’s in his early exploration phase," my grandfather interrupted my thoughts.
The bird stuck its claws to a nearby branch. Its eyes watched our every movement, looking for whatever excuse to fly away from us. That, until Silas bringed out a couple of Sitrus berries and offered them to the bird.
The old man put the fresh berries on my injury-free hand and I offered them to the Pokemon just like he was doing before. The doubt from the Tailow was fluctuating, until the hunger won. It flew slowly towards me and plucked one berry, then went away once again in the same erratic pattern that left a faint transparent trail while it accelerated. Now that I see it again, it really shouldn't be able to generate that kind of force with that tiny wings. Well, it shouldn't in a world where wild animals couldn't use some kind of isoteric energy that helped them do things, but here we are.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
When I looked in Silas direction to make sure if I was doing it right, I saw Zangoose hiding behind a tree. Hiding wasn't the right word though, I knew I couldn't see it if she didn't want me to see it, so she probably really wanted me to know that I wasn't in any kind of danger. Not that I think that with old man besides me.
The little bird repeated its actions bravely a few more times. Every repetition of the scene it forgot a little bit more how scared was before the berries. The first clumsy tries of what I think were 'quick attacks' were advancing quickly to something a lot more refined. Now it went in more of a straight lane and at a steady and quick pace. Unconsciusly it was learning, being more efficent.
Only... to eat.
Silas watched the Taillow swipe another berry from my hand, its movements already sharper, more controlled than before. The hesitation it had at first was almost gone.
“See that?” he said, voice low and even. “It’s learning. The first few times, it burned too much energy darting around, overshooting. Now? It’s cutting tighter, moving smarter. Won’t be long before it stops wasting motion altogether.”
He flicked his chin toward Zangoose, still ‘hiding’ behind the tree. “Same thing happens with them. Wild ones start out just like this--bold, reckless, picking fights they shouldn’t. The ones who don’t learn fast, don’t make it long enough to get scars.”
I followed his gaze. Zangoose was still watching, barely visible except for the faint movement of her tail.
Silas smirked. “She can understand full sentences, you know. Commands, too. If I tell her, ‘Save Aris if something happens,’ she’ll figure it out. Hell, she’s probably already decided what ‘something happens’ means.”
He didn’t say it as a brag. He just said it like it was obvious. Like it was a fact.
I blinked, something clicking in my mind.
Back then, only the smartest animals could follow complex commands. Dolphins, elephants, primates, they could be trained, but only through repetition, reinforcement. Pokémon didn’t need that. Even wild ones could pick up intent.
What changes them? Experience? Exposure to humans? Or was it something deeper?
I thought back to Psyduck and its ridiculous attempts to make a smiley face. I thought about Mom’s Roserade, who could pick up on unspoken things as if she was reading emotions.
I thought about this Taillow, how young it was, how it hadn’t yet learned fear.
“This isn’t just a random encounter,” I muttered under my breath. There’s some kind of system to this.
Silas raised an eyebrow but didn’t interrupt.
Young Pokémon take risks because they have to. If they don’t, they never learn. They don’t evolve. It’s a brutal system, but one that ensures only the most adaptable make it. Maybe evolution isn’t just about battle experience. Maybe it’s about survival in its purest form, adapting to the world, learning through trial and error.
I exhaled, eyes flicking back to the bird. This Taillow isn’t afraid yet. That’s the difference. It hasn’t learned to be. The wild only respects those who survive long enough to know fear.
Silas crossed his arms. “If you ever want to understand a Pokémon, don’t look at its moves,” he said, his voice measured. “Look at how
That line stuck with me more than I wanted to admit.
I had spent years studying animal behavior in my other life, but I had never interacted with them this closely. Not like this. Silas just knew. He saw things instantly, read patterns like second nature.
And for the first time, I got what that felt like.
How it moves when it is alone. How it moves when its with others of his species. How it moves when there are other species.
"You are pretty sharp for a two-year-old, kid." Silas patted my shoulder, his voice carrying a hint of something, amusement, maybe. Approval.
I smirked, opening my mouth to throw something back at him when a rough voice cut through the air.
"I’d stop feeding that Taillow if I were you, kiddo."
I turned toward the house.
A man stood at the edge of the porch, arms crossed over his chest. He was around Silas’s age, maybe mid-fifties, but he carried himself differently. Where Silas had the stance of someone comfortable in his solitude, this man moved like someone who had spent his life constantly on the move.
He wore well-worn boots caked in dirt, cargo pants with a few rips near the knees, and a heavy brown ranger’s jacket that looked like it had seen better years. A familiar insignia was stitched onto the sleeve, a bold "A" for an active Rank A Ranger.
His eyes, sharp and assessing, flicked from me to the bird. Then, he pointed to the sky.
A shadow passed overhead.
The wind shifted suddenly, kicking up the leaves around me. My hair whipped into my face as I followed his gesture.
Above us, a much larger figure hovered in the air, wings outstretched like a living warning.
Swellow.
Its chest feathers were slightly ruffled, its talons curled in tension. It wasn’t pristine, not like some trained bird, its plumage had a few nicks, and one of its primary feathers was slightly chipped, but the sheer way it held itself made up for it. There was power there, power that came with age and experience.
"Bold little guy," the stranger said, eyes still on the bird. "But if that Swellow’s its parent, you might wanna stop doing that before it gets the wrong idea."
The Taillow chirped sharply, hopping in place on the branch, seemingly oblivious to the stiff tension hanging in the air.
Silas didn’t seem the least bit concerned.
"If that Swellow wanted a fight," he said, calm as ever, "it wouldn’t be watching. It’d be acting."
The man let out a short laugh, finally stepping off the porch and walking toward my grandfather.
"Guess some things don’t change," he muttered, shaking his head.
When they were at arm’s reach, they clasped hands in a rough, familiar grip before pulling into a brief, firm hug.
"Kid," Silas turned to me, still smirking. "This is Kai. Old friend of mine. We go way back."
"Way back," Kai echoed, rubbing his shoulder like remembering something painful. "First met this stubborn bastard in Oblivia. Was damn near forty years ago, now that I think about it."
Oblivia.
The name tugged at something in my memory. It was an old region, one I’d seen mentioned in a few TV reports but never paid much attention to. A remote place with deep ties to Pokémon Rangers.
Kai grinned, flashing his teeth. "Silas ever tell you that story?"
I shook my head.
Kai let out an exaggerated sigh. "Figures. Probably doesn’t want you to know he got lost in a jungle for three days straight."
"Two days," Silas corrected smoothly. "And I wasn’t lost. I was tracking something."
Kai snorted, "Yeah, tracking your own bad decisions."
I pressed my lips together to hold in a laugh.
Kai shook his head, still grinning. Then his expression shifted just slightly--something quieter settling behind his gaze.
"You should come out more, old man," he said, more serious this time. "Some of the rangers still get together once in a while. You could drop by."
Silas gave him a flat look. "That’s not for me."
Kai clicked his tongue. "Yeah, and that’s why you’re out here alone, in the middle of a forest, talking to a two year old."
Silas rolled his eyes, but I caught the way he exhaled through his nosenot quite amused, not quite annoyed.
"Come inside," he said instead, turning toward the house. "We’ll talk there."
Kai patted my head as he passed. "You’re sharper than your granddad, kid. Keep it up."
We followed after Silas. Before stepping inside, he glanced over his shoulder, throwing a short command over his back.
"Zangoose, keep watch."
From the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow shift. The leaves rustled near the treeline.
Kai whistled. "Still got her keeping an eye on things, huh?"
"She likes having a job," Silas said simply.
We stepped inside.
Kai shrugged off his jacket, draping it over a chair. "Gotta say, didn’t expect to see Loren leave her kid behind." He let out a dry chuckle. "Then again, shouldn’t be surprised."
I frowned slightly.
Silas leaned against the counter, arms crossed. "You got something to say, Kai?"
Kai held up a hand. "Nah, nah. Look, I get it. I respect it, actually. It’s just... risky. Not for her, but for Claude."
Silas didn’t answer right away.
Kai exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. "She’s got that same look in her eyes her mother used to have. Stubborn as hell."
That caught my attention.
Her mother?I didn’t know much about her. Nobody really talked about her. Was she a trainer too? A ranger?
I glanced between the two men, waiting for more, but neither elaborated.
Kai ran a hand through his graying hair. "And Claude, man…" He whistled lowly. "That guy’s holding it together, but I don’t know. He’s got too much going on in his head."
Silas exhaled. "Yeah."
That was all he said.
Silence stretched for a few seconds before Kai clapped his hands once, shaking off the heaviness.
"Anyway, I didn’t come here to mope. You got any coffee, or do I have to wrestle a Pokémon for it?"
Silas smirked slightly, pushing off the counter. "You can try your luck with Zangoose."
Kai chuckled. Then, as Silas turned toward the kitchen, he clapped a firm hand on his shoulder.
"They’re gonna be okay, man." His voice was quieter now, more certain. "Come on."
Silas didn’t say anything right away. But eventually, he nodded.
I watched the exchange, feeling something settle in my chest.
Hoenn map i've been using (to see it better)
Do you like Swellow?