By the time we found our way out of the desert both our Mudsdale were nowhere to be found. It took almost an entire day of traveling to get out of the mountain pass and we decided to make camp for a few days outside of Tapu Village. Paul and I fell back into our normal routine and all of our pokemon had been excited to see Mirageon in her new form. 

Now that she was evolved, Mirageon had no fear of Metang and actually found great delight in sneaking off from our practices and pouncing on top of his head while he was training with Paul. To my surprise, Paul actually seemed to like the surprise attacks and would use them to help train Metang in his focus and reaction time.

On Paul's suggestion, I had started teaching Mirageon Shadow Ball while he was teaching Metang Meteor Mash. Every evening when Paul would stop his training to teach me something from his miniature library that he had I would try hard to pay attention and not think of how much I wanted to tell him how I felt. During the battle portion of our training though usually my feelings would cool and I would be contemplating how many ways I could punch his smug face after he beat me in a battle.

"Tomorrow we should head to Tapu Village and look for the trial captain," Paul announced after dinner and I shrugged, since I was still chewing my bite of spicy potato casserole I had made for dinner.

"I'm running a little low on some supplies, so going into town would be nice," I replied after swallowing and he nodded. 

His brow furrowed suddenly and he reached for his backpack, pulling out the wrapped box I shoved at him before running away a few days ago.

"What is this, by the way?" he asked, looking at it suspiciously and I felt my cheeks begin to heat up.

"What does it look like? It's a present," I mumbled while looking over at where all of our pokemon were eating together peacefully.

"Why?" Paul asked, his eyes widening with disbelief. The look was so innocent and cute that I had to bite down on my tongue to keep myself from laughing.

"You helped me choose an outfit, so I thought I'd get you a super belated birthday present," I said with a shrug and Paul frowned.

"I didn't even buy you anything. I just sat there," he argued and I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, but you didn't really want to be there did you?" I pointed out and he opened then closed his mouth, obviously not able to argue against that. "You did something nice for me so I wanted to do something for you. But you never ask me to do anything, so I figured I would buy you something." 

Paul looked at the gift in his hands and turned it end over end.

"You know you don't owe me anything, Dawn," Paul said firmly and I rolled my eyes, setting my bowl of food to the side and stretching out my legs.

"I didn't get you a present because I felt like I owed you. Although I do feel that way," I said, narrowing my eyes at him and making his scoff. "I bought that for you because I wanted to. And I already removed the tag so it can't be returned." 

Paul glared at me for a few seconds before a breathy laugh escaped him and he smiled, looking down at the box with amusement. The unguarded expression made my heartbeat quicken slightly and I quickly looked down at my knees.

"Fine. Should I open it then?" he asked and I shrugged.

"That's usually the point of wrapping something," I said sarcastically and ducked as Paul tossed a piece of potato at me. "Hey! Don't waste food!" I chided with a laugh and he chuckled a little under his breath.

As Paul unwrapped and opened the box I suddenly felt nervous, wondering if he would actually like what I chose for him. After opening the box he reached in and lifted the thin, somewhat slippery blue and black shirt out of the box. The sleeves of the shirt were black and long enough to reach the middle of his upper arm and it had a thin black hood with short drawstrings to tighten it if desired. The front of the shirt was mainly blue but as the blue color spread from the middle of the shirt splatters of black mixed in until it was completely black on the side and back of the shirt. The material was airy and light and as Paul held it up there were no wrinkles in the material, even though I had folded it fairly small to fit in the box

"You don't like my jacket?" he asked after a momentary pause and I blushed.

"Whenever I look at you I can't understand how you're not melting from the heat. If you don't like it you don't have to wear it, I just thought it might be a nice change," I explained and he looked over at me with a slightly teasing grin.

"I haven't bought new clothes in a long time. Thanks," Paul said simply, folding the shirt and returning it to the box. 

I sighed in relief and picked up my bowl to finish my dinner. After we had all eaten Piplup came over and pantomimed playing a game of tag. I agreed readily and we all played together. Incineroar, Torterra, and Metang all stood off to the side while Lycanroc and to my surprise Riolu joined in on our game.

After Growlithe had managed to tag Riolu and sprint away I watched with amusement as Riolu began chasing Lycanroc, who was teasing him slightly by running just barely outside of his reach. Suddenly though Riolu leaped away from Lycanroc, flipping and tagging Mirageon who had been watching the two run around. Riolu rolled to the side as Mirageon leaped over him, streaking towards Piplup. He shrieked with laughter and waddled as quickly as he could towards Torterra, diving behind one of his legs.

To everyone's surprise, Mirageon jumped, flipped beautifully, and landed on Torterra's head. She then laid down and tapped his cheek with her paw. Torterra let out a rumbling laugh and began to grow out his vines. I saw his eyes turn to me and I squealed. 

Turning I began to run while trying to avoid stepping on Growlithe, who had been sitting next to me, but Torterra's vines streaked past my sides and then wrapped around my stomach. A high-pitched yelp burst out of me as the vines tightened and I found my feet being lifted off the ground. I laughed as Torterra held me up above the ground, moving me back and forth as if I was a doll he was playing with.

"Torterra! Okay, you win! Let me down!" I gasped between my giggles. 

Torterra laughed along with me but he didn't let me down. Instead, he retracted his vines, bringing me over to him and, to my surprise, Paul who had come to stand next to Torterra. He was looking on with amusement evident in his expression. Torterra's vines brought me over until I was in front of Paul and then gently set me down, releasing his hold on my stomach and retracting his vines completely

"You don't seem to be very good at this game," Paul said with a mocking tone and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I think I'm at a bit of a disadvantage when they start using their moves," I retorted, giving Torterra a large smile to let him know I was just teasing.

"Excuses," Paul scoffed. I narrowed my eyes at him and felt a wicked smile begin to tug at the corners of my lips.

"Well then, if you think you know so much," I said slowly, moving a few steps closer so that barely an inch separated us. 

He looked down at me with confusion and a slight wariness. Batting my eyes innocently I raised one hand up slowly, acting as if I was going to start playing with the string on my shirt, but then I quickly pushed against Paul's chest with all the force I could, knocking him back, and he looked up at me with shock.

"You're It!" I crowed triumphantly and spun around, running for all I was worth. Turning back I was actually fairly shocked to see that Paul was chasing after me and I laughed. "Piplup! Let's surf!" 

I jumped, launching myself into the air and I felt my ice board forming on the bottom of my feet. As I fell back down water began surging underneath me and I let out a whoop as Piplup and I rode the huge wave he had created.

"Oh, come on!" I heard Paul yell from behind me and I guided my board sideways so I could give him a mocking "hang loose" hand gesture. To my delight Paul turned away from me and tapped Lycanroc on the nose, telling her she was "It" and then ran away. Our game of tag turned into an all-out war as our pokemon used their moves to either tag or avoid getting tagged.

The sun had set long ago when Incineroar, who had gotten into the game after Paul tagged him at one point, came up behind me and picked me up into his arms. He held me bridal style before shifting his hold and pushing me up above his head, roaring in triumph. With all the running and laughing I could hardly breathe and I rested the tips of my fingers against the palm of my other hand to signal "Time out". Incineroar let me down, ruffling my beanie affectionately before walking back over to where Torterra and Metang were still on the sidelines. I flopped onto my back, splaying out my limbs, and tried to get my breath back while random giggles burst from me every few seconds.

"I never knew playing could be so tiring," Paul commented, sitting down on the ground next to me and I smiled broadly.

"That was a little more intense than our normal games," I admitted breathlessly, turning my head so I could look at him better. "Thanks for joining us," I said sincerely and he shrugged.

"If it helps me use Z powers then I guess that wasn't horrible," he said gruffly and I laughed, weakly raising my hand from the ground and knocking it into his arm.

"We'll teach you to have fun yet, Mr. Grumpy," I said teasingly. He scowled, but his eyes were gentle as he looked at me.

"Is there anything I should do to become... friends... with my pokemon?" he asked hesitantly after a moment. 

I looked up at the sky, feeling a sense of peace come over me as I looked up at the beautiful expanse of stars above me.

"Just... spend time with them," I answered quietly, looking to see if I could make any shapes in the stars. 

I felt the familiar presence of Piplup's little body come to lay down next to my arm and a flash of purple twirled across my vision. Tilting my head back I saw that Mirageon was laying on her back, her head nearly touching my own, and was looking at the stars too. Growlithe and Ribombee also were making their way over to me and I smiled as Growlithe laid down with his head nearly touching Piplup's while Ribombee landed on my stomach, tilting her head up to look at the stars. Glancing over at Paul I saw his eyes flicking between all of my pokemon that had gathered around me and then looked over at where his own pokemon were gathered around Torterra.

"If the only thing you do is train with your pokemon then they'll think that's the only thing you care about. But if you take some time to just spend with them having fun or looking up at the stars," I gestured up at the sky as an example, "then you'll be able to bond over lots of things. Not just training and battles."

Paul didn't respond as he sat quietly and I turned back to look up at the stars. I grinned broadly when wispy ribbons of sand began to dance above me, seeming to connect the stars with shimmering lines in the shape of a lopsided poliwhirl. A slight buzzing came from Ribombee and Mirageon's sand lines glowed blue and moved so that they connected a different patch of stars that looked like a Ponyta's head.

I didn't remember falling asleep, but as something shook my arm I blinked blearily and looked around. At some point, a blanket had been draped over me and all of my pokemon were curled up around me, breathing with rhythmic peacefulness, except for Growlithe. Turning I saw that it was Growlithe that had been shaking my arm and as I turned to look at him he yipped quietly.

"What is it, Growlithe?" I whispered sleepily, rubbing my eyes. 

He yipped again and bounded a few steps away, turning to look at me and raising one paw as if telling me to follow him. Frowning I gently extricated myself from my sleeping pokemon and made sure the blanket was covering them before silently following Growlithe. He woofed quietly then stuck his nose to the ground and began walking confidently away from camp. Curious, I followed after him. We were nearly to Tapu Village when Growlithe's head popped up from the ground and his ears stood erect as he looked first to the right, then to the left.

"What are you looking for, Growlithe?" I asked softly.

He barked once before jogging towards a path that led to the bottom of a large mountain. He led me down the path and I jogged after him. Growlithe suddenly slowed and sniffed at the air. I glanced around and saw that we were standing in a large field of tall grass and on the far side of the field there was a weird metal platform that looked like it was fastened to a metal track.

Is it some kind of lift? I wondered curiously but Growlithe didn't seem interested in the platform. Instead, his attention was on the grass to the left. A rustle in the grass from that direction caught my attention and I slowly lowered myself down to squat next to Growlithe, who was standing very still. I was about to ask what he was smelling when a small sound caught my ear. It sounded like a sniffle as if something was crying. Frowning I looked down at Growlithe, who had sat down and seemed to be waiting.

Following his lead, I crossed my legs and listened for the sniffling sound again. A high-pitched "vuu" sound came from the grass in front of us and I wasn't sure if I had ever heard anything sadder. Growlithe patted his front paws nervously against the ground as the rustling in the grass came closer to us. I sat very still as a white, furry head popped out of the tall grass. The pokemon's head was facing down at the ground, its triangular ears pressed flat against its head, and it was holding one of its front paws off the ground as it hopped forwards through the grass.

Growlithe let out a low whimper and the pokemon raised its head slowly. Trails of tears were leaking from pale purple eyes and I sucked in a breath at how sad it looked. It looked like a vulpix, but its fur was completely white with only a pale purple tint to the bottom of its legs and inside its ears. Growlithe padded over slowly to the injured pokemon and let out a non-threatening whine. A few more tears slipped from Vulpix's eyes as she looked between Growlithe and me. Her eyes seemed more resigned than afraid and she slowly sunk down to her belly, making herself as small as possible.

"Oh, sweetie, we won't hurt you," I whispered gently. 

The little vulpix closed her eyes and put her uninjured paw over her eyes, whimpering quietly. I thought my heart was going to break. Growlithe walked over to her trembling body and very gently licked at Vulpix's injured paw. Vulpix flinched and then opened her pale purple eyes to look at Growlithe.

"Grr, grow grrr," Growlithe said softly to the little thing. Vulpix turned from Growlithe to look at me and I smiled, hoping I didn't look too scary.

"Vulpix vul," the little thing said in a high-pitched voice, looking back at Growlithe and licking her paw before leaning her cheek on the ground.

"Grrow!" Growlithe walked over to me quickly. He placed his front paws on my knee and looked over at Vulpix, then back up at me.

"Will she let me hold her?" I asked Growlithe.

He went back to the little creature, nudging her cheek gently with his nose. She opened her eyes and seemed to listen as Growlithe barked softly and ran back and forth between Vulpix and me. Vulpix watched him then looked up at me briefly before laying her cheek against the ground and falling silent. Growlithe whined with obvious concern and pawed at my knee.

"You're right. This little one needs help," I agreed soothingly and cautiously began moving towards it. 

Vulpix didn't move as I came closer and gently slipped my hands under her furry body. I was shocked at how cold Vulpix was, but with her white fur, I wondered if she was somehow an ice type. 

I wonder if there is snow at the top of the mountain. But if Vulpix lives at the top, what is it down all the way down here? 

Gingerly I lifted Vulpix into my arms, being careful so that her injured paw draped loosely over my arm. Vulpix whimpered slightly but she didn't seem to be bothered that I was holding her.

"Let's find a PokeCenter, Growlithe," I said and Growlithe barked loudly then began trotting away from me. 

I followed him at a slower rate, not wanting to jostle Vulpix and cause her any more pain. Luckily Tapu Village was only a short walk away and the first rays of sunlight were beginning to peek out from the east. As I walked into the Pokemon Center I saw Blissey behind the nurse's counter and both me and Growlithe jogged over.

"Blissey, is Nurse Joy here? We found an injured pokemon in the wild," I explained, showing her the little vulpix in my arms. 

Blissey's eyes widened and she motioned for me to stay put before whisking through the door that led to the treatment rooms. A few minutes later Blissey was back with a stretcher and Nurse Joy was right on her heels.

"Oh dear, it really is the same Vulpix, isn't it?" Nurse Joy said with a sigh and Blissey sighed as well.

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking down at the little creature in my arms. She looked like she had either fallen asleep or passed out and I bit my bottom lip worriedly.

"I'll explain after I have examined her," Nurse Joy replied kindly.

"Of course," I agreed hurriedly, placing Vulpix's still body onto the stretcher. 

Within seconds Nurse Joy and Blissey had disappeared through the back door and I wandered over to a waiting chair in the lobby. Growlithe hopped up onto the chair next to me and laid his head in my lap, whining softly. I stroked his back soothingly, and I tried not to worry too much. Thankfully we only had to wait for fifteen minutes before Nurse Joy came back out and walked over to where we were sitting.

"Thank you very much for bringing her in," Nurse Joy said with a sigh as she sat down next to me.

"Does that vulpix get hurt often?" I asked and Nurse Joy nodded.

"There is a pack of Vulpix and Ninetales that live up on Mount Lanakila. The vulpix you found upset the lead ninetales somehow and all of the other vulpix pick on her because of it. I have tried to keep her at the pokemon center, but she always slips away and tries to go back to them," Nurse Joy explained with obvious sadness and I frowned.

"Why would she go back to them when they are bullying her?"

"Alolan Vulpix and Ninetales are a very tight-knit pack on this island. I'm sure this vulpix thinks that if she just keeps her head down and doesn't fight back they will eventually accept her again and let her back into their family."

"That's terrible!" I exclaimed and Nurse Joy nodded sadly.

"Usually Ninetales would do anything to protect the vulpix in their pack. The only thing I can think why they would austrocize this one is because it's shiny. Maybe the ninetales leader doesn't like its coloring and doesn't see it as a true vulpix," Nurse Joy mused and I blinked in surprise.

"I've never seen an alolan vulpix, I didn't realize it had a different coloring," I said, wishing I had looked more into the regional variants in Alola.

"The colorization differences are minuscule. Even if you had seen a normal vulpix you probably wouldn't have noticed the difference, but it's the only thing that I can think of to cause the others to treat her so poorly."

"Nurse Joy, will Vulpix be feeling better soon?" I asked as a plan began to formulate in my mind.

"Yes. Her paw was only sprained, so with a few more doses of Heal Bell she will be right as rain," Nurse Joy said with a small smile.

I looked down at Growlithe who was leaning his front paws and head on my thigh with a sad expression on his sweet face.

"Nurse Joy, once she is feeling better will you allow me to battle Vulpix? If I catch her then she can become a part of our family and then she wouldn't have to get bullied by her pack," I said and Nurse Joy blinked then smiled radiantly.

"Would you? That would be wonderful!" she said while clapping her hands together.

"Although, I should probably get back to my camp first. Growlithe must have heard Vulpix crying because he woke me up and led me to her and I left all my other pokemon with my travel companion," I said guiltily, hoping that they hadn't woken up to find us missing yet.

"I understand. I'll keep Vulpix in the treatment room until you come back and then we'll see if Vulpix will allow the battle," Nurse Joy said with a smile which I returned.

"I'll be back within a few hours. Thank you, Nurse Joy!" As I stood, Growlithe looked up at me and then at the door that led to the treatment rooms. I looked at his worried expression and turned to Nurse Joy. "It's probably a strange request, but do you think Growlithe could stay with Vulpix while she's healing? He seems really worried about her," I pointed out.

Growlithe looked up at me and then barked at Nurse Joy, wagging his tail a few times.

"I think that would be fine," Nurse Joy agreed, reaching out and rubbing Growlithe's ear. 

After telling Growlithe to be good I waved to Nurse Joy and ran out of the pokemon center. The sun was still rising as I jogged down the path and I hoped that Paul thought I was just jogging with Growlithe like normal. As I made my way through the bushes and trees off the path a rustling in the bushes made me pause. My temporary fear vanished though as Lycanroc emerged from the bushes, wagging her tail happily as she jogged up to me.

"Hey girl! Were you looking for me?" I asked, reaching out to rub her long ears affectionately.

She barked happily and managed to lick my face before I could pull away. I laughed and wiped off the drool before following her back to camp. To my relief, all three of my pokemon were still sleeping peacefully on the ground where I had left them. As I walked up Paul turned around and I saw a brief look of relief before it was replaced with an annoyed scowl.

"Where did you go? And where's Growlithe?" Paul asked. 

I quickly explained what happened and Paul helped me break camp. After returning my pokemon to their Pokeballs and giving Lycanroc a final thank you before she was returned, Paul and I made our way to the Pokemon Center.

Nurse Joy greeted me with a large grin as I walked through the doors and invited me to come back into the treatment room area. I followed her curiously and I felt my heart melt as Nurse Joy pointed through a hall window that opened onto a small room. A small table was set up in the middle of the room and Growlithe and Vulpix were sleeping peacefully together with Vulpix curled up against Growlithe's side.

"I've never seen anything like it. Vulpix should be wary of Growlithe since he's a fire type, but as soon as he came into the room with me she became visibly happier. I don't think it'll take much to convince her to travel with you," Nurse Joy said with a small smile and I pressed my fingertips against the glass, looking at the sweet scene with gratitude. 

Eevee had often curled up next to Growlithe like this, although I'd noticed that since her evolution she hadn't been as dependent on Growlithe. I wondered if he missed having a 'little sister' to look after.

"I'll take good care of her, Nurse Joy. I promise."

A/N  Thank you all for reading and commenting! I love seeing your reactions to the story :D