Shortened Summary: After losing his father at an early age, Shin Harper desires nothing more than a Pokémon companion. When he meets a young Rockruff one day it's like fate answers his plea, however, neither of them could've predicted the journey it would take them to remain together.

Review: Written mainly from Shin's perspective, this story hooked me from the start. It opens with a wonderfully vivid scene that is critical to the plot. Glaceon346 doesn't waste a single word or scene. Everything ties together to create an interesting complex tale that's new to the Pokémon fanfic world. The grammar and tense usage are above average and made for a more pleasant reading experience. Even the complaints I normally would have for such a story are minimal and aside from those, I'd read it again.

Without giving too much away, I will say that one of the subplots was not my favorite but was excellently crafted. Overall the pacing was pretty good, a combination of fast action scenes with slower conversation scenes that added depth to the cast. It's also rare to find a tale that can incorporate aging of the main cast without being dull or boring, so kudos to glaceon346 for managing something not many can do well. For this reason you'd expect it to be longer than the 14 parts it has, but the way it's written makes the extension unnecessary. If it hadn't had such tough competition this year I am confident this story would have been the winner its category. After reading this story I am looking forward to seeing more from this author in the future and hope to see them compete again in any future PWAs.