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“Come on Mothim, I know you can do it, you just have to pull harder!”

“Mothhiiim…”

The orange Moth Pokémon tugged on her hands as hard as he could, but to no avail. Becky was firmly stuck knee-deep in the muddy marshes of southern Route 212. If this had been just a normal mud puddle, Grotle would have been able to drag her out with his sheer brute strength. But this was a swamp; every inch of the ground was soft, squishy, and unstable. More than likely, Grotle would’ve ended up in the same predicament as her. Having wings, Mothim was the only one who could attempt to rescue her without getting caught in the bog’s trap.

“Try it again, Mothim!” She pleaded, the oozy mud seeping through her boots.

“Moth-Moth!” Mothim cried as he pulled on her arm again. His wings were beating frantically from the strain.

This gave Becky an idea.

“I need you to trust me on this one, Mothim,” she said. “Hold on to my hands as tightly as you can, okay? Then on my word, use the strongest Gust attack you can muster.”

“Moth…Thim?”

“Exactly! Now, get ready.....GO!!”

Despite having such a small body, the power behind the Gust was great. Slowly but surely, Becky could feel the marsh’s grip on her begin to slip. With a disgusting squelching noise, she was free, and the last remnants of the Gust propelled them away from the deep mud. Even after the rescue, Mothim kept them airborne until they could find a more stable patch of ground.

By the time they landed on dry land, both Pokémon and trainer were exhausted. With feet firmly planted on terra firma, Becky pulled the fatigued Bug type into a hug and let out a tired chuckle.

“That was great Mothim, you did really well back there! If it wasn’t for you, I probably would have been stuck there until another trainer came along.”

Mothim responded by nuzzling his head into the crook of her neck and letting out a satisfied yawn.

“I know how you feel,” she removed one of the Pokeballs from her belt and clicked it open, “sleep easy now, Mothim.” A red light enveloped the Moth Pokémon, pulling it into the containment sphere and clapping shut.

Unfortunately, unlike Mothim, Becky still had a couple of things to do before she could rest. Camp and dinner weren’t going to take care of themselves, you know.

As Becky ate her meal, sleepiness was beginning to overcome her Pokémon, and one by one they retreated to the tent. Lileep and Magby were kind enough to carry the already sleeping Mothim in with them. Eventually, it was just her and Staryu. Her father had actually been the one to catch Staryu during a cargo run to Iron Island, but her mother sent it to her because it creeped her out. And for about the first few weeks, Becky had the same opinion. At one point she had even considered releasing Staryu from her team.

Becky looked away from the soup pot and up at the sky. The sun had already disappeared behind the horizon, leaving behind traces of orange, pink, and purple on the scattered clouds. It was just dark enough so that only the brightest of the stars could be seen. This moment seemed similar to the one that had changed her mind about the star-shaped Pokémon next to her, so she put down the soup, and reached her hand into her rucksack behind her. An ‘Aha!’ escaped her lips when her fingers wrapped around something leathery and square, pulling it out to reveal a dark green journal. She flipped through the lightly lined pages until she had found the entry she was looking for, the evening of 08-02-2010.

“This is our last night in Hearthome City. While the scenery is gorgeous and the people welcoming, we can’t stay any longer than we already have. We’ll leave tomorrow morning at first light, hopefully making it at least halfway to Solaceon Town by nightfall. I know that I have thought about releasing Staryu for a while, but no longer. Despite having considered it to be ‘eerie’, ‘stoic’ and ‘downright creepy’ I have seen a side Staryu tonight that I believe to be absolutely beautiful.

“We were on our way back to our hotel room from having dinner at a local café. On lovely evenings like this one I like to have Turtwig and the others out walking with me. Partway there, Lileep began acting strange, and was almost downright hysterical when we reached the hotel. She kept trying to drag me off away from the hotel. I decided to give in and follow her, but not before returning everyone else to their Pokeballs. It was when I reached for Staryu’s that I realized that Lileep was the only one left. Staryu must have wandered off sometime during our walk, and with Lileep being the ‘big sister’ type, she naturally became worried for Staryu.

“I must admit that at first I felt somewhat relieved that Staryu went away on its own without me having to do anything. But Lileep’s concern was contagious; I didn’t want Staryu getting into some form of trouble or distress. We searched all over town, eventually going back to that café to ask if any of the employees had seen Staryu. The wait staff wasn’t very helpful, but one of the dish boys said he saw a lone Pokémon heading towards some hills in the southern outskirts when he was throwing out some food scraps.

“Thankfully, we found Staryu where the dish boy had suggested. It was just standing there, ‘looking at’ (more like tilted towards) the stars above. When I got next to Staryu and took a good look at it however, something was different, Staryu’s core was lit up. Now, I have seen Staryu’s core light up before, but usually in short, randomized blinking. But this time it wasn’t blinking, it was more like a soft glow. As if Staryu was trying to imitate the winking stars above us. I felt more emotion coming from that gentle light than I had ever experienced in the weeks I have known Staryu. All Staryu wanted was to be admired in the same way we admire the stars. I want to help Staryu achieve that dream, just like it has been helping me to achieve mine. We’ll be starry-eyed dreamers together, Staryu and I.”

Since then, Becky and Staryu had come up with a much more effective way of communicating with each other. Whenever Staryu wishes to express something, it blinks in Morse code, which Becky already knows quite a bit of from having a sailor as a father and from reading about it in the Canalave Library.

Closing up her journal, she turned to face the Water type. “You ready to hit the hay Staryu?”

A series of long and short blinks translated into a yes.

“You’ll help me with clean-up, right?”

Another yes.

So using a sponge and Staryu’s Bubblebeam, they cleaned off the pot and spoon, put out the fire, and removed what they could of the mud on Becky’s boots. When all was finished, she picked Staryu up with one arm, grabbed her rucksack in the other, and joined the rest of the team in the tent.

A sudden chiming noise cut through the stillness of the marsh morning, which set off a chain reaction of unusual events in Becky's tent.

Staryu was the one who heard the sound, for it was the lightest sleeper. Staryu began blinking in Morse code to try and alert the others of the disturbance. Sudowoodo however, did not like being woken at the crack of dawn. In an attempt to get Staryu to 'shut up', she swung her branch-like arm at it, which missed and hit Lileep. At first she was startled from the rude awakening, then upset that her BFF had hit her, and then trying to stop what was beginning to escalate into a scrimmage between Sudowoodo and Staryu. Magby was the next to awaken, and being that he was the youngest of their bunch, began crying loudly. Since he had been snuggled up to Becky in her sleeping bag, she bolted upright; almost knocking Mothim off of Grotle's back (both of them had been using the bulky Grass type as a pillow). Grotle seemed to be the only one not affected by the morning madness around him, and continued to sleep.

The sudden confusion and activity proved too much for Becky, and she tried to escape from the tent, only to be shoved out when Sudowoodo's latest attack on Staryu caused her to lose her balance and fall backwards onto their poor trainer.

"That. Is. IT! Everybody, out of the tent!" Becky hollered from where she was sprawled out on the ground.

Her Pokémon obeyed grudgingly, save for Grotle, for he was still sleeping. With an annoyed sigh, Becky got to her feet and stood before her Pokémon. Goosebumps were already spreading up her arms from the cool morning air, and from the fact that she was wearing only a tank top and workout shorts.

"I really hope one of you has a good reason as to why were all out here right now, or else everyone is going to be put on PokeChow for a week." She stated, her threat sounding quite serious.

Staryu hopped forward. Strange sound, it blinked, alert trainer.

She was caught off guard by its response. "Huh? What kind of noise?"

Chimes, bells, Staryu replied.

"If I go check it out, will you guys calm down?"

The group gave a collective nod, inducing another sigh from Becky.

"Alright, just let me get my clothes and glasses on, okay?" And with that, she shuffled back in to their tent. While she was dressing, Grotle finally stirred from his deep slumber, letting out a satisfied yawn. "Hey there, big guy. You want to go take a walk with me? The others are getting paranoid."

Grotle nodded, slowly getting to his feet. After yanking her boots on and donning her prescription glasses, the two of them exited the tent, put Lileep in charge, and set out for the direction Staryu thought the noise had come from. Sure enough, about a quarter of a mile away from their camp, Becky could see someone and their Pokémon in the distance.

"Hey!" She called out. "Everything okay over there?"

As the pair got closer, she realized that whatever Pokémon was with the other person, it wasn't native to Sinnoh.

As Becky and Grotle came to a halt in front of the younger girl, she finally was able to identify the Pokemon with her. She had seen illustrations of it in various encyclopedias and picture books, but they were supposed to be only found in the Kanto region.

As she too whipped out her Pokedex, which was quite different than the other girl's, she couldn't help but mutter, "Holy Arceus!"

"Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokemon. The seed on its back is filled with nutrients. The seed grows steadily larger as its body grows." The dual-screened cataloging device explained.

Grotle meandered a little closer to the fellow Grass type. At first, he sniffed at Bulbasaur curiously, but then broke out into one of his trademark goofy grins. He wanted to make Bulbasaur feel welcome and at ease; no need for apprehension and doubt with them. "Grotle!"

Remembering why she had came over here in the first place, Becky snapped her Pokedex shut and looked at the girl.

"Hey, I'm sorry to bother you," she stated, "But one of my Pokemon got startled by a noise from over here, and it wanted me to check it out. Have you heard anything strange recently?"

Becky's eyebrow rose as she watched the younger girl's interactions with her Pokémon. She must have just started her journey, for her whole demeanor screamed naiveté. When she asked her where they were, Becky wondered just how far away that Abra had teleported them from.

"Isn't it a little obvious?" She stated, gesturing to the swampy morning around them. "This is the Great Marsh. It's known for its large variety of uncommon Pokémon. The only way you wouldn't know that is if you're not from Sinnoh..."

The answer to that hit her like a ton of bricks. Why would anyone from Sinnoh - assuming they've never traveled out of the region - have a Bulbasaur?

"Well, if you're not from Sinnoh, then where did you come from?" She asked. Then she mumbled to herself, "I never thought that Abra were capable of using their powers over such a long distance! That's one I'll have to share with Roark the next time I talk to him."

Noticing that the other girl was still standing in the mud, Becky held out her hand to help her out.

"Uh, by the way, I'm Becky Friedrich. Why don't you explain your story while we go back to my camp? My littlest one is probably getting really fussy by now, especially since we haven't had breakfast yet."

Grotle nodded his head eagerly in agreeance with his trainer. The last time they saw people was when they had departed from Pastoria City five days ago. He loved to meet new people and Pokémon!

Becky listened intently to Maya's tale, and from the sound of it, it wasn't exactly the best way to begin a journey. trying to find your way in an unkown land, thousands of miles from home, and without a map to guide you? She wouldn't have even set foot out of Canalave City under those conditions.

"That's definitely a harsh way to start off," Becky responded, "Though I must commend you for not getting crushed by the whole predicament. Most trainers would have gone back home after a day like that."

Grotle was marchin' along beside her, another goofy grin on his face that only became wider at Maya's compliment.

Becky glanced at her Grass type starter. "With the way he eats, he better be healthy. He eats enough to feed a couple of Munchlax!" She couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the way that last part came out. Her other Pokémon were very finicky about their food, and it was nice that at least one of them would eat anything and everything with gusto.

"Yeah, of course I'm a trainer." She answered, her eyebrow raised. That answer was a little obvious, wasn't it? "I'm on my way to Hearthome City to challenge the gym there for my fifth badge. Although we've been moving a bit slowly ever since I caught a Barboach two days ago, and this wretched mud can bring you to a complete stop."

Before they knew it, Becky's campsite was within view. Her Pokemon were sitting around the relit campfire, courtesy of Magby. Lileep swayed her head from side-to-side in greeting, her version of waving at them.

"Would you and your Pokémon like to have breakfast with us Maya? We've got a little time before I need to pack up and hit the road." She offered.

For some reason, helping Maya out made her feel like an older sister again. She hasn't had to help anyone out since she left the Oreburgh Museum, and it sorta felt nice to be depended on again. As long as it wasn't her brother Ryan. She had none of her usual patience for that dim-witted, hell-raising prankster.

Becky came up to the campfire behind Maya, slowing to a halt next to her.

"Actually, my father caught Staryu near Iron Island. My mother didn't like it, so she sent it to me." She replied. "Pokémon from other regions show up in Sinnoh every once in a while, but they're usually uncommon to find."

Staryu blinked a greeting.

"Oh, and Staryu says hi. I've trained it to blink in morse code to make communication easier."

Of course, Magby came running up to her and began tugging at the hem of her capri pants. "Mag-Magby!" He whined.

Becky chuckled. "Alright, alright. I'll get you your breakfast, just be patient."

Obligingly, she retrieved her rucksack from the tent and dug out some berries for her Pokemon. For Grotle, she tossed him the two biggest berries she had, a Pamtre and a Watmel berry, because he had no taste preference. As for the rest, she had to give them specific berries based on their individual likes.

"Hey Maya," Becky said, placing a favored Razz Berry in front of Staryu. "Would any of your Pokémon like some? Maybe that Mareep of yours will be better behaved around stonger Pokémon."

Digging deeper into the confines of her bag, she found that as far as breakfast goes, all she had was a few apples and some granola bars.

"It's not much, but it's as good a meal as any." She stated, handing Maya an apple and two bars. She herself sat down and began to munch on the first of her bars.