Most Rookidee grew up surrounded by others of their kind.
Even if they lost their parents, a flock could offer some protection while they learned how to survive, and although not every young Rookidee would eventually become a Corviknight, they at least had a relatively safe beginning.
This Rookidee had never been that lucky.
Before it could hatch naturally, something outside the Egg cracked the shell open.
The first light it ever saw revealed a young Vullaby pecking at pieces of the broken shell while a much larger Mandibuzz stood nearby, watching hungrily.
They were the first living creatures Rookidee ever saw, but there was nothing remotely parental in their eyes.
They wanted to eat it.
Newborn Pokémon were supposed to spend time growing before they could properly fight, but instinct didn’t give Rookidee that luxury.
It tore itself free of the remaining shell, raked Vullaby across one eye when it came too close, and spread wings still sticky with fluid and fragments of shell.
Mandibuzz lunged after it, and Rookidee flew.
It had never used its wings before, yet fear carried it into the air on the first attempt.
The chase lasted far longer than that first day.
During its first month of life, Rookidee learned little except how to run, hide, and wake at the slightest unfamiliar sound.
It escaped into another forest during the second month, only for Mandibuzz to eventually track it down again.
By the third, Rookidee had understood something simple: fleeing would never truly end unless it became strong enough that nothing could chase it.
So it started picking fights.
Wild Pokémon that looked manageable became opponents, and every loss taught it something new about speed, distance, and danger.
During its fourth month, it finally defeated the Vullaby that had hunted it since birth, only for Mandibuzz to nearly kill it in retaliation.
The following month, after barely escaping again, an Obstagoon appeared to rescue the injured bird from danger.
For a brief moment, Rookidee thought perhaps it had finally met something kind.
Then Obstagoon tried to eat it too, and the lesson stayed with Rookidee more deeply than any battle ever had: out here, trusting the wrong creature could kill you.
By its sixth month, Rookidee slept lightly, flew faster than most Pokémon its age had any right to, and could sense approaching danger before it understood what had tipped it off.
That was when it saw Jun and Ralts.
The human was injured and walking through the snow with a strange little Pokémon beside him.
Rookidee had seen Trainers before, though usually from a safe distance.
Wild Pokémon whispered plenty about them: humans who traveled with Pokémon, fed them, gave them warm places to sleep, and sometimes defeated wild Pokémon before asking them to join.
A Pokémon with a Trainer probably slept through the night without wondering whether something would wake it with teeth around its neck.
That thought stayed with Rookidee as it circled above Jun, but what caught its attention even more was the way Jun and Ralts moved around each other.
A glance was enough for one to understand the other, and there was a closeness between them Rookidee couldn’t put a name to.
It only knew that watching them made something in its chest ache.
When words failed between Pokémon, there was always one reliable way to understand each other.
Battle.
Rookidee challenged Ralts and lost almost immediately.
Its speed, sharpened through months of running for its life, barely mattered once Jun began directing the fight.
Ralts dragged it out of the air with Confusion, struck it with Fire Punch, and pinned it before Rookidee could rebuild any momentum.
As consciousness faded, however, disappointment wasn’t the emotion that came strongest.
Instead, a strange hope surfaced.
Maybe this was it.
Maybe Jun would catch it.
When Rookidee woke again, there was no Poké Ball waiting.
It found itself inside a tree hollow instead, hidden from predators beneath a thin covering of snow.
Food had been left beside it, and Jun’s footprints were already beginning to disappear beneath fresh snowfall.
The situation reminded Rookidee of the first moments after hatching: darkness, something covering the way out, then light waiting on the other side.
This time, though, nobody was waiting to eat it.
Rookidee devoured the food and stared after the fading trail.
Something warm had settled into the emptiness it had carried for months, even though it didn’t understand why.
It wanted to find Jun again.
If Jun hadn’t caught it, perhaps the reason was obvious.
Rookidee simply wasn’t strong enough yet.
Maybe if it challenged Ralts again and won, Jun would reconsider.
Better yet, if it could bring him something useful, then he might realize having Rookidee around wasn’t such a bad idea.
With that hope firmly lodged in its head, Rookidee returned to the crude tree hollow it used as a nest and began sorting through its possessions.
There wasn’t much, mostly Berries collected whenever food was plentiful enough to save something for later.
It rejected anything bruised or beginning to spoil until it finally found the freshest Berry it owned.
It was the best thing it had, and surely that would make a good gift.
Rookidee gripped the Berry carefully in one foot and took off in the direction Jun had traveled, only for a familiar shriek to tear through the snowy forest before it got far.
Its feathers immediately tightened against its body as Mandibuzz descended through the snowfall with wings spread wide, blocking the way.
They had spent most of Rookidee’s life chasing each other through forests, and neither needed any warning before the confrontation began.
Mandibuzz attacked first.
A violent beat of its wings scattered snow in every direction before two compressed blades of air tore through the storm toward Rookidee.
At the last possible moment, Rookidee’s outline blurred and a Substitute remained where it had been.
Air Slash shredded the decoy, but Rookidee had already dropped beneath the attack and was weaving between tree trunks, using the dense forest to compensate for the enormous difference in size and strength.
Mandibuzz followed without hesitation, maneuvering through the trees with surprising agility as both Pokémon raced through Dappled Grove.
Rookidee had no intention of fighting fairly while already injured.
Survival had taught it better than that.
Then a red beam erupted from the ground directly ahead.
Rookidee’s instincts screamed before its mind caught up, and it snapped its wings to one side just in time to avoid the pillar of energy.
Mandibuzz wasn’t as fortunate.
The beam struck it directly, and its cry changed at once as dark red energy poured across its body and storm clouds gathered above the forest.
Within seconds, Mandibuzz began expanding, smashing through branches and trees as its body grew until it towered over the surrounding woods.
The shockwave alone caught Rookidee before it could escape and hurled it into the ground, crushing the Berry it had carried so carefully beneath the impact.
Rookidee forced itself upright through the pain and looked up at the enormous Mandibuzz.
Whatever had happened to it had stripped away the focused hatred Rookidee knew so well.
Mandibuzz no longer seemed interested in its longtime prey and simply thrashed through the forest, destroying whatever happened to be nearby.
Rookidee had seen Dynamax from afar before, but never like this and never completely uncontrolled.
Yet beneath the fear, another thought still surfaced: that was strength.
If Rookidee could become powerful enough that nothing could chase it anymore, would Jun finally want it?
The thought was childish, but Rookidee was only six months old.
It looked down at its empty claws.
The Berry was gone, so it would have to find something better.
Rookidee left the rampaging Mandibuzz behind and continued in the direction Jun had traveled.
Three days passed before its injuries improved enough that flying stopped hurting with every wingbeat, and eventually Rookidee reached Frostleaf Town.
The place made it uneasy almost immediately.
Humans and Pokémon walked beside one another everywhere.
Some Pokémon slept openly beside roads or perched on buildings without watching every shadow for predators, while others followed Trainers through crowded streets as though nothing in the world could possibly go wrong.
Rookidee didn’t understand how any of them could relax like that, so it remained high above the town and searched from the sky.
Was Jun here?
It circled for hours without finding him until a familiar sensation suddenly pulled its attention toward a narrow alley.
Rookidee had felt something similar in Dappled Grove when Mandibuzz Dynamaxed, though this energy was smaller, more contained, and not nearly as chaotic.
As it turned toward the alley, something red burst through a cloud of snow.
A black-and-red stone spun through the air, covered in crystalline ridges and surrounded by that same strange energy.
Rookidee didn’t know what a Wishing Star was.
It only knew the object felt important, and either Jun might like it or perhaps the stone could somehow make Rookidee stronger.
That was enough.
Its body moved before the thought had fully formed.
Rookidee dove, snatched the Wishing Star out of the air, and immediately sensed something dangerous below.
Whatever was inside that alley felt far worse than the ordinary humans and Pokémon wandering through town, so it climbed above the rooftops without looking back and disappeared into the snow.
For the rest of the day, Rookidee searched Frostleaf Town while repeatedly changing direction whenever that threatening presence seemed to draw closer.
It refused to abandon the Wishing Star even when exhaustion began dragging at its wings.
Then another scent reached it, sweet and warm enough to immediately catch a bird Pokémon’s attention.
Rookidee followed it across rooftops and through the falling snow until it reached a large enclosed yard behind one of the human buildings.
Someone was standing inside, and Rookidee’s heart jumped the moment it recognized him.
Jun.
After days of searching, it had actually found him.
Nervousness immediately replaced exhaustion.
Rookidee tightened its grip on the Wishing Star and circled once above the yard, determined to look strong when Jun saw it.
Fast.
Impressive.
Definitely not like a Pokémon that had spent most of its life running away from things.
It descended with the cleanest turn it could manage and landed on a bare branch in front of him, balancing confidently on one foot while holding the Wishing Star in the other.
Then Rookidee straightened its feathers and called out as loudly as it could.
“Krii!” Jun looked up.
Rookidee held his gaze, trying very hard to appear calm despite the excitement hammering through its chest.
It had finally found him, and this time, it hadn’t come empty-handed.
[End of chapter]