The sun was lowering, casting long shadows across the road north of Pallet Town. Trees rustled softly as I followed the path toward Viridian City my footsteps slow, deliberate. I wasn't rushing.
There was no need anymore.
I was finally here.
Charmegabyte walked beside me, his tail flame swaying in rhythm with mine. Even in this real world, he kept that digital glimmer in my eyes alone a ghost of where we came from.
Then the wind shifted.
Charmegabyte stopped.
So did I.
Something was crying. Softly, almost inaudibly. It wasn't a distressed sound. More like… longing.
I stepped off the road and pushed through the tall grass, careful to tread quietly. The sound grew louder. My heart beat faster not with fear, but with recognition.
I knew that sound.
It was gentle. Pure. Familiar.
And when I pushed through the final line of trees…
There it was.
Floating near a patch of blooming pink flowers, its wings catching the last of the sunlight like stained glass
Butterfree.
A real one.
Not glitched. Not pixelated. Not data-born.
A soft breeze fluttered its wings as it hovered, gently feeding from a flower's nectar. I stayed low, silent. Charmegabyte, surprisingly graceful, remained still.
[COBBLEMON SYSTEM]
Butterfree – Wild – Unaware of Player PresenceLevel Estimate: 18Behavior: Searching for a mateStatus: Unbonded
I didn't move. I didn't even reach for a Pokéball.
Because this wasn't a random encounter.
This was him.
I didn't know how. I didn't have proof. But in my heart, something said:
This is the Butterfree. Ash's Butterfree.
The pink flowers. The melancholy. The sky above him stretching out toward the horizon like memory.
And he was alone.
I swallowed hard.
Charmegabyte gave a soft growl not hostile, but reverent.
Butterfree turned.
For a second, its red eyes locked with mine.
I didn't throw a ball.
I just whispered, "Are you still waiting for her?"
The wind blew.
Butterfree fluttered once, then slowly rose into the air graceful, radiant, like a dream that chose to linger.
Then it flew.
Not away from me past me. Overhead. A farewell, not a retreat.
And in its wake, a featherlight glimmer of white dust drifted down and touched my arm.
[COBBLEMON SYSTEM]
Butterfree has marked you with Friendly Recognition
New Trait Unlocked: Empathic Encounter – Chance to bond with emotionally significant Pokémon increased
Note: This Pokémon does not wish to battle. Let it fly free.
I let the tears come, just for a second.
Not because I lost anything.
But because I finally understood the weight of everything I'd gained.
Nightfall – Viridian City
By the time I reached Viridian's outskirts, the streetlights had come on. I booked a small Trainer Room at the Pokémon Center, Charmegabyte resting in his Pokéball.
The room was plain bed, desk, TV.
But it was the first night I'd sleep in a world that didn't want to crash around me. No glitches. No corruption.
Just dreams.
And maybe, somewhere out there in the trees, a Butterfree dreaming too.