It was not the first time Max had traveled the area, but it had been nearly a decade since he'd been there. Nature had changed the appearance of the forest immeasurably; it was a completely different place from when he was an adolescent. A warm summer breeze floated through the trees, their canopies swaying and their verdant green leaves rustling with a gentle susurrus. It was exactly the holiday he'd needed to recharge his batteries. The recent death of his father had caused a serious crisis of faith in him. Walking on the path he'd chosen when he was barely a teenager, and he wondered if it was what life had meant for him.<br/><br/>Nearby, sniffing around a large green fern near the bottom of an ancient oak, was his constant companion through all that time. Duke, a tremendous Arcanine -a graceful cross between a mastiff and a lion- had once been small enough to fit into the palm of Max's hand. Now he'd grown into a large beast that was taller at the shoulder than he was head-to-toe. Sometimes Duke thought he was still that small pup, like now, pretending to be silent and unseen in the brush. When, in reality, Max was certain he could be seen from space. Duke was so large that it was often not practical to leave him to roam freely, and Max had to store him in a pokeball most of the time. Such was was his life.<br/><br/>Duke stopped sniffing suddenly, and crouched own on his haunches becoming as silent as the large dog could. His ears stood up on his head, pointing in the direction of some distant sound, his wet black nose twitching furiously at something Max could never have hoped to smell.<br/><br/>"What's up?" he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and walking casually over to the bottom of the tree where Duke crouched. "What's out there?" Max asked, ruffling the pokemon behind the ears.<br/><br/>Duke chuffed in response, wobbling a massive paw in the direction of the noise he'd heard. His long tail thumped twice against the ground, causing a minor earthquake in a third world country thousands of miles away.<br/><br/>A lot of pokemon lived in the forest, bug types, and small mousy pokemon that lived on nuts and berries that grew there. As he rounded a small cluster of oaks Max saw a little yellow tail bobbing the tall grass of the clearing. Its distinctive zig-zagging shape, and shades of yellow fur could not be mistaken. A pikachu, a pokemon that had become decidedly rare in the wild due to its rising popularity as a cute family pet. Max had never actually caught one, and had only ever seen them lounging in the homes of his more domestic-minded friends.<br/><br/>It piqued his interest to see a wild specimen, and he immediately cursed Duke's clumsy mannerism. "Duke," he barked a whisper over his shoulder, which brought the animal trotting to his side. "Quiet!"<br/><br/>Dukes ears dropped noticeably, and his tail drug on the ground behind him.<br/><br/>"Don't spook it," he instructed.<br/><br/>Duke looked hurt, as if to say,<span style="font-style: italic">"Who, me?"</span><br/><br/>"Stay," Max instructed, taking slow careful steps into the clearing. As he got closer the small pokemon poked its face up over the tall grass, looking at him wide eyed for a second, before ducking back down and retreating toward the treeline.<br/><br/>â€œIt's okay,â€ he called to it gingerly, his voice soft and reassuring. Reaching into his pocket Max found a small bag of cinnamon hard candies. He'd read that the Pikachu favored sweets, but he felt like it was a long shot nonetheless. â€œI have something for you.â€ Max retrieved a candy and slowly unwrapped it. The sound of the crinkling wrapped caused the pokemon to stop, turn, and poke its mousy face over the grass to watch him with curious eyes.<br/><br/>He smiled, and held his hand out flat, the candy resting in his palm. â€œYou can have it. It's good, I promise,â€ Max told it.