A Journey's Link

Chapter 5 - Solutions

Frank was confused at Amelia's words. "Something else happened?" he asked. "Is it serious?" He had a worried look on his face, feeling useless in helping his granddaughter. "Did Tauros get hurt?" There was a tendency for their Tauros to incidentally get itself in precariously dangerous situations, so it wouldn't be the first time.

Amelia shook her head, easing Frank's mind. "No it's nothing too serious, but it is a problem." She looked back at the farm-like building and explained. "Tauros is currently inside of the building and won't come out. It seems like he's in a depressive state, and I have no idea as to what could be the problem." She began to tear up as she spoke; Ash and Goh felt bad and wanted to help even more.

Ash placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, which caused her to look up with a surprised look on her face. He grinned and began cheering her up. "Don't worry about Tauros, we'll all help try to solve the problem!" He said, looking back at Goh and Frank. "Right guys?"

"Right!" both Goh and Frank said in unison. Even though Goh was not too keen on meeting new people and interacting with strangers, Ash had recently begun influencing his decisions on helping people, unaware of what he was doing.

"Thanks so much, that would mean a lot," Amelia said, wiping away her tears. The trio nodded in response, causing Amelia to grin and thank them for their help. Frank spoke up, saying, "I can't bear to see my granddaughter in anguish. Besides, we need Tauros to help herd all of our Moomoo, so there's not any other choice."

Ash removed his hand from her shoulder and asked, "So, can you lead us to where Tauros is?" Amelia responded with a joyful nod and began to pick herself up to lead the way. She indicated for the group to follow her, and began happily walking back to the building, followed closely by the other three.

Upon getting closer to the building, Ash noticed that it was worn down and had most likely been there for many years. The door squeaked upon entrance, and everyone was met with a loud wail, which spooked everyone, especially Epsie, who covered her ears. It was the cry of a Tauros and a piercing one at that.

The group walked into one of the stalls, which had seemed empty at first to Ash. He was about to ask where the Pokemon was, but then he saw it hiding in a corner. It was Amelia's Tauros, and Ash noticed that it was crying. He approached it, instinctively feeling the need to calm it down and make it feel better.

Ash was about to approach the crying bull when Frank urged him to stop. He looked back, confused as to why he was being encouraged to back away. "I've seen that look before on a Tauros," Frank said, walking closer to the bull. "I believe it's a look of heartbreak."

"Heartbreak?" Ash repeated, looking back at Frank. He was usually able to sense and understand a Pokemon's feelings and try to reason with them to see on the bright side, but love and heartbreak were something Ash couldn't fully grasp; he hadn't been able to ever since he started his journey.

Amelia then gasped, piecing the situation together. She pointed outside of the barn window towards a Miltank who was also crying and started explaining. "The other day I saw Tauros and Miltank together out in the fields. I thought they were fighting, but maybe they were just enjoying each other's company."

"I think Tauros was angry that I took him away from Miltank, and now that it's calmed down, he and the Miltank are both sad they can't see each other." Tauros looked up at Amelia and nodded, agreeing with her theory. The others also accepted the idea and nodded as well.

At least, Frank and Goh agreed with her. Ash was still just as confused as before; he looked at Tauros and frowned. "So you want to be with Miltank?" asked Ash. Tauros looked up with pleading eyes and nodded, to which Ash responded with a smile. "All right! I like being with friends too, Tauros! If you want to be with friends then I'll help you out!"