"Brrr… It's… so… cold" The young trainer said to himself as he attempted to navigate the Forest of Justice, legend says the Swords of Justice – Cobalion, Terrakion, Virizion and Keldeo reside. But that isn't the reason why I am here. Kyurem, the sworn enemy of the Swords of Justice also lives in this forest, albeit on the other side, in a cave. He kidnapped the trainer's childhood friend, Liza.
"I'm going to have to find shelter soon, or I'm going to freeze to death." He said to himself, pulling out a medium-sized red flashlight from his bag. Upon flipping the switch: a beam of light shined into the distance, revealing a brown stony path amongst the trees. A few seconds later, the beam of light flickered, until finally giving out.
"No, the worst time my flashlight has to die, it's now." He thought.
"I hope I remember where that path was so I ca…" His sentence was caught half-way through as he ran blindly into a tree with a loud thud. Taking a mental note to never explore a forest again without bringing a charged flashlight, he rubbed his forehead, then froze in fear as he noticed a pair of red eyes staring at him from the shadows.
"H-Hello?" the boy shouted, trembling in place. "Who- who's t-th-there", he pulled out his pocket knife his dad gave him. "I-I'm warning you… I-I'm armed!" Without warning, the creature walked into sight. It was a Houndoom, a lighter black than normal, but still dark enough to not easily notice in the dark area.
"You dare to trespass on our territory!" The Houndoom said, obviously male, said "I have no choice but to kill you."
"Wait, I didn't know this was your territory. I'm just trying to pass through to the other side of the forest." The trainer replied. The Houndoom bared his fangs and leaped. The trainer barely dodged the sharp teeth and ran ahead in the darkness. He didn't care where he was going, he just wanted to get out of there.
"There has to be safety somewhere around here." He thought as he pushed twigs out of his way while continuing to escape his pursuers. A few minutes later, a small tree became visible from the darkness, not for wasting anytime, the boy began to climb its twigs, with some cracking off and falling to the ground as he climbed.
He climbed up halfway and was satisfied with the distance he had reached, which was around 10 feet. The Houndoom returned, minutes later with reinforcements.
"You can't escape us, human! The lead Houndoom shouted as the branch that supported me snapped. He fell right in front of him and his pack. "You're dead meat, human! Any last words before I rip you apart?" He tried to get up, to try and run. But his broken leg kept him in place. It must have happened from the fall. He closed his eyes, waiting for the first bite.
But then, out of nowhere…
"I have some words: get lost!" The Houndoom whimpered and ran, with their tails between their legs as they retreated into the night. The boy tried to get a good look at his saviour, but he started to lose consciousness. "Are you alright, human?
My saviour approached, carefully nudging me until I was in a sitting position.
"Houndoom… attacked… climbed… tree… leg… broken… scared" he said, in-between breaths, losing more and more blood each second. Tears were rolling down his cheeks now from the pain.
"Don't worry, I'm here to help. I'm Virizion." he gasped at Virizion, now realizing who saved me. Another Pokemon came out from the same clearing as Virizion did, but the boy's vision was pretty much gone at this point.
"Another attack?" The figure, the boy assumed was Cobalion, said. The figure shook his head. "They're becoming more and more common! Has the victim told you anything?"
"It was a pack of Houndoom, that's all I managed to get from him. We need to carry him to safety." Virizion nudged the trainer, motioning to Cobalion to pick him up and place him on her back. They ran swiftly to a nearby cave and placed me on the ground for Terrakion and Keldeo to see.
"Whoever's doing these attacks are becoming more and more ruthless. First it's Pokemon and now it's a defenceless child!" Terrakion shouted, before being interrupted by Virizion.
"Houndoom. That pack of territorial Houndoom who have taken up residence are the ones causing these attacks." Virizion jolted in. The four looked at the injured child, but the pain in his broken leg took over, and he blacked out.
The mysterious trainer slept all throughout the night in the cave. The Swords of Justice had done the best they could to heal the trainer's wounds, but all they could do was to use leaves and twigs as a cast. Hopefully, in time it will heal. They made sure the Houndoom pack didn't come back to finish the job before they went to sleep the previous night. And to not take any chances, the four Legendary Pokemon made sure they slept in between the entrance and the sleeping trainer.
But eventually, the rising sun broke the darkness, and the warm heat entered the cave. The trainer was the first to wake up. Shielding his eyes from the blinding sunlight with his hand, the memories of yesterday creeped back into the boy's mind.
The Houndoom. The fall. Virizion. The cave… Wait. The boy quickly remembered the Grass-type Justice member that protected him from the Houndoom last night. To his delight, the four Pokemon were still there. He sighed with relief.
Being careful of his leg, he slowly and quietly hopped out of the cave, trying not to wake the snoozing legendaries. Once outside, the forest had lost its scary atmosphere from last night, definitely without the Houndoom pack after him. The broken leg suddenly gave way, sending the trainer to the floor in a silent heap. He exhaled slowly to try to lower the pain. Leaning against the cave wall entrance to steady himself, he checked over the leafy cast to make sure it was tight. Upon inspection, he had realised it wasn't tight enough. "How can a Pokemon with hooves tie a knot?" He thought.
"Your awake, it seems?" The child turned to the voice to see Virizion sitting next to him. "Why did you move? Your leg is broken. It won't heal if you're walking everywhere." Virizion continued.
"Oh, well you see. In the cave, I saw the forest in the day. And, I got curious. Too curious." The child replied. Virizion nodded.
"What's your name?" We never did learn your name last night." Virizion asked.
"Matthew. Although, my friends call me Matt. But you can use whichever you want." Matthew answered.
"I see he is awake, finally!" A gruff voice spoke behind him, turning around revealed the voice to be Terrakion. He walked up to the child, grinning.
"Leave him alone Terrakion." Cobalion ordered. "He is still recovering from last night. Give him some space, please".
"Come on, Cobalion. I'm just being friendly towards the little guy." Terrakion replied. Matthew couldn't help but remember his father whenever he looked at Terrakion. Funny, Kind and Cool.
"Ummm, if I could interrupt for a second, if you don't mind". Matthew said. Everyone looked at him. "Terrakion isn't bothering me, really."
"With that all sorted out, you must be hungry." Virizion asked. As if it could hear the conversation, Matthew's stomach rumbled, it was loud enough for everyone to hear it, leaving Matthew blushing in embarrassment.
"I'll take that as a yes." Virizion assumed. With that, she galloped, into the forest.
"How did you get into a fight with the Houndoom?" Terrakion asked.
"The leader said I was in their territory. But I didn't know, I even said I was just passing through. But they still hunted me down." The child uttered with sadness, not wanting to talk about it. "If it weren't for Virizion, I wouldn't be here right now."
As with that said. Virizion came back with a vine of Oran Berries in her mouth. 5 in total. Matthew never tasted an Oran Berry before, so why not? As quick as the first bite, Matthew fell in love. It tasted like oranges.
"Thank you" Matthew expressed his gratitude to the four members. "For what?" Keldeo asked.
"For fixing my leg, and again, saving my life. Is it okay if I stay with you guys for a while? Until my leg heals. Those Houndoom are probably still after me."
The Swords of Justice members each gave each other looks, making this moment extremely awkward for Matthew.
"Cobalion, please I want to stay". Matthew asked the leader. "I'll do anything to stay. I just don't want to be alone. And to be honest, you and the others remind me of my family."
"Well, what do you want to do? You can stay with us if you so wish. It is up to you". Cobalion declared.
"Yes, thank you so much." He hugged the Steel-type tightly. "You're the best. Oh?" Matthew let go, realising what he had just done. "Sorry, I got too happy."
"It's alright. The leader responded with a smile. "Just don't hug me so tightly next time." Matthew nodded. But he had an urge to find out something about the leader.
"Virizion, is he always like this? You know, wise and stuff." Matthew asked, whispering to Virizion.
Virizion smiled. "You have no idea."