Disclaimer: I, in no way shape or form, own pokemon.

The sound of twittering birds and rustling leaves were the melody the zangoose awakened to. His weary crimson eyes slowly fluttered open, and a sharp yawn escaped his throat. The zangoose, still tired, sat up in his bed, wiping his eyes to remove the sleep from them.

With a long, drawn out stretch the zangoose reached to his nightstand, picking up a small silk kerchief. He had managed to steal this from a human who had rushed into the forest once long ago. He wore it as a trophy to show everyone around him he had defeated the trainer.

Tying it around his neck, the zangoose stood up and scratched his gut slowly. He was of average height for his species, stocky built and blessed with a gleaming set of claws on each paw. Though he looked feroucious, and could indeed fight, he was kind and caring. Always looking to protect and befriend. Most of the pokemon in the forest knew him, and looked up to him because of this.

A loud rumble woke the zangoose from his reverie, as he stared intently at his stomach. He hadn't eaten in almost 14 hours. With a soft sigh, the zangoose left his den and walked towards the orchard.

Here, there were an abundance for fruits, berries, roots and shoots of all kinds for all pokemon. The zangoose licked his lips at the thought of digging in to a juicy, ripe Pecha berry.

Now, one of his friends had told him about an easier way to gather food. Seeing as the zangoose was fairly chubby, he couldn't climb very well, making reaching the best berries somewhat of an issue. However, a friend had told him if he rammed into the tree as hard as he could, and shook it, berries would fall free from the upper branches.

The zangoose smirked, rubbing his paws together at the prospect before taking a few steps back from the young, fresh tree.

In a flash, the pokemon barreled towards the tree, colliding with its trunk harshly. The zangoose had expected several berries to come falling to the ground.

So imagine his surprise when several berries, accompanied by something fuzzy and blue, fell right on his head.

"WAAAHHHH!"

A loud yelp, and the zangoose's world turned blue, then black as his back collided with the soft earth beneath him.

"Aah! I-I'm sorry mister! I-I didn't mean to fall on you!" The same voice from before rung out. Suddenly, the zangoose's vision came back as he sat bolt-upright.

What he saw made his jaw drop in confusion.

There, stood before him, was a small riolu. He was a little taller then most of his kind, clad in a red silk kerchief. He was a little on the pudgy side, adding to his overall look of a puppy. The most striking feature though was his eyes. Instead of the natural crimson colour of his kind, his eyes were a stunning icy blue, almost like small orbs of ice were his eyes. This intrigued the zangoose to no end.

"A riolu? Out here?" The zangoose questioned out loud.

"H-huh? O-oh me?" The riolu seemed rather nervous. The taller of the two boys tilted his head a little. "I-I just... Y-you know... Travelled here..."

"Is something wrong?" The riolu jumped slightly, looking at the floor intently.

"N-N-NO! Nothings wrong! Haha... W-what gave you that idea?" That was when the zangoose noticed. The boy was leaning heavier on one leg then the other.

"What happened to your leg squirt?" The zangoose asked, pointing down to the riolu's right leg.

"Hey!" The sudden change in his voice startled the taller boy. "My names not Squirt! Its Arran!" The zangoose rolled his eyes.

"Its just an expression kid. Answer my question."

"I'm not a kid! I bet I'm older then you are!" This startled the zangoose. He sat there for 5 seconds, then fell about laughing.

The riolu became flustered, blushing slightly as I whined. "Heyyy! I'm being serious here!"

"I-I'm sorry! B-but thats just S-SO rich!" The taller boy finally managed to contain his laughter, sighing softly he humored the smaller boy. "A-alright squi- Arran." He corrected himself "Whats your age?"

This time, it was the riolu's turn to smirk, holding his head up proudly. "I'm 19 and a quarter. Gonna be 20 this winter. How about you?"

Silence. The zangoose stared, and his jaw dropped for the second time that morning. "... You're not joking, are you?" The riolu proudly shook his head. "And you haven't evolved yet?" For the first time, the riolu's head snapped up, looking straight at him.

The shorter of the two absently scratched his neck shyly. "Y-yeah... About that... See, there's a good reason... Actually two..." The zangoose nodded slowly, as if saying to continue. "Well... Firstly, I really don't want to evolve... I'm happy the way I am! But... The second reason is I swore to myself I'd not evolve until I found love..." The older boy slowly lifted his kerchief.

"Is that...?" The zangoose trailed off as the boy nodded slowly.

"An Everstone. I wear this necklace to keep myself the way I am. I don't have to change for anyone if I'm happy as I am!" Incredible. The zangoose was surprised. All of the fledgling pokemon he knew were dead eager to evolve, always talking about it.

Yet here, stood before him had to be the only pokemon in the world who didn't. "Hmm... Well, no one can force you to change." The zangoose shrugged slightly.

The shorter boy nodded, then turned around. "I really should get going... I-I'll see you around maybe..." This was when the zangoose remembered his question. He now had his answer.

There, clamped around the boys lower leg, were a set of teeth marks.

In a flash, the zangoose bounded forward, scooping the riolu off his feet. A loud yelp, and much flailing ensued.

"N-NOO! P-PLEASE! D-DON'T HURT ME!" The zangoose was horrified. The boy was terrified, shivering and quaking in his arms. The taller boy turned and sprinted off towards his den, all thoughts of food out of his mind.

"A-am I gonna die...?" The riolu whispered, trembling in terror as he was brought into the zangooses den. The taller of the two layed the boy down on his bed.

"Stay there... I'm gonna go get some stuff so I clean up this wound..." With that, the zangoose rushed off into his den, looking for supplies. The riolu lay there, scared out of his wits that he would die here.

When the zangoose returned, he had in his arms a pestle and mortar, several herbs and a roll of clean bandages. He set down the bandages and immediately began grinding up the herbs into a thick paste.

"I've dealt with enough injuries to know how to make something to disinfect and keep the wound covered. These herbs have high medicinal qualities. They should have you right as rain in no time flat..." The zangoose set down the pestle, now filled with a thick, green paste. "Now... This may sting a little, but I need you to stay still as best you can... Okay?" The smaller jackal like pokemon nodded.

The zangoose scooped some the paste onto his claws and gently began to run it over the wound. The soft sound of whimpering filled the air soon after. "Shhh... I know... It hurts, but trust me... You'll feel better soon..." The riolu clenched his fists until the zangoose was done. "Okay... Good..." The taller of the two bandaged up the wound, tying it off tight, but not to tight.

"There... Now, I want to know what happened..." The smaller dog whimpered, slowly nodding his head.

"...Where do I begin?"

"From the start. How did you end up here?"

The riolu layed down, closing his eyes as he began. "Well... I was born way up north. In a mountain range. As you can tell, I was the only one who was born with blue eyes. My mother loved me, called me her little miracle... I was raised as any other was... Oddly, no one ridiculed me. They treat me like family."

The zangoose smiled, but the riolu frowned. "But... Despite it all, I never felt... Welcome. It was probably all just in my head, but I always felt different because of my eyes... My mother insisted everyone loved me, but I didn't believe her... So, I left in the dead of night... Leaving home to go and find somewhere else."

"And what did your father say?" This brought a grim scowl to the boys face.

"I never knew my father. Mom always used to say he was a kind, caring man. But if he cared, why did he leave before I was born. I know he's not dead, my mother even told me so." The zangoose rubbed his temples slowly.

'Good job there.' He thought to himself.

"When I arrived here, I was running low on food. So I asked some of the locals about where I could grab something to eat." The boy sighed softly. "Next thing I knew, I'd turned my back, and one of them pounced me. That's where I got that injury... I was up that tree hiding. I didn't want to be found for fear of more injury..."

"Well you're safe now." The riolu's eyes snapped open, and he stared at the zangoose. "As long as you want it to be, this place is your home as much as it is mine." The taller boy gently rubbed the small jackal tummy. "Now... You relax and get some sleep... I'll be back later with some food and water..."

The riolu blushed, looking down shyly as he smiled softly. "I... Can really stay here...?" The older boy looked up hopefully.

"As long as you want to... Now, get some sleep. You're leg needs time to heal... Its Jon, by the way." The jackal tilted his head a little.

"Huh?"

"My name. You gave me yours and I never did the same. Its a pleasure to meet you Arran." The riolu looked down shyly again.

"Y-yeah... Likewise Jon..."

"Good. Now get some rest." The zangoose tucked his burden in gently, noticing that the boy had passed out from sheer exhaustion. With a soft sigh, the zangoose stood and left his den again.

This time, he'd need a meal for two.