The body in my arms was thin, unnaturally so. The white and blue fur was unkempt and dirty, and he was frightfully underweight. I had never raised, or even been around a Glaceon before, but I knew that the average weight of a Pokémon his size was between 50 and 60 lbs. Aluriel couldn't have weighed more than 30, and that was pushing it. I felt another surge of anger at that girl. How could anyone mistreat their Pokémon like this?
A whimper caught my attention, interrupting my anger.
"Shh. Its' okay now, Aluriel. Once we get to the lab, we'll get you better." I spoke soothingly, trying not to frighten the poor thing. I kept up the calming talk, as I walked as fast as I dared to Prof. Elm's lab. Shimmer, my Lucario, kept pace with me. He was silent, and his eyes were focused. He was never like this, unless he was angry, and I knew that we were both furious about the state of the poor Glaceon.
The town was quiet, and I didn't see anyone around, but I ignored it. The lab was directly on my left, and I made a beeline for it. The door was promptly kicked open, courtesy of Shimmer, and I rushed in.
"Professor!" I yelled. There was a crash, the sound of glass shattering. "Professor, please! You've gotta help!" There was a flurry of activity, but I finally saw Prof. Elm. He looked nervous at first, and rather flustered.
"Wha-... Who-...I mea-..." I didn't let him finish.
"Professor, please! He's very weak!" He finally looked at the Glaceon in my arms. I could see the color drain from his face, and something like anger take place of the nervousness. He grabbed my arm, pulling me deeper into the lab.
"Hurry! We need to get him into a Reviver!" I wasn't sure what the two assistants were doing behind me, but I didn't have time to look as Professor Elm pulled me into a room off of the main hallway. The room was huge, but was mostly taken up by the Pokémon Reviver. The professor left my side to activate the machine, and the containment part of the machine opened up, allowing me to place Aluriel, very softly, into the chamber. Elm then swiftly, but gently, fixed an oxygen mask to Aluriel's muzzle.
Despite our care, I could tell that he felt pain from the jostling. I felt another surge of anger, enough that my vision became red around the edges. I felt a paw on my arm, Shimmer reminding me to calm down. Watching as Professor Elm finished all the minor adjustments, and started the machine, I sighed in relief, as my Glaceon's breathing became less labored, and his body relaxing more into the padding of the chamber.
Then Professor Elm rounded on me. From everything I'd heard about this particular Professor had led me to believe that he was a timid and rather distracted man. The look he gave me now was anything but timid or distracted. The sharp gaze reminded me fiercely of Professor Rowan.
"Now, would you like to tell me exactly how this poor Glaceon came to be in this condition?" It was a question, but the tone made it a demand. I opened my mouth to say something, when I found myself flying through the air and slammed into the wall. I curled into myself, gasping for air and feeling tears prick at the corner of my eyes.
"Kat!" I heard Prof. Elm shout. I raised my head to look at whatever had tackled me into the wall. To my utter surprise, it was a girl. At least, I think it was. I couldn't see much of her, because my glasses had gone flying off my face during the attack. Her clothes were variations of pink, white and brown with a streak of red and brown hair which, oddly enough, looked like she had ears on top of her head. Her stance was furious, and she bared her teeth like a Mightyena might.
She dropped into a crouch, muscles tensing, and I knew she was planning on attacking again. As she rushed at me, I dodged to the side, causing her to slam into the space of the wall I had previously occupied. She was dazed from her headlong crash, and I used the time to get into a defensive position.
There was a flurry of movement around me, but my training had taught me to only focus on the threat. I glanced at Shimmer out of the corner of my eye. He was looking at me, realizing that I was going to fight this by myself. My focus quickly returned to the girl, Kat. She was shaking her head, trying to clear her vision.
I was starting to think that it would be the only exchange, when her head snapped up, eyes focusing on me. She dashed to me, hands extended and curled like claws. I allowed her to get in close, and then fell backwards onto the floor. My back hit the floor the same time my feet came up and connected with her stomach. I used her momentum to send her sailing over me, giving a push that would cause her to go out of control.
My plan fail as she quickly went into a curl, and merely rolled on the floor. In the time it took me to stand up, she was too. She growled and glared at me, but there was another look in her eyes, wariness. It made me think that there weren't too many people who fought back.
She watched and waited for me to make a move, but I stayed where I was, waiting for the next pass. After a few seconds, she rushed me again. But this time, when I dropped to the floor, she jumped. I had a few seconds to think 'Oh, shit' before she landed on top of me.
My breath was slammed out of me again, leaving me gasping. The look on her face was triumphant, and she raised her hands up, curling them into claws. I tried to bring my arms up, but I was effectively pinned under her. I tensed for the oncoming attack.
Then, quite suddenly, the weight on my chest vanished. I heard the girl shout in confusion and anger. I looked up and had to stop myself from laughing.
It seemed that, during our fight, the assistances were trying to break us apart. One finally got tired of it, and had release her Victreebel, and ordered it to separate us. The girl, Kat, was hanging upside-down in the air, tangled up in vines. She was desperately trying to gnaw through the vines, and was having little success. Prof. Elm went up to the girl, trying to calm her, now that she was subdued.
"Kat, you need to calm down. There was no reason for any of that." He scolded, trying to sound firm. The effect was diminished when she tried to swipe at him, and he quickly backed away.
"Sen sen triisen!" I looked at her in shock. There was no way she could have done what I think she did. Why in the world was she talking like a Pokémon? Unless… My mind went to the case discovered a few years back, of a kid who had been raised by Kangaskhan.
I was brought back from my thoughts when Kat started gesturing wildly. First to Aluriel, and then at me. And, for some reason, I understood what she was trying to say. I understood, I think, because I felt the same anger at the girl who had done what Kat believed I did to Aluriel.
I picked myself off the floor, grabbing my glasses as I did so, and went up to Kat, staring her in her eyes, which I could see now were light blue. She still glared at me, but I could see confusion in her eyes as well.
"It wasn't me." She blinked at me, then a look of disbelief crossed her face. I continued to look straight into her eyes, light blue to icy green, showing her the truth of my words and the anger I felt. This contest seemed to last for eternity, but eventually she nodded, slowly.
That seemed to convince the adults that she wasn't going to attack me anymore, and the Victreebel gently put her on the ground. Now that she wasn't trying to attack me, I could see that she was about 10. If she hadn't started her own journey yet, she would soon, and I felt a bit of pity at any other trainer that decided to battle her, when she got the hang of it.
I also saw that I was mistaken about her hair. What she wore was a brown Furret hat, and what little of her hair that could be seen from underneath it was white. With a brown jacket and pants, a pink shirt and red scarf, if her first Pokémon wasn't a Sentret or a Normal-type of some kind, I'd eat my belt.
I could see her sizing me up, as well. At 13 I had almost a half a foot on her, though I was no broader in the shoulders than she was. I noticed in amusement that my dark blue hair was longer than hers by more than a few inches, as hers barely reached her chin and mine was already to my shoulder blades.
"Who did that?" She pointed at Aluriel, and I was rather startled to discover that she could talk human. But I gave a humorless smile.
"His old trainer. I just traded for him today, back in Cherrygrove." I looked at Prof. Elm then. "I was half way here when I found out that he was in this condition. I came straight here."
He nodded at me. "Do you know the name of the other trainer? As a member of the Pokémon Preservation Council, I'm going to have to report them to the police for this neglect." I sighed, knowing that it was going to be almost useless to report this.
"Yeah. She's a Pokémon Coordinator named Alexandria Silph." The color seemed to drain out of his face, and the nervousness returned in full force.
"Silph? As in…Silph Co?" I nodded silently. "Well…it doesn't matter who her family is. I'll still have to report her." Which would have sounded more convincing if he hadn't broken out in a cold sweat.
I looked at Aluriel, who seemed to be resting within the containment.
"How long will he have to be in there, Professor?" I heard Elm sigh.
"He's in bad shape. I don't very often see Pokémon in this condition, even ones that have gone up against the Indigo League. At the very least, he'll have to stay overnight. But don't worry…uh…" He laughed awkwardly "You know, in all this chaos, I haven't gotten your name." I had to smile a bit at that.
"I'm Henri, Prof." I held my hand out, and he shook it absentmindedly.
"Well, I'm Professor Elm, as you already know. This is Kat, and she's under my care at the moment. And my two assistants, Joey and Iris. Now, it's getting close to dinner, so won't you join us?" He looked around rather distractedly, and started muttering to himself. "Wasn't expecting…stew, I suppose…rice, that be good…clean up the lab…"
"Already done, Professor." Joey stated. Iris nodded as well, and Kat piqued up.
"Dinner's ready too, Elm. I helped Iris make it. And the other Pokémon have been feed as well." She looked proud. Elm looked rather startled, and he laughed.
"Well, I supposed that's that." And he looked at Kat rather fondly. "It'll be very empty here when you leave, Kat. Let's set up the tables outside. It's a nice evening. That way, there'll be plenty of room for everyone."
There was a hustle and bustle as everyone filed out. I let them go first, and turned back to Aluriel who was still resting. I leaned down till our faces were close together, separated through the glass. Then I spoke to him.
"I don't know what we're going to do about your old trainer yet. But, just so you know, I'll make sure she can never come near you again. You're my Pokémon now, and I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise." I couldn't be sure if he heard me or not. But he shifted closer to the glass, so I have a feeling that he did.
Following the voices of the Professor and Kat, Shimmer and I quickly found ourselves in the area behind the Lab. A wide, expansive back yard, backed right up to the forest. There was plenty of room for Pokémon to roam around, which made me grin. Joey was setting up chairs around a weathered wooden table that Iris was placing a table cloth on. Professor Elm was racing back and forth, but never really getting anything accomplished.
Kat, on the other hand, was arguing with… I smiled, looking at the small Furret. It was about half the size of other Furret I'd seen and it had brown mask markings on it's face. It also wore a navy blue bandana around it's neck. It reminded me of a desperado.
While they got the table set up, I started preparing the meals for my own Pokémon, taking care to make sure that they each got their own food, and it hadn't gotten mixed together. I looked at the food I'd made, specifically for a ghost-type, that I would no longer need. I shrugged then placed it back in my pack. No reason to let it go to waste.
Only when there were three bowls prepared on the ground and one plate and bowl placed on the table beside my seat, filled to the brim with each of my Pokémon's favorite foods did I throw the four Pokeballs that released my team.
There was gasps of surprise from the others, as my team appeared before me. I looked at them, deciding that they were pretty impressive. None of them were Pokémon normally found in Johto, after all.
There was Chaos, my Absol. His horn gleamed in the twilight, but the tip was broken off, giving him an experienced, dangerous look. He looked around, before going to his food to eat. My Milotic, Tsuki, attracted many loving stares, for good reason. Then there was Drake my, up till recently, newest Pokémon. He was a Dratini, given to me by my great-grandfather. They, with Shimmer, made up the battling portion of my team.
"Why, Henri, your team is lovely! I don't think I've ever seen Pokémon look so healthy." Elm exclaimed.
"Thank you, Professor. I-" But I was interrupted, mid-sentence.
"Min. Min. Min!" I felt a tug on my pants, and looking down, found the baby of my team. Kyun trilled again, demanding that I pick him up. I laughed and obliged, plucking him from the patch of flowers. I cradled the little white and green Pokémon in my arms, carrying him to the table with me.
"My gods! Is that… It can't be…But it is! It's a Shaymin!" Elm seemed beside himself. I understood, though. It's not often a person sees a legendary Pokémon, and almost never do they see one that was outside their region. I didn't often let Kyun out when there were other people around, for good reason. But all my Pokémon had missed lunch when I'd discovered Aluriel's condition. I wasn't going to let any of them miss dinner, especially Kyun who tended to become almost catatonic at night.
"But how? I mean, so rare!" I sat down at the table, next to Shimmer, placing Kyun on the table next to my plate.
"Well, Professor, that is an interesting story." And while hand-feeding Kyun pieces of chopped-up fruit, I told them about my travels in Sinnoh and one particular day, where upon hearing a noise I couldn't identify, that lead me to Kyun, who had been stuck in a thorn bush on the side of a ravine. With some difficulty, I managed to get the little grass type out of that mess.
"After which, he wouldn't stop following me. Shaymin are supposed to be really elusive and shy, right? Well, Kyun had no fear at all, of anything. He must have followed me for three days. I was worried some hunter or poacher or something like that would see him, and kidnap him." I shrugged, feeding Kyun the last bit of fruit. Then I laid him down in my lap, where he promptly curled up to sleep. "So I caught him. Been taking care of him ever since. He's really young too, I can't imagine how he managed to get as far as he had, before I found him. I'm even more surprised that he wasn't caught by another trainer before I found him."
I finally helped myself to some of the stew that Iris and Kat had prepared.
"Are you planning on becoming a Champion?" Elm asked. I heard the slight disapproval in his voice. There were some people that took advantage of legendaries, and their abilities. I had heard about the mess in Hoenn, with Team Aqua and Team Magma. I chuckled a little.
"No. I don't like to battle much. I'm going to be a Pokémon Doctor." Elm looked rather startled, and a little please.
"A doctor? For Pokémon? That sounds like a wonderful idea." I smiled.
"Well, it's part of the reason I'm here. My grandfather said that it would be a good idea to first understand Pokémon in their most basic forms, and those would be Eggs. 'Start at the beginning, Henri.' That was the advice he gave me. So, do you think you could tell me a bit about breeding, and the eggs?"
Both of the assistants laughed, and Prof. Elm looked incredibly happy. He launched into a description of his discovery of eggs several years ago, and the recent discoveries made concerning items, Pokémon, and their eggs. I listened intently, absorbing as much information as I could. Dusk had well and truly settled around us before the professor started winding down on his lecture.
"Ah, but if you want to know about the Pokémon's personalities and well-beings after they hatch, you should ask Kat here. She's been caring for the baby Pokémon before and after hatching for several months now. She'll be able to answer all your health related questions." Elm nodded to Kat, who was sitting on the other side of Shimmer, talking between the Lucario and Furret. At her name, she looked up swiftly.
"The eggs?" He nodded.
"You know just as much about them as I do, Kat. Why don't you show Henri around the Egg Room, and the nursery? There were those Pichu that hatched a week ago, I know for sure." Kat nodded enthusiastically.
"There are a few eggs that'll be hatching soon as well, Elm." He looked rather shocked.
"Already? I don't think I've seen them hatch so rapidly before. Hmm… this requires some research. If you kids will excuse me, I've got some things to look into." He rose quickly and almost ran into the lab, followed quickly by Iris wielding a clipboard and pen. I stayed with Kat and Joey, first placing a now sleeping Kyun in Shimmer's arms, and between the three of us we had the mess from dinner picked up rather fast.
I returned Tsuki and Drake back to their Pokeballs. That left Shimmer, who never stayed in his Pokeball; Kyun, who disliked sleeping in his Pokeball; and Chaos, who was nocturnal and enjoyed the nighttime. He was also the only other Pokémon other than Shimmer I had that I trusted to keep watch at night.
Kat looked at me expectantly, but I shook my head.
"I want to go check on Aluriel first." She smiled, and nodded in understanding. "Come on, Chaos." I looked at the somber black and white Pokémon. "There's someone I want you to see."
We walked through the lab, back to the Reviver room. There was noise in the main part of the lab, and we heard the shuffling of papers and the professor's voice, excited but soft. Upon entering the room, I could see that the machine was indeed helping. Aluriel looked quite a bit better than when I first discovered him only hours before.
Chaos promptly left my side, as well. He stalked up to the chamber, peering in at the weakened Glaceon. His normally stoic face was distressed. He turned to look at me.
"Sol-a, absa?" I smiled, becoming more and more sure that this was the best decision I'd made.
"Aluriel's staying with us now, Chaos. I need you to watch over him tonight." I got a stare from solemn red eyes, then he nodded, and turned back to watch Aluriel.
Kat watched the whole thing. "They're friends, aren't they?"
"I think so. I've never figured out their story. As far as I can guess, they knew each other back when they were wild. It makes me sad to think about it, because I was the trainer who caught Chaos. Which means it's partly my fault they were separated."
"So, you traded for him, just so they could be together again? How did you even know they knew each other?" I laughed a little.
"A Pokémon contest, how else?" She smiled a little at that. "Chaos and I were entered into a contest in Sinnoh. Our opponent was Aluriel and his trainer. They refused to fight each other, no matter what either of us said. After that, Chaos stopped listening to me completely, kept trying to run away. He was out of control, and it didn't me long to figure out why. I was determined to find that trainer and try to figure out something. I didn't expect her to trade him to me. She didn't even care what Pokémon I gave her, she just wanted to be rid of him. I guess Aluriel was acting the same way." I smiled.
"It's better this way. They'll stay together and Aluriel's not being hurt anymore." Kat added, smiling as well. "Now about those Eggs?"