Author's note: I know this is not the highest quality story that I can write, but it's one of my older ones and I'm too energy conservative (lazy) to completely rewrite it. I've revised it and I hope it's a relatively good story. The later sagas should be better.
C
oren Silmon is an eight-year old boy with brown hair and brown eyes. One day as he was walking home from school, he spotted a strange bundle on the side of the road. What the? He thought. As he got nearer he realized what it was. It's a Pokemon! It looks pretty injured. He thought worriedly.Coren slowly walked up to the Pokemon. "Hey there little fellah." he said quietly. The Pokemon stirred. It lifted its head slightly off the ground to look at Coren. Oh wow! It's a farfetch'd. They're pretty rare. Thought Coren, recognizing the species of Pokemon from the book on bird-type Pokemon that he had been studying for school. I wonder how badly injured it is?
Coren put his book bag gently on the ground and knelt beside the farfetch'd. "Easy now, I won't hurt you," he said in a soothing voice. He studied the farfetch'd. He couldn't see any cuts or scrapes, but it's left wing, which he was lying on, had its tip sticking out at an odd angle. It must of broken its wing. He thought in concern. And who knows what other sort of injuries it might have.
Darn it all! He thought, If only I hadn't just returned that first-aid book to the library yesterday! I guess I'll just have to try to remember what it said. It said to tie the Pokemon's mouth shut, if it had a mouth. Well this guy does sort of have a mouth; he's got a beak anyway. But I don't have any thing to tie it shut with. I guess I'll just have to hope that he doesn't try to bite me.
"Easy fellah, I'm just trying to help you." he murmured, as he reached out to touch the farfetch'd. He was just sliding his hands underneath it when he remembered something. Wait! If someone has a broken bone your not supposed to move them, unless it's unavoidable. Your supposed to get them professional help.
Poke-Center, Poke-Center, I need to find a Poke-Center. Let's see... Coren looked around. If I remember correctly, than there is a Poke-Center next to the Poke-Mart which is only a few buildings away from the school.
After carefully sliding his hands out from underneath the farfetch'd, Coren carefully climbed to his feet and backed away. As soon as he was a yard away, Coren turned and took off at a run towards the school.
Once at the school, Coren took a right. He passed two buildings, plus the Poke-Mart, and found himself in front of the Poke-Center. He burst through the doors. "Hey!" He tried to shout but it came out as a gasp. He then collapsed onto a bench by the door, gulping in air, trying to catch his breath. "What?!" exclaimed one of the nurses. She came hurrying over to Coren. "What's the matter? Did something happen to your Pokemon?" she asked Coren.
"Not- my- Pokemon-, Don't have- any." he managed to pant out.
"Than what happened?" she questioned.
Coren had his breath back now, "There's a farfetch'd on the side of the road, on the same street as my house. Please! You've got to help me! He's badly injured. I can't save him on my own. I think his wing is broke!"
"Calm down kid, I'll help you! Lucky!" the nurse said, turning to a nearby chansey, "Return to your Poke-ball, I'll bring you out when we get there!" Lucky returned to her Poke-ball. The nurse grabbed a bag that said `Emergency Kit' on it. "All right kid, lead the way!"
Coren jumped up from the bench and sprinted towards the door.
When they reached the farfetch'd Coren skidded to a halt, a yard away, so that he wouldn't scare it.
The nurse stopped beside Coren. She pulled a Poke-ball out of her pocket and pressed a button on it, releasing Lucky. "Lucky, go tell him that we're here to help him."
"Him?" said Coren, "How can you tell that it's a `him'"
"Well sometimes it can be pretty hard to tell, but one of my many gadgets can tell me."
"Oh" said Coren. He watched as Lucky said something to the farfetch'd in Pokemon language, and then looked at the nurse and nodded.
The nurse went quietly over to the farfetch'd. She pulled a folded white roll out of the bag. When she unfolded it Coren realized that it was a stretcher. The nurse carefully and slowly lifted the farfetch'd onto the stretcher, turning him as she did so. She looked at the broken wing and inhaled sharply.
"This is far worse than a broken wing, which is bad enough, he has a bullet wound in his side." said the nurse.
"A bullet wound! You mean he was shot!" exclaimed Coren. The nurse nodded grimly.
"But... But aren't Farfetch'd an endangered species?" asked Coren.
"Mm-Hmm, an as an endangered species it's against the law to kill, or shoot, one. That means that the person who shot it was doing so against the law. But we'll let the police handle that, right now it's are job to save this poor Pokemon." The nurse said while pressing a cotton pad on the bullet wound. "Okay, let's get this guy back to the Poke-Center where he can get proper care. Grab the other end of this stretcher, will you?" Coren picked up the end of the stretcher opposite the nurse. "Thanks. Lucky could you please grab the bag? Thank you." she said, as they started back towards the Poke-Center.
They got to the Poke-Center and went inside. The nurse that had gone with Coren called out to the nurse behind the counter "Lily, please go get the emergency medical crew. We have a very badly injured Pokemon here." Lily nodded and left the room through a side door.
Within a minute Lily was back and she had brought another person with her.
"Lily told me that there was an emergency medical case here." Said the lady that had come in with Lily. "Is that the injured Pokemon?"
"Yes. This boy found the poor thing on the side of the road. It looks like it was a broken wing and a bullet hole in its side," said the nurse still holding her end of the stretcher.
"Alright then, let's get that Pokemon to the emergency room. Excuse me boy, but I'll take that end of the stretcher. What's your name?" asked the nurse who had come with Lily.
"Coren" said Coren.
"Well my name is Nurse Joy and I promise you that we'll do all that we can to save the Farfetch'd." said Nurse Joy as she helped the other nurse to carry the stretcher into another room.
Lily walked back behind the counter, and sat down on a chair. She reached into one of her pant's pocket's and pulled out a hair elastic; she then tied her light purple hair in a pony-tail. "So your name's Coren, right?" she asked. Coren nodded. "My name is Lily, but you probably already figured that out. If you need to call your parents or anybody else who should know where you are, than you're welcome to use our telephone." said Lily, gesturing to the phone on the desk.
"Thanks." said Coren walking over to the desk. He picked up the phone and dialed his families phone number. He could here the phone ring three times and then picked up.
"Hello?" said a voice that Coren recognized as his mother's.
"Hi mom," said Coren. "I'm at the Poke-Center right now. I found an injured Farfetch'd on the side of the road, and I went to get help for it. The doctors are treating it right now. It looked like the Pokemon had a broken wing and a bullet hole in its side!"
"Oh dear!" exclaimed Coren's mom. "Well I'm sorry to hear about what happened to the Pokemon. Do you want me to come over to the Poke-Center?"
"Yes!" said Coren, his voice trembling. "So you'll come?"
"Yes dear, I'll be there as soon a I finish with this bill. Okay?" said Coren's mom.
"Yeah, okay." replied Coren.
"Okay then, I'll see you soon. By honey."
"By mom." said Coren hanging up the phone.
"So is your mom coming here?" asked Lily, in a kind voice.
"Yes." said Coren nodding and looking considerably more cheerful then he had a few minutes ago.
"So if your name's Lily and the nurse you went to get is called Nurse Joy than what's the other one's name, the lady who came with me to get the Farfetch'd?" asked Coren.
"That's Emily. She works here full time. I, on the other hand, work here part time. I'm not interested in working here fulltime. I want to breed, train and compete with Pokemon," said Lily.
"Then how come you work here at all?" asked Coren.
"Well, there's two, no make that three main reasons. One of them being that I need to make money some-how and until I start winning at the big competitions I won't really have an income from working with my Pokemon. The second reason is that I want to learn what I can about taking care of Pokemon medically so that if I need to take care of an injured Pokemon I can do so correctly. And the third reason is simply that I like to help Pokemon."
"What type of Pokemon do you want to breed?" asked Coren.
"I'm not really sure," said Lily, "I want to breed Ponyta, but I also think it would be nice to breed eevees. Oh! And Vulpixes are so utterly adorable! And I like Houndour. And Growlithes are nice too! Oh, I don't know! All Pokemon have their good points and bad points. I just want to live with Pokemon and I'll just have to wait and see what type of Pokemon I should breed. I'm hoping that I'll know when the time comes."
"So do you have any Pokemon?" questioned Coren.
"Oh yes, I have three Pokemon. An Umbreon, a Ponyta, and a Houndour." answered Lily.
"I've heard of Ponyta, but what are Umbreon and Houndour like?" said Coren.
"Well it would be easier to show you so..." said Lily, taking a Poke-ball off of her belt. She stood up and walked to Coren's side of the desk. She then raised her arm and pressed the release button on the Poke-ball. A beam of light came out of the ball and a Pokemon materialized. An Umbreon stood there. A brilliant sparkling light surrounded it for a moment, then faded. It was black with silver highlights on it's face, ears, tail, legs, and feet. It had red eyes and golden ring markings on it.
"This is Moon Mist. She's an Umbreon," said Lily.
"How come it glowed?" asked Coren.
"She glowed because she is an unusually colored Pokemon and, for some reason that I do not know, unusually colored Pokemon sparkle or glow." Lily explained.
"How is Moon Mist unusually colored?" asked Coren.
"Most Umbreon are black, but they don't have silver high-lights like Moon Mist." explained Lily.
Lily stroked Moon Mist's head and then took another Poke-ball from her belt. She pressed the release button and another beam of light appeared. A Houndour appeared and immediately jumped on Coren, knocking him over.
"Hey!" shouted a startled Coren.
"Champion!" exclaimed Lily, "Get off of him!" But Champion ignored her, and started licking Coren's face.
"At least he likes me," said Coren as Lily pulled Champion off of Coren.
"Really. Well this is a Houndour," said Lily gesturing to Champion, who immediately started licking her hand. "Supposedly Houndour aren't friendly, but it seems to me that, that's just because they've gotten a reputation as good guard dogs. I haven't really met any-other Houndour, but from what I've heard from those who have them, is that most Houndour are friendly. It's just that some people have trained and bred Houndour to be vicious."
Lily now took a third Poke-ball from her belt. "You guys had probably better back up. Wind Racer takes up a good amount of room." she warned. Coren, Champion and Moon Mist all moved a few yards away from Lily.
Lily pressed the release button. A beam of light appeared for a third time. A Ponyta erupted out of the beam. He let out a shrill, challenging neigh, and leapt into the air, kicking out with his hind legs.
"Whoa Wind! Easy there." said Lily. "Coren this is Wind Racer, Wind Racer meet Coren." Wind Racer looked at Coren and inhaled, breathing in his scent.
"Wow," said Coren, sighing, "I wish I could have a Pokemon."
"Why can't you? Too Young?" asked Lily.
"Yep." Coren nodded. "I'm too young, my mom's too busy, my dad's not interested in Pokemon and even if he was he'd be too busy to have any, anyway. My dad runs a business that builds buildings, and my mom works at the Poke-mart."
"Oh, well that's too bad. I was lucky enough that my family has Pokemon. But you must at least be able to study Pokemon, right?" inquired Lily.
"Yeah, actually I got a new book from the library today. It's called How to be a Pokemon's Best Friend. It looks like a really cool book. I've only read the first chapter, so far.
"Oh No! My back pack! I left my backpack by the road! I've gotta go get it! I'll be right back!" Coren said the last part as he ran out the door. Champion barked and ran out the open door, following Coren down the street.
"Champion! Hey! Oh no! This is just great! I can't leave right now," said Lily, looking around. She opened the door. "Wind Racer could you please follow Champion and make sure he stays out of trouble?" Wind Racer nickered and bobbed his head. He then ran out the door and down the street. "Thanks!" Lily called after him.
Coren raced towards the place where he had left his backpack. Champion was running along with him, which Coren thought was kind off neat. He was a little worried that something might happen, but Champion stayed beside him, running on Coren's left side.
Just then Coren heard a pounding of hooves. He slowed slightly and turned his head to the right, about to look over his shoulder. But he didn't need to look over his shoulder for when he turned his head; Wind Racer was running along next to him.
"Wow, you're fast!" Coren exclaimed. Wind Racer snorted, nodding his head in agreement.
Coren reached the area where the Farfetch'd had been, completely out off breath. He grabbed his backpack and stood there for a moment, panting. Champion and Wind Racer however didn't seem to be winded at all.
Looking at the ground in front of him, Coren realized that there were bloodstains and a feather on the spot on the ground where the Farfetch'd had been. Coren gave a quiet sort of moan. Champion nuzzled his hand.
"Hi Champion." Coren said quietly. He bent down and picked up the feather. Coren sighed and looked up the road, towards his house.
"Hey! Mom knows a quicker way to the Poke-Center than going all the way to the school first! Why, she might even already be there. And what if there's been a change in Farfetch'd. I've gotta get back there quick! But I'm so tired from all this running." said Coren, turning around and looking in the direction that they had come.
Suddenly Wind Racer neighed. Startled, Coren turned and saw Wind Racer rearing, and tossing his head. As soon as Wind Racer's front feet touched the ground, he kicked out with his hind feet. Wind Racer, head high, then pranced towards Coren. When Wind Racer was about a foot away, Coren took a step backwards, bumping into Champion. Wind Racer then turned, so that Coren was facing his side. Wind Racer bent his front legs and jerked his muzzle towards his back.
"Y-you want me to get on your back?" asked Coren, incredulously. Wind Racer nodded. Coren put on his backpack and carefully climbed on. Coren settled himself with his hands on Wind Racer's neck to keep himself balanced. Wind Racer had, by that time, gotten to his feet. He then sprang forwards so fast that Coren nearly fell off backwards, and had to throw his arms around Wind Racer's neck in order to stay on.
As Wind Racer ran towards the Poke-Center, Champion ran along side and barked joyfully.
When they got to the Poke-Center Coren's mom and Lily rushed out.
"Coren!" called his mom, but when she saw him on Wind Racer she stopped short, her mouth dropping open in surprise. Lily was also surprised, and she too, stopped and stared.
Wind Racer came to a stop in front of Coren's mom and Lily. Coren, who still had his arms and legs clasped tightly around Wind Racer, slowly and cautiously sat up. Wind Racer neighed, shaking his head, and stomped with his right, front hoof.
"Whoa. Easy, Wind Racer." soothed Lily, going to Wind Racer's head and stroking his face.
Coren carefully slid his leg over Wind racer's back, and using his hands on Wind Racer to steady himself; he slid off. As soon as his feet hit the ground, Coren's legs gave way. His knees hit the ground and might have been followed by his body as well, but Champion thrust himself in front of Coren who grabbed onto him.
"COREN!" shouted his mother, who came over to him and helped him to his feet.
"Are you alright?! What on earth were you doing riding that thing!?" said Coren's very concerned mother.
"I'm alright mom, really.
"I didn't realize that Ponyta could run that fast, or that it would be so hard to stay on," said Coren.
"Really." agreed Lily, "I once thought that myself, but then I started taking riding lessons at Fire Wind Ranch. I learned very quickly that it wasn't as easy as I had thought it would be. But why were you riding Wind Racer in the first place?" asked Lily.
"Well, I realized that mom might already be hear and that I needed to get back as quickly as possible. I was talking out loud and I guess that Wind Racer understood what I was saying, because he walked in front of me and sort of kneeled on front legs.
Then he thrust his nose at his back and when I asked him if he wanted me to get on him he nodded. I hope your not mad, I didn't mean to do anything wrong." Coren said.
"You mischievous thing you." Lily said to Wind Racer, affectionately swatting his neck. "You just can't resist a chance to show off, can you?" Wind Racer responded by shaking his head, sending his fiery mane fluttering.
Lily turned to Coren. "Coren, I'm not mad at you. I just hope that your parents aren't mad."
Coren's eyes widened and he turned quickly to his mother. "Are you mad?" he asked his mother.
Coren's mom opened and closed her mouth twice, finally she said "Not really. I might have been if I hadn't been so shocked to see you on it, but now that I've thought about it I'm not. I do want you to be careful around strange Pokemon, but that's because I care for you and don't want you to get hurt. It's not because I don't want you to have any fun. But in any-case let's go see how that Farfetch'd is doing."
"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Coren in alarm, and he sprinted inside. Coren's mother, Lily and her Pokemon followed Coren inside.
Lily went through a side door in the room to check on the Farfetch'd status, while Coren and his mom waited. Coren patted Champion while he told his mom about what had happened. Lily came back just as Coren finished his tale.
"They're still working on him, it'll be a little while before we know how he'll recover." Lily told them.
Coren decided to read his book while he waited. He opened How to be a Pokemon's Best Friend to chapter two "Communication".
An hour later Emily came back to the room where Coren and the others where waiting. "It looks like the Farfetch'd is going to make a full recovery" she said, smiling hopefully. "The only problem is that he's suffering from shock. As long as he comes out of it he should be okay."
"Can I see him?" asked Coren.
Emily nodded, "I don't see why not. Follow me." She turned around and led the way through the rooms to where the Farfetch'd was. Coren, his mom, and Lily all followed. (Lily had her Pokemon return to their balls first.) The Farfetch'd was nestled in a nest of blankets, in a big cage.
"Oh my goodness, The poor thing." said Coren's mom, seeing the Farfetch'd's wing and part of his body covered in bandages.
"Can I pat him?" asked Coren.
Emily said "It should be okay, but go carefully, remember he's a wild Pokemon, and he's in shock." Coren slowly walked to the cage and opened it. He slowly reached his hand towards the Farfetch'd's right (his uninjured) side. Coren gently stroked him.
"Hello little guy, I really want you to get better." Coren said softly. He slowly climbed into the cage and sat down next to the Farfetch'd. Coren continued to talk softly and soothingly to the Pokemon.
The Farfetch'd slowly looked towards Coren. He then shifted his position, nestling closer to Coren. Emily's mouth dropped open. She closed her mouth and turning to the other adults there, she put a finger up to her lips, motioning them to be quiet. Emily then motioned them to follow her out of the room.
"That Farfetch'd was in shock but the boy's attention seems to be bringing him out of it. I'll have to talk to Nurse Joy, but I almost think that it would be best if the kid took care of the Farfetch'd.
Now who are you?" Emily asked Coren's mother.
"I'm Mina Silmon, Coren's mother." replied Mina.
"Coren? That must be the kid's name?" asked Emily. Mina nodded. "In that case, what do you think of the idea of helping the kid, I mean Coren, take care of the Farfetch'd?"
"I'd be willing to help, and I can handle Coren's father." said Mina, "You see my husband isn't interested in Pokemon, but he does care about life and once he sees the Farfetch'd he'll be just as determined to save it as the rest of us, if not more."
"Alright then, I just need to clear it with Nurse Joy." said Emily. "Lily if you stay at the counter for a little while longer, I can relieve you after I speak with Nurse Joy." Emily told Lily who nodded in response and went down the hall.
"Mina, is it?" asked Emily. Mina nodded. "Mina if you could stay with Coren and the Farfetch'd while I talk to Nurse Joy then that would probably be best," said Emily.
Mina nodded and said, "Of course." Emily then went to talk to Nurse Joy, while Mina quietly slipped back into the room with Coren and the Farfetch'd.
The Farfetch'd was still nestled quietly by Coren's side. Coren was so involved in the Farfetch'd, that he barely noticed as his mother sat down on a chair near the cage.
Nurse Joy entered the room and motioned for Mina to come with her into the hall.
"Emily says that the Farfetch'd has taken a liking to Coren, and I can see that. She also said that you are willing to take care of the Farfetch'd?" Nurse Joy asked.
Mina nodded. "Yes I am willing to take responsibility for the Pokemon, and I believe that Coren would be willing to help me. Pokemon have always fascinated Coren. I know he would take the best care possible of a Pokemon in his charge. He is a very responsible boy."
Nurse Joy smiled. Well some of that may just be motherly pride, but I think that they're trust-worthy. "In that case, let's go and see what Coren thinks of this." she said.
Nurse Joy opened the door, and walked over to Coren and the Farfetch'd. "Coren do want to help your mom take care of Farfetch'd?" she asked.
"Do I!?! Of course I do! But can we actually take care of him? I mean aren't you supposed to?" said Coren.
"Well we've done most of what we can for the Pokemon." replied Nurse Joy. "His bandages will need to be changed, he'll need to be fed and all of the basics, but you and your mother can do most of that stuff yourselves. The only thing is that I would want one of the people who've been trained in Pokemon medical care to check on him every few days.
I think that the Farfetch'd likes you and Pokemon often heal faster and better when they are with some-one who they trust and/or like. I'll make a list of what needs to be done for his care. We can bring him to your house as soon as you've gotten a place set up for the Farfetch'd."
"Wow! Really?" asked Coren. Nurse Joy smiled and nodded her head. "Mmm-hm"
"Mom," said Coren "Can we take care of him? Is it alright with you?"
"Yes," Mina said, "I don't expect your father to like it much, but he'll let us.
"However I don't think that we can keep him. Even if your father didn't mind, we're just to busy to give him the proper attention and care that he deserves on a regular basis."
Coren nodded and said, "I didn't think that we'd be able to keep him permanently. And besides he's a wild Pokemon, he belongs in the wild. He's also an endangered species; he needs to be in the wild to help strengthen their population. My only concern is where we're going to release him. I guess he's lived around here, but it doesn't seem very safe anymore."
"Well," said Nurse Joy, "There's a well known wild Pokemon preserve in Kanto, but I don't know where exactly it is. Lily would probably know more because she's donated money to them. You could ask her about it."
"Yeah, I'll ask her," said Coren.
That night Mina explained the situation to Ben, Coren's father. He was reluctant about taking the Farfetch'd home, but he agreed to help.
The next day Ben built a cage for the Farfetch'd. Mina and Coren went to the Poke-Center to bring the Farfetch'd home.
Coren and Mina walked through the Poke-Center door. Emily was sitting behind the counter and Lily was sitting on a bench by the wall, brushing Moon Mist. Lily stood up and returned Moon Mist to her Poke-ball.
"Ready to bring the Farfetch'd home?" asked Lily, smiling at Coren.
"Yep! My dad actually built him a cage!" said Coren.
Lily, Mina and Coren brought the Farfetch'd to Coren's house and they put him in his new cage. The Farfetch'd started exploring the ground level part of his cage.
The next morning Ben went into the living room, where the Farfetch'd was stayed during the night. No one else was up yet. "How are ya feel'n little guy?" He asked the Pokemon. The Farfetch'd hopped over to the side of the cage where Ben was standing. He made a noise that sounded kind of like a Quack.
"I know, you're wondering what I'm doing here huh? I'm not really sure, I just woke up early and the thought came to me to visit you." Ben told the Farfetch'd who seemed to be listening intently to him. Ben continued, "You seem like quite an intelligent Pokemon. And you're quite the survivor huh? Surviving a gun-shot and a broken wing." The Farfetch'd let out a series of quacks, and flapped his unbroken wing.
"What is it little guy?" asked Ben. "Hmm... Even if you do return to the wild you could use a name..." The Farfetch'd turned to get a drink of water, and Ben could clearly see his cast and bandages. That brought an idea to him. Survivor! "Hey! How about Survivor?" he asked the Farfetch'd. Survivor quacked, bobbing his head and flapped his right wing. Ben chuckled, "Survivor it is then."