Chapter 1
The little Hopes of big Dreamers
A storm was rampaging so hard one might think the sky was about to fall down and destroy the world. The mangled clouds seethed awesome, their pitch black color covering the night sky, forbidding any light to shine onto the earth. The rain was gushing from the heavens, flooding the ground and the wind raging so intensely that not even the trees were able to withstand its wrath.
He was running as fast as he could, but he didn't knew why. Someone was holding his hand, begging him to hold on to it, begging him to keep running.
What was he running from? Where was he running to? His feet felt so sore as if he hadn't rested them for days and his heart was beating so powerful inside his chest that every beat shot a stinging pain through his exhausted body.
The million droplets of water that fell from the sky hindered his vision. The only thing that he was able to make out was the orange paw that held tightly onto his own. It dragged on him so strong that it was practically carrying him.
Even if he wanted to stop and rest his tired body he was sure the paw wouldn't let him and he somehow felt that this was a good thing. He was scared. He didn't knew what was chasing them but he was sure that he did not wanted to get caught by it.
So he ran, no matter how weak he was. He kept running and running, holding tighter to the paw that helped him with this task. The paw made him feel comfortable inside, no matter how much his body hurt on the outside. It gave him hope that he could escape whatever he was running from, enough confidence to keep on running.
Suddenly there was an explosion to his right. It hurled him into the air, separating him from the paw he was holding so dearly onto. All noises were replaced with that of a loud ringing, disorientating him even more then he already was.
Before he even knew it he was holding onto some rocks with no ground beneath his feet. The ringing slowly subsided and he could hear the rain and thunder again, as well as the sound of masses of water that slammed into something. The voice he heard earlier began plead and cry again for him to hold on, to not let go.
He wanted to follow the voices pleads, he wanted to hold on, not to give up, however, his body didn't obey his demands. He felt as his paws were slowly sliding of the rocks and then how cold wind was swishing up from underneath his body.
"NO!"
All sounds of the world were once more muted as his body got encased with water. Every time he tried to breath, his lung were filled with liquid, every time he tried to open his eyes they burned and the only thing he could see was darkness.
He didn't knew why he was running, he didn't knew from what he was running, were he was running, he didn't even knew who that voice was he was running with. He was tired, he couldn't think straight and the strange liquid around him was pulling and tearing at him more so than the paw earlier did. His mind drifted off as he finally couldn't fight anymore.
Darkness began to surround his mind and dulled all his senses. The pain of his body, his troubled mind, gone. The last thing he felt was a strange sensation of joy before everything got absorbed by the darkness.
"That should be enough Pecha Berries!" The cheerful voice of a Buneary resonated through the forest as she was placing a Pecha Berry into a basket she was carrying around with her. She examined the content of the basket. It was filled to the brim with all sorts of different colored berries that she has collected. Cheri, Oran, Chesto and now more than enough Pecha Berries overfilled the woven basket, making it so heavy that the Buneary had to carry it with both paws.
Her mother had asked her this morning to fetch some berries from the nearby forest for her. They owned a Berry Farm, so they usually weren't in the need of a lot of wild ones, however, a heavy storm that had raged yesterday through town ruined most of their berry trees. It even almost took the roof off of their house!
Her mother also had told her to not go to deep inside the forest because of the raising number of bad Pokémon lately. She would've complied and simply got some berries from the edge of the forest, but all the berry trees there had their contents already plucked, blown away or squashed and rendered useless from the heavy storm. The Buneary almost wanted head back empty pawed, but her inner adventurer had decided to take on the 'dangerous' forest.
These woods were far from dangerous. She and her mother often went in here to get some berries from the wild trees, so it wasn't like she was going to get lost in it. Furthermore, even if there were more bad Pokémon around, she was more than capable to avoid them neither was she afraid of them.
The Buneary joyfully hopped back out the woods, evading any puddles the storm had left on the ground. The last thing she needed was her mother smart mouth her for getting her fur dirty. The storm had drenched the entire forest in water which made the leaves of the trees and bushes sparkle beautifully in the sunlight. Even the berries she has picked were still moist from the dew.
A peculiar lovely looking bush caused her to stop. She followed a glistening drop of water slowly flowing down a leaf until it reached its tip were it clung desperately onto the very edge to not fall off. Eventually, the drop gave up and fell onto the ground were it disappeared inside the wet earth with a very quiet 'plop!'.
A smile grew on her face. When even a little bush like this can look so astonishing how would the rest of the world compete? Pictures of towering mountains, deep caves and even big city's formed in her mind. She always dreamed of seeing more of the world, exploring every nook and cranny until there was nothing left for her to see. Yes, one day she hoped to become a adventurer!
Her smile got suddenly replaced with a frown. Everyone told her that she couldn't, though. Her mother always told her that she was still way too young for such plans and the staff of the local Adventurer Secretarial always told her that she was too small and fragile without them even giving her the chance of proving herself! The staff also told her that she needed a team before even thinking of becoming a official adventurer. A sigh escaped her throat and her eyes wet up a bit .
"Is it my fault that nobody wants to be friends with me?" She muttered halfheartedly.
Of course, the adult Pokémon always greeted her jolly when she was doing some chores for her mother and called her one the most cheerful Pokémon in town, however she was really bad at making friends with other Pokémon her age. They always said that she acted like an adult, or her constant talk about adventurers got on their nerves. While she admitted she liked to lecture others when they did something stupid (even though she herself also sometimes did stupid things) she couldn't understand how somebody couldn't like talking about adventurers and their travels! Besides, she was confident she would be able to take on any challenge the staff of the Secretarial throw on her!
Her mind snapped back out of her daydreams when she remembered that she still had to deliver the berries she picked for her mother. She broke her vision free from the bush and continued with her walk back home. The dimming sky revealed that it was already getting a bit late, encouraging her to pick up the pace. She didn't wanted her mother to get needlessly worried.
Once she was out of the forest she stretched her little arms. She had collected a bit too many berries and her arm with which she mainly supported the basket was getting a bit sore. But the knowledge that she was probably getting a slice of sweet Mago Cake when she returned with all these berries rekindled her tired body. She finally was back on the road that led to Flow Town. It shouldn't take her very long now for her to get back home.
"Hey there, little girl. Where are you off too?" A sudden voice from behind her startled the Buneary, making yelp in surprised. When she turned to see whom voice it was she saw two Pokémon standing behind her. Where did they come from? She just came from there, so how did these two appear behind her so suddenly?
The one that just spoke to her looked like a purple cat with slitted, green eyes that stared at her with a sultry look that was accompanied with a similar smile. Next to her was a Pokèmon with pale purple skin that was made out of a bunch of balls that had been stuck together to vaguely resemble a scorpion that ended with little, though still very dangerous looking stingers.
"Yeah, yeah! Where yah goin'?" Said the weird Pokémon excited , it's tails stingers pointing at her intimidatingly.
She looked at the two purple Pokémon unsure. There was definitely something wrong with these two. "I- I'm heading to Flow Town..." She answered hesitant, despite her insecurity towards the purple pair.
"I see..." The cat began to eye the basket the Buneary was carrying around who subsequently tried to conceal its contents from the purple Pokémon's view by hiding it behind her back. ",and what might you carry around there with you?"
"Yeah, yeah! Whatcha' got there?"The bug hastily added.
The cat made a shushing noise to quiet down her companion but shortly after turned her attention back to the bunny Pokémon.
"That basket you are caring around with you looks awfully heavy." She said in a soothing tone. She was albeit incapable of hiding a little poisonous note within her voice, "Why don't you let us help out with that?"
"Yeah, yeah! Let us help ya!" This time the cat gave the bug a slap on the back of its head who in response led out a little yelp. It was now occupied with tending the spot where it got hit by rubbing it with its tail. Satisfied and sure that this would keep the purple bug quiet the cat drew its attention back to the bunny.
"N-no, I'm fine, really!" The Buneary nervously stuttered. Panic was slowly building up inside of her. She took a few steps backwards, however the cat and bug thing followed her closely.
"Oh, come on now, little girl, why won't you let yourself getting helped out by two nice strangers?" The cat's smile was beginning to look strained but she still kept her soothing voice as she closed in.
The bug perked back up again while still rubbing its head. "Yeah, yeah! Why dontcha let yah' self gettin' helped?"
The purple cat's expression turned into a angry glare as she looked down at the face of her companion and began to yell. "I swear, Skorupi, I told you before to shut it-!"
The bunny Pokémon took the opportunity of the yelling cat to run away from the two. Unfortunately though, the cat noticed her attempt of escape and with impressive reflexes was able to grab onto the Buneary's basket with her front paws.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?!" The cat screamed furiously, her face painted with anger as she tugged at the Buneary's basket.
"Let gooooo!" The bunny yelled back as she had a tug war with the cat. She shoved her flexible ears into the cats face to help her getting the upper hand in the duel over the basket, squashing the cats face into a weird grimace.
"Drat, the wimp's tougher than I thought. Help me Scorupi!"
The scorpion-like Pokémon looked a bit hurt by her harsh tone. "Yah' know, Pelly, I got an actual name..."
"Shut up and help me with this dweeb!" The Pokèmon called Pelly snapped at him, "And stop calling me Pelly in front of others!"
"Alrigh', alrigh'..."
The Scorupi walked over to the two struggling girls and began to wind up his tail. The Buneary was still too busy tearing at her basket for her to see the tail flying towards her eye. With a loud crunch she was send back a few feet, letting go of the basket, causing the cat to fall back over as well and scattering berries all over the muddy road.
She griped her right eye with her paws and let out a pain filled cry. It felt like a big rock was just thrown at her face at full speed! Little stars flew inside her throbbing head and she lost her orientation of the world around her. She wasn't even sure if she landed on her back or her belly-
"Bah, stupid brat! Because of you my fur is now ruined!" Pelly remarked as she lifted herself up from the dirt. She dusted her coat off as good as she could while walking over to the basket.
"My, my, that's an awful lot of berries. Where did a little girl like you got her paws on these?" Her sultry voice was back again as she picked up the basket.
The Buneary could only answer with a loud groan.
"Fine then, don't answer me." She let out a little chuckle, " But I'm sure those will give us a fair amount of Poké back at the Kecleon Market.
"N-no!" Despite the immense pain on her teary eye, the bunny gather all the strength left within her body and lunged forward from off the ground to grab onto one of the cats back legs, shaking it as intense as she could muster, just to get back her possessions somehow. She collected these berries fair and square and there was no way some stupid purple bullies would take them away from her!
"They're mine!" She screamed in a high, shrill voice, "Give them back!"
"H-hey! Let go of me, you pest!" Pelly said, surprised by the sudden attack. She was however able to get the Buneary off of her without much trouble by giving the bunny a well placed kick onto her jaw.
Another jolt of pain ran through the Buneary as she landed hard on her back. Her whole face was hurting now. She wasn't even able to describe the pain. It just hurt a lot! Over her burning pain in her face she felt how something lukewarm was creepily flowing down the edge of her mouth. Out of reflex she ran her muddy paw over the place where the warm sensation was tingling. Looking back at her paw she noticed how the mud on her paw was mixed with a red liquid afterward.
"Here, carry that, Scorupi." The cat demanded off the scorpion.
"Sure, sure, Pelly!" The Scorupi obeyed and took the basket with the tip of his ball-tail.
"I told you to stop calling me Pelly in front of others, you bug brain!"
"Sorry, sorry..."
The Buneary still squirmed with pain a little longer while the two purple Pokèmon left. Shortly after however, she was able to stand up again. For a while she looked in complete silence at the scene around her. She didn't even had any real expression on her face, just a dull, barely noticable frown. In that same silence she then began to pick up as many of the scattered berries as she could hold. The berries all had mud stuck to them and some of them even were squished.
Then, without even much of a thought, she continued her walk back home.
It took her a while to get near the village, far longer than it would have normally. It took her so long, in fact that the sun was glowing fiery red in the horizon. As she was slugging down the street in silence she noticed that she was walking by her favorite shore bit of the towns river. In her dulled mind she decided to pay it a visit.
It didn't took her long to reach the riverfront. The usually spotless bank was covered in algae, broken off branches, an old tree trunk, gravel mixed with dirt, even severed waterlilies and ripped out reeds. Because the river was generally very calm, plants like those could grew near and on it without much trouble, however, judging from the algae sticking to the trees, the storm from yesterday must have caused a flood, scattering all that rubble and dead plants around.
A odd shaped cyan rock especially took her attention that wasn't there the last time she visited this place. Algae and some waterlilies covered most of its surface, making it hard to notice any details. She wondered how something this big was able to be carried out of the river and swept onto the riverbank. This storm must have been a lot stronger than it purported!
Not really sure why she sat down right next to that strange rock. The cold and soft grass underneath her backside was much appreciated by her hurting body, helping her to at least relax a little bit.
The Buneary looked over the big, greenish-blue river that, despite the Storms worst attempts, kept its pristine beauty. Two Yanma buzzed about at the other end of the river, flying between the reeds, startling a few Finneon that quickly scattered away. In the distance a bird Pokémon chirped a lovely song while repairing it's ruined nest. The Buneary was amazed how it could keep up such a good mood despite its home lying in ruins. Watching over the river she could see the reflection of the sun, a giant circle twinkling on the surface, almost looking like a red moon on the murky water, illuminating the watery night sky with sparkling lights. This place was as beautiful as ever and no storm, matter how hard, could ever change that.
Out of the corner of her eye she was able to see her own reflection in the calm water. She decided to examine herself, much to her regret. She looked like an outright mess! Her fur was ruffled up and covered with patches of mud, on the left corner of her mouth was a smeared spot of red and her right eye was swollen to twice its normal size. Instinctively she patted her deformed eye, causing her to cringe every time her paw made contact with it. It would probably take days before she could properly see on it again! She should count herself lucky that the Scorupi didn't hit her with his stingers though, or else her eye would've probably looked even nastier...
Her whole body felt wobbly all of the sudden. She wanted to become a adventurer, she wanted to see all the beauty the world had to offer, but who was she kidding? There was no way that she could ever see more than just the woods around Flow Town and this shore.
Tears build up inside her eyes, making her hurt eye burn. When she isn't even able to fend off some stupid bullies then how did she expect to be able to become a adventurer? She was a dumb little weakling. Everybody else was right, there was no way she could ever become one.
She began to sob uncontrollably, her other eye now also blurry, though from her tears. Her dreams would never come true, she would never see the world and its wonders, never go on wild adventures that she could tell her mother about!
She lost grip of all the berries she was carrying, scattering them in the grass around her. Instead of picking them back up again she lifted her now free paws to her eyes, even laid her long ears over them. She sat there and cried for what felt like hours to her, not knowing nor caring how much longer her tears would flow down her cheeks.
The Buneary winced when she felt something hard and cold gently wiping away some of her tears below her left eye causing her sobs to calm down a little. When she looked up to see who just did that...
...she suddenly saw the cyan rock staring at her with two glowing squares.
She screamed out loud in surprise and crawled away a few paces on her back. When she reached a somewhat safe distance from the rock she froze and looked at it with a shocked expression. The rock just moved! And it had glowing eyes!
Her heart was racing a thousand beats per second and her breath accelerated in cooperation. The rock was still just staring at her, its hand outstretched as if it was still wiping away her tears.
Now that she looked at the rock a bit more closely she could notice that it not only had arms but also a pair of stubby feet that were stretched out before it, making it appear that it was actually sitting. Some of the algae was falling off of it from moving, bringing some brown straps into view that were bound around its body. They met at a blue square on its belly with a yellow swirl in the center.
The Buneary has seen her fair share of rock and steel Pokémon in Flow Town, but something like this never made it through there, she was pretty sure of that.
She gasped a bit surprised as the rock moved back to its original position and stared again at the murky mass of water. The bunny Pokémon tilted its head to the side, unsure of what to think of this strange creature. Well, it seemed that it did try to cheer her up a little, so she guessed that it must be good Pokémon! Or whatever it was...
Cautiously she moved back over to the Golem. "...H-hello...?" She almost whispered, faltering a bit.
Silence.
"...Mister?" She spoke up a little.
Still silence.
"Helloohoooo, somebody home?" She now shouted impatiently at the cyan rock.
More silence.
She furrowed her brows. Was it ignoring her or was it just...?
She glanced back over to the river. Of course, it must like looking at her favorite spot as well!
"Are you enjoying the view?"
Still no response.
She smiled, her sadness from before fading. She sat back down on her old spot next to the rock and enjoyed the sight in silence with it. Her troubled mind calmed down as she began to think of nothing in particular. The strange rock was right, she didn't even needed it to tell her this with words.
Enjoying something in full tranquility was exactly what she needed. The only sounds that were disturbing her ears now were the gentle whooshes of the waves.
Maybe she should just close her eyes, take a little nap on the shore. Yeah, that sounded like a great idea! When her eyelids were just half closed however, something suddenly caught her attention.
Just up the river, inside the water swam a brown dot. Curious of what it might be she squinted her eyes instead of closing them in order to distinguish it. After a few seconds she was able to recognize what the dot was.
"Is that... is that a Pokémon?!" She yelled out, to no one, really.
Her eyes shot back open when she noticed that it just floated on its back motionless, gently getting pulled down the rivers stream. A great wave of worry shot through her body causing her to jump up.
Her first instinct was to swim over to it and somehow pull it ashore. Her own rationality however kept her from doing so. She wasn't a very good swimmer and pulling a Pokémon ashore was something she could forget with her little limbs anyways.
But maybe she could use some sort of stick to pull it ashore. She picked up one of the laying around branches that still kept most of its leaves and experimented how far over the river she could reach with it. Unsurprisingly, it wasn't even long enough to nudge the still intact waterlilies. She groaned in frustration. At this rate the Pokémon had better chances getting stuck between the reeds. She calculated per eyesight how long the stick had to be in order to reach the very middle of the river. Having the broad length inside her head she looked around for any potential contestant. The only thing that could even come close was the old tree trunk laying near the riverbank, and that thing was almost nine times her height! No matter, she had to try it!
She placed herself behind the, at least when compared to her, massive tree and grabbed onto its rotten bark. She braced herself before pushing against it with all her might. The wood beneath her paws crackled a little as she pushed against the dead tree, her feet slipping off the wet grass constantly. After a while her paws started to hurt so she turned around and tried to move it with her back instead, but the tree stayed stubbornly where is was. Exhausted, she slumped down against the huge peace of wood, taking deep breaths of air. This wasn't going to get her anywhere...
After a short pause to catch her breath again she looked up over the tree to see how far the Pokémon has floated down the river. She had to discover that the Pokémon already covered a fair distance and was about to pass her.
Why didn't that dumb tree move? More importantly, how foolish was she to try a plan that was doomed from the start?! She cursed herself for her own stupidity weakness. She almost wanted to give up... but...
No! She refused to let someone get hurt on her watch! There had to be another way to safe that Pokémon! The gears inside her head were now moving at full speed as she looked around, trying to find something, anything that could assist her with this Pokémon's rescue.
Her eyes made contact with the cyan Golem. Maybe it could help her? It looked very strong but she wondered if it could even swim. Besides, she didn't even know if it was even capable of understanding her. She looked back at the floating Pokémon that got slowly, but steadily pulled by the river towards the ocean. Not very further down the river was a chute that even was a challenge for most water Pokémon. If she wouldn't get him out now, it probably would...
She shook her head, dismissing those thoughts. She just had to hope that the rock could help her!
"Mister! Can you understand me?" She said distinctively, trying to somehow pull through the Golem.
Much to her relief it really began to look at her again. Wasting no time she pointed towards the Pokémon that was floating in the water.
"Do you see that Pokémon over there in the water?" Her voice was anxious. She really hoped it was going to understand her instructions,"C-can you please get it out of the water?"
The living rock moved its body in the direction of the Pokémon in distress and stared again without the slightest of motion. She waited a few more moments and then sighed desperate. No, of course it couldn't help her...
Just as she finished her thought though however, it stood up, the ground shifting beneath its heavy body, and began to walk towards the river. Wasn't it for the soft earth absorbing the vibrations, she was sure she could have felt every step it took, the rock looked that heavy.
The Buneary watched with googly eyes how the Golem actually did what she told it. To be honest, she did not except that it was going to do anything. She thought it would just resume to stare blankly into the ocean, ignoring her like it did before.
She tracked the rock with her eyes as it slowly closed in onto the Pokémon, causing big waves as it stepped into the river, its body sinking deeper into the water, deeper and deeper until...
...It was entirely submerged.
There was no sound at all outside of the tender waves splashing against the shore, even the bird Pokémon in the distance wasn't keeping up its lovely song anymore. The river continued to casually carry on the brown Pokémon as if it was trying to mock the Buneary. She shifted around uncomfortably. The cyan Golem was underwater for a while now.
For quite a while, actually.
An awful long while.
She made a worried face. Did it just... drown...?
Her stomach turned violently as she realized what she supposedly just did. Not only couldn't she help someone in need, she also just sent someone else into his doom!
Her eyes slowly widened and tears started to build up in them again, this time out of sheer horror of what just played out in front of her. Two Pokémon were about to die and there was nothing that she could do about it! She slumped down onto her knees, her trembling paws griping her head.
"I-I'm u-useless..." She stuttered to herself, "I'm w-weak and u-useless!"
Splash!
A sudden loud noise dragged her out of her shocked state. Looking in the distance she saw how a big hand reached out of the river and grabbed the small Pokémon. Then, slow and steadily, the hand griping the Pokémon moved back towards the riverbank.
She had to process for a bit what was happening. After she got it though a great burden got lifted from her body. The rock did it!
She wiped off her tears and stood back up again, ignoring her wobbly legs. There was no time for any self contempt! Patiently, she waited for the cyan rock to deliver the Pokémon in trouble. It emerged back from the water, drenched in water and possibly even more algae sticking to it then before. It was only a few steps away now.
The Buneary hoped the Pokémon was still alive. No matter how hurt it would be, she would somehow find a way to safe it, try and use everything she learned by now from her mother-!
The moving rock threw the Pokémon carelessly onto the ground with a loud thud.
The impact startled her so much that she jumped back a bit. Flabbergasted she looked at the thrown Pokémon and then up at the Golem.
"Y-you can't just throw someone like that!" She lectured the cyan being shocked.
The rock just stared at her.
She shook her head. There was a more important task at paw!
She took a quick, yet accurate look at the Pokémon. It had a big round body, stubby arms, two small feet and a pair of long, floppy ears, though not as long and floppy as hers. Its tail was really long, longer than her body, excluding her ears, which had a bunch dark brown stripes across it. Though most notably was probably the big, white circle on its belly which almost resembled an bullseye. She was able to recognize it as a Sentret, but wasn't sure if it was a boy or a girl. She carefully lifted the Sentret so she could check the backside of its body. While doing so, she noticed that it had some weird symbols shaved onto the back of its head. She has never seen something even remotely similar in her entire live. Ignoring them for now, she lowered its body back into the grass.
After confirming that nothing was wrong with it on the outside, she quickly hold one of her long ears over its mouth. Much to her apprehension, it wasn't breathing. The Sentret must have swallowed a lot of water and it lungs are now filled with the stuff. She somehow had to get the water out of it so it could breathe again!
She took both her paws and pressed them on the Pokémon chest as hard as she was able to, using her whole body as support. Sadly though, the Sentret's body barely budged underneath her weight. Not wanting to give up she pursued her assault, shutting her eyes in frustration.
"Come oooooon!" She begged her body to build up enough strength to save the Sentret`s live, but its ribs were just to sturdy for her little body. There was now way she was going give up however, she just would have to try and try and-!
She boggled from the Sentrets body when a giant fist suddenly slammed down onto it, causing the Pokémon to shoot a fountain of water skyward from its mouth.
Aghast she stared at the Golem. How on earth could it be so careless?! It probably broke all the Sentret's bones with that punch! She found herself getting angry at the rock. She didn't care if it had any emotions or not, that was no way to treat a wounded person!
A couple of weak coughs however stopped her from smart-mouthing the cyan Golem again. Looking down she saw how the brown Pokémon coughed up more water from its mouth and then began to breath faintly.
It was alive! She felt such a great relief in her body that she was getting a bit dizzy. She did it!
No, hold on... She didn't do anything, it was the Golem that saved its live. But instead of feeling glum about it she walked over to the Golem and gave it a hug. She was hardly able to fit her arms around even one of its hands.
"I'm sorry for doubting you, mister!" She said, "But next time please don't handle someone that careless, okay?"
As before, no answer.
A smile crept on her face. She didn't knew why, but she somehow she felt that it understood her.
She focused her attention quickly back at the hurt Pokémon. It was breathing now, though only very weak and offbeat. The Golem's fist had also left a big bruise on its belly. She had to stabilize his condition immediately or else the Sentret might not hold on a lot longer!
Her head jerked up when she remembered that she had carried a couple of berries down the riverbank. She moved her head around rapidly, scanning the ground after the correct berry.
Pecha, Cheri, Chesto...
There! A single Oran Berry laid in the grass. Without hesitating she quickly walked over to it and picked up the berry. She went back to the Sentret and tried to squeeze it open. When that didn't work she instead decided to bite a chunk off of it. A explosion of flavors spread inside her mouth as she chewed on the berry, making her shudder a bit.
Now that the berry had a outlet she began to pour its juices over the Pokémon's bruise. The thick liquid mostly kept stuck to its fur. She remembered the time when she accidentally covered herself in Oran Berry juice when she and her mother where making some jam. She swears that she even to this day still finds some of that stuff inside her ears...
Wait, what was she thinking about?! She should keep her attention to the hurt Pokémon! Taking its bruise back into focus, she could declare that that it had a more than s satisfying amount of juice sticking to it. Carefully she then moved the berry over the Sentret's mouth and poured some of the thick juice inside, only squeezing out a few small streams at a time so I wouldn't start chocking on it.
A bit unsteady the unconscious Pokémon gulped down the juices. When it swallowed the last droplet of the berry the Buneary could almost see how its breathing became a bit more regular. She let her body fall back on the grass for the umpteenth time and gave a long, relieved sigh.
The Sentret looked like it was alright now. Well, at least she thought so. She should bring it back home to her mother, who was a way better nurse than her, just to be sure. The Sentret didn't look too heavy, however she also was not a heavyweight herself.
She reconsidered asking the Golem again. But it already helped her out so much, she didn't wanted to abuse its kindness. She shook her head at her silliness. The walking Rock probably wouldn't feel abused when helping a Pokémon in need.
"Mister?" She spoke up to the cyan Golem, "Could you please carry that Sentret back to my home?"
It looked down at her, than at the Sentret. When a few moments passed it picked the insured Pokémon up and threw it over its shoulder with a loud thud.
"C-careful, please!"
Nothing.
She sighed one last time and waved the Golem over to her.
"Come on, this way!" She exclaimed, which made the Golem follow her closely. Determined she walked back home in a steady pace, being mindful about not outrunning the cyan rock. She constantly looked back to make sure the Golem was still behind her and the Sentret on its shoulder.
The house was a bit secluded so they didn't had to pass through the town. She decided to take a bit of a detour through some bushes to save some time reaching the little hill she lived on. This however meant that they had to fight their way towards the little hill she lived on. Well, she had to fight, at least. The Golem was able to walk right through the thickest without much trouble, making it at times stop right behind the Buneary while she tried to crawl between some intertwined twigs. Once they arrived it already was evening, the sky painted red by the setting sun.
She detected her mother how she watered a fresh patch of planted berries in their berry garden from the distance. The Lopunny looked up when she noticed the commotion the two of them were making from between the bushes. Once she noticed that it was her daughter that was coming home her face perked up.
"Bella, where have you been so long?" She called out to her from afar, "I was so worried about-!"
She dropped her watering can and lifted her arms over her mouth when she saw her daughter up close.
"H-honey, what happened to you?!" Her mother said shocked after a long gasp.
Oh, right. She forgot that she looked like a total mess. Her black eye suddenly started to hurt again when she reminded herself of it.
"Don't mind me, mom!" Bella pointed at the still unconscious Sentret on the Golem's shoulder. "That Pokémon really needs your help!"
Her mother glanced up at the Sentret and then gave Bella a understanding nod. She walked over to the Pokémon and analyzed it as precisely as possible.
"Tell your friend to bring him inside." She said serious after finishing her evaluation.
Bella nodded back at her mother and quickly gave the Golem hand gestures that suggested it to go inside. It complied.
"Hold on," Bella wanted to head inside as well but the fluffy paw of her mother stopped her, "you go and clean yourself up, honey, I take care of things from here."
"But mom, I wanna help, too!" Bella puffed up her cheeks in disapproval. The Sentret was her patient after all!
"No," Her mother knelt down to face her and her gave her a warm smile, "you already did more than enough to save the small fellow." The Lopunny stroked her head and then planted a kiss on it. "I'm very proud of you."
"Now go and clean yourself." She gave her a knowing wink, "There is also still some Mago Cake left on the porch, if you're interested."
Bella's ears jerked up at the mentioning of the cake. A smile appeared on her face and she nodded in comprehension. She was a bit disappointed that she couldn't help her mother, but figured that the Sentret was in good hands with her. And well - She took a quick glance of her ruined fur - she really did look like a total mess.
She moved over to their backyard to clean her fur with their water pump, not fond of the cold water that she was about to wash herself with. However, her mouth kept watering up whenever she thought about the Mago Cake that was waiting for her, dismissing any regrets she had about this bath.