Chapter 1 – Loner

Authors Notes: So this is my first ever Pokemon story, it doesn't mean it will be the only one I'll ever make but I really hope that every reader enjoys the story that i will be telling across many chapters, all constructive reviews are welcome, and i will try to reply to as many as i can, enjoy :)

(Kyan's POV)

I was sitting out the front of the cabin, cross-legged on the hard oak of the open porch, holding a misshapen lump of wood in one hand and a carving knife in the other. Wiping my golden-blonde fringe away from my forehead as the scorching Kanto sun beamed down upon the clearing where the farm resided. Several Tauros and Rapidash were milling around the plains surrounding the cabin, some drinking from the water trough, others lying down and bathing in the sun. Off in the distance I was pretty sure I could spot two Tauros locking horns and mooing at each other, I wasn't worried though, Stoutland would surely split them up soon.

"Arff, Arffff!" Came the roar from the powerful shaggy-dog Pokemon. The Tauros practically screamed in surprise as they split and ran off in separate directions. I giggled to myself and continued to whittle away at the block of wood in my hand, a few minutes passed with all being silent, but then I heard footsteps from within the house, heading towards the front door.

I almost fell down the stairs as I sprang up from my seated position.

'Oh no, mum will kill me if she catches me with this.' I glance down towards the carving knife in my hand, my feet frozen to the ground in thought, refusing to budge until my brain could think of a suitable plan.

"Kyan! Where are ya bud?" My body instantly eased up, as the fear of being scolded left my mind. My dad opened the front door leading out to the porch and peered out, he spotted me just standing there dumbfounded, looking like a freaking dumb-ass as the panic drained from my body.

"Geez son, you better watch where you work, mum would gut me if she knew I gave you an actual carving knife, she's already mad enough that I taught you how to carve in the first place." Dad was right, I loved the carving lessons I received from my dad, but mum thinks I need to learn more "important" skills, like maths, how's it my fault that I suck at it when my teachers forget I'm there half of the time?

"Anyway, it doesn't matter now, let me see what you're working on?" My dad asked as he stepped out from the doorway, smiling to himself, he was overjoyed that Kyan was taking such an interest in his teachings.

"It's supposed to be Tapu Koko, but it still needs work." I handed the piece of wood to my dad and took a step back, I began to feel as nervous as when I'm in class, standing in front of all the people who could care less about the poster I made or the presentation I had stressed over. I waited as i prepared to be told that it needs work.

My dad smiled deeply as he looked over the work, he looked over the guardian of Alola's head taking shape and he ran his fingers down the curve on its arm masks as he observed the carving.

"Not bad, I'm sure you'll be able to finish it within the month, it's incredible that you can create such works of art only at the age of 11!" My dad roared with laughter, my mood instantly picked up, I wasn't in school and I wasn't surrounded with disapproving looks, I was at home with my family who could actually see the good I do. I tucked the carving knife away and took the carving from my dad and followed my dad into the house, the smell of mum's cooking wafting through the air and out the door as I passed the threshold back into my home.

"Smells great mum, do you need a hand with anything?" I offered my assistance, eager as always to help in any way I can.

"Oh yes please dear, could you please go fetch Stoutland for me?" My mum looked back from her position in the kitchen, as she continued to prepare dinner.

"No problem, back in a flash!" I shouted as I sprinted back out the front door, placing my wooden carving down on the table before I left, I hopped down the stairs and looked out among the field, Stoutland was nowhere to be seen.

"I can't see him mum!" I shouted back in, and quickly received a reply.

"Check around the back sweetie, he's probably just wandering." I nodded to myself and shouted back a word of acceptance as I set off running around the cabin to get a look at the fields around the back, I cupped my hands around my eyes to try and block out the sun as I searched for him.

Eventually I spotted the shaggy Pokemon loitering around the outskirts of the field, I walked over closer to him, so I could get within ear-shot and shouted out to Stoutland.

"Hey boy, it's time for dinner!" As soon as he heard my voice he spun around and began barking his head off before turning back towards the forest surrounding the farm. He was focusing fiercely on something deep within the forest, something Kyan had no idea of due to not having the heightened senses of smell of a Stoutland.

"Woah, what's up Stoutland?" I queried the Pokemon, just before he sprang into the forest and started running away from the farm.

"Stoutland, hey!" I shouted, panicking, why the hell was Stoutland sprinting off into Viridian forest, something he'd never done before. I quickly decided to set off after him, I was the one sent to fetch him, so I'd feel responsible if something were to happen to him. I slipped out the carving knife from my pocket, just in case, and ran off after my mum's Stoutland.

I spent roughly a minute trailing behind Stoutland, as he slowly got further and further away from me, until he finally disappeared, I tried to catch up to him and get him back into sight, but to no avail. It wasn't long until I realised that with no idea where Stoutland was, I wouldn't be able to get back home, I had no idea where in Viridian forest I was and was relying on Stoutland to lead me out, I hadn't even considered the possibility of Stoutland getting away from me. I dropped to my knees as the seriousness of this situation finally hit me, it would be dark soon and then the forest would be crawling with creepy bug types and other dangerous Pokemon that could kill me in a myriad of ways, and I was here with no Pokemon to my name, completely defenseless. I prayed to Arceus that Stoutland would come bounding out of the trees and take me home, before a Beedrill or Scyther found me and decided to attack me for being in their territory.

"Arroooooh!" I bolted up from my kneeling position and my head began to whip side-to-side, scanning the trees, looking for Stoutland. I quickly realised that the howling was quieter than it should be.

"He's trying to lead me to him!" I shouted out in joy, before I covered my own mouth as I realised that I shouldn't be announcing my location in this situation. I tried to breath as silently as possible as I listened intently, hoping that I wasn't going to hear the buzzing of wings or screech of a fanged beast as it charged towards my location. I stood silently for about 30 seconds, while Stoutland continued to howl off in the distance, and when I was certain that nothing was coming towards me I took off into a sprint, heading towards Stoutland's howls.

I ducked under low-hanging branches and jumped over bushes as I grew closer to the howls of the loyal Pokemon, I knew he wasn't going to leave me in here alone. I nearly tripped over a group of Kakuna that had fallen from their resting places in the trees, I only noticed at the last minute and managed to sidestep the cocoon Pokemon as the Weedle that were wrapped around the nearby branches hissed at me, threatening me for almost damaging their sleeping brethren. I didn't have time to consider the fact that a Beedrill may also be guarding the Kakuna as I jumped right back up to max running speed when I was clear of the grounded Kakuna.

I could hear Stoutland as clear as day as I broke free of a particularly dense area of the forest, stopping to take a break of a few seconds as I was sure that Stoutland was close, to be honest I bet if I looked hard enough I would be able to spot him through the leaves of the trees, but I was more focused on getting my breath back, I had given myself a stitch a few minutes back but my fear had gave me enough adrenaline to ignore it, as soon as this revelation hit me I started jogging towards Stoutland, I didn't want my adrenaline to drop completely as I wasn't sure if I could get moving again if that happened.

After another minute of jogging, I came to an open area within the forest and spotted Stoutland again for the first time in about half an hour, he had stopped howling as soon as he caught my scent nearing him. I stumbled over to him, fully intending to just collapse into his fur when I got close enough, but as I grew nearer Stoutland shuffled to the side and revealed what it was that had led him into Viridian forest in the first place, a Pokemon egg.

As soon as I saw the egg, the lessons on Pokemon breeding that I had received from my mum kicked in and I ran towards the egg and knelt down next to it, picking it up by first stabilising it with my right hand and then scooping my left hand underneath it, lifting and holding it close to my chest. The egg was decorated with streaks of brown colouring, my first thought was that it was a Tauros egg, as I had already seen their eggs many times before on the farm, but many other species of Pokemon share this egg design, so theoretically there was no way to tell what was developing in the egg. As I continued to closely examine the egg my heart plummeted as I came to a terrifying realisation, the egg was deathly cold, and to further add to my fear, I finally paid attention to the warning signs my body was giving out, my numb fingers, my chattering teeth and my cold skin. Me and the egg were freezing, the cold night air was chilling us to the bone and leaving us in a dangerous position, I turned on my heels with the egg in hand and was about to shout to Stoutland, until I realised that he was already presenting his back to me, he knew what had to be done as well as I did. I climbed onto his back and held onto his waist with my legs, unable to use my arms due to them being wrapped firmly around the egg as I tried to stop it from getting colder. Stoutland stood up straight and let out a fierce howl, scaring any nearby Pokemon and causing them to flee in terror, before he set off with even more speed and purpose than when he had originally fled into the forest. Stoutland jetted back towards the farm at an incredible pace, one I had never seen him display before, crashing through anything in the forest that was between us and home. I was in danger of falling from Stoutland at any moment, but I refused to take my arms from the egg to get a better grip, as I knew just as well as Stoutland did, that we had to warm this egg up and get it to a safe environment. If we couldn't get the egg back to one of the hatcheries at the farm soon, whatever Pokemon was inside the egg was going to die.

Will Stoutland and Kyan get the Pokemon egg to a safe place? What Pokemon is actually within the egg? And will it survive? Find out Tomorrow!