Damaged, but certainly not Broken

Day: 0

Boots pounded against the dry woodland ground, twigs snapping, leaves crumpling, dirt being kicked up, the boots were attached to barely hairy legs, up to just below the individual's knees as a pair of gray baggy shorts covered the rest of the individuals lower body. The upper part of this individual was covered by a white t-shirt, covered by a basic black hoodie. These clothes belonged to a man, a rather young man from appearances, possibly in the 18 to twenties range. A dirty blonde well-trimmed chin-strap beard going from one side of his face to the other into sideburns, the chin-strap beard forming into a goatee, a black beanie covering his upper-skull, a few strands of dirty blond hair poking out in various places. But the most striking factor of this young man's face was his eyes, bright blue piercing eyes. The man grunted as he leapt over a fallen log, taking extra care not to trip as he landed. He carried on running for an undetermined amount of time before coming to a slow stop, bending over, the man placed his one arm onto his knee, taking in deep breaths, this is where it can be seen that this young man had only one arm. Barely a stump where his left arm should be, he took a few moments to calm his breathing before he pulled from his hoodie pocket a mobile device.

"Huh… A new record… almost a… ha…ha… whole minute faster."

He bends over again, taking even more deep breaths, he gives himself a moment before standing straight and breathing out. He shakes his body, getting his body limber and ready for the next part of his run, when suddenly a small figure charges out of a nearby bush, straight onto the path in-front of him. The man paused and raised an eyebrow at the furry critter that stopped in-front of him, it was a very small brownish-red creature with a greyish mane.

"An eevee?" The man asked himself as he lowered himself to its level, a smile finding its way onto his face.

The Eevee looked at the tall man, seemingly bouncing in place, however the man noticed it wasn't bouncing in excitement, but more in panic, as its big brown eyes were practically begging for help. The man reached his one hand out and gently stroked the timid little pokemon on the head to calm it. The Eevee seemed to appreciate the gesture, before motioning its head the way it came from, before quickly bolting back through the bush it.

The man watched it go, internally debating with himself, however he ultimately sighed and chased after the little critter, hoping to help anyway he could.

He followed the cute pokemon for at least a minute before he came across a scene that filled him with dread.

The Eevee had led him to a large river running through the woodland he liked to jog in, even though the river was beautifully pure, no pollution whatsoever present in it, he wasn't looking at the clear river, he was looking at the desperate looking Ralts, dangling from a perilous looking branch, that reached halfway over the river, somehow the small creature had managed to get itself in such a dangerous situation. The man also noticed that a multitude of different pokemon were trying to help the poor creature, all of them looking panicked around the river. The man debated what to do as he knew the poor Ralts wouldn't be able to hang on for much longer, if the pained look it wore told him anything. He needed to act quickly.

Ruching past some of the surrounding worried pokemon, he cursed his amputation as he wouldn't be able to balance himself on one of the trees at the edge of the river, he'd have to trust in his natural balance, placing himself at the very edge of the river, the man stretched his one arm towards the Ralts, growling in annoyance when he found himself just shy of reaching the terrified Pokemon. He inwardly shouted at himself as he realised his efforts of reaching were fruitless, he turned back to the nearby pokemon, all worried, yet somehow hopeful looks present on their faces, the man narrowed his eyes at this situation, looking towards the way the river was flowing, his frustration at the situation quickly turned to abject horror as he saw the sheer drop the river led too, not that far from where the Ralts was dangling from.

Looking at the river itself, he debated trying to get into it and simply let the Ralts drop into his hands, sadly the river was moving too fast for his one arm to swim against, and he didn't even know how deep it was, he wasn't even aware a river ran through here. He needed to think, he needed a plan of what to do.

Unfortunately, it seemed the world would not let him, as a snap was heard, and a desperate cry echoed through the forest as the small Ralts plummeted into the river. Hundreds of cries from all the surrounding pokemon filled the forest, the man felt his blood run cold as the helpless Ralts tried fruitlessly to swim to one of the rivers banks. The man snapped his head down the river, up ahead there was a few outcropped rocks jutting from the river, that was his only chance. Shooting off like a speeding bullet, the man leapt over a huddle of Zigzagoon and took off sprinting further up the riverbank, he could hear the panicked cries of the pokemon as they rushed after him, wanting to help anyway possible.

His eyes were constantly passing from the rocks to the Ralts, he was ahead, hopefully he'd have enough time to try to grab the small pokemon. Reaching the rocks, he didn't even hesitate as he jumped to the first one, almost slipping into the river himself, he leapt to the second one, having to use his arm to balance himself on the rock. The Ralts was getting close to the rocks now, he didn't have much time, but the last rock was much further than he initially thought, he stalled momentarily, fear coursing through him, but the terrified cry from the Ralts cleared his mind, a determined scowl crossed his face as he crouched and practically pounced towards the last rock.

His foot slipped at first contact and he collapsed to the rock, holding onto it for dear life as he flailed his legs around, he just managed to recover himself as the Ralts careened towards him, he timed his movement and shot his hand out to grab the small pokemon, his fingers grazed the small pokemon as its eyes opened for a second to see him, he gasped.

The poor pokemon had only one eye, the other simply an empty socket. His shock at seeing this distracted him from the fact his hand had just managed to miss grabbing the Ralts. He cursed as the hopeful look the Ralts gave him faded away to terror once again. He watched it sail by and he didn't even know what he was doing as he did it, he stood and quickly jumped from rock to rock back to shore, not even slowing for a second, he shot further down the riverbank, thankfully it seemed the two banks converged for the sheer drop up ahead, he might be able to reach the poor pokemon further up, sadly there was a huge ditch in-between him and the bank convergence. A few sturdy branches hanging from nearby trees over the ditch, he reached the ditch and practically threw himself over, his one arm grasping one of the branches, thanking his lucky stars for the strength training the doctors made him do, as he managed to use his built-up momentum to swing from the branch, onto the other side of the ditch.

He landed, taking off towards the convergence, the Ralts about to reach the drop, he moved as fast as he could, his breath streaming from his mouth dangerously. The Ralts was at the edge of the drop, about to plunge into what most assuredly would be its demise. The man threw himself forward, his body impacting against the ground as he wretched his hand out to grab the small creature, the Ralts went over the edge and his arm followed, for a second the man despaired, thinking he had failed to save the poor Pokemon, then he heard a small cry and his spirits lifted. Carefully raising his hand, he couldn't stop the smile spreading across his face as he saw the small Ralts grasped within his hand, the Ralts itself holding on tightly to his fingers, scared that he might drop it. Its eyes closed. Carefully, he pulled the Ralts towards himself, his smile faltering at its constant shivering, it must've been suffering from how cold it was, possible even having hypothermia, gently he stood up, keeping the Ralts stable in his grasp, his mind thought of ways of keeping the shivering pokemon warm, he glanced at his zip-up hoodie and back to the Ralts before inwardly nodding. Setting himself onto the ground, he gently lowered the Ralts onto his crossed legs.

The creature opened its eyes, the remaining eye glancing at him, filled with a multitude of emotions, fear, curiosity, relief and even a little bit of hope. It shivered violently as it watched the man unzip his hoodie slightly before he reached his hand towards it, it flinched slightly, and the man paused.

"It's okay… I won't hurt you, I promise." His words were calm and kind, and whilst he wasn't 100% sure if Pokemon could understand human language, the kindness in his voice would hopefully alleviate any fears, from the way the Ralts carefully stepped forward and grasped his forefinger, almost like a life-line as its remaining eye welled up with tears. He used his hand to carefully stroke the Ralt's cheek, always making sure it could keep a hold of his finger.

"There, there, it's gonna be okay now… now, I have to warm you up, I need you to trust me, okay?" He realised that the question itself was pointless, the Ralts couldn't have been older than a few years at most, so it's chances of understanding him was slim, all the Ralts did was nuzzle into his hand even more, tears dropping less and less. He sighed, he did not expect this today at all. Gently, almost fatherly he scooped the little creature up in his hand, a surprised cry escaping the Ralt's mouth as it stumbled onto its rear, he couldn't stop the chuckle from escaping at the sight, raising the Ralts to his face, he smiled reassuringly as the Ralts wiped its last tears away, it's body unintentionally shaking from the cold.

"Now, I need you to hold on tight, can you do that?"

No visible response, he only hoped it would understand.

He gently manoeuvred the Ralts into his hoodie, waiting for it find a grip then carefully re-zipped his hoodie, all the way to the top, so that the Ralt's head barely popped out of the hoodies neck-line. He looked down as the Ralts looked up at him, its eye widened like an adorable puppy, he stroked its head, avoiding its pointed horn, his reward was a high-pitched cute cry as it nuzzled into his hoodie, rubbing its face into the soft fabric in joy. The man chuckled as he made his way back to the gathered pokemon, all of which were cheering, elated expressions on their faces. Instead of swinging over the ditch, he carefully climbed down and up it, once he made it to the gathering, he was surrounded by all the different species of pokemon thanking him with their cries, the Eevee from before hopping onto his shoulder, rubbing its face against his cheek before hopping down. He glanced back at the little rescued Pokemon and smiled as he found it sleeping, a soft cute snore coming from its mouth, however his mind caught up to him.

What was he going to do with the Ralts now? Just leave it? It was far too young and probably separated from its parents, and if they weren't here, he'd have definite trouble finding them, if they even reside in this woodland at all. Could he take it with him? He wasn't a Pokemon trainer, never had any interest in becoming one in the first place, could he even care for a pokemon? He'd never had one before. He had trouble taking care of himself with only one arm most days. Did the Ralts even want to go with him? From the way it kept nuzzling into his hoodie it seemed like it wasn't going to let him go without it. But he had to be sure.

He walked towards the entrance to the woodlands, a path led straight into a small quaint town where he lived. He knelt and noticed that the Ralts was still snoring cutely. He carefully un-zipped his hoodie and plucked the little creature into his hands, waking it up in the process, he placed it onto the ground, taking note of the confused look, it was giving him, he was glad to also notice that it had stopped shivering violently. He tried to retract his hand but stopped when the Ralts rushed to clutch his forefinger once again, holding it against its small body, like a security blanket. From the desperate look it its one eye, he couldn't bring himself to take his hand back and simply let it hug his finger. It was far too adorable to him.

He took a deep breath and released the air to calm himself. He let himself simply watch the little creature move his hand so that it was once again nuzzling into his palm, an almost purring sound coming from its mouth. Still grasping his forefinger.

"Hey little one, you all warm now eh? Now, I know you may not understand, but I gotta ask anyway. What do you want to do?"

The Ralts simply looked at him, confusion plain on its face, but the man could've sworn he felt its hands grasp his finger tighter than before. The man sighed, looking around for anyway to explain to the young Pokemon. Suddenly, like a light-bulb turning on, he smiled.

Retracting his hand, smiling kindly at the Ralts, as it almost charged after his hand as it left it.

He pointed at the Ralts, chuckling as it tried to grab his finger again. He then pointed at the forest.

Confusion.

He repeated the process a few more times, placing emphasis on the pointing.

Understanding.

The ralts almost took a step-back, and shook its head furiously, its one eye wide and begging at him. The man then nodded in understanding.

He pointed at the Ralts and then at himself.

He would never forget the happy smile that practically exploded onto its face as it ran towards him, arms out wide. The small pokemon jumped at him, a happy squeal coming from its mouth as the man wrapped his arm around it affectionately. He chuckled as it tried to climb its way back into his hoodie, a look of determination on its adorable face. He used his single arm to give it the extra nudge it needed to ascend into his hoodie, giving it time for it to make itself comfortable, pushing and pulling on the inside of his hoodie with its tiny arms. Finally, it seemed to settle, its small head poking out of his hoodie's neck-line, its one-eye scanning the environment. He gazed down at the Ralts, a smile on his face.

"Well, are you ready to go to your new home?"

The question was pointless, the baby ralts still having no understanding of his language, it just looked up at him, its face almost radiant with joy.

The man had to admire that, not an hour ago the poor pokemon almost died and here it was, happily snuggling into his hoodie, it was braver than most adults. As the ralts amused itself by rubbing its cheeks into the soft fabric of his hoodie, a sad smile crossed his face, such a young pokemon and already it had suffered so much in this cold, harsh world. The smile turned to a deep frown, and that missing eye, it didn't seem to bother the Ralts too much, so he could only assume that whatever caused its eye loss must have been a long time ago. He glanced at his stump, where his other arm used to reside, an unreadable look on his face. He then turned back to the bundle in his hoodie, which was now staring up at him, its eye staring at him cutely. He chuckled as he gently rubbed its head, ruffling its "hair", a pokemon version of a giggle escaping from the Ralts.

This Ralts was so strong and it probably didn't even realise it yet, not physically strong, but mentally, emotionally, and perhaps he could learn a few things from its strength. He began to make his way to his home in the nearby town, his spirits higher than ever, the Ralts in his hoodie pointing one its arms out in the direction he was walking, like a captain steering a ship.

It was just like his mother used to tell him.

They may be damaged, but they were certainly not broken.

CHAPTER END

Hey people, I hope you all enjoyed my very first story on Fanfiction! Lemme know what you all thought about it in the comments please.