Chapter 1

"You really should stop causing such trouble..." Nurse Joy looked worriedly at the Blastoise in the corner. He closed his eyes and snorted defiantly, making the petite woman put her hands on her hips. "I'm serious! You need to stop fighting and causing trouble, Blastoise! It's not good for you or the other pokémon." She regarded her clipboard and wrote something down. Blastoise heard the scratching noise of the pencil, but he was such a frequent guest of the pokémon center he didn't even bother to look up. Nurse Joy gave him one final check before turning to the nearby computer to enter the information.

Blastoise sighed and flopped onto his belly, staring out a nearby window, while he waited. Waiting for her to finish was always the worst part. It seemed to take foreverrr... Suddenly, something caught his eye. He saw a flash of white against the background of green forest outside. He squinted and sat up looking closer. It was a pokémon that much he was sure of. Yet, he didn't recognize whatever pokémon it was and he knew all the pokémon around here. Odd. Before he could get a better look, the pokémon turned and ran from his view.

"Alright." He perked his ears up and turned his attention back to the pink-haired nurse. "I'm all done so whenever you feel up to it you can make your way back home, tough guy, but do try to take it easy from now on." She offered a smile then headed into the main lobby. Blastoise rolled his eyes. She had virtually the same dismissal for every time he visited.

With another sigh, Blastoise heaved himself to his feet. He glanced more out the window once more, but nothing was there, so he walked to the main lobby, heading out the front door. He heard Nurse Joy call out a cheerful farewell as the doors closed with a hiss. He stood outside enjoying the cool breeze for a moment. It was a nice day. He couldn't wait to get back to his lake and relax.

"Get back here you fiend!" The large Pokémon's ears twitched and he turned to where he had heard the voice was coming from. He headed toward the sound slowly until he came to a small slope that lead down to a clearing. Out of the bushes burst a white-furred pokémon, that hurried to the center of the clearing before turning to where noisy rustling was heard in the underbrush. After a moment, he realized it was the same pokémon he had seen from the pokémon center window earlier.

Blastoise blinked studying the creature. It had beautiful white fur that covered it from head to each of its four furry feet and the small bit of sunlight that trickled down through the forest canopy danced off its blue horn. Yet the more he gazed at it, the more bruises and scratches he saw on its body. Its fur was stained with dirt and grime in places, as though it had tumbled down one of the many mucky slopes in the forest. He noticed that its four legs seemed shaky, as though it was ready to collapse.

"Found you!" A sneering boy climbed out of the bushes. "Absol..." He stared at the tired pokémon in the clearing. Absol. So that was its name. "I'll teach you! You'll learn to stay away from our town!" Much to Blastoise's surprise, the boy began picking up rocks and twigs and throwing them at the Absol. They hit it, tearing its fur more and scratching its skin. It turned to run and hardly took a step before it collapsed. The poor pokémon was too tired to go on! This just seemed to please the boy further, though, for he simply sped up the pace at which he threw things at it. It let out a soft cry as a particularly sharp rock hit its cheek. "Sol!" He realized from the sound of the cry that the absol was female.

Blastoise was surprised to realize he was angry. Yes, it was his job to watch over the area, but he rarely got worked up over a fight. He'd work it out and go about his day. Somehow seeing the boy attack the weak pokémon made him angry. He slid down the slope as the boy searched for more objects to throw and hurried to where she lay, weak and with closed eyes. He roared at the boy and, for the first time since Blastoise had first seen him, the boy seemed to hesitate, a rock in his raised hand. Blastoise got down on all fours and cocked his guns at the boy. "Toise..." He glared and the boy seemed to nearly lose his nerve.

He swallowed and pointed a finger at the absol, lowering his rock-filled hand. "Why are you defending it?! It doesn't deserve to be defended!" Blastoise saw, out of the corner of his eye that the absol was trying to stand, but she barely raised her belly a few inches off the ground before collapsing again. The water pokémon focused his attention fully back on the boy. The boy glared. "If you're gonna defend it, then you're a threat too!" He threw the rock at Blastoise, but his hand was shaking too badly, much to Blastoise's amusement, and the rock soared through the air missing Blastoise. He was going to chuckle at the poor aim, until he heard a yelp, and turned. The absol had been trying to stand again and the rock had hit her, knocking her off balance. Now, she lay on her side, a deep cut on her forehead.

Blastoise turned angrily back to the boy. "Blastoise!" His cannons let loose a powerful water gun that hit the trees on either side of the boy. Truly it would have made his day to knock the adolescent back a few feet and make him go running home in soaking wet clothes, but he didn't need the townspeople swarming his forest. The pokémon and the town were on good turns, living in harmony and all that mushy stuff and Blastoise didn't feel like starting something. The appeal of a few decent fights wasn't a strong enough pull to ruin all that.

So instead of having the delight of the boy sitting in sopping wet clothes, he had the amusement of seeing the boy's eyes widen as he dropped the rock and turned, running back to his town most likely. "Yo...you'll be sorry!" Blastoise rolled his eyes. Yeah, he was really worried over some young human. He was hardly even old enough to be one of those trainers, though how any pokémon would succumb to him and willingly fight alongside him was beyond Blastoise's grasp.

The water pokémon listened until he knew the boy was far enough away that he wasn't coming back, before he stood and turned back to Absol. She opened her eyes a small bit and raised her head weakly. "Th...thank you..."

He crouched beside her. "Why are you thanking me?"

Her eyes seemed glazed as though she'd lose consciousness at any second. "You saved me..."

"How do you know I'm not a new threat?"

Her eyes widened at this horrible idea, but her expression quickly softened. "No...you wouldn't hurt me."

He was surprised at her confidence in the statement. "How can you be so sure?"

Absol laughed weakly before giving a light cough. "You ask a lot of questions..." Then her eyes closed and her head flopped onto her paws weakly.

Blastoise's eyes widened a small bit and he reached down, shaking her gently with a paw. She stirred, but didn't awaken. He frowned. He couldn't exactly leave her there, but she wasn't his problem. Blastoise turned and walked to the edge of the clearing, heading for his lake. Yet at the edge, he turned and gazed back at her. Her body was sprawled out with her front half in a faint pool of light, the same light that had shone off her horn earlier, but it seemed to be fading. He wasn't one to believe in omens and signs, but if he was, that certainly didn't look like anything heart-lifting.

She'd be fine. It wasn't his problem. Blastoise turned and took a step into the shadowy forest before something flashed in his head.

She opened her eyes a small bit and raised her head weakly. "Th...thank you..."

With a sigh, he turned back to the absol and walked over to her. As much as he didn't want to, he should bring her to the pokémon center. Not because it was the right thing to do per say, but because he was the top dog around the forest, so it was his domain. It was his job to take care of its citizens.

Blastoise scooped her up, not quite gently, but not too roughly either. It was surprising how the absol barely stirred. She seemed so weak, her breathing shallow. At this point, many pokémon had gathered on the outskirts of the clearing and were watching, but he ignored them. They weren't his concern right now. So, he began the trek back to the pokémon center with the hurt little absol in his arms. Well, on the plus side, at least Nurse Joy wouldn't be mad he was back so soon because he had gotten into a fight.

My standard short starting chapter. This story was written due to a friend's asking, plus my recent re-addiction to pokémon games. I love pokémon, but I'm not exactly a professor on everything, so if I write anything inaccurate (moves, types, etc.) just let me know. Please read, review, and enjoy!