Grace strolled through the forest, hoping to reach the next town soon, she didn't want to miss the Clubsplosion, which was still two towns away. She followed the river, but soon it split off into two separate ways. Grace cursed and kicked an empty Pokeball.
"You had to break," She said, staring down at her Xtransceiver. She now had no way to access a map. She promised herself that she would buy a paper map at the next Pokemon Center. She sighed and walked into the forest, going after her Pokeball she kicked into the forest.
She walked into a small clearing. It didn't take long to tell that someone had used this place to camp, though it had been a few days since they've been there. She spotted a Pokeball on a rock. She walked over to it, then wondered how her Pokeball could've gotten up there, she had kicked it, not thrown it.
She spotted another Pokeball on the ground. She picked up that one, it was hers. But then, what was the other one doing? She picked it up, it had a small sticker of a lightning bolt on it.
To her surprise the Pokeball gave a small twitch. That meant there was a Pokemon inside! Had someone forgotten it? She tossed the Pokeball on the ground, and it opened with a flash of light.
A small yellow Pikachu appeared cowering in fear, and it seemed to be injured. It shook for a moment, then collapsed onto the ground.
"Oh no!" Grace cried, quickly returning the Pokemon, "Poor thing," She looked down at the Pokeball, "I'll get you to a Pokemon Center!"
She glanced around, where was its Trainer? Had they forgotten it? Then why haven't they come back? She shook her head, it didn't matter, this Pikachu was hurt, it needed help right away. She saw a small trail, hopefully it lead to town.
As she ran down the trail she realized how rare this Pokemon was, one have never been seen in Unova. How could someone just forgot about, especially since it was hurt? Maybe the Trainer was looking for it? Maybe he was at the Pokemon Center?
It took longer than she liked, but soon she saw the town. She dashed through the streets, quickly spotting the bright red Pokemon Center. She dashed inside, luckily it wasn't too busy.
"Can I help you?" Nurse Joy asked, smiling.
"Hurry, this Pokemon is really hurt!" Grace said, trying to catch her breath.
"Calm down now, just let the Pokemon out and I'll have a look at it," Grace did as she said, and she let out the Pikachu.
"A Pikachu!" Nurse Joy said, but her surprise was replaced by concern when she saw his injuries. The Pikachu had obviously been through a rough battle. "How could you let it get to this state! They can battle, but they're not machines!"
"It's not my Pokemon!" Grace said, "I found the Pokeball in the forest, I opened it up and I found the Pikachu like this! Can you help it?"
Nurse Joy's tone softened, "Yes, it should be fine. Come on Audino."
"Di no!" Audino said, rolling the cart with Pikachu away.
"I know it's not mine, but I want to know when it's fine."
"Of course, now I need to go work on it now."
/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/
"Pi... Ka..." Pikachu opened up his eyes. He saw the familiar face of Nurse Joy. Pikachu hurt all over. What had happened? Had he battled? He didn't remember battling, he tried to think back...
It all came rushing back to him. The walk. The river. Ash. His Pokeball. Pikachu began to feel dizzy. Ash... Ash had...
"Chu!" Pikachu started to cry.
"Oh, its okay, calm down now," Nurse Joy stroked his head. Maybe Ash had brought him here? "A girl found you out in the woods, but you're okay now. We'll find out what happened to your Trainer. I am sure he is looking for you."
Or maybe Ash hadn't brought him. Ash wasn't looking for him, he knew that. More tears fell, and along with his sadness, his anger grew. How could Ash?
"Lets go back to the girl. Audino?" The Audino pushed the cart Pikachu was on back to the front of the Pokemon Center. Pikachu glanced around, like he had thought, no Ash. But a girl with light blonde hair and deep brown eyes came running up. Brown, brown like Ash's.
"You're okay!" The girl said, looking at him. Pikachu backed away, who was she?
"This is the girl that found you," Nurse Joy said.
"I'm Grace," She said, holding out her hand. Pikachu sniffed it. If it wasn't for this girl then he still would be in his Pokeball. He gave the girl a lick.
She giggled, she was younger than Ash, but not a kid. "Here's your Pokeball," She held it out, "Now we just need to find your Trainer."
Pikachu stared at the sphere. The only good memory about that Pokeball was when Ash had stopped making him go inside it. But now...
"Chu!" He knocked the Pokeball away.
"Wha...?"
"Oh my... That's it..." Nurse Joy said.
"What is?" Grace asked, picking up the Pokeball.
"After I treated this Pikachu and it woke up, it acted strangely. It seemed confused, but then he seemed to remember something, and then he started to cry. Then the way he acted with the Pokeball... I think this Pokemon was abandoned."
"Pika!" Pikachu said with a nod, tears building up in his eyes.
"What!" Grace looked at Pikachu, "Look at him, were you abandoned?"
"Pika."
"Poor thing!" Grace gave Pikachu a hug, "How could anyone do such a thing!"
"Judging from the condition it came in it either had just lost a battle, or his Trainer put him in this condition."
"You can't leave a Pokemon for losing a battle! Me and Tepig lost our first battle, but we're still together!"
"Starter Pokemon have a 50% higher chance of being abandoned," Nurse Joy said.
Starter Pokemon... He was Ash's first Pokemon. They have gone through so much together, traveled through countless regions.
"But now what will happen to Pikachu, he has no where to go!"
"Well..."
"Chu pi!" Pikachu pointed to his Pokeball, then out the door, electricity sparking from his cheeks.
"You want to find you Trainer?"
A nod.
"That could be dangerous, Pikachu isn't a common Pokemon." Nurse Joy said.
"I'll go with Pikachu."
"Pika?" Pikachu turned to Grace.
"No one has the right to just leave their friend behind! I want to find this Trainer and give him a battle he'll never forget! I also want to see what his 'reason' was to leave his Pokemon behind! I want to know his dumb reasoning!"
"I agree. If this Pikachu doesn't mind, I am sure you two can find him. I have always wondered what goes through a Trainer's mind when they leave a Pokemon. Maybe you could knock some sense into him, well, it could be her."
"What do you say Pikachu, can we do it together?" Grace looked at the Pokemon.
"Pikachu chu!"
Grace grinned, "I have your Pokeball too, so this will be fun, here," She held out the Pokeball.
"Pika!" Pikachu stepped back, cowering.
"What is wrong?" Grace asked, confused.
"Think about," Nurse Joy said, "The last time it was put into a Pokeball it was being abandoned, he's probably scared of it now."
"Oh," Grace said, "Then I'll just put this on my belt," She connected it, "Come on!" She ran out the door.
Pikachu waved to Audino, then followed the girl out the door.
