Brendan and May followed the stretcher bearing lab assistants back into Littleroot, the Machoke they had borrowed going back to the moving van. Their small party continued onto the lab, where Brendan could see both his mother and Mrs. Birch waiting outside, worry and relief alternating across their faces. As the stretcher-bearers reached the door, Maria rushed to Professor Birch's side, looking for his injury. Professor Birch tried to wave her off, but his wife was persistent, and was already directing the assistants to the medical station they kept inside the lab. Brendan and May were left outside as Hurricane Maria swept through the doors of the lab, slightly stunned by the speed at which the housewife had taken charge.

Angela approached the pair after having dodged out of the way of Maria and the stretcher, a smile coming over her face when she saw that her son wasn't injured. "So, Brendan. Not even two hours in our new home and you've already gotten into trouble." Arachne's head popped up over Angela's shoulder, the Spinarak chittering away at Brendan in an attempt to scold him.

Brendan held up one hand in an attempt to ward off the accusation, the other still cradling Torchic against his chest. "Hey, in my defense, May was the one who led me there. I just followed her and told Torchic here what to do."

May, who had crouched down to pet Mudkip while Brendan and his mother spoke, shot back up with a slightly panicked look on her face. "I'm so sorry Mrs. Maple, I didn't mean to put Brendan in any danger! I just, my dad, I, umm… annnnd now you're laughing?" The initial torrent of words petered out into confusion, as Brendan snickered and Angela seemed to be struggling to keep herself from bursting into full on laughs.

"It's alright, May," Angela managed to gasp out. "I was just pulling Brendan's leg. I'm proud of both of you for saving Professor Birch. And I am so glad neither of you were hurt. Come inside, we should get your Pokemon looked at, and we can talk to Professor Birch some more."

May looked slightly miffed as her panic fell away, but the trio entered the lab anyway, passing by a sign that read Hershel Birch, Pokemon Professor. Brendan and Angela looked around at the stacks of books and various scientific devices, while May did her best to explain what some of them did. As they moved through the lab, Angela brought up a question that had been bugging her since the pair had made it back to town. "How come neither of you put your Pokemon back in their balls? It would have made it easier to move them around, especially when they're injured."

May shrugged. "I asked Mudkip if she wanted to go back in for the walk back, and I'm 90% sure she was fine with walking, I haven't gotten interpreting these three down entirely yet."

Brendan pursed his lips after May finished speaking. "I... kinda forgot I could put Torchic back in. Carrying him seemed like a good idea at the time, and he hasn't exactly complained about the free ride." A happy chirp came from Brendan's arms at the last part, which was quickly followed by a pained one; Torchic must have put a little too much effort into expressing his gratitude.

Concern played over the faces of both Brendan and the two women. They increased their pace towards the back of the lab, where Brendan could see few beds and a PokeCenter style medical scanner. Professor Birch was in one of the beds, his injured leg swathed in bandages, while Maria, now dressed in a nurse's uniform, stared at a clipboard, her brows furrowed as she took in whatever it read. She glanced up as May and Brendan drew closer, taking stock of the injuries on their Pokemon.

"Brendan, May, I need you to put your Pokemon on the scanner. It will scan them and show if there is any damage below the skin, and then we can move onto treating them." Maria seemed a lot more severe than Brendan remembered his first meeting with her being, and he hurried to comply. He returned Torchic to his ball, and then put it on a tray connected to the scanner. May did the same beside him, and then the two stepped back while Maria began working the scanner's controls. As they watched her work, May turned to Brendan and Angela.

"Mom used to work in a Pokemon Center, so she really gets into it whenever anyone gets injured around here."

Brendan let out an "ahh" of understanding. "That explains why she seems so much more serious right now. Having a nurse is probably helpful around a Pokemon Lab, isn't it?"

May nodded. "Yeah, especially with all the times Dad gets attacked by Pokemon. I swear he can't leave the town without annoying something into attacking."

Professor Birch spoke up defensively from his bed. "Hey, I'll have you know I can leave town, there just seem to be issues with what I can leave for. I can go travelling no problem, but if I go out there with the intention of studying Pokemon, something will go wrong."

"Come on, Dad, there's no way you going out to study out Pokemon is what gets you attacked by them."

"I have charts and graphs, May. Do you want me to spend the next hour going over each data point? I have the patience, I'm not exactly going anywhere in a hurry."

May held her hands up and backed off, a look of mock horror on her face. Brendan and Angela chuckled a little at the argument, until the scanner dinged and Maria popped the two Pokeballs back out. According to the readout, Torchic had some bruising in his chest, but was otherwise fine, and Mudkip had suffered several nasty looking scratches from her wrestling match with the Poochyena. Maria handed the Pokeballs back to Brendan and May, before reaching into a cabinet next to the scanner. Pulling out two purple bottles, she passed those over as well.

"I need you two to let out your Pokemon, and then spray them with the Potion. Focus on the main injury, but make sure you use all of the spray. Then we just let them rest for a while and they should be fine."

Giving a nod of understanding, Brendan let Torchic back out of his ball, May doing the same off to his side. Bending down to catch the little bird in case he fell, Brendan gave a little wave. "Hey Torchic. You doing alright?"

"Torrrrrch…" Torchic wasn't exactly wincing, his facial structure didn't allow for that, but Brendan could see he was in pain.

"Right, you probably aren't doing to hot, are you?" May groaned at Brendan's wordplay, while the boy gave the Potion bottle a shake. "Just hold still, buddy. This should take the pain away." Aiming at Torchic's chest, Brendan pulled the bottle's trigger and started spraying the purple liquid. Almost as soon as it hit, Brendan could see Torchic's eyes soften, and the Fire type stood up a little straighter as the pain lessened.

Standing back up, Brendan took another look at the bottle. " Hey Mrs. Birch, how come you aren't using this stuff on the Professor? It looks like it would have him back on his feet in no time." He pointed at Torchic, who was already hopping in place, testing out his recovered range of motion.

Maria smiled at the boy's inquisitiveness. "There's two problems with that, Brendan. The first is that Potions are actually a little too strong for humans to use safely, and the second is that even if we could just blast him with Potion, one of Hershel's tendons was cut, and we need to let that heal naturally, or it might reconnect wrong."

Brendan winced at the second part, before turning back to Torchic, who was now getting three or four feet out of his jumps. "You look like you're doing better now, Torchic. How do you feel?"

"Torchic-chic!" The Fire type let out a happy chirp before launching himself about six feet into the air, to Brendan's shock. Torchic hung there for a second, and then came down on Brendan's shoulder. Brendan laughed a little at Torchic's actions, which turned into a cry of pain when Torchic's feet dug into the only available surface for balance; Brendan's thin shirt, and by extension, his skin.

"ClawsclawsclawsCLAWS! Torchic, get off, please!"

Torchic jumped off, half in compliance and half from shock due to the sudden yelling. Clacking to the floor, he immediately turned around a nuzzled up against Brendan's leg, a mournful chirp coming from his mouth.

Brendan winced and grasped his shoulder, feeling a little blood pooling against his fingers, as he knelt down to rub Torchic's head. "It's alright, Torchic. Just a learning experience for next time, right? Ow."

He stood back up, only to jump a little when Maria appeared in front of him, holding a roll of bandages. She pointed at his shoulder. "Get that shirt off, now."

Her "serious nurse" voice had come back, and Brendan felt compelled to do what she said. After the shirt came off, Maria swiped at the punctures with some sort of damp pad, sending more pain signals down Brendan's arm, before swiftly winding the bandages around his shoulder. "And we're done. Try to keep those clean for about a day and you should be fine, dear."

Slightly baffled by the speed she had worked at, Brendan pulled his shirt back on, while trying to shake off the pain in his arm. As the fabric slid down over his eyes again, he could see May staring pointedly at the wall, her face a bright red, while his mother was once again trying to hold in her laughter. Professor Birch had no such compulsions and was chuckling away, before calling the two teens to his bedside.

"Alright you two, it's getting late. How would you like to take those Pokemon home with you tonight? I'm going to have enough trouble trying to take care of Treecko, all three of them being here would not end well."

Brendan's eyes widened. "Really? You want me to take care of Torchic? I understand why you'd ask May, she's been working with them, but I only met Torchic a few hours ago."

Professor Birch shrugged. "All the more reason for you to spend some more time with him, right? If you're going to be in town you should try to be friendly with a least one of the Pokemon here. Besides, it definitely looks like he likes you, he's never been happy enough to jump on me like that."

"If you say so…" Brendan replied, a little nervous about his ability to take care of a Pokemon. He'd helped take care of Arachne before, but his mom had always taken care of the majority of that work, and his dad's Pokemon had usually stayed at the Gym. This would be the first Pokemon he would care for who would be under his supervision entirely. "Hey Mom? Would we have enough Pokemon food for Torchic to have some?"

"We have plenty, Brendan. There's no need to worry, you can take Torchic home if you think you're able to take care of him."

Nodding at his mother's words, Brendan crouched down to talk to Torchic, who had stopped nuzzling his leg and had been looking back and forth between the talking humans. "Do you want to come home with me tonight, Torchic?"

"Torchic!"

"I'd say that's a yes, Brendan." Professor Birch said. "Can you come back here tomorrow morning? I have something I want to discuss with you. Same goes for you too, May. Good night, everybody."

Everyone said their goodbyes and filed out of the lab, leaving Maria to continue the treatment of Professor Birch's leg. Brendan, May, and Angela began walking back to their houses, their Pokemon trailing behind them and having their own conversation, which seemed to mostly involve Arachne interrogating Torchic. Mudkip occasionally spoke up in her friend's defense, but Arachne had picked up a threatening, motherly sort of aura from Angela that kept the two starters on the defensive. The two trios eventually reached their homes, and May said goodbye and went into her house.

"Do you want some dinner now, Brendan? I imagine sprinting up and down the Route was pretty tiring." Angela asked as they entered their own home.

"That'd be great Mom. Could you show me where they put the Pokemon food? I need to get some for Torchic."

She pointed it out, and the two prepared dinner for themselves and their Pokemon. Afterwards, Brendan said goodnight to his Mom and Arachne and led Torchic up to his room. The little Fire type forged ahead of him and begin poking around the room, waking up Brendan's PC and scattering a few packing peanuts from one of the boxes waiting to be unpacked. Brendan entered and scooped Torchic up before he could mess up the room any more, powering his PC back down soon after.

"So, Torchic. Do you know where you want to sleep? I could pile up some cushions for you, maybe Mom has a bed Arachne used to use, or…" Torchic struggled out of Brendan's arms and hopped over to the boy's bed, chirping insistently. "Or you want to sleep in my bed. Whatever, I can work with that."

Brendan changed into his pyjamas and hopped under the covers, Torchic snuggling up next to him. Brendan could feel the warmth radiating off of the Fire type, and was quickly lulled into a slumber.

This lasted all of thirty minutes before the blankets were tossed to the floor by a panting Branden. Turns out keeping a living furnace underneath a material known for its heat retention makes it very warm, very fast. Brendan compromised by transferring Torchic to his stomach, after some mild resistance from the sleepy bird, and drifted back to sleep.

Waking up again, this time at a decent hour, Brendan was somewhat surprised by the weight on his stomach, until he glanced down and saw the downy orange bird resting there. The events of the previous day came back to him, and he gave a small grin and scratched Torchic on the head, drawing the Pokemon out of his own slumber.

"Hey, Torchic. How'd you sleep?"

Torchic let out a grumbling series of chirps that made it clear he'd appreciate that question a lot more in another few hours, but he hopped off the bed anyway, allowing Brendan to get changed. The pair then went down to the kitchen, where Angela had breakfast ready for them. Arachne and Torchic chattered away in the background, the Spinarak seeming a lot more friendly now that she was sure the Fire type wasn't going to incinerate her master's spawn.

"So what do you think Professor Birch wants to talk to you about, Brendan?" Angela asked, a knowing smile on her face that Brendan failed to interpret.

"Dunno. Maybe he needs more help in his lab? It seemed like a pretty big place for only three researchers, and he's going to be down for a while with that leg."

"Well, if he does ask you to work for him, you don't need to come back and check with me. Have a good day, sweetie. Don't keep the Professor waiting." Brendan nodded and got up from the table, Angela speaking up from behind as he left. "And take your bag with you, I put some things in there you might need."

"Thanks Mom! I'll see you later. C'mon Torchic, let's go see what the Professor wants." Brendan jogged out the door, Torchic hot on his heels, and snagged his backpack from a table beside the door. Angela chuckled to herself about the surprise her son was going to get.

"Who would have thought he'd take after his father so quickly? Come here, Arachne, I need to sew up something that might help him." The Spinarak chittered happily, already spitting out silk for her master to use.

Brendan was walking down the lane to Professor Birch's lab, Torchic at his side, when he heard some quick steps behind him. Looking back, he saw May running up, Mudkip trotting at her side. May waved as she slowed to a walk beside Brendan. "Morning, Brendan!"

"Hey, May. Do you know what your dad wants with us today?"

"Not really, sorry. Probably going to be lab work of some sort, he'll definitely need the help now."

Brendan shrugged and the two made the rest of the walk in silence, the Pokemon trailing behind and holding their own conversation again, this time likely about their first nights outside the lab.

The small party entered the lab, where they could see Professor Birch hobbling around on a pair of crutches. May let out an annoyed groan. "Dad, you weren't even hurt 24 hours ago and you're already moving around again? Mom said you shouldn't be putting any weight on that leg!"

"That's the point of the crutches, May. And I'm pretty sure the common greeting is 'Good Morning', not complaints about my health. Like so; Good morning Brendan, May. How are you doing?"

"Pretty well, Professor. I've brought Torchic back for you. How's the leg?" Brendan replied, as May just narrowed her eyes and gave her father a short growl.

"Oh, it still hurts like hell. But thanks to the miracle of painkillers, I can do some work and not want to collapse in agony. Which leads into why I wanted you two here. I've got two questions for you guys, and I'm going to start with the second. How would you like a job?"

Brendan and May glanced at each other, before Brendan spoke up. "Sure, Professor. Uh, what exactly is it?"

"I have a business associate bringing some parts I need in from Slateport City, and he's going to be delivering them across the river up on Route 103. I need you guys to go get them for me, he said he would be dropping the package off by the pond at the north end of the path if you can't meet him in time."

May spoke this time. "That's great, Dad, but how are we supposed to get to Route 103? There's tons of wild Pokemon between here and there and we don't have any Pokemon of our own."

Professor Birch chuckled at that. "Oh my God, you two haven't figured it out yet. Well, that provides me a perfect segue into question number one, then."

"How would you two like your own Pokemon?"

I do not own Pokemon. Pokemon is the product of Nintendo, Game Freak and Creatures.