A/N: Keep an eye out for footnotes ( * ). I'll be using them to point your attention to things I think are important. If you see one, simply scroll down to the end of the chapter for a brief moment and take a look.

Chapter 2 - Looking for a Pokémon Center

It was common knowledge that the size of the flame at the tip of the tail of either a Charmander, Charmeleon or Charizard was an indication as to the condition of the fire type's health. A flame that appeared to be smaller than usual was mostly and indication of fatigue and exhaustion. A flame as small as the one of the Charmander Jake was looking at, however, was a sight that would most likely bring great worry to any trainer who saw it. Had it been about 10 minutes earlier and less dark in the forest, he might have ended up going by without noticing the small amount of light produced by the flame from as far away as he had been before he approached.

Not that the small size of the flame at the tip of this particular pokémon's tail made any impression on Jake whatsoever, seeing how he didn't know what to make of it due to his lack of knowledge and interest. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the fire-type looked physically injured, he might have ended up just walking away with the impression that the little pokémon was asleep.

As he stood there and looked at the miserable-looking creature, he knew more than well that he couldn't just leave it there. A part of him was telling him, as horrible as it sounded, to not even come near the unconscious pokémon and just leave it in the forest (for reasons he usually avoided thinking about).

Despite how his body was trying to resist him, Jake went ahead and slowly picked up Charmander. In his opinion disliking pokémon was one thing but leaving a pokémon to die was inhumane, since they were after all living creatures. The Charmander wasn't very heavy and Jake was able to hold it against his chest with only one hand, something he was very glad about because that meant he could use his other hand in order to hold the dinosaur-like pokémon's tail and keep it, along with the flame at its tip, as far away from him as possible.

One of the main disadvantages of taking a walk through the Viridian Forest after the sun went down was, obviously, the whole idea of walking through a dark forest. However, the flame at the tip of Charmander's tail, despite being as small it was, made the whole process of retracing his steps much easier than it would have been otherwise. Jake's walks through the woods occasionally resulted with him tripping over something or with him almost waking up some sleeping bug pokémon which he had failed to take notice of due to the lack of light. The fact that carrying the unconscious fire-type pokémon meant also having a light source did not however make him forget about the fact that he was actually holding a pokémon, something he has never done for many, many years. During the time he spent running back towards Pewter City he kept praying that it wouldn't wake up all of a sudden.

A part of him was truly worried for the little Charmander's well being, but another part of him was more eager to get away from it and never come near a pokémon again. He knew that he couldn't let Charmander out of his sight before getting it to a pokémon center, though. As much as he barely cared about pokémon, he would have never forgiven himself if he hadn't at least found some help for this one. It was only shortly after reentering Pewter City that he suddenly remembered a rather crucial detail: he had no idea where the nearest pokémon center was.

Funny enough, the entire world Jake lived in literally revolved around pokémon. Even those who weren't trainers had basic knowledge about these beings. He, on the other hand, didn't even know where the pokémon centers in his hometown were, a pokémon-related piece of information that was perhaps the most basic. If people could see him as he ran through the street with the unconscious Charmander they would have found Jake's lack of knowledge amusing if not pathetic. Another problem was, since it was already a rather late hour, that there were no people in the streets. How was he going to find the pokémon center if he couldn't even ask anybody for directions? *

After a short moment of despair he decided to just go and knock on a random door (he also felt a little stupid for not having thought about doing that right away). So, he went ahead and did just that and then waited for the door to open, having heard a voice from within tell him to wait. During those brief few moments he suddenly felt the unconscious Charmander he was holding begin to stir. He froze and, after quite a hesitation, looked down at the pokémon.

Since finding it in the Viridian forest and up until that moment he hasn't really looked at it. The Charmander stirred some more before suddenly opening its eyes, which were adorably large. It looked up at Jake for a short moment (while Jake's heart began beating as fast as the heart of a man who had just finished a marathon) and then fell unconscious again. Seeing it open its eyes, even if it did pass out again a few seconds afterwards, was a good sign which offered some sort of a relief as to the fire-type's condition. Mainly, the teenager was happy that it was asleep again.

Another short moment passed before the door was finally opened. Jake immediately asked for directions and then took off again, not paying much attention to the questions he received from his helper about what was wrong with Charmander. Having no people out in the streets made the whole process of getting to the pokémon center quite easy since there was nobody there to stop him out of curiosity or panic and ask him what in the world had happened. Honestly, not only did he have no time to waste, but he also had absolutely no idea as to what this wild pokémon had gone through.

In all honesty, sometimes Jake had a notion that people cared for pokémon more than they cared for each other. It was one of the many things regarding pokémon that he could not understand at all. In fact it didn't seem to make even the slightest amount of sense to begin with, and as he thought about it he recalled the phone call from Jacob earlier in the evening when Jacob told him about the lady that offered him a place to stay for the night. How could her son, who from the sound of the concern of his mother was probably a few years younger than Jake was, just vanish like that?

It's not the whole idea of going on a pokémon journey that deterred Jake; it was the fact that that woman's son hasn't even called her her for several years already. Were his pokémon that important to him that they made him forget about his mother's basic right to know whether her own child was okay? Was Jacob also going to become like that and not stay in touch with his father? Was there even a small chance that his friend wouldn't stay in contact with him? The more Jake thought about the subject, the more incomprehensible it appeared and the more he wanted to forget about it altogether.

After about a minute or two of running and following the exact directions he received earlier, Jake finally found what he has been so desperately looking for; the Pewter City's pokémon center. Or one of them, at least. Pokémon centers were very common throughout every place in Kanto. In the larger cities one could find a pokémon center around almost every corner. Jake has always been curious about finding out whether there were less hospitals than pokémon centers, but a part of him felt like he would regret discovering the answer.

Almost everywhere he went there was a pokémon center or a pokémon mart. There was even one center right in front of the inn he was staying in, and every morning when he woke up he ended up seeing it when he looked out the window. Now that he was thinking about it, he should have ran to that specific pokémon center right off the bat instead of looking for the closest one. That would have probably saved him some time despite being farther away, but in the heat of the moment the fact that there was a pokémon center right next to where he has been living at for the past 7 years had completely slipped his mind. **

The only thing, probably, that Jake knew about pokémon centers was that they were open 24/7 just like a regular hospital. Therefore the fact that it was now somewhere past midnight did not stand between him and his goal, which was to get the Charmander to a pokémon center in order to have somebody help it. The light was on inside when he arrived, and that eliminated the small worry the teenager had about finally reaching the pokémon center only to find out that it was not open for whatever reason.

The place was completely empty with the exception of a few nurses who were sitting behind the reception counter. Each of the nurses appeared to be doing something unrelated to her job as a result of boredom, seeing that there weren't really any pokémon for them to take care of. In fact the nurses seemed so bored that they failed to notice him enter. The place was as silent as a graveyard and Jake was already starting to dislike the fact that he was there. Feeling the need to get out of the pokémon center as soon possible and wanting to give the still unconscious Charmander to somebody who would take care of it, he ran over to the desk.

"Excuse me!" he said, raising his voice in order to make sure that he got their attention. Before he could say another word, however, he was cut short by one of them.

"Good heavens!" she exclaimed, getting up and quickly walking over to the teenager in front of her while the other nurses only looked with worry at their new patient. She looked at the unconscious pokémon for a moment before all of a sudden slapping the unsuspecting teenager right across the face.

"Ouch?!" he almost ended up dropping Charmander because he hasn't been expecting that in the slightest. "What was that for?!"

"You trainers nowadays are so irresponsible!" said the nurse angrily, almost shouting her words. "Look at this pokémon!" As much as Jake was angry, and had every right to be, he went ahead and did as he was told. "It's beaten up so badly and the flame on its tale looks like it could go out any second now!"

"The flame?"

The nurse groaned with annoyance, "Don't you know even the simplest thing there is to know about your pokémon? It's a good thing you haven't taken it for a swim yet!" Jake frowned and was about to say something but was cut short by her again. "You trainers push your pokémon so hard sometimes without even considering how you might actually end up hurting them! Pokémon are living things, young man!"

She seemed like she was about to say something else but Jake, having grown tired of her accusations, was the one to cut her short this time

"This pokémon is not mine." He said, not too calmly but without raising his voice like she had raised hers a moment ago. "I found it in the Viridian Forest." He looked at the nurse, who stared back at him without saying a word. "You can apologize now."

The nurse looked at one of her coworkers who nodded before getting up and taking the unconscious Charmander from Jake.

I-I'm sorry, it's just that some trainers these days make me so mad…" she said, before saying something quietly to the other nurse who again simply nodded before going away with Charmander to an inner part of the pokémon center. ***

"So, uh… Will it be fine and what not?" asked Jake, wondering whether he could leave now that he has gotten Charmander to a pokémon center.

"It's not in a good condition, I'll tell you that…" said the nurse, "But now that it's here in a it should be okay." There was a short silence. "It's a good thing you found it; I doubt it would have stayed alive much longer if it weren't for you."

What she was saying didn't really make Jake feel like some sort of a hero. The pokémon center was still giving him a bad feeling not to mention that he was really tired, seeing how late of an hour it was already. "Also, bug type pokémon come out after the night… That wouldn't have ended very well either…"

"Yeah, you don't have to tell me…" muttered Jake quietly, remembering that time with the Beedrill. "So, uh…" he said after another short pause, "I guess I'll be leaving now." He turned around to leave, only to have the nurse pull him back by the ear.

"Where do you think you're going mister?" she asked with a frown on her face.

"Home?" asked Jake innocently, wincing as she again pulled his ear.

"I don't think so. What exactly are we supposed to do with this pokémon after we take care of it?" she asked, still holding him by the ear.

"What do you want from me? It's not mine." said Jake, this time making her let go of his ear just to be on the safe side.

"So what if it's not yours? You found it and obviously whoever left it like that isn't a very good trainer."

Jake stood there for a short moment and then his eyes widened as he realized what she was implying.

"What, me? Take a pokémon? Oh, no. No no no no no no no! No can do! I am not a pokémon trainer."

"You know what kiddo, I don't care. You found it and I'm not allowed to just throw it out into the streets. Besides, you need to take some responsibility. You brought it here after all."

Jake sighed in defeat. What was such a small pokémon going to do on its own in the first place? Him, take responsibility... The nerve! If it weren't for him Charmander could have died and he was the one who needed to step up?

"Fine." he said with a frown. "But there is no way I'm keeping this thing. I'll find who it belongs to."

"I don't care what you do with it kid; all I have to do is make sure that someone responsible takes this pokémon from here once we're done taking care of it."

"So now what?" asked Jake, who was still clearly annoyed.

"Well, I'm not sure just how long exactly this is going to take." She pointed towards what appeared to be a waiting area. It had some sofas and a vending machine. "But because your pokémon is-"

"Not mine."

The nurse rolled her eyes. "Because it's so badly hurt it will probably take a few hours. You'll probably have to wait here all night." Jake groaned. At least he didn't have to go to work the following day. "Don't worry; people sometimes end up sleeping in a pokémon center. If you want we can make you something to eat. There is a kitchen here."

"It's okay, I'm not hungry. Thanks anyway."

With that the nurse went away, probably to help the other nurses now that they finally had some actual work to do, and Jake slowly walked over to the vending. He bought a bottle of water using some change he had on him before sitting down on one of the sofas, trying to figure out what in the world he had just gotten himself into. He hated to admit it, but the sofa was actually more comfortable than the stupid mattress in that tiny inn room. That was infuriatingly sad.

As he sat there he couldn't help but think about Charmander. He remembered how he felt its tiny heart beating and remembered that one moment when the small fire type had actually woken up, even if for a very brief moment. He was just unable to stop thinking about the way it had looked at him back then. After some time of thinking and talking to no one, since nobody else came to the pokémon center, he ultimately fell asleep.

The next time Jake opened his eyes it was already morning. He checked his hand watch; 07:19 AM. At first he was confused upon seeing that he was not in his usual inn room, but after a few moments the events of the previous night came back to him. He sat up with a sigh, feeling his head start to ache due to the fact that he hadn't really slept that much. The bottle of water the teenager had purchased from the vending machine was half empty and he immediately drank the rest of it, feeling somewhat better immediately afterwards. There was still nobody else in the pokémon center besides him and a few nurses.

A few minutes later the nurse he had spoken to returned and she was carrying Charmander in her arms. The dinosaur-like pokémon seemed as if it has never been bruised once in its entire life. The flame at the tip of its tail was much larger and, from its expression, it seemed rather happy. The nurse saw Jake was awake and came over, "Good as new." she said with a smile.

"Char!" exclaimed the little pokémon, causing the nurse to let out one of those "aww's" one would often let out when looking at a puppy.

"All better now, are we?" asked the nurse, looking at the small pokémon with a jolly smile. "That's a good girl!"

"Girl?" asked Jake all of a sudden.

"Char!"

"Yes." said the nurse, confused by how much it seemed to surprise him. "Pokémon have to come from somewhere. You should know that by now. You're not 10."

She came to a stop next to Jake, who was obviously not very keen on being close to the little fire type now that it was awake. To his horror (one could call it that), the pokémon was looking directly at him with its adorable smile.

"Char!"

"What does she want?" asked Jake, looking at the nurse for just a brief moment.

"I think she likes you." answered the nurse with a smile as she placed Charmander down on the sofa, much to Jake's noticeable discomfort.

"Uh… why?" he asked, keeping his eyes fixed on Charmander the entire time.

"Well you brought her here. Pokémon are very intelligent. They have a good memory."

"Char!"

Jake had an almost irresistible urge to jump away as the pokémon suddenly walked over to him and affectionately rubbed her cheek against his arm, but he was too nervous in order to actually move.

"See?" asked the nurse, still smiling that happy smile of hers. "This looks like the beginning of a wonderful friendship, doesn't it?"

* Having said that this story is game-based, I should point out that the cities / towns here are much larger than they are in the games. Instead of just the few houses there normally are, think of everything in real world proportions.

** Since cities are much larger than they are in the games (like real world cities), it would only make sense for there to be more than one pokémon center.

*** If we're talking about making things more realistic than they are in the universe of the games, try to think of the pokémon center as an actual hospital. In other words, treating an injured pokémon actually takes time and isn't done in an instant.