Chapter IV

Discovery

He couldn't sleep; the sounds around him too loud, the danger too great. What if I was to drift off and then some wild Pokémon was to find me? He twined his fingers through one of the thick tufts of fur that hung around his neck. It would eat me as a snack without a second thought.

He glanced around, his ears alert and straining forward. He couldn't let his guard down for even a moment, or else the unthinkable could happen.

His heart clenched at the thought of Andrew venturing in this far. This might be even worse than being chased by that Ninetales, he thought worriedly. What if- No, I won't let anything happen to him. I'll find him, I will.

He drew his backpack closer and placed a paw on top of it, wondering for a few seconds whether it was worth opening it up here. However, the thought of it drawing wild Pokémon to him made him abandon that thought. He sighed and got to his feet, crouching to pick up the bag and sling it back over his shoulders. As he slipped the straps back in place, he kept his eyes out for his past assailant.

It looks like it has given up the chase… Good.

He straightened, glancing around to try and figure out where to go next. His surroundings appeared much the same, with gloom everywhere he looked. Not good, he thought to himself grimly. I don't know if I can even remember the way back.

He'd never been good at tracking.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to head back in the direction of where he thought he'd been previously. However, simultaneously, two thoughts hit him like a conjured barrier. What if he stumbled across that feral Pokémon again by taking this path? And, what was that noise?

His ears tilted back and he turned his head. It didn't sound like the twitter of birds, that was for sure. But, it didn't sound like an enemy either. In fact, it sounded almost like someone… crying.

Confused, he turned fully back around, tilting his left ear in the direction of the noise. Intrigue went rushing through and around his head, drawing him forward.

After a moments hesitation, he commenced his march through the foliage, straining his eyes to see past the darkness. He kept his paws out, ensuring that he wouldn't bump into anything. Every so often, he would glance to the floor, careful to avoid anything that could cause him to stumble or trip. The trek was a long one, filled with wariness and caution of the environment and the worry of bumping into an unwanted meeting with another wild Pokémon.

As he slowly edged his way through the woods, the sound grew ever clearer. Soon, he could easily pick up the echo of sniffling. Is someonecrying? But why? Confusion reared up in his mind and he carefully attempted to pick up the pace, a bout of worry settling itself alongside the bewilderment.

As he brushed aside the bobbing leaves of a growing bush, his eyes set on a beam of sunlight; the first one he'd seen in quite some time. As his gaze lifted, he caught sight of many more scattered about the small clearing.

Within the middle of it, he found a small bundle of dark grey and red fur.

He flinched; his mind automatically supplying him with the concern that this was the enemy he had fought and ran away from. However, as he continued to study the strange Pokémon, his common sense pushed away the illogical thoughts.

Silently, he stepped closer, wary of the stranger. Even if they were crying, he wasn't entirely certain that they'd be friendly. It might just be a ruse but, it was almost heart-breaking to see a Pokémon look so distraught.

Its paws were covering its face, its tail curled close to his side.

"E-excuse me," Hobart began, stepping right out into the open. "Are you alright?"

The Pokémon sniffed and raised its head, looking up at him with brown, panic-filled eyes. "… No," he answered, shifting a little so he was facing away from the Oshawott.

"Oh." Hobart fell silent, the silence stretching out between the two Pokémon for a long while. Sometimes broken only by the sniffs of the stranger.

Finally, the strange Pokémon lifted his head. "Do you know a way out of this forest?"

"Yeah," his response was out of his mouth before he truly thought it over. Would he be able to find his way back to the entrance of these woods? He was unsure… But, he didn't really want to trek all the way back… Andrew wouldn't be there.

Rubbing a fore-paw over his face, the stranger pushed himself up into a sitting position. "… Would you be willing to lead me out?" he asked, tilting an ear back as he looked at Hobart.

"I…" Hobart hesitated a moment. He wasn't sure if he could even lead this guy out, let alone find the exit himself. "I guess."

The Pokémon flashed him a small smile. "Th-thanks." He sniffed again, reaching up to rub at his nose with a paw. "… What's your name?"

"Hobart."

"Mine's Hazel."

"What are you doing out here, Hazel?" Hobart asked, tilting his head in a questioning manner at the cub.

Hazel scrunched up his snout in thought, then shook his head. "Don't remember," he murmured, once more rubbing his paw across his nose.

He seemed to have relaxed a little, which was good. But, he didn't remember how he'd gotten out here? That was strange. Hobart studied him for a couple of moments, then looked away in thought.

An aura of quiet descended over the pair, with Hazel twitching his ears left and right to pick up the faintest of sounds, and Hobart pondering quietly about his and this Hazel's route.

"… I came from Oak Town," Hobart said, breaking the silence abruptly. "Would you like me to take you there?"

Hazel shook his head vigorously. "No, I… I don't really want to go to a town."

The Oshawott's brows furrowed in confusion. Why didn't he want to go to a town?

Hazel caught his look, and flicked his ears backward closer to his head. "I don't know why," he said quietly. "I just… have this feeling." He left it at that, the last of his words trailing off to fade away into the open air.

It was a relief, in a sense, to know that he wouldn't have to make an attempt at reaching the town, as he'd prefer not to visit it a second time. Still, it was odd as to why Hazel didn't want to go to an area in which he'd be safe.

"Well, let's get going then," Hobart said, gesturing to Hazel to follow as he set off walking for the opposite side of the clearing.

He heard a stifled gasp of pain and swiftly turned back around.

Hazel was half-standing, half-crouching, his left hind-leg held scrunched up close to his side. His expression had contorted into one of agony but, he pulled away a little as Hobart went back over. "No, it's okay. I'm fine, really…"

"You're hurt," Hobart said simply, his concern growing for the stranger. He was suddenly glad that he'd thought to buy some provisions for injuries such as this. "Let me take a look at it."

Hazel seemed almost wary, his wide-eyes fixed on Hobart as he moved closer to him. His heavily furred tail swished across the ground, his ears folding backwards against his head. "I just sprained it, that's all."

Why was he being so stubborn? What if it was a more serious injury than that? Hobart frowned but, tried to cover it up with a determined expression as Hazel glanced to him. A lot of things about this Pokémon didn't make sense, like what kind of Pokémon was he? And, why was he out here in the first place? However, he kept those thoughts to himself, focusing instead on the current task of removing bandages from his bag.

He walked around to face Hazel, holding out an oran berry, which he'd withdrawn from his bag moments before. "Eat this, it should help with the pain."

Hazel cautiously took it in his teeth and chewed, as Hobart headed back over to inspect his leg. Blood seeped from a large cut and a strange burn mark raced along the top of it; Hobart twined his fingers about one of his neck-fur tufts in worry. It looked bad. Though, it wasn't impossible for it to be fixed up. He crouched, unwrapping the bandages he held, before placing them by his side.

First, he needed to see about cleaning out the injury.

He glanced down at the objects beside him. Most of these wouldn't help but, one in particular did stand out to him. An ointment, made from a mixture of berries. He remembered his mother using this on him once when he'd accidentally gotten on the wrong side of a Shuppet. It'd helped to soothe the burns and bites. Hopefully, it would work on Hazel's leg.

He picked it up and carefully undid the leaf wrapping that bound it. As soon as he had scooped up some of the ointment and rubbed it against the burn and scratches, Hazel let out a hiss of pain. However, Hobart remained silent, focusing on his task.

He put down the ointment, now picking up the bandages, and began slowly binding them around Hazel's hind-leg. "There, that should do it," Hobart said, scooping up what was left of his items and walking back over to his bag.

"It feels… much better, thank you." Hazel hesitantly straightened his leg, wincing a little as pain shot up it. Although, Hobart was relieved to see he was capable of putting most of his weight down on it already.

"Do you think you'll be alright for walking?" he asked, pushing the items back away in the bag and closing the flap.

"I think so," Hazel replied, limping over to Hobart.

"If you need help, just tell me," Hobart said, slipping his arms through the bag's straps.

Hazel nodded.

"Right, let's go this way." Hobart gestured with a nod of his head to the opening beyond the clearing. It looked brighter than the wooded enclosure he'd left behind...

He hoped he wasn't just leading this Pokémon astray.

What if we end up going in circles? The worry came crashing down around him but, he fought it off with a determined frown. It's lighter that way, so I don't think we'll end up getting lost. Besides, others must have come this way before me. I doubt that they ended up getting into too much trouble coming through here.

Besides the odd feral Pokémon, his mind reminded him. His ears twitched backward but he kept on walking. I managed to fight off one, I don't think I'll have trouble fighting off another. Especially when I'm going to have to keep an eye on Hazel. He glanced back to the limping Pokémon. I don't know him that well but, I wouldn't want anyone getting hurt because of me.

To pass the time, Hobart decided it would be best to engage in conversation with his new companion. The only question that stuck to the front of his mind was of what kind of species Hazel was. Though, he didn't want to seem rude. He opened his mouth, then closed it, pondering on how to best phrase the question. "If… you don't mind me asking, what kind of Pokémon are you?" He kept his tone as polite as possible, taking another glance back at Hazel, who seemed to be keeping up pretty well, despite his injury.

"I don't mind," he responded. "I'm a Zorua."

"Oh." He fell quiet a moment, reflecting on this. "I've never heard of them before."

"We… mostly keep to our own kind," Hazel said. "Mostly, we live in woods such as this one but, I don't think this is where I live…"

Hobart's ears twitched back. Hazel seemed… strange. Maybe it was just the way that he spoke, or maybe it was due to the fact that he seemed a little too young to be out here alone. Whatever it was, it carried on nipping at Hobart's brain regardless. It might have something to do with his species, he thought, shifting the bag a little to fit more comfortably against his shoulder blades.

The forest around them was growing a little more spacious, the trees less of a problem in blotting out the sunlight, although bushes large and small still dotted their chosen path, speckled here and there with brightly coloured flowers.

The darker world that Hobart had plunged headfirst into earlier was gone, replaced with a picture-esque scene that put his mind at rest. Still, enemies could just be as likely to lurk in a brighter space such as this, so he tread carefully; his eyes still drifting once or twice back to his companion to ensure that he hadn't fallen behind.

Safety led them carefully through the rest of the forest.

Once or twice eyes appeared from the gloomy patches beyond the sunbeams to watch them with a wild and hungry look. However they never ventured further out of the darkness, and Hobart and Hazel were free to carry on their journey through the woods without incident.

Hobart brushed past the last of the leaves that clung to his semi-water-repellent fur, glancing once more back to his companion, whom lingered a little behind. "We're almost there now. I can see the exit," he told him.

Hazel simply nodded back, focusing on keeping his footing as dead branches and roots reared upwards from the leafy floor.

Sunlight rained down upon the forest earth from a short distance away. Hobart turned back to help Hazel continue his trek forwards. They were almost there, he could see a meadow beyond the forest, one that he was certain was far different to the short woodland pathway he'd left behind.

As they drew ever closer Hobart took notice of the Bug-types that meandered about the meadow.

Relief flooded through him the in the instance that they stepped paw upon the world beyond the woods.

However, something threw off the relief swiftly; throughout the rest of his journey through the woodlands he hadn't come across a single sign of his brother. As instantaneously as the calm sensation had come, it was gone, replaced instead by that of growing worry - it nipped at his heart.

Will I ever find him? he asked himself. What if I've gone through all of this just to find out he's still lost somewhere in those woods? But, he couldn't exactly turn back now, he needed to wait until Hazel recovered first. He couldn't just leave him here by himself.

… In some ways, he reminded him of his brother. Maybe it was because he was closer to Andrew's age than his own, or possibly because he just felt that need there to protect him.

He watched as Hazel limped over to a particular patch of grass and settled down upon it with a quiet sigh. For now, he'd stay with Hazel. Only until he was certain that he would be alright by himself but, still, the worry for his brother's safety was there, lingering in the back of his mind.

He truly hoped he would find him soon.