The morning rose bright and warm, though there were tendrils of mist clinging to the ground in places where the sun hadn't yet reached. The trees around us gave off fragrant scents of blooming flowers, and there were sounds of wild Pokémon calling far and wide. The Mareep had closed in around us during the night, and I woke to a baby Mareep bleating in my face curiously. I laughed and pet it on the head, which it seemed to enjoy.
Kat and her Pokémon were dozing, probably still tired from all their play and work yesterday, and that was fine by me. Since she took care of breakfast yesterday, I would handle it today.
I started looking through my bag and came to a regretful, but expected, realization. I hadn't prepared for the possibility of a traveling partner, or her Pokémon, so the food stores I'd had, that would have lasted me up to Violet City were now already almost gone.
Not that it was a big deal. My Pokémon and I had lived off of the land before, so it was simply a matter of collecting what was available. And as Kat had proved yesterday, there was plenty if you only knew where to look.
I glanced over at Kat, who was now waking up. The Pichu yawned widely and hopped out of the nest. The Wooper, Uebu, blinked at it before following after him, seemingly for lack of anything better to do. I was still very unsure about having a Pokémon that was toxic around Kyun, Aluriel and Drake even though I know that they would be cautious on their own.
"Hey Kat?" I caught her attention as she stopped digging for Miki's formula and looked at me. "My food store's almost gone so I'm going to go look for some fruit and other things for the Pokémon to eat, alright?" She gave me a dubious look.
"Are you sure you know what to look for? There can be a lot of dangerous things here." I nodded, trying to figure out if she was just worried or if she really thought I was that careless.
"I know that. I've been traveling for three years, you know. It's not like growing up in the wild, but I'm not exactly a newbie at it either. Besides, the Pokémon know better than me what's good or not. I'll be using their input about what's okay." She tilted her head, looking at me, and it reminded me enough of Kaitou that I had to stop myself from laughing.
"It should be okay then. I'll help too, alright?" I concurred with that. It would go faster with more people searching.
"Yeah, that's fine. You search to the south, alright? Shimmer and Kyun will go east while Tsuki and Drake look in and around the lake for Water-Pokémon food. I'll head north with Chaos and Aluriel. And I don't think you should leave anything here either. I don't want anybody to think its okay to snatch it, simply because of our carelessness." I started packing up my sleeping bag, placing it back in my travel bag, along with a few other little things that had been unpacked but unused.
"Why isn't Shimmer going with you?" she looked at the Steel-type, who had merely nodded at my directions.
"Shimmer was never a wild Pokémon. He'd only have as much instinct as me on what's safe or not. Kyun will know without a doubt, but I'm not sending him off on his own." She shrugged her shoulders.
"Alright. Should we meet back here in, what, a half-hour or so?" I nodded.
"Sounds good." I walked over to Tsuki and Drake, and knelt down at the edge of the lake. Both the Dragon and Beauty Pokémon were wide awake and alert. Tsuki swam up to me, and rubbed her forehead against mine.
"Hey there, girl. Sorry I've been so preoccupied, recently." She hummed softly, an acceptance of my apology. Drake gave a small cry, that drew my attention to him. He looked up at me, with deep purple eyes.
"And you too, Drake. With this whole thing with Aluriel and Kat going on, I haven't really spent much time with you both. However, I think this afternoon, I'll join you for a swim so we can all play together; what do you think?" They both gave happy cries, and I laughed.
"Alright then. But right now, we have to gather food. Do you think that you and Drake can look around the lake and find some food, Tsuki?" They both nodded. I grinned at them. "Thanks guys." They dived into the water, happy and determined.
I walked over to Chaos and Aluriel, who were under a tree a small distance away from my sleeping place. The Dark-type was laying on the ground, relaxing after keeping watch all night. The smaller Pokémon looked much better than even yesterday, well rested and full of energy. I squatted down, petting the top of his head.
"Think you're up to a little adventure? Just a little one, mind. You need some exercise to get stronger, but not so much that you collapse from exhaustion." He smiled a little.
"Glaci." His voice was strong and stable, another sign of his health returning.
Chaos stood up, stretching and shaking the sleepiness that was surely taking over his mind.
"Absa sol." He gave an affirmative. I smiled. Chaos was sure to be exhausted, but he would do anything I asked of him.
I waved for them to follow me, and we started making our was though the forest north of the camp site. The forest closed around us almost instantly, creating a sweetly claustrophobic atmosphere to anyone unused to it. It reminded me of being a little kid again, back when Shimmer and I would spend hours and days on end in the forests around my home. The light that made it down to ground level was almost emerald green, and I saw quite a few Pokémon higher up in the trees as we passed, though they left us mostly alone.
As I walked I noticed a tangy scent above the sweetness of the flowers. Following it, it wasn't long before I came across a rather decently sized berry patch. They were large and plump, about the size of my hand, with alternating green and yellow stripes. About half that didn't look ripe yet, but it was enough to make it worth my while to dare the thorns and briars to pick them.
Meanwhile Chaos and Aluriel stood guard around me. Or rather, Chaos did. Aluriel looked around the forest with curious eyes, investigating small tracks and little abandoned nests on the ground. What surprised me was his ease within the forest, like he'd lived in one his whole life and maybe he had, before trainers interfered.
Again I felt acutely guilty for having caught Chaos all those years ago. With a sigh, I shook the feeling off. It's not like I could have known anything about Aluriel when I caught Chaos. And I'd done everything in my power to fix my mistake.
Though, now, I was curious about if any of my other Pokémon had any family when I caught them. Shimmer and Drake were raised from eggs, I knew. But Kyun and Tsuki were wild Pokémon that I had caught, and if they had families…that I had taken them away from; it made me sick just thinking about it. And I understood Kat's feelings of trainers a little better now.
"Absol." Chaos' voice broke through my thoughts, and I looked up through the bramble. He was looking to the north, tense and growling. Aluriel was in the same state, though he crouched a bit behind Chaos.
I untangled myself from the thorns quickly. I stared at the direction that both Chaos and Aluriel were facing. One moment passed, then two, and then I saw it. A wave of Geodude were storming towards us. I cursed silently. This was the last thing I'd wanted.
As they came closer, I counted 7 total. What I couldn't understand was why they were swarming.
"Chaos, get ready." He growled, getting into battle form, about 10 feet in front of Aluriel and I. The Geodude rushed towards us, only pausing when Chaos growled threateningly. They looked at him, then each other and for a moment I thought they'd leave us alone. But then the biggest of the Geodude returned Chaos' threat and I knew that it was going to be a battle.
Two of the smaller ones rushed Chaos, going for a double Tackle. Chaos jumped, and they fell to the ground in a heap. He landed to the right of me, facing forward.
"Use Razor Wind, Chaos." A whirlwind rushed through the forest, creating scythes of wind. It hit each of the 7 Geodude, knocking 2 of them out and hurting one so badly that it collapsed.
The two that had first attacked regrouped with the leader and the last Geodude that was still rearing for a fight. The leader gave some signal and all the Geodude slammed their fists into the ground creating a storm of rocks flying straight at us.
"Brace!" I spun and covered Aluriel from the downpour of rocks. The stones slammed into my back, and I felt a few cut in. Aluriel whimpered and I heard Chaos give a short cry of pain.
Aluriel's fur stood up on end, and his body turned icy in my arms. I felt more than heard the growl rumble through him. And before I knew it, Aluriel ran out from under me, causing me to fall sideways. I didn't even have time to think before I felt the temperature drop drastically and a squall of frozen wind gust through the trees.
I shielded my face before the ice and snow could sting my eyes. When the wind finally died down, I dropped my arm. And stared.
The entire area was completely covered with about 3 feet of snow. Chaos shook the snow off, and stood up. The four Geodude had surrounded Chaos when I had turned my back to protect Aluriel; all four were now frozen completely solid. There were lumps on the ground where the other Geodude had been covered in the snow.
Aluriel was standing in the middle of the snow, head down and legs shaking. Chaos limped over to Aluriel, and I noticed that his right front leg had a deep gash in it, and he was peppered with other cuts that stained his white fur crimson.
Before I could reach him though, I heard a racket behind me, and Kat burst into the clearing followed by Kaitou, Miki, Uebu, Shimmer and Kyun.
"Henri! What happened?" Kat looked around at the frozen Geodude and both the Disaster and Snow Pokémon. "Oh no! Are you okay?" At first, I thought she was talking to me, and I was about to answer her. Then she ran to the Pokémon. I sighed, but answered anyway.
"We got jumped, we're fine." I watched her fret over them.
"Fine! How can you call this fine? He's seriously hurt!" I made my way over to the Dark-type. I felt all the bruises and cuts now that I was moving, and there was a numbness in my limbs from the cold. I knelt on the ground beside Kat, and sunk into the snow.
"Don't worry. I can take care of it. Chaos, come here, please." He limped over to me, while Aluriel followed worried.
"Take care of it? What are you going to do?" She watched me, as Chaos presented his wounded leg. I took it gently in my hands, turning it over to see the extent of the wound.
"Just…just watch, okay?" I felt of flutter of nerves, because I had never done this in front of anyone before.
I placed my hands over his most extensive wound, and calmed my mind. After a moment, I felt a heat and pressure build up behind my eyes. The pressure grew, while the heat moved from behind my eyes to my hands. Finally the pressure burst, blinding me for a second. When I got my sight back, I removed my hands from the wound. Or rather, from where the wound had been. Kat gasped.
"Wha-? But…but how? How did you do that?" She stared in wonder, as not only the wound on his leg, but the other little cuts on his shoulders and back were gone as well.
"I told you yesterday. I'm good at healing Pokémon." Chaos gingerly put weight on the leg, before standing up. He was used to the healing, after all the time he'd been with me. Kat watched me intently.
I stood up, feeling a very tired and extremely sore. I bent over and picked Kyun up out of the 3 foot deep snow, for which the little grass Pokémon was terribly grateful for. I waved for my team to follow me, and started walking back to the campsite. Kat followed with a shrewd expression.
"But how? How is that even possible?" I rolled my eyes. Girls just never knew when to drop it. I answered softly, anyway.
"I don't know. I don't know how I do it, or why I can. All I know is I can heal Pokémon. Always have, ever since I was a kid and outside of my family, you're the only one who knows."
We walked in silence for a little while. The trees broke, giving a wide view of the meadow and Mareep. They continued grazing, not even worried about the battle that had happened less than 200 feet from them.
"You've…always been able to do it? And no one's supposed to know?" Kat's voice was normal, steady and curious.
"I…I'm not sure. I've just always been told to be careful around people, concerning that anyway." She looked at me for a minute more, and then turned to Aluriel.
"I can't believe he was healthy enough for a full-strength Blizzard! That's amazing!" I recognized the thoughtfulness of changing the subject. I smiled.
"I know. I couldn't believe it either. I think we've been underestimating this guy." I pet Aluriel on the head. "You did very well, Aluriel. Thank you." He grinned, happy and proud, before going over to Chaos. They curled up together, resting in the sun. It was a rest well earned by them both. I turned back to Kat.
"Well, I didn't get much fruit, thanks to the Geodude, but I did get enough for breakfast anyway."
"Oh, I found a bunch of stuff to the south, see?" She pointed over to a mound of fruit and Apricorns, guarded by Tsuki. Next to her was a smaller pile of wet fruit guarded by Drake, likely the food that they had gathered themselves. In addition to the berries I'd collected today, and the little Pokémon food I had left, there would be enough to get us to Violet City as long as there were no serious delays.
"Fantastic. Let's get everyone food then." I moved slowly to get up as I was still sore, but I felt a paw on my forearm, stopping me. I knew without a doubt it was Shimmer.
"Riori. Lucar-rio." He stared at me with a steely gaze. I knew what he was saying, even without Kat's ability to translate.
"He says that you need your wounds bandaged. You were hurt, Henri?" Kat asked, looking concerned.
"Not really. I have a few cuts on my back. It's nothing major." She glared at me.
"It could get infected if you don't treat it, you know." She started digging in my bag, pulling out bandages, tape, antibacterial treatment, and Band-Aids. She walked to me, and I watched her, worried. "Now, take your shirt off."
"What? No!" Did she really not know how inappropriate that was? Somehow, I knew exactly what her next lesson was going to be: Boundaries. She glared at me.
"You need to get those wounds tended. I'm here, offering to help. Now, take your shirt off so I can see how bad they are." She wasn't yelling, but her voice had my hair stand on end because of the edge of violence in it.
"I'm not taking my shirt off." I wasn't either. Not if I had any say in it.
"Well, why not? What's the big deal, anyway?" She was getting huffy now.
"You're a girl. I'm not taking my shirt off in front of a girl." I knew I sounded like a broken record, but didn't care. I really need to teach Kat that it just wasn't decent to ask someone to remove their clothes.
"Geez, people are so weird, but fine. Whatever. Just take your jacket off, and lift the back of your shirt up, alright?" I sighed, but took off my jacket and lifted my shirt up a bit. "Well, it's not too bad. You have 3 scrapes, one cut, and a whole bunch of bruises. How did your back get hurt, anyway?" Kat applied some of the antibacterial, and placed Band-Aids over them.
"I was shielding Aluriel from the Rock Throws the Geodude used." I could feel her staring at me.
"You shielded him from a direct attack?" She sounded impressed. As always, I wondered if I was being insulted or complimented. "You're lucky all you got were bruises and a few scrapes."
"I'm a little tougher than I look. It's not such a big deal. Better me than them, anyway." She laughed a bit.
"Well, anyway you're all patched up. You have quite a few scars. Are those from other battles?" I tugged my shirt back down, nodding.
"Yeah. Trainer battles can be pretty dangerous no matter how careful you are. But that's not important right now. We need to feed the Pokémon." She nodded, and jumped up to get the food. I followed at a slower pace.
Brunch, as it was late enough to be, was simple enough. The Pokémon gathered around us, chattering and talking. The four littlest ones, Kyun, Miki, Drake, and Pichu sat with Uebu. Kyun was actually getting along with all the other babies. I think that the fun and games yesterday made him realize that it would be fun to have some younger Pokémon around.
Shimmer and Kaitou sat with me and Kat, while Aluriel, Chaos, and Tsuki sat across from us. I was oddly surprised that Tsuki took such a shine to Aluriel. She fussed over him, giving him the bigger pieces of fruit, and I wondered again if she had a family. Chaos didn't seem to mind the attention doted on his friend, though he kept a careful eye on Aluriel.
After eating, I made good on my promise to Tsuki and Drake, changing into swimming shorts and a white t-shirt; well away from where Kat could see, I might add. Kat joined us right away with Miki and they played in the shallows. Eventually Pichu, Kaitou, and Uebu joined with us, and Aluriel even managed to get Chaos to play a little, which I had never seen happen before.
We spent all day playing in the water, laughing and having fun. It was a wonderful end of an otherwise rather horrid day. Tomorrow, hopefully we'd continue on to Violet City. Settling down for bed, all the Pokémon were happy and exhausted and we fell asleep quickly.
~~O~~
I woke to someone shaking my shoulder in the grey pre-dawn light, and I flinched away because their hand was right on one of my biggest bruises.
"Henri. Henri, wake up." Her voice was soft and quiet, but urgent. I managed to sit up, feeling like the bruises I'd gotten yesterday had multiplied in the night.
"Kat? What's wrong? What's going on?" I felt around the ground for my travel bag, and my glasses. Putting them on my face brought Kat's own worried expression into clarity.
"Chaos." I turned and looked at the Dark Pokémon, and knew exactly what she meant. He was pacing back and forth, shaking his head, and clearly unnerved about something. Aluriel watched with worried eyes. "He says we need to leave this place, as soon as possible, but he won't say why." Kat added.
That woke me up completely, and I immediately started packing up the camp.
"Not 'won't', can't. Chaos can sense impending danger and disasters, but he doesn't know what they are, really. Only where they're coming from and where they'll happen. If he says we need to go, we need to go now."
Kat sensed my urgency, and started waking the other Pokémon. Shimmer stayed by my side, arms full of Kyun, who wouldn't wake till the sun was well and truly up. Chaos was herding Aluriel towards the road, while Uebu and Miki were woken up by Kaitou and his sister. The Pichu seemed uncertain about what it should do, watching us pack up and getting ready to leave. I knelt down to him, and pet his head trying to calm him.
"You need to get home, as fast as you can, alright? This place isn't safe right now." His big eyes filled with tears, but he nodded. "That's a good Pichu. Maybe we'll see each other again."
He scurried around, giving all the Pokémon hugs, and waving goodbye. Finally, after giving Kat a hug, he ran north, back into the forest.
"Abs-ol!" I whipped around to look at him, but he was staring at the Pichu. Kat flashed past me, after the little electric Pokémon. She dived, arms wrapping protectively around the yellow mouse. But she overshot her dive, and ended up falling into the lake.
And that's probably what saved her life, because an instant after she disappeared into the water four or five boulders dropped where Pichu and Kat had just been.
Kat surfaced about two feet from me, gasping for air. The Pichu was doing the same thing, and Kat tried to calm it. I offered my hand to pull her out of the water, which she took.
I felt the ground under me rumbling. We looked back at the trees. Within the forest, I could see several trees shifting and some collapsed completely. Then a huge Pokémon broke out of the trees, rolling at us with amazing speed.
It stopped short of us, standing in the middle of the boulders it'd thrown at us. The sun broke the horizon, throwing the large Pokémon into sharp relief. It was a Golem, massive and angry. The Rock Pokémon glared at us with intense red eyes.
"Gol, gol golem!" It growled. I wondered if it had anything to do with the Geodude I'd met yesterday.
"He says that he's going to get you back for freezing his brothers." Kat stated.
"Well, it's not like I wanted to! They attacked us first!" I defended, but I knew that it would be useless. The Megaton Pokémon was looking for a fight, and he wasn't going to leave without one.
I thought quickly. Kyun was still asleep in Shimmer's arms, and Aluriel wasn't strong enough to go against a Pokémon of this strength. Chaos would be a terrible choice in a battle like this. But there was still Tsuki and Drake. They were in perfect position to attack and Drake had just learned a new attack. Time to put our training into practice.
"Tsuki, Drake! Use Aqua Tail!" Both Pokémon executed the attack, though Tsuki's was obviously the more powerful one. The waves of water crashed over the unsuspecting Golem. I thought that would be the end of it. No Rock Pokémon should have been able to with-stand two point blank water attacks like that.
But I was wrong, apparently. The Golem was obviously weakened, but still standing. It shook itself from the attacks, and then growled.
"Golemmm! Lem gol golem!" I recognized it as a threat, and an intimidation tactic.
"He says that he's going to rip you to pieces." Kat added helpfully. Seriously? I stared at her, not sure why she suddenly thought I needed to know that the giant Pokémon I was battling had murderous intentions towards us.
"I really don't need to know that right now, Kat! And in case you're missing something, you're probably included in that 'you' he's using!" A roar brought my attention back to the Rock Pokémon.
It used Rock Blast, exploding large rocks from its body at Tsuki and Drake, who dived underwater to avoid the attack. One of the stones went astray, landing near Shimmer and Kyun.
Kyun stirred within Shimmer's arms. One bleary eye opened and glared. It was the eye of a Pokémon that was clearly not ready to be awake. He glanced at the boulder, then at the Golem.
The sun shined on the baby legendary, warming it. Kyun started glowing brightly, growing brighter as the sun rose in the sky. Within seconds, he was completely made of light, glowing so brightly that I had to look away. Experience also told me to shield my eyes.
"Shayyyyyminnnnnnnn!" The whole meadow exploded in light. With one last roar, the Golem collapsed from Kyun's Solarbeam.
I tried to look around, but there were still starbursts exploding in my vision. When they cleared I saw Kat had fallen to the ground, her eyes squeezed shut and watering.
"What…what was that?" She asked, trying to look at me.
"Solarbeam. One of the strongest attacks that Kyun can learn. You okay?" She blinked rapidly, trying to clear her vision.
"I think so. I will be in a little bit." The Golem gave a short roar, and my head whipped over to look at it. It was still unconscious, so I guess that it was just making noises. "I think we should go before he wakes up or more family members come along."
"I was just about to suggest the same thing, Kat." I helped her to her feet, and then snatched my bag from the ground. I returned everyone save Shimmer to their Pokeballs, and looked at Kat. "You ready?"
