Longer chapter today, but its one that I knew I was going to do before I even started writing the fic. I am happy with this one because it shows more of an emotional bond between trainer and pokemon, which I feel a lot of fics seem to overlook. It isn't a perfect chapter, as I am still trying to strengthen my writing, but I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks for reading 3


Chance woke up in the unfamiliar room that he and Adrian had stayed in that night. The redhead sat up in his bed and stretched, moaning loudly. He was unsure if he would ever get used to sleeping at pokemon center's across the world. At least the rooms that they had prepared for trainers weren't terrible and uncomfortable. Chance looked across the room to the empty friend where he expected his friend to be.

"I wonder where Adrian is…" Chance mumbled quietly as he threw on his hoodie and picked up his sleeping snivy. He slowly made his way through the pokemon center, looking around for his companion. He eventually found his way out to the front lobby, where Nurse Joy was returning the pokemon of a young boy to him and wishing him well. "Excuse me." He said quietly. "Have you seen the guy that I came in with last night?"

"Oh! The boy with the messy blonde hair?" The nurse asked cheerfully. Chance nodded in response. "He is outside with his pokemon. He seemed to be training with a tentacool when I last saw him." The young trainer thanked the woman and walked towards the door. He quickly spotted his friend sitting about 30 yards away from the center. The blonde was talking to his newest pokemon. As Chance made his way over to his friend the little blue pokemon turned from its trainer and began to shoot purple needles at some targets that had been set up.

"Hey. How is the training going?" Adrian turned around quickly at the voice that stirred him from his thoughts.

"Oh, not too bad." He grinned. "I just figured that Tentacool and I should get some training in before we headed out today. I didn't want to delay us any."

"You know I wouldn't have minded hanging out for a bit while you worked with your tentacool, right?" Chance reached out his hand to help the other boy get to his feet.

"Yeah, I know. But its whatever. I couldn't sleep anyways." He laughed. After a few minutes Adrian recalled his pokemon after thanking it for working so hard all morning. The boys returned to their room long enough to grab their belongings, change into their traveling clothes, and grab a small breakfast before heading out towards Union Cave.

A few hours later the boys stood before the large entrance to Union Cave. The travel through the cave would take the majority of their day, and Azalea town was another day's travel once they exited on the other side.

The boys began their trek into the cavern. The entrance to the cave had been installed with a few mounted lights that were spaced just close enough to each other to allow trainers to see their surroundings. As they traveled even further they quickly found the lights to become more spaced out before they disappeared altogether.

"I guess they don't want to disturb the local pokemon with all of the extra light." Chance noted as the boys left the last light source within sight. The redhead reached into his bag and withdrew his flashlight.

"Well, why don't we use our pokemon to help us out? We should try and stick to not using the flashlights too much down here or it might attract some unwanted attention from the wild pokemon that prefer the dark." The blonde reasoned as he withdrew a pokeball and held it in front of him.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Chance stated as he withdrew his own pokeball. From both balls burst a bright red light, producing Hoothoot and Cyndaquil. "Hey, Hoothoot. Wanna help guide us through here?" The owl pokemon cooed happily in response to its trainer's question.

"Cyndaquil, can you ignite your back for a bit, please?" The fire mouse pokemon squealed happily as its back erupted in flame. Hoothoot perched on its trainer's empty shoulder and kept its eyes moving and scanning the darkness that surrounded the small group. They continued onward, guided by the light provided by Cyndaquil. However, being young, the fire-type wasn't able to keep its back lit up for extended lengths of time. Every few minutes the fire on its back would dim and disappear. During this time the boys would use their flashlights and Hoothoot to guide them, and once Cyndaquil was ready they would have it lead once more.

The group continued on in this fashion for several hours, at times being forced to have Snivy and Tentacool fend off a few wild geodude or sandshrew. At least Chance was happy to see a few pokemon that he knew from back home.

The boys had just fought back a trio of geodude when a loud roar echoed through the dark cave.

"What the hell was that?" Adrian questioned with a look of shock on his face. Cyndaquil cowered behind his leg and stared off in the direction of the terrible noise.

"I'm not sure… But it sounded odd." The redhead replied as he stared into the inky blackness before them.

"Sounded angry, if you ask me."

"I don't know. Sounded like it was more than that. Either way we have to go that way." The boys started to walk forward at a much slower pace. "I just hope we can avoid whatever made that noise…"

The boys continued onward for a few minutes before they heard the loud roar once again. This time it was much closer. This time, after the roar shook the tunnel they were in, they heard a quiet laughter echo through the cave. The boys looked at each other before slowly making their way forward. As they came around a bend in the tunnel they saw a bit of light coming from ahead.

The companions moved forward, towards the light. As they approached they saw that the tunnel opened up into a large cavern ahead of them. In the middle of the cavern was a group of people standing beside a large pile of rocks. The group was laughing joyfully and joking with each other.

Chance and Adrian looked at each other for a moment, before Snivy made a sound that Chance had never heard from her before. It was a squeak that sounded angry. Chance eyed his pokemon for a second before following her gaze. Her eyes were trained on the rocks beside the group. The group of trainers all had pokemon beside them and suddenly the pokemon began shooting their attacks at the boulders. The moment they did this the boulders shifted slightly and Chance instantly realized what he was look at.

Chance instantly ran into the open cavern, Snivy and Hoothoot right on his heels. Adrian and his pokemon followed quickly after. As they ran closer the boulders moaned loudly, drawing Adrian's eyes towards them once more. As they neared his eyes widened as he saw that the pile beside the trainers was more than just rock.

"Stop that!" Chance screamed as he got closer. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" The group turned and eyed the intruders.

"We are just having some fun." A brown haired boy responded. "Why? What's it to you?" He sneered at Chance as he spoke.

"We are just trying to toughen this pokemon up before we catch it." A blonde haired boy replied casually as he stepped forward. "See, I thought I wanted it, but when we battled it, it hardly put up a fight." The boy gave a shrug as he spoke and then reached down to pat the head of the totodile beside him.

"That isn't okay." Chance growled as he took another step forward. "If you don't want to capture it then don't battle it! You have no reason to hurt a pokemon!" The group before him laughed.

"And who is going to stop us?" A girl with black hair asked from behind her two friends. "We found it, we can do whatever we want with it." She said gesturing towards the wounded pokemon.

"Not while we are around you won't." Adrian stepped forward next to Chance. His eyes darted to his friend. He had never seen Chance look this way. His face showed nothing but rage. The trio laughed again.

"If you want a fight then fine, Totodile!" The blonde haired boy barked as his pokemon jumped between its trainer and the intruders.

"You too, Poliwag!" The girl shouted as her own water pokemon joined the totodile.

"And you, Wooper!" The last boy yelled. The three water-types glared at their new foes.

"3-on-2?" Adrian questioned as the opponent's pokemon took a battle stance.

"It's fine. We've got this." Chance replied with confidence. His fists clenched tightly at his sides. "Snivy, let's do this." Snivy nodded as she jumped forward.

"Alright, Nidoran! I'm counting on you, buddy." Adrian shouted as he tossed out his pokemon. Nidoran stomped its front feet several times on the ground as it stared down its foes.

"Jade, Ryan, You guys take that other guy. Leave the loud one for me." The blonde boy smirked as he stared at Chance.

"Got it, Ian." The girl, Jade, nodded. "Poliwag, let's start this show. Use water gun on nidoran, now!"

"Wooper, you use water gun, too!" The brown-haired boy, Ryan shouted. Both of the water-types shot strong streams of water at Nidoran, who dodged several times but was eventually hit by one of the blasts and thrown into a boulder.

"Totodile, use scratch!" The blonde, Ian, commanded the big jaw pokemon. Totodile charged its foe and swung its claws wildly, however it failed to land a blow. Snivy seemed to be hyper-focused during the battle. Each swipe from its foes claws was dodged gracefully.

"Good job, Snivy. Let's hit back with a slam!" Snivy dodged another scratch and swung its tail around slamming into the water pokemon. Totodile slid back towards its trainer who growled in annoyance at the situation.

"Come on! Get back in there! Use water gun!" Ian commanded his pokemon. A blast of water was launched at Snivy, who couldn't dodge in time. Snivy was thrown across the cavern and landed near Nidoran, who was not faring well against its two foes. Tentacool had joined the battle to aid its comrade, but the battle was still not in Adrian's favor.

Chance surveyed the battle as the three trainers continued the assault of water gun attacks. "Adrian, help me get their pokemon a bit closer together. Quick!" He yelled out to his friend.

"Not so fast! Totodile, use bite, now!" The big jaw pokemon lunged at Snivy with its mouth open wide.

"Snivy, use vine whip to close its mouth!" The grass snake pokemon did as its trainer commanded and tied its opponents mouth shut with thick green vines. "Now throw it at wooper!" Snivy pulled its vines back and swung totodile around in the air and tossed it at its own teammate. The two water pokemon collided hard.

Adrian saw this as his chance. "Nidoran, use horn attack on poliwag! Send it flying towards its friends!" The small purple pokemon slammed its glowing horn into poliwag as hard as it could. Poliwag sailed through the air and joined its team in a pile.

"Now is our chance, Snivy! Use leaf tornado, quick!" Snivy jumped through the air towards its foes and began spinning rapidly. As it spun glowing leaves began to swirl around it, creating a whirlwind of foliage. The attack hit the three water-types hard and send them all flying back to their trainers.

"What the hell is this?" Ian barked out at the three defeated pokemon at his feet. "How can our pokemon possibly be so weak?!" The trio recalled their pokemon and glared at their opponents. "This isn't over." As the blonde said this he and his friends turned and trotted out of the cavern and into the tunnel opposite of the one the boys had entered through.

Chance didn't bother to watch them leave. Instead he ran to the giant pokemon that lay near them on the cavern floor. The wounded pokemon's breathe was coming in ragged gasps.

"Don't worry, Onix." Chance soothed as he pulled out a potion from his pack. "I am going to do everything I can to make you feel better. Alright?" The rock pokemon tried to recoil when Chance reached his hand out to place it on its side, but it no longer had the strength. As Chance sprayed the potion on the larger wounds left by the water-types that had assaulted it, Onix let out a pained groan. "It's alright, buddy. Just hang in there." The redhead laid his hand on the side of the rock snake and gently stroked its side. Adrian soon joined in with his own potion, starting to work on more of the larger wounds.

The boys spent 15 long minutes and several potions trying to get the onix to start recovering a bit. Slowly the rock-type lifted its head and stared down at the small, redheaded boy who was tending to its wounds. As the giant pokemon began to shift the boys took a few steps back from it.

"You okay, buddy?" Chance questioned as he watched the pained moves of the pokemon. Onix responded with a low moan once more. Chance frowned at it. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what all we can do. The only other option we have right now is having you rest in a pokeball. Your wounds will heal a bit faster and you won't feel as much pain." Chance looked deep into the wild pokemon's eyes. "I know you might not want to, but I just don't know what else we can do to help. The option is yours. I won't force you." The young boy placed a pokeball on the ground before his feet and took a few steps back. Onix continued to look into the trainer's eyes. It was shaken from the assault that it had endured, but it could feel the sincerity in the voice of the one below it. Slowly it dipped its head and poked its nose onto the ball's center, causing it to open and the onix disappeared in a flash of red energy.

Chance slowly bent down and picked up the pokeball, frowning at it. "This isn't supposed to happen. No pokemon should ever have to go through this much pain. No pokemon should ever be forced to be captured because it is too wounded to be left alone." He began to shake as tears fell down his cheeks. "How could anyone be so heartless?" He directed the question at no one in particular, but slowly sank to his knees as he sobbed.

"You did the right thing." Adrian wrapped his arm around his friend's shoulders as he got down next to him. "You saved that onix. It isn't your fault that this happened. And once it is healed you can always release it." He gave his friend's shoulders a reassuring squeeze. "Besides, you gave it an option. You didn't force it to get caught." The boys sat in relative silence, save for the quiet sobs of anger that escaped Chance's throat.

"We will hang out in this cavern for a few hours before you let that onix back out and we can check on it and use some more potions to help it heal a bit more. Alright?" the blonde questioned. "If it is feeling better we can let it go and still make it out of this cave tonight." The redhead nodded his head, still cradling the pokeball in his arms.

Adrian set up a small campsite for the group and prepare dinner for them. If they were stopping for a while they may as well make the most of the down time. The entire time he cooked Chance never moved from his spot or let go of the pokeball in his arms. He sat in silence for the next two hours before he called the onix out from its pokeball to check on it.

Onix's wounds had healed relatively nicely already. Another round of the potions and it was looking like it could return to the wild. The boys tended to each wound they found across the rock snake's body. Chance even cleaned an old scar above the pokemon's left eye.

"How are you feeling, buddy? The redhead asked while he cleaned the scar. Onix's moan this time was much less ragged. Its energy was clearly returning. "You're in much better shape now. It may have taken almost every potion we have, but I think you're going to be okay." He smiled into the pokemon's large eye. "I guess that means it is alright to release you then…" He held the pokeball up in his hand that he had captured the onix with. He tried to return the onix to the ball so he could officially release it into the wild, but when the red beam hit it to recall it, the pokemon glowed for a second, before shaking its head, breaking the beam and remaining before the young trainer.

"What's going on?" Adrian asked from behind his friend.

"I have no idea… It didn't work for some reason." Chance tried to recall the onix once more, but it again shook its head, breaking the beam once again. The pokemon let out a coarse moan. As it moaned Snivy began to talk to it. The two pokemon talked back and forth for a minute, before the grass snake bounded over to her trainer.

"Snivy sni! Snivy, snivy sni!" The little pokemon chirped out. She made large gestures towards the rock pokemon, which were met with a confused stare from the trainers. She sighed before running over to the giant and jumping up onto its head and curling up into a ball. She peered over her back at her trainer.

"Snivy?" The boy looked at his pokemon. "Onix, does this mean you don't want to be released?" The giant pokemon nodded its head slowly, being careful not to disturb the little one on its head. The boys shared a look for a moment. "Are you sure? I would love to have you on my team, but… I don't feel like I really earned you. We didn't even battle." Chance frowned at the large pokemon.

The blonde put his hand on his companion's shoulder. "You did earn it though. You may not have battled it, but you nursed it back to health when it was abused by a bunch of assholes. You battled for it, rather than battling against it." Adrian smiled at his friend. "I don't think I have ever seen a trainer that deserved a certain pokemon any more than you do this onix."

The onix slowly moved forward and lowered its nose to its trainer and nudged the arm that contained its pokeball. "Alright… If you're sure. Then I would be honored for you to stay with us, Onix." He raised the ball in his left hand. "Onix, return!" This time he spoke with confidence and a smile on his face. The large pokemon disappeared in a burst of red energy. Snivy made a graceful landing as its new friend vanished and smiled up at its trainer before jumping up onto his right shoulder once more.

The group continued their journey out of the cave in high spirits. They had stopped the abuse of a pokemon, saved its life, and made a new friend. Chance knew that this memory would always stick in his heart, and he hoped it would help mold him into being a better trainer.