Lost. I'm lost. Hopelessly and completely lost. Trudging through the bushes I groaned as I was once again scratched up by the sharp leaves. "Pidgeotto, you told me this would be a short cut!" I called out and she flew in front of me with a sour look.
"Pidgeo."
"Hey, don't give me attitude, I was just following your directions! We've been out here for nearly two weeks!" I grumbled back, breaking free of the tangling bushes. "So where are we? There's no way this is still the route to Vermillion City." Looking up at the sky, which was growing dark, a drop of water fell on my face. "And it's starting to rain! Pidgeotto! You owe me big for this! Return!" I let her back into her Pokéball, I didn't want her to get a cold from the storm that was brewing.
My feet now firmly on a path I took off running, hoping that it would lead somewhere where there was warmth and food. Rain hammered against my face, stinging like Poison Jab but I strove forwards, hoping that someone would answer my prayers.
The darkness gathered and night swept over with the clouds thundering above. Quite a torrent, I was soaked to the bone and freezing. It was so dark and the rain so harsh that I could hardly see, so when I smacked into a large rock I wasn't at all surprised I didn't see it until my face was decorating its side. "Ugh…that hurt." I muttered then peeled myself off, rubbing my face.
A flash of light caught my eye so I looked up, squinting against the wind. "Huh?" Something was shivering under a leaf, curled up tight with its tail tip barely aglow. Oh my goodness…its…its…
"A Charmander!" I gasped then gripped onto the rock to climb up. "Hey little guy, what are you doing out here?" I asked, reaching out to rest my hand against its head.
"Char…" It whined so I scooped it up then tucked it under my jacket.
"It's okay, I'll find you some help real soon." I promised, jumping back down from the rock. "We'll fix you up and then everything will be okay." Narrowing my eyes and steeling my heart against the cold wind and biting rain, I took off at a run whilst holding the Charmander close to me. It was so weak that its tail didn't even burn or singe me. I was growing worried. Perhaps I should put it into a Pokéball to keep it better protected?
Just then, over the rise, I saw lights and a large 'P' stationed on the roof and my heart soared. "A Pokémon Centre!" I gasped, flicking my wet hair out of my face. "Look at that buddy! You're in luck today!" So hammering my feet against the ground I ran forwards then slid down the muddy bank, not caring how filthy I got. I had to get this Charmander to a Pokémon Centre.
At one point I slipped but I flung myself onto my side, protecting both the Charmander and my Pokéballs before staggering to my feet, winded, wet, and frozen solid. "Char…?"
"Just hold on, we're nearly there." I panted as I ran, watching as the centre grew larger and larger. Finally I burst through the doors and instantly fell to my knees, dripping wet and made several people gasp.
"Oh dear! Are you alright?" Nurse Joy asked and I looked up at her.
"Please, you have to help this Charmander! I found it abandoned on a rock and its flame is nearly out, help it!" I pleaded, unwrapping Charmander from under my jacket then climbed to my feet though I limped on my left leg, finding that I had twisted my ankle and winced.
"Of course, we'll see to it right away." She nodded her head then took the Charmander from me. I watched her take it away, praying that it'll be okay.
"Ruby?" A familiar voice questioned and I turned around.
"Ash! Ash it's good to see you." I smiled wearily, limping over to him and was surprised to find Misty and Brock there too. "Hey guys."
"You look terrible, oh you poor thing." Misty said then drew me to a seat to sit down. Then she turned a harsh glare to a guy at a different table who was collecting his many Pokéballs in an attempt to move away from everyone. "I can't believe he just left that Charmander." She growled and Brock cracked his knuckles.
"Yeah, he doesn't deserve to be a trainer." I blinked in shock.
"He's that Charmander's trainer? And he just left him on that rock?" My anger burst free and I leaped up, ignoring the pain in my ankle as I strode over. "Hey! You horrible jerk, you owe that Charmander an apology! How dare you be so irresponsible?" I bellowed and everything else went silent as the trainer backtracked slightly but I bore down after him. "You, you complete lowlife, you don't deserve any of those poor Pokémon!"
"He was weak, he should have just died out in that rain. He's no good for anything." He snapped back, folding his arms across his chest and my anger burst free as my jaw dropped. My eyes blazed with fire and I clenched my jaw, balling my fist then took a large swing at the trainer, giving him a healthy right hook to the face which flung him off his feet and onto the floor.
"Take that you weakling!" I roared and several gasps echoed throughout the centre.
"Ruby!" Ash balked then stared at me. "Nice one." I shot him a smug look then turned back to the trainer.
"If you fail your responsibilities as a trainer then I have a right to report you! We'll see how the authorities admire your behaviour after I inform them of your stupid and mean treatment of that Pokémon!" He scrambled backwards, genuinely terrified as I loomed over him. "And if you dare treat another Pokémon that way, then I'll do the exact same thing to you!"
Suddenly one of my Pokéballs burst open and Charmander appeared, growling and snarling in rage at the trainer who shrieked. "ARGH! Get it away!" Charmander sucked in a deep breath and blew a small speck of flame at him, which dissolved before it could even reach him. The trainer then relaxed.
"Ha! Your Pokémon is just as weak as mine was!" In answer Charmander leaped forwards and scratched his face. His smug smirk dropped then he yelled in pain. "WARGH!"
"Guess Charmander doesn't like the way you treated one of his own either." I shot at him. "But you're wrong, my Charmander is very strong. If it wasn't for the rain and storm, he'd be frying your rear and eating you up for dinner." Charmander nodded his head in agreement.
"Char."
"Okay, perhaps we'd better cool this down." Misty muttered to me. "No fighting is allowed in the Pokémon Centre and I think your Charmander looks about ready to tear Damien apart." Looking at Charmander I realised he was right.
"No Charmander!" I lunged forwards and grabbed him, pulling him back but then a more powerful Ember engulfed me. My face fell as I deadpanned. "Thanks buddy." Charmander snorted then leaped out of my arms to growl at Damien again. "I'll let you go for now, but next time we meet, I'm going to pound your rear so hard, you'll never be able to sit on it again!" I threatened then placed both hands on my hips. "And I'm still going to report you."
"You…you can't do that!" Damien stared at me so I arched an eyebrow at him.
"Wanna bet?" He went to speak but one of his friends touched his shoulder.
"Later dude, this girl is crazy." Crazy? I am not crazy! I'm just right!
"Yeah. Fine." Damien shot me a look then retreated to his dorm room to get some sanctuary and peace. I glared after him, Charmander wearing a similar expression until finally, he disappeared.
"Jerk." I muttered under my breath then turned to face Charmander. "Normally I would tell you off for scratching someone like that, but in this case he totally deserved it, so I'm going to let you off just this once." I informed then picked up my Pokéball. "Now return." But when the red light shot out, Charmander leaped out the way.
"Char! Charmander!" He snapped at me, waving his arms then pointed to the doors where the other Charmander had been taken through. I blinked for a moment before realising what he wanted.
"Oh! You want to make sure he's okay?" Charmander nodded his head. "Well, I suppose that would be alright, but you'll have to wait for the check up to finish first." I informed him then looked at Misty as she put her arm around me.
"Come on, you need a nice hot shower, a change of clothes and some hot soup to try stop any colds from settling in over you." She told me kindly then led me up to the shower block where Charmander followed. I took a long, hot shower then changed into another light blue shirt and shorts, practically identical to what I'd been wearing before.
"So how did you know Damien had been the trainer to abandon Charmander?" I asked as we headed back downstairs.
"Well, we actually found Charmander earlier in the day." Misty admitted and I looked at her with surprise. "You see, Charmander told Pikachu who then told us that it was waiting for someone, its trainer, so we just let it alone. We got to the Pokémon Centre before the rain but when it began to really chuck it down, we became worried for it." I opened the door for Misty and she smiled at me before stepping through. "And then that trainer started bragging about how he'd left a Charmander on a rock because he thought it was too weak to be of any use so he abandoned it."
"Poor Charmander, I wonder what will happen to it now." I looked back to Charmander who growled under his breath, muttering angrily. "It's really riled up my Charmander, he won't even return to his Pokéball until he's satisfied the other Charmander is alright."
"It's so sad. Trainers abandon their Pokémon all the time yet there's no way of tracking them or even rescuing them because they're all over place, and then if they are found there's very few places they could go for protection. It's horrible." Both Misty and I shuddered.
"Oh! There you are, come on quickly, you can see the Charmander now." Nurse Joy called to us so we instantly hurried forwards, Charmander running on ahead. We were shown into the room where the abandoned Charmander lay curled up on the bed, its tail barely aglow.
"Will it survive?" Brock asked nervously and I looked away as tears came to my eyes. Poor Charmander, it was so loyal and this was how it was treated.
"Charmander is very weak." Nurse Joy answered as she listened to its heartbeat. "How could you let it get into this condition?" She demanded angrily and we all blinked at her.
"It's not our fault!" Ash quickly interjected. "Damien's the one who abandoned it." Nurse Joy's mouth fell open.
"What?" I laughed sardonically.
"Is that really surprising to you?" Looking down to my own Charmander he was jumping and trying to climb up onto the bed, waggling his feet quickly in the air to try and gain lift so I reached out and picked him up. "Here you go little buddy." I murmured softly then put him up on the bed with the other Charmander.
"Char." Charmander nodded to me so I smiled at his thanks then watched as he went over to sniff the other Charmander.
"Well, Damien promised Charmander that he'll come back for it. Charmander's loyal to Damien so it believed him!" Shaking my head I sighed, watching as Charmander nuzzled the other's head gently, murmuring with worry.
"Char? Charmander…"
"Poor Charmander, and Damien just left with the rest of them." Brock ran forwards to close the distance between him and Nurse Joy then clenched his fists desperately.
"Joy I'm begging you, please save it. Charmander has got to get better." I admired Brock's deep care for Pokémon and smiled to him as Joy nodded her head.
"I'll do whatever I can." She agreed then reached out to pick Charmander up but my Charmander hissed at her and swiped her hand away with his paw, standing protectively over the weaker Charmander. "Oh!"
"Charmander! You have to let Joy take care of this Pokémon or it'll die!" I pleaded with him but he snorted then moved his body around then looked behind him, directing his tail so that it rested alongside the other Charmander's. We watched in awe as Charmander then clenched his eyes tightly shut and suddenly, his tail burst into a larger flame, growing bigger as it connected with the flame on the other Charmander.
The weaker Charmander stirred and we all gasped as he opened his eyes briefly, looking up at Charmander who was reigniting his tail fire, growling under his breath as he did so. "Char…mander…?" It whined softly then fell asleep again.
Charmander opened his own eyes then looked down to the tails, taking his away to reveal a much brighter flame on the other Charmander. "Hey! You did it!" I beamed, eyes shining with pride as Charmander nodded his head smugly.
"Char!"
"Wow, he actually helped Charmander's tail flame by sharing some of its own!" Brock exclaimed. "I've never seen that before, do you think all Charmanders, Charmeleons and even all other Pokémon with fire tails do the same thing?" Nurse Joy tapped her cheek thoughtfully.
"It's possible. Fire Pokémon tend to live in hot places so they can keep warm and not be affected by any rain or cold weather. However when they're sick, perhaps the only way they can get better if another Pokémon shares its warm and fire with it to keep its health burning." She turned to Ash and me. "Perhaps you should ask Professor Oak, he might know a little more but if he doesn't, it'll be a great thing to research."
"I agree!" I nodded my head then looked at Charmander as he curled up with the abandoned Charmander, covering his body with his warmer one. Ash frowned.
"Ugh…how can we tell them apart?" I gave him a confused look.
"Can't you?" He shook his head so I sighed. "My Charmander has brown eyes whilst the other has blue and also, this Charmander has a darker shade of skin whilst mine is one or two shades lighter but there is also a difference in tail size. My Charmander has a longer tail but a shorter body so really, they're quite different and fairly easy to tell apart." I recited whilst holding up a finger then looked to everyone else who was frowning, looking at the two Pokémon.
"Oh! I see it!" Misty nodded her head and smiled. "You're right."
"I still don't see it." Ash frowned, scratching his head so I whacked him with the back of my hand. "Ow!"
"That's because you're being stupid." I scowled then looked to Nurse Joy. "I know it's not protocol, but if my Charmander could stay with this one during procedure and through the night then I think it could really help. Besides, he's not going to move for anything if he doesn't want to."
"No I agree, your Charmander can stay and help keep this poor Pokémon get better. Don't you worry, I'll take good care of them both." Nodding my head I leaned forwards and my Charmander looked up at me.
"Hey, you're going to go with Charmander now, but you need to let Nurse Joy do what she needs to do and not get in the way, the moment everything is over, you can snuggle back up with Charmander again and make sure he gets better, okay?"
"Char." He nodded his head then stood up, jumping onto the ground then followed Nurse Joy once she had gathered the other Charmander up. After that…well. It was just the waiting. We waited long into the night with the wind howling and hammering at the windows and doors, the rain spitting down on us as my heart hammered nervously. I had long since filed a complaint and Officer Jenny assured me that Damien wouldn't go free with this mistreatment.
Feeling sick with worry I picked Pikachu up then hugged him, nuzzling into his soft fur and he rubbed his face back with a comforting paw to my cheek. "Chuuuuu…" He tried to assure me so I smiled.
"Thanks Pikachu." I said to him then continued to hold him. We all paced outside the Emergency Room, glancing up to the red sign which was lit. Brock looked the most worried of us all but I guess because he was a Pokémon breeder, he cared deeply for the welfare of all Pokémon a little more seriously than we did because it was his passion. I just hope I see Damien again so I can give him an upper cut to finish what we started.
Finally the sign dropped its bright colour and pinged, making us all gasp and turn to face the door as Nurse Joy slipped out, her face sad and distraught. My heart plummeted and my eyes widened further until she smiled and held up two fingers to signal victory. Yes! Charmander was okay!
"Charmander is recovering. It should be fine by morning." She told us, letting us peek inside to see the Charmander asleep in a unit, my own Charmander protectively watching over him.
"Hey Charmander? Do you want to stay or come back with us?" I asked him in a whisper as not to disturb anything.
"Char." He said without looking at me so I smiled.
"Okay, you take good care of him now. I'll see you in the morning." Satisfied that everything was okay, we all headed back, got some spare blankets then crashed out in the Pokémon Centre lobby.