"Zev', up." I said. I had brushed my teeth and did my morning routine. I was ready to hit the trail. As a matter of fact, the only thing that was stopping me was Zevoa. That damned thing slept like a bear, and I thought hyenas were supposed to be nocturnal? "Zevoa, now, c'mon!" I pushed her off of the bed, causing her to fall and wake up in a daze. She registered my presence, then climbed back up onto her spot and laid back down.

"Damnit," I fished out her pokeball and simply returned her. No use in irritating her any further, I wouldn't want to get on her bad side. I opened up the cheap wooden door of the room, and stepped into the hallway.

As I made my way down the steps, I opened my wallet and counted all of my bills. 400 crown, enough cash for more than enough supplies for my trek. I would need some batteries for my flashlights, maybe some more food, and a shit ton of water. Last time I was in the cave I had to take the condensation from the walls and boil it. It was bootleg as hell.

I checked out at the counter then made my way to the store that I became so accustomed to over the month. I had gone to Pewter at least once a week, and I would get supplies every time I got there.

XxXxXxXx

I had bought more than a week's worth of reserves, on top of the ones I already had, and 2 gallons of water. I bought a vest of sorts for Zevoa, I used it to strap supplies on to her back so that I wouldn't constantly be having to carry it. It even had a built in GPS, just in case she got lost then I'd be able to locate her pretty easily.

But most importantly of all, 12 rolls of divine, sacred, holy toilet paper. Toilet paper had to be top 3 things to worry about before going on a trip. I had given more money than I'd like to admit all for a few rolls of the stuff when I was on the field. Most people would agree that it doesn't feel too pleasant using leaves or moss to do your business. They would give the same amount of money for some rolls too I bet.

I was at the outskirts of the city, when I felt a finger tap on my shoulder. I dropped Zevoa's pokeball, preparing for another challenge. A familiar face stood behind me though, the dark-haired olive skinned ranger that I had grown to know greeted me with a smile.

"Thought you'd been that way before?" He pointed in the direction I was walking. He didn't seem to pay any mind to the growling pokemon to his right. "That thing is a lot bigger than I remember." He reached down to pet her behind the ear, and received a nip to the hand. He smacked her upside her head, eliciting a growling noise from her. I decided to return the hyena before she decided to take a bite off Raymond's ass.

"Where you off to Ray?" I asked him, motioning for him to walk with me. I stuck my hands in my hoodie pockets and adjusted my cap.

"No where, just taking a walk. I'm off for the week, or at least until I get called in. They only need me for the big stuff, if there is no big stuff happening, then they don't need me," he finished with a laugh. "What're you doing?" What could I say? I couldn't exactly tell him I was going to exact my revenge on a giant serpent beast that killed 2 people, could I?

"I'm, uh, just gonna go train Zev' some more in the cave." Good excuse, his face showed he believed it.

"Can I come with you? I mean, I'll be out probably in a day or two. You won't have to put up with me for too long," he laughed. Shit, that would put a halt to my plans. With him around, I knew that he would interfere with my plot, but I couldn't exactly tell him he couldn't go; that would be too suspicious. I'd just travel slowly, then when the two days are up, I'd just quickly go into the depths of the cave to challenge the onix.

"Sure, but you're not eating my food," I laughed, punching his arm jokingly. He replied with a smack to the back of my head. I was gonna hit him again, but thought twice about it; he was easily half a foot taller than me, and could probably demolish me in a fight. He chuckled at my behavior, looking at me like I was his younger brother or something.

"Don't worry, I'll hunt for my own grub. I've been training a lot longer than you have, kid, I can kill and skin a rattata with my eyes closed," he pulled out a long blade and waved it around, making cutting noises as he swung it in the air. I blocked my face with my hands out of paranoia, but he put it back with a laugh.

"Alright, now we begin," he said, looking at the sign that read 'Now Leaving Pewter City, Starting Route 3.' So we had about 15 miles before we hit the cave? Well, I guess I would need the exercise.

"Alright, so imagine how a krabby taste, right?" It was around noon, and we had taken a break to rest and eat. Raymond was munching on a rattata that he had ordered his houndoom to roast for him. I was devouring some beef jerky and trail mix. We had been conversing about what it would be like to taste various pokemon, and the mortality in eating certain ones. We had basically just been mindlessly flapping our lips for a while about different topics, but then we hit a juicy one and decided to stick with it.

"You've never tried a krabby? I figured if someone lived in Kanto as long as you have they might've tried it at least once or twice," I said past my chewing.

"Yeah, I've eaten it a few times. But a guy in my squad has a kingler as his starter, and that thing is a decent pokemon. So it wouldn't feel right eating a member of it's species, you know?" The old ranger explained, picking the thin pieces meat away from the rattata bone.

"Nah, I don't get it. I mean, it's not like the crab can sense it's blood on your hands or anything," I laughed with a mouth full of nuts. Oh wait, that didn't sound right. I laughed with a mouth full of food, is what I meant.

"Okay, if I walked around with a mightyena pelt on my back, you wouldn't exactly feel comfortable around me, would you?"

"Alright, I get feel you now," I got up to my feet and dusted off my pants. I called Zevoa over. She was gnawing on the femur of some large pokemon. She likely just found the carcass setting around somewhere rotting and decided to snatch a little snack. As soon as she got up, Raymond's houndoom ran over and seized the bone for himself. This incited a little barking fight between the two, resulting in Raymond having to return it before things got messy. That thing could likely tear Zevoa apart.

I looked up into the sky as his fearow flew overhead. It was also searching for something to eat, but was having some trouble as the skies above were fairly empty. Apparently it was a scavenger, but it leaned more towards fresh meat most of the time. It's eyes twinkled, and I immediately knew it found something. The magnificently large condor swooped down onto the ground as it snatched up a small mammalian creature that looked as if it was merely a ball of fur.

As the condor had it's prey in its clutch, it flew back over to us, showcasing its prey to Raymond and I. The little creature was being held up by the skin of its neck as it thrashed about violently. I took a good look at it's face, it was very odd looking. A pig snout, with the build of a monkey. It had sort of an aggressive aura about it too, and not just because it was about to be swallowed up by a giant bird. It was almost as if it was inherently angry. In a constant state of being pissed off.

The fearow dropped the monkey momentarily, and we watched as it nimbly hopped up and punched the bird in its long beak. The fearow, cawed a painful noise and responded with a swift peck towards the ground where the monkey was standing, but the pokemon had backflipped out of the way. It leapt up once more, and the bird moved it's beak out of the way, predicting an assault to the area similar to what the monkey had done the last time. But the pokemon kept going and grabbed the bird around it's neck. It then began attempting a stranglehold with it's legs and arms.

"C'mon Carrion, you're an elite Ranger pokemon and you can't even beat some random ass mankey?" He sighed as he dug out another pokeball and threw it in the general direction of Carrion. It bounced off of a rock, activating the eject button and releasing his houndoom, Nathan, with a flash of light.

"Nathan, go handle that," he pointed at the mankey. Immediately the houndoom began puffing out black smoke like a tank engine. It blasted a fireball at the mankey, causing it to jump from it's position on the bird's neck and onto the ground.

Zevoa became anxious, but I held her back. I would rather let the professional handle it than risk letting her get hurt. After all, mankey had an advantage towards dark type pokemon. I'd basically be letting her get torn apart for no gain, and frankly I didn't have the money to pay that medical bill.

The mankey flipped over fireball after fireball, maneuvering past each one with ease. But it wasn't able to counter attack in any way, seeing as it was mostly a physically oriented pokemon.

Despite how it might've seemed, that the mankey was giving those two pokemon a run for there money; it was truly no match for the two pokemon. It was merely annoying them. Trying to make them give up on it. Smart. I would've taken a more direct approach of simply trying to murder them both. Most people would probably do that as a matter of fact. We would all almost definitely get killed for our decision. It's a shame really, that a monkey had more sense than most people do.

It made a risky move, and decided to rush the houndoom in between fire blast. It moved forward faster than my eyes could follow. As soon as it stopped, it was directly in front of Nathan, fist pulled back about to deliver a powerful strike to the face. The houndoom blasted a wave of flames at the mankey, which at such a close range were impossible to dodge. The mankey was sent backwards by the torrent of fire, it was damaged very badly, but it had gotten back up and raised its fist once more.

It was the fearows turn now, it flew up into the air at blinding speeds and dived at the mankey like a jetplane. The mankey barely saved itself from being skewered like a monkey kebab. The pokemon attempted to counter attack, but the fearow soared up into the air once more.

"Air cutter!" Raymond commanded the fearow, it was at a position in the sky hovering 50 feet above the ground, waiting for Raymond's orders. It started flapping it's wings, firing off blades of air that were nigh unavoidable. One of the air blades struck the mankey, slicing it across the chest startling ease.

The mankey struggled to it's feet, but collapsed onto the ground with a thump. Blood seeped out from beneath the monkey and onto the rocks, soon soaking everything around it with a crimson liquid. It wasn't dead, but it would be soon enough. I ran over to it and stood in front of it just as the fearow flew in to capture it's meal.

"Call the bird off!" I yelled towards Raymond. He understood what I meant, but didn't seem to agree with what I was about to do. I flipped the mankey over onto it's back as I dug out some medical supplies from my bag.

"What the hell are you doing, Floyd?" The ranger strutted over, closely inspecting my fingers dart from item to item in my backpack. "You aren't planning to catch that thing are you?" Raymond asked, but he knew the answer.

The entire time it was fighting his pokemon, I was observing its movements with a very sharp eye. Something about how that thing nimbly dodged attacks, and how it was able to strike with pin-point precision at his pokemon, caught my eye. I somehow felt that it would be a perfect partner for me. Aggressive, nimble, powerful, all things that I would look for in a pokemon.

On top of that, it was the only decent pokemon around for miles. I needed a partner to help me combat the onix, and he had a natural advantage towards it. It would've been foolish to pass up the chance to catch such a good pokemon.

It seems stupid, I know. That thing was probably leagues stronger than what I could handle. It was probably untameable, and wouldn't follow any orders given to it no matter what. But I thought the same thing about Zevoa. That ape would do great by my side. If nothing else, I could say that I at least saved it's life.

"Carrion, get back!" He returned his fearow, as it was getting a little annoyed by my behavior. I had found all of the equipment I needed. The mankey wasn't too badly injured, just a flesh wound. I had to stitch up the slash, then return it and let it heal in its pokeball for a while. Luckily I would have Raymond around to put it in line if it decided to attack me once it was fully healed.

"You a doctor or something?" He asked, looking over my shoulder observing all of the movements of my fingers sewing up the large slash wound across the mankeys chest.

"No, I was just a nurse for a while," I kept my answer short, as to not distract myself from my task at hand. I only had about half way to go, and the ape had long passed out from the pain.

"Huh, well maybe you should've told me you wanted to have this thing before Carrion tore it's torso open. It would save you the trouble," he snarked. I paid him no mind though, he was just trying to press my buttons and make me break my focus.

"Then again, I guess you like things to be as difficult as possible. That's probably why you caught that damn mightyena," he laughed at himself dorkily. I was nearly finished with the patch-job. All I would have to do afterward was wrap it in some bandages then it would be all set.

"Keep talking trash about my pokemon and she'll bite your ass off," I spat back at him. He chuckled and I could see him reach behind me to pet Zevoa, but received a bite on his fingers. I could hear him holler in pain, and I had to repress a laugh at his foolishness. He should've known better than to touch a one-hundred pound killing machine.

He crouched back down to my level, squeezing his hand, trying to keep it from bleeding too badly. "You got anything for this in that bag of yours?" He flashed his bleeding finger at me, I assessed it and decided it wasn't too bad of a lesion.

"Just get a band-aid," I temporarily took my hand away from the monkey and pointed at the box of medical equipment right next to me. I heard him fishing through it before he pulled out a smaller box of medical grade bandages. He followed his discovery up with a wa-ha! then plopped down on the ground.

I got the mankey all fixed up, then returned it to it's pokeball, hoping that it would be fully healed the next time I released it. "Even if you did a bad job, which you most likely did, Floyd, pokemon heal up a lot faster than humans do," I smacked him on the back of his head for his comment, then packed up my equipment and hit the trail.

XxXxXxXx

It was dusk, and we had finally made it to the cave entrance. We were all exhausted and ready to pass out right where we stood. I had never released the monkey, and didn't plan to at least until the next day.

The day wasn't very eventful. Other than me being able to observe an epic battle, and capture an epic pokemon, it was pretty boring. Maybe I just had really high standards? Zevoa was curled up in a ball next to a fire Nathan had started. Raymond had fallen into a deep slumber as soon as the fire began burning, and I wanted to follow his lead.

But instead I sat up, wide awake, staring at the entrance of the atrocious cave that had done me so wrong in the past. All that stood in the way between me and my revenge was Raymond. I could never achieve retribution as long as he was around. He was nothing more than a hinderance to my plan. I needed to ditch him and go settle my business with that monster.

Zevoa's ears perked up. She got out from her comfortable position in front of the fire to stalk over and stare at the entrance with me. She directed her crimson irises at me and we stared into each others eyes for a moment. I scratched her behind the ears. It sounds crazy, but I really feel like she could understand me. Like she could literally feel what I was feeling. Weird, right?

I quickly and quietly packed all of my stuff and headed into the oh-so familiar cave. As I set one foot into the passage, memories began to flood my mind, leaving me shaking and limping as I slowly stepped into the cavern.

I glanced around; expecting to see Jerry's disemboweled body lying in the corner, rotten and swarming with flies. I couldn't keep going, I fell to my knees. My breathing was ragged, I forced the tears from surfacing. "Zevoa, lead the way," I struggled to regain my balance. I followed my pokemon as she stalked through the cave with precision.

We headed deeper and deeper into the depths, and I crossed the bridge quietly, not even paying attention to my fear of heights. I couldn't let it overwhelm me, I had bigger things to worry about. I carefully trudged across the drawbridge, Zevoa's bright yellow eyes were my only light keeping me on track. Without her, I would've probably lost my footing and fell to my doom. If that was the way I would go, I would consider myself lucky.

I finally set foot on solid ground, then looked back to see if I had been followed. Nothing. The void was as black behind me as it was ahead of me. I deemed it safe enough that I could finally turn on my flashlight. I had been keeping it off to prevent any likelihood of Raymond being able to see me.

I speed-walked into the cave, deeper and deeper. Her eyes would probably be unnerving to most people, like a predator stalking them through the dark; waiting for the right moment to pounce on it's prey. But to me, she was a beacon. Zevoa, my pokemon. My first pokemon, it didn't matter if I caught 100 more. She would still be my first pokemon.

"Zevoa, stick close," I motioned for her to come by my side. I pulled out my torch and turned it on; a brilliant white beam erupted out of the object. It illuminated almost everything around me, not leaving a single corner unexposed from the light. I no longer needed the hyena to guide me, since the light did a far better job at it than she did.

I needed a hiding place, somewhere to sleep for the night and not be found sitting in the open by Raymond or the onix. The crevice. The one I used to conceal my location from the onix the last time I was in there. It wasn't too far in, probably about 2 hours away from my current placement.

XxXxXxXx

So far I knew Raymond hadn't found me yet, I was safe. I had found the fracture in the wall, it was the same as how I had left it; barren. I didn't even bother to start a fire to keep warm. It would've made it far easier for Raymond to locate me. I just climbed into my sleeping bag. Soon after that I lost consciousness.

The next day more events would unfold that would leave me broken. It wouldn't surprise me if someone told me that a majority of trainers are inside of institutions; their mental states completely crumbled. It wouldn't have surprised me if you told me that I would become one of those trainers. Curled up in the corner of some random looney bin; strapped up in a straight jacket. Not surprising at all.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, please review, follow and favorite if you enjoyed. Also, as a reply to the review by Ballball9898. I try to make my chapters long, but sometimes I have to cut them off at a certain point so that I can have material for my next chapter. If I had enough material to work off of for one chapter that I could make it 5000 words long, trust me, I would. But thank you for the review anyway, and I'll try to make them a little longer for you :]