Tyler nudged Chloe's sleeping form and murmured, "Come on, wake up." The eevee's eyes flew open and she jumped, staring around wildly for a moment. Then her eyes settled on Tyler.
"Oh. I…I thought…" she didn't finish.
"I'm sorry," Tyler told her. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"I…" Chloe broke off again, looking down.
"Did you have a bad dream?" Tyler asked, and the eevee nodded, eyes wide. "I'm sorry," he told her. After a moment he hesitantly added, "If you want…you can tell me about it."
She shook her head, but a few seconds later, she said, "…My family."
Tyler sighed, lost in thought for a moment. "You know," he started, "I used to have dreams like that. Sometimes…sometimes I still do." He pulled her a little closer with a paw. "I know what it's like. Like I said, you can tell me if you want."
He felt her exhale. "Thanks." She didn't say anything else though, and the vaporeon decided not to press her any more. He waited a minute while the eevee leaned against him.
Finally Tyler broke the silence again. "Listen…we have to keep moving. I haven't seen the tyranitar or pupitar that were attacking you yesterday, but they might still be around. Or other pokémon. Come on, it's time to eat."
"Okay," Chloe said in a small voice. She didn't move for a few more seconds, but then the eevee got up and followed him back to the bush from the night before.
After they ate, Tyler and Chloe set off down the stream again. Tyler was a little impatient to get out of the desert, but he had to slow down to wait for Chloe. He settled on ranging back and forth, keeping an eye out for any other pokémon who might be hostile. After a while his side started to hurt where the pupitar's spikes had stabbed into him. Tyler hadn't paid much attention to it when they were running away or sleeping, but movement aggravated the injuries and he was starting to feel stiff. I should have taken care of it last night.
Tyler turned back to Chloe. "We're going to have to stop for a few minutes."
"Why?" she asked, before he could go on.
He turned to show her his side. "I got hit by one of the pupitar yesterday. I didn't pay any attention to it then, but it could be a problem if I don't take care of it."
"Oh." The eevee nodded her understanding. "I've seen…Father…do that sometimes," she finished sadly.
"Yeah," Tyler replied awkwardly. "I'll just…give me a few minutes." He sat down and released water to cover the line of punctures, relaxing a little as they dissolved and the pain went away.
Chloe was watching wide-eyed. "Father never did that."
Tyler looked down at the spot. "This? Oh. My trainer taught me how to do this. It's a move called 'aqua ring.'"
"So…you meant that yesterday? You had a Catcher?" Tyler let out a sigh and nodded. "What was it like? How did you get away?"
Tyler thought back for a moment. "Claire—that's her name—was always nice to us. Took care of us and everything. She's not like I thought they'd be. She let me go a few days ago." He sighed. "I still miss her." They were silent for a moment, then he took a guess and added, "You know…wherever your father is…he's probably all right. Probably," he added, thinking back to the ones who'd invaded his forest. He shook his head. "But yeah. Most trainers treat pokémon all right." He looked back down at his side. It didn't feel like it was healing very quickly, so Tyler lay down on his stomach. "Listen. This feels like it's going to take a while, so we have time to talk." He hesitated before asking his question. "I've heard a little about your father. I guess he's a vaporeon, like me. What about your mother? What was she like?"
Chloe took a long, shaky breath, and Tyler was worried he'd taken his question too far. With a few tears in her eyes, the eevee answered. "Mother…um…" she closed her eyes. "She…was…a glaceon. She was always really nice to Trina and me. She felt kind of cold, her paws and stuff, but it didn't matter very much. And Father didn't seem to care." The eevee broke off to sniff loudly. "They would work together, you know. They wouldn't ever get too far away from us, because pokémon sometimes attacked like you saw. They always kept them away. But then a Catcher came. She sent out two pokémon too. She beat Mother and caught Father, and then she left. I don't think she saw me or Trina."
Chloe looked at Tyler, starting to cry again. "We were really scared. Mother couldn't get up, so we helped her get inside our den. And we ran out and got berries for her to eat. She was still really hurt the next day. We went out again in the morning, but one of those pupitar things attacked us. We had to run back. Mother scared it off with her ice powers, and then the next time she came with us, even though she was hurt. All three of them came for us like you saw. Mother told us to run." Chloe broke off and started sobbing, and Tyler put a comforting paw around her. "And then…we heard her scream. She's gone, isn't she?"
Tyler didn't know what to say to that, but he looked down. It sounded bad. "We got away that time," Chloe continued shakily. "We didn't go back, just found somewhere to hide. Trina and me, we don't really know how to fight. Father was saying something about us being able to use powers soon, but I don't know what he meant. We had to sneak out at night to eat, and even then we were scared something would see us."
"And then a few days later we saw another pupitar. I think it was one of the same ones. It came for us and we ran again. It couldn't get us by itself 'cause we were dodging, but then the other ones showed up too, and one of them hit Trina. I tried to help her up, but they almost got me too. They all went for her after that. I heard her screaming too, and then she stopped.
"After that," Chloe sobbed, "I just…ran, as far as I could." Tyler nodded; he'd done that too. "But then yesterday they found me too. I thought I was dead." She looked at Tyler again. "But then you saved me."
Tyler nodded absently, thinking. It sounded like the pupitar and probably the tyranitar too had been coming after the eevees. Hunting them. Somehow, I doubt they've given up if they kept coming like that before. He shook his head, pulling himself back to the present, to the eevee looking at him with a mixture of pain and hope. "I guess you should know my story too," he told her. "Like I said, I lived in a forest. It wasn't like out here, most of the pokémon were nice. My mother was—is—a leafeon, my father's a flareon. And I had four brothers and sisters. It was always nice back then, we were safe, Father would train us how to fight and protect ourselves.
"Then one day, everything went wrong. I remember a noise woke me up. It was an arbok outside our den. Mother was there, she attacked it. Father was outside somewhere, on his patrol. The arbok was a Catcher's." Tyler took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. "Then the Catchers sent more pokémon after Mother. All at the same time. She was trying to hold them off for a minute, then Father came and helped her. He told us to run too. We left him back there in the clearing. He got caught.
"Mother led us away into the trees, but she was poisoned already. Then a nidoqueen came and took my sister Kara, and my brother Carson went after her. After that it was just Mother and my brother Skylar, my little sister Sasha, and me. We kept going, but there were Catchers everywhere. They were all one group, not like the ones you normally see. They just take all the pokémon they can find." Tyler gritted his teeth. "More of them found us. Mother tried to hold them off, but we had to fight a persian. We got away but it came after us, and we all split up. Except Mother. She got caught there too, I think. I never saw any of them again until I found Carson and Kara in a Catcher building. There were a lot of pokémon with them, other ones the Catchers caught.
"But before then, I was on my own. For months. I had my family's den, but I was waiting for them to come back, and no one ever did. I almost gave up, but finally I decided I'd go find them.
"I met a lot of other pokémon. Some of them helped me look in Catcher towns, to see if I could find my family there. I didn't find anyone, but I evolved into vaporeon along the way. A little while after that, an umbreon named Zahna helped me find the place where they were keeping Carson and Kara. I helped them all get out, but I got poisoned in the fight, and then Claire captured me." He paused.
"I thought that was the end for me. Once a trainer captures you, there's no way to get away from them. You can't break your ball, and they can just put you back inside whenever they want to. But she was…different than I thought. Different from the other Catchers, the ones who took my family. I learned a lot from her. And from the other pokémon on her team with me." Tyler stopped again, thinking of Leo, Miranda, Olive, and Alan.
"So, yeah. I trained hard, against lots of different pokémon. Against gyms—those are sort of challenges for trainers. And Claire taught me a lot of things.
"But then—" Tyler paused, turning to more recent memories "—we ran into two of the Catchers who took my family. They're called Rockets. And…I attacked them, until Claire put me back in my ball. Everything just felt wrong after that. She could tell. We were almost to the L…the last challenge, for trainers, but…she just let me go. She gave me this," Tyler said, lifting up his crystal with a paw.
"So that's how I got all the way out here. The Pokémon League is back that way," he added, looking over his shoulder. "It was luck that I found you. I'm glad I did," he added, looking her in the eye. "So that's why I'm out here. I'm going to finish what I started, find Mother and Father and Skylar and Sasha. And that's why I want to take you somewhere safe. The Rockets are bad. They'll catch you if they see you, and they don't care about the rules. They'll use as many pokémon as it takes to beat you. I can't put you in that kind of danger, not after you already lost your family."
Chloe just stared at him, then looked away. "Sorry."
"About what?"
"About…you having to take care of me."
"Don't say that," Tyler said, shocked. "I told you I'm going to keep you safe. I don't know where my family is. But you're here now. I can help you, and that's what I'm going to do. One of my friends told me once, we all have a path to walk in life. You only get lost if you run away, and you're part of that path now. I'll make sure you're somewhere safe, and then I'll worry about my family."
"Really?"
"I promise," Tyler told the eevee. She started crying again.
"S…sorry," she said, wiping at her eyes with the back of a paw. "I just…I thought I was gone back there. There wasn't anyone left to come for me. I was so scared…But then you came, out of nowhere, and stopped them." She was crying freely now.
"Hey," Tyler said, "It's all right." He pulled Chloe closer and she leaned against him, nodding wordlessly into his shoulder. "I'm sorry about your family," he murmured. "Mine's gone too…but not like that. I know what it's like to be alone though." The vaporeon thought back to his conversation with Ryan. Now I'm on the other side of that, too. "I can't replace them, but you can be part of my family, if you want." Chloe just started crying harder, and Tyler felt bad. "Sorry…I didn't mean…sorry." He sighed and laid his head down on his paws, glancing back at the eevee leaning against him.
He didn't bother her again until his injuries reformed. Tyler looked at the spot as he reabsorbed the water that was left. There were three marks left on his skin. They didn't hurt, but he didn't know if they would go away either. Maybe it was like the notch from when he was an eevee that he still had in his right fin.
He slowly got to his paws. "Are you ready?" Tyler asked the eevee. She gave him a nod and they started walking again. He looked up to see that it was past noon already, but the vaporeon kept it to himself. It isn't her fault. Instead of pacing back and forth like before, he stayed with Chloe, slowing down to pad alongside at her pace.
After a while, Chloe's ears twitched, and she gasped a little. "Tyler?" she said fearfully, looking up at him. "I think…they're coming after us again."
Tyler didn't react. "I'm not surprised," he told her. They've come after you four times, I don't think they'll stop just because we ran again." He still couldn't hear anything, but he trusted that that the eevee could.
"So what do we do?"
Tyler bared his teeth. "Make them."
"You're going to fight all of them by yourself?" Fear and disbelief were painted across Chloe's face. Tyler shook his head.
"Not all of them. I don't think those two pupitar will be hunting again any time soon. And this time I've got the stream." In truth, Tyler wasn't sure if he could win this fight or not, but he didn't see any way to stop their attackers except beating them. And he had trained a lot since the last time he'd fought a tyranitar… Tyler started moving again, purposefully; Chloe had to break into a trot to keep up.
"Where are you going?"
"It's going to come to a fight somewhere," the vaporeon responded. "I want to pick the place." Tyler thought about it as he moved along. He wanted somewhere open, somewhere he couldn't be backed into a corner. He'd probably have to use Acid Armor at some point during the fight, which would mean losing his water crystal again, but Tyler wanted to keep it on for as long as possible. He also wanted somewhere out of sight for Chloe to hide.
The first part was pretty easy; most of the ground was open around the stream, with the exception of reeds here and there and rocks of various sizes on the ground. A hiding spot proved to be the challenge. Finally Tyler had to settle for a cluster of rocks. "Stay here," he told the smaller pokémon. "I'm going a little way upstream to take them on. Stay out of sight until I come back."
"What if…" Chloe broke off, panting rapidly and staring at him.
Tyler closed his eyes for a moment before shaking his head. "I'll come back." He put a paw on Chloe's shoulder and licked behind her ears, hoping to reassure her. Before he could think about it any more, Tyler shook his head again and broke into a lope, leaving the eevee behind.
Tyler came to a stop in an open area and narrowed his eyes, looking around and keeping his ears open. His heartbeat sped up, but Tyler tried to keep his breathing even. This'll be…my first real fight since Claire let me go. He felt himself going into combat mode, eyes darting from rock to rock, tail twitching back and forth slightly, and taking those long, careful breaths, just waiting to spring into action. He could feel the stream flowing a short distance away and he stretched out a little with his energy, ready to use it too. The hunting pokémon would be here soon…
It wasn't long until he could hear stomping footsteps and the occasional scrape, but it was longer than he expected before Tyler saw anything. Eventually he fixed his gaze on the largest rock he could see. "Come out and fight," he challenged a little more boldly than he felt. "I'm waiting." Tyler wasn't quite sure what to expect, but after a few seconds the rock cracked and a giant spiked sand-brown pokémon stomped through the rubble. This tyranitar looked more vicious than he remembered, and the vaporeon felt a stab of fear. What am I going to do?
Vaporeon, get ready! Claire's words, the ones she'd repeated so often, came into his mind so clearly he could almost hear them. Tyler took a deep breath, feeling the water crystal around his neck. I've done this before. There's a way to win this fight. As the Tyranitar let out a roar, the vaporeon sucked in another breath and started releasing water, feeling it slide off him and form puddles on the ground. He hadn't been in a fight like this, squaring off against an opponent, since before his release, and suddenly everything felt somehow familiar. "I've taken down bigger than you," he said aloud. Almost in reply, the tyranitar sunk a fist into the ground, sending cracks spidering out. Tyler felt the shaking as they reached him. Not getting close yet. I have to get it closer to the stream so I have the water to use. Tyler felt a momentary flicker of pride; it was something Claire might have come up with.
He spat a stream of water, aiming at the tyranitar's head. He hit his mark and it splashed; a split second later there was a pfft and something dark came hurtling through the spray. The pupitar was hiding on its back! Already halfway into another attack, Tyler shifted his aim and hit the pupitar instead. It didn't stop it, but it blunted the hit. Tyler rolled with the blow and fired another burst of water at it as he came back onto his paws, hoping to hit it while it was breathing in. To his disappointment, the pupitar popped back and out of the way. He fired again, sending the hard-shelled pokémon into a tumble on the ground. Now! As he fired again, the ground shook and cracked, knocking him off balance as his water attack arced harmlessly into the air. He hit the ground and bounced painfully back up a few inches as the ground continued quaking beneath him. Behind you, Vaporeon!
Tyler growled and rose to his paws again as the tremors subsided. He'd forgotten about the tyranitar for a moment. I can't make another mistake like that. He turned at the sound of pounding feet to see it nearly on top of him. Instinct took over for a moment and he hunched his shoulders, spitting another spray of water into its face. It faltered and the vaporeon dove right. As the two came around again, Tyler was rewarded with a deep cough. Got it while it was breathing. Without waiting for anything else to happen, he blasted it in the chest, this time with a full-power Hydro Pump. It rocked back, but as the attack ran out it regained its footing and charged again. It's heavier than I hoped.
Still, things were going according to plan, as much as he had one. The stream was behind him, and the tyranitar was headed for it now. The thought ran through Tyler's mind in a flash as the tyranitar closed in, bringing a clawed fist back. Come on.
A moment before it reached him, Tyler liquefied. Already committed to the attack, the tyranitar swung, blue sparks snapping across its claws. Its fist went harmlessly through Tyler, but the electricity surged painfully through his body and blasted him back. Tyler lost his liquid form; his breath came out in a howl of pain as he hit the ground a few feet away, near the stream's edge. He got back up with gritted teeth, already aching from the charge. That was an electric attack. I didn't think…pokémon like it aren't supposed to be able to learn those moves on their own! Fear gripped Tyler again as he realized he'd underestimated the tyranitar. And I already thought it'd be tough.
"How did you learn that?" Tyler asked.
Somewhat to his surprise, the vaporeon got a response. "Nothing to say to prey," the tyranitar growled. It charged again and Tyler dodged. If it can use electricity, I've got to be careful. Time to make some cover. He drew on his energy—and had to drop it again as the pupitar came hurtling toward him. I don't have time for that thing. He whirled and slapped it aside with his tail, sucking a breath through his teeth as his fin caught spikes. The tyranitar moved in and Tyler pounced on the pupitar, which seemed to catch his larger opponent by surprise as it skidded to a halt to turn again. He was getting ready to put an ice beam into the pupitar underneath him when it popped straight up, sending him into the air. As he hit the top of his arc, uncomfortably high off the ground, he heard a cracking noise and spikes and blades of rock thrust themselves out of the barren terrain. Tyler had no choice but to turn liquid again as one went right through him, cutting his water form nearly in half.
On the ground again, Tyler found himself in a cramped labyrinth of sharp-edged rock. He worked himself off the rock piercing through his body, but it took another few seconds before he was in a position to reform so he could see and hear properly. Once he had, Tyler took stock of his surroundings as quickly as he could. The vaporeon couldn't see over or through the jutting stones, and moving around seemed dangerous. On the other hand, that meant his opponents wouldn't be able to see him either. For the moment, he was relatively safe. This might be a good time for that cover. Then he heard the tyranitar crashing through the rocks, coming for him again. It won't work, I'd still have to get out of this and there's no time. He switched to an ice beam instead, building it up, waiting for the moment the tyranitar would appear in his view.
It came crashing through the rocks in front of him and Tyler let loose with the icy-white energy, pounding the beam right into its chest. It roared aloud like the dragonite had, rearing back and shielding its head with its forearms. A rain of rock fragments reached Tyler a moment later, making him flinch. That was enough to throw off his aim for a moment, and the movement opened cuts in his right headfin, shoulder, and another one on his tail as he scraped involuntarily against the sharp rock all around. There was no time to process what was going on, though; Tyler focused on getting the last of the beam back onto the tyranitar before the power he'd gathered ran out. To his relief, the tyranitar stumbled back for a moment, hunching over and holding its frost-covered chest. It didn't like that at all. Ice will work here.
With a moment to breathe, Tyler started picking his way out of the forest of spikes into the area the tyranitar had helpfully devastated into less-hazardous rubble. Since I have to move slowly anyway, I may as well use this time. He took a deep breath, focusing on the air in his lungs this time. I hope this works. I haven't gotten to practice much. It was a move Claire had had him use mostly against electric pokémon, since their lightning would spread through the mist away from him if he did it right. Tyler sighed as he thought of his trainer, and his breath came out in a thick fog. At least it works for cover. He took another breath, turning to exhale upward. A third, and the mist was starting to cloak him.
Just as he was starting to feel safe, the pupitar came ramming into his side, leaving four spike wounds like before and knocking him over. Tyler's breath caught and he flailed for a moment before finding the ground so he could scramble back to his paws. Then he caught the tyranitar thundering in. This is bad. Tyler took aim at the pupitar before squinting and blasting it with a quick aurora beam. Through slitted eyelids he saw the fog all around him light up with reflected light. Then he had to run before the tyranitar found him. After a few steps he started to reach clearer air. It's not going to do any good if I don't finish. Breathing harder now, Tyler started exhaling more mist. As it thickened again Tyler reached out with his water sense, feeling the droplets suspended in the air around him. There was one large disturbance more or less straight in front of him—his enemy. Forcing himself not to run or move too loudly, Tyler started circling around it, still breathing out more mist.
He finally had a moment to breathe and take stock of the fight and himself, and he didn't like what he found. The vaporeon was wounded all over; his side and tail were already starting to stiffen. Fortunately none of his legs were hurt, but he was still moving gingerly.
A frustrated roar sounded through the fog, accompanied by thrashing noises. "Where are you?!" The thick mist made it sound somehow distant. Tyler kept silent but came to a stop, trying to pinpoint his opponent as he readied another Hydro Pump attack. There was a rising roar; Tyler turned toward it, then…
The ground shook, nearly throwing Tyler off his paws. He stumbled and another tremor hit. Tyler hit the ground hard and gasped. I forgot it could do that. A third quake rattled his bones; Tyler hit his head and clenched his teeth to keep from crying out. He turned liquid in time for the next shockwave and managed to relax for a moment. He could sense the disturbance that was the tyranitar moving back and forth, but it didn't seem to be headed in any particular direction. At least it still doesn't know where I am. There was another smaller tremor in the ground and Tyler felt the disturbance spreading to the side. It didn't feel like another earthquake wave, so he took a risk and reformed. As things started to settle again, he could tell that the tyranitar was still where it had been. Maybe it was another stone spike attack. He shivered; that one had come close.
I've got to do something. It's still in control of the fight. He started releasing water again; the injuries in his side and along the length of his tail dissolved, but Tyler knew he didn't have the luxury of healing against something like this. Usually I can outlast opponents, but I don't think that'll work against a tyranitar. I've got to take it down—somehow—before I get hurt any worse. This water was to attack, not to heal. Afraid the tyranitar would start another earthquake if it couldn't find him again, Tyler called out. "Hey! I'm over here, you big…" Tyler trailed off, realizing he wasn't very good at taunts and insults. He got a roar in response. No more time. He charged.
He'd switched places with the tyranitar in the last minute or so; now it was between him and the stream. That means if I hit it hard enough, I might get it in. As he got close, Tyler pulled all the water he could around him, including the mist. The air cleared to show the tyranitar turning toward him, raising a giant foot to stomp…Tyler took three more steps and then launched diagonally upward at the tyranitar with a full-strength waterfall attack, catching it in the upper chest. His attack was strong enough to actually lift the tyranitar slightly off the ground as he smashed into it, carrying them both into the air toward the stream.
Before they hit, the furious tyranitar reached through the water to seize Tyler with both claws. It squeezed and Tyler liquefied again, slipping out of its grasp. They splashed down in the stream; Tyler reformed a few feet from where it lay on its back, already going into a spin. He swept water up with his tail, turning and bringing it looping over his body to smash down on the tyranitar's head as it tried to get up, spluttering.
"You stay away from her, you understand?" Tyler demanded. The tyranitar started to rise again, glaring murder at him. Before it could get up, Tyler pulled more water around himself and launched on top of his opponent, bearing it down again. It grabbed him again; as Tyler dissolved it electrified its claws, sending an agonizing surge through him. Gasping, the vaporeon reformed and lost his hold over the water around him; it went sliding away and uncovered the tyranitar's face again. It took a deep breath and coughed; Tyler took the chance to wriggle out of its grip and dance away from its grasping jaws and claws. It looked up at him and he put an ice beam into its face, even getting a little down its throat before it snapped its mouth shut and raised its arms defensively. Determined to drown it this time, Tyler jumped back onto the tyranitar and pulled the water back over it, hanging on grimly as it pummeled and thrashed, smashing him in the head and all across his body. There were sporadic shocks too, but they were weakening quickly. At least—Tyler grimaced underwater as another blow hit—it's not naturally an electric pokémon. I would have had no chance.
The tyranitar finally stopped struggling and fell limp in the streambed; Tyler noticed it didn't float at all. Is it over? As he let the water slide away, the vaporeon put another ice beam into its face just to be sure. Somehow he didn't think it would be enough to kill it, but at least the tyranitar would think twice before coming after them again.
At last he let his aching body collapse and turned liquid again, sliding downstream—back in Chloe's direction. He wasn't sure if he'd have the strength to walk there, so the vaporeon was grateful for the water. It's saved me so many times now. Tyler's heart sank as he realized his water crystal had been left somewhere back there. I should have known it wouldn't stay on for the fight. I should have left it with Chloe. I don't even know if I'll be able to go back for it. It had probably fallen off right in the middle of everything; the tyranitar might have even destroyed or lost it with its heavy attacks. Somehow, though, Tyler didn't feel the burning need to get it back this time. Is my life really changing that quickly? Just because I have Chloe to take care of now?
Tyler realized he'd reached the area where he'd left Chloe and reformed. There was a sigh in his throat, but it came out as a groan as all the pain from the fight came back. He was now laying on his side in the shallow stream; the current eddied around him. Tyler tried to get up, wincing as numerous injuries cried out at the effort. After a moment he tried again, this time rolling onto his stomach. After a few more tries the vaporeon made it to his paws and shakily climbed out of the streambed, gritting his teeth with the effort. It got me almost as badly as I got it, the vaporeon realized. He'd only barely won. He had to stop again to rest; filling his lungs, the vaporeon called out, "Chloe? I'm…I made it."
A few seconds later he heard pattering paws coming his direction. "Tyler? Where are you?"
"Over here!" he called hoarsely.
The patter shifted direction again and Chloe came running into view. "Tyler!" Then she looked back. "It's coming! It's still coming!" There were tears in the eevee's eyes, and she ran around the vaporeon to shelter behind his back. He opened his mouth to ask what was coming, but then the pupitar came hissing into view like a missile. It hit a rock and went rolling off the ground; there was a pause and Tyler could hear it breathing in. It seemed a little hurt already. At least I did some good. Tyler heaved himself to his paws again and tried to hit it with a water blast. All he managed was a weak stream. I've got nothing left. Then he found new determination. We're not done yet. We can't be done yet. There's still…one more thing…
Tyler didn't move as the pupitar launched off again. It hit him and he collapsed onto Chloe, who gave a frightened squeak. As he hit the ground, Tyler used his power again to turn liquid and wrapped his water form around the pupitar. I'm still water, I can use me.
The pupitar spurted a few bubbles and Tyler felt a sucking sensation as it briefly tried to inhale him. It intensified, almost painful even in his liquid state, and then all at once the suction disappeared and the pupitar's eyes fell shut. Tyler let himself fall back to reform panting on the ground. He closed his eyes for a few seconds until he heard a sound.
Tyler opened his eyes again to see Chloe standing upside-down in front of him. "You're hurt…are you okay?"
Tyler almost shook his head, but he didn't want to frighten the eevee. "I'll…make it…" he panted. "The tyranitar…won't come after you again."
She shook her head and started crying anyway. "It's just like…with Mother. Don't leave me alone," she sobbed. "Please don't leave me alone."
"I won't," Tyler soothed. "Right now, though…I need water." He sighed. "That fight was almost too much for me. I have to heal, build up my strength again. But I did it, Chloe. You're safe from them now."
She shook her head again. "They're not the only hunting pokémon around. If you're hurt then more might come after us." She stopped and looked at him for a few seconds. "I'm scared, Tyler."
The vaporeon sighed inwardly. He didn't know what to do or how to reassure Chloe, especially because he was hurt. As much as he'd been trying to ignore it, he was still sore all over from bruises and shocks, he was wounded in at least a dozen places, he was out of both water and energy, and he barely had the strength to stand up. If I were still with Claire, she would have taken me out of the fight long ago.
"One thing at a time," he finally said. "I have to get back to the stream. I'll heal there." He slowly got up again and started moving back. It was a struggle to keep putting one paw in front of another without stumbling and falling, but he gritted his teeth and pressed on. Falling in front of Chloe or even asking her for help would destroy what little sense of safety she had left.
When he reached the stream's small bank, though, Tyler lost his footing and tumbled into the water. He heard Chloe gasp. "No, no, no."
"I'm all right," Tyler managed. The stream was already draining behind him as most of the current soaked into his skin. He waited expectantly for his injuries to start healing, but it didn't seem to be happening like it should. I'm too drained to even heal properly. At least this water will help a little. He looked up at Chloe. "What would help…I need something to eat. Something to build my strength up. If you can find a bush around here…and get there and back safely…it would help." He doubted he was doing much to protect the eevee now, but Tyler didn't mention that. Chloe nodded, eyes wide, and whisked away.
He sighed. However much he tried to deny it, this was the worst situation he'd been in since Claire had captured him. Chloe can't know that, though. I have to protect her somehow. He found himself thinking longingly of the pokecenters and their healing machines. Even something like this could have been taken care of overnight, or in one day at the most. Having a trainer to take care of him had been so much easier. That's not how my life is now, though. I have to take care of myself. And take care of Chloe. While he waited—a little worriedly—for the eevee to come back, Tyler started turning possibilities over in his mind for what they could do next.