Fai's Savior

Mint rounds the corner leading to the old district of Castelia City. In his arms is a wounded Fai who got beat up by some Garbodor who got mad at her for being with Mint a few moments ago. He decimated the monsters who hurt her with ease and while he didn't take any damage from it, he worries about Fai since the only thing he can recall from the fight she had was that she ended up being knocked out. He's a bit fuzzy on why they ended up attacking her, but this doesn't matter to him, what does matter is making sure she's okay as this whole thing is close to what happened with his father and the last thing he wants is for her to be stuck in the Pokemon Center for days on end.

He runs with a couple tears in his eyes. His mind is immediately thinking of what she'll say to him when she's fully recovered. It's his fault for allowing this to happen to her, he should've done something to stop them and in turn, protect her from them. She's gonna yell at him for sure, and if she thinks it's enough, might even kick him out of her apartment. He can't bear to hear what she'll say to him, but one way or another, he's going to have to have to come face to face to face with her when she awakens.

He reaches the Pokemon Center and using his right shoulder, pushes the door open and he enters. Inside the lobby, there's a few people and Pokemon in the waiting area. It seems to be a little busy and this isn't good, especially since Mint's worried that Fai could have more injuries than it seems. The whole place is in motion though, and he's approached by one of the nurse Audino. "So, what brings you here today?" they ask kindly.

Mint looks down at his arms, and at Fai. The Audino immediately knows and motions for him to follow her. They bring him through the lobby and through the doors in the back. This leads into a hallway with many rooms lining it on either side and the Audino takes a turn into an empty one. Mint follows and inside is a special bed meant to help a Pokemon rapidly recover. He hands Fai over to the Audino and they place her in the bed. They press a few buttons on the side of the bed and a glass cover comes up to keep her inside and the recovery process begins. The Audino then walks over to a small desk with a computer that's hooked up to the machine that the bed has to allow rapid recovery and she takes a look at Fai's vitals. Everything seems to be okay and they turn to Mint. "Looking at her vitals, she's fine. I do have to ask what exactly happened so I can be sure the recovery process is quick and successful."

He looks at the ground to his left for a moment, then tells her with a shameful tone. "..S-she got into a fight… I-I didn't see the w-whole thing, b-but I stopped the attacking Pokemon f-from hurting her when I f-found her knocked out…"

The Audino takes this information and writes it down in the computer. "Okay, I need a few more things before I go… do you know what this Emolga's name is?"

"F-Fai…"

"Fai… okay… she already has credentials here so I have everything I need. She'll recover just fine, she's come here after quite a few fights before and she's always walked out without any issues so I wouldn't worry about it too much." they say, before walking towards the door. They turn around before they leave to say one last thing. "She'll probably wake up in a few hours, she seems to have taken quite a beating but luckily, she doesn't have any broken bones. You can stay here if you wish until she wakes up." they then leave.

"T-thanks…" he says quietly, but the Audino has already left. He turns his attention to Fai. Inside the little capsule, what seems to be a green mist is floating around her. He doesn't quite know what it is, but he assumes this mist is some special medication to heal a Pokemon. He's never been inside a Pokemon Center before and doesn't know how they work. As he looks at her, he gets images of his father being in the same position, except with his arms in a cast. He whispers to himself. "Again… once again I'm the reason why someone got hurt. If I didn't let that garbage heap's words bother me, I could've helped you out…" his arms begin to shake, frustrated with himself for allowing this to happen. "Dammit all…!" he stomps his right foot once, then walks to where the computer desk is. "Why did this have to happen!? Why do my memories keep coming back to haunt and hurt me!? Why can't I let go of my stupid fucking past life!? I'm in Castelia City, the city of new beginnings, the city of chance and fortune, the city that changes someone's life forever! Why can't I move past what I left behind back at Pinwheel Forest!?" in his anger and frustration, he punches the wall to his left with his right paw. It doesn't break the wall or hurt him, but it makes a loud 'bang' that would surely grab the attention of anyone in the room next to him.

He grabs the pendant with his left paw and looks at it with a sharp gaze. "You said you'd help guide me in my darkest hours and show me the right path when nobody's there to help me!" his arms start to shake again and his grip on the pendant tightens. "Why haven't you helped me! Fucking help me figure this shit out! Tell me! Tell me why ever since my evolution, the only change I've had is the location I'm living in but the pain, sadness, and guilt of my past life has stayed the same, if not, gotten worse!? TELL ME!" he stands there, staring at the pendant, panting, completely frustrated, and feeling both lost and betrayed.

Silence, except for the sound of the machine healing Fai. Mint lowers his head and lets go of the pendant. He walks over to a chair on the opposite side of the room and decides to take a seat. He places his paws on his chin, holding his head up, thinking about everything that's happened. He evolved with a shiny stone by accident, he nearly got found out by the entire colony and his bullies declared a witch hunt on him, he ran away from home, came to Castelia and met Fai, was given a place to stay with everything he could ever need, got a job literally one day later, and now, failed to protect his friend. He was insulted just for existing in that very place at that exact time and instead of just being able to push past it, instead, it digs up the memories of what he used to deal with. On top of it all, he realizes that he seriously wounded someone that he didn't even know, not because he wanted to hurt them for the sake of harming them, but because they pushed him past his breaking point and hurt one of his friends.

He frowns and his eyes become partially closed. He just doesn't understand. Fai and literally hundreds of other Pokemon in this city probably have terrible life stories as to why they came here, and yet, while the past might sometimes come back and ruin their day, they're able to still push past it and continue living without it bringing them down. Here he is, the only mint-green Cinccino in the world that he knows of and all his life problems have simply followed him from one place to another. He thought by escaping to Castelia he'd be escaping what he dreaded for most of his life, but instead, it's only hunted him down and attached itself to him once again. He's a Mareep, and like a Mareep, they're hunted by predator Pokemon, but unlike a predator, when they catch him, they opt to torture and leave him struggling to survive, then come back several days later to do the same thing again all for their own amusement and pleasure.

"Is there something I'm missing here? Am I really that stupid and don't see it? Was running away a mistake? Is that why my memories keep haunting me…? There's nothing back home that's worth going to. My parents won't recognize me, All the Minccino in that colony have probably wanted me to disappear or die for years on end in secret, I'll simply be kicked around and bullied again for what I've become, and none of those Pokemon even care if I live or die… So someone or something tell me, was it REALLY a mistake to run away?"

He sighs, waiting for this otherworldly sign to appear but he knows better, it won't. Suddenly, without any rhyme or reason, the pendant around his neck begins to glow and sparkle very faintly. He notices it from the bottom corner of his eyes and he picks it up with his left paw, holding it in front of his face. He stares at it for a few seconds, trying to figure out why it started to glow. Dumbfounded and bewildered, he holds his gaze on it, hoping for something to go off in his head and tell him what he's been trying to understand for the last few hours but no, nothing happens and it simply keeps glowing and sparkling.

"Are you trying to tell me something…?" he says to himself, trying to figure it out, but before he's able to think of anything, it stops glowing. He drops it once again and sits there silently. His mind is only on two things now, what all that meant, and Fai.

A few hours go by, and the sun is now just over the horizon. The day is about to come to an end but Castelia City has a reputation for being "the city that never sleeps" and with nightfall looming overhead, it doesn't phase the denizens one bit at all. Cars and buses honk their horns at people and Pokemon who dare squeeze through to reach the other side of the street, and the sky begins to slowly turn from its deep blue to a warm, orangey red as the sun starts to exit the stage and let the next star come up to take its place.

In the Pokemon Center, Mint has fallen asleep while waiting for Fai to recover. He's curled up in the chair, his fluffs of fur becoming a very comfy pillow for him, allowing the normally uncomfortable chair to be somewhat more tolerable. His thoughts had eventually transformed into nothing more than simple, pointless worry as he began to drift off. On the other hand, Fai's recovery is pretty much done. She slowly awakens from her long spell of unconsciousness and opens her eyes.

She's greeted by the bright lights on the ceiling and squints in response. The glass casing that came up over her slides away and she sits up in the bed, holding her head with her right hand. She has a very fuzzy recollection of what happened and her body aches her a little. She looks around the room and recognizes that it's the Pokemon Center, but she doesn't know how she got here. "This is the Pokemon Center, but how'd I get here…?" she says to herself quietly and then notices Mint in the chair, sleeping. "Mint, did you bring me here?"

She doesn't get an answer and notices that he's sleeping. She has no idea how he ended up falling asleep in a chair the likes of the one he ended up falling asleep in, but she doesn't question it and instead stands up on the bed and hops onto the ground. She walks over to him and thinks about what happened. "He must've brought me here… I can't quite remember what happened, and what I do remember isn't very clear." she waves it off, the main thing is that she's okay.

She has to wake him up though, she doesn't know what the time is and if it's late at night, the Pokemon Center will be its closing doors and they won't be able to leave. She places her right hand on his cheek and pinches it lightly. This makes him show mild discomfort on his face but it doesn't wake him. She groans a little, slightly frustrated that it didn't wake him and she simply does it again. This time, his right paw comes up and gently pushes her hand away. She puffs her cheeks out a little. "C'mon Mint! You have to wake up." she says quietly as to not startle him and she uses both hands this time and pinches his cheeks.

He makes a little, high pitched whine and his eyes open up. She stops pinching him and speaks. "Hey there sleepyhead, you gotta get up, it's time to go."

He looks at her, half-asleep and very much out of it. He holds a slight frown on his face and then uncurls himself and sits on the chair normally. He rubs his eyes for a second then looks at her once more. His ears are drooped down a bit and he doesn't seem too happy about being woken up. Fai puts her hands on her hips and tilts her head a little. "Had a nice nap? We gotta get going otherwise we'll be stuck here for the night and as helpful as these places are, I don't wanna be here for the rest of the night."

He hops off the chair and yawns, stretching himself out a bit. The two then take their leave and after a quick okay from the front desk allowing Fai to leave, they're off into the orange kissed city once again. The orange glow of the sky combined with the setting sun makes for a very beautiful look that happens at least twice a day, once at sunrise, and once at sunset. Mint and Fai walk down towards the end of the old district and as they do, Fai asks Mint about what happened in order for him to bring her to the Pokemon Center. "So, I know you kinda just woke up, but can you tell me what happened? Why'd you bring me there?" she asks.

He's half-asleep, but still answers, his voice squeaky and weird due to just waking up. "...you… you got into a fight and lost…"

She finds this a bit strange, but she does recall something. "That doesn't sound right, I almost never lose in a fight… unless…" she then remembers one of the Pokemon she fought. "Unless they were a Ground type." she sighs. "Fucking hell, I can't believe I lost to a Ground type out of anything I could've lost to." she then waves it off. "Whatever, the point is that I'm okay."

Mint tells her something else that's a bit startling for her to hear. "T-there was another one…. A Garbodor who s-said something about sliding into y-you... Whatever that m-means..."

This is not only super startling to her, but she finds this extremely disgusting and her face reflects it. "Oh my Arceus… that's fucking nasty! He tried to take advantage of me while I was down!? The nerve! I hope he gets what he deserves in the future by someone else, how dare you try to use a girl for your own personal pleasure!?" she then shakes a little. "Ugh… I don't even wanna think about that now, let's just get back to my home…"

They make a right and walk down the sidewalk. Mint has one last thing to tell her. "I-If it makes you happy… I… I b-beat them up for hurting you… and then I t-took you to the Pokemon C-center…"

She looks at him, a bit surprised to hear this. Upon her first meeting with him, she didn't get the impression he was someone who had it in him to beat someone up. "Wait… you beat them up?"

He nods. He's fully awake now and his voice becomes serious. "If… if there's o-one thing I hate the most, it's… it's seeing others hurt t-those that I consider to be important to m-me… friends you could s-say…"

She stares at him for a few seconds. She remembers that they insulted him before they started to fight. For him to bounce back from crying to beating them down, that's a big thing. He has to be 100% truthful about that, otherwise he wouldn't have done what he did. He went through all the trouble to beat them up for her and he even saved her in the process. She has no words to express how much she appreciates what he did and instead, she jumps at him and grabs him in a very big hug. He's not expecting this and it knocks him down onto the ground.

He has no idea what to think of this, he thought she'd be angry at him for allowing them to knock her out as well as nearly use her for something quite disgusting. He doesn't know how to react to this, but he knows one thing: it's extremely embarrassing and weird, his cheeks begin to heat up and turn a deep shade of red. She rubs her cheeks up against his. "Thank you Mint… thank you for stopping them and taking care of me." they both stand up, but she continues to hug him. He's never hugged anyone in his life besides his parents and isn't sure if he should do the same. While hesitating, he slowly wraps his arms around her, embracing the hug she gave to him. He doesn't stay like this for long and quickly stops hugging her. She does the same and notices the extremely deep red on his cheeks and she smiles while slightly shaking head. "C'mon, let's go home."

The two walk down the sidewalk towards her apartment, and it feels very good to be almost home after such a terrible day. Mint isn't very proud of having to have fought someone to stop them from hurting Fai, but as he said, he can't stand to see his friends get hurt and he'd do anything to help them. While he's done his good deed for the day, he still gets bit and nipped by the thoughts he was having earlier. He doesn't worry about them, but they linger in the back of his mind and as the next day approaches, he'll have better things to worry about, such as the first day of his new job. For now, though, the rest of the day is spent relaxing.

PD: Wanna talk about cute? I swear Fai doesn't have feelings for Mint, the way she acts is part of her personality. Got thoughts about all this? let me know! Seeya in the next chapter!