Chapter 2
It was late evening and the sun was beginning to set over the mountains to the east. Royce Morrow and Dina Larson were walking side-by-side across a bridge that stretched over a busy highway. Royce was tall, standing at six feet, eight inches, and had a decent build from standard workouts. His brick-red hair burned brilliantly beneath the shine of the setting sun. His blue eyes glanced to Dina to his left and a kind smile formed on his face. She stood five feet, seven inches tall and had a slim build. She had short, blonde hair and green eyes and tanned skin.
"It was your fault," a voice whispered in his ear.
Royce and Dina stopped; the former looking around for the source of the voice, but finding none. Dina had her back to Royce and was looking out at oncoming traffic.
"Dina," Royce spoke.
"It was your fault," the voice whispered in his ear.
"No, no, no. Dina, let's go!" Royce shouted.
She did not listen; however, and begun climbing up the chain link fence. Royce strained against the invisible force keeping him still. The ground cracked beneath his might, but it was not enough, and Dina jumped out of sight to the busy highway below.
Royce choked on his own breath as he woke up on the couch in Buck and Noelle Larson's living room. He coughed into the crook of his arm and looked around as beads of cold sweat formed along his brow. It was still the middle of the night according to his Pokégear; just thirty minutes past midnight to be precise.
He was surprised that Buck and Noelle managed to convince him to bunk on the sofa as opposed to walking home after dinner. They were asleep now; however, so Royce quietly stalked the lower floor of their home. He approached a computer in the den and pulled out a piece of paper from the printer. Royce used a pen he found in the same general area to write a note so they wouldn't be worried when they discovered him to be gone in the morning.
Afterwards, Royce folded the sheet and blanket they loaned him to sleep with and left the note on top of the bedding. He walked out the front door and locked the knob before closing the door. Royce took a moment to himself on the front porch before setting off for his home.
He slept in a bit more than he had hoped as he didn't awake until eight o'clock, but Royce more than made up for it with a vigorous workout to begin burning off the heavy meal he had consumed the previous night. After that, he took a shower, and dressed for the shift he had to work later that afternoon.
"Hello!?" a child-like, feminine voice called out from downstairs, "Anyone home!?"
"What the fuck?" Royce growled as he left the bedroom.
He stood at the top of the stairs and saw a petite, young woman with hair as black as a Murkrow's feathery coat standing in his living room. Her big, dark brown eyes fluttered a bit when she noticed Royce standing above her.
"Whoa… big guy," she stated, "Hiya, I'm Kaya!"
"Why do you think you can just walk into a stranger's home uninvited?" Royce asked as he slowly descended the stairs to the ground level of his cabin.
"I knocked and rang the doorbell, but no one answered," Kaya pointed out.
Royce reached the bottom of the stairs and stared fiercely down at his uninvited guest. She was barely five feet tall and no bigger around than his leg. She was wearing a mini sundress with a rainbow heart pattern, black fishnet stockings, and knee-high boots.
"This is a cool place ya got here, big guy," Kaya stated.
"Yes. Now leave it," Royce responded.
"W-What? Why?" Kaya asked in disbelief.
"I don't want any guests," Royce told her.
"But I need your help, kind sir," Kaya responded, pouting up at Royce.
A skeptical look came over Royce's look and Kaya was not oblivious to this. She started batting her eyelashes and continued pouting, making herself seem as adorable as possible. Royce was not convinced.
"I got lost, okay?" Kaya admitted, giving up on the routine.
"That still does not make me able to forgive you for entering my home without my permission," Royce pointed out.
"Sheesh! You have a cute girl walk in unannounced and you act like it's the end of the world," Kaya huffed.
"Is there someone else in my home?" Royce asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Kaya scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest, and then narrowed her eyes angrily at Royce. He was in no mood to continue their back and forth, so he stepped forward in hopes his size would force her to leave without him needing to physically remove her. Kaya was unfazed by his advance and remained steady before him.
"Y'know, you're pretty rude, big guy," she told him, "Insinuating that I'm not the totally cute girl who walked in unannounced."
"Get out of my house before I throw you out, little girl," Royce threatened.
"Fine, fine. Let the tiny and adorable girl continue wandering the untamed wilds of the Johto Region, completely lost," Kaya responded, turning toward the front door.
She started toward it, but then stopped, and cast a look over her shoulder. Royce sighed heavily, preparing himself for the upcoming guilt trip.
"I hope nothing happens to little, poor me. I don't want you to suffer from nightmares of what could've been if you just helped me out," she shot her shot before opening the front door.
Kaya walked outside onto the wraparound porch and prepared to close the front door. Royce caught it before it closed, stunning Kaya with how quickly he closed the distance between them and how quietly he had done so as well.
"Where were you headed?" Royce asked.
"To Professor Elm's Lab," Kaya revealed, "I'm supposed to pick my Starter Pokémon today, but I think it turned a left when I was supposed to turn a right, or turned a right when I was supposed to turn a left. Long story, short… I'm lost as heck."
"Figures," Royce grumbled, "You need to go to where I work."
"Wait, are you Professor Elm?" Kaya asked, "Because, damn, you look nothing like I'd expect a Professor to look like."
"I am not Elm, and he looks exactly like you'd expect a Pokémon Professor to look like," Royce responded, "Now… let me put my shoes on and we can get going to where we need to go."
Kaya nodded and waited out on the porch for Royce to return. It didn't take him long to get everything he needed for his shift, so after locking his cabin up, he and Kaya left.
"Just two pals walking in the woods. Walking in the woods. Walking in the woods. Just two pals walking in the woods! Live the long day's life!" Kaya sang as she skipped in a circle around where Royce walked.
"Please stop singing," Royce requested.
"You're such a grump-butt," Kaya teased.
Royce grunted and kept walking. Kaya continued skipping around the wooded trail, but then stopped alongside Royce when a bipedal, ursine Pokémon with orange fur stumbled out of the brush. Royce's eyes widened in fear, but Kaya's widened in naïve awe over the adorable Pokémon.
"Oh… my… Arceus!" she squealed, "He's so cute!"
She sprinted over toward the Pokémon, but Royce caught her around the waist, and pulled her off her feet to bring her back to his side. Kaya blinked up at him in surprise, but Royce's eyes were now on the forest around them.
"Th-This is so sudden, big guy," Kaya told him in a slightly flustered manner, "At least take a girl out to dinner before getting so hands-on with her."
"Shut up," Royce told her.
"Excuse me?" Kaya questioned.
"Shut the fuck up," Royce repeated himself, "That's a Teddiursa. A young Teddiursa which means its mother should be nearby."
"And?" Kaya asked, still confused.
"And mothering Ursaring are extremely aggressive towards anything that gets between them and their cubs," Royce explained.
He kept his grip around Kaya's slender waist as he began backing them both away from the wild Teddiursa cub. There was a low rumble behind them and Royce's heart sank to his stomach. He felt hot breath on the back of his neck and he closed his eyes shut for a moment.
"Run," he whispered to Kaya, shoving her forward before turning just in time to receive a Slash across the chest from the mother Ursaring.
Royce grunted and was knocked off his feet by the blow. Kaya stumbled onto her knees and her head whipped around to see the Ursaring advancing on towards where Royce had fallen. She then saw the blood spreading across his chest and dripping onto the dirt.
"Big guy!" she cried out, still not knowing his name.
"Run!" he shouted back at her, "She's distracted by me!"
Royce curled into a fetal position as the Ursaring descended on him. The bipedal, ursine Pokémon covered in brown fur began unleashing a melee of blows onto Royce's body. The Thrash attack battered Royce's body, but he protected his more vital bits from the assault. Ursaring eventually stopped and sniffed the cowering threat for a moment. She then turned to where her cub was hiding and advanced over, not even noticing the petite girl hiding in the brush. The two wild Pokémon disappeared into the trees and then Kaya ran out from her hiding spot to where Royce lay bloodied and battered.
"Are you okay!?" she shouted at him, descending to her knees beside him.
"You… You were supposed to keep… running," Royce muttered under his breath.
"I… I… you're hurt," Kaya stated.
"No… shit," Royce responded.
"I know, I know!" she exclaimed, "What do I do?"
She gripped either side of her head and then saw Royce slide his arm out toward her. Kaya saw his Pokégear and immediately pulled it from his wrist. She dialed for emergency services on the device and informed them where they were located.
"Help's on the way, big guy," Kaya told him, "Just hold on."
"I… I'm sorry…," Royce muttered, "D-Dina… I'm so s-sorry."
"Dina? Who's Dina?" Kaya asked.
Royce did not respond. Kaya's heart skipped a beat and she looked around at their surroundings for any sign of the coming help. She had tears in her eyes as he had been given her first experience of a real world situation. She got lost. She disturbed Royce and brought him on a collision course with the Ursaring. She thought it'd be wise to approach a baby Pokémon while not considering that its parents were nearby. She became Royce's primary concern, someone he just met, and she was the distraction that caused him to get hurt. This was all her fault.
Kaya then heard a helicopter approaching and the leaves from the treetops were blown free as the aircraft approached for a landing. Paramedics rushed out and immediately began strapping Royce's unconscious body into a gurney. One of them took Kaya by the arm and led her to the helicopter as well.
Royce did not regain consciousness until later that evening and he woke up in a hospital room attached to a bunch of medical equipment that he knew nothing about. Slowly, Royce looked to either side and then focused on Kaya sitting beside him, scrolling through her Pokégear.
"What're you doing here?" he asked, causing her to jump to her feet.
"Oh! You're awake!" she exclaimed, sitting back down, "Hi… big guy? Sorry, I don't know your name still."
"It's Royce. I thought I told you to run," he grumbled.
"I did and I hid. I came back when Ursaring left," Kaya said, "Thank Arceus I did, because you passed out not too long after."
Royce grunted and closed his eyes. Her decision to stay nearby probably saved his life. Ursaring clawed open his chest. He had no clue how bad or how deep either.
"I should go get the doctors," Kaya said, standing up again, "They probably wanna talk to you about your injuries and stuff."
"Wait," Royce told her, "Weren't you scheduled with Professor Elm to choose your Starter Pokémon?"
"Yeah… I'll probably have to call and explain what happened, so maybe I'll be able to pick a leftover Pokémon or reschedule. I'll be sure to tell him what happened to you, Royce! So you don't get into trouble for missing your shift," Kaya responded.
Royce simply grunted and nodded, leaving Kaya to awkwardly stand at his bedside. She shifted back and forth for a moment before leaving the room with an awkward wave of the hand.
Not too long after, a doctor walked in and told Royce what his injuries were. He had three lacerations that needed to be stitched shut and a few cracked ribs. Royce was required to remain on bed rest for several months, but that he avoided any major injury by curling up in the fetal position.
"Your girlfriend told us what had happened," the doctor revealed, "You were quite wise in having her run while you faced the Ursaring. Arceus knows how bad her injuries might've been if she had been targeted."
"Girlfriend?" Royce questioned, "Right… Kaya…"
He figured she lied about their relationship so she could remain at his bedside. She was probably concerned about his state and wanted to be in the loop. What a strange girl.
"I'll let you rest now," the doctor told Royce.
"Thank you," he muttered in response.
The doctor left the room and was quickly replaced by Kaya's return. She smiled as she sat down beside Royce and the awkward silence proved to be more painful than the Ursaring attack.
"You told the doctors you were my girlfriend?" he questioned.
"Consider it a compliment that you could get someone as cute as I am," Kaya responded as her smile turned into a cheeky grin.
"They told me I was lucky and that I was smart in how I had you run off," Royce pointed out, "You might've not been so lucky if that Ursaring targeted you."
"Yeah… she probably would've snapped me like a twig," Kaya admitted.
"Right, so how could you be so damned foolish?" Royce asked, "Who approached a wild Teddiursa in any situation?"
"He was cute," Kaya responded.
"You could've been killed, and you were to pick your Starter Pokémon today? That Ursaring was probably Level Fifty-Eight if it knew Thrash, so in a scenario where it was just you and a Level Five Starter… both of you would've been killed," Royce berated.
"I don't need to be lectured," Kaya responded.
"Obviously you do, because you're painfully naïve," Royce countered, "You walk into a stranger's home, you travel with him through uninhabited woods, and you approach the cub of one of Johto's most dangerous Pokémon. There should be a law prohibiting people like you from being Pokémon Trainers. You're the reason why the age got boosted up from ten to eighteen."
"Sweet baby Mew, you're such a dick," Kaya spat, "No wonder you were being so apologetic to that Dina girl."
Royce froze for a moment. His burrow furrowed. His fists clenched. Kaya felt a chill crawl up her spine and her naivety disappeared in that instant and the replacing common sense told her she just unknowingly crossed a line.
"How do you know that name?" Royce asked.
"You… You apologized to me and… you called me Dina," Kaya responded quietly, "Who is she?"
"Leave," Royce growled, "Now."
Kaya did not hesitate to stand up and leave the room, escaping Royce's building anger.