Author's Note: Oops, I wrote another depressing one. I figured that if I went to the trouble of introducing Claire's dad (back in the 26th one of these) that I should explain what happened to him. Also, I feel kind of bad for killing off Jack's mom immediately after including her, but I figured this was one of the best places to mention her.
In the End
It had started out as a simple supply run, but Jameson should've known that nothing was ever that easy here.
He and Michelle had a place to stay for a while. Jirachi and his friend Celebi really had been kind to them. After leaving Star Cave, Celebi had shown them a few other safe places to hide, and he and Michelle had set up a home not too far from one of Celebi's favorite forests.
For a while, things had been almost normal. Happy, even. Michelle's partner, Blitz the Persian, had met a kindly Arcanine shortly after they'd settled down, and the two of them eventually had a son. Soon after that, Jameson and Michelle had children of their own—a pair of twins. They'd both been ecstatic, though Michelle especially had been.
It didn't last for long, though.
Jameson had offered to go out and look for food. Knowing it would be unsafe for a lone human, Riley (Blitz's mate) had offered to come with him. He'd gladly accepted her offer, and they said goodbye to the others with the promise to return soon.
They made their way towards a nearby cave. A few scraggly bushes outside had a surprisingly decent selection of berries, and there were even a handful of them that weren't half-wilted. Jameson gathered as many of them as he could into his basket, nodding as he turned to Riley.
"This is a decent amount, but I think we should look for more," he said. "We'll need enough to last a while, you know."
The Arcanine barked out something Jameson couldn't understand, but she nodded as well. It was an agreement, at any rate. She glanced towards the cave before looking back at him, and Jameson followed her as she ducked through its entrance.
That really was something bizarre, Jameson thought. Dungeons still randomly changed here as they had before, and that variance still led to an assortment of items appearing in them. The fact that fresh (well, mostly-fresh) food appeared along with them was…not something he'd complain about, but it was weird nonetheless.
Anyway, they went deeper into the cave, and Riley spotted a few seeds and apples strewn across the floor. Jameson picked them all up, and, once the basket was full, he caught Riley's attention.
"This should do for now," he commented. "We should get back before Michelle and Blitz start to worry."
She nodded, and the two of them turned around to leave. They managed to get back outside safely, which Jameson was grateful for. So far, they hadn't run into a single wild Pokémon. It almost felt too lucky—but Jameson wasn't going to push his luck by questioning it.
That changed once they'd gotten a fair distance away from the cave.
It happened almost without warning. They passed a small alcove in a cliff wall, and Jameson heard a light growl and fluttering of wings. Then, he'd been knocked to the ground, and there was an ear-splitting screech above him. The basket of food had tumbled to the ground, strewing its contents everywhere, and Jameson struggled to raise his arms over his face.
There was an Aerodactyl on top of him, he dimly noticed. She snarled, snapping her jaws downward, and Jameson howled in pain as she bit down on his arms. Riley roared, flames cloaking her jaw, and she clamped down on the Aerodactyl's wings with a Fire Fang.
It worked, mostly—the Aerodactyl screeched again as her attention turned to the large Fire-Type. She was still sitting on top of Jameson, and he hissed in pain as her claws dug across his stomach, but the pain in his arms had reduced to a dull throb. They were still bloody, but with Aerodactyl's attention focused on Riley, he might be able to get out from under her.
He weakly rolled over, and Aerodactyl stumbled as Jameson managed to crawl away from her. Riley took the opportunity to go for another Fire Fang, and she ripped into Aerodactyl's wing hard enough that she wouldn't be able to chase them. Jameson heaved a sigh of relief as he looked over at Riley. She was battered as well—it looked like the Aerodactyl had gotten several good bites in on her—but they should be able to get back if they were careful.
"Thanks," he wheezed as he tried to gather up a bit of the food. "We should—"
There was another screech nearby, and Jameson's eyes widened. There were more Aerodactyl, and they were rapidly diving towards them. Riley crouched down, allowing Jameson to climb up on her back, and he tightly held onto her as she started sprinting away.
She was too weak to outrun them forever, though, and Jameson realized they wouldn't get back before the Aerodactyl caught up with them.
The sight was one Michelle would keep with her for a while.
Riley stumbled back to camp with a limp Jameson on her back, and she was ragged and bloody. She stared at Michelle, wide-eyed and breathing heavily, before collapsing to the ground.
"Aerodactyl," she panted. "There were…too many—"
Then her eyes had rolled back in her head, and she'd fallen partially on top of Jameson. Even before looking at him, Michelle knew he'd been dead before they'd even gotten there, and seeing his bloody, tattered clothes had only served to confirm that.
She was vaguely aware of her pained wail, followed by Blitz coming over to check on her, and Michelle could only be glad that Andrew, Claire, and Jack were too young to have solid memories of their now-deceased parents.
