"Viridi? Hey, are you alright?" A calm voice spoke to me that came from fairly close by "Hey, wake up"
"Huh? Wait where am I?" I asked straining to get up from a couch before lightly being pushed back down
"Calm down, don't get up yet, you shouldn't have pushed yourself so hard" Once my vision cleared I had seen Honey taking care of me while feeling soft, fuzzy bandages around parts of my body such as my ankle, Left arm, Torso, and forehead.
"What happened, I thought we were stuck in that hole?"
"You were, Your Victini came for us and we found you unconscious and Klara with a Broken Leg"
"Oh...I forgot..." I began to say seeing Klara face the opposite direction being tended to by someone else. She seemed to be quite annoyed by who it was. They had a plaid shirt, a short dark-green skirt, and a Beret. I didn't recognize her, but Klara seemed to. With her thick accent, it was sort of difficult to understand.
"C'mon Klara, I leave the dojo for one week and you've already broken your leg!"
"You try babysitting some random kid..." She muttered. "It's not like I wanted to, Those Diglett dug weak ground and ended up making me fall"
"Oh please! No johns! You're one of my rivals, I can't have you blaming kids!"
"You're twelve, what are you talking about"
"I may be twelve, but I'm also the Champion!" She herself seemed disappointed and annoyed as she tied the ends of a bandage around Klara's leg before she winced.
"Ow...I don't need you to take care of me, don't you have challengers or somethin' like that?"
"You should know that someone has to get all eight badges before they can join the tournament, You're trying to be a bloody Gym Leader for Arceus's Sake"
"Yeah, Yeah, I know" It was then that Victini flew into the room, flying around the new girl before landing beside me.
"What is that Pokémon?" She asked
"Oh, It's Victini, Viridi's Pokémon"
"Victini?" She pulled out a pink Rotom Phone as it began to scan Victini, beginning to speak: "This Pokémon brings victory. It is said that Trainers with Victini always win, regardless of the type of encounter."
"Victini huh? Can't say I recognize it"
I didn't hear the rest of the conversation and I still felt fairly weak, It's to be expected I must have been trying for around an hour before I passed out the day before.
"Alright, is everyone here?" I heard Master Mustard say in the other room. I'm sure he meant everyone who had the ability to work, Klara and I probably would have to sit this one out due to our injuries. Even so, she still seemed mad at me, and she wouldn't let me heal her so I can't make it up to her. "Oh, and welcome back Gloria, we have odd numbers so would anyone like to form a group of three?"
"What about Viridi, he isn't too hurt, is he?" I heard her ask about me as I weakly stood from the couch, checking to make sure Klara was asleep and nobody was watching me so I could heal my injuries, seconds later I appeared to be completely fine
"So you're taking interest in him, Hm? I'll go see if he's able to get up" He began to come into the closed room after knocking to check up on us. I was already out of bed and got the bandages off.
"Viridi? Oh you're looking a lot better, I could have sworn you'd be unconscious longer"
"O-oh, I guess I'm just an early riser" I gave a forced laugh. And now I hope he couldn't tell since he looked serious for a moment before giving a light laugh
"You've completely healed too, I'll let Klara know when she wakes up"
"Right"
"Oh, and come into the main room, I want you to join us for foraging, You'll be with Gloria"
"Who's that?"
"Oh her? Why she's the champion of Galar, I assume you knew Leon was defeated?"
"Who's Leon?"
"Oh, just someone who used to come to this dojo"
I came into the other room, everyone seemed surprised to see me, not only awake, but completely healed as well. Gloria seemed quite happy, I suppose it was because I had Victini.
"Well, now that Viridi is healed, everyone it's time to forage ingredients for the next few weeks" He gave every two members a list of what to find, but not where to find them. I guess that's what makes it training. "Okay, Viridi you go with Gloria" I think he was putting me with the strongest members he could so I didn't get hurt. If anything I was helping them if they got hurt.
Once we headed outside, Gloria quickly skimmed over the paper before pointing towards the forest "If we start in the forest, we can get a couple things before making our way to caves to get Max Mushrooms. Rotom can you set the path for us?"
"No problem!" It chirped out before showing a map of the island and a set path to follow.
"Isn't it wrong to use Rotom as a tool?" I asked
"I don't believe so, everyone uses them"
"But, isn't it unfair to Rotom?"
"I...never thought of that, for a kid, you're pretty thoughtful"
"Aren't you a kid too?"
"Oh, well being champion can make me feel older I suppose, aren't you excited to be with me, Champion of Galar!"
"I've never heard of you before today"
"Wow...I don't think that's ever happened before"
"Oh, Sorry"
"Nah it's cool. And I'm curious, how did you recover so fast? With those injuries, you're lucky to even be able to walk"
Oh, Beedrills...She was onto me as I quickly tried to just say how I'm a fast healer. That was truthful enough.
"What, you're planning on becoming a nurse?"
"Well...Not exactly, I'm not even a Pokémon Trainer"
"You're serious?"
"I didn't enroll to the dojo either"
"Klara mistook you for the new student too, huh"
"Yeah..."
"The same happened to me, I defeated her in a battle and she tried to get me away from the dojo"
"Sounds familiar" I joked
"But, how did you beat her if you aren't a trainer"
"Victini is rare and powerful As my father told me, My brother told me to use the move: V-Create only in emergencies. She thought I was mocking her and attacked me"
"Wow, I'm surprised you even got something like that"
"My brother said I have a strong ability, and Victini will help me hone it"
"What's your ability!?" She had stars in her eyes, and that's when I knew I had said too much to her. I would have to play dumb to get away with it. Okay. No pressure.
"What ability?"
Not that dumb!
"The strong one you were talking about"
"Oh that, sorry had a brain-fart, but I'm not sure myself, h-he just told me I had one, not really what it was. It was probably just a metaphor"
"Awww...That would have been sooo cool..."
"Sorry"
"Don't be, It'd be pretty weird" for you to have something like that anyways. But besides that we should gather some Max Mushrooms"
"In the forest, right?"
"That's right, we're almost there too, now since you're younger and thought as vulnerable, I want you to stick close to me, and don't bother any Pokémon"
"Alright, here we are" She stepped forward before slipping on the mud and landing on a wild Pikachu, electrocuting her and leaving her with soot-covered hair and stunned for a few moments "D-d-don't step on Pikachus' tails, they're highly s-s-sensitive..."
"Are you okay!? Are you paralyzed!?" She seemed quick to recover as she jumped back on her feet with mud on her arms and clothes. And she began to laugh
"Oh don't worry, I've taken hits from worse! Remember when the sky grew black and red?"
"Yeah, I thought my brother met his friend again"
"You mean like a Pokémon battle?"
"Something like that"
"Oops, lost my train of thought, Y'see that was caused by a beast known as Eternatus. it brought upon the Darkest day, which I helped stop"
"Oh, I had no idea!"
"I guess you don't watch the Telly all that much, do you?"
"No, not really"
"Don't you worry about it, All you need to know if I'll keep you safe, and everything'll be okay!"
I could tell by her smile that it would be, no doubt that she would stand by her promise. It wasn't long before heavy footsteps rushed into the area, Sawsbuck came after the lightning drew its attention close.
"T-this is that Sawsbuck! Viridi stay back, it's dangerous" I was no longer by her side as I stood in front of her in a defensive stance, arms our wide, stopping it in its tracks.
"Easy, It's okay now. Miss Gloria didn't mean to hurt anyone, She just slipped and fell" Sawsbuck nodded, licking the side of his face, leaving it all wet.
"You...You tamed it?"
"Huh? Did I do something wrong?"
"This Sawsbuck hates any and all humans it comes across, Not even Master Mustard can tame it, yet it came to your words"
"O-oh, That, I guess It doesn't think I'm dangerous" I lied through my teeth, Sure she was champion but if I had told her the truth, who knows who could have gotten word of it.
"Okay, now I know you're hiding something from me! C'mon, I won't tell!"
"It's nothing, I'm not special, I'm young so I'm not seen as a threat"
"C'mon...I need to know, what are you hiding!?" She lightly gasped "Can you talk to Pokémon!?" Her smile was greatly growing
"N-no, That's not normal! I-It's nothing, R-really" I was starting to lose my grip as I shook my head quickly.
"Fine...But you can tell me anytime, I won't tell anyone"
"I don't have anything to hide" I regained my composure to keep my power hidden.
"Let's just go get those ingredients " I could tell that she kept glancing down at me, and I knew that she wasn't just going to quit. I think she was just going to wait until I was vulnerable.
"Our first step is to get some fruits from the trees, now watch this!" She gripped a tall thin tree, Shaking it as many fruits and berries fell into a pile around the trunk before a large apple fell onto her head leaving her in a daze.
"Are you okay? G-Gloria?" I asked seeing her stumble a bit before shaking her head appearing normal.
"Of course! It was just an Applin!"
"Are you sure you're alright?"
"Why wouldn't I be? Do you really think a Champion would be taken out by an Applin? There are so many people trying to take me out of competitions so I can handle a hit on the head"
"I guess so, where are we going next"
"Next is some Beedrill honey, So we should go deeper into the forest"
"But? Aren't Beedrills violent"
"Well, yeah, that's why I'm gonna go in while you stay back"
"Oh, That makes sense, just don't hurt them please"
"I won't fight back unless necessary, I can promise that much"
"Thank you" I knew it would be hard for her to not defend herself. That and if she got poisoned I'd have no choice but to heal her. That and if she does harm the Beedrills I'll have to heal them.
I hid behind a large thick tree, Just peeking out to Gloria climbing a tree with a bottle held from her mouth to just scrape some of the honey into it. The Beedrill almost instantly reacted, giving her enough time to put the cork onto the bottle before being stung multiple times and falling to the ground.
"Gloria!" I shouted, running to her, I could tell the poison was getting to her, She weakly struggled to keep her eyes open. With slight hesitation I shook my head, cupping my hands over one of the points the poison entered her body. A calm frangrent entered the air, Sawsbuck tried protecting me, and I began to emit a radiant green aura, Removing the poison knowing full well of the side effects. Large injuries like being stung multiple times will completely heal them, but leaving me with a similar, yet weaker condition. I was fading, but I couldn't give up, Sweat glistening on my face, My cheeks felt hot and weak. what felt like minutes passed within seconds and I collapsed on my side with Gloria being the only witness.
"Braviary, Come out! Let's go quickly!" I was quickly thrown on top of the Pokémon, I was just barely conscious trying to reach for Sawsbuck like there wasn't anything stopping me. It didn't last long as the world faded to white