Chapter 22: Wild life

During the next days, we explored the area around our camp. Kathie told Travis and me what she knew about living in the wild. I learned to use all of my senses quickly. Especially when it comes to finding back to our base, it's important to trust your nose. It felt weird at first but after a while I could find the scent of Travis and Kathie with no problem. One of us always stayed at the base to watch over Jess' bag and the eggs. The others were off most of the time to find more food. Fortunately there were more than enough berry trees in this forest. Other wild Pokémon generally avoided contact with us. I often saw them hiding in bushes when I came closer. On one side I was glad that I didn't have to fight for my food, on the other side, I felt sorry for all those wild Pokémon who feared us.

'Should I maybe talk to them that they don't have to hide from us?'

I've never talked to a wild Pokémon before. Talking to Pokémon in general still feels weird to me even though I've been a Pokémon for some weeks now.

'I guess being a human will always be a part of me, no matter how hard I try to be a Pokémon. That reminds me...how will Jess react when she hatches from her egg? She'll be a Pokémon just like me. Will she be as happy about her situation as I am? I got over it rather quickly, but Jess can be very emotional sometimes. I guess it'll take a while for her to get used to her new life, if she even accepts it. As for the other two guys I'm not sure. I hardly know that red haired guy but he gave me a feeling that he knew what he was dealing with and he also knew the risks. I guess we'll see it soon enough.'

I soon returned to our camp. Travis was also there, watching the eggs. He suffered a lot from losing his trainer. He wasn't as cheerful as he used to be. I just hope this gets better once they're reunited. After I put the berries I collected into Jess' bag, I went over to Travis.

Has something happened while I was gone?

No, the eggs don't even move a bit. It's gonna take some time until they hatch.

I see, well at least we collected enough berries now to survive for at least two weeks, so there's no need for us to collect more for now.

That's...great. He said with a sad note in his voice.

Travis...I know you miss her, but she won't be gone forever.

I know Nick, but now she can't become the champ anymore. That was always her dream. When she picked me up in Professor Elms lab, she told me that she wanted to collect all the badges and become the champ. I'm just feeling bad for her now that her dream won't come true.

I get your point, but it's not like we can change anything about it now. Let's just hope that she'll like her new life. There's at least a chance that she might even enjoy it.

You're right, what are you planning to do now, that we don't need to collect food any more? Are you just going to sit there and wait for the eggs to hatch?

Glad you asked, I wanted to train more. The last few battles showed me that I still have a lot to learnwhen I want to compete with stronger opponents. And if we want to take down Team Rocket we'll have to face stronger opponents. So...I wanted to ask if you want to be my sparring partner.

Wouldn't that be a little unfair? I mean you're a Water-type and I'm a Fire-Type.

Don't worry, I won't use any Water type moves against you unless you want to toughen yourself against them.

Alright sounds good to me, but let's wait until Kathie returns, I don't want to leave the eggs unguarded.