Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon
Chapter 6: Chaos
The following day Fara shook off the excitement from the mystery pokemon's appearance. Whatever it was would have to wait. She and Pidgey had work to do and over the course of the morning Fara developed a daily schedule for both of them.
They would both start early and while Pidgey hunted for his breakfast, Fara would fish and forage for her own food supplies before making her own meal and eating. She had been delighted to find a variety of wild vegetables and herbs including yams, onions, and potatoes. A light exercise routine would follow for both of them. Fara would do some basic calisthenics and swim for an additional twenty minutes to help with cardio. Pidgey would fly for a half hour and then weave through trees for the remaining time. By the time they were done with this they both would be sufficiently warmed up for some more intensive work.
Fara spent late mornings over the next few days hiking and categorizing the various berry areas and what varieties there were. Taking in the ratio of trees within a three mile radius she came up with a formula on how many berries to pick from each. With those calculations she was able to determine how much space she needed for her drying area. Pidgey spent that time scouting and fighting off wild pokemon that would threaten his trainer. With his explorations, Fara had been able to map out local nests and other pokemon territories. Besides a few Beedrill nests they had found a small pack of Pikachu to the southwest including the small female had met before. Watching the pack interactions one morning had given Fara a lot of notes for her report to Oak.
Midday was spent eating a hearty lunch and warming up for afternoon training. Both Pidgey and Fara would then start the wood gathering competition. Both had an area to place their loads in the campsite and would spend an hour chopping and gathering the wood. Pidgey would use his developing Peck attack to down small limbs while Fara used a small hatchet she had brought with her. Besides the obvious benefit of making sure Fara had a good firewood supply the exercise had strengthened Pidgey quickly. Where before he had trouble flying more than twenty minutes he now had the stamina to fly for over an hour while carrying loads. His agility and reflexes had gone up as well.
Fara's development was much smaller compared to his. A factor she blamed on pokemon's ability to develop their strength more quickly than people. However, she did feel a difference. Overtime the aches and pains slipped away and she was able to walk longer and harder hikes in much less time. The biggest difference for her had been the ability to go from running ten minutes at a time to more than 40.
Once they adjusted to the competition both Fara and her pokemon would use the late afternoon's time to start hauling large flat stones to her campground. When the time came for drying any berries Fara picked she would be using the stones ability to absorb heat to help the drying process. They would act as a sort of oven like surface and dry the berries quicker than if she had just laid them on a tarp. Hauling the stones to the site proved to be a much harder task than wood gathering. One stone could weigh more than sixty pounds and it would take both her and Pidgey several hours to get one up to the campsite from wherever they found it. Usually, they were only able to gather one or two a night but after a week of this they finally finished getting what Fara needed.
After so much activity, evenings were usually spent resting and eating. Pidgey now consistently spent his time with her every night and would keep a silent vigil. Fara would take the time to work on her reports, cleaning, and even doing upkeep on her gear. Her hatchet in particular had needed sharpening on several occasions due to all the use. So far they hadn't seen their night time visitor come back but Fara had seen some unusual tracks she couldn't recognize in the area. She could tell the pokemon was a small quadruped mammal but had little experience in deciphering what type of pokemon the tracks belonged to. New tracks appeared periodically and usually close to camp but since there had been no trouble from the mystery pokemon Fara chalked its interest up to curiosity.
Finally it was April 14th and Fara was finishing her berry picking preparations. She would be using a satchel for carrying the berries back to the camp. The stones were already in position and Fara had made sure to make extra food for the following day to save on time. Pidgey wouldn't be doing his daily hunting but instead would be standing guard at the camp once berries started being brought to it. Fara didn't want to risk wild pokemon taking what she picked so he had to stay. After so much time in the forest Fara had few anxieties of pokemon attacking her while she traveled alone.
In general, most of the forest inhabitants left her alone once they realized she wasn't trying to capture or mess with them. She kept her distance and they left her alone. The few instances of attack had been her coming too close to burrows or other homes and Fara had, since her arrival, learned where not to go.
Wiping the sweat from her fore head Fara looked around the camp. Despite the heat of the day Fara had a small fire going so she could make a fish stew for tomorrow. Wood was neatly piled 15 feet from the fire pit and her drying stones were another ten feet away in the middle of the clearing where they could get the most sun. Her berry picking supplies were placed inside her tent waiting to be used. In it there was some salt, a pot, two satchels along with her knife. Her maps were in her vest pocket and she had hooked some repel to her belt just in case. Confident or not she always tried to be prepared.
Overall, it looked like everything was ready besides the food. Smiling she pulled out the fish she had gotten this afternoon. Already gutted and cleaned Fara now just needed to cut it up for the stew. Throwing an occasional piece to Pidgey she focused on preparing everything. So focused was she, that Fara accidentally threw a piece to the right of Pidgey and into the bushes. Being the fish hungry monster he was, Pidgey dived into the bush to grab the tasty morsel. That was when everything went downhill. A snarl and squawk startled Fara out of her cooking and she watched as Pidgey was thrown out of the bushes into the wood pile.
Scrambling to get to her pokemon Fara was stunned when a grey form burst from the bushes and ran at her. Standing little over a foot and running on all fours was a Poocheyena. Grabbing at her belt she pulled out the Repel and sprayed at the beast that was nearly upon her. A sharp howl burst out of the pokemon as he stopped in his tracks and began to rub his face into the ground. Then her Pidgey was upon the pokemon in a flash. A powerful peck was slammed into Poocheyena's side followed by a tackle that smacked him into a nearby tree. Whimpering the pokemon struggled to his feet but Pidgey took that as an invitation and swooped towards the canine with another Peck attack prepared. Again the attack hit the pokemon's side and this time he didn't get up but lay on the earth and whined.
Pidgey began to gear up for another attack but Fara stepped in between the pokemon and yelled. "Stop it!" Pidgey halted his movement by squawked angrily at Fara and tried to go around her. "No Pidgey! Enough, it's down and out." Again Pidgey squawked indignantly but stopped trying to get around his trainer. Satisfied he was going to stay put Fara turned towards the intruder. The pokemon still lay on its side and a paw pitifully wiped at its face trying to get the Repel off. Its side was weeping two small streams from blood from Pidgey's attack. Worriedly, Fara approached the pokemon slowly. She needed to see what the damage was and help the poor pup. Besides being male she could see its black and gray form was slightly emaciated and his size indicated he was still a juvenile.
When she got close, the pokemon snarled and tried to lunge at her. His injuries prevented the movement and made him whimper and fall to the ground again. She put a hand out as Pidgey began to fly at the Poocheyena again. "No, he is hurt and scared. He doesn't know me and is just defending himself." Shaking off the small bout of nerves she started to approach the injured pokemon. This time more slowly and she began to speak. "Hey Poocheyena, I know you're scared but I need to look at you. Pidgey smacked you down pretty hard." This time the pokemon allowed her close. His yellow and red eyes were blood shot because of the Repel. His nose was running too and Fara knew why. Repel was normally used to keep pokemon at a distance because of the smell. Direct application like Poocheyena got acted like pepper spray for most normal pokemon. However, for a canine pokemon like Poocheyena, it was like acid being sprayed into their noses. Their developed olfactory senses were much more sensitive then a pokemon like Pidgey,
Fara needed to clean the Repel off his face quickly. It could lead to permanent damage otherwise. Reaching a hand out she let him examine it. When he didn't act aggressively she got closer. "Look, we need to clean off your face and I need to take a look at your ribs. The way you're favoring them right now isn't a good sign. This is probably going to hurt too so I need you to stay calm. I have some stuff that can help but I need to make sure we don't need to get you to the Pokemon Center." The pokemon stared at her through slit eyes for a moment before nodding at her then laying completely flat. Grateful for the cooperation Fara spoke to Pidgey. "Pidgey I need you to grab my towel and both the water canisters ok?" The pokemon, still puffed up in anger, nodded before flying towards her tent. Fara turned her attention to the canine and then began to cautiously prod his ribs, feeling around for any breaks. Thank fully, while bruised badly she couldn't feel any breaks. The pokemon before her growled several times during her examination but let her complete it.
While she did this, Pidgey finished bringing the requested supplies before landing next to her stiffly. A quick glance told Fara that Pidgey had taken a good amount of damage from Poocheyena's earlier attack. Making a mental note to attend him next she focused on taking the water and pouring it over the pups face. Between the water and towel she was able to rinse off the spray from his eyes and most of his face. Now she needed to clear his nose, a task he had to help her with. "Hey buddy, we need to clear out your nose but I need your help." The pup cocked his ears towards her. "I'm going to need you to try and breathe the water up your nose a little. I only want you to do a small breath and keep it shallow. Once the water gets in your nose it's probably going to burn but as soon as it gets there blow it out. I'm not sure how many times we are going to need to do this but we'll keep doing it until the burning stops. Okay?"
Again Poocheyena stared at her before nodding his head. "Ok, so I need to lay you to your belly first. We'll take our time. Let me know if you need a moment. I know it will hurt." The pokemon let Fara reach under and roll him to his stomach gently. The obvious pain on his face made her wince. Pidgey had really hurt him. However, once that task was finished she cupped her hand below his nose and poured a small amount of water into the palm. The pokemon lowered his nose and breathed it in only to blow it out quickly with a howl. Grabbing at him she held him still as he started to sneeze repeatedly. Once done she started the process again. It took five treatments of water before the burning stopped. Taking that as a good sign Fara used her towel to wipe his face gently.
The canine rest against her side tiredly. Now that the immediate issues had been handled Fara needed to get him closer to the tent. He and Pidgey both needed additional first aid. "Poocheyena, I need to get you closer to the tent ok?" The pokemon nodded at her and slumped at her side heavily." Getting to her knees, Fara reached one arm under his torso and situated in between his front legs. The other arm went under his belly near the rear legs. Lifting one leg to place her foot on the ground she pushed up and cradled the canine protectively against her chest. He shifted and whimpered slightly from the pressure on his ribs so Fara walked quickly. Instead of laying him outside the tent she brought him in and laid him on a couple of blankets. Pidgey followed them in and lay on her pillow close by while keeping his angry gaze on the pup.
Ignoring this Fara reached for the first aid kit and got to work. From the kit she pulled out two potions and some dried Oran berries. A small canister of milk powder and dried meat was pulled from her bag as well. The hyper potion was quickly applied to Poocheyena while the regular potion was used on Pidgey. Both pokemon shifted uncomfortably from the medicine but Fara ignored this and went outside to the fire. Stoking up the flames a bit she put the dried meat, three spoonfuls of the powder and then cut the dried berries in half before adding them to the pot with the water. Taking some of the fresh fish pieces and couple more dried berries she minced them on her cutting board before adding it to a dish and bringing the mix to Pidgey.
Her pokemon was still watching the Poocheyena carefully but turned his attention to her when she entered the tent. Fara placed the small dish before him and he quickly devoured it all. Satisfied with his eating she went back to the pup. The wounds from Pidgey's Peck attacks were still weeping slightly so Fara pulled out some plasters and bandages. After placing the plasters, she wrapped the exhausted pup's ribs firmly. While she was sure he hadn't broken anything, it was still possible there were some fractures. Going back outside, Fara pulled the medicinal food off the fire and put it in a larger dish. After it cooled she brought it into the tent and roused the sleeping pup. "Buddy, I'm going to need you to eat this. It's got some good things in it to help you heal." Poocheyena sniffed weakly before lapping up the food slowly. He finished it after a short while so Fara left him to sleep. Pidgey was also sleeping on the pillow, having given into the potions sedative quality.
Stepping outside the tent Fara began to shake from the shock of everything. The attack, the injuries, it had all happened so quickly. Looking around Fara could see the camp site was a mess now. Dried vegetables lay scattered in the dirt near the fire. The wood pile was spread everywhere due to her pokemon being thrown into it. Her towel, spotted with blood, and water canisters still sat at the clearings edge where she had helped Poocheyena. Sitting down she wrapped her arms around her legs and began to sob quietly. She couldn't stop shaking but after a while her tears stopped and she pulled her poke device out and dialed a number.
The device range several times before a familiar face appeared. Kind dark eyes appeared on the screen. "Fara, what's wrong?" Tears bubbled up again and Fara tried to speak but another sob swelled. "Fara, what happened? Where are you?" Oak's voice was firm and demanding. Choking back her tears Fara started to speak.