Ok so I would've had this done earlier, but I got extremely sick on Saturday, and didn't fully recover for four full days, so I didn't do much. Boy it was bad though. I slept 22 of 24 hours, and the two I wasn't in bed, I was in the bathroom. So yeah, not fun. Shorter chapter, and it does rush a bit, what can I say, I'm still not 100%, but it's a vital one for character building.

After Team Plasma left, Ben and Burgh began to look Logan over. Ben had some first aid training, though gunshot wounds were a bit above his training. He knew a little bit though as he began to go through his bag to find some cloth. "Man that is a very nasty exit wound for a pistol. What kind of bullet was that?"

Logan's voice was, understandably so, strained. "Based on the amount of pain I'm in for such a small bullet, I'd say it was a hollow points round."

Burgh was a little confused. "Hollow points? Never heard that term before." As he said that, Ben had found his roll of medical cloth. He began to unravel it as he fetched the scissors and cut it. He grabbed a disinfectant spray for Pokémon, which had some Potion mixed in it to slow bleeding, and went over the wound quickly. Logan groaned quite a bit at that. He then began to wrap the wound while having Logan keep his arm up as best he could.

"A hollow points bullet is what it sounds like. It's a hollow bullet. So instead of deforming, it shatters when it pieces its target. This causes much more INTernal damage," His voice had gone up in volume as Ben tied the bandage off tightly to keep pressure on it. "As well as much worse exit wounds. They're a very nasty type of bullet."

"Sounds like there's also a chance there's still pieces in your wound if they act like that. Let's get you back to the Center and get you looked at."

Logan stood up, a bit weak as he had lost a good bit of blood, and tried to brush it off. "I'll be fine. It's nothing serious. Let's return the Pokémon first. We also have questions to answer from the cops first. It's nothing dangerous, so let's take care of that first."

Ben wanted to tell him off for putting himself so low on his list of priorities, but he felt like it would be useless to argue with him on this. So they returned to Prime Pier, where the police, and a new ambulance on account of the wounded mouse, were. The ambulance was currently loading up the mouse from Team Plasma to get his wrist and facial injuries taken care off. Logan located the little human child before the police could pull him aside. An adult human woman, who he assumed to be her mother, was there too. When she saw Logan, she had her child stay behind her. She was probably wary due to the bloody bandage on his shoulder, though Logan couldn't help but think it was because he was a Dark Type. They had a bit of a reputation about them, a lot of it deserved, but a lot of it undeserved. As Logan got close, he knelt down on one knee and looked at the child. "You're the little girl whose Pokémon was stolen right?" She grabbed her mother's red dress and nodded. Logan reached into his mane with his good arm and pulled out the Pokémon he had retrieved. "Here you go. This is your Pokémon."

She gasped and ran towards him. She clasped the ball with both hands and held it close to her chest. The mother relaxed at this. "YAY! THANK YOU MISTER DOGGY!"

Logan sighed. "Look kid, I'm not-"

He didn't finish his sentence as she threw her arms around his neck, nearly having to leave her feet to do so. "Thank you mister doggy! You're a very good dog!" He gave her a few pats on the back before she let go.

"Go wait in the car honey. Mommy will be right there." The kid ran towards a car, obviously the mother's. The mother then turned to face Logan as he stood up. "You're a good man. Thank you for helping my daughter. If the arm is from getting her Pokémon back, then I'm sorry about that."

"Don't thank me. I don't deserve it."

"I think you should give yourself some credit. Now you'll have to excuse me, but I need to get my little girl home. She's had a long day." With that, she walked towards the car her daughter had got in.

A few hours later, after all the questions from the police were answered, Ben informed Burgh that he'd challenge the Gym later as it was getting late and he had to get Logan proper medical attention. Burgh thanked them for their help and they went their separate ways. Logan's wound was looked at, and with the bones intact, Logan was given a recovery time of two weeks. During which time he was not to do any battling or strenuous activities. After some convincing, Ben agreed to challenge the Gym while Logan was in bed resting. He did, and successfully beat it with the help of Blitzle's Flame Charge. Ben had told him that it was a pretty easy Gym with that strategy and he only needed to bring out Nito Ichi once against Burgh himself. Logan joked that he'd actually need to start training again to keep Ben's Pokémon from catching up to him.

February 15th, 2019. 4:00 pm.

After waiting for Logan to recover, and taking a day to leave the massive city, they finally managed to get out and into Route 4. This wasn't a particularly big Route, but it was very hot during most times of the year, and was full of sand. It would probably take about two full days to get through. Logan had been on pain meds for his full recovery, and had just finished taking his last one. This did have some side effects, once of which, Logan was currently having happen to him as they were still on the road before the deep sand. "Hey Ben, I feel nauseous, think I can rest in my ball for a while? I'd ask to just break for camp, but I'd prefer to be in this Route as little as possible. I hate sand in my fur."

Ben nodded. "Ok. You take a rest, meds are a doozey. I'll keep going for a while. I'll call you out when it's time for dinner."

As Ben reached for Logan's Pokeball, Logan grabbed his arm. "Hold up... I think... I dunno… something's not right. I feel like... nevermind. It's probably just my head not being in the right place. Pretend I didn't say anything." Logan let his arm go, and after Ben made sure Logan was ok, he recalled him.

Ben continued on for a little bit. Looking at some of the dunes around him. There wasn't really much else to look at on the road of this Route. The sand dunes were only a few feet tall at best, but there were some rocky hills that were pretty tall. Some of which looked more like cliffs. All in all, it was a pretty uninviting region. Ben was glad they were travelling it while it was still winter. Summer in this region was absolutely brutal. Sure the nights would be bitterly cold, but he and Logan cold just snuggle up in the same sleeping bag again. It was much better than scorching to death in the blistering heat of the summer sun. Out of all the Routes, this one claimed the most lives. Not due to Pokémon attacks like other Routes, but to dehydration and heat stroke. The League did have some water stations set up, but it was still a grueling trek in summer.

After about an hour, Ben was beginning to debate settling down for a snack versus waiting until dinner, when suddenly he was tackled from behind. "What the hell!?" Ben tried to turn around, but a furry body kept him pinned down. He went to reach for Logan's Pokeball, as he was the strongest, but he felt the creature grab his wrist. The claws on it felt familiar. He'd felt similar claws before. Logan's to be exact. This was a feral Zoroark. Ben's eyes widened at this realization. He was in big trouble. His left hand was then grabbed by the Zoroark's left, rendering him unable to grab anything. considering this Zoroark hadn't killed him yet, and was trying to pin, he assumed it didn't want him dead. As it began to put both hands behind his back, the fox's head was just behind Ben's, and Ben took advantage. He threw his head back and connected his skull with the Zoroark's chin, electing a groan from it, and causing it to release its grips. While this gave him a bit of a headache, it had stunned his assailant enough to allow him to reach for Logan's Pokeball. He pressed the button and threw it. Right as it left his hand, the Zoroark roughly grabbed both his arms and painfully bent them behind his back with a growl in his ear.

He had done it though. Logan emerged in a flash in front of his Pokeball. He looked a bit out of it, but when he saw Ben, he sobered up quickly. "Logan, I need help!" He expected Logan to leap into action, and expected to have to talk him out of killing his feral counterpart, but then, Logan looked down at his Pokeball. 'No. No no no!'

Logan's mind was running wild. 'The Pokeball. It's right here. I could... But Ben needs my help, and he's my friend right? Would you consider the two of you as friends? I mean it's a Zoroark that's attacking him, and it's not hurting him.' The thoughts were barely together, and running a mile a minute. On one hand, he felt an undeniable attachment to Ben. Ben had been nice to him despite everything. Despite knowing what he had done, Ben was supportive of him. Ben was now relying on him. After all Ben had done to help Logan, even if just emotionally, Logan could now pay it back.

On the other hand...

Logan looked at Ben for a few more seconds, before he crushed the Pokeball under his foot, and ran off.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

While part of Logan's brain was ecstatic that he'd gotten his freedom back, another part of it was not happy with the decision. 'How could you abandon him in his hour of need? You're a monster. A heartless monster.' A tear formed and fell from his eye.

"I know I am."