Chapter 2:
Ash turned his back to the now almost completely set sun. A flash of green was visible before darkness began to settle in. It was truly a sight to see.
"Okay, let's get going." Ash started for the trail that was a few meters ahead. Pikachu scampered after him. They were engulfed in a satisfying silence once again, only interrupted occasionally by their own footsteps in the grass.
Suddenly, the silence was broken with a loud slice. Pikachu cried out in pain. Ash's peaceful moment was shattered immediately as he spun around, completely startled. After observing what happened, he nearly fell backwards in fear.
Ash stared in horror at what appeared to be a bear trap clamped around Pikachu's leg, only this one was a lot smaller, probably for catching things smaller than bears. He rushed to the ground to help free Pikachu from the trap. After much effort, it was easy to tell that the spiked clamp had dug into Pikachu's leg quite deeply and was not about to get loose.
"Sounds like I got something!" a voice cried out from far behind Ash. He was taken by surprise yet again. He fell back as he spun around to see a large countryman standing about five meters behind him. The stranger was wielding a shotgun with barrels that shone in the setting sun so brightly that it nearly blinded Ash.
"Well, it looks like me traps are affectin' more than just my game today. Here, let me help you get him out of that." The man bent down and easily opened the trap. Pikachu squirmed free, grasping his bloody leg. He gave the man a look of grateful appreciation. Ash looked up at the man, about to show his own appreciation. He hesitated as the man suddenly withdrew a small gun fron his pocket and aimed it at the pikachu in front of him. Apparently an advanced single-shot gun, he pushed a small sliding switch on the back of the gun with his thumb which appeared to ready the shot for firing.
"Sir, would you please step aside while I finish of this little bugger? Don't worry, he's not goin' anywhere with that leg, so you don' have to worry about him gettin' away," said the man as he took careful aim, "just step aside for one second." Pikachu's expression of gratitude changed to a look of hate as he growled and bared his teeth. He was not about to give up his life just like that.
Ash immediately got up and jumped in front of the man and his gun holding out his arms.
"What? No! He's mine!" Ash exclaimed fearfully. He wasn't very confident in what he said, as he was directly in front of a gun with a trigger-happy person on the firing side. His legs were trembling, but he stood as firm as he could.
"What's that you say? He belongs to you?" The man lowered his gun. "Now that's disappointing." He examined Pikachu from where he stood with a doubtful look on his face. "Ah well, it's not like he deserved a spot on my wall or anything, he's just a little runt anyway."
Ash slowly backed up and picked up Pikachu, not turning his back to or losing eye contact with the stranger.
"A runt?" Ash was about to retort, but he held his peace to keep from further provoking the man, causing him to change his mind about holding fire. He stood up straight and held Pikachu in his arms, careful not to do any more damage to his wound. "Wait a second… are you a—"
"Hunter? Yep, that's what I am. The name's Jeremy." He held out a hand in effort to gain some of Ash's trust. Ash glanced at Jeremy's hand and then back up at his eyes. He reluctantly accepted his handshake. Jeremy was easily three heads taller than Ash, obviously in his mid twenties. He looked like a full fledged countryman. The hard country accent was more than enough to give away the fact that he was Gallawain. He wore tattered green pants and a beat up white shirt as well. His hard brown boots were accompanied with sockless feet. On top of all that he had a very muscular build to his body.
"Well, foreigner, I am really sorry about that, if there's anything I can do help fix this situation…" Ash quickly interrupted: "Do you have any medical supplies? I obviously need some of those." Ash broke eye contact with the man to glance at the path that was just past Jeremy. Pikachu squirmed in pain in Ash's arms.
"Sorry, I don't have anything on me—" Ash interrupted again, but this time in a more hurried fashon.
"Then please, let me get back on the trail so I can get to a pokémon health clinic." Jeremy did not move. He instead pointed down the trail.
"The Kanto/Gallaway border is about fifteen kilometers thataway. I can assure you there are no such health clinics anywhere in this land. Now I doubt that the little guy is gonna make it all the way back there. He's losin' a lot of blood you see. Tell you what, I'll escort you to my town which isn't too far from here. From there I reckon you can get him to one of the local vets. It's the least I can do for the trouble."
Ash was ready to bolt down the path towards the Kanto/Gallaway border. He was not about to trust any man in this area. Jeremy was a Gallawain, he was not one to be trifled with, especially since he was a hunter carrying a shotgun. Disregarding all odds against him and Pikachu, he figured he would take his chances heading for the border.
"I know what you're thinking. I'm a Gallawain, and not to be trusted, and I understand that you may think that. I'm a hunter, and I'm also a ranger. But I can at least assure you that I am not like every other ranger around here. Unlike many of the others, I am for keeping the peace between Kanto and Gallaway. I don't take prisoners and I don't kill foreigners who wander across the border, contrary to the common practice help in these parts.
Now listen to me, what chances do you think you have to avoid all the other rangers that may or may not be in this area. Even if the little guy makes it, if you get caught, you're done for."
After reconsidering, Ash decided that Jeremy presented a very good argument. If he were to stay alive, it would be most ideal to take Jeremy's suggestion and follow him back to town. Ash reluctantly nodded and Jeremy gave a short laugh. He turned around and strode back to the path. Ash quietly followed.
Chapter 2.5
Evening had just settled in. The sky grew darker as they traversed the valley at a very subtle rate. As they traveled, Ash noted the vast differences between Kanto and Gallaway. He noticed a great variety of plants and animals that he had never seen before in Kanto. This was one of the many reasons he came down this way in the first place, to get a glimpse of all the rare and exotic species of plants and animals that were rumored to be in Gallaway. At least now these rumors have been verified in his mind.
"Those little critters you see there are all native to this area. They have been untouched by the plague of radiation that the meteor from space induced upon this world. Even though the radiation didn't hit a lot of parts of the world, the mutated creatures you people like to call pokémon spread all over the world. This is one of the few places where wildlife native to this world still exists. Gallaway has been it's sole protector for over two decades now." Jeremy seemed to enjoy explaining the history of the world to Ash as they traveled back to town.
"So what's to stop pokémon from invading this area?" Ash muttered quietly, not expecting Jeremy to hear. He was not in a talkative mood. After all, he just risked his life trying to save another from the very person who was trying to befriend him and lead him to safety. Regardless, Jeremy did hear Ash's muttering and responded more cheerfully this time.
"Us rangers are what's keepin' those pests from comin' into our land. We hold hunts every now and then when the balance of nature gets a little out of hand. You just caught then very end of one. I think it just ended about ten minutes ago. Anyway, as rangers, we dedicate our lives to keep the balance of nature and to keep our lands safe from those nasty creatures outside our border." Ash was beginning to resent Jeremy more and more. He figured he should stop asking questions. But as his arms kept dripping blood and Pikachu kept squirming every now and then, he figured that learning about the culturistic differences and a little history would keep his mind off of things at least a little.
"So, let's say you did finish off Pikachu and I wasn't there, what would you do with him then? Leave him there?" Ash asked this a little more confidently this time.
"Most of us just leave them there to be consumed by decomposition. This is another thing that separates me from everyone else. If it were me, I would have skinned him and added his hide to my collection!" Ash nearly hurled at the thought of skinning something. "You… collect… hides?"
"Yessir, and I rather enjoy it. Not only is it fashionable, but it's very profitable. These things sell for a lot of money on the internet. Now that I think about it, your little friend there would have made a decent amount. What with all the shiny fur and—"
"Alright, alright, I get it." Ash became more and more eager to change the subject. "Actually, I am pretty surprised that this kind of stuff actually goes on…" Jeremy laughed to himself as if what Ash said was crazy.
They soon passed into a clearing.
"We're almost there son. Keep it up."
"Ash, call me Ash, not son please," Ash said, annoyed.
"Ash, eh? Short for Ashley I imagine. You people really are backwards over there," Jeremy let out a laugh.
"What!"
"Take it easy, I'm just trying to keep your spirits up." Jeremy became more annoyed at the sign that Ash wasn't enjoying his humor.
It was another five minutes before they finally arrived at the entrance to the town. The town was incredibly run down, and did not seem to be modern in any way whatsoever. The roads were all made of dirt, the houses in the area from what Ash could see were all made of wood. Only a few official looking buildings seemed to be constructed of stone. Ash saw no cars on the road, just people. There were kids playing in the street and parents working on various tasks on their porches, which were all supported with very unprofessional looking architecture. Ash had never seen a more mundane town or city anywhere in his life.
"Welcome to my hometown!'' exclaimed Jeremy. "I reckon it's got to be the most technologically advanced town around. We've got the greatest network of communications, by far the most advanced computers, and most definitely the sharpest minds in all of Gallaway to back up our wonderful technology." After hearing this, Ash couldn't imagine the poor conditions the other towns of Gallaway were facing. Poverty seemed to be abundant here, but it certainly didn't keep Jeremy away from denial.
"I certainly don't see anything special about this place. I don't see a single machine or device around that resembles a machine, and I haven't seen anything that looks remotely advanced in technological terms" was what Ash would have liked to say, but he bit his tongue in hesitation. Jeremy seemed to read his mind. "I know what you're thinking. This place is nothing compared to the kinds of rigs you'd see in Kanto. I assure you, there is nothing here to be disappointed about. We get along just fine with our machines, which, by the way, are all kept indoors away from the weather."
"Alright, whatever," said Ash impatiently, "please tell me where I need to go."
"Be wary that many people here that see you with a pokémon will resent you. Many people do not take kindly to being forced into the presence of those things. Just try your best to walk past them. Oh, and the direction you need to go is thataway." Ash nodded. He continued down the road in the direction that Jeremy instructed. A few meters down the road, he realized that Jeremy wasn't walking with him. He quickly spun around.
"Jeremy, aren't you coming?"
"Coming? No, I need to get back to the award ceremony, I need to find out who won that tournament. They should be announcin' it very soon."
"But, the vet!"
"Kiddo, you won't find a vet in this town willin' to help you for any price. They'll see you and throw you out and put down your buddy just like that."
"… Then what did I come all this way for! What a waste of time!" Ash nearly threw up his arms in disappointment, but Pikachu warned him not to. "You told me you'd be taking me to a place where I could—."
"Hey, I never told you that I would be takin' you anywhere except this town, the
vet is your responsibility. It just so happens, however, that this town lies close to the border of Kanto and Gallaway. Just head down this road out of town, and you won't be bothered if people see you leaving. Further down this road is a town on Kanto's side of the border. I'm sure you can find what you're looking for down there."
"… So that's it then…" Ash glared at Jeremy, who had a smug look on his face. He walked about ten steps, not losing eye contact with Jeremy until then, and he turned and ran down the road at a full sprint.