Within the Wild Area of Galar, a bitter white rabbit Pokémon called Scorbunny walked around aimlessly. She had just been cheated out of her afternoon meal by three sneaky Nickits.
She had been living in the Wild Area forever now and those pesky foxes have mocked and stole from her ever since. Just thinking about them made her angry. So angry, she kicked a nearby pebble into a gray object.
"Goroooo…."
Unfortunately, Scorbunny had kicked the pebble at an enraged Pangoro. The lagomorph quickly realized her mistake before trying to calm the angry panda.
"Scor! Scor, scor, bunny, scor, bunny," She rambled before pointing in a random direction to the 'true culprit.' The Daunting Pokémon looked in the direction, seeing no one there and turned to Scorbunny running for her life. The panda just growled before chasing her around the Wild Area.
The Galar Fire-type starter continued to run for her life, evading the Pangoro who eventually managed to land a devastating Hammer Arm into her. The rabbit was sent tumbling onto a dirt path, heavily bruised from the attack.
The Fighting/Dark-type growled, slowly approaching the poor rabbit. She struggled to raise as she was cornered by the menacing bear. Pangoro prepared another Hammer Arm for the finish blow and Scorbunny closed her eyes, waiting for the attack to put her out of her misery.
"Ape!"
"Luc!"
Two red blurs prevented the advancing panda from attacking, a Mach Punch to the face and a X-Scissor to the stomach. Recovering from the strikes, the Daunting Pokémon managed to get a clear vision of his new opponents: an Infernape and a Hawlucha.
"Goro!" The panda roared before the Infernape and Hawlucha prepared for a potential battle. Pangoro developed a darkened claw and charged at the two interlopers. The primate breathed a hot Flamethrower that struck the bear. The bear stood his ground before the masked avian delivered a High Jump Kick into the Daunting Pokémon's chest.
This was enough to make the panda give up on his chase, leaving with a growl. Seeing the bear retreat, Infernape and Hawlucha relaxed their guard before seeing the bruised Scorbunny on the ground. Both dual Fighting-types nodded before the primate scooped the bunny up and ran with the masked avian gliding behind.
"And there we go!" Ash said, putting the finishing touches on his tent.
He had arrived in Galar about four hours ago and was in the Wild Area. He had been informed that the Wild Area was a massive place in between the local town and Motostoke. It was apparently a place where many Pokémon native to Galar could appear. Ash was interested in seeing what kind of Pokémon were around and also decided to let out his Pokémon for some fresh air.
Pikachu, as usual, was at Ash's side.
In a tree nearby, Sceptile was keeping an eye on Axew and Rookidee. The Tiny Bird Pokémon was in awe at the landscape of his home region whereas the Tusk Pokémon was climbing higher and higher.
Haunter was floating around, looking for something to do to pass time.
Shinx and Eevee were training themselves, in case they got the chance to battle. Their cousin Absol kept a wary eye on them, making sure they wouldn't get into any trouble. Cufant was practicing his strength and supervised by Krookdile and Lycanroc for the time being.
Magikarp was flopping about in a nearby lake, close to shore. Amaura was splashing around, keeping herself cool.
Heracross was feeding off some sap from a nearby tree, too engrossed with it to care about anything else.
Charizard was teaching his Dreepy hatchling to use his moves better. With only four moves at the moment, the Lingering Pokémon practiced to be like his father.
As for Infernape and Hawlucha…
"Ape!" "Haw!"
Both dual Fighting types burst through a bush, the ablaze monkey carrying something.
Ash asked, "Huh? What is it?" Infernape presented an injured white bunny to his trainer which made him scan it.
[Scorbunny, the Rabbit Pokémon. It has special pads on the backs of its feet, and one on its nose. Once it's rearing to fight, these pads radiate tremendous heat.]
Infernape and Hawlucha let out concern and pleading cries which made the trainer placate them before realizing that Scorbunny was definitely injured.
Pulling out a few Potions he got before arriving, Ash carefully sprayed the bruised areas of the rabbit. The lagomorph winced in before weakly opening her eyes. She saw Ash helping her before closing them again.
"Hey, hey," Ash soothed the rabbit, "It's going to be alright. I promise." The rabbit heard what the trainer said but was too injured to reply.
Ash let out a sigh of relief as the rabbit's healing process began before turning to the primate and masked bird. "Don't worry, she'll be fine. Just give it a few hours." Both dual Fighting types nodded before returning to the group.
Ash couldn't blame them for being concerned, after all they are both parents so seeing the injured Scorbunny must have kicked some dad instincts in.
But none of that for now. Now, he wanted to focus on what to do. He figured he could get some training in while waiting for Scorbunny to get better.
Ash whistled, gathering his Pokémon before explaining. "Alright, everyone. With the World Coronation Series season starting up, we have to be ready for anything. So, I recently looked up potential moves on the Pokédex and have some ideas on what to learn," he informed his older captures before addressing the younger ones, "As for the offsprings, I don't want you overworking yourselves. So, we will start off slow. Ok?" All Pokémon nodded before Ash gave instructions.
Shinx carefully fired a weak stream of electricity that merely bounced off a rock. Pikachu applauded the cub and gave a pat on the back. The Flash Pokémon yipped with pleasure from his mouse uncle.
Dreepy tried to give Haunter a spook with Astonish but the ghost was unfazed. The Gas Pokémon gave off a series of drowsy lights that the Lingering Pokémon was enticed by. The phantom reptile attempted to do the same, only getting a trio of hypnotic lights.
Amaura breathed a light breeze of snow that Infernape shook off before asking the Tundra Pokémon to fire again. The sauropod nodded and sent icy blue music notes that the ape shattered with the use of Mach Punch.
Absol concentrated on his darkness energy to his horn, Heracross encouraging the mammal. The beetle was working on how to channel energy into the horn with the Disaster Pokémon since in the future, the disaster seeker would use his horn for attacks. Absol had developed a slightly darker horn, mastering Night Slash fully now.
Cufant's trunk took a deep brown glow before thrusting it forward. Unfortunately, the pachyderm put too much strength and lurched forward. Krookodile tried to explain in a better way to use Rock Smash since Cufant uses his trunk instead of fists. The Copperderm Pokémon trumpeted and swung again, this time not lurching.
Eevee ran circles around Lycanroc, something the orange wolf was proud of. But the Wolf Pokémon gave a low powered Accelerock, ramming into the Evolution Pokémon. The brown fox skidded back before swinging his tail, sending various stars. Lycanroc destroyed them in quick succession with Stone Edge.
Rookidee tried to flap his wings to the best of his abilities, still trying to learn how to fly. Hawlucha glided alongside the Tiny Bird Pokémon. While he didn't have the same wing structure, he figured he could teach him the basics of flying.
Magikarp swam circles in the lake, working on his speed due to having two moves that wouldn't exactly be as effective. From above, Charizard surveyed the fish's progress in the air to make sure the fish didn't get into any trouble.
Axew concentrated on his inner draconic energy, channeling them into his claws which grew scaly. Sceptile nodded before displaying his own. Through fluid motions, the father-son duo practiced Dragon Claw.
Ash monitored the progress of each of his Pokémon. He had used the Pokédex to see what moves they could learn and was surprised with the possibilities. He planned to have his Pokémon be at the top of their game so they are a match for any trainer they come across.
Scorbunny, having enough energy, managed to watch the training session. And she was greatly impressed. She could tell how the Infernape and Hawlucha managed to deal with the Pangoro earlier. And that made her want to grow stronger.
When dusk came around, Ash made his current team stop for the night and made their food. He even put out some for Scorbunny who happily consumed it.
After, the white rabbit turned to Ash, "Scor! Scor!" When the trainer tilted his head in confusion, the lagomorph threw a few air punches. Ash shortly realized what she met.
"Oh, you want to do some training of your own?"
The Rabbit Pokémon nodded with excitement. Ash smiled to himself. "Great to hear! I would be more than happy to train."
Scorbunny was pumped up at the potential help. She wanted to be strong enough to take on those pesky Nickits and earn her own food.
3 days later, Scorbunny was jumping in the air before coming down with one foot. She kicked twice against Infernape's arm and landed on the ground. The simian had a proud look on his face as the lagomorph breathed a few embers, a bit stronger than what she had previously.
"Great work out there, Scorbunny!" Ash cheered from the sidelines. His other Pokémon applauded her improvement as well. Scorbunny had a proud look on her face at the praise.
Since Scorbunny had been with Ash, she's been training herself hard. She had come to like Ash and viewed Infernape and Hawlucha's as parental figures in her life. After all, they did save her prior but she wanted to be like them: strong and fast.
It was turning to dusk once again and Ash made the usual Pokéchow for his Pokémon. Sitting down and eating some instant noodles himself, Ash smiled at his gathered team for the night. There was about a week left before the World Coronation Finals began and the new season starting, so he decided to spend a little longer in the Wild Area before heading towards Wyndon.
RUSTLE RUSTLE
Ash heard the noise and had his curiosity peaked at a struggling marron fox like Pokémon coming out.
"Nick.. it…" it grunted.
Ash immediately ran over to help the poor fox, "Are you alright?"
His question made the Pokémon stop their eating before their attention turned to the dilemma. Scorbunny, on the other hand, recognized the fox and was instantly on edge.
She was familiar with this technique the fox used. The Rabbit Pokémon then saw two marron figures slowly creep out of the bushes that made her expel embers onto them. The maroon figures began to yelp and reveal themselves as two other vuplines.
"Wha-" Ash was cut off as the fox he was investigating immediately stole his noodles. "Hey!"
Pikachu ran in front with a Quick Attack and immediately had the fox cornered with Lycanroc, Heracross, and Sceptile helping the mouse. Haunter snagged the two other foxes in his grasp after Scorbunny managed to hit them with her newfound pyrokinetic powers.
With the chaos coming to a quick end, Ash brought out his Pokédex to scan them.
[Nickit, the Fox Pokémon. Cunning and cautious, this Pokémon survives by stealing food from others. It erases its tracks with swipes of its tail as it makes off with its plunder.]
Ash immediately understood why. He mentally face palmed at such a plot but couldn't blame the Nickits' nature. Scorbunny walked over and began to chastise them for their actions. The fox trio shook their heads at the claim before yipping in their own language.
"Nick!"
"Scor!"
"Nick!"
"Scor!"
"NICK!"
"SCORBUNNY!"
"Alright, alright," Ash broke the tension between the four wild Pokémon, "Break it up you too." He began to address Scorbunny. "I can take it that neither of you get along with each other." The rabbit and foxes just glared and huffed at each other.
"Nickit…"
Something that the vulpine muttered set the lagomorph off and immediately fired another set of embers at the cornered fox. Nickit growled before using Quick Attack, colliding with Scorbunny. Both wild Pokémon glared at each other as the trainer and gathered Pokémon made space for the two wild Pokémon battling.
Scorbunny jumped up and dove foot first, hitting a Double Kick on Nickit. The thief responded with an Assurance, sending the rabbit back. Quickly getting up, Scorbunny covered herself in flames, going for Flame Charge only to miss as Nickit snickered.
Unfortunately, the fox wasn't aware about the secondary effect of Flame Charge since the rabbit landed a Quick Attack of her own. Nickit got up and shook himself clean. The fox scratched his claws, sharpening his attack before yipping dark purple soundwaves.
Scorbunny covered her ears, blocking out the Snarl attack, leaving her open to a Quick Attack by Nickit. Snickering, the thief pounced again only this time, the rabbit spewed more embers. The Fox Pokémon was covered in soot and coughed. The Rabbit Pokémon charged in with Flame Charge one more time then ended the fight with a Double Kick.
Nickit sprawled across the field before getting swirlies in his eyes.
"Way to go, Scorbunny!" Ash cheered. The rest of Ash's Pokémon joined in, each with their respective cries.
"SCOR!" The Galar Fire-type cheered as Infernape and Hawlucha raised her up, proud of her accomplishment.
The Rabbit Pokémon held her head high as she was satisfied with beating the thieves. She looked down to see the two Nickits trying to help the leader up. The rabbit began to pity them and hopped off her adoptive fathers' hands. Scorbunny reached out to give a helping paw to her opponent, who accepted it. The lead vulpine stared at the lagomorph before giving a curt nod. Both wild Galar Pokémon gained mutual respect from one another after their battle and the fox trio left the campsite, no doubt to scour for their own food.
Ash came over and rubbed Scorbunny's head, "You were amazing out there." The Rabbit Pokémon couldn't help but blush at the praise as Infernape and Hawlucha gave a thumbs up. With that conflict settled, the trainer and his Pokémon called it a night.
Once morning came around, Ash stretched himself when he walked out of his tent before getting to work on breakfast. Ketchum couldn't help but feel proud as he saw the scene before him.
Charizard had his Dreepy sleeping up on his chest, Shinx and Eevee snuggled up to their uncle Lycanroc, Krookodile had fallen asleep against a tree where Cufant nephew slept, Sceptile had his Axew all comfortable on his back in said tree while above Hawlucha and Rookidee nephew napped, Heracross laid next to Absol nephew and Amaura niece, Magikarp had flopped to land and dozed off with his uncle Haunter, and Infernape rested with Scorbunny in his grasp. Pikachu had done his usual spot and was in the tent. Ash almost had a tear at the sight of his Pokémon and their offspring/niece and nephews. But for now he focused on breakfast.
Once the aroma had sent in and awoke the Pokémon, Ash placed out the bowls and his team feasted happily. Then Ash began to break down his camp since he was about a week away from the
"Scor?" The bunny looked in confusion before Pikachu explained. Once he said it though, the rabbit looked crestfallen.
She wouldn't deny that she had come to like the trainer. And now she doubts she would ever get the chance to see him again. Unless…
Scorbunny hopped up and ran up to Ash's leg, tugging on his pants. "Hm? What is it, Scorbunny?" Ash asked as the Rabbit Pokémon made gestures to describe her want.
Once Ash didn't get it, Scorbunny thought before running over to Ash's backpack and pulled out a Pokéball. Immediately, Ash understood, "Oh, you want to join my team?"
"Scorbunny!" She stated proudly and kicked the Pokéball into Ash's hand.
"Alright then! Go, Pokéball!" Ash shouted and threw the sphere. Scorbunny jumped and met it with a paw bump, pressing the button. After getting sucked inside, the capture was instant.
Ash walked over to the Pokéball and smiled at his new capture. "Welcome to the team, Scorbunny!"
A/N: Another long awaited update. I've been going back and forth with my many Pokémon stories. I'm trying to upload a chapter every other month but college -again- is beginning to take its toll.
Anyways, now this chapter is out. Sorry for the wait to all the fans of this story.
No flames, please.