Forest Grotto, Sinnoh
Later on in the morning, Jacob woke up, letting out a small groan as he scanned his surroundings. He was laying down on a couch in the main room of the treehouse. He let out a small yawn before standing up.
"Well... There goes my sleep schedule..." Jacob remarked, stretching his arms tiredly.
The Pikachu tiredly walked over to the nearby balcony, where Logan was sitting on the edge. Jacob rubbed his eyes before yawning. The Scorbunny sensed movement behind him, and turned his head to see the familiar Pikachu.
"Oh, morning Jacob." Logan smiled, grabbing a berry from beside him. "Here, have some breakfast." He tossed him the berry, which Jacob managed to catch.
"Morning, and thanks." Jacob smiled before sitting next to Logan.
"The others are out, probably to hunt for some fish to eat as well." Logan told him, "How'd you sleep?"
"I slept... Pretty good actually..." The Pikachu smiled, "It's been a while since I slept on a couch, or anything with a cushion for a while..."
"What do you mean?"
"You didn't know? I'm a traveler." Jacob told the Scorbunny, taking a bite out of his berry. "Me and my friends are travelling around Sinnoh."
"Oh, that's why I've never seen you before..." Logan lowered an eyebrow. "That sounds pretty cool, how has it been so far?"
"Well when we started, we fought a Charmander and Charizard to help a Pichu and Pachirisu." Jacob began to explain, "Then we nearly lost our memories in Casteel City, before I signed up for the World Cup and fought against a Buneary for a challenge battle, then we left and came here."
"That sounds... Actually kind of fun." The Scorbunny smiled.
"Wanna come along?" The Pikachu suddenly asked, making Logan's expression darken a bit.
"Sorry, but I can't."
"Hm?"
"I promised myself that I'd stay here and defend the Grotto until my parents are in fighting form." The Scorbunny explained, "They're in comas right now."
"Oh... How long?"
"Around nine years ago." Logan replied honestly, "Sometimes there are days when I think they're never going to wake up."
"I can understand why." Jacob sighed, "Nine years is a long time..."
"No kidding." The Scorbunny let out a soft chuckle. "But I can't let that get me down. They have to count on me for this."
Cutting through their conversation was a familiar voice. "Hey! We caught some fish!" Frost shouted from the entrance into the treehouse. Jacob smiled, liking the sound of that.
"Gotcha." Jacob nodded as he hopped off of the balcony to head back into the main room. "I'm gonna eat some fish, I'll see you later."
As the Pikachu walked off, Logan watched him closely. The Scorbunny knew that he was strong, maybe even strong enough to help break them from Nidoking's chains. But in order to get him on board, he would need his friends' approval and assistance.
He hopped off as well, walking behind Jacob before they both approached the others. "That's right, today's the scheduled day... This works..."
He cleared his throat before speaking, "Guys, a little later, we have to head over to the other side of the Grotto today, maybe we could group up with Jacob's friends as well."
"That's right!" Leah's eyebrows raised, "Today is the day!"
"The day?" Jacob looked over to Logan with a bit of confusion. "The day for what?"
Grotto Store, Sinnoh
A familiar Snivy slowly opened her eyes. "Huh? I must've dozed off last night..." She rubbed her eyes softly. She suddenly realized that she was sleeping on a foreign entity. It wasn't as soft as the couch, but it was soft enough to function as one.
It gave her a sense of familiarity.
She looked up, and recognized the foreign entity as Oliver, who she was cuddled up against. Her eyes widened suddenly as she jumped away from him, waking the Oshawott up from his sleep in the process.
"Huh...?" He groggily opened his eyes.
"Sorry for sleeping on you, Oliver." Sophie managed to quickly regain her composure. "I didn't mean to fall asleep so suddenly."
"It's okay, it was a long day." Oliver gave her an understanding smile. "Anybody would suddenly fall asleep after so much happening."
"Right..." The Snivy looked down before beginning to head towards the stairs. "I'm going to check if we can leave."
"Okay." He decided to stay downstairs, able to tell that Sophie was still on edge despite their conversation the previous night. He assumed that it would be best to just leave her be as long as she wasn't doing anything wrong.
She walked upstairs, looking around at the store's interior. When she looked to the entrance, she let out a soft groan. They were still trapped inside. Looking back towards the checkout area, she could see a familiar Lucario and Zoroark.
"Asher!" She walked over. "I thought you said that these walls would go in a few hours. What's going on?"
"I don't know myself." The Lucario answered, "This has never happened before, but luckily, the Grotto has come up with a plan B for this exact situation."
"And what is that?" Sophie inquired.
"There's going to be a mass evacuation to the Pokémon Center of Forest Grotto." He told the Snivy.
"A mass evacuation?" Oliver, who had just made it upstairs, asked. "What are you talking about?"
"There will be a thirty minute window in about..." He looked up at a nearby clock, that was ten minutes from approaching noon, "...Ten minutes. In that window, the doors to each place and house will lower, as well as the Pokémon Center's doors. This gives Pokémon the opportunity to go there and take shelter in a more stable and large building."
"What happens to the ones that don't make it in time?" Sophie asked with a soft glare.
"In theory, they would be susceptible to attacks from Nidoking." Asher answered, "Hopefully, that doesn't happen as long as everyone's efficient."
"I guess that makes sense." Sophie looked down. "But what about food? Do they have enough food there?"
"No, but that's our job." Asher replied, "Since there isn't enough food there, we have to bring a food supply from here."
"So that's what we're doing here." Carson interjected. "I was told to start collecting food."
"And could you two help?" The Lucario asked the two. "I know that we don't know each other well, but I want to help ensure the safety of the Grotto."
"Sure, I'll help!" Oliver smiled.
"Then grab a crate and get to stocking." Carson told the Oshawott sternly, to which he nodded and ran over to a wooden crate.
"But why?" The Snivy thought, watching her friend begin to put berries in his crate.
Sophie was a bit confused. Why was Oliver doing as they told him? He didn't owe them anything. If anything, they owed him and Sophie for telling them to remain calm while they were trapped.
"Confused?" Asher sat down next to Sophie as they watched both Carson and Oliver stock their crates.
"We don't owe you anything."
"Oliver knows that." The Lucario told her, "The reason why he's so excited to help is because he doesn't have to. I'm guessing that it makes him feel at least a bit useful when it comes to helping others."
Sophie looked over at how happy Oliver seemed to appear. "Yeah... I guess..."
"I can also guess that you care for him."
She remained silent for a moment. "He's my friend, why wouldn't I?" She stood up and grabbed a crate. "I should probably help out, too..."
She walked over to Oliver, carrying her crate.
Oliver noticed movement behind him, looking to Sophie. "Glad to have your help." He smiled.
With Jacob
"So you're saying that we have forty minutes?" Jacob asked, looking at the group as they ate. "How far are we from the center anyways?"
"Yes, and we're pretty far." Logan answered, standing up from the couch. "Meaning that we probably should get going."
"Will we make it in time?" The Pikachu walked over to grab his backpack that had been sitting in the corner of the room since he arrived.
"Yep." Leah answered for him. "Let's go."
The group all prepared to leave, exiting the treehouse soon after.
As they walked, Jacob lagged a bit behind, occasionally looking over to Leah's bandages wrapped around her paw. He knew that the wounds must've been inflicted in the past, but where? And more importantly, how?
The Aipom noticed the feeling of being stared at, and it was beginning to get on her nerves. She knew that Jacob hadn't told anyone yet, but he still irritated her with his constant staring and overall demeanor.
She shuffled back towards Jacob, "Could you stop staring at me?" She whispered, "The others will notice..."
"Notice what?" Simon asked confusedly.
"Nothing!" The two exclaimed in unison.
"Guys we have to get going!" Frost shouted as she, Logan, and Chomps began running.
Leah and Simon caught up to them matching their pace as Jacob confusedly followed behind. "Why are we running now?"
"It's been ten minutes since we left." Logan replied as they all ran down the path. "That means the Pokémon Center's doors have opened."
"That's not good." Jacob began to sweat nervously, increasing his pace. "I really hope there's enough space for everyone in the Grotto..."
Meanwhile...
As the residents of the Grotto were walking in, a Blissey was scrambling around, marking off Pokémon that were listed as residents as she let them in and assigned them to their rooms. But she seemed to be a bit more worried than she usually would be.
"Where in the world is that boy?" She asked herself, letting in a few more Pokémon. "They would kill me if anything happened to him..."
"Lucy." A calm voice sliced through her thoughts, snapping her out of it.
"Hm?" Her eyes widened, slightly as she looked over to the voice. It was a Gallade, who was standing beside a Kricketune.
"It seems that Nidoking and his forces have been scouting the perimeter of the Forest Grotto for some reason." The Gallade told her, "Would you like for some of the protectors to... Take them out?"
"No, our current priority is to tend to the Pokémon of the Grotto, and defend the center." Lucy answered. "We shouldn't waste our forces on something so trivial."
"Understood." The Gallade nodded before he walked off.
"Thank you for your understanding." The Blissey waved. She suddenly heard crying, and turned to where she heard the crying.
It was what seemed like a young Piplup, who was sitting in the corner of the main lobby. She briskly walked over before crouching down to his height. "Are you okay?" She asked with a comforting voice, lightly petting his back.
"N-No..." The Piplup shook his head, still covering his eyes.
"What's wrong?"
"I-I can't find my mommy..." He sobbed.
"Aw..." She helped him up, "How about you come with me, and I'll help you find your mommy okay?"
"O-Okay..."
"Bye, Ms. Lucy!" The Piplup waved, walking off with an Empoleon. "Thank you for helping me!"
"It's no problem, sweetie." Lucy gave a kind smile, "Make sure to stay out of trouble, okay?"
As the Piplup walked off with his mother, she noticed four Pokémon enter the center with tons of crates in tow. She could recognize the Lucario and the Zoroark as the two who worked at the nearby store. But the Oshawott and Snivy who entered behind them were two who weren't recorded in her database.
She stood up from her seat at the desk and walked over, a bit suspicious. "You two." She spoke, looking at the Snivy and Oshawott.
"Huh?" The Oshawott looked back confusedly, "Yes?"
"Who are you?" She asked, "You aren't recorded in the database..."
"They're with me." Asher stepped up, looking at Lucy. "They're travelers who ended up in our store when the initial lockdown started. Meet Oliver and Sophie."
"Hello." Oliver smiled up at her, holding out a paw. "It's to meet you, Lucy."
"It's nice to meet you, too." She smiled, shaking his paw. "What about you?" She looked over to Sophie, who gave her a simple wave.
"Don't worry about her, she isn't very talkative." Oliver smiled nervously.
A bit of clamoring interrupted their conversation, making the five look over to the entrance, where more Pokémon were entering. Some were unfortunate to be low on groceries when the initial lockdown began, so some were starving.
Others had children, who were asking endless questions. Some were desperate to go out and play with their friends. Oliver felt a bit bad for them.
After writing Sophie and Oliver's names, species, and gender down on a clipboard, she looked over to Asher. "Asher, could you, your employee, and these two start supplying food to the hungry?"
"Sure, no problem." The Lucario nodded.
"Yeah, it'll be easy." Carson commented, grabbing a few berries from his crate.
As both Asher and Carson began walking over to some of the entering Pokémon, Oliver looked over to Sophie. "Are you feeling better now?"
"Yeah." The Snivy nodded. "This is a more open space than some guy's basement. Besides, there are actual beds here." She stretched her arms.
"That's good." Oliver seemed relieved. "So how about helping me help the other Pokémon here?" He asked, handing her an Oran berry.
She smiled softly, grabbing the berry from him. "Sure."