Grotto PKMN Center, Sinnoh

Oliver tied his bag around his right shoulder as he was preparing to set out on a recon mission along with Jacob, Sophie, and Logan. But the Oshawott had noticed something off with the Pikachu and Scorbunny.

Ever since the previous night, they had seemed to be a bit more cheerful. He could obviously tell that with Jacob, since he wouldn't be as happy in the morning, and the previous night when the two and Leah returned to the room, they seemed closer in some way.

He wondered what they were talking about while they were out.

"Okay, everyone ready?" Jacob asked, making sure that his bag was on tight.

"I'm already ready to go." Logan told them, sitting on the edge of the balcony.

"You two need to wait." Sophie scoffed, making sure her bag was fastened properly. "It won't be any help if either of you end up dying because you want out alone."

"Speaking of going out, we need to establish a route." Oliver spoke up, "We need to know where we're going, so in case we get separated on the way, we could meet somewhere on our route."

Oliver slung a backpack full of medical equipment over his shoulders.

"I don't really think we need a route." Logan fanned his paw dismissively. "Let's just go!" Before anyone could say anything else, the Scorbunny had already used his blasts to launch himself into the air.

Sophie rolled her eyes and vaulted over the railing. Jacob jumped over it. Bothe managed to land on the ground upright, and Sophie caught Oliver in a bridal style.

"Slipped?" The Snivy questioned.

"No, I just underestimated the height when I jumped off." He let out a nervous chuckle. "Thanks for catching me, by the way."

"Don't mention it." She put him down.

"Are you guys coming or not?" Jacob asked, looking into the sky. "Logan's fading into the distance..."

"Right, right." Oliver's eyes widened as he ran off, followed by Jacob and Sophie.

After catching up to Logan and finding a decent area, the four started to look around for some berries to bring back to the center.

Oliver had just managed to catch an Oran berry which fell from a tree, and put it in his bag. Although it was silent all around him, he still felt a bit anxious. He wondered how the Pokémon that lived in Forest Grotto could go into the large forest surrounding it and not get lost.

Luckily, he had his map.

The Oshawott pulled out a piece of paper from it's container, and scanned it. It didn't really show much of Forest Grotto, as he expected, but he just wanted an excuse to see what location Sophie, Jacob, and himself would go to next.

He put his back to a tree and slowly sat down leaning against it.

"So many possible places to go..." He thought, his eyes scanning over the map. "Hmm... Well the most logical place to go would be somewhere that's close to Forest Grotto, but I don't want to work in circles so realistically, the best place to head to next would be here."

He pointed to a place on the map, and took a mental note of the location.

Before he could put his map back, he heard a shout, followed by tumbling. The tumbling was approaching him from his left, but when he looked, all he could see was yellow.

Oliver hit the ground, dropping his map and letting out a groan.

He looked up and saw a familiar Pikachu who was also on the ground, face down.

"Oh Arceus!" He scurried over to Jacob before pushing him out of the way. "The map! I hope it isn't damaged..."

"Thanks for the concern, bud..."

"I knew you were fine." The Oshawott commented, his eyes glued to the map. "You've taken worse than just a fall down a hill."

"Fair point." He shrugged, "So how's your berry situation?"

"It's well." He answered, pointing to his bag that had been dropped near the tree he had been leaning against. The berries had been knocked out of the bag, and some had been squished. "At least it was before you showed up."

"Don't make it sound like I did it on purpose!" He exclaimed, "I'll help you find some more, don't worry."

"Yeah, that's be a great help." Oliver smiled, wrapping his map back up and putting it into it's holder. "But before we get to that, where did you come from and how?"

"Well..." He chuckled nervously, "I had found a really ripe berry, but it was a little high up. Before I got to it, the branch snapped. I was gonna use my power, but it's been malfunctioning lately so I didn't really prepare for my arms to buckle when I tried to land."

"Malfunctioning?"

"Wait, I didn't tell you yet?" The Pikachu's ears perked.

"This is the first I'm hearing of any malfunctioning." Oliver replied, "Was there any catalyst?"

"Well it started the day we came to the Grotto." Jacob answered, looking down at his paw. "It wouldn't work like it did any other time I used it."

"Hm..." The Oshawott hummed, putting a paw to his chin. "...What would be different between the Forest Grotto and anywhere else we've been?"

"Hm..."

"I was thinking Nidoking, but what sense would that make?" Oliver suggested, "It's not like your power would be intimidated by him, it isn't sentient."

"You're right." He nodded in response.

"It might have to do with emotion, maybe?" The Oshawott theorized, "Remember back in Casteel when you battled that girl? It was your will that managed to activate the ability."

"I had thought about that, but it's not like it's been activating normally... Check it." The Pikachu closed his eyes and gritted his teeth together. Faint sparks of electricity began to surround him before his eyes turned an orange color. "There it is! I did it!"

"It's back again?" Oliver tilted his head, "How strange..."

Jacob stood up and suddenly began running over to a tree. "Strike!" When he punched the tree, his paw left a large dent in the tree.

Oliver's eyes widened at the sight.

"That's awesome! It's back!" He chuckled as soon as he opened his eyes, and let out a cheer before a berry hit his head.

"Jacob, punch two more trees with that power."

"Huh?" He looked back at his best friend. "Well okay..."

Once the Pikachu was done with his small tasks, Oliver inspected the size of each dent left in the three trees Jacob had punched. The first was large, the second was small, and the third had been a size in between the latter two.

"Just as I thought..." The Oshawott nodded, putting a paw on his chin. "Your power is fluctuating. That makes a lot of sense, but why?"

"What do you mean it makes a lot of sense?" Jacob asked dramatically. "Give it to me straight, doc!"

"You've got to be kidding me..." Oliver looked back at him as if he had just grown a third ear. "...You're telling me you haven't noticed this?"

"Not really, I've just been using it."

"Well compare the time you punched that Charizard to that challenge match in the Battle Zone." He began to explain, "You sent that Charizard flying that time, but when you used it on that girl, it only seemed to bring a mild pain. If the same explosive force was used on her, it could've legitimately shattered her skull."

Jacob visualized his statements, and nearly shuddered at the thought of putting someone in intensive care for no reason.

"I have a few theories of what might be going on with your power." Oliver's voice snapped Jacob out of his trance.

"Go ahead." He sat back down next to Oliver, feeling a pain in his right arm that he punched the tree with.

"First, your power might be applying different amounts of strength at random." He looked at the ground. "Which would be extremely dangerous if applied to friendly battles."

"Mhm." The Pikachu nodded, following along.

"Second, your power might react to how your brain takes an opponent." Oliver lightly brushed off some dirt on his legs. "If the opponent is malicious and your brain takes it as trying to kill you, then it puts more power into each punch you throw. Or if it's a friendly match, it could be putting some kind of cushion on the punches you throw."

Jacob thought about that time with Charizard, and realized that his second explanation made a lot of sense as well.

"Third, the power might assist you in a life-or-death situation more than it would in a sparring match." The Oshawott let out a sigh, "It kind of goes along with the brain thing in the aspect that if your life is in actual danger, it will apply more force."

"Is there anything else?" The Pikachu tilted his head.

"Yeah, but I don't want to think about that..." He hesitated, "There could be some type of outside force affecting how your power functions and stops it, like how it was a while ago."

"I guess that is a bit scary to think about..." He agreed.

Things between the two got silent after Jacob spoke. They simply looked around at the surroundings, completely aware of the possibility that Jacob's power could link to more than they signed up for.

The Pikachu let out a silent exhale before standing up. "Well it's no use thinking about it now and getting all bummed out, right?" He held out a paw for Oliver to grab. "Let's just focus on the now, and group back up with the others."

Oliver's smile seemed to return at the thought as he grabbed Jacob's paw. "I guess you're right..."

"There they are!" Logan pointed into the distance while hanging upside-down from a tree. He could see two familiar Pokémon in the distance walking towards him as they discussed something.

Sophie yawned as she opened an eye. She had been taking a quick nap on a branch high up so she wouldn't be attacked. Her bag had a decent amount of berries in it. She hadn't minded that they had taken so long. Logan, on the other hand, was a different story.

"What took you two so long?" The Scorbunny whined. "I wanted to do something fun like battling, but why was I stuck with such a lame job?"

"Relax, it's almost over." Jacob told him. "But we're still helping out the Grotto by doing this. Which is good, right?"

"Yeah, I guess it is."

Almost as if on cue, a large scream echoed through the forest, and into the four's ears. Their eyes instantly darted to the direction in which the scream was heard from.

All four of them had the same reaction, as if they were controlled by the same being. They all immediately began running towards the area where they heard the scream from.

Logan took the lead, blasting off with his modified Flamethrowers followed by Jacob, who had decided to run on all fours to go just a bit faster. Sophie followed behind closely, skillfully maneuvering through the forest like she was a native to Forest Grotto.

Oliver was lagging behind the group. Although they were all carrying their bags of berries, Oliver seemed to be the only one affected by it.

After what seemed like hours of running, the four stopped to see a male Floatzel lying on the ground. The four looked closer and simultaneously let out a gasp. There was blood seeping down his back.

They heard a scream, and turned their attention to a young Buizel, who was trying to climb a tree as the Nidorino tried to swipe at him. The Nidoking's claws were dripping with a red fluid.

Oliver was quick to pick everything up. He stood up, but he wasn't the only one to take action.

Logan jumped out, and jumped towards the action,

"Hey, ugly!" The Scorbunny shouted loudly. "Take this!"

He fired off one of his special Flamethrowers, but something seemed off with it. It was a lot stronger than what was shown previously. The force of hot air blasting against their faces even made them step back a bit.

The Nidorino flew back from the attack's impact, hitting a nearby tree.

Oliver, having already prepared to move, ran towards the Floatzel, sliding to a stop next to him, and putting his medical backpack down near him. He pulled out some bandages and put them down.

"First, I need to clean the wound and apply some potion..." He thought out loud.

The Oshawott turned to look at the Nidorino, who was slowly getting up. The Nidorino tried to swipe his claws at Logan, who managed to dodge and jump onto a nearby branch. Oliver reached for his scalchop before Jacob ran past him.

The Pikachu clenched his paw, a white aura surrounding it as he reeled his paw back. He punched the Nidorino with a Dynamic punch that managed to push him back more.

Before the Nidorino could recover from the attack, Sophie came in with a quick Leaf Blade to his head, knocking the Nidorino out.

Soon after, the group approached Oliver, who was trying his best to bandage up the Floatzel.

"How's his condition?" Sophie sat next to him.

"I don't know." The Oshawott replied, his eyes focused on his task. "I don't have any medical training..."

"Right.." The Snivy nodded, pulling out a strange bottle. "Oliver, this is a Super Potion. These potions are rare, and will help with the wounds."

"If these 'potion' things are so rare, where did you get one?" Jacob questioned from the background.

"One of my... Previous guardians 'borrowed' one from a passing Pokémon on the streets." Sophie replied quickly, "Just don't think about it too much."

She sprayed some of the potion on the Floatzel's wound, making him let out a groan in pain.

A whimper came from behind a tree, which grabbed the four's attention. It was the young Buizel that they had saved. He looked shaken up, but luckily unharmed.

"Don't worry, little guy." Logan walked over to him. "You're dad's... Probably okay."

"We should probably head back to the center." Oliver interjected. "He can get some real medical treatment from Lucy."

"Then let's carry him there." The Scorbunny gave a grin.

"It's not that easy, Logan." Sophie looked at him with what seemed like exasperation.

"She's right, if we move him too much by carrying him, then his wound will open." The Oshawott explained, looking around. "But I have an idea."

After explaining, Oliver could feel multiple pairs of eyes staring at him in confusion.

"We'll make a what?" Jacob, Sophie, and Logan seemed to ask in chorus. The three of them watched Oliver gather some medium-sized logs.

"A raft." He simply replied, grabbing some nearby vines and testing their durability by trying to break them.

"How would we sail on land without water?" Jacob questioned, following Oliver around.

"We can use Logan's blasts to power the sail."

"Sail?" Sophie's eyebrow raised. "And what are we using for a sail that wouldn't combust instantly?"

"My bag." The Oshawott answered. "As long as we're only using the force from Logan's blasts and not the blasts themselves, we should make it back."

"I'm down." Logan shrugged.

"Sounds pretty solid." Jacob smiled. "Good plan, Ollie."

"What about you, Sophie?" He looked at her expectantly.

The Snivy let out a faint and silent sigh. "Whatever, take us where you want to go, you mad scientist." She looked away.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, she was interested in his plan. She had never seen someone who could come up with something so innovative so quickly. As she turned around, she let out the faint smile she had been holding in for the whole conversation.

Sophie was really beginning to enjoy her time with Oliver and Jacob.

While the three boys went to go look for materials, Sophie stayed with the Floatzel and Buizel.

"And... Done!" Oliver exclaimed.

After around ten minutes of building, they were finally finished with the raft. Sophie looked at the makeshift contraption and wondered if it actually worked, but she didn't have much time to think about it. She managed to keep the Floatzel in the same state by using Super Potions, but she was running out of potion to use.

"Now how do we get him onto the raft?" Sophie asked, looking at Oliver.

"The only way is to pick him up and keep him leveled."

"Damn it!" Logan yelled tiredly. "What was the point of building this thing so we wouldn't have to carry him through the forest, just to carry him anyway!?"

"It's only a few feet, relax." Jacob looked at him. "Let's just do it and get out of here before the sun begins to set."

With Lucy

"Where is that boy...?" Lucy wondered out loud, looking out of a window on the second floor. She had been in the middle of taking something up to another room, but was distracted by the fact that Logan wasn't back.

Ever since Logan's parents went out of commission, she's been the one looking after him. But he was always going off places, and she wasn't able to chase him because of her own duties.

She wondered what he was up to now.

As soon as her eyes drifted from the window and back at the task at hand, she heard a rumbling noise outside that almost forced her to look out of the window. She could see something picking up dirt from outside the center, approaching at high speeds.

Lucy, not sure if this thing was a friend or foe, rushed downstairs to see anybody in the main lobby looking out of the small windows that peered outside.

The Blissey nearly pushed another Pokémon to look outside, just as a familiar voice entered her ears.

"We're gonna crash!"

The somehow always filled with vigor voice of Logan managed to reach her ears as she rushed over to the shutter that was blocking the door. She was unable to lift it alone, but with the help of some of the other Pokémon inside, managed to lift it and jump out of the way as a raft made of logs and vines skidded to a stop inside the building's main lobby.

A familiar Oshawott opened his eyes, thinking that they had impacted with the center. There was no time to question how they didn't crash, he only looked to Lucy with urgency in his voice. "We have an injured Pokémon!"

"You think he's still alive?" Logan, who was sitting on the bed bored, asked.

"Way to bring that up subtly." Sophie remarked, looking over at him for her top bunk.

"I don't know.." Oliver mumbled, "That Floatzel lost a ton of blood before we even got there, judging by the red stains on the grass."

"I'm sure he's fine." Jacob smiled, looking at the Oshawott from his top bunk above Logan.

The four had been sent to their room after bursting into the center with the wounded Floatzel. Lucy had told them to wait before she could focus on anyone else and deal with the wounded Floatzel. But that had been hours ago.

Some of them, specifically Logan and Jacob, were getting a bit antsy waiting to see if he was still alive.

As the room went silent again, there was a soft knock on the door.

"I'll get it!" Jacob exclaimed, rolling off of his bed. He hit the floor before going to see who had knocked.

He opened the door to see a smiling Blissey.

"Lucy!" Logan rushed up, nearly getting in her face. "Did that guy make it? Is he dead? Where are we gonna hide the body?"

"Pipe down." She lightly pushed him away and closed the door behind her. "The Floatzel survived, thankfully. But he lost a lot of blood so he won't be moving anywhere anytime soon."

Oliver, Jacob, and Logan all smiled as Sophie let out a faint sigh of relief.

"And there's one more thing." She told them. "I want to make you four the official Grotto recon team!" She gave them a friendly smile.

"Really?" Logan's eyes lit up. "When's our next mission?"

"Just wait, okay?" She put a paw on Logan's head. "As for you three..." She looked at Oliver, Jacob, and Sophie. "Good work."

When she walked out, the four sighed with relief.

"At least she isn't as suspicious of us anymore." Oliver smiled. "Now what?"

"Back to the main objective." Logan grinned toothily. "Defeat Nidoking."

Jacob and Oliver both exchanged a glance with a smile. They were really starting to get into that idea.