Grotto PKMN Center, Sinnoh
Logan opened his eyes once more, feeling better than he did back when he woke up that other time. The room was illuminated by the morning sun, so he was able to see better.
He looked over to Oliver, who he could finally see completely. Oliver's face had a few bandages on it, some even wrapped around the top of his head.
The Scorbunny tried to stand up and walk over to him, but his legs buckled, causing him to fall to the floor.
"Owww how long has it been?" Logan groaned, moving to put his paws on the floor to push himself up.
His eyes then widened.
His paws, moving up to his shoulders, were covered in wrapped bandages.
Logan quickly stood up to rush to the bathroom and check himself.
In the bathroom, he checked the mirror. It was the first time he had seen his own face since before the battle against Nidoking.
Logan's face was dotted with bandages, one specifically on his cheek where he had been punched by Nidoking.
Logan kicked Max out of the way, managing to get him a decent distance away. The Buizel looked back to see the Scorbunny, his arms flailing, his expression pained, yet serious.
"Run..."
Before he could utter any other words, Logan was suddenly punched in his face, his head slamming against the tree. Logan's vision instantly went black.
He thought about Max, wondering if he was okay.
"I have to check on him soon..." He thought, putting his bandaged paws on his hips.
He slightly winced in pain, looking at his paws. Despite the bandages, they were still in a decent amount of pain.
"I still can't believe all of that happened..." He uttered to himself, "It wasn't just a dream."
He turned his head before running to the bedroom door, kicking it open. He soon ran downstairs to the main lobby, which was pretty much empty.
He walked around, noticing that Lucy wasn't even at the front desk. He was the only one there. The Scorbunny could only hear the silent pitter-patter of his feet as he walked around the vacant lobby.
The silence was then shattered when he heard talking from an opening door.
"You'll need to keep those bandages on for the next few weeks, okay?" A feminine voice explained.
A masculine voice replied, "I understand, thanks ma'am."
"I'm just doing my job."
Coming out of the doorway was a Growlithe that soon left the Pokémon Center.
Logan looked at him leave before he could feel a pair of eyes resting on him. He turned around to see a familiar Blissey, looking back at him with a shaky smile and teary eyes.
"Logan!"
Lucy rushed over to him and picked the Scorbunny up.
"How are your vitals, hon?" She asked, inspecting his body, "Are your bandages tight enough? Do you need a snack?"
"Put me down!" Logan squirmed, slipping from her paws, "I'm fine, can't you see that?" As he was speaking, the bruise on his right cheek was strained a bit, "Ow..."
"The bruise getting you?" She raised an eyebrow with a smile, "I have potions..."
"No! I'll let this heal on its own," The Scorbunny huffed.
After a few seconds of silence, his ears suddenly twitched.
"Oh yeah! I came down here to ask you something!" Logan looked up at the Blissey, "How long was I out, and what happened?"
"Well, you and the others were unconscious for about three weeks..." Lucy put a paw on her chin, "Although the others were knocked out forcefully like you, they hit their limits long before the fight was over. They passed out soon after Oliver hit Nidoking."
"And what happened?" Logan asked impatiently.
"Hold on boy, I'm getting to it!"
The Scorbunny looked away, a little startled.
"After things settled down, and Nidoking was unconscious..."
Three Weeks Ago, Forest Grotto
Just like that, Nidoking was down. Oliver, after hitting Nidoking with the Aqua Jet and Razor Shell combination, was sent flying and landed on the ground nearby.
Sophie landed on the ground, and sat down. She soon fell onto her back, passing out soon after.
Jacob managed to get Max to the Pokémon Center, but the sum of his injuries and his ignored fatigue did him in, and he fell unconscious as well.
There was a moment of silence as the Grotto Rangers all circled around Nidoking's unconscious body. The mixed emotions of the defeat of the Grotto's oppressor all culminated into a synonymous cheer, one that echoed throughout the whole Grotto.
For the first time in days, Lucy walked out of the Pokémon Center, the metallic shutter door blocking the entrance collapsing soon after.
"He didn't..." Lucy looked over at the unconscious Nidoking, and covered her mouth with both of her paws, "Emi, Kenny, your son is incredible!"
The Blissey looked around the area, and noticed a familiar Scorbunny, his back up against a tree. His head was facing down at his legs, which were outstretched in front of him.
She ran over to him, and slid to a stop on her knees.
Lucy put a paw on Logan's head, lifting it to face her. She nearly threw up at the sight. Years of medical training and years of dealing with worse injuries, but yet seeing the ones she loved in a similar state always put a weird feeling in her stomach.
The right side of Logan's face was swollen beyond belief, his eye on that side not even visible. The left side of his face wasn't doing much better either, as that was the side of his face to slam against the tree after the punch from Nidoking.
Logan's paws were charred, burnt from the overuse of his Flame Shots. The Scorbunny was in terrible shape, and she knew she had to get him to the Pokémon Center as soon as possible.
She picked Logan up, and began carrying him towards the building.
Lucy placed Logan on a stretcher next to Oliver, Jacob, and Sophie, who were all on stretchers as well. She wheeled all of them into a room and hooked them up to E.K.J monitors.
Once getting them all stable, she could hear a door burst open.
She turned around to see an Azumarill, wearing a confident smile. There were other Pokémon walking in behind her, a Sudowoodo with a camera, and an Electabuzz carrying a microphone.
"We saw the explosions, say no more!" The Azumarill exclaimed, "I want to know who caused them!"
"And you are?" Lucy raised an eyebrow.
The Azumarill cleared her throat for a moment, "Azzy Azu, local reporter."
"Azu?"
"Azu, as in Azumarill," Azzy fanned her paw, "Azzy Azu is short for Azzy the Azumarill, but that's a little too long winded for a news reporter, am I right? Of course I'm right, no need to tell me."
The Blissey's eye twitched, "Okay, why are you here?"
"I could see the explosions all the way from over in Casteel City," Azzy answered, "So me and a bit of my crew came over here to see what all of the brouhaha was about."
"Brouhaha...?"
"I want to know what's been happening over here," The Azumarill told her, "Forest Grotto has always been pretty closed off, has it not? So what happened? And why are those Pokémon behind you so injured?"
Lucy's eyes darted to look at Oliver, Jacob, Logan, and Sophie, who were all on their own individual stretchers.
"There was a giant fight for territory of the Grotto.." Lucy answered, "...Is the basic sum of it..."
Azzy looked at the four behind Lucy, "And how were these four involved?"
"...They led the charge..."
Azzy's eyes lit up, "Stupefying!"
"Stupefying...?"
"I need interviews immediately!" Azzy signaled to the Sudowoodo behind her, who began rolling the camera.
"Azzy Azu, local reporter, here with some breaking news from all the way out in Forest Grotto!" The Azumarill grinned.
"Not so fast!" Lucy moved to kick the camera out of the Sudowoodo's grip, soon catching it, and stopping it from rolling, "Regardless of their current status, they're underaged, you know?"
Azzy looked at the Blissey.
"How about we make a deal?" Lucy looked at the Azumarill, "When they all wake up, and are out and about, you can ask to interview them. For now, you can stay in the Pokémon Center."
"Sounds like a good deal, if I do say so myself!" Azzy smiled, grabbing the camera from Lucy and handing it back to the Sudowoodo behind her, "We'll stay around here for a while."
As the trio walked out of the room, Lucy sighed softly to herself. She sat down on a nearby chair, looking down at the dirtied floor.
"How am I gonna explain this to them...?"
Back to Present
"That's all well and good how you sold our privacy for peace and quiet, but when that hell happened to Nidoking?" Logan asked loudly.
Lucy smiled for a moment, glad that Logan didn't seem to have changed, "The GR have locked him up in the Crystal Cave."
"That cave that everyone has been to for some reason?"
The Blissey nodded, "Yeah, that one..." She then looked away, "He seems different, though..."
"Different?"
"He's more... Aware."
"Well that's not too bad..."
"Logan, he can speak now."
The Scorbunny's eyes widened as his breathing hitched a bit, "I... I have to see it for myself!"
Before Lucy could stop him, or even reply for that matter, the Scorbunny was already off, running out of the building and into the surrounding town.
Forest Grotto, Sinnoh
As Logan sprinted through the Grotto, he passed by every house and building in the Grotto without even looking around. He ran into the surrounding forest, towards a familiar place.
His sprint slowed to an exhausted walk. His endurance had been halved since it had been so long since he actually ran. The Scorbunny looked up at an Oran berry in a tree before jumping up branch by branch to reach it.
Before he could, however, a Pokémon sped past, grabbing the berry in the process.
Logan, surprised by this, reached for the nearest branch to hang off of as the speedy Pokémon landed on a nearby branch. As his eyesight focused, he saw a familiar face.
"Want this berry?" Frost asked, stabbing the Oran berry with a claw, "We got way better back at the treehouse."
The Scorbunny developed a toothy grin, "Frost!"
"Heya, Logan," The Sneasel smiled faintly, "Glad you're not dead. For a second there I thought you would be that weak."
Logan's face turned red with anger, "I may have just woken up, but I can guarantee kick your ass!"
Frost laughed out loud, "I'm glad you haven't changed."
Logan huffed silently.
"Well come on then! The treehouse isn't far!" Frost motioned for him to come along, and the Scorbunny huffed.
"I know that it isn't, me and Leah made the place!"
As he yelled after Frost, his mind switched to another one of his friends, Leah. He wondered how she was, and how the end of the battle affected her.
"I'll see her soon anyway, I'll see then..."
With Leah...
"So that Pikachu was him..." Dawn paced back and forth in Leah's room, bandages patched over the Buneary's small wounds.
"I wonder, what was it that Jacob did to get you this mad?" The Aipom asked, making her stop pacing.
"He... Beat me in a battle."
"Wait... That's it?" Leah stood up to face Dawn, "You're saying you followed him all the way to Forest Grotto, went through all this trouble, for a rematch?"
The Buneary clenched her paws, "It's not about the rematch!"
"Then what is it about?"
"I can't go back just yet, they'll just come for me again."
"Who the heck is 'they', Dawn?"
The Buneary's eyes widened as she realized what she let slip from her mouth, "Why am I still worried about them, I haven't seen them for years..."
"Dawn?" Leah raised an eyebrow.
She snapped out of it, shaking her head, "It's nothing, don't worry about it."
The Aipom smiled, "Well whatever the reason, I'll help you get that rematch."
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah, it's just a rematch. It's not that hard to get," Leah reasoned, "Besides, you helped me in the fight for the Grotto, it's only fair that I help you."
Dawn let out a faint sigh, "Just a rematch..."
As the room fell silent, a sudden bang from the main room alerted the girls as their gazes turned to the door leading out to the main room.
Leah opened the door and walked out, followed by Dawn.
Standing in the middle of the main room was Logan, who was facing the other way. He turned around at the sound of footsteps to see the two girls, looking back at him with confusion.
"Logan...?" Leah's eyes widened.
The Scorbunny smiled, "I'm alive, Leah."
The Aipom suddenly jumped forward to give her best friend a big hug, her tail even wrapping around him as well, "I can't believe you're here!"
"Me neither in a way..." Logan put a paw on the back of his own head, lightly rubbing it.
Leah let him go before giving him a toothy grin, "Everyone! Logan's back!"
The sound of doors bursting open made the Scorbunny jump in surprise as both Simon and Chomps ran to hug him. The two tackled him to the ground, laughing happily.
"Simon, Chomps! It feels like it's been forever since we were together!"
"It feels like it's been forever since we were all living here together..." Frost spoke, walking in.
"I guess you're right," Logan stood up, "The five of us as a team are all here in the treehouse once again!"
"Oh! And we even have some new recruits for our team!" Simon spoke, beginning to levitate in the air.
"Wait, really?" The Scorbunny's eyes lit up.
"Ness! Nix! Where are you?" Simon called out.
Two Nidoran then stepped out of the kitchen, their mouths stuffed with food.
"Nidoran!" Logan shouted, springing off of his foot to charge at them, "Don't think you can make a comeback for your boss!"
"Logan, no!" The group shouted before a bone hit the Scorbunny in his side, sending him flying into a wall.
Ness nearly choked on his food as Nix swallowed it down, watching Logan hit the wall. The Scorbunny groaned as he held his head, looking at the two Nidoran.
"We're not exactly a part of Nidoking's army anymore..." Nix spoke up, "We're rebels of his army technically. Why else do you think we're here? All of the other Nidoran and Nidorino have been captured."
"Rebels...?" Logan asked slowly, standing up.
"Yep, rebels..." A voice spoke from inside the kitchen, revealing to be a Marowak, "They helped us during the fight for the Grotto, pretty much betraying their own kind for the sake of the Grotto."
"Well, there's no arguing with that, who doesn't love a good rebel?" He smiled before his expression suddenly switched to confusion, "Wait, who are you?" The Scorbunny stood up.
"That's A.J, another new recruit for the team," Leah explained, "He was my childhood friend, and when I found him again, he helped in the fight for the Grotto."
"Fight for the Grotto, huh..." Logan hummed, "That's what others have been calling it?"
Leah nodded, "Yeah, that's what it was."
Logan's ears suddenly twitched, "Oh right! You guys have to come with me!"
"What?" Everyone looked at the bandaged Pokémon with confusion.
He was already running towards the window, "No time to explain!"
Everyone exchanged glances before shrugging and following him.
Running through the Grotto once again, Logan didn't pay attention to what was around him, before Leah hopped in front of him. Logan couldn't stop in time, so the duo rolled on the ground before coming to a stop.
"What the? Leah, what are you doing?" The Scorbunny stood up, looking at her.
"Logan, what are you doing? Taking us to some unknown location."
The team, and Dawn, stood behind Leah, also confused.
Logan sighed with exasperation, "I wanted to take you guys to see Nidoking."
"Nidoking? Why?"
"I just wanted to have a little talk with him."
"Why?"
"I... I don't know, to be honest."
Leah sighed faintly, "Logan, look around you."
The Scorbunny looked back at the Aipom with confusion, "What?"
"Just do it, okay?"
Logan, still a bit confused, stepped away from Leah to look around. He was standing in the middle of Forest Grotto, and he could see various Pokémon walking the area. His eyes widened.
"When did all these Pokémon get here...?"
Leah walked up to him and put a paw on his shoulder, "They were always here, Logan."
"Then how...?"
"Logan, listen to me," The Aipom began, "Nidoking's been defeated, meaning that walking around Forest Grotto is easier than it was before."
"I know that, I'm not stupid..." He huffed, looking away.
"Then why are you so concerned with Nidoking?"
"It's because that's all it's been!" He shouted, swatting her paw away, "I... Nidoking was just defeated yesterday! We have to make sure this doesn't happen again!"
The group stayed silent, looking at each other.
"Dude, it's been three weeks, remember?" Dawn spoke up, putting a paw on her hip.
The Scorbunny bit his lower lip, "Right..."
The Aipom smiled, "Logan, it's over, we can just return to what we were doing before Nidoking attacked originally."
"What were we doing before...?" Logan asked in a mumble.
"What was that?" Simon raised an eyebrow.
"What were we doing before he attacked!?" The Scorbunny asked loudly, "I was five before he attacked, you know? This has been my life! Stopping Nidoking has been my life's goal!"
Leah developed a serious expression, "No, becoming a Grotto Ranger has been your life goal..." Her bandaged paws balled up, "When we met you went on and on about it, until I decided I'd help you!"
Logan was surprised at Leah's statements.
"Maybe stopping Nidoking was the way to become a Grotto Ranger in your eyes... But that isn't the means to an end!"
The Scorbunny looked down. Was she right? Had he really been so concerned with defeating Nidoking to the point where it became his life goal? Hell, he was only fourteen, his life goal was for him to complete by the time he died.
Did he really think that Nidoking would terrorize the Grotto for that long?
"You're right..." Logan took a deep breath in, "I still have my real life goal."
"...To become a Grotto Ranger, no matter what!"