Ch.11

New Friend

Pokemon is the property of its respective owners

"Maris, Catherine, Luka, HELP!" Delia yelled into the night as she futilely shook her best friend's shoulders to try to wake him up.

Delia continued to do this to no avail as she just gave up and held her friend close to her as she buried her face into his shoulders.

"Damn it Dmitri, please wake up!" Delia thought concernedly as the entrance to the tent flew open with a drowsy Catherine looking around before her eyes came upon Dmitri.

"What's wrong Delia? He's just sleeping," Catherine told Delia sleepily as she poked Dmitri and recoiled when she realized how cold as ice he was.

"Whoa, that's definitely not normal. Try to keep him warm while I'll go try to find Luka and Maris," Catherine said seriously as she rushed out of the tent leaving Delia alone once again.

Delia looked at Dmitri worriedly for a second before gently picking him up and placing him in his sleeping bag. She sighed and shook her head sadly before covering him with a warm, thick blanket and sat crossed legged next to him. Delia rubbed his head softly and stared at the entrance to the tent uneasily as she wondered how Maris would react.

"She'll probably explode like a raging volcano," Delia pondered solemnly.

Minutes passed and still no sign of her other friends as she continued to rub Dmitri's head which caused his unconscious form to grab at her hand. Delia looked at Dmitri in surprise as he gripped it tightly and violently fidgeted from side to side causing the blanket to be thrown off. Delia pulled him into a hug which did nothing as Dmitri still shook violently in her arms.

Delia held him tight as she soothingly whispered into his ear:

"Shh, calm down now little brother. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Dmitri shook for a few seconds more before his tremors ceased and now lay gently snoozing in Delia's arms. Delia let out a sigh of relief as she put her best friend back in his sleeping bag just as the tent flap flew right open revealing a sweaty, tired, and concerned Maris looking.

"(Delia, what happened? Catherine blabbered about how cold as ice Dmitri was and I came over here as soon as I could,)" Maris hurriedly said to Delia as she rushed to Dmitri's side and placed a paw on his forehead.

Delia, glad that such a horrifying event passed, let a tired smile cross her features and told Maris he was fine. Maris nodded happily and sat crossed legged across from Delia as a guilty look crossed Maris's face.

"(Delia, I-) "

"Me too."

Maris and Delia smiled at each other warmly before Catherine and Luka finally arrived on the scene with Catherine holding more medical supplies than she could carry in her quivering arms.

"Don't worry Dmitri the cavalry's here!" Catherine shouted as tears welled up in her eyes.

"(Master, since you clearly didn't look he seems to be sleeping like a baby so that means we should probably leave now so we don't wake him up,)" Luka whispered annoyingly so as not to wake up Dmitri.

"Yes, please do. This tent can only hold so much people before it gets cramped which would leave everyone uncomfortable and probably touching someone where they don't want to be touched," Delia said plainly as she moved her sleeping bag next to Dmitri's leaving a shocked Catherine with her jaw wide open in shock.

Catherine shuddered briefly before leaving with her many medicinal supplies with Luka rolling her eyes and lagging behind her.

"(Delia, how did this happen?)" Maris asked her friend suspiciously while Delia stared at her sleeping bag.

"I…I mentioned his father," Delia told her with great reluctance.

Maris looked thoughtfully at the depressed battle ace as she sighed and ran a paw through the fur on her head.

"(He's still traumatized by this? I thought telling Hope about "that day" would at the least help him accept that his father is dead,)" Maris said bitterly as she clenched her fists.

"People never accept that someone special in their life was taken away from them. They learn to cope with it, but till their dying day they still can't believe that someone they love was taken away from them," Delia told her stoically as Maris glowered at her as if she committed some horrible crime.

"(That's utter bulls*** Delia! Karen learnt to accept it not because she wanted to, but because she needed to for Dmitri's sake as she couldn't just mope about it for the rest of her life as she had a child to take care of and for the sake of gaining inner peace!" Maris said fiercely as Delia met her gaze with a stoic expression.

Delia pondered what Maris told her for a few seconds before looking at her with a glint of respect in her eyes.

"I never looked at it that way Maris," Delia said solemnly.

"(Damn right,)" Maris retorted as she lay down next to Dmitri and tried to find a comfortable position in such a small space.

"(Delia?)" Maris asked.

"Hmm?" Delia mumbled as she grabbed her sleeping bag.

"(When you said to Dmitri that you didn't want to be separated from the only two friends you ever had, you meant besides your own pokemon right?)" Maris questioned her.

Delia snickered briefly before situating herself in her sleeping bag.

"Maris, you're my best friend and Dmitri's my best friend. Of course I care for the pokemon on my team like family, but I've known you guys longer than them, excluding Haxorus, so that means you guys are like my brother and sister. Get it?" Delia answered her as she rested her head on her pillow.

"(Yeah, I guess so. Thanks Delia, what you just said…it…means a lot to me. Having a few, close friends that you can rely on in snap of a finger is indeed a flipping great thing to have,)" Maris told her truthfully as she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Delia smiled slightly before draping an arm over Dmitri and let the peaceful embrace of sleep get to her.

Next Day

Dmitri slowly opened his eyes and found to his surprise that Maris sleeping next to him with her paws under head while Delia was snoozing silently with an arm around his body.

"What happened? All I remember from last night is the argument and Delia mentioning my father before passing out," Dmitri thought as he continued to lie on the ground and staring up at the top of the tent.

Dmitri attempted to get up, but Delia groaned and pulled him into a tight hug which prevented him from moving his arms. He sighed and craned his head to the side and found Maris snoring softly as she had a paw covering her eyes. Dmitri laughed quietly at the sight and rested his head on his pillow, hoping that his friends weren't too worried about him.

"Geez, I hope I didn't scare them," Dmitri silently mused to himself.

"(Well if you're intention wasn't too scare us then you pretty much failed big time,)" Maris said matter-of-factly as she rested her head on her paw.

Dmitri jolted slightly, not expecting his best friend to be awake so soon.

"How long have you been awake?" Dmitri asked as he turned his head towards her.

"(Long enough to hear you laughing like a little girl at my snoring,)" Maris told him bluntly as she pried off Delia's arms from his body and led him outside the tent.

Maris noticed Luka was up already practicing her moves and decided to play a little prank on her. Charging up chi in the palm of her paw until it contorted into the shape of a beach ball, she threw it at the Aura Pokemon like a professional baseball player. Luka sensed an attack from behind her and immediately wheeled around to find a large yellow sphere coming straight for her. Sensing that it was quite weak, she held out her paw contemptuously, intent on just swatting it away like a Magikarp.

Maris grinned and just as her attack was about to make contact she moved her orb of life energy upward gently hit Luka on the head a few times. Luka angrily batted it away and tried to find the origin of the attack. Hearing laughing coming from her left she turned towards it and found Maris snickering to herself as she was quite proud of her prank. Luka didn't even waste time in trying to charge up her aura and simply chucked one at the Martial Arts Pokemon.

Maris was too busy laughing her head off to realize an aura sphere coming for her and wasn't prepared when it struck her in the gut. Letting out a surprises squeal of pain she fell on her back roughly and immediately sprang back up on her feet with a heavy blush on her face.

"(So not cool Luka!)" Maris shouted indignantly.

"(You started it sis. I just gave you, how some people say it, a taste of your own medicine?)" Luka said smugly as Maris stomped towards her with Dmitri trying and miserably failing to hold her back.

Upon noticing Dmitri awake, Luka turned her attention towards him and respectfully addressed the battle ace.

"(Sir Dmitri, I'm glad that you're well considering last night's unfortunate event,)" Luka said stoically as Dmitri's eyes took on a confused expression.

"Luka were all friends here, you don't need to call me "sir" or "mister" okay?" Dmitri informed her gently as Luka raised her eyebrows.

"(As you wish…si-, I mean, Dmitri,)" Luka replied bewildered.

"(Well, now that that's out of the way,)" Maris said as she glared at Luka and dropped into a fighting stance.

"(I believe you still owe me a sparring match seeing as it was postponed for an urgent matter and seeing as how I've won the last two, you may have the first move,)" Maris said haughtily as Luka lunged at her without hesitation, but refrained from attacking at the last second.

Just as Maris was about to ask why, Luka gently picked up Dmitri by his waist and after walking a short distance, set him down on the sidelines so he wouldn't be hurt in the ensuing battle. Dmitri smiled at Luka warmly while he was just given a simple pat on the shoulder before Luka walked back to Maris and reengaged in battle. A deafening boom resonated throughout the area as wild Starly flew away into the sky in fright.

"(What the flip was that?!)" Maris shouted bewildered.

Dmitri didn't answer her as another boom shook the earth causing him to look at Maris earnestly. Maris crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him seriously before nodding.

"(Luka, I need you to look after the camp for us while we go investigate,)" Maris told her solemnly as Luka put her paws on her hips.

"(You sure you won't need any backup?)" Luka asked her concerned.

"(Luka we got this,)" Maris replied optimistically

Luka nodded and with Maris and Dmitri took off towards the booms determinedly. When they finally reached the source of the blasts both their eyes widened in shock. A pokemon was lying severely injured on the ground like a boulder motionless with a black and grey hyena like pokemon and hell hound esque pokemon surrounded it with malicious intent. A girl who seemed to be the same age as Delia sneered at the hurt pokemon and kicked it in the stomach forcefully as it howled in pain.

"I can f***** believe you! How much of a weakling do you have to be to lose to that sniveling brat's little turd of a pokemon?!" the girl roared angrily at the defenseless pokemon as it pathetically curled up into a ball.

"Hey leave it alone!" Dmitri shouted bravely as he put himself in front of the wounded pokemon with his arms extended.

She didn't even get a word out before a seemingly invisible strike caught her straight in the face which caused her to hit the ground with a thud. Her two pokemon's eyes darted around in confusion, fearfully wondering where their trainer's attacker went. Their efforts would be for naught as two quick strikes soon struck them causing them to fall to the ground unconscious.

"Wow Maris, you've gotten faster," Dmitri complimented his best friend who blushed briefly in response.

"(I know, but that's not our concern right now,)" Maris replied seriously as she walked towards Dmitri who was already checking up on the injured pokemon.

The pokemon in question had black fur on its back while its front was covered in sky blue fur with a single yellow stripe on each of its front legs. Its tail resembled that of a star and it had big, floppy ears. Dmitri cringed when he saw many cuts, bruises, and gashes on this poor pokemon's body while Maris was literally radiating with white-hot rage. Before she could stomp the jerk's head in though, Dmitri called her off.

"Maris no, she isn't worth it," Dmitri told her with a depressed tone as he cradled the mysterious pokemon in his left arm.

Maris glared at the unconscious trainer on the ground and clenched her fists until some blood seeped down her paws. Taking a deep breath and without looking at Dmitri, nodded her head. Dmitri started sprinting back to the camp until Maris, who easily caught up to him, picked him up and began jumping through the trees to save oh so valuable time.

When she finally saw the campsite she launched herself off the tree and landed smack in the middle of the campsite causing Catherine to fall on her butt in surprise while Delia just jolted slightly. Luka was about to question on her as to why she did this until she saw in Dmitri's arms a beaten and near death pokemon causing her eyes to widen in shock. Luka sprinted towards Dmitri's backpack and desperately grabbed a hyper potion as Dmitri approached Luka quickly.

"Quick Luka there's not much time!" Dmitri shouted worriedly as he tried keeping the strange pokemon awake from an eternal slumber.

"(I know let's just hope were not too late,)" Luka replied through gritted teeth as she angrily wondered who could do this to another living being.

Luka fumbled with the container for a little bit, but managed to get it open and spray its contents onto the injured pokemon. The wounded pokemon didn't move for a few seconds, but it gradually opened its eyes and once it stared up at Dmitri it started to kick and thrash in fright. Dmitri jolted in surprise which caused his grip on the wildly thrashing pokemon to loosen on it; causing the pokemon to bite him in the arm that held it in its confused and terrified state.

Dmitri let out a brief scream in pain, but made no move to try and pry its jaws from his arm as he didn't want to provoke it any further. Luka was about to step in, but Dmitri stared at her pleadingly as if asking her to let him handle this. Luka was about to protest, but the look he was giving her told her not to intervene. Luka relented and stepped back to give him space just as Dmitri started talking to it.

"Please stop this, you don't have any reason to be afraid anymore," Dmitri told the frightened pokemon in a tired tone as suppressing the pain was beginning to take its toll.

It slowly released its grip on his arm and looked up at Dmitri's pained, yet compassionate face.

"You're not with that monster any longer so you calm down now," Dmitri said soothingly as he slowly brought it into a hug.

Maris and Delia eyed it warily while Catherine and Luka muscles tensed as they prepared to move the moment the mysterious pokemon tried anything the least bit hostile. Dmitri's kind eyes met the fearful pokemon's terrified ones and he jumped back in shock when it lunged at him.

Maris immediately came to her friend's defense, but found he was…laughing?

"Ah, ok, I love you too!" Dmitri cried out happily as the pokemon buried its teary eyed face into his chest while Maris looked on with her brow twitching violently.

Delia sighed at this spectacle and seeing as how Dmitri seemed safe, took out her pokedex to identify the name of the alien pokemon, at least to her. Pointing the contraption at it, the device beeped to life and it said that the pokemon in question was a Shinx.

"(Shinx? Oh, I get it like a sphinx!)" Maris said proudly while Luka just rolled her eyes.

"(Congratulations, you want a medal for that?)" Luka snapped sarcastically at Maris who just glared at her in response.

"(Screw you!)" Maris retorted angrily as she blushed.

"Enough you fools! Dmitri, you and Maris go on ahead to Jubilife City and get your new friend healed more as the hyper potion just healed the minor wounds; we'll take care of things here," Delia told Dmitri as Catherine protested.

"Hey wait just a darn minute! Who's going to carry all of Dmitri's camping supplies if he's just going to leave it behind?" Catherine shouted confusedly.

"Were all going to carry something Catherine so quit your whining!" Delia told Catherine irritatedly.

"All right we'll meet up with you guys at the pokemon center at Jubilife and then like Delia wanted we'll get some ice cream," Dmitri said happily as he scooped up Shinx in his arms.

Delia nodded and went over to Dmitri's tent and started to take it down while Luka rolled her eyes as Catherine complained to her about all the things they'll have to carry. Dmitri smiled tiredly and gently shifting Shinx into his other arm; he took out his pokegear and looked around all of its files until he found one named "maps." Searching it for a few seconds; he breathed a sigh of relief as a file called "map of the sinnoh region" came up and selected it.

"Thank Arceus that mom is always so prepared," Dmitri whispered gratefully as Maris scowled and crossed her arms.

"(Arceus didn't do jack squat so you don't need to thank him for anything Dmitri,)" Maris said firmly as she stood near his shoulder.

Dmitri sighed and turned back to the pokegear which showed him his current location to which Maris raised her eyebrows in admiration.

"(To think something so small could be so useful,)" Maris stated as Shinx eyes widened in shock before looking away in thought.

Dmitri didn't say anything as he began walking in the direction that the pokegear indicated for him to go with Maris not far behind. Shinx on the other hand was still in deep in thought.

"(Could what the weird pokemon said was right? Even if I'm small, could I still be of some use?)" Shinx pondered deeply.

It then looked at Maris and slightly tucked its body further into his arm due to her imposing physique. Maris momentarily looked at Shinx in order to confirm it was alright before looking back at the many trees, bushes, and dirt that covered the entire area.

"(If this human could get that weird looking Floatzel up to such a high level, maybe he could do the same for me? Well, I guess there's only one way to find out!)" Shinx thought determinedly as it looked up at Dmitri with narrowed eyes.

Sorry the new chapter took so long-Negative 97