~ Chapter 5 ~

"Travel got easier as time went on. We enjoyed the time outdoors, and we learned a lot of about each other and ourselves.

It's funny, how you can know someone your entire life, and learn so many new things about them all the time. For example, Alyssandra had a secret crush on someone from our hometown—she wouldn't say who though.

And Jeremy's grandmother was the former Sinnoh League Champion before Cynthia—I've only met her once, but she was quite the hardened women. It was something he kept from people for similar reasons why I kept my family's wealth and business a secret for so long.

Of course, one of the biggest things we learned was that not all wild Pokémon are simply good or bad, in fact a lot of them are simply lost or confused. At least that was the case with the Turtwig we found…"

Jeremy exited his tent, a confused and worried look on his face.

"Hey, what's up?" asked Sam.

"Everything okay?" inquired Alyssandra.

Jeremy shook his head. "No. I can't find my Pokétch. Have you guys seen it?"

Sam and Alyssandra shook their heads. Everyone turned to look over at their Pokémon. The small cluster of creatures were happily eating their bowls of Pokémon food.

Pikachu, the two Piplup, the two Starly and the two Shinx looked back at their trainers. They sat puzzled for a moment, then returned happily to their food.

"Well, that concludes that search," said Sam. "Maybe you just left it somewhere in your tent?"

Jeremy shook his head and sat down in front of the fire. He ladled himself some oatmeal. "No, I remember clearly putting it in my backpack last night before bed, and now it's gone. I searched the tent and it's not there."

Alyssandra finished off her oatmeal then looked over at Jeremy. "Well, I hate to say it, but if you can't find it then it's probably lost."

"I know it's lost," said Jeremy. He paused to blow on his oatmeal. "That's why I'm trying to find it."

Sam walked down to the river and began to rinse his plate and cutlery in the clear, crisp water. "Jeremy, she means that it's gone lost. You'll have to get a new one."

"I don't want to get a new one," said Jeremy defiantly. "That was a special Pokétch, I refuse to believe it's just lost. Lyss, will you help me look?"

Alyssandra looked down at her empty bowl and then to Sam.

Sam sighed. "Yeah, go on. I'll clean the bowl."

Alyssandra handed Sam the bowl with a grateful look, then walked into the tent with Jeremy to help him look for the Pokétch.

Sam couldn't help but shake his head a bit as he washed his friends dishes. Alyssandra could have asked him to commit murder and he would have done it. He had always been sweet on her, nearly to a fault. He had always wondered—dared hope—that she felt the same way as him.

But last night they had had a very uncomfortable conversation as a trio about embarrassing secrets. Sam now knew how she felt about him, and unfortunately it was as he had always feared. She only saw him as a friend, or family. Alyssandra had admitted she had a crush on someone back in their hometown but refused to say who.

There were lots of other kids in Twinleaf Town. For all Sam knew it could've been someone who had gone off on a Pokémon Journey long before Sam and his friends had.

Sam wasn't upset, or disappointed. In a way, in the depths of his soul, he knew this would probably end up being the case. Niya had always warned him he needed to say something sooner. Now Sam wished he'd listened.

Sam sighed. He would settle with being her friend. That was enough, and he would never want to jeopardize their friendship. Alyssandra had been his friend for so long, Sam didn't want to imagine a life without one of his best friends. Sam knew he would have to move on, and he knew that he would be able to, but it would take time.

Sam's Piplup shuffled up beside him and tugged on his pantleg.

Sam turned around and smiled at Piplup, who was soon joined by Shinx and Starly.

Shinx mewed as he brushed up against Sam's leg.

Sam's Starly flew around his head and landed on his shoulder, giving him a quick peck with his beak.

"Hey, you guys," he said. "How was breakfast? Did you like it?"

Sam knelt down to pat his Pokémon.

The tent flap rustled and Jeremy and Alyssandra exited the tent in a flurry. "I'm sorry, Jeremy. You're just going to have to get a new one. We've searched the entire tent and it's not there."

"But it has to be!" argued Jeremy. "A Pokétch doesn't just get up and walk away!"

Sam watched his two friends argue and shook his head. There was no point getting involved just yet. He walked over to his own tent to grab his jacket; Sam never went anywhere without his jacket.

He started to pull his jacket on when he froze. Something was wrong. The jacket felt off—lighter. He felt around like a mad man, rifling through his pockets. Sam swore to himself as he dashed from the tent.

"It's gone," he said with great panic. "It's all gone. We've been robbed!"

Alyssandra turned to face Sam and threw her hands up. "Not you too! Did you lose your Pokétch as well?"

Sam shook his head. "No, not my Pokétch. My money—our money! All of the money I was carrying on me is gone!"

"How much was it?" asked Jeremy.

"Ninety thousand Poké-Yen," said Sam. "That was supposed to last us until at least the end of our stay in Jubilife City."

"That's not good," said Alyssandra. She quickly dashed into her tent to see if anything was missing.

At first, she sighed with relief; realizing the money she had won from Sam was tucked safely away in her backpack, but soon screamed as she realized her Trainer Card was gone.

"My Trainer Card!" she shouted as she ran from the tent. "It's gone! Someone must've stolen it!"

"See?! What did I tell you?!" said Jeremy. "I didn't lose my Pokétch, Sam didn't lose his money, and you didn't lose your Trainer Card. Someone, or something, stole them!"

"All right, all right, we believe you now!" exclaimed Sam. "Now all we need to do is calm down and find out who took our stuff."

"Easier said than done," said Alyssandra with crossed arms.

"We're probably the only people around for miles," frowned Sam. "If it was someone who stole our stuff, they're probably long gone by now. Besides wouldn't we have noticed a person sneaking into camp?"

"Not unless it was a person using a stealthy Pokémon like a Weavile, or a Sneasel or something like that," suggested Jeremy. "Now let's just start searching the area, and maybe we can—"

Jeremy was cut off by the sound of their Pokémon freaking out.

Sam and the others wheeled around just in time to see a small flash of green dash off into the bushes with the group's supply of food.

"It looked like a Pokémon!" exclaimed Alyssandra. "But what kind?"

Sam shrugged as he ran over to the bush. "I'm not sure, but it moves fast, and it was green; maybe a Grass type?"

Jeremy started to sift through the bushes but found nothing. "We need to find it, whatever it is! It stole our stuff, and now all of our food!"

"We should split up to cover more ground," said Alyssandra. "Each of us will take their Pokémon and go looking for whatever took our stuff. We'll meet back here in two hours if we haven't found anything."

"And what if we do find something?" asked Sam. "We have no way of contacting each other. These are Pokétch, not Xtransceivers or PokéNavs."

"Simple," said Jeremy. "We'll send up a signal with our Pokémon. Or we just battle the little runt ourselves if it really is a Pokémon."

Sam and Alyssandra nodded, and together they ran off into the forest, with Jeremy and their Pokémon close behind.

Sam turned a corner in the forest's path. "It feels like we've passed by this same tree three times."

Piplup and Shinx looked as lost and confused as Sam was.

"Should we push forward or head back to camp?" asked Sam.

His Pokémon replied with very doubtful and worried cries.

"I suppose you're right," concluded Sam. "If we're lost there's no telling which way is back. So, I suppose we may as well push on then."

Sam took a step forward but stopped when he noticed something standing in the middle of the path.

It was small, it was green, with a hardened brown shell and two leaves sprouting from the top of his head. Sam recognized it instantly as a Turtwig, one of the Starter Pokémon of the Sinnoh Region.

"I didn't know there were any Turtwig out in the wild. All the Turtwig in the Sinnoh Region are raised at the family ranch, but that's a long way from here. Maybe this one is feral; an escapee from the ranch or a trainer?"

Sam suddenly remembered the small green flash that disappeared into the bush.

"Hey! I wonder," said Sam, thinking aloud. "It's definitely the right size."

Slowly, Sam approached the Turtwig, hoping not to scare it or provoke it in any way.

"Hey there," said Sam softly. "How are you?"

Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out some Pokémon food. "Do you want some Pokémon food?"

Initially the Turtwig showed interest. It sniffed Sam's hand for any sign of danger, but things soon turned ugly as the Turtwig changed its mood and bit down on Sam's fingers.

It was a small nip, but enough to send Sam back, howling with pain. He had remembered his uncle's words from his last summer at the ranch and they rang through his head almost as vivid as his pain.

"Turtwig are strong little Pokémon. They may not look like much, but their jaws pack a punch in a pinch. They bite down hard on anything they think will hurt them. Sometimes it's just a small nip, a warning bite, other times…well…let's just say we've had assistants that have lost fingers to these little guys."

Sam wrapped his hand in his jacket tightly and looked at Turtwig.

The small Pokémon had prepared to battle Sam and his Pokémon. It sunk low in a stance and its head lowered slightly.

"So that's how you want to play," said Sam through gritted teeth. "You definitely don't strike like that unless you have something to hide. Piplup, release a Bubble into the air and signal the others, Shinx help protect Piplup while it signals the others, we don't know if Turtwig is acting alone. Starly, Turtwig is a Grass type Pokémon, we'll have the advantage if you fight against it."

Starly flew between Sam and Turtwig.

"All right, Starly, start off with a Wing Attack!" Sam commanded confidently.

Starly dashed towards Turtwig, its wings white with energy. However, Turtwig did not move, and made no attempt at trying to dodge.

"What's going—?" started Sam. But he quickly realized that Turtwig was anticipating an attack so it could counterattack. "Starly, it's a trap, pull back!"

But it was too late, Turtwig waited until the last second, and struck back at Starly with a Tackle, sending Starly bouncing back.

"Starly, are you okay?" called Sam.

Sam's Starly nodded, and quickly bounced back up; but despite his determination, it was obvious that Starly had taken heavy damage from the Tackle.

Turtwig was strong, and there was no denying it.

"Starly, try a Wing Attack one more time, but this time, zigzag so it doesn't see you coming!" said Sam. He thought strictly about strategy this time.

Starly charged forward again, bending and weaving through the air like a drunk butterfly. His wings outstretched, Starly was flying at top speed.

"Good, now keep an eye on it, make sure it doesn't trick us again!" said Sam with great confidence. Sam was sure this attack would land; there was no way it wouldn't—and yet he was wrong.

Just as Starly was coming in for a strike from the left, the Turtwig turned and released a red beam at Starly. Sam recognized the attack as Absorb, which drained another Pokémon of its energy and gave it to the user.

"Starly!" cried Sam, but it was too late, Starly was drained of its energy, and hit the ground unconscious.

Sam pulled out Starly's Poké Ball and released the red ray of light. "Starly, return," he said. "Have a nice, long rest, you've earned it."

Sam looked back at his Shinx and his Piplup as he placed Starly's Poké Ball back in his belt, neither of them had the advantage over Turtwig, but they were all he had left. Maybe if Piplup could avoid Turtwig's attacks enough to land a Peck attack—no that still wouldn't work.

While Sam desperately scrambled to come up with a strategy, the Turtwig ran off into the forest, too fast for Sam to catch it.

Sam skidded to a halt at the edge of the forest, not wanting to run in there without a sense of direction. Besides, if he ran off now, his friends would only show up to an empty pathway and no Sam.

Sam sat himself down on the ground, disappointment and shame running through him. He descended from great Pokémon Trainers, and he lost to a Turtwig; even if it was one of his primary battles during his Trainer career, it was still painful to his ego.

Sam didn't have long to dwell on his thoughts though, as Alyssandra and Jeremy quickly dashed out of the nearby trees, completely exhausted and out of breath.

"What's up?" asked Jeremy between gasps for air. "Did you find something?"

"I did," said Sam with a hint of defeat still in his voice. "It was a Pokémon that stole our stuff."

"Really?" asked Alyssandra. "Did you get our stuff? What Pokémon did it?"

"It was a Turtwig," said Sam. "But I wasn't able to get anything back, I'm sorry. I tried battling it with Starly, but it was strong. It knocked Starly out and ran off in that direction."

Jeremy shrugged. "Don't worry about it. I've known you for a long time, and I know you did the best you could. If that Turtwig beat you it's because it's stronger, not because you're incapable as a trainer. It's probably best that you let it run off in fact, because if we follow it the way if fled, we may wind up back at its nest. That's probably where it's keeping our things."

Sam smiled, Jeremy always knew when something was bugging Sam, and he always seemed to know the right thing to make him feel at ease about whatever it was that was bugging him.

"Come on," said Alyssandra. "Let's go!"

Jeremy, Sam and Alyssandra and all their Pokémon emerged from the forest after almost an hour of walking and found themselves in a large clearing with a very large tree in the centre.

"You think this is where Turtwig's nest is?" asked Alyssandra.

"It has to be. Look." Sam pointed to a small hole at the base of the tree.

The three teens dashed forward to the tree and tore through the nest. As they dug, they found the bag of food, Alyssandra's Trainer Card, Jeremy's Pokétch and all of Sam's money, as well as other valuables such as necklaces and rings.

"Jeez," said Jeremy in amazement as he started cramming all of the extra stuff in his bag. "I've never heard of Turtwig behaving like this. They don't normally hoard things."

"I know, but why are you taking it?" asked Sam. "We have what we came for."

"I just figured we could leave it at the Pokémon Centre up the way," explained Jeremy. "If people are looking for these things, then they'll be able to get them back."

"That's kind of you," said Alyssandra as she stood up and dusted herself off, nestling her Trainer Card back in her bag. "I'm sure people will be grateful for it."

Jeremy was about to respond when a Turtwig appeared out of the bush.

Sam recognized it as the Turtwig from before and wasted no time in pointing it out.

The Turtwig prepared to charge but stopped as it noticed its emptied stash. Its anger melted away into fear and shame. It backed away slowly.

"Wait!" said Sam. "It's scared. Here, Turtwig, do you want some Pokémon food? It's the same as before."

The Turtwig stiffened a bit, remembering how it bit Sam last time. The shame deepened.

"Don't worry," said Jeremy as he took the Pokémon food from Sam's hands. "We're not mad, we won't hurt you."

Jeremy slowly approached the Turtwig. The Pokémon seemed to calm down a bit as Jeremy came closer, but it was very clearly still on edge, able and ready to pounce at any second.

"You must be lonely huh?" asked Jeremy. "I noticed on the way here how few Pokémon come this close to this tree. There aren't many this deep in the forest are there?"

"What is he—?" asked Alyssandra, but Sam shushed her, interested in what Jeremy was going to do next.

"That's why you took the stuff, isn't it Turtwig?" asked Jeremy as he inched closer to Turtwig. "You wanted people to come after you, so you could have people to play with, but no one ever came, did they? Until now."

Jeremy bent down, and held out his hand with the Pokémon food, waiting for Turtwig to take a bite.

There was tension in the air. Alyssandra and Sam were stood by, ready to intervene in case the Turtwig attacked or bit Jeremy. Then, finally, after several minutes, the Turtwig began to eat the food, with a wide smile on its face.

"There you are," smiled Jeremy. "You're really nice after all, just a bit lonely. Hey, I got an idea! Would you like to come travel with my friends and I? You'd be perfect for us, plus, you'd be able to have friends to travel with. You'd love all of our Pokémon!"

The Turtwig smiled and cried out ecstatically.

"All right, here goes then," said Jeremy confidently as he pulled out a Poké Ball. "I'm going to catch you now, all right?"

The Turtwig didn't reply, but merely stood there, waiting to be caught.

The Poké Ball was thrown, and the Turtwig was absorbed into it by a red light. The Poké Ball barely shook before the Turtwig was caught—one of the fastest catches any of them had seen yet.

"Well, that all ended happily," said Alyssandra. "I'm proud of you, Jeremy."

"Well," said Jeremy. "It's not fun to live alone and not have friends. I remember after Niya moved away, and each summer you and Sam would leave Twinleaf Town for a month. I'd be alone with no one else to spend time with. I wouldn't wish that upon any other person or Pokémon, so I could relate with the Turtwig. But now it'll never be alone again."

"That was kind of you," replied Sam. "Now let's get going, we've spent a lot of time here and it's getting late. We should get back to camp before something else decides to rob us."