=Chapter 5, Suicune's Days of Healing!=

=Day One: Talk with a Starter=

(Suicune's PoV)

Suicune woke up to the sounds of chirping and other noises in the morning, but still didn't open up her eyes. She was just so comfortable right where she was, her stomach was content for the first time in her life, and even her tired muscles were starting to feel better.

At least that was what she was pretending.

Last night had to be a dream, she told herself as she heard leaves rustling in the background, still unwilling to open her eyes and face reality again. Last night she encountered a nice human trainer that didn't try and capture her, that fed her a wonderful meal, and even treated her wounds with medicine. She must have imagined seeing everything last night. The moment she wakes up everything will be back to normal, the pain in her limbs, the aching of her muscles, the rumbling of her stomach, all of that will come back. She had to get up as well, the longer she waited the closer those humans hunting her would get, no matter how tired she was, she had to keep moving.

Even if she felt so comfortable just from laying there that she could have kept right on sleeping.

*It was a really nice dream…* She thought as she slowly started to open her eyes, resigning herself to her fate.

The first thing she noticed was that she was still in the woods where she had collapsed last night. The second was the empty bowl of food and burned out fire pit that the human trainer had cooked the food in as well. He had even left his sleeping bag with a lumpy mound that was most likely his bag, still stuffed inside to protect it from wild Pokemon. Yet there was no sign of the trainer or his Pokemon.

*He wasn't a dream… he really helped me…" She thought as she spied the empty bottle from last night as well close by. *But he's not here, so where did he go? His stuff is still here so he must be coming back.*

Deciding that she wanted to sleep again, she laid her head back down and closed her eyes.

She never thought of humans as anything special, sure they were incredible with what they made, but the way they captured Pokemon and, from her experience anyway, hunted them just gave her a sour opinion about them as a whole. She also wasn't going to change her opinion about them anytime soon, at least not until she kept her eye on this particular human to see what he did. If he really was, as his Ralts claimed he was, a good human, than he will keep his promise and not capture her.

However, a part of her really wanted to meet a trainer that could capture her. Not trainers that could wear her down through sheer numbers, battles, weariness, and everything else she's endured so far, but a trainer that legitimately caught her in a battle of will and strength between his Pokemon and her.

As she rested her eyes, she actually found herself entering into battle from a Pokeball tossed by the human she had just met. *What was his name again…? Jacob was it?* She thought to herself as time went by.

She wouldn't have minded if he captured her, only after he proved himself worthy though. However, judging by his Pokemon he had, he was nowhere near ready to fight her. She could probably beat all of his Pokemon even if they came at her at once, with one single Hydro Pump. None of them were anything special, powerful, or noteworthy as of yet. However if their trainer raised them well, then perhaps they might actually become very powerful.

Then again he was still an untested trainer in her eyes, sure he had gathered quite a diverse team to his name, but that was all they were at this point, diverse.

A few hours passed in which she rested, not really falling asleep because she was still very worried about being found by the trainers hunting her. No matter how kind the trainer was that had helped her last night, he was still but one trainer with five weak Pokemon. During that time she listened very carefully to her surroundings, trying to determine if any humans were approaching, either trying to sneak up on her or if it was Jacob returning.

She was so focused on trying to hear for approaching threats that she fell into a deep sleep, just as Jacob and his team returned.

-Much later that day-

Suicune woke up to the dark night, quietness, and gentle rustling of leaves in the late night in the forest. She blinked several times to wake herself up and looked around at her surroundings. Yes she was still in the forest, right where she had collapsed in the clump of bushes, and she was still recovering her strength and stamina. She could tell that whatever the trainer, Jacob, had given her was working wonders.

Her muscles felt much better than they had been in months, her eyes were still heavy and demanded that she sleep more, but her stomach's demands were more important. Feeling her hunger gnawing at her, she looked around to find that trainer and see if he was still there.

Sure enough, he was, or at least he was still in the same area that she was. He was sleeping in that same bag that he slept in last night, along with his Ralts. Next to him was a small fire, and poking sticks into it was a Treeko, and next to the Treeko was a bowl of still steaming food, its scent wafting over to her and inviting her ever so sweetly.

Accepting the food's invitation, she shakily and wearily stood up, and limped over to the small fire.

The Treeko spotted her limping toward him and the fire and only watched for a second before putting in a few more sticks.

After she limped close enough and lay back down next to the fire, she dug into the small bowl of food with gusto. The food was just as wonderful as it was last night; she could taste the Oran Berry juice mixed with other flavors in this bowl that just soothed her throat and muscles. She licked up every last bit of the food, savoring each flavor it gave her.

"You're welcome by the way." The Treeko said to her.

She looked at the little Pokemon and decided to ask a few questions about this nice trainer. "Thank you… or should I be telling your trainer that?" She asked.

"He made food for all of us including you, but you were asleep at the time, so we just let you sleep." He said. "He didn't want to wake you because he said you needed sleep to recover."

"That was… nice of him…" She said, eyeing the small gecko Pokemon with curiosity. "Tell me about this human… I've only ever known humans that hunted me. That's what caused all of these injuries to me in case you're wondering."

"He's a nice human from what I've seen." The gecko said. "He's learned a lot about us, from who I don't really know. But he's a nice human, his mother is dead from what I've seen, and he's become a trainer to honor her memory and make her proud of him."

"Is that all?" She asked.

"We've only been traveling together for a few days, at most a whole week, so there's not much to tell." He replied. "I can't wait for our first Gym Battle, I've heard from trainers that we battled today that were passing through the woods that their really tough! I can't wait to take on the first Gym Leader with Jacob. We've heard that the leader uses rock type Pokemon in the tradition of the previous Gym Leader."

She nodded, not really caring for these 'Gym Battles' because she didn't feel interested in such things. "So why are you up, I'm awake because I was hungry, but why are you awake at this time?"

"I had the second watch; Jacob said we needed to be careful during the night in case we need to protect our food and you." He replied. "Before we entered this forest, Jacob said we had enough food to last us three weeks. However that was before Kora and Roran joined us. He estimates now, without gathering a lot of berries each day for regular meals in between battles, we have enough to last a little over a week. Kora eats as much as three of us combined, for a Wurmple anyway. So now we're taking turns keeping an eye out for more Wurmples trying to get a late night snack. The only one who isn't to keep watch is Kora, for obvious reasons."

Suicune chuckled at the thought of a Wurmple eating all of their food, but then a sudden pang of worry crossed her mind. "Tell me, how long will your trainer be watching over me, it's not like I need protection, but why is he staying here?" She asked.

"He says that you were badly injured, and that you would need to be fed regularly in order for all of the potions he used on you to work. So that's why we're still here, to make sure you get better and can take care of yourself before we continue to Rustboro City. But if we can't find enough food to cover feeding all of us including you, we won't have enough to last us the entire trip. But I'm not worried; I know Jacob will take good care of us."

"It sounds like your trainer is a really nice human." She said.

She stayed awake for a little longer, before her tiredness made her stumble and limp back to the bushes, curl back up, and fall asleep once again.

=Day Two, Hunting Humans=

"Okay, that's enough berries for today's lunch." Jacob whispered to himself as he finished packing the latest bag of berries for his team. "It's time for us to regroup with the others Sara."

(Yes!) Sara said as he picked her back up and she sat on his shoulder.

Once she was back with him he walked over to the main path in the Petalburg Woods. He had recently found the most effective means of getting through the woods, but even so it would still take him a full week of traveling to get through. However he couldn't think of leaving the Suicune behind just so he could get to his first Gym match. There was no way he could live with himself if he left it in the state it was currently in.

After two good nights the Suicune's injuries were starting to heal, the bruises were starting to fade, including some of the more serious ones. The cuts were starting to scab and thanks to the potions, they were starting to be repaired naturally by Suicune's own natural healing with their help. The muscles were still another story, it was still going to take time before the powerful Pokemon could run as it normally did, but if he kept feeding it Oran Berry's in some form it would eventually repair the muscles normally. At most another two or three days of rest and feeding is how long it would take to be fully restored.

He had been contemplating telling trainers about the injured Suicune, perhaps getting some help to care for it, but after seeing all of the injuries it had the first time he saw it, refrained from asking for help. When it interacted with him during their first encounter it clearly displayed a fear and hatred of humans. He wanted to show that it shouldn't be afraid of humans, especially hate them, but he wondered what could have done that to a legendary Pokemon.

If it had been at full strength, what could drive a legendary roaming Pokemon from Johto to hide here in the Petalburg Woods in Hoenn? What more, what could possibly have created those injuries, and if it was indeed some human, trainer or not, who could hurt such a beautiful and elegant Pokemon like Suicune.

Suicune were known to be elegant, purifying water with their presence, and even helping trainers and humans indirectly with their wisdom. Because they were roaming Pokemon, they knew more than any other Pokemon could know about, having seen and observed more than any Pokemon was capable of.

He also knew Suicune to be very powerful, and above all difficult to capture and even find because of their speed and wandering ways. To even glimpse a Suicune was the highest honor and great accomplishment for a trainer. To fight one was considered a higher honor, because rarely does a Suicune become cornered enough to be forced to fight. To capture a Suicune was also a dream of every trainer, and rarely does it ever come true.

If this was just one trainer wantingto capture a really rare Pokemon, why would they go to such extreme lengths to injure it this badly? Wouldn't a single battle have been enough, even in its current state while it was starting to heal he could capture it right now. Those wounds were repeatedly inflicted upon the Pokemon, from what Arky taught him they looked months old, and the strain the Suicune put upon its leg muscles was too much for them. Even if it is a legendary Pokemon, every Pokemon has its limits.

For it to try so hard to go beyond what its muscles could do, to risk permanent damage to itself, just to get away from humans, it must have endured something terrible.

However he didn't think about that for now, first he had to find his Pokemon, which wasn't too hard.

"Roran, Kora, how are you guys doing?" Jacob called out as he spied his Wurmple and Tailow above him. "Did you guys have any success locating some new Oran Berry trees?

"Tailooow!" Roran shouted, looking at Kora with an annoyed look in his eyes.

"Let me guess, Kora was busy snacking again?" Jacob asked as he eyed the cheerful eyes of his Wurmple.

"Wu-ur-ur-urmple!" Kora giggled as she munched down on a leaf.

"Kora I told you to look for ripe berry trees for dinner, not snack on the berries." He complained with a smile as he held his arm out for Roran to land on. "Did you at least leave some for us to collect?"

"Tailow!" Roran snapped, giving Kora a glare, who quickly replied with another greedy munch of her leaf.

"I'll take that as a no." Jacob said unhappily as he spotted Harold and Ivan approaching from behind him. "How did you guys fair?"

"Arrrf…" Ivan moaned as he and Harold shook their heads sadly.

"I'm guessing that means most of the Oran Berries are all still not ready to be picked right?" Jacob asked unhappily, and saw them both nod sadly. "I figured as much, it looks like we'll have to eat sparingly tonight if we want to reserve as much food as possible for the trip to Rustboro. At least we have lunch ready, we'll try looking later for some fresh berries. For now, all of you return, I'll release you again when lunch is ready so you can all get some rest."

He recalled each of his Pokemon back into their balls one by one, making sure to replace them all back onto his belt. Once they were all safely on his belt he began walking toward where he had made camp in the small clearing with the Suicune. He was careful about battling here in the forest, especially now that he had no more potions to use for his team. The few times he'd battled he did his best to end it quickly, and thanks to all of the battles, his team was really getting stronger, including Ivan and Harold, who were really pushing themselves in front of each other.

One trainer asked him why he wasn't using Sara in any of his battles, and he answered that he didn't want to push Sara into a battle she wasn't comfortable or wanted to participate in. Especially since by all rights she was still a baby, after all she was only a little over three weeks old. She was still too young and still too weak to actually battle, not to mention inexperienced, she had never actually battled before and he wasn't too keen on making her fight right now.

However he would eventually have to fight with her, as a Psychic type she had a real advantage over many Pokemon he would encounter, and he knew that eventually she would have to defend herself.

As he walked down the path in the direction of the entrance to the Petalburg Woods where he had entered from days ago, he spotted another person on the path, not traveling it but just standing there. He was wearing traveling clothes like a trainer, but he didn't seem to be an ordinary trainer. Jacob also noticed that he was talking on a PokeNav, the latest model by the looks of it.

"Huh, I wonder who that is." Jacob asked himself as he thought about approaching the trainer.

Sara however, stopped him suddenly. (No!) She said quickly. (He's a bad… man!)

"What do you mean Sara?" He asked quietly, looking between the trainer and Sara.

(He's a bad… man… he doesn't feel… nice!) Sara repeated.

Deciding to trust Sara's insight, he nodded and stepped off the main path so that the trainer wouldn't notice them. Then he quietly walked forward so that he could overhear what the man was saying on the PokeNav.

Once he was close enough he listened carefully.

"I repeat, no sign of the target, it hasn't left the woods according to our lookouts on this side of the forest." He said to whoever he was talking to. "Yes I understand that we won't get another chance at this, I have my team looking everywhere for evidence of where it could be but this blasted forest is just too big for our teams to search effectively. These pathways are constantly traveled on, both by trainers and Pokemon, there's no way to tell which path it could have taken or where it is now. For all we know it could be right under our nose and we can't see it."

There was a moment of silence as whoever was on the other line spoke back, and then the trainer replied.

"Yes I know full well that it could not have gotten too far in its current condition, and I know full well that even under the best conditions it could not recover too quickly." He said coolly. "If you want us to search every inch of this forest alright, we'll start searching, but the trees and all this tall grass make it easy to hide in. If we start searching now it might use the chance to slip through our net and we'll never know until after it's gone. We've asked every trainer that has entered and exited if they've seen any cool Pokemon recently, but so far the only 'cool' Pokemon is a Dustox, so it clearly hasn't been caught yet."

*What are they looking for, is this man trying to find a certain Pokemon?* Jacob thought to himself as he listened in on the conversation. *Could they be after the Suicune? Is he the reason she suffered all of those injuries, and who is he talking to, are there others in on this?*

(I don't like… this human… not at all.) Sara whispered nervously to him.

Jacob had to agree, especially after the next few lines that the trainer said. "Yes sir, I understand that we need to find it and soon." He said, sounding more annoyed now as he spoke to whoever was on the other line. "I'll keep my team on lookout; it can't escape the woods now that we have all entrances and exits covered. The only way it can get out is with a trainer inside of a Pokeball, and no doubt someone will start blabbing about a really strong or cool Pokemon, especially if they caught it. The moment someone does I'll have my team intercept and take the Suicune by any means necessary, even if we have to use that to get the Suicune."

More silence followed this statement, as whoever was on the other line spoke. "Yes sir I understand that it's too soon to reveal it publicly, it was merely a suggestion." The trainer said. "I'll continue to watch for it to attempt to leave, if I hear anything from my teams about a trainer capturing it I'll immediately intercept them. This is C9, signing out sir."

He clicked the PokeNav off and closed it before walking back down the road, but the last thing he muttered before he left hearing range were more words that only got Jacob angrier at the trainer. "Blasted Suicune, why does it have to be so resilient, even after starving and injuring it for nearly ten months…"

Once the trainer was well away from where he and Sara were hiding, Jacob cursed at the trainer and said many unpleasant things that he did not want to explain to Sara. "Come on; let's get back to camp Sara." He whispered quietly, leaving his hiding spot and getting back on the main path.

=Day Three, Trainer Troubles=

(Jacob's PoV)

"Alright you're starting to look better already, if the feeling I'm getting from your leg muscles is anything to go by your recovering much faster than I anticipated." Jacob whispered as he checked Suicune's legs in the early morning hours. "It's nice that you let me finally approach you without a glare guess that means you at least trust me a little."

He chuckled at his own joke, because in all practicality this was the first day he had really been allowed to approach Suicune without either being eyed carefully, or with her being asleep. She had consented to allow him to check her wounds, and thanks to regular meals and lots of rest with his watching over her, the Suicune was nearly fully healed. She was no longer completely tired like before, and thanks to a Super Potion that he found yesterday while searching for enough berries to make dinner, she had recovered much more rapidly than anticipated.

She would definitely be ready to travel again by tomorrow morning; however she was still not fully recovered. Her attack powers were still recovering from overuse, and her leg muscles were still not ready to run at top speed. Her bruises and cuts had all but faded, and once more her blue, fluid-like coat had regained its elegance that her Pokedex entry showed. Her purple flowing mane was also starting to recover its former glory, and she clearly had changed her opinions on humans thanks to his actions.

*Then again maybe she just only treats me like this, after what all those trainers did to her I wouldn't be surprised if she still hates humans in general.* Jacob thought to himself as he finished inspecting Suicune and returned to his team around this morning's breakfast.

"Alright guys, time for breakfast!" He declared happily.

Today's breakfast was yet another mixture of berries, including Oran, Cheri, and Pecha as the main ingredients. He was getting much, much better at cooking thanks to both his lessons and having to use only local ingredients. Not only were they nutritious but the food was also stuffing, none of his Pokemon, even himself, felt hungry after a single meal.

Well, all for except one Pokemon, a certain Wurmple, named Kora that happened to have been born with a bottomless pit for a stomach. Nothing he did could sate that Wurmple's appetite, every single meal he was sure, if his team didn't hold her back, she would eat all of it and still be hungry.

After pulling out several bowls and handing out food for everyone, he took the last two bowls, one for him and one for Suicune, and walked over to the legendary. He was still amazed that he had shared space with a legendary Pokemon, how many trainers wished they were in his position? He didn't know the answer to that, but he was treasuring every second of it, trying not to let the knowledge that outside of this small clearing humans were hunting this gorgeous creature, without any care or concern for its well-being.

As he put the bowl down in front of it and watched the Suicune eat the contents before going back to his team, he thought again about how he had found it days ago. Alone, desperate, afraid, angry, lashing out against whatever and whoever approached, and terribly weakened by being chased and hounded by trainers who injured it to that extent, it was no wonder why it acted that way towards him. The most ideal situation would have been to capture it and bring it to a Pokemon Center for professional medical treatment.

Sure he wanted to capture the Suicune himself, but not like this, not when it was injured and afraid of humans. To him and his team, and maybe to the Suicune at a later time, it would have been only to help the legendary. But to the rest of the world, it would have looked like he was taking advantage of a weakened legendary and not capturing it the honorable way. He would have appeared to be a really weak trainer trying to get ahead by claiming a cheap legendary that he was not worthy of.

"Alright let's dig in." Jacob said as he started eating his food, only noticing that the rest of his team besides Sara had already eaten their food. "I guess you already dug in…"

They all chuckled as he started to eat, except Kora who was eyeing his food hungrily. (I waited because… it would be… more polite.) Sara said to him, eating more slowly because of her small hands.

"Thanks Sara." Jacob said to his Ralts. "But you don't have to wait for me, if you're hungry go ahead and eat without me."

Sara nodded and blushed with embarrassment at his kindness. They finished eating and after Jacob collected all the bowls, decided it was time to clean the cooking tools, including the pots and pans. He left the small clearing with his team and with their help, headed to a small pond that was quite popular with many of the trainers and travelers as a rest area.

He met a few new wild Pokemon that attempted to attack him, but with his team there, they fended them off. A couple hours of scrubbing and cleaning later, and not only were the pots, pans, and everything else he used to cook clean, so to were his clothes. Sara asked why he was cleaning them, and it was again another round of dodging embarrassing questions he really didn't want to explain to his team yet, especially to Sara.

Once they were done they returned for lunch at their small camp to make lunch. Only after he put everything down and started to prepare lunch, they were quickly interrupted by a surprise and unwelcomed visitor.

"Whoa, what kind of Pokemon is that?" A male voice called out, causing them all to jump.

Jacob dropped the small bag of berries he had collected for lunch to see a young trainer entering their small clearing. He looked like any other trainer that Jacob had seen traveling through the Petalburg Woods, but that didn't matter. It was the fact that the trainer was looking and staring at the Suicune with wide eyes.

"Uh… it's a really injured one." Jacob said, hoping that this trainer didn't recognize a rare Pokemon when he saw it.

Through his connection with Sara he could tell that this was partially true, the trainer didn't know what kind of Pokemon he was staring at. But that wouldn't last too long, all he had to do was realize that Suicune was one of a kind, and instantly he would put two and two together.

"Oh is it injured because you battled it?" The trainer asked as he looked between him and Suicune.

"Well no, I found it injured and…" Jacob started saying, but was interrupted as the trainer raised yet another question.

"So tell me is it wild or did you capture it?"

"It's still wild but that's not the point." Jacob tried to say again, getting into dangerous territory. "It's wild and I haven't caught it, I have no intention of capturing it, once it's fully healed I'll let it go on its own."

"What are you stupid, look at that Pokemon, it's so cool!" The kid said, taking out a Pokeball as he smirked. "If you aren't going to capture it then I will!"

The moment the kid spoke up and said the word 'capture', Suicune grew defensive, and released a jet of water at the kid. However because it still hadn't fully recovered, the Hydro Pump was quickly stifled with a cough.

"Now I know that it's a powerful Pokemon, and because you said its weak then I don't need to battle to capture it!" He declared as he pulled his arm back. "Pokeball Go!"

The kid tossed a Pokeball at Suicune, and for a moment she looked afraid as she attempted to stand, but was still not fast enough. Yet just before the ball made contact with its target, the ball glowed slightly and instead veered off course, smacking into a tree and falling harmlessly.

"What the?" The boy said confused as he pulled another ball out.

Jacob looked to Sara and saw her panting slightly with her arms raised. (I… threw… it off… course… at… the last… second!) She said tiredly to him.

"Thanks Sara, he said, taking one of his own Pokeball out and releasing Roran. "Listen kid just leave this Pokemon alone, you aren't capturing it!"

"Why, so you can catch it yourself, I can tell that not only is it cool but it's also really strong!" The young trainer said. "If you wanted to capture it you could have done so by now, but you're clearly stupid or else you wouldn't have left it as is. So why don't you let a real trainer capture it and go back to babysitting Wurmples!"

"I'm not capturing it like this, and neither are you!" Jacob said as Roran stared determinedly back. "Just leave this Pokemon alone alright?"

"Yea right, just try and make me!" The kid said, tossing the second ball now. "Come on out Tailow!"

In a flash of light a Tailow of similar size to Jacob's Roran appeared, looking fierce and as determined as any Tailow could ever look. "If you really insist then alright, but I promise you won't get your hands on this Pokemon. Roran, we can't let this Tailow and its trainer get past us, got it!"

"Tailow!" Roran chirped.

"We'll see about that, Tailow use Quick Attack!" He shouted.

"Tai!" The Tailow yelled, taking to the air and flying faster than any Pokemon Jacob had yet seen.

"Roran hold your ground and use Focus Energy!" Jacob said quickly.

"Taaailoooow…" Roran said calmly, closing his eyes and focusing himself.

"Now use Peck!" Jacob said just as the Tailow reached Roran.

"Tailow!" Roran said as he jabbed his beak the instant he said so, and just at the right moment the Peck connected just as the Quick Attack did.

"TAAAAAI…!" The opposing Tailow said before its momentum pushed it into a tumbling stop. "Loooow…"

When it stops its eyes were swirling in confusion, the universal sign that a Pokemon is unable to battle any longer. "Tailow return!" The kid said angrily, holding the ball and recalling his Pokemon back. "How did you do that, my Tailow is stronger than yours. How could you counter a Quick Attack so easily?"

"I didn't, take a look at Roran…" Jacob said, heeding his own advice and looking at Roran.

Roran was sporting a bruise on its chest and was panting heavily as it looked defiantly at the opposing trainer.

"Your Quick Attack was right on the mark, there was no way Roran could have escaped it being so slow and at his current strength." He said. "So I used Roran's Focus Energy to help him prepare. That helped him find the right spot in your own Tailow's defenses to deliver the critical blow.'

"So what if that's what happened, I still have another Pokemon, and this time you won't win!" The trainer declared angrily, grabbing another Pokeball and tossing it. "Come on out Poochyena!"

In a flash of light a small Poochyena just like Jacob's Ivan appeared, giving a low growl as it faced its opponent. Just like his opponent, Jacob recalled Roran and pulled out a second Pokeball, releasing Ivan.

"Arf!" Ivan barked as he faced his opponent, baring his fangs just like his opposing Poochyena was now. "Grrrrrrr…"

"This time you won't win whoever you are, Poochyena use your Bite attack!" The trainer declared.

"Arf!" The opposing Poochyena barked as he ran toward Ivan, fangs bared and ready to bite down with force.

"Ivan, use a Sand Attack!" Jacob said quickly, knowing exactly how to counter it.

"Arrrf!" Ivan barked, turning around and digging his rear paws into the ground and throwing dirt at his opponent.

"Arf-rf!" The opposing Poochyena squeaked, flinching and slowing down as the dirt hit its eyes, unable to see clearly it miss Ivan entirely with its Bite attack.

"Ivan, use Tackle!" Jacob said loudly.

Ivan responded and tackled his opponent, furiously knocking him into the ground.

"Poochyena return!" The opposing trainer declared angrily, recalling his Pokemon back into its ball. "So you won't let me capture that cool Pokemon and you won't take advantage and capture it for yourself, what kind of trainer are you?"

"The kind that doesn't need to take advantage of this Pokemon's weakness for my own selfish needs," Jacob said, "If you were a respectable trainer you'd realize that what you just said was pathetic. If I want to capture any Pokemon, I want to know I captured it honestly and honorably. I'd battle it with my Pokemon and use all of my skill and knowledge to defeat it; I wouldn't use a year's worth of accumulated wounds to capture it because I lacked the skill to in one battle. Besides look at her, can you honestly tell me you would capture this elegant and wonderful Pokemon as it is without even giving it the chance to fight back?"

(Suicune's PoV)

*He thinks I'm elegant… and wonderful… even though all I've done is sit here and let him take care of me?* Suicune thought as she observed the two humans fighting over her. *He's even protecting me when it would be so much easier to capture me…*

She didn't like the second human at all, he tried to capture her in a Pokeball, and despite her clear weakness he didn't show any mercy. Now she was watching the trainer that had found her first defending her with his own Pokemon, and declaring his intentions without reservation.

The second trainer left soon after, saying something about how Jacob was stupid and would never make it far in the Pokemon League if he couldn't take advantage of every opportunity given to him. Then Jacob and his Pokemon sighed in relief, going back to the food they were preparing for lunch and resuming what they were doing.

He glanced over at her and noticed her eying him and gave a gentle smile before going back to work on their lunch.

She blushed as he looked away, grateful that he didn't notice the red coloring on her blue face.*I like this human… I really do… and I owe him so much now… but how to repay him…*

=Night Four, Suicune's Down Payment!=

It was much later that day, many hours after the young trainer that left them alone, and it was an especially long night for Jacob and Sara.

"Sara… how are you holding up there?" He asked the little Ralts who was snuggled in his arms, nodding off constantly.

(Sleepy…) She whispered, not able to talk much because of how tired she was from keeping watch.

She and Jacob were keeping watch in case of wild Pokemon, and now in case that trainer came back. He still didn't forget what that one trainer he overheard two days ago said; he had to be ready in case they were attacked. He was so concerned with keeping watch that he had forgotten to check Suicune's condition. He knew that it was recovering quickly, but he was still concerned about it being injured. Suicune herself was asleep in her bushes.

This was why he was so determined to keep Suicune safe until she was fully recovered, but he was so nervous about an attack that he had to stay awake as long as he could just to be safe. However there was one slight flaw in his plan to protect Suicune, that plan relied on his team being rested and him being awake to call them out at a moment's notice. While he would have preferred Sara to be rested as well, but she was determined to stay up with him to help keep him safe from wild Pokemon.

He was grateful for her willingness, but because of their psychic link, she was making him even more tired because she was tired.

"Do you sense anything Sara?" He asked Sara as he ticked off the sixth hour into their watch.

(Sleep… I sense… sleep.) She said tiredly, nodding off in tiredness and trying her best to stay awake.

"Besides sleep Sara." He asked, his eyes itching in tiredness.

He had his bag packed up and everything ready to leave at a moment's notice on his back, he even put his hat in the bag because he couldn't take the risk of it getting hit in battle again. However right now he was wishing that he had kept his sleeping bag out, just so he could sleep.

(I sense… a bad guy…) Sara whispered, and then more suddenly and seriously. (Bad guys Jacob!)

"Where?" He said, standing up and preparing himself for battle, backpack still strapped to his back.

"Right here!" A male voice declared, stepping forward and into the light of their campfire.

It was the same trainer that Jacob had observed talking on his PokeNav, the one that had injured Suicune. He was staring at Suicune with hungry eyes and a Pokeball in his hand, as well as a massive grin on his face.

"So you didn't capture it, and you did the honor of taking care of it, good because that means I'll have something good for my boss." He said with a grin.

"You aren't taking this Pokemon, just leave it alone!" Jacob said, Sara on his shoulder giving him a glare.

"Yea right kid; do you know how long my team has been hunting this Suicune? I'm not letting it go without a fight after spending almost a whole year tracking it down with nothing but rumors and wild gossip to go on. So how about we handle this like civilized people, just walk away and leave the Suicune to me?"

"Civilized, as if!" Jacob shouted angrily, grabbing Harold's ball in preparation for battle. "You think I don't know what you did to this Pokemon, it took everything I had to heal it before, and I'm not going to let you hurt it again!"

"I had a feeling you'd say that, I always prefer the greedy trainers that want to capture all the Pokemon they can over the ones that prefer to treat them as equals." He said with a deeper grin. "Well I'd rather not do this, but my boss told me to capture this Suicune. So I guess we do this the hard way, GO RHYDON, YOU TO HOUNDOOM!"

Jacob watched as a massive Rhydon with a tough rock-like skin and a Houndoom with a tough leather-like skin appear. His Pokemon glared at Jacob, and instantly Jacob could tell that this was not an ordinary battle. There was no way that any of his Pokemon could take on either of this trainer's Pokemon, even if they attacked together. Sara would have been his only hope, but as a young Ralts with no experience and as tired as she was, she didn't stand a chance, that didn't even include that the Houndoom was part Dark, making it immune to her attacks.

He was hopelessly outmatched; if he sent his Pokemon out against this trainer's Pokemon they would be massacred.

"I can tell you're just a beginning trainer, the proof is that you don't have anything tough enough to take us on." He said with an even wider grin. If you did you would have brought it out by now, so why don't you just do the smart thing and walk away. If you do I promise to leave you alone."

Jacob took a step back, nervous about the safety of his team, but also worried about Suicune. "No deal…"

"Look kid, you're a good person, I'll respect that, and any other day and under any other condition had we met I'd have applauded your determination and skills at caring for Pokemon. But this isn't like your ordinary battle; I'm not going to let a kid like you stand in my way. If you stay here any longer I guarantee your Pokemon will need a lot more than a good night's rest to heal. Just walk away kid, I'm giving you one final chance!"

He shook his head determinedly, wishing he didn't at the same time.

"I gave you the chance kid, remember that." The trainer said. "Rhydon use Hyper Beam!"

"Rhydoooooooon!" The Rhydon declared, opening its mouth and unleashing a devastating beam directly at Jacob and Sara.

"Aroooawr!" A voice shouted, and instantly Hyper Beam met an equally powerful attack Jacob only learned about from Arky, Aurora Beam!

The two attacks connected and the Hyper Beam was pushed back, blasting the Rhydon with a devastating attack. The attacks knocked Rhydon back and instantly knocked him out. Jacob instantly turned around and watched Suicune jump gracefully from the bushes and land in front of him.

"Suicune, are you all back to normal?" He asked quickly, but Suicune shook her head, still keeping her eyes on the attacking trainer. "I guess you're still not one hundred percent…"

"So you recovered some strength, but this only means one thing…" The man said, taking his PokeNav and flipping it open. "All teams, target sighted at my position, lock in on my signal and regroup here, repeat target sighted at my position. Target is stronger than expected!"

"Aroaaawr!" Suicune shouted, opening its mouth and letting loose a Hydro Pump and knocking the Houndoom out in one blast.

"Whoa… that's amazing Suicune!" Jacob said, wide eyed as he watched the battle before him.

(Wow…) Sara whispered to him in awe.

"I REPEAT THE TARGET IS HERE, I REPEAT, GET OVER HERE NOW YOU IDIOTS!" The man yelled desperately over his PokeNav as he recalled his defeated Pokemon.

"Suicune what do we do, there's no way you can defeat so many trainers at once?" Jacob said quickly.

"Aroawr!" Suicune said, kneeling down and looking at him.

(Get on… she says.) Sara said. (She'll take us… to safety.)

"Got it!"Jacob said, jumping on Suicune's back and watching it rise to its full height.

"Aroaaaaawr…" Suicune said, its eyes glowing and a sudden mist arising all around them, so thick that Jacob couldn't see an inch in front of his nose.

"Where did it go…!" The man said, but before he could say another word, Suicune jumped and leaped away from the clearing, so fast that the forest became a blur.

They flew so fast and so far that Jacob could barely tell where they were, Suicune seemed to glide across the land, and seemed so graceful even when it was running away. Yet all good things come to an end as they landed in another clearing, well away from where they were before. Jacob got off Suicune with Sara in his arms.

"Now that was a wild ride…" Jacob whispered tiredly as he and Sara got off.

(Jacob… can we sleep… please?) She asked him. (There are no… bad guys… nearby… I'm sleepy…)

"You're right Sara… thank you Suicune… but right now my Sara and I need to sleep." He whispered as he pulled out his sleeping bag and unraveled it. "Thank you for helping us Suicune!"

(Yes… tell it… thank you…) Sara whispered to Jacob as they lay down in the sleeping bag, her wrapping herself in a tight ball on Jacob's chest.

"Sara says… thank you… as well…" He whispered tiredly as he started closing his eyes for sleep.

The last thing he saw of the Suicune was it bending down to bring its face close to his, as though it were trying to get a good look at him, before he fell fast asleep.

-Next Morning-

The next morning Jacob woke up with Sara to a sight that he was both expecting, and not expecting.

First of all, Suicune was gone, and while he was sad that the Pokemon had vanished during the night without even a farewell, he wasn't unhappy. In fact he was really cheerful that it had left. It meant that it was feeling much better and he had saved it from some bad people.

The next thing he found was a small pile of items that he had not seen before, where the Suicune had been before he fell asleep.

"Potions… antidotes… more potions… food packets!" Jacob shouted as he pulled the pile apart and separated the items. "There's enough here to last us a month's worth of medical needs, and the food can last us a full two weeks all on its own!"

(Do you think… Suicune left this… for us?) Sara asked in amazement.

"I'll bet you she did." He whispered to himself, wondering how the Pokemon found all this stuff for him. "Huh what's this?"

He picked up one item that wasn't like the others; it looked like a very decorative black Pokeball with red and yellow stripes on it.

"I guess she really wanted to thank us." He whispered as he picked up the ball and opened his bag to start putting the items inside it.

As he did he noticed that something was off. "Hey Sara… one of my extra Pokeballs is gone." He said as he picked up each of the balls. "I have two empty balls on my belt, and there should be three extra here in the bag, but one of them is missing."

Sara looked between the Pokeballs and the fancy black ball in Jacob's hand. (Do you think… she changed it?)

"Who knows…" Jacob whispered as he put the balls in their pocket.

(Suicune's PoV)

Suicune bounded through the woods as fast as she could; carrying the Pokeball she had taken from Jacob's strange bag in her mouth. She felt slightly guilty for taking it, but after finding that fancy looking ball lying around with all of the other bottles and things that were human made, she didn't feel too guilty about taking it. She had made a small payment for the debt she was in, a very small payment for a very large debt from her point of view.

She knew that what she gave him was not nearly enough payment for what he did for her, at least in her mind. Yet she couldn't just give in to him, he was still untested, untrained, he was not ready to truly train her. Yet she would never forget him, Jacob, and his Ralts Sara. She would always remember them, and she swore to one day repay him for his care and kindness.

She had found her trainer, the one worthy of capturing her. She wanted to join his team but not yet, it wasn't time yet for her to be captured by him.

Some day he would be ready, and when that day came, she would call him master.

She blushed again as she carried the ball in her mouth, the only reminder of the trainer that saved her life while running free and healthy once again.

=Meanwhile in the Petalburg Woods, ?'s PoV=

"Forgive me boss, I tried my best but it got away!" He said nervously, knowing he had fumbled the operation badly.

"So let me get this straight… you let a little kid, heal the Suicune back to health… and escape?" The masked man said annoyed. "First of all, tell me this… and pray that it's the right answer… did you reveal anything?"

"No Sir, I did not say anything outside of 'My boss wanted that Suiune' to him." He said quickly.

"Well at least you have the brains to listen to." His supervisor said, using his mocking tone. "This kid… did you get a good look at him, anything recognizable?"

"No sir… I didn't pay much attention to him." He replied nervously. "He looked like a typical beginning trainer."

"I see… well he obviously doesn't know anything, which saves your skin." He said, turning and dropping four boxes at his feet. "To him it will look like we were just crooks trying to sell a rare Pokemon on the Pokeblack Market, nothing a few phone calls to our agent in the police won't fix. Just one call and we can have any reports about Pokemon thieves beating up a Suicune will be misplaced suddenly. Alright listen up because here are your new orders, this setback is big, we spent ten months and lots of money and manpower tracking that legendary. Since it's a failure we have no choice but to return to our original schedule here in Hoenn, you will take over Team Snagem's job here in the Petalburg Woods. Continue capturing any and every Pokemon Specimen you find here, and send them to the usual location for processing. These Great Balls I just purchased yesterday from Petalburg City's Pokemart stores will get the job done."

"Uh Sir… do you mean any Pokemon we find here?" He asked his supervisor again. "There's nothing but…"

"Yes I know, just get them, send them, and leave enough to throw suspicion from the trainers and travelers passing through. If anyone spots you, your cover is that of a bug collector or enthusiast, tell that to your entire team. I'm off to Rustboro to oversee our operations there and make sure that Snagem is on schedule for their latest shipment. And remember, limit your captures to six a day per person, the more Pokemon we steal the likelier the police and trainer community will catch on to our plans, and we can't let anything spot us this soon."

"Yes Sir Masquerade!" He said, eyeing the boxes full of Great Balls as his supervisor left.