Chapter 5 :
A Cat's Tale

Upon arriving in Striaton City, they see just how big cities can be. Nuvema and Accumula were simply towns, but this one seemed to be
much more big and alive.

The first thing they noticed was that the city did contain a GYM, so Soma and Co. made preparations at the Pokémon center.
There, they overheard an old man in the corner, talking to himself :
"These two cats don't know how dangereous the Dream Yard is...mmf...grumble...wished I could stop them..."

Soma couldn't help but approach the old man and ask "Uh, hello. Is somenthing bothering you sir?"

The Old Man raises his arms and screams "OOOH a Savior! I knew the gods would hear my plea!"

Soma stays weirded out for a moment "Savior? I'm not sure if i'm that much."

"You shouldn't waste any more time here...go save my Pokémon! They're in the dream yard!" says the old man while pushing Soma outside the Pokémon center.

Soma then decides he should really see these two Pokémon... but the only lead he has is that they're two cats.
He heads for the dream yard, a location he still hadn't explored.

There, he spots two cats above a fence. Maybe these were the two cats the old man was talking about? One of them is a male Purrloin, the other one a female Meowth.
Soma approaches the two cats, and asks "Uh... do you two have a trainer?

"Yes, we do, sweetie. What about it?" says the Meowth.

"I was sent here because he though you two were in danger..." answers Soma.

"Danger? We are in no danger." says the Purrloin.

"Then, what are you two doing here?" asks Soma, trying to uncover the truth.

The Meowth lets out a sigh "The old man simply asked us to come here for no reason... I'm as confused as you are, sweetie!"

Before the conversation could go on, they were interrupted by the sound a bell.

"Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong."

This bell was coming from the dream yard's center. After the bell stopped, Soma heard a lot of rustling among the grass.
This was not a good sign...

From the tall grass, a group of 4 wild Poochyenas attacked the group. Soma was fast on acting and sent out his 4 available Pokémon, one to face each Poochyena.

"Finally, some action!" said Melons.
Lara reacted "Don't go crazy in battle, ok?"
"We're going to take care of this for you, Soma!" said Lilly.
"Let's go everyone!" said Ken as he lead the assault.

The battle lasted for some time. The Poochyenas did indeed put a good fight, but Soma was every step ahead of them. He kept
ordering his Pokémon to use their most powerful attacks, as he didn't want to lose anyone in the fight. A battle such as this was not to be
taken lightly.

Purrloin and Meowth just kept watching the war unfold. They weren't sure if Soma was doing this because he wanted to protect them, or because he wanted to protect himself.

After the battle, Everyone seemed to be ok. A few minor injuries on Lara and Lilly, since they were considerably less trained than the others.
Soma headed towards the two cat Pokémon and asked "Are you two okay?"

Purrloin and Meowth now knew the answer. Soma was fighting for the protection of everyone.
Purrloin raised his paw "You are really strong. You protected us."
Meowth smiled "If you all weren't around, we might have been in a lot of trouble!"

Soma replied in an assuring way "Don't worry about it. You want-me to take you two back to your trainer?"

Purrloin answered "Yes, lead the way."

The group went back to Striaton and went inside the Pokémon center, expecting to see the old man. He was nowhere to be found.
Soma decided to ask the Nurse if she knew the whereabouts of the old man. It was then that it all became clear.

"The old man? He left two of his Pokéballs here. After that, he took his leave. I think he said somenthing about disposing..."

Time seemed to have stopped itself. Meowth felt like an arrow was piercing her heart as she heard the Nurse's words.
Purrloin also felt the same way. He looked at Meowth and noticing that she was actually starting to cry, tried to comfort her.

Soma also felt sad. That trainer was simply disposing of his own Pokémon. Was it because they were weak? Or was it simply an act of malice?

"Soma... Meowth is crying..." said Ken with a sad face.

Soma knew he couldn't leave the two Pokémon just like that, rotting inside a Pokémon center. He carefully approached Meowth and Purrloin.
"I'm sorry about your trainer. I didn't knew he was such a jerk..."

Purrloin then directed his attention at Soma "Soma, our trainer was a kind man. Don't call him a jerk. We still love him."
Meowth tried to talk while in tears "We, we though he did like us... then... why did he ABANDON us?"

Soma didn't had an answer to that question. Neither Ken, Melons, Lara or Lilly. But, he had an idea.
"Purrloin, Meowth, we don't want to see you two alone."

Purrloin replied "Your point?"

Soma's idea was "You two could come with us. Then we could look for your trainer and ask him personally why he did this to you two."

Meowth and Purrloin looked at each other, and then at Soma. Meowth answered while wiping her tears "We, we accept your offer... sweetie..."

"Ok, then, what did your trainer used to call you two?" asked Soma.

Purrloin sighed again "He didn't name us anything."

"So, he wasn't really planning on even taking care of you two... what a situation" Soma reacted.

"Well, they still need a name." said Lilly.

"Ok, here goes... i'm gonna name Meowth Yoko and Purrloin Callie." said Soma.

Purrloin and Meowth both nod and agree with their names. They still seem a little down from their last experience.
Soma picks up the two Pokéballs that previously belonged to the old man. He then returns all of his Pokémon, except Ken and Melons.

"Is there any reason why you don't ever return us?" asked Melons.

"I just feel better with you two near me." answered Soma.

"Soma... so there are bad trainers in this world?"" asked Ken with a sad look.

Soma answered in an unfortunate tone "The same way Pokémon can be bad, trainers also can."

Soma, Ken and Melons were perplexed by the actions of that old man. Who would abandon their Pokémon? And for what reason?
That should never happen. There should be some kind of law where trainers would be arrested on the spot for abandoning Pokémon... but there isn't.

And Soma wonders about that while he exits the Pokémon center...