Chapter 2

"Where's the Pidgey? You said you caught it and you definitely don't have six Pokemon on you, so what gives?"

After Chol helped me catch that Pidgey today, I picked her up in order to treat her wounds with a Potion. I was able to comfortably do so with one hand; I can comfortably pick up a baby up with 2 hands. Therefore, I will make the rough estimate that she weighs about half as much as a baby. Using my Pokédex, I found that female Pidgey have an average weight of 1.8 kg with a standard deviation of 0.3 kg. I remembered that the issue of Nature that I am carrying with me includes the article Effect of Exposure to Small-Water Type Pokemon on Birth Weight. Using that article as a reference, I learned that the average weight of a female human at 2 months old is 4.9 kg with a standard deviation of 0.6 kg. .4.9 kg / 2 = 2.45 kg. That puts this Pidgey well into the 90th percentile. Therefore, she must have a fat reserve significant to last for several weeks. Taking into account a Pokéballs ability to slow the Pokemon's metabolism, albeit at a difficult to predict rate, and the tendency of wild organisms to space meals apart by days by increasing meal size, this Pidgey should not be in need of food until sunrise. It is unlikely that she has already spent an abnormally large amount of days without food because her battling abilities did not appear to be compromised in any way.

"I do not think she is hungry," Kind said after half a minute.

"You sure? That little fella may have not had a decent meal for days."

"Yes."

Nory supposed Kind would know more about the proper feeding habits of pokemon than himself. He honestly doubted his actions when taking care of his own pokemon, being more used to working on a Mareep farm than traveling. He wondered if his Mareep wasn't gaining weight due to negligent feeding, but he could not be certain either way due to her thick coat of wool.

Sev was easier to take care of, that is to say, he really didn't. Nory's Seviper was certainly loyal but she hasn't really grown out of being a wild pokemon. If being honest, the snake pokemon's self-sufficiency was welcome, except for when she would scamper off during important times. I should probably get her back in the ball soon. It can be a pain to find her in the mornings. "Good night Kind." Nory said as he sent his pokemon back to their Pokeballs and neatly laid his utensils by the rest of the supplies.

He went into his tent and removed his vest, boots and gloves. The way in which he slept was rather odd, choosing to get into his sleeping bag alongside his Pokeballs and discarded clothing, save for the boots that were probably even a bit too dirty to put in the tent. Furthermore he closed the bag completely, leaving very little room for air to flow, but enough to not feel too suffocated. Had anyone questioned his behaviour, although not a soul in the vicinity would, he would shrug off the oddness as "Habit." In truth, it gave Nory a sense of security, to know he is unexposed and well prepared, from and for what, respectively, is unknown and irrelevant. However no such explanation was required as Kind would not bother asking such things and probably doesn't watch Nory sleep. Meanwhile...

"Sit still."

"/I can't! It tickles too much!\" Kind is attempting to clean the food stains off of his immature Rock and Ground type Pokemon. Unfortunately for him, the steel wool he is using makes Chol twist and giggling with glee. Shootaf always found these accidental wrestling matches equal parts amusing and annoying.

"/Hey Chol, you do realize that if you keep this up he will trade in that steel wool for soap and water.\"

"/Don't joke about that!,\" Chol shouted, suddenly stopping his laughter and stared at the surprised Quilava very seriously. "/You know touching water makes me feel sick.\" Chol looked down as his voice dropped. "/That's why I will never get to take a bath with Master.\"

"/You... want to bathe with Master?\"

"All done! See how everything goes smoother when you calm down." Kind stood up and took a step back to admire his work. "Only a month old and you are already learning such an important lesson. As a reward for sitting still, how about I let you sleep with me tonight."

Barely a moment after hearing the words, Chol became more ecstatic than a 10 year old who got a Gyarados for his birthday. The juvenile began a rather odd dance that involved running in random direction, jumping with a spin, and many attempts to do a somersault that ended hilariously.

"We should retire now so that we can be at our maximum abilities tomorrow. Shootaf return." The slightly jealous Quilava disappeared as a red beam connected him to his Pokéball. After Kind secured Shootaf to his belt, he turned to see a hyper active Chol trying to open the tent's zipper from the wrong side. Better get over there before he rips it. Again. As soon as Kind opens the tent's zipper, Chol barreled in, almost pushing Kind over in the process. Kind chuckled to himself as this brought a nice memory to the surface.

Kind entered and saw a lump in his sleeping bag. After a quick change of clothes, the tired trainer crawled in. He zipped the bag up and then reached deep inside in order to pull the small ball of living stone toward the crook of his left arm.

"/Master is so warm and soft. He even used magic to make his scent change into flowers.\" Chol takes a deep breath and lets the unique aroma relax every part of his being. The small youngster snuggles closer toward Kind and unconsciously mutters a simple phrase that came directly from his heart. "/Master, you're the best.\"

Several hours later, Nory sprang up and drew a sharp breath. He burst out of his sleeping bag as he got ready to continue his adventure. The first chore he did was changing clothes for the first time in... that's not important right now. He picked up his Seviper's Pokeball and some supplies before he got out of the tent. Nory considered who to use for this mission. "Mareep's a little overkill for what I'm trying to get," he said to himself. "Are you ready? Oh yeah, gotta let her out first." He chuckled and let Lil' Sev out of her ball.

The Fang Snake Pokemon glared at Nory for a moment. "/Good morning.\" She said.

Nory took notice of the sun. It has just risen enough to see a small stretch of sky beneath it. Kind isn't up yet. Weird. Maybe he stayed up late with his Pokemon and got really tired.

Nory shrugged off thoughts of his companion and began looking through his belongings. "Pokeballs, net, potions, pecha berry, binoculars. Sev, am I forgetting something?" In response, she slithered into the tent and came out holding a pair of swim trunks and goggles in her mouth. "I guess? I wasn't gonna really go that far just for a water type. Sevvy, do you just want to see me shirtless?"

"/You disgust me\"

Nory went with Lil' Sev over to the shore, and dipped his net into the water after having tied a berry to its rim. The lake was not known for having an awfully large population of Pokémon, and the ones in it were mostly Magikarp. However it did have the ever uncommon Barboach swimming around, and Nory was nothing short of prepared. He adjusted the size of the net by attaching a piece of cloth to its rim with a pre-prepared hole at its front as to ensure entry of only small creatures and water, carefully measuring the size of the cloth's entrance in a direct ratio to the average size of the net's holes so that small Pokemon would be allowed entry and water be allowed exit, creating the ultimate capturing utensil for his mission. Which makes the fact he was shirtless sound more sophisticated.

Shootaf had decided to make his den inside of a cave because it makes the sunrises and sunsets look like framed paintings. Today's exhibit was an Impressionist's attempt to capture a multifaceted landscape using as little paint as possible. Watercolor was the paint used, as it allowed the vibrant reds of the sunlit clouds to sharply contrast with the depressed greens of the tree-shaded meadows. The result was the perfect complement to Van Gogh's Starry Night. Shootaf knew none of this, yet only one thought was running through his mind. Man, someone really needs to paint that.

Deciding it was about time for him to get up for his morning run, Shootaf locked his hind legs and bent his back downward as far as he could. The dried grasses and leaves that lined his bed crunched at the same time that his back cracked. That felt nice. Nothing is quite as satisfying as cracking your joints after a good night's sleep.

Shootaf walked out of his humble den and into the sun's heat. "I think that I will give the urban course a try today." He tightened his muscles for a brief moment in order to ignite his flames, and then started running West. The loose rocks and sheer cliffs of the mountain did not hinder the Volcano Pokémon in the least. Once the ground leveled out, Shootaf broke into a full sprint.

After about 5 minutes, Shootaf reached a large chasm and the best part of this course. He kept running at full speed until he was only a meter away from the edge. Then he made a short jump, using the time in the air to move his hind legs directly under his center. When he felt the edge of the cliff dig into his paws like a knife, he released the tension he had stored in his compressed spine, causing his whole body to spring forward.

During his 40 meter fall, he stretched his whole body out. His legs hurt slightly from being pulled so far apart. When the concrete hit his front paws like a Machoke's Dynamic Punch, Shootaf performed a perfectly coordinated roll that transitioned all the momentum and speed he gained from the fall into his dash.

This also marked the beginning of what he called the Urban Area. In front of him stood tall human buildings that rose between 50 to 100 meters off the ground. At least, Shootaf assumed there was ground down there. Whenever he looked, the only thing he could see was a pale mist thick enough to block even the most powerful Lanturn's light. Although the city was big enough to put Goldenrod City to shame, it was completely quiet. None of this bothered Shootaf in the least as he ran across rooftops like some kind of adolescent transformed assassin Squirtle. It felt to him like this was his own private city, in his own private world. And he was right.

After acting out Canabalt for half an hour, Shootaf decided that he has had enough. He jumped off the edge of the roof he was on, even though there was no building ahead to jump to. Instead, he landed on the soft grass of the meadow he saw the sun rise over this morning. In the center of this clearing was a rather ordinary looking rock. It was shaped like a slightly flattened sphere, was barely tall enough to be seen over the wild grasses and was colored with the dullest gray Shootaf could imagine. It was his favorite place.

The young Quilava walked up onto his rock and lay down. The sun warmed his back just as much as his rock warmed his belly. I wonder what is going on out in the world right now. He blinked and by the time his eyes had opened a shimmering hole in space had appeared before him. In it he could see Kind trapped by a surprisingly heavy and unsurprisingly cute Pokemon that was pretending to still be asleep.

"/Really Chol! This is too far! You know we have work to do and you decide to sleep in! Worse, you force Master to sleep in too! He was nice and gave you a reward and you use that against him because you're too lazy to do your job! We are going to have a chat, and I am going to make it clear that no one is going to take advantage of Master's big heart.\" For the first time since waking up Shootaf was breathing heavily. Several minutes passed as Shootaf breathed deeply and collected himself. "/Well, I guess that I am going to have to go out there and save Master before the whole morning passes.\" Shootaf dived head first into the opening.

One flash of light and stern conversation later, Shootaf and Kind outside, cleaning up the campsite. Everything was going smoothly until Shootaf suddenly stopped. I'm sure I heard something. After a second, he heard it again. Shootaf charged into the undergrowth without hesitation.

"Shootaf!" Kind yelled with concern as he took off after his determined Pokemon.

"/Sorry Master, but there is no time to lose. We have to get there quickly.\" Shootaf called back, as he sped ahead of Kind. After a minute, Shootaf jumped out of the bushes and into a field, landing right between an injured Rattata and a swarm of angry Scyther. "/Back off! This little one couldn't have done anything to deserve such a harsh beating.\"

The lead Scyther took a step forward. "/I am King Jara Hamee. She has stolen from my people many times. Before I was merciful, but she has refused to learn her lesson. Now stand aside outsider, for justice shall be delivered!\"

Fight Scene: imgur.*a/CmnY5 (FF does not let you post links, so you need to replace the star with "com" )

Kind emerged from the forest just as King Jara Hamee finished his attack. With an even voice, he commanded, "Shootaf return." He walked in front of the Rattata, spread his arms wide, and in a firm voice proclaimed, "I do not know what is going on, but I know this; my Pokemon tried to protect this Rattata. That is enough for me. Any punishment you wish to inflict on them, you may instead inflict on me, as long as you promise that they will leave here safely."

Everyone looked at this human in shock. Only a few understood the words, but everyone understood the meaning. King Jara Hamee was the first to recover. "/That is very noble of you human. Let us see if your words have any substance.\"

1 Hour Later

Nory made his way back to the campsite, ecstatic that he finally caught a Water-Type Pokemon. He could not wait to show Kind the newest addition to his team. The thought immediately left his mind once he got back to the campsite though. The tents were completely dismantled and put away, the fire-pit was safely deconstructed, any trash in the area had been cleaned up, and both his and Kind's packs were full their owner's supplies. That is what he expected to see when he got back. What he did not expect to see was Kind sitting down under a tree, holding a bloody rag over his nose, smiling the biggest smile he had ever seen. "Dude! What happened to you?"

"Let's just say that I was catching Pokemon."

"Catching Pokemon! Looks more like throwing rocks at Mankeys! Are those cut-wounds? DO WE HAVE DISINFECTANTS?!" Nory was freaking out and shocked. He was conflicted whether he should giving Kind a First-Aid kit, un-bloodied clothes, or a hug. He settled on getting Mareep, their backpacks and a regained composure. "Exactly what happend?"

Written by Kindoflame of FanFiction and NgamerS of AO3