Chapter 4

A swift breakfast later and I was out the door and travelling through the forest path. Not that there was much to the forest. Even in the sunlight and the middle of summer, the trees were just as leafless at they'd always been. I don't ever remember seeing anything but the skeletons of old trees which wouldn't grow even a single leaf.

I held the Pokédex my mother had given me in my hand as I walked in silence. It was still showing Raikou on the upper screen with the description on the lower one.

I couldn't believe what I'd wandered into. Somehow, within the action of opening a chest I was told not to open, I now had an injured Pokémon to look after and I was unable to return home anytime soon.

I didn't want this. I was quite happy helping my mother. I wasn't cut out for travelling. I remembered almost everything she'd taught me as I grew and her lessons to the younger children when I was old enough to help, but none of that included taking care of Pokémon. We knew that there were at least 600 known kinds before Team Plasma took over Unova , but all activity surrounding them halted with King N's victory over the Hero.

I didn't know the first thing about Pokémon, and that worried me. How was I supposed to look after the Raikou when I didn't even know what it ate?

My mother had mentioned something about berries on my way out the door, but I didn't know where to find any. Nothing fertile grew anywhere near my home town of Nuvema. It hadn't for years. I could barely remember a time when the trees were green instead of barren.

I didn't want to fail to help the Raikou get to full health before I let it go back into the wild.

What am I supposed to do next?

I'm supposed to meet Gramps in Accumula Town, but where my path went from there I had no idea. I knew I would try to get the Raikou up to full health first, and then let it go. After that, I should be able to go home and return to helping my mother.

I stopped by the curving edge of a calm river. Just beyond it, in the distance, I could just make out a brief glint of the ocean I knew was the area. Geography and maps had been a strong point in school so I wasn't worried about being too lost. I knew I was about halfway to my destination.

The sun was reaching its highest point when I came across a bit of a clearing with a grassy patch and a cliff view overlooking the ocean in the distance. I took off the bag my mother had given me and placed it on the ground beside me. With several furtive glances around, I took out the Master Ball and tossed it into the air.

"Come out, Raikou," I muttered softly.

In a flash of bright white light, the yellow tiger Pokémon came out and stretched in the sunlight. I caught the ball as it returned to me and tucked it back into the inner pocket of my jacket.

The Pokémon still looked slightly battered and wore the bandages my mother had tended it with, but the determined, happy gleam in its red eyes told me it was feeling better. The injuries certainly didn't stop it from rubbing up against my legs with a loud rumble in its chest.

"Well," I said softly. "Being trapped in that ball doesn't seem to bother you."

"Rair" rumbled the Pokémon happily.

"In fact," I mumbled as my eyebrows scrunched together. "You seem much happier than before."

I was rewarded by having both paws placed on my chest followed by a strong, rough tongue attempt to scrape my cheek off.

"Gah!" I yelped loudly.

I lost my balance and found myself on my back with the young Pokémon settled on my chest. I could have sworn the rumbling in its chest was growing louder.

"You little rascal!" I exclaimed as I gently pushed it off of me so I could sit up. The Pokémon didn't put up too much of a fight against that, but rather, stayed sprawled across my legs.

I rolled my eyes. "You're not going to let me up anytime soon are you?"

The yellow tiger glanced up at me and continued its gentle rumbling in its chest. It closed its eyes as I began to scratch under its chin. I could almost swear it was smiling.

"You really like that," I commented in awe and wonder. "You don't mind being with me. I promise to set you free once I'm sure that Plasma won't be able to get their hands on you."

"Rair?" The Pokémon tilted its head and gazed at me in something resembling concern.

My stomach chose that moment to remind me that breakfast had been a while away. The yellow tiger glanced down at it and batted gently at my belly with a paw. I laughed as I pulled off my back pack and started riffling through it. I knew my mother had packed a lunch in there somewhere.

I pulled out a slightly squashed sandwich and started munching on it. The Raikou stared at me with wide red eyes as I ate.

I swallowed quickly. "I bet you're hungry too."

The young Pokémon glanced down. "Rair …"

"Hmmm," I mumbled as I absently took another bite and placed my free hand on top of its head. "Mother mentioned berries. Would you happen to know where I can find some?"

It scrunched its eyes slightly and tilted its head to the side in a look of contemplation. It sniffed a few times before it laid its head across my legs with a disappointed moan.

'Rrrmmm …"

I pet the top of its head gently. "It's okay. I'm sure Gramps with have some around, or he'll know where to get some for you. I'll make sure I get you some."

It rubbed its head against my hand affectionately with its eyes closed. I finished my sandwich as I gazed at the young Pokémon in wonder.

"I …" I started hesitantly. The Raikou glanced up at me. "I don't think the ball is hurting you."

The Pokémon continued to gaze at me with soft red eyes.

I bit my lower lip as troubled thoughts began to take shape.

"So," said a calm voice which sent an instant chill down my spine. The Raikou sprawled across my legs growled deep within its chest as it focused on the speaker behind me. "You lied to us, Sweetie, and you committed the most horrendous crime imaginable. You caught a Pokémon."

I turned to meet the eyes of the two Plasma members who had confronted me in the storm the previous day. The Raikou slowly got to its feet as it continued to growl.

"Rairrrrrrrrrrr!"

"That's the Raikou," exclaimed the male Team Plasma grunt. "We will take care of it from here."

I got to my feet and stared as the electric Pokémon placed itself between me and the two Plasmas. As it continued to growl at them, I began to feel a tingly feeling as the hair all over my body began to stand on end.

"I …" I hesitated. "No."

"Excuse me?" said the Plasma woman in a tone that indicated that she was used to being obeyed.

"I said 'no,'" I repeated as I took a few steps forwards to stand at the yellow Pokémon's shoulder. "I'm not letting you take care of Raikou. You're the ones who probably hurt it when it was escaping from you in the first place, so no. I'll release it once it is fully recovered and can look after itself, but I will protect it from you."

The woman smirked. "You're both coming with us. You broke the law, and now you're going to suffer the consequences. The Raikou will be taken to a safe place where it will never be captured again, and you will suffer a public humiliation before a long visit to our dungeon to think about the pain you've inflicted with that Pokéball."

"Herdier!" exclaimed the man at the end of her proclamation. "Go get them!"

He hefted a red and white Pokéball into the air and the dog Pokémon which had pinned me to the ground before erupted from it in a flash of white light.

"Herd. Herdier!"

"Rair! Rrrrrrr."

"Hey!" I yelped in shock. "You guys use Pokéballs to trap the Pokémon who help you?!"

"What of it?" asked the man. "Team Plasma rules Unova , so we get to make the rules."

"Stop wasting your breath and get him, Sweetie," sighed the woman as she leaned against the closest barren tree. "We were supposed to have finished transporting that Pokémon yesterday."

I took a deep breath and looked down at the Pokémon beside me. "Are you ready to show these two that we're not going with them?"

The Raikou let a spark slither along its cloud-like mane in reply is it glared at the Herdier racing towards us.