Ch 7: The Accident and The Past

"So I've been thinking, since you guys rescued me, I felt like I should help you help others, so could I join your guys' Rescue Team?" Evan was pawing at the ground nervously as he asked, which may or may not have had anything to do with the fact that Aeruthael was standing behind Karly and I.

"Umm... sure?" I was nervous as well, outside of the training area I felt awkward around Aeruthael, or as he has told me to call him 'Aeru'. "Right Karly?" I elbowed Karly.

"Huh, oh yeah, that would be great." I could tell she was still a little afraid of me from the incident.

"Oh, that's great." Evan sighed in relief, he obviously couldn't feel the tension between Karly and I. "Do you have somewhere nearby where I could live between Jobs?"

"Well... no." I answered.

"Oh... okay then." Evan turned and headed back into town with both his ears and his tail drooped.

"Hmm, I know where we could find a place for him to stay." Aeruthael said. "Follow me."

"This is the place." We stopped in front of a pink building, Aeru rang the bell and a large mammal appeared behind the counter.

"Hello, welcome to Wigglytuff's circle of friends, where you can find lots of new friends."

"Wiggy, I need you to grant these two access to the Friend Area Thunder Meadow, could you do that for me old buddy."

"Of Course, why wouldn't I, I give them three free areas on their first visit nowadays you old coot." Wigglytuff answered. "Wigglytuff Wigglytuff, Lets be friends! YOOM-TA! I also gave you kids access to the Jungle area and the Beau Plains."

"Thanks, now we have to find Evan." I said running off.

"Karly, follow him and make sure he doesn't get in trouble, I need to catch up with a few of my friends in town." Aeru said.

Karly sighed, "Fine." She ran after me. Unbeknownst to us, Aeru was trying to get us to make up, he could sense a faint psychic connection between the two of us, and like Xatu, he could see a little into the future, and he knew that one day we would be more than friends, but that would only happen if he seemed to be against it.

"Evan!" I called as we finally caught up to him, "We have a place where you could stay." I was out of breath (and shape), but Karly arrived and hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Really?!" Evan exclaimed, "Great!" He started to wag his tail.

"Yep, it's a place called Thunder Meadow, and it's really close to the hut." Karly added.

We returned to the hut and saw Aeru warming up some tea, "Ah, you're back, ready to begin our lesson for today Rick?"

"But it's a weekend, I thought you said we didn't have to train on weekends." I said.

"No, we don't train normally on weekends, we train your skills in cleaning." As he said the last words, he began to grin madly.

"Ohhh..." I groaned.

"Well see you on Monday Rick." Karly quickly said as she began to run for her home.

"Yeah later man." Evan bounded wildly away from the house in the direction of his new home.

"More work for you." Aeru's grin got even bigger. "Have fun with the toilet."

On Monday we went to a dungeon with Evan to find a Zigzagoon near the summit of Mount Steel, but showing him the ropes wasn't easy.

"Okay, so theres a Zigzagoon there, is he the one we're looking for?" We were only on the third floor and this was the sixth time he had asked us.

"For the last time. We. Need. To. Get. To. The. Eighth. Floor. Before. We. Find. Him." I explained without any more patience.

"Okay oka- Watch out!" Evan threw himself in front of me as a meditite snuck up on me and tried to kick me. Evan got knocked into a wall and he fell down groaning, I quickly hit the Meditite and knocked it out. I turned around and saw Evan begin to fade.

"We need to get Evan out." I said.

"But what about-" Karly began.

"Our team is more important than the mission. Pull out your badge." I commanded. We grabbed Evan and left the dungeon.

"Today our lesson will be on Team building." We were in the Dojo again, "Something you two seem to have forgotten."

Karly huffed.

"What will we do?" I asked.

"You have to turn around and trust your partner to guide you while you wear this" He held up an old dirty rag, "Through an obstacle course with lots of traps. I will not interfere even if your partner cruelly tells you to go into the traps." He turned to me. "Rick, you're the first pokemon to walk through the maze."

Karly's POV

I immediately knew I was going to put Rick in the Hospital for what happened earlier today, I led him into fire traps and then a spike trap, I then realized that the spikes-which would normally scratch off his armor-impaled him. A dark liquid began to run down his front, and nothing seemed to matter. I ran to him and teleported both of us to the hospital as quickly as I could, I couldn't even speak, I just cried as Nurse Butterfree and all her daughters took him into the ICU.

Rick's POV

I was in shock, Karly had been nothing but nice to me since I arrived in this world, but she just tried to kill me. Something inside me broke. I cried. I cried until I felt empty inside. I dreamed I was in a field of wonderful colors, and I heard a voice, very faintly calling for me. What I saw next changed my life.

I saw Karly, but not as the pokèmon she had become, as the pokèmon she was before her grandfather's faked death, she was sweet and kind and always looked up to her grandfather. I saw flashes of her past, parents ignoring her as she cried in need of medical care, her father attacking her viciously for a small insult, Her friends running away in fear when they discovered who her parents were. I felt all the pain longing and suffering she had to bear for the majority of her life, and then I felt immeasurable hope; she moved away from her parents and came to live with her grandpa. I saw how happy she was while she was with him, and I saw how broken she was when she thought he had died. She blocked herself off from everyone, and anyone who approached her left with some form of bodily harm; she hurt everyone, because she couldn't stop feeling hurt herself. I felt her worry when she came across a fallen body in the woods, and her relief when it responded to her calls with a groan, I realised that the fallen body was me. I saw our first trip into a dungeon, her impatience, and her worry. I felt her slowly die inside when I was impaled; and I realised that what I had been feeling, was nothing compared to the suffering and sorrow she had to face up to every day. "I'm sorry" I said, when my vision came to rest on Karly lying on her bed crying.

"Rick?" She turned around, but didn't see me, she sighed "Maybe I should go to check on him one last time, just to see if he's okay." She yawned. "I'll have to do it in the morning, I'm too tired to even walk around the block. I'll call it a night and go to the hut tomorrow."

I returned to the colorful meadow, but instead of focusing on the beauty of my surroundings, I started to beat my blades into the ground.

"Do not blame yourself my child." I looked up to see a yellow fox with nine different tails, it's eyes-no, her eyes-were a deep crimson that looked like it held more wisdom than any being before it. "I am Ninetails, and I have been assigned as your guide in this world. I cannot stay long," She flickered and began to fade. "But remember this one thing, Don't forget this dream, or the way you feel about h..."

"Wait, about who?!" I asked, although I already knew the answer.

I woke up in a cold sweat, and got up slowly, I heard a knock on the door, and somehow, blades retracted into my body, and my bladed hands morphed into regular four fingered hands. I opened up the door and saw Karly. She immediately grew more cheerful when she saw me and tackled me to the floor with a hug, I felt her crying, and I let her stay on me until...

"Ahem, I hope I'm not intruding on anything?" We looked up to see an old Gallade with a disapproving look on his face.

"Oh um... I leaned on the door and Rick opened it and I was so startled by it that I grabbed ahold of him." Karly said; too quickly to benefit either one of us.

"Yes, and a Pawniard's blades when exposed to specific emotional trauma will either relax, or spike out viciously, which would explain why you're skewered... oh wait, your not." He said, he turned to me. "And YOU! I specifically told you not to try and chase after my granddaughter. Consider this a warning you two, next time Rick leaves town." He passed by us, as he left the door a thought burst into my head. 'She hasn't been this happy in a long while, if you prove yourself to be an okay person, I might let you two become more of a... package.' I blushed at this, 'You passed your first test by figuring out how to relax your blades.'

Karly's POV

"I'm so sorry about the way I treated you in training." I said for about the millionth time.

Rick rolled his eyes "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't like holding grudges. Besides, I know you had a bit of a troubled pas-" Rick tried to stop himself but I could instantly tell he was hiding something from me.

I pulled him into an alleyway and pushed him up against the wall, "How. Do you. Know. About. My past." I growled. I recognized the fear in Rick's eyes an I returned to my senses. I let him go and fell to my knees. "I'm so sorry, I just..." I began to cry.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Rick, "It's alright, I suppose if we're going to be a team we should share our secrets." Rick told me about his dream. (A/N: except about the Remember your feelings part.)

"Ohhh... when I transferred my knowledge to you I must have linked our minds, that would explain why I heard your voice last night." I said. 'That's great, now he knows about my-'I realized something. "Wait, you said a Ninetails said she was your guide, Right?"

"Yes..?" Rick looked confused.

"Follow me" I guided him to a small house near the center of the town. "Lady Ninetails? I need to ask you something."

"Come in darlings." Rick looked shocked when he heard the voice from inside.

"W-w-wait, that's the voice..." His eyes widened in realisation.

"Yep." I grinned, "Come on, Lady Ninetails is usually busy."

"So you told her." A Ninetails stood in the center of the room. "You needed someone to trust; and you got your deepest wish, didn't you Karly."

"Yes. That was my deepest wish. I didn't even tell grandpa about it." I said, no one had known except lady Ninetails, the mother figure in my life.

"You didn't even tell... wow." Rick looked shocked.

"You two should begin to accept rescue team requests again tomorrow, I promise you won't regret it. Goodnight children." Ninetails brought us back outside and I teleported Rick back to the dojo, then went home myself.

I originally had the last part as a fight between friends, but I decided that I would keep my own personality and had Rick attack a ton. Thanks for reading.