As many people would tell from the title, the Ekans is a good guy. And Flame suffers from a bout of heroism. More plot twists to come.
Episode Sixteen: Guardian Serpent
I opened my eyes and waited for my vision to focus itself. I couldn't remember what had happened, although my subconscience soon fixed that. I tried to swear as I remembered the attack, but my tounge didn't want to move. I think it was swollen. A quick check proved that my arms and legs were immobile as well, although they didn't seem to have swelled up.
"Ah, You's awake at last I see," a dry voice hissed from behind me. The bazarre wording confused me momenterally, although I soon realised what was going on when the hissing continued. There was a snake right behind me. I wanted to yell as loud as I could (for intimidation purposes, of course. I wasn't afraid. Nope. Not me.) but my mouth and voicebox still didn't want to work properly so all I managed was a small whimper. Not the most intimidating of things.
"There is no need to be scared, young Charmander," the purple snake said as it slithered round infront of me, giving me my first proper look at it. The Ekans's scales had been dulled with age and one of its eyes was milky white as though it no longer worked properly. I was looking at a very old Ekans. 'Great, a snake with brains.'
"You must be wondering why you are still alive," the elder Ekans said. Admitedly, that thought had crossed my mind. But I was more concerned with how long I would stay alive.
"I found some berries, whose juice counter acts the poison you were suffering from, and forced some down your throat while I pulped the remaining berries and spread that over your wound. Unfortunatly, the juice does cause swelling but that should go down soon. The paralisis was just something I did to stop you panicing or over reacting. But better unable to move than dead, right?"
Okay, now I was confused. I had heard about berries that cure poison, but they were supposed to be nearly impossible to find. Plus, for a Ekans, I was effectivly easy prey. Why didn't the snake eat me? Why did it use rare berries to save my life? None of it added up.
"You are wondering why I saved you, yes? You show your thoughts in your eyes," it laughed, the hissing chuckles didn't do much to help my nerves. The snake noticed my edginess and stopped, with a small apolagy he continued.
"I'm getting old, can barely catch my own food. My time is getting nearer, I want people to be sorry I died. That involves helping them. You remember the Pokémon that attacked you? Well that one is part of a large group that have been going around attacking or terroising everyone."
I definatly remembered the attack, my side still hurt a little from when the bastard's horn had pierced the flesh. I managed to nod my head, the paralisis was wearing off, and the Ekans continued.
"I saw them sneak up on you, so I managed to scare most of them off but was too late to stop that one. He escaped while I took you back here to my home so I could patch you up. I'm too weak to battle them all, especially as my poison is usless against them, and need a little extra firepower. When you are healthy, then you can choose to help me stop the Nido's or go back to your trainer. Its your call."
I didn't even need to think about it, I already wanted to get payback. The fact they were going after other people just made my resolve stronger. My fear of snakes had practicaly evaporated, replaced by a heroic duty to kick some rabbit Pokéarses along with my new ally. Plus, Moron thought I was dead, so I was free again. 'This is going to be fun'