Everything hurt.
There wasn't a fiber of the Rockruff's body that didn't feel like it would tear apart at a moment's notice. On top of that, it was hard to move…
Was she dead?
No… she couldn't be! She still had so much she needed to do! She couldn't die now!
Panic rose in the puppy's chest as she tried to force herself to stand, her body not letting her move more than an inch. But even though she felt hopeless, she could still… smell something. Something that didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the seeming postmortem atmosphere she was experiencing.
Pa's cooking.
Her Pa was a hunter, one of the only Pokémon brave enough to go into the woods surrounding the city, and even brave enough to do battle with the wild Pokémon living, bringing back berries and meat harvested from said Pokémon so that he and his household had food to eat and a roof over their heads. And while his cooking was something to behold, it also always had a distinct aroma, one of spices that blended with whatever he was cooking.
Her stomach growled, giving the Rockruff an audible answer to her worries. She wasn't dead.
She gave a small sigh of relief as she relaxed, but even that was painful, making her squirm a bit to try and find a better position.
And this time, someone noticed her movement.
"Ah, good, you're awake. I was afraid I'd lose you."
Her ear twitched when she heard the voice, immediately recognizing it. She finally opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. She was in her home again, specifically in her room, with its rustic wooden walls that almost glowed in the lamplight. Sitting by her bed was a tall, muscular figure with fiery, striped orange fur and a golden mane around his head. The Arcanine had a look of relief on his face as she opened her eyes as if he'd waited centuries for her to wake up.
"Pa? How did I- ah!" She winced suddenly, causing her father to become worried.
"Don't move too much. It's a miracle you're still with us."
He moved closer, making sure the bandages wrapped around her were tightened properly, his experience with injuries in the field being quite useful in this situation. Then, when he finally moved away, there was a new look on his face. One of disappointment.
"But it was in no way wise for you to go into the woods."
She winced at the sudden callout, part of her hoping that she wouldn't have to talk about that. "You… know about that?"
"I heard from the other townsfolk that they'd seen you go in on my way back from the market. Do you even know how worried I was? I ran into that forest faster than I have in years looking for you."
She went silent, retracing her steps, trying to see if she could remember him finding her.
She remembered awakening upside-down, then wandering back in even more pain than she felt now, and then…
"W-Wait… What about that Riolu? I remember seeing one in the woods before…"
"Oh, him," he sighed. "I found him carrying you, wandering through the woods. He didn't know where he was or where he was going… he didn't even know his name."
She blinked. For a moment she thought that strange Pokémon might have been a hallucination of some sort, a trick her mind played on her in her final moments of consciousness. "W-What happened to him?"
"Well, after I saw him carrying your unconscious body through the woods, I had some questions for him. I might have gone too far, in all honesty…" He exhaled, shaking his head. "But he didn't come across as someone who would do something like that to you. And seeing as he has nowhere else to go, I'm letting him stay here for the time being."
"He's… Here?"
"That's right. He seemed almost as worried that you wouldn't wake up as I was. I-"
He was cut off by the sound of yelling coming from the other room. He turned his head towards the sound and sighed.
"Speaking of… Your brothers haven't taken too kindly to there being a stranger in the house. One moment, please..."
The Arcanine walked out of the room, leaving her alone for a moment. A few seconds later, her father's voice joined the yelling, making the other voices quiet down.
"I don't know how many times I've told you to stop! He is a guest in this house and you will give him the respect he deserves!"
"But he-"
"I don't want to hear it, Arron! Just… Just make sure the food doesn't burn, you two.."
In her room, the Rockruff listened to the argument. Pa rarely ever got mad like that…
"You. Come with me."
A moment later the Arcanine returned, this time with company.
It was him.
The Riolu she found in the woods. And now without her tears obscuring her vision, she could get a better look at him. He was rather thin, but not dangerously so, with blue fur almost the same color as her eyes. When he saw she was awake his eyes widened, letting her see that they were a rather dirty shade of green. He approached slowly, a small smile on his face.
"You're awake… I'm so glad…"
The Arcanine was right behind him, warily watching how this would go. But he didn't stop him from getting close
"Now that you're awake, I suppose you two should get to know each other. Guinevere, this is Draco."
The Riolu gave a small wave.
Guinevere tilted her head at that. As far as she could, anyways. "Draco? But I thought he didn't remember…"
Her father slowly nodded. "That's right, he doesn't. But it wouldn't be right to call him 'Riolu'. So I decided to give him a name he can use for now, and Draco was the first name that came to mind."
"Oh."
Guinevere turned her gaze towards the Riolu, still not entirely sure what to think of him.
"Go ahead and get comfortable. Supper will be ready soon."
He nodded to both of them before walking back out, letting the two talk in private. Draco sat on the edge of the straw mattress, away from the Rockruff to let her have her personal space. After that the two sat in silence for a while, not knowing what to say or do… but after a while, Guinevere decided to break the silence.
"You… don't remember anything, Draco? Nothing at all?"
The Riolu sighed, shaking his head. "Nothing. I can't remember anything before you found me in the woods. What were you doing out there, anyways? And how'd you get so beat up?"
Guinevere winced, remembering how she got into this position.
"I was… trying to prove myself. To prove I wasn't weak. But I was tricked by the people I was trying to impress… they led me into a trap and beat me…"
"Holy…" Draco said, looking visibly disturbed by the story.
"And now what… now I'll never be able to join the knights…"
That caught the Riolu's attention. "Knights?"
"Oh, right… you wouldn't know about them." Her gaze went upwards, her mind drifting back to that dream. "The knights of Heliond… they're strong, they're tough, and no one can stop them. Recently, they've been recruiting Pokémon around the city, and… I wanted to join. It became a dream of mine. But to join, you had to have a team. It's supposed to encourage teamwork with the other trainees, I think. But nobody wanted me. I'm… small. And weak. No one wants someone like that on their team." She sighed weakly. "Why did I even try…"
"But isn't that why you want to train," Draco suddenly asked. "To get stronger?"
Her eyes went back to him. "Well… yes, but…"
"Then don't give up! I'm sure there's someone that'll let you join their team!"
"Even so, these injuries-" As if on cue, she yelped a bit. "They'll only hold me back."
"Ok, well…" He got closer to the Puppy Pokémon. "I'll stay here until you get better. And after that, I'll help you find someone."
Guinevere looked up at his face as those words rang in her head. He'd be there… and he'd help her…
An idea suddenly sprang to life in her head. She opened her mouth to speak but stopped herself at the last second. Was it really right to ask him? Someone that didn't even know where he was from?
It was worth a try, at least.
"Draco? Would you… would you make a team with me?"
The Riolu blinked, not expecting the sudden offer.
"You… want me to make a team with you? Why…"
"You're the only Pokémon that's offered to help me," she quickly explained. "Pa's too busy, Arron and Blake don't want anything to do with me. But you… you've already helped me, and I don't know how to make it up to you. So maybe I'll find a way eventually if we do this together."
Draco leaned back, thinking to himself. He didn't know much, but from what Guinevere had told him he got the feeling that knighthood was a highly respected position. Not only that, but it was her dream to be able to join, so who would he be to deny her this chance?
After a while he nodded, smiling down at the Rockruff.
"Sure!"
Guinevere's face lit up when she heard his answer. She would have jumped for joy if she wasn't essentially nailed to her bed. One thing that was able to move was her tail, which was batting at the bed like someone beating the dust out of an old rag. "Oh, thank you, thank you! I promise I'll make this up to you, Draco!"
The two continued their conversation, merrily chatting now that they'd set their plans into stone. But on the other side of the door, the Arcanine from before was listening in, smiling to himself proudly.
"She really does have your fire…"
