Jennifer led the way as her two Pokémon followed behind her.
Eventually, they reached a river, and Jennifer came to a stop. Mudkip and Chikorita stopped behind her as Jennifer looked up and down the river.
"We'll need to cross," she said to the two of them.
Mudkip and Chikorita exchanged glances, and Mudkip took a step forward to look down the river as well.
He felt a rush of anxiety filling him, this was much like the river he had lost his parents.
Chikorita came up to him and rested a gentle vine on his shoulder. "Chika," she said kindly.
Mudkip took a deep breath, though the current was strong, it wasn't flooding; it would be fine.
Mudkip looked around again and thought he could spot something downstream a little. A bridge?
"Kip," he told them, and then he rushed down the river in the direction of what he'd seen, gesturing for them to follow. Jennifer and Chikorita rushed after him.
Sure enough, Mudkip was right, but looking at the bridge, he stopped.
The boards were all old and rotted, and they looked like they couldn't hold up the weight of one person, much less all three of them.
Jennifer sighed. "Well guys, back in your Pokèballs for you."
Mudkip looked at the river, then shook his head.
"KIP!" he declared, I'm coming with you!
Chikorita looked at Mudkip, and then back at Jennifer, nodding firmly.
"We can't all cross," Jennifer said, "Back in your Pokèballs."
She took out the Pokèballs and readied them for return.
TWACK!
Jennifer looked at Chikorita in shock as the vine whip sent her Pokèball flying. Then, without another word, Chikorita scurried across the bridge, head held high, her light weight alone causing little trauma to the bridge.
"Well," Jennifer said, looking at Mudkip, "I guess it doesn't matter if we all cross separately," she conceded.
Jennifer took a step out onto the bridge, nervously testing it…
Then put on the rest of her weight.
It wobbled, creaked, Jennifer gripped for balance, but it held.
"Okay, here goes," she said, and then she started making her way across the bridge, step by step, Mudkip stood on the other side watching.
"I don't like this," Jennifer admitted.
But it was fine, right, it was holding…
And then the bridge snapped, straight in two.
Mudkip and Chikorita, standing on opposite sides, screeched in horror.
Jennifer scrabbled for whatever she could find to stop her from being pulled under the water, the current dragging her downstream; she caught onto a rock and held on for dear life.
Chikorita looked up and down the river, formulating a plan. She got it!
Without a moment's hesitation, she shot out her vine whip toward Jennifer, calling for her to grab on.
"CHI-KA!" She cried.
Jenniffer grabbed the vine from the rock and held on, one hand still around the rock, one holding onto the vine. Chikorita stumbled from the sudden shift in weight and gripped her feet into the shore.
"Chika!" Chikorita called desperately to Mudkip.
Mudkip knew what he had to do, but looking down at the raging water, he suddenly froze; even as a water type, the current might be too strong for him, he might die!
"Chik-ka!" Chikorita cried to him again, gritting harder into the shore stumbling, fighting desperately not to fall in as well, she could see the fear in his face, could feel deeply for him, but more importantly, she needed him. "CHIK-KA!"
Mudkip broke from his trance; Chikorita had him, he just had to trust her.
So, closing his eyes, Mudkip took a deep breath and jumped.
The water hit him full force, dragging him along. Mudkip struggled for the surface, trying to break free of the current.
His head popped out of the water, droplets were splashing everywhere, he tried to spot where Jennifer was, hanging from Chikorita's vine and the rock.
THERE!
Mudkip swam, putting all his strength into his legs, he wasn't a strong little fellow, but he'd taken quite a bit from Chikorita's vine whip over the time they'd been together, so that had to count for something.
Plus, he was a water type, this was kind of his element, right?
A moment later, Mudkip was at Jennifer's side.
"KIP!" he cried.
Jenniffer nodded and released the rock, grabbing Mudkip with her arm instead. Mudkip gasped at her sudden weight, fighting not to let her pull him under.
But Mudkip had it. He looked at shore, toward Chikorita, trying to find a way to bring them over. Chikorita tried to pull them in with vine whip, but the current was just too strong.
Then Mudkip saw it; they didn't need to fight the current, they just needed to ride it in their favor.
So Mudkip let go. "KIP!" He cried to Chikorita. He kicked off the rock, flowing in the direction of the current, he wasn't going to swim toward Chikorita, he was going to ride her vine whip in an arc toward the shore.
As Mudkip swam along with the current, Chikorita caught on to what he was doing. Instead of trying to reel her vines in, she rotated them with his movement as the current pulled him further down the river; she could use that momentum to redirect them toward the shore.
And that's what they did.
A moment later, Mudkip came to shore, pulling the gasping sputtering Jenniffer up with him.
"You two saved my life," she gasped.
Mudkip felt himself glowing, Chikortia gave him a joyous side-bump.
As the three made it under a tree to regather themselves, Mudkip felt a sense of peace wash over him, he had conquered the river. He still missed his family of course, but he no longer felt afraid. During his time with Chikorita, he had proven himself with a lot of embarrassment, but today, he had proven himself as a hero.
"Chika!" Chikorita said, smiling at him proudly.
And then she tackled him and the two went rolling, laughing.
"Chika!" She called, rolling away from him, shaking her hiney at him playfully.
"KIP!" Mudkip cried, mockingly indignant.
And then he dashed after her, chasing her into the woods, the two of them laughing as they went.
"Hold up!" Cried Jenniffer, "Don't go too fa-" Then she sighed, smiling to herself, "Oh, let them have their fun." They deserved it.