Chapter 2: Birthday

[Pretty early for a chapter posting but I want to get this story out there and more chapters will help with that. Don't expect too many frequent uploads in the future because this story will soon have the same upload schedule as my mystery dungeon story. I hope that this chapter isn't too much of an exposition dump. Also trigger warning, this chapter does contain instances of abuse. Letting y'all know now. Note: I don't own Pokémon and the music used, just my OCs and some plot. All rights to artists, Nintendo, and the Pokémon Company, obviously]

"Why does it always seem like it gets darker every time we're in this area?" Warren thought out loud as he made his way towards the main gate of his team's town: Po Town.

Po Town is considered the main base of operations for Team Skull members throughout the entire region. This town has a pretty dark and ominous feel, unlike basically all other towns and cities throughout the rest of the region. This dark feel may be caused by the lack of running electricity that would be used to power the lights. Team Skull has managed to keep running water though, surprisingly, thanks to the generators that power certain, important things in our town. Graffiti lines the outer walls that surround the town, the walls making it seem like a fortress. As Warren heads through the main archway gate, you can see the inside no better than outside. Graffiti is painted everywhere from the walls of houses, on the few cars no longer operable, and even on the roads. As Warren walks down the main road, not phased by the dark atmosphere or the other Team Skull grunts loitering around having grown accustomed to them, he walks in front of a run down Pokemon Center, no longer its bright and welcoming self that you would come to expect from it and now serves as just another Team Skull hangout spot. There is a member who provides care for the gang's Pokemon, for a price of course, medical supplies aren't cheap. Warren stops before passing its doors.

"You feeling okay girl? I know you didn't get hit but you never know. I'm sure Jane wouldn't mind seeing you." Warren asked his partner.

"Zorua." She responded with a negative shake of her head.

"Alright, she has spoken." Warren joked as he continued his trek.

Continuing, Warren walks past several other members, all lounging around in their own groups just talking and chilling. Some even greet Warren on his way pass, Warren greeting them back. He soon makes his way to the main building of Po Town; the Shady House. This two story mansion is also covered in graffiti like the rest of the town. The building is also covered in grime and two of the second floor windows are busted open. Warren opens the front doors of the mansion and makes his way inside. Inside, like the rest of the town, is covered in graffiti, a massive, blue colored Team Skull insignia on the wall covering a crooked, framed picture at the top of the first set of stairs. There are also loads of furniture tossed around the place, some of them broken, as well as a considerable amount of garbage thrown around the place. At the base of the stairs, Warren sees his fellow rapping compatriot; Okazaki, playing cards with some other members on the stairs. When the doors close behind Warren, the sound catches the attention of Okazaki and the other members.

"Yo Warren, Azalea, bout time you two got back." Okazaki greeted while standing up and offering a handshake to the approaching Warren. Azalea also gave a call as a greet. "Write any new songs for us?"

"They're getting there man." Warren said, accepting the handshake. "Big man here?"

"Nah, Guzma went out. Plumeria's here though." Okazaki responded.

"Perfect, got some donations for her. I'll see ya later." Warren said as Azalea hops off Warren's shoulder to walk up the stairs with him.

"See ya man. Kick it with us when you're done." Okazaki said while sitting back down to continue playing with the other members.

"Gotcha." Warren said as he continued up the stairs to the second floor. As Warren and Azalea made their way down the hall on their way to the boss' room, they went past an opened door. While Warren ignored the door, something caught Azalea's eye. That something was an Alolan Sandshrew waving one of his paws to get her attention. This caused Azalea to head inside the room to greet the Sandshrew before suddenly getting grabbed by an unknown figure. This caused her to let out a quick yelp as she disappeared in the room, Warren quickly turning around to the source of the yelp. He quickly noticed the lack of a shiny Zorua that he could have sworn was there five seconds ago.

"Azalea? Where'd you go?" Warren asked confused while backtracking towards the open door he now noticed. When he got in front of it, he looked inside the bunking room housing a few beds, one being his own, and saw Azalea sitting on his bed at the far side of the room with a mischievous grin on her face. This caused Warren to sigh a little in relief before heading inside.

"You know you could have just told me you wanted to chill here instead of coming with me. Made me worry, little girl." Warren joked passing the doorway and not looking around the rest of the room. This meant that he did not see the short, red headed (burgundy coloring) Team Skull girl standing on top of a dresser next to the door.

"Sneak Attack!" Yelled the girl as she jumped off the dresser towards Warren.

"Hu-ooph." Warren said as he was tackled in the back, the wind got knocked out of him slightly. The girl wrapped her arms around Warren's neck and legs around his waist/stomach. Warren had to struggle to keep himself balanced to avoid injury on him and the girl, arms flailing around. "Tiffany?! What the hell?!"

The girl, now known as Tiffany, was 5'2," 14 years old, fair skin, long red hair in a similar style and length to Star from Star vs. the Forces of Evil, also an aspiring singer, and is a relatively new Team Skull member having joined about 6 months ago. She was fitted in a plain white, slightly low cut hoodie that went past her shorts, over the standard Team Skull outfit that the girls wear with her bandana down around her neck.

"Gotcha big bro," Tiffany said triumphantly with a smile from ear to ear on her face and her eyes closed.

"Tiffany, get off!" Warren yelled, managing to grab onto her. He twisted her around and tossed her onto his bed, Tiffany laughing the whole time with Azalea and her Pokemon Gabe, the Alolan Sandshrew, soon joining in the laughter. Though slightly annoyed, Warren was too used to Tiffany's antics to actually be mad. "Glad to see you're enjoying our near hospitalization. Now can you tell me why you did all that?"

"It's my version of a surprise party." Tiffany stated while sitting up and crossing her legs to sit down comfortably. This allowed Gabe to climb into and relax in between her legs, still looking at Warren. Despite it being both Steel and Ice, Tiffany had already gotten used to his temperature.

"Surprise party?" Warren said, confused.

"Yeah, it's your 16th birthday and officially your 5th year as a Team Skull member right? It's a big milestone!" Tiffany said excitedly while Warren looks taken aback by what she says. Azalea notices this and starts growing concerned, now realizing what all this was for.

"Oh, right, that…" Warren said quietly while taking a seat next to Tiffany, elbows on his knees and his head being supported by his conjoined hands. He was given off a sullen and 'lost in thought' look, something his partner quickly noticed. Azalea proceeded to jump into Warren's lap and stood up on her hind legs with her front paws supporting her on Warren's chest. She began to nuzzle the bottom of her trainer's head in hopes of getting his attention and snapping him out of his thoughts. Gabe had even jumped out of his trainer's lap to see what was wrong with his friend's trainer. Tiffany had yet to notice the change in mood, too caught up in her excitement.

"Since I couldn't throw you an actual party given my lack of funds, I decided to come up with the next best thing. I took the surprise part literally and thought that a sneak attack would be pretty surprising. I got you good too, big bro." Tiffany stated laughing before hearing a whimper let out next to her. She turned to see the concerned Zorua trying to get her trainer's attention. Tiffany then saw her best friend's expression and immediately grew concerned. "Warren? What's wrong?"

Upon hearing Tiffany's voice and feeling Azalea lightly smacked his cheek a few times with a paw, Warren was jolted out of his train of thought, causing Azalea to fall into a sitting position on his lap.

"Huh?" Warren said, looking around a bit before resting his eyes on a concerned Azalea. He quickly brings a hand to caress her face slightly in hopes of making her feel better. He then looks towards a worried Tiffany and Gabe. "Oh, yeah yeah, I'm cool."

"Dude, you're crying." Tiffany bluntly states, her concern growing.

"I'm wha-" He cuts himself off upon reaching up to his face and feeling fresh tears on the side of them. "Well shit…"

"What's wrong? Did I hurt you? Was it because of the sneak attack?" Tiffany quickly asked, moving to get on her knees on the bed and facing Warren with a sorrowful look on her face.

"No no no." Warren quickly said, wiping off his tears. "It's not your fault, far from it. It's got to do with something else,"

"What is it?" Tiffany asked before quickly saying, "If you want to tell me that is."

Warren was silent for a second thinking about what to do, gently caressing the lash across Azalea's left eye, before asking, "Have I ever told you about why I'm here?"

"I…don't think so. It really never came up." Tiffany said truthfully.

"Wanna hear it?" Warren said simply.

"Of course!" Tiffany said quickly before calming down and saying, "O-only if you want to talk about it."

"Alright." Warren said before looking forward, not really focused on anything in the room. "Well…"

(5 years ago, apartment in building near the border of Heahea City on Akala Island, around 1:00 am)

The apartment was dark, as usual, the only light that was on in the house came from the TV that my father never allowed me to use. Warren explained. My father barely made ends meet with his job, whatever it was. I forgot about it ages ago. The only things he would use his money on were himself, booze and cigars, that sort of thing. He did give me food but that was only when he made something for himself and there just happened to be leftovers. For other things like clothes and spending money for myself, I had to get them mostly on my own wherever I could find them, which usually involved stealing from others. Sometimes I'd get caught and brought back to my father for… *shudders* timeout. I don't even think he really cared that I stole from others, he just needed an excuse… Anyway, my usual entertainment aside from going to school involved staying in my room listening to music from a music player that I… found, which got me into my music career, leading me to start writing, and going to the Pokemon Center next door and watching the battles. That, combined with all the nice Pokemon that sometimes came to bother me, heh, you can say that my desire to train them began there.

And that's how you got Azalea. You caught her? Tiffany asked, interrupting out of curiosity.

Not…exactly, I'll explain that later. Warren said before continuing. As much as I wanted to be a trainer, my dad forbade it. It was the one thing he was constantly on my case about, telling me how Pokemon training is a good for nothing occupation along with my raps. He told me I'd end up just like my 'failure mother,' his words, though he never told me what that meant and never told me where she went after he goaded her into leaving him because of his shitty actions!

Warren… Tiffany said softly upon seeing how heated and stressed Warren had gotten with that topic. Tiffany even placed a soft hand on his left arm, Azalea started nuzzling into Warren's hand and Gabe leaned onto Warren's leg to make his presence known, all of that succeeding in calming Warren down. We don't have to continue if it's too much…

Zorua…/Shrew… The two Pokemon called out in a tone similar to Tiffany's.

No, I'm fine. I can do this. Warren stated before taking a deep breath and continuing. Anyway, That lead me back to the apartment five years from today…

It's a quiet and dark night, the only sound and light in the apartment coming from the movie that was currently on, something about secret agents fighting aliens, it was pretty cool. We see a young, 11 year old Warren sitting crossed legged against the wall, trying to watch the movie and ignore the obnoxious snores coming from the smelly man known as Warren's father. Warren would be asleep right now but he had just woken up from a nightmare and there was no way he was gonna get comfort from his dad, nor did he want it. This would explain why he was dressed in his black basketball shorts and black and white sleeveless T-shirt pajamas. Suddenly, the doorbell rang causing Warren to jump at the sound. The "man" of the house continued snoring. When the doorbell rang again, the father groaned in frustration.

"Warren! Wake your lazy ass up and get the door!" The father yelled out. This caused Warren to cringe at the sound, mostly because he was in the same room and because of the language used. Warren got up and trudged to the door. Warren opened it, not caring to see who was there first through the peephole, and while he found no one standing there, he did notice the sound of the stairwell door closing down the hall, meaning that whoever was here just now had just left the area.

"Less talking for me." The young Warren said about to go back inside. Before he did, he noticed a small box with a letter attached to it. Warren grabbed the letter and saw that it was surprisingly addressed to him from…

"Mom..?" Warren said quietly in disbelief.

"Who the fuck was at the door!?" His father yelled, not caring if anyone heard from outside.

"No one, they left before I opened it." Warren said not really lying.

"You should have woke up sooner. Now get your sorry ass back to bed before I make you." His father said threateningly, causing Warren to shudder a little bit. He quickly shut the door, box and note in hand, and silently made his way towards his room. When he got there, he quietly shut the door before turning on his lamp to read the note.

My son,

I hope this letter and package gets to you safely. If I'm lucky, you'll either have gotten the package and letter first or your father gives it to you, though I doubt the latter. You cannot begin to imagine how much I miss you and I am continuing to figure out a way to get you back. I know you probably don't fully understand why I had to leave and you had to stay with that "man" but…it's really complicated and I'm working on our reunion. Where I'm living now is so beautiful and I'm hoping to surprise you by bringing you here with me. For now, I need you to be strong and patient. Aside from that, I know how lonely you must be given the situation and I decided to send you a little friend. She was a tough one to find and it was a miracle to find one like her so I hope you love her and cherish her like I would for you. I've already told her all about you from my memory so I hope she takes to you well. It was good reaching you again and I hope that next time will be face to face. Happy Birthday son. Love you always.

Your Mother.

This one paragraph had managed to bring both past and present Warren to tears of joy, even Tiffany was shedding some similar tears as present Warren read the letter which he kept in his wallet. The fact that his mother was still thinking about him in a positive way was joyous alone. Past Warren soon realized what else his mother had said in the letter.

"Friend..?" Warren said quietly confused before snapping his attention to the box that the letter was attached too. He quickly grabbed it and tore it open. Inside he found a lone Pokéball. A little taken aback as he never held one before, he carefully and cautiously took hold of it in both hands. He looked over the ball for a second before coming to the button in the middle of it. He pressed the button with a bit of hesitation and when he let go, the ball quickly opened up and a white beam shot out of it, scaring Warren a little and causing him to drop the ball in order to shield his eyes. When he unblocked them, he came across a young looking, fully black Pokemon with patches of blue on its paws and head fur. He had never seen a Pokémon like this before and just stared at it for a second as the Pokémon stretched itself out like a cat normally would.

"What are you..?" Warren said cautiously, getting the attention of the Pokémon.

"Zor…" The Pokémon said in confusion as well, tilting her head at Warren, before looking around for something. She soon laid her eyes on the Pokéball she came out of. She quickly trotted up to it, Warren keeping his eyes on her. When the Pokemon got to the ball, she poked it with her nose and then looked inside. She then smiled a little before turning to look at Warren.

"Zorua." She called out nodding her head to the opened Pokeball.

"What? Is there something in there you want me to see?" Warren asked, confused.

"Zor!" The Pokémon exclaimed while smiling and wagging her tail, eyes closed with a content look on her face.

"Shhh, okay I'll check, I need you to stay quiet though." Warren said, putting a finger to his mouth to quiet her before going to the open Pokéball and looking inside, taking a seat and crossing his legs in front of the Pokémon while doing so. Inside, he saw two pieces of paper. Warren took them out and held one paper in each hand. One held just one, three-worded sentence written on it.

"A…Az-e-lea?" Warren said somewhat incorrectly, much to the annoyance of the Pokemon who pouted at him and gave him the stink eye. "I'm sorry, not good with words I don't know. Uh…Azalea? That's your name?"

With Warren saying that, the Pokemon smiled and wagged her tail more.

"Guess I got it right that time." Warren said, brandishing his own smile. He then looked at the rest of the paper. "A Zor-u-a, Zorua. Huh, I never seen anything like you before. Maybe you're rare over here."

Warren then took a look at the other piece of paper which came folded. When he unfolded it, he became silent again, tears threatening to resurface for the second time tonight. The paper was actually a ripped picture showing him three years ago being held by his mother. She was young, around 25, dark skin like Warren, and wore a black sundress with blue flowers dotting it and white sandals. Even though she had a slightly strained look on her face while carrying Warren's five year old self, she was still smiling brightly. He couldn't remember what the occasion that day was but he was just glad to have a physical image of his mother again, even though that day was one of the last days of her being here before she had to leave for whatever reason. Warren still had no idea what that reason was but hoped it was legit. He noted how similar he looked to her and despite growing a few inches, he looked almost the same as he had been a few years ago. He also noted the rip on the side of the photo. Later in his life he would come to assume that it was probably where his father would have been in the photo. As Warren continued to stare at the photo, Azalea came up to his side to get his attention. When he turned to look at her, she pointed her nose at the photo.

"What? You want to look at it?" Warren asked confused, causing Azalea to nodded her head. Warren shrugged and showed it to her. After about a few seconds of looking back and forth between him and the picture, her tail started wagging rapidly again and a smile appeared on her face. Warren was a bit taken aback by the reaction before the Zoroa suddenly cried out and leapt at Warren, causing him to fall onto his back as Azalea started licking Warren's face.

"H-hey, calm down, what's gotten into you?" Warren said surprised while trying to get her to stop licking his face. Soon, Azalea stopped her licking and settled on nuzzling his face and chin, a soft purr coming out of her. Warren felt this and started feeling something that he hadn't experienced in quite a while, something he greatly enjoyed feeling of. He stopped struggling and instead wrapped his arms around his new Pokémon, tears forming in his eyes as he closed them and hugged Azalea tighter, allowing himself to bask in the loving warmth.

Thank you mom.

"Why the hell are you still up!? I hear you in there!" Yelled a voice from in the hallway outside his door. This caused the boy and his Pokémon to freeze, one cause of fear and the other cause of confusion and alertness.

"Oh no…" Warren said quietly panicked as he sat up and got himself out of the embrace, causing him to drop Azalea and her to land on her side. As he rushed up to his door, Azalea stood up and looked on in concern as her new trainer looked a bit too panicked. "I couldn't sleep! I was about to turn off the lights!"

"Bullshit! And why do you have your door closed!?" The voice yelled out, Warren heard his father's footsteps coming closer as Warren also felt his heart beating rapidly in his chest. "You know you're not allowed to do that! You need another punishment!?"

"This is the only time! I'll open it!" Warren said before looking towards his Zorua and her Pokéball. "Quick, get back in the ba-"

Before Warren could finish, the door swung open hard, causing Warren to be pushed and slammed into a wall in front of the door.

"Zorua!" Azalea cried out seeing her new trainer hurt. This led to Warren's dad turning his attention to her and being surprised by her presence.

"The fuck are you..? A Pokémon..?" Warren's dad said confused before becoming enraged and turning to a disoriented and staggered Warren who was clutching his head while standing up. "Where the fuck did you get it!? How dare you bring those damn things into my house!"

"*groans* It's none of your business, old man…" Warren said with a venomous tone at the verbal treatment his father was giving Azalea. Warren's eyes widened in shock at what he just said, not really thinking before saying it.

"What was that?" Warren's dad growled lowly as he took a step towards Warren, hands already pulling off the belt on his waist. He then felt a piece of paper hit his foot, causing him to look down and see that it was the picture of Warren and his mom that Warren had dropped when he was slammed into the wall. His father bent down to pick it up.

"Wait, no!" Warren yelled about to reach to grab it himself but froze when his dad aimed the belt at him threateningly.

"Not one step brat." He growled as he picked up the picture. He stared at it for a few seconds before frowning with his teeth clenched in anger, crumpling the picture in his hand.

"That broken bitch…" He growled to himself while tossing the paper across the room. "Why do you have this!? Did she give you that thing!?"

"So what if she did!?" Warren yelled while Azalea growled at his dad.

"How dare she..? Doing this shit just to spite me. First you and now this." His dad said lowly. "That thing is gone, right now! Not letting that bitch insult me in my own fucking house!"

"No!" Warren yelled.

"You have no say in the matter, brat! And once that thing is gone, you're in for the timeout of your life." His dad threatened while raising up his belt to strike Warren. All Warren could do was brace himself. Warren then thought of something.

"Azalea! Bite!" Warren yelled, causing his dad to stop his attack and look confused.

"Zorua!" Azalea cried out, charging and leaping at Warren's dad, teeth and fangs bared and glowing white. Azalea sunk her teeth hard into his arm that was holding the belt, drawing blood that Azalea quickly grew to dislike the taste of.

"AH! You fucking abomination!" Warren's dad yelled while swinging his bitten arm hard. This caused the weaker Zorua to lose her grip and land hard onto the floor. Azalea quickly but shakily stood up to glare and growl at the man.

"Azalea! Don't touch her!" Warren yelled out to the man but that did not stop him from raising the belt in his hand over his head. "Dodge it!"

But she didn't react fast enough, she was still a bit disoriented from the previous swing. Warren's dad swung his belt down faster than she could move back, swiping it across Azalea's face. This caused her to cry out in pain while falling to the floor, clutching the side of her head near her left eye which soon had blood coming down from it. It didn't stop there since Warren's dad also delivered a kick to the side of Azalea's head, sending her into the side of Warren's bed. This action caused Warren to freeze up, seeing the damage Azalea had taken and now stared at his father in a cold rage, fists clenched. With a look of rage and gritted teeth, Azalea glared hard at him with her right eye, causing it to glow pink. Warren's dad then began to feel a massive headache and quickly held his head in hands, soon seeing disorienting waves even with his eyes closed.

"Argh, what the fuck!?" He yelled in pain. The Extrasensory attack soon died down when the pain in her head became too much for Azalea to use as she groaned and held her head harder in pain. The move was enough of a distraction though.

"ASSHOLE!" Warren yelled out before charging at his dad. Before he could recover and react, Warren tackled him hard, knocking him off balance.

"W-woah." Warren's dad said while trying to regain his balance by taking a step backwards. This step caused him to step on a toy car that Warren forgot to pick up. This caused him to slip further and fall. His head came crashing down onto the side of a table in the room. He then fell fully onto the floor, body gone limp. Both Warren and Azalea looked at the body for a few seconds, both anticipating him to move. After he didn't, Warren started to panic.

"Oh crap." Warren swore as he quickly raced to kneel down by his father's motionless body. Warren soon started pushing his body to try and see if he was still alive. Azalea limped over as well, still covering her left eye. "Hey! You okay old man?"

The passed out man let out a huge groan but still did not move. Warren sighed in relief upon hearing that he still had some life still in him. Warren's eyes quickly widened at what just happened.

"Oh shit. When he wakes up…" Warren said lowly and fearfully while having his head in his hands. Azalea limped up to him and leaned her head on his leg, not really caring too much about her injuries and was focused on her new trainer. With her touch, Warren was reminded of her presence and looked up at her.

"Oh God, Azalea!" He quickly grabbed her and held her tight, carefully avoiding the main wound. "I'm so sorry. You should not have gone through something like this."

"Zorua…"Azalea whined while nuzzling into Warren. Soon, Warren put her down on the floor and then stood up.

"Alright, we got to go. The Pokémon Center should heal that wound up and is the priority right now. Hopefully they don't ask questions. Also…we got to leave before this waste of space wakes up. I can only imagine what he'll do if we're still here…" Warren shuddered before going into his closet and looking through it. He soon pulled out a large shoulder bag and started filling it with whatever clothes he could find. After hoisting on his shoulder, carrying it took a bit of effort, he went back to kneel in front of his father. He then started sifting through the passed out man's pockets. Azalea tilted her head in confusion.

"Damnit, of course he doesn't have it on him." Warren said annoyed before standing up and heading towards his door. "Hold out for a few minutes girl. I need to find something important."

Warren left, leaving Azalea to relax for a quick second. This caused her to feel the pain in her head and the lash on her and caused her to groan in pain. She held strong though until Warren came back in the room holding an opened wallet. He started throwing out anything he couldn't use like his dad's credit card and driver's license/ID. He threw them on top of the passed out body insultingly before looking over to his new Pokémon who was looking increasingly uncomfortable while clutching her eye wound.

"You okay Azalea? Does it hurt badly?" Warren asked going up to her and place a gentle hand on the side of her head.

"Zor…"Azalea nodded her head in confirmation that it hurt before leaning and nuzzling into his hand to seek comfort. She also leaned into his hand because she was starting to feel a bit limp and tired from the blood loss. Azalea is a small Pokémon, especially at this age, so it wouldn't take much blood loss in order to make her feel this way.

"Alright, let's hurry and get you help. The Pokémon Center is not far from here." Warren said before leaving her to grab items off the floor. The items include the note, picture, and lastly, Azalea's Pokéball. Warren then pointed it at Azalea. "Okay, I'm gonna need you to return."

Azalea shook her head, which confused Warren.

"But it would be better to carry you in it, safer even in your state." Warren argued.

"Zor…" Azalea groaned and shook her head again which caused Warren to sigh.

"Okay, we really don't have time to argue. We got to go." Warren said while pocketing Azalea's Pokéball. He was about to go and pick up Azalea before he soon remembered something important. "Oh crap, I almost forgot."

A confused and increasingly drowsy Azalea looked on as Warren went to a random drawer and sifted through it. He soon found what he was looking for; a pretty normal looking notebook. Warren quickly packed it into his bag before going back to Azalea. He gently picked her up and cradled her in his arms. Azalea allowed herself to fall limp in his arms, the blood flow slowly continuing down her face and onto Warren's arms.

"Stay with me Azalea, we're getting help now." Warren reassured his new Pokémon as he raced outside his room and then his house. He made it out of his apartment building and raced to the nearby Pokémon Center. He quickly got there, seeing how it was next door and ran inside. Lucky for the two, the place was pretty empty except for Nurse Joy and her Chansey waiting behind the counter for someone to come in.

"Hello, welcome to-"Nurse Joy started saying her rehearsed statement, a bit of a surprised tone in her voice upon seeing that someone was here so late at night, before she was cut off by the sight of the approaching pair.

"No time nurse, she needs help!" Warren panicked while Chansey was already wheeling a Pokémon stretcher over to Warren.

"Place her on the stretcher and we'll take care of the rest. Don't worry." Nurse Joy said calmly while coming around the counter to join her partner. Warren gently placed Azalea on the stretcher, causing her to whine weakly because of the lost contact with her new trainer.

"Don't worry, I'll be here when you get out." Warren bent down to be at her level on the stretcher to reassure her before she was carted into the backroom. When they left the room, Warren was about to take a seat on the couch before looking down at his blood stained forearms.

"Crap, that is not a good look." Warren said before making his way towards the men's bathroom located in the lobby. When he gets there and begins to wash off Azalea's blood, he lets himself get lost to his thoughts. He knows how drastic it might be but he realizes that in order to protect Azalea and himself, he can't go back home. His dad seemed more dangerous when he caught sight of Azalea and he didn't want to put Azalea through that pain from that asshole again. Warren knows that all the stuff he has on him won't last but maybe he could figure out something later on. He doubts that cops would help since they haven't helped before and may be part of the reason that he lived with his father and not his mother. Warren thinks that the island Kahuna Olivia might help but who knows where she is.

"Damnit" Warren sighed a bit defeated before leaving the bathroom with clean arms. He makes his way back to the couches before the backroom doors suddenly open. He turns to them and smiles at the healed Zorua sitting up on the stretcher, whose tail was wagging and had a smile on her face. Even with the wound near her eye sewn up with stitches, she was still happy to see her recently dubbed trainer. When Nurse Joy and her Chansey finally reached him, Azalea leapt into her trainers arms. Warren grabbed hold of her and hugged her, Azalea nuzzling into him. This sight always brought joy to the nurse.

"It's a good thing you got here when you did. While it is true that most Pokémon are pretty durable, this one is still pretty young so a good hit could cause some serious damage like this. Luckily she didn't lose too much blood. I suggest she not take part in battles for a bit or else that wound will open up." Nurse Joy said to the smiling pair as her Chansey began to bring the stretcher back to the back room. "Now may I ask what caused this injury? What happened?"

This had caused Warren to stiffen a little as he quickly thought of what to say.

"I-it was some Pokémon on the path near here. It was so dark that I didn't see it." Warren lied while looking straight at Nurse Joy to make it seem believable. Azalea was about to cry out and looked up at Warren with a confused look before Warren patted her head gently to quiet her. Nurse Joy's smile faltered a little.

"Okay… Why were you out there at night?" The nurse continued.

"I was playing around all day with my new Pokémon but I lost track of time and got lost. Took a wrong turn, I think." Warren answered.

"What about your parents? Did they know you were out?" The nurse asked.

"Y-yes." Warren faltered a little at the mention of parents, his unconscious dad flashing in his mind.

"Alright… Let me go get my phone so you can call them up so they can take you home. It won't take long." Nurse Joy stated before regaining her smile and turning around. "I'll be right back."

As she soon left for the backroom to find her phone and was out of sight, Warren did a complete 180 and quickly made his way towards the door.

"Zorua?" Azalea said in a questioning tone as they left the Pokémon Center and turned towards a street corner in the empty streets.

"I think it's best if we're not there when she comes back with that phone. If that leads to us having to go back to that house, I'd rather avoid that. I'm honestly afraid of what will happen if we go back, especially what will happen to you." Warren said darkly, causing Azalea to shudder a little.

"Zor." She nodded in agreement.

"Now we need to figure out what to do next…" Warren said, uncertainly while looking down in thought. It was then that he ran into someone accidentally, making him push off the figure and back a few inches.

"Ah, who's even up at this time?" Warren said. "Sorr-"

Warren cut himself off upon seeing the looming figure, the sight of him making him freeze in his tracks. Azalea also froze too at the sight of the man that they thought was knocked out back at the house.

"You done did it now boy." Warren's dad growled threateningly.

[I honestly don't expect this story to be all that popular, especially considering it's a Pokémon story about a villain team that I'm sure isn't very popular from a region that also isn't very popular. Like my other story, it's a passion project that I work on in my spare time. I just post it thinking that people might enjoy it. Tangent aside, onto the outro.

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Read and I will see you all next time

PEACE]