It was a warm summer day in Aspertia City, a perfect day for Hugh to spend some time outside with his best friend, Nate. Being the only two boys their age in the neighborhood, they became fast friends. It also helped that they were both passionate about pokemon battling and dreamed of becoming the Champion of the Unova League one day. Though the two of them were rivals, they shared a deep bond. There was nothing they would not do for the other.
"Hey, Hugh," Nate said excitedly. "I have a crazy idea."
Nate was the more boisterous and adventurous of the two boys, often getting himself and Hugh into trouble because of his ideas. He was infamous within his school, The Aspertia Trainers' Academy, for swiping an upperclassman's pokeball and attempting to battle another student. Unfortunately for him, the Lillipup inside did not obey Nate and ended up sending the boy to the nurse's office with minor injuries and bruises. To this day, he was the only student from the honors class to have been suspended. Despite his mischievous nature, Nate cared deeply for his friends, and often stood up for other students who have been bullied.
The other boy sighed, "What is it this time?"
Hugh, on the other hand, was much calmer and more collected. Known for his near perfect grades in all his classes, he was the example of success and became known as the "Silent Genius". Rarely did Hugh interact with other students besides Nate, as he struggled to make friends since many other students were intimidated by him. Despite often being a victim of Nate's antics, Hugh appreciated that the other put so much effort into getting to know him as a person, rather than just as a top honors student.
"Hear me out: what do you say we sneak out to Route 19?"
"Are you crazy? You know it's dangerous to go out there without an adult, right?" Hugh responded, bewildered by Nate's question.
"C'mon, we don't have to stay there for too long," he said persuasively. "And it's not like that many people get attacked."
Hugh stared at Nate, wondering why he was even considering his offer in the first place. He could not deny that he, himself, was also interested in what lay beyond the city's north gate. His parents were always busy with work and never would have had the time to take him exploring, and he knew that Nate must have felt a similar way since his mother was the receptionist and nurse at the Aspertia Pokemon Center.
"Fine," Hugh shrugged, unable to suppress his own curiosity. "But only for a little while. Unlike you, I have a clean record."
"Oh, don't worry, star pupil, I would never do anything to ruin that," Nate responded sarcastically.
Before the pair could even think about reaching Route 19, they had one obstacle ahead of them: the northern gate. The guards were picky about who they would let pass, especially students. One would either need to be incredibly stealthy or persuasive to get past them without a pokemon or adult supervision.
"I hope you have another one of your bright ideas to get us past the guard," Hugh said.
"I'm working on something."
He sighed, "So in other words, you don't have anything."
"Hey, I said I'm figuring it out."
"Do you want to phone a friend?"
"Finnnnnnnneeee," Nate complained. "What's your idea, then?"
"Well, doesn't your mom go to Floccesy all the time? We could say that there was an emergency over there and she needs us to bring her some medicine or something."
"That's not a bad idea. But my mom usually only leaves town on the weekends, so what happens if he doesn't believe us?"
"Hm, we could say she left early in the morning before any guards were posted. As long as we don't say anything over-the-top, he should believe us."
"Ok, if you say so."
"Wait, before we go, I wanted to give you something," Hugh said quietly, unzipping his backpack and handing Nate a small, cardboard box. "Here, take this."
"What is it?" Nate asked obliviously.
"It's for your birthday," the other boy replied, turning his head in embarrassment. "I meant to give it to you before, but I couldn't find a good time."
Though he did not show it, Nate was shocked at the gesture. Hugh typically never went so far out of his way for anyone, really, since he always struggled with understanding others and how to express his appreciation for them. Nate understood this and never expected too much of his friend, knowing that he cared for him in his own way. However, for the first time since they met, Hugh was able to overcome himself and take the risk of gift-giving. If he made a big deal out of it now, he knew that it would only embarrass his friend more.
"Can I open it now?" he asked excitedly. "I promise I won't take too long."
"…Go ahead. It's yours anyway."
Anticipation filled Nate's mind as he peeled back the tape on the small box in his hands. What could it be? Has he mentioned anything recently around Hugh that he picked up on? That doesn't matter now. Whatever it was, Hugh clearly put a lot of thought into it. When he finally opened the box, he pulled out a small, plastic box containing a game card inside. Nate's face lit up as he immediately figured out what it was.
"You got me Pokemon Battle Simulator 5?!" he exclaimed. "How did you know I wanted it?"
"You mentioned it before," Hugh responded, putting his hand behind his head. "So… do you like it?"
"Like it? Dude, I've been saving up my allowance for this game for weeks! This is awesome. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome."
"When we get back, let's play a few rounds."
"Sure, I'd like that."
When the two finally reached the gate, intimidation began to set in. Though it seemed easy on paper to simply trick the guard into letting them pass, the prospect was a lot more terrifying in person. Nate's pride was about the only thing that quelled his nerves, as he did not want to embarrass himself since this was all his idea.
"Well, here goes nothing," Nate said, taking a deep breath before he and Hugh approached the guard.
"What are you kids doing here? Route 19 is off limits," he said to them, blocking the entrance.
"Sir, my mom has an emergency in Floccesy Town and asked me to rush over some medicine from her office. She's the nurse from the Pokemon Center."
"I don't remember anyone passing through today in a hurry. What exactly is this emergency?"
"Well… you see… um…"
"What my friend is trying to say is that his mom left home before any guards were posted," Hugh chimed in. "The emergency in Floccesy is serious and she was called over to help. It's hard to talk about but we need to bring the medicine there before it's too late."
The guard sighed, knowing that the boys' story had holes, but unwilling to risk ignoring an actual emergency if there was one. "Fine, you may leave. But stay on the road and don't wander off into the forest."
"We understand," Nate said, trying to put on a long face.
Route 19 was not much to the average trainer, just a rather short road connecting Aspertia City to Floccesy Town. Complete with a nearby stream separating the forest and nearby cliffside from the main road, it was the perfect place for a variety of wild pokemon to call home. Not only that, but it was also the ideal playground for Nate and Hugh to explore.
"I never knew you were so good at lying," Nate said as they entered the nearby woods.
"Well, I had to be prepared since somebody here chickened out," Hugh responded, laughing.
"Whatever. I just didn't know what to say when he questioned me."
"Then you're lucky I decided to come with you. Also, we need to be careful not to get lost around here. If we take too long, the guard might get suspicious."
"Don't worry. We're just going to look around for a bit, maybe run into a wild pokemon or two, and then go home, alright? There's nothing to worry about."
The deeper that the pair explored the forest, the more nervous Hugh became. He was used to Nate's antics by now, but they had never attempted something this dangerous before. Though it seemed fun at first to trick the guard into letting them pass, Hugh could only ponder what could go wrong. What if they got lost? How much trouble would they get in if they came back too late? It did not help that the forest became much thicker and darker as they traversed it. Something else that rubbed him the wrong way was that fewer wild pokemon were scurrying about the thicker the forest became. Hugh got a feeling that there was a reason for this behavior but was not exactly sure of the cause.
"I think we should turn around." Hugh said. "I'm getting a bad feeling."
"We'll be fine," Nate responded dismissively. "I just want to go a little farther."
Hugh noticed a rustling sound in the trees overhead that seemed to be following him and Nate as they walked. Though he wrote it off as the breeze at first, he realized they were being followed as the sound continued getting louder. Above them was a large bird pokemon and Hugh could tell that it meant trouble. He quickly stopped and grabbed Nate's arm, bringing both to a halt.
"Huh?!" he exclaimed. "Hugh, what was that for?"
"Shh," Hugh said, ignoring his friend's question while pointing up towards the trees.
"Oh, come on, I'm sure its noth-"
Nate, too, became silent as he also realized the precarious situation they were in. The bird pokemon that was following them was an Unfezant, a territorial pokemon that was known to attack anything it deemed a threat in its territory. Sweat filled their palms and ran down their faces, as they stood petrified under the gaze of the bird. Suddenly, the pokemon flew down to the ground to meet the boys at their level. It was nearly as tall as the pair, staring directly into their eyes while slowly closing the gap between them.
"Hugh," Nate whispered, "get behind me."
"What? No, I don't want-"
"Just do it," he snapped.
In that moment, Nate knew he had to take responsibility for the situation. Though he, too, was terrified of the massive bird approaching them, he felt that the least he could do would be to protect his friend if things went south. However, any more thoughts either of them had were replaced with pure terror when the Unfezant began to make clucking sounds while spreading its wings. There were only two choices left for Hugh and Nate: to stay and potentially be at the mercy of the bird or to try to escape.
"On my mark, we're going to book it out of here," Nate whispered, turning his head back towards Hugh.
"What?" Hugh responded. "There's no way we can outrun that thing."
"I know, but I don't know what else we can do. When I say 'run', we run, okay?"
"…Sure."
"One,"
Was it even worth trying to escape?
"Two,"
There's no time to think about that. They just need to get away from the bird.
"Three,"
There's no turning back now.
"RUN!"
As soon as they took off, the Unfezant behind them let out a loud screech and began chasing them down. Both ran as fast as they could, weaving between trees to try and throw the bird off their trail. No thoughts passed through their minds, just the pure instinct to escape and survive. It did not take long before Nate reached the edge of the forest, and since he could barely hear Unfezant's screeches in the distance, he figured that they had left its territory.
"Whew," he said, bending over and breathing deeply. "That was close. I can't believe we… oh no."
Nate realized that Hugh was missing. He called Hugh's name multiple times, but with no response.
"No. No. No. No. No," he yelled frantically with increasing intensity. "This isn't happening. He was just with me, wasn't he? What am I going to do? I'm never going to find him in there."
Nate had a difficult choice ahead of him. On one hand, he could search the forest on his own, find Hugh, and return to Aspertia without letting anyone know what happened and avoid getting into trouble. However, he knew the odds of pulling that off were low, and he had a much better chance of finding his friend if he enlisted help from the adults. He turned back towards the gate to Aspertia and took a deep breath. Even if it meant getting into trouble, he could not leave Hugh behind. After all, it was his idea that got them into their situation, so he knew he had to fix it however he could.
Meanwhile, Hugh found himself lost in the woods. At some point during his run, he lost track of whether Unfezant was still chasing him or not. After calling Nate's name multiple times and getting no response, he began to wander, hoping to find familiar surroundings or maybe Nate's footsteps that he could follow out. Though he tried to remain optimistic, his fruitless attempts to find his way through the forest weighed down on him. He sat down against a nearby tree and began to sulk.
"What am I going to do?" he asked himself hopelessly. "No one's going to find me in here."
With not much else to do, Hugh was left to unpack his thoughts. He knew that the entire situation was not just Nate's fault, as he did agree to join him, however, he was frustrated that Nate was not being careful enough. Had Unfezant caught up to them, they could have been severely injured or even killed. It was a possibility that he did not believe his friend had taken seriously. He opened his Xtransceiver to check if he had a strong enough signal out in the forest to figure out where he was. Unfortunately for him, the map could barely load anything besides his immediate surroundings, so he knew he would have to start moving in hopes of finding a better signal and possibly the way back home.
Along his walk, he began to hear more rustling sounds coming from a nearby bush, sending a shiver down his spine and causing his body to freeze.
No. Not again, he thought. I knew I shouldn't have come here.
He began to breathe sporadically and backed away slowly, hoping that whatever was behind the bush could not hear him and would leave him alone. However, when a small Sewaddle emerged from the bush, Hugh let out an immense sigh of relief.
"You scared me there, little buddy," he said to the pokemon.
The small bug pokemon approached Hugh, jumping towards his face and pointing towards the bush.
"You want me to go over there?" he asked. "Okay, I guess. I mean, what else can I really do?"
He followed the pokemon past the bush and saw that it was guiding him to a pokemon egg that was leaning up against a tree. It felt cold to the touch, a sign that it had been left there for some time. The concern of the wild pokemon and the surface's temperature suggested that the egg had been abandoned. Hugh picked it up and cradled it in his hands. He began to wonder if he should even be touching it in the first place since wild pokemon had a tendency to reject other pokemon if they smelled like humans. However, the longer he held the egg, the more that the wild Sewaddle would rub up against him.
"Are you asking me to keep the egg?"
Sewaddle jumped in the air with excitement, signaling that it liked what Hugh had suggested. However, Hugh felt conflicted about the situation. The egg needed saving, but was it right to take it out of the environment where it came from? If its parents came back looking for it, they would have lost their offspring. But maybe the egg was abandoned. If so, Hugh felt a sense of wonder and excitement, especially at the idea that he could become a pokemon trainer at his age by raising a pokemon from an egg, something that few trainers ever get to do. It could set him apart from the crowd and give him a head start in becoming the Champion.
"You don't have to worry about this anymore, little guy," Hugh said sweetly to the pokemon. "I'll bring this home with me and get it checked out."
The pokemon happily nodded at him and waddled away slowly.
"Huh, I guess not all wild pokemon are terrifying. But what am I going to do with this egg? I don't even know where I am."
Hugh sat down and began to examine the egg. Nothing about it seemed particularly wrong, but he was concerned about how cold it was. Without anyone to take care of it, who knows what would have happened to it. Though he was not sure what he could do to help, there was no way he was going to leave the egg behind. With newfound motivation, he was determined to find his way out somehow. He knew that Aspertia City was south of Route 19, so he found an open section of the forest's canopy so that he could get an idea of which direction he was facing. Afterwards, he just walked south, hoping that luck would be on his side, and he would eventually find his way back to the main road.
Suddenly, he began to hear familiar voices calling out his name, so Hugh knew he was getting closer to the main road. It did not take long before he ran into Nate, who he could tell had been searching for him for a while.
"Hugh! You're ok!" he exclaimed. "I was so worried," he added, hugging his friend.
"Thanks for coming out here. I didn't know if anyone was going to find me," Hugh responded, tearing up.
"Of course I came, but uh, you might want to save those tears for later. I well… I had to call in some help. Let's just say we might not get to play the game later."
Behind Nate stood the gate's guard as well as his mother, both of which were unimaginably angry at the stunt that they had pulled off and the danger they put themselves in. The look of anger in their eyes was more terrifying than the Unfezant from the forest.
"I have no words for you both," Nate's mother scolded. "This was very foolish of you. Nathan, you're grounded. And Hugh, your parents know about this so they will deal with you later."
"And you both are no longer permitted to pass through the gate alone without a written note from your parents," the guard added.
"Well, all things considered, this could've been worse," Nate said, trying to make light of the situation. "But um, I'm sorry for getting us into this mess. You're right. I should've been more careful."
"It's not your fault. You couldn't have known a huge pokemon was going to come after us."
"I guess. What's up with that egg anyway? Did you find it in the forest?"
"Oh, right, I have to ask your mom something," Hugh said randomly, turning back towards Nate's mother. "Hey, I know it's not a good time, but I found this egg in the forest. I don't think it's doing too well."
Nate's mother took the egg from Hugh and looked shocked when she noticed how cold it was. She put it up to her ear and heard faint sounds coming from inside, a sign that it was still alive.
"Whatever is inside isn't doing well," she said with a somber tone. "When we get back home, I'll put the egg in the incubation machine in the Pokemon Center. Thank you for bringing this to me."
"You're welcome. Um, I'll go back up ahead now."
"Wait," Nathan's mom said. "I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier. I was just worried about you both."
"It's ok, I understand," he responded sadly.
"I know Nathan goes too far sometimes. But he was looking out for you today. Even though he knew he'd get in trouble, he rushed to the guard and called me so that we could search the woods for you together. You're a good friend to him, and he knows that. Thank you for sticking by him all this time."
"Oh… of course…" he responded awkwardly. "Um… can I ask you for one more thing? When the egg is okay, can I have it back? Back there, I felt like, I don't know, like I was meant to find that egg. I want to be there when it hatches."
"Sure, I don't see why not. Just be careful when it hatches. Newborn pokemon are surprisingly capable."
"I promise," Hugh said excitedly. "Thank you so much."
Despite the dramatic turn of events from earlier that day, Hugh felt a sense of fulfillment. Not only was he presented with the novel prospect of hatching a pokemon at his age, but the conversation with Nate's mother made him feel seen in a way that he rarely had before. Though he never doubted his friendship with Nate, hearing from someone who knows him more than he did how much their friendship meant made him feel important and especially needed. Knowing that Nate so easily chose to face the consequences his actions to help Hugh showed that maybe he was more responsible than he let on.
Even with punishment on the horizon, Hugh could not help but be excited. The idea of having a pokemon filled his head with more excitement than he could handle. He eagerly awaited the day when he would reunite with his egg.
