Notice: This chapter contains no sexual content
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During their hike Jake took the time to “talk” to Treecko, despite the language barrier the two had between them. Even still, Jake felt he was at least getting a decent start to understanding Treecko bit by bit.
 
They had met a few trainers that wanted to fight, which had helped Treecko gain a new move: Absorb. The move had helped him recover a bit more from his wounds, but Jake would have to get to the next town to fully heal them.
 
 Cyndaquil was snoozing in his hood as per usual, a few bumps and scratches marking her fur from the battles. Treecko was similarly wounded, despite having both received a healthy spray from his last unopened potion.
 
The two had bonded rather quickly when the grass-type had given Jake the benefit of the doubt. Still, not understanding what Treecko said left Jake to do a majority of the talking, mostly asking yes or no questions so he could get an answer he could understand.
 
“So, how long have you been living here” Jake asked. “The forest I mean.” he clarified, waving his hand towards the lush foliage that surrounded them. Treecko scratched his chin for a moment, counting with his fingers before giving a shrug. “Ok. Guess I shouldn’t expect you to really keep track of time. Did you like living here?”
 
“Tree... Treecko!” the Treecko exclaimed almost immediately, giving a broad smile as he stretched out his arms. Treecko jumped onto a branch above them, swinging and hopping between trees for a few minutes before returning to Jake’s side
 
“I’m glad you love it here Treecko… But you know that we’ll be leaving this place, right?”
 
Treecko was silent for a moment, letting out a low “Treee…” with a nod of his head. His joyous gait slowed to a walk, head hung low.
 
Jake stopped in his tracks, stooping down to look Treecko in his eyes. He wouldn’t force any pokémon into his party, especially not Treecko.
 
“You don’t have to come with Treecko. It’s perfectly fine if you want to stay here, I’m sure you’d be happy with your friends.” Jake affirmed, pulling Treecko’s Poké Ball from his waist. Treecko’s decision hardly took a second thought, grasping Jake’s hand in his paws tightly.
 
Jake placed Treecko’s Poké Ball back onto his belt, giving Treecko a friendly smile. “Well I’m very glad to have you on our tame. Right Cyndaquil?” Jake said, looking over his shoulder at the snoozing fire-type. A soft “Cyn” was all she said.
 
They continued their walk for a bit, chatting away until a bush ahead of them rustled, a pokémon crunching the foliage beneath its maroon claws.
 
Jake’s hands were by his side immediately, pulling his PokeDex from his bag before the wild pokémon had even noticed. The PokeDex made a soft beep as it identified the pokémon, alerting it in the process.
 
“Breloom, the Mushroom Pokémon. Breloom is the evolved form of Shroomish. Its excellent footwork gets it within striking distance of its opponent, where it unleashes a barrage of punches.”
 
Breloom mushroom-like head turned to face Treecko, eyes locking on one another. Just the looks they shared with one another gave Jake plenty to know about them both, stopping before he got caught up in the battle.
 
“Alright Treecko, guess we’ll try him. Keep him away with Razor Leaf then use Absorb!” Jake shouted, the Breloom ducking its head as it charged forward. Treecko happily obliged, clasping his hands together to send a flurry of leaves at the sprinting pokémon. Breloom’s red claws came up with remarkable speed, shredding the leaves as they approached, leaving behind a trail of thinly sliced green.
 
Treecko, still slightly wounded from a prior battle, reached a hand out towards his opponent, forcing glowing green orbs from the Breloom. The Absorb slowed Breloom in his charge, the balls of green fluttering into every scratch that covered Treecko’s body to reverse some of the damage.
 
 Breloom lunged forward as he approached Treecko, his red claws now a bright white. “Watch out Treecko, it’s gonna use cut!” Treecko jumped to the left, noticing all too late that Breloom had faked the attack, instead turning on its heel to reveal his other clawed hand, a glowing ball of energy encompassing his clenched claws.
 
Breloom’s glowing fist came up as Treecko tried to escape the attack, connecting with his midsection in an uppercut. Treecko shot skyward, spinning uncontrollably as the wind was knocked out of him. Breloom sprung after him, readying another Mach Punch to finish the spinning pokémon off.
 
“Now Treecko!” Jake shouted. Treecko’s stabilized his spinning with his tail, which now glowed a bright white. Breloom readied his own attack, bunching his claws into fists as orbs of white began to envelop them.  But as Breloom swung his neon white fists towards Treecko, the grass-type disappeared from his vision, a glowing white tail connecting with the back of his head a moment later.
 
Faster than Treecko had been knocked into the air, Breloom tumbled end over end towards the ground, connecting with the mossy ground with a resounding boom, spurts of dirt shooting up as the Breloom came to a halt.
 
Treecko landed shortly after, breaking a branch in his descent. Despite having used Absorb, Treecko’s felt even worse for wear. From the small crater Breloom had left, a thick mist of purple spores exploded out over the path towards Treecko.
 
 
“Get out of there Treecko!” Treecko jumped away atop one of the tree’s, well away from the spore cloud. Breloom emerged from his shallow crater, clutching his arm as purple spores spewed from the two red buds atop its head.
 
“Finish it off Treecko! Razor Leaf!” Once more, Treecko clasped his hands together, far slower than at the beginning of their battle. The Breloom lifted his one arm, the other struggling to even move, and slashed at the incoming green blurs, splitting a few. Breloom’s defense was fruitless however, barely able to defend itself against an onslaught of sharp leaves that left cuts all along his body. Overtaken, Breloom wobbled for a moment, then tumbled forward, unconscious.
 
Treecko gave a sigh of relief, returning to his Poké Ball to rest. Jake walked over to the Breloom, giving it a pat on the head for the great battle before moving it off the route out of sight of any trainers or pokémon.
 
Alone, Jake got back to the route and continued his hike until he reached the end of the road, where it split left and right.
 
A signpost sat in the center, with two arrows pointing to either routes destination and route number: to Jake's left would lead to Twinleaf Town, and to his right would lead to the city of Jubilife. Twinleaf was where most beginners went to learn how to handle or battle pokémon, and the city of Jubilife was one of the largest city centers in Sinnoh.
 
Jake was confident in his understanding of pokémon, while Jubilife was a massive city where he could restock and heal for the next journey. Jake followed the right route for nearly an hour before the dirt road turned to cracked concrete, unkempt and still very wild. Not long after the route changed, the dense tree line thinned out to a grassier hillside.
 
A pack of Ponyta galloped on one of the hills, flocks of Taillow flying overhead in a loose V formation, cawing at one another loudly. Jake could spot several other pokémon he didn’t recognize, and tried his best to get their PokeDex entry recorded with its small camera. After getting a few of the wild pokémon’s PokeDex info, Jake continued.
 
There was more foot traffic than the dirt path Jake had walked, and met quite a few new trainers to chat with. A couple asked him to a battle, but he politely declined since to his pokémon were rather injured. Cyndaquil had awoken as soon as he began meeting other trainers, waving at them from Jake’s hood. She gazed at the wide-open area around them, enjoying the view as the breeze rustled the grass in large waves.
 
She also noticed a few other Cyndaquils roaming the grassy field, standing out due to their flames sprouting from their backs. She pressed herself further into Jake's neck, nuzzling him slightly. Jake reached around and rubbed her head, continuing his walk. The city came into view after he climbed a set of steep hills, steel grey skyscrapers came into view first, their glass windows reflecting the sun’s glare.
 
 A hot air balloon hovered over the city, colored a striped red and white. Cyndaquil peered up in awe at the tall buildings. She gave a squeak of surprise, Jake chuckling as she peered up at the monolithic towers.
 
“Pretty cool huh?” Jake asked “Oh, we should let Treecko see this. I bet it’d be quite a sight for him” Jake felt for his Poké Ball, and released Treecko with the press of a button.
 
The small grass-type scratched the back of its head, still tired from the fight earlier, peering up to Jack and said a quizzical “Treee...?” that trailed off as he noticed they weren't in the forest anymore.
 
Treecko ran up to the ledge of the road, leaning to look at the wide-open grasslands and the vast number of roaming pokémon. When he turned back to Jake, he noticed the tips of the skyscrapers past his head, and moved in front of Jake to gasp at the massive city that sprawled ahead of him. “Treecko! Tree, Tree, Treecko!” Treecko exclaimed, hopping up and down as he turned to Jake while pointing towards the city, his question all too clear: “Are we going there?”
 
“Don’t worry, we’ll be heading there alright. But I can’t let you hop around town by yourself. Who knows where you’d end up, so stick with me the entire time, got it?” Treecko nodded enthusiastically, clambered up Jake's leg and crawling into his jacket pocket, wiggling into position so he could stick his head out.
 
“Guess I’m a taxi service at this point. Just try not to swing around too much” Jack said with a shrug, then continued his walk to the city. A checkpoint served as a buffer against wild pokémon from entering the city, which Jake passed through without any issues. When he pushed past the glass double doors into the city, Cyndaquil and Treecko were awestruck as they glimpsed the flashiness of Jubilife.
 
Bright neon lights lined the streets, the road filled with a mixture of trainers and pokémon. Treecko’s eyes darted between signs trying to take in as much as possible, drawn in by the bedazzling colors that covered every building.
 
 Jake stood near the checkpoints door to give his friends time to take the view in as much as possible before wading through the crowd to get directions to the Pokémon Center. An officer patrolled the streets in a patrol bike, and slowed to a stop when Jake waved her down.
 
Her dark blue uniform fit snug against her body, and a shining star was pinned just above one of her ample breasts, “Jenny” reading in bold letters. The officer dismounted from her bike and walked to Jake.
 
“Hello there citizen, how can I be of service? The officer inquired
 
“I need directions to the Pokémon Center, please.” he replied, stepping out of the way of
 
Officer Jenny told him of a Pokémon Center around the corner, practically impossible to miss with its red and white sign in the shape of a Poké Ball, mentioning he could get a map of the city free of charge once he got there. He thanked the officer, who hopped back onto her motorcycle to resume her patrol.
 
Jake made his way to the Pokémon Center, weaving through the slow-moving crowd. Once he made it into the building he walked to the front desk and asked if he could have his pokémon. He returned Treecko and Cyndaquil to their Poké Ball’s shortly before handing them to the nurse Joy.
 
The nurse gingerly took the Poké Ball’s and placed them into a healing station, the balls glowing a light blue as it hummed with life. The machine made a jingle as it finished healing the pokémon inside, and the nurse picked them back up.
 
Placing the Poké Ball’s back into his waiting hands, the nurse said, “Thank you for visiting sir, is there anything else you need?”
 
“Yes actually, I was told there was a map I could get of the city? I need to find a store to resupply.” Jake replied, squeezing his empty satchel and, as if on cue, the grumbling of his stomach.
 
“Certainly! Here is a tour guide to the city. Hope you have an excellent day, sir!” Nurse Joy handed him a tour guide filled with info on the various landmarks and tourist locations throughout the city.
 
On the last page was a map of the city itself, with numbered buildings that marked their names on a key to the side of the map. Jake immediately found what he was looking for: A Poké Mart, a restaurant named “The Midnight Harvest”, and a hotel for them to stay the night in.
 
Jake left the Pokémon Center, thanking the nurse as he left, and made his way to the restaurant he had found. The restaurant stood out from the normal brown or gray buildings that surrounded the restaurant.
 
 Instead of any brick or cement design, the restaurant was painted a forest green, with large flowers sprouting from the walls in near fluorescent colors. Several tables were placed outside, white umbrellas planted in their centers. Bushes lined the square windows on the building's sides and front, some blooming small berries, others brimmed with colorful flowers.
 
A metal fence wrapped around a garden that filled most of the vacant space on the plot with a mixture of flowers, trees, shrubs, and grass. Lanes were cut into the gardens shrubbery, creating a waist high maze that lead to some of the more grander tables that sat under wide gazebos.
 
Small rodent Pokémon darted between the bushes chasing one another, a couple Spearows seated in a nest in one of the trees to Jake’s right, their chirping distinct amongst the chatter that surrounded Jake.
 
Once he had made his way off the street, Jake took a moment to let Treecko and Cyndaquil out of their Poké Ball’s, helping the latter into her favorite position in his hood while Treecko climbed into his pocket. With his passengers settled in their “seats”, Jake pushed past the double doors into the restaurant
 
“Hi, and welcome to the Midnight Harvest. Table for three?” She asked, spotting Treecko and Cyndaquil poking their heads out to look around the restaurant. “If your pokémon are going to be out of their Poké Ball’s, you’ll have to eat outside though. Sorry, owner's policy” She said, offering a shrug.
 
“Oh. No problem, I was actually gonna ask if we could eat outside anyway.” He said, taking the three menus from the waiter and stepping back out to find a place to sit. He eventually decided to sit towards one of the corners of the garden, where a table with four metal chairs were set beside a wide oak tree.
 
Treecko hopped out of his pocket when he was close enough, landing on top of the smooth metal table. Treecko slid further than he expected, toppling off the table as his feet fought for traction. Jake laughed as Treecko stood back up and climbed onto one of the metal chairs instead. Jake pulled Cyndaquil from his shoulder, gently laying her down on the second chair before settling down into his own.
 
“See if there’s anything you guys want” Jake said, opening the menus in front of them so they could pick out their food. Jake scanned his own menu, looking at the various meals available. Most of the selection was vegetables and fruits, but a few fish and burger options piqued his interest. Most of the prices weren't too steep, aside from the clearly overpriced desserts that costed more than a full dinner on their own.
 
Thankfully the menus mostly had pictures beside each meal or side for pokémon to look at. Once everyone had figured out what they wanted a waiter arrived to write down their meals and take their menus.
 
The waiter returned several minutes later carrying a wide platter with three plates and a bowl, each brimming with freshly cooked food. The waiter distributed each plate to their owners, setting the bowl in front of Cyndaquil. The last thing the waiter set down on the table was a black checkbook, a receipt poking out of the side.
 
Jake pulled out his wallet and the receipt from the book. The total cost for their lunch was just shy of 700 Poke Dollars. From his winnings against the trainers he had met on the route earlier today and what he had brought with him, Jake had 3,600 dollars left after paying the bill to spend on supplies and the hotel.
 
He set the receipt along with the money for the bill into the black book and closed it, turning his attention to his meal. Jake had opted for a plate of fresh cooked Magikarp, while Treecko had what looked to be a veggie burger, which he was already chomping away at ecstatically.
 
Cyndaquil had picked out a soup of some kind, an unusable spoon sitting halfway into its brownish-orange surface. Cyndaquil dipped her tongue into the hot soup, pulling her head back to squeal in pain, her scorched tongue waving in the air to try and cool it.
 
“Careful there Cyndaquil, it’s hot” Jake said with a smirk as she shook her tongue frantically.
Jake turned his attention to his own food, picking up a knife and fork to cut the thick slab of fish into smaller bites, stabbing three on his fork and into his mouth. The meat was nearly perfect, salty juices mixing nicely with the sauce that was soaked into the fish
 
Treecko also appeared to be enjoying his food, devouring bite after bite from his burger. What the burger lacked in meat, it made up for with its freshly cut berries and vegetables that stuffed the burger with a new experience with every bite. Treecko was practically beaming as he ate, gleeful noises escaping him with every bite he took of the colorful burger.
 
The trio were all but silent as they enjoyed their food as much as they could, Cyndaquil requesting Jake's help to stab the meaty chunks that sat at the bottom of her soup every so often. Eventually their meal came to an end despite their best wishes, the waiter soon returning to take their dirty dishes away along with the checkbook.
 
Once both pokémon had returned to their favorite positions in Jake’s jacket, he set out to follow the map to the Poké Mart on the south end of town. It was late in the evening when he finally found the Poké Mart, nestled between two apartment buildings.
 
The inside of the mart was rather cramped, two long shelves brimming with potions, pokémon food, camping supplies, and a wide range of Poké Ball’s.
 
Jake stocked up on eight decently priced potions, an extra antidote, and a small med kit from the camping section. Carrying his armful of goods, Jake made his way over to the counter, where a scruffy storekeeper sat in a fold up chair lazily.
 
Next to the checkout was a display case, a near solid maroon Poké Ball sitting on a cushioned pad atop the glass display case. A little sign in front of it had a picture of a small Pichu on it along with the price, one ear spreading out at the tip into three points.
 
Jake hadn't noticed the price at first, waving it off as him seeing it wrong the first time, until he looked again. 12,000! The number bounced around in Jake's head: how in the world could a Pichu in a red Poké Ball be so expensive?
 
The cashier rang up his total with the speed of Slowpoke, the total ringing up to 2,105, the cashier already bagging Jake’s items when he spoke up.
 
“Hey, I was wondering about that red Poké Ball in the display case” The clerk looked up at him, taking a quick glance at the display case to make sure the Poké Ball was still inside, before looking back at Jake.
 
“Yea, we get it a couple weeks ago, some trainer wasn’t doing so hot and sold it for some quick cash.” he said, bagging up the fishing pole and Pokémon food.
 
“Doesn’t the price seem a bit absurd though. The pokémon is just a Pichu, right?” Clear confusion plastered on Jake's face, turning to look at the small picture of the Pokémon inside.
 
“Nah, it’s the ball that's really valuable, it’s one of those… um… Cherish Balls I think they call ‘em, real rare nowadays” He replied, handing Jake his bagged groceries. “Pichu’s supposed to be special too, with its pointy ear and whatnot.”
 
“O..k, but what about the Pichu stuck inside?”
 
“Dunno’, don’t really care either, since the damn thing probably won’t even sell with that absurd price. Owner won’t let me change it either, at least not while that Pichu’s inside….” The clerk eyed Jake up for a moment, his face lifting slightly
 
 “Say, you seem like a decent fella. How about you do me a favor and I’ll let you have the Pichu inside, that way I don’t have to look at it shake around anymore. But only the Pichu, that Poké Ball is still worth a pretty penny.” The clerk's attitude left a foul taste in Jake’s mouth, waving off the pokémon as worthless compared to a painted Poké Ball.
 
“Well… What do you have in mind?” The clerk waved his hand forward to have him lean in close, whispering into his ear.
 
“We got a bit of a rodent problem downstairs that I’d rather not let anyone find out about. So, I want you to take these Poké Ball’s” He pulled a bag of Poké Ball’s from under the counter “And get them outta here before someone finds out. Whaddya say pal? Deal?” The clerk extended his free hand towards Jake, which he reluctantly shook.
 
“Okay. I’ll solve your little problem, in return for the Pichu.” Jake said, grabbing the bag from the clerk’s hands. The clerk walked around the desk and unlocked a door next to it, waving Jake inside.
 
The back of the store was less clean than the front, the once white walls a dirtier grey than anything else, a couple opened crates rested in the corner of the room, one filled to the brim with an array of Poké Ball’s, and the other empty enough Jake couldn’t see what was inside without peering over the lip. In the opposite corner was a staircase Jake assumed lead down into the basement.
 
“Oh, before I forget, those rats are pretty vicious, so be careful down there, okay?” The clerk chimed in, leaving Jake to tend to the register again. Jake took a glance down the stairs, and couldn’t make out anything aside from a metal door at the base of the dimly lit stairs. He set Cyndaquil down along with Treecko, telling them to stay on guard as they headed down.
 
The three descended the creaking stairs slowly, Jake reluctantly reaching his hand out to open the door.
 
Darkness was all he could see in the room below, the light from the stairwell only illuminated a few of the steps ahead of them. Cyndaquil took a reluctant lead as their source of light. The scurrying of claws against wood made Jake jump in his skin, twisting his head towards the sound, unable to make out what had made the noise.


Cyndaquil’s back only provided a modest amount of light, but helped them make every step without tumbling down the staircase. When they reached the bottom of the stairs Jake spotted a light switch on the wall, and flicked the switch on.
 
 A strip of lights along the ceiling clicked for a moment and lit up for a moment, flickering dead shortly after. Jake muttered a curse to himself, then tried again. One light near the center of the room flickered on, lighting the room in a dim white light, as well as everything that awaited within.
 
Sitting on piles of wooden crates and stacks of pallets was a horde of mangy Raticate, hissing and squeaking at the three intruders that had entered their home. The crates were stained and bitten through, large holes burrowed into nearly every single one.
 
For a moment, time seemed to slow as Jake examined the horde of crazed pokémon that surrounded them. That damned store clerk hadn’t mentioned anything about a small army of vermin! The Raticate seemed to sense Jake’s fear, scurrying off their perches as they squeaked and squealed towards the trio.
 
“Quick, Use Ember and Razor Leaf!” Jake commanded to his pokémon. A mixture of burning bullets and leaves met the Raticate in their charge, stopping most of them dead in their tracks as the barrage cut and burned wherever they crossed.
 
Three Raticate emerged from the resulting explosion of projectiles relatively unscathed, continuing their head-on leap towards Jake and his Pokémon. Two of the Raticate leapt towards Jake, landing on him and dragging their claws from his shoulder to his chest, leaving behind deep gouges in his clothing and drawing deep ravines where his skin was exposed. The last airborne rat aimed for Treecko, giant teeth aimed to clamp on his small head.
 
Treecko backpedaled until his back hit a crate, hands grasping a loose plank, swinging it at the Raticate like a bat and hit it directly, cracking against the pokémon’s skull, sending a trickle of blood through the air along with the rat, crashing into a half-eaten crate.
 
Cyndaquil turned around to help Jake, turning her stream of fiery hail over them as a reward for attacking her trainer. The Raticate, still mid-air from their attacks against Jake, couldn’t save themselves as they were peppered in scorching retribution. The initial horde that had taken Treecko and Cyndaquil’s first attacks had somehow recovered, returning to charging towards them.
 
Jake barked orders behind gritted teeth, the cuts weren't too deep but still hurt like hell, blood slowly seeping from the gashes. Cyndaquil laid another blanket of Embers at a batch of Raticate that had pulled ahead of the charging horde, burning skin and fur alike beneath her fury.
 
Treecko began using his makeshift weapon to club any approaching Raticate, sending many of them back into their friends like pins. As Treecko swung his makeshift bat at a pair of Raticate, the board snapped in two when it collided with the enraged Raticate, sending splinters of wood flying like confetti.
 
One Raticate noticed an opening and closed the distance to the now unarmed pokémon and tackled him against the wall, biting down on his shoulder. Treecko let out a shriek of pain as the sharp teeth buried themselves into his right shoulder. Cyndaquil turned to assist, but two more Raticate kept her from helping her friend as she continued to rain Embers down on the charging rats.
 
 Jake hardly hesitated, his rage fueling his legs to reach Treecko in a matter of moments, fueling his hands as they reached into the Raticate’s mouth and pulled with all his might. When the teeth were freed from Treecko’s shoulder, Jake slammed his free fist into the rodent’s head and punted the pokémon against the wall with his foot angrily.
 
He commanded Cyndaquil back a bit to regroup as the Raticates made ground against them. Treecko’s right arm dangled limply, refusing to move despite his tries to get it working. Cyndaquil’s Ember had slowed down considerably, unable to keep the army of rats at bay for long.
 
A few of the Raticate laid motionless on the floor unconscious, pools of blood seeping to the ground, but many of them were still standing despite their burned fur or the blood that seeped from their wounds, rabid with murderous intent. Jake pulled Treecko behind him by his uninjured arm, picking up a wooden plank.
 
Three bold Raticate charged first, running at the tired Cyndaquil for an easy target, only to come face to face with Jake’s newfound club. Jake swung with all his might and more, slamming the Raticates heads downward to fall limply against the floor with a resounding crack.
 
The rest charged together, many aiming for Jake as finished batting two more Raticate down. Swinging his 2-by-4 wildly, Jake batted away any Raticate that he could, uncaring for their fallen comrades or the swift swings that approached them. Jake swung madly at any and every rat that got within his reach, defending himself from some, but not all.
 
One Raticate bit into his thigh and received a swift clubbing as a reward, tearing its teeth from his leg roughly. Jake’s defense was solid as he swung his makeshift baseball bat, until the plank of wood gave in to the skull of a lunging pokémon.
 
Tossing the useless piece of wood aside, Jake swung his fists with what little energy he had left, unyielding to the dangers that surrounded him. His own safety was the last of his concerns after all, a mere afterthought compared to keeping his friends safe.
 
Cyndaquil mustered enough strength to fire another burst of embers at some of the remaining rats, sending two down for good. Treecko’s shoulder bled heavily, his left arm caked in blood as he pressed it to the wound, helpless and unable to even fight.
Helplessness gripped at his heart, only able to watch in fear as his trainer was cut and bit, willing to sacrifice everything for him. Treecko felt a wave of guilt and anger wash over him with each bites and slashes Jake received as he fought on, until it reached his breaking point.
 
 Blinding white light enveloped Treecko, momentarily stopping the brawl between Jake and the Raticate as they turned towards the newfound bright light. Treecko body grew to nearly triple his original height, his body shifting as the white light grew even brighter, momentarily blinding anyone who looked his way, which was almost everyone.
 
Jake covered his eyes with a bloody arm, shielding them from the light until it began to fade. Where Treecko once stood was a far taller looking Pokémon. In his adrenaline pumped state, Jake hadn’t heard the chime of his PokeDex as it read out Treecko’s newly evolved form: Grovyle.
 
The Raticate did hear it, snapping them from the surprise back towards their target, bloodied and tired. They formed one final charge against the weak and wounded trainer, stumbling in their own bruised and burnt forms.
 
Grovyle wouldn’t let them step any closer to his trainer, dashing past Jake towards the wounded rats. His leaves on his arm glowed to a brilliant white as he met the Raticate’s head on. None of them even bothered to turn and flee, blindly charging into Grovyle’s sift Fury Cutter as he swung his arms at them. Gouges coiled around the Raticates as their charging was turned into stumbling, until each one finally collapsed.
 
Jake stared in awe at the speed of the pokémon, unable to track its arms as it cut down the last of the conscious pokémon like vines. Jake fell to his knee, leg collapsing beneath his weight. Adrenaline had kept the pain at bay, but they were quickly swapping positions within Jake, his hands trembling as agony radiated into his body like fire.
 
Jake tried to rise, falling back against the concrete wall with an agonizing yell. Grovyle came up beside Jake, looping his arm around his much longer neck to support him as he tried to stand again. Jake, Grovyle, and Cyndaquil slowly climbed the steps upwards until Jake stopped. The bag full of Poké Ball’s sat halfway up the stairs, a couple white and red balls spilling down to the floor. With Grovyle’s help, Jake chucked a Poké Ball at every Raticate in the basement, leaving the wiggling balls on the floor for the clerk to deal with.
 
His jacket was badly cut, ruined at the sleeves and blood continued to slowly seep from his arms, leg, and shoulder. Once they reached the top of the steps Grovyle sat him down against a wall to retrieve the First-Aid kit Jake had purchased earlier. Grovyle returned a moment later, trying futilely to open the kit with his clawed fingers, and decided to instead rip it open by the lid, sending some of the supplies flying in the process.
 
With Jake guiding him, Grovyle unraveled a thick white bandage ad wrapped it around each of Jake’s wounds, whimpering escaping his lips as Grovyle tightened the already blood splotched cloth. Grovyle’s newfound claws were still clumsy, worsening his already complete lack of medical experience.
 
“T-thanks Tre-I mean, Grovyle. I’ll be fine now.” Jake slowly rose before picking up Cyndaquil in his arm and making his way back to the door he had entered from. The clerk turned to look at Jake, noticing some of the exposed bandages beneath his cut up jacket, as well as the slight limp he had as he walked.
 
“I heard the commotion, seems you got the job done. I’ll transfer that Pichu over to a normal Poké Ball for ya.” He said, pulling a keychain from his pocket and reaching over the counter to unlock the display case. The clerk took the Cherish Ball to a Pokémon swapping station located near the end of the store, and swapped the Pichu over to a normal Poké Ball.
 
“Yer all set, and remember. This never happened.” the clerk smiled, handing Jake the Poké Ball and opening the door again to let Jake out. The sun was long gone by the time he made it out of the store. Jake shakily pulled out his map, vision blurry as he found where they were on the map.
 
Slowly, Jake limped his way to the Pokémon Center, thankful that the road was less packed than earlier. Still, plenty of people walked to-and-fro on the route, many giving him a wide berth and several quizzical looks. Some offered to help, but Jake refused between tight teeth, thankfully reaching the Pokémon Center far sooner.
 
When he entered the center, one of the nurse Chansey’s immediately ran up to him, signaling as a nurse rolled out a stretcher for him, rolling onto it wearily.
 
“Stay with each other guys, I’ll be fine.” Cyndaquil and Grovyle simply looked at Jake with fear, fear of what would happen to him. “It can't be that bad guys, don’t worry.” Jake said, grimacing as another wave of pain ran throughout his body, the nurse and Chansey wheeling him past the double doors.
 
Another Chansey waddled up to the pair of pokémon shortly after and led them to get their own injuries fixed up. Jake had either fallen asleep or simply blacked out from the pain, he didn’t know which, but when he woke up he found himself lying in a hospital bed with a heart monitor gently beeping away with his breaths.
 
He noticed Grovyle and Cyndaquil were asleep on a couch, covered in small bandages. The smaller pokémon was sleeping soundly against the Grovyle’s red underbelly, which gave Jake reason to smile. Jake tried to rub his eyes, hissing in pain as he pulled his arm a little too far, waking Grovyle, who rushed to his side as soon as he realized his trainer had awoken.
 
“Guess it was a bit worse than I thought, huh Grovyle? Sorry.” He patted the Pokémon’s head as he rested his head back down on the pillow behind him. Grovyle let out a long “Gro”, leaning his head into Jake's hand. Cyndaquil was still asleep, despite the sudden movements of Grovyle when Jake had awoken, and small flames poked out of her back with every breath, soft snoring emanated from her mouth with every exhale and puff of fire.
 
A nurse Joy knocked on the door before entering, pushing a cart with plates of food that clattered together, waking Cyndaquil as well. The nurse grabbed two plates of pokémon food and set them down on the floor for Grovyle and Cyndaquil to eat, then set a plate of food in front of Jake on a retractable table.
 
The nurse bowed before pulling the cart out of the room and closing the door behind her before Jake could even give a pained “thank you”. Cyndaquil hopped off the couch, stretching a bit, unaware that Jake was awake, and padded over to the Pokémon food to eat.
 
Grovyle left Jake's side, albeit hesitantly, to eat his plate of food as well, leaving Jake to eat his breakfast in momentary peace. When Cyndaquil finished her food, she turned to Jake and gave a loud yelp in surprise, realizing he had woken up.
 
She wiggled a bit before jumping onto the hospital bed and crawling up to Jake’s head, tears welling up in her eyes. The fire-type cried into her trainer’s shoulder, his hands coming up to rub the back of her head to soothe her.
 
“It’s alright Cyndaquil, It’s alright. I’m fine, see?” He extended his arms outwards to demonstrate, pulling them back as pain lanced down his shoulder and arms. Cyndaquil refused to calm down, pulling her arms around his neck as best she could to hug him.
 
Jake let her cry for a couple minutes, until she finally calmed down and simply nuzzled into his neck lovingly. Jake slowly ate his breakfast, mindful of both his wounds and the Cyndaquil wrapped around his neck like a scarf. Grovyle took his plate once he was done and set it atop the other two he had collected, setting them next to a sink on one of the nearby counter tops.
 
Another nurse arrived later to tell him about his injuries he and his pokémon had sustained. Jake’s calf muscle had been torn by the bite wound, made even worse when he had walked to the Pokémon Center. His shoulder had a nasty laceration that went down to his chest, which he was told would likely scar with some lingering pain.
 
His jacket had been sewn back together and cleaned, hanging on a coat rack beside the door, along with his backpack and satchel. Jake had to spend a week in the hospital to recover and go through rehabilitation for his leg.
 
An officer arrived halfway through the week to ask him about what had happened, but Jake avoided describing the Poké Mart incident, instead saying he had gotten into a scuffle outside the city with some pokémon, which the officer wrote down on a notepad leaving.
 
His mother also called later in the week to talk to him, and even got a video message from his dad to make sure he was alright. When he was finally relinquished from the Pokémon Center, Jake followed his tour guide to the opposite end of the city from where he had entered, passing through another checkpoint.
 
Cyndaquil was once again sleeping in his hood, keeping her head on Jake’s uninjured shoulder, while Grovyle walked alongside him, constantly watching Jake's movements to help him whenever he stumbled a bit.
 
The sun had only just risen, peaking over the horizon and silhouetting the people and pokémon in the distance. Their adventure only just beginning, Jake and Grovyle marched on, eager to see what awaited them on the journey ahead.
 
END PART 2