This is the journey of a man named Chris, who had dreams shared by many, yet lived experiences known by so few... 
There are many people in the world of Pokemon, who come in just as many varieties as these strange creatures. And you 
are about to discover, perhaps, one you may just consider the rarest of all...


Chapter 6 - The Abandoned...


Later that night, Chris was woken by a terrible odor, covering his nose and raising up with a groggy groan. Looking
around, he traced the smell to his shoes, which had yet to be cleaned after Growlithe wizzed all over them. With a yawn
and a stretch, he crawled out of his tent, holding the shoes away from him as he looked around. Since the Pokemart was
bound to be closed by now, he had to find some water elsewhere to wash them with. Tossing his rucksack over his shoulder,
he put more wood on the remaining simmering ashes from his fire, making sure it would be able to guide him back to his
camp via smoke, and went off into the woods. Keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings, he tried to listen for the
sound of water, knowing the forests were known for their many boundless rivers and streams.


Eventually, he heard something as the wind carried sound past his ear... Was it just the wind itself he heard...? Maybe...
Maybe not... But he shrugged it off and continued walking, until suddenly he heard something strange carried by the wind
again. It... Slightly sounded like water... Maybe... But it sounded like something... Raspy... Too... it was weird, but
he turned and started following the sounds nonetheless, the wind guiding him as he made a random turn here and there
to keep up with the direction the sounds were coming from, as if the wind was playing a game with him as it carried the
sound past his ears. However, he finally noticed a clearance in the woods, and once he reached it, he stumbled forward,
having reached a high cliff overlooking a river far below. Nearly falling over, he swung himself around using a branch
and clung to a tree for a moment, slightly pale and wide eyed as he looked over the edge. Close call... But how was he
supposed to get down there...?


He smacked himself on the forehead, remembering his grandfathers grappling hook in his rucksack. He set it on the ground,
rummaging inside while wondering if the effort just to clean a pair of shoes was worth it, but as the smell drifted past
his nose again, he shuddered and nodded. There was no way he was going to walk around, passing a town or two, smelling
like a wild Pokemon's pee. As he took out the grappling hook, thw ind carried the raspy sound to him once again, this
time sounding like... Maybe... A weak voice...? Chris stood up and looked around, calling out to see if anyone was nearby,
and with no response, he once again shrugged and started securing the grappling hook to a tree. As he moved about, something
suddenly shined in his face, kind of like a flash, and he jolted as he rubbed his eyes. What was... That...?


As he moved his head around to see if there was something lying around, he noticed a small part of the grass not too
far off was shimmering under the light of the moon. Looking around, he gripped the hook tightly and slowly made his
was to whatever was on the ground, keeping his eyes wide open as he looked all around him. He really wished he had at
least one Pokemon... This sense of paranoia in the dark was getting on his nerves... Chris thought as he finally reached
the spot that had been shining. Loking down, it looked like something was broken and left behind. Bending down, Chris
discovered it was the remains of a Pokeball. Maybe somebody tried to capture a Pokemon here and it broke it trying to
escape...? Looking around, he took out his stones and found a small branch, setting the tip of it on fire and sticking
it in the gound. As he glanced over the soil, he noticed it looked like there was just one person and several Pokemon.


Must of been trying to outnumber whatever they were trying to catch, Chris though as he rubbed the dirt with his hand.
Looking over the random pieces of the Pokeball, the wind once again carried the raspy sound from before past his ear,
seeming to come from the edge of the cliff. Chris took the branch and walked up, suddenly noticing tiny marks on the
ground, as if something had been dragged to the edge. Something tiny... Surrounded by what looked like Houndoom prints.
Chris did plenty of research on Pokemon tracks back in the village, as most of the elders kept notes of such things on
their travels and let him browse their research whenever he wanted. Inching towards the cliff, he listened carefully and
heard the sound once again, and as he slowly looked down over the edge, he saw a tiny Pokemon laying next to the river,
looking badly wounded and crippled... His eyes shot open wide, and he quickly latched his hook around a tree.


Trying the rope around his waist, Chris went to the edge and took a deep breath, grasping his makeshift torch tightly,
and started walking down the wall of the cliff, slowly... Step by step... Until he finally reached the bottom. Looking
back up, he yanked on the rope to make sure the hook was still secure, and carefully walked up to the Pokemon as it lay
on the rocky soil. He held out his torch to get a better look at what it was, and the Pokemon suddenly jolted and tried
to curl up, covering its head weakly. It was a... Ralts...


Chris looked at it sadly, shaking his head as he looked back up to the edge of the cliff. What happened up there...? he
wondered, amazed such a small Pokemon managed to survive not only a beating, but falling from such a height. He looked
down at the Ralts, and smiled at it warmly. It was a tough little thing... He told the Pokemon, making it jolt again and
try to crawl away, failing as it rested its head on the ground breathing weakly. It was in real bad shape... How long
had it been left here like this...? Chris wondered as he thought out the best way to handle and tend to it. Finally,
Chris decided to take off his shirt, laying it on the ground next to the Ralts as he reached out to it. Unfortunately it
had already passed out, laying limp as it continued struggling to breathe. Chris carefully lifted it onto his shirt and
wrapped it around the Ralts like a blanket, picking it up and holding it close to him. Maybe it wasn't a bad thing it had
slipped into unconsciousness... it would make carrying it a lot easier, he thought.


Looking back up, he suddenly put the branch in his mouth and clentched his teeth, locking it in place as he gripped the
rope and tapped his foot on the wall. Climbing down a cliff while barefoot was one thing, but climbing back up with a
burning branch in his mouth and a wounded Ralts in his arm? He was definitely starting off on a tricky adventure...
Yanking on the rope again to double check it, he looked up and, with a grunt, started pulling himself back up the cliff,
using his toes as extra fingers to help him climb back up. The wind blew roughly against him, trailing the wall of the
cliff and rushing stronger past him as a result. On occasion he would lose his footing, swinging around as he gripped
the rope as tightly as he could, his hand turning raw, slowly, more and more. Step after step, yank after yank, he
made his way back towards the top, eventually sweating badly as his teeth ached from trying to keep hold of the branch.
Finally, he managed to reach the edge, and lifted the Ralts over him, laying it down on the grass as he took the branch
out of his mouth, letting out a loud oww as he stuck it firmly in the soil, using it to pull himself up.


Chris flopped to the ground, panting heavily as he wiped the sweat from his eyes and rolled over onto his back, looking
at the stars above. Was that... Kind of what his grandfather went through? Then again, he had his Pokemon to help him
back up, so he was lucky... and with a slight laugh he looked at the Ralts, raising up and rubbing its head. After a
moment of catching his breath, he put his grappling hook away and carried the Ralts back to his camp, looking at the
trail of smoke rising above the trees. He actually felt pretty smart... That wasn't a bad idea at all...


Carrying the Ralts into his tent, he rummages through his rucksack and took out disinfectants and bandages, doing his
best to clean and treat it. He definitely wasn't a Pokemon nurse, but he did what he could nonetheless. Going through
his rucksack again, he touched what felt like a bottle, and took it out. The seniors had a note wrapped around it simply
saying to stay hydrated, and he smacked his forehead yet again. He could have just cleaned off his shoes with this...
But... If he had, he wouldn't of been able to help the Ralts... So he shook his head and chuckled, opening it up and
pouring it on a rag, giving the Ralts a bath, wiping away the dirt and dried blood. This little one was tough... All
that it was forced to endure, yet its injuries weren't too serious... It was a lucky one, that much was for sure...


Chris finished cleaning it up and finally snuggled up back inside his sleeping bag, tucking the Ralts in next to him.
Unfortunately, just as he was getting comfortable, he shot up with a gasp and groaned, covering his face with his hand.
He left his shoes all the way back at the cliff... Still covered in wizz... And he sighed as he flopped back down. No
point in worrying about them now... He would just go get them in the morning. even if there were any travelers nearby,
nobody would take a random pair of shoes that smelled so badly. He shook his head and closed his eyes, rolling onto his
side and putting an arm around the Ralts, figuring it might add a sense of safety for it as it slept. He listened to its
breathing for a while, which slowly calmed and began to sound more and more healthy, so he allowed himself to fall into
a deep sleep, reassured that his... Patient... Would be alright through the night.


However... Have you ever heard the saying that sometimes doing things with the best intentions can cause you just as much
harm in the end? Well... This was going to be one of those moments. As the sun began to rise the following morning, Chris
was enjoying one of the deepest sleeps he had in years, the pure, lukewarm air, filled with the scent of dew lulling
his senses into a lethargic state as the sounds of nature sang like a lullaby in his ears. He was so far out of it he
had covered his face in drool throughout the night, mouth gaping enough for a Wailord to pass through. But suddenly,
this peaceful atmosphere was put to an end, as Chris was brutally woken by slaps and bites all over his face! He shot
up and screamed in pain, many nearby Pokemon shooting into the sky and dashing off into the forest. Instinctively he
reached for his face and grabbed what was attacking him, pulling it away and tossing it aside.


He rubbed his face in pain, yelling and squinting his eyes to look around, only to see the Ralts laying just outside his
tent where he had tossed it. His eyes shot open, and he jumped out of his sleeping bag, rushing up to check on it. As
he reached down to touch it, the Ralts screamed and tried to swipe and bite at him, causing him to jolt and back away
nervously. He tried to apologize to the Pokemon, telling it he didn't know what it was and would never purposely hurt a
Pokemon like that. However, the Ralts seemed to ignore him as it weakly stood up, wobbling as it paced around in a panic,
making random noices as it reached its hands out, waving them two and fro as if trying to feel for something. Chris
watched for a moment, tilting his head confused, and let it simply roam around, watching it trip over the smallest of
objects and run into things. What... Was wrong with it? he wondered, finally walking up to the Ralts and sending it into
another state of panic as it heard him approach. It tried to flee, waving its small arms rapidly until it ran into a
tree, letting out a cry as it lowered to the ground and curled up, its body beginning to tremble.


Chris scratched his head, trying to think of the best way to help the terrified Pokemon, and simply decided to take what
pain may come as he went up and touched it, trying to calm it down by rubbing it softly. Unfortunately it remained tense,
clutching itself tightly as if trying to curl up into a defensive ball, and Chris finally picked it up, causing the
Ralts to scream and struggle violently, going so far as to bite him all over his hands repeatedly. Chris let out a
shout and grit his teeth, and as he sat near the remains of his campfire, he noticed a few groups of Pokemon had been
attracted to all of the fuss, gathering around his campsite in the bushes to see what was going on. Too many wrong moves
and he was going to have every Pokemon in the forest chasing him off... So he took a deep breath and let out a sigh,
trying to relax as best he could while a Pokemon was treating his hands like fresh meat. He endured bite after bite as
he talked to the small Ralts, keeping his voice down in a calming and reassuring tone as he let the Ralts vent as much
as it needed. Eventually, it finally tired itself out, and panted weakly as it randomly tried to pull free from his
hands. Chris continued talking to it, telling the Ralts it was safe, and once it seemed like it was paying just the
slightest bit more attention to him, he explained where he found it and what he did for it, hoping it would turn out
alright even though it had been hurt so bad.


Once he felt the Ralts was calm enough to set down without it running off and hurting itself even more, he slowly set
it on the ground. It crouched down, feeling the dirt around it, and let out what sounded like a sigh of relief as it
sat where he released it at his feet. Chris stayed as still as he could, continuing to speak to Ralts as it turned its
head to the left and right, as if it was trying to look around and learn where exactly it was. But it wasn't long before
a loud growling sound startled the two, and he saw Ralts look down at its stomach, rubbing it as it let out a quiet and
weak cry. Chris chuckled and said he had some food it could eat, carefully getting up as not to scare the Ralts and
going into his tent, coming back out with a can of soup. He spoke calmly to Ralts as he set up a new, tiny fire, setting
a tiny pot over the flame and shuffling the pot around to spread the hot ashes. Ralts jolted and looked towards him as
it heard the noice, tilting its head confused, and he told the Pokemon he was cooking it something good that would warm
it up and fill its stomach.


Eventually the soup was just warm enough for the small Ralts to enjoy, so he poured part of it into a bowl and held it
out, telling it to take the food. Ralts looked around confused, slowly waving its hands around until they touched the bowl,
and it jolted in shock, slowly holding it and smelling the food. Chris once again tilted his head confused, yet poured
himself the rest and sighed after a long sip. its not really breakfast type food but... It was good anyways! He laughed
a litle and looked at Ralts as it sipped away, seeming like it wasn't even taking time to breathe as it leaned back
more and more, eventually falling backwards causing the bowl to cover its face and stick to it. Ralts let out scared
shouts as it pulled at the bowl, and Chris laughed loudly as he got up and picked the Pokemon up, gently working it
off its face, showing a warm smile. Ralts started to shout, about to struggle once again from being held, but aloud
burp suddenly came out of it and the Pokemon quickly covered its mouth, flushing red making Chris laugh even more. This
made the Ralts look towards his face, and after a moment, it reached up and nervously touched him, feeling around his cheeks
and poking him in the eyes, making Chris jolt his head back and ask what it was doing.


Yet... The more he thought about it... The more he began to figure out what may be wrong, and he suddenly told the Ralts
he wanted to look at its eyes, if it would let him... The Pokemon raminaed silent, and Chris slowly tilted its head 
back so he could look under the hair covering its eyes. Looking into them, they were glazed over, and it was at that 
moment he realized... This Ralts... Was completely blind... He let it put its head back down, and he suddenly held it 
close to him, a sad expression on his face. For a moment it shouted, startled by the sudden close contact, but it calmed 
down and went silent fairly quickly this time as Chris rubbed its head, telling the Ralts it was going to be alright.
It looked up towards him, and as Chris looked down at it, he suddenly saw its eyes glowing dimly. His mind started to
feel strange as his surroundings slowly blurred, and the next thing he knew he was put into a trance-like state, finding
himself back at the cliff from the night before. He was confused as he quickly looked around, wondering how he suddenly
wound up back there, and he saw the Ralts ahead of him, near the spot where he found it below the cliff.


It was crying out, facing towards the trees, and suddenly he saw a Houndoom jump out of the bushes, growling at it as
someone walked out as well. Calling the Pokemon useless, he shouted at the Ralts, wondering why, of all the Pokemon in
the forest, of all the Ralts there, he had to capture the one that was the most useless?! and Chris watched as he took
a Pokeball out from behind him. The trainer threw it to the ground, and the Ralts let out a shout as it heard its Pokeball
hit the ground. The small Pokemon stumbled up to the trainer, clinging to his pant leg and shaking its head, but the
trainer kicked the Ralts away and, lifting its foot high, sent it down, crushing the Pokeball beneath it. The trainer
snapped his fingers and ordered the Houndoom to get the useless Pokemon out of his sight, and it suddenly grabbed Ralts
by the leg, pulling it across the ground as Ralts dug at the soil, crying out until the Houndoom suddenly tossed it over
the edge, sending it tumbling down to where Chris found it next to the river. The Houndoom looked down at it, snarling
until its trainer called for it, causing the Pokemon to jolt and run off into the woods. Several other Pokemon were
there, stepping out from the bushes for a moment, until the trainer shouted for them as well and they quickly left as
well, following their orders and abandoning the Ralts.


After this, Chris suddenly found himself blinking back into consciousness, sitting once more at his campsite as he looked
down at the Ralts in his hands, which was now dripping tears all over his hands as it made crying sounds. He looked
around himself at the Pokemon that had finally stepped out of the brush, and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as
he simply rubbed Ralts head once again. Eventually, it stopped sobbing as Chris wiped its eyes with his shirt, asking if
it was done being sad for the time being. It remained silent for a moment, then slowly nodded in response. He told the
Pokemon good, and gently set it down on the ground, telling the Ralts it was time for him to start packing things up and
moving forward. As he walked off towards his tent, the Ralts seemed to suddenly go into a panic, reaching out and shouting.
Chris glanced back, then faced forward as he prepared himself for travel, changing in the tent, then taking it down and
packing everything up properly in and around his rucksack, making sure everything was securely attached to it. As he
walked around, the small Ralts tried to follow his direction, still reaching its arms in the air as he made sure his
fire was safely out. The surrounding Pokemon began to show looks of agitation because of him seemingly ignoring the Ralts,
but he put up a hand towards them and shook his head, signaling he had a purpose behind his actions.


As he moved about, Chris kept an eye on the Ralts as it tried to follow him. It was clearly born blind, and the fact it
was still so poor with its senses showed it wasn't very old at all. Not at a newborn stage, but still very young... He
finally finished all of his tasks and put his rucksack over his shoulder, looking around at the Pokemon and down at the
Ralts as it stumbled about. He walked up to it, making the Ralts jolt, and suddenly bent down, asking the Ralts if it
would, just maybe... Like to stay with him for a while. He told the Ralts he didn't have any Pokeballs, so he couldn't
catch it in the same way other humans did when they wanted a Pokemon to travel with them, but he could still be its
friend anyways, and since it wouldn't be tied to a Pokeball, it would have a lot more freedom as it traveled at his side.
And to be honest, he felt like that was much better anyways, since it means he would have more time to spend with whatever
Pokemon who joined him face to face. The small Ralts remained still and silent for a moment as it reached out to touch
hit pant leg, and faced upwards, giving Chris a slow nod in response. The surrounding Pokemon nodded as well and started
to leave, yet the Ursaring and its Teddiursa cubs from the night before walked up to them, making the Ralts jolt and
gasp at the sound of their footsteps, and it hid behind Chris's leg as the Ursaring looked down at him. It grunted as
the Teddiursa suddenly held up his shoes towards him, now clean and stench free.


They... Did this... For him...? he asked, and they nodded together, turning away and leaving with the rest. Once again
he had nearly forgotten he was barefoot, so he quickly cleaned off his feet and put on some socks and shoes. Since the
Ralts wouldn't be traveling by Pokeball, Chris suddenly picked it up, making it shout loudly from suddenly rising off
the ground, and he placed Ralts on his shoulder, telling the Pokemon to relax and enjoy the ride as he started walking
off, pressing onwards towards whatever other surprising events may be waiting ahead. He glanced at the Ralts and told
it that, from here on, if it was going to stick with him, it had to move forward and look past what had happened to it
before. Everybody has a lot of good and bad things happen to them in life, and the one thing that truly made someone
strong, at least in his eyes, was being able to push forward no matter how bad something was that happened to them. He
told the Ralts that, if it could do that, he would be really impressed by it, and proud too. 


The Ralts nodded again in response, and held onto his head as he moved along, with Chris noticing, even if very, very 
tiny, a smile on the Ralts face.