A/N: Just got myself a Switch 2, along with Mario Kart World and Kirby and The Forgotten Lands. I apologize for any late chapters this month.
0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
I ducked as Fuecoco soared through the air and slammed into the tree behind me. She opened her mouth, but no noise came out. Her body hit the floor and slumped onto it. As she struggled to get up, I turned to face a large, furry, black and white bear chewing on a twig.
The Pangoro looked at me, huffed derisively, and stomped towards Fuecoco. She finally stood, her breath coming in ragged heaves. One eye was puffy, and her tail was bent the wrong way. The Pangoro stared down at her, a fist glowing with the rusty brown of Fighting-type energy. Fuecoco opened her mouth, but the Ember she built sputtered out as Pangoro brought his Hammer Arm down.
Blood sprayed everywhere as her body bulged and tore open at her sides. Her head dented in, and her snout hung limply. She lay motionless except for the slight tremble of her chest as she breathed. Pangoro's fist lit up again, but Nautilus intervened with a Pluck. Pangoro's arm blurred and snatched him out of the air. The daunting Pokémon sneered at my starter and squeezed. Nautilus' eyes bulged as he screamed. I stared for a second. I couldn't think, but my body didn't need me to. Before I realized it, I was behind Pangoro with my fist cocked back. I punched as hard as I could, my body and hips twisting into the attack. I drove my feet into the ground as I made contact, but it didn't matter. Tickling the giant panda would have been more effective. It smacked me with the back of its hand. While in the air, I saw a sea of flowers surround it before blacking out.
The first thing I noticed when I woke up was the splitting headache that throbbed and pulsed in my skull. I couldn't open my eyes or move for a while without risking a wave of nausea and vertigo. The second thing I noticed after the headache dulled to just being painful was that I was still alive. I was still breathing. The Pangoro was very much dead, if the pool of blood it lay in was any indicator.
Nautilus nuzzled into me. He was asleep, thrashing around a bit with a scrunched face. It seemed he was having a nightmare. I wrapped my arms around him, and his eyes snapped open. "Inkay!" he shouted, tears forming in his eyes.
"Thank god you're still alive, buddy," I whispered. I rubbed his head, and we stayed that way for a little while. It was already dark, which meant I needed to set something up if we didn't want to get eaten up by a bug or ghost.
I sat up. Nautilus floated to my bag and searched through it. I thought he was looking for food, but felt confused when he pulled out the Heal Ball Nurse Joy gave me a few months ago. He looked past the Pangoro. When I turned to see what he was looking at, my blood froze. Fuecoco still lay crumpled on the floor. I stumbled over to her.
One eye was wide open. It looked ahead, glossy and unmoving. Her chest still twitched rhythmically, but only barely. I tapped the ball on her head. The red light surrounded her body and sucked her into the ball. It didn't shake at all before clicking successfully. I held the ball in my hand and stared, praying the ball functioned as it did in the games. Nautilus came over to me and looked at the ball.
"Kay?" he croaked.
"I'm not sure if she'll be okay," I told him. "She looked just about dead. I don't know if the ball can heal everything, but I'll keep her in there just in case."
"Ik," he nodded. His eyes narrowed, and he turned to our right. I heard rustling from a bush a few seconds later. A Florges slowly emerged, surrounded by a rainbow of flowers. The Florges moved slowly, her gaze focused on where Fuecoco had been dying before switching to me and the Heal Ball in my hand.
"She was dying," I answered the unspoken question. I gripped her ball. "She was barely breathing when I woke up. We didn't want her to die."
Florges closed her eyes and glowed with faint white energy. It condensed above her head and disappeared. After a moment, the Normal-type energy surrounded me and Nautilus. I felt the headache disappear and watched as Nautilus' injuries healed. I stared at Florges and asked, "Can you heal her? Please?"
I raised the Heal Ball. Florges' head just barely dipped in a nod. I released Fuecoco. She looked much better, and her breathing was stronger. Her body was still broken, but she seemed stable. It took several uses of Wish and my snapping her tail and snout into place to heal her properly.
I held her in my arms. "Thank you," I choked out. She'd been annoying before, but she didn't deserve to die like that. "Thank you so much."
Florges didn't respond, but she moved to Nautilus. He floated with more energy than when we woke up. They didn't speak, but I knew they were having some sort of telepathic conversation. A few Floette circled around me and Fuecoco. They looked happy.
"Thank you for helping, too," I told them. They hummed with excitement and danced in the air. I smiled and stood with Fuecoco still in my arms. I walked to my bag and took out some Berries. The Pokémon took a few and shared them with the rest of the swarm. I grabbed Tetsu's ball from my pocket and released her. 'Yeah, I'm definitely getting myself a Trainer belt.'
"Ferro!" She cried happily and snuggled up to me. Several Flabébé approached her, their curiosity plain to see. She turned to them and jumped, excited about making new friends. As they played and shouted, Fuecoco's ears twitched. She stirred, groaning and rocking back and forth. She opened her eyes and froze.
We stared at each other for about twenty seconds, and then I offered her some Berries. "Are you hungry? I've got enough here for all of us to eat."
She looked around. First at the dead Pangoro, then at Nautilus meditating with Florges. Her eyes shifted to Tetsu playing with the Flabébé and Floette. She then looked at the Heal Ball in one of my hands and the Berries in the other. She huffed and grabbed some Rawst and Oran Berries. As she munched, I grabbed my camping supplies.
It took me ten minutes to get the tent set up and ready the portable stove. I'd made sure to fully charge it before I left, so I didn't have to worry about it stopping midway through cooking. I let the pan warm up as I prepped some veggies, Berries, and Lechonk meat for a stir-fry. As I cooked, Florges and Nautilus finished what they were doing and floated over. Florges took some Berries, nodded at me again, and left with her giant group, leaving me alone with my three Pokémon.
Fuecoco watched me warily the whole time. Tetsu jumped over to her and introduced herself. Fuecoco snapped her jaws at her, an Ember forming. Nautilus growled and readied a Hypnosis. They stood there, Nautilus and Fuecoco posturing at each other as Tetsu fidgeted between them.
"Calm down, you two," I said as I kept cooking. "Fuecoco…"
She tensed up, sparing me a glance but otherwise keeping her focus on Nautilus.
"Fuecoco, the Pangoro almost killed you. It actually almost killed us too, but Florges stepped in to help us. When I woke up, you were barely breathing and broken. You didn't deserve to die like that, so I caught you with the Heal Ball. It definitely helped, but Florges did most of the healing."
When the meal was done, I turned the stove off and focused on Fuecoco. "I will never force you to do anything, Fuecoco. If you want to leave, I'll release you, and you can go back to the life you were living before.
"But seeing you like that… I don't want you to end up dead knowing I could have helped you. You're tenacious, and smart enough to get around Santalune City without getting caught by the Rangers. I need Pokémon like that if I'm-."
I paused for a moment. "There's danger in my future if I'm going to find my family, and I need a team of the strongest I can find. I need a team that will go to hell and back if I need to. If you join me, I will help you get stronger. Nautilus can vouch for me. He's way stronger than when you first met him. And I want to help you reach the heights of Champions. You in?"
I looked her in the eye as I waited for her decision. Having her on my team would be perfect. Skeledirge are amazing Pokémon, and her being a shiny made it better. I served all of us a plate of stir-fry. Tetsu's plate was made of a metallic blend meant for Steel types. Fuecoco looked skeptical when I placed her plate in front of her.
"If you choose to leave, you can leave after dinner. I won't have you leaving on an empty stomach."
She was quiet the whole time she ate. I pretended not to notice, but I could tell she was seriously contemplating my offer. Nautilus and Tetsu ate together while I sent a report to the Rangers. They most likely knew about the Vespiquen and Ledian turf war, but I wanted to update them about the Pangoro, Florges, and Fuecoco. Tetsu tried to play with Fuecoco, but she turned around and ignored my baby. Instead, she played tag with Nautilus.
It was way past my bedtime, and I needed to get back on the Route to get to Lumiose. I'm glad I left a few days early, but it might not be enough time if things like this kept popping up. Once we finished eating, I cleaned up the stove and dishes. Fuecoco hadn't left, which was a good sign. But I needed to sleep. I zipped the tent open and said, "I'm going to bed now. We usually share the same bed in the PokéCenter, so if you want to join us, find a comfortable spot in the tent and I'll see you in the morning."
I crawled into the sleeping bag. Tetsu rolled next to me. Nautilus lay just above my head. I smiled when I heard some shuffle through the tent and felt something press against my legs.
'Welcome to the team, Fuecoco.'