A new friend
After the charmander was bandaged and wrapped up in a soft blanket, Nick leaned against the side of the tent. Kyla stared intently at him, and realized that Nick was crying slightly. Kyla went over to him, climbed up on his lap, laid her head on his arm, and fell asleep. Nick smiled a little to himself, but frowned again when he looked at the charmander. _What is it with people and beating and abandoning Pokémon? What do they get out of it? _Nick thought to himself before closing his eyes and falling asleep.
Nick woke up to the sound of a female crying. When he looked down he saw that Kyla was laying beside his left leg. Nick looked around the tent, and saw that the charmander was cowering in the far left corner. Nick got up slowly and gently walked over to the charmander. He stopped beside the charmander and put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump a little. Nick looked down at her and smiled a small, sad smile. The charmander started trying to back away, but Nick picked her up and set her down in front of him.
"I'm sorry about what happened to you." Nick said simply before bringing her into a tender embrace.
Charmander looked up at him with a confused expression. Nick looked down at her.
"No one deserves to be beaten or abandoned." Nick said in a loving, tender tone.
Nick kissed her forehead gently. Charmander blushed a little. "Do you have a name?" Nick asked.
"My previous trainer called me Slave." Charmander said in a quiet voice.
Nick frowned. "Do you mind if I rename you? That's not a very nice name." Nick asked, and Charmander smiled a bit. Nick thought for a moment. "How about... Ember?" Nick suggested.
"Thank you master." Ember said, and Nick shook his head.
"Please don't call me Master. We're equals. Please call me Nick." He begged.
"Ok Nick." Ember said in a happy voice.
Nick hugged Ember, and turned his head when he heard Kyla wake up. Nick stopped hugging Ember and turned to face Kyla.
"Kyla, this is Ember. Our new companion." Nick said happily.
Kyla and Ember started walking towards each other slowly. Nick watched as they starred at each other, before they smiled and hugged each other. Nick starred at the two while they hugged, a little confused but happy. After a moment Kyla and Ember remembered that Nick was watching them, and they turned to face him.
_"Nick, she was my previous trainers starter Pokémon. She was the one that treated me the nicest. She'd treat my wounds like a proper doctor." _Kyla said happily in both Nick's and Ember's mind.
Nick smiled ever brighter.
"Well Ember, would you like to come with us?" Nick asked, and Ember thought for a moment.
She'd love to be with Kyla again. When they first met they had become quick friends, and then they became so close it was like they were sisters. The only thing stopping her was Nick. She wasn't sure if he could be trusted. But she figured if Kyla trusted him, then he couldn't be that bad. She'd just be cautious around him.
"If it's ok with you two, I wouldn't mind travelling with you." She said quietly, staring at the ground.
Nick looked at Kyla, who nodded with a smile. She wanted Ember to come, but in the end it was up to Nick. Nick went over to Ember, lifted her face with his hand, and smiled.
"We would love for you to come with us." Nick said, and Ember jumped up and wrapped her arms around Nick's neck. Kyla tackled them both to the ground, hugging them both. Everyone started smiling and laughing.
After a moment the three of them were laying side-by-side, staring at the ceiling.
"Ember," Nick whispered, causing Ember to look at him, "wanna see somethin' cool?" He asked, and Ember nodded quickly.
Nick looked back at the sealing. Nick inhaled a small breath and breathed out a small flame, causing Ember to gasp in amazement. She looked over at Nick.
"How can you do that?" She asked, and Nick stopped breathing the flame to look over at Ember.
"My dad's a mew. So I can learn almost every Pokémon attack." Nick said simply.
"Cool." Ember said with a smile.
"Ember, how do you know English?" Nick asked, and Ember lost her smile.
"My previous trainer forced me to learn English so that she could better understand the pain I was in, so that she knew what hurt me the most." She said, a tear forming in her eye.
Nick put his arm around Ember's and Kyla's shoulders and pulled them both into a hug.
"Thanks for trusting me you two." Nick said with a smile.
_"Nick, I will always trust you." _Kyla said, snuggling up to Nick's right side.
"And because Kyla trusts you, I'll also trust you." Ember said with a small smile, also snuggling to Nick's left side.
"Thanks you two." Nick said as the three started to fall back asleep.
Nick woke a few hours later to someone opening the tent. Nick looked to his left side, saw that Ember was still asleep, then looked at his right side, and saw that Kyla was still asleep. Nick carefully stood up, making sure he didn't wake the sleeping females. He drew his knife, and slowly walked over to the tent door. After a moment hesitation Nick unzipped the tent door the rest of the way. Once the door was open, Nick instantly got into a fighting stance. Outside the tent was the girl from the day before, the one that Nick had almost killed.
"What do you want!" Nick hissed at the girl.
"I wanted to apologize. But I also wanted to know of you found a charmander nearby. She ran away from me yesterday." The girl said in a caring voice, but Nick knew that Ember didn't run away.
"Ya, I found her. And I took care of her injuries. She's over there." Nick said, nodding his head towards Ember, who was starting to sit up.
The girl tried to push past Nick, but he grabbed her arm and held up his knife.
"I don't think so." Nick hissed, making sure the females didn't hear him.
"But, she's mine." The girl said, a little annoyed.
"Not any more she's not." Nick said, his voice a little louder now.
"Why not?" The girl asked, very angry now.
"Because I know what you did to her." Nick yelled, causing all three females to jump a little and stare at him wide eyed.
The girl stopped staring at Nick and started glaring at Ember. She then threw a punch at Nick and tried running at Ember, but Nick grabbed her by the throat and pulled her to the ground.
"I don't want to scare those two, so I'll let you go this time." Nick snarled. "But if you *EVER * try something like that again, you won't be leaving unharmed. GOT IT?" Nick yelled, and the girl nodded to the best of her ability.
Nick let her up, and the girl ran away crying. Nick turned back towards the two Pokémon, who were cowering in the corner together. Nick gently walked over to them and crouched right behind them. Nick put a hand on each of their shoulders, making them jump a little and turn around slowly. Nick looked at their faces and realized they were crying. Nick put on a friendly smile and brought them into a loving embrace.
"It's ok you two. She's gone now. I'll put my life at risk before I let anyone harm you. I promise." Nick reassured the two, and they looked up at him.
Nick smiled slightly and kissed both of their foreheads, making them blush. Nick smiled, right before the two girls jumped up and kissed Nick on both of his cheeks simultaneously, causing Nick to blush as well. The three shared a smile and laughed.
"Well you two, when do you want to go?" Nick asked after they had all settled down.
_"Where are we going next Nick?" _Kyla asked as Nick stood up.
Nick turned around and smiled.
"We can go wherever you to want to." Nick said, and Ember gave him a confused look.
"I thought you were a trainer. Wouldn't you rather catch some Pokémon and head to the next town to beat the gym?" Nick looked at the two Pokémon he saved and crouched down, so that he was eye level with them.
"Honestly, no. That was originally my plan, but after saving you two, I've decided to save Pokémon instead of battle them." Nick said with a big smile.
The two female Pokémon looked at each other before looking back at Nick.
_"Nick, we don't want to stop you from achieving your dream." _Kyla said, the two females looking at the ground.
Nick shook his head. "Don't worry you two. It wasn't really my dream. I was just trying to make my mom happy. But it doesn't matter. I know that she'll support me no matter what I choose." Nick said with a shrug. Honestly he didn't care what his mother thought, he just wanted to help people.
"Well Nick, if you don't want to be a trainer, then you should probably get a different outfit. Maybe something more suitable for you. All three of us could probably find an outfit." Ember suggested, and Nick looked at Kyla.
"What do you think?" He asked, and Kyla smiled.
_"I think we should." _She said with a nod. Nick smiled and nodded back.
"Then it's settled. But first," Nick looked at Ember, "if you're going to be travelling with us I don't want anyone to capture you." Nick pulled out a pokeball. "May I?" He asked, and Ember nodded nervously.
Nick touched her head with the pokeball. It didn't even shake when capturing her. It just flashed once and stopped. Nick pushed the button on the front to bring her out. Nick smiled.
"Thanks for letting me do that." He said happily.
"You're welcome." Ember said, with a little relief in her voice. She really didn't like being in pokeballs.
"Alright, if you two are hungry there's food in my backpack. We should get going." Nick said as he glanced at his watch.
The two females nodded and started rolling up the sleeping bag as Nick started taking down the tent. After they were done packing everything up they started towards the next town.
When they got to the outskirts of the town, all three of them stopped. Nick took the hands of both females, causing them to look up at him. "You two ready?" He asked, looking down at them. They both nodded. Since it was 10:47am they had no problem getting to the store, since everyone was at work/school. When they got into the store they were greeted by a woman wearing black jeans and a blue t-shirt. "Can I help you find anything?" She asked politely, and Nick realized that Kyla and Ember had already gone to pick out an outfit. "I'll let you know." Nick said with a smile. He walked over to the 'Mens' section, where he saw a large selection of clothes for him to pick from.
After about an hour all three had picked out new outfits. When the three got out of the change rooms they looked each other over. Nick was wearing black cowboy boots, black jeans, a new belt, his hunting knife, a new black under shirt, a new black over shirt, and a black cowboy hat. Kyla was wearing dark blue Pokémon sized running shoes, a new black dress, and a baseball cap. Ember was wearing white Pokémon sized running shoes, blue jeans with a hole for her tail, a blue t-shirt, and a light brown cowboy hat.
"You two look... Amazing." Nick said as he looked them over, causing the two females two blush.
"Thanks. You look great to Nick" Ember said. Nick spn around in a circle to show off everything.
"Thanks." He said with a smile. The three walked over to the counter, Nick paid, then they left the town.
After a few hours of walking the three came upon a clearing with a large tree in the center. They walked over to the tree and started setting up the tent. Once the tent was set up Nick started cooking dinner while Ember and Kyla caught up. As they were talking Nick looked over at them and smiled. _I`m glad Kyla found someone from her past she can trust. _Nick thought to himself as he finished making dinner.
When dinner was done Nick brought three bowls over to the females and gave them each one. As Nick was sitting down he heard someone walking through the forest, but he didn't panic like he normally did. Instead he looked to his left, right before being hit in the head by something. When he looked to his left he saw a blood soaked Snivy. Nick stood up and drew his knife as a person walked into the clearing, holding a blood soaked knife. Nick got into a fighting position, and grinned when Kyla and Ember got into a fighting stance on either side of him. The Snivy's trainer threw his knife at Nick and tried to kick Ember, but Nick dodged the knife and stabbed the kid in the left shoulder, causing him to grunt in pain and tackle Nick, who attacked the boy with a thunder shock, causing the boy to stop moving.
_"Nick, are you alright?" _Kyla asked as Nick stood up. Nick nodded before walking over to the Snivy. He crouched beside it and started to clean it up. Snivy's eyes began to close.
"Kyla, use your telepathy and keep it talking." Nick said as Kyla walked over to him. Kyla nodded before looking at Snivy.
"Ember, hold down the boy. Keep him down through any means necessary." Ember nodded once and ran over to the boy.
After 30 minutes Nick bandaged up Snivy, picked up Kyla, and walked over to Ember, who was sitting beside the boy. Nick put Kyla down beside Ember and crouched next to the boy. The boy opened his eyes and glared at Nick, right before lunging at his throat. Nick dogged and tackled him, before smashing the boy's face into the ground. Nick then stabbed him in the shoulder, before wrapping his right arm around the boy's throat and putting him in a sleeper hold. Once Nick was sure the boy was asleep he let him go and turned around to face the females, sweating a little. Nick realized they were crying a little, so he walked over to them and hugged them both tightly.
"It's ok. I won't let him hurt you." Nick whispered to them.
The two females hugged Nick tightly. Nick kissed them both on the top of their heads.
"It's ok, I'm here." Nick said before being struck in the back of the head by a rock.
Nick flinched, stood up, turned around, and unleashed a flamethrower on the boy, followed by a force punch, which was followed by an aura sphere, which sent the boy sailing over the forest and into a lake, which was nowhere near the clearing. Nick walked over to the two females, grabbed his first-aid kit, and gave it to Ember.
"Would you?" Nick asked, and Ember nodded sadly. Nick sat down in front of Ember, his back facing her, and Kyla was sitting beside him.
When Ember was done Nick thanked her and called the closest poke center. Once Nick was assured someone would come to get the Snivy soon Nick started to make dinner.
_"Nick, what's wrong?" _Kyla asked, and Nick looked over at her.
"I remember three years ago when no one beat Pokémon. But ever since they passed a law saying a human can be with a Pokémon, people have been mistreating Pokémon more and more. I just miss the old days." Nick said as a jeep drove into the clearing.
"Where's the Snivy?" Nurse Joy asked, and Nick nodded over to where it was sleeping. Nurse Joy gently picked Snivy up and drove away.
"Alright you two, dinner." Nick called after Joy had left. Ember and Kyla walked up to Nick and got their dinner. After the three of them were eating for a few minutes Nick looked at Ember. "Hey Ember," He began, and both Ember and Kyla looked at him, "after dinner, would you mind helping me train? I haven't been able to lately." Nick asked, and Ember nodded.
"Sure, I wouldn't mind helping." Ember said with a smile.
"Thanks." Nick said before looking at Kyla, who was staring at the ground. "What's wrong?" Nick asked, concern easily heard in his voice. Kyla looked at him.
_"I feel bad for that poor Snivy. It's trainer almost killed it. I don't think it'll ever trust anyone ever again." _Kyla said sadly. Nick hugged her with his left arm.
"When we get to the next town we can see if it's still there. If it is then we can see if it'll come with us. Alright?" Nick asked, and Kyla nodded.
_"Thanks." _She said, and Nick just nodded. The three finished eating in silence.