A Girl and Her Dragon: Blazing HeartOn Hiatus

Running Free

Dylan huffed as he slipped out of the hospital, his heart was racing in his chest. Everything hurt, everything burned as he finally pushed his way out of the hospital doors. He was panting as he tried to keep his cool, the chilly air rushing into him and pushing him back a bit. He forced the pain down as he pulled the stolen jacket around his shoulders, the stolen scrubs weren't giving him much protection from the wind. A faint call broke him from his trance as the corviknight preened its feathers on the other side of the empty parking lot.

He needed to get further away, if the champion found him awake he could only imagine what would happen. The cold night stung his injuries and his lungs, he needed to keep moving. The burns on his arms ached and the cuts on his back roared in pain, he tried to ignore them as much as he could. He continued his pace, he needed to keep moving.

He had heard what the Champion of Galar had said over the phone. The Kalos champion's daughter was heading to the wild area, he needed to get there or perhaps the next city. He had to warn her, he couldn't let the others down. What was he even thinking? If Cadel found out he was alive, he almost shivered at the thought. There was something wrong with that man, and he tried to push the memories of his torture out of his head. Team Void's leader's questions didn't make any sense, he kept mumbling on and on about how he was going to change the world and fix it. What would happen if he succeeded?

A faint light caught his attention as he looked to the glowing building, a pokemon center. Dylan thought for a moment before starting towards the pokemon hospital. Perhaps he could call someone? Who would he even call? He knew one thing for certain he needed to get one of his original pokemon at least. It felt weird without him at his side, as he grabbed for the one pokeball that Team Void gave him. He came to a halt as he stared down at the small pokeball in his hand.

He never agreed with the pokemon, it originally hated him often biting him rather hard while he was training. He remembered how it would snarl at him, perhaps it belonged to someone prior. He doesn't know what changed the pokemon's mind, or why it decided to defend him when he screwed up in front of an admin. After that, the pokemon was all over him, even when it was supposed to be in his pokeball. If he had been free that day... Dylan again shivered at the memory.

Expanding the pokeball, he called out the little bite pokemon as it shook its head. Its gray fur stuck out in all directions as it looked up at him with bright yellow eyes. Its tail swung back and forth as the dark type jumped up at him, excitement covering its features.

"Hey girl." Dylan whispered as he scratched poochyena behind its right ear. The female pokemon cocked its head, as it watched its trainer for a moment before he started walking again. Poochyena rushed to keep up with her trainer, as the pokemon looked him over trying to see what the issue was. "I'm okay." Dylan whispered but the dark type didn't seem to accept that answer willingly. Giving a soft grumble the bite pokemon quickly took the lead, making sure that nothing got in the way of the two.

The doors hissed open as Nurse Joy peeked up at them from where she was sitting at the front desk. Her attention was drawn downwards, she must be reading something.

"Hello, and welcome to the Wyndon pokemon center. I'm Nurse Joy. How can I help you today?" Dylan walked up to the desk as poochyena stood up on her back legs to look at the pink haired woman.

"I'd like to get a pokemon from my professor, if that's okay." Nurse Joy nodded before gesturing to a machine in the corner of the room.

"If you input your name and which professor has your pokeball, the system will find and retrieve it for you." Nurse Joy informed as Dylan thanked the woman before heading over to the machine that she had pointed at. Poochyena jumped up on the machine's counter as she sniffed around the monitor and pokeball dispenser. Dylan rolled his eyes as he started inputting his trainer information. The professor's name flickered on the screen and he hesitated. Professor Emma. It was weird to see her name instead of Sycamore's but he knew she had been in control for the past few years. He hoped the Kalos champion's wife would allow him to fetch his other partner.

The screen sat on loading, as he waited for the message to get accepted. He could only hope. A soft hum escaped poochyena as Dylan ran a hand through the pokemon's fur trying to calm the dark type. Giving a yawn the bite pokemon batted at his hand wanting him to continue to pet her. Dylan was exhausted as his body reminded him of his injuries and the pain he was in. Biting his lip he closed his eyes, he needed to force the pain away. He couldn't let it control everything.

A ping broke him from his moment and his eyes flew open as the message was accepted. The transfer would begin immediately. Grabbing poochyena he pulled her closer to his chest as the pokemon gave off a confused noise but allowed him to hold her. The pokeball began to materialize on the place as Dylan felt his excitement building, it's been months since he's seen his first partner. After a few minutes the pokeball materialized fully and he grabbed it off the place letting it expand to full size.

"Poochyena meet your big brother." Dylan smiled as he called out the water type. The big jaw pokemon blinked up at him as it gave a low call. Dylan grinned as croconaw stepped towards him, the patchy yellow print covering his stomach and back. His red crest grew above his head as the water type gave off another call before rushing to its trainers' legs wrapping its arms around his leg.

"Missed you buddy." Dylan whispered as he rubbed the pokemon's head feeling the scales under his palm. "This is poochyena, she is your little sister." Croconaw's eyes widened as it gave a call to the dark type and poochyena began to wag her tail.

"Come on you two." Dylan set down poochyena and he thanked Nurse Joy. "We have a person to find, after some training." Dylan smiled as he headed back out into the night, his two partners following after.