- Vagabond - Male Reader x Pokémon

Chapter 8: Ash

"Hurry this up, man! I don't like this, we don't know who's out here.." The first said nervously, looking around the wooded area around them. Nothing so far, nothing they could see. "Quiet down. I'm working." The second said, preparing to jump on the grass turtle.

"Chimchar, Ember! Piplup, Watergun!" A voice shouted out from some unseen location. "The hell?!" They both said at once, only for a wave of fire and water to come crashing down onto both of them on either side. The attack continued for a few minutes, leaving one slightly scorched, and the other on the verge of drowning on land. They both collapsed to the floor, not expecting the sudden attack. And who used Pokémon attacks on normal people, huh? That's such a cheap move! Only the worst of the worst scum did that...

As they both sat upon the ground, their vision fading fast, a pair of shoes appeared, slowly walking towards the two, one foot after the other. Turtwig hopped over them, returning to its trainer. "Good job, you were a great distraction." A hand came down, and rustled the Pokémon's leaf head, earning an affectionate cooing. It then turned back towards them...

"These don't belong to either of you." And that was the last thing either heard until unconsciousness took them in its hold, submerging their vision in darkness.

Around their body's were two overflowing bags of the traditional red and white capsules. There had to have been twenty to thirty at least. Some were spilling out, and rolling away. It was going to be tiresome collecting all of them, and hauling two bodies through the woods wouldn't be fun either...

[Y/N] had made a promise.

However, it was a start. And if he wanted to get back all the Pokémon that were stolen from Rowan, he couldn't discount any small victories. On the horizon, a fiery red was rising, the sun finally beginning to remerge. He hadn't realised how fast the night had gone past, but so much had happened. While he had tried to ignore it, he was quickly becoming groggy and tired, and the adrenaline from before had just about run out.

And then, without any real understandable reason, his head suddenly felt ready to explode. Pain erupted all at once, like daggers penetrating his skull on all sides. [Y/N]'s eyes went wide, but this time he couldn't hold the cry of pain in, grunting and screaming. He held his head, but that did no good, and he soon found himself against the floor, convulsing and struggling to do anything. Piplup, Chimchar and Turtwig all rushed to his side with concern, worried and unable to do much but provide support. It didn't help much.

He struggled for a minute or so longer, with every inch of him burning in agony, until eventually it calmed down, and he managed to catch his breath. [Y/N] sat on the floor for a while, the world spinning around him, and with each incremental movement it would fall off balance immediately. Having the three help support him did much more than he could have asked, trying to stabilise him. He didn't notice it at the time, and they barely did, but a strange bluish, purple outline appeared to surround him. It was faint, and incredibly hard to make out especially amongst the dying night. They saw it however, they were sure of it.

"T-Thanks, guys..." He coughed out. "I-I don't know what came over me..." They looked at him with suspicion, considering they had all watched him die, and they knew it. Mina could have been persuaded otherwise, but not them, they could tell. And yet, here he was, before them without a single wound on him. Yet, the scars were there, and they told them that what they saw wasn't some fake illusion. "I-I don't know..." He answered. And he truly didn't, not about the voice connection, or how he survived such egregious damage, or how he could still move for hours afterwards.

"L-Let's just get back. I-I think we need to rest..." He muttered, and then accepted that, helping him collect the remaining Poké Balls. Somehow, they managed to haul not only the two heavy bags, but also the unconscious grunts through the forest, with Turtwig dragging one, and the other carried between Piplup and Chimchar. [Y/N] pulled the two along agonisingly slowly, but they weren't too far from Sandgem town now...