Chapter Text
My morning walks were pretty much equal for quite some time. Awakening in my Trainer’s apartment after listening to the first Spearow caws and Pidgey coos, delight myself for breakfast with optimized ration for Fire-type Pokémon’s digestive systems, stretching my paws, jumping to the window and walk down the streets once the sunbeams warm up the rough tar floor.
My walks had no destination in particular. I could go to the docks to observe shoal of Magikarp competing with each other at the surface to see who could Splash higher and test their courage. A courage that could be interpreted by many as mere unconsciousness because sometimes a Pidgeotto would come by and offering a last trip ticket to an unlucky Magikarp that would be trapped in between the Flying Pokémon’s claws. A pity. This happened five days ago and I admit I got impressed that the Fish Pokémon managed to Splash the same height as the electric post that is right before the water margin.
Back to the morning walk destinations, I also enjoyed passing by the city’s park. There was a good bunch of Drowzee that greet me with Hypnosis, fantastic for a quick nap! Interestingly enough I never remember about my dreams whenever I decide to sleep here but it doesn’t matter. My naps are always good in here! That is when I'm not interrupted by an annoying Diglett trying to dig its next hole right under me. I hate grooming my fur out of soil for more than twenty minutes. And then there's the urban area where I would just choose a tall tree and rest myself over, observing people’s quotidian lives. It's often very boring. Humans with their phones stuck on their ears, always in a ruckus back and forth, carrying folders and wearing fancy suits. Humans carrying shopping bags with their children. Except for that day where a Wingull has stolen a pack of potato chips out of Robert’s groceries shop and was being chased with a broomstick. Hilarious!!
I know what you’re thinking: I must have been extremely bored. Well, sometimes yes. Even though nothing much happens during the dawn strolls, I enjoyed doing them. Then I return to my Trainer’s apartment and the cycle restarts roughly twenty hours later. This kind of routine was broken three days ago, in fact. I didn't return to my Trainer’s home for three days. Don’t worry, everything was alright. The last time I did this was to see Vermilion’s Four-Days Cosplay Festival, in hopes someone would dress up like me. Fennekin? Twenty-four cosplayers. Charmander? Fifty-three. Oh, and there was one Tepig. A single one. Three Torchic and Chimchar and seven Cyndaquil. Litten? Zero. I lost faith in humanity in this last festival. But I regained three days ago at the same time I’ve absented from my house. All because of two children I’ve seen getting out of Vermilion’s biggest PokéMart in the middle of the morning.
One of them had brown eyes, thick eyebrows, a hair color making justice to his name and some funny looking cheek marks resembling lightning bolts. He wore a red cap, indigo shorts, a t-shirt and a blue vest. This boy carried a Pikachu on his shoulder. The other boy was a little skinnier but was wearing a very minimalist outwear through black pants, and a grey and red short-sleeved sweatshirt. He had a charcoal-coloured short hair with fire-red highlights, blue eyes and prominent eyelashes. This boy was sort of accompanied by a Raboot in which I took time to notice him.
They seemed to be enjoying an ice cream each. And the flavour choices were interesting from what I could tell by their colour. I personally love vanilla. And with strawberry together it's like making a Plusle and Minun do a tag team battle. The fluffy-haired boy had suddenly picked up his own spoon and snagged a piece of the charcoal-haired friend's ice cream ball and he got very upset. No wonder, I would be upset too if other Pokémon was stealing me my favourite crunchy treats! On the other hand, the cap-wearing thief was laughing out of satisfaction and didn't seem affected by the other boy's reaction. Interestingly enough the slender lad just stared to him with a judgmental look and then let out a discreet smile. Humans are surely complicated to understand sometimes, I swear he looked mad a few seconds earlier!
I couldn't hear well the conversation from that afar, so I decided to climb down the tree and approach them. There was a good spot over some nearby storage crates and tall enough for having a good observation area. I was extremely curious to know what they were saying. But as the old popular dictate tells: "Curiosity kills the cat". Or rather, "Curiosity has framed the Litten".
"WHOOOOOA!!", shouted the sweatshirt child.
"W-What's the matter?!", reacted the startled lightning-cheeks human as he gave a small jump backwards and looked a bit everywhere with his head.
The other youngster stretches immediately his arm and points out a finger to a specific direction as it exclaims out loud: “THERE!! A LITTEN!!”.
As soon as I heard this, I froze completely in the floor like a prey being iced up by the unforgiving cold breath of a hungry Glalie. I was busted.
“Y-You’re right!!” said the Trainer of that Pikachu who also stared at me in surprise.
The shouting boy started to eat his ice cream almost all at once and at a frenetic velocity, subjecting himself to a brain freeze. I tried to take the chance to run away but the blue-dressed buddy quickly interjected a “Goh, eat slower!!”.
“Says the one that devours meals with the galloping speed of a Rapidash!”, it countered the charcoal-haired fellow after swallowing the ice cream. Then it took off a phone pointed at me and the device started to dictate a text:
“Litten! The Fire Cat Pokémon! Fire-type! When Litten grooms itself, it builds up fur inside its stomach. It sets the fur alight and spews fiery attacks, which change based on how it coughs.”
The youngster stored the phone back to his pocket as he commented out loud “A Litten in Kanto?! Amazing!!”.
Right after I saw a Poké Ball flying towards my direction and that forced me to stop before I would be hit by it. That was close! But that was just the beginning. Other ball appeared. I gave a backflip jump and avoided it a second time. The boy begun to turn aggressive with the successive throws and I kept my distance to the contact of those spherical objects. Seriously, even my Trainer’s Kantonian grandmother can throw Poké Balls better that him!
“Goh, hang on!...”, asked the cap-wearing boy as he approached him in concern. He seemed to be eager to tell him something but he was interrupted by his panting friend.
“Very well… Let’s do it in the hard way.”
The slender youngster stretched a leg backwards, bent his other leg forward, clenched his fists and launched me a glare. Thankfully he wasn't a Pokémon, otherwise I could have been paralyzed. I didn't bring a Cheri Berry with me in that day! That look only meant one thing: he wanted to battle me.
“Raboot! Let’s catch this Litten!”
Who was he talking to? I wasn’t seeing one anywhere! Then everyone’s eyes turned further, including mine, to a Pokémon that was back turned to everyone a few meters away. There was a cutting-edge silence for few seconds. Then in an eye-blink I saw an incinerated rock flying towards me as fast and as threatening as a Draco Meteor casted by a Dragon Pokémon. I gave a big jump upwards and the flaming stone rebounded away. I was impressed by the power of that Ember but I wasn’t liking the arrogant attitude of that fire rodent as soon as he stepped to the front of his Trainer and stared to me in scorn. I hissed him back.
“Wow, Raboot is collaborating?!”, the vest boy interjected in amazement followed up by a smile. “Alright!!”
“Excellent! Let’s do this!!” Goh shouted with determination. He flexed his arm sideways and commanded out loud:
“Raboot! Use Quick Attack!”
Raboot charged right away at me and I got tackled five meters away. That hurt! But just a little. I quickly got up and I found my adversary looking to me with the same eyes as before. That was really rage-inducing to me.
“Well done, Raboot! Now use Double Kick!”
Raboot did a leap of faith and aimed one of his wide feet towards my direction to perform the requested move but I wouldn’t let that happen. I gave a good jump and kicked back. Both our feet collided and we were projected backwards.
“That Litten also knows Double Kick!!”, the chestnut coloured-eyes lad exclaimed.
Pikachu was also impressed and cheered up for Raboot. The latter wasn’t allowing me to read his mind. It was like he had no emotions. I had to stay focused. It was since a long time I had a battle. I had the chance to use a Z-Move with my Trainer in my last one. But that wasn’t a resource now. I’m a Litten and I couldn’t let my emotions to be easily seen.
“That Double Kick seemed powerful. Raboot couldn’t do anything…”, lamented Goh visibly constrained.
“Goh!! Try to keep up with Litten’s agility! They're good with heights and in frontal attacks!!”
“You’re right, Ash! Cats like heights as they can control their surroundings!”, said the boy to Pikachu’s Trainer without removing the eyes out of me.
“Raboot! Never let Litten climb up anything! Keep it to the ground!”
The kid really had his homework done. That is a true fact what he said and every time I tried to find a spot to gain height the rabbit Pokémon kept blocking my way. I was getting really mad.
“Use Ember once more!!”
Raboot heard his Trainer’s command and was about to pick up a nearby footstep stone. I prevented it by picking the mineral up with my mouth and kicking it away far to make the item unreachable. That surprised my adversaries and I was satisfied with that reaction. We were even now. I couldn’t climb heights but he wouldn’t be able to use rocks either.
“It used Double Kick to throw the stone away?! That’s a smart Pokémon here!!”, exclaimed Goh.
I took the opportunity that Raboot was processing what happened to use my most powerful move, Flamethrower!! I spit it out with all my strength and made a critical hit!
“RABOOT!!”, gasped Goh and Ash. Pikachu shouted along.
Raboot stood up, resisting my Flamethrower. He had a good damage but I believe he recognized my strength because he let out a smirk for the first time. Finally! I proved I wasn't an ordinary Litten!
“That was incredible… It's not usual a Litten knowing this move!”, Ash commented in astonishment.
“Are you ok, Raboot?! Can you keep up?!”, Goh asked to his Pokémon who nodded in affirmation.
“Perfect! We can’t underestimate this Litten, it’s a smart one!” he added.
While he talked to his Pokémon I decided to use Swagger. Raboot got disturbed and consequently confused, exactly what I wanted.
“Oh no, this is bad!! That was a Swagger, your Raboot is confused!!!” alerted Ash to Goh who reacted with frowning and gritting his teeth.
“Come on… Think, think!... Try to think in what Ash would do in a situation like this… Agile… prefers heights… Frontal moves…”
Then the eye pupils shrunk as he gasped out a “That’s it!”.
Raboot had a paw kept on his head as he staggered due to the special condition. He was a little agitated as well because of my provocation.
“Raboot, do you hear me? Run around Litten in circles and don’t stop!”
The Pokémon obeyed and did an effort to run exactly as he was instructed. I wondered if it was either an effect of confusion or part of the plan. I wasn’t understanding what was going on. Raboot was so quick that it would be risky to jump over or to run away.
“Now! Do a Double Kick SIDEWAYS and throw it up!!”
And that’s what I wasn’t expecting. My opponent appeared on my left side and managed to kick me in my belly and projecting my body upwards to middle air with the second hit coming followed at that moment, launching me to distance. This move really hurt this time, my tummy remembers that!!
“Well done!!” jumped out Ash along with Pikachu in joy with a closed hand. “That was so well thought!”
“I had a good teacher!” responded Goh with a prideful smile. “Now it is my chance!”
He took off a Poké Ball out of his pocket and yelled “GOOOO!” as he threw it right to my nose. The ball opened but as soon the beam of light bathed me the object stopped to light up and fell completely open to the pavement. The only noises heard were me complaining for seconds about the object impact and the offender’s phone warning him to not be a thief.
“W-What?...” Goh shyly mumbled in great perplexity.
“You know… I wanted to tell you that this Litten could already have a Trainer knowing it's not a native Pokémon in Kanto…” explained Ash in great awkwardness.
“…Are you telling me that me and Raboot just wasted time to battle a trained Pokémon and that I’ve spent forty-eight Poké Balls trying to capture it?...”, the charcoal-haired fellow asked with a desolated high pitched voice tone.
Pikachu nodded with a big constrained grin, almost letting out a laughter.
Goh screamed out of his lungs out of frustration as he grabbed his head tight with the lifted arms. At the same time, Ash ran towards me to tell the following:
“Hey, I’m sorry for what happened. I tried to tell Goh that you could have a Trainer already and-“
I wasn’t happy to listen to that. Why he didn't insist with that information earlier and gave him battle tips?! And he was daring enough to approach a hand on me so I scratched it in response.
“Ooouch!!!”, exclaimed the cap-wearing lad as he retreated a few steps while grabbing his wounded hand.
“Ash!! What are you doing?!”, Goh asked after listening to the small cry as he rushed side to him. Then he looked to me and apologised: “I’m sorry for before, Litten! I didn't know you had someone alrea-“.
How shameless to ask my pardon after all what happened! So, I discharged a Flamethrower and to my amazement the boy that I’ve scratched before pushed the Poké Ball-thrower to the side and took the damage instead! My jaw dropped at that moment. Why he did that?!
“ASH!!”, yelled Goh in great distress. The boy in question had his face and hair completely black. He even exhaled smoke. Pikachu had jumped out of the shoulder before the impact and was at the floor looking anxiously to his Trainer. “You protected me…”, the blue-eyed boy added.
“I didn't want you to get wounded, Goh…”, he said this with a single chord, followed by a heavy cough.
Goh, serious looking, didn't remove his eyes out of Ash for the upcoming seconds. He then put a knee down as he removed his large blocky-shaped backpack to place at his front to search for something inside. He first removed a pack of humid tissues and used them to clean the blue vest fellow’s face.
“You’re so silly, Ash… You don’t need to be my shield all the time.”
Ash was looking in surprise to Goh once he saw him removing the black layer of powder from his skin. Once the sweatshirt boy finished the sentence, Ash blushed gently at the same time he looked tenderly to him and honestly asked with a chuckle in the end:
“But I could be your sword, no?”
Goh’s eyes widened with the question and his cheeks turned progressively to a reddish hue. He then rubbed hard the tissue in reaction. Ash started to laugh due to the ticklish feeling of the action.
“Less pressure! It is tickling me!!”
I was looking to what was happening in surprise. First, the attitude of protecting his friend even after I had scratched him, and next he did a question like that? Wow. Talk about a close friendship, it was the first time I saw this between humans. Or is there more than that? The way they exchanged looks… And their cheeks altering their pigment…
My thoughts were cut by the Pikachu who looked extremely friendly.
“We aren't going to harm you! They really mean it when they say sorry.”, that’s what Pikachu told me.
I looked to the side, a bit awkward and starting to regret a teeny bit of what I’ve done minutes earlier. Raboot then poked my head. He seemed to have recovered from the Swagger already. I didn't want to admit it but Raboot was an extremely good adversary. I thought he would start to brag about his victory. Actually, what the rodent did was to hand me over a Sitrus Berry. Where did Raboot get it? Probably from his Trainer’s backpack since it was easily accessible now. After some hesitation I shyly accepted the offering and started to eat it. That was surprisingly kind from the evolved Pokémon. However, I only ate half of it because I thought it was fair to share a bit with Raboot. Afterall I also tired out the fellow in the battle! The Rabbit Pokémon looked to the leftover through the corner of his eye and was equally reluctant to accept to finish it, but he did in the end! Pikachu let out a giggle and stretched our arms to mimic a human behaviour called “Brofist”. We looked confused to Pikachu, until he explained the purpose. We exchanged a look wondering if it was worth doing it. Raboot looked away as he approached his paw on mine and I did the same as I let a small smile escape. The Pokémon wasn’t as cold as I was thinking!
I looked again to the children. Ash had his face already fully clean but Goh wasn’t done with the treatment. Now he had removed some healing transparent liquid from a flask which served to treat wounds when applied in a cotton disc.
“THAT’S SO COLD!!!”, Ash shouted upon contact with the open wound of his hand.
“Stay quiet! How do you want me to treat you if you can’t stay still?!”
“This is nothing, Goh! It doesn’t huuuUUUUUURT-AAAAH!!!”
“Your nervous system tells me the opposite.”
“G-Goh, I am telling you I will be fi-“, Ash is hushed by a gentle pressure of Goh’s forefinger on his lips.
“Be quiet.”
He kept being treated for a few minutes until it was over with the band-aid on his hand wound. Goh picked up his backpack from the floor and wore it again. Then he placed the hands over his waist and asked his friend the following:
“Was it that difficult?”
Ash blushed as he closed tightly his eyes and replied as he pretended to be annoyed:
“It wouldn't if you didn't insist…”
Goh shook his head sideways with a gentle smile on the corner of his mouth and then looked to me and the other two Pokémon. Ash did the same thing.
“You’re still here, Litten? I thought you had left.”
I snapped out from my thoughts again and faced the two-ahoge boy. Everyone was looking to me.
"Where's your Trainer?", Ash asked.
I didn't respond. I looked to the lad, and then to Goh again. Right after I turned my head to face the surrounding Pokémon who also awaited a reply.
"Could it be lost?", inquired the same youngster.
"I'm going to see if we can find any clues.", commented Goh as he walked to my direction and placed a knee on the floor to reach me out better.
I retracted myself a little as that was a pose of someone who would want to touch me. I don't like to be tapped by just anyone. But what happened earlier had awakened me a feeling of hesitation: Should I let him place a hand on me? By looking to his eyes, he seemed to not have bad intentions. As my Trainer told me once, "The eyes are the mirror of a soul". Shortly after Goh lifted his hand as I was predicting it would happen. And in return I bent my neck downwards to show I was receptive. And he pet me. It felt good.
Goh let out a wide smile immediately after. He expressed out loud:
"The fur is so silky!"
"That means Litten’s got a really caring Trainer. I'm sure they must be worried about it as we speak.", commented Ash.
"Oh? What's this?", interrogated the charcoal-haired boy the moment he felt something on my neck. "A very small collar...", he added.
Ash went side to Goh and bent over with hands on his knees to look closely to the finding.
"A stone? It's quite small..."
"I think I know what this could be. Judging by the colour, the smooth texture and the round shape, it must be an Everstone."
"So, the Trainer doesn't want its Litten to evolve?"
"Or Litten might not want to."
I scrubbed my forehead on Goh's palm because he guessed it right. He seemed satisfied with that action of mine. He turned his head to Ash with confidence on his eyes.
"I believe it's a yes."
"It doesn't surprise me.", Ash opined normally with a smile. "Pikachu never wanted to evolve to a Raichu and it's a decision I respect.".
Pikachu nodded in affirmation once his Trainer finished to talk. The Electric-type Pokémon winked at me right after.
That was a good surprise, I didn't know that both Pikachu and I were on the same page concerning evolution! I thought we could start a friendship here.
“You're very strong for a Litten!”, Goh complimented me as he kept petting my head and then my spine. The boy then picked up his phone and pointed it to my face. He was reading something there about me, I assumed. Goh then noted out loud:
“This Litten is a female, apparently!”
“A female?”, Ash neutrally asked.
“Females are rarer than males in Starter Pokémon. So, it makes this Pokémon even more special!”
“Awesome!” he grinned as he directed his eyes on me again. “You remind me of my Snivy. She also has a special temper and she's a prideful Pokémon! You both would probably get along.”
Interesting, I thought. The shorts lad got closer to me and continued to talk but with a tone of honesty:
“Once again I'm sorry for before. I just want to be your friend and help you find your home. I promise we won’t harm you.”
“You can trust in Ash, Litten!”, Pikachu joyfully reinforced.
Raboot nodded in affirmation, without saying a word.
Goh kept smiling and lifted his hand out of my head the instant that Ash stretched his own, now close to my face and with a band-aid. Just like his human friend, his eyes gave me confidence. I was impressed that he neither was intimidated or mad after me because of the scratch. That was a really intriguing human there. Few seconds later I decided to place my paw on the boy’s opened palm. He giggled along with Pikachu.
“Alright!! We’re even!”
“Well done, Ash!”, said Goh with a closed-eyes smile.
“Now then, we should start lookin’ for the Trainer of this Litten.”, stated the cap-wearing eye lad.
“I tried to see if there was a tag or anything but there’s nothing…”, said Goh as he kept checking for information on his orange device. “What we could do would be going to the Pokémon Center and see if anyone has claimed her.”
“Good idea, Goh. Is it far from here?”
“Not really, it’s just a six minute walk according to the Rotom Phone’s map.”
“Let’s go then!”
Ash picked me up with his arms and we all walked together to the Pokémon Center of the city. It was a good ride. The lightning-cheeked youngster had a warm skin and was cautious in how he carried me. I could see some people looking to me upon passage. I was wondering why. They never saw a Litten before? Or a cat, who knows? There was a brief moment that I wanted to jump out because there was a delicious smell coming out from a small Sushi restaurant but I got prevented to, to my discontent.
We arrived to the destination building in no time. There were a lot of people and Pokémon inside. The smell was a bit funny too but somehow unsettling to me. And I wasn’t the only one thinking in that way. There was a Houndoom a few meters away from me that had probably the triple of my size with its tail between his legs and was shaking like a Snorunt. I believe the other three Pokémon that were nearby were mostly concerned about the bulkiness of the fire-spitting canid rather than the place they were at. Other Pokémon seemed completely normal or even happy, like a Slowpoke that was being handed over to a man by a pink-haired human behind the counter… although one can argue where can you find a Slowpoke that isn’t smiling all the time.
“Be careful next time you stand close to a Gloom!”, advised the white-dressed lady.
“I will! Thank you so much, Nurse Joy!”, said Slowpoke’s Trainer as he picked him up and left.
The boys then approached her now that she was available.
“Good morning! How can I help you?”
“Good morning, Nurse Joy! We found this Litten wandering around in the street and we figured out that she’s got a Trainer.", explained Ash.
"I see. I’m going to see if there’s anything in our database.", reacted the lady as soon as the boy finished to explain the situation. She started to type on a nearby computer for an instant. "No, there isn't any claiming for a missing Litten...", she commented with some notable concern in her voice.
"That's odd...", Ash wondered as he looked to me and paused for a bit. "Maybe her Trainer didn’t realize yet that she got lost?"
"That's a possibility.", said Nurse Joy. "What I can recommend is to come back later and see if someone has filed a claiming towards a missing Litten. Alternatively, I could phone you in case someone appears and makes an accurate description of the Pokémon."
"Oh, that's a good idea. I can share my phone number!"
Ash carefully placed me over the counter as he gave the necessary information. They also pointed the phone to me again as well to my collar.
"Thank you! Maybe it would be a good idea to make a quick check-up to her just to make sure everything is fine."
The moment I heard that and the boys agreeing about it I felt a chill down in my spine. Not a medical check-up!!!
"Goh, shouldn't your Raboot have a check-up too?"
"Oh!! I nearly forgot about the battle of before! Sure!!" exclaimed Goh in surprise after listening to Ash's question. Raboot climbed to the counter. The Rabbit Pokémon sat down in a tray and gave a naughty look to me. I didn’t like it; I knew he was mocking me for the fact I was hesitating to go inside due to my fear of being in hospital environments like this one. Suddenly, I felt something in my belly and let out a cry of surprise but it was only Nurse Joy picking me up and placing me on the tray alongside with Raboot.
"I’ll be back in an instant!", she said with a smile as she pushed the tray cart inside a room. Pikachu waved as he said "See you in a while!". Soon, I wasn't seeing them anymore. Just some plain walls with strong white lights in the ceiling. I couldn't stop trembling and to arch my body. Raboot was chuckling mischievously. "This is not funny, Raboot!!" I harshly interjected. The big-footed company closed his eyes and gave a subtle smile out of his fur collar as he turned forward to the direction of the corridor.
Thirty minutes later I was out of that terror scenario. Thankfully there were no unwanted objects during the check-up procedure except for those suction pads that were a bit too tight on my skin. My check-up was quicker than Raboot who seemed to be peaceful with everything it was done to him. The boys were returning to the counter. They were apparently playing something in their phones judging by the comments they were doing afar before being called by the pink-haired human.
"How’s Raboot?" Goh asked.
"Raboot had some light wounds but they were easy to heal." she calmly reported. "As for Litten, she also had some minor ones but they were equally treatable. She is, however, a quite nervous Pokémon... she couldn't stay quiet inside the room! I had to call a Chansey to help her to relax." she observed with a giggle in the middle.
Now that was an unnecessary information to share, thank you. I noticed throughout my peripheric vision other judgmental look from Raboot who I could tell that if it wasn't for the surrounding humans he would burst into laughter. How embarrassing!!
"Good to see everyone’s alright! Thank you, Nurse Joy!", thanked the chestnut-coloured eyes youngster as he picked me up and Raboot had gotten up by himself to stand next to Goh.
"You're welcome. If I obtain any information about Litten's Trainer I’ll give you a call!"
The boys waved and left the building, stopping a few meters away from the entrance.
"Are you sure you’ll listen to the phone once it rings?", questioned the red-shaded hair boy with sort of a tone of irony to his friend.
"O-Of course I will!! I have put the volume in maximum to make sure I won't miss it!" reacted Ash visibly annoyed.
"Right, now don’t forget to play videos out loud in the ferry boat and then telling me you ran out of battery.", he continued but with a more evident smile on his face.
"Don't call me out!"
Goh laughed. Ash realized the real tone of the comments so he quickly returned to the usual mood. He then asked normally:
"Now what should we do?"
"It’s too late to return to the laboratory so I think we should keep Litten with us until we’re back from the research in the Sevii Islands."
"You've got a point. If we backtrack, we’ll lose the trip."
The cap-wearing lad paused for a quick moment before he looked to me and asked the following question:
"What do you say, Litten? Do you want to travel with us until we find your home?"
To tell the truth I wasn't really lost as they were all believing. If I wanted, I could have just jumped off from Ash's arms, walk back to my Trainer's apartment and pretend that nothing happened. But I was so bored lately and these two humans and their Pokémon partners were being so interesting that I wanted to hang out with them for longer. A bit of holidays from Vermilion City wouldn't harm me anyway. So, I accepted by meowing out loud with a smile.
"Great!! I hope you can trust us, Litten!" exclaimed Ash in satisfaction as he laughed and let me jump to the tar floor for me to able to move freely.
"Looks like we’ve got an extra company in this trip!" happily noted Goh. But the smile didn’t last long the precise moment he read something in his mobile device. "A-Ash! We should hurry up!! The Seagallop boat departures in seventeen minutes!!"
"Oh, man!! We’re better to sprint out immediately!! Let's go!!!" shouted out loud an agitated Ash who begun to run instantly. I started to regret to have gotten out of his arms considering that Pikachu stood on his Trainer's shoulder. Goh and Raboot were already following him. "Wait up!!!", I shouted as I had put a use to my legs to catch them up.
And we managed to reach the transportation method just in time. I was panting furiously, ooof!! I could barely breathe! The last time I raced like this was to run away from an angry Tauros that escaped once from a truck and I was unlucky enough to be crossing his path... and to have red fur too.
"T-Three minutes later and we... we would have missed it!..." stated Goh in an effort to complete the sentence due to how tired he was from the running.
"Seagallop’s extremely punctual, I notice that..." noted Ash as he was literally dropping his weight over the safety metal balustrade while breathing heavily.
Raboot seemed to be ok. He just leaned his back towards the back of a plastic chair and looked to the clouds as the wind was blowing to his face.
Pikachu hopped down to the floor and approached me. He neutrally asked "Are you alright?".
"Sort of... I’m not used to run this much anymore...", I replied.
"You don’t get out from your home a lot, don't you?"
"Well... Let’s say that I prefer to run on my own rather than being forced to.", I chuckled out of awkwardness.
"You're a funny Pokémon!", giggled Pikachu along after listening to my statement.
"And you're very nice, Pikachu!"
We laughed for a good while. During the boat trip we talked a little. Pikachu told me the many adventures he had with his Trainer. They went through a lot of stuff! And I knew he wasn't telling everything because a day wouldn't be enough. This Pikachu was extremely friendly, one of the nicest Pokémon I’ve ever met. He even told me he had met other Litten before, who evolved into Incineroar and helped to win the Alolan Championship as a Torracat!
Raboot never got out of his spot. Was he meditating? Was he sleeping while standing up? Only Arceus knew.
I could see the boys were sitting down in the chairs for most of the trip, especially in the first half. They were either talking, checking things on their phones or just staying silent. At a point, the grey-shirted youngster got up and placed his crossed arms over the grid, staring to the sea. A soft breeze was whistling to his hair which softly moved in rhythm. The other boy realized and decided to join him. I could listen to their talk.
"Is everything alright, Goh?"
"It is."
There was a small moment of silence. He then continued.
"I was thinking in the findings we’ll do in the islands."
"I’m sure we will find many great things in there!"
Goh nodded in affirmation.
"Professor Cerise says there’s plenty of Pokémon diversity living in these islands including species that you can't find easily in the continent!"
"So, you’ll capture as many as you can, right?"
"You can bet I will!!", Goh clenched his hand as his eyes shone as strongly as the sunlight. Ash laughed after his buddy's fiery reaction.
"I wonder if I can find Trainers to battle and rise up my World Coronation Series ranking!"
"The population of the islands is much smaller but we never know!"
"I believe there must be anyone even if it’s just one single Trainer!!"