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It was some time before Arven was able to sleep; still sick with worry for Mabosstiff, even though there had been some slight improvement after the dog managed to eat a sandwich with the Sweet Herba Mystica in it. Mabosstiff had fallen asleep after that, and Arven had nodded off right beside him from sheer exhaustion, no sleeping bag required.
“Shouldn’t we wake him up so he can make himself a bit more comfortable?” Penny asked, quietly.
“He won’t,” Ash said, knowingly. “When your Pokémon is in that critical a condition and you’re out in the wild, you won’t leave their side for anything.”
“…That was said with an air of experience,” she noted.
“Yup,” Ash agreed, thinking of that night long ago in the Orange Islands when he had been looking after Charizard.
“I can believe that,” Penny said. “If anything happened to any of my VeeVees…” She shuddered, not wanting to continue that thought.
“Sometimes, it’s not even our own Pokémon; I know I’ve spent a couple restless nights over lost and injured wild Pokémon,” Brock mused. “Must be an occupational hazard.”
“Speaking of lost and injured wild Pokémon…” Ash said, looking over at Koraidon and Miraidon, who were chatting with Pikachu and Eevee.
“I’ve been so focused on Mabosstiff that I forgot to ask about these two,” Brock chided himself.
“Nah, you didn’t forget,” Ash said, as they headed over to the two Pokémon. “You were triangulating!”
Brock gave him a look.
“…Triaging, Ash. Triage.”
“I was close enough!”
“…You really weren’t.”
Penny bit her lip, trying not to snark; she sobered as they looked over Koraidon and Miraidon.
“Well, the good news is that they both seem to be improving,” she noted.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Ash said. “Back when we first found them in that cave near the Academy, they could barely move. Now, they can keep up with us pretty well.”
“They do seem to be coming along fine—you’ve both helped that progress,” Brock agreed, checking them over. “But I wonder if some of the Herba Mystica might aid their recovery along a little faster, too…” He took out an extra sandwich that had been left over, split it in half, and gave each half to each Pokémon, which seemed to perk them up, as well. “What can you tell me about these two?”
“Not much,” Penny admitted. “Arven seems to know the most about them, but I’d hate to try to bother him for information when… Well, you know.”
“Arven did say that the family of these two were what caused all that damage to Mabosstiff,” Ash recalled. “And he seemed surprised that these two guys bounced back from whatever had attacked them… Maybe it’s not a stretch to say that the same ‘family’ that attacked Mabosstiff attacked them, too.”
The two Pokémon nodded and, on edge, began to look around, as though expecting their “family” to show up.
“The footage you showed me earlier when you first met these two seemed to suggest that they’d been on the run for a while,” Brock noted. “…And based on their reactions now, I wonder if whatever had been hunting them is still looking for them.”
“They seem to think so,” Ash said, his expression falling.
Pikachu now spoke to Koraidon and Miraidon, with Eevee punctuating his assurances.
“Pikachu’s right,” Ash added. “You’re with us now, and we’ll be looking out for you and helping you like we’re helping Mabosstiff! Right, Guys?”
“Right!” Brock and Penny promised.
The two Pokémon exchanged glances with each other, and then looked back at the trainers, nodding.
Even if they were still on the run, they didn’t have to do it alone.