With a groan Leo pushed himself up, wiping the blood off his face with one hand and fixing the hitmontop with a cool glare as it stood a few feet away, watching him curiously.
He needed to calm down.
Settle down, and then fight.
He was lucky enough as it was that this was still a young hitmontop, not a really experienced one.
…
“Unless you knock me out, I will keep getting up,” Leo warned, hissing in discomfort as his body began to ache.
The hitmontop made a weird chuffing sound, and Leo heard Slowking sigh.
White light glowed on the hitmontop’s feet and it flipped over onto its hands, momentarily startling Leo when it performed a front flip, performing a swinging kick at him that went wide.
Leo’s body reacted before his brain did, dropping to the ground and sticking his feet up in the air, the hitmontop’s own momentum carrying it into his mule kick.
Unfortunately it was heavier than he expected and his knees collapsed, allowing the hitmontop to crash into him with his full weight.
Next thing Leo knew his arms were pinned to the ground and the hitmontop was headbutting him until his vision blurred and mind turned foggy.
He felt it get up off of him, he heard it walk off after saying something to Slowking, and yet he only was able to react until after Slowking had walked over to stand over him.
“You are the only human I have seen who is dumb enough to look at a fighting-type pokemon and think ‘Oh, I can fight that.'” Slowking said bluntly as Leo rolled over, groaning and spitting a glob of blood onto the ground.
The hitmontop was even taking it easy on him.
“Though the hitmontop did praise your tenacity, if not your skill,” Slowking said, almost disdainfully.
“‘S your fault,” Leo mumbled, working his jaw absently as he propped himself up on his elbows.
He could almost feel his lips swelling up, and skin start to bruise.
“Excuse me?” Slowking asked.
“You said you wanted to scare me,” Leo said, leaning his head down to his hands and pinching his nose, attempting to stop the bleeding.
“I don’t wanna be scared,”
“I said I want you to respect the power of a pokemon, not physically attack them,” Slowking reprimanded.
Leo shook his head slowly, not wanting to argue.
Yes, it had been stupid to fight the hitmontop again, and yes he was willing to admit that.
But he had been feeling ornery and would most likely do so again, if given the chance.
He just…had some aggression to work out.
“I want to go home,” Leo whispered to himself, anger momentarily turning to sadness.
“Hmm?” Slowking asked.
“Nothing,” Leo grumbled, pushing himself into a sitting position and dusting dead grass and pine needles off of his bare skin.
“Do you need anything else, or are you just here to tell me I’m an idiot?” Slowking watched him carefully for a second, folding his hands behind his back and peering down his muzzle at Leo.
“No, I am simply here to tell you that I will be dropping by every few days to check on you until you leave the slowpoke.
From here, if you follow the river, it is approximately a month’s journey to the nearest human settlement.
I suggest you start sooner than later,” Slowking said.
“Great.
Any advice on that?
What I should expect once I reach human civilization again?” Leo asked.
“It has been a long time since I last visited the human world, though I will say it is far different from the wilds,” Slowking said, rather slowly.
Leo rolled his eyes.
As if I didn’t know that already, he thought.
“Though I will ask you this favor – if you can, seek out Archibald’s son.
Give him the journal.
I feel Archibald would wish that,”
“Yeah,” Leo said, nodding.
“I can do that,” It had been his plan to do so anyway, regardless of whether or not Slowking asked him to do it.
It was the last testament of a Champion, the least he could do was provide some closure to the man’s legacy.
“Thank you,” Slowking said, his shoulders sagging ever so slightly.
“One last thing before you go.
How would I go about befriending or taming a wild pokemon, without a pokeball?” Leo asked.
“I figure having a companion would up my chances of survival,”
“Just do what you have been doing.
When you find a pokemon that is willing to travel with you, you will know,” Slowking said, bowing slightly to Leo.
“Then I will take my leave for now,”
“Yeah, bye,” Leo said glumly, waving off Slowking and slumping forward, resting his chin in his hands and his elbows on his knees.
He still had a funk to work himself out of.
…
Leo spent another three or so weeks with the slowpoke herd before he finally felt ready to move on.
During that time he’d achieved a few things.
The biggest thing was killing a pidgey with his atlatl, the dart having just enough force behind it to get the job done.
Leo had celebrated with a dance and a feast, glad to have something other to eat than fish and nuts.
Sure, the bird was a little dry and tough after he’d skinned, gutted, and cooked it, but he’d relished it all the same.
He’d also managed to make something akin to a hat – it was flat and barely even resembled a circle, with many holes in the thick grass weave, but he’d figured out a way to keep it on his head and it at least kept the worst of the sun off, so that was a win in Leo’s book.
Other than that, he’d had no other big experiences.
He’d run into the bellossom again, who laughed at his amateurish attempts at blowing the leaf it had given him – which still hadn’t withered or dried out, which astounded Leo – and had almost managed to grab ahold of a sentret.
Literally.
He’d managed to sneak up on it and almost managed to grab it with both hands but had stepped on a twig and scared the little pokemon off.
A big change had also overtaken the slowpoke herd closer to the beginning of those three weeks – the females had given birth to little, baby slowpoke.
Apparently spring came late to slowpoke, because Leo was pretty sure most animals gave birth in late spring, not early-to-mid summer.
But then again, pokemon.
What did he really know about them?
He hadn’t even noticed any of the slowpoke were pregnant, right up until they were giving birth.
Though something that had both surprised him and not was that the slowpoke didn’t lay eggs, instead giving birth to live creatures.
Some part of him expected pokemon eggs instead of live births, but hey, it didn’t make a whole lot of sense for all pokemon to come from eggs either.
For game mechanics, sure, but not for real.
Nevertheless, the little pink blobs of adorableness that were baby slowpoke had been a blast to play with.
They weren’t quite as energetic as puppies, but they would still romp and play and roughhouse in their own, slow way.
He’d even napped on the riverbank surrounded by the little guys, the seven slowpoke sprawled around and on top of him.
It was a pity he had to leave, he would’ve loved to see the slowpoke grow up.
That’s if they survive the winter, Leo thought somberly as he sat next to his supplies, laid out so he could do a final count, and watched the slowpoke herd in the early morning light.
Queen was up early, as was usual these days, corralling the seven little slowpoke as their mothers fished.
The little guys had been small enough for Leo to hold in the crook of his arm before, but after a mere three weeks that had changed.
Still though, if winter was coming early, then the slowpoke may not have enough time to grow big enough to survive before the snowstorms hit.
…
A/ N: The Story Needs More Power Stones 😉