After playing to his heart’s content, Sunny sat down on a large rock to rest.
A gentle breeze brushed across his face, carrying a pleasant hint of coolness while sweeping away the sweat that clung to his skin.
The warm sun shone overhead beneath a sky dotted with fluffy white clouds.
A few birds soared lazily through the lower skies, completing the peaceful spring scenery.
Lying back on the rock, Sunny gazed absentmindedly at the heavens.
Suddenly, he noticed something falling from above.
“Ahhh!”
It was a Pokémon with brilliantly colored feathers plummeting from the sky.
He could not identify it clearly before instinct took over.
Sunny immediately jumped to his feet and rushed forward, managing to catch the falling Pokémon just before it hit the ground.
Unfortunately, the Pokémon was heavier than he had expected.
Losing his balance, he stumbled and fell backward with it in his arms.
Only after getting back up did he realize what he had caught.
It was a Hawlucha, a Pokémon that did not belong to the Johto region.
This Hawlucha clearly had not fully matured yet.
An adult Hawlucha normally stood around eighty centimeters tall and weighed over twenty kilograms, but the one before him was much smaller, barely more than half that size, which explained why he had been able to catch it despite the impact.
Still, why would a Kalos Pokémon appear in Johto?
Of course, it was not impossible.
Both humans and Pokémon traveled between regions all the time, so there could certainly be Hawlucha living in Johto somewhere.
However, from everything Sunny knew, this forest had never been home to Hawlucha.
Every resident Pokémon here had been born and raised locally.
So how exactly had this Hawlucha ended up here?
The Hawlucha in his arms had already regained consciousness.
It quickly pushed itself free from Sunny’s embrace and retreated several steps, staring at him with eyes filled with fear and vigilance.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Sunny quietly activated God’s Eye.
“Hawlucha (Vigilant)
Gender: Male
Type: Fighting / Flying
Level: 35
Ability: Limber (Cannot become paralyzed.)
Held Item: None
Moves: Omitted
Status: Injured.
Extremely nervous and frightened.
Evaluation: A battle-loving hothead.
Never let him run into Mankey or Primeape, or they will probably start fighting immediately.”
Level 35.
That was not exactly the level of an immature Pokémon.
Perhaps there were other reasons why his body had remained so small.
Seeing so many unfamiliar Pokémon surrounding him, Hawlucha grew even more uneasy.
He instinctively prepared to attack Sunny.
“Don’t be afraid,” Sunny said gently.
“I don’t mean you any harm.”
He even spread his hands to show he carried no hostility.
Hawlucha froze for a moment.
He shook his head vigorously, forcing himself to calm down.
Only then did he realize that the human standing before him had actually saved him from crashing to the ground.
The hostility in his eyes gradually faded.
Silently, he curled his body inward, clutching his injured side as pain flashed across his face.
“Would you like me to help treat your injuries?” Sunny asked.
Hawlucha did not answer immediately.
His current condition was far from good, and if he wanted to recover quickly…
After a brief hesitation, he nodded.
With Hawlucha’s permission, Sunny began treating his wounds.
This was something he had become very skilled at.
Whenever he played with the Pokémon in the forest, injuries occasionally happened, and he was usually the one responsible for patching everyone up.
Entei had taught him to recognize many medicinal plants and berries throughout the forest.
Combined with the little first aid knowledge he had retained from his previous life, along with the remarkable healing abilities that Pokémon naturally possessed, the results were usually quite good.
There was no need to use Entei’s Sacred Fire for healing. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
That would be complete overkill.
Unless a Pokémon had suffered life-threatening injuries, Entei almost never used that miraculous healing flame.
Well…
Sunny was the only exception.
Hawlucha silently watched as Sunny carefully treated every wound.
His expression remained quiet, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
“There,” Sunny said after finishing.
“Try moving around and see how it feels.”
Hawlucha cautiously stretched his limbs.
The sharp pain that had plagued him earlier had diminished considerably.
“It feels much better.”
His voice trembled slightly.
“Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. I’m just glad you’re feeling better.”
Hawlucha looked surprised.
This human…
He could actually understand Pokémon speech.
Still, after everything that had happened today, accepting that fact did not seem particularly difficult anymore.
“Where did you come from?” Sunny asked after seeing that Hawlucha had recovered somewhat.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you around here.”
Following a friendly conversation, Sunny finally learned the entire story.
This Hawlucha had originally been a wild Pokémon living peacefully in the Kalos region.
While resting one day, he had suddenly been captured by a group of humans.
After that…
He had been transported to this unfamiliar place.
He had no idea where he was anymore.
Sunny immediately understood.
Pokémon hunters.
Just like Team Rocket in the anime, there were organizations that specialized in capturing rare or unusual Pokémon.
The difference was that Team Rocket usually caught Pokémon to present to their boss.
These hunters, however, caught Pokémon to sell them to wealthy buyers for enormous profits.
The mere thought filled Sunny with anger.
He hated people like this more than anything.
In a world where humans and Pokémon lived together, what difference was there between trafficking Pokémon and trafficking children?
To him…
There was none.
Both were equally unforgivable crimes that deserved the harshest possible punishment.
Imagine being a Pokémon.
Living happily with your family.
Playing every day without a care.
Then suddenly one day, a group of vicious humans appeared.
They drugged you.
When you finally woke up, you found yourself trapped inside a dark cage.
The air reeked of filth.
You had no idea where you were.
Wouldn’t you feel absolute terror and despair?
If those criminals happened to be relatively “kind,” perhaps they would at least keep you healthy so you could fetch a higher selling price.
At the very least, that meant whoever bought you might genuinely care for Pokémon.
But if you fell into the hands of the absolute worst kind of monsters…
Then your fate would be unimaginably miserable.
Because to those people, Pokémon were never living beings.
They were merely tools for making money.
Hawlucha slowly recalled his own experiences.
He had curled himself into a corner of a filthy cage, his eyes filled with confusion and fear.
His feathers had become messy and dull.
After being deprived of battle and exercise for so long, his once-powerful body had grown noticeably weaker.
Beside the cage sat nearly empty food bowls.
Nearby, the faint cries of other imprisoned Pokémon echoed through the darkness as they quietly comforted one another.
Every so often, humans would enter to inspect them.
Any Pokémon that refused to obey would immediately be whipped.
Hawlucha himself had endured countless lashes.
He had finally managed to escape.
But after escaping, he realized he had absolutely no idea where he was.
So he simply kept flying.
He dared not stop.
If he stopped…
They might catch him again.
Unfortunately, the wounds left by the whips continued to ache.
His strength gradually faded until, eventually…
He could no longer remain airborne.
He had fallen from the sky.
Hawlucha shivered violently.
He could not bear to think about it any longer.
Sunny completely understood how he felt.
He gently patted Hawlucha on the shoulder, softly comforting him.
The surrounding Pokémon also gathered around, offering words of encouragement until Hawlucha gradually calmed himself.
Only after quite some time did he regain his composure and sincerely thank both Sunny and all the Pokémon present.
Sunny then asked,
“Do you want to make those bad people pay for what they’ve done?”
Hawlucha’s body trembled slightly.
Then his answer came without the slightest hesitation.
“More than anything!”
“They must pay!”
“There are consequences for what they’ve done!”
He had suffered so much for absolutely no reason.
How could he possibly swallow that humiliation?
He was a Fighting-type Pokémon who loved battle and possessed a strong sense of justice.
There was no way he could forgive people capable of such cruelty.
Besides…
Many other Pokémon were still imprisoned there.
Now that he had escaped, he had a chance to save them.
He could not abandon them.
Sunny looked into Hawlucha’s determined eyes and nodded approvingly.
“Good.”
“That’s courage.”
He then asked Hawlucha whether he still remembered where the hunters’ base was located, how many people were there, and what the overall situation looked like.
Although parts of his memory had become hazy, Hawlucha still remembered most of the important details.
After gathering the information, Sunny began considering a plan.
Actually…
There was hardly any need to come up with one.
If he simply told Entei everything, Entei could probably march over alone and wipe out the entire nest of Pokémon hunters.
If Entei learned what those people had done, he would likely become even angrier than Sunny himself.
He might even kill every last one of them.
Sunny himself was not particularly opposed to Entei injuring, or even killing, those criminals.
In his opinion…
They deserved it.
However, his concern lay elsewhere.
If Entei acted too openly, it might attract retaliation from whatever organization those hunters belonged to.
Even worse, it could bring an investigation from the official human authorities.
Either outcome would shatter the peace that this forest had enjoyed for so long.
That would become an entirely unnecessary disaster.
Having once been human himself, Sunny understood humanity all too well.
Human society often appeared peaceful on the surface.
Beneath that calm exterior, however, countless undercurrents constantly flowed unseen.
One had to stay cautious at all times.
Otherwise, someone could manipulate or destroy you before you even realized what had happened.
This matter required careful discussion with Entei.
After thinking everything through, Sunny bid farewell to all of his Pokémon friends and returned home with Hawlucha by his side.
(End of Chapter)