Story Notes:
Pokemon isn't mine, and will probably never be mine, so any and all characters and settings that are official Pokemon/Nintendo property are copyright to them. This IS a fan work, and the plot and setting is not intended to be commercial.
Out in the Woods
Luke had lived in this area for seventeen years, and he'd had his own fair share of encounters with wild Pokemon. Usually they were harmless; bug-types that would flee as soon as you came within earshot, small mammals like Lopunny and their Buneary who cowered into their dens fearing he was a predator, and he'd even encountered a wild Ralts once, but the Pokemon's mother whisked it away quickly before he could even say hello.
He didn't mind the absence of a Pokemon in his life, having none to his name; his parents owned a boisterous and hyperactive Lopunny named Rachael who irritated him and whose personality grated against his like coarse sandpaper. While she was bubbly and, in his mind, half-crazed; he was always calm and collected, enjoying silent solitude with only his thoughts to disturb the peace.
His parents, who owned a vast chain of stores that sold customised Poke-balls, Pokemon accessories, and an enormous range of status building items, were worried about his lack of companionship. They had tried all kinds of different Pokemon (those that they didn't consider dangerous anyway.) During the last year they had tried to pair him with four Vulpixes, one Pikachu, a Lucario, a male Kirlia, three different Eevees, a Zangoose pup, and a male Lopunny that Rachael fancied. He'd denied them all, even the Lucario who had been silent like a ninja and meditated half the day.
For now, it seemed as if he would never find a Pokemon to share his life with.
He was wandering in the forest that was the back-fence to his family's estate. Huge sprawling woodlands with no discernable paths that were infested with Pokemon had been there since before they had moved in, or even built their mansion. He had always been denied entrance to the woods, his parents worrying about his safety when he was little, but now that he was seventeen and devoid of any Pokemon, they didn't seem to care, figuring that if he were attacked, he might return with a Pokemon, or at least change his mind on not owning any of the ones they presented to him.
He did work for a living, despite not needing to, at a local Pokemart. He was one of the shift managers, the close-up manager. He didn't need to work every night, and he was given a fair amount of leeway with time he took off; not that he took much. He enjoyed being there; the actual work was often finished quickly and he and the employees would be left with a few hours to themselves that they would usually fill by racing trolleys down aisles for fun. He'd been caught by the store owner a couple of times, and he'd never been angry so long as the work was done, the floors were swept and the trolleys got returned afterwards.
He stepped over a particularly large boulder, minding the thorny Razz Berry bush nearby, and entered a clearing he'd not seen before. Something was different about the clear ground, he was certain he'd been here before. The greenery had been cleared away except for berry plants, deep scores were scarred into a nearby tree. He blinked, looking about the clearing again and noticing gouges in the hard packed soil. They were in tight yet erratic patches all about the clearing, and then two long lines that led away around a little outcropping with a tree on it. Carefully the five foot six eighty five kilo teen silently moved towards it, following the marks in the dirt. He looked around a corner and then flattened himself against the outcropping. He'd seen something that worried him greatly, something known for its viciousness and maliciousness.
Garchomp.
He heard it give a heavy exhale and a grunt, followed by a thud as something hit the dirt. He peeped around at it. It was breathing heavily, flat against the soil, and from its fin he could tell that it was a female, but she was only small, possibly not even a year old. She gave a long, pained groan before starting to cry with grunting sobs. Her heavy exhales blew up small puffs of dust. He tilted his head wondering why she was crying before he noticed the blood trail beneath her. Cautiously he studied her heaving figure, noticing injuries that he had previously overlooked, and he carefully stood up, standing in clear view of the predator. He moved towards her; she noticed him after his second step, his foot scuffing a little bit of gravel. She whimpered and tried to push away from him, unable to lift herself from the dirt but managing to scrabble across the ground, leaving a trail of blood in her wake.
Luke hazarded a glance at her injuries, and her bleeding had hastened; clearly he had panicked her, and her increased heart rate was pushing blood out faster and faster. He looked behind the Garchomp, trying to see what refuge she might be trying to retreat to. A small nest of twisted branches and grass, knotted into a bowl. At the moment it was in tatters, clearly something larger than her had come through here and decimated her home- and her.
Her claws flailed at the dirt, unable to gain any more grip. She was too weak to push herself now, her face showed that. Luke moved over to her and knelt down. She growled weakly when he put a hand on her bleeding head.
"Shh, don't be afraid," he calmly whispered, "I want to help you."
She blinked at him, understanding the alien words, and she gave a long, desperate whine, reaching out with one of her clawed fins pitifully.
Luke carefully reached down, moving his hands around the clearly adolescent apex predator and lifting her into his arms. She was heavy, at least three-quarters his weight, and he struggled under the added weight until he had her head over his shoulder, holding her like a hero holds a tied damsel.
With his new, heavily bleeding passenger, he made for home.
He'd taken ten minutes longer to trek home through the forest than into it because of her bulk, and by the time he reached the doors she was turning pale and barely breathed. He kicked the double doors open, carried her through the kitchen, into the dining room and placed her on the marble table. For some reason, none of the maids or servants were here, presumably having gone to lunch long ago. They might not be back for an hour, and the Garchomp wouldn't live that long.
"Rachael!!" He shouted, hoping to Arceus that the Lopunny could hear him, or was at least listening. He heard the sound of quick-moving padded feet hurrying closer and closer, and the rabbit slid into the dining room.
"'Punny?!" She worriedly chirped in her cute tone. Luke reached for his ear and turned on his Pokemon translator so that he could understand her. "I heard you scream!" She then looked at the table, whose white tablecloth was slowly staining red with the Garchomp's blood and she gasped. "OhmygodaGarchompdon'tletiteatme!" She panicked, scurrying behind the wall before realising that the reptile was almost comatose.
"Rachael, I don't know what to do, help me help her!" Luke said, even his voice sounding afraid.
Rachael blinked, and then took another look at the dying female on the table. She moved over and put her head to the reptile's side, listening to her internals, before lifting her head and peering into her maw.
"She's been through a fight, quite a rough one at that." She said. "This is no trainer that's done this, though; there is too much damage, and trainers rarely inflict wounds that will bleed for long, and never for this much." She bit her lip in thought. "Her heartbeat is as slow as her breathing, she's almost dead..." She turned the Garchomp over gently to further inspect the damage to her small frame, hissing in sympathy at some of the deep, horrible gashes. "Hyper Potion won't help, there's too much damage... Neither will Maximum Potions... They might stunt the bleeding, but not for long..."
Rachael hurried away, returning soon with a large Maximum Potion and a Hyper Ball.
She shoved the ball into Luke's hands before spraying the Garchomp's wounds with the potion. Luke could see the potion fizzing at her wounds, and Rachael turned on him.
"Capture her, we need to get her to Nurse Joy, and the ball will preserve her life until we get there." She snapped. He hesitated, and she took a step. "Luke!"
He sighed and tapped the ball's activator to the Garchomp's hide. A bright flash of light exploded from the ball, grabbing the Garchomp and pulling her in. The sphere didn't even shake, simply sitting quietly in his palm until it clicked.
Rachael tugged his arm. "C'mon, we don't have time to waste!" She snapped. "Lock the doors on your way out and let's go!"
Luke hurriedly locked the back door before following the shapely bunny through the house and out the front door, locking it behind him.
Rachael moved to hurry to the road, but Luke grabbed her arm and dragged her to the garage, where he opened the doors and grabbed his keys.
"Here, put this on." He said, handing her a helmet.
Rachael hesitated; she knew well his driving prowess. He wasn't dangerous, had his full licence, but... He turned corners without dropping much speed, was a little bit aggro towards people doing stupid things, like driving under the limit or tailgating. He was, if anything, a frightening driver.
He tugged the helmet onto her head and fastened it before climbing onto the bike and clicking it off the stand.
"Get on," he said, putting on his sunglasses. In a daze she obeyed. "Alright, let's go."
The bike's engine roared as he started it up, and he pulled out of the garage quickly, making the hapless bunny hug him tightly with the sudden force. Luke tapped a button on the handlebar, closing the garage door behind them and opening the front gate long enough for them to speed out and onto the street, the bike's rear wheel screeching when it bounced at-speed against the pavement.
The bike pulled into the car park of the closest Poke centre, stopping with a jerk. Luke motioned Rachael off, waiting for her to shakily get off the bike before cutting off the engine and dismounting. He put the bike on its stand and locked the bars before pocketing the key and waved Rachael to join him into the centre. The pair rushed into the emergency ward, where Joy was waiting patiently. She took one look at Rachael before sighing.
"Sir, a Pokemon with a cold is not an emergency." She said, before Luke handed her the Garchomp's Poke Ball.
"Garchomp, female;" he stated sternly, "she's lost a heap of blood, is very pale. Her heartbeat and breathing are extremely shallow."
Joy took the ball politely before leading them to another room, where she released the young Garchomp. She looked as bad as ever, her wounds even having opened back up.
"Oh my goodness!" Joy exclaimed, putting a hand to her mouth. "Oh, please don't let this be..." She mumbled before rolling the Garchomp into a position to see her chest.
Across the young female's chest there was a distinct pair of slashes that converged into a cross over the centre of her chest.
"What? What is it?" Rachael asked, worriedly.
"The cross is a sort of clan marking from other wild Garchomp." She said. "It means that a dominant male of the area has deemed her not worth having in his land. For Garchomp, it's a death sentence."
"Sh-she's not going to die anyway, is she?" Luke asked.
Joy shook her head. "Not if I have anything to say about it." She snapped. She took a little white stick from a nearby drawer and dabbed it in the Garchomp's blood, watching the stick for a short moment before releasing several Chansey from her apron's pouch.
"Girls, I need you to sew these wounds up, you know where to find the stitching supplies." She said, getting an affirmative sound from the egg-shaped Pokemon. She ushered Luke and Rachael out of the room, closing the door behind her. "Go sit in the waiting room, we'll only be a short while." She said. "I'm going to go get a bottle of donor blood that her body accepts and a Maximum Potion to try and stop any scarring; you'll not get her back in your care until I'm sure that she is cognitively aware."
Luke nodded, and the pair returned to the waiting room while Nurse Joy hurried deeper into the hospital.
Several hours passed, Luke even had time to return home for some food for Rachael, returning by car, his bike having run out of petrol. The pair managed to doze off in the large leather couches, and were awoken by Joy's voice. Luke opened his eyes and got a perfect view of the female Garchomp's inquisitive, yet barb-tooth filled face, making him practically jump out of his skin. The Garchomp took a startled step back, but leaned her face in again to sniff at him curiously.
"She's got enough blood to be aware and moving around, but don't let her do any extraneous physical activity until she's quenched what will be her first hunger pangs." Joy said.
"'Hunger pangs'...?" Luke ventured.
"With her blood as low as it was, her body has gone into a cycle where she'll produce lots of blood to replenish her lost supplies. She'll not accept food or drink until she's fully replenished, the problem with this is that she was already starving; she'll be ravenous."
Rachael gave this comment an uneasy whimper.
"As long as you have pre-cut meat, fresh berries and plenty of water available, she'll not hunt anyone." Joy said. "Though domesticated Garchomp rarely hunt anything larger than a Rattata."
"Domesticated?" Luke asked, confused.
"Of course," Rachael said, "you did capture her in a Poke Ball, she's yours now." She shot Luke a smile. "Your first Pokemon, congratulations."
Luke looked down at the Garchomp curiously sniffing his pants, and he gently put a hand to her head. She cooed at his touch, leaning into his palm and allowing him to stroke her. He noticed a scar on her chest, and he looked to Joy worried.
Joy reached down and gently lifted the Garchomp's front, making her display her chest where a large scar crossed.
"It was too large a wound." Joy said sadly. "We stitched it closed and used a Maximum Potion, but she scarred over anyway."
Luke gingerly ran a finger across the female's scar, and she writhed in Joy's grip ticklishly.
"She's a spectacular example of an early evolution." Joy commented. "She must've taken down very large prey to manage it."
Luke chuckled, finding the right spots to make her give the most giggles. "So she has a lot of potential." He said, stopping his tickling when she writhed out of Joy's grip and playfully snapped at his hands. "Alright, thanks for everything, Joy."
"It's what we're here for."
Luke waved over his shoulder as he walked out with the Pokemon in tow.
It'd taken a few minutes to manhandle the young Garchomp into the car, and even longer to get a seatbelt around her. She had the time of her life as they drove home, enjoying the feeling of the car turning almost forcing her out of her seat. Rachael, as per usual, had been clinging to the seat as if her life would end if she didn't have a death grip on it. Finally, when they got home and had managed to get the youthful reptile from the back seat, they walked into the family room. One of the maids was here dusting the oak furnishings. She turned to the sound of their entrance and welcomed them warmly.
"Good afternoon, Sir and Madams." She said courteously.
"Hello, Terri." Luke replied warmly. He'd long ago learned the names of his home's caretakers, figuring it was only fair as they knew his. "Tell me, where is Patrick? I have something to ask of him..."
"The butler is currently seeing to the silverware Sir. Would you like me to go and fetch him?" Terri asked politely.
"No, that's alright." Luke mumbled. "Perhaps you could do me a favour?"
"Certainly, sir."
"Our newest addition, my Garchomp, has been grievously injured. She has been to see Joy, and she is now in a stable state of health, but she will require food in due time. Could you show her to the kitchens and allow her to choose a food to eat when she is hungry? If I fed her at such time, she may bite me."
"Certainly, sir," Terri replied, waving the Garchomp over, "C'mon, sweetie, I'll show you where the food is."
Garchomp nervously moved towards Terri, who waited patiently and gave her a gentle stroke when she neared to reassure her.
Rachael and Luke watched the pair wander off before Rachael broke the silence.
"She's a nice girl."
Luke chuckled. "Yeah, Terri's sweet, I'll give her that much."
Rachael gave him a slightly annoyed look, before sighing and changing the subject.
"Well, you should get a name for your Garchomp." She said. "Hmm?"
Luke nodded slightly. "I was thinking about that." He mumbled. "But..."
"But what?"
"Well, mum and dad have always presented me... cute Pokemon." He said. "Like Pikachu and Eevee and such, y'know, mostly harmless ones. I don't think they'd like it if I kept a prime carnivore..."
Rachael shuffled her dainty feet. "That's... mostly my fault." She mumbled. "I'm a rabbit, predators terrify me." She blushed and looked away from Luke's slightly shocked face. "I asked that they not match you with a predator. I'm sorry."
It took Luke a moment to realise what she'd said exactly, and he sighed. "No biggie." He said, waving a hand dismissively before petting the fuzzy bunny. "You were only worried about your safety, I understand. Are you so worried now that I've actually gotten a predator?"
"Not really, she's... too young to be much of a threat."
"That makes it sound so much better." Luke sarcastically commented. "Look, she'll not hunt you except for play, Joy said so herself."
"Joy said that she'd not hunt anything larger than a Rattata." Rachael growled. "What if I decide to have some kits? They only start about the size of a Rattata!"
"By the time you decide to have some kits, she should know you enough to not harm them. Don't worry, I'll socialise her enough, you'll see."
The butler, Patrick, wandered into the room with Garchomp in tow. He looked a little annoyed, and he tugged the reptile into the room by one of her horns.
"Terri says you sent her and this... lizard to the kitchens, sir?" He asked, his voice lacking the usual grease that would coat it and sounding more aggro.
"Yes, I sent Terri to show her where the food that she could eat is." Luke replied. He didn't often get as much of Patrick's more servant-like behaviour as his parents, and would usually have to deal with the middle-aged butler acting like a complete prick. "She's not eaten in a while, and she'll need to eat lots when her body demands it next."
"The kitchen is no place for-"
Rachael gave a growl.
"A predator!" Patrick finished.
"Would you rather her stalking you through the halls, Patrick?" Luke asked. "I'd much prefer Charity to eat something good for her; I'm unsure how Pokemon react to junk food."
"You watch your tone, boy!"
"Or what; you'll give my parents a reason to replace you?" Luke snapped. "Don't you have work to do?"
Patrick huffed, turned on his heel, and walked out. Luke sighed.
"He is a total ass." Rachael grumbled; she also never saw the good side of the butler.
"He's a pompous suck up." Luke informed. "He's only polite to my parents because they can cut off his employment, we've nothing he wants, and so we get none of his grovelling." He shifted and put his hands on his hips. "I prefer he be rude to me, that way I don't need to show sympathy when he gets his ass kicked by mum and dad."
Luke turned to the young Garchomp and smiled, leaning down to be face-to-face with her.
"Well, Charity, how do you like your name?" He asked. She looked up at him before pointing to herself curiously. "Yep, that's what I'm naming you; Charity." She smiled at him, making him smile back. "I'm Luke." He said. She nodded, and he stroked her head gently. The purple reptile cooed, leaning into his palm. "You like that do you?" She didn't nod, only leaned further into his hand with a gentle, encouraging growl.
He let her indulge herself in his caressing touch until he broke the contact and led her over to a couch. He sat down and gripped her lower jaw tightly.
"Open." He said. Dutifully she opened her mouth, showing him her rows of razor sharp teeth. They seemed pretty clean; he figured that Joy might have cleaned her teeth while she was cleaning the blood from the reptile's tight hide. Gently he closed her jaw, tapping her nose afterward and putting his hands on her shoulders. "Alright, let's have a good look at you."
He turned her around and gripped her long flexible tail, gently running his hands along the smooth flesh, circling a finger around any blemishes, not that there were many; she seemed to be in brilliant physical condition in spite of her earlier near-death injuries. He stopped at the base of her tail and pulled her closer, pushing her tail to one side and gave her back a firm scrutiny while scratching underneath her fin reassuringly. She crooned and gave gentle growls to his administrations, curling her spine for further contact, hoping that he'd devote himself to it. No such luck for the reptile, as he soon simply slid his hands over her dorsal fin, checking the flexibility of the appendage before sliding up to her shoulders and the back of her neck. She turned her head slightly as he passed her shoulder and licked the back of his hand affectionately. He smiled at this, turning her back around and pulling her into his lap. She sat awkwardly on his knees, his eyes gazing into his questioningly.
"Who's a good girl then?" He asked, sliding a hand around behind her. She blinked at him, confused, and he gave her a small scratch under her fin, making her croon again. "You like that?" He asked, getting a nodded response. "Are you going to be a good girl for me?" She nodded furiously, and he scratched harder, the stimulation causing her leg to twitch. 'There's my girl." He said, before gently pushing her out of his lap. "Okay, let's go to the back yard, I'll get one of the maids to fetch us some drinks."
The dragon nodded and followed him as he walked through the house, her feet thumping on the floorboards lightly, stopping only when Luke encountered one of the maids.
Soon they were sat in the back yard against a stone garden bed. The garden, while mainly just a large grassy field with a tree or two; had quite a few of these flowerbeds near the house. Many were filled with spectacular orchids or flowering plant, some with cacti and succulents, others with fresh growing vegetables. Luke was gently teasing Charity, poking her nose or tapping her horns and moving his hand away faster than she could snap at it playfully. He was impressed with how quickly he was bonding with the young Pokemon; usually Dragon types would take a very long time to fully trust their trainer, but he figured that it was simply because he'd rescued her from the brink of death. He sighed happily as he watched her playfully snap at his hand, but his smile turned into a look of confusion when she stopped playing and stared across the yard worriedly. He glanced where she was looking just as she leapt up, grabbed his jacket in her teeth and wrenched him from his seat, using his momentum to move away as a large purple blur slammed into the rocks.
A huge male Garchomp stood where the duo had just been sitting, his body riddled with scars of fights he'd obviously won. In a flash he snapped at them, but they managed to dodge just fast enough to avoid being bitten by his large, razor-like teeth. The dragon roared angrily, moving to chase them.
Rachael had been standing on the roof honing her fighting prowess; she'd never been used in any gym matches, but she trained herself all the same. When she heard the thump from below, she curiously looked over the roof to see what the noise was, expecting to see only Luke and Charity playfully wrestling. Her eyes widened when she saw the alpha Garchomp, and she backed up a couple of steps.
"This is going to hurt." She mumbled to herself, before leaping off the roof, holding a fist readied. Her Focus Punch landed right on the money, slamming into the Garchomp's head. It didn't seem to slow him much though, and he roared in fury as she balanced herself on his back. The dragon spun, unbalancing the rabbit down from her perch and slapped her with his tail, sending her tumbling across the lawn. She recovered her footing and dashed at him, wondering what tricks she could possibly possess that would knock this menace on his ass.
"Ice Punch!" A male voice yelled confidently.
Rachael's fist started glowing blue, and she slammed it into the Garchomp's face hard. As if he were hit by a raging locomotive, he tumbled backwards, ice spreading across his face where she'd hit him. She turned her head to Luke.
"Make Charity get the final blow!" She snapped.
Luke, not fully understanding what she intended, motioned Charity forward. "Dragon Claw."
Charity looked at him slightly puzzled, before glaring at the wounded Garchomp on the ground. Her claws shone, and she slashed them across his chest in a cross. Not deep enough to kill him, but certainly bad enough to leave a scar. The Garchomp alpha gave a weak grunt of anger before passing out.
"Rachael, drag him to the forest and throw him in; we don't want him around here." The male said, stepping down from the mansion's back door. He smiled as he neared Luke and Charity. "Good work, son." He said. "Finally my little guy becomes a man."
Luke gave his father a worried look. "Y-you're not angry that I've acquired an apex predator..?" He asked.
"Of course not, Luke, of course not!" He replied with a laugh. "Whoever and whatever suits you best." He gently stroked Charity's head and she cooed at his touch. Rachael dawdled back over and stood next to her master. "And you, Rachael;" he started, wrapping an arm around the rabbit's shoulders, "I'm very proud of you. I had no idea that you'd been training yourself so vigorously while my back was turned."
The Lopunny blushed. "I get so bored when there's no-one here; there's nothing else to do, so I practice on the roof."
"Well, why don't you go help yourself to a poffin or two while I call Caitlyn? Go on, run along."
The rabbit smiled and gave him a hug before jogging off into the house, passing a maid on her way. Luke's father reached into a pocket and called his wife, dawdling away, leaving the duo in the garden. Luke sat back down, and stared at the forest quietly. Charity lay down and gently rested her head in his lap, nuzzling one of his hands until he started to stroke her.
"Don't mind me." He said quietly to her. "I tend to sit and think; you don't need to hang about if you want to go do something." She turned her face up to him, her look stating that there was nowhere she'd rather be, and he chuckled before going back to stroking her. "It's nice to have some company that doesn't want anything else but affection." He mumbled, before trailing off and getting lost in thought. Charity shifted to wrap her tail around behind him, her head still in his lap, and she started to close her eyes.
"You think," she mumbled only loud enough for him to hear her, "I'll sleep." She finished; a contented smile on her face.
He didn't mind the absence of a Pokemon in his life, having none to his name; his parents owned a boisterous and hyperactive Lopunny named Rachael who irritated him and whose personality grated against his like coarse sandpaper. While she was bubbly and, in his mind, half-crazed; he was always calm and collected, enjoying silent solitude with only his thoughts to disturb the peace.
His parents, who owned a vast chain of stores that sold customised Poke-balls, Pokemon accessories, and an enormous range of status building items, were worried about his lack of companionship. They had tried all kinds of different Pokemon (those that they didn't consider dangerous anyway.) During the last year they had tried to pair him with four Vulpixes, one Pikachu, a Lucario, a male Kirlia, three different Eevees, a Zangoose pup, and a male Lopunny that Rachael fancied. He'd denied them all, even the Lucario who had been silent like a ninja and meditated half the day.
For now, it seemed as if he would never find a Pokemon to share his life with.
He was wandering in the forest that was the back-fence to his family's estate. Huge sprawling woodlands with no discernable paths that were infested with Pokemon had been there since before they had moved in, or even built their mansion. He had always been denied entrance to the woods, his parents worrying about his safety when he was little, but now that he was seventeen and devoid of any Pokemon, they didn't seem to care, figuring that if he were attacked, he might return with a Pokemon, or at least change his mind on not owning any of the ones they presented to him.
He did work for a living, despite not needing to, at a local Pokemart. He was one of the shift managers, the close-up manager. He didn't need to work every night, and he was given a fair amount of leeway with time he took off; not that he took much. He enjoyed being there; the actual work was often finished quickly and he and the employees would be left with a few hours to themselves that they would usually fill by racing trolleys down aisles for fun. He'd been caught by the store owner a couple of times, and he'd never been angry so long as the work was done, the floors were swept and the trolleys got returned afterwards.
He stepped over a particularly large boulder, minding the thorny Razz Berry bush nearby, and entered a clearing he'd not seen before. Something was different about the clear ground, he was certain he'd been here before. The greenery had been cleared away except for berry plants, deep scores were scarred into a nearby tree. He blinked, looking about the clearing again and noticing gouges in the hard packed soil. They were in tight yet erratic patches all about the clearing, and then two long lines that led away around a little outcropping with a tree on it. Carefully the five foot six eighty five kilo teen silently moved towards it, following the marks in the dirt. He looked around a corner and then flattened himself against the outcropping. He'd seen something that worried him greatly, something known for its viciousness and maliciousness.
Garchomp.
He heard it give a heavy exhale and a grunt, followed by a thud as something hit the dirt. He peeped around at it. It was breathing heavily, flat against the soil, and from its fin he could tell that it was a female, but she was only small, possibly not even a year old. She gave a long, pained groan before starting to cry with grunting sobs. Her heavy exhales blew up small puffs of dust. He tilted his head wondering why she was crying before he noticed the blood trail beneath her. Cautiously he studied her heaving figure, noticing injuries that he had previously overlooked, and he carefully stood up, standing in clear view of the predator. He moved towards her; she noticed him after his second step, his foot scuffing a little bit of gravel. She whimpered and tried to push away from him, unable to lift herself from the dirt but managing to scrabble across the ground, leaving a trail of blood in her wake.
Luke hazarded a glance at her injuries, and her bleeding had hastened; clearly he had panicked her, and her increased heart rate was pushing blood out faster and faster. He looked behind the Garchomp, trying to see what refuge she might be trying to retreat to. A small nest of twisted branches and grass, knotted into a bowl. At the moment it was in tatters, clearly something larger than her had come through here and decimated her home- and her.
Her claws flailed at the dirt, unable to gain any more grip. She was too weak to push herself now, her face showed that. Luke moved over to her and knelt down. She growled weakly when he put a hand on her bleeding head.
"Shh, don't be afraid," he calmly whispered, "I want to help you."
She blinked at him, understanding the alien words, and she gave a long, desperate whine, reaching out with one of her clawed fins pitifully.
Luke carefully reached down, moving his hands around the clearly adolescent apex predator and lifting her into his arms. She was heavy, at least three-quarters his weight, and he struggled under the added weight until he had her head over his shoulder, holding her like a hero holds a tied damsel.
With his new, heavily bleeding passenger, he made for home.
He'd taken ten minutes longer to trek home through the forest than into it because of her bulk, and by the time he reached the doors she was turning pale and barely breathed. He kicked the double doors open, carried her through the kitchen, into the dining room and placed her on the marble table. For some reason, none of the maids or servants were here, presumably having gone to lunch long ago. They might not be back for an hour, and the Garchomp wouldn't live that long.
"Rachael!!" He shouted, hoping to Arceus that the Lopunny could hear him, or was at least listening. He heard the sound of quick-moving padded feet hurrying closer and closer, and the rabbit slid into the dining room.
"'Punny?!" She worriedly chirped in her cute tone. Luke reached for his ear and turned on his Pokemon translator so that he could understand her. "I heard you scream!" She then looked at the table, whose white tablecloth was slowly staining red with the Garchomp's blood and she gasped. "OhmygodaGarchompdon'tletiteatme!" She panicked, scurrying behind the wall before realising that the reptile was almost comatose.
"Rachael, I don't know what to do, help me help her!" Luke said, even his voice sounding afraid.
Rachael blinked, and then took another look at the dying female on the table. She moved over and put her head to the reptile's side, listening to her internals, before lifting her head and peering into her maw.
"She's been through a fight, quite a rough one at that." She said. "This is no trainer that's done this, though; there is too much damage, and trainers rarely inflict wounds that will bleed for long, and never for this much." She bit her lip in thought. "Her heartbeat is as slow as her breathing, she's almost dead..." She turned the Garchomp over gently to further inspect the damage to her small frame, hissing in sympathy at some of the deep, horrible gashes. "Hyper Potion won't help, there's too much damage... Neither will Maximum Potions... They might stunt the bleeding, but not for long..."
Rachael hurried away, returning soon with a large Maximum Potion and a Hyper Ball.
She shoved the ball into Luke's hands before spraying the Garchomp's wounds with the potion. Luke could see the potion fizzing at her wounds, and Rachael turned on him.
"Capture her, we need to get her to Nurse Joy, and the ball will preserve her life until we get there." She snapped. He hesitated, and she took a step. "Luke!"
He sighed and tapped the ball's activator to the Garchomp's hide. A bright flash of light exploded from the ball, grabbing the Garchomp and pulling her in. The sphere didn't even shake, simply sitting quietly in his palm until it clicked.
Rachael tugged his arm. "C'mon, we don't have time to waste!" She snapped. "Lock the doors on your way out and let's go!"
Luke hurriedly locked the back door before following the shapely bunny through the house and out the front door, locking it behind him.
Rachael moved to hurry to the road, but Luke grabbed her arm and dragged her to the garage, where he opened the doors and grabbed his keys.
"Here, put this on." He said, handing her a helmet.
Rachael hesitated; she knew well his driving prowess. He wasn't dangerous, had his full licence, but... He turned corners without dropping much speed, was a little bit aggro towards people doing stupid things, like driving under the limit or tailgating. He was, if anything, a frightening driver.
He tugged the helmet onto her head and fastened it before climbing onto the bike and clicking it off the stand.
"Get on," he said, putting on his sunglasses. In a daze she obeyed. "Alright, let's go."
The bike's engine roared as he started it up, and he pulled out of the garage quickly, making the hapless bunny hug him tightly with the sudden force. Luke tapped a button on the handlebar, closing the garage door behind them and opening the front gate long enough for them to speed out and onto the street, the bike's rear wheel screeching when it bounced at-speed against the pavement.
The bike pulled into the car park of the closest Poke centre, stopping with a jerk. Luke motioned Rachael off, waiting for her to shakily get off the bike before cutting off the engine and dismounting. He put the bike on its stand and locked the bars before pocketing the key and waved Rachael to join him into the centre. The pair rushed into the emergency ward, where Joy was waiting patiently. She took one look at Rachael before sighing.
"Sir, a Pokemon with a cold is not an emergency." She said, before Luke handed her the Garchomp's Poke Ball.
"Garchomp, female;" he stated sternly, "she's lost a heap of blood, is very pale. Her heartbeat and breathing are extremely shallow."
Joy took the ball politely before leading them to another room, where she released the young Garchomp. She looked as bad as ever, her wounds even having opened back up.
"Oh my goodness!" Joy exclaimed, putting a hand to her mouth. "Oh, please don't let this be..." She mumbled before rolling the Garchomp into a position to see her chest.
Across the young female's chest there was a distinct pair of slashes that converged into a cross over the centre of her chest.
"What? What is it?" Rachael asked, worriedly.
"The cross is a sort of clan marking from other wild Garchomp." She said. "It means that a dominant male of the area has deemed her not worth having in his land. For Garchomp, it's a death sentence."
"Sh-she's not going to die anyway, is she?" Luke asked.
Joy shook her head. "Not if I have anything to say about it." She snapped. She took a little white stick from a nearby drawer and dabbed it in the Garchomp's blood, watching the stick for a short moment before releasing several Chansey from her apron's pouch.
"Girls, I need you to sew these wounds up, you know where to find the stitching supplies." She said, getting an affirmative sound from the egg-shaped Pokemon. She ushered Luke and Rachael out of the room, closing the door behind her. "Go sit in the waiting room, we'll only be a short while." She said. "I'm going to go get a bottle of donor blood that her body accepts and a Maximum Potion to try and stop any scarring; you'll not get her back in your care until I'm sure that she is cognitively aware."
Luke nodded, and the pair returned to the waiting room while Nurse Joy hurried deeper into the hospital.
Several hours passed, Luke even had time to return home for some food for Rachael, returning by car, his bike having run out of petrol. The pair managed to doze off in the large leather couches, and were awoken by Joy's voice. Luke opened his eyes and got a perfect view of the female Garchomp's inquisitive, yet barb-tooth filled face, making him practically jump out of his skin. The Garchomp took a startled step back, but leaned her face in again to sniff at him curiously.
"She's got enough blood to be aware and moving around, but don't let her do any extraneous physical activity until she's quenched what will be her first hunger pangs." Joy said.
"'Hunger pangs'...?" Luke ventured.
"With her blood as low as it was, her body has gone into a cycle where she'll produce lots of blood to replenish her lost supplies. She'll not accept food or drink until she's fully replenished, the problem with this is that she was already starving; she'll be ravenous."
Rachael gave this comment an uneasy whimper.
"As long as you have pre-cut meat, fresh berries and plenty of water available, she'll not hunt anyone." Joy said. "Though domesticated Garchomp rarely hunt anything larger than a Rattata."
"Domesticated?" Luke asked, confused.
"Of course," Rachael said, "you did capture her in a Poke Ball, she's yours now." She shot Luke a smile. "Your first Pokemon, congratulations."
Luke looked down at the Garchomp curiously sniffing his pants, and he gently put a hand to her head. She cooed at his touch, leaning into his palm and allowing him to stroke her. He noticed a scar on her chest, and he looked to Joy worried.
Joy reached down and gently lifted the Garchomp's front, making her display her chest where a large scar crossed.
"It was too large a wound." Joy said sadly. "We stitched it closed and used a Maximum Potion, but she scarred over anyway."
Luke gingerly ran a finger across the female's scar, and she writhed in Joy's grip ticklishly.
"She's a spectacular example of an early evolution." Joy commented. "She must've taken down very large prey to manage it."
Luke chuckled, finding the right spots to make her give the most giggles. "So she has a lot of potential." He said, stopping his tickling when she writhed out of Joy's grip and playfully snapped at his hands. "Alright, thanks for everything, Joy."
"It's what we're here for."
Luke waved over his shoulder as he walked out with the Pokemon in tow.
It'd taken a few minutes to manhandle the young Garchomp into the car, and even longer to get a seatbelt around her. She had the time of her life as they drove home, enjoying the feeling of the car turning almost forcing her out of her seat. Rachael, as per usual, had been clinging to the seat as if her life would end if she didn't have a death grip on it. Finally, when they got home and had managed to get the youthful reptile from the back seat, they walked into the family room. One of the maids was here dusting the oak furnishings. She turned to the sound of their entrance and welcomed them warmly.
"Good afternoon, Sir and Madams." She said courteously.
"Hello, Terri." Luke replied warmly. He'd long ago learned the names of his home's caretakers, figuring it was only fair as they knew his. "Tell me, where is Patrick? I have something to ask of him..."
"The butler is currently seeing to the silverware Sir. Would you like me to go and fetch him?" Terri asked politely.
"No, that's alright." Luke mumbled. "Perhaps you could do me a favour?"
"Certainly, sir."
"Our newest addition, my Garchomp, has been grievously injured. She has been to see Joy, and she is now in a stable state of health, but she will require food in due time. Could you show her to the kitchens and allow her to choose a food to eat when she is hungry? If I fed her at such time, she may bite me."
"Certainly, sir," Terri replied, waving the Garchomp over, "C'mon, sweetie, I'll show you where the food is."
Garchomp nervously moved towards Terri, who waited patiently and gave her a gentle stroke when she neared to reassure her.
Rachael and Luke watched the pair wander off before Rachael broke the silence.
"She's a nice girl."
Luke chuckled. "Yeah, Terri's sweet, I'll give her that much."
Rachael gave him a slightly annoyed look, before sighing and changing the subject.
"Well, you should get a name for your Garchomp." She said. "Hmm?"
Luke nodded slightly. "I was thinking about that." He mumbled. "But..."
"But what?"
"Well, mum and dad have always presented me... cute Pokemon." He said. "Like Pikachu and Eevee and such, y'know, mostly harmless ones. I don't think they'd like it if I kept a prime carnivore..."
Rachael shuffled her dainty feet. "That's... mostly my fault." She mumbled. "I'm a rabbit, predators terrify me." She blushed and looked away from Luke's slightly shocked face. "I asked that they not match you with a predator. I'm sorry."
It took Luke a moment to realise what she'd said exactly, and he sighed. "No biggie." He said, waving a hand dismissively before petting the fuzzy bunny. "You were only worried about your safety, I understand. Are you so worried now that I've actually gotten a predator?"
"Not really, she's... too young to be much of a threat."
"That makes it sound so much better." Luke sarcastically commented. "Look, she'll not hunt you except for play, Joy said so herself."
"Joy said that she'd not hunt anything larger than a Rattata." Rachael growled. "What if I decide to have some kits? They only start about the size of a Rattata!"
"By the time you decide to have some kits, she should know you enough to not harm them. Don't worry, I'll socialise her enough, you'll see."
The butler, Patrick, wandered into the room with Garchomp in tow. He looked a little annoyed, and he tugged the reptile into the room by one of her horns.
"Terri says you sent her and this... lizard to the kitchens, sir?" He asked, his voice lacking the usual grease that would coat it and sounding more aggro.
"Yes, I sent Terri to show her where the food that she could eat is." Luke replied. He didn't often get as much of Patrick's more servant-like behaviour as his parents, and would usually have to deal with the middle-aged butler acting like a complete prick. "She's not eaten in a while, and she'll need to eat lots when her body demands it next."
"The kitchen is no place for-"
Rachael gave a growl.
"A predator!" Patrick finished.
"Would you rather her stalking you through the halls, Patrick?" Luke asked. "I'd much prefer Charity to eat something good for her; I'm unsure how Pokemon react to junk food."
"You watch your tone, boy!"
"Or what; you'll give my parents a reason to replace you?" Luke snapped. "Don't you have work to do?"
Patrick huffed, turned on his heel, and walked out. Luke sighed.
"He is a total ass." Rachael grumbled; she also never saw the good side of the butler.
"He's a pompous suck up." Luke informed. "He's only polite to my parents because they can cut off his employment, we've nothing he wants, and so we get none of his grovelling." He shifted and put his hands on his hips. "I prefer he be rude to me, that way I don't need to show sympathy when he gets his ass kicked by mum and dad."
Luke turned to the young Garchomp and smiled, leaning down to be face-to-face with her.
"Well, Charity, how do you like your name?" He asked. She looked up at him before pointing to herself curiously. "Yep, that's what I'm naming you; Charity." She smiled at him, making him smile back. "I'm Luke." He said. She nodded, and he stroked her head gently. The purple reptile cooed, leaning into his palm. "You like that do you?" She didn't nod, only leaned further into his hand with a gentle, encouraging growl.
He let her indulge herself in his caressing touch until he broke the contact and led her over to a couch. He sat down and gripped her lower jaw tightly.
"Open." He said. Dutifully she opened her mouth, showing him her rows of razor sharp teeth. They seemed pretty clean; he figured that Joy might have cleaned her teeth while she was cleaning the blood from the reptile's tight hide. Gently he closed her jaw, tapping her nose afterward and putting his hands on her shoulders. "Alright, let's have a good look at you."
He turned her around and gripped her long flexible tail, gently running his hands along the smooth flesh, circling a finger around any blemishes, not that there were many; she seemed to be in brilliant physical condition in spite of her earlier near-death injuries. He stopped at the base of her tail and pulled her closer, pushing her tail to one side and gave her back a firm scrutiny while scratching underneath her fin reassuringly. She crooned and gave gentle growls to his administrations, curling her spine for further contact, hoping that he'd devote himself to it. No such luck for the reptile, as he soon simply slid his hands over her dorsal fin, checking the flexibility of the appendage before sliding up to her shoulders and the back of her neck. She turned her head slightly as he passed her shoulder and licked the back of his hand affectionately. He smiled at this, turning her back around and pulling her into his lap. She sat awkwardly on his knees, his eyes gazing into his questioningly.
"Who's a good girl then?" He asked, sliding a hand around behind her. She blinked at him, confused, and he gave her a small scratch under her fin, making her croon again. "You like that?" He asked, getting a nodded response. "Are you going to be a good girl for me?" She nodded furiously, and he scratched harder, the stimulation causing her leg to twitch. 'There's my girl." He said, before gently pushing her out of his lap. "Okay, let's go to the back yard, I'll get one of the maids to fetch us some drinks."
The dragon nodded and followed him as he walked through the house, her feet thumping on the floorboards lightly, stopping only when Luke encountered one of the maids.
Soon they were sat in the back yard against a stone garden bed. The garden, while mainly just a large grassy field with a tree or two; had quite a few of these flowerbeds near the house. Many were filled with spectacular orchids or flowering plant, some with cacti and succulents, others with fresh growing vegetables. Luke was gently teasing Charity, poking her nose or tapping her horns and moving his hand away faster than she could snap at it playfully. He was impressed with how quickly he was bonding with the young Pokemon; usually Dragon types would take a very long time to fully trust their trainer, but he figured that it was simply because he'd rescued her from the brink of death. He sighed happily as he watched her playfully snap at his hand, but his smile turned into a look of confusion when she stopped playing and stared across the yard worriedly. He glanced where she was looking just as she leapt up, grabbed his jacket in her teeth and wrenched him from his seat, using his momentum to move away as a large purple blur slammed into the rocks.
A huge male Garchomp stood where the duo had just been sitting, his body riddled with scars of fights he'd obviously won. In a flash he snapped at them, but they managed to dodge just fast enough to avoid being bitten by his large, razor-like teeth. The dragon roared angrily, moving to chase them.
Rachael had been standing on the roof honing her fighting prowess; she'd never been used in any gym matches, but she trained herself all the same. When she heard the thump from below, she curiously looked over the roof to see what the noise was, expecting to see only Luke and Charity playfully wrestling. Her eyes widened when she saw the alpha Garchomp, and she backed up a couple of steps.
"This is going to hurt." She mumbled to herself, before leaping off the roof, holding a fist readied. Her Focus Punch landed right on the money, slamming into the Garchomp's head. It didn't seem to slow him much though, and he roared in fury as she balanced herself on his back. The dragon spun, unbalancing the rabbit down from her perch and slapped her with his tail, sending her tumbling across the lawn. She recovered her footing and dashed at him, wondering what tricks she could possibly possess that would knock this menace on his ass.
"Ice Punch!" A male voice yelled confidently.
Rachael's fist started glowing blue, and she slammed it into the Garchomp's face hard. As if he were hit by a raging locomotive, he tumbled backwards, ice spreading across his face where she'd hit him. She turned her head to Luke.
"Make Charity get the final blow!" She snapped.
Luke, not fully understanding what she intended, motioned Charity forward. "Dragon Claw."
Charity looked at him slightly puzzled, before glaring at the wounded Garchomp on the ground. Her claws shone, and she slashed them across his chest in a cross. Not deep enough to kill him, but certainly bad enough to leave a scar. The Garchomp alpha gave a weak grunt of anger before passing out.
"Rachael, drag him to the forest and throw him in; we don't want him around here." The male said, stepping down from the mansion's back door. He smiled as he neared Luke and Charity. "Good work, son." He said. "Finally my little guy becomes a man."
Luke gave his father a worried look. "Y-you're not angry that I've acquired an apex predator..?" He asked.
"Of course not, Luke, of course not!" He replied with a laugh. "Whoever and whatever suits you best." He gently stroked Charity's head and she cooed at his touch. Rachael dawdled back over and stood next to her master. "And you, Rachael;" he started, wrapping an arm around the rabbit's shoulders, "I'm very proud of you. I had no idea that you'd been training yourself so vigorously while my back was turned."
The Lopunny blushed. "I get so bored when there's no-one here; there's nothing else to do, so I practice on the roof."
"Well, why don't you go help yourself to a poffin or two while I call Caitlyn? Go on, run along."
The rabbit smiled and gave him a hug before jogging off into the house, passing a maid on her way. Luke's father reached into a pocket and called his wife, dawdling away, leaving the duo in the garden. Luke sat back down, and stared at the forest quietly. Charity lay down and gently rested her head in his lap, nuzzling one of his hands until he started to stroke her.
"Don't mind me." He said quietly to her. "I tend to sit and think; you don't need to hang about if you want to go do something." She turned her face up to him, her look stating that there was nowhere she'd rather be, and he chuckled before going back to stroking her. "It's nice to have some company that doesn't want anything else but affection." He mumbled, before trailing off and getting lost in thought. Charity shifted to wrap her tail around behind him, her head still in his lap, and she started to close her eyes.
"You think," she mumbled only loud enough for him to hear her, "I'll sleep." She finished; a contented smile on her face.