POKEMON RANCHER
CH. 7


Some time late at night I was awakened to something shivering against me. I slowly opened my eyes to almost total darkness. I looked around and couldn't see Dratini. Then I looked down to see what had woken me up to find Dratini there shaking against my chest. "What's the mater Dratini? Did something scare you?" Right on cue, a loud clap of thunder sounded. I looked up and realized that a storm must have moved in during the night. Dratini pressed her head harder into my chest and shivered more. Just then their was a loud snapping sound followed my a loud thump.

During the thump I heard something shriek. Thinking the worse I unzipped the sleeping bag and was about to get out when I realized that something was wrapped around my right arm. I looked down and saw that Dratini had wrapped herself around my arm. She looked up at me with the most sad/pleading eyes I'd have ever seen. "I know your scared Dratini, but I need to find out what made that shrieking sound." She shook her head then looked up at me. Pleading I guess to make me stay. "Dratini. What if someone is hurt out there?" She pulled her head back a little and slowly released my arm a little.

I reached over with my left hand and rubbed her head. "I'm just going to take a look outside to see if anything is wrong, alright?" Finally she released my arm and nodded. So I turned towards the storm outside, then remembered the Torchic. 'What if that shriek that I'd heard was the Torchic and that thump sound I heard was a branch that fell on it?' The sky had clouded over and was looking pretty angry. I looked around and sure enough I saw that the thump was caused my a branch that had fallen. The branch had fallen right over the fire pit.

I took a quick look under the branch and just as I had feared, it had fallen on top of the Torchic. The little fire type was pinned under the bulk of the branch and was struggling to get out from under it. To make matters worse I felt a drop of water fall on top of my head. I guess if that branch hadn't killed that Torchic, the rain sure would. Without thinking I quickly jumped out of my tent and stumbled over to the Torchic.

I looked the branch over and where the branch had broken off it was still red like it was an incense stick. I quickly reached under the branch making sure that I didn't grab the Pokemon at the same time and lifted. The branch was a little heavier than I had originally thought but that wasn't going to stop me. With a pull I was able to lift the branch the rest of the way and shove it off the Pokemon. Still not thinking I grabbed up the Torchic and started running towards the tent flap.

Caught unaware and unexpecting the Torchic tried to scratch my chest. I paid it little mind as I quickly ran towards my tent. The rain had started to increase and I could feel it on my face. The whole world started to slow as I ran to my tent. When I was a little ways off from my tent I dove for the door. Quickly curling into a ball I landed into my tent and almost on top of Dratini. Just then the whole area lit up with a flash then a boom that was loud enough to shatter eardrums followed. The boom bounced around the trees a little while until it finally died off.

I opened my eyes to see that I had indeed landed in my tent and looking right into my face was my Dratini. She leaned a little closer and gave my cheek a gentle lick. I smiled then slowly started to uncurl then something scratched my chest. Forgetting I still had a Pokemon tightly clutched to my chest I threw whatever had starched me away to the far corner of the tent. The Torchic landed in a heap then tried to get up.

"Chick!" It fell back down and I could see that the Pokemon was bleeding from a cut on it's leg. After I had gotten myself uncurled I reached for my pack and for my first aid kit inside. I found it at the bottom of the pack. I scooted over to the Torchic and opened up my kit. I should have expected it when the Torchic backed away from me. "Don't worry little one. I'm just going to fix your leg." Still the Torchic backed away until it squeezed itself into the corner of the tent. I didn't want to have to force it to accept my help, just then I saw Dratini slither up and start talking to the Torchic.

After a little while they stopped talking and they both turned to me. The Torchic scooted over then raised it's leg towards me. I didn't know what to make of this, so I looked at Dratini and she nodded to me. I guess the Torchic was going to trust me to fix it's leg. So working as gently and quickly I stopped the bleeding and wrapped the wound. Once that was done I reached into my pack and fished out a potion. I sprayed the cloth that I had wrapped the wound in until I looked like it was damp over the wound.

The Torchic looked over at the wound and shook the leg. "Your lucky Torchic." The Pokemon looked up at me. "That wound of yours isn't all that bad. It should be all better in the morning." The Torchic turned towards the opening in the tent and looked out. "I wouldn't recommend going out there though." It turned to look up at me, to see that I was looking out the tent flap. "It looks like the rain is really coming down now. You are welcome to spend the night in here with us where it's dry, though." I turned and looked down at the Torchic.

"Oh and you don't have to worry about me catching you." It's eyes went wide. "I'm not the person to take advantage of you like this." It turned to look at Dratini and she nodded to it. I reached into my pack and pulled out a rag and wrapped it around the Pokemon feet. "Now you have a nice place to sleep." I reached over and zipped the door flap closed and then got into my sleeping bag. Dratini was soon to follow. Just before I set my head down on my pillow I looked over at the Torchic. It was pecking at the rag. I smiled and said, "If you want, you can have breakfast with us tomorrow." It turned to me with wide eyes then jumped up.

"Torchic." But when it landed it let another squeal and flopped on it's side.

"I'll take that as a yes." The Torchic nodded then snuggled into the rag and closed it's eyes. Before I put my head on the pillow I leaned over and gave Dratini a kiss on her forehead. She let out a happy note and we all went to sleep.

I awoke a little later to something rubbing against my chest. Slowly opening my eyes it was a bit bright, so I closed my eyes again and rubbed them to remove the sleep. Once that was done I looked to see what was rubbing against my chest, already knowing what it probably was. Sure enough Dratini was rubbing into my chest and purring. I laughed a little and rubbed her back. "Good morning to you too Dratini." She looked up at me to give me a happy smile then let out a happy tune, which I guess was her way of saying good morning to me. "Shall we see how our friend faired?" She nodded to me and I looked over to where the Torchic had fallen asleep only to laugh.

There was the Torchic laying on it's back.

"Chic...chic...chic...chic. Torchic. Chic...chic...chic."

I couldn't help but laugh. That Torchic looked so funny like that. So I reached over and scratched it's stomach. The Torchic started to squirm a little then woke up with a start, then attacked my hand with it's claws. I quickly jerk my hand back as the Torchic opens it's eyes and looks around. I look at my hand and see a few scratch marks from the Torchic's claws. "Well that's the last time I wake you up like that." So I shake my hand a little and look down at the two Pokemon. "Well how about we get some breakfast". After a quick nod from both of them, I jump into a pair of pants and went outside.

Outside the tent was a total mess. There were a great many tree branches all over the place, my stuff was tossed all around, etc. So I started to make my way around to clean up the area as best as possible. Using most of the branches I started to build up a fire. Once I had a nice fire going I went back into the tent and saw that both Dratini and Torchic were talking to each other. "If the both of you are done talking, how about some breakfast?" They both nodded and came outside. I reached into my pack and pulled out the bag of bread and some other breakfast stuff.

So I returned to the fire and placed the bread that I had taken out and stuck them on a couple sticks then walked over to the fire. When Dratini saw me with the bread she started to bounce around. I walked over and set the sticks into the ground and had the bread lean over the fire to roast. We didn't have that long to wait until both our breakfasts were cooked. Once they were done I snapped the sticks in half so that the bread was a little closer to the ground so that Dratini and Torchic could eat the bread. Dratini went right after the bread and started to gobble it down, while Torchic was a little reluctant to eat.

I turned down and looked at Torchic. "Aren't you going to eat Torchic? I cooked that piece especially for you." Torchic looked up at me then cautiously walked over to the bread and pecked at it. After it had a decent beak full it, it started to eat. All of a sudden it's eyes went wide and it practically tackled the bread to the ground to gobble it down. I couldn't help but laugh at this. So I cooked up another couple slices of the bread only to have them disappear just as fast. Both Dratini and Torchic made quite a dent in the bread supply once they were full and I would have to call home in a few days to get the recipe.

After breakfast was done I looked over to see both Dratini and Torchic laying on their backs with big smiles on their faces. So I took all the supplies to the stream to clean up. Once I was done I walked back to see them still in the same position that I had left them in. "Alright, now it's time to get ready to leave." Dratini straitened up and nodded. I rolled up my sleeping bag, broke down the tent, packed away all the dishes, and tied it all up, then picked up Dratini and she slithered up my arm to wrap around my neck.

I turned around to see the Torchic sitting there "Well I hope that you have a good life their Torchic and make sure to stay clear of storms. Goodbye." We turned and started to head back to the trail while I waved back to it. We didn't get far when I heard.

"TORCHIC!" I turned and saw that Torchic running at me full tilt with it's eyes closed.

"Yikes!" I had to jump out of the way otherwise that Pokemon would have slammed right into my shins. I watched as it raced pass, then stop and look around. It must have realized that it hadn't collided with me and stopped to find out why. Turning around it quickly headed back towards me but this time at a slower pace. Once it was right in front of me it stopped and I knelt down. "What's the matter Torchic? Are you all alone out here?" The Torchic nodded. I looked up at Dratini and she seemed to know what I was thinking when she nodded to me. "Well how about you come along with us Torchic? Would you like that?" The Torchic cocked it's head to the side as if considering the idea of coming with us. "If you do I can get you some more of that bread that you love." It's eyes went wide then started to bounce around.Chapter End Notes:Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended