Sweating profusely under the sauna-like heat of the afternoon sun, Spike huffed deep breaths of air while leaning against one of the trees in their backyard. His bare torso glistened with a thick sheen. Even his shorts were soaked completely through. Next to him, Ares stood with his paws on his hips and panted just as heavily.

“Man, Hoenn summers are brutal,” Spike grumbled. Then, he shook off some dizziness, looked up at Medicham, and said, “How about we stop here for today and go to the beach?”

“Medicham!” Medicham replied with a hearty thumbs-up and a wide smile.

“Ri,” Ares tiredly agreed.

“Good. Let’s go shower off the sweat first, bro,” Spike said to Ares, who simply nodded in reply.

On their way back inside, Spike glanced down at his partner and, with a hint of nostalgia in his voice, mumbled, “You grew really quick. You’re already taller than the average Riolu.”

Obviously not caring about his own height, Ares shrugged.

“Sure, it might not be the most important thing in the world, but it definitely makes our spars easier. Bending down to block or punch you for the first few weeks sucked.”

Smiling a little while recalling their daily spars over the last month or so, Ares nodded in agreement.

Inside the house, Spike first walked over to the living room where Deidre was watching Pokemon contest shows like usual. He briefly admired her lithe, athletic body before saying, “Hey, Aunt Deidre. Let’s go to the beach.”

“Hm?” Turning her head, Deidre thought for a moment and then said, “I’d love to take you there, but my older brother is bringing your cousin back from the Rustboro hospital today, and they will be staying with me until they buy a new house, and I still need to prepare a few things. I think your mom has a shorter shift than usual today, so maybe she can take you.”

“I have a cousin?” Spike mumbled with brows furrowed.

“Yes. Unfortunately, you haven’t met him since the day he was born because of his health issues.”

“Huh. Well, maybe Medicham can go with us and mom can meet us there later. Can you call her for me while I’m taking a shower, please?”

“Sure.”

“Thanks, Aunt Deidre,” Spike said while turning around to go upstairs.

“You’re welcome.”

After a cold shower, Spike, Ares, and Medicham left the house and meandered along the main road leading to the beach west of Petalburg. Deidre walked them halfway before saying goodbye and heading back to her own home. Near the outskirts of Petalburg, thick woods surrounded the city aside from a well-trodden path leading to the beach. Occasionally, they spotted some small animals or Pokemon in the woods. Most ignored them or gave them a cursory glance at best.

Eventually, the scent of salt water tickled Spike’s nose, telling him how close they were. Spike smiled with anticipation. He had only visited the beach once during his few months spent in this world, and he could already imagine himself relaxing in the ocean waves again.

Unfortunately, loud barking echoed somewhere beyond the treeline and interrupted his pleasant imaginations. Glancing toward the noisy barks that he understood as the battle cry of an agitated Poochyena, Spike frowned. A blur sped between the trees not far from them.

“Luckily, it isn’t chasing us. That’s always annoying,” Spike mumbled. Ares nodded in agreement. Medicham didn’t seem particularly interested in the mangy dog either way.

Out of pure curiosity, Spike looked further into the treeline using his eyes that could now see better than the average human after training his senses with Medicham. He focused on the area straight ahead of the noisy Poochyena. Upon seeing a small red, green, and white creature covered in bruises and scratches, he frowned.

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“A Ralts? What is one doing so close to the beach?”

The Poochyena quickly reached the Ralts. A dull glow appeared around its body as it charged at the smaller terrified Pokemon. Luckily, the Ralts gathered enough psychic energy to teleport away, but only by twenty or so meters at most. Losing its target, the Poochyena sniffed the air. Within moments, it caught a whiff of its target again and charged toward where the Ralts had teleported to. Once more, the Ralts tried to gather more psychic energy, but it dissipated quickly after. The small Pokemon collapsed on its side with a weak and despairing cry.

Dashing into the woods, Spike said, “Let’s go, Ares.”

“Ri,” Ares replied, his mouth curling up into an excited grin.

“Medicham?”

“We got this, Medicham. Just jump in if you see us having trouble. Ares, can you interrupt it with a Quick Attack and knock it out with a Bullet Punch?”

Nodding, Ares gathered energy and bolted through the forest in a small flash of light.

“Pooch?” The Poochyena skidded to a halt upon sensing danger. Before it could react, a powerful jab struck it on the skull. Its jaw slammed into the dirt. It yelped, but quickly hopped back to its feet and tried to run away. Because of its dizziness after the surprise jab, it fell off-kilter in its steps. Taking advantage of the opening, Ares’ paw glowed and struck again in a blur of steel-gray light. The paw cracked against the Poochyena’s ribs. It didn’t even have time to react and tumbled across the dirt and into a tree. Eyes spinning, it quickly tuckered out and closed its eyes. It fainted, but otherwise looked fine.

‘Egg Pokemon are the best,’ Spike thought while witnessing the speed of Ares’ Bullet Punch attack. The whole thing ended before he could even reach the injured Ralts.

Kneeling in front of the Ralts, he gently picked it up in his arms. To his surprise, it whimpered and attempted to gather psychic energy again.

“Don’t worry. I’m here to help,” Spike quickly said in an attempt to reassure it. Perhaps because of its ability to sense emotions, the Ralts weakly looked up at him and let the energy dissipate. It relaxed in his arms and passed out right after. Sighing in relief, Spike glanced at Ares who was nonchalantly walking toward him and said, “We need to head back to town now.”

Right after they turned back toward the path to the beach, a roar echoed behind them, stopping them in their tracks. Both of them shivered and turned their heads back just in time to see an abnormally large Mightyena charging through the trees at them. Spike and Ares spun on their toes to face it with grim expressions. Ares even stepped in front of Spike with heavy steps despite shivering at the wild Pokemon’s enraged eyes. He bravely glared back at the approaching wild Pokemon despite seeing a large disparity in strength. Both Spike and Ares grit their teeth, and Spike grunted out, “Endure.”

Ares growled, and his entire body glowed. He prepared himself for the incoming strike. The Mightyena’s fangs sparked with dark energy, and it roared at them. It crossed a more than ten meter distance in a single charge and chomped down toward Ares. Then, everything in front of them blurred.

Next second, the Mightyena flew through the air and barely managed to flip itself upright and land on its feet before smacking into a tree trunk. Standing in its previous place directly in front of Spike and Ares, Medicham crossed its arms as though unimpressed. Both Spike and Ares couldn’t help dropping their jaws. Neither of them even saw Medicham move.

‘Can Medicham learn Extremespeed or something?’ Spike couldn’t help wondering. However, he quickly shook off the thought and then wondered what Medicham’s strength would be in a game level equivalent. Compared to what he remembered about his current father’s Delcatty, Medicham was well beyond the level of the Petalburg gym. ‘Is he really Davi’s Pokemon? There’s no way that guy is a good enough trainer for that.’

“Medicham,” Medicham assured them with his typical thumbs-up gesture. Then, he refocused on the Mightyena and started talking with it in Pokemon speak. Although Ares followed the brief exchange, Spike barely recognized that they seemed to be negotiating. A minute later, the Mightyena snarled angrily. However, it then walked over to the fainted Poochyena, picked it up by the scruff of its neck using its mouth, and darted off into the woods.

“Phew. That was scary. That intimidate really caught me off guard.”

“Ri,” Ares grumbled with a reluctant nod.

“Medi- Medicham,” Medicham seriously interrupted while pointing at the injured Ralts.

“Ah, right. Let’s hurry back.”

The three sprinted back to Petalburg. Luckily, since it was a weekday, they didn’t see any people until reaching the small city. The few people out and about who saw Spike running as fast as a young Pokemon couldn’t help rubbing their eyes wondering if they were seeing things.

Before long, the trio arrived at the Pokemon Center. Spike ran up the counter and called out, “Nurse Joy! I found an injured Ralts!”

The pink-haired nurse widened her bright blue eyes and responded, “Oh my! Let me take her, then.”

“Okay,” Spike nodded and handed over the fainted Ralts.

“Please come back in a few hours to check on her, okay?” Nurse Joy reminded him before gently placing the Ralts on a medical cart. The Chansey next to her then pushed to one of the empty treatment rooms.

“Sure thing. See you later, then.”

After Spike, Medicham, and Ares exited the building, Nurse Joy narrowed her eyes and watched Spike through the windows until she could no longer see him anymore. Then, she mumbled to herself, “How interesting. He is like us, but it’s a little different… Well, I better go help Chansey now instead of worrying about such things.”