Chapter 14 : A Wild Rhyhorn!

Orion was just looking around for herbs when he heard a sound. He quickly raised his guard and looked in that direction. His eyes widened as a Pokemon appeared from behind the trees. Despite having encountered several wild Pokemons by now and gaining some confidence due to managing to escape safely every time, Orion became nervous immediately.

In front of him was a Rhyhorn! Until now, Orion only encountered something like low level birds or bugs. But Rhyhorn was a freaking tank! There was no way his needles would pierce his thick skin. And, if the Rhyhorn caught up with him, Orion would have almost zero chance of survival!

Thankfully, Orion recalled that a Rhyhorn generally only ran in a straight line and was inept at changing directions.

Without thinking much, Orion was about to escape when he suddenly noticed a few details. For starters, the size of Rhyhorn is much smaller than Orion expected it to be. And secondly, the Rhyhorn's body was filled with injuries! Some of the areas that were injured had purplish shade, indicating the Rhyhorn might be poisoned.

Orion's mood changed immediately. He became excited as he thought, 'Finally! A chance!!! He is injured and likely still a baby! I might be able to catch him!'

Seeing a human for the first time, the baby Rhyhorn was on alert. Seeing that the human was staring at him intently provoked the baby Rhyhorn. It immediately began charging towards Orion. However, knowing that it was just a baby and injured, Orion wasn't as scared as before. That said, Orion was surprised once again, because the Rhyhorn wasn't able to run properly. One of Rhyhorn's hind legs was injured. It made Orion even more confident in catching it.

He grabbed a Pokeball and threw it at the Rhyhorn. The Pokeball hit it exactly on the head and released a red light that engulfed Rhyhorn, drawing it within the confines of the Pokeball.

As for Orion, he quickly moved a few steps to his left and prepared himself to move to his sides in case Rhyhorn broke through and attacked him once again.

Inside the Pokeball, Rhyhorn struggled immensely causing the Pokeball to shake continuously. After a few tries, the Rhyhorn broke through successfully. It quickly looked around to see where Orion was and tried tackling him again. However, Orion was prepared and threw another Pokeball as soon as the Rhyhorn started moving.

Orion thought, 'I have 11 more Pokeballs. I hope that many are sufficient.'

The Rhyhorn struggled and broke through once again, but Orion threw another Pokeball. In total, the Rhyhorn managed to break through 7 Pokeballs, which was more than half of the total number of Pokeballs Orion had.

That said, Orion wasn't sad. Instead, he could see that the Rhyhorn was using up its energy while trying to break through. He immediately threw the eighth Pokeball. Once again, the Pokeball moved as the Rhyhorn struggled.

However, this time, after moving for a few seconds, the Pokeball stopped moving and the red light disappeared. A smile formed on Orion's face. He muttered, "My first Pokemon!"

He waited for a few seconds in case something unexpected happened. Fortunately, nothing happened. Orion picked up the Pokeball and attached it properly to his belt. Without thinking much, he turned around and began running towards the city, or more specifically, the Pokemon Center in Saffron City.

He relaxed after entering the city and began thinking about his first Pokemon, 'I didn't think I'd get to catch a Rhyhorn as my first Pokemon. While it wouldn't have been anywhere near my top 20 picks had anyone asked me in my previous life to choose my first Pokemon, in this dangerous world, I'd have been willing to even start with a Rattata if it was my first catch.

To be honest, I was expecting I'd run into an injured Pidgey or a lost Caterpie or perhaps a dying Rattata sometime in the future and catch it. But Rhyhorn is much better. Both Rhydon and Rhyperior are excellent tanks. Well, good as long as I have a counter for Water and Grass type Pokemons.

More importantly, Rhyhorn isn't very bright. Training him might be easier than training a cunning Pokemon. Though I should have a chat with Cedric. It's impossible to keep a Pokemon hidden from him for nearly 3 years. Not to mention, he might have already noticed something odd about me. I shouldn't look down on an experienced Trainer like him too much.

Regardless, getting his help will be important in case I can't control the Rhyhorn. I don't want to die from my own Pokemon. That will be a rather embarrassing way to go. Also, if possible, I would like his help with securing food for Rhyhorn as well.'

Orion reached the Pokemon Center, handed the Pokeball to Nurse Joy and said, "I just caught this Pokemon. It was very injured and probably poisoned when I found it and I had to catch it to bring it here to heal."

Nurse Joy was surprised to see a 7-year-old boy bringing a Pokemon. However, as a professional, she decided to look at the Pokemon first. She brought the Pokeball and Orion to one of the wards. Since it was a newly caught Pokemon, she took them to an individual room so that it wouldn't be able to harm anyone.

She released the Rhyhorn on the bed. Immediately a small, around 2 feet tall and four feet long Rhyhorn appeared on the bed. It was unconscious. Nurse Joy's expression became serious on noticing the injuries. There were numerous stab marks on its back and head. Each stab mark had a purplish shade, indicating the poison. And, the Rhyhorn was very low on energy.

Nurse Joy said, "This is a very young Rhyhorn. It probably entered into a Beedrill hive and was attacked by several Beedrills causing the injuries. Healing it will need some time. You can leave it here with me."

She handed Orion a couple of forms and said, "Fill these right now and give them to me. Visit me tomorrow with your parents or teacher."

Orion nodded and said, "Alright. Thank you, Nurse Joy. But, please check its legs as well. It wasn't able to run properly. I suspect one of its hind legs is injured."

Nurse Joy began checking his legs. After inspecting, she nodded and said, "You are right. I almost overlooked this. His right hind leg is swollen. But it isn't serious. It will heal by itself in a few days."

Orion said, "That's good."

Orion quickly filled out the forms. They were rather basic and asked for his details so that they could contact him and he'd have some proof of leaving a Pokemon in the Pokemon Center.

Nurse Joy checked the details filled in the form and handed back a part of the form and sent Orion away.

As Orion left the Pokemon Center, he thought, 'Looks like I have no choice but to talk with Cedric anyway… Sigh, I hope he doesn't make things difficult for me.'