17: Damn, poor thing.

"...so you met a weird hermit big hot man that stole your cigarettes AND he stole your dignity?" Instructor Dan just stared at the three students for a single moment before he started laughing. "Oh fuck, my stomach-" Lowering himself to the ground in a crounching position, Dan took a deep breath for a moment: "-yeah, no fucking way I believe you." There was simply no way for such a thing to be truth, he himself alongside his team monitored the crossing line for the Hoenn-Sinnoh long continental bridge! They would watch the borders, so if anyone entered the long continental bridge, they'd know about it! "C'mon teach, it's true!" Rolling his eyes, he just looked back at Lavazza as she pouted: "Listen, kid, the last you told me something had happened, I ran through my camp completely naked and had to fight off a rather perverted little fucker who wanted my family jewels, so I'm taking everything you say with a ton of salt."

Ah, the nightmares he has of that night...

"But teach-" He just sighed and looked at Azzaro. The boy and his brother Johazzo were both from the Zaro family, a family that has many Fire Pokemon trainers due to their natural affinity to that Pokemon type, many learning how to become Energy Users and end up joining the military or becoming bodyguards for others, which has increased that family's influence by a lot! "No buts, Azzaro." He turned to look at them seriously: "Even if there was some weird guy, so what? We have better things to do than search the continental bridge for a single guy!" His Hypno connected with his mind, Dan's Psychic affinity making their telepathic link stronger as he had bonded with his Pokemon. "Watched... Sableye?" Frowning for a moment, Dan spread out his energy but found nothing in the shadows around his group.

Sableyes aren't big threats. They're little buggers who like to do mischievous things and eat rocks, but other than that? Nothing much.

"Ignore them." He told his Hypno, who simply let out this soft humming sound. Dan turned to look at his students and simply sighed- They were given the trial to find out a little bit more about the continental bridge and the things Team Plague had been doing around here, that test had been given to them by the Zaro family to test out their potential, which they didn't exactly fail, but didn't exactly succeed either. "Let's just go back... You guys will receive your starter Pokemon either way." Dan's own starter Pokemon was the Hypno that stands beside him. This big guy was once a small little Drowzee who couldn't even put people to sleep with his psychic powers, which is hilarious nowadays, considering that he can even make a Pokemon one rank higher than him go to sleep.

As his Hypno gathered his psychic energy and folded space around them to bring them to their destination, Dan felt a small vibration on his communicator, making him aware that there was a new message waiting for him.

---

"Now, do you believe in rock an' roll, and can music save your mortal soul-" Derek held a stick close to his face as he sang: "-and can you teach me how to dance real slow~?" He moved his energy through his arm to the stick in his hand as he waved it. The energy he used was pure energy and not energy of any type, the waving of the stick cut through the thick bushes, allowing him and the little ones walking beside him, passage: "Well I know that you're in love with him, 'cause I saw you dancin' in the gym, you both kicked off your shoes. Man, I dig those rythm and blues~" Cerberus pushed forward with his strength, dragging behid him this large boulder tied to his body by strong silk rope made by the weaver Arachne herself, and Darius was also dragging weight with him, it was tied around his body! "I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck, with a pink carnation and a pickup truck, but I knew I was out of luck- The day, the music died-" He turned around to look at the fellow little ones who were following him.

The Bidoof, the small three Zigzagoons, the Nincada, the four Turtwigs, eight Grotles, a little Aipom, Cerberus himself, and Jasper who also started to pull weight alongside him to help him work out his body: "Everybody!" Darius called out, taking a breath as he sang: "I started singing, bye-bye Miss American Pie! Drove my chevy to levee, but the levee was dry - Them gole ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye~ Singin' this'll be the day that I'll die~ this'll be the day that I'll die!"

As he sang that, all the Pokemon around him did their own cries, imitating his singing to the best of their abilities, making Darius grin widely. The Torterras only kept moving forward with soft smiles as they just watched this display. Darius was about to keep singing when there was this blast of energy that everyone there felt. It was this deep wave of sorrowful energy full of despair and sadness, making Darius and every Pokemon there pause. He could think of a few Pokemon known for their sadness or facts about them that are either sad or perturbingly sad, but this felt more like grief. Darius didn't really want to deal with whoever was feeling like that because someone who is extremely lost in their emotions may lash out, including Pokemon, but the little Turtwig and a Grotle just looked at their leader Torterra and let out this small questioning noise, so the Torterra turned to look at him and let out this grumble that Darius immediately understood as his mind translated it to: "Follow."

Well, Torterras are pretty chill Pokemon who literally carry families of Pokemon in their backs, so he sees how it would check up on Pokemon like this.

Darius dropped the weight he was carrying. It fell on the ground and rattled a little as a few rocks fell out: "Well, okay then, let's take a look, shall we?" Following the small Turtwig and the big Grotle, Darius held the stick close, prepared to use it as a weapon if necessary. They broke through the trees and soon found a battlefield - there were scattered rocks and broken trees, grass that had been fucked up and even more damaged things. But amidst the broken field around them, Darius found a broken family. There were two small Pokemon and a medium one surrounding a larger and clearly dying Pokemon.

Two small Ralts, a Kirlia, and a dying Gardevoir.

"Oh no." What happened here was clear. They were attacked, but by what is what Darius is asking himself. There aren't many Pokemon that could defeat a Gardevoir when it is protecting their loved ones, seeing as they can literally create black holes and bend dimensions when protecting their loved ones! "Go get your dad, I'll need his help." Darius moved forward, sending out the most positive emotions he could forward, but also with the clear intent of 'Help'. Immediately, he felt a foreign energy brush against his mind and lash out, making him have a minor headache. He shaked his head as his mind automatically guarded itself from the lashing out of Psychic Energy with Dark Energy, cancelling it out. "I'm here to help, idiots!" A little bit offended that one of the Pokemon he wanted to save was attacking him, Darius cursed.

He could soon feel the leader Torterra approaching alongside the entire herd, which was good because if he wanted to save this bitch, he's going to have to do some serious shit!

"Okay, everyone!" Turning to look at his crew, Darius pointed to the two Swablus and Aipom: "Bring my things down, quickly! Everything, I don't have time to specify what I need. Shelly, get here and start using Life Dew on this Gardevoir! Big guy-" This time, he turned towards the leader Torterra: "-please use Grassy Terrain we really need that." The Torterra simply nodded as his power rushed out, making the grass around him grow as life and energy flowed from the ground up in these small particles of green. Shelly went forward quickly and started dropping small droplets of Life Dew on the Gardevoir's broken and battered body, helping it stay alive. The power of the Grassy Terrain was too spread out, but it helped a lot.

Soon, the two Swablus came flying out, followed by the Staravias, Starly, and the Aipom and Kecleon, who worked together to bring him his powdered Berries, Berries, medicne, and working equipments: "Okay, time to make another miracle!" Darius stretched his fingers for a moment and pulled out the things he'd use- a bowl, Oran Berry powder, Oran Berries, Lum Berries, Sitrus Berries, Energy Root, and the little thing he found and had been keeping safe, as well as cultivating it in the back of the leader Torterra:

<~°•°~°•°~°•°~°•°~ >

[Revival Herb

Description: A terribly bitter herb that is full of life energy! Upon consumption, this herb fills the one who ate it with its life energy, increasing healing to miraculous degrees.

Uses: Medicine Making, Pokeblock Making, Medicine Enchating, Medicine Activator, Cooking Ingredient, Grass Pokemon Energy Enchanter, etc.]

<~°•°~°•°~°•°~°•°~ >

Darius turned to look at Shelly as he said: "Give me some Life Dew here, Shelly!" She immediately jumped from the unconscious body of the Gardevoir (who still wasn't out of danger) and used her Life Dew move to make this large ball of pure healing water. It, of course, took a lot out of her! She immediately passed out, Darius catching her and placing her softly on the ground as he worked. He grinded the Oran Berry powder with the Sitrus Berry and Lum Berry, both berries who stimulated healing, before throwing it all in the bowl of Life Dew water. He also started to look through his things and found before he pulled out a Kebia Berry, a Wacan Berry, and an Occa Berry before squishing their juice into the pot as well. Alongside them, he threw in a Rawst Berry, a Cheri Berry, and a Pecha Berry just in case!

Now, with a bowl full, he had to somehow compress and condense this all into Pokeblock for maximum effect! 'Fuck, almost forgot.' He used [Enchante Medicine] on it as well! He began dumping a whole pot of Butterfree honey on the bowl to make the liquid stickier, as he also added this brown squishy mushroom that helped make the liquid into a paste easier. "Cerberus!" Calling out to his Pokemon, Darius shoved his hands in the liquid as the Pokemon quickly used his fire to boil the medicine. 'C'mon.' Darius channeled his energy through his hand and concentrated, using his control over [Water] and [Grass] energy to mold and fold the liquid into a single spot in the bowl.

He drained a lot of energy, but this was going to succeed!

The honey and mushroom made the liquid into this sticky and thick paste that had this weirdly moss green coloration, Darius just folded it into a cube so his skill [Pokeblock Creation] would activate before literally shoving it down the dying Gardevoir's throat. The whole thing took about 30 minutes, and the leader Torterra had been using Grassy Terrain without stopping at all.

To also help, Darius used the rest of his energy on [Intermediate Pokemon Healer] as well. He was panting by the time he had finished it, and the completely broken and battered body of the Gardevoir seemed to be now somewhat healed. Whatever did this to the poor Pokemon aimed to torture and not kill right away, seeing as there were marks of extreme bodily harm that had been healed over the course of at least two weeks.

These Pokemon were captive and tortured.

'Fuck... damn poor thing.'