Warm Company in the Cold Forest

He was huddled under the not so protective shade of the leaves of a tree, the pouring rain battering his tired body. He was hungry, so hungry, so cold. He slumped down, burying his head in his arms as his eyes shone brightly, tears threatening to fall.

Why was he here? It was cold here, so cold and wet, and nobody cared about a small kid, they all had better things to do than take care of a brat. All he learned through the many people he had met, was that he was in the forest of a region called, Unova. He didn't like it here. He wanted to go home, it was warm at home, and he was never hungry. Right? What was home? It's been so long, what does a home feel like? How does it feel... to belong.

'You do not need to belong. Fear. Fear heralds respect. Humans are nothing but betrayors. Pokemon are the only ones to be trusted.' A sudden voice bellowed in his head, interrupting his melancholic thoughts.

His head shot up, breath quickening as his eyes searched for the owner of the voice, "Who's there?" 2 years of living in the wilds alone had strengthened his courage, and he was proud when his voice stayed strong and steady, not wavering under the prickly sensation of someone's gaze.

A rustle in the bushes drew his attention as a shiny Zoroark stepped out. It only took a few seconds for his eyes to catalogue the various injuries marring the shiny. There were a couple nicks and scratches covering him and a nasty burn on his side. A beaten and bent collar stayed stubbornly locked around his neck, but his slanted yellow eyes still burned brightly as they examined the raven haired boy.

Zoroark's head cocked, 'What does a child know of suffering?'

Ash scoffed, eyes dimming as memories of his childhood—he's never been a child—flashed through his mind, "What don't I know," his voice was bitter and resentful, unbefitting of a child so young.

Zoroark gave a low snarl, 'you too know the cruelty of humans?'

The raven gave a humorless smile, "before I would say "better than anyone," but after seeing you..." he trailed off, once again examining the pokemon's injuries.

The illusion fox pokemon padded forward until he was looming over Ash, 'are you not afraid of me human?' he sounded genuinely curious as he noted the way Ash didn't even flinch, much less run away screaming.

Ash shrugged, "should I be?"

Zoroark gave a low hum, 'I suppose not you...' The fox crouched down, staring in interest at the small, unusually small, human. 'Tell me, what happened kit?'

Ash jerked his head, surprised at Zoroark's deep, caring rumble. His eyes started to water slightly as he swallowed harshly, nobody had ever cared before, not when he tripped or broke a bone, not when he dropped hid textbook on his foot, or showed up with a black eye and a deep gash in his side. Nobody had cared, not a single sympathetic glane, not one 'are you okay?' never a hand to help him up. Nothing.

Zoroark saw his moistening eyes and panicked, 'Ah, what's wrong brat?! What did I do? I mean not that I care, cuz I don't, just so you know! You, you're just gonna draw attention or something.'

Ash gave a half laugh, half sob at the flustered and concerned pokemon in front of him. Something on Zoroark immediately softened as he noticed how small the kid actually was, something the tears accentuated.

Zoroark sighed, shuffling closer to the shaking kid, 'alright, tell me what's wrong, I'll listen. Though it's only because you're making way too much noise brat.'

The raven snickered at the illusion fox's last sentence, but he did end up spewing everything that he remembered to the pokemon.

He didn't know how comfortable and safe he actually felt until he fell into a deep slumber, cuddled into Zoroark's warm, silky fur.

~~~~~

When Ash woke up, he kept his eyes closed, reveling in the heat the Zoroark gave off. It completely contrasted the bone-deep chill before. The fox was warm, so warm. He never thought he'd feel warmth again, much less in this cold, cold forest. He never thought that would be possible.

When Ash finally, reluctantly, opened his eyes and broke out of his thougts, it was to the sight of Zoroark murmuring quietly to a tiny zorua in pokemon language. The zorua was nodding and giving little yips occasionally.

Ash's eyes landed on the black and blue pokemon and felt his eyebrows furrow. Weren't zoruas supposed to be red? His eyes drifted to the shiny Zoroark and back to the Zorua. Something finally clicked inside his brain. Jeez, when did he become so stupid?

Eh, whatever, he probably caught it from Gary. He shouldn't even look at an idiot from now on if stupidity stuck this long.

He didn't realize both Zoroark and Zorua were staring at him—damn you Gary—until Zoroark prodded him with a claw, 'Hey, you alright brat?'

"Oh, uh, yeah I'm fine." He hadn't even looked up at Zoroark yet, something about this zorua was just... It was like he was being drawn to her. His hand reached down, completely of its own accord, and brushed Zorua's head fluff. There was a bright flash of light and Ash reeled back, jerking his hand back as if it had been stung.

His hand felt like it was burning, burning, burning. Images flashed through his mind at impossible speeds, so fast he couldn't catch it, except for one that left an afterimage imprinted in his mind...

Darkrai.