A Pet?

Every one of the soldiers were frozen in shock and fear. The creature however, merely passed his gaze over them before looking at the man beside him.

The man looked at the beast, not with fear, but with... fondness? This puzzled the men. They wondered how could he possibly be calm in front of such a thing.

The man met the eyes of the creature and didn't say anything for a while before he nodded and looked back at the soldiers while the terrifying "Dragon," as they'd assumed it to be, flew off deep within the forest.

The soldiers, still tensed, were about to draw their weapons. But Valen held up a hand. "And who are you?" Valen asked, his voice steady, despite the fear he felt moments ago.

The young man smiled slightly. "My name is Daniel. I'm... the caretaker of this forest, you might say."

Valen's eyes narrowed. "Caretaker? Are you responsible for these creatures?"

"In a way," Daniel replied. He looked back at the retreating dragon, then back at the soldiers. "This forest is a sanctuary for them. They won't harm you unless you give them reason to."

Valen glanced at his men, who looked back at him, waiting for orders. He could feel their unease—these were creatures beyond anything they had ever encountered, and this young man seemed to control them. Valen had no idea what they were dealing with, but one thing was clear: Daniel was no ordinary man.

"We were sent to investigate," Valen said slowly, choosing his words carefully. "We need to report back to the town. They'll want to know what's happening here."

Daniel nodded, his expression thoughtful. "I understand. But know this: the creatures here are not a threat... and they're under my protection."

Valen met Daniel's gaze, his mind racing. There was something about the young man—something powerful, something dangerous. But there was also a strange sense of trust. Valen could tell that Daniel wasn't their enemy… at least, not yet.

"Very well," Valen said at last. "We must report what we've seen. But if the town feels threatened—"

Daniel's expression hardened slightly. "I will protect the Pokémon. No matter what."

There was a long silence as the two men stared each other down. Both seemingly wanting to display the gravity of there own words.

Daniel spoke again, "I have a proposal for you...?" "Captain Valen," Valen said, introducing himself.

"Captain Valen, the creatures you're so curious about, are known as Pokémon. And as I'm sure you've discovered, they're quite unique. I invite you and your men to follow me to my home, so that I can answer any questions you may have on the way, there are conditions for my hospitality, however."

"And those conditions would be?" The Captain asked with uncertainty.

"Neither you nor your men will wander off. You will keep your weapons away at all times, unless provoked. And you will obey me at all times while within this forest."

Valen mentally chewed this demand over in his mind. Though unwilling to obey a complete stranger, disagreeing with this "Caretaker" of the woods, could end up with him and his men trapped, with no one to help them. He didn't know what, or who else was watching, but he could feel many eyes on him.

"Very well. You must know, however, that we will not go against the laws of the kingdom whether we're in your forest or not." He spoke as he took a deep breath.

"Is this wise sir?" Asked an older soldier, Valens second in command.

"I don't know honeslty, but it seems as if we don't have much choice."

Daniel nodded, seemingly approving of his answer. He waved for them to follow him as he turned to the lake.

The men, confused walked up to the lake beside the man. Daniel, taking a knee at the edge of the water, spoke up, "Vaporeon, come on out girl." A few moments later the men watched with differing emotions as a blue fish-like head poked it self out of the surface of the lake.

One of the men jumped slightly at the sight, grabbing his sword, but Captain Valen met his eyes with a stern gaze, causing the man to lower his hand.

Refocusing his gaze on "Vaporeon" as Daniel called it, Valen watched in curiosity as it slowly swam up to Daniel. It gave him and his men a quick glance before swimming straight into Daniel's arms and letting out what could only be described as one of the most adorable sounds he had ever heard.

It squealed in delight as David pet it. "This is Vaporeon, she's a Pokémon. As you could guess, she's a water type and quite friendly."

"Water type?" On of the men asked. "Yes, each pokemon have differing types. There's quite the variety, though that's a conversation for another time."

"Is it dangerous?" The second in command asked. "Hmm, well that depends." Spoke Daniel in a serious tone. "If you consider powerful to be dangerous, then yes, she is very dangerous. However she is very mildly tempered Pokémon. Despite having great power, if you provoked her, she's likely to run away. That is, unless she's battling for a trainer."

"Battling for a trainer?" A soldier asked. They had all visibly calmed down a lot, seeing the playfully attitude of the creature known as a "Pokémon." "Yes, a trainer is someone who gains the loyalty of a pokemon and travels with it. Once a Pokémon makes a strong enough bond with a trainer, they will consider that person their companion for life."

The men were taken aback by Daniel's words. Valen spoke up, "So you're saying that we can take these creatures as pets?" Before Daniel could answer the Captain, suddenly a jet of water crashed into face. Hitting him hard enough to fall off of his feet, but not hard enough to actually harm him.

After recovering from his shock, Valen scrambled to get up with a red face, clearly embarrassed and angry. Following his men's shocked gazes, he found the perpetrator was actually the blue creature. It was looking away from him with it's head heald high as if to ignore more him.

Before he could say anything however, it jumped out of Daniel's arms and swam back into the depths of the lake.

Daniel finally couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a snort that was clearly from holding back a laugh.

"Why'd it attack me?!" Valen demanded. He couldn't comprehend why the previously adorable and friendly creature had suddenly hit him with water. And how could it possibly shoot water at him, a battle hardened veteran, hard enough to fall over.

Taking a deep breath to push down his laugh, Daniel explained "You called her a pet. Pokémon are not particularly fond of being called pets. They're your friends, your companions, it would be like you calling one of your fellow brothers in arms a pet. They take great offense to it."

Valen though still upset, and drenched from head to toe, considered one of his men calling him a pet and couldn't deny that he'd very much want to punch them right in the face if they did so. Taking a deep breath he calmed down but still held a grudge over the creature known as Vaporeon. "Whatever, anyways let's get moving."