Chapter 69. Past Encounters

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Tomioka said: "Grandpa, I can't do anything about it."

At this moment, Treecko woke up.

"Treecko, are you awake?" Cyan saw Treecko's body moving and quickly stepped forward to check its condition.

"Chamo!"

As soon as Treecko woke up, it immediately jumped back, as if it thought it was still fighting.

Tomioka said: "Treecko, everything is fine now. Those bad guys have all been caught."

"Cha Mo!" Treecko looked around and found that it did not see the shadow of the previous group of people, and its tense body relaxed.

After Treecko glanced at Tomioka and felt that everything was okay, it stood up and walked out the door.

"Treecko," Cyan said immediately after seeing this scene: "Where are you going? Your injury is not fully healed yet!"

In response, Treecko just glanced back at Cyan, then accelerated and ran out.

"Treecko!"

Cyan stood up and wanted to persuade Treecko to come back.

Tomioka sighed: "Oh, Cyan, forget it. Treecko may still have a grudge against humans in its heart, after all, it has experienced that kind of thing!"

"But Grandpa Tomioka, Treecko just tried so desperately to save you. Is this really okay?" Cyan didn't understand.

"Give it some more time. Maybe it will figure it out. Don't worry, Cyan. I think it must have gone back to the orchard. It has been there all this time. I also told it that no one can hurt it there."

Seeing that Tomioka had said this, Cyan no longer insisted: "Well, I hope it can forget that unpleasant memory as soon as possible."

…

Treecko ran all the way to the orchard, skill fully climbed up a berry tree, and picked an oran berry, holding it in its hand and eating it one bite at a time.

The experience during this period made it feel very confused, painful, and at a loss.

Originally, in the research institute, it watched its companions leave there one by one and embark on journeys with the trainers who took them away. It had been looking forward to when its trainer would appear and what kind of person that trainer would be.

Would they be a passionate and calm boy, or a quiet and gentle girl?

Treecko thought about it many times and even dreamed about meeting its trainer.

Until one day, it was put into a pokeball and told it would be sent to its trainer.

It was a little strange at the time. Weren't trainers supposed to come pick it up? Why did it have to go to them instead?

Although it didn't understand, it felt that maybe the person about to become its trainer had some difficulties, so it still had a sense of expectation.

It had to keep a good smile and show its best side to its trainer!

Soon, it met its trainer.

It worked hard to show off its strong side, hoping to leave a good impression on its trainer.

The effect was really good.

The trainer named Arata was extremely happy when he saw it and kept praising it to others.

Treecko was very happy, feeling that it had met the right person!

But who knows, Arata's excitement didn't last long. Soon, Treecko was handed over to his servants to take care of, and the number of times it could see Arata every day became less and less.

It didn't understand why.

So it kept trying to run out, trying to get closer to its trainer and stay with him a little longer.

Even if they didn't do anything, just staying by his side would have been enough.

But each time, Arata would just say a few words to it and then ask someone to take it away again.

It was very lost, and didn't know what it had done wrong.

Until one day, Arata came to tell it that he needed it to fight for him and help him win the championship.

It seemed to have some enlightenment. It felt that it must not have let Arata see its powerful side, so Arata didn't pay much attention to it. As long as it helped him win the championship, he wouldn't ignore it anymore!

So it came to the arena, fought desperately, and won one victory after another!

Sure enough, after that, Arata became better and better to it, and they spent more and more time together every day.

Everything was going in the right direction.

It seemed to have found its value to Arata: to win, to keep winning!

Then,

On the field, it fought desperately,

Off the field, it trained hard!

Victories were won one after another by it!

Until it met that Butterfree!

It was the first strong enemy it had encountered. It was at a disadvantage at the beginning and almost fell, but at the last moment, a powerful force suddenly emerged from its body!

It felt that this must have been some divine intervention, seeing that it couldn't lose, and injecting this power into its body!

It got back on its feet, intent on winning the battle.

But it felt its head was heavy, and its reaction was a bit slow, so it could only rely on instinct to fight.

Fortunately, at that time, somehow, it suddenly found that it had learned two new moves: Quick Attack and Energy Ball!

It felt that with these new moves, it could definitely win.

But in the end, it lost...

Sure enough, after losing the battle, it never saw Arata again.

But it felt that this was just a temporary failure. As long as it could win in the future, things would be okay again.

Back at the research institute, the doctor had taught many new trainers, and Treecko would sometimes listen in.

The doctor always said that temporary failure was nothing. They were just starting out as trainers, and there would be more battles in the future. As long as they trained hard, they could win next time.

Treecko believed the doctor was right.

So it trained harder, striving to win next time.

It believed that as long as it won again, Arata would surely take notice!

But for some reason, ever since that defeat, it couldn't do many of the things it used to do.

Its speed had slowed, its strength had diminished, and it couldn't use moves like Energy Ball or even Thunder Punch!

Why?

It didn't understand.

The only solution it could think of was to train twice as hard! It believed it could regain what it had lost!

Finally, one day, Arata came back. It felt that its efforts must have been seen, and that's why Arata came to pick it up.

But Arata didn't say a word to it, and just put it back into the pokeball.

Treecko thought Arata was preparing it for another battle, so it worked hard to adjust its condition. It knew it couldn't afford to lose again!

But when it was ready to meet its opponent, it realized it was in the wilderness, and there was no sign of an opponent.

It looked back at Arata in confusion.

But Arata ignored it and just asked the servant beside him: "Is this place remote enough?"

"Yes, young master. Almost no one comes here."

Arata nodded: "That's good. This Treecko is useless now, but I don't want anyone else to have it."

What does that mean?

Treecko didn't understand.

But at that moment, it suddenly realized that the connection between itself and the pokeball had vanished!

After giving these orders, Arata sat back in the car and ordered the driver to leave, without even looking back.

It was only then that Treecko finally understood:

It had been abandoned...