Ch 45. The abandoned pokemon

(A/N: Unedited, please comment on any mistakes and I will fix them as soon as possible. I will try to post another chapter somewhere this week)

Departing from Fuchsia city, after having shortly visited The Pokemon Center, Ares and Lucario were on their way to Saffron city. As the amount of pokemon he was carrying with him had become rather large, he had transferred Lapras to professor Oak's laboratory.

Professor Oak was all too happy to receive Lapras from him, as he could study Lapras and her behavior further, to improve the pokedex.

Lapras didn't mind it either, as she wasn't too fond of battling, nor did she have a lot of time she could spend outside of the pokeball. If he needed her for something, he could call professor Oak to send back her pokeball.

Now on the road again, Ares was traveling with Lucario alongside him through a forest. The path they were taken was well maintained, meaning that as long as he kept his feet on the road, he didn't have to worry about getting lost.

Now he just had to find his way back to Saffron city. His options were going back across the cycling road or going towards route 15 till 12 towards Lavender town. Both were rather far, as well as time consuming.

Then there was an option of going through the Safari zone as a shortcut towards route 11, just besides Vermillion city.

Laying out his options to Lucario, they were both stuck on where to go, as they were all time consuming.

Then the solution popped out of Ares's backpack.

Mew poked her head out, hugging the Abra egg firmly.

[Are you done mumbling?]

Mew yawned, meeting Ares's gaze as he waited for her to give her own opinion.

[Then let's go!]

Mew just said, as their surroundings suddenly changed and they were at the edge of a rather widespread forest.

A sign on the side of the road read {Route 11}, which could only mean one thing.

[I'm going back to sleep. Wake me up when there is dessert.]

Mew yawned again, her head disappearing back into the bag.

Ares "Thanks Mew."

Ares muttered, as he and Lucario were now just a few days away from Vermillion city, maybe a weeks travel to Saffron city if they couldn't get a ride.

A bit behind him he could see the sea. If he went that way he would get on Route 12 or he could go towards Lavender town.

Turning around, he continued on his way towards route 11. He didn't rush, as it was nice to enjoy nature for a bit after a day of battling from yesterday.

He traveled until late in the night, deciding to finally set up camp.

Letting out all of his pokemon, they were meeting Beldum for the first time. As they wanted to greet him, they were quickly gathered around him. Beldum became uneasy at the sudden arrival of so many unknown and different pokemon.

Ready to attack if they came any closer, Beldum prepared a tackle attack.

Ares "Stand back a bit. Beldum is uneasy."

At the moment Beldum was about to attack, Ares spoke up. A single word from him made all his pokemon back down, gathering around Ares as they began to help him set up camp.

Beldum looked on in astonishment as they all worked together without a problem. There was no clear hierarchy, with only Ares shown as the one they listened to. The strongest pokemon in the group was clearly the Lucario, but it listened to Ares without any hesitation.

This was a puzzling thing for Beldum, who had grown up in a society where the strong ruled over the weak.

Ares "Take your time getting used to it. All of these pokemon are my friends, family even. I hope you can be too, if you want to."

Beldum remained silent as he observed Ares's pokemon from the side, not really knowing how he should mingle with them.

Letting Beldum get used to things at his own pace, Ares made a quick meal for his pokemon and set up his tent.

When night fell, they all crept together under the blankets, only Beldum remaining to the side as he wondered if he should join them or not.

When they all were asleep, only Beldum remained awake, wondering what he should do with his live. He had been cast away by his group, for being weak or for being different. Maybe it was both.

Now there was a human and his pokemon who accepted him in their group, even if he didn't even ask for it.

Wanting to be alone for a bit, Beldum flew away a bit further into the woods. There weren't any strong pokemon in the forest, with only the docile ones such as Hoothoot and Noctowl being awake.

Looking around, Beldum once more was amazed by the refreshing scenery around him. Even the stars were a sight to behold, as this was the first time he had seen so many small light in the dark sky.

He wondered if there was any beautifull scenery there as well, just as there had been this world above his familiar underground life.

A small whimper called Beldum out of his thoughts, as he was hesistant to go towards it. Sounds like these mostly meant there were pokemon injured or attacked. In both cases he would be dragged into nasty situations if he stepped in.

Yet the ever softer growing sound still made him want to have a look.

Arriving at a deep pit, inside of it was a Growlithe. Around its neck was a chain, which was tied to a big boulder.

The Growlithe whimpered softly, the area around its neck badly bruised.

Beldum slowly appraoched, remaining a few feet away from the foreign pokemon in front of it. The Growlithe met his gaze, its whimpering stopping.

Both were on guard against the other, yet didn't execute the first attack.

After a while just observing, Beldum was about to leave when the Growlithe barked pitifully at it.

Turning back to look at the dejected figure of the Growlithe, Beldum had no clue as to what he should do. Leaving would be best, as staying could bring predators towards it.

Yet the sight of the Growlithe's downcast figure kept him from leaving.

Growlithe whimpered once more, staring hopefully towards Beldum.

Not knowing if he would regret this later or not, Beldum used multiple Iron defense of himself, using Tackle on the chain after he assumed he was strengthened enough. He continued to use tackle, the chain creaking under his continued attacks. Yet it didn't break.

Growlithe had begun helping as well, as it began to heat the metal till it was red of color.

Yet it still didn't break, even with the combined attacks from both of them.

This ticked Beldum off, as he became angrier. Fulling his attacks with that anger, the metalic sheen from the Iron Defense seemed to become attached to the Tackle, as Beldum's head gained the same glow.

Bashing it repeatedly, the chain finally broke, freeing the injured Growlithe.

Barking in excitement, the Growlithe tackled Beldum to the ground, thanking it profusely for his help. Beldum felt uncomfortable, not knowing how he should react to this gratitude.

Yet no matter how often he got out of Growlithe's grasp, it would just tackle him again and lick him all over.

Distancing himself from Growlithe once more, Beldum quickly took off towards camp, hoping he would leave the furry menace behind.

Rushing into the tent, he took a spot near the powerhouse of Ares's pokemon, Lucario. He would surely be safe if he was near a strong pokemon.

While Beldum had left the Growlithe behind, the Growlithe was tracking Beldum's scent. It quickly arrived at Ares's camp and spotted the Beldum along with other pokemon and a trainer.

Expecting the Beldum to be a wild pokemon, the Growlithe didn't know what to do.

Sitting in front of the tent, Growlithe patiently waited for the other party's pokemon and trainer to wake up. It would figure out what to do afterwards.