Chapter 71: Grassy Encounter

Ark continued to watch the incredible sight of co-operation between the Pokemon.

Eventually, the Ivysaur had lifted the final Pokemon lined up using his 'Vine Whip'. Clear fatigue coloured its face as it sat down for a while.

Unexpectedly, the rest of the Pokemon carried on walking without waiting for the Ivysaur to somehow get across.

Ark frowned at this, although it was none of his business, he found it pretty heartless for those Pokemon to just leave without checking on whether or not the Ivysaur was able to join up with them.

Deciding it was best for him to continue observing for a while, Ark withdrew a piece of paper from his Pocket Storage and wrote a note to Jessie, stating he was just checking something and should be back in an hour. He then gave that note to Sylph who teleported back to Jessie alongside some supplies so that she does not get bored or hungry.

Roughly ten minutes had passed before Ark noticed the Ivysaur standing up once more, using his 'Vine Whip' and grabbing hold of a branch from the other side of the bank. A bad premonition invaded Arks mind as he saw the events take place, the still exhausted Ivysaur pulled itself using the 'Vine Whip', nevertheless, the fatigue got the better of it.

Ivysaurs vines began to shake as it desperately clung onto the branch just above the rapid waters. Despite the stream being relatively small, it was still big enough to fit a Gyarados, with rapidly flowing water that constantly crashed against the hard banks of the forest land.

Ark didn't hesitate, he jumped out from the bushes before throwing himself directly towards the Ivysaur.

The dangling Ivysaur noticed the incoming Ark, alas all it could do was brace for impact.

The momentum carried Ark directly into the Ivysaur, allowing him to wrap his arms around it and hug it into his chest as he continued to be thrown through the air.

Quickly losing speed, Ark felt the wind resistance around him increasing as his body started to drop. He bit his lip and prepared for impact, not even aware of what surface was below him.

After half a second more of weightlessness, Ark felt an excruciating pain coming from the impact on his pelvis. His bones screeched as he bit down deeper into his lips.

Luckily the pain didn't last long as a dull aching pain replaced the previous sharp pain.

"I didn't think that through"

Ark looked down at the Pokemon in his arms. It seemed it had passed out, likely from fatigue and the stress of the previous situation.

"Lets take you back to camp, hopefully you can get better rest there"

For a brief moment, Ark thought about leaving it on this side as it was the same side that it originally tried to swing too. However, leaving a fainted Pokemon alone was never a good idea especially in such a dangerous area.

Lifting the Ivysaur onto his back, Ark backstepped preparing to get a run up, before braking out into a sprint and jumping over the river.

As he wasn't in a rush, Ark managed to land on his feet and kill most of the impact with his land. Nonetheless, the added weight of an entire Ivysaur on his back caused his knees to strain slightly.

"Looks like I am going to need to work on lifting weights for long periods of times..."

Another activity was thus added to Arks growing list of training. In truth, he wanted to pursue various ways of strength such as Psychic Manipulation and Aura Manipulation, however for those types of training, he would rather ask a teacher than being self-taught since there is very little information on the most effective ways of developing these techniques.

After roughly twenty minutes of forest trekking, Ark arrived at a clear, he saw the dirt path in the distance and a tent sat up beneath a slightly larger tree than the rest. Without any further thought, Ark walked towards the tent, as he knew it was his.

"I'm back"

Ark raised his voice, to alert the people inside the tent. As he did, he heard shuffling from inside the tent.

"It's about time! The sun will be setting in a bit!"

Ark looked up and noticed that what Jessie yelled was true. Despite feeling like it had only been a short while, he had in fact been gone for much longer than he thought.

As his vision returned back to the tent, he saw the tent cover open, revealing Jessie in pure black yoga pants and a tight plain t-shirt.

These were actually Jennys spare clothes that Ark had bought for whenever they decided to have a spontaneous session and their clothes got dirty. Due to this, Ark had given them to Jessie so that she did not have to sleep in her Team Rocket clothes as they were apparently very uncomfortable. Ultimately, it came with an extra bonus, all of Jessies curves were highlighted by the clothes, giving Ark a treat every time he looked at her.

"Sorry about that, this little one got into some trouble"

Ark used his hand to point at the Ivysaur still sleeping on his back.

"Is that an Ivysaur?"

Jessie questioned as she looked at the Pokemon clung to Arks back.

"Yeah, he was about to fall into some rapids, but I luckily grabbed him before he was swept away"

Jessie put on an exasperated expression.

"Honestly, do you think you're some kind of hero or something?"

Ark just smiled wryly as he placed the Ivysaur down.

"Regardless, I am going to be taking care of this one until it wakes up, so Dinner will be later today"

Jessie stared at Ark in disbelief.

"You mean I have to wait to eat dinner now?"

Jessie questioned Ark with a pained expression.

"You can make it yourself if you want"

She frowned at Arks retort.

"Do you really think someone as beautiful as I should be cooking?"

Rolling his eyes at her excuse, Ark just smiled slightly before continuing to look after Ivysaur.

Seeing his stance, Jessie frowned but remained silent, after all, she needed Ark to cook, as she had grown to love his cooking and would often complain whenever he made her cook since it was never as good.

A couple of hours passed with Ark looking after Ivysaur. It seemed the day had taken a huge toll on it as it had stayed asleep the entire time.

Meanwhile, Jessie had just hung around Ark after he made dinner and kept him company. Had anyone seen their camp, it would have looked like a romantic couple on a journey together.

"You should head to bed, I will be in later"

Jessie looked at Ark with a drowsy expression.

"I do need my beauty sleep after all"

Jessie commented before getting up and heading towards the tent. Ark watched as she climbed into the tent before returning his gaze back to the sleeping Ivysaur.

Except when he did, he noticed its muscles started to stretch as if it was waking. Gradually, it's head lifted up and its eyes fluttered open.

Ark silently watched as it raised its head.

Their eyes locked as neither of them moved, just observing the other.

"So..."