Chapter 10: Hearing voices!

Ark was sat in the Professors lounge with ralts sat next to him. It was squished right up against Ark almost as though it was scared he would run away at any moment. Ark smiled at this and sipped on his cup of tea.

"So Ark, do you realise how rare this Ralts is? Truth be told, I have only ever seen pictures of it. The Kanto region is not home to many Ralts after all."

"Of course Professor, even I was surprised to see one. However it says that it doesn't have a home to go back to. Therefore, if it want's it can come back with me."

The minute Ark spoke about taking in the Ralts, the little Pokemon at his side nodded vigorously. The Professors eyes slightly widened at this.

"This is strange, usually young pokemon don't understand human language until they're older or are exposed to trainers but judging by its behaviour, it is not used to humans since it's wary of me."

Listening with the Professors words, Ark spoke to the Ralts.

"Ralts if you can understand me, wave your arms"

Ralts tilted his head, both Ark and the Professor would have agreed that such an action was adorable. After a second of tilting it's ehad, it raised it's arms and flailed them in the air.

The Professor's eyes shined while Ark picked up the Ralts and hugged it to his chest. It was just too adorable not to want to hold it.

"Ark, this Ralts seems to possess quite the level of intelligence. If it wants to go with you, then sure you can take it back home."

Ark smiled brightly at the Professor while lifting the Ralts into the air and saying

"Thank you Professor! Ralts do you want to come home with me and become my family?"

Again the Ralts tilted its head before nodding with its arms reaching towards him. The Professor smiled at this serene scene. He wondered what path this boy and his new Ralts will walk in the future. Although for now, he was pleased to see the bright smiles of the new generation and their Pokemon.

"Ralts, say thank you to the Professor. Without him, I would have had to sneak you home"

Ark spoke to the Ralts in hopes of helping it become more comfortable around the Professor. He stood up to leave with Ralts curled up in his arms. As he turned towards the door, he heard a small voice.

-Thank-

Ark turned towards the Professor to see him just as confused.

"Ark did you just say something?"

"That wasn't me, you heard it too then Professor?"

Arks head slowly looked down. He had an idea however, it seemed too absurd to even be considered.

"Ark... could it be..."

Staring at Ralts, the Professor tried to voice his opinion but struggled to form a full sentence.

"Ralts... Can you please say 'Ark'?"

Ark felt silly asking a pokemon to say his name. It was not a request that many people would even consider however, the current situation as far from normal.

-Rk-

The quiet voice sounded out again, it didn't say his full name however the intent was clearly conveyed. The Professor shot up and quickly walked to Ralts. His expression was extremely serious as he examined the Ralts. After a few minutes of silence, the Professor sighed before falling back on the sofa. He looked truly exhausted.

"Honestly Ark, this whole situation keeps getting even weirder. For now, you should go back to and go to bed. We will meet tomorrow after dinner, for now don't let Ralts speak to anyone besides yourself and I"

With this, Ark took Ralts back to their cabin. On his way back, he kept Ralts hugged to his chest as if it were a baby, as he thought of ways to explain his new companion to the girls and Ash. As he approached the door to his cabin, he decided to use the same excuse as he did for the Professor, the only reason he wanted to avoid that was because knowing Ash he may try to run off to the forest in search of a Pokemon of his own. Ark would rather not have a repeat of what happened with the girls, after all he would be severely lacking in motivation to rush into the forest to save Ash.

Banishing these slightly cruel thoughts, Ark opened the door without knocking. Inside a boy sat on his bed looking through the Pokemon snap cards he had brought. This seemed to be a daily ritual for Ash before bed, he would go through the cards and say which ones he found cool.

As soon as Ash heard the door open, he looked up to see the face of a boy he had grown increasingly familiar with.

"Ark! What took you so long? Were you out doing something fun? Why didn't you invite me?"

Ark walked in the room and closed the door with a wry smile at the barrage of questions from Ash.

"I was with the Professor. You see, I rescued this Ralts in the forest the other day and now it's here"

With the mention of it's name, Ralts peaked it's head out from Ark's chest to look at Ash before returning to it's earlier position. Seeing this Ashs eyes sparkled with pure excitement. If it hadn't been for his deep-rooted caution around Ark and pillows, he may have dashed to Ralts and tried to touch it.

"Ark I want to know how you found it! Please tell me!"

Despite feeling another headache coming along, Ark told Ash the same story he did to the Professor but made sure to exaggerate the dangers of the forest. Ark hoped the exaggeration would dissuade Ash from doing anything stupid.

After the story ended, Ash's excitement had calmed down a bit. Ark sighed since he was now one step closer to going asleep and leaving behind the pestering of Ash.

Ark walked to the bed and lifted Ralts onto the top bunk.

"Listen Ash, you cannot touch Ralts. It is just a baby so it will scare easily, you will need to be a lot calmer around it please."

Ark spoke to Ash in a gentle voice, praying that his point would get across. Luckily it did as Ash nodded and went back to bed.

"Right, we've got 2 more days and 1 more night before we go back to pallet. Let's make the most of this, though with your injury, you may have to spend tomorrow with the girls as well"

A slight smile crept upon Arks face as Ashs innocent words summed up his plans for the rest of the camp. From an outsiders point of view it may look like a waste of experience however to Ark, this was a once in a lifetime chance to build the foundation of two of his potential future relationships.

With these thoughts, Ark pulled Ralts into a hug before closing his eyes and drifting off into the world of dreams.