Chapter 10

Percy's eyes open where he is once again suffocating under Crash's body. He yawns and throws Crash off of himself. Crash apparently undisturbed stays asleep and continues to snore loudly.

Percy changed his clothes and exited the tent to find that Jason is awake before him. He had dark circles around his eyes and his hair was a mess. He looked like he slept really poorly.

"What's up with you man." Percy asked. Jason looked over at Percy and sighed. "I brought up bad memories last night. I couldn't sleep and I kept having nightmares." Jason said. Percy didn't know how to reply because he wasn't experienced in comforting people.

He decided to steer the conversation away from the direction it was going. "Alright I guess we'll take it slower today." He said. An awkward silence falls on the two of them before the sound of a tent unzipping broke it. They looked over at the tent to see Charlotte crawling out of it.

Charlotte didn't even spare a glance for Percy but looked at Jason. Charlotte became concerned and immediately ran toward Jason who was slouched on a log. "Omg are you okay. Let me feel your temperature. Let's rest for today okay." She rapidly said.

Then she stepped back in embarrassment and blushed. "Let's take the day to rest. We need to recuperate from traveling so hard." At the moment they were only about half way there and were supposed to be there in two days.

If they rested now they would be far behind schedule. "We really…" Percy tried to vocalize the problem but was shot down by a glare from Charlotte. "I don't think we have the time to rest Charlotte. It's my fault I'm like this we should just keep on going-." Jason bargained.

"I'll pay you both 10,000 pokedollars to rest today." Charlotte interrupted him. 'Is this a form of prostitution?' Percy and Jason thought to themselves. They looked at each other and shrugged. "Fine but we'll speed up the pace starting tomorrow." Jason said. Charlotte nodded excitedly and looked over at Percy and said "Go get some fire wood for us. Make it quick."

Then she returned to Jason's side and started rubbing his back and whispering to him comforting words. Jason looked incredibly uncomfortable at his current situation. He looked to Percy for assistance in which Percy smiled and walked away. Percy went to the tent to wake Crash up. After waking Crash up he walked away from the campsite with Crash to get firewood.

They walked along the plains and sparse trees. The sky was a beautiful blue with no clouds in sight, the smell of flowers and grass was present everywhere. Percy turned to the waddling blue Pokémon and asked him "Do you want to find a new Pokémon today that can join the team." Crash growled a few words in Pokémon language and bit the air a few times.

"I don't know what the fuck that means." Percy shook his head in disappointment with himself for trying to talk to Crash. "Let's get this firewood and go exploring in the area." Percy thought aloud. They walked to a small group of trees and Percy told Crash to take down a tree with Aqua Tail.

Crash used Aqua Tail on a tree and the tree had a huge chunk taken out of it and fell down. Suddenly a bunch of Pokémon sounds could be heard as they back away from the fallen tree. "I think we angered something." Percy said and immediately hightailed it in the direction of the camp.

Crash looked at his trainer and ran after him. A few seconds later 4 Pokémon flew out of the trees and looked around to see who hurt their home. They noticed two figures running away and flew after them.

"Free" Percy heard a Pokémon call from behind him and turned around to see four Butterfree quickly flying after them. The Butterfree were angry that they were attacked and screamed Pokemon language after Crash and Percy.

Crash looked behind him to see Crash struggling to keep up with him. He stopped and turned around to grab Crash and put him on his head. "Use Scary Face on them!" Percy said while panting. Percy picked up Crash because Crash couldn't use a move and keep running at the same time.

So he put him on his head in an attempt to slow down the Butterfree. Crash used Scary Face on the Butterfree slowing them down. He kept on using the move on them until he couldn't lower it anymore.

Although the Butterfree were still slightly faster they couldn't use a move or else they would have to stop to prepare and use a move. They were about 3 seconds behind the trainer and his Pokémon. Percy just wanted to buy time because he knew that Butterfree weren't vengeful Pokémon and would give up when the threat to them was gone.

After a minute more of chasing the Butterfree gave up. They called a few frees to Crash and turned around to head back to their nest. Percy stopped running with Crash on his head and put his hands on his knees breathing heavily.

After resting for a minute he fully stood up and looked down at Crash. Crash was looking back up at him with a dumb look on his face. "Charlotte won't be very happy if we come back without wood." After all that running they were now almost back at the camp.

Then they walked toward a lone tree in the plain. Crash knocked down the tree and Percy started to chop up the wood with his hatchet. After about a half an hour of intense labor they finished chopping the wood for the day Percy loaded all the wood into his Pokédex and started on their way back. About 5 minutes later Percy and Crash return to the camp.

They walk into the clearing and get confronted by Charlotte. "What the hell took your dumbasses so long Jason went back into his tent because there wasn't a fire. You idiots!" She spluttered spit flying into Percys face. Percy stood there with an intense internal struggle happening.

'What the hell is wrong with her. Is she bipolar or something?.' "Im sorry" Percy put his head down but started thinking very sinisterly. The tent opening of Jason's tent suddenly opened. It seemed that Jason heard what was going on and decided to come out to calm down Charlotte.

"Are you okay. Do you need me. Do you need the fire. Do you want food." She said rapidly and gleefully. Jason smiled charmingly and said "Can you prepare a fire for me and get me some food." Charlotte blushed furiously and walked up to Percy and growled "Give me the wood."

'Holy shit she's crazy.' Percy immediately took all the wood out of his Pokédex and put it on the ground. "I'm going on a walk." Percy announced. He just wanted to get out of Charlottes sight as soon as possible. He turned his head around to see Jason with a look of absolute fear while he is being caressed by Charlotte.

He mouths the words 'Please help me.' Percy looks away with a look of sorrow and thought to himself 'I'm sorry but it must be done.' Then he walked away from the camp to explore the surrounding area. Crash looked behind toward Jason and waddled after his trainer.

Percy quickly walked away from the camp back to the direction he came from previously. Percy hummed while walking back toward where he encountered the Butterfree. Crash quietly waddled behind his trainer while watching the surrounding terrain.

Route 1 consisted mainly of plains and scattered clusters of trees. Percy wanted to destress from his new lifestyle. Ever since he's left his house he would train or travel quickly. He wasn't used to this kind of lifestyle that was full of activities.

All he used to do at his home was read books and work out. He had Brooke get an encyclopedia on all the known Pokémon in the known regions. He read it for over 2 years while remembering every fact in it. He could now recall at least the basic facts of every Pokémon.

He wasn't used to being so active like he is now. Percy walked leisurely in the same direction he knocked the tree down in. He wanted to investigate the Butterfree colony he accidentally discovered. Percy walked for about 10 more minutes until he came up to a giant tree.

It wasn't very tall but was spread incredibly wide with a thick trunk and large branches. The roots came in and out the ground to house all kinds of Pokémon. Moss covered the roots and the bottom of the massive trunk. Many Pokémon of different species mingled, lived and fought in the tree.

It was a truly beautiful sight for Percy. With one glance a family of Zigzagoon could be seen huddled in a burrow, a Spearow and Ekans could be seen fighting, and a Sentret, Oddish, and Hoothoot were sharing a berry.

He admired the majestic scene before him before taking Crash and putting him on his head. Then he started climbing up the roots of the tree up the trunk. Percy didn't plan on disturbing the semi peace of the tree. He just wanted to look for a Pokémon with particularly good potential from up high.

He climbed to a branch almost at the top of the tree where he pulled out his Pokédex to watch Pokémon and check for their potential. He breathed a deep breath and felt the breeze blow through his curly hair.

He picked Crash up off his head and set him down on the thick branch next to him. Crash yawned and set his head against Percys back and fell asleep. Percy continued to scan Pokémon for about half an hour. He didn't find anything really interesting but he saw a few interesting Pokémon.

He saw a couple of orange potential Pokémon that caught his eye but decided it wasn't necessary to take action. He also saw about 20 yellow potential Pokémon and maybe 50 green potential Pokémon. He didn't deem anything below red potential worth the hassle in such a densely populated area. To him it wasn't about the Pokémon but about admiring the world around him.

He turned around to stretch his neck but was greeted with a furry face with a pig nose. "Hey." Percy greeted the Mankey. At the same time he also nudged Crash awake who was still asleep resting on his back. Crash woke up and looked at the Mankey with bleary eyes. Then he said a few words in Pokémon talk.

Percy could tell through his aura that Crash was not saying anything nice. The Mankeys eyes widened and it started to get angry and turn red. Percy thought this was a good time to check its stats.

Pokémon: Mankey

Lv: 15

Type: Fighting

Abilities: Anger Point (unlike in the games, anger point just makes it stronger when it gets angry) , Vital Spirit

Gender: Female

Potential: Light Orange

Moves: Leer, Scratch, Low Kick, Karate Chop, Bulk Up (Inherent Move), Dig (Inherent Move)

When Percy checked the Mankeys stats the Mankey immediately threw a Karate Chop at Crash's head. Crash who seemingly had no idea his words would've angered the Mankey got hit squarely in the head causing a critical hit.

He stumbled back on the branch and fell on his behind. Then he stood back up angrily and shot a pressurized stream of hot water at the Mankey. The Mankey jumped off the branch avoiding the water but came swinging back around with her tail. It then held its fist up where it turned red with fighting energy and it leapt forward.

"Aqua Tail!" Percy shouted. Crash prepared his move and brought his tail to meet Mankeys Karate Chop. Their moves clashed for a second before Mankey was sent flying back into the trunk of the tree. Crash practiced with his Aqua Tail all the time as it was his favorite move so he had a significantly stronger move than Mankey.

Mankey also was a lower level than Crash but the Mankey didn't seem to understand that so she prepared Karate Chop once more and leapt at Crash again. "Again!" Percy yelled. Crash used Aqua Tail again and the same sequence of events played out. The Mankey stood up again and repeated what it had done before clearly not learning its lesson.

Crash did the same thing with no need for an order and knocked out the Mankey. Percy and Crash stood in silence on the branch contemplating what they just saw. "What the hell." Percy walked up to the unconscious Mankey and sprayed a potion on it and had Crash use Rest. Then he caught the Mankey and pocketed the pokeball.

Percy picked up Crash and set him onto branch next to him where he resumed his Pokémon watching. After about a hour of watching Pokémon Percy saw a small child of about 6 wander into the field surrounding the tree. An adult man could be seen chasing the kid with a Pidgey on his shoulder. Percy saw the yelling at the kid to come back but the child didn't listen and kept running toward the large tree.

Suddenly a Ekans shot out of the tall grass and bit the child. The child screamed shrilly and ran back toward what Percy assumed to be their father. The kid now had what looked like purple blush on their cheeks. The child threw themself into their Fathers arms as the Pidgey on his shoulder took off to fight the Ekans.

3 Ekans quickly surrounded them and attacked the Pidgey. At this point Percy woke Crash up and started jumping from branch to branch toward the ground. Crash tried to follow but immediately fell off a branch falling to the ground while hitting every branch on the way down. Percy quickly arrived at the ground and picked Crash up and ran toward the Ekans.

He arrived behind the Ekans that were fighting aggressively with the Pidgey. The Pidgey was fighting against the Ekans but was being overpowered and was poisoned. It didn't give up however as it was very loyal to its trainer. Percy could see the child was a girl who had already passed out by now. The father was quivering behind the fighting but couldn't seem to take himself away from it.

He seemed to not want to abandon his Pidgey. Percy scanned the Ekans and saw that they had an average level of 15 and the Pidgey had a level of 16. Percy told Crash to use Aqua tail on the closest Ekans. Crash prepared his Aqua Tail and struck out at the closest Ekans. He hit it right in the center of its body causing it to be sent flying into the tall grass.

Both of the other Ekans turn to Crash and hiss aggressively. The Pidgey hit both of them with a Gust pushing them back. Crash waddled over to Pidgeys side and yelled Pokémon words at the Ekans. At this point the other Ekans has slithered back and looked to be extremely injured.

It hissed something to its comrades and slithered off looking hatefully at Crash. The other Ekans looked back and slithered off. Percy watching the threat leave turned to the father and asked him "Do you have an antidote."

The man looked up still on the ground quivering in fear "Huh" "For poison." "Oh. No I don't. We can't afford it." The man replied. Percy pulled out his Pokédex and got a antidote from his storage and sprayed it on the unconscious girl and Pidgey and then threw the empty bottle back in storage.

After storing the empty bottle Percy asked the man "What are you guys doing off the path without any antidotes." Percy now really looked at the man in front of him and noticed what he was wearing. He wore what looked like a coal miners outfit with dirty hair and clothes.

He looked about 30 and already had grey hairs scattering his brown hair. He looked stressed. "She wanted to go look at the Pokémon tree story I told her. I made it seem as if Pokémon were all nice. I was stupid." The man explained sadly. "I got a better job offer in Pallet City so we took the risk to travel.

I only had Garry here to help me. I was never able to train him properly because I always had to work to support my parents. Thank you so much for helping us. I don't have anything to give you though, I sincerely apologize." He stood up and bowed in apology. "Let me escort you back to the path." Percy insisted.

The man nodded and started to walk away with the girl in his arms. Percy quietly followed behind them with Crash and waddling behind him. They walked for about 5 minutes until the girl started groaning. She sat up in her fathers arms and started crying. "Da Pokémon bit me." She cried louder and some Pokémon started emerging from the surrounding foliage.

The man hushed her gently and brushed her hair. After about a minute of gently consoling the girl she fell asleep as she was exhausted from the day. They continued walking toward the path and arrived shortly at the dirt road. Percy felt bad about just letting them go without anything so he gave them a potion and an antidote before bidding them farewell.

He decided it was about time to go back to Jason and check on him. At this point it was about 12 and there was still plenty of time to explore or help Jason. Percy thought it was about time he go back to camp and have lunch. He started on his way back with Crash following behind. When he got back he noticed that Jason was sitting next to the fire on a log.

He looked better compared to when Percy left. The bags under his eyes have almost gone away and he looked less sad. Jason looked at Percy before saying "You left me." "I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Percy replied. "Yeah. I told her she should rest because I care for her well-being. She's been in her tent." "Alright do you want to start moving now. We can still get there on time if we go fast." Percy suggested to Jason. "Yeah sounds good. I'll try to flirt with Charlotte more to get going." Jason walked to Charlottes tent and attempted to convince her to leave.

After a few minutes Charlotte seemed to have decided that leaving was okay. They packed up camp and started on their way to Honey City. As usual Charlotte rode her Ponyta and Percy and Jason ran behind her.

They traveled until about 6:30 where they stopped and set up camp. Jason made dinner and they ate together. Jason released Pidgeotto to watch at night and went to sleep. Then they all went to sleep as tomorrow was going to be a hard day of traveling.