Sato carefully placed the blond-haired boy onto Sharpedo's back, securing him before taking him back to the campsite.
The boy's face was pale, his lips were dry and cracked, and his body trembled slightly. Sato reached out to check his forehead: it was burning hot.
After giving him fever and cold medicine, Sato set up a separate tent to shield him from the damp night air.
"Weavile~"
Weavile, who was the first to find the blond-haired boy, remained by his side the entire time, watching over him without moving, occasionally helping Sato with small tasks.
Umbreon also curled up inside the tent, staying by the boy's side, not even moving closer to Sato, something quite unusual.
Meanwhile, the rest of Sato's Pokémon, unable to fit inside the tent, all instinctively sat in a circle around it.
Who exactly was this blond-haired boy?
---
The night passed uneventfully. In the morning, after training his Pokémon, Sato was preparing breakfast when Umbreon trotted over and pointed towards the tent.
"He's awake?"
Hearing that, Sato let out a relieved sigh. Though surprised at how quickly the boy had recovered, he still hurried over to check on him.
Just as Sato reached the tent, the blond-haired boy, now wearing Sato's spare clothes, stepped out at the same time, nearly bumping into him.
"You must be the one who saved me! Thank you!" The boy's face was still pale, but his smile was sincere.
There was something pure about it, clean and untainted.
"It was my Pokémon who found you. If you want to thank someone, thank them," Sato said, shaking his head before turning back to continue preparing breakfast.
The blond-haired boy didn't go far; instead, he quietly found a spot in the sunlight, basking in its warmth.
"This is rice porridge. Finish it, then take these medicines."
"Mm, thank you for the meal!"
Sato nodded, then proceeded to prepare breakfast for his Pokémon, only sitting down to eat his own sandwich after everything was ready.
"My name is Joseph. I'm a Pokémon Breeder. May I ask your name?"
"…Sato, Pokémon Trainer," Sato responded after a brief glance at the blond-haired boy.
"Mm! They told me, they all really like you!" Joseph pointed to the Pokémon surrounding them, smiling brightly.
Umbreon immediately lifted its head and nodded in agreement, while Weavile turned away, leaping into a tree with its food.
The other Pokémon briefly froze before quickly returning their focus to their meals, offering no objection.
"You… heard them?"
"Yep! Ever since I woke up, I can understand Pokémon speech. Pretty incredible, right?" Joseph said excitedly, putting down his spoon.
"Want more?"
"Huh? Oh-yes, please! Thank you!"
Joseph blinked in surprise, clearly not expecting Sato's indifferent reaction, before accepting another bowl of porridge.
"You can understand everything they say? Does it take effort?" Sato asked, moving to sit beside Joseph.
"I can understand all of it, and… no, not really? As long as I focus a little, I just know what they're saying."
Smack!
Sato placed a hand on Joseph's shoulder, channeling a small amount of Dark Energy into him.
"What are you doing?" Joseph asked, startled but not resisting. Instead, he looked at Sato with a puzzled expression.
"Lucky guy," Sato said with a smile, retracting his hand before returning to his seat to finish his sandwich.
"Yeah, I do feel lucky! I really appreciate you saving me!"
Sato shook his head, he wasn't talking about that. He had just sensed that Joseph's body carried a thriving, abundant energy.
Even if Sato hadn't saved him, Joseph would have naturally regained consciousness by the afternoon.
And judging by Weavile's attitude toward him, even if Joseph had been alone in the wild, he wouldn't have been attacked by wild Pokémon.
"By the way, Sato! Did you see any other Pokémon near where I collapsed?" Joseph suddenly asked, his voice laced with concern.
"There was only a backpack, which I brought back for you. Nothing else... did something go missing?"
"Not something. Someone." Joseph pulled out four empty Poké Balls, his voice low.
"My Pokémon… they're all missing."
"All of them?"
"Yes. Every single one of them…"
Sato frowned. He had initially planned to part ways with Joseph once he recovered, but now, all of Joseph's Pokémon were missing...
"Umbre!"
Umbreon suddenly ran to Sato's side, affectionately rubbing against him, then looked up at him expectantly.
"Zoroark!"
"Awoo~"
…
Sato looked at his Pokémon, who were practically betraying him in favor of Joseph, and his frown deepened.
"You really don't have to go through the trouble. I'll head out myself later to look for them. I truly appreciate your help."
"What do you mean, 'don't have to'? You're making it sound like I'm the bad guy here…" Sato sighed in exasperation, feeling that this guy was a little too polite for his own good.
---
After finishing breakfast, Sato led Joseph back to where he had collapsed. When they arrived, they saw a Pokémon pacing back and forth anxiously.
"Gogoat!" Joseph called out excitedly, and the large green goat-like Pokémon immediately ran over in delight.
"Alright, alright, stop licking me! Good boy!" Joseph laughed as he hugged Gogoat's massive head, playfully roughhousing with it.
"Oh, right! Gogoat, do you know where Wigglytuff and the others are?"
"Baa~~" Gogoat shook its head, looking rather dejected.
"Then let's go find them together!"
"Baa baa!"
Gogoat nodded eagerly before expertly using its horns to help Joseph climb onto its back.
"You're from Kalos?" Sato suddenly asked. He had noticed earlier that Joseph spoke with a slight accent, but he hadn't given it much thought.
Now it was clear, Joseph wasn't from Kanto at all. In fact, his Gogoat wasn't a species commonly found in Kanto either.
"You recognize Gogoat? Oh! I'm from Lumiose City in Kalos! Have you heard of Lumiose City?" Joseph asked excitedly, even more thrilled than when he had found Gogoat.
"No, but I do know that Gogoat is a Pokémon native to Kalos. Kalos is extremely far from Kanto... how did you end up here?" Sato questioned.
"I… don't know…" Joseph shook his head, looking bewildered. "I woke up in the Hoenn Region, and after asking around, I decided to head toward your region's largest official organization —the Pokémon League— to find a way home[1]."
"You're trying to get to Indigo Plateau?" Sato raised an eyebrow. He hadn't expected Joseph's destination to be the same as his.
"Yes! But unfortunately, I was attacked by a swarm of Beedrill while passing through Viridian Forest, and I got separated from my Pokémon while trying to escape."
"…Uh…" Sato suddenly had a thought. Could it be that the Beedrill chaos Joseph encountered was actually caused by Houndoom's rampage earlier?
If that were the case… then saving Joseph had really been the right call.
[1] Oh fug! The real MC?