Burning Thunder

---

The uniform-clad man glanced around at the shout, not even realising it was aimed at him until he heard mention of the bag in his arms. Seeing the boy racing towards him, he tilted his head to the side.

“A Pokémon? What’re ya talking about, kid?”

Within speaking distance, Ryan took a moment to catch his breath, safe in the knowledge that the creature was no longer in immediate danger. “That… the bag you’re carrying. It's a Trubbish.”

“What?” The man raised an eyebrow, looking down at the object in his arms – then almost dropping it in surprise. “Dear Arceus, you’re right! Err—is this your Pokémon?”

Ryan shook his head. He couldn’t tell if the creature was wild or not just by looking at it, but it didn’t look in the best shape, that was for certain. Given how awkward and worried the man looked at having the poison-type in his arms, Ryan reached out his own, silently asking him to hand it over.

“… You sure you want to hold this thing? It could be wild – and it smells like something out the back of—” He cut off his own sentence at the glare the boy shot him. “Alright, alright.”

The Pokémon was placed in Ryan’s arms – which probably meant he would have to make another trip to the laundrette later to wash his clothes again, but if that was the only thing standing in the way of helping a Pokémon then so be it. He’d never actually held a Trubbish before, but it was heavier than he expected, weighing more than the average garbage bag. “How could you mistake this for a bag of trash!?” he snapped.

The refuge collector took a step back, looking slightly nervous despite the fact that the person scolding him was only twelve years old. “Ah, I – it’s only my second day on the job, see,” he replied hastily, holding his hands up in defence. He nearly attempted to scratch his neck before fortunately remembering he’d been handling landfill waste. “Although it did seem a little heavy. I’ll remember to check from now on, alright?”

Satisfied with that response, Ryan nodded. Given how startled the man had looked to find out he’d actually been holding a living being, Ryan had the feeling he was going to keep his word.

Letting him get back to his job and hoping that there weren’t any more Trubbish mixed in with the piles of bags they were throwing away, Ryan looked to the one in his arms. It was out cold and looked a little beaten up, but it didn’t appear to have any serious injuries, at least.

“Is that a Pokémon?” Jay asked, placing his front paws against Ryan’s leg as he reached up to sniff at the creature – and immediately regretting doing so, scrambling back and wrinkling his nose at the stench.

“Yeah, it is.” The boy glanced around, eventually spotting the path that led away from the main part of the route and out into the forest. Since this was probably a wild Pokémon – and in no serious immediate danger – they might as well take it back out there, where it would be safe from any other people making the same mistake as that man had done.

Once they were far enough into the forest that they could barely hear the performers’ music, Ryan set the poison-type down near one of the trees. He quickly wiped his hands on the grass before delving into his backpack. He probably had a potion in here somewhere.

“I say we just leave it here. It kinda stinks,” Charlotte muttered, wafting the air with one paw for emphasis.

“Char!” Ryan huffed. “It’s still a Pokémon; we can’t just leave it here. It's injured.”

“Okay, okay, geez.” She rolled her eyes. “Not my fault if some of us have more sensitive noses than humans.”

Ignoring the Mienfoo’s complaints, Ryan eventually found a potion, spraying the poison-type’s injuries with it. Whatever had happened to it, there didn’t appear to be anything worse than a couple of bruises.

As he stuffed the empty bottle back into his bag to dispose of later, Jay nudged his arm with one paw. The Umbreon pointed back over at the creature with one paw in response to a confused glance. “It's waking up!”

“Oh…!” Sure enough, the Trubbish’s arms twitched. Its eyes opened slowly, blinking a few times to get back in focus. Then they opened wide in alarm.

“Ah! Human—!” It took a few wobbly steps back, almost toppling over but saved by the tree behind it.

“Wait, it’s okay!” Ryan insisted hastily, holding his hands up as if to show that he was unarmed. “We’re friends; we won’t hurt you.”

“Since when did we become friends with this thing?” Charlotte questioned, a deadpan expression on her face.

“All Pokémon are friends.”

“Oh. And here I thought I was special.” There was an edge of sarcasm to her voice.

“You are. You guys are best friends,” he smiled, reaching over to ruffle her ears.

She didn’t seem opposed to the show of affection, but she still tried to swat his hand away. “Thanks, but now you’ve made me stink too.”

The Trubbish continued to watch them, wide-eyed. “I’ve never… seen a human understand a Pokémon before.” He cautiously took a step forward. “Are you magic?”

Ryan couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t think so. It probably just runs in the family.” He had to smile as he saw just how amazed the creature looked. That smile soon faded, however, as he remembered the reason why they’d met in the first place. “What happened to you? You nearly got thrown in the back of a garbage truck!”

“Oh, oh, and we saved you!” Jay added proudly, even though he hadn’t really helped at all.

“I did? And you did? Oh, thank you!” the poison-type smiled gratefully. “Sorry, it happens quite a lot – although usually I wake up before the people get there.”

“You fell asleep in a pile of garbage?” Ryan raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Oh—no, no, I didn’t fall asleep. That would be kind of a silly place to take a nap, wouldn’t it?” he said sheepishly. “Don’t worry about it. I’m fine now thanks to you, so thank you again!”

“Did someone hurt you?” Ryan pressed, unable to just drop the issue. He couldn’t have got those injuries just from being picked up by someone. Still, there were other things people could have done. “Was it someone trying to catch you?”

“Ah… no, people don’t try and catch me.” The Trubbish responded slightly quieter, nudging at a pebble on the ground in front of him. “It’s not a big deal, really.”

“It is if someone hurt you.”

“FYI, he’s probably not gonna drop the subject until you explain what happened,” Charlotte told the Trubbish, leaning against Ryan like an object.

“Oh, it’s really nothing serious,” he nodded. “I was just trying to make friends with the Minccino again is all. They… didn’t really appreciate it.”

“They attacked you for trying to be friends?” Jay echoed. “They sound mean! Who doesn’t want friends?”

“Someone who actually likes the smell of fresh air,” Char muttered under her breath.

“Would you like us to talk to them for you?” Ryan offered, ignoring the comments of his Pokémon and gently pushing her away. “It might help.”

“It might,” the Trubbish shrugged, yet a smile still appeared on his face. “You’re welcome to try. You’d really do that for me?”

Ryan nodded.

“Wow!” he beamed. “I think you must be the nicest human I have ever met!”

---

The poison-type led them slightly further into the forest, seeming to know well enough where he was going. Whatever injuries the creatures had given him didn’t seem to be bothering him much, although Ryan couldn’t tell if it was because they weren’t serious or because it was something he was used to. Hopefully it was just the former.

“Just a bit further ahead,” the Trubbish said eventually, pointing to the clearing in front of them. “If I go any closer to their home, they usually attack me.”

“These Minccino sure sound charming,” Charlotte muttered, hopping up onto a nearby branch to look around. “Speak of the devil…”

There were a couple of the grey fluffy creatures just a few metres ahead. One of them was curled up, ears twitching occasionally and letting out a quiet yawn. The other was brushing its tail over the ground as if trying to clean the area. Perhaps this was the place where they liked to hang out.

“Okay. I’ll see if I can talk to them; they seem nice enough.” Ryan stepped forwards.

“Be careful!” the Trubbish called, trying to keep his voice hushed.

The other Pokémon followed Ryan, Jay remaining by his side and Charlotte just seeming eager to be away from the poison-type for now. As soon as they reached the clearing, both Minccino looked up.

One let out a squeak of surprise. “Eek! Human!”

“Quick, act cute and maybe it won’t attack us!”

“Wait, wait,” Ryan sighed as both creatures gave their best Lillipup eyes. “We’re not going to attack you. We just came here to talk.”

The two normal-types exchanged a glance. “A human wants to talk to us?”

“Can it do that?”

“Yes, I can. Special human,” he shrugged, figuring that the best way to explain to the Pokémon. “We have a friend who wants to be friends with you, but when he tried you just hurt him.”

“And that’s mean!” Jay added, holding his head high with a quiet huff. The Umbreon wasn’t exactly the best at disciplining others.

“Who are you talking about?” the male Minccino asked, blinking innocently. He lent to the side slightly, looking past Ryan to see the Trubbish watching from the safety of the trees. “Oh, him. Why would we want to be friends with a Trubbish?”

“He ruins our home with his smell!” the female tutted, holding her nose in the air and flicking her tail. “And he won’t go away!”

“He just wants to be friends,” Ryan persisted. “Isn’t it good to have friends?”

“Not when they smell like something that came out the back of a Liepard!”

“But Liepard poop smells nothing like that,” Jay pointed out, looking confused.

“Jay, you’re not helping.” Ryan rolled his eyes before looking back to the Minccino. “All I’m saying is, can you at least stop attacking him? This is his home too.”

“Yeah, and that’s not fair! We have to put up with that stink every day!” the male complained, nose twitching in disgust. His tail flicked and he stepped forwards as if he was about to attack. “Go away! You’re making the place dirty by bringing him here!”

“Looks like we gotta do this the hard way,” Charlotte shrugged. She hopped forwards towards the Minccino, one paw raised and glowing slightly as she prepared to unleash a force palm attack. “Don’t you little rats even think about laying a fur on my trainer!”

Both creatures let out a squeal of fear at the incoming fighting-type attack. The male scrambled backwards while the female remained frozen to the spot, staring at Char with wide eyes.

Ryan was about to try and stop her, but much to his surprise, Charlotte hesitated at the sight of the chinchilla. Slowly she lowered her paw, the glow fading as she cleared her throat and stepped back.

“You see, that was a great example of how violence doesn’t solve everything.”

As she stepped back towards him, Ryan couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. The Mienfoo looked up at him. “What?”

“Nothing,” he shook his head, the faintest trace of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. I guess cute charm works even on Charlotte.

The Minccino had dropped the cute act as soon as she realised Char no longer planned on attacking. She swept her tail across the ground, flicking dirt in their direction. “Please leave. You’re in our territory.”

The Umbreon moved to take a step forwards, ears flattening against his neck as he prepared for a possible battle. “Wait, Jay,” Ryan warned, holding out one hand to signal him to stop. “They’re just wild Pokémon; there’s no need to attack them, even if we can’t talk any sense into them.”

“We’re not the ones who need sense,” the male chinchilla huffed, casting a glare at the poison-type from across the clearing.

“C’mon, let’s go.” Ryan turned to walk away, praying to Arceus that his Pokémon would follow him.

“You guys are mean!” Jay chided, flicking his tail childishly as he hurried after his trainer.

“Wow. You really told them,” Charlotte said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

---

“Sorry. I wasn’t really much help,” Ryan apologised once they were away from the Minccino. He could see the people on the route from here, clapping and cheering for the street performers.

“That’s okay. You tried; that’s more than anyone else has done,” the Trubbish said earnestly, giving a half-hearted smile. “And I appreciate your effort, mister human.”

“Call me Ryan,” he smiled. “And you’re welcome.” Although I wish I could have actually done something.

He glanced back towards the route once more. The sun was high in the sky, so it must have been at least midday by now, and the performers were stopping for their lunch break. Perhaps they could see if they or any of the onlookers were willing to battle before the show started up once more.

On the other hand, he didn’t want to leave here knowing this Pokémon could be in danger just for staying in his own home. It could be lonely when the others who lived nearby didn’t like you; Ryan knew that much.

He gave a thoughtful look towards the Trubbish. “Y’know, if you want… you could come with us.”

“What?” Charlotte gaped. “Oh, great, yeah, just what we needed.”

Her comment once again went unnoticed. The Trubbish was just looking up at Ryan, wide-eyed. “You… you mean it? I could go with you guys?”

Ryan shrugged. “If you want to.”

“A-as in… be caught? Like, a trainer’s Pokémon? I could learn how to fight?” His eyes gleamed with excitement.

“Well… if you want to,” Ryan repeated, although the creature’s smile was infectious.

“Don’t I get a say in this?” Charlotte interrupted.

He glanced back at the fighting-type. “What did you want to say?”

She opened her mouth, raising one paw as if she was about to try and make a point. Yet casting a sideways glance at the poison-type, she seemed to decide that if she did say any complaint about him going with them, it’d just sound like a straight-up insult. Charlotte may not have been the most welcoming, but she wasn’t completely cold-hearted either. “Eh, nothing. Your choice, o’ training one.”

Ryan could tell that she wasn’t completely happy about the situation, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Wasn’t a Pokémon’s safety more important than another just having to put up with a bad smell?

“Does this mean he’s travelling with us?” Jay interrupted, bringing the mood back up slightly. The Umbreon hopped around, not seeming the least bit concerned about their new friend’s… odour issues, and more excited about the fact that they had a new travel companion. “Yay! Oh! Oh! What’s your name?” He finally stopped jumping, coming to a halt in front of the Trubbish.

The creature just looked up at him in surprise. “My… name? I don’t think I have one…”

“But you need a name! What are we gonna call you otherwise?” Jay insisted.

“Well… what are names like? How do I get a name?”

“You just choose one! Or… um…” the dark-type paused, turning to look up at the boy with a confused expression once more. “Where do names come from?”

Ryan stifled a laugh; it was definitely like Jay to ask something like that. “Well, for people, most are named by their parents. For Pokémon, I think it’s a little different. Trainers usually give their Pokémon new names, but that’s because they wouldn’t be able to find out what their names were in the first place…” He hummed quietly, a few thoughts crossing his mind on what to do in this situation. “But we could find a name for you. What kind of things do you like?”

“Hmm…” the Trubbish looked around thoughtfully. “Well, I guess I like the forest… oh, but there was something really cool…! A while back I saw some of the people who visit the route gathered around this one human, and he was holding some metal over a fire and bending it into all kinds of shapes! It’s probably not that interesting really, but I thought it looked really amazing.”

Ryan listened to the explanation with a smile. Poison-types couldn’t even harm steel-types with their same-type attacks, so it was no wonder that this Trubbish thought someone bending metal was so fascinating. “Well, we have a name for people who work with metal; I think they’re called smiths.”

“Smith?” the creature echoed. “I like the sound of that. Is that a good name?”

“It’s as good as any,” Ryan nodded. “Welcome to the team, Smith!”

---

It seemed Smith had watched plenty of other Pokémon get captured by humans before, as he’d known exactly what a Poké ball was and the gist of what it did. After assigning him to his own capsule, the group had gone in search of trainers on the route, to battle in preparation for the next gym challenge. They’d trained hard by now, and Ryan decided that they might be ready to go and check the place out the next day.

Now, after enjoying a meal from the food stands out on Route 5 and with the sun starting to set, they headed back to the city. The streets were quieter at this time of day, most of the noise coming from the sports stadiums. A sudden racket picked up as they walked past, signalling that one team had scored a goal.

Smith gazed around at the city with gleaming eyes, observing everything they passed, even down to the tiniest plant growing through cracks in the sidewalk. This was his first time going into the city, and he seemed to be enjoying the experience. Jay, meanwhile, looked just about ready to drop, eyelids drooping as if he wanted to go to sleep right then and there. Even so, he’d insisted – with a yawn – that he wasn’t tired.

As they neared the Pokémon Center, Ryan noticed a figure walking towards it from the other direction, with a Magnezone hovering not far behind them. A small creature padded daintily along at their side, forked tail swaying as it walked.

That looks like an Espeon, Ryan thought silently. As he looked up at the person once more – who still hadn’t noticed him – the realisation fell into place. “Jeremy?”

“Hm?” the man had been looking at something on his phone, but glanced up at the sound of his name, pushing his glasses higher up the bridge of his nose. “Who are—oh, you’re that kid. The one who understands Pokémon. Ryan, right?”

He nodded, quietly glad that someone had actually remembered his name right for once. Although, he wasn’t sure whether he was glad to see this guy again or not, considering what had happened the last time they met. Yet that hadn’t really been his fault, and he wasn’t going to blame Espeon for it…

“I see your Eevee evolved,” Jeremy commented simply, casting a glance at the Umbreon who was currently trying to hide behind Ryan’s legs – apparently Jay remembered their last encounter as well. As the man’s gaze drifted to the other Pokémon beside Ryan, he frowned. “I hope you weren’t intending on bringing that thing into the Pokémon Center.”

Ryan followed his glance, eyes widening in surprise when he noticed he was looking at Smith. “Why?” he snapped, prepared to defend the creature if need be.

“Because it’s a Trubbish. They’re not exactly known for their great fragrance,” he stated, delving into the pockets of his jacket and pulling out a Poké ball. “And don’t look at me like that; Pokémon Center rules, not mine. They won’t be too happy if you take a Trubbish into the place. They don’t like Magnezone being released in there either. Its magnets can interrupt the communications of the machines in there, including the medical equipment used to treat injured Pokémon.”

As the electric-type was drawn back into its capsule, Ryan just watched silently. What he was saying did make sense, more so about the issue with Magnezone. That didn’t mean he thought it was fair, though.

“Just put it back in its Poké ball before you go in. If there’s someone you don’t want to make angry, it’s the people who are offering you a free place to stay for the night,” Jeremy shrugged. “They might have let you off though, since you’re an inexperienced trainer.”

“My Pokémon are stronger than when we battled before!” Ryan protested. “Jay’s an Umbreon now; psychic attacks can’t even hurt him.”

“Maybe so, but there’s a lot more to battling than type matchup. Perhaps we’ll battle again someday.” With that said, he put the phone and capsule back into his pockets and walked onto the mat in front of the Center, causing the doors to slide open automatically.

Espeon lingered for a moment longer, watching the dark-type who was glaring at her from the safety of behind his trainer. “I apologise for hurting you, young one. It’d be nice to battle again, once you are stronger.”

Jay’s ears twitched in surprise, but he didn’t say anything in response as the psychic-type slipped through the closing door after her trainer.