I stared at the small figure with a calm, cold, calculating look-
[You are looking at the Axew like someone looks at a puppy.]
Hey!
''Hey little one, you okay?'' I said in a calm voice, kneeling as I approached the Axew.
The man against the wall fell silent, horrified as he stared at me? Or was it the Axew?
Who knows.
I reached my hand toward it, and then.
''Axew...!''
Its mouth opened and a red light glowed deep in its throat.
I moved my hand and put it on the top of its head, closing its mouth.
Pufffff
A black smoke came out of the corner of Axew's mouth while it looked at me confused, and maybe a little irritated.
''Let's calm down, okay? I'm not here to hurt you.'' I tried to talk to it — as far as I knew these Pokémon could understand human speech.
''Axewew!'' The little lizard(?) shook its arms, seeming irritated, while giving me a "bad face."
''I'll take my hand off your head, and then we'll talk, okay?'' I looked into its eyes as I said that, and then I started to remove my hand.
The Pokémon watched me in silence while I did so, just observing.
When I fully withdrew my hand, I looked at the bloodied man and stepped past the Axew, while the Pokémon just stared, standing still.
''Are you okay?'' I asked with concern as I crouched down to the man's level.
''F-finally...!'' he said as tears streamed from his eyes.
''I finally found someone! I thought it was the end of me!!'' the man declared, clutching my arm that I had extended, almost as if he feared I might be a figment of his mind.
''Take a deep breath, okay? You're injured; it's not good to start crying right now. Save it for when you're stable.'' I said with concern, but the man shook his head.
''My body's fine, the blood is from the band, I already healed with some Berries.'' he explained while I looked puzzled...what the hell were Berries? But okay. He was fine, and that was what mattered.
''Go ahead then. Cry as much as you need.'' I sighed, letting the adult man collapse like a child, crying for finally being safe.
In the end, no matter the age, everyone goes through that.
...
...
...
''Better?'' I asked. He had cried for a long time; his eyes were swollen.
''Y-yes, much better.'' the man said as he stood up.
''My name's Joe, and y-you?''
''Vesper.'' I stood and met his gaze. ''No last name, completely lost.'' I sighed as I added those details.
The man apparently didn't ask questions yet. He just looked behind me, and when I turned, I saw the Axew still watching me.
But unlike before, its eyes were moist too.
''Hey, hey, what's wrong?'' I moved closer to the Axew worriedly, crouching down to its level, almost sitting on the ground.
''A-axew...xew!'' The Pokémon waved its little arms while speaking in a sad voice.
I moved my arms and held the base of Axew's body, lifting it into the air.
Axew tensed for a moment before giving a sign that allowed that kind of handling, so I brought it to my chest and hugged it.
''Don't cry, okay? It'll be fine...'' I murmured to Axew like I was speaking to a child, and then, as if past events were repeating...
Axew cried. Much more than the man. Its tears were exaggeratedly large, falling to the ground and forming small puddles. I just hugged it in silence until it fell asleep.
...
...
...
We were now at the cave entrance, Axew sleeping in my arms while the man looked at me with a strange, incredulous expression.
''You really won that Axew over...'' he said surprised.
''Seems like just a child, it just needed a hug. Probably lost?'' I replied, a bit confused.
''She. That Axew is a she. And her parents are probably dead.'' Joe said in a heavy tone, clearly giving bad news.
''How do you know that?'' I asked.
''Her facial features are gentler compared to male Axews. Dragon-type Pokémon in general tend to be quite fierce; females only behave like that when they're pregnant or fighting to protect something, unlike males.''
''And Axew isn't a natural Pokémon of this region, you know? We're in Kanto; Dratini is the only decent dragon type around here.'' Joe said with a slightly resentful tone, apparently he was getting comfortable.
[Host, just reminding you that you can claim your reward.]
I know, but not in front of him. I don't want to reveal any power or supernatural ability without a good idea of what the humans in this world can do.
''Do you know which way the exit is?'' The mention of the exit made Joe's face contort with fear.
''What's wrong?'' I asked a little worried.
''H-Hypno, a dangerous Hypno is in this forest! He took my companions, they're probably already dead! It's the first time I've seen that kind of behavior, man, we're not safe! He won't let us leave this forest!'' Joe said desperately; with each moment he seemed to sink further.
That Hypno really traumatized him... how calm must life be in this world for that to happen?
[That's a normal reaction for any ordinary civilian. You are the stranger.]
...Okay, that didn't have to be so harsh.
''A yellow monster with wide ears and a big nose, with a black mouth and eyes?'' I asked, feigning innocence. ''That's the only one I can think of.''
''Y-yes, that's it! You found it too?!'' Joe asked surprised.
I had to restrain myself from making a tasteless joke...
''Yes. It's dead. Don't worry. Your companions are dead, but they were avenged. We can leave.'' As I said it, disbelief appeared on Joe's face, followed by relief.
He didn't ask how I killed it, or if it was me. He just wanted to believe it was over.
''Great! Awesome!'' He cheered before pointing in the direction I guessed was-
''The exit is that way! The forest entrance; if we run there we'll find the way out quickly.''''Let's go, I'm right behind you.'' And so I followed Joe as he ran.
Either he had a lot of stamina or we weren't that far. It was in the opposite direction from the blood trail, so maybe he had been trying to leave the forest?
...
...
...
We ran for a few hours. Joe had good endurance, and Axew in my arms was sleeping soundly.
Finally we reached the forest edge. During the run we passed several Pokémon nests, but they were all empty. Joe explained that that Hypno had driven all the Pokémon out of the area somehow.
It made sense why we hadn't encountered other Pokémon besides Axew and a few corpses.
''Finally! Finally!!'' He raised his hands as he left the forest.
''Halt!'' A clicking sound followed by a growl echoed in the direction we were heading, and there, a woman in a police uniform appeared beside a somewhat cute orange dog.
''Officer Jenny! Finally!'' Joe shouted happily but remained still.
''Identify yourselves!'' The woman — now that I knew her name Officer Jenny, shouted as she looked at the two of us and the Axew in my arms. She didn't question why I was naked.
''H-here, here!'' Joe pulled what I assume was his ID from his pocket; it was dirty but enough for Officer Jenny to give an affirmative nod.
''And this is?'' she asked Joe, looking at me.
''My friend! my savior! He dealt with the problem and even took care of this wild Axew!'' Joe declared with starry eyes.
''...Right, both of you come with me. I'm taking you to the station. You're not under arrest, so don't get the wrong idea. I'll just ask some questions and then release you.''
Officer Jenny turned toward her car, which was a few meters back, outside the forest, and walked to it.
Joe motioned for me to follow them, and I did. I remained silent during that time, not knowing what to say.
Apparently she didn't ask for my ID... lucky.
[You're naked. You have nowhere to keep your ID unless it's in your ass. And even if you kept it there, I wouldn't ask... imagine grabbing the ID.]
That was unnecessary. But fine, you have a point.
So, sitting alone in the back seat with Joe in front, Officer Jenny started the car and drove us to the station.
...
...
...
Viridian City - Police Station - Interrogation
''Let's begin.'' Jenny knocked the file on the cold table; her personality had now shifted to a cold woman — what the hell?
''Cameras and witnesses say you were the last to enter the forest.'' She said looking at Joe. ''You and a group of five friends, one child among you. About an hour after that, reports started coming in that the forest was empty and Pokémon were fleeing it through several different exits.''
''In addition, several trainers reported finding brutally scattered Pokémon bodies throughout the forest. It wasn't nature doing its job, it was purposely done to hurt and brutalize. And we both know Pokémon don't usually behave like that.''
''Which brings us to now. What exactly happened in there? Where are your friends? And who is this with you?'' Officer Jenny questioned Joe while I stayed silent.
I didn't know much, I just woke up after the whole mess and dealt with the Hypno, so this was the best approach.
''We entered the forest to catch some Caterpies, planning to train another Pokémon together and have some friendly battles...'' Joe murmured sadly. ''But we didn't find any Pokémon at first, so we went deeper, confused.'' His voice trembled, was it sadness or fear?
''Then we heard noises. It sounded like a battle. When we reached the place, thinking it was a trainer, we saw...'' His voice stopped as his face went a little disgusted.
''Many bodies of all kinds of Pokémon. Sentret, Caterpie, Metapod, Weedle, Kakuna...heads torn off, limbs scattered, grass painted blood-red...''
''In the center of it all was a Hypno, bigger and uglier than any I'd seen. Its eyes and mouths completely black as it chewed and tore off the head of a Caterpie it had just defeated.'' Even without looking at Joe, I could tell he was crying now, sniffling and speaking in a trembling voice.
''We turned to run, terrified; Pokémon shouldn't behave that violently. It laughed! It whispered that it wanted more, that it was delicious...! And in the midst of the panic, it noticed us.''
''It chased us; we fought it, until by a terrible decision we separated. The Hypno wasn't exactly strong; we could have fought and held it off, maybe forced it to retreat if we had stayed together, but we split up.''
''And then each of them was taken. A Pokémon's PP usually doesn't last that long, especially fighting for minutes against trainers with more than one Pokémon. And five trainers! When it reached me, it was carrying my dead friends, all bloody...'' Joe's voice trembled, then he stopped speaking.
I put my arm around his shoulders while looking at Officer Jenny, who nodded though horrified, letting Joe take the time to continue.
''I fought it, used my Beedrill to attack. I managed to injure it several times; it had no PP left for offensive moves. My friends did their part. But I wasn't a match, it was very physically strong for a Hypno, and then my Beedrill was killed. Its wings torn and head crushed.'' Joe said quietly.
''It looked at me and I ran, a lot. It used what I think was its last Psybeam, which I barely dodged, and then I fled. It must have thought I wouldn't last long, that it'd come after me afterward...that's what I thought.''
''Only later, when I finally collapsed somewhere, did I realize where I'd been hit. In the stomach, where my pouch was, where I kept my Berries. It wanted to recover, and that's what it did...I think. I couldn't find it afterward.'' Joe looked at Officer Jenny with determined eyes now.
''Then, hours later, I found him.'' He pointed at me. ''Vesper saved me from that Axew which was alone and frightened, and revealed he had dealt with the Hypno... somehow. The Hypno was no longer alive. And we fled the forest, Officer Jenny.''
Jenny took a moment to absorb the information before turning to me.
''How did you kill the Hypno?'' she asked with narrowed eyes. ''You're naked, and according to Joe you didn't have the Axew with you.''
''My fists. I have experience in hand-to-hand combat.'' I began slowly, trying to craft a story. ''I found it eating what I assume were Joe's friends' bodies and surprised it. It struck back but only attacked me without using any power. That's why I won; it didn't seem to have experience... at least not against humans. It shouldn't have taken me seriously until it was too late.'' I explained, completing the story. Hoping she'd believe, because it was all true.
''...Right.'' She sighed.
''We'll reward you for that; we didn't expect such a wild Pokémon to appear out of nowhere, much less in that way. Probably some mad Team Rocket experiment, or maybe worse: a natural mutation.'' She said with regret.
''I'll send a report to the other towns and ask them to keep an eye out for Hypnos and other strange behavior. You helped a lot, and if there are more cases like this, you definitely saved many lives.'' She took the clipboard from the iron table.
''Take your time to rest; I'll be back in a few minutes with your reward and the pass to release you.'' She left the room, leaving only Joe and me.
I patted his back.
''You were brave, man. Now you're free to do whatever you want again. Next time be more careful, okay? Try to train a Pokémon, or maybe hire someone before venturing into the wild again.'' I used the terms I learned during the trip with Joe and his explanations to sound natural. I hope it worked.
''Y-yeah...'' He nodded hesitantly but agreed.
...
...
...
''Here you go.'' I was alone with Officer Jenny now in another room. She had given me pants to wear so I wouldn't be standing naked in the station, and I was now standing before her desk, staring at a large bag.
''Sylph.Co bag; it can store enough items to fill an entire house. It has automatic food preservation too. Your reward is this bag and what's inside it.'' Officer Jenny explained, leaving me quite surprised.
I approached the bag and opened the zipper to see what was inside.
Money. A lot.
''Exactly 50,000 PokéDollars, a set of trainer clothes, running shoes, and enough food to feed your Axew for at least three months.'' She explained before sighing at my confused face.
''That Axew won't leave you; no dragon-type Pokémon gets so comfortable with another living being just to leave it. And given what you did, I doubt you'll be content remaining a civilian. I've already gotten permission for you to become a Trainer.'' She pulled a sheet from the drawer.
''If you want, you can take the exam to get a Pokédex in Pallet, not far from here. That way you'll get sponsorship to make it easier to last as a trainer and learn to care for your Pokémon. Free classes.'' She told me, giving me news I honestly liked.
''But don't get used to it. It was all this easy because of what you did. You'll still have to do all the civil procedures if you go after a Pokédex... if you choose to. If not... well, do whatever you want.'' She sounded tired.
(A/N: Kind of sloppy for a police officer, but every person in the Pokémon world has their own eccentric way of acting. Don't stress about it yet.)
''Thank you.'' I said sincerely, bowing to her.
''No problem, kid. Just... try to avoid so much trouble, okay?'' she said in a tired tone, as if she already knew my answer.
''Haha...''
We barely met and she already knows I'll say no... damn, I'm screwed in this world.
END
DIARY, Day 3
Found Joe and saved him from an Axew. He was friends with the people that Hypno was eating.
The Axew won't leave me and I found out it's a girl, so it's a she from now on.
We fled the forest and finally found civilization!
We were taken to the police station immediately.
Shit.
END