Dee watched as Silver went into the trees, then was overcome by a sudden weariness. She fainted and Ryun ran up to her side as she hit the ground. The last thing she saw was a bright light and Ryun sitting close to her.
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The next thing Dee knew, she was waking up next to a warm fire covered in her own blanket and her pack used as a pillow. A young man and a pair of Lucario were there too. One of the Lucario came up to Dee and said in a familiar voice, “Are you alright, Dee?”
Dee nodded uncertainly and said, “Ryun?”
Ryun nodded and said, “I evolved after our little fight with Silver. I’m a Lucario now.”
Ryun’s appearance had changed a little since he evolved. He had a set of bangs covering a little bit of his eyes, but other than that, he was a normal Lucario in every way. The other Lucario came up to Dee and said, “He must care about you a great deal... otherwise he wouldn’t evolve at all.”
Ash came up behind Lucario and said, “Yeah, some Pokèmon are like that. But you do have to admit, it makes things a hell of a lot more interesting, right?”
“Yeah...” Dee said before noticing that Ash was sitting next to her. She did a double take and said, “Ash Ketchum! Whoa, I didn’t think that I’d meet you outside of the Indigo Plateau! And now you’re here!”
Dee sort of calmed down after feeling that her ribs were bruised, with much insisting from Ryun to sit back. She asked Ash all sorts of questions, and he answered them patiently.
“So, what brought you into that little fight with my brother? Well... Half brother anyway,” Ash asked.
“Oh...” Dee said, “That. We had met shortly after I left the orphanage, but I didn’t have any other Pokèmon on me at the time, so he left me alone. That’s all I really know about him...”
“Half brother?” Lucario asked, “Your family gets more and more interesting by the second, Ash.”
“Tell me about it... Dad’s spirit won’t pass on, so he’s been hanging around Pokèmon tower for a while. Mr. Fuji came to me about a month ago and told me about it,” Ash said, “Remember that little trip to Lavender Town we took at about that time? Well... now you know why.”
Ryun looked at Ash and said, “You could’ve told him, y’know. He is in love with you, after all.”
“Thanks for pointing out the obvious, Ryun...” Lucario said with an embarrassed tone.
Dee looked from Lucario to Ash, who was scratching his head with a look of complete confusion on his face. She guessed from the look in his eye that Ryun was right and giggled uncontrollably.
“So, how did it happen, Ash?” Dee asked after she calmed down a bit.
“I set him free from a thousand year old staff. He was completely against me at first, but…” Ash said, “Here we are. Long story short, he helped me find Pikachu and I saved his life.”
“More than that…” Lucario said to himself. Ash looked at Lucario and slapped his shoulder. They glared at each other for a minute, then burst out laughing.
Ryun looked at Ash and said, “So it’s been working out between you two?”
Ash looked at Ryun and saw why he asked and said, “Every relationship has its ups and downs, but if you keep working at it, they always work out, especially if the other person, or Pokèmon is willing to try.”
Dee looked at Ryun and wondered exactly how she felt about him. It wasn’t all that hard, but the problem was that she was already seeing somebody. Dee thought about Lucy and wondered how everyone at the orphanage was doing. Dee pulled her thoughts to her surroundings and saw Ash looking at her with a kind smile.
“You miss home, don’t you?” He asked.
“Yeah... I miss my friends at home...” Dee said, “But I’m not all that lonely. I’m making friends all the time nowadays.”
The Next morning, Dee woke up and stretched a little before getting dressed. Ryun had elected to sleep under a tree. He was standing in the tree on a high branch, watching the sunrise. Ash and Lucario were already up and sparring with each other, testing their boundaries as fully as they could. Ash looked like he’d dealt a finishing blow to Lucario. But he knocked Ash flat on his ass in the next second while Ryun turned and jumped out of the tree to greet Dee. She walked over to the tree line and kept going, looking for something.
“What are you looking for, Dee?” Ryun asked curiously as he followed her.
“Pokèmon,” Dee said, “I’d like to have an electric type when we go face Misty.”
“Ah. That’s a good idea,” Ryun said, “Especially with our disadvantages.”
“Yep, just have to find the right one, though,” Dee said, “It’ll have to be powerful, but not so strong that I can’t train it.”
As Dee finished speaking, she spotted a Jolteon lazing in the sun not far from them. As rare as they were, Jolteon usually aren’t wild, so that made them even rarer than usual. Dee assumed that it had been abandoned by its’ last trainer and cursed the person who’d abandon a Pokèmon like that.
She snuck up on the Jolteon as quietly as she could with Ryun a little ways behind her. The Jolteon’s ears perked up at the sound of crunching leaves and stood up slowly. It looked around and sniffed the air, then walked forward to where Dee was standing. Then it did something completely unexpected. The Jolteon passed out at Dee’s feet. There was a set of small mark on its ankle that suggested teeth bites. Dee bent down quickly and examined the Pokèmon a little closer. Its breathing was shallow and rapid. It looked like it had come a long way to get to a Pokèmon center. Dee picked up the Pokèmon and carried it back to the camp, where Ash and Lucario were packing up. Lucario looked up and watched as Dee carried the injured Pokèmon up to Ash. He looked at the Jolteon, then back at Dee.
“You found it like this?”  He asked.
“Yes,” Dee said, “She looks hurt pretty bad...”
Ash looked around the campsite for something, then said, “Ah-ha! Got one!”
He was holding a ripe Oran Berry in his hand and said, “These help out a little. It’ll keep her alive till we can get to a center.”
Dee looked at the blue berry as Ash gave it to the Jolteon. It wouldn’t move to eat it, but Ash didn’t give up. He brought out a bowl from his pack and crushed the berry into it. Then he motioned for Dee to open its mouth as he gingerly tipped tie blue pulpy liquid down Jolteon’s throat. Ash massaged Jolteon’s throat and her breathing eased a little.
“Do you have a Pokèball?” Lucario asked.
Dee nodded and said, “I do, but I’d rather not capture it unless I have to... Or if it chooses to come with me.”
Ash nodded and said, “That’s how I’ve caught every one of my Pokèmon. They decided to join me freely. I guess I have an animal magnetism.”
Lucario said loudly, “ASH! Not now!”
Ash flinched as Dee looked confused at the joke and Ryun looked pissed off.
They got over it and helped Dee pick up the Jolteon and cradle it in her arms. They went as fast as they could to the entrance of Mount Moon, where, as Ash fondly remembered, there was a Pokèmon Center conveniently located close to the entrance. They rushed inside and to the front desk, shoving aside another trainer who said, “HEY!”
“Sorry, but it’s an emergency!” Dee said, not looking back.
Dee set the injured Pokèmon down on the desk and said, “We found this Jolteon in the woods. She was hurt like this when we found her. I guess she lost a lot of blood before we found her.”
Nurse Joy looked at the electric Pokèmon with horror in her eyes. She looked back at Dee and Ash, whose Pikachu had propped itself on his shoulder, and said, “I’m going to do the best I can for her, but I’m not sure if I can save her. We just don’t have the man power at the moment, everyone went home for the night.”
Ash nodded and said, “Let us know if there’s anything we can do to help.”
Joy looked Ash up and down, then said, “We are rather under staffed at the moment, I could use the help. You’ve just become nurses.”
The trainer behind Dee looked at her with a renewed look in his eye, his jet black fur raising.
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