Ben and Auro trudged along Route 1, or at least, Ben did. Despite his initial snark, Auro had already gone ahead and was currently exploring the area. Ben never worried when his partner was out of his sight, since he knew that Auro always kept tabs on him, obviously to trusting him to avoid tripping over his own feet when walking.
Speaking of Auro, the riolu gave a sharp bark from the distance, a sort of distress signal, minus the distress, as Auro is too tough for that, apparently. At the sound, Ben picked up the pace and jogged toward his partner, finding him hiding behind a bush.
"Wha-" he started, before a quickly growl from Auro silenced him. He motioned for Ben to join him, and Ben crouched next to Auro, keeping quiet. He looked over the push to see what Auro was watching.
Quite a sight it was. A rockruff and Yungoos were in a standoff, snarling at each other menacingly. They both looked beat up, but the Rockruff especially so. Ben stared in surprise at the puppy's injuries, before noticing an egg behind the rockruff. The pokemon was stanced in front of it, using his body as a shield, and Ben understood. The pokemon was defending that egg for some reason, and the yungoos was likely trying to eat it. Although, why would-
"Rockruff, the Puppy Pokemon. It’s considered to be a good Pokémon for beginners because of its friendliness-"
Benn looked at his arm in horror as his styler's pokedex activated without his permission, which normally was a good thing since it saved him the trouble, but it was as if it was purposefully being loud as to give away their position. Ben frantically smacked the styler while Auro looked at him with the same, horrified, expression.
Turns out they did notice, as the two pokemon looked over at them in surprise. The yungoos, however, recovered quickly and leapt at the rockruff, using Bite. There was a quick howl, and the rockruff slumped, fainting. The yungoos proudly looked at his prize, bringing his fangs over the egg...
Auro leapt into action, using quick attack to...well, quickly attack the yungoos with lunging kick. The normal type flew off, skittering a few feet before standing, dazed. He looked over at Auro and Ben, and snarled, rearing up and making a mad dash at Auro.
Ben rose from the bush, making his way to the Rockruff. His eyes caught sight of the yungoos.
"Crap. Retaliate with a Blaze Kick!" he called out.
Auro nodded in response, ducking under the yungoos as he leapt, and catching his underbelly, using the momentum to spin around, slam it into the earth, and kick it away as it bounced. Ben reached the rockruff and egg, looking up to see the yungoos get up, turn tail, and run, whimpering as it went. Ben sighed in relief. "Great job buddy!"
Auro turned around, giving one of his rare smiles, however small, before making his way to his trainer. Ben stood up,scratching his head.
"What should we do? Maybe take them to the next pokecenter we find? Or-" the shuffle of grass cut him off. He turned, and was greeted with the sight of the same yungoos, who looked awfully smug, it's naturally large mouth pulled into a huge grin. Then two other yungoos appeared, sharing the same expression, and then two more. Ben and Auro were surrounded by five smug yungoos. Auro raised his paws, although he didn't appear confident. He was strong, but outmanned, and he was sure quantity had going to have the advantage over quality this time. He looked over at his trainer, silently asking what to do.
Ben looked over at the nearing normal types, and shrugged.
"We run." he said simply.
They reacted quickly, Ben crouching a booping the rockruff with a pokeball. The pokemon easily went in and, thanks to his condition, was caught without so much as a twitch in the ball. Stuffing the ball in his bag, ben grabbed hold of the egg and fled. Auro followed suit, kicking away a few yungoos who got too close for comfort.
I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die Ben though positively, before he saw Aquamarine City in the distance.
Okay I might die. He thought in relief. Said relief caused him to slow slightly, and one of the yungoos caught up, snapping at his heels before actually landing a bite.
Ben winced as the pokemon's fangs cut through his thigh as it slipped off. He stumbled but, by some miracle, he didn't fall. The two finally made it to the city, but the yungoos refused to give up their pursuit. Ben saw the pokecenter nearby, and put in a last burst of speed, bursting through the doors, which Auro closed shut. The yungoose crashed into them, Auro barely holding them back. The pack stood up, looked around the surroundings and, realizing the amount of humans around, promptly fled.
The Nurse Joy smiled, oblivious to their tension. "Hello and welcome to the Aquamarine Pokecent-oh!" he was cut off my Ben releasing the rockruff, who slumped on the desk. Ben looked up at her pleadingly.
"Help him, please."
The Nurse straightened, calling out for her chansey, who waddled over and delicately placed the rockruff in a stretcher, before going back into where they came out of, where all the healing happens.
With the rockruff taken care of, Ben slumped over a chair, feeling the exhaustion catch up with him. Auro worridley looked at his leg, but Ben seemed to ignore the injury.
"Thank...arceus....for....adrenaline." he panted.
