Release That Pokémon!

About thirty minutes later, Dragonite returned with water...

Before it even entered the cave, Caleb heard earth-shaking sobs.

"Mehhh mehhhhruuhhh!!!"

Dragonite walked in with a pot in one claw, and a round chubby little creature in the other, looking utterly helpless.

The Pokémon had a blue body, white belly, and a round tail. It was a Marill.

Caleb glanced at the crying Marill, then at Dragonite, and asked, "Did you bully it?"

Feeling wronged, Dragonite immediately shook its head in protest, "Wuu wuuu!"

"I'm not blaming you, I just want to understand what happened," Caleb reassured as he took Marill from Dragonite's arms.

The moment Marill was in Caleb's embrace, its crying stopped abruptly. It blinked its big watery eyes at the human in front of it.

Caleb noticed a very obvious wound on Marill's right foot. The edges of the skin were tinged purple, a clear sign of poisoning.

When he gently touched the injury, Marill instantly transformed back into a sobbing mess, tears welling up in its eyes as it wailed loudly.

"Don't cry, the pain will go away soon," Caleb comforted softly while using his Viridian Power to heal the little one's wound...

Warm green energy flowed over Marill's foot. As the injury mended, the Pokémon's cries gradually quieted, eventually turning into small sniffles.

"Does it feel better now?" Caleb asked with a smile, carrying Marill over to the campfire.

He set it down on a wooden stool and fetched a Pecha Berry from their food stash, one that could cure poisoning.

Marill took the berry and nibbled cautiously, its shiny black eyes never leaving Caleb as he moved around.

"Wuu…"

Seeing its trainer approach, Dragonite let out a small defensive sound, insisting that it hadn't been the one to hurt Marill.

Caleb chuckled and gave Dragonite's soft belly an affectionate rub, "I really don't blame you. You did great!" he said.

Relieved, Dragonite finally relaxed and explained what had happened...

While fetching water, it had seen Marill being attacked by an Ekans. Dragonite had chased the Ekans away and rescued Marill.

Caleb was never stingy with praise. He lavished Dragonite with compliments until the dragon grew flustered, its face turning red as it turned away to chat with Sandshrew.

Grinning, Caleb started preparing dinner...

The warm orange glow of the fire illuminated the cave. Though the space was simple, the atmosphere was cozy.

Marill munched on its berry, Sandshrew dug at the cave entrance while chatting with Dragonite, and Dragonite responded half-heartedly, its mind clearly elsewhere as it occasionally broke into an embarrassed silly grin...

Caleb set up a makeshift rack with damp wood, placed the pot on top, and began boiling instant noodles.

As the water bubbled, his thoughts drifted to Mimikyu, wondering what it was doing and whether it was eating well...

….

After dinner, just as Caleb was about to sleep, another loud cry echoed from the dense forest outside...

And from the sound of it, there was more than one.

Dragonite immediately sat up, alert, and looked at Caleb questioningly.

"Wuuu?"

Caleb listened carefully... The cries grew fainter, as if the source was moving away from the area.

Seeing no immediate threat, he said, "Go back to sleep. We should be fine tonight."

"Wuu~"

Dragonite yawned, rested its head on its arm, and closed its eyes beside Caleb.

Still not sleepy, Caleb lay on the bed of dry grass and leaves, planning tomorrow's tasks.

With Marill and Sandshrew around, he could use water and mud to build a simple stove for cooking. He also needed to find a few Caterpie to borrow their silk.

What could Caterpie silk be used for? A hammock sounded like a great idea... It'd be durable and sturdy once the stickiness was removed.

During the day, he had noticed many Caterpie and Weedle living near the area with the Oran Berry trees.

As he pondered, drowsiness finally crept in.

Caleb stopped thinking and soon fell asleep...

….

Sometime in the middle of the night, he was jolted awake by a cacophony of noise...

Startled, Caleb initially thought thieves had broken in, only to open his eyes and find a furry bear face inches from his own.

Caleb: "…Ursaring, what are you doing? Shouldn't you be sleeping instead of scaring people in the middle of the night?"

Ursaring scratched its head sheepishly and took a step back.

Only then did Caleb notice the large group of Pokémon behind it, including Scyther...

"What do you all want?" he asked hesitantly.

Ursaring babbled a long string of growls, but unfortunately, Caleb hadn't bonded with it enough to understand.

Before he could ask further, a system panel automatically popped up:

[Hidden Quest Triggered!]

[Accept? Accepting will reveal quest details!]

Caleb's mind filled with question marks...

'What's this? Free benefits falling from the sky while I'm just lying here?' he mused.

Without hesitation, he selected ...

The quest updated instantly:

[Unique Hidden Quest: "The Pokémon's Plea" Accepted!]

[Quest Objective: A Dynamaxed Mamoswine is rampaging through the Pokémon's habitat. Please defeat it immediately!]

[Reward: Main Quest Clue Fragment x1!]

'Oh-ho! Something new!'

Caleb raised an eyebrow at the words 'Main Quest Clue Fragment'...

"Grrraaah!"

Ursaring pointed outside urgently.

Then, the familiar cry echoed from the distance.

This time, even without activating the Viridian Power, Caleb understood... the Dynamaxed Mamoswine was coming!

"Wuuu!"

Dragonite looked at him, its eyes blazing with fighting spirit.

After a brief pause, Caleb said, "Don't rush. Use Dragon Dance first."

He never fought unprepared battles.

Dragonite was momentarily confused, but it obediently began the rhythmic motions of Dragon Dance.

Caleb and the other Pokémon stood by as Dragonite stacked its buffs. He remembered that Dragon Dance could be stacked up to six times.

After six rounds of bewildered dancing, Dragonite heard its trainer's next command: "Good. Now use Agility."

A minute later, Agility's buff was also maxed out.

Satisfied, Caleb nodded, climbed onto Dragonite's back, and declared, "Let's move out!"

Dragonite spread its wings and shot into the sky like a gust of wind, vanishing from Ursaring and Scyther's sight in the blink of an eye...