A Late Start

Camping

Present-day, weekend after the feral growlithe incident

"Alright Ethan, Tents are up," I called out across the field dropping the mallet in my hand to the floor.
"You make sure those pegs are in deep? We don't want them coming loose in the middle of the night."  His voice echoed out from behind the trees.
"Yeah, they're in pretty deep. You'd need a Drillbur to get 'em out"
"Cool, come give me a hand then."
"Alright, come on, Silas." The Eevee chirped as he jumped up from the ground and skipped alongside me, he had been really excited about this trip so he had been prancing about all day, refusing to let me carry him. after we broke through the treeline I almost ran headfirst into Ethan, who had been gathering dry brambles and branches for a fire later.
"You mind giving me a hand carrying some of this stuff for me Lexi?"
"Sure thing," I said as I took a bundle of the dead flora from his arms, I could still barely feel the thorns on some of them through my gloves and jacket. "Where's Royce by the way?"
"Oh, he's off gathering rocks by the river, we'll need them if we want to have a proper fire pit."
"The rock creature, is gathering rocks?" I jeered
"Well yeah, I gave him a special pouch to help carry them back to camp too."
"Aren't you worried about him getting attacked while you're not there?"
"Not really, I'm sure he can handle himself, at least from all the wild 'mon around here." 
"What about the water types?"
"What water types? there aren't any around here."
"You said he's by the river right? All sorts of pokemon are drawn to rivers and streams, especially water types. just because they're not native to the area doesn't mean they don't show up." A look of mild concern came over his face.
"We should probably go check on him then, huh?"
"Let's set the firewood back at camp first, it's pretty unlikely that anything is going to want to pick a fight with him, I was just making sure you were aware of the possibility."
"Right... Thanks for looking out Lexi." 
"You know I'd never forgive myself if something happened to you or Royce, and heaven forbid the earful I'd get from my mother."
"Yeah, that is true, although she seems to have loosened up a touch now that you have Silas with you."
"Yeah, but I don't doubt if something goes wrong now she'd snap right back to how she was before. besides, Silas still isn't much of a battler yet, barring a few wild 'mons he's never been In a real fight before."
"Maybe we can change that while we're out here, who knows what'll happen"
"Ethan, I'm not going to make him battle Royce, he'd be at a massive disadvantage, and not just because of the typing." 
"I didn't mean me, Lexi, I'm sure we're not the only trainers out here, maybe we'll run into someone and you two can have a proper battle. Ooorrr, he could always help Royce and I hunt later today." I was silent for a moment.
"It would be a good experience I guess," I muttered under my breath, still not wanting to confront that topic yet.
"Lexi... you know you're going to have to  learn someday right?"
"I know, I know. Just... I'm not ready yet."
"You're never going to be ready, Lexi. It's something you have to just do." We both went silent again for a little while. "Look, I know you don't want to, but the sooner you do it, the sooner you'll be able to come to terms with it. I'm not going to make you come with us, but it would be good for you in the long term, I promise." Before I could respond a loud CRACK erupted across the clearing, we both threw our bundles aside and ran off in the direction of the river with naught but a glance at one another, Silas had even jumped on my shoulder, knowing he can't keep up when we're at full sprint. As we tore through the treeline we eventually got a glance at what had caused the noise, a tree had fallen over, landing in the river. A little further ahead Royce was squared up against a much larger pokemon than we were used to seeing. three feet tall, covered in dark brown fur, its long tail tipped with a white puff, it stood on two legs, with yellow stripes about halfway down its torso. A Watchog.

Before either of us were able to say a word Silas had used the momentum from my running to launch himself off my shoulder towards the hostile creature,
"Quick attack!" I Yelled out, upon realising his intent, he cloaked himself in the same white light I'd seen so many times and collided with the watchog, knocking it off balance as he landed next to Royce. As an evolved pokemon both Ethan and I knew that the Watchog would easily overpower either of our pokemon by themselves.
"Together?" He asked me quietly.
"Together," I said back as we exchanged glances
"Alright, Royce, Focus on your defence, keep Silas safe, he can't take hits like you can."
"Silas, try to stay out of its line of sight, you two have to work together here, hit it from both angles!"
By this point the Assailant had righted itself again, Silas' attack had no visible effect on it. Silas understood my instruction, almost immediately sidestepping to create distance between him and Royce, while the rock creature curled itself up, tight, a pale shimmer coming over its rocky body.
Ethan was first to call out. "Magnitude, try to knock it off balance."
"Follow up with quick attack when it wobbles, try to tip it over." The ground began to shake as Royce readied his attack, However, before the ground gave way the Watchog jumped high off the ground, causing magnitude to have no effect, Silas tried to follow up like I told him, barely clipping the creatures feet with his attack.
"Rock throw before he lands!"
Reaching into the bag on his back Royce Hurled a smooth river stone at the creature, a clean hit. Directly in the chest. Watchog barely flinched as its mouth started glowing a bright white, its front teeth grew almost twice in length.
"Super fang! Don't let it catch you." I called out to Silas, who turned around just in time to see the creature running towards him,
"Royce, use magnitude again, Right where Silas is standing."
"What!?"
"Trust me. And Silas, JUMP!"
Both Pokemon played their parts, Silas barely escaping Royce's magnitude with a swift jump, the Watchog was the recipient of the attack, losing its balance, barely managing to scrape Silas with its teeth as it fell. He let out a yelp of pain, but landed on his feet and stood straight.
"You alright buddy?" I cried out.
He looked straight at me,
"Voi!" He nodded before turning his eyes back to the Watchog, who had stumbled into a nearby tree, carried by its own momentum.
"Hit it hard guys, before it can get back up" Ethan's voice cut across the field. Royce started hurling stones as fast and as hard as he could, Silas managed a quick attack followed by a quick kick to the creatures leg as it began to stand again. That last encounter had a visible effect on the creature, as it was now panting slightly. Silas, however, was looking significantly more winded. The Watchog loomed over Silas, who had to get close to land its attacks.
"No way, it's still so strong," I exclaimed
"Royce, tackle. Like we practised, get that things attention."
The rock creature dug its hands into the ground, just like it did during magnitude, I immediately recognised the maneuver from Ethan's gym battle.
"SILAS, step back, get clear of it!"
Immediately, the silver fox turned and ran towards me, as Watchog went to make chase it was greeted with a faceful of Royce, as he landed a momentum fueled punch square to the creatures cheek. A dark aura surrounded the creature's mouth, as it caught Royce in its mouth before he could get away, the shimmer around his body fading as the creature bit down hard. The rock creature grunted and groaned under the pressure, eventually breaking himself free with another punch to the forehead, which sent the Watchog reeling backward.
"He's getting weak Silas, hit 'em now, Quick Attack, aim for the legs and hit it as many times as you can." Silas immediately charged at the creature, cloaking himself in energy as he struck, running straight through its right leg causing it to topple once more, but this time he kept striking, again and again as the creature struggled to get up.
"The tail, watch out!" Ethan called out. It was too late, however, as before Silas could react the creature struck him firmly with its long tail, sending him tumbling towards us, he stood weakly, barely able to hold his own weight up.
The Watchog was also on its last legs, however, breathing heavily, covered in bruises and dust.
"Do you need to stop buddy? I don't want you getting hurt." Silas looked up at me, giving me a cocky smirk as he trod slowly back towards the creature.
"Royce, finish this NOW! Rock throw, follow it immediately with Tackle!" The stone struck the creature firmly on the head as it was too exhausted to dodge Royce then immediately flung himself at it, the Resounding Crunch of the impact sending the creature tumbling across the riverbed for one final time as its eyes turned to spirals, It was unconscious. The moment it hit the ground Silas had collapsed under his own weight, Royce barely had enough strength left to hold up his arm in triumph. I had immediately fallen to Silas' side, placing my hand on his chest, he was still breathing fine and he wasn't unconscious, he was bleeding from a minor cut on his back, however. I carefully picked him up, cradling him in my arms.
"You did great Buddy, but don't push yourself so hard next time." He let out a weak squeak and nuzzled my arm gently. "So... what are we doing with that?" I gestured towards the now unconscious creature with my foot.
"Well, we could just leave it here. But if it attacked us once it could happen again. Not to mention, I don't think either of our 'mon are going to be in any shape to gather food later..."
"You don't mean... surely not?"
"Lex, we need to eat. And you know as well as I do that it's going to be dangerous for both us and our pokemon if we just leave it here."
"Well... yeah, but... can't we just, have berries tonight? Do we HAVE to?"
"There's not enough berries here to sustain both us and our pokemon."
I looked down at Silas in my arms. "Alright... do it," I said weakly, I could already feel my heart in my throat just thinking about it. "Just, don't expect me to watch... I'm taking Silas back to camp."
"Okay. I'll see you there in a little bit make sure Silas gets plenty of rest, he looks in pretty rough shape."
All I heard as I turned to head back to camp was a metallic click followed by a deep squelch I shuddered at the thought of what was happening behind me.

I made it back to camp and curled up in my tent, setting Silas gently on the ground next to me. He had already gained enough of his strength back, enough to stand comfortably and I felt his paw touch the back of my neck as I was curled into my own knees. I uncurled enough to face him.
"Hey, buddy, you feeling a bit better?"
He didn't respond, just kept staring at me, both confusion and concern in his eyes. It felt like he was staring into my soul. "Don't worry about me bud, I'll be alright. Just need to, not think for a while." He gave a brief look of bemusement and nuzzled my chin.
"You did amazing out there today bud, sorry for letting you get hurt like that," I said, gently running my fingers over the damp section in his fur. He curled up against my chest and I held him as close to me as I could. "Maybe mom was right... I'm not cut out for all this." Silas audibly groaned at my comment before letting out a very firm
"Vee," almost like he was telling me to stop.
"Don't worry bud, I'm not giving up just yet, and even if I did I'm not letting you go again."
"Eee" he groaned again, before settling in next to me.