Anonymous {2nd Place in Miscellaneous (PWA 2018)}

Chapter 2: The Beginning of the Path

Shin quietly cracked open the door to his house and peeked inside, listening for any signs of his mother roaming around. After only a long silence responded to him, he suspected she was asleep in her room and carried the Pokémon inside. It started to whimper as Shin did his best to quiet it. "It's gonna be fine. Just stay put." After finally tiptoeing upstairs to his room, he gently laid the Pokémon onto his bed, resting its head on his pillow. "Stay there, I'll be right back," he assured as he ran into his father's office.

The room seemed to have been accompanied by an almost aged ambiance, as his father never used this place or his equipment for so long. Although the cabinets were worn and messy, the objects contained in them were neatly placed in an accountable order, so it didn't take long for the boy to find what he needed: Bandages, cotton swabs, disinfectant, and some potions. Most of the other substances were too complicated for him to read, so he left them there for safe measure and headed back to the injured Pokémon, only going back once to grab a record journal that he and his father had always kept in a little drawer to identify unknown Pokémon.

Shin shut the door behind him softly and went straight to tending the Pokémon wounds. He couldn't lie that he was slightly panicking— he only ever saw his father do this on certain occasions when a Pokémon got hurt while it played with him. While his hands were meticulous and steady, his son's were shaking with the anxiety of messing up. Still, he soaked the cotton in the disinfectant and gently rubbed the cuts on the Pokémon's body. As it winced slightly, it took most of the pain as if it wasn't the worst it had experienced in its life. Shin couldn't help but feel slightly suspicious, however, he shook it off and focused his attention back onto the Pokémon, beginning to stick the bandages and gauzes onto the damp fur. "Rest here until you feel better, okay?" he said to it. "I don't think its best for you to move yet."

The Pokémon seemed hesitant. It looked somewhat tense at the fact that it was in such a comfortable environment, that it was currently curled up in a soft bed with gentle care from such a gentle creature like Shin. It looked as if it wasn't used to it, not at all; Shin could only stare worriedly at it. That was when his eyes lit up. "Oh! Hold on!" he cried.

The child stealthily ran downstairs into the kitchen and snatched up a light blue berry that was nestled in a wooden basket that his mother had brought home a few days ago. He bolted back up to his room, nearly scaring the Pokémon half to death. "Here!" He offered the Pokémon the berry with his outstretched hand. It sniffed the fruit suspiciously. "It's an oran berry. Dad used to give this to the Pokémon all the time when they got hurt." He let out a hopeful smile. "Maybe it'll help you."

After a long pause and a few attempts, the Pokémon slowly bit into the berry, juice dribbling down its mouth and sharp teeth. Its eyes immediately relaxed along with its body. It munched with no care on the fruit and let out pleased sounds as it did so. Shin couldn't help but smile to himself. "You liked it?" he asked it after the entire berry was consumed. "I'll get you some more then."

Shin made his way out of his room once again, his barefoot feet swiftly tapping the cool wooden floor under him. He had never felt so excited in his life, yet concern still flooded his mind for the Pokémon's fate: Would it heal properly? Would it heal soon? And what would he do if his mother found a Pokémon— the one thing she forbade him to have— in his own bed? It made the boy shake with anticipation. However, the thought of leaving the injured creature on its own mortified him. He knew that if he had let that Pokémon lay there, collapsed and broken, it wouldn't have made it. Reassurance from that fact gave him the confidence to push forward and hunt for more oran berries.

That was until he heard the click of a door opening from his left. He whipped his head towards the sound to see his mother, still in her apron, slowly stepping out of her room. Her eyes were heavy, looking as if she had just woken up from a long nap, and she returned his alert gaze with one of her own. Shin was frozen, only for a moment, before straightening himself up. None of them said a word to each other, that was until the woman walked quietly over to her son, knelt down, and pulled him into her arms tightly. Shin felt tense as his mother warmth hit his body, and yet the gesture was soothing, he still stood his ground and refused to lift his arms to wrap around her.