Haruki noticed the excellent talent of the Elekid, enchanted talent, to be specific, which was very rare, and observed that the genetics of the Elekid were also normal for its species.
Haruki approached Elekid, noting that it was hiding in the trunk of a tree. After relaxing a bit, the Pokémon still looked sad but continued to observe him. When Haruki reached Elekid, he asked if he could touch him. Elekid nodded in reply, and so, Haruki scratched near the ears of the Pokémon, who let out a satisfied grunt. This relaxed the Pokémon and once again proved Haruki's excellent knowledge and skills.
Haruki looked at the wound and twisted bone through his aura one last time, then took out some sanitizer out of his field medic kit. After disinfecting the wound, he used some low-level sedatives that worked on Elekid, since he was not very strong.
As Elekid drifted to sleep, Haruki positioned two padded clamps on either side of the fracture, one strapped gently above the joint, the other below. A third tool, a tension line, created a slow pulling force. This realigned the bone correctly. Afterward, he used a portion of a potion on the Elekid, not much of it was left now. He then stitched the wound closed and cut the thread. He used an Awakening on Elekid, and after it woke up, he asked how it had been injured.
Elekid, now awake and feeling better in the previously injured spot, happily exclaimed, "Eli! Eli!" as if thanking Haruki. Haruki nodded and asked, "How did you get injured? And where are your parents?"
Elekid's head drooped as it shook its head.
Haruki followed up, "Are they… dead?"
At that, Elekid vehemently shook its head, then pointed at Haruki and said something incomprehensible.
Haruki, coming to a realization, asked, "Were they taken by… a human?"
Elekid sadly nodded in response, mentally remembering how it had been just a normal day, eating Oran berries with its parents, when some people with big, rocky, and scary Pokémon showed up and attacked.
Its parents took a defensive stance in front of it and warned the group not to come any closer. The group, however, ignored them and chatted among themselves. Elekid's parents began to sweat after hearing what was said, though Elekid couldn't make out most of it, only catching words like "fine subject" and "need more" before its parents attacked first, using the move Swift.
The opponents easily countered with Rock Throw, which hit Elekid's father and caused him significant pain. Elekid's mother picked him up and prompted her partner to run, but the path ahead was blocked by a strong-looking bird Pokémon. It flew toward Elekid's father and used Brave Bird, an attack Elekid's mother barely dodged.
They ran for a while before a Hyper Beam came their way. Elekid's mother mostly blocked it, but the blast still injured Elekid. She then told him to hide in the tree trunk, he same place where he used to sleep.
That was the last time Elekid saw his mom.
Elekid, of course, couldn't tell this to Haruki, who wouldn't have understood, but thinking about it made him visibly sad, something Haruki noticed.
"Is there anyone you can rely on?" Haruki asked. "Like a friend of your parents?"
Elekid shook his head in response.
"You can rely on me from now on, Elekid," Haruki said in a soothing and calm tone.
Elekid was moved to tears for the second time that day. It stepped forward and hugged Haruki, something that made him panic and step back slightly.
As Elekid hugged him, unaware of the panic it had caused, Haruki's face turned pale, and his breathing grew heavy. Still, he barely managed to control himself , a testament to the willpower forged by his mentors through years of mental torture.
As Haruki regained control, he scratched Elekid behind the ears and said, "Relax, everything will be alright," in a tone that was becoming harder and harder to maintain. Haruki, being so weak, was now being hugged by a Pokémon so much stronger than himself.
Elekid, finally noticing Haruki's struggle, let go and grinned provocatively, as if mocking the little human's strength.
Haruki didn't react much to the provocation, which he understood easily, and said, "You must be very hungry, so let's get you some food first. Your leg is unharmed, so you can walk just fine. We should get going, I believe."
As the two started walking, Haruki looked at Elekid and asked, "Do you have any plans for the future?"
Elekid stared blankly at him, as if he were speaking a foreign language.
Haruki added, "It's alright if you don't have a plan. You can stay with me for now."
"Eli eli eli!" Elekid exclaimed.
Haruki, seeing the turmoil on Elekid's face, deduced that it was asking how and when it would be able to meet its parents again.
Haruki, knowing there was a chance Elekid might never see them, considered the Pokémon's likely young age, possibly even younger than himself. He started to say, "Soon," but then corrected himself:"Soon… if you grow stronger, you might have the power to rescue them."
The words were enough to ease the little Elekid's heart, even if they were mostly baseless.
In the little Pokémon's mind, things were nearly settled. But another question emerged: "How do I grow stronger than those attackers?" , a question Elekid never got to ask, because Haruki had already said:
"Follow my instructions from now on. I'll make you very strong, if you do."
That was enough to put the young Elekid's heart at peace. To him, Haruki was a very weak… but undeniably reliable person.
However, Haruki himself was far from at peace.
He mentally berated himself, hating how manipulative he sounded. He was barely holding himself together as he started seeing his mentors in himself…The same mentors who had made his life hell.