< The Path We Create >
After the school ended, Felicia immediately ditched Marisa and ran for the Pokémon center, without a care in the world. She rushed straight through the park, getting yelled at by others for running past them without even looking, but when she finally came to the Pokémon center, she could feel her heavy heart turn even colder.
A trainer, a boy, probably a year or two older than her, wearing one of the battle academy uniforms. They were arguing.
"You mean to tell me that I can't have her back?! Why?! She's my Pokémon!" The kid yelled out, attracting other bystanders' attention even more.
"By our regulations, the trainer who is unable to provide their Pokémon with basic care will have their trainer license revoked, which includes physical abuse and mental abuse, plus abandoning your Pokémon without reporting to the local ranger or Pokémon center is also a violation of our rules. You have her Poké Ball, yet didn't even think to save your Pokémon."
"Well, I got chased by those wild Yungoos! I almost didn't make it out myself, and you expect me to save her?!" The kid yelled out in response to the accusation.
"You are solely responsible for appropriately judging yourself and your Pokémon's ability. The fact that you enter and are much more dangerous than yourself, even with that much warning, is a sign of incompetence in itself. What's more, I believe you could have handled those wild Yungoos with your other Pokémon, since you already have the Fifth badge under your belt. But it seems I was wrong. Please consider how much of a privilege you have after all you've done; we still didn't revoke your license because you are still nothing but a student."
The nurse's glare was cold amid her smiling face, and even the ranger beside her looked quite spooked out.
"Tch, I don't even want that thing anyway," The kid threw away his pokeball and summoned out a Selemence before getting on it.
"Wait, give us your Sprigatito's Poké Ball. We will break the mark." The ranger finally said something after being quiet for the majority of the talk.
The boy just threw away the Poké Ball on the ground before flying away.
"Ha…today, kids are quite irresponsible, but maybe that's just one bad apple…" The ranger said, before picking up the Poké Ball, putting it on his Pokedex, and suddenly the Poké Ball broke apart into two.
"Alright, since I get that done, I will take my leave then." The ranger summoned Gyrados and quickly flew toward the sky, leaving the spectacle behind and the grumbling Nurse Joy, who was quite pissed.
"Tch, leaving all the work to me, if you are a ranger, then do your job properly." She grumbled as the bystanders quietly thinned out, and Felicia took that chance to move forward.
"Um…I'm looking for…Sprigatito…" Felicia called out; most of her worries began to surface again as she recalled the previous exchange.
"Oh! Felicia, good timing! Can you take this to the Ranger outpost in the Forest? Ah, here your pay, anyway, I gotta organize stuff now shoo shoo." Without even waiting for Felicia to respond, Nurse Joy just gave her two capsules and started writing a report without a care, mumbling about how she was gonna deduct points for that trainer and stuff…
Without being able to even ask anymore, Felicia sighs and goes toward the Ranger post in the forest. The path was very familiar to her, but this time, Ponewt was there, preening her feather, as if the Pidgeot was waiting for her.
And it seems to be true, because upon seeing her, the Pidgeot perked up her head, and walked forward, with seating already attached to her. The giant Pidgeot nudged her head at Felicia, prompting her to get up and take a seat.
Normally, just walking to the Post would take her around fifteen to twenty minutes, but with Ponewt, just one minute is already enough.
"You here to give me a ride, Ponewt? Thank you, I will take you up on the offer." With a pat on the head, Felicia got up on the seat and put the prepared windshield on. In just a second after she finished placing the belt, Ponewt started ascending immediately, but there was no pressure on Felicia at all.
They flew for just around thirty seconds before Ponewt began her descent onto the Ranger Post. There, Felicia could see Mr. Marcelo with a troubled face.
"Oh, you're here, Lass, good, I got work for you." Mr. Marcelo gestured for my phone, in which he quickly shared the screen footage. It was the same Sprigatito she had saved, all better, but there were still scars left on her abdomen and right eye…
The abdomen, the most vulnerable place for a feline, the fact that she got hurt in those areas, means that before Felicia had saved her, there was probably a nasty wound on her stomach too…
"That little lass didn't trust me or my Pokémon; they have too much of my scent on them. That little lass doesn't have trust in humans at all, well, considering her circumstances, I do understand why she is like that." Mr. Marcelo said, though his face still relaxed.
"So…about the job?" Felicia asks, already has some idea of the thing he is about to ask.
"The Nurse lass gave ya the capsule, right?" Felicia nods. "Good, open them right up here." She did as told, and what came out of the capsule was a potion, alongside vitamins and berries. "So that's today's portion. Anyway, your job is to make sure that the gal gets her vitamins and spray potion on her regularly. She is still weak in her knee, and her claws got completely chewed, so you won't have to worry about getting clawed at. These would help her get in top shape in a week or so, and we can release her back into the wild, if she can adapt during the week that is, otherwise, daycare or sanctuary for her."
"But…if she didn't trust humans…will she really trust me?" Felicia asks, unsure whether she would even be able to come close to the Spirgatito itself or not.
"Eh, you got a better chance than us, Ranger. Nurse Lass also gives you a thumbs up in this, so it's probably fine." Mr. Marcelo suddenly put his hand on Felicia's head and started patting it aggressively, destroying her hair. "Listen, Lass. Pokémon are very sensitive creatures; they pick up on the intent of the thing around them. Some are especially sensitive, like the Psychic type, others are more dull, like the Ghost, but they are still a hundred times sharper than a Human. That's why you will be fine, just approach them the same way you would approach the other wild Pokémon or people."
"...but I only have one friend," Felicia said, face blank as she held onto the backpack.
"...Ahem, well, we earn some, we lose some, anyway! Go get that cat!" With a push on her back, Felicia glared at the man who now proceeded to sit on his sunchair with a cold drink in hand AGAIN, as if he was ready for sunbathing…
"Are you…really a ranger?" Felicia mutters before walking into the forest.
< The Path We Create >
The forest path was very familiar to her, yet today, it felt strangely quiet, having been for a long time, let her get used to how noisy local Pokémon were. Strangely, around these parts, there weren't really a lot of bug types, at least those that she could see. But full of grass-type and rock-type, a few fighting-type and flying-type.
From the location last seen from Mr. Marcelo's own Rotom phone, Felicia is already at the last seen destination of the Sprigatito. There wasn't any sign of the Sprigatito anywhere, so Felicia started looking around.
The most important thing for Sprigatito is water and sunlight. Here, there are a few places with good sunlight and an easy source of water. She could roughly deduct three places, one near the ranger outpost, so that could be cut out, the next place would be near the cave system, but that's where strong Pokémon stay, so not a good place to recover, and lastly the river, that where most grass-type Pokemon often be, what more, there abundance of water-type pokemon, which isn't that strong, even a baby grass-type could have hunt a Magikarp.
So Felicia headed to the river, and just like she thought, she could see the silhouette of the Sprigatito, submerging her head into the river, drenching its face. When it finishes, they sit by the tree, and slowly, a sweet and calming scent escapes from the Pokémon itself. The scent was so intoxicating, Felicia almost fell asleep right then and there, but she managed to put her mask on in time.
Thank you, Nurse Joy, for preparing it in advance… The nearby Pokémon, smelling the scent coming from Sprigatito, also slowly calm down and start to sleep. Now would probably be the best time to approach, but Felicia decided to keep observing. She took out her Camera and was ready to capture these rare moments, careful not to make a sound, not to wake up the tired Sprigatito.
The scent that Sprigatito releases seems especially potent; it must be because she was basking in the sun, which is why even Pokémon who were fighting far away became intoxicated too and calmed down. But it seems this scent does not work on all Pokémon, since she was getting chased hard by those Yungoos. Felicia knew that the little sprigatito must have tried to use that scent to stop the Yungoos, but maybe because there was little sun left, the scent wasn't strong enough.
Felicia moves around, capturing the moment with practiced movement, and does not startle the Pokémon at all. She has been doing this for half a year in place with the most sensitive type of Pokémon after all, so getting good was normal.
"Now then…How do I apply the medicine, vitamins, and berries?" The Potion has antiseptic, which would make the wound sting, which would wake up the Sprigatito. She could put the Vitamin in the berries, but the question is…how to feed it to the Sprigatito, if she leaves it be, other Pokémon would just take the berries along with the Vitamin in them.
So…she needs to gain…Sprigatito's trust somehow, but how? The Pokémon that was abused by its previous owner and left to die alone…
"...There really is no good solution…" Sigh, Felicia, as she sits back down, and suddenly, a clinking sound comes from her neck. When she looked down, she could see the silver charm shining brightly under the sunlight escaping from the thousand leaves.
"Right…There's no point dwelling, I got to make the best of the situation…" If Sprigatito's previous trainer was a brat who had no care for her, then Felicia only needed to show Sprigatito that she did, in fact, care about her, no matter how little it may be, if she…could genuinely show that…she did not mean harm, and only wished her to get better, maybe…that…
"Alright, let's go, Feli. Be more confident…just like her." Felicia got up and put on the most confident look she had ever known, the same smile that she had dreamed of.
Felicia strides forward with a smile. She could see the Pokémon already turning their head, watching her. Felicia took off her mask and looked at the Sprigatito with a shining smile.
"Hi, do you want to eat-"
"Nyan!!!" Before she could even finish, the Sprigatito ran away so fast it startled the rest of the Pokémon.
"...Fuu….One step at a time…Feli… one step at a time…" With a deep breath, Felicia just dropped down and silently contemplated her choice…
< The Path We Create >
After the first failure attempt, this time, Felicia decided to be less direct and more about trying to get Sprigatito to eat the berries. Sprigatito does not need to eat, as expected of a Grass-type; she could have photosynthesis and gain their energy that way. In fact, that was what Sprigatito did just now.
But just because they get energy doesn't mean they get all the nutrients. They do still hunt, and berries were also a good way to get their nutrients up, too. In fact, most of the Vitamins she got contain mostly iron and calcium to help Sprigatito, especially the iron part.
They are vital to plant, apparently, they are crucial component for Chlorophyll, which is vital for plant, and that include grass type Pokemon, or that what Nurse Joy told her, Felicia never really get into plant that much, but it seem she need to learn more now, since from the look alone, Sprigatito did not look that green at all, she is in fact, look more yellowish green…
She has been chasing this Sprigatito for almost twenty minutes now, the sky has turned a bit orange, and right now, the little feline is looking around with vigilance, but after looking around for three minutes, the Sprigatito finally relaxes and kneed the dirt with her paw, release their scent, and slowly fall asleep.
Felicia decided to wait for a few more minutes just to be sure that the Sprigatito would truly be asleep.
"..." Sprigatito did not make any more movements besides the slow breathing, so now is her chance!
Felicia moved, only to step on a stick that she hadn't seen before, waking up the sleeping Sprigatito, who immediately growled at her and ran away.
"..." Ok… This is her fault; she didn't look around the area well enough. No worry, there's still a chance…
Gripping her necklace, Felicia continued her quest to feed the Sprigatito.
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"Kyah!" Felicia somehow managed to catch her camera and necklace before it could hit her face, now, she was staring dagger into the Sprigatito, who was now running away, she was hanging upside down, but thankfully, she isn't that height and the vine the Sprigatito use wasn't that strong so she somehow struggle out before she need to use the emergency signal.
Falling with a thud, thank the soft ground, so she didn't even hurt, but…she does feel a bit annoyed.
"Fine then…it's war."
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Felicia was now hiding in the bush, as she observed the Sprigatito for the fifth time since the war started, the little gal wouldn't stay in the same place for more than a few minutes, she would look around, then smell the air, and run away, she do this for five time in a row, but suddenly, She stop on this spot, that when Felicia noticed it, the little pond behind the tree, Sprigatito slowly move and look around for a few more time, before making her decision to dunk her head into the pond, this was Felicia chance!
She makes sure there are no traps and no twigs to ruin her chance. Quickly, Felicia places one of each of the Vitamins into the Roseli berry, and rolls it behind with a little bit of strength to the behind of the unsuspecting Sprigatito.
Now she quickly buried herself in even more twigs and took out her camera, ready to take the picture…
The Sprigatito takes her head out and processes to shake a little, then stares into the orange-hued sky, taking in the sunlight, and slowly recharges her energy, and when the little Pokémon notices the Roseli berry from its rear.
Little Sprigatito uses her paw to tap the berry, then sniff it a little, not noticing anything strange, even with the enhanced smell of the feline.
Heh, it seems it was still naive, because vitamin… does not have a smell! Hehehe, she was quite shocked when she got tricked into eating a berry that was stuffed with the bitter medicine she didn't like as a child, so shocked in fact that she didn't eat a berry for three whole days.
Now she was about to do the same thing to an innocent Pokémon…
The Sprigatito stares into the berry for a few seconds before proceeding to take one big, big bite, only to instantly crunch on the pills, making a satisfying crack. The Sprigatito's mouth stays open, but the pill is already making its way into the stomach; it only glares at the berry in shock.
Felicia did not hesitate to take the picture; the naive Pokémon fell for the same trick, and now she too has to know not to fully trust a random berry…
"Nya!" Sprigatito just swats away the berry with force, somehow, sending it straight to Felicia's face as if it was fated to be stuck on her little face.
The Pokémon finally notices her and lets out a snicker before running away…
"This…isn't over." Mutter Felicia as she wipes away Reseli's juice.
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Felicia 1-4 Sprigatito
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It took her almost an hour to finally track down the little villain, as somehow, she managed to set so many traps that Felicia fell into almost every time, though all of them were harmless, but they were nonetheless annoying…
The sky was already dark when she found the Sprigatito, tucked under the tree, eyes already staring at her as if knowing Felicia was there. She was about to run away again, but this time Felicia held out the potion.
"Wait!" The Sprigatito stops and stares at her. Thank Arceus… "Your knee still isn't in good shape; this potion will help…just let me apply it to you." Felicia holds out the potion, hand still clutching the necklace.
Sprigatito looked at her, but she did not run away; she just stayed still under the tree, not moving.
Felicia took this as a sign and quickly approached, but the hiss made by the Sprigatito made her slow down…
'She didn't like people to run up to her…' Felicia would take it to her heart, and slowly approach the little fur of trouble. She knelt down next to it and slowly sprayed the Potion onto the knee, making the fur of the sprigatito jump up due to the antiseptic at work, making it sting.
Once she finishes applying it, she slowly touches the fur and starts rubbing the medicine. It stings her hand a lot, but the Sprigatito lets her rub its leg.
Her fur was soft, very much so…there was a hint of flower coming out, a mix of berries she had eaten, and the scent of the forest, gentle..and calming…
Once she finishes rubbing the fur-...the medicine in, she drops the rest of the berries, and the Sprigatito looks at it with suspicion.
"Don't worry, you're already taking the pills for today." Felicia said as she got up, the Sprigatito started eating the berries, not even processing the part where she said 'For today.'
Felicia hesitated a bit before deciding to go off with her urge to pat the head, only to get slapped away by Sprigatito's paw. "hehe…Then, I will see you later." The Sprigatito did not respond, so Felicia left, but her heart was quite satisfied.