Tia and Aidan meet again and rescue a hurt Pikachu.
“That should do it.”
Tia tossed a Net Ball into the air and caught it. She had trekked back to Viridian Forest for another round of bug-catching and Net Ball testing, and had just about wrapped things up. Naito was perched on her shoulder, falling asleep.
She looked around again and saw that it was getting darker and darker by the minute. “It’s getting late. I really should try to get out of here…” She started to walk back, but heard a loud buzzing noise from nearby.
“What the…” Without thinking, Tia rushed toward the noise, and came face-to-face with a Beedrill swarm. She was about to run in the opposite direction when she noticed they were crowding over a small, crumpled form. “They’re attacking another Pokémon!” she realized. “It must be hurt!” She nodded to Naito, and he hopped off her shoulder.
“Use Psychic!” Energy waves shot out, and Tia ran over to the Pokémon on the ground.
It was a Pikachu, and it had numerous bruises and cuts on it, and was shaking uncontrollably. “Those Beedrills must have poisoned it,” she said frantically. “I have to do something fast – Naito can’t hold them off forever!” Then, Tia turned around and gasped.
The Beedrill swarm had moved away from Naito and headed straight for Tia and the injured Pikachu. Tia put herself over the Pikachu like a shield and screwed her eyes shut, expecting the worst. Instead, she felt a blast of heat, and from the corner of her eye, she saw the Beedrills dropping. She looked up and saw a shiny black Charizard, torching the Beedrills with its Flamethrower.
“Huh?” Tia stared at the Charizard, bewildered. Then, she noticed its trainer standing over her and gaped. “Aidan!?”
Aidan turned to her and said tensely, “You get that Pikachu out of here! We’ll deal with these!” He glanced toward his Charizard and the Beedrills.
Tia nodded. “Right.” She took out an empty Heal Ball and placed it near the hurt Pikachu. “Please,” she asked frantically, “if you can, get in here. I’ll get you some help…” The Pikachu glowed a faint red and slowly entered the ball.
Tia got up and ran, putting as much distance as she could between herself and the Beedrill swarm. Naito caught up to her and perched on her head. He tried to Teleport them, but failed, causing Tia to fall flat on her face. Then, someone grabbed her arm, abruptly pulled her back up, and ran, pulling her along. Tia blinked.
“Aidan!” she said, startled, “I thought you were–”
“There’s too many of them!” he replied anxiously.
They kept running until they reached the edge of the forest, guided by a flashlight Aidan brought with him. They collapsed on the ground and Aidan trained his flashlight near the trees, expecting the swarm to follow them out. Nothing happened.
Aidan sighed in relief and turned toward Tia. “You okay?”
Tia nodded. Then her eyes widened. “The Pikachu!” She pulled out the Heal Ball and turned it in her hands. She quickly opened her pack and set up her research station.
“This Heal Ball isn’t much different from a Poke Ball in terms of capture rate,” Tia said while setting up, “But it’s practically a mobile Pokemon Center. It should heal all of a Pokemon’s health and cure its status ailments.”
Aidan raised his eyebrows. “Wow.”
“Let’s see…” Tia plugged in the Heal Ball and waited for the capture data to appear.
Pikachu
Level 15
Gender: Female
Status: Normal
Capture Rate: 0.97
Tia sighed in relief. “Thank goodness it worked.”
Aidan looked at the Heal Ball plugged into Tia’s laptop, then looked at her. “Heal Balls, huh?”
Tia nodded. “They’re specially-made in Sinnoh and can’t be bought here. I’m just glad I had one on me today.”
“Hey…” Aidan said slowly, “Can… can I get your number?” He pulled out his Pokegear. “I’d like to hear more about your research and stuff.”
Tia stared at him, surprised. Then she smiled. “Sure.”