The World Of Pokemon 2.0

It's been two days since Eric found out his system could help him recover, or was it because of his stats? He didn't know, and he didn't quite care as he could now continue his journey through the Pokemon World.

Melanie was surprised to see Eric's arms all healed in two days, but she didn't take it to heart as they live in a world where incredibly powerful creatures could do things not normally possible.

One could control space for, and another could literally control time. 'At least... that is what I've heard... There's just too many mysterious things in this world,' Melanie thought.

Now, what surprised Melanie the most was how fast the Pokemon came to like Eric, and even the Bulbasaur known as their guardian was fond of him.

"Hmm... How strange." Melanie muttered with a smile as she carried pokemon food for all the Pokemon she cared for outside. Her eyes immediately soften once she sees a handsome young boy playing with Pokemon with a goofy smile on his face.

"Hahaha! Hey! You're getting me wet! Charmander, stay out of the water! Pidgeotto, come back here!" Eric shouted as he tried to keep track of all his Pokemon and the ones belonging to the village. He was happy that his arms were back to normal, and somehow they felt stronger. The stats he gained from the system were finally doing something, but he couldn't understand why did he, as a trainer, have to become strong.

'Will I evolve too?' Eric chuckled at the thought, but he would know in the future that it wasn't that far of the mark.

"You're all healed up now. So, are you going to leave towards Vermillion City?" Melanie asked as she unknowingly started to feel sad. She was technically all alone here while doing a task she thought to be right. '..Just these two days of talking to him through the night and seeing him smile like that... I think-'

"Yeah, I am. I need to gather all eight badges before the start of the Pokemon League. And then I'll travel the world to become a Pokemon Master! ...At least I think I want to be one..." Eric said while saying that last part underneath his breath. 'What's a Pokemon Master anyway?...'

"I know you'll accomplish that dream..." Melanie said as her right hand slowly drifted towards Eric's arm. 'He looks fine... but why does he still feel injured? Broken? I want to-'.

"Hey."

"Yes?!" Melanie unconsciously shouted as she pulled her hand back.

"I think I'll stay for one more day, and then I'll leave. Is that alright with you?"

"Um yeah, it's ok. Stay as long as you want to..." Melanie warmly smiled with a hint of red present on her cheeks.

"Heh... Hey! Charmander, what did I tell you! You can't get in the water!" Eric pointed as his mischievous Charmander, who didn't understand it couldn't get it's tail wet.

[Charmander...] Charmander looked down and started to pout as it turned away from the calm river.

[Pika...] Pikachu patted Charmander's head.

The next several hours were spent with Eric not doing a lot of anything as he considered this time to be break time. He would play with all the Pokemon except for Pidgeotto, who still seemed to be upset over what happened. Eric was mad about the incident, but seeing Pidgeotto like that replaced the feeling with concern.

Eric approached the tree Pidgeotto was hanging out at and sat down near it, "Pidgeotto... Come here..." He sternly said.

[Pi..] Pidgeotto chirped softly as it flew down to the ground and landed next to Eric. It couldn't look its trainer in the eye, so it only looked down at its feet.

"Pidgeotto, I was mad at you... And I still kinda am you bastard." Eric said as he flicked Pidgeotto's forehead. "But... I forgive you."

[Pi...Pichaaa!] Pidgeotto expected more than just a flick, but when it heard those words, it started to cry. Pidgeotto then jumped towards its trainer and tried to hug him the best that it could with its wings. It promised itself that it would never let its trainer come to harm.

"Heh... Just don't make it a habit of disobeying me. I don't think I want anything else broken." Eric sighed while stroking Pidgeotto's head.

(A/N: I'm so sorry, Eric! I'm sorry!)

------ Later that night

"How does it feel to have your bed back?" Eric asked Melanie as he got ready to sleep in his comfortable sleeping bag on the floor of the cabin.

"It smells like him... Uh, it's great!" Melanie quickly answered once she realized what she said, but fortunately, she was whispering at that time.

"And do you guys have to be this close?" Eric g.r.o.a.n.e.d as his three Pokemon were almost suffocating him.

[Pika!] [Char!] [Piii] They all nodded their heads and continued to cuddle up to their trainer.

"Cute..." Melanie softly said as she giggled while watching the scene.

"Ugh...Whatever, let's just get some sleep..." Eric accepted his cruel fate for the night and tried to sleep until he was interrupted.

"Hey... Eric?"

"Hm?"

"Do you think I'm doing the right thing being the caretaker of all these pokemon?" Melanie asked, hugging her pillow tightly as if she was afraid of his answer.

"... I would say you're doing a great thing."

Melanie smiled and immediately relaxed after hearing Eric's answer. "Really? I-"

"But don't you think you're going a bit overboard? I mean, sure some of the Pokemon are injured, but the others just can't seem to live without you. You're taking away their ability to live in the wild unless you plan on catching them."

"O-oh..." Melanie had started to realize that same problem, but hearing it from someone else made her feel guilty.

"Also, don't you have any dreams you want to accomplish?"

"M-my dream?"

"Yeah... I mean, it can't be doing this for the rest of your life, right...?" Eric asked as his eyelids started to become heavy.

Melanie turned over on her back and stared at the ceiling. "My dream...I actually wanted to be a Pokemon Ranger at one point, but somewhere along the line, I stopped pursuing that dream..."

"Pokemon Ranger?..."

"I know it's stupid but-"

"No, it's not... Pokemon Rangers are super cool as they keep people... And pokemon safe." Eric closed his eyes and chuckled softly before drifting off to sleep in a matter of seconds

Melanie turned over and gazed at Eric, "Really?... But for me to do that, I would need to go far away to Fiore or Almia to learn. Pokemon Ranger's aren't really a huge thing yet in Kanto... Eric?" She noticed that he wasn't moving anymore and had fallen asleep.

Melanie became slightly upset that she couldn't talk to him anymore, and covered her head with her blanket.

"You can do it..."

"Eric?.." Melanie removed the blanket to see if he was awake again. However, he wasn't from what she could see, but soon after, a beautiful smile would form on her lips. "Yeah, maybe I can..." She said as she gazed at the sleeping boy for a few more moments before blowing out the candle, she used as a light.

----------- Next Day

Eric was found getting ready to leave after saying goodbye to all the Pokemon.

[Bulbasauur] Bulbasaur wrapped its vines around Eric's leg as if it was telling Eric not to leave.

"You're making it hard to leave Bulbasaur ." Eric smiled and crouched down to pet Bulbasaur.

[Bulba..] Bulbasaur let out a sad sigh and unwrapped its vines that were holding on to Eric.

"Hey... If I'm able to leave, then would you let me follow you on your journey?" Melanie asked, seemingly out of nowhere with her cheeks slightly flushed with red.

"Hmm? I thought you wanted to train to be a Pokemon Ranger? What do you want to follow me for?"

Melanie frantically waved her hands as her entire face turned bright red, "No reason!-I mean! Me...uh.."

"I would like that."

"Huh?" Melanie's heart seemed to beat slightly faster after hearing those words.

Eric slowly stood up, "You can follow me if you want. I can't think of a reason for you not to follow m-"

Melanie suddenly hugged Eric for a brief moment before pushing him away. "Remember what you said... Alright? Take care."

"Y-yeah... You too.." Eric managed to say as he looked at Melanie strangely before taking off into the forest. 'What was that?... This isn't a romance! It's a Pokemon story!" He screamed in his head, his cheeks turning red as he continued to dash through the forest.

Melanie turned back towards her log cabin, "I'll just finish up my work here and-"

"Someone help!!"

"That's coming from the river! Bulbasaur, let's go!" Melanie shouted as she ran along the river bank towards they cry for help.

-------

Eric was far away enough to calm down and reached in his inventory to grab his bike. He would ride for quite some time until he started to catch a glimpse of civilization. "That must be Vermillion City! Finally, I hope I never see that Primeape ever again."

(A/N: Oooo you shouldn't have said that!)

Once Eric made it to Vermillion city, he stopped at the Pokemon Center to get a proper check-up. He knew Melanie was good with herbs that made Pokemon feel better, but it doesn't beat the care from a Pokemon Center. However, once he arrived, there was a long line of trainers waiting to get their Pokemon healed.

'That's right, Lt.Surge was known to be rough in his battles... Heh, just wait till I get there and wipe the floor with you.' Eric thought with a smile as he was feeling particularly confident for some odd reason.

An hour later, it was Eric's turn, and Nurse Joy started to look a bit ragged after how busy it has been at the center. He thought he heard Nurse Joy curse at Lt.Surge, but he must have been imagining it.

"I think I'll go practice at this city's training center," Eric said as he waited for his Pokemon to come back from Nurse Joy.

"You don't want to go there." A random trainer said.

"Why?"

"Well, you heard of Lt.Surge, right?"

Eric nodded his head.

The trainer looked around before he whispered to Eric, "Well, apparently, he has a nephew that likes hanging out there, and that guy makes Lt.Surge look like a saint."

"Oh, you're talking about me?"