Chapter 3; Broken Hand and Deals

Story by Guardian the marked soul on SoFurry

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#3 of Bloody Journey

Number 3 of the Bloody Journey.


======Flo=====

I shifted slightly as I started to wake up, trying to go back to sleep by snuggling in the soft cloth that... surrounded... me...

"Wait, what?!" I shot my eyes open and started to panic.

"Hey, hey, easy Flo, you're gonna tear my jacket! Hang on, I'll get you out of my pocket." Before I could respond, I felt a hand grabbed me by the back.

"Eep!" I shut my eyes tight as I was suddenly exposed to the bright sunlight. I heard Jonko chuckle as the feeling of soft grass touched my paws.

"Sorry Flo, I wanted to get out of that rats nest of a motel ASAP, and you're just small enough to fit in one of these pockets. I looked over to his voice and glared at him as my vision returned, then gasped.

We were just past the junction of routes nine-oh-nine and nine-ten, still following route nine-ten. The region's mighty woodland's trees parted along the trail and road allowing the warm sun to hit the ground, but close enough to provide shade if need be. Jonko sat on a knee less than two feet from me, an apologetic grin on his face as he slipped the Multi-Dex on. He still wore the black cargo pants and tan boots from the other day, but his torso was only covered in an open, thin grey sweatshirt. His body was admittedly well toned, not exactly muscular, but tightly maintained.

"Probably from that ridiculous pack of his." I shook my head and did a double take.

"What happened to you?" I lifted a paw and pointed to the scars along his chest and abs. He looked down at them and sighed before looking off to the side.

"I've been in too many fights, and had an occasional accident during my travels." He admitted, his tone making it sound like he was slightly embarrassed. He shook his head and stood, "Well, shall we continue?" he jumped to his feet, his massive hiking backpack looking like it should of thrown his balance off.

"Yeeeah..." I nodded and started down towards the farming community of Gold town. We walked in silence before something occurred to me. "Hey Jonko, how long have you been walking? And... did you even sleep last night?" I looked back. He rubbed his the back of his head with and flashed an embarrassed smile.

"Well, I got just over four hours of sleep, and I've been walking for..." he looked up at the sun momentarily, "Well, it was just before sunrise when we left Moonstone, and it's about noon now..." I struggled not to laugh at the face he made trying to estimate the time, and failed.

"Please stop, that face you're making is ridiculous!" I looked forward as I laughed, catching sight of a trainer battle. "Hey look." I pointed to them.

"Huh? Oh, looks like someone's having fun." Jonko said and zipped up his sweatshirt as we got closer.

The two trainers, both guys, released their Pokémon, one had a Mankey and the other released a shiny Mr. Mime. The Mankey started with Fury swipes, but the Mime used Telekinesis before it got close enough to hit. The Mankey stumbled back and its trainer gave it a new command,

"Focus Blast!" I stopped mid step.

"WHAT?!" I yield. Mankey put its palms about six inches apart and tried to focus, a small ball of energy formed, but quickly grew faster than it should of.

"Shit." I heard the Mankey say with a masculine voice just before the ball shook and started to move on its own. He released the ball and jumped back as it jerked off in a random direction... which happens to be our direction.

"Look out!" Both trainers yield. I saw Jonko sprint past me and raise a fist into its path. A small explosion erupted as the impact caused him to fly back a foot and land on his ass. I ran up to see if he was okay.

"Jonko, you alright?!" I looked at his fist and shuddered, it was badly scarred. His hand bled like crazy from the split skin, judging by the shape of his hand, at least three of his fingers were broken.

"Hey Mister! Are you okay!" I looked up to see the four run up to us. I looked back to Jonko as I heard him erupt with laughter.

"Okay?! Ha! After a hit like that I feel like getting into a fight myself!" He shifted onto his knees and took his bag off, his laughter dying down to a steady chuckle.

"Oh Arceus, your hand..." One of the boy's said in a sickly voice, looking back at him I saw he turned a little green at the sight of blood.

"Ah, tis ain't nothing." Jonko pulled out a white cylinder with the Med Cross symbol. "Hey, how'd your Mankey learn Focus Blast if he doesn't have the control for it?" Popping the case open, he pulled what looked like a blue and orange roll and a pack of gauze.

====JONKO====

"Well... I don't know honestly," I looked over my shoulder at the trainers and the Pokémon, "Connor her' wuz born weth it." One of the boys, a redhead in overalls and red shirt, took a knee and rested an arm around the Mankey, Connor.

"Me pa knows et." I looked back to my hand as I wrapped it in gauze.

"But you have no control over it eh?" I nodded, "You four live over in Gold or at one of the farms around the town?" I stood up and looked at them as I rolled the small splint over and under my hand.

"Mime n' me live in town," The other boy, a blond in denim jeans and a white V-neck, gestured to the Mime, who waved. "Luke n' Connor live at the farm just past nine-o-eight" I nodded and went back to my med pack to grab some athletic tape.

"Ya- 'ey, is dat a Multa'-Dix?" I heard Luke ask.

"Yes sir." I chuckled as I quickly covered my splint in athletic tape.

"So you can understand Mime 'n Connor den right?" The blond ask, his Golden plains accent slipping in a little.

"Yep. Hey wait, oy Flo! You's okay?" I called, noticing she was quite. I looked around and saw her hiding near the tree line.

"Uh... yeah." I heard her call quietly. I smiled and nodded, she mentioned the previous day she was really shy around other Pokémon. The Mime saw her and walked over to her, probably to introduce himself.

"Ey, if ya ken 'ear me, I'm-" I cut off Connor.

"You best not be gonna say sorry Connor." I crossed my arms and looked at the Mankey, "That hit felt almost on par with some of the meanest free fighting types I've sparred with" I smiled, "If your friend here would be so kind as to lead me to his home so I can clean this up a little I'd be happy to make a few suggestions for control." The three of them looked surprised.

"You're a trainer?" The blond asked.

"Yeah, come on me pa's gonna 'ead to town latar, 'e may take ya to da hospital." Luke said motioning to follow.

"Thank you, and no I'm just a traveler." I swung my backpack back on and started down the road with the kids and Connor. "Hey Flo! You coming or you going to hang in the woods?" I looked at her to see she had tackled Mime and was glaring at him. "Umm..."

"I'm coming." She ran over to me with a pissed off look on her face. Mime's trainer noticed and sighed.

"Sorry, Mime is... yeah." He shook his head and pulled out a pokeball and recalled him. He turned and looked at me, "So, if you ain't a trainer is that a wild Zorua?"

"Yeah, Flo's a free Pokémon." I responded, taking off the Multi-Dex and offered it to him.

"Yous gonna let me use that?" he asked in surprise, I chuckled and rolled my eyes.

"I'm an Equalitest, and I'm sure you want to talk with her so if she wants to answer you," I shrugged and grin.

======Flo=====

I watched as both the kids moved away from him slightly and rolled my eyes.

"I'm not one of those foreign extremist dumb asses who try to force people and Pokémon apart." He sighed loudly and put the Multi-Dex back on before chuckling, "Besides, I've had too much fun beating the shit out of them."

"Ye don't think Luke 'n meh ota be split?" Connor asked his eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Only if you think you should, or if he's abused you." Jonko shrugged, I smiled as Luke frowned and looked at my traveling companion.

"What are you talking about?"

"Connor asked if I felt you two should be separated and I answered." He shrugged again. "Anyway, Connor, about that control..."

=====TIME=====

After another hour of walking and Jonko explaining tricks and calculations to strengthen Connor's control and things Luke can do to help them train, I began to realize that Jonko was... well, extremely knowledgeable about fighting.

_"Wow, I figured he knew how a Pokémon fights, but some of the things he's said and explain... I never would've guessed a human could have this in depth knowledge of our powers." _The sight of Regamas' Golden Field dragged me out of my thoughts. To those who've seen a map of Regamas or traveled its trails, the vast majority of the region was covered in fairly thick woodland with few exceptions. One of those was the Golden Field that stretched from just shy of the route nine-ten, nine-o-eight junction to Shell Lake, and seeing it for the first time took my breath away.

When I traveled to Moonstone from my home in the Emerald forest I went all the way north to Lone Mountain, a single but LONG mountain that sits a few miles north of both Golden Field and Shell Lake. My path meant I didn't get to see the field up close, but now I wish I had. With the exception of the occasional farm house and barn, you could actually see across the whole Field to the town itself miles away. The Field's golden grass swayed gently in the calm breeze of the day, looking like gentle waves along the beach.

"Wow." I said, looking around at the farm land. I heard Connor chuckle and turned to look at the Mankey.

"First time 'ere?" He smiled as he walked up beside me, looking at his home.

"Yeah," I looked over at Jonko and the boys. Jonko had a soft smile on his face as he looked out to the Field.

"I don't care what people say, Gold still has one of the best views in Regamas." he said scratching his arm just below the jury rigged cast.

"How's your hand?" Max, the blond kid, asked Jonko.

"Pinky's dislocated, index, middle and ring fingers are broken..." Jonko closed his eyes as the cast flexed, "and my wrist may be fractured." He opened his eyes again, and smiled as he saw all of us with wide eyes.

"Are you joking or can you really not feel pain?" I asked

"Are you kidding?!" Both Luke and Max exclaimed.

"I have a medical condition that prevents me from registering pain." he sighed sadly, "But I can still feel the injuries themselves, so I've gotten good at detecting broken bones."

"Then we'd best get you to a hospital." Max stated looking at Luke, who nodded and put his middle and index finger in his mouth before whistling... loudly.

"Ouch." I rubbed my right ear, Connor chuckled and headed over to a tree.

"Sorry miss." Luke said. Before I could respond, Jonko grabbed me and pulled me up to his chest as an Arcane charged up to where I previously stood.

"Shoot, sorry." He nodded to me and Jonko, then caught sight of Jonko's other hand and frowned.

"Hey Packer, can ya give 'tis guy a lift ta town?" Luke asked the Arcane, "His hand busted."

"What happened?" The Arcane, Packer, looked at Luke. It took me a few seconds to realize he spoke human.

"They were training Connor on Focus Blast when it went awry." Jonko lifted the cast so it was level with me, "Flew towards us and smashed into my hand." The Arcane winced.

"Ouch, yeah, hop on I'll take ya to the hospital." Jonko nodded and walked forward when,

-CRACK-

We all spun to look at Connor, who was jumping up and down as a tree fell to the side of the trail.

"Connor, did-" Luke started before Connor cut him off.

"YEAH! I DID ET!" The Mankey turned and started towards us as he started glowing.

"Holy Arceus! Connor you're..." Luke shut up and ran to his friend. The two embraced as Connor finished glowing and turned into a Primeape. Two laughed and soon we all kinda joined in. As we calmed down, Jonko moved me to his shoulder and walked to Connor and Luke, and stuck his hand out.

"Congratulations Connor." we both said in unison, then laughed one another. Connor grabbed Jonko's hand with both of his and shook it wildly.

"Oh thank you! Thank you!" He said, smiling madly. Luke laughed, then tried to pull Connor back.

"Easy now, no ned ta bust 'is other 'and." He told Connor, then looked to Jonko, "Thank ya Mr..."

"Jofre, Jonko Jofre."

=====TIME=====

As Mr. Packer got closer to the edge of town, Jonko made a quick phone call on the Multi-Dex.

"Ah, Mrs. Psychic good to hear your voice again." He paused then laughed. "Yeah, yeah, hey I'm going to be in Gold soon and-" the person on the other side cut him off. "No no, nothing like that ma'am. I'm going to the hospital and then have to call in a favor from your husband." He waited. "Did something stupid and paid for it," he snorted and continued, "And all I need is for him to pick something up from the docks." He groaned and rolled his eyes.

"Mr. Packer, how much longer till we're at the hospital?" I asked, shifting on my spot between his shoulders.

"'Bout five minutes." The Arcane responded and started to drift off to the right before rounding of back to the left down an alley way.

"Oh for the love of- Sabrina, come on," The sudden edge in Jonko's voice caught my attention. "All I need is someone to take a package to a soldier then bring me my vehicle. That. Is. IT." I looked back over to him, surprised by the annoyance and snarl on his normally calm face. I found it oddly... exciting.

"Everything okay there Jonko?" I asked, my voice small. He looked up at me, smiled and moved the mic out of the way.

"Yeah, just arguing with an old acquaintance."

"Here we- oh, Mayor MewTwo, good morning." Mr. Packer had stopped in front of a small white building that looked more like a Pokémon Center than a hospital, then I remembered that Gold town was one of the places that were implementing the co-center/hospital policy to save space and money. In Front of the door stood a purple Pokémon just shorter than Jonko, his hips where easily twice that of his chest, connected to thick legs with a thick dark purple tail gently flicking back and forth. His felinoid head held a soft smirk as his arms uncrossed themselves and he came closer.

"Morning Mr. Packer." _ He nodded to the Arcane as Jonko and I got off. " **_And really? Just an old acquaintance?"** _ _Mewtwo reached his left hand out to Jonko, who laughed as he put the mic back in front of his mouth as he reached out with his broken left and shook hands with him.

"You are evil." He said, then hung up. "Mewtwo, it's been awhile." I watched as Jonko's hand and the artificial legend's eyes glowed. "How's the married life?" I sat down while they talked.

"This may take a while." I thought.

"Not too long actually Miss Flo." _ I jerked my head to the legendary, slightly surprised. He chuckled then, **"So, what did you need?"_ ** Jonko looked behind him, I followed his gaze to see Packer had taken off. "Alright, let me see the package, you head down to my home, you two will stay with us tonight."

"Wait, what?" I asked, confused about what he was talking about. Jonko pulled out the brown envelope he got back in Moonstone.

"The beauty of being Psychic AND a Legendary is you can read minds," _ Mewtwo looked at me as he took the letter from Jonko, " **_and that makes conversations much faster."**

"Also makes catching up faster as well." J onko joked, " Come on Flo, the legendary here made a pretty obvious command." _ _he chuckled as he started to remove the cast on his hand.

"Did he heal your hand?" I asked as I jumped after him. He stopped and took a knee and looked back at me.

"Yep." He reached the previously bandaged hand out for me. I carefully stepped up on to it and he raised me to his shoulder, where I hopped to.

"So... how do you know Mewtwo? I mean, I knew he was the mayor of Gold town... but you seem to know him on a more... personal level."

====JONKO====

I chuckled at Flo's question, "Well, shit how do I explain this." "Well, it's a little complicated... let's just say I helped him get his wife out of Kanto." I answered lamely.

"What?" Flo said surprised, I scratched my chin.

"That's the short, easy version at least, the actual story may take a LOT longer to explain than either of us would want to listen or try to explain." She was quiet for a little while as we walked, then rather abruptly,

"Do you still have that pokeball?" I stopped and looked at her from the corner of my eye.

"Yeah why?" She took a deep breath and sighed.

"I want to get stronger and evolve, I want to travel," she paused, then jumped of my shoulder and turned to face me, "You seem to have been everywhere, you're not afraid to injure yourself, and you know an insane amount about fighting, both humans and Pokémon moves." She sat down and sigh, "look, I'll make you a deal, you help me travel and evolve, and I'll help you get to the Elite Four." she looked up at me and smiled.

I took a knee and pulled out the luxury ball. I looked at it then her, looking for any sign of reluctance.

"You sure Flo?" I asked, "I don't want-"

"Jonko, shut up." she said, and chuckled, "look, I don't really want to be someone's Pokémon, but I feel... comfortable around you. And I figure you're my best chance at becoming a Zoroark and then eventually finding someone to settle down with." She looked me in the eye. "All I really ask is not to keep me in that ball too long."

"Hmm... what to do, she doesn't want to be someone's Pokémon, and I don't want to..." I snapped my fingers together as an idea struck me, and startled Flo slightly. "Okay, I'm going to make you an offer, I'm not going to make you my Pokémon." I smiled triumphantly.

"Wait what?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"I'll put you in the pokeball momentarily, then release you and rig up something for you to carry it around with you... I should also be able to trick the ball's ownership settings to make it think you're a human and say you own it... preventing anyone from catching you or using your own ball on you." I pinched my chin with my thumb and index knuckle as I thought.

"You can do that?" Flo's face lit up like it was Christmas morning, I chuckled at the sight.

"I can try, let's get to Mewtwo's and I'll take a look at the balls." I said.

"Okay, come on! Let's go!" she said excitedly, then quickly took off down the road.

"Oy! Hold up! Do you even know where you're going?" I hollered and stumbled after her, but she heard me and stopped, an embarrassed grin on her face.