Chapter 22 - A Detective Friend

Third person POV

It was Rico's Riolu and Wesley's Chimchar, who both used Focus Blast and Ember as soon as they saw Litleo being attacked.

Their Trainers then catch up with their Pokémon, asking them what is going on.

Riolu and Chimchar then responded while pointing at Litleo being attacked.

"Who are those Pokémon?" Rico asked upon seeing the four Whimsicotts. He then pointed his Pokédex towards one of the Whimsicotts; his Pokédex then responded, "Whimsicott, the Windveiled Pokémon, and the final evolved form of Cottonee. A Grass and Fairy-type. They appear along with whirlwinds. They pull pranks, such as moving furniture and leaving balls of cotton in homes."

"Woah, strange," Rico commented on that.

He then put his Pokédex in his pants pocket, and commanded Riolu seriously, "Riolu, use Focus Blast, again!"

"Chimchar, use Ember again!" Wesley commanded Chimchar.

Riolu and Chimchar then used Focus Blast and Ember again, striking the four Whimsicotts again. This time the four Whimsicotts fled into the forest, leaving Litleo alone.

Once that was over, Rico, Wesley, Riolu, and Chimchar ran towards Litleo and asked it if it was okay.

Opening itself up, Litleo responded back with less fear.

 "Yes, you're okay now," Rico replied back delightfully and positively.

 "Well, since you found it," Wesley said to Rico, "then you may catch it if you want."

 "Thanks," Rico responded back. Then to Litleo, "What do you say if we have a battle?'"

Litleo then looked at Riolu with seriousness and responded back seriously with agreement.

Not long after, at the fields nearby, Rico and Riolu are having a battle with the wild Litleo.

 "Riolu, are you ready?" Rico asked Litleo with positive confidence.

Riolu then responded back with positive confidence.

And so, the battle had begun.

Litleo used Ember, attacking Riolu with small flames.

 "Dodge it!" Rico immediately commanded Riolu.

Riolu then dodged Litleo's attack, and Rico commanded Riolu, "Then use Quick Attack!"

Riolu then used Quick Attack, charging towards Litleo at a fast pace, striking Litleo with minimum power.

Wesley and Chimchar are watching them from nearby.

 "Then use Karate Chop!" Rico seriously commanded Riolu.

Riolu then used Karate Chop, attacking Litleo with a sharp chop, striking Litleo with maximum power.

 "Now!" Wesley immediately told Rico.

Rico then grabbed one of his empty Poké Balls, enlarged it, and threw it towards Litleo while shouting, "Go, Poké Ball!"

The Poké Ball then hit Litleo, causing it to go inside the Poké Ball and close the Poké Ball itself. The Poké Ball then fell to the ground, and Rico then waited for Litleo to be fully intact inside of the Poké Ball. Then, finally, after a few seconds, Litleo was successfully intact inside the Poké Ball. Having caught his second Pokémon, Rico ran to it, picked it up, and raised it to the air, while saying, shouting, "Yeah! I just caught a Litleo!"

After that, Wesley and Chimchar came to him, and Wesley congratulated him.

 "Thanks," Rico happily replied back. "It's my second Pokémon."

 "Yeah, I know right," Wesley positively replied back.

Riolu then happily responded.

After some time, they went back to their picnic site and continued their snack time.

After that, they packed up and went back to town to the Pokémon Center to heal up Rico's Pokémon.

They spent the entire noon and early noon going around the town and checking out its sites and wonders.

 Later, by 4 in the afternoon, Rico and Riolu decided to go back home to Kawayan City. So, they packed up their belongings and boarded a train home. And as Rico and Riolu are about to board the train, Wesley, Chimchar, and Lisa wavered them goodbye with a piece of good luck.

 "Bye, you guys!" Rico wavered them in response before he and Riolu boarded the train and took a seat.

By 4:07 p.m., the doors were closed, and the train started to leave the station and towards its next stop, Dasma Town.

Later inside the train, Rico was writing about his day in his journal while Riolu was watching him do his literary work.

 On the plains and hills on the right of the train tracks, adults and their kids and their Pokémon are harvesting vegetables and berries in the fields while others are playing in the streets and cooking their evening meals on stoves, both modern and traditional, at their humble homes made of wood, concrete, and bricks.

 Later by 4:45 p.m., the train, after its short stop at Dasma Town, finally arrived at Kawayan City. As the train opened its doors, Rico and Riolu grabbed their belongings and got off the train and onto the platform. Once they passed through the platform gates, they exited the station and took a taxi home.

 Later, by 5 o'clock, they had arrived at home. After paying for the fare, Rico and Riolu got off the taxi and went inside the front yard of the house via the front gate.

"We're home, mom," Rico greeted Rosario. But, they were stunned to see a man with a white headband and black cape talking to Rosario at the front door. It was the same man whom Rico had an encounter back at the Soratas Village.

After recalling the time he had an encounter with that man, Rico asked his mother, "Mom, who is he?"

Upon noticing her son and his Pokémon had come home, Rosario greeted them back with a welcome back home, before the man noticed him.

"Hello there," the man, named Detective Trevor, greeted him.

"Um, hi," Rico greeted him back. "What are doing in our house?"

"Have you seen this person?" Trevor asks, showing him and Riolu a photo of Red Eye.

Recognizing the person in the photo, Rico responded back with a nod, "Yes, I know him. He's trying to capture my Riolu, my first Pokémon."

Riolu then responded normally.

"Ah, I see, then," Trevor replied as he returned the photo. Well, he is wanted in this region, and he has two other friends with him."

"I only saw him, sir," Rico responded back honestly.

"Ah, I see," Trevor responded as he jotted down notes in his notebook.

"Who are you anyway?" Rico asked him a question.

"My name is Detective Trevor," Trevor introduced himself to Rico and Riolu. "I am an international detective."

"My name is Rico Cruz of Kawayan City," Rico said his name in the introduction. "This is Riolu, my partner." Riolu then responded back with a greeting.

"Nice to meet you, Rico," Trevor responded back with a little positivity.

After some time, Trevor decided to leave the house, but he did give Rico his phone number just in case. Rico accepted it with gratitude, and thus, Rico had another friend and ally.