Will You Come with Me?

Barbaracle watched the Ariados flee without giving chase. Instead, he picked up the two Ariados on the ground, one unconscious and one dead, and headed toward the lake.

His muscles flexed as he hurled them out. Both Ariados sank into the lake.

With that done, Barbaracle slowly walked over and bowed again, thanking Cheng Tian for standing in front of Froakie earlier.

There was no longer a trace of wariness in his eyes when he looked at Cheng Tian. "Froak!" Froakie cried, deeply moved.

Cheng Tian crouched down and smiled as he stroked Froakie's head. "It's all right. We're partners, after all!"

Froakie froze. Partners?

Thinking back, Cheng Tian had first teamed up with him today to defeat Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀, then helped him deliver Oran Berries, volunteered to treat his master's injuries, and just now, stood in front of him without regard for his own life.

Looking at it that way, the two of them really had become partners.

"It's getting late. Let's head back and get some sleep," Cheng Tian suggested.

Barbaracle nodded, then headed toward the cave. Froakie also returned to the cave with Cheng Tian and Yamper.

The sleeping bag he had already warmed up had gone cold again. Cheng Tian could only shake his head helplessly. "Sigh. Now I have to warm it up all over again."

"Yamp, yamp!" Seeing this, Yamper crawled into Cheng Tian's sleeping bag, then poked his little head out and licked Cheng Tian's face with his wet tongue. "Haha, stop it, Yamper."

Froakie stared blankly at Cheng Tian and Yamper. For some reason, he felt a little envious.

They're so close... Froakie thought.

Noticing that Froakie kept looking their way, Cheng Tian thought for a moment, then asked, "Froakie, would you like to give it a try?" As he spoke, he shifted over to make some room.

Froakie froze at the sight. After thinking it over for a long time, he finally gave in to temptation, hopped over, and crawled inside.

"Hahaha, Froakie, your foam is so interesting. It's all sticky." "Froak, froak."

Cheng Tian thought for a moment. "Froakie, have you never been outside?" Froakie paused. Outside? What outside? I go outside to train every day.

"I mean going to see a city. It's a really interesting place." As Cheng Tian spoke, he took out his phone.

He pulled up the videos he had saved in his gallery and showed them to Froakie. "Look, this is the city where I live."

Cheng Tian found a photo of the city at night that he had taken after sneaking out during evening study hall. The city in the picture blazed with lights, the glow of countless homes making a beautiful sight.

"Froak, froak." This was Froakie's first glimpse of a city, and he was instantly entranced.

"And this one is a picture from when I went out with my friend Bai Yun." Cheng Tian brought up another photo, this one of him, Bai Yun, and Lin Lin at an amusement park. Lin Lin was holding an ice cream and thoroughly enjoying it. Though a second later, Bai Yun had pressed it into her face...

Then Cheng Tian played a video of a battle. "This is a video of a Pokémon League match, my favorite thing to watch. It really gets your blood pumping!" he said excitedly.

In the video, an Infernape and an Electivire were starting a close-quarters brawl. Electivire swung with Thunder Punch, while Infernape unleashed Close Combat.

Every punch slammed home. At the end, Infernape activated Blaze and used Flare Blitz. Powerful flames enveloped him as he defeated Electivire in one decisive strike.

"Froak!" Froakie's eyes sparkled. These two Pokémon are strong! Cheng Tian nodded excitedly too. "Well? Well? Gets your blood pumping, right? I have loads more videos like this..."

Sitting beside the cave entrance, Barbaracle watched Cheng Tian and Froakie chatting happily, and saw the longing in Froakie's eyes. He fell into a daze before finally sighing.

Ah, has my silly little apprentice grown up already?

Barbaracle's gaze deepened as his thoughts drifted back to when he had first met Froakie.

Back then, Froakie had still been an egg.

It had been last winter. Counting back, the little fellow was almost a year old now. Heavy snow had fallen that winter, and after finishing his usual daily basic training, Barbaracle had gone to rest early.

That night, snow swirled through the air. Barbaracle was startled awake by the sounds of a fierce battle.

Having left his group decades ago, Barbaracle had developed the habit of sleeping lightly. This kept him from sleeping too deeply to respond to a sudden attack.

The sounds of fighting grew louder and louder. Despite the heavy snow outside, Barbaracle could hear thunder roaring.

Barbaracle went to the cave entrance and saw a sight he would never forget for the rest of his life. Huge, goose-feather snowflakes drifted slowly down from the sky, glittering and translucent. At the same time, countless violent bursts of thunder flashed through the pitch-black night.

Thunder crisscrossed the sky as snow swirled. Barbaracle could vaguely make out two enormous figures fighting in the heavens. The terrifying fluctuations of energy made him feel that he would be torn to pieces if he went near them.

Of one thing he was certain: the two creatures fighting in the sky were beings he could not even look upon directly.

The thunder grew louder, but the snow gradually eased. Barbaracle did not sleep that night. One of the two enormous creatures in the sky had clearly been defeated and driven back. The sounds of fighting slowly faded, and their cries receded into the distance.

Only when daylight came did Barbaracle step out of the cave. His food stores were running low, so he had to go out and find food that day.

The forest outside had become a world of ice and snow. Each step Barbaracle took sank ankle-deep.

With snow this heavy, he could forget about finding Berries. Even if there were any, they would be buried. His only option was to go into the water and catch some fish.

Barbaracle did this often. Although the ice was thick, two or three swipes of his claws would break it.

Barbaracle stretched his body and had just raised his claws to break the ice when he suddenly stopped. There, on the lakeshore a short distance away, he spotted a blue Pokémon Egg.

A Pokémon Egg? Why is there a Pokémon Egg here? Barbaracle paused, then walked over.

He had no idea who had left this Pokémon Egg here. A layer of snow already covered the shell, leaving only one side exposed.

Barbaracle gave it a long, searching look.

I'd better leave it alone. Finding food comes first.

With that thought, Barbaracle walked back and struck the thick ice with his hard claws. Before long, he had broken open a hole, exposing the lake water beneath.

Barbaracle jumped in. The moment he entered the water, the bone-piercing cold made him shudder. But suddenly, he thought of that egg.

It's so cold. It must be freezing too.

Barbaracle paused. Why am I thinking about that? Finding food comes first. Finally, he swiftly swam toward the lakebed.

In winter, the deeper one went into the lake, the warmer the water became. Fish would swim down as well to keep warm.

There were plenty of Water-type Pokémon too, but Barbaracle only caught ordinary fish. He did not attack those Water-type Pokémon.

Although Barbaracle had left his group many years ago, he had never forgotten the rule they lived by.

Do not get involved in anything unrelated to the mission.

Soon, Barbaracle caught a plump fish in each hand and quickly swam toward the surface.

By then, the surface had frozen over again. Barbaracle drew his head back, then slammed it into the frozen surface.

Breaking through the ice with Rocket Headbutt, he leaped straight out and began walking toward the cave.

After returning to the cave, he put the fish down. Barbaracle moved his body a little to drive away some of the chill.

He chose not to light a fire to warm himself. For one thing, starting a fire was inconvenient. For another, the cold kept his mind clearer.

Just then, a branch on some tree outside finally gave way beneath the weight of the snow. It snapped and crashed hard onto the ground with a loud noise.

Barbaracle's heart jolted, and he sprang to his feet.

That egg is still outside! Barbaracle instinctively started to head out, but immediately caught himself. No, no, leave it alone. While he was thinking this, another branch snapped outside. In the end, Barbaracle vanished from the cave.

Barbaracle looked with complicated eyes at the egg he had brought back. He had ended up bringing it home after all.

Looking at the Pokémon Egg, Barbaracle felt at a loss. He had brought it back, but how was he supposed to hatch it?

So he gathered a great deal of firewood outside and piled it together. Using a wooden stick, he worked at drilling for ages, finally managing to start a fire after considerable effort.

Sitting beside the fire with the Pokémon Egg in his arms, Barbaracle slowly calmed down and gradually fell asleep.

The days that followed returned to normal. Barbaracle still trained and searched for food every day. The only difference was that he checked on the egg whenever he came back.

He also held the egg each night before going to sleep.

This peaceful, comfortable life continued for three weeks. Then, early one morning, Barbaracle was suddenly awakened by a rustling, scraping sound. Looking closely, he saw that a crack had appeared in the blue-patterned Pokémon Egg.

Barbaracle scrambled in a panic. It's about to hatch!

The hatching did not take very long, but to Barbaracle, it felt endless. Only when a little white hand punched through the shell did the little fellow inside reveal himself.

He was tiny, with egg fluid still clinging to his body. His body was blue, and he was a little frog.

"Froak!" The newly hatched Froakie cried out, his eyes full of joy at the sight of Barbaracle.

Daddy! Barbaracle was dumbfounded.

"Barbar." Barbaracle hurriedly explained, I'm not your dad.

Froakie froze, then tears welled up in his yellow eyes. Seeing this, Barbaracle hurried to explain.

I'm your master.

Froakie had only just hatched, and his body was still very fragile. To keep the ground from hurting Froakie's feet, Barbaracle gathered plenty of large leaves and spread them over the cave floor.

Froakie loved watching Barbaracle train and often copied his punches. Barbaracle was generous with his guidance, constantly correcting Froakie's movements.

In spring, Froakie went outside and brought back lots of flowers.

In summer, on nights filled with stars, Barbaracle told him stories of his travels when he was young.

In autumn, Barbaracle noticed that the little fellow was developing faster and faster. He had already left infancy behind, and he trained even harder than before.

His thoughts slowly returned to the present. Watching Froakie, worn out from playing, sleeping beside Cheng Tian, Barbaracle's eyes filled with complicated feelings. In the end, however, he made up his mind.

The child has grown up. He can't stay here forever like me. He should see the wider world outside and keep discovering what he's capable of.

The night passed without further incident.

The next morning, Cheng Tian woke early, and Froakie and Yamper woke along with him.

After yawning and stretching, Cheng Tian rubbed his still-drowsy eyes and greeted them. "Good morning, Yamper, Froakie."

After a simple breakfast, Cheng Tian went to the lake to wash his face and wake himself up.

Once breakfast was over, Cheng Tian brought Yamper to the cave entrance and found Barbaracle.

"Barbaracle, thank you for letting me stay the night. I'm leaving today. I hope you enjoy your life here."

"Froak!" Froakie was reluctant to part. Cheng Tian crouched down and stroked him too. "Goodbye, Froakie. I had a great time with you. I hope you become a powerful ninja someday."

It was not that he did not want to take Froakie with him, but Barbaracle might not agree. Besides, after spending yesterday together, Cheng Tian no longer wanted to take Froakie away by catching him.

Watching Cheng Tian and Yamper disappear into the forest, Froakie remained in a daze for a long time.

Just then, Barbaracle called out, "Barbar."

You should go with him too.

Froakie froze, then hurriedly shook his head. He did not want to leave his master. But Barbaracle's attitude was unusually firm.

Go see the world outside! Meet more powerful opponents, defeat them, and become stronger. This is a road you must travel to become a ninja!

Froakie wanted to say more, but Barbaracle turned away. Only after a long silence did he slowly speak.

This is also one of the missions I'm assigning you.

Go, child. The world outside is wider than you imagine. You shouldn't stay here.

But if one day you want to come back, never forget the road you took when you left.

Because it can also bring you home. Remember, your master will always keep you in his heart, and will always be here waiting for you.

With that, Barbaracle walked into the cave.

"Froak, froak..." Bean-sized tears rolled from Froakie's eyes, but he quickly wiped them away with his hands.

Facing the cave, Froakie knelt and bowed his head to the ground. Only then did he turn and leave.

Inside the cave, Barbaracle wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes too.

Cheng Tian continued along the way he had come with Yamper. It seemed he could no longer wait until ten in the morning. He had to head back now, or he might not make it home that night.

Cheng Tian felt a little helpless. His plans had fallen through this time, and in the end, he had failed to catch the Pokémon he wanted. It looked like he would have to buy one himself.

As Cheng Tian walked on, a voice sounded behind him.

"Froak, froak!" Cheng Tian turned his head and saw Froakie running toward him. "Froakie?"

By now, Froakie had reached Cheng Tian's side. "Will you come with me?" Cheng Tian asked.

Froakie nodded firmly, making his wishes clear.

Overjoyed, Cheng Tian hurriedly took out the only Great Ball he had and aimed it at Froakie. "I look forward to working with you, Froakie."

"Froak!" Froakie reached out and touched the button, instantly turning into a beam of red light that was drawn inside.

The Great Ball did not shake at all. With a "ding," the catch was complete!

Cheng Tian stared dumbly at the Great Ball in his hand. It took a long time for him to come to his senses, and he could not help shouting in excitement.

"I did it! I caught Froakie!"

New author, new book! Please recommend and bookmark!!!

Staying up late to write ten thousand characters a day. Please send gifts to restore my health.