Arriving at the low hill he had chosen earlier, Yong quickly said,
"Swampert! Use Rock Smash! Dig a cave into that hollow! Make it big!"
"La-chi!"
Swampert strode forward, carefully controlling its strength as it hammered the rock face with both hands. Rocks fell away, and soon, a cave big enough to accommodate Rhyhorn appeared.
Yong hurried into the cave, set down his backpack, and pulled out a pile of clothes. Then he dug a pit in the ground, set the clothes alight, and tossed them in.
Without dry grass or firewood, he had to make do.
He took off his rain-soaked clothes and changed into dry ones to avoid catching a cold.
Yong let Rhyhorn out and, with Swampert's help, positioned it close to the fire.
After a moment's thought, Yong rummaged through his backpack and soon pulled out a round crystal that radiated heat!
A Fire Stone!
He had originally prepared it for Larvesta, but when he left home, knowing his mother would care for Larvesta with the family's support, he had forgotten to leave the Fire Stone behind. Now it came in handy.
This fire would not last very long.
Placing the Fire Stone against Rhyhorn's chest, Yong took out a dry towel and wiped its body.
Rhyhorn was too weak at the moment. He would have to wait for it to regain some strength before treating it with medicine.
The sky soon grew dark.
Yong wiped Rhyhorn's body over and over, feeding it spoonfuls of clean water as he worked. Gradually, Rhyhorn's breathing steadied.
Night deepened.
At some point, an exhausted Yong fell asleep slumped over Rhyhorn.
At the cave entrance, Swampert watched Yong with gentle eyes, silently standing watch.
Just as Steelix had protected everyone back in the Great Desert!
The fire soon went out,