Chapter Text
He opened his eyes, peering at a wide blue sky. Something he thought he would never see again. Moving around a field of flowers, he saw strange creatures running through the tall grass. Looking both like the animals of his world yet different enough to where he could tell they were not from Earth.
"Minato!" He turned, hearing a distant call from his mother. He made his way back to her, his small frame being a hindrance to his usual agility. She embraced him in her arms along with the family Herdier.
"Please don't go off on your own like that. I almost had a heart attack." His mother spoke to him in a gentle tone. The Herdier next to her barked as if to voice a similar line of concern. The bluenette simply nodded, giving them both a kind smile. After losing his parents in his previous life, this scene felt strangely alien, yet comforting. Although the women in front of him resembled nothing of his old mother, she was just as compassionate.
From the day he opened his eyes in this new place as a child, he had experienced much of this strange world. Upon first arriving here he was concerned. If he were here then what became of the Great Seal and his friends back home? Were they alive? Dead? However, as time passed, he realized he wouldn't get the answers in this place. At least not in his current form, of that being a six year old child. And so, for the time being he embraced his new family.
Time passed, Minato was now ten years old. A far cry to when he could start becoming a trainer but he was able to observe the world around him just a little bit more. Retrieving a potion from his desk, his hand glowed, infusing it with a dia spell. Noticing a slight change in the liquid inside, he tested it on his arm, noting how the rate of healing had increased compared to its normal store bought version.
Staring down a row of items he enchanted, he couldn't help but wonder about their effects in a live battle or how well they could work in a dire situation. He looked over his collection, picking up a fire stone with an unusual power emitting from its core. He narrowed his eyes, wondering if this was how he could create more Agilo stones in the future. If he ever were in trouble, he toss one of these and it would ignite the entire area in flames and he could blame it on a rampaging fire type.
"Deino!" A tiny voice cut him out of his musings. His little friend tugged at his jacket asking him to feed it. Minato nodded, giving a bag of Pokemon food, but it took one sniff of it before tossing it aside.
"De! Ino! It complained, biting the bluenette's hand. If it were anyone else, they would have panicked at the pain, but to Minato it barely registered more than a mosquito bite.
"Ahh, but I'm too lazy to cook right now…" The messiah whined back, yet his friend started jumping up and down, asking him to give it that premium steak experience again. Because if there was one skill Minato had put on proud display from his previous life it was his ability to cook the best meals around. Ones that attracted a wild Deino out of its cave, directly into the bluenette's pokeball. Now that was one camping experience he didn't want to have again. By the time he got back to the tent with his mother, their Herdier was knocked unconscious due to the little demon showing up. It ate their entire week's worth of supplies, which lead to the trip being canceled altogether.
"Ok, ok. I'm getting up. Let's see what's in the fridge." Despite being a great chef, Minato had one fatal flaw, he was a lazy ass.
"Deino, de!" The emo dragon cub trailed him, its mouth watering at its own imagination.
When the boy swung the fridge open, he sighed, forgetting they had not gone grocery shopping in ages. Whoops, better go buy some stake before his baby dragon decides to eat his head for dinner.
"Let's go to the store, Deino." He said flatly, ignoring the little monster now latched onto his head. Its jaw chopped down as hard as it could manage, but no matter how powerful its bite force, it did nothing to the bluenette.
Strolling down the peaceful streets of Nuvema, he enjoyed the gentle breeze brought on by its peaceful atmosphere. Being smaller than Iwatodai, the people here were way more lax compared to their otherworld counterparts. As he crossed a quiet intersection, he saw Pokemon of shapes and sizes helping the humans they were with. It made him wonder how his old friends would have reacted to this site. Akihiko would have definitely loved a workout buddy like Gurdurr or perhaps Yukari would be interested in some of the pinkier shades of Munna that floated about.
Just as he was about to enter the store, he heard a high pitched shout.
"Ekkkk Minato are you ok?!" Cheren, a boy his same age ran over. Minato shrugged, wondering why his friend was so pale. Did he see a ghost or something?
"Why do you mean, Cheren? I'm fine." He replied back, still unaware.
"T-t-tthat Deino atop your head! It's trying to eat you!"
"Oh…" Guess others didn't know he was immune to its bites. Now that Minato re-called back, people were giving him strange looks in the streets too.
"I'm ok, really. It doesn't hurt at all." The messiah said dead panned, but this only made Cheren step back.
"Deino!" The dragon cub roared, attempting to bite down harder, but it would fail once again.
"Ek! See?! It's trying to hurt you!" Grabbing its tail, Cheren tried to yank the thing off but it was just as futile as Deino's attempts to eat the bluenette.
"Come on, Deino's harmless." Reaching up, Minato gently plucked the fiend off his head, lifting it like a feather. "See Cheren? It's like a hat, I can remove it whenever I want."
Now Cheren was in aw, perplexed by the bluenette's strength. When he pulled with all his might, he wasn't unable to make the tiny cub budge, but his friend was able to lift it effortlessly.
"Huh…?" Almost losing his glasses, he stared in bewilderment. When Bianca waved to them from the street, snapping him out of his astonishment.
"Hey everyone! Are you all visiting the store today too?" She skipped over, being another kid they've met at school. "Oh! And who's this little guy?" The blonde curiously eyed the Deino.
"A serial biter!" Cheren said, scared. He had a feeling that despite the tiny cub being blind it was able to smell his fear. However, Minato's firm grip made it impossible for it to escape and wreak havoc.
"Bianca, Cheren, this is my new buddy, Deino." Minato introduced, cuddling the small creature in his arms. Arms it decided to bite again.
"Wow…"
Cheren saw Bianca glance at the creature then back at the bluenette, over and over, up and then down.
"Something up Bianca?"
The girl cheerfully pointed at the tiny dragon then at Minato, "You both have the same hairstyle teehee!."
Minato's mind blanked, blinking in confusion. "Eh?"
Was it true? Now he was a little self conscious.
Years passed once more, Minato was now helping a nurse patch up an injured Woobat. Its weak cries echoed throughout the Pokemon center. Flipping its good wing, it snuggled up to the messiah's hand. There was something warm about the bluenette's kind presence that reminded it of better times. The poor creature had been rescued from an abusive trainer, suffering a severe tear in its left wing.
"This poor Woobat, how could someone be so horrible…" Nurse Joy comforted the creature, her kind eyes welling up with tears. When it arrived at the center, it was frantic, unable to accept the presence of humans, attempting to fly on its broken wings.
"Woo…bat." It cried, refusing to let go of Minato. It was now shaking in his arms like a baby. Minato held his tongue, the suffering of the small creature made him sick. Together with Joy, they both waited for the X-rays. If they were lucky, this Woobat could at least get some of its ability to fly back. Looking up at the messiah, it weakly twitched its torn wing.
When Joy read out the results, the entire medical team was devastated. Because whatever Wootbat's previous owner did, they had snuffed out any chance for it to heal normally.
"I'm sorry Minato, but we can at least help this little guy recover the best he can." Joy gently padded the boy's back. She knew he would be saddened at the results, having been her assistant for a year now. When he first arrived, she was hesitant to bring him on as an assistant due to his young age, but he was able to comfort Pokemon in ways no other staff member could.
"Woobat…?" the creature asked, unsure of what was happening, still attempting to fly. It tried lifting into the air but dropped like a brick back down. "Woobat!" It moved again, but the broken wing only chained it to the earth. Finally, after a few more tries it gave up, curling into a ball of despair.
The messiah's lips quivered, his fists tightened. He cursed whoever hurt the little one. And so he decided…
"Hey nurse Joy?" He asked.
"Yes, Minato?" She replied, worried.
"Are there really no other ways to save Woobat's wing? No medications, recovery moves, anything?" Minato calmly listed off the methods they would usually use. A state run Pokemon center was capable of healing most battle wounds. It was more advanced than even the hospitals of his world.
The woman shook her head, "No. I'm sorry Minato, but nothing short of a miracle can give Woobat's wings back…"
The bluenette nodded. Taking a deep breath, "then can I adopt Woobat and care for it, for life?"
"Well…there are no regulations against adopting a Pokemon that's been freed by the state." The nurse mused, "But are you sure, Minato? Aren't you planning on registering for a trainer license soon?"
"I am. But that doesn't mean I can't take this little guy along as a friend, can I?" He ran his hand over Woobat's soft fur, making it giggle. The messiah's warmth comforted its hurt soul.
Nurse Joy was worried, but she could also see the determination in the boy's eyes. There was just something about him she couldn't place, yet knew was right. For he almost had this strange attraction to injured Pokemon. The kind of healing energy to nurse them back to health. It was what her instinct said was true.
With some hesitation, she nodded, "Alright, then I'll prepare the adoption papers. But please Minato, take care of it. Don't let it hurt again…"
Gently wrapping Woobat with a towel, Minato comforted the creature, bringing it out into a forest. Away from prying eyes and civilization, he gingerly held it in his hand, its broken wing visible in the pale moonlight.
"Woo…bat…" It squeaked weakly, hope fading away from its voice.
"Shhhh, it'll be alright…" The messiah whispered, running his hand through its fur in the silent night.
"Woo?" The creature looked at him with puzzled eyes. What were they going to do here? Was it finally being abandoned again? Its once bright soul now embers of its former self. Perhaps his previous owner was right, it was just born weak. Born a Woobat living in some unknown cave, unable to stretch out its wings to truly fly ever again.
Blue energy swirled around it, it noticed. It gathered subtly at first, but the more it felt its presence the stronger Woobat glowed.
"Woooo? Woo?" Moving its good wing, it rocked back and forth in Minato's arms, confused as it noticed its broken limb heal in a burst of light. What was once torn now reverted into its original form. What scars remained on its body faded away as if it had woken up from a terrible nightmare. And in that dream like night, it heard the messiah chant a single word, like magic.
"Salvation."
"Woo!? Woobat!" It flipped its wings in one fell swoop, springing into the air. Feeling new life had been breathed into its body, it circled its messiah, happily squeaking up a storm. Minato chuckled, embracing the tiny creature in its arms.
"Ok, ok, buddy. That's enough energy for now. For a second there, I thought you were a goner but now look at you." He smiled a gentle smile, thanking whatever god was out that his powers had worked as they should. Thing is, he's been testing out healing spells in the center for a year. Sneakily applying them to wounded until they would unknowingly make a fast, full recovery. However, this was his first time testing out one of the higher tier spells. So Pokemon were just as receptive as humans he mused.
"Woobat! Woo!" It flew, snuggling against his face.
"What? You don't want to leave?"
"Woo? Woo!" It squeaked.
"So that's a no huh? I can't exactly speak Pokemon but do you want to come with me after all?" Minato offered. Even he was surprised it decided to give humanity another chance.
"Wooooooo!" Woobat exclaimed, landing on the boy's shoulder. He chucked.
"Fine, but you'll have to learn to get along with Deino ok? I can't promise he'll be nice."
The two played in the midnight fields, under the great pale moon. For if it takes a miracle to bring salvation, then there would be a messiah to fulfill that promise.
Somewhere, deep in the dark forest, a young girl watched the scene in awe. Her eyes wide at the unexpected miracle. At first she came to liberate the tiny Woobat, but now she sat in the tall grass, paralyzed. For not even her king was able to perform such a miraculous feat.
Rosa paled, her Snivy sat dumbstruck next to her also bearing witness.
She would have to report this back to her King, immediately.