Jacob's P.O.V.

"Mom! I'll be fine." I said as I grabbed my jacket to head out to the grocery store. Grandpa Raiden had eaten all of the berries and most of the apples from the top of our counter, saying that he had "never eaten any berry that tasted better than this." When he had done that, I had told him that it was impolite to eat food without permission and that we ate at certain times in the day.

My mom wore a concerned look on her face. "Are you sure? I don't want you to go missing again... Maybe Red should get the groceries. Besides, you still have that head injury." I rolled my eyes and sighed when my mother had said the last part.

"Mom, for the last time. My head is not that bad! I am completely capable of getting the groceries. I'll be back in a little bit."

As much as I tried to sound convincing, my mom was still determined that I should stay home and rest. Her face lit up as if she came up with an idea. "Jake, how about you take Bailey with you?"

I sighed, then nodded my head. "Fine, I guess I could use a little company. Bailey, are you up to going to the grocery store with me?"

Bailey, who was reading a book on the couch, stood up and smiled. "I would love to go with you, Jacob." She walked up to me and held her hand out for mine. I grabbed her hand and we went out the door together.

As we walked, we talked about each other. I found out that we had similar likes and dislikes. We both liked raising and training Pokémon--but more as of friends, not battle partners.

We started talking about my parents when I realized that I didn't know much of Bailey's parents. "Hey Bailey, what about your mom and dad? What are they like?"

When I said this, she frowned. "I never knew my dad, so I don't know much about him. But my mom," Bailey's frown deepened as she continued, "was a greedy multi-millionaire. She cared about nothing but money and rich men. She ended up selling me to some scientists who..." She started crying, and I wrapped my arm around her neck to reassure her.

"Bailey, everything will be fine. Trust me." As I finished saying this, we entered the grocery store. I grabbed a grocery cart and strained to remember what groceries I needed: moomoo milk, various fruits, and berries, tauros steaks and hamburger. I could grab a few extra things when I remember them.

As we headed to the different aisles, we gathered what we needed. I turned the cart to head to the check out station when Bailey stopped me.

"You forgot about the cheese and butter." Then, when her stomach growled, she added: "I guess we should also get something for lunch."

I agreed as I turned around once more and headed to the dairy aisle. I stopped at where the cheese was located and reached for some cheddar cheese. I went towards the butter when I heard somebody shouting.

"Somebody get that Sceptile! He's stealing some berries!" Instantly, the Sceptile, who was cradling about two handfuls of berries, sprinted past me and made a sharp turn into one of the aisles. Doing so, he spilled a few berries.

I reached for my Pokécore, but Bailey stopped me. "Jacob, your mom said-" I interrupted her.

"I know! I'll be careful." I pressed the button on the Pokécore, and the bandaging on my head instantly unraveled afterword. "Could you, er... Please redo my bandaging? And, uh... You should probably follow me, just in case."

Bailey spent a minute or two, rebandaging the injury on my head. Then, we went the direction the Sceptile went. As we reached the end of the aisle, a man seemed to see what we were doing and pointed in the direction that the Sceptile went.

We went through the automatic doors, just in time to see the Sceptile flee into the forest. We followed suit, trying to catch up to it. However, it had incredible speed and I was amazed that I was able to barely keep up, let alone Bailey.

"Hey! You shouldn't be taking those berries!" I shouted at the gecko-like Pokémon.

Suddenly, the Sceptile stopped, dropped the berries, and wheeled around, using Leaf Blade as he did so. I tried to avoid it, but I had little reaction time to do so. Consequently, my left arm took the attack, and I now had a cut—and a little blood—running down it.

"Look, mind your own business, you Chu. You and your trainer should just leave me alone." Sceptile growled. Behind that look of intimidation, there was a hint of sorrow and loneliness... Could it be?

"Okay, I get it. I'll just leave." I picked up my Pokécore and pressed the button, then turned away to leave. Bailey grabbed my right hand as we started to walk away.

Suddenly, the Sceptile burst out, "Hey, wait!" I turned around, and he had a look of recognition on his face as if he had seen me before. Then, he spoke in a slightly shaky voice. "M-Master, is it really you? What did those humans do to you?"

It was my Grovyle—or Sceptile. My throat tightened, and I was on the verge of crying. The emotions I was feeling couldn't be described. I ran towards him, knelt down on one knee and hugged him. A look of shock and surprise appeared on his face, then he hugged me back. I let the tears run down my cheeks.

"H-how did..." I sobbed. I couldn't continue. I was crying too hard. Although I was choking on my words, Sceptile seemed to understand what I was saying.

"I escaped. The others weren't so lucky, though..." Sceptile frowned. "You didn't answer my question. What did those humans do to you?"

I heaved a shaky sigh, then wiped my tears away. I took deep breaths as I attempted to calm down. "I... They, Uh..." I trailed off. I didn't know where to start.

Bailey, who was watching all of this, had a concerned look on her face. "Jake, we need to finish shopping. The milk in our cart won't be cold forever."

I opened my mouth to protest, but then acknowledged that she was right. "Come on, Sceptile, let's go." Sceptile hesitated as if he were expecting me to do something. I quickly realized that he was waiting for me to put him in his Pokéball. "Oh, I don't have your Pokéball. So just follow me. And behave yourself, please."

We entered the grocery store once more, and people gave Sceptile dirty looks. As people started whispering and muttering about him, the manager of the store came up to me. "Excuse me, sir, but this Sceptile has been stealing food from my store. Not only that, but some of my most trusted customers are scared and hardly come back. Now, I must kindly ask you to take it outside, or I'll have to call the police."

I frowned. "I'm sorry that my Sceptile has been causing you trouble. He went missing a while back and I couldn't find him. I'll make sure that he doesn't cause you any trouble."

The manager grumbled something as he left us alone. We returned to the cart and got some butter and a few other things for a lunch, as well as a bandage to wrap my arm in. Several people were still eyeing Sceptile suspiciously, but he seemed to shrug it off.

Satisfied with what we had selected, we headed out to the checkout station to pay for the items. I ended up paying the cashier an additional five dollars for the berries Sceptile had stolen.

Bailey spent a couple of minutes bandaging my arm. Then, carrying the bags of groceries, we headed back to the apartment. Bailey and I held hands once again, smiling at each other. Sceptile trotted a couple feet behind us, smiling at his long-lost master.

I turned around to face him and gave him a big grin. Then I realized I haven't given him a name yet... "Sceptile, your new name will be..." I started, thinking of a good name to give him.