"Rocky?"

His forearm trembled, the cut in it still fresh. He could feel something warm and wet run along it, and he could feel the dampness growing in his sleeve.

"Rocky?!"

He could hear his Lycanroc ahead of him, who'd been growling furiously moments ago. He could hear Rocky shaking something, and he knew exactly what that something was; it was the Pokemon responsible for his bleeding forearm.

"Rocky, stop!"

It had just been a random encounter; a Morgrem grabbed his phone when he wasn't paying attention, so he and Rocky gave chase. They'd managed to corner it, and after a brief fight, it gave his phone up. Hideo was even willing to catch it, but as he'd reached for a spare Pokeball…

He'd learned it was a False Surrender.

"Rocky, stop! Please!"

Tears formed in Hideo's eyes, both from the pain and the knowledge of what his Lycanroc was doing to the Morgrem. He heard that scream as Rocky charged at it, which was quickly replaced with a gurgling noise as his Pokemon thrashed it around.

And then, nothing.

"Stop it!"

He tried to reach for Rocky's Pokeball with his injured arm, but just as he took it out, it slipped from his grasp, clanking on the ground. He tried to reach for it, but all he found was worsened pain.

"Please..."

John Sullivan