"Equal."

Finding the word Pidgey had chosen, a glorious emotion began to well up In Jared's body.

The young man laughed inwardly, 'So you want to be equals with a weakling like me? You better not be regretful later!'

After willing himself to accept the agreement in his mind, he felt a mystical connection appear between him and the bird.

The experience almost took his breath away!

It was strange, now, whenever he looked at the creature, he felt as if he was looking at his long-lost brother.

Jared looked into the bird's eyes with a smile.

"Do you understand me?"

Raising his wings, Pidgey widened his beady eyes, "PIII geee"

"So you do?"

Strangely, Jared felt like he could vaguely gleam what Pidgey was saying to him.

"You are asking about where I live?"

"GEE"

"No? were you asking about me then?

"Piige"

"no? uh..."

Jared kept trying until he finally got it right.

"You... wanted to know my name?"

The brown bird pokemon flapped it's wings.

"Pii!"

Jared chuckled, while imitating the sound.

So "pii" means yes.

"Okay, okay, my name is Jared, and you?"

'PIDGEY!"

.

When Jared returned home, he found the lights were on, and when he looked around, he discovered Richard sitting in the kitchen.

Before Jared could say anything, he heard a deep voice.

"You realize you were gone until sundown... and you didn't even leave a note."

Then Richard noticed Pidgey, and raised an eyebrow, as his voice gained concern, "who's this on your shoulder?"

Jared and pidgey exchanged glances, "He's my pokemon..."

Getting up, the ranger carefully walked over, while looking the pokemon over with some surprise.

He seemed to get the wrong idea, however.

"Oh, so you were finally reunited with your pokemon. Did you manage to remember anything?"

"Uh... No, it's not like that, we just became partners today"

Richard was taken aback.

"What, how?"

I just saw him in a tree, and we... yknow, bonded?"

The ranger grew wary as he stared at the bird.

"What kind of bond exactly?"

Pidgey didn't appear to like the ranger's tone, because after the ranger got done saying that, the bird pokemon narrowed his eyes and turned his beak up at him with a huff.

"Equals."

Feeling relieved, the ranger still shook his head.

"You still rushed into something you shouldn't have. You don't even know how many of your pokemon might be out there looking for you. Being away from your pokemon for so long has likely weakened your connection with them. If you make new connections, you might weaken it even further, which will prevent them from ever finding you"

Jared shook his head, "I don't think I ever had a pokem- " But Richard cut him off, "You. have. amnesia."

It was Jareds turn to get annoyed.

"Richard, Listen, I already learned from Gilbert that pokemon and their trainers grow strong when they battle together. Think about it, if I had a pokemon in the past, why would I be so weak?"

The man sighed with some emotion.

"I don't have that answer for you, and I'm not your parent. With that said, I am here to help you, and I would like you to explain something to me. It hasn't even been two days since we got back, so why did you feel the need to rush into this? How are you going to take care of a pokemon without any money, or are you assuming you'll just be able to leech off me?"

Jared scoffed.

"I never asked for your help."

Richard was getting a little annoyed now.

"Whatever, go clean yourself up then, kid. You're a mess, and don't let that pokemon shit everywhere, I don't want my carpets ruined."

Waving Jared away, Richard walked into his bedroom and sat by the bed. He saw that Growlithe had it's ears perked up the whole time, but didn't open his eyes.

Richard stroked Growlithes ears flat.

"That kid is his own worst enemy. He obviously needs help, so why does he insist on standing in his own way?"

After cleaning himself up, and taking a shower, Jared returned to find Pidgey still standing on the kitchen table where he left him.

Still a little damp, Jared smiled at his partner.

"What do you like to eat?"

"II- PIIDGEYY"

"Uh, seeds?"

"PI, Piddgeey!"

"Seeds are okay, but you like meat?"

"PI!"

Jared began rummaging through the cupboards. He found a tub of what appeared to be different types of salted nuts, but he also found some bundled-up jerky in the fridge. Unfurling it, he handed a piece of dried meat over to the small expectant eyes.

Lightly pecking it from Jared's hand, Pidgey swallowed the piece whole.

"Is that good?"

"PI Piddgeyee"

Jared then set the tub on the table and fully removed the wooden lid.

"See if there's anything else you like in here."

With one hop, Pidgey landed on the rim of the Tub and cocked his head as he inspected the contents.

With swift pecks, Pidgey tried a few nuts but didn't swallow any of them. Turning his beak at it, the small bird went back to eating the jerky.

"You don't like salted nuts then."

After eating together, Jared looked out the window and found there was still quite a bit of sunlight left.

Jared then turned to face the sharp-beaked bird.

"I want to ask you something. Why did you agree to become my partner?"

"piddgeey geey"

"To become stronger?"

Seeing his partner solemly nod, the young man smiled, "That's what I was hoping, because its the same for me. The thing is though... if we are going to do that, I need to learn how to go about it properly."

"If you want to learn something, then you should ask."

Turning his face to the sound, Jared found the ranger in the process of taking a seat.

"You want to know something, Jared?"

"I-"

But Jared was cut off. -"Listen, I didn't allow you to stay here with me because I had to, I let you stay here because I wanted to help you. So stop acting like a moody little shit and let me help you."

Looking away, Jared's emotions fell into conflict, 'I've only known him for a few days, where does he get off... just what gives him the right?"

"...but he did carry me, and he refilled extra water for me. He may have been a complete ass when we first met, but I've also accepted his kindness half a dozen times. Am I being hypocritical? Am I really being a 'moody shit?''

Giving up, Jared nodded.

"Okay, then please teach me."

.

He learned about basic feeding tips. For example, he shouldn't be feeding his pokemon jerky, but rather a food rich in elemental energy. While harmful to humans, they were the best food for pokemon to grow.

This was why pokemon that are born from an egg have the best potential. This is because a breeder can decide everything that enters that baby pokemons mouth. With a perfect diet, those pokemon were basically born to succeed. The downside was the fact that a famous breeder charges an arm and a leg for one of their pokemon.

"Why do trainers yell out their pokemon's moves?"

"Words contain power, and it is a gift that only humans have. By invoking the move, a trainer, in a sense, acts as an amplifier for the pokemon. "

Jared agreed, "When I was looking around Pewter Gym, I actually heard about something similar... So, let me ask you this..."

For the remainder of the remaining day, Jared continued to ask questions, and he found that as soon as he asked one, he suddenly thought of two more.

Slowly but surely, the widest gaps in his knowledge began to fill.

.

Jared was lying down in the spare bedroom, while his pokemon slept on the edge of the bed. He had a lot to think about right now, and it was making it difficult to fall asleep.

He now knew why everyone seemed to have such a 'martial spirit', and why they were always looking for a battle when they had free time.

It was as Gilbert had once said. Pokemon and their trainers get stronger and live longer by battling. It wasn't just a matter of winning, even the losing party makes some gains.

He was also now much less concerned about Pidgey getting wounded in battle. This was because he just learned that pokemon are actually very hard to kill. The reason a pokemon faints is usually that their elemental energy runs dry, and not because they were mortally wounded. This energy can be disrupted and dispersed by taking hits or attacking.

If a pokemon faints, its remaining elemental energy will protect them in the short term. This means that unless you continue attacking after they faint, then a pokemon won't easily die.

Being so weak in this world made him feel extremely uncomfortable, but he now had the means to change! and he could barely contain himself!