Lu Han/Jongin : Rescue

Lu Han may be known as the best Psychic Pokémon trainer around, but the truth is he loves and raises all types of pokemon, he just battles best with psychic. Another thing Lu Han is well known for is never switching out his battle team, and he had a good reason for that. Those six pokemon are probably the only ones in his arsenal that are fit to battle.

Lu Han crouched in some tall grass, his eyes glued to the entrance of a burrow. In his mind his countdown never wavered, though his thoughts wandered without end. What was he going to do with these new ones, how was he going to have to move his schedule around, what would the others say? He could already hear Yifan and Sehun sighing at him, calling him a bleeding heart. Never meaning it as a bad thing, more in a pitying way. Well, at least this time Lu Han could confidently say he had a home for 2 of these babies.

His countdown reached zero and he stood up. He knew for a fact that his scent had been masked and he had not been seen. It had been eight hours and the burrow had not been visited by a parent. It was time to move the babies. Lu Han picked his way through the grass, pulling a thick leather glove from his bag as he went. He knelt in front of the burrow, pulled on a glove, stuck his hand into the ground and d around until he encountered a soft, shivering pile of baby Eevees. The first one he touched squealed and bit down hard, or as hard as a baby could bite. Lu Han removed that one first, giving it a quick examination. It was a girl, and she was feisty for her age, which had to be only about two weeks. She was dehydrated but healthy, and Lu Han put her in his carry-along bag and moved on. The next baby was much quieter but no less squirmy, and also a girl. The next one was a boy, and he had crusty eye. Wincing, Lu Han started to make a list of all the medicines he would need. The three babies huddled together in the carry-along, snuffling and squeaking. Lu Han didn’t hear anything from the burrow, but he stuck his hand back in one more time and felt around, and it was then he felt soft fur brush his arm. He chased the baby around the small burrow for several minutes before he finally caught it, and he pulled it out triumphantly, only to have his heart sink when he realized that this little baby had only one eye.

“Oh, dear,” Lu Han sighed, giving the baby boy a sad look. “Oh, sweet heart…”

A pokemon could live a long life with only one eye, but it was much harder to get them adopted. With a weak spot like that, it wouldn’t be good on a battle team, and disabled pokemon were rarely taken into the beauty pageant circuit or the police force. Lu Han placed the baby in his carry along with the others and started back to the gym.

Lu Han’s only other charity cases were a Zigzagoon with a broken leg and a Pigioto who had been knocked out of the sky by a windstorm. Both were recovering well, a good thing since the babies would need his full attention. He had just started running bath water for them when the doors to the healing center slid open and Jongin came in. He looked over the baby Eevees and sighed.

“You just can’t help yourself, can you?”

Lu Han gave him a dark look. “Would you have me leave them there?”

“You don’t have to go looking for them, you know,” Jongin reminded Lu Han for the millionth time.

But it was against Lu Han’s nature to turn down a creature in need, Jongin knew that. “You can either help me or get lost,” Lu Han said sharply, lifting the one-eyed baby up and starting to give it a bath.

Jongin didn’t say anything, but he didn’t leave. He assisted in total silence, and all Lu Han said to him were short commands. When the babies had been washed, dried, and fed, Jongin spoke again.

“You know that I think you’re amazing. But Lu Han, what will you do with them?”

Lu Han shrugged. Despite having rescued the four babies, his heart was heavy. “I’ll figure something out. I always do.”

Jongin put his arm around Lu Han’s shoulders and kissed his cheek. “I didn’t mean to—”

“I know,” Lu Han interrupted.

“Please, just try to stay disconnected. I can’t watch you destroy yourself.”

Lu Han nodded. “I’ll try.” But he was a liar, his heart was already dead set on saving each one of the baby Eevees.

People often expected members of the Elite Four to be distant and aloof, to care more about training their own teams than anything. It wasn’t true, and being that few trainers challenged them, members of the Elite Four often found themselves with so much free time that a battle interrupted their regular lives. For Lu Han, regular life was Pokémon rescue and rehabilitation, and it had been his mission to heal injured Pokémon since he was ten years old. Often the pokemon he most frequently cared for were common, the kinds that trainers found annoying in abundance. It made it hard to find them permanent homes, and Lu Han couldn’t take them all in and give them the attention they needed. He hoped that his status as a member of the Elite Four would make people more willing to adopt Pokémon from him, but so far it hadn’t made that drastic of a change.

The good thing about the Eevees was their variety of evolved forms made them a popular breed, and many trainers wanted them when they were young so as to better steer them towards a desired evolution. When Lu Han told Jongdae that he had baby Eevees (three days after he had taken them in and the first time he’d ventured out of the healing center), he almost bowled Lu Han over in his eagerness to see them.

“They’re beautiful!” Jongdae squealed, lowering his hand into the playpen that Lu Han had turned into a makeshift nursery. The babies crowded around hid hand, each one vying for pets. Jongdae did a double take at the one with one eye. “That poor thing,” he sighed, picking it up. The baby squeaked in delight and showed Jongdae his tummy, and Jongdae gave him a through scratching. “Do you know what happened to the mother?”

Lu Han swallowed past a lump in his throat. “No. She might have been hit by a car though, the den was by a busy highway. Or she could have abandoned the babies because she couldn’t feed them.” Lu Han didn’t know which was worse. If she was still alive, the mother could have another litter in a few weeks, and she might end up abandoning them all over again.

Jongdae put the baby back in the playpen and it whined, chasing after his hands even when he stood up.

“He likes you,” Lu Han said.

Jongdae nodded. “He has a very sweet temperament. Do you think he might make a good companion for a young girl? My niece is three and loves Pokémon, but obviously she’s no trainer.”

Lu Han shrugged, trying not to get his hopes up. “It’s difficult to say. He might want to battle, he doesn’t realize he’s disabled. We’ll have to see as he grows up.”

Jongdae pouted, leaning on the side of the playpen. “How hard is it to train a one-eyed pokemon to battle?”

“Again, totally dependent on temperament.”

Jongdae nodded and straightened. “I guess we’ll see where the future takes the little guy.”

“Guess we will.”

But a few hours later, Lu Han was bounding into Jongin’s room. “Jongdae might take our little one-eyed one on.”

Jongin looked up from his notebook in shock. “What, really? He said this?”

“He seemed interested,” Lu Han said.

Jongin frowned. “So he didn’t say one way or another?”

“Let me have my moment of hope!”

Jongin put his notebook aside and sat on his bed, leaning against the headboard. “Just don’t get them up too much, and don’t take it out on Jongdae if he backs out.”

Lu Han nodded. “I’m not like that, you know this.”

Jongin patted the space next to him. “Come sit with me?”

Lu Han flopped down, his head crashing onto Jongin’s chest.

“Ouch,” Jongin whined.

“I didn’t feel anything,” Lu Han mumbled into Jongin’s shirt. He smushed his face around and then bit down.

“HEY! That hurt!”

“Didn’t hurt me.”

“You brat,” Jongin sighed, running his fingers through Lu Han’s hair. “Are you sure you’re older than me?”

Lu Han was going to answer, but Jongin’s fingers felt so nice in his hair, and it was the first time he’d laid down all day, and before he knew it Lu Han was opening his eyes and it was dark and he was sprawled across Jongin’s bed. He sat up, heart racing as he thought of the babies, but a hand on his arm stopped him.

“Did you think I would let them starve?” Jongin asked sleepily. “They’re fine. Sehun’s playing with them now, you know that child never sleeps.”

Lu Han collapsed back on the bed and wriggled his way into Jongin’s arms. “What time is it?”

“Almost 2 AM.”

“God, I lost an entire day.”

“Because you haven’t slept more than ten hours in three days. I offered to help, we all did.”

“But it’s my job.”

Jongin pinched the back of Lu Han’s neck lightly. “I know we don’t always approve, but we’d rather help you out than see you overwork yourself. We’re here for you, all of us. Jongdae too.”

Part of the reason the other trainers are so against Lu Han taking in so many abandoned and injured Pokémon is that he gets so wrapped up in them, he forgets to care for himself. And there was a very bad incident a few years ago, before Lu Han was part of the Elite Four but when Jongin knew him. A Rattata had been very sick when Lu Han found it, and it had died after only a few hours. It wasn’t the first Pokémon that Lu Han had lost, nor would it be the last, but it had been an exhausting week and it hit him hard. Jongin ended up calling an ambulance because Lu Han cried so hard he couldn’t breathe. It was then that he was officially diagnosed with a panic disorder.

Saving abandoned Pokémon made Lu Han feel like he had some kind of control over fate, but it could work against him when he couldn’t save them, and it was why he was so often pressured to just focus on one at a time. But Lu Han was so great at training psychic Pokémon for a reason, and that was because he was a little psychic himself. It started when he was three years old and wandered off, and was lost for three days. He was eventually found by a Victini, it cared for him and shared it’s psychic powers with him. Hence why Lu Han was often able to tell when there was a creature in need of his help.

Whenever Lu Han took in a sick pokemon, he did so with intent to see its care through to the end. He didn’t like shoving his work off on other people.

Jongin kissed Lu Han’s forehead, snapping him out of his thoughts. “Even if we just help for a little while, will you please let us? Do it for the babies, if nothing else, because what good is it to have someone tired and hungry taking care of them?”

Lu Han sighed. “That’s a dirty trick,” he accused.

Jongin smirked. “I know, I can’t believe I didn’t try it sooner.”

Lu Han contacted Joonmyun, who said that he would take the one-eyed baby and train it not for battle, but research. He wanted to test a Vaporeon’s use of echo-location and said that using one with only one eye would be fine by him. He sent over a water stone, which Lu Han made into a collar and fastened around the young Eevee’s neck. Jongdae ended up choosing the female for himself and made her a collar with a thunder stone. He even offered to take full time care of the baby, since now he was her trainer.

“I’ve been wanting a Jolteon in my team for so long,” Jongdae said for the hundredth time, cooing over the baby Eevee in his arms. “She’s going to be perfect, she already is perfect, this precious little one!”

Lu Han watched them with a fond smile. “I can’t believe you didn’t have a Jolteon before now.”

“Well it wasn’t for lack of trying,” Jongdae said. “I caught an Eevee and trained him, but he ended up evolving into an Umbreon. I tried to continue training him but I was an Electric expert, I knew next to nothing about dark type pokemon. I ended up trading him to my friend for my Pikachu, I was sad to see it go but we all knew it was better for both pokemon.”

“Why didn’t you use a thunder stone back then?” Lu Han asked.

Jongdae rolled his eyes. “Oh, to grow up rich. I could have never afforded one before I became a member of the Elite Four. I didn’t even buy that thing, it was a gift.”

Lu Han blushed and mumbled an apology. Jongin was forever teasing him about growing up spoiled, and it was really quite rare that Lu Han stuck his foot in his mouth like that. Come to think of it, the moon stone he had used to evolve his own Eevee several years ago had also been a gift.

That made Lu Han wonder about the kids who would never go on Pokémon journeys, because it was simply too expensive. That had nearly happened to Yifan, but he was able to enter a scholarship program which enabled him to scrape by.

What started out as a solution to his problem of finding homes for his two young Eevees was becoming a much bigger project than Lu Han had anticipated, and he finally decided to talk to Jongin about it.

“You could have picked a better time,” Jongin grumbled as his Noctowl flew in circles around his head, hooting widly and refusing to go back in his pokeball.

“Just hear me out,” Lu Han said, pacing the training room. “It’s been bugging me for a while. Here I am, taking in dozens of Pokémon a year, and I end up givng them away to trainers who are perfectly capable of getting their own. Meanwhile there are kids out there who might be great trainers if only they could afford to go out and catch Pokémon! So rather than give my rescues to other trainers, who not give them to these kids? Don’t you think that, as a member of the Elite Four, I have a responsibility to set an example for other trainers? To show that given a chance, anyone can become great?”

“It sounds to me like you’ve already talked yourself into it,” Jongin said, now trying to coax Noctowl off a roof beam with a piece of bread. Noctowl was preening his feathers and not at all interested. “But good luck finding a kid like that who’s going to accept charity. I know Yoon Jeonghan would never.”

Lu Han stopped pacing. “Who?”

“HOO!” Noctowl echoed, flapping his wings and knocking the piece of bread from Jongin’s hand.

Jongin scowled. “Thanks for that.”

Lu Han held out his arm and whistled. “Come here, let me scratch your head.”

Whether it was the whistle or promise of head scratches Lu Han wasn’t sure, but Noctowl soared from his perch and onto Lu Han’s arm. Lu Han massaged his scalp for a few moments and then took the pokeball from Jongin. Noctowl went back without a fight.

“And you say you’re only good with psychic Pokémon,” Jongin whined.

“I said I’m only good at training them, I have no issue with hanging out with other types. Now, who is Yoon Jeonghan?”

“I’ve never mentioned him?” Jongin asked. “Oh, well he was my neighbor growing up. Nice kid, not a lot of money but a whole lot of pride. He works two jobs and is trying to save for a pokemon journey, but he’s nineteen already and still a long way off.”

“And you’re still in touch with him?”

Jongin nodded.

Lu Han grinned at him. “Have I ever mentioned that I’m dying to see your hometown?”

Jongin closed his eyes and groaned. “Oh boy, here we go.”

It was about a month later when the baby Eevees had grown up that Lu Han and Jongin left to go find Yoon Jeonghan. Nuvema Town wasn’t too far, which was good since the little ones were grown but not quite old enough for a pokeball. They seemed to enjoy the train ride, and spent the whole time looking out the windows, wagging their tails and yipping at passing cars.

Upon arrival they first stopped at Jongin’s house. His mother fussed over all of them, pokemon included, and refused to let them leave until after she had fed them. Lu Han hadn’t been home in years and Mrs. Kim knew it, and she made a point of saying that her future son-in-law was always welcome in her house. Jongin blushed and sputtered a bit at that, but didn’t deny it, which made Lu Han far happier than he had been in a long time. After they had eaten, Lu Han and Jongin put the baby Eevees in a covered basket and set off. When they left sight of the house, Lu Han took Jongin’s hand and laced their fingers together.

“Future son-in-law, eh?”

Jongin blushed again and smiled shyly. “Well…I mean, if you want to.”

“Me and all my rescues and occasional breakdowns?” Lu Han asked.

Jongin nodded. “All that, and your laugh, your incredible bond with pokemon, and all the love in your heart.”

Lu Han rubbed his eyes. “You’re a sap.”

“So are you.”

They cut the conversation short upon arriving at Jeonghan’s house. His father was home, and pointed them in the direction of the lumber yard. The site manager made them wait outside the fence for Jeonghan, and it was about twenty minutes before he appeared, looking worn-out but excited.

“Look what the Meowth dragged home!” Jeonghan crowed, wrapping Jongin up in a bear hug.

“Oh god, you’re crushing me,” Jongin grunted. Jeonghan laughed and released him, and held out his hand for Lu Han to shake. “You must be the fiancée I’ve heard so much about.”

“My mother exaggerates!” Jongin yelped.

“Almost fiancée,” Lu Han said, grinning at Jongin.

“What brings you lovebirds here?” Jeonghan asked.

Jongin stepped back. “Lu Han had something to ask you.”

Lu Han rolled his eyes at his oh-so brave boyfriend. “I’m not sure how much you’ve heard about me, but I rescue and rehabilitate wild pokemon. Some of them can be rereleased, but most can’t because they’ve become tame during their care, or in the case of baby pokemon, have been raised by hand their whole life and can’t be expected to survive on their own. I can’t keep all of the pokemon I rescue, so I end up giving them away. Which is why we’re here.”

Jeonghan narrowed his eyes. “You want to give me a pokemon?”

“Two, if you’ll have them,” Lu Han said. He knelt and pulled the blanket off the basket, showing the two baby Eevees curled around each other, sleeping peacefully.

Jeonghan looked at them quickly, then looked away. “I don’t take charity.”

Lu Han frowned. “It’s not charity on your behalf, it’s for them. I would rather leave them with someone my friend has vouched for, who can devote time and love to them, than some hoity-toity trainer who’s just going to see them as a spare battle tool. And it’s not just you I want to reach out to, it’s all of those who maybe can’t have a team or travel hundreds of miles to battle, but want to train a pokemon.”

Jeonghan looked back at the little ones. “I can feed them and house them with no problem, but I’m not sure about medical care, and pokeballs are expensive.”

“They’re too young for pokeballs,” Lu Han said, “But I have one for each of them. As for medical care, I can give you a card that will bill all costs to me.”

“Even if I own them?”

Lu Han nodded. “You would have nothing to worry about. Please, if you don’t want to make a decision today at least consider it. They need a home.”

Jeonghan knelt down and looked at the babies more closely. “They’re healthy?”

“Yes, and both boys. You can pet them, they’ve slept long enough.”

Jeonghan gently their ears, and they each made tiny little squeaking sounds as they blinked their eyes open. They stretched and climbed out of the basket, sniffing at Jeonghan’s shoes. One of them jumped up and his chin, and Jeonghan scooped them both up.

“Jeez, how could I possible say no,” he sighed. “Okay, fine, since you’re begging me I’ll take them.”

Lu Han was always sad when he gave away a pokemon, even if he knew they would be well cared for. Jongin distracted him on the way home with a near constant stream of kisses, only stopping to remind Lu Han that he had done a good thing, and he was going to do many more great things. It certainly did make Lu Han feel better, and he wasn’t half as sad when they got home. Still, he felt he needed some alone time, so he went to one of the training rooms to hang out with his pokemon. His two Alakazam were out of commission, busy caring for their new baby, so h brought his Deerling and Fennekin out to play. After only a few minutes he got a prickling feeling down his spine, and he reached into the secret pocket of his backpack and pulled out his Master Ball and released the Victini.

“Somebody in trouble?” Lu Han asked.

Victini shook it’s head. ‘No,’ it said, communicating with Lu Han telepathically, ‘I just wanted to see you. I’m very proud of you.’

Lu Han grinned, but he felt another pang of sadness.

‘They will have good lives, and they will be loved. As will you.’

Lu Han was comforted by that, at least. “So you like Jongin?”

‘Very much.’

Sometimes Lu Han felt like he was cheating at being a member of the Elite Four, having a Victini in his possession and all. He had to remind himself that he had been beaten after it joined him, even if it was only a few times. Besides that, Victini swore that it had never helped Lu Han win anything, and Lu Han had never known the pokemon to be a liar. Lu Han wasn’t Victini’s owner, or trainer. They were friends, and had been for years. It had watched Lu Han from afar since saving him when he wandered off, and had been by Lu Han’s side since day one of his journey. Lu Han counted Victini as one of his closest friends.

Lu Han was struck with inspiration and he beckoned Victini to come sit by him. “So then, can you tell me exactly when Jongin and I will get married?”

Victini gave him a stern look. ‘I could, but I won’t. Some things are better as a surprise.’

Lu Han had guessed that was the answer, but he whined a bit anyway. In the end he admitted defeat. “I guess my record of losses gets a bit longer when I count the battles I’ve had with you.”

Victini is a legendary pokemon, and it's said that with a Victini on your team you cannot lose.

Yoon Jeonghan is a member of Pledis' newest group, Seventeen. HE'S ADORABLE!

In the next chapter I'll explain a bit more about how the selection for the Elite Four is done. Snce I truly know very little about the pokemon world as a whole, I'm really making this up as I go along and consulting the pokemin wiki quite often. I spent all afternoon on there, looking up pokemon by type and building teams for each person in the story. It was very educational!

For a list of trainers and teams, check this blog post