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A sharp sound cut through the air. Ash instinctively pushed Brock and Misty out of the way before diving to the opposite side himself.
A boomerang hurtled past at high speed. As it flew forward, it arced upward and struck a large branch overhead. The impact severed the branch, which began falling directly toward where the baby Kangaskhan sat. Seeing the danger, the baby covered its head and squeezed its eyes shut. Ash's heart stopped at the sight.
"Pikachu! Iron Tail!"
"Pika...CHU!"
Pikachu sprang into action, his tail glowing with metallic energy as he leaped skyward. With perfect timing, he shattered the falling branch with his Iron Tail, sending fragments scattering harmlessly to the ground. The baby Kangaskhan opened its eyes, looked at the broken pieces surrounding it, and sighed with relief before gazing gratefully at Pikachu.
The figure who had caught the returning boomerang stood frozen, stunned to see Pikachu protecting the baby Kangaskhan.
"What are you doing? We're trying to help this injured Kangaskhan! Why would you attack us?" Misty exclaimed, momentarily forgetting about Tommy's—or rather Tomo's—unusual upbringing.
flinched at her words. Though his grasp of human language was limited, he understood enough to know he was being scolded.
Yet he remained wary of the strangers, darting forward to position himself protectively beside the baby Kangaskhan. The small Pokemon clearly recognized him.
"They must know each other," Brock observed calmly. "It was just a misunderstanding."
Having raised many younger siblings on his own, Brock sympathized with Tomo's situation and didn't blame him for being overly cautious. Based on what they were seeing, Tomo and this baby Kangaskhan shared a connection.
"Wait a minute! When we first saw him, the Kangaskhan he jumped into didn't have a baby in its pouch! This must be that Kangaskhan's child."
Thinking back, when Tomo had appeared earlier to rescue the captured Kangaskhan, he had jumped into the pouch of the largest one—a pouch that had been empty.
"The baby must have gotten separated and injured while fleeing to this area."
Now everything made sense. Something must have happened that caused the baby to become injured and separated from its mother, right when Tomo had arrived to help the Kangaskhan herd.
"Tomo! Is that you? My child!"
A heart-wrenching cry rang out as two figures burst through the underbrush—Tomo's parents. His mother ran forward immediately and swept the boy into her arms.
"Waaah!"
Tomo, bewildered by the sudden embrace, gasped for breath. After a moment, he pushed his mother away and regarded both adults with suspicious hostility.
"Tomo, these are your parents," Brock explained gently. "Don't you remember? You were accidentally separated when your family came here five years ago. They've been searching for you ever since."
At the mention of parents, Tomo furrowed his brow slightly. The only memories that surfaced were of his life with the Kangaskhan herd. All his formative years had been spent among Pokemon—naturally, he'd forgotten his human parents.
"No... Mom... Kangaskhan... no!" Tomo struggled to form the words.
Ash, Misty, and Brock were surprised to hear him speak at all. It seemed he hadn't completely lost his human capabilities and could still vocalize some basic language.
"What's wrong, Tomo? I'm your mother! Don't you remember me?" His mother pleaded, heartbroken at her son's apparent rejection.
"He must have suffered head trauma when he fell from the helicopter. This is what happens when you're negligent," Tomo's father muttered.
Without warning, the man raised his walking stick and struck Tomo on the head. This sudden act stunned Ash and his friends, who hadn't expected such harshness.
Tomo, equally unprepared, took the blow directly. He staggered momentarily before instinctively covering his head with his hands.
"What are you doing? Don't be so rough with him!" The mother pushed her husband away and rushed to comfort her son.
"Tomo, you didn't deserve that," she said softly, gently rubbing the spot where he'd been struck. Her caring eyes and tender voice triggered something in Tomo's mind, awakening long-dormant memories.
"Mom? Mom? Mom!"
"Tomo, you recognize me! Oh, thank goodness. Our family can finally be reunited. We should leave this place right away." Tears of joy streamed down his mother's face upon hearing her son acknowledge her.
But at the mention of leaving, Tomo froze. His thoughts returned to the Kangaskhan herd, and he felt torn between his human family and the Pokemon who had raised him. Though he now recognized his birth mother standing before him, he couldn't bring himself to choose.
"No... don't go! You... mother! Kangaskhan... mother too! No, no, no!" In his confusion, Tomo covered his head and ran away, momentarily forgetting even the injured baby Kangaskhan.
"Tomo!"
"Oh no! What have we done? He'll never come back to us now." His mother collapsed in tears as her son disappeared into the forest. Her husband could only place a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"How could this happen? He seemed to recognize his parents," Misty said, bewildered by the turn of events.
"It's not that simple," Brock sighed. "Although his parents didn't abandon him intentionally, the Kangaskhan have been his caregivers all these years."
"Between the bond of birth and the bond of nurturing, the latter often proves stronger." Brock shook his head sympathetically. He understood this dynamic all too well. After his own father had returned home, Brock's younger siblings had initially been distant and wary.
The connection of blood alone wasn't always enough. Relationships required time and nurturing to rebuild—just as his father had learned.
"So what do we do now?" Misty frowned, surveying the aftermath of the emotional scene.
"First, let's find the Kangaskhan herd and return this baby," Ash decided, carefully picking up the young Pokemon that Tomo had forgotten in his distress. "That's the most important thing right now."
"Good idea," his friends agreed in unison.