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I stopped, listened, and waited. Shadows danced around my dark furred form and the clattering noise from the busy city streets concealed the sound of my breathless panting. And then I heard them, they rushed by with angry growls and loud snarls. They knocked over piles of trash and lit the fog of the murky alleyway with sparks of flame from their flaring nostrils. I had to find some way to lose them, at this rate my lungs would either explode or they would find me and tear me to small strips of umbreon jerky.
"Hey! I can smell him, he's somewhere around here!" now I knew I was done for. I lowered myself as far into the dumpster as possible, trying to hide, just hoping the shadows would swallow me and I could disappear. Just don't let them find me, please whatever gods exist, don't let them find me!
Frustration and anger filled my blood as my whole body tensed, waiting for them to discover me. Just don't move, not yet, I dug my claws into a piece of cardboard under my feet, my adrenaline spiking as my pursuer stopped just in front of my hiding place.
"Are you boys looking for something? Maybe a good time by chance?" the voice was sultry and unmistakably feminine, filled with lust just begging to be satisfied. It came from the outside, right behind my dumpster, and I heard the soft fall of paws as the female pokemon landed on the lid right above me.
"Fang! Your nose must be ruined from digging through garbage all the time; it's only a deprived whore!"
My body felt like it was going to break from all the adrenaline the sense of fear was injecting into my veins, and then I froze. My mind stopped, just outside the crack where I had squeezed in through I could see the angry flashing embers sparking from the houndoom's dripping jaws.
"No way! I'm tellin' you I can still smell him!" I bared my fangs, ready to fight. He was looking right at me, but the female stole his attention.
"What? You mean that scared little kit trying to run for his life?" she purred as she rubbed herself against the hellhound's side, but I still couldn't see what pokemon she was.
A deep and foreboding growl cut her off, the voice pierced through the darkness in my soul and chilled my heart, instinctively I curled farther back into the corner, "What do you know about this brat?"
The female let out a hiss of air, "Well aren't you the bossy one? He ran through here a few minutes ago looking for a place to tuck his tail and I kicked him out."
Warily I peek through the crack, the houndoom had his back turned and was watching the female saunter up to a mighthyena, I could barely make out her solid black paws and a glowing reflection of yellow rings in a puddle of water, another umbreon!
"Aww, but surely such handsome, big dogs like you are wasting time and energy chasing a little runt like that?"
She flinched as the mighthyena snarled at her, gleaming fangs a hair's breadth from her face, "Stop wasting my time slut!"
Regaining her composure, the umbreon sat back on her haunches and started grooming her fur, she mumbled lowly without looking up, "He took the expressway to the park…"
Raging in purple energy and flames the houndoom and mighthyena sprinted down an adjacent alleyway followed closely by two zoroark that I hadn't seen before.
Exhausted I planted my head into the side of the trash can, hoping that the world would just disappear and I would be back with my trainer, camping in the woods next to a fire, just like the old days.
"It's okay, they're gone now, you can come out kid." Immediately my eyes snapped open and I banished the thought, It wasn't my fault, we both knew the price we'd have to pay, we did what we had to. It's over now.
With a sigh I pulled myself through the crack in the lid and landed next to my savior, I wary frown dominating my muzzle, "Thanks." I kept my voice low and quiet or else it would have cracked from stress and then I walked down the side street that ran opposite of the one my pursuers had taken.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" her crimson eyes were glaring at me like I owed her something, I just rolled my own in response.
"Obviously away from here, have a nice night." With that I turned to make sure no one else was following me before slinking through the shadows back into the busy lamp lit streets filled with cars, pokemon, and people, even at four in the morning.
"Hey wait you little jerk! You owe me!" I just snorted as she ran up next to me, "look kid, obviously you just got out on your own so I'll," – "Shut up…"
The female umbreon stopped midsentence, apparently shocked at being cut off, "Just cause you haven't seen me before doesn't mean I'm some little kit who got lost and ran into some bullies, I guarantee that you haven't lived half as long as I have, you still got a lot to learn."
My stomach growled…Damn, all that running is catching up, I gotta' get some food and lose this girl too. "Well if you're so smart Mr. Tough guy, why'd you let yourself get caught?"
I rolled my eyes, this girl was rubbing my nerves raw. We passed a line of vendors selling hot dogs, pretzels, pokebait, and any number of other foods imaginable, just then a light bulb went off in my head,
"Here make yourself useful." Care tires squealed and metal screamed as vehicles swerved and crashed into one another in an attempt to avoid hitting the stunned umbreon I had just body slammed into the fatal lanes of traffic.
The world stretched into a blurred tunnel of street lights and indiscriminate shapes as I used the distraction to snag a line of freshly grilled barboach and made of into the night using my quick attack.
Barely a few minutes later I fell out of the speeding tunnel, my legs quivering from exhaustion and my lungs burning for air in heavy, painful gasps. That was the longest I've ever used that ability and it quickly took its toll as I struggled to fight the wave of nausea rushing through my skull, but I had to be positive I wasn't followed. The hideout was only a few blocks away and the sun had begun to push away the comforting darkness of the midnight shadows.
Warily I shouldered open the broken hinged piece of plywood hiding the small hole in the broken foundation of the long abandoned pokecenter. I had barely caught a glimpse of the broken plastered walls and dust smothered counter before I was tackled to the floor by an unseen foe.
"Mmph! Ha! I got you uncle, what now huh? You said I'd never catch you off guard, but I got you! What now huh?"
Weakly I chuckled and tried to push myself back to my feet, but the effort cost too much and with a soft thud I just fell lamely to the floor. The world blurred as I lost focus on it and my vision mushed everything into a black sheet of half consciousness.
"SIS! Big sis, wake up! HURRY! C'mon! Somebody help!" Screams echoed as if from the other side of a wall, it sounded like somebody had smothered the world with a pair of earmuffs, but I fought to stay wake and the cries continued to echo in my mind, "Don't worry uncle, I'll get help. SIS, hurry over here!"
His voice warped and slipped away, I was losing my grip on the voices, there was worried sobbing but it was jumbled and indiscernible. I could feel a warmth spread over my body, as if the harsh sun had finally found peace with my dark type soul and I could swear I was floating in a sea of warmth, then I saw her, the angel, welcoming me back to life.
Moaning I opened my eyes and blinked, as harsh sunlight filled my world, I guess the sun hasn't made peace with me, damn that hurts. "Rosco, close those curtains, I don't need it anymore, besides he's waking up." The voice was soft and sweet, but it wasn't an angel after all, it was the voice of a slim and attractive espeon who was glaring down at me with a worried frown and creased bright blue eyes.
"How do you feel? You nearly died last night…" her voice was low and she was close to sobbing.
I split my muzzle with a grin and jumped to my feet, "Like I just took a nap in a luxury ball!" I kept a straight face as my vision swirled with the sudden vertigo and I wanted to puke from the dizzy circles my head was spinning in. "did all the kids get enough to eat?"
A sad smile broke her frown and she shook her head, "You're unbelievable, I don't know how you do it. You show up in a dead heap and still manage to worry more about others."
Quietly I shook my head, glancing at the pokecubs sitting quietly around us, watching our conversation with fixed attentions. A small houndour stood alert on a plastic and aluminum chair underneath the wide, curtain covered window directly across from the reception counter. An even younger eevee, barely in her teens, sat on her haunches atop the old broken PC next to the counter. And in various shelves and sills sat an assortment of other cubs, their ages ranged from recently hatched to others who have seen themselves in multiple battles. All orphans, the majority were eeveelutions, but scattered here and there were a few growlithes and vulpix, they had all been left behind in the sudden and inexplicable failed demolition of the pokecenter.
Over exaggerating a yawn, I dug my sharp claws into the tiles of the floor and stretched my body, "Hey guys, go out and play, I'll hang out later, you know I'm not a morning guy!"
With a mixture of yelps, laughs, and chattering the room was quickly emptied except for the houndour named Rosco and the little eevee.
"Aren't you two gonna' go play?" the espeon's question brought a scowl to the young fire dog's muzzle.
"Are you joking sis? I wanna' hear what happened to uncle Eve." And the eevee let out a squeak as she maliciously crushed a weedle that was lurking on the faded keyboard,
"Yea, me too, pwease uncle?" I laughed, there was no way I could keep a straight face at her pleading auburn eyes.
"Okay, Rosco, Lily, go off and play and I'll tell you after the rest of the gang goes to sleep."
Cheering in victory the two ran out the back door to play with the others and still tired I padded back to my room with the espeon by my side.
We pushed through the non-responsive sliding door into the last room at the end of the hallway. It was curtained with black sheets and was completely dark, just the way I liked it.
"Evan, you need to stop pushing yourself so hard, my morning sun could barely bring you back." She stopped and took a breath, my eyes could see the glint of teardrops forming on her cheeks, but she went on, "we all owe you so much, none of us would have survived if you hadn't stopped the wreckers, but there's no way we could go on if we lost you!"
Suddenly she buried her muzzle in my shoulder, shaking with fear? Anger? I wasn't sure, but I needed to tell her, I couldn't put it off any longer. Gently I placed my chin on top of her head and held her as best I could with my forepaw, "Sylvia, listen, it's not safe for the kids while I'm here anymore."
She stopped crying and pulled away, "what do you mean? You can't say that, you have to stay, we need you…I need you…"
Sadly I shook my head, "You have to take care of yourselves now, Rosco is more than capable of taking charge of the gang and Lily will make sure he doesn't become corrupt, and you will be here to watch them all." She growled at me in frustration but I finally had to say it, no matter how much the memories hurt, "Sylvia, look at me, do you remember when I told you about my trainer, about how I got here?" she just nodded, damn, why does my heart still hurt he's been gone for years, "well, They've found me, I have to leave…"
She tackled me to the floor and buried her face in the soft tuft of fur on my chest and choked out one word, "NO!" then she broke down in tears.