"Wakey, wakey, Isamu..."
It was morning, the sun just peaking over the horizon as I felt Kazuki nudging at my sides. I longed to stay in bed, still cuddled up to my mother.
"Come on, Isamu. You're going to sleep through breakfast if you keep that up." Almost as if he controlled my stomach, it growled in a low tone. Ugh...I hear you, jeeze... Another set of prodding by the Ninetales got me up, a prolonged yawn quickly following as I stretched my muscles.
"What are we having for breakfast, daddy?" I asked, still trying to wake myself up.
"We're going into town today. Our town trader managed to get a hold of a few rare items that I was wanting to try." I felt one of his fluffy tails slip under my frame, easily kiting me to his shoulders.
"What about mom?..." I asked, looking over at the sleeping Typhlosion.
"She got home really late last night, Isamu. Long after you had fallen asleep."
"Oh..." I rested my head on the back of Kazuki, lightly gripping his fur to hold myself on.
"She'll be fine...a good nights rest, and she'll be herself." he trailed off, slowly turning to reach for a large wicker basket before setting it on his lower back, holding it firmly with his outer pair of tails. "We need to get on the road soon though, before the trader closes shop for the day. Are you ready, Isamu?" I nodded once, tightening my grip on his fur as my signal. He turned to the doorway, stopping for a moment to collect a small velvet bag, the sound of little coins scraping against each other as he concealed them with his middle most tail.
"Hold on tight, Isamu." I barely had the time to comprehend as he broke off into a quick jog, far from the usual walking pace I was use to. Behind me, I could hear the little clinks of coins in my fathers grasp as he raced into town, his soft but rhythmic footfalls on the packed earth and dead leaves under him... I couldn't help myself as I started to drift off again, lulled by the soft pace my father had set.
"...yeah, he's...Isamu...wake up..." My fathers nudging brought me back to reality some time later. We were back in town, Kazuki talking to a few others I didn't know. One was a Ninetales, though a lot smaller than Kazuki. Beside her, a primary black Pokémon, plated with gray ridges along its back and just above its paws. It sported two long horns, both curling back to the base of its head. It's thin tail, easily the length of its body, ended in a pointed spade...
"*chuckles* I see he's awake now." the other Ninetales started, her voice cheery and bright. She reached out to me with one of her tails, though I wasn't having any of it. I buried my face in Kazuki's fur, trying to avoid her.
"...A bit timid though, wouldn't you say?" A males voice this time, but it wasn't my fathers.
"Yeah, well...that's just how their kind is at first. Give him time though, he might be like Honoka." my father says, a faint chuckle in his voice. One of his tails curls around me again, easily prying me from the safety of his back before setting me down beside him.
"Mommy, who is that?" I look to see a small red fox, her frame wrapped around the inside of the Ninetales' leg. Her body was matted in reddish-orange fur, with a cream-colored under belly and brown paws. She sad six tails, each a vibrant red, and a tuff of curled hair to match. Her eyes, a deep emerald-green, seemed to be without pupils.
"That is Isamu Kimura, Kazuki's son." she replied, nudging gently at her side with her muzzle. "Go say hi." Without any hesitation, the little fox bowled straight into me, taking me off guard as the two of us tumbled away from the adults.
"My, my, aren't you the charmer, Isamu..." my father chuckled, shaking his head as he glanced over at us. The fox had pinned me to my back, her paws wrapped around my throat as she cuddled with stunned me. I was still trying to process what had happened when I felt her release her grip.
"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii, new person!" she exclaimed, kneeding at my sides trying to revive me. I should have just stayed in bed... I rolled back to my feet, the little fox sitting just in front of me with her head bowed to my level.
"J-just who are you exactly?..." I shook my head once, trying to get the vague spinning feeling to stop.
"Oh, that's right. Where are my manners?" she started, her body growing calm again. "I'm Hoshiko Kobayash. Those are my parents you saw me with."
"N-nice to meet you, Hoshiko..."
"Well, now that you two have met..." Kazuki started", coming up to me. His middle most tail uncoiled, the little bag clinging with coins again as he brought it to me. "...both of you can have one of these." He pulled out two small pieces of yen, both with a bright silver finish and a reeded edge. We both took one of the coins, carefully observing it. Despite their size, they had a surprising weight to them. One side bore a 500 on it, surrounded by shoots of bamboo and mandarin orange. It's reverse bore a Paulownia, the value "500" written in kanji.
"That's breakfast this morning. Talk to the venders and ask them for what you want. That little coin should pay for whatever you want." he finished, concealing the bag again.
"Thank you, Mr. Kimura!" Hoshiko exclaimed, hugging around my fathers forelimb as she held the coin betwixt her teeth. I glanced into the coin again, eyeing my faint reflection in the small silver disc.
"Think nothing of it...you two go eat. We'll be right her or by the bakery if you need us."
"Come on, Isamu!" The Vulipx buried her head into my side, forcefully pushing me away from the adults.
"W-where are you taking me?!" I dug my heels into the ground trying to stop her.
"Just use your legs already! Stop making me push you!"
"Maybe I'd like an explanation first before you took me hostage!'
"Stop being stubborn already!" As much as I tried to bury my feet in the ground to resist her, I was no match. She had easily managed to push us far down the street from where our parents were. My footing finally gave out as she continued to shove, the two of us rolling again before coming to a stop against a corner of a shop.
"You happy now?..." A faint growl rolled off my lips as I got up again, trying to shake the dirt from my pelt. I could still see the adults in the distance at least...Hoshiko had gotten up a moment later, her coin still clenched tightly between her teeth. "What's so special over here anyway?..."
"You haven't had anything from Ms. Mizushima's store before, have you?" I numbly shook my head. I didn't recognize the name. "She's a Floatzel from the Hoenn region that stops by from time to time, just like the traders do."
"...Okay, that's great and all, but what does that mean for me?" I asked bluntly.
"She likes to bring seafood and rare trinkets she finds on the ocean floor. Last I heard, she was bringing Octillery rings..." she trailed off, a wild and delirious look in her eyes. I'm still lost...
"...so that means you're eating her, am I right?" She happily nodded her head as she sat down, facing the store front. The heavy metal door in front of the stand was still down...
"In that case, I'm going back to the bakery..." I turned walk away, leaving the Vulpix behind as I made my way to the bakery. You can sit there and wait, I'm good...
"Hey kid..." I froze up, frantically looking for whoever was calling to me. Hosiko still hadn't moved, her attention still fixated on the stand as she waited for the trader to arrive.
"Yeah, you. Looking stupid and confused." It's voice cut through me like a hot knife in butter. I could faintly make out a figure in a dark alleyway, it drawing closer to me. A black and red body, with blades for hands...it's head and chest decorated with even more blades, and a set of piercing yellow eyes fixed on a gray face.
"W-what do you want?" I squeaked, nervously drawing my arms to my chest. I lost sight of Kazuki and the others, and Hoshiko was still yet to move.
'Whatcha got there?" I weakly started to check myself, forgetting about the yen piece in my hand. A quick shove sent me to the ground, though I still kept a death grip on the small metal coin. "I said...whatcha got there?" His tone took a more grave nature, accompanied by a sickening scrap of metal on metal as the figure sharpened the blades on its hands. I still couldn't see Hazuki...Hoshiko was no longer at the stand, but now I couldn't find her either...
"Leave me alone!" I roared, clutching the coin closely. A burning feeling began to rise in my chest, like my lungs were burning from the inside...
"Who said you had that option?" More sharpening of his blades, the noise starting to give me a headache as he closed in more and more. "Look, I'm asking nicely now. Give me the coin, and I might not hurt you...or your friend..." What did he mean by that?...The burning feeling grew stronger as he got within reaching distance, his piercing yellow eyes glaring through me as the blade cresting his head dug into the wall above me.
"Get off of me, you creep!" It was Hoshiko...I could see her struggling as another figure had her pinned. It was a small, vaguely reptilian creature, it's body mostly green. It's thick, dark green tail was lobed, and its stomach and throat were a deep shade of red. Like my attacker, his eyes were a bright shade of yellow in contrast to the rest of him.
"Then jest gimme th' dadburned coin befo'e ah have t'hurt yo'!" it yelled back at her, trying to control the fox as she flailed for freedom. "Takashi, gimme a han' already, this hyar one is a fighter!"
"Funny, this one looks like he couldn't hurt a fly!"
"Knock it OFF!" The burning feeling in my chest rose to my throat as I roared back at him in defiance, but something felt...different. The sky seemed to take on a bluish hue as a torrent of cobalt colored flames erupted from my maul. Instantly my attacker backed off, covering his face with his slim arms as the blaze ripped through the air over his head. The other stopped dead in his tracks, Hoshiko looking at me with a wild look in her eyes before realizing her opportunity. A column of scarlet flames jettisoned from her maul, just missing her attacker has he flinched from the flames.
"Isuma, look out!" I turned to see my attacked charging for me, a vibrant pink blade formed around one of his hands as he swung at me. I cowered behind my hands, turning away from the attack...
"*grunts* What the hell?! Let me go!" I opened my eyes again, seeing not only the attacker, but two long sets of cream-colored tails, pinning the attacker by his arms.
"Isuma, are you alright?" It was Hazuki, his body blocking my attacker from me. The Steel type was lofted into the air, his feet far from touching the ground as the Ninetales restrained him. His body glowed with a clear blue aura...I glanced around him to see the Grass type suspended in the air as well, Hoshiko darting to my side as she hid behind my father. I was oblivious that she had cuddled around me...at least we were both safe now that my father was here.
"Y-yes, daddy...it was just a misunderstanding..."
"HA! Look at this, hiding behind their father like the weak little pests they are!" the Steel type taunted.
"That's awful big talk coming from the one trapped!" the Vulipx shouted back. Another blast of spinning fire ripped through the air, only for my father to shoulder the attack, seemingly unfazed by the move.
"You two relax. There's no need for you two to be involved in this fight." the Ninetails said, his voice especially calm as he glanced back at us. We were quickly surrounded in a mass of cream-colored tails, a very gentle restriction as he took control of the situation. "Somehow I think even all three of you could even manage to hurt me." Three?...
"...are you willing to put your life on that?" All three of us looked to the skies as a large bird descended from the heavens. It had a cream-colored face and underside, with black angular patches under a each eye, and a faded grayish-brown colored back. It's plume on its head had a golden hue to it, it's tail striped with alternating white and golden streaks with ragged edges. It's beak and claws matched the golden plume of feathers cresting his head.
"I told you, you couldn't hurt me if you tried." Hazuki's tone continued to be calm, his confidence unwavering as he panned from person to person. The aura around him dropped as he canceled his Extrasensory before tossing the Steel-type away, the two landing beside the raptor as it landed just a few feet away.
"Yo' haf some nerve reckonin' yo' kin take all three of us at th' same time! Yo' muss be stoopid!" the Grass-type shouted, stancing up to my father.
"...Perhaps I'm just more confident than you are. Come now, I'll give you one for free." the Ninetales called to them, throwing a taunting gesture just in front of his face with one of his tails.
The Steel type was first to make his move, a dark aura glowing around one of his hands as he rushed towards Hazuki. Without flinching, he watched as the Steel-type slashed at him. I looked away...Why are you putting yourself through this?
"T-this shit again?!" I looked back to the fight, seeing Hazuki easily restraining the attack with one of his tails. The Steel-type swung wildly with his free hand, though to no avail as his reach was just not long enough, the dark aura still radiating from the tip of the blade sticking out of Hazuki's hold.
"My, my, you have a dirty mouth for a kid."
"Bite me, you furry freak!"
Without warning the Grass-type made his advance, swinging his tail with great force at my father's head. Hazuki raised the flailing Steel-type in the air, blocking the Slam attack with the first offender. While the Steel-type seemed unfazed, the Grass-type was horribly cut by the desperate attempt to escape. A thick splash of blood covered the Pawniard's torso as the Treecko dropped to the ground.
"Whut th' hell did ah do t'yo'?!" he roared as he clutched the bloody spot at his chest, curled up in the dirt. The earth beneath his feet began to take on a dark red color as he tried to control the pain.
"Shut up and help me, you fucking neanderthal!" Hazuki just shook his head, glaring silently at the two smaller Pokémon.
"...this is pathetic." The raptor seemed to share in his disappointment, glaring at the fallen Treecko.
"I'm still waiting..." the Ninetales taunted, yawning as if he was tired from the ordeal. The bird seemed unmoved by it, still quietly observing the situation. I could quietly hear him begin to hum to himself as he waited, still holding the Pawniard captive in his grasp.
"Put me down already, Arceus dammit!" the Steel-type roared, still violently slashing at his face.
My father went silent for a few seconds as he moved the attack in front of him, his eyes meeting those piercing yellow eyes before his body glowed with a sinister blue light. The Pawniard's body glowed with the same light before he broke out in a painful fit, his body showing burn marks across his entire body as the lights erupted into white-hot flames. Hazuki quickly flung the smaller Pokémon away, his body crashing into the Treecko's as the two were sent spiraling into a building side.
"...somehow I'm not surprised by their performance." the Pidgeotto said, taking off into the air. Hazuki stood his ground, still unmoved by the raptor as he calmly curled the tips of his free tails around the front of his paws. "No matter...I can handle you myself..." Within an instant, what seemed like a thousand copies of himself appeared throughout the air, all fixated over us. Me and Hoshiko both hid ourselves further in his tails, her curled up more tightly around me as we both saw the furry of birds around us.
"Easy you two..." my father calls, whisking the end of our chosen tail across our backs trying to soothe us. The swarm dived at us with incredible speed, their wings all glowing in unison as they neared my father. And yet, he seemed unfazed, his head bowed as if concentrating on something. His body began to glow with a faint blue aura again as the birds all made their attack...
*CRACK*
I look to see a faint blue bubble around us, my fathers tails in a pseudo-shield around us all as the copied faded, the real one fazed by the sudden wall he hit. Hazuki glared up at the bird, the aura forming around him as Extrasensory took control. A gentle tip from one of his tails sent the Flying-type hurdling into the ground with a low thud. Where did he learn to do that?...
The Pawniard charged at us again, another attempt at the attack as the blade radiated with a black aura. The Ninetales easy swept the smaller Pokémon away, a sharp crack across his face with a tail that threw him into the downed Pidgeotto. Another Slam attack from the Treecko, and again another wild slap from my father that grouped them all together.
"Are you done yet?..." my father asked dully, a few embers starting to glow around the tips of his tails as he readied another Will-o-Wisp. The three bickered among themselves as they got up, an incoherent gibberish between them before coming to an agreement.
"Less see how yo' like this!" the Grass-type yelled as the Pawniard mounted the raptor. With great effort, the two flew high into the air, the Treecko imitating the bird on the ground as a few dozen copied darted around him. Above, the Pidgeotto was flying back to earth in a divebomb with its wings cloaked in a brilliant light, it too with a few dozen copied of itself, the Pawniard leading with a full body spinning slash, a black jet of energy coming for us. On the ground, the Treecko clones opened fire with a barrage of seeds, seemingly coming in from all directions. Me and Hoshiko both flinched up, huddling against each other as the joint assault closed in.
*CRACK*
Again, Hazuki's Protect had stopped the attack, the Pawniard and Pidgeotto both recoiling from the impact. The countless shower of seeds splintered on the hardened dome of energy, making it useless. He quickly dropped the shield, spinning his body around with us as a ring of blue flames blasted outward, the flames vaporizing the Treecko's attacks as they spread out. Instantly the Treecko clones vanishes as the real one was struck by the blast of fire, the attack also catching the bird mid-flight. Another pulse of aura from the Ninetales picked up the two smaller Pokémon, throwing their burnt bodies into the Pawniard and sending the pack flying backwards again.
What felt like an eternity passed before Hazuki relaxed. "I doubt they'll be getting up any time soon..." His tails released their grip on us as he stood up again, a faint but noticeable jet of fire leaving his nostrils. "Are you kids o-" he started, noticing we were still huddled together. "Isn't that cute..."
Me and Hoshiko both looked at each other before releasing our grips, our heads sharply darting away as the blood rushed to our faces.
"*sigh*...At least you kids weren't hurt. They didn't take the money I gave you, right?" The coin!...The whole reason for this fiasco...I unclinched my fists, revealing the small metal disk. Hoshiko did the same, her coin secured in a foil of one of her tails like Hazuki does. "Why did I let you two walk alone like that?..." I hear him whisper, a faint sense of remorse in his tone.
"W-we just wanted to see Ms. Mizushima is all..." she started, mirroring Hazuki's tone. "Then those Pokémon came up to us out of nowhere...and then they tried to hurt us...a-and-" she continued, interrupted as Hazuki placed a tail to her lips.
"Hush now. It's over with...I won't let that happen again." He curled a tail under both of our chins, his face calmed back to his usual demeanor. "You two must be hungry. Let's get you that breakfast now."
