2.2

Melancholy of a Runaway

Bickering Mouths

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Aside from my breath coming in harsh rasps, the night was certainly filled with other sounds. Like the wide shifting through the grass, which kept getting taller and taller as I walked forward. Or – and this was good – the occasional yelp and growl coming from any direction.

On the outside, I tried to keep my expression neutral. It helps me keep my cool even when I'm actually not feeling it. And right now, I wasn't. I mean, considering how detailed everything's been up until now' I shouldn't be surprised about their being animals and such in this world. For all I know, Hilbert and his mom own a cat.

But these sounds… it sounded like I was entering a wildlife preserve or something. All the cries and growls I've been hearing just kept coming as I walked around the tall grass.

And that wasn't all. It's been happening for quite a while now – I've been hearing voices.

Not the crazy kind of voices. I mean, like it sounded like there was people nearby. I couldn't be sure. If someone was near me, I wouldn't be able to see them because of all this grass!

Thankfully, I didn't have any trouble walking through the grass. As high as they reached out, to the tip of my nose I might add, my intangibility allowed me to simply walk through it. I'm very grateful for that because the blades were thick enough to require manual labor to go through, and my arms were currently nursing my back.

Still, I didn't know where I was heading, if it wasn't obvious, and there hasn't been any sign of Hilbert since a while ago.

Wait, I spoke too soon. My eyes caught something that looked a lot like indentions, the trail left behind when someone walks through something dense. I ran quickly (as quickly as the grass would let me, anyway) towards it.

Deeply set, the grass bended to the side, a scar against the rest of the unruffled greenery. I noticed the trail coming from the direction I came from. A sign, I suppose, that I found what I was looking for. Then again, I can't remember now how far I walked. I couldn't remember if I took some turns or not.

I couldn't feel too doubtful, though. I finally found a clue, my methods paying off, so unless I woke up now, there wasn't any other way out of this. I wasn't going back, that was for sure. The path went straight on ahead, so I will walk forward.

So the situation has changed slightly. I had a path to follow, instead of just randomly walking forward with no clue where I was going.

The bad news was that I seriously didn't know where I was going. I was just under the impression this was the way Hilbert went. I mean, the fact the grass was so thick and left a trail was lucky since I could be tracking the boy now. However, I had proof that Hilbert and I weren't the only ones out tonight.

Yeah, with every step I take, the more growls and sounds I keep hearing. Just now, I thought I heard what sounded suspiciously like "rip head off."

I stopped walking right there. I was hearing the voices of people, and right now that wasn't the friendliest of statements. Whose head was going to get ripped off now?

Since I had stopped, I saw something I probably would have missed if I was still moving. The long green blades before me were now bunched up. It was a complete giveaway that something happened here. As if the red blood didn't make it obvious enough.

Wait… blood?

My stomach began to flip, and my movements suddenly felt sluggish, like I could trip over at any moment. My eyes wouldn't lie to me, though. The color red stood out like glistening signal lights against the green grass. The quantity of it wasn't that much, but the light of the moon reflected off it, meaning it was fresh. It being fresh meant it was recently put there.

For me to run across blood suddenly on this trail meant someone had gotten hurt.

I couldn't bear to look at it anymore. Something inside of me snapped, so I kept moving forward, avoiding that stained patch.

Determination pushed me forward, quickly allowing me to edge towards the end of the path. I saw it now, the end of the tall grass, and I more than happily passed through the boundary line. I was sweating a storm from all the effort, the near entirety of my body ached, but I managed to walk out of it all.

Even though I started putting distances between me and the grass patch I still felt wound up. The voices were slowly receding to whispers, but the distance still didn't cut them off. Any moment the threat from earlier before could be accomplished. I did have my back turned to the pasture.

The minutes ticked by. Nothing happened. The calm atmosphere slowly worked its magic on me. It didn't happen instantly, but all the same, the muscles on my back relaxed. It throbbed, but I could keep going with both arms on my side. A tight squeeze on my side eventually ebbed away, leaving behind a numbing pain. Everything was still.

Just ahead, I caught sight of a tree. It seemed so out of place since nothing but grass covered the path. Taking another look around, the route was outlined by trees. This sole tree, away from the rest stood out along the rest. It was sparsely ornate. Leaves managing to cling to the branches peppered around in shades of pale green, bright red and dusky orange. With its location and form, it gave out the look of a place of standstill. Hilbert thought as much since I finally found him, leaning against the trunk.

Though I wanted nothing more than to sock him, seeing as that was impossible, I simply ran up to him. My back complained at the effort, but who cares. I was just happy to see him, in one piece at that. Of course, my mind reached a halt when I noticed the red tint clashing against his blue jacket.

Let's take a minute to observe him. Pale face. Eyes dilated. Breathing uneven and short. Sweat caking his hair to his forehead. His shirt definitely stuck to him like a second skin. Currently, the identity of that awful red color is unknown, but the options was quite limited.

"What did you do to yourself, man?" I just had to say it. I mean, I couldn't be heard after all.

By the time I closed in on the tree, Hilbert had slid to the ground from the pain and exhaustion. I bended over next to him, watching him unzip his jacket. His black shirt was even partially stained red. The slick sound of the jacket parting from the linen fabric, an unpleasant sound, indicated just how recent the injury was.

Hilbert took a moment to rummage through his satchel before pulling out a small first aid kit. He quickly took out a disinfectant as well as a few cotton balls. His shirt was rolled up, and after a number of childish hisses, he managed to clean the wound well enough to apply a portion of the bandage roll.

With the immediate danger out of the way, Hilbert finally relaxed against the tree. I edged towards him with the intention of following his example before I remembered about my special case. I snarled, choosing to lay on the ground instead. My eyes inched over to the side, keeping him in my line of sight.

While the boy caught his breath, his arm slowly crept to the side. The clinking sound of metal hitting metal tore my gaze away from him to a root of the tree. Red and white, half and half, the tiny spheres huddled together around his hand. I counted three of them.

So, Hilbert risked possibly getting arrested and absolute punishment for three balls?

With a groan, Hilbert rose back to his feet, taking the spheres with him. I sat up to a sitting position, watching him from my turf on the tree as he fumbled with one of the red and white balls.

"Stupid..." A loud curse pierced the air, sending my eyebrows rising. "How the hell do you open this?" I tried to inch over to the side, curious to know what he was doing.

Then I heard a bang. I jumped back just as a blinding white flash emerged from the palm of his hand. It headed towards the ground, from there taking shape before receding. I stared dumbfound at the result.

It... was cute. That one word was the first to come out top describe. Subconsciously, I moved to my hands and knees, crawling forward so I can get a closer look. How such a cute animal just came out from Hilbert's hand is beyond me, but I was at a point where I didn't want to question this world's logic anymore. The sight of this creature was enough to lift my mind away from all the trouble I've been through.

If I could touch, I'm sure it would fit into my hand like a doll. It's round white face was decorated with freckles on both cheeks. It's black eyes blinked adorably as it looked around its surroundings. It fondled with what appeared to be a seashell nestled on its blue belly before it looked up at Hilbert. It quirked its head to the side questioningly.

"Finally." Hilbert merely said. He lowered his head towards the hand holding the three spheres. "So I need to press the center button twice, huh. No wonder it didn't work earlier." His other hand reached into his cupped hand, pulling back with one of them. His thumb pressed the center circle, and before my eyes, I saw the thing expand about five times its size in his hand. He pressed the button again. The sphere separated from the black line, the white flash emerging from within, slithering to the ground like before. He put the ball away before repeating the same thing to another one.

I watched in awe as two more of the strange creatures joined the first one. The second one to come out was a green reptilian creature. A shiver went through me as I made a connection between it and a snake. Unlike the legless reptile, this one did have legs which it stood on. It even had arms, though they were so thin I didn't noticed them until it crossed them on its lighter colored chest. Its three-point tail flickered impatiently behind it as it stomped it feet, unnerving red eyes shifting around its surroundings.

The last of the creatures skipped about as soon as it was given form. Its piglet-like body was divided by three stripes of color: the black top of its head, the center red torso, and the black bottom portion. Its black ears twitched at every rustle the grass on its hooves. Whenever a particularly long blade of grass reached its face, it would guide its snout over to it to take a whiff of it before moving along to its next target, which just so happen to be Hilbert. It looked up at him with eyes shimmering in excitement.

My curiosity was now at its peak. What did Hilbert want with three little animals? Granted, they didn't look anything like the animals in my world, but...

I decided to leave the questions for later. During my whole gawking session, I crawled on over to Hilbert's side, taking a seat on a rough patch of grass. Did I care? No I didn't. I just kept my eyes on the animals, watching and waiting for what happened next.

"All right, then." Hilbert started. He took a breath in before continuing to speak. "Listen up, you guys!"

All three small heads turned to look up at him.

"My name is Hilbert, and from now on, I'll be your new Pokemon trainer!"

Silence followed after he made his declaration.

Pokemon trainer...?

[Denied.]

All stilled for a moment. I think my eyes wanted to pop out of their sockets. Who said that?

[Like I'd let someone like you be my trainer.]

The voice sounded like a harsh hiss coming from up ahead.

In front of Hilbert. Around his feet.

My eyes landed on the green snake thing.

It turned its head to the side in clear contempt. Although its mouth didn't move, I could clearly hear the words coming from his direction. [Why should I have to listen to a pathetic looking thing such as yourself, hmm? Where's the lady from before? I prefer her ten times better now. If anything, I want her back so I don't have to put up with you.]

So many words, coming from it. Actually, it shouldn't even be talking, if what I was hearing could be counted as such. I mean, how could it speak?

I didn't have much time to ponder this. I was still looking in the direction of the little creatures when I heard another voice join the other. [Hey, Snivy, do you think we'll be eating anytime soon?] My chest tightened when I traced the voice to the white and blue otter-like creature. It's eyes was aimed on the green reptile – did it call it something? – who stared back with it piercing red eyes.

With two of the three animals distracted by their own thoughts, the only one giving Hilbert any attention was the piglet. There was just one problem; it was obvious the little one wasn't paying much attention to anyone, much less Hilbert. Another blade of grass managed to steal away its interest, and now it hopped around the boy's leg. Hilbert was being snubbed. Wow.

Course, Hilbert wasn't just standing there taking it. Well, maybe he was doing too much of the standing, but the look on his face clearly said he was pissed off at their short attention spans. In the case of the piglet at least. The otter apparently didn't find Hilbert too interesting, since it started looking around, too. The reptile... well, I felt nervous just looking at it. Besides, its earlier words clearly said it didn't give two cents for him.

Hilbert huffed out loud, placing his hands on his hips, while stamping his foot on the ground like the green snake thing. It noticed this, and looked up at the boy at last, its attention far from interested. Both glared at one another, amber versus scarlet. I watched with bated breathe, turning away from the other ones (the otter had joined the piglet in its little grass bounding) to see which one would give first.

"You know, when I first heard about you guys," Hilbert spoke up, teeth gritting, "I thought you guys would be much better than this. Guess I should have known better."

[Well, well, that makes two of us.] The green serpent snarled at him, a hissing noise slipping from its lips, [I rather be back in that stinking white place than be with you.] If Hilbert heard what he said, he gave no indication. The two merely continued their stare down.

I was paying so much attention to the drama shaping in front of me I didn't realize that one of the other little ones had approached me. Only when the voice of the white headed otter spoke did I notice both of them in front of me.

[Hey, lady, who are you?]

My head snapped at attention, taking in surprise the sudden presence of the two. Both of them looked up at me curiously.

Wait, they can...

The low rumble of a growl emerged from my back.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, as my heart palpitated in growing fear. Black eyes shone with curiosity turned serious as both stared at something behind me. I dared myself to turn around.

Slowly, hesitantly so, I did. The effort zapped all the energy out of me, fear nipping away at my nerves. It took all the guts I managed to bring out to keep my eyes from closing in fear when I finally caught a glimpse of a shape.

It was small, probably the same size as the three little ones Hilbert called forth. What it had that they lacked was fur. Creamy and beige fur standing out on ends which gave the impression it was bigger than it looked. Vaguely, it reminded me of a small dog.

However, no small dog bared it small, but sharp teeth at you, snarling surprisingly deep for its shape with clearly malicious intend. It looked at me, watching me with its black eyes for any movement I made. Searching for the perfect opportunity to strike me down.

The wicked words from before dimly came around. [Head, rip off. Stepped on the patch... Rip off head...]

Fear froze me in place. Or was it the intimidation from the canine creature. Its words gave reason enough to worry. His eyes left no doubt it can see me, so what was stopping it from doing just that to me? Keeping my head away from those choppers was a priority.

[Hey, hey! You there! What do you think your doing?] The voice of the otter shrieked from behind me. I had almost forgotten about them. It's voice cried along with another sound. Maybe it was just me, but I thought I heard a mild whining, too. I certainly heard stomping and maybe some shifting.

"Oh, no, not again..." The whisper was so soft I thought I didn't catch it, imagined it even. But I was sure I heard right. I turned my head slightly to look back at Hilbert.

A big mistake.

I didn't need to worry about getting mauled, but it was still rather creepy seeing the fierce puppy suddenly emerge through my body. Reflexively, my hand reached for my chest, eyes on the beige creature as it huffed at its failure to bite me. The two other little ones shrieked when he slid past them on the dirt, hopping out of the way.

Hilbert let out another curse before jumping back away from it. The action only lured its attention towards him, and so it begun to pace towards him. My widen eyes watched him lift his hand to nurse his side.

Oh, God, no... Why was this happening?

"Snivy!" Hilbert suddenly shouted, staring down at the green reptile. It answered with a dull glance.

"Use Vine Whip on the Lillipup!" He finished shouting.

Whatever he was hopping for the scaly jerk to do, it was hopeless. I can't restate what he called it, but whether Hilbert knew its name or not, the green snake looked away with a huff before stating rather irksomely, [I don't know Vine Whip, silly human.]

That stupid little-! Now wasn't the frickin' time to acting like a pompous! It was just being a jerk to Hilbert, when he had put his trust on the little twerp!

When it didn't make any move to listen to him, Hilbert's face fell a bit, a look of horror and desperation appearing on his face. As sorry as I felt for him, he should know better than asking help from such a twerp. Judging from his look, though, he couldn't hear all the remarks it was making towards him.

It was at that moment, when I turned back around to the little monster that had appeared, cringing when I looked at its distorted face, when I realized just what I was in.

The task that had befallen on my shoulders the other night.

"I ask of you to watch over him."

This was it. This was real. What I've been asked to do, was becoming serious. Someone's life was in danger. This was all happening right next to me. Sweat began to pour from my pores, my heart's insistent pounding loud in my ear.

If I didn't do something fast, Hilbert would be getting hurt again. Or worse.

What could I do, though? Hilbert couldn't see me. The dog thing had gone straight through me, so I knew I couldn't touch it. So what could I do?

[Waaah! That human's in trouble!] The otter squealed in horror, black eyes wide grasping the predicament. The pig started hopping in place, etching a mark on the ground, as it squealed, eyes large and confused.

Seeing them caught in the moment gave me an idea. It wasn't too appealing, but considering my circumstances, I had no choice.

Especially since I wanted to confirm one other thing.

"Hey, you, the blue one."

The otter turned its head up towards me as soon as the words were said.

My breath hitched in my throat. I could be heard. Not by other people, but...

I had to be sure. I didn't want to allow myself to get false hope. The seconds ticked by as the dog continued to circle around Hilbert, and the boy won't be getting far with his previous wound. "Can you really hear me?" I just had to be sure.

The otter blinked before nodding its head. A small smile spread its lips, its freckles making the gesture stand out more on its white round face. [Of course I can! Why wouldn't I?] It answered.

"I don't know how to answer that..." I dropped to my knees to bring myself closer to it. It nudged closer to me in response, along with the pig. Both of them were looking at me like I had all the answers to life. I squirmed under their gaze before continuing, "Can't you help him?" I pointed to Hilbert.

The otter quickly looked uncertain, and glanced to the side. [That Pokemon looks really strong. I don't think I'll be able to do much.]

"I'm sorry, what did you call it?"

[Pokemon.] It's head snapped back towards me, a concern look developing. [I'm not much of a fighter. Snivy over there can do much better than me.]

My face crinkled at the name it said. "Snivy, you said? It's not doing crap, even when Hilbert asked it to."

[Snivy's like that with everyone. He isn't -]

A loud scream interrupted whatever else was said.

My head snapped back to Hilbert, body on edge for any sign of blood.

Fortunately, the yell had been one of surprise since Hilbert had tripped back avoiding the dog. I saw the creature mid jump, completely avoiding his intended target as he had ducked below. Hilbert had managed to avoid trouble at the last possible moment.

Snivy, as he's so called, wasn't so lucky. Hilbert's fall managed to kick up dirt and sand that was sent to its direction. The dry spray of earth smacked him right in the face, turning it to an interesting shade of tan. I would have laughed if the situation didn't call for it.

The offhand movement left its mark. Now, rage filled the reptile's red eyes, and it cocked its head angrily to the side. I was afraid it was going to target Hilbert, but it leveled its glare towards the real assaulter.

[You're picking a fight with me?] It hissed angrily. For a moment, even I considered stepping back. The dog didn't seemed to pay any mind, seeing how it's just as or more angry than the snake. A bit of a staring contest stretched on before Snivy decided to make its move, rushing towards the dog.

Grasping the opportunity, I turned back to the other two animals, particularly to the otter. "Hey, you said that Snivy fellow can fight, right?"

[Huh? Y-yeah, I did.] It stammered.

"Can't you help him out? If the three of you can work together, you might just be able to take that thing down!"

The otter looked a bit uncertain by what I just suggested, a small paw lifting to contact its chin. I didn't have to wait for an answer from it, though, since the pig began grunting loudly with what sounded like a confirmation. A first speak up from it tonight.

[Hey, are you serious? We can get hurt, you know!] I couldn't tell if the otter was trying to scare the pig or what from the sound of the tone. It didn't fall for it, since it just starting nodded, snorting at every drop of the head. The otter sighed in defeat. [All right, fine.]

It turned back to me with a fierce look. [All right, girl! We'll help Snivy out! In the meantime, you have to go get help!] With that said, it turned back to the pig, nodded its head once, and both of them turn to Hilbert.

Leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I continued to stand there a while longer, staring at nothing, just ahead. Yes, I was the one who ordered those two to go help Hilbert, but now what? Could the combined effort of three little animals stop the ferocity of a wild one?

What was I even thinking about? This wasn't rational at all, if anything here could be. None of this was. I couldn't even guarantee Hilbert would be safe after all this.

Hilbert.

Simply the name pushed something inside of me.

My eyes suddenly came into focus and I looked back to where he and the others were left with that murderous pup.

Snivy was covered in bruises, and though it continued to stand conceited, straight and tall, even I could tell it was hurting. The otter and pig stood in front of it before the pup which looked about as worse, but with a look ready to tear something asunder.

It was Hilbert, lying on the ground, that really stuck to me how desperate the situation was. Along with the return of the red color pooling slightly on the grass.

I turned around and ran. I ran like my life depended on it.

My back still hurt, my legs immediately protested, and my arms felt like they would fall off any second. My lungs beat against my chest, ready to burst right through along with my pounding heart. Dry, raspy breaths scratched against the wall of my throat. Every nerve in my body poured itself to every limb and organ pushing me to max speed. I'm sure I wasn't even running in the right direction, but so long as I found someone, I could care less. How would I contact them, how could I get their attention didn't matter either.

The sound of rough dirt shifted to something solid. My shoes clicked against the new ground, and a part of me noticed my new surroundings. It was all it took to push me to the brink.

"Help! Someone help! There's an injuried boy down the road! He needs help! Someone, anyone! Help!"

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A/N: Ugh... that ending... I couldn've done better.

Anyway, 'til next time. Ja mata ne.

Edit: I'm sorry. I completely forgot that angle brackets can't be used here. Initially, the Pokemon's speech (I have to say it otherwise you'll be confused) was going to be within angle brackets, but, yeah. My bad. I went back and revised this while I was making corrections, so there are some changes from the first submission, as well.