Three

She had been silent for a few hours of travel, and I had not wanted to bother her after breaking such terrible news to her. However, she eventually started to look at me, taking in my appearance. I assumed it wasn't fantastic after the fight I'd been in earlier in the day.

"Excuse me, is it Harper?"

I nodded, my eyes still forever vigilant on the plains ahead of us whilst Gallade watched our backs.

"Where are you from?"

"Canalave, like you." I told her, glancing briefly at her. Her eyes were bright and curious, though the lids around them were red and swollen from the heavy flow of tears.

She nodded and pursed her lips, telling me she had more questions. I saved her the trouble. "I don't have any family. My parents died in the first wave of attacks on Canalave. Your father took me in and trained me up to fight."

She seemed shocked by my abruptness, but it was in my nature. The truth was painful, but tiptoeing around the facts didn't dull their sharpness any more than telling her straight.

"Is that why you're helping me?"

I nodded again, this time slower.

It was silent again for a while, and she pondered over my words, every now and then glancing nervously around her.

"Do you fight, Ivy?" I asked quietly.

She shook her head. "Dad trained me to use a gun, but nothing more. I've never shot anything..."

I pursed my lips, surprised that Lieutenant Morgan would leave his daughter so vulnerable. She noticed my reaction and quickly tried to correct my thoughts. "I'll be able to defend myself. Promise."

"I hope there won't be a need to." I told her quietly, taking my own pistol and holster and handing it to her. "You're safe with us, but keep that with you."

"Thank you."

I nodded again, and once more lapsed into silence. Around us the Jubilife sky scrapers towered above us in the ghostless city of wreckage and doom of what was once a beautiful place. Ivy looked around in awe, and slightly nervous. It must have been her first time seeing the buildings, and wasn't sure what to make of them.

"We'll find somewhere to stay here for the night. Nobody will find us." I told her, pointing to one of the buildings. I remembered vividly entering that door back when things were normal, and civilised, but now the glass doors would not open but were conveniently smashed.

"Stay here." I muttered, then slipped through the hole. The glass crunched under my feet, and a froze where I was. I strained to hear for any reaction, my hand instantly at my sheath, but the only noise was Ivy's breathing behind me.

With no movement in the room, I began to secure the area. There were a small group of Rattata who scurried off the moment they noticed me. Other than that, I found nothing. When I was sure we were fine here, I hurried back down the stairs to give them the all clear.

"We should be safe in here for the night." I muttered, stepping aside to let them in as I kept my eyes on the outside. If somebody was watching us from outside, they might ambush us. I wouldn't be surprised either, in this city of destruction.

Ivy seemed a little nervous as she followed Gallade, and frequently glanced behind herself at me to check I was there.

We settled in the middle of the fourth floor, where there was furniture for pokemon hideouts that children used to make when things were normal. Only the large items remained, things that people couldn't steal because they couldn't be carried down the stairs and the elevator didn't work. There was a large mat rolled up in the corner of the shop floor, which I lay out for Ivy.

"You should sleep." I told her after we'd eaten, but she shook her head.

"I wanted to know where we were headed." She muttered. She glanced up at me sheepishly, and then back down at her hands.

I pursed my lips, this was what I wanted to know from her. She pulled out the photo I'd given her and studied the writing on the back.

"Your father gave me instructions to take you to you mother, but didn't say where she was. I was hoping you would know." I told her, watching for her reaction. I felt Gallade shift behind me, and he grumbled under his breath sadly.

"My Mom was taken." She said quietly, flipping the photo over and pursing her lips. A tear already dripped onto it and she touched the water to wipe it off. "She's a scientist. They took her to find a cure for the virus."

Gallade moved away in order to be rid of the pull Ivy was causing with her emotion. He often gained headaches when around vulnerable people, being known for their ability to feel emotions.

"Who are they?"

She looked up with teary eyes and shook her head. "I don't know. They wore green suits of armour, and had a golden crest on them. I was eight, they pushed me inside a tent and disappeared with her. That's all I remember."

I'd never heard of any army in that kind of uniform, and I had no way of finding out who they were either, anymore.

"Dad wasn't there when it happened. He didn't know where she'd gone. I... I don't know whether she's dead or alive." She sobbed, placing her head in her hands, the photo dropping to the floor.

I stayed quiet, not sure what I was going to do or say. Where could we go from here? How were we going to find this woman who disappeared off the face of the earth years ago with no idea where to start?

"Gallade!" He suddenly shot into my vision, glowing blades extended from his long arms and he lashed them forward to slash a psychocut faster than I could really work out what was going on. It was only when the attack collided with something that I couldn't see did I leap up and shove Ivy behind me.

"Show yourself!" I snarled, widening my stance as I pulled my sword to my side. Gallade sliced forward again, faster than I'd ever seen him move, and the target was knocked back too. Whatever Gallade had done had turned off whatever was keeping it invisible, as electricity crackled everywhere, and a flicker of a man continuously flashed in my eyes. He was armed, and sliced toward Gallade before he could notice. Thankfully, I was there to block it, but he was strong, and a pained shock ran through my arm as I began deflecting his blows. It was hard to fight him when he flickered so much, and it was terribly confusing, but whenever I missed him, Gallade was there to push him back. We worked together, I would distract him whilst Gallade landed another blow upon the technology that was causing the illusion. Gallade threw another psycho cut, taking all of the man's attention, and I managed kick the backs of his knees while he was distracted to have him on the floor. I spun while he was dazed, jumping over his desperate lash, and used the hilt of my blade to completely destroy the insibility device. Before I could hit him with a final blow, Ivy was at his side, pistol cocked and at his temple.

"Who are you?" She said quickly. "And what do you want with us?"

The man glanced out of the corner of his eye to look at her, and then back to me. "I am Rivers. I was merely defending myself."

"From us?" Ivy snapped, a new side to her showing in the moment.

He nodded slowly, careful not to startle her for the sake of keeping his brains where they ought to be. "I've been here for a few weeks now. I meant no harm if you mean none to me."

I rolled my shoulder. "I think you've already disproved that."

He looked me in the eye. "You swung a sword at me, what do you expect?"

Ivy shook the pistol to remind him it was there. He lost all aggressiveness quickly. "I was just checking it was still safe to stay here with you around. Would you have not done the same?"

I looked at Gallade, who nodded soundlessly. The man was not lying if Gallade sensed nothing but resignation from him.

"My apologies." I said, offering a hand to help him up. He was hesitant, as wary of us as we were of him, but he took it. He clasped my forearm, and I did likewise, hoisting him to stand, as Gallade took his shoulder to steady him. Ivy was clearly still untrusting of him, the gun still in her hand, but at least it was lowered as she backed off. For me, however, I figured if Gallade hadn't sensed the slightest trace of hostility from him, we were fine for now.

"So have you got names?" He asked.

I nodded, motioning for where we'd set up camp. "Harper. This is Ivy and my partner, Gallade." I gestured to them both.

"You're a soldier." He stated, looking at my uniform.

"Was." I corrected.

"I heard your conversation. The end of it anyway." He informed me, looking at Ivy. "I'm sorry to hear about your loss."

Ivy nodded, turning away and heading back for the mat.

"You should sleep." Rivers said. "We can talk in the morning."

I sat down against a tipped over shelf and shook my head. "I'm on sentry duty tonight." I insisted. I'd gone much longer than 24 hours without sleep.

Ivy looked at me. "Wake me up in a few hours, we'll switch." I smiled gratefully at her.

Rivers nodded. "I suppose you don't trust me. I understand that."

"You can sleep here by all means." I said, not guilty of my judgement. He knew why I wouldn't make myself vulnerable to him. "Gallade, sleep."

The pokemon nodded, slipping back into the darkness to rest.

It took a little while until Ivy began to breath lightly in slumber, and shortly after, Rivers began talking again.

"What division are you from, General?"

I frowned, unsure why he needed to know. "Canalave. And I was a Sergeant, not a General."

"Whoa, in the big league, huh?"

My eyes narrowed, and he coughed in embarrassment.

"Sorry, I shouldn't pry." He scratched his head. I nodded in agreement, and yet he continued. "I was part of the Hearthome division."

It didn't surprise me, it was very obvious he had been military trained with the way he fought. I looked at his armour, but it had been blackened with burns. He noticed me looking and explained. "I fought a Cabiri. Only just managed to kill it too. Fast little bastards, they are. This armour is fire-proof, but the fire of a Cabiri managed to singe it still. I should get a new set, but I kinda like it, don't you?"

I nodded politely, my mind racing to remember what a Cabiri was. They weren't very common, but were not dissimilar to a Ponyta in structure but they ranged in size. There were different Cabiri that used different types of special attacks. Fire, being the one Rivers had faced, and there had been reports of electricity attackers and the worst of them all being psychic attackers. They were built to be speedy and evasive, whilst using their special ability to attack. They take down their prey using a very formidable hit and run technique.

"What did that to you?" He pointed at my forehead, where I touched lightly and noticed it had bled.

"You." I guessed, smirking slightly at the irony.

"Oh, sorry about that." He automatically reached out to help, but I flinched away and batted his hand. He seemed confused, and so did I, but neither of us said anything about it.

We carried on our conversation into the night, exchanging stories about our lives before the outbreak, and our time served in the army.

"Morgan." He suddenly said. He was staring at his hands as he frowned deeply. He waited for me to reply, but I said nothing. When he realised this, he inhaled and continued to speak. "I know this is rather forward, but... I was wondering if you'd let me join you on this journey."

I rose my eyebrows in surprise, and my sudden movement made him look up at me.

"I'd understand if you said no..." He muttered.

"It's not that." I said quickly. "I just don't know why you'd want to come with us..."

"Well, I've been here for a few weeks not knowing what to do with myself. I definitely couldn't travel alone. It would be nice to have a goal in my life again." He explained.

I looked over at Ivy, wondering what she would think of this proposal. It would definitely ease a little responsibility off my mind if I had an extra pair of hands to look after her.

"Think about it, will you? We have until morning."

I nodded, and he sighed. "I'm going to sleep." He informed me. "Good night."

"Night." I replied, watching as he settled down where he was. It didn't take long for him to fall asleep at all, and I quickly fell into my familiar pattern whilst acting as sentry. I wandered to the window, looking over the city, and wondered where to begin the search.