Chapter 6: Arcanine

The air was heavy with the weight of anticipation that was weighing down on all of us. The square was loud, others were shouting things over the others trying to get their voice heard by whoever they were talking to, and it was also more crowded than I had seen it before, which I did not know was possible. Jace and I had managed to squeeze in toward the front of the pack of people that Jace assured me was as close to front row as we were going to get.

With the sun low in the sky, eerie shadows were cast from the pokémon around us that were shifting uncomfortably as they waited for the meeting to start.

"What's going on?" I turned to a Marill that was standing quietly close by.

"I don't know," she replied sounding just as nervous as anyone else, "we were called here so suddenly…" She trailed off back into thoughts. Whatever this meeting was called for, it was no normal state of affairs.

"Attention!" a high, strong voice sounded toward the front, where Jace said that they would be. Some quieted down. "Attention, everyone!"

Bang! The sound of a rifle went off and everyone went silent. A Rhyperior had set off his cannon into the air and looked mischievously toward the pokémon that stood center, but urgently.

Looking away, the Maractus stifled a small smile as she began to speak ", Erm… thank you, Hadley." Everyone just looked expectantly at her. "Thank you for coming here everyone!" Silence followed. She was clearly trying hard not to let her voice shake. "We have come to address an order of business." Taking a deep breath, she continued, "There have been sightings. I'm afraid it has returned."

At first, there was silence, and then all hell broke loose as people began shrieking in terror, and objection.

"What do you mean? Sightings?" One called from the crowd as another screamed, "Last time! Remember last time!"

Turning to Jace for answers, I saw that his face had gone pale. "Jace, are you okay? Jace what's going on?" Backing up, I spun around taking in every detail of my surroundings. Others were shaking, yelling, crying.

"Everyone! EVERYONE!" The Maractus yelled for order as the meeting fell into the hands of pandemonium.

Bang! Silence ensued as the Rhyperior shot and spoke up gruffly, "This, people, is not a death sentence! Sit down and listen!"

The Maractus turned to the Rhyperior curtly. "Thank you." Then she turned back out to the crowd, "I propose we act civilized here, there's little that we can do to anything while we are up and reacting instead of thinking. Is that not what our mistake was last time?" Only silence answered. "Now, I recommend that we take things slowly and quietly…"

"That would kill us!" A voice from the back sounded over the silence and once again, the square erupted, others crying out and yelping at the idea.

"Quiet! Quiet!" Maractus' screams were lost into the crowd that was in a frenzy as was Rhyperior's shots that only seemed to perpetuate the madness that had caved in on the square. Even the fountain, that had been distinctly running only moments before was lost to frantic noises that the panicked pokémon were making.

"Dead! We're going to be dead!"

"Don't panic!" Maractus yelled, her voice lost.

"We can't go on living like this!"

Phoenix… an almost indistinguishable voice echoed through the blur; I was not even sure that I had heard it. Looking around, I searched for its source. There was a frightening familiarity of that voice.

"We can't!" another panicked voice called through the midst that I found myself in.

Disoriented, I spun around, feeling the panic that had washed over the others; it was a blind panic, a panic that I did not understand or know. "No! No!" I yelled at myself trying to snap myself out of my daze. "Stop!" I screamed into the square unheard by all but myself. "No! Stop!"

"Stop!" both I and a clean-cut Arcanine that spoke with a deep voice spoke up into the square, him overpowering the noise and creating a silence that it seemed even the gentle trickle of the fountain could not break.

"Quit acting like we are all a bunch of rogues," he instructed scanning the crowd, his eyes were prying as if they were looking for weakness. "We are all civil, and we still act this way. The unknown has everything to hide, but do we not all. Do not fuss over something that can be fixed, and understand what comes with madness. Blind panic is the same as stupidity, surely you must know that."

He had a strange authority about him, which calmed everyone that heard him, even Jace, who had stopped moving a while ago regained some composure and color to his face.

"Just because it has returned does not mean that it is out to get us. It is quite possible that it was provoked, last time. There panic, no one knew what was happening until it did, and we reacted."

Phoenix… it sounded again as I sank to the floor. The world started spinning as he continued, me falling into a haze that blurred my senses.

"We will discuss what to do with this, but until then, you all should head home, and respond normally. The less panic that we can generate, the better," he finished scanning the crowds once again, his vision finally resting on the last thing that I wanted him to see: me.

There was a flash across my vision, like lighting, and I'm fairly sure that I convulsed. There were flames, screams, and a duel, a victor, and a fleeing figure. A shout and it was over. All that was left was me shivering uncontrollably as time resumed and the square began to clear.

"Phoenix, are you ok?" Jace shifted sounding panicked, whether it was me that caused it or the unknown threat, I did not know.

Taking a deep breath, I looked him in the eye. "Yeah, I'm fine." I could not tell if my voice was shaking, I hoped it was not. Eyeing the Arcanine, he stared intently at me, then turned back to his companions. "Let's head back to the room. I think we're done here."

Whatever this threat was, whoever that voice was, I was sure of one thing. I did not like it. I did not like it one bit.