Serena shoved her pillow over her ears, listening to the purple mop of hair snoring in the bed next to the door. She snored like a Snorlax, shaking Serena's eardrums. Serena wondered how a girl so small could be so noisy and still stay asleep. Luckily for Serena, she was counting on her roommates unshakable slumber.
She sat up in her bed and looked out the window. The light from the moon cast cross bars over her face. On her nightstand, the alarm flickered red. It was 11:59, a minute until the big moment.
She scanned the trees and bushes below, searching for the signal.
He better not have ditched me, she thought. The nerve. It was my idea in the first place.
"HootHoot-HootHoot." She heard coming from the hedges against the building wall.
That's funny. What's a Hoot-Hoot doing down there? Did it fall?
The leaves rustled, and emerging from the bush, a boy in a black hoodie crawled out covered in twigs and branches.
It's him.
She lifted the covers, tiptoed out of bed and grabbed the backpack hanging from her bedpost. Sliding the closet door open, she packed her life together and pulled a purple sweater over her head, along with some gray sweats and a pair of running shoes. Crawling back onto the bed, she shimmied over to the windowsill and starting working on the latch. But it wouldn't budge.
What is it painted shut?
She tried using both thumbs, this time, but it wouldn't open.
"For Arceus' sake," she muttered, then covered her mouth.
The snoring sputtered. She threw her backpack under her blanket. The bed behind her moved and gurgled like it was possessed by a Ghost Pokemon. But eventually it settled down and the mop went back to snoring.
Serena focused back on the latch. She pressed down on it again. But it was stubborn.
This latch is hopeless. I'm gonna make a lot of noise if I try to open it with anything bigger-
"And where do you think you're going, Serena-."
Serena cleared her throat, took a deep breath and faced the music.
"Oh, Edith-D-Did I wake you?" she said, rubbing her head. "See I was feeling a little cold, so I got up to put on a sweater-And now I'm all cozy hehehe. Anyways, back to bed-"
"Serena-"
"..."
"You're a terrible liar. I expected better."
Edith got out of bed and walked over to Serena, staring at her with those black eyes
"Edith, please," Serena said, holding her hands together. "I really need you to keep this secret between you and me. I promise. You can have anything. Name it."
"You know what the headmaster will do if he catches a night-wanderer?"
Serena heard a tap on the window pane. Followed by two more. She took the clock off the stand and struck the window latch, pushing the window open.
"Will you stop throwing rocks and get back in the bushes," she said, attempting a whisper. "You're gonna get us caught."
"What'reyoudoing? I don't have all night, ya know," X shouted.
"Just be quiet and get in the bushes."
"Who's that, Serena?" said Edith, standing by the window. "Your boyfriend?"
"It's not like that. I'm just using him-"
"Even better," she said, walking to the door. "Juuust like your mother."
"That's not what I meant-"
"It doesn't matter. I'm reporting you to the headmaster," Edith said, turning the doorknob. "Congratulations-on throwing away a perfectly good opportunity."
"Edith, wait-." Serena said, grabbing Edith by the arm. "I know you have no reason to like me. But this is good for you."
"Really now?"
"Think about it," Serena said. "You'll have a room all to yourself. You can read your books all day-and you won't have to worry about me waking you up-."
"While that sounds very enticing, I'm still not convinced. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have one less rider out of the picture, but I don't want the headmaster making any assumptions that I was complicit in your actions. That could threaten my chances as a rider at this academy."
"So then don't tell him. Just go back to sleep and pretend you didn't see me. If you need any more of a reason, take anything you want. Brushes, rope, anything."
"..."
"Will you promise to keep this a secret?"
"I suppose I can look the other way-"
Serena heard another tap-tap at the window. She marched over to the window.
"Will you give me a minute."
"We don't have that kind of time," said X, gesturing towards the beams of light waving in the distance.
Serena grabbed her backpack and jacket and sat on the ledge of the window. She turned back to Edith, but she was already in bed, snoring loudly like before.
"Get over here," Serena gestured to X. "Catch me."
"I ain't catching you. Take the gutter."
Serena glared at X visibly, even in the dark. "You're lucky I'm desperate."
Serena slid down the gutter like an Aipom. She was almost proud of herself, that she pulled it off on the spot. But halfway down she caught her foot on a strap to the gutter and tumbled into the bushes.
She caught twigs in her hair, twigs in her shoes and twigs in her teeth. She spat them out. Someone grabbed her by the jacket and pulled her behind a tree, putting their hand over her mouth.
"Let go of me," she muffled, biting the hand.
"Ow. Quit it. Shhhhh," X said, pointing at the approaching lights.
"Young man, I've been doin' this job for a couple years now. I think I know what I'm doing. Do you wanna be successful like me someday?"
"Gee, captain, you sure know a lot.'"
"See, lemme tell you something. I know you're gonna see a lot of punks who just look like their innocent trainers caught in some unfortunate circumstance, but let me tell you. As I always say, attack first, ask questions later."
"Gee, that makes a lot of sense."
"You like it? See, I learned that one from Officer Jenny."
Serena poked out of the bush once they had gone around the corner.
"Wow, that was depressing," said Serena.
"Okay, what was the first, most important rule I told you," said X.
"I don't follow."
"Always. Wear. Black. Black shoes, black pants, black jacket. You stick out like a sore thumb."
"Sorry. It's all that I had."
"Whatever. Anyways, you said you need your precious Rhyhorn. Well, no time like the present."
The sliding barn doors rattled on their tracks, puffing dust between their finger-wide gap with each contraction. In the dark and warm confines of the stalls, the Rhyhorn shifted their weight on the hay and scratched their horns against the walls separating each stall. Then shaken awake by an unusually loud shoving at the door, the Rhyhorn grunted, turning their snouts toward the door.
"What's taking you so long? I thought you were a safecracker or something-"
"Get off my back. I make this look easy."
With a click, the chain securing the barn door slid off the handle and fell to the ground. Then the barn doors slid open, shedding light into the dark stalls. Serena rushed in and jumped into one of the stalls midway in the barn.
"Make yourself useful and throw me that harness over there," Serena said, pointing to a hook on a crossbeam at the end of the barn.
"What am I? Your servant," X said, yanking the straps off the hook. "How can you even tell these Rhyhorn apart anyway? There's barely any light in this place."
"See for yourself," Serena said, calling X over into the stalls.
"Ya, I think I'll pass."
"Don't be such a brat. Trust me, I know my Rhyhorn."
Rolling his eyes, X jumped into the pen where Serena was.
"Like I said. Nothing special."
"You can't see from up there," Serena said, pulling X down to face Rhyhorn.
"Most of these Rhyhorn come from private breeders, but mine's different. Here I'll show you,"
Serena put her hand on Rhyhorn's side and motioned for him to roll over. Rhyhorn didn't show any agitation seeing a stranger other than Serena in his pen. Calmly Serena freed his paw and placed it on her leg, pointing at a ring shaped scar around his paw.
"There's are a lot of jerks out there, who will try to make a profit off of anyone they think they can take advantage of. When my mom found Ryley at an illegal Rhyhorn breeding compound, he was just a baby. The men chained him so tight to a pole, he could barely move. You can tell he tried to free himself, but the harder he pulled the more the chain would cut into him.
Luckily, my mom busted their organization and reported them to the Kalos police, and now I have this silly boy to keep me company. You see? I can't leave my Ryley all alone here. He's like family."
"First you tell me you hate Rhyhorn. Now you're getting attached to one."
"I never said that. Why would I say anything like that," Serena said, glaring at X. "I never said I hated Rhyhorn. I don't want to be a Rhyhorn rider and I hate that my mom tries to decide for me what I want to do."
Serena took the harness from X and fastened it around Rhyhorn's snout. Serena gave two quick pats on Rhyhorn's side and he got up on all fours, licking Serena's cheek.
"Ready to go Rhyhorn? We're busting out of here-"
Serena and X pulled Rhyhorn across the lawn, keeping an eye out for any guards that might actually decide to do their jobs. Standing between them and freedom was a wire fence that separated the two halves of the school. When Serena and X got to the fence, X grabbed onto the fence and began climbing.
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Relax, just throw that Rhyhorn of yours in its Pokeball and climb the fence before the guards get here."
"Excuse me, if you haven't been paying attention, this is a riding school. What makes you think I would keep my Rhyhorn in a Pokeball?"
"Alright, I'm starting to sense some dead weight here. Oh would you look at the time," X said, looking down at his imaginary watch. "I really should be going."
He made it halfway up the fence, before he bit his tongue, feeling a sharp pain in his leg while being dragged down.
"Good boy, Ryley," Serena said, scratching the snarling Rhyhorn under its chin. "Leaving early, are we?"
"Please, just tell your stupid Rhyhorn to let go of me."
"Rhyhorn, please let the chew toy go."
Rhyhorn unlocked its powerful jaw and X fell to the ground, wincing as he soothed his leg.
"You're crazy. This is a suicide mission. That Rhyhorn of yours will just weigh us down and we'll get caught before you know it-."
"Pipe down. Lemme think. We just need to be a little creative-"
Serena looked around, surveying the track. While her back was turned, X suddenly felt much better and started to crawl away, before Rhyhorn stared him down with mean eyes.
Serena weighed her options. If she had Ryley slam through the gate and make a break for it with Serena and X on top, the guards would catch them no doubt. Even if they managed to get past the guards, the front gate was secured by another lock-and that was Mr. Traitor's expertise. Serena looked back at the sore loser, unrepentant in his ways.
"Do you have a plan or what-or are we just going to walk over to the guards and say 'How do ya' do'?"
"You're not in a position to complain-"
Serena focused her attention on the back porch. X definitely saw the direction her eyes were wandering. It wasn't the cleanest plan, but at least no one would expect it and the guards would stay outside.
"Don't tell me you want us to go all the way back-"
"I knew she'd pull this kinda stunt," X said, using his weight to push Ryley's wide body through the door.
"What was that?"
"Nothing...slave driver."
On the other side, Serena held onto one of Ryley's stump legs. Slowly the widest part of Rhyhorn wiggled through the doorframe and then, like a balloon, Ryley popped out the end. He slid across the oak floor and, barrelling into the entry table, toppled a bust of the Sun King. They watched, the statue shatter on the floor in slow motion, causing all of them to freeze.
"See what you're stupid Rhyhorn did? Rhyhorn in a china shop, practically."
"Don't you call him, stupid. You should have been more careful."
"Me, be careful? I'm the whole reason we got this far."
"Whatever, let's stick to the issue at hand. We need to find something that can help us get out of here. Ryley and I will look around the West Wing. You, just don't break anything."
X rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. His stomach started growling. Across the room he saw the reflecting door to the galley, his hungry eyes mirroring in the reflection of the handle.
"Well, if I'm stuck here, I might as well make the most of it."
The galley door swung behind X. The lights flicked on and X slid across the counter and to the glowing refrigerator in the corner. He looked around the kitchen, making sure there was no one there. There was a pot of something on the stove and X walked over to it, lifting the lid off and reeling back in disgust at the globules of fat solidified on the surface. On the right there was the pantry. He walked in but only saw cans of beans and non-perishables
The luminescence of the refrigerator glowed to his right. Above the range, there was a rack of pots and pans hanging from the kitchen.
Of all the safes he had attempted to break into, this one practically presented itself in front of him. With an air of satisfaction, X turned the handle and swung the door revealing the glow of the indoor light shining on the food inside like a treasure chest of medallions.
X's eyes snickered with glee like a pirate as they took in his stash. On the top shelf, two large carafes of fresh cold Moo-Moo milk, a well preserved wheel of cheddar cheese and a barrel of ice cream. On the bottom drawer, a honey-glazed ham and stuffed chicken. Stacking food in one arm and grabbing plates with the other, X hauled his treasure over to the counter before remembering that a good thief always leaves a calling card.
Grabbing a carton of eggs, he dropped one unborn chick at a time on the once clean kitchen floor, until the whole kitchen floor was splattered with a murder scene of yolk.
"Clean up on aisle six. Oh no, that'll never come off."
Then grabbing a sack of flour from the pantry, X dusted the whole kitchen until it looked like it had snowed. X walked out of the kitchen with the mark of a true thief and a full belly on his hands, until he had realized the one thing that the girl had tasked him with doing.
Not that he wanted to listen to her, but considering he had sacked the kitchen and raided the pantry, he didn't want to be the one left cleaning up.
Three Arcanine, huh, he thought to himself. Arcanine run thousands of miles in a day and with its Extreme Speed, it could outrun the both of them before they even stepped out the door. Sure there fast, but he figured they wouldn't have to outrun them if they couldn't get up.
X snuck out the back door and came back with a wheelbarrow that he then took into the kitchen. Forgetting the mess on the floor, he slipped on the mess and picked himself back up. Getting back on his feet, he twisted open the fridge again and piled the wheelbarrow high with sausages, ham, chicken and bacon, which he then very quietly carried up the stairs.
Down the hall, Serena and Rhyhorn opened one door at a time down the hallway. When Serena had been at the pre-race banquet, she hadn't seen a single truck or barrel of wine run through the lawn of the academy. She suspected that there might be some sort of cellar that led out somewhere past the gate, where they could escape.
She barely cracked each door open, hoping that there was nobody sleeping behind them, until she sighed in relief realizing that she had opened a broom closet. She went on to the next door, feeling her heart sink when she could not find a door to a cellar. Strangely she started to feel colder as she got further down the hallway. She thought it might be the presence of a Ghost type until she moved closer to the end of the hallway and realized that there was a breeze flowing underneath the doorjamb of the last door.
She opened this door and instead of seeing the familiar broom closet, she saw a stairwell that led down into an abyss of pitch blackness. She groped for a light and found a switch, but her heart sank when she realized that the switch did not work. Luckily she still had her flashlight. Uneasy about Rhyhorn going down the stairwell, scared that Rhyhorn might cause the stairwell to break she slowly guided Rhyhorn one step at a time down.
As they moved further down, she could make out the oblong shapes of oak barrels full of vintage wine. Serena wondered why the school spent more money on wine than on the students themselves.
Up ahead she saw a rectangle of moonlight shine through a window at the far end of the cellar. That had to lead outside, but neither Rhyhorn nor Serena can fit through it. She felt a hand reach and touch and she nearly fainted until realizing that it was X all along.
"What are you doing down here? Shouldn't you be finding some way of getting us out of here?"
"Already taken care of. See I laid out the whole plan. All you have to do is follow it according to my plan."
"Okay what is it?"
Outside the house, the three watchmen and their Arcanine patrolled the grounds. Combing his nose above the ground, the watchmen's Arcanine picked up a waft of a meaty smell and wandered off to investigate. In the doorway of the open door of the house, the Arcanine found a nicely browned sausage and chomped it up. Then pacing forward he found another sausage and another trail of sausages that led him down the hallway. Slipping through a hole in the floor, he landed in a pit where mysterious glowing light surrounded him. He sniffed around him recognizing the scent as that of Electric Pokemon, and at once the beady yellow eyes of the Electric Pokemon glowed in anger and released their Thundershock.
Outside the house the guardsmen heard the howl of pain from inside the house.
"Arcanine, where'd you go buddy? I can't find him anywhere."
"Next time pay better attention to your Arcanine trainee. He seems to have wandered off into the house and gotten in some sort of mischief. Whatever damages he's made it's coming out of your paycheck."
"Open the door, trainee."
"I can't. It's bolted shut or something."
"Move aside, trainee. Bolt-," the captain said, commanding his Arcanine to use Takedown.
The Arcanine smashed the door into splinters and when a contraption released the captain and his Arcanine fell through a hole in the ground. They felt the floor beneath them sag.
Outside the academy X and Serena made it quick for the gate.
"We won't have to worry about them. By the time they get out of that mess, we'll be long gone."
X looked over his shoulder expecting to see an empty house, but his eyes went wide at the sight of three Arcanine lifting themselves up in the doorway.
"You're not going anywhere," the commanding officer said, pointing his Arcanine at the escaping students.
"Oh no. What do we do?" said Serena.
"No problem. I've been in harder spots before."
X yanked a red and white ball off the necklace he was wearing and pressed it. It grew to the size of a baseball.
"Wait'll they get a load of this." X chucked the capsule and middair it clicked open, releasing an orb of light.
The orb grew larger and then a pair of arms and legs sprouted from. In less then a second, the orb was now eight feet tall and plummeting to the ground. When it landed on the wet grass, the lawn shook like a tank had fallen on it.
"This whole time you had a Pokemon?" said Serena.
"Every con has to have an ace in the hole, ya know. Alright, Kanga use Earthquake."
Kangaskhan let out a roar that stopped the Arcanine in their tracks and sent the infant in its pouch diving further in. Locking its piston-like arms, Kangaskhan drove its two fists like pile drivers into the ground causing it to ripple and tear.
A long fissure traced its way around the three Arcanine blocking their retreat. Beneath them the earth gave way and buried them under a pile of dust.
Serena stared wide-eyed at the damage.
"What're you standing around for?"
"Look what you did? Aren't you worried about those poor Pokemon."
"Worried? If anything I bought us a couple seconds of time. Look."
Serena looked over at the pile of earth where the Arcanine once stood and saw three pairs of paws slowly digging their way out. Serena looked mortified.
"What're doing just standing there? Make that Rhyhorn of yours useful."
"What are you saying? I can't. Rhyhorn and I never battled."
"Well you better learn quick because those Arcanine aren't going to wait."
The commanding officer staggered up from the ground.
"That Kangaskhan is nothing to trifle with. We're going to have to be clever about our attack."
The officer put his fingers to his mouth and let out a series of short whistles meant for the Arcanine. Growling in acknowledgement, the Arcanine on the outer flanks aimed a Flamethrower at the Rhyhorn.
Running over to Rhyhorn's side, Serena closed her eyes and felt the heat singing her arms. But when she opened her eyes, she saw the same Kangaskhan standing in front of Rhyhorn and her, blocking the flames with it's thick arms.
Kangaskhan turned and nodded at Serena.
"Thank you-" Serena muttered out.
Squeezing the lock in his hand, X jiggled the paperclips in the keyhole moving two of the pins successfully out of the way. The only hassle was the rust within the lock that made getting the last pin a little iffy. Behind him he could feel the heat from the flamethrowers baking his back. Despite the pressure of the situation, X knew that Kangaskhan could keep those Arcanine at bay long enough for him to work his magic on the lock.
He had half of the pin still poking out. Then behind him he felt the heat scorch his back and the red light grow more intense. He turned and dove away from the gate, as he watched a flamethrower engulf and melt the lock on the gate.
X twitched as he looked over at Kangaskhan and saw the two Arcanine sinking their jaws into its arms and dragging it to the ground. He glanced around for the third Arcanine and on the other side of the gate, saw the Pokemon growling and stepping closer to Serena and Rhyhorn.
"Easy there, Arcanine," Serena said, as her and Rhyhorn were being cornered to the gate. "I know you're probably mad at us, but it was all a misunderstanding-"
The Arcanine snapped at Rhyhorn, missing by an inch. Then it raised one paw above Rhyhorn, before it heard a shout from next to it. Arcanine looked at its side to see a boy rushing towards it. Arcanine opened its mouth to let out a flamethrower, but took a melee of horns to its jaw that sent it rolling backwards and sinking to the ground.
Serena looked at Rhyhorn and saw a white glow fading from its horn. Then Serena looked at Rhyhorn.
"Rhyhorn-was that a move?"
"Don't just stand there-" Serena heard X shouting beside her. "Can't you see we're getting our butts handed to us?" Serena felt X pull her towards the gate. In front of them, Serena saw Kangaskhan lift the two Rhyhorn in its fists and hurtle them across the lawn and back through the front door of the academy.
Checking its infant, before returning back to X's side, Kangaskhan punched the melted lock before X returned it to its Pokeball. Serena hopped on Rhyhorn, X pulling himself onto the saddle behind her, before she nudged Rhyhorn to go. Watching the third Arcanine slowly get back up again, X propped himself on the back of Rhyhorn and reached for his necklace again.
"I got one last trick up my sleeve. Golbat Go." The bat Pokemon materialized from the second ball in his hand, flapping and staring down the still fast Arcanine. "Golbat use Haze."
The bat pokemon released a cloud of brownish smoke, causing the remaining Arcanine to hack and fall back.
"Now use Confuse Ray."
Coughing and covering their mouths with their sleeves, the dean and security personnel caught up to the gate. The dean turned to the commanding officer, before socking him in the jaw. The commanding officer reeled to the ground and caught another breath of the haze.
"How could you let two students waltz off the premises?" said Mr. Portridge.
"Right. I'll have a report out immediately."
