Hello and welcome to chapter 8 Sorry this wasn't out sooner, but now that it's Summer Break for me, I will hopefully be writing a lot more. My side project I was talking about will hopefully be uploaded by Saturday, at least, that's what I'm aiming for. Later today I will upload my next real story that will replace Through Their Eyes. Alright, enjoy this chapter.
Lucy was running for her life. She was so tired and sore, but she couldn't stop or she would most certainly die. She was weaving around rocks and trying to dodge the fire-breathing menace behind her.
Another Flamethrower came from behind her. Lucy didn't quite dodge it, and the searing heat hit her in her side. She yelled out of pain. Lucy kept running through the pain, pushing it to the back of her mind. Sneasels were fast, but the thing following Lucy was faster.
Finally, the large beast leaped over Lucy, cutting her off from going forward. Once more, it let out a Flamethrower, but Lucy was unable to dodge it this time. As the fire engulfed her, she felt pain she had never felt before as she screamed.
Lucy jolted awake and opened her eyes. She looked around as saw that she was inside of the cave she had fell asleep in. It was still dark outside of the cave, but it had stopped raining. Jake and Meowth were still asleep and had not woken up to her screaming, which was a good thing.
Lucy let out a sigh. It was that same nightmare that kept occurring. It happened over and over again, to the point that Lucy didn't like to go to sleep much anymore for fear of having it again.
Knowing that she couldn't go back to sleep, Lucy laid down and stared at the cave wall, waiting for the sun to rise.
Scarlett slowly opened her eyes. Once she was able to get over her grogginess, she looked around and saw that she was in a room in a Pokecenter. She tried to remember what had happened.
Scarlett looked over to her side and saw that it had been stitched up while she was out. The vulpix looked out of a window in that room and saw that it was still dark outside.
All at once she remembered what had happened. She had been severely injured and James had brought her here to be healed. James had saved her life.
Scarlett had to find him. She tried to get up, but a strong pain in her side caused her to fall back down.
"Oh, you're awake!" a voice came from the entrance of the room. Scarlett looked over to see Nurse Joy's chansey coming over to her. "How are you feeling?"
"Well, I guess. Hey, do you know where James went?"
"Who?"
"James, the human who brought me in here. He had lavender hair."
"Oh him, you don't have to worry about him anymore. Officer Jenny came around and arrested him."
"Arrested him?!"
"Yeah, he was arrested because he was part of the villainous Team Rocket, who steal Pokemon. I assumed that he had also stolen you."
"Well…he did," Scarlett replied. "But…I have to go find him, where is he?"
"He was taken to a jail not far to the west of here."
"Then I'm going to him," Scarlett said as she tried to get up a second time. She was able to and then jumped off the stretcher she was on. She immediately regretted that when a shockwave of pain went through her body. Scarlett let out a yelp.
"Oh no, you are much too weak to go anywhere. You need to rest," The chansey said as she picked up Scarlett and put her back on the stretcher.
"But I need to get to him."
"Why do you want to go see a bad person like him?"
"He saved my life, so he can't be bad. I need to repay him somehow."
"Well, bad or not, you need to rest. You don't want your wound reopening, do you?"
Scarlett let out sigh. "No, I guess I don't."
"Good, now go and get some more rest. You need plenty of it when you are recovering."
"Alright," Scarlett laid back down and closed her eyes. The chansey smiled and left the room, shutting the door.
Once Scarlett was sure that the Chansey was gone, she got up and hopped off the stretcher again. Another wave of pain went through her body, but she was prepared for it this time. She let out a quiet grunt.
Scarlett looked around the room and saw that the window was open a crack. She scanned for anything that she could use to climb up on. She looked over to the stecher and saw that it had wheels on it. Scarlett went over and pushed the stretcher to the window. She jumped on top of it and then jumped out of the window.
They say you should look before you leap. Scarlett never really knew what that meant until now.
The window happened to be about 2 meters above the ground, so Scarlett fell out of the window and hit onto the ground. Pain ricocheted through her body again. Scarlett grited her teeth to deal with the pain. After it had subsided, Scarlett looked at her side and saw that she hadn't opened the wound, which was good.
She looked around and saw that she was outside. It was still dark, but the sun was about rise.
"I need to find James," Scarlett said and then headed off into the west to search.
Lucy looked through the darkness outside of the cave, waiting for the sun to come up. She let out a sigh when she remembered the nightmare she had.
"Why do you haunt me so?" she quietly wondered.
"Lucy? You alright," Lucy heard Jake's voice behind her.
"Yeah, just fine," she answered.
"Why are you up this early?" he asked while he went and sat next to the sneasel.
"I couldn't sleep."
"I see…" Jake looked over to Meowth was sleeping. "Hey, Lucy?"
"Hm?"
"I was wondering if you know that Meowth."
"What gave you that thought?"
"Well, you were quick to battle him one on one, and the way you reacted when I first told you about him was strange as well."
Lucy listened to Jake as she looked over to Meowth. "I did know him, yes, though I doubt he remembers me. It was back when I couldn't talk human and I just went by Sneasel; I didn't have a name," Lucy looked out side of the cave. The sun was now slowly rising. "We better get moving. We'll let Meowth lead us to his friends, and then we can capture that vulpix."
"Right."
Jessie woke up of her own accord. It was nice to be able to sleep in a bed after all those days camping out. Grandma Ranch had heated up some water for a bath because she didn't have plumbing, so Jessie was also able to take a nice bath, a lot better than the ones in rivers that she usually took .
After her bath and changing into another Team Rocket outfit she always carried around, she went downstairs to see Grandma Ranch cooking breakfast. She was making eggs and toast, which she offered to Jessie. She gladly accepted.
The sun was just rising over the horizon. Jessie looked at the sunrise while contemplating what her teammates were doing. She was wondering if Scarlett was okay or not.
After breakfast, Jessie thought about Meowth. She was having a good time here at the ranch, so why did she need to leave to go find that furball? He could take care of himself and get back to the Pokecenter just fine. Jessie would stay here a bit before she went there herself, and they would be on their way back to the boss.
Just then, a very loud roar broke through the forest, shaking the house and even causing Jessie to fall out of her chair. After a few seconds the roar stopped. Grandma Ranch didn't look fazed in the slightest.
"Oh, that Entei, always making a ruckus."
"Wait…" Jessie staggered while getting up from the floor, "Entei?"
"Oh yes, there is an Entei that lives in this forest. Don't worry though; he's so sweet and doesn't hurt humans."
"Humans?"
"Yes, but he's ruthless to Pokemon who wander into his territory but don't live there. You're safe, though, because you're not a Pokemon."
Jessie started to realize what this meant. "Why didn't you tell me that sooner?" she yelled and ran out of the house before Grandma Ranch could say anything. She wondered what was the problem.
Jessie needed to find Meowth before that Entei did and before he became the fire type's next meal.
Scarlett walked down the dirt path that she hoped led to the Police Station that held James. After a bit of walking, however, she came to a fork in the road.
"Which way?" she asked herself. While looking around, she saw a pink Pokemon laying down near the split in the road. She decided to ask him if he knew which way it was. Once Scarlett got closer, she recognized the Pokemon as a slowpoke. He was looking out into the distance, paying no attention to anything around him.
"Excuse me, sir, but could you tell me where the Police Station is?" she asked.
"Police…" the slowpoke stopped talking.
"Yes, the Police Station, do you know where it is?"
"Station…"
"Indeed, that's what I'm looking for, by chance do you know where it is?"
"Left…" he replied absentmindedly.
"Thank you…um… your left or mine?"
"Mine…"
"So it's your left?"
"Your…"
"My left?"
"Left…"
Scarlett let out a sigh, this was getting nowhere. She would ask someone else. Scarlett was about to leave when she heard the slowpoke say, "Way…". She turned around and saw that the slowpoke was pointing to his right.
"So it was my left," Scarlett said it confirm.
"Left…"
"Alright, thanks," Scarlett started to walk in the direction he had pointed, hoping it was right.
Meowth, Lucy, and Jake traveled through the forest looking for any berries that they could eat for breakfast. After a little bit of searching, the three found a bush that was loaded with Oran berries. Each of them took two to eat on the road.
After Lucy had ate one of hers, she looked at the other one. Holding a Oran berry while walking through a place with trees, it reminded her of a time long ago…
"Yo, Sneasel, you alright?" a voice said when she had tripped over a root that had jutted out from a tree and into the path.
"Ow…" Sneasel moaned as she rubbed her elbow. She looked at it and saw that she had skinned it on the ground. A paw reached out to help her and she took it. Sneasel was lifted up off the ground. "Thanks, Meowth,"
"Don't mention it," Meowth shrugged it off. "'Dis road can be trechus, so you gotta watch your step."
"Alright, I'll do that."
After a little bit more walking in silence, Meowth broke it by asking a question.
"So Sneasel, how do you like it here?"
"What?"
"How do you like your new home here?"
"Oh, well, it's a lot better than where I came from."
"'Dat's good to hear. Where did you come from?"
"I…don't want to talk about it."
"That bad, huh? It can't be worse than growing up on the street like I did."
"I still don't want to talk about it."
"That's fine. I don't want to pry. Hey, you hungry?"
"Yeah, a bit."
"I know of a berry bush around here that we can get some Oran berries from."
"That sound delicious."
"Alright then, follow me."
Meowth led the way through the mountain road over to where a single bush was. It was covered with Oran berries.
"Take as many as you want. They grow back really quickly," Meowth told Sneasel.
"Alright, thanks." Sneasel took two of them and so did Meowth. They started back on the trail while they ate their berries.
"These are delicious," Sneasel confirmed.
"Aren't they? Oran berries are my favorite."
"So, where is this place that you're taking me?"
"It's not much farther, just a few more minutes."
The two walked a bit more while they finished up their berries. Finally, they arrived at their destination.
"Here it is," Meowth said triumphantly. They had arrived at a lake with a large waterfall flowing down into it. The way that the sun reflected off of the water was dazzling.
"Wow, that waterfall is amazing. How were you able to find this place?"
"By accident while I was lost once," Meowth said while scratching the back of his head. Sneasel continued to marvel at the wonderful sight. She went and sat down at the edge of the lake.
"This is beautiful," she continued to admire.
"I always come here to cool down or when I need a break," Meowth said as he took a seat by Sneasel.
"You were right," she said and turned to Meowth, "this is a place I'd like to see."
"I knew it would be," Meowth said with a smile. "Well, I need to go do my job," he continued, "but you stay here as long as you like."
"I will, thanks."
"No problem."
And with that, Meowth left.
"That is so beautiful," Sneasel said with a smile.
Lucy would never forget that time. She popped the last berry in her mouth and started to chew it.
Meowth knew that he had to lose these losers. He wasn't born yesterday, and he knew they just wanted him to lead them to Scarlett. He needed to get away from them somehow.
Just then, a loud roar covered the entire forest. Meowth, Lucy, and Jake covered their ears from the sound. Soon, it was over, and everyone lifted their paws off of their ears.
"What was that?" Jake asked.
"If I told you that I knew, I'd be lying," Meowth replied.
"Well, it can't be anything good, so let's get out of this forest as fast as we can," Lucy suggested.
"Right," Both Meowth and Jake said in unison.
They weren't able to take two more steps before another roar sliced the quiet forest. The three covered their ears again, but found that even that was not enough to keep the sound out.
"Whoever's making that roar is really close," Jake observed once the roar had died down.
They say that if you speak of the Devil, then he will come. The thing making the roar wasn't the Devil, but it might as well have been.
Up on a ledge, a large, brown and red Pokemon stood, staring down at the three Pokemon who were substantially smaller.
"Is that what I think it is?" Jake said in disbelief.
"If you think it's an Entei, then yes, it is!" Meowth said in a panic. An Entei? In this forest? Why was it here?
Lucy didn't say anything, but just looked up at the beast of fire with eyes wide open.
"No! Why…why are you here?!" she shouted
Scarlett eventually made her way to the city where, indeed, the Police Station was. She could see it. The slowpoke, being as cryptic as he was, ended up being right. Slowly, she approached it. Somehow, Scarlett needed to sneak inside and find James. Looking inside the building, the vulpix saw Officer Jenny sitting at her desk. She was looking at papers and typing something in on her computer.
How am I going to get around her? Scarlett thought.
Jenny's phone that was also on the desk started to ring and she answered it.
"Police, what's the problem," she said. "What? That's terrible. Alright, I'll come right away." Jenny hung up the phone and ran outside. Scarlett hid in a bush as she ran by. Jenny hopped on her motorcycle and drove away.
"Well, that deals with that," Scarlett said as she walked into the station.
James had woken up hours ago, but he had nothing to do but sit in his cell and wait until his trial.
He heard Jenny's footsteps on the ground and knew that his time had come. He breathed a heavy sigh and got up from where he was lying.
But something was off. The footsteps didn't sound right. Mabe Officer Jenny wasn't wearing her heels?
A small vulpix head poked out from the corner into James cell.
"Vulpix!"
"S-Scarlett?" James couldn't believe it. He ran over to the bars. "What are you doing here?"
"Vulpix!" she cried. She then started to blow a flame on the lock that held the doors to James' cell closed. He stepped back so he wouldn't be burned. After a little flame work, the lock melted and fell off the door. James opened the door and walked out.
"Thank you, Scarlett, I am truly grateful."
"Vulpix!"
"We need to get back to the Pokecenter. Jessie and Meowth are probably waiting for us there."
"Lucy, what's wrong?" Jake asked to his paralyzed partner.
"I…no…not him," she stuttered out.
"Him? Lucy, you're not making any sense. Do you know who this Entei is?"
Lucy looked right into Jake's eyes.
"He's my worst nightmare."
Thanks for everyone who reviews, I do read them, but I don't reply much because it would mostly just be, "Thanks for reviewing."
