Chapter 10: A Whisper in the Night

[A/N] This is probably the first chapter that actually merits the T rating that I have for this story. It's also the first chapter where I found the need to switch around with perspectives. Also, I'm going to away for two weeks, so the next chapter will be very late. Sorry about that. As always, R&R and enjoy! (Note: I own my OCs. Not Pokemon)

?'s Perspective – Somewhere in Kalos

"Ma'am."

"Give your report, captain. You stated you detected something?"

"Yes. We have confirmation that they have reached connecting cave."

"As expected. Continue."

"Our efforts to stop the young ninja were unsuccessful. He overwhelmed three squads of our men with his Frogadier."

"..."

"Ma'am?"

"Captain, do you understand that our success depends on the capture and subsequent elimination of this boy, correct."

"Well, I-"

"I guarentee that our men at the Institute will be... displeased. We wouldn't want to have to recondition you, now would we?"

"N- No, ma'am. We can double our efforts. He is still a day away."

"It is too late for that, captain. I will take matters into my own hands."

"But- is that really neccessary? Surely we can find a way to spare his life?"

"Would you value his life over the world?"

"No ma'am."

"From this point, you are demoted to grunt. Do not refer to me as ma'am. I am simply Hunter. Report to sector 22-b immediately and inform the commander there of my displeasure with you."

"Yes ma'am – No, I mean Hunter."

Route 7

Bzzzt.

Erin shot straight up in her sleeping bag. What the hell was that?

Bzzzt.

She looked down to see that her Poketch was ringing. She tiredly made a swipe to turn it off, but accidentally hit the answer button instead.

"Erin?" The voice that rang across the line was deep.

"Paul? Why the fuck are you calling me at three in the morning?" She stood up and got out of her tent. The group had stopped after a long day of walking and was camped out just outside of the cave between route 7 and Ambrette town. A quick glance around told her that nobody else had woken up.

"There's been an attack." His voice was dead. "Pidgeot is knocked out, and I have an injured boy with an injured Frogadier. Bring meds. I marked the spot on your map."

Erin's mind went blank. An attack? By who? Suddenly, she realized who it probably was.

"You said a boy with a Frogadier?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"I know that boy. His name is Sanpei. I'm coming." She switched the Poketch off.

Erin turned and surveyed the campsite. She ran over to one of the backpacks laid under a tree and rummaged around in it, coming up with a handful of potions and bandages. She stuck them in her purse, and turned to leave the campsite when she heard a noise behind her.

"What are you doing?" Erin flinched as Serena's accusing voice cut across the clearing. "Those are Clemont's things. Why are you going through them?"

Erin gritted her teeth. I don't know what's happening, but if Sanpei is really hurt badly, then I need to get there right away. "Look, Serena, there isn't time for this right now."

"Isn't time for what, Erin?" Serena strode across the clearing. She had a steely glint in her eye, and her fists were clenched.

"I- I can't tell you." Erin got off awkwardly.

"Just like everything else." Serena's voice was dangerously low.

"What? That's not true."

Serena stood up suddenly. "Why don't you see what's happening? As soon as I saw Ash, I knew this was MY journey. So what if some girl who looked exactly like me just happened to appear in my room?"

"Serena..." Erin said in a warning tone.

"No! I think it's about time that I say what I will! You are the problem! You show up, without a word about where you come from, with a pokedex and Druddigon seemingly out of nowhere. You claim to know the future. Erin, if you're so all-knowing, then why can't you see you're making my life a living hell?" Serena said the last sentence with such certainty that Erin felt a stab of ice go to her chest. Without another word, Serena rushed past her with tears in her eyes.

"Fuck," Erin muttered. She wasn't that bad; she couldn't be that bad. How had she screwed up this badly? She's headed away from Paul and Sanpei. I can't abandon them, but I don't know if Serena will be okay. She forced her self to make a split second decision, then gathered up all of the meds from the floor and dashed off in the opposite direction as Serena.

Route Seven, Elsewhere

Erin burst into the clearing nearly fifteen minutes later. She had dashed all the way from their campsite. She looked around and saw two figures huddled around a fire. "Paul!" she called, and ran over.

The boy rose and looked her over. His eyes were glassy from exhaustion, and he swayed on his feet. "Took you long enough," he mumbled, before collapsing into Erin. Grunting under his weight, she caught him and set him down by the fire.

Erin gasped as she looked him over. Three deep scratches ran down the entire length of his arm, soaked in crimson blood. His clothes were mangled, and his whole body was beat up. "What happened?" she asked in a hushed tone, shocked by the blood.

"They attacked..." he murmured faintly. "Thirty of them, each with a Mightyena. They were using fatal force, Erin. They tried to kill us." His head drooped, but he managed to make out another sentence. "Don't waste your empathy on me... Save it for the other boy."

His head lolled to the side, and Erin was unable to muster any reaction other than to stare at him. Blood- She hated blood. It made her feel sick to her stomach. Feebly, she walked over to Sanpei.

The young ninja looked like he had been savaged. Claw marks covered his body, and his clothing was in tatters. Blood oozed from wounds across his body. Erin drew in a sharp breath. She had never seen anything this horrifying before.

Hand shaking, she reached out with a shaking hand and felt for a pulse. It was still there, albeit weakened considerably.

Erin sat back in horror. I have no idea how to deal with a wound like this one. He needs to get to a pokemon center.

After thinking for a moment, she walked back over to Paul and grabbed his Pokemon belt. One by one, she let out each one. His Clauncher, knocked out. A Phantump, knocked out. A ninjask she remembered from the anime, knocked out. Finally, she found the ball she was looking for, and Pidgeot was sprawled out in front of her. She returned the others and dug around in her purse before coming up with a small golden rhombus.

She knelt by the majestic bird and she placed the revive in its mouth. Slowly, it stirred, looking at Erin. "Pi?" it asked confusedly, then noticed Paul. It started to walk over, then turned back to Erin and spread its wings menacingly.

"Stop!" Erin cried, just as it started to attack. "I'm here to help! You need to fly me and Paul and Sanpei to the pokemon center!"

"Pidg Pidgeot!" The big bird nodded its consent, then stood down.

Erin sighed in relief. Pidgeot can fly us there. Now I just need to try and cover their wounds.

She started with Paul. With a deep gulp, she grabbed a ripped part of his shirt and pulled. It came apart, and a muscular six pack was visible underneath. Erin gulped, but the blood made her forget any notions she might have had. She took a bottle of Antiseptic from her purse and sprayed it over the deep gouges. She then tied the strip of cloth over them to cover them up.

Stepping back, she decided that it would have to do. She walked over to Sanpei, took one look at him, and she had to run for the bushes.

After she had finished puking, she slowly peeled off Sanpei's blood soaked jumpsuit. She followed the same process as she had on Paul. One cut by one, she ripped at his suit, and attempted to stop any bloodflow as best she could. Her efforts were not met with success. He was simply in such bad shape that she was unable to help him.

She walked back over to Pidgeot. "Can you carry Paul in your claws? I'll carry Sanpei with me." The bird nodded its understanding. She hoisted Sanpei up over her shoulder and she dragged him over to Pidgeot, slinging him over the bird's back. She jumped onto its back, and they were airbourne. It grabbed Paul, and they took to the sky.

Erin hunched on the bird's back as it flew to Ambrette town. How did this happen? Could Pokemon really have done this? She felt Sanpei stir in front of her and cry out in pain. "Just a little bit further," she murmured.

After a short flight that had seemed like an eternity, they came to land in front of the center. The town was deserted at this hour of the morning. Erin jumped off the bird, and it laid Paul down on the ground. She ran over and shook him, and he opened his eyes. "Where am I?" he asked.

"Ambrette town," Erin said. "Come on, we have to get you inside."

Paul managed to stagger to his feet, and Erin helped him inside of the building while Pidgeot carried Sanpei. She guided him into a chair, then dashed to the reception desk.

It was empty.

"Fuck," Erin muttered. She desperately searched for a call button, and she found it on the desk. It read "For Emergencies only." She pushed it without hesitation.

Two minutes later, a tired looking Nurse Joy and Wigglytuff came dashing into the room. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Erin took a deep breath. "There are two boys in critical condition, as well as five pokemon. I found them in the woods, passed out. One said that they were attacked by thirty trainers with Mightyena."

"What!" the nurse yelled. She ran to the waiting room to find the two passed out teens. "Wigglytuff, I need two human stretchers immediately. All of their pokemon need attention as well." She turned back to Erin, and her face softened as she saw how worried Erin looked.

"Will they be okay?" Erin asked.

"Yes, but they might have not been if you hadn't gotten here so fast." Nurse Joy smiled at her. "They and their Pokemon will be cared for. You can see them in the morning. For now, though, you should get some sleep."

Erin nodded. "Are there any rooms available right now?" she asked.

"Yes, in fact, there are," Joy responded. "Go to the first room on the right once you go upstairs. There should be a bed there."

Erin nodded in gratitude. She walked upstairs, sick with worry for the two injured boys in the center. She collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

Serena's Perspective - Route Seven

Serena ran through the woods. She didn't know where she was going, only that she had to get away.

Branches caught in her hair, and thickets tore at her side. She couldn't stop. She could never face Erin like that again. Her foot caught on a protruding rock, and she went flying through the air, falling face first in a creek.

For a long time, she sat there, letting the stream water soak her to the core. Finally, she dragged herself over to a nearby log, and sat there. She was angry, she was tired, she was wet, she was lost. Feeling hopeless, she screamed at the top of her lungs. Once she was out of breath, she started to cry, deep throaty sobs coming faster and faster.

Why? Why does my life have to be such a wreck? All I want to do is travel with Ash and be with Fennekin, but then Erin showed up and all of that changed. Almost on cue, Fennekin burst out of her Pokeball and looked up at her trainer in worry. Serena smiled weakly and picked up her starter. Who the hell does she think she is, anyways?

"Uh, excuse me?" A soft voice came from behind Serena. "Are you okay?"

Serena whirled around, all of her sadness and pent up anger momentarily forgotten. A girl stood behind her. She looked to be about her age. Brown hair in a pixie cut, her light green eyes pierced Serena questioningly. She was in nightclothes, but she had a belt with three pokeballs strapped around her waist.

Serena tried to muster the words to speak, but instead burst into another round of tears. Rather than trying to speak again, the girl simply sat down next to Serena and waited until she was ready to speak.

After a while, Serena spoke. "Wh- Where did you come from?" she made out in between sobs.

The girl frowned. "I was camping just over that bluff there." She pointed at a large rocky outcropping. "I heard a scream, so I went to investigate. It turned out that I was right."

"Right about what?"

"Well, you look like you could use someone to talk to." The girl stuck out her hand. "My name's Elle. What about you?"

Serena took her hand. "I'm Serena, and this is Fennekin."

"Kin!" the small fox said, still worried about her trainer. Elle reached over and stroked Fennekin's head.

"Her fur is beautiful," she said longingly. "You must take wonderful care of her."

"Th- Thank you," Serena stammered. "I brush it every night."

"Well, it certainly shows." Elle smiled at her, and she couldn't help but to smile back. "Would you like to meet my partner?"

"Sure."

"Alright." Elle reached down and grabbed a pokeball off her belt. "Skitty, come on out!" In a flash, a small pink cat appeared on her lap. It yawned, stretched, curled into a little ball, and fell asleep. "Really? Why are you always asleep?" She cried, and threw her hands in the air.

Serena giggled, then remembered what had happened and sombered back up.

Elle frowned, and looked at her. "Do you want to tell me what happened?" she asked seriously.

Serena hesitated, then launched into a full reaccounting of what had happened. She didn't know why, but she felt like she could trust Elle. She told her everything, starting from when Erin had appeared, to when they had found the egg. She talked about the gym battle, Fletchling evolving, and the egg hatching. She ended with the events of the past two days.

"... and she's just been so mean. I mean, she just appears one day, and then the next she's just a part of my life. I know something is wrong here. People don't just appear. She knows things before they happen, and I don't know why. I just wish she would leave me alone."

Elle was silent for a moment. "I think I know how you feel, Ser. Is it okay if I call you that?"

"Yeah, but what do you mean?" Serena was confused.

"Well, when I was a kid, I had these three great friends. We did all kinds of stuff together." Elle seemed to be breifly lost in thought. "Well, when we were fourteen, about a year ago, we were given the oppertunity to get our starter Pokemon. My friends were each able to choose a Kanto starter, but I was left out. Professor Sycamore was nice, though, and he let me have this Skitty that he had caught."

Serena was confused. "So what went wrong?"

"Well, my best friend became a bitch, that's what happened. She was a jerk where she used to be supportive, and neither of my other friends noticed. One night, it was just too much, so I got up and left. I haven't seen any of them since." Elle's words caught on the last sentence.

Serena was at a loss for words. She couldn't even imagine just leaving Ash, Clemont, and Bonnie like that. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Elle forced out a laugh. "I'm better off without them anyways. What about you? What are you going to do?"

Serena considered that for a moment. "I think I'm going to go and try to make up with Erin."

Elle raised her eyebrow. "Are you sure? You could travel with me if you want. What you described, albeit being more than a little bizzare, still sounded pretty bad."

Serena knew her answer before she finished the question. "No, I couldn't just leave Ash like that." She had meant it to feel more inclusive towards the whole group, but it didn't come out like that.

"You have a crush on him." It was a statement, not a question, and Serena blushed deeply as an answer. Elle sighed deeply. "Well, you're in no state to go tramping back through the woods tonight. Come to my camp. I have a spare set of nightclothes you can use, and an extra sleeping bag."

"Thank you," Serena said. She followed Elle back to her camp, changed, and got into the extra sleeping bag.

"'Night, Elle."

"'Night, Ser."

The campsite went dark.