Brenden was confused, mostly weirded out, but also confused, how did that strange pokemon have such a strange picture, of him no less? The picture looked old too, like it had been taken years earlier… but that couldn't be right.
Brenden still saw no sign of Tyler, of course running off as soon as he was done looking at the picture, leaving Tyler behind at the nest, probably was the reason for it. He was just so confused, and now that he was walking through a dreary forest with no real path in mind, he was lonely too.
Blaine had not followed Brenden when he had run off, he had been focused on the strange pokemon that had followed them. And now that Brenden found himself alone in this forest, with no pokemon to accompany him, he started to feel… apprehensive.
That feeling only increased as he found that he could hear pokemon moving around him, through the bushes and across branches. He could see eyes peering at him from all around, some disappearing as he posed no interest, and some staying and regarding him with a strange fear.
As his apprehension increased, the amount of pokemon moving around him did as well, until he felt like he was surrounded by Ekans again, but this time it was different. Instead of anger, he felt they were scared, unsure of his intentions. He paid them no heed, if they weren't going to attack him, he would leave them be.
And then it stopped. The silence increased tenfold, and the presence of pokemon was nonexistent, almost. There was one presence, a large one, flitting through the bushes around him, and the branches above him. It made Brenden pause, trying to follow the presence as it circled him at unbelievable speeds.
He finally got frustrated and called out to the pokemon.
"Whatever you are, come on out! I'm tired of these constant cat and mouse games." He spat out in irritation and the movement stopped, and the pair of eyes that Brenden and Tyler had seen at the nest.
"What do you want?" Brenden asked tiredly and the eyes tilted slightly, before coming closer, the silhouette of the pokemon coming into view.
"Woah" Brenden gasped out, the figure finally coming into view. And man was it intimidating. "It's a Scyther."
"Scyyyyy" the pokemon called out softly, the pokemon agreeing with him. It was the obvious green color, but compared to the ones Brenden had seen in books and games, this Scyther had some far more distinct features.
To start its face was marred by small scars, the most severe being a large horizontal scar across its right eye, making it blind on the one side. Other than that, it wore the white scarf that it had thrown to Brenden, wrapping it around its neck as much as possible.
"Scyyy…" The Pokemon mewled dejectedly, gesturing at the photo in Brenden's hand. Brenden looked at it for a second and then back at the Scyther, a thought crossing his mind.
"This was… This was your old trainer wasn't he?" He asked, and his hand over his mouth as the Scyther nodded. The scyther gestured to his right eye and back at the photo, snarling slightly.
"Did your trainer.. Give you that scar?" Brenden asked in confusion and became more confused when the scyther shook its head vigorously. He looked back at the photo and turned it around in its hand, paling at a dried red stain on the back, just barely visible at the corner.
"Did your trainer... Die?" he asked, and the Scyther nodded, gesturing to it's scar again.
"You got that scar the day he died…" Brenden said quietly, and the scyther nodded, nudging its scarf with the back of its large claw.
"Scyyy." It said and then pointed at Brenden, then back at itself.
Brenden thought about it for a second and then started shaking his head, laughing nervously.
"Oh no, I'm sorry Scyther, but I can't capture you. It wouldn't be right." He said and the scyther's good eye narrowed, and it stepped forward, casually flicking one of its claws and dislodging a pokeball, nudging it toward brenden before gesturing at him, and then back at it.
"Scyyyy!" It growled and Brenden shook his head again, this time more fiercely.
"I said no Scyther, and I meant it, I won't defile a dead person's memory by capturing his pokemon." He stated and then turned around, with the intent to leave, and came face to face with the scyther, who had used its superior speed to appear there.
"SCY!" It screeched and gestured at the pokeball, before flicking its claw, the pokeball falling into Brenden's hand. "Scy-Scyther!" It growled and Brenden responded in kind, trying to push his way past it.
"Scyther!" It roared out and shoved Brenden to the ground with a huff, and rushed him, forcing him to bring his arms up to his face. He peeked out from behind his arms when, after a minute, nothing happened. He looked around in confusion until his eyes landed on the shaking pokeball in front of him, his face going from confusion to exasperation.
"Oh man, you are stubborn." Brenden stated as the pokeball dinged with confirmation that the pokemon was caught.
"Well crap, I guess all I can do now is keep you Scyther." Brenden said as he sighed and then shook his head.
"I can't call you Scyther, that's just boring." He said and then put a hand to his chin, looking up as he thought about it.
"Roku. I like Roku, that's a good name for a Scyther. I think." He said and shrugged, turning back the way he came, storing the photo in his pocket.
"Time to go find Tyler."
He said quietly, and went on his way.