Episode 4

Part 1

The light coming through the windows into the bakery was dim. The cake I was working on was not coming out the way I wanted to. For whatever reason the icing wasn't moving how I thought it would. Was it maybe too cold? I don't know how that could be when I just whipped up a batch. Maybe there was something stuck in the pipe? Or maybe it was just my shaking hands that made it difficult.

I sighed and put the icing bag down. I ripped my hair band away and ran my fingers through my hair in frustration. I looked at the clock above the ancient oven. It was almost four in the afternoon. I looked over at Rebel's usual spot, a little chair in the corner of the room with his favorite scarlet blanket, a present knitted by my mother. At the moment it was entirely vacant, the blanket still folded from the Friday before.

The last time I'd seen Rebel was after Sunday night dinner. Something about our conversation must have tipped him off because, after eating all the Pokémon food I'd made him, he'd slunk out the kitchen window. I did nothing to stop him because it wasn't unusual behavior. Rebel liked his alone time, and he would often stalk off for a few hours to do whatever it was that he did. But he was now gone for almost a full day. That was very out of character for him. I didn't know whether to be worried or nonchalant, but I was definitely leaning toward the former.

"Bernie Girl, will you chill? I'm sure he'll be back soon." Tris was leaning against the bakeries' front counter. He had on an apron, which had done nothing to protect the black shirt he had on underneath. Just like his shirt, flour streaked across his cheek. A bowl of dough ready to put away to rise sat on the counter beside him. Tris made the best bread of us all in the bakery. It was actually the only thing he was good at. He didn't have the patience or the creativity for cakes and pastries. I walked over to lean against the counter beside him.

"I can't help but worry." I mumbled. Tris threw an arm around my shoulder comfortingly. I only worried briefly about the flour he was probably getting on my shirt. I had bigger matters to be concerned about.

"Don't forget that Rebel is a lot more powerful than you'll ever be. He can take care of himself, he doesn't need you to baby him." His reassurances did nothing to me. "Bern! Seriously chill. I've spent just as much time with him as you have, and I'm not such a worrier as you are. You can trust me when I say that he is completely fine. That little punk is hard as nails. He looks it too." Tris grinned down at me. "I know Chimchars are supposed to be cute but that guy can look downright scary with those scars." I laughed sadly.

"Yeah. He can be scary can't he?" Then I laughed again. "But a big guy like you scarred of a little Chimchar?" I said teasingly.

"I'm not saying that I'm scared of him." He took his arm off my shoulder, and flexed it. "I'm a big strong guy. I can protect myself from Rebel. I'd win in a battle with him, my guns against his attacks. I'm positive I'd win." I rolled my eyes at him but couldn't help but smile. He was right though. As I looked at him I realized something I hadn't yet realized. When did my little Tris get so buff? Well not buff exactly but definitely taller and leaner than I remembered. There was a definite definition to his arms, I guess being a baker's son can do that to you. I wasn't the one carrying around huge bags of flour and sugar that was for sure.

"Bet I could still beat you at arm wrestling though." I teased. His eyes lit up and a wide smile spread on his lips.

"Oh you're on. I'm gonna…" Tris stopped as we both heard the high pitched squeal coming from outside.

"What was that?" I said. Tris was already jumping over the counter. I walked around and ran behind him as he threw the door to the bakery open. We ran out onto the street were a crowd of people was already gathered. They were all over the place, many still not sure what was going on. They were looking around trying to find the source of the commotion, though it took me a little while to realize where the screaming was coming from. People ran past me, down the road, looking scared. I could tell right away they were running away from something, so I looked down the way they came, toward the town center.

We were about two blocks away from Twinleaf's town center, but even from here I could feel the intense energy of a battle waging. Bright flashes of light flew through the air, visible even in the light of midafternoon. I halted as my heart sped up. Tris stood where he was when he noticed I'd stopped mid run. He looked down at me, but I could see the longing in his eyes. He wanted to see what was going on, he'd already ripped off his apron, it was on the ground forgotten in his excitement. To Tris this was probably the epitome of excitement, a random battle happening in the middle of Twinleaf. He didn't take to the dullness of Twinleaf the way I did. He wanted more out of life. But he stopped when I did, sure that I would not want to move even an inch closer. He sighed and stood beside me.

"You can go." I mumbled to him as I heard the cry of a frustrated Pokémon. It was deep, and furious. Too harsh to be a trained Pokémon. This was a wild Pokémon. They were probably trying to calm him down so that he wouldn't destroy too much of town. Tris sighed.

"There's no way in hell that I'm gonna leave you here when I can hear that." His sentence was punctuated by another enraged cry. I just shrugged.

"They'll probably calm him down soon enough." I heard another cry in the distance, but this time it wasn't the cry of a wild enraged Pokémon. This one was more desperate and scared, probably the cause of the wild Pokémon's anger. And it sounded a lot like a Chimchar. There was a bright flash as fire soared up into the sky and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. My heart sped up with a different kind of fear.

I didn't even think before my body propelled itself forward, pushing through the ever expanding crowd. People poured out into the street, though it was probably smarter for them to stay inside. What I was doing wasn't very smart either. But I wasn't thinking smartly, I was thinking impulsively, and right then I didn't much care. All I could see was Rebel's scared little face looking so innocent that first night we met. I remembered the impulse to protect him, and comfort him despite my fear of Pokémon. This feeling was the same. I needed to protect my little rebel.

I pushed people aside as I heard the battle more clearly. I was closer. The battle was loud and clear, and when I heard Rebel's cry the only thing I could do was run faster and push my way out of the crowd. They were all standing in a circle around the two Pokémon, most of them cheering loudly, egging them on. I couldn't help the anger that coursed through me at these disgusting people, especially when I saw the look on Rebel's face.

He was trying to hold it in, his fear. I saw the tough look on his face, how he narrowed his eyes and turned down the corners of his mouth in a frown. His scars were stark on his face, hinting at a toughness that I could see was now dwindling. I don't think anyone else noticed the fear that hid behind his eyes. It was just barely there, but he was tired, he was breathing hard, and the fire that was his tail was dimming quickly, just barely the flame it usually was. He was bleeding in some places too. He had some scratches that already looked a few hour old, so he must have been going at it with the other Pokémon for some time already. What really concerned me was the fresh cut along the left side of his belly. He had a hand pressed against it, but it was still oozing blood. The ground around him was covered in it. He was holding something with his other hand. He had it tucked close to his body in protection. I couldn't see what it was but I could tell by his sheer protectiveness that it was the source of their quarrel.

Rebel was leaning forward, toward the Pokémon directly across from him. I glanced over at it. It was a Rhyhorn, at least two hundred and fifty solid pounds of Pokémon. I could tell it was a male by the size of the menacing horn between his eyes. The Rhyhorn looked as healthy and angry as it could be. The only sign on him of a struggle against Rebel was a long black burn across its side, but I imagined it couldn't hurt too much. He was a rock type, Rebel's fire attacks were no match against Rhyhorn's tough exterior.

The Rhyhorn looked like he was about to attack again. He was pawing at the ground menacingly. I looked back at Rebel. He was still leaning forward, ready to fight, but he was tired. He couldn't last much longer. Someone had to do something.

"He's probably gonna use Take Down again. You saw how bad that Chimchar took it. He barely stayed conscious." A man next to me said to his friend. I felt fury in the pit of my stomach. All these people were just watching poor Rebel get beat up. They had no intention of helping him. If no one else was going to help him, I would.

Just as the Rhyhorn readied himself for his next attack I broke free of the crowd and ran toward Rebel. He didn't even notice me as I slid across the ground toward him. His eyes were trained steadily on the Rhyhorn, concentrating on whatever his plan was to beat the brute. But I wasn't about to let him suffer anymore. I slid as I grabbed Rebel in my arms. I pulled him to my chest, ignoring the sound of the Rhyhorn's thunderous footsteps. He was surprised, and, just before I was hit by Rhyhorn's Take Down, I saw the fear in Rebel's eyes.

"Don't worry little guy. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." Then I felt piercing pain right between my shoulder blades. I flew into the air, trying my best to keep Rebel in my arms. In that moment of weightlessness all I could feel was white hot pain. Worse than anything I'd ever felt. Worse than the burns and scrapes and the electric shocks the bullies gave me. The ones I hid from everyone. But all the hurt I'd taken in the past was suddenly meaningless.

I realized suddenly that this was different. This pain was taken on my own terms. I was not a defenseless kid being beat up by the Pokémon of the bullies too scared to hit me themselves. I was suddenly grateful to them. They were the ones who toughened me up all these years. I realized they were the reason I had the strength to protect someone who meant more to me than the world itself. I felt a sort of gratitude for those girls, and filtered my newly realized strength into my arms, holding Rebel as tightly as I could against my chest. When we hit the ground again, some fifteen feet away, and I felt another surge of pain run through my body, I remembered the look on Rebel's face when we'd just met. I wouldn't ever allow him to look like that again. From now on I would protect him with all my strength, even from the creatures I most feared.

Rebel and I rolled for a while when we first touched the ground. I pulled my chin down to my chest, trying my best to protect his head. When we rolled to a stop I pulled away from him, looked down into his amazed eyes. I smiled down at him. He looked more or less unharmed, or not anymore harmed than before. I faintly heard the screams of people around me, heard the footsteps of people running every which way. I didn't pay much attention to them though. Even the angry snarls of the Rhyhorn making his next attack didn't register in my mind. All I could hear was the startled and scared whimpers of the Chimchar in my arms.

"You remember the first time I met you right? When I jumped in front of Tris to protect him? You stopped because you wished you had someone to do that for you. You looked so sad." Tears welled up in my eyes as I remembered the look on his face then and registered the scared and sad look on his face now. "You don't have to look like that anymore Rebel. I'm here to protect you now." Then we both shuddered in union when we heard the sound of the Rhyhorn's angry attack call. Pain flared in my back as I kneeled. The intense pain only reminded me that I couldn't take a second attack like that. I needed to move and get out of the Rhyhorn's way. If I passed out I couldn't protect Rebel.

"Bernie! Look out!"

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