Ok. This is it. A short author's comment in three... two... One,
-Wait. I have a question.
Ugh. Fine Alisa. What do you want?
-I was just thinking. Do you read other people's author comments?
Of course I do! Are you suggesting that nobody reads mine because they're way off topic and they just interfere with the actual story Alisa like you've told me a million time before because every time I tell you that I write these long comments in the hopes that someone will read them and think that they're funny. Is that what this is about?
-Um, no.
Oh. Ok then. (Awkward silence) What is it about author notes that you were thinking about?
-Well, I keep hearing about people who don't own Pokemon.
Yah, it's a disclaimer. People say that to be honest with their writing since we're all such good little authors. I have mine right at the first chapter.
-But, if nobody is claiming it. Can we? I mean, is it up for grabs?
Hey... I think you're on to something here. Are you sure that every single story you'v seen says that nobody owns Pokemon?
-I believe so. Just think, if we take it first, then we can charge everybody money for their stories. We could be rich!
Ok Alisa, I like your thinking, let's do this.
Attention everyone, big announcement. This is very serious. In fact, it's cereal! As of this moment, me and Alisa own Pokemon. I repeat. We... Own... Pokemon.
(Door smashes in. Glass shatters)
-Agh! What the heck.
-Pokemon Police! EVERYBODY DOWN NOW!
Oh no! Alisa! I told you this was a bad idea.
-Agh! Don't shoot me. It's all his fault. Take him instead. Just don't hurt me!
-Ok! Now which one of you really owns Pokemon?
None of us do! We don't own anything! I'm so sorry! Please don't hurt me! Take Alisa! Take all of them. WE DON'T OWN POKEMON!
-Oh... Ok then. RED TEAM MOVE OUT! (Jumps back through window and climbs up into helicopter)
-What, what happened?
We were just ambushed by the Pokemon relay assault force for false disclaimers team. Maybe someone actually does own it.
-Yah, I guess. So does anything else happen in your story that's interesting? I need to calm down for a moment.
Kind of. It's taking Jack and Eseral forever to get out of the city. Sorry it's taking so long but this chapter is fun :) and kind of random. I hope you guys like it. And I hope some of the things that were confusing earlier are now making sense. Remember, you can always message me! ;) Anyways, Jack and Eseral try to escape...
-What? Eseral? You mean, my mother...
Oh no. She's knows! (Grabs Alisa) Quick! To the memory transplant device! (Runs away)
-No wait. What about my mother? Stop!
Chapter 26
"Jack, of all the ideas I've ever heard, I mean, it's just, it's not going to work. It can't possibly. Maybe we can run, hide, we can come up with something else. Jack? Are you even listening to me!"
Of course Jack wasn't listening to her. His mind was set on escaping, not second guessing. He had come up with a lunatic plan and he was going to act on it.
The little Eevee walked up behind the tin trashcan staring up at it. It was completely full just standing there in the dark alleyway. It must've been at least three feet taller than him.
Outside on the street the traffic was in full swing. No one would be able to notice if a trashcan fell over. Hopefully.
"Eseral?" Jack asked. He looked over at her face seeing nothing but panic and ignored it. This wasn't the time to stall and think. He needed to act. "Eseral, check and see if anyone's coming." Jack got ready, stepping back a few feet behind the large tin trashcan.
Eseral didn't check. She just begged him more and more. "Jack. Stop and think about this. This is insane. There's no possible way..."
Jack ignored her anyways. He backed up, and stared at the top of the trashcan.
He had jumped that high before, when he had crashed into Chase at their house, but this was a huge jump. He leaned back on his paws, and then leapt forward straight for the trashcan.
The small Eevee hit it as hard as he could with his head, the trashcan wobbled for a second and then fell straight onto it's side spewing trash everywhere. Trash flew everywhere from the stuffed container and Eseral screamed jumping out of the way.
"Jack! Are you crazy! Someone's going to hear that."
Jack forgot her complaint and pushed the half full trashcan, rolling it gently with his head until it was at the edge of the alleyway. Jack was thankful that no one had heard the clang from the can. His ears were still ringing from the large noise it had given.
He struggled, inch by inch to push the can into place. He had it aligned perfectly to roll out of the alley way right into the street. It took him a lot of effort to both push and ignore Eseral but hey, it was for his life right? Why were things so hard to push now that he was one foot tall?
He looked up at the trashcan before him, and smiled. Eseral thought he was going crazy.
"Jack? Listen to me. You're going to get us killed! You have to stop. There's got to be another way. Please!"
Jack had enough. He stopped pushing on the trash can and whipped around to the panicking Espeon.
The look Jack gave her was nothing short of the glares she had given him when she wanted to rip his tongue out in the bushes at Lauren's house. It was a look of complete determination to get out of here.
"Listen." Jack demanded. "I'm not spending one more second in this city. It stinks, I stink, everything here makes me want to run in panic. I'm getting out of here where it's safe outside whether it kills me in the process. If you're not coming because you're scared of a little roll, then stay here. I'm, leaving!" He made his point very clear and walked back over to behind the sideways trashcan. He wasn't spending one more second in the this human infested environment while his life was at risk.
Eseral gulped. "But, we..."
"Do you want to see your family again or not?" Jack questioned.
Eseral understood his point. She couldn't believe this. Was she really going to go along with an idea from an Eevee that nearly got her killed before?
It was now or never. She and Jack were getting home, or die trying. Most likely it was going to be the latter but if Eseral would ever have the chance to see her family again, this was going to be it.
She nodded. She hated every part of this, but missed her family even more. She was going to die with Jack inside a trashcan. She never thought she was going end up dying like this, stuck to her lunatic friend.
She nodded, and walked up beside Jake. She stood next to him, ready for whatever he had planned.
"Ok. So here's the plan." Jack explained his well thought plan while he got ready to push. "We're going to hit this trashcan into the road, and then jump in. It'll roll downhill out to Victory street, and then we'll run like mad to the park before anyone can catch us. Ok? Does it sound good?"
Eseral wanted to say that it sounded crazy. Jack had missed the part where the trashcan gets run over, someone flies out, they smack into a building window, Pokeballs go everywhere, and the fact that there must've been a thousand humans and cars using this one street right now didn't scare him at all? There were so many flaws just waiting to happen.
Jack smiled. This was by far the craziest thing he had ever dared to do.
But he wasn't spending one more second like this trapped inside the city. If this meant he was closer to turning back into something other than his Eevee form, then he was taking it. He wanted to see Lauren again.
"Ok. Lets do this." He walked back over with confidence and put his paws up against the trashcan.
The trashcan was positioned right at the edge of the alley way so that it would roll straight out into the street. Any human passing by at this moment would've wondered what the heck was going on, seeing both a tin trashcan and two Pokemon huddled behind it.
Jack knew his front paws weren't going to push it hard enough. He got onto his back and aligned his huge paws up against the side where he was. Maybe his little body with the help of adrenaline could push the trashcan far enough. He knew if he failed, the trashcan wouldn't roll and they'd be left with no choice but to run a full mile in the heart of the human infested city.
Eseral backed up, and crouched into a tackle position. her tackle would be a lot better against this trashcan if she hit it right. "You do know this is absolutely crazy right?" Her voice was already quivering with fear. She sounded like a frightened little cub. "I mean, we're going to die."
Jack looked behind him at the scared Espeon. Her tail was down and her ears were completely flat against her head. He knew she was feeling everything but suicidal, which was exactly what this was.
Jack looked out into the traffic. Those cars were so big, and he was so small.
No, he had to do it. He had to be set free. For Lauren.
He smiled. "You ready?"
"No." Eseral whined.
"Ok. When I count to three, hit it as hard as you can. We're only getting one shot at this. Wait for my mark and then we'll jump inside, together."
Eseral gulped. She nodded, once.
Jack looked back over at the trashcan. "Ok. Um, one..."
His panic started to set in. He could feel his legs trembling knowing his life was going to be on the line in two seconds.
"Two..."
"Oh dear Arceus, help me." Eseral whined. She leaned back further ready to hit the trashcan for all she was worth, shutting her eyes and thinking of her husband and kids..
Jack hesitated. Time slowed and his instincts kicked in. If he missed with his kick, if a car happened to be driving by at the exact time, if he was inside and something went wrong...
If this didn't work... They were dead.
He gulped, and braced for impact.
"THREE!"
Jack kicked the can so hard it sent him back three feet on the alley floor. Eseral leapt, smacking the other corner with her head as hard as she could.
The trash can spun, then flew out into the street, smacking a car hood making it spin off the road and crash, everywhere cars slammed to a halt from the sudden trashcan spinning in the road.
The cars all stopped, people crashed, horns blared, every single blaring horn rang in Jack's and Eseral's ears. The sound of the traffic was deafening. Jack hoped he could hear his own voice when he screamed for the signal.
They watched the trashcan. It sat right on the yellow line in the middle, spinning like a top, staying in place between a mass of crashed cars.
They watched, and watched, and watched. The trashcan stopped spinning and sat still in the middle of the road.
And then, very slowly, it started to roll downhill.
Jack jumped up onto his paws. He ran out into the street. "Now Eseral!"
Jack ran out into the street. A car tire nearly ran him over as another one skidded to a halt but Jack kept running straight. He ran out into the middle of the road, skid across the pavement, and leapt into the trashcan, smacking the back end with his head.
Eseral hesitated. She sat and watched as the trashcan started to roll faster. It was picking up speed.
It was now or never.
"Oh dear Arceus! Please..." She made up her mind and ran into the street.
Jack had never heard so much chaos in his life. He leapt into the trashcan jumping into the half empty pile of garbage and flung himself against the back corner. Immediately his nose was assaulted with the smell and his ears rang with the noise.
He sat and waited, huddled up in the back of the pile next to a half eaten pizza. He sat and waited watching the large opening. Very slowly the can was rolling.
He sat and waited, but didn't see her. Where was Eseral?
Eseral's head peaked into the rolling trashcan. She took one last burst of energy, and leapt inside tackling the garbage covered Eevee inside. She had made it.
Jack wanted to yell her name in happiness but the can shifted, and he lost his footing with Eseral falling on top of him. Immediately she was up against the wall panicking and screaming and Jack tried to pick himself up.
He only had time to take one quick glance upwards. The building in front of the trashcan slipped from view as they rolled downhill.
Uh oh. They were moving. Just as he had planned.
"Hang on!" Jack yelled gripping whatever was around him. He grabbed a can of tuna but only slipped into it as all the trash shifted around him. It was like a kids ball pit dream filled with garbage except for the fact that they were going to die!
Eseral did the only thing she could. She screamed in panic and hugged the wall as tightly as she could with her claws. The opening of the trashcan kept showing the street, and then the sky, and then the street again with each turn. Everything was getting louder and faster.
Jack met Eseral's eye. They stared at each other for a second with Jack buried underneath the filth, and Eseral holding on for her life.
He gulped. The trashcan spun faster.
Jack tried to grip something again, a used shirt smacked his face and he clawed it off losing his balance instantly. He tried to stand, but the ground was like a conveyor belt of garbage below him. He couldn't do anything as it shifted and fell onto his head with every passing moment.
The can rolled faster, people were screaming in horror as it nearly hit their cars and they swerved out of the way. Everyone that had stopped got out to watch as the maniac can rolled down the street faster and faster dodging moving vehicles.
The can had enough speed now to through Jack off his feet. He was slammed to the wall painfully with trash cutting and smacking his fur everywhere. He knew he wasn't getting out of this in one piece.
He stuck to the wall with it's momentum. Immediately the blood was thrown from his paws to his head as he control. Everything around him looked like an explosion of trash and his head was blacking out as the scenes flashed before his eyes.
For a moment both Pokemon were in the air as the trashcan hit a bump, and then they slammed down to the ground. Jack was immediately buried underneath the heavy weight and was pressed to the ground.
His mind was foggy. Everything was so chaotic. Eseral yelling, cars honking, trash, spinning, dizzy... So much dizziness.
The can was now at full speed. It raced down the street avoiding all the cars that screeched to a halt. Jack had no idea what way was up or down anymore. All he knew was that he was going to lose it if he spun for just one second longer. His paws were already cold from the force against his head.
He, he couldn't take it. He had to stop or he was going to faint.
Jack's instincts did the only thing he could think of to feel safe. He let go of the wall and curled up into a ball. His body floated away from the wall and was bombarded by trash with every spin.
Eseral held on with her claws for dear life. She was so dizzy, everything spun so fast. She could barely see Jack in the corner of the garbage. He was spinning uncontrollably.
His claws let go the wall. He curled up into a loose ball floating freely. Everywhere he hit his body was banging against the wall.
Eseral watched in horror knowing what was happening. His eyes started to close. His ball started to uncurl, his limbs were going limp from lack of blood.
"Jack! Jack!" She screamed. Her voice was nothing to the tin can hitting the cement road though. She couldn't hear anything but ringing and the sound of a million thunder strikes hitting her head with all the garbage.
Jacks eyes were completely closed, he was seconds from passing out and losing his grip on the wall.
He floated freely, battered by the heavy trash. Eseral tried to scream his name but the blood to her head was too much to even think. She couldn't do anything to save him.
They were nearly at the bottom. The can rolled faster and faster dodging every car in its way as the traffic rushed to the sides avoiding the wrecking ball hurling towards them.
A driver happened to be on his phone. He dropped it, flung his wheel sideways, but it was just too late.
The car didn't move fast enough and smacked the back end of the can. It jumped up, flying for a second...
And then came crashing down. Anything loose inside was thrown out all over the street into the road.
Eseral screamed. Jack's body was thrown up into the air, floating. She reached out to grab him but she was just too late.
His lifeless body was thrown free of the trashcan. It smacked the road, harder than a bullet from a gun.
His paw bent, snapped, and cracked in place. He rolled for thirty yards before coming to a halt in the road.
Every bone in his body was lifeless. Every sense was an explosion in his head. his fur was torn, covered in blood, ripped and covered in filth. His body sat lifeless in the middle of the road as his head fell over to the side completely unconscious.
It was way too much. The dizzy turns and the smack on the road put Jack out of his misery and he was unconscious just after the first hit with the hard cement.
He lay there, in the middle of the road, torn apart and unable to move. Humans were staring at him, questioning what was going on.
The trashcan was at the bottom of Twelfth street now. It rolled violently and then smacked into a parking meter slamming to a halt.
Eseral smacked her face on the other side and half the garbage collided with her burying her underneath it. She had hung on, for dear life, just long enough to stay inside.
She fell to the ground, dazed, but still alive.
She, she was alive!
"Jack?" She questioned standing up and falling. The whole world spun around her in circles like a whirlpool, the poor Espeon couldn't even stand without falling.
"Jack? Jack? Where are you!"
She fell again. She couldn't get up. She had to do something quick or she was going to pass out and they'd get caught.
Her Pokemon instincts kicked in. She wasn't going to die without seeing her family again for the last time.
Her eyesight started coming back from the black. The noises around her came back to her head. She could hear nothing but cars honking and people coming to investigate everywhere around her.
She could stand. The dizziness faded, she crawled out of the trashcan and looked around at the chaos before her.
There were people everywhere, hundreds of cars, hundreds of confused drivers stepping out. She was exposed right in the center of the city and so was Jack.
"Jack!" She screamed stumbling around to find him. "Jack, where are you?"
She looked to her left, seeing an open grassy area a fourth of a mile off. The park, she was so close.
And to her right, in the middle of the street, was an unconscious Eevee. The beat up Eevee was torn apart in every way imaginable. He was far from standing up on his own.
His front paw where he had landed on the cement, was twisted backwards. Eseral gulped knowing that he had done nothing short of breaking every bone inside it.
Eseral had a choice to make. She had to make it fast. She saw the park, where she could hide safely, and then she saw Jack.
She ran, straight for Jack, and prayed that her screaming would wake him up soon.
...
John was already late for work. This traffic was horrendous. Everyone had slammed to a halt and he could only go about five miles an hour now.
What happened? Was there a crash? Why wasn't anybody moving the speed limit! The hospital was right at the end of Twelfth and here his car stood at the bottom of the hill just begging to go faster.
This was dumb. The officer in his uniform fell back into his chair just listening to all the honking of cars around him. He was late for his meeting with Chase.
He had better tell him. He reached into his pocket and grabbed his walkie talkie.
He clicked the button. "Hey Chase. It's John. On my way... Holy!"
He jerked the wheel to his right. The trashcan came bounding down the road and smacked the side of his car.
He watched out of his window. The can spun like crazy flying up into the air a few feet, flinging garbage everywhere. It smacked down to the ground and out flew a Pokemon.
John's eye's opened wide. A garbage covered Eevee flew out and crashed right in the middle of the road. It was completely unconscious.
It was unmistakeable, he knew it immediately, he knew exactly what it looked like.
It was the exact same Eevee as the one in the video. It was the one that was at the house. It was that Eevee, here right, in front of him!
He struggled with the door handle flinging it open, and ran straight to the scene at hand.
...
Jack's head felt like a firework. His brain spun, every organ in his body wanted to puke with dizziness and explosion of pain. He wasn't sure if up was down or if right paw was on his left. He was so dizzy he thought his paws were connected to his forehead.
His vision slowly cleared, looking up at the spinning sky. The pink blob above him looked like a ditto with how blurry his spinning was.
Jwock!" It yelled right in his face, the sounds contorted from his throbbing head. Everything sounded like he was deep underwater or he had earplugs shoved deep in his brain. "Jock! Wake up!"
His instincts kicked in. His head immediately cleared, he felt the adrenaline rush through his body. His Pokemon senses snapped back to reality as fast as they could realizing he was in danger.
He opened his eyes, staring right at Eseral. Her look could only mean one thing...
They were going to die!
"Jack!" Eseral screamed in his face. "Jack! Get up. We've got to run!"
Jack forced his head up. His neck was sprained from the hit and he could hardly move it. Everywhere around him were people and cars. Everywhere there was just noise!
He screamed, and grabbed his front paw. "Ow! It's hurts!"
Eseral took one look and knew what was wrong. The paw was completely broken. He must've shattered every bone inside it when he tumbled out onto the street.
Eseral gulped. The people were starting to circle around them.
"Jack! You have to get up!"
"I can't." He squealed in pain feeling every inch of his shattered paw. Why did it feel like marbles were moving around inside his paw? Hot flaming marbles of pain.
"Get up!" Eseral screamed in his face. "Get up! I'm not going to leave my friend behind because you can't handle a broken paw!"
Jack forced his paw to his side He did his best to ignore every single thought in his head. He could think of nothing but searing pain and his paw, hurt!
Eseral pushed him over onto his stomach and made him stand up. His broken paw shook like a rag doll under his weight.
"It, It hurts." Jack cried. "I can't stand..."
"I don't care." Eseral made him stand on his own wobbly paw forcing him to deal with it. "Jack. We're surrounded. What do we do?"
Jack looked up. The humans were completely surrounding them in a large circle. They were so tall he could actually see through their legs..
He didn't know. He just didn't know. What could he do as an Eevee that would get them away quick enough? His paw was hurting so badly!
He looked over to his right to the pink Espeon. Eseral yelled at him to run. She begged him to move his paws now!
"Run! Run!" It was all she could scream over and over.
Jack didn't know what it was. But his hearing started to fade. Eseral's voice slowed until it took her three seconds just to say run again. Everywhere he looked, everything was getting slower.
His instincts kicked in. His mind set to work. "Run!" It told him. "Run! Run for your life!"
His paws got lighter, the world spun slower. Jack could feel every inch of him just begging to do what was natural.
He used his first Pokemon move. Quick attack. and ran with everything he had left.
He darted on his broken paw, feeling lighter than a piece of paper, and darted his way through the legs of the humans emerging on the other side. He sped past the people watching him and the cars slamming to a halt.
He just ran. Ran for his life. His adrenaline was in full swing and the instincts inside him told him exactly what to do. All he could feel, was the little beating inside his chest, keeping him alive.
And just like that, he was gone. He disappearing from sight and vanished without another second passing.
...
John pushed his way through the crowd as hard as he could. He shoved people aside begging them to move.
"Police!" he yelled holding up his badge. "Everybody move! Step aside!"
He shoved the last guy over emerging into the circle. He stood, smiling, waiting to see the two Pokemon in sight.
Finally he had caught them. Now he had his chance. He couldn't wait to bring them in and figure out what was truly up with them and the video.
There was nothing there. "What?" He gasped.
The crowd looked around everywhere. There was nothing there anymore. Just an empty circle and a street filled with crashed cars and garbage.
"but," John questioned. "Where are they?"
...
Jack ran for his life. Never before had his paws moved so fast.
The time flew by his eyes. He glanced at Eseral frozen in place yelling at him, and then bolted to the park, dodging the slow moving cars and heading straight for the cover of the forest.
He couldn't hear anything, his paws didn't hurt. All he could think to do was run. Run on all four of his short Eevee paws as much as he could.
And run he did, straight out of sight.
Eseral caught his glance just in time. She looked at his face and knew what was happening to him. He was using his first move.
She watched as the Eevee bolted out of sight faster than she could see. One moment he was there ready to run, the next he was gone.
Eseral felt so stupid. Quick attack, of course.
She crouched taking one last look behind her, and then chased after the Eevee. The whole world around them seemed to move in slow motion as they ran.
They ran past all the traffic, past the sidewalk, they ran the fourth of a mile it took to get to the park and didn't stop.
Jack made it to the park. He ran past the pathways jumping over a small stream and then crashed into the small forest deep in the park's core. The park was famous for it's large manmade stream circling the entire thing and then the natural forest in the middle that stretched over four hundred yards long. It was the perfect hiding place, right in the middle.
Jack kept running, hopping over the low branches and twigs, and then fell to the ground. He was done. He had made it, safe and sound.
His mind started recovering instantly. His mind slowly slipped back from his beating life source into his natural state.
He could hear the birds chirping. He could feel the ground beneath his paws.
Everything, hurt!
Eseral crashed through the foliage, and stood staring at Jack.
"Jack!" She cheered right in his dazed face. "Jack? You did it!"
He looked at her funny. He wasn't sure what was going on. His mind didn't recover but just fell faster into Oblivion.
"What, what happened? Where..." He didn't finish closing his eyes and forgetting how to speak.
Eseral had forgotten all about it. This was Jack's first attack, and he was already beat up. Of course his mind would snap back into a faint.
What Jack didn't know was that Quick attack was supposed to be quick. He had used it in the longest burst of energy he could. Now, his body was trying to catch up to him. It was trying to recover from something that it wasn't supposed to do anyways.
So it did the only thing it could. Jack's eyes rolled up, his paws fell limp, his tail fell to the forest floor below him.
He stared at Eseral for a few seconds, wondering what was happening, and then he fainted, into a very deep sleep. His body had never been more thankful to recover after an attack.
Eseral just laughed. She laughed in joy of what just happened.
She couldn't believe it. They had done it? They had escaped. The nearest human that knew about there existence was all the way back at the road and no one would creep inside this deep forest looking for them.
Eseral knew, in less than an hour, she was going to feel more head pain than she ever had before, and Jack would feel the torture of having a broken appendage after running on every cracked bone inside it. He was going to wake up to so much pain.
But they had done it. They had escaped.
She fell to the ground next to Jack curling up close for comfort. She didn't care if he smelled like garbage, she didn't care if she smelled like garbage. All she wanted to do was let her body recover for a moment from that stressful event.
They had gotten out alive. They were safe, they were hidden, they were in the clear.
She fell asleep, knowing that they were one step closer to reaching her family.
...
It was midnight when she awoke.
Eseral blinked her eyes open. Her eyes had to adjust to the light around her seeing the stars straight up above them. Why was it so dark? What happened? She slowly remembered falling asleep in the forest next to Jack but everything before that she just remembered as pain.
She flinched, every muscle in her body throbbed in pain. Every inch of her paws felt like putty. Her stomach felt terrible still turning uncontrollably. What had happened?
Something was poking her. She was up in a heartbeat.
"Don't move!" The voice commanded.
Eseral didn't care. She jumped upright and glared right at the Pokemon that dared touch her.
"Don't move! I'm warning you."
The Oddish hopped on one foot and waved it's stick at the tall Espeon. "This is my land. You trespass." The Oddish yelled.
Eseral was immediately taken back. "What the? What are you?"
The Oddish waved his stick in her face. "Don't speak. You need to obey."
"Don't touch me!" Eseral smacked the stick out of his stubby hand and growled at him. Obviously this little pipsqueak needed to be taught a lesson.
The Oddish squeaked in fright and jumped back. It was then that Eseral realized the problem.
There were at least twenty of them. Surrounding her in the small trees. Everywhere she looked little Oddish eyes popped out of the grass glaring at her.
"Don't move." The Oddish warned again. "I don't like you. You trespass. this is my land."
Eseral chuckled. She sat down since her paws were still throbbing in pain. "Well, can we work out an agreement? I'm only visiting."
"No!" The Oddish grabbed another stick and smacked her ruby with it.
"Ow!" Eseral glared at him again. "Stop doing that!"
"Then you listen?" The Oddish kept waving the stick at her. "You listen. Obey."
Eseral growled at him stepping forward but every Oddish in the area stood up ready to attack. She thought twice, and stepped back to where she was. She wasn't really up to a fight anyways feeling like this.
The Oddish smiled. "Good. We have your Eevee too, so don't attack..."
"What!" Eseral was upright immediately. "What did you do to Jack!"
The Oddish waved his stick and everyone jumped up again. They weren't going to let this Espeon get far if she jumped.
"Jack? We don't know Jack." The Oddish explained. "We have your son. He trapped."
Eseral glared at him. "I don't care what you think you are. You're going to tell me where he is. Now!"
The Oddish jumped back. He couldn't show it, but this Espeon looked a lot deadlier than he thought and he was scared to death.
"We are the Shrub tribe. We own this land. You trespassing and you and your son must pay."
Eseral rolled her eyes and collapsed to the ground. Great, just what she needed. More problems. At least they thought Jack was her son and didn't question his existence.
"Where is he?" Eseral demanded. She didn't use Jack's name since that only confused the small Pokemon the first time.
The Oddish smiled. "This way. I show you. You follow." He walked off turning his back to the Espeon. He knew his strong tribe would back him up if she dared move out of place.
Eseral got up to walk, the entire pack kept watching her. They made it through the dark forest only to step out into the green grass of the actual park.
Eseral hesitated, this was a wide open area. Humans could be near.
An Oddish behind her smacked her with a stick.
"Ow! What the heck?" She glared at the Oddish but the mischievous plant just smiled at her.
"Get moving. You late." He threatened to hit her again but she just glared at him.
Eseral gave it up. Whatever these things wanted, she knew it wasn't going to be good.
She kept walking, but not before she gave that Oddish one last look, remembering his face.
"So?" Eseral questioned the leader. "Where are we going?"
"To your friend. He help"
"Help you what?" Eseral wondered what they were going to do with Jack right now. She hoped he wasn't awake to see this embarrassment.
"He be used as example." The Oddish explained. "We drop him in stream, scare other Pokemon away. You next."
Eseral stopped walking. "What stream?" She stared at the Oddish in horror.
The Oddish smiled, and then pointed out in front of him. He had his plan set up already and he just wanted the Espeon to watch. He just wanted to impress his tribe and this was how he was doing it. By killing other trespassing Pokemon, like Jack.
Eseral looked up. In front of her was the park's greatest attraction. The large stream that circled around the entire park.
Across the entire park, ran a small stream. It was manmade but flowed none the less. It was only four feet wide but it was three feet deep and to Jack, that was plenty enough to drown the unconscious Eevee.
Two Oddish held the Eevee by his tail. Jack was unconscious, hanging over the stream. They were going to drop him in. Right into the river where he'd drown.
Eseral reacted immediately. "Don't!" She lunged forward but just as quickly, every Oddish in the park tackled her flat.
Eseral screamed and kicked but there were too many. Six each grabbed her paws forcing her down and the rest piled on top of her until she couldn't move. She never thought a million of these tiny Pokemon could hold her down so easily but they had her pinned before she could move again.
The leader of the tribe walked in front of her again. He waved his stick in triumph. He would make an example of her.
"You trespass in our lands. You must pay."
"No. Please." Eseral struggled to move but couldn't even flick her tail. Every part of her was being forced down to the ground.
Eseral tried begging. "I'm sorry. We didn't know."
"Everybody knows." The Oddish smacked her ruby again. She flinched in pain. "Everybody knows this our land. No one goes in park during night."
"Please." Eseral tried again. "We're not from around here."
The Oddish just laughed. "Listen. You pay. First we drown Eevee. Then we drown you." He walked away heading over towards the stream.
Eseral watched his every step. He walked up to the edge of the stream and looked at the two Oddish on the other side.
He held his stick up to the sky. The two Oddish carrying Jack got ready.
"No! Stop!" Eseral screamed. The Oddish flinched but let his stick down slowly.
The two Oddish holding Jack rolled their eyes and continued to grip his tail. They had been carrying this Pokemon forever now and they were looking forward to drowning him with ease. Besides, he might wake up soon.
Eseral couldn't believe this. They were going to drown Jack!
"What? Why you stop us?" The Oddish complained to Eseral because she had screamed. "This take long time. We need to hurry."
"No. Please stop." Eseral complained. "I'm sorry. We'll do anything."
The Oddish looked up. "Nope. We drown you." He held up his stick again.
Eseral had an idea. It worked on her cubs so why not try it here.
"You leaf headed black rotten acorn!" She yelled at the little Oddish.
Immediately he whipped around. "What! You dare say..."
"Let me go and I'll make sure to plant you so deep, It'll take six of you to rip your ugly leaves out of your head."
The Oddish smiled. He pointed his stick at the two Oddish carrying Jack and they dragged him back onto the shore. The poor Eevee was still completely knocked out.
The Oddish continued smiling. "Ok then. You fight me. You insult, you challenge."
Eseral's stern look immediately disappeared. "What?" Eseral felt herself get let free. The other Oddish let her go.
She stood up wearily, still sore from the trashcan. This Oddish wanted her to fight?
"You fight me. You win. We don't drown your friend, we just drown you instead." The little Oddish challenged. He still held his stick in his stubby paw. "You Espeon. Should be easy for you."
Eseral couldn't believe this. "But, why fight?" She was already beat up as heck from that trashcan. "Why fight? I don't want to." If this Oddish was somehow strong or knew anything about fighting, she would lose with her condition.
The Oddish waved his stick at her. "You fight me. Ready?"
Eseral shook her head. Was this really the best way to solve this? She didn't have a plan this time.
but it was either that, or Jack risked drowning. Even if she was near fainting again, she had to fight her way out of this one.
"Ok." Eseral stood up to her full height. "I'll fight. I'll kill you for daring to touch my friend. I can't wait to shove your little green leafs into the dirt beneath me." She growled knowing very well she would put up a good fight.
The little Oddish smiled. "Ok. You win? He goes free and we take you. If you lose, we drown your friend. Ok?" He offered. "Should be easy. You use attack, I lose because you Espeon."
Eseral didn't see how that worked. If she won, doesn't that mean that both her and her friend would be able to escape?
She nodded, and crouched low into a tackle position. The Oddish threw his stick to his side and got ready himself.
His stubby knobs would be so easy to tear off. Eseral couldn't wait to sink her teeth into this brat of a Pokemon.
"Come on." The little Oddish taunted. "I'm waiting."
Eseral leapt. She jumped straight for the Pokemon heading for his fat head.
The tiny Oddish jumped clean into the air going over her head. Eseral skid on the ground below him where he had been but was ready again in an instant.
He landed on the other side, and laughed. "You slow." He taunted. "You city Pokemon all the same. Fat and lazy."
Eseral whipped around and leapt again. The Oddish was surprisingly fast.
"Ha," The Oddish laughed again. "Why don't you use your magic? You an Espeon."
Eseral glared at him. "I'll choose my own tactics thank you."
She leapt again, but he just sidestepped her easy. For a plant, he was pretty darn fast. She couldn't just do this all night.
"Then you silly Espeon." The Oddish laughed. "If you don't use attacks, then I will."
Eseral was expecting him to get ready to jump again, but when she looked over the little Pokemon's leaves were glowing.
Eseral's face dropped in fear. It was the Oddish's turn to attack now.
A yellow powder shot out of it's leaves, Eseral had just enough time to leap and miss the stun pore. If it hit her, she would be paralyzed for hours and left to drown in the stream.
The Oddish looked upset. "Why don't you just use your power?" He had been hoping for a good fight but this Espeon was refusing to do anything. It was like she was just taunting him with it.
Eseral didn't know what to do. She got ready to bite his head off but the plant was now covered in the yellow powder. She wouldn't be able to get anywhere near him now.
The Oddish just smiled. "You will use your attack. I'll make you. You fight correctly."
He grabbed his stick and waved it. Every Oddish available tackled her again.
"Hey!" Eseral screamed and kicked them off her as best as she could. "Let me go!"
It was too much, she managed to bruise a few of them, but they had her down in seconds.
Eseral sat and watched where she was pinned as the leader Oddish stepped closer.
"Use your power. I want good fight." He taunted the Espeon's jewel, poking it with his stick.
Eseral wanted to tear his leaves out and shove him in the river herself. "I can't." She whispered below her breath.
The Oddish looked surprised. "Yes you can. You an Espeon."
"No, I can't." Eseral complained. "It's not like that, I've never done it before."
The Oddish just laughed. "You use psychic or I drown you." That was his deal, he made it very clear. "You too easy to fight without psychic."
Eseral couldn't' believe this. "Did you not just hear me? I said I can't!"
"Do it." the Oddish commanded.
Eseral didn't know why of all things he wanted her to attack him with a move that would hurt, but she would try anyways.
She closed her eyes, and thought on the one move she knew. Psychic had been one of her best attacks before she got cursed.
She closed her eyes, and repeated the process she knew so well. That little orb in her heart was very familiar to her. It harnessed willpower that only certain psychic Pokemon could have.
Her instincts kicked in. Like Fenara's flame, the deep pulse inside her heart leapt alive. The Espeon's mind could harness the power inside her, and become a great mind weapon. If she activated it, her mind's power could do limitless things. She could move objects, cause damage, she would blow this little Oddish to the other side of the park with her psychic attack.
Her forehead started to glow, her eyes turned bright purple.
But then just as quickly as it happened, that feeling in her chest snapped. She felt a sharp pain in her chest like a knife through her soul that forced her back into her real mind. It was unbearable, it was like her life source was getting cut in half.
Her ruby stopped glowing, she stood panting and recovering from the pain in her head. The Oddish all looked surprised.
Nothing had happened. Eseral was expecting it. A million times over she had felt that pain. It was her curse.
She was an Espeon, and her life source was separated from her mind. It was a psychic's worst nightmare come true.
"I told you." Eseral growled. "I can't. Now let me up so I can fight you properly."
The Oddish frowned. What was she saying? That she was an Espeon, who couldn't use a psychic attack? Was that even possible?
He crossed his eyes in anger. Some worthy opponent she was. She deserved to drown.
"Grab her friend. Drown him." He ordered. He waved his stick and the two Oddish to get to work.
Eseral's eyes jumped wide. "What? No! You said..."
"You no use psychic attack, you weak Espeon." The Oddish growled at her. "I don't like city Pokemon anyways. You smell like garbage."
Eseral just needed to explain. She just needed some time. "No. Stop! Please don't drop him."
The two Oddish had successfully dragged Jack over to the water. They grabbed his tail and held his nose inches from the small stream.
The stream was deep enough to drown him, and it flowed downhill with a small current. The water was easily enough to drown a beat up Eevee in minutes should he be thrown in.
Eseral didn't know what to do. She tried to move but couldn't. She couldn't get this far just to watch Jack drown.
But she couldn't use a psychic attack. She knew that no matter how many times she tried, that unbearable snap in her chest would just shoot right back.
She didn't have anything. Jack was going to drown.
"Please! Please don't!"
Jack woke up slowly. He knew he wasn't where he used to be. His tail felt like it was getting pulled and his front paw was still swollen and throbbing in pain like never before.
He blinked open his eyes staring into a stream. Water? Huh?
And then just like that, he was dropped in. The current took him downstream immediately.
"NO!" Eseral screamed and did everything in her will power to break free. "Jack. Jack!"
The Oddish kept hitting her with his stick. "Stop. It's your turn. Quit complaining."
Eseral acted quickly. She grabbed the stick in her teeth and flung him across the park. A few of the Oddish jumped off her back and ran to help there leader who had just been attacked.
That was all she needed. She forced herself up, pushing her shaky paws on the ground, and then broke free of the millions of plants holding her down.
The Oddish screamed and ran. Eseral jumped, straight into the stream. A couple Oddish tried to grab her but were just too slow as the Espeon disappeared into the current.
The leader grabbed his stick and jumped up. "She no drown! Find her!"
Jack was completely underwater. His body shot back to life as his body was dumped into the stream.
He tried to move, but the small stream just pushed his lifeless body around. He floated in circles spinning around hopeless.
Besides, he was in so much pain, the water was nothing to him. He knew that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't do anything that would end up saving his life.
He didn't have time to hold his breath. He didn't have time to react from his sleepy state. He swallowed as much water as he could, gulping in water but expecting air.
His lungs exploded in pain, his brain wanted to swell. He needed oxygen for his sore muscles or he was going to drown.
He tried to swim, but his broken paw wouldn't move. His back feet were too tired to do anything. He just floated down the stream going and going with the current.
His eyes were blacking out already, the water rushed in through his open mouth. He had never drowned before, but he knew that even in his Pokemon body, he had just taken too much battering in one day to stay alive.
So this was it. He was going to drown. Drown as an Eevee and never be heard from again.
The manmade stream was well designed. It had a rocky floor and small reeds on the sidelines where the drop wasn't too steep. Every hundred yards or so a little stone wall stuck up, making all the garbage and dirt stop from going into the next section while the water rushed over the top easily.
Jack saw the wall coming. He struggled, spinning helplessly, but couldn't do anything.
His back smacked against the stone, his tail got caught underneath the wall with it's strong current and his body was yanked down to the floor. The current refused to push carry him further but instead, just rushed into his system.
the water had no where to go but straight into his body. The water rushed through his mouth, going straight to his heart, pouring into his head.
Jack screamed in pain from the strong current, losing all the air he had. Every inch of his body filled with water like he was a balloon just waiting to pop. The water was everywhere in him.
He looked up. Above him he could see an Espeon climbing up onto the stone wall out of the current. He could barely make out Eseral calling his name from where she stood, searching for him.
He reached for her. He thought he was screaming, but that was just the loud explosions going off inside his head. Already his brain was getting damaged by the murky water.
His vision started turning black. His struggles became more and more weak. Jack knew he only had so much time left to do anything. Anything!
Jack did the only thing he could. He reached with his three working paws and grabbed onto something for his life.
His front paw scraped against the stone wall. One of his back paws reached out and managed to get tangled in some small reeds holding on.
His other back paw scraped across the rocky floor desperately. It touched a very sharp pointy stone, and squeezed it with all the strength it had left.
A few seconds later, and the life in Jack disappeared. His eyes started rolling and the water overtook his mind.
His back paw, just squeezed the little rock, tighter and tighter. It was all the life he had left.
Eseral couldn't see him anywhere. She screamed and screamed but the Oddish were coming at her fast from upstream.
"Jack," She cried. "Jack I'm so sorry."
She did the only thing she knew. She ran for her own life. She had to see her family again.