Skyarrow Bridge
As his paws kick dirt up into tiny clouds, Mint runs as fast as he can to escape the entourage of hell that he raised back in the colony. Tears fall from his eyes and he only wants one thing: to escape from it all. He knows his bullies are somewhere up ahead on the path, it's only a matter of time before he encounters them. He isn't planning on sticking around with them and will run through them if he has to. No fights. No insults. No pain. Nothing. It will be quick and wordless.
The light of the late morning sunshine has suddenly been blocked out by very thick clouds that have seemingly shown up from out of nowhere. The wind is also starting to kick up, blowing the leaves and grasses around, as well as Mint's fur. The deathly cold chill of the wind doesn't bother him, but it carries a warning with it. A pretty nasty storm is on its way and anyone caught in it might have some difficulty getting home.
He doesn't care, for he runs forwards and presses deeper into the forest, coming up to that fork in the road his mother and him found when they brought Ross to Nacrene City's hospital. He takes the right path like last time and keeps going. He's silent the entire time, but keeps crying. He runs through the bends, almost drifting through them in some cases. When he conquers all the corners, he sees the 4 bullies dead ahead. They seem to have stopped for a rest.
Seeing them makes Mint push beyond what he's capable of and hits a speed that he's never ran at before. All 4 of his bullies block the way and running through them isn't the best idea, so instead, Mint opts to jump over them since he has the speed to do it. None of them notice that he's coming up real fast and instead seem to be in a conversation about something that's not important.
Mint dashes right up to them and at the last second, jumps over them. He clears them with ease and lands, continuing to run down the path. All 4 of his bullies can barely comprehend what happened.
"Whoa! What was that!?" Says Wesley, a bit shocked by whatever it was that flew past them.
Rachel looks in the direction it went, but it's already gone without a trace. "Whatever it was, it was moving at an extremely high speed. Seems like it's in a hurry to get somewhere."
Patricia frowns. "What if that was Mint? Shouldn't we go after him?"
Sean shakes his head. "Mint's nowhere capable of moving THAT fast. Whatever Pokemon that was had a speed stat over 200 easily to be able to disappear in such a short amount of time."
Wesley agrees with him. "True that. Mint has to be somewhere in this forest. He wouldn't dare try to leave or go too far without someone else to help him like the baby he is." They all nod and look down the path. They have no clue that it really was Mint who passed them, but they'll find this out much later when they can't figure out where he's gone.
Mint doesn't even look back. He continues to look straight ahead and he jumps over the fallen tree trunk he and his mother saw on the way to Nacrene City. He's getting closer to the Skyarrow Bridge and by extension, Castelia City. A quick thought glances his mind regarding his parents but is instantly thrown out of his head. His parents won't recognize him, at least, that's what he thinks.
The trees start to lighten up and not long after, he comes to the paved road that cuts through the middle of the forest. He stops and looks at the entrance gate for the bridge. There's nobody guarding the gate and he'd have a clear path onto the bridge. He takes a deep breath. His heart is racing and he can feel his nerves acting up. The minute he steps foot onto the bridge, he'll become the first Pokemon living in Pinwheel Forest to actually leave and enter the mainland Unova region.
This isn't something he'll be proud of. It doesn't have to be this way, but the damage has been done and the entire colony will definitely be on the lookout for him now after what he did. He can't go back, his bullies are trying to kill him and the colony would kill him the moment they realize what his evolution entails according to elder tradition. Sadly, he'll be leaving his parents without a clue as to where he's gone and he didn't even have the ability to say good-bye to them. From here on out, he'll be truly alone with nobody to fall back on if something bad happens. In his eyes, he'd rather die by the hands of a human or other Pokemon rather than the ones who have been making his life a living nightmare.
He stands on two feet and begins to slowly walk towards the gate. The light inside is very bright and almost seems to shine like a beacon, a beacon of hope for a better life. He doesn't know what he's going to encounter on the bridge, nor does he know what Castelia City has in store for him, but he knows one thing and that he won't be dealing with bullies or sadness and depression anymore. He's leaving his old life behind him and hopes that in doing so, he'll finally get what he's always wanted, to be loved, appreciated, and accepted for who he is.
He now stands at the foot of the gate. He looks around and notices that there's nobody else around, not a single human in sight. This is odd, he thought there'd be many people here since this bridge leads to the biggest city in the whole region and people are constantly coming and going.
"Strange… there's not a single human here. Is today a holiday or something?" is what he thinks to himself. He takes another deep breath and then walks on through. The bright lights transform into a small room where one can take a breather if they just so happened to have walked through the entire bridge. Normally, there'd also be an attendant behind the small counter that could give you snacks and refreshments too, but they seem to be missing.
He doesn't spend too much time here and walks up the stairs to enter the bridge but to his surprise, when he leaves the little gate, he comes to a small little area where the entire bridge is on display. Seeing it on the beach is one thing, but at this very specific spot, it's a whole different view. Unlike on the beach, the ENTIRE bridge can be seen and it's way longer than Mint thought it was before.
His mouth is slightly open due to being surprised at the size. He's got a hell of a long way to go before he gets to Castelia City. "W-wow… this bridge is much much bigger than I previously thought… the beach doesn't do it justice at all!"
He gets over this initial shock. "I-It doesn't matter… I can't go back now, I've made it all the way here and it's pointless to go back to that terrible place… They'll just kill me. I still have a long way to go but once I make it, everything's gonna be better."
He walks into the checkpoint gate and while there's not much to see, he takes it in and quickly moves on. He exits the checkpoint and right before him stands the actual bridge. The path is quite wide and could accommodate many people and Pokemon at once. The bridge starts out by spiraling up and then straightens out for the rest of the walk.
Mint begins the long journey and compared to when he was down in the forest, the wind is much more relentless and stronger here. It blows his fur fluffs to the side and also blows his tail to the side as well. This doesn't bother him too much but comes off as more annoying than anything. As he ascends the small spiral, he looks through the gaps in the railing and can see just how big Pinwheel Forest actually is. He can't see his colony from here due to being higher than the trees thanks to the massive height increase the spiral has, but he can see that the forest is massive. On the other side as he walks, he notices an area that seems to be all burnt up and destroyed. This raises a couple questions in his head, but mainly, what was it that caused that section of the forest to be destroyed. It doesn't seem to be a forest fire because everyone would've been evacuated in his colony and other surrounding colonies too.
He doesn't worry about it for too long, because he reaches the top of the spiral and now faces the super long, 1 mile long walk ahead of him. Not even the distance from his home to where the Skyarrow Bridge gate is close to this. A mile doesn't sound that long, but it's much longer than any distance Mint has ever walked in his life in one shot. As he walks, he can see the skyline of Castelia City, his goal isn't too far away but far enough that it seems like it'll take forever for him to get there. Mint looks up and notices the large tower supports on the bridge. There is a little archway over the path due to the design of these towers, seeing them makes him ever so slightly happy. He looks through the railing gaps and notices that he's over the ocean now and can see ships sailing below him. He also notices just exactly how high he is.
"T-that's quite a drop! I wouldn't wanna fall here, I don't think I'd be able to swim ashore!" he says to himself as he admires the beautiful ocean view. His view, however, is interrupted by the sound of a loud, mechanical object quickly approaching him. He looks to see what it is and notices that it's a car and on first glance, he thinks it's headed right for him so he cowers and puts his paws up, only for it to pass right by him, leaving him unharmed. He opens his eyes and puts his paws down and takes another look.
Below him is a 6 lane road where 3 lanes are dedicated to traffic going to the city and 3 lanes are dedicated to traffic leaving the city. He takes a breath of relief, he was scared over nothing. The cars and trucks below him seem to be moving at a very high speed, well above what he's capable of running at. All the people going in and out, how their lives seem much better than his. He looks back up, he's not even a quarter of the way across the bridge and the weather seems to remind him of what he's racing against as a very powerful gust of wind batters the bridge and him. He crouches down to avoid being blown into the railing and waits it out, holding his position for a few seconds as it slowly winds down.
He fixes the fur fluffs on his back. "I gotta get going… the weather is about to get nasty and I don't want to get caught in whatever it is that's coming." he says this to himself, noting the very dark clouds to his east. Whatever it is doesn't seem to be kidding around and at this time of the year with the random spells of cold temperatures, it's quite possible that it could be a snowstorm or a rainstorm coming his way. He isn't gonna stick around to find out and he starts to run on all fours across the bridge.
The wind blowing through his fur and the cold air all feel pretty good to him. He isn't enjoying himself on this trip across the bridge, he thought he'd be happy to leave but for some reason, he's indifferent about it. He's glad to not be in the crosshairs of danger anymore by his own peers but he isn't happy that he had to leave his parents, the only two Minccino left that would be helpful to him. He frowns for a moment as he thinks about what they'll say when they find out he's gone.
"I'm sorry mom, I'm sorry dad, but I just had to do it. I didn't want to be hunted down over evolving. I wish I could've seen you before all of this happened, but everything went by in a flash and I'm here now. There's nothing I can do… I just hope that you'll understand and don't come looking for me. The last thing I need is to hear that you've both gotten hurt or killed if I do return someday. I love you both… I hope I'll be able to come back sooner than I think…" is what he wishes he could tell them. He can't though, for he's already on the bridge to a better life.
The sound of boat horns below and car engines pumping mix in with the sound of his little foosteps. He focuses on the task at hand, and that's getting to Castelia City. He looks up and notices that slowly but surely, he's getting there with each step he takes. The promising, sky piercing buildings stand in front of him, watching and judging every move and step he takes. They know of the terrible life he's decided to leave behind, but they also know the truth and the future. They try to tell him what's going to happen, they know that his stay won't be for very long. Mint has no idea that these buildings are trying to speak to him, he only sees them for what they are.
He's made it to the halfway point on the bridge. The dark clouds to the east are quickly drawing near and the wind starts cranking more than before. The air temperature is also starting to take a small plunge, a warning that whatever precipitation that's coming is going to be just as cold, if not colder. Mint still isn't bothered by this. His fur is very good at keeping him warm, and with the long scarf around his neck, he's not going to get cold anytime soon. Even with him running against the ice-cold wind, he's maintaining his normal body temp. Every breath he takes is now faintly visible, a sign the air temp is getting closer to 32 degrees Fahrenheit. He takes note of this. "My breath is starting to become visible… whatever brought those dark clouds is also bringing colder temperatures with it. We just might get snow if it's cold enough…" he says quietly. If it were to start snowing, he wouldn't be too worried. Unlike rain, snow won't get him soaked if he's out in it for a while.
Right as he takes his next breath, a little white thing falls past him. He knows exactly what it is and stops to take a look up at the sky above. Another one falls past him and he puts his right paw out. The next one that falls lands in the center of his paw and quickly melts into a tiny drop of water. No doubt about it, the weather is about to change to a brisk snowfall. While some snow never hurt anyone, being on a bridge like this when snow is heavily falling and the visibility is way down can be a bit of an uneasy experience, especially at night.
"I was right, looks like we're gonna get snow. I hope it isn't something that's gonna be super heavy, otherwise I won't be able to see if I'm still on the bridge." he says to himself as he places his paw on his scarf for a second before getting back on all fours and running across once again. He doesn't want to be caught in a sudden burst of heavy snow if it could make things difficult to see for him.
He picks up the pace. The snowflakes softly falling around him is a beautiful sight, and it reminds him of what he used to do when he was younger whenever it snowed outside and accumulated on the ground. He remembers jumping into it and throwing it all around. He remembers flinging a pile of snow at his father who responded with a bigger pile. He remembers having fun and smiling. The last few times they had snow, this didn't happen, and now, it won't ever happen again since he won't be going back.
The end of the Skyarrow Bridge is slowly drawing near and the flakes get blown around in the harsh wind, changing their course and fate forever. Dead ahead is the city that Mint hopes will change his life and fate forever. He's run almost the entire way from his home in Pinwheel Forest and he's gotten very tired and winded. His lungs ache and his muscles want to give in but he's still pushing. His goal is right in front of him and as he reaches the large staircase going down into the checkpoint leading into Castelia City, he looks up at the buildings one last time. He can't see them too well as the snow has started falling at a rate that reduces visibility by a fairly large amount.
It doesn't matter now, he'll be able to look up and see those same buildings once he walks through the checkpoint gate. He doesn't go immediately. He adjusts the scarf around his neck and fixes the fur fluffs on his head and straightens them out so they wrap around properly. He wants to look his best even if nobody in the city's going to notice him. He's a Pokemon that's about to take his first step into a new life, leaving the old one he had behind him forever, but as he walks into the checkpoint gate, he can't shake off a strange feeling that he'll be coming back. He doesn't know why but he does his best to ignore it, the only reason he'd go back is to see his parents, but if and when he does go back, he has no clue that he'll be going back for a completely different reason...
PD: A bit of foreshadowing at the end. I won't say ANYTHING because that's no fun knowing what's gonna happen before we even get close to it. Anyway, Mint's made it all the way here. Is this new place really going to change anything for him? Find out when I seeya in the next chapter!