"Help!"
James grimaced in disbelief as he finally realized why Jesse was so concerned. He watched, knowing that all too soon their lives would change from innocent children to two pickpockets who had to live and work and survive in a world of adults. James looked down from the scene in shame, hiding his eyes in the shadows in which he now would be forced to live in. But this is what you've always wanted, he told himself. This was the world as he thought it should be seen, and how he thought that it must have been seen by millions of other people, showing them to always keep their guards up. James worked himself into an emotional rage, shrouding out the guilt that he was now feeling and bringing him to a place above what had always been seen to him, the place above rules, a place beyond where anyone could catch him. At that moment, he had lost his childish ways and became more of blameworthy human in which all seemed to be made for him.
Jesse reached her hand out, extending each of her fingers, one by one, carefully. She knew that she shouldn't get caught, so long as she did this right. Suddenly, in a burst of speed, she shot her hand out and grabbed the wallet from the person's back pocket of their jeans. The person continued speaking with the person next to him, both unbeknownst of what had just taken place. Calmly, Jesse walked away from the busy marketplace and off down a few different streets.
James shot up, thinking that, even though he had been informed otherwise, he should follow her. There was a big crash as his head smashed into the wooden shelf of the fruit stand, making it shake and threaten to fall for minutes on end, which to James felt like hours. He looked around, now seeing that everyone was looking in that direction, and he felt a sickness in his stomach.
"Hey!" said the stand-keeper, quickly pacing to the other side of his wobbling stand. His accent cut straight through to James, and it made him remember that voice, for all time. "What do you think you doing?!"
James knew that the man was angry, and there was nothing that he could do. He rubbed his head and tried to think of an explanation, with no luck do to the throbbing pain where he had smashed into the wood. "Uh…" he muttered. He tried to speak, but realized that all that he could do was stutter out jibberish, and this made the man's tan skin turn bright red. He knew that he was in for it, but that wasn't really sinking in, for he could only hear a ringing in his ears.
"You think this is funny? Wrecking my whole store like this? Why I aughta-" the man began to step closer and closer to James with the obvious intent to hurt him. Finally something clicked in James's head and he sent his legs a command. RUN!
Off he went, racing past other market shops and in between crowd members and people buying and selling this and that and whatnot, trying to get away from the crazed person who was following him at an alarming rate.
"What's…. this guy's…. problem?" James muttered between pants and gasps for breath as he raced along. "I mean…. I didn't…. didn't try to…. try to steal anything!" James huffed, for he could not take this for much longer. His head was throbbing, his legs were slowly melting away to jelly, and he knew that he was done for if he stopped. He continued on, knowing that it was only a matter of time…
Finally, like a time bomb, James's luck ran out. He stumbled and fell on an empty street with no way for anyone to step in and help him now. The grocer, now a purple color, was closing in on the boy, now in a heap on the ground, with pain in his innocent-looking children's eyes. His vision was slipping. He couldn't remember why he was running, only that he must keep going if he wished to survive. His heart was thumping, his throat dry, and he gasped for breath as he commanded himself to move while his body refused. James braced himself for whatever would come, for this would be a hard, unforgiving life.
The man was now above him, pulling his arm back behind his head, and then shooting it towards the boy at alarming speed, right at the bruise on his head, where the grocer knew that it would hurt most to have such a blow, knowing that the boy may not be able to do anything against the world, ever again. James cringed, watching the man slip in and out of focus, knowing that now he'd need a miracle to get out of this mess. Lately God hadn't been on his side, but maybe that would change when he really needed it, even though he was going against His word.
The arm had nearly descended upon him, almost there, seeming to move faster, and yet slower, then anything else that James had seen in his entire life. James shut his eyes, not knowing what to do. Suddenly he saw a purple blur that resembled a snake coming forward in back of the man.
James opened his lips, wishing to cry out but just couldn't make them speak. He moved them up and down, until he made out just one word in a faint whisper. "Jesse…"
The binding of a small snake's wrap attack crushing him was knocking the next thing that he knew, the grocer back. James sat up with a bit of a struggle, and attempting to stand, looked up into the most welcoming pair of blue eyes that he had yet seen. "Thought you might need a little help." She reached out her hand to him and pulled him up to his feet. "Do it, James!" Jesse instructed.
"Alright, Koffing!" He tossed the pokéball into the air and began giving the attack. "Smokescreen!"
With that, the four of them raced off from the now-clouded area, eager to keep away from the merchant who was still seriously "ticked off."
"What were you thinking, James?" Jesse demanded. "You could have gotten caught!" James looked down at himself with a glare that said 'I did.' She continued on, ignoring the stare that he had given himself. "You could have gotten hurt!" Her face was turning redder and redder as they sat in the Pokémon Center. She paused now to sip away at her Zubat-brand Cola. "You could have been killed, James! I dunno where you came from, but anywhere besides that you have to watch your step!"
James looked at her in disbelief, not once during the event had he thought of his own mortality, but now, he suddenly thought of his life, for Jesse was right. It could have ended that day. He glanced around the center again, looking over the now filling tables, as it became closer and closer to nightfall. He saw the nurse behind the counter, quickly pacing from one reviving machine to the next, checking on everyone's pokémon. He then looked back at Jesse, who was still staring at him.
"You just hafta be careful," she said in a whisper. "Especially if you're gonna help get money."
James thought back to earlier that day, when he had watched his partner steal an innocent person's wallet, and he had justified it, and told himself that it was okay. How can you live like this? James asked himself. You can't keep doing this. Think of what it'll do to everyone who cares for you! Think of your Mom! Your Dad! For God's sakes, James, think of what you'll do to Growly! He had suddenly shocked himself. His parents…they would worry, but they wouldn't be effected too much by what he did, and probably wouldn't care, so long as he was alive. But Growly…he would be taking part in it. He would have to live with whatever James had chosen. He would have to be stripped of his morals. It wasn't right to keep things this way. James couldn't, for Growly's sake.
But he looked up at Jesse, the person who seemed to mean more than anything else in the world, and saw why he had agreed to this in the first place. He stared at her and saw how much she needed him, and even though he didn't want to admit it…how much he needed her. She was unlike anything else to him, but so was Growly. Once again, he was left confused, and completely alone on a way to make a choice.
"James?" A pink-haired nurse held up a tray with three pokéballs on it. She glanced around the room. "James, your pokémon are healed!"
James heard the chair scratch across the floor as he stood up and walked to the counter for his pokémon. Surely I already know that I can't stand Growly suffering, he thought to himself. But I've gotta stay with Jesse…what can I do?
He racked through his brain, deep in thought to try to find the answer to his question. He was so deep in thought that he actually fell over a bench and then right into Nurse Joy as he flipped over the counter God, what wouldn't Brock do for something like that to happen!. He adjusted his balance and stood straight. "Sorry, miss. I didn't mean-"
"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm just glad that you're okay," Joy said, beaming down at him with all of her pinkish features. James couldn't help but to smile back at the woman, who handed him his pokéballs. "I suppose that you'll be staying the night, then."
"Yeah," James replied. "My friend and I and our pokémon."
"Well, would you like to stay in the bunkroom? I think that we can have it open for tonight." She outstretched her arm to show him a closed oak door off to one side of the center. "We should have enough for a bunk for everyone."
"We'd be delighted," James said with a small, barely detectable bow.
Little did they know was that they were being watched by three people in black uniforms with a bright red-and-white letter "R" on their clothes, sitting on a branch outside the open window.
"So that's the one who stole your wallet?" said the first, referring to Jesse.
"Yeah, that's her," shamefully muttered the second.
The third of the trio looked up at the other two. "It looks to me like those two are working together on something." He stretched out a finger at James and tossed his head to refer to Jesse, letting his ear-length brown hair flip with it.
"So, we'll strike tonight then?" The second looked at the others.
"Of course," replied the first. "We'll show them that it ain't nice tah steal other people's things, and only guys like us can!"
{[NEXT SECTION]}
James pulled his pajamas on and climbed onto the lower bunk in the room, watching as Jesse climbed over him up to her bed. He sat and thought, staring at the shiny growlithe that lay at his feet. The creature looked up at his master, trying to see why he seemed so interested in one of Growly's stripes today, the one on his lower back, just above his glistening tail which seemed to let out a glow of all its own.
"What's up, James?" Jesse's hair drooped straight "up" from her head, her blue eyes looking into his green ones, except she was leaning upside-down over the top of the bunk. "It looks like you think that Growly's gonna die, or something."
James just stared blankly into her eyes, showing her that he was thinking deep thoughts beyond what he wanted to share with the world. Finally he spoke up. "Jesse, I'm not sure how to say what I'm thinking…" He looked down at Growly again, whom had his ears cocked in interest. "I don't know. It's nothing. Really, I swear."
Jesse looked at him and could tell that it was definitely more then nothing. She was about to ask him again, but thought better of it. There's a reason that he doesn't want me to know about it. I didn't get everything dragged out of me, did I? Jesse began to pull herself back up to the top bunk, but then shot her head back down in sudden urgency.
"Come on, you can tell me," Jesse looked at him again, and received no luck no matter how many times she tried. Then she gave up and went to sleep. James, whose mind was full of things, was tired but couldn't seem to fall into the paradise of dreams, for his mind was full, and if you've ever tried it, it's the hardest thing to fall asleep with a full head. He glanced over the other bunks, seeing the other children sleeping softly. Eventually he slipped into a shallow light sleep and was soon awakened again, but with everyone in the center.
There was a loud BLAST and in they came, all dressed in the same black garments as before, and smiled with their lips, for it was impossible to tell with their eyes, which were covered in a shadow which hid their faces. The brims of their black caps shined in the little light that was in the center that late at night. A few children were screaming, some crying, some jumping under their beds to hide. Jesse sank under her covers while James just watched in amazement.
"James! You fool! Get DOWN!" Jesse's voice frantically called as she peered between a few broken boards of the bunk. James obeyed as the apparent leader of the three began to speak.
"All right, everyone. You see these?" A man with black hair held up a long, black object. "This is what they do." He fired a gunshot at the ceiling. "Now their's no reason to be scared that you're gonna die-that is, unless you cross us. Now here's what you're gonna do." He looked around the room. "You people are going to do whatever we say, understood?"
Author's Notes: How's that for exciting? Another cliffhanger, yes, but still. I didn't meet my goal and Chapter 10 won't be out until two weeks from now, if ever, unless I can write it at 2 a.m., which I don't care to do. I think that people are losing interest, and that doesn't really give me much inspiration for more chapters/stories, so unless you people review for this chapter and 10 (if and when it comes out) then I'm not gonna continue the series. It's up to you. Think about that. Until ten, and hopefully beyond, I'm blasting off.
PokeMaster
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