"Xavier!" Julianne called. "Xavier, where are you?" She frowned. "Oh, where is that annoyance! Xavier!"
"Don't bother," Avius snickered. "He's gone for good this time. Too much of your pampering."
"I do not pamper him!" Julianne snapped. "You pamper that sheep of yours far more than I do Xavier!"
"Sheep!" Avius shouted. "Javelin is no sheep!"
"He's a sheep! He's white and fuzzy and gentile!"
"Maybe you should take his example then, Julianne!" Avius snapped.
"Take that back!"
"Make me! Make me and prove you're really a brother!"
"Ooh, you brat! Xavier!"
"Javelin!"
"Xavier!"
A wiry ball of white fur rambled up to them, bronze metal brackets bracing its wrists. "Javelin, good boy!" Avius crooned, rubbing the Primape's head. It growled happily. "This is why you have to actually train them, Julianne," he sneered. "Oh, right. You're not allowed."
"Go away, you little spore," Julianne snapped. She pulled her robe around her. "Wretched insect!" She turned, storming off.
"Don't go too far!" Avius called.
"Shut up, you little slime!"
"I'll tell Mother you went off!"
"I'll tell her you called me a boy!"
"I did not!"
"Prove it! I'm going to find Xavier!"
"Mother!"
"Brownie," Julianne muttered, heading into the garden. Xavier was more than likely to be there. "Xavier? Xavier, where are you? Xavier!" No luck. She walked out of the garden, still calling. "Ooh, you pest, where are you? Xavier!" She frowned. "Xavier!" Silence. Julianne bit her lip. "Xavier, where are you? Xavier!"
"Bell...?"
"No, not you, Catcher." She patted the Bellsprout. "Have you seen Xavier? It's getting late; I have to go inside."
"Bell…" Catcher lifted its bell-shaped head, turning it to the evening wind. "Belllll… Bell!" It scampered off on elongated, root-like legs.
"You smell him? Good, Catcher! Thank you!" She hurried to follow. It was hardly a matter of ease: the Bellsprout could sprint through bushes and shrubs she had to bypass thanks to her wretched skirts. Why couldn't girls wear something practical, like boys' trousers! Why were girls trapped in so much cloth?
Why were boys given all the freedoms?! Practical clothes, public schooling, Pokémon trainerships? How come girls were left with the housework, the little children, the boring lives trapped at home?
Girls are no more than Pokémon, Julianne mused soberly. Instead of pokéballs they are trapped in their homes, only to be released when their masters let them. Whether their masters were their fathers, brothers, or husbands, where was the difference? It was up to the women to please their masters just as it was for Pokémon.
Did Pokémon ever resent that as much as she did? she wondered as she pushed her way through a bramble. Did they ever feel trapped in their destiny to serve their master?
"There you are, Xavier!" she crooned happily, pushing a bramble branch aside. "It's time to go in, you silly. Don't make me 'ball you."
"Aaabra?" Xavier whispered sleepily, then yawned. He reached toward her to be picked up.
"Silly boy." Julianne took him under the armpits, wrapping his arms around her neck and letting him wrap his legs around her waist. "You need to find more accessible places to nap."
"Ahhh."
"That's my boy." She rubbed her cheek against his, bringing a soft smile to both their faces. "Don't you ever evolve, Xavier. You can't be mine if you do."
In her grandmother's memory, there was a time when only the wealthiest of women were allowed a Meowth, Eevee, or Jigglypuff. Plant Pokémon found in the gardens of commoners were to be captured by neighborhood boys or professional trainers.
All that changed when girls began keeping the plant Pokémon they found in their gardens in secret. For three generations now, plant Pokémon steadily became a feminine acquisition, earning them, for the first time, the right to have Pokémon.
After all, it kept the Pokémon from causing trouble, didn't it?
Yet progress was slow. Pokémon caught by girls never evolved, as the laws against women battling were extended to the Pokémon they called their own. Those that did evolve, perhaps in a tussle with a wild Pokémon or another Pokémon within the same house, were confiscated, and given to the closest male relation willing to take it.
Battle was not for women: not in war, not with Pokémon. Women were to take care of the family, making a haven for their men from the battles they faced.
"Don't ever evolve, Xavier. Not ever."
"Ab?" Xavier opened his normally sleepy eyes wide. "Abra!"
"What is i-" Julianne's question cut into a startled cry as someone shoved her from behind, knocking her on top of the poor Abra. "Avius, you horrible little-!" Again she was unable to finish, this time as a foot caught underneath her ribs.
Rolling over, she tried to take a breath in to scream, when a hand the texture of rawhide clamped over her mouth too tightly for her to close it. "Shut you mouth so long as I tell ya and it won't get silenced, got me?" an Ekans-like voice hissed. She nodded shakily. Her eyes darted toward Xavier, crushed into the ground where she had fallen on him. Where had Catcher gone? Where was Avius when she needed him?! She was thirty feet from her house! Why wasn't anyone there to help her?
Roughly, the Ekans-voiced man picked her up like a bundle of firewood, lugging her over to a covered cart. What could this be happening to her for? Her father was neither rich, nor into politics; he was nothing more than a common miller. It couldn't be for ransom!
Slave traders, then? A trail of ice ran down her spine. She couldn't be a slave! She was freeborn, fourth child of Julian the Miller!
Ekans-voice handed her off to two more people in the shadows of the cart, one of whom bound her hands painfully behind her, the other who covered the top of her head in a musty cloth. She heard someone click their tongue, but it was not a Ponyta or Rapidash that pulled the cart; the footsteps were a steady, heavy drum rather than the clip of hooves. No wonder she had not heard it there. Probably an evolved Nidoran, or perhaps a Rhydon. Something that was of that size and build. Her cousin's Rhydon walked with such a step.
"Probably best to go to Orange with this one," she heard Ekans-voice mutter. "None's likely to recognize her there. Girls fetch high, too."
"Orange's far," another, their voice more the chatter of a Raticate, pointed out. "S'awful far t'send just a girl. S'not likely she's been far from home 't all. Johto's far enough, neh?"
"Prices higher in Orange. Like new blood out in the islands." The third voice was that of the sections of an Onix grinding together. "Ask fewer questions there."
"Orange is too far!" Raticate insisted. "Too far for one li'l girl. Johto, just over the mounts. That'd be best for it, no questions for a prime like this. Nobody question their luck if she looks a slave by then."
Julianne shuddered. They were slavers, then. Why couldn't she have listened to Avius for once? She choked down a sob: they wouldn't know she was scared. She wouldn't let them know she was even there.
Motionless but for when the cart rocked her, she waited.
She would take any chance to escape.
Get up! Oh, hurry and get up, will you!
A whip slashed at his face. It took some concentration to brush it aside with his muddled thoughts. What…
Men, three by the scent. They have Anne.
Anne? He sat bolt upright, a movement any of his human family would have considered impossible given his usual sluggishness. Where do they have her? he asked Catcher.
The Bellsprout swayed with nervousness, virtually wringing its leaves. At least it had stopped Vine Whipping him. I tried to razor off the wheels but the axels were too thick. Can you find her? Is she too far?
How long has it been?
About an hour. They had a Kangaskhan pulling a cart.
They could be miles from here… He frowned, standing. Teleport might get me to her… but I don't have much practice with it. She's likely out of my range. It'll take some time to catch up.
How can I help?
Try to explain to one of the others… any but that vain fool of a Primape… one of the others the humans understand, what has happened. I'll do what I can.
How can the humans help if they don't know which way she's gone?
If I take you it'll be slower to reach her. This is how you can help, Catcher. Please.
Okay. I'll try.
Thank you.
Be careful, Xavier. Anne'll be counting on you.
I know.
But if I have to take on that Kangaskhan, how will I win without evolving? he worried. A Teleport leap later he was a hundred feet away, standing in the road. The dust had long settled from the path the cart had taken, but the Kangaskhan's footprints were still clear enough to see. Another leap; another hundred feet. And another. And a fourth… no footprints. Backtracking, he found where the cart had gone off to the right of the road, across a stream.
And another leap…
Julianne didn't know how much time had passed before she slipped into a restless sleep. The next she knew, she was being bullied to her feet.
"Up with you!" Raticate snarled viciously. "Don't be dawdling here!" She could just see sunlight through the dun-colored cloth covering her head and half her face. Her stomach was knotted with fear and hunger. How long had she missed? How could she possibly know? "Move on! Move on, now!"
She fumbled for footing on loose rocks. Where were they? Heading to the Islands of the Orange Kingdom? The hills of the Johto Empire? Orange had the greater slave market, but as Raticate had pointed out, Johto was merely a mountain range away, not half an ocean. No one would ever find her in either place: all her relatives had always been true to their Kantoan heritage.
"You have the balls, do you?" she heard Ekans rasp.
"'Course I got the balls," Onix rumbled. "You ain't got no balls, but I got what balls we got."
"Shuddup and get 'em up then! Then the girl."
Balls? Pokémon poachers too, then! What could be more valuable than apricorn-hewn pokéballs containing well-trained or rare Pokémon?
"Should've got more girls this run," Raticate muttered. "One's a sorry market."
"More'n enough balls this run t' break even," Onix said. "Girls' just icing anyways."
"One'll fit good here," Ekans lisped, then rasped with laughter. "More'n 'nough room f'r us t'make 'er slavish-like b'the time we're there."
Julianne bit her lip. How was she to know when she could run when she couldn't see? She twisted her hands, trying to test her bonds, but did nothing more than burn her wrists with the rope tying them.
"Wonder'f she's pertier in daylight," Raticate growled; a finger poked her cheek through the bag.
"Wait'll we're high t'see," Onix rumbled. "When none'll see but us, and care neither." She bit her lip harder to keep from whimpering.
"Yak!" She felt the hand leading her nearly jerk her off her feet as Raticate apparently fell. A chance to escape! But which way to go? She couldn't see the other two!
"What's wrong wi' ya?" Ekans hissed, then laughed raspingly again. "Fabian's tripped himself an Abra! Scrawny l'il Ab. Pick 'im up, Fab; y'look good toge'er."
"Shuddup, Percy!" Raticate (Fabian?) snapped. "Dumb lazy wretch o' a Poke. Get o'r… hey! Hol' still ya rotten Abra!"
Julianne arched her arms, fighting to reach the back of the bag over her head. Could it be Xavier distracting them? The odds of another Abra coming to her rescue was unlikely. Good little Xavier! With a quiet cry of pain she managed to arch her arms just enough to take the lip of the bag in her fingers. Tilting her head back as far as she could, the bag slipped halfway off. It caught painfully on her nose before finally sliding away.
It had to be nearing afternoon; the cart stood idle, the Kangaskhan no where in sight. They had filled a balloon made from mismatched cloths with the smoke and air of a small fire grill. The balloon was tied to the cart as a mismatched hot-air balloon.
To the west were the rugged snow-topped peaks of mountains; far below, an endless-looking expanse of water. Which had the evil men chosen, the Orange Kingdom or Johto Empire? Why had she fallen asleep?!
"Eh, th' girl's gettin' 'way!" Onix-voice shouted. "F'get th' Abra!"
"No where t' run girlie!" Fabian sniggered, pulling a Heavy Ball from the pouch on his belt. "Kangaskhan, go!"
The Heavy Ball cracked open, and with a blaze of white light the great pouched Pokémon solidified from its imprisonment. It was without an infant, but Julianne knew better than to be relieved at that fact. Kangaskhan were fast when they wanted to be. "Xavier, come on!" she screamed. "Run!"
"Xavier?" Percy echoed.
"Danged Abra's hers!" Onix roared. "Get 'er and let's get! It musta followed!"
A sudden weight on her back made Julianne shriek before she realized it was Xavier, appearing piggyback. He gripped her waist with his legs; she could feel his little fingers working at the knots binding her hands. "Good boy, Xavier!" she whispered to him, running as fast as she could. Where could she escape the Kangaskhan? The mountains were out of the question; for speed she ran as fast as she dared down the sharp slope leading toward the water.
Behind her, the Kangaskhan roared as Fabian ordered it to pursue. Between the treacherous slope and the weight of Xavier on her back, how was she to outrun it? "Can you still Teleport, Xavier?" she gasped as her hands came free. His weakened whimper worried her. He must have followed the whole day without rest: he had to be feeling terrible. If he had spent the entire day Teleporting in pursuit, he had to be exhausted both from lack of sleep and from overusing his powers. Poor Xavier! But how else were they to escape?
Julianne screamed as a far greater weight fell upon her shoulders: the Kangaskhan had her! She felt Xavier shift, pushing her away and shoving himself backwards, into the Kangaskhan's arms. "Xavier!" Stumbling, she fell, rolling before coming to a painful stop against a jutting rock.
Under other circumstances, the sight of a Kangaskhan with an Abra in its pouch might have been funny, but now it terrified her. The Kangaskhan slammed a fist down, barely missing as Xavier leaped out. He stumbled for footing, nearly getting stomped in the process. He leapt between the low-slung Pokémon's legs on all fours, rolling before stumbling again to his feet.
"Xavier, get out of there!" Julianne screamed. The two smaller men were fast approaching, Onix-voice still minding the balloon. She pulled herself painfully to her feet, doing her best to ignore the burn of her scrapes and the searing ache in her side. Her robe was all but destroyed, dress torn almost to ribbons, and she felt as if her flesh wasn't much better off than either. Xavier was fast, but he was looking as worn out as she felt. The Kangaskhan was getting closer with each swing. He couldn't keep this up! "Xavier!" She shrieked as the Kangaskhan caught him in the side of his head with its tail, sending him sprawling. "Xavier, no!"
"C'mon, girlie, we don't want no trouble from you," Percy sneered, rubbing his hands together. "You just come along quiet-like and it'll be easier for ya, ya know?"
"Yeah," Fabian laughed. "Real easy."
"Stay away from me!" Julianne cried. What kind of place was this? The only path she could see was almost vertical, no possible way to climb without being caught easily. Between the bottom of the "path" and the ocean was at least a mile of land, making jumping suicide. She didn't want to die! But would it be better than slavery?
"Kangas!" She flinched at the great roar. Xavier…poor Xa-
She wasn't the only one to cry in surprise as the heavy Pokémon slammed into Fabian, sending both tumbling down the steep embankment. "What in the-" Before Percy could finish his question, a pale blue aura surrounded him, lifting him into the air. "Voni, hey Voni, help!"
"What…" Julianne watched in fascinated horror as Percy was sent flying into Onix (Voni?) in the cart. The ties on it broke one by one, allowing the odd-looking balloon to drift upward. The mismatched cloths became dimmer in color, wavering as if in great heat… then blasted outward in a thunderous explosion that made Julianne scream and cover her eyes. The ringing in her ears almost covered the sound of the cart smashing to the rocks barely ten feet from her with the two men inside. One groaned as both tumbled downward, out of sight.
Julianne stayed cowering where she had been standing, her face buried in her hands, her ears ringing with thunder. She shrieked as a hand lightly fell upon her bruised shoulder; swatting at it, she fell sideways. "Get away!" she screamed. "Get away!"
"Ab…?"
"Ge-!" She gasped. "Xavier?!" Her eyes flew open, and she fumbled to regain her feet, ready to tackle the Abra in a loving embrace. "Xavi-eeek! Xavier, no!"
For the first time in her memory, his eyes were fully open. What sorrowful, ashamed eyes they were, heartbreakingly black. His shoulders were hunched with the weight of the world, his ears drooping with sadness.
"Kadabra," he apologized softly, mustache hanging low over his elongated mouth. The star upon his forehead seemed to glimmer dimly, as if with tears of its own.
"Oh, Xavier… Xavier…" He was nearly as tall as she was, now, far too big to pick up and carry. Still, he was easily hugged. "Oh, my poor Xavier…"
"Abra…" He sounded as close to crying as she felt. "Ka… Kadabra…"
"No, Xavier… you saved my life. I-if you hadn't…" Her own words felt hollow, worthless.
Xavier had saved her life.
But he could no longer be hers.
"Oh, Xavier…" she moaned.
It took some time to pull herself together, for it to sink in that staying where she was, was likely dangerous. If Fabian had survived the tumble with his Kangaskhan… or… She risked a peak at the wreckage of the cart. No sign of Voni or Percy, which only added to her unease. All there were, were shattered boards, one intact wheel on its side, a few shreds of cloth, and a couple bulging sacks.
Sacks? The pokéballs! With greatest care, she picked her way through the wreckage, doing her best not to step on any large splinters – after all, she was only in her house slippers, little more than cloth sheaths for her feet. Pushing aside a piece of the cart's floor, she uncovered the two packs.
Wrestling open the drawstring of the smaller, she found not pokéballs, but supplies. Packaged food, some spare clothing, a comb, a couple purses… the thieves' belongings. Shoving it aside, she fought with the knot on the larger until at last it came free.
There had to be a hundred of them! She had never seen so many pokéballs, not at tournaments, not since the great market at the Cerulean Fair. They must be talented thieves, indeed… at least, must have been. What to do with these? There was no way she or Xavier could carry all of these, and she certainly wasn't going to leave them here!
Tentatively, she took a red one off the top. A Level Ball, wasn't it? She wasn't entirely clear on the difference between the types, but was fairly sure she knew most of them by name. "Pokéball… um…" Biting her lip, she touched the button to release the Pokémon inside.
It escaped with a flare of red light and a frightened screech – a common Pidgeotto. "Oh!" Surprised at her success, Julianne dropped the ball. "Oops!" The Pidgeotto fluttered to a landing, looking at her suspiciously. "Um… you're free. You were stolen from your master, but you can go home now." She pointed to the pokéball.
The Pidgeotto looked at the red ball at her feet, cocking its head slightly to the side. After a moment, it seemed to understand. Looking about, it seemed to judge where it was, then, flapping twice, lifted from the ground. It swooped toward Julianne, making her cringe away as it snatched the red ball in its talons and flew away. "Good luck!" she called after it, waving. If it noticed, it gave no sign.
It took a great deal of time, but at last the pile diminished. She still had close to forty balls, of those that were empty and those which the Pokémon couldn't carry themselves. At last, at long last, it was only her, Xavier, and two others.
One was a little four-tailed Vulpix, so tiny it was astonishing it should be away from its mother, much less in a Level Ball. It mewled and whimpered at Xavier's feet. The other, a sleepy Shellder, showed no interest in leaving. It stuck its tongue out at Julianne around a lazy smile. "Aren't you sweet," she muttered. It sniggered.
Julianne sighed, looking down at herself. "I can't go around like this," she muttered. Her dress was in tatters, her undergarments more than just a little visible, if not torn themselves. Steeling herself, she dug through the bag of supplies.
Voni's clothes were far too big for her, and Percy had been too fat, but ones she assumed to be Fabian's did not make for too bad of a fit. The tight-cuffed blouse was loose over her torso; she had to stuff the pantlegs into the too-long boots so not to trip on them. She used a handkerchief to tie her hair back in a low tail. She frowned at herself: though dressed as a boy, the loose blouse was not loose enough to hide the fact she wasn't. She was certain to run into trouble if someone knew what she was, no matter what the truth of the matter was. Digging deeper, she came across a sleeveless doublet that seemed suitable. While unnecessarily long, it would render her torso shapeless.
"Okay…" Practically, she tied the lighter of the purses to the belt that had fit her, putting the other beneath the doublet. With some unease she slipped a short dagger onto her belt as well. "Now for you three." She gave the Vulpix a gentle pet. "I'll do my best to get you and Shellder to where you belong, I promise." It whined appreciatively, rubbing its nose in her palm. "For now, back in you go." Obediently, it went back into the Level Ball. The Shellder gave her a dull look as she returned it to the Lure Ball it had come from. "Now… Xavier…" He looked at her with those disheartened black eyes. "Don't worry, Xavier, we'll work something out." She picked up one of the empty Fast Balls. "For now… it's probably best you get in here. It isn't yours, I know, but it'd draw attention if you followed me around. You're too tired to teleport us down; I'll climb off this place. At least I'm dressed for it."
"Kab-!"
"No arguments. Evolved or no evolved, right now you're still my Pokémon. Pokéball, go!" She tossed it at him; as she expected, he went in with no more than a worried look at her. The three balls she put into an empty purse she slid onto her belt as well. Frowning a bit, she emptied the smaller of the sacks, returning to it some of the dried rations, a water canteen, and, as an afterthought, a dozen of the pokéballs remaining on the ground. Tying the ropes around her waist, she headed for the steep embankment, on the opposite side which the thieves had fallen.
"Jules," she told herself, looking down for handholds. "Until I get home, I'm Jules."