Warning: A potentially violent chapter. Probably not for the weak of
stomach.
-----
The Gastly looked from trainer to trainer, as if it had just woke up, and let out a yawn of boredom. "Gast."
Eric's Pokedex was quickly retrieved from his pocket, pointing it at the purplish form hovering infront of them. ~"Gastly, a Gas Pokemon. This Pokemon can float through most any wall to reach whatever it desires on the other side. Its Lick attack can paralyze, and is an attack to watch out for."~ A few buttons were pressed. Vital stats for Gastly popped up onto the small screen, as a fake picture of a Gastly floated around in the background, next to an average sized person.
[Name: Gastly]
[Type: Ghost/Poison]
[Weight: 0.5 lbs.]
[Height: 8 inches]
[Trainer Tips: The Gastly is an elusive Pokemon, usually only found where mass amounts of Pokemon pass away, but some Gastly have been known to leave their graveyards at night, or to cause trouble.]
"Perfect. Poison is weak against.." Eric thought for a moment, trying to recall. "Ground, Rock, Psychic.. Aha!"
The tell-tale Pokeball was produced from his pocket, enlarged, and thrown to the ground. In a beam of red light, the Pokemon inside formed into a lazy, pinkish form.. Slowpoke. The Gastly's eyes opened in amusement, and it grinned, floating around the slow Pokemon.
"Slowpoke, you know the drill! Confusion!" the determined trainer commanded his Pokemon. Slowpoke turned towards the Gastly, and took a deep breath, before firing a small stream of water right into the Gastly's face. As if the tower had swayed, both Eugene and Mistral fell onto their sides with a sickening *THUD!*. "You guys okay?"
The Gastly looked a bit dazed, but a glint in its eyes showed that it was using its Hypnosis move in retaliation. The Slowpoke let out a yawn, but didn't seem to be phased by the hypnotism. The Gastly moved in, tongue out, to give the Slowpoke a good lick.
"Don't let it lick you, Slowpoke. Just use CONFUSION this time!" Eric commanded the Pokemon again. It turned a bit towards the Gastly again, and glowed in an array of colors. Slurp! The Gastly let out a howl of delight, as the intended Lick attack hit the opponant. Much to the surprise of the ghost, the attack didn't seem to have much of an effect on a Pokemon that takes a few minutes to even feel pain, and without much warning, was slammed with the deadly Confusion attack. It began to float around in circles, looking positively confused.
A free Pokeball was produced from Eric's pocket, and enlarged, "Hope this works..". With a flick of his wrist, the Pokeball flew towards its intended target.. and missed, as the Gastly took a dive to the floor in its confusion. WHAM! Eric had forgotten Li was even watching the battle, and, as it looked, Li was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lying on his side, he twitched involuntarily, the Pokeball rolling to the floor from the indent it had left in his head.
"Ah, er.. sorry 'bout that," Eric grinned sheepishly, hopping over the Gastly to reach his Pokeball. "Let's try again." With another grunt of effort, the Pokeball was flung again.. and it hit its mark. The Gastly let out a howl of surprise, before disappearing into the Pokeball in a beam of red light. The ball hit the wood floor with a clatter, and shook momentarily. A 'ding' resounded through the relatively quiet room, finalizing the capturing process. The Gastly was now his to keep.
Li made his way up from the floor, clapping his hands, looking dazed from the hit he had taken in the head. "Well, you suffered a few hardships, but I think you'll do quite well against Falkner, now."
"Thanks," Eric replied, glancing back at the other two trainers. "Now, we'll be on our way.."
"Not so fast," Li smiled, sitting down. "Let us meditate, so that our minds will be clear of distraction before your first Gym battle."
Mistral leaned towards Eugene, and nudged him in the side gently. "It'll take alot of meditating to clear HIS head.."
Eugene gave a snicker, sitting down.
-----
"That had to be the most pointless ordeal in my life. How long were we in there?" Eric asked, as he closed the door to Sprout Tower when the other two had passed the door. The door was summarily locked, as the day was beginning to come to a close. "5 minutes."
"Seemed like an hour. Now, let's head for the Gym.."
"Well, not so fast, Eric," Eugene said, folding his arms across his chest in the usual way he does when he's got attention on him. "Your Gastly is injured and confused, as is your Slowpoke. If you want to beat Falkner with such weak Pokemon, you'll need--"
Eric punched him in the shoulder, looking aggrevated. "They are NOT weak."
Eugene's own fist dug into the top of Eric's skull, causing him to fall over, rubbing his head. "I'm not finished yet. We can go to the Pokemon Center, have them do a last minute heal, return to the Gym, and battle Falkner."
Still rubbing his head, Eric lifted himself from the ground. Again, Mistral had made herself as scarce as possible.. when the two male trainers talked, it was generally interesting. And, besides, Eugene wasn't afraid to knock the shorter trainer around. "Yeah. I suppose so."
-----
The Pokemon Center's doors swooshed open, allowing them into the air conditioned building. The building was half-full with trainers using the center to stay the night, all talking about the Pokemon they had caught, and the battles they had won. Eric longed to join them, to brag with the braggers, but he was reminded about his current status when he was elbowed in the back by Mistral. The Pidgeotto sitting on his shoulder ruffled its feathers, as if annoyed. "Ow. Alright, okay. I'm going."
"Welcome to the Pokemon Center. Will you be spending the night with us?" Nurse Joy smiled, as the three trainers approached her desk, Pokeballs in hand. "Can you put these away for the night, and heal them whenever you find the time?" Mistral asked, smiling, handing over four Pokeballs. Eugene quickly scooped out his own Pokeballs, putting them into a seperate box from Mistral's.
"W-wait, no-one said anything about spending the night here! I wanted to challenge Falkner!" Eric muttered, looking out the window. The sun had only just lowered beneath the horizon, and the trainers seemed to be talking about the sunset for a moment, before returning to the never-dying topic of Pokemon. A Volbeat, tail illuminated, buzzed past the window, and into the nearby trees. The trainers around had stopped their conversation once more, to discuss the fact there were rare Volbeat about.
"There's not much of a choice, Eric. The Gym's closed now, anyways," Mistral informed him, and, looking defeated, Eric deposited his Pokeballs onto the tray, but not before recalling his Pidgeotto. The Nurse Joy stacked the boxes atop each other, smiled at them, and retreated into a back room. A Chansey, dressed with an apron with a large red cross on it, shuffled around with a tray of hot cocoa and various snacks for the trainers. Shutters slowly closed themselves over the windows, as the three trainers took a seat. Eric glanced over to his right, at Mistral, then more still, at Eugene, who had chosen a chair a seat away from Mistral. A glance to his left revealed a brown haired trainer, who chatted with a friend about the recent Volbeat appearance.
"Can you believe it? Volbeat.. here! They're incredibly rare. I hear you can only find them in Hoenn. I bet Professor Elm released some Volbeat and Illumise to see if they'd adept to this environment," the trainer suggested in an excited, but theoretical tone. Eric leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes, trying to drown out the excited mutters of the other trainers.
The world soon went dark, as he slipped off into sleep.
-----
"Aha! Look at what I caught! A shiny Vulpix!" a dark form cackled, arching his back a bit, as if his body couldn't handle the laughing any other way. "We finally have the key!"
Eric seemed so distant. He couldn't make out anything around him, though, if they were buildings, they were certainly much further apart than normal, suggesting that he was in a large city. He could see Kazin, clutched in the arms of the tall, dark form. The Vulpix had a sad look in his eyes.
"Huh?" Eric blinked, confused. Eitherway, he had to help Kazin. He couldn't just let that person whisk him away.. couldn't let his first, though temporary, Pokemon get killed for that sadistic person's own gains. He ran towards the dark form, but before he could reach Kazin, an Onix appeared in his path in a bright flash of light. It let out a growl, and laid out flat, so Eric couldn't get by. "Get outta my way! Mankey, go!"
Eric threw the Pokeball, and it hit the ground, opening. Instead of a Mankey, however, a Goldeen appeared from the ball, flopping around uselessly. "I.. wha.. Kazin! Use a fire attack!"
"Goldeen!" the fish cried, before disappearing underneath the tail of the large Onix. Blood splattered in every direction, and into the young trainers eyes, causing him to fall over, clutching at his eyes. It was like the blood was some kind of acid. It felt like his eyes were being eaten away.. as he opened his eyes, the world was coming out of focus, and disappearing in chunks. The Onix turned towards him, and lowered its head to look straight at Eric.
"Onix.. Kill him," the dark form commanded, letting out a soft chuckle. The Onix reared back its head slowly, and dropped it towards the trainer below him, ready to crush him.
"NO! KAZIN!"
------
"KAZIN!" Eric yelled, lurching forward in his chair. He gasped slightly, having woken out of breath, and covered in a cold sweat. All the trainers had long gone to sleep, and the lobby was dark. The clock on the wall shone brightly, revealing the time. "9 after three," he muttered, bringing up the blanket that had been left over him to wipe the sweat off his face. He slowly made his way to a stand, looking around. One light had been left on near the hallway that connected the lobby to the back rooms, where the Pokemon were treated. He'd have to find the Chansey that helped to get a glass of warm milk to help him get back to sleep.
With a bit of effort, so as not to step on the trainers unfortunate enough to have to sleep on the floor, and not in a comfortable chair (a few were even sleeping on a table), and moved towards the hallway. A computer had been left on, letting out a chime that only someone of Eric's proximity would hear it. He stopped, glancing from the hallway, to the computer. Curiousity gripped at him.. he wanted to get back to sleep, but the computer seemed much more tempting. What kind of trouble could he get himself into by sneaking into business that might not even concern him?
He was already in trouble already, which fueled his curiousity further. Finally, giving in, he moved over to the computer. The words, 'Security Breach' flashed on the computer. Eric's heart began beating heavily, as he moved the mouse to click on the symbol. A small window, obviously live feed from the security cameras set up in the room where the Pokeballs were kept, appeared on the screen. In the corner, Nurse Joy had been tied up, and it looked as though the Chansey was already knocked out.
"W-what.. damn.. who the hell..?" Eric muttered, his heart nearly pounding out of his chest now. His panic was mounting.. several Pokeballs were missing from the racks, and Nurse Joy didn't seem to be concious either. His questions were soon answered, however, as five people filed back into the room, looking over the Pokeballs.
They all wore red garments, flamboyant clothing that suggested some kind of cult following. As if by instinct, Eric brought his hand to his pocket.. he didn't have any Pokemon with him. "Damn! I left them all with Nurse Joy.."
There was only one thing to do. Fight them. Hopefully, his charges would be lifted if he helped out. He took a few moments to prepare himself, before slowly creeping away from the computer towards the hallway. It was brightly lit, allowing him to see where he was going. A junction soon followed, and no signs lead the way anywhere. He peeked around the left corner, then the right.
"I hate guard duty," a voice called out. Eric duck back behind the wall, just as one of the flamboyant burglers turned the corner down the hall he had been looking, followed closely by a second, though, it was a female. "Well, think of it this way. We're both grunts, and, it also gives us time to get closer to each other." There was a hint of seduction to her voice. The sound of cloth pressing against the wall made Eric glance around the corner. The male grunt had pressed the female to the wall, allowing their lips to lock in a passionate kiss. This made things alot easier. He dug into his backpack.. but with a lack of anything hard, he'd have a hard time knocking the two out.
He opened a nearby door, and slinked into it, turning on a light. The room was covered in boxes.. desperate, he picked a nearby one, and ripped it open with his bear hands. Potions, Super Potions, and Hyper Potions were all accumulated in one neat stack in the box. "This doesen't help any, dammit." A second box was torn open. Full Heals, Full Restores, and boxes inside boxes of Lemonades and Soda Pop. "This is a supply room.. There's gotta be something useful here."
He pulled out a third box, opening it like he had the other two. "Finally!" The box was full of tool boxes. He quickly opened the nearest one, and looked through it. "Hammer, screwdriver, nails.. hmm.. aha! This'll work!" A mallet was produced from the toolbox. Eric checked it to make sure it was the hard kind, and moved towards the door, leaving the supply room behind.
"Did you hear something?" the female grunt inquired, glancing around slowly. She sounded out of breath, being deprived of air from having been kissed for so long. Her top was off, and the male grunt resorted to kissing her neck in order to enjoy himself. "Nah. Probably just the others moving boxes. They have tons of healing stuff here."
The female shrugged, and, to Eric's relief, turned back to the kissing. He waited until their eyes were closed, before moving slowly over to the grunts, mallet raised. He got within swinging distance, and aimed for the head of the male.. CLONK! Even though it wasn't a heavy swing, it was enough to knock out the grunt. The female opened her eyes, looking down at the male in shock. "Tim? Tim?" The female glanced over at Eric, her eyes filling with terror. Her eyes seemed to bore into his.. he wasn't quite sure it was the fact he was watching her while she was half-naked, or the fact that he had a mallet in hand, intent on knocking her out. Before he could do anything, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she fainted, hitting the ground with a thump.
"Well, that was easy." Eric stooped over, trying not to become distracted, as he pulled two Pokeballs (one from each) of the two grunts. Though he had no idea what kind of Pokemon were inside, he was sure they wouldn't be incompetent if a group of burglers were running the show. He slinked down the hall, following the muttering of voices, and the sound of boxes as they were lifted. "Hurry up with that one, grunt. That's an order. Double time," a voice instructed, commanding obedience. Perhaps the leader.
Recklessly, Eric turned down the hall, where the red burglers were preparing to wheel a small cart down the hall. The boxes, he supposed, were loaded with the Pokeballs they had stolen. "Hey. Look. It's some kid. I thought you said you put sleep powder into that cocoa," the more dressed red person spoke. He recognized the voice.. it was the person who had been giving the orders. "I did. I dunno if this kid drank any or not!"
Mistral and Eugene had both accepted a cup, as Eric remembered, but he had turned down the offer, as he wasn't thirsty. The Chansey looked disappointed that he wouldn't take any, but had walked off, towards other trainers who were waiting for their turn. "Well, it doesen't matter. We're just gonna have to get him outta the way."
WHAM! Eric was quick to throw the Pokeball in his right hand. It smacked hard against the higher ranking person's head, who promptly fell over, coughing up blood. In a flash of red light, a Pokemon appeared from its Pokeball.. a Magmar. It stretched a bit, as if it hadn't been out of its ball for a while, and looked towards Eric.
Eric had no time to use his Pokedex. Precious seconds were passing, and the other members were quickly reaching for their Pokeballs. "Magmar, use a fire attack!"
The Magmar gave him an odd look, turned towards the three people, and began to let out a stream of fire. It took a few streams, but soon, all three of them were on fire, rolling all over each other to get put out. Their screams filled the halls, but he didn't pay attention. Eric dropped his mallet, and the other Pokeball in his left hand, and walked past the cart, into the other room. No-one was inside, but the Chansey, and Nurse Joy. However, Joy had long since come around, and witnessed the fire taking down the human trainers. Her eyes were wide with fear, much like the female grunt from before, as Eric approached her. He knelt over, and untied her bonds with a bit of trouble. Joy took off the tape from her mouth.
"You okay?" Eric asked, standing as Nurse Joy made a wobbily stand. "Y- yeah. I'm fine," Nurse Joy studdered, looking positively shaken. "They've p- probably already loaded the other Pokemon into t-the truck they c-came in here in. Y-you should hurry and catch them."
Eric nodded. "Can you find my Pokemon? Or..?"
"I c-couldn't find them now w-without a good ten minutes. Use that M-magmar and get them, okay?" Nurse Joy moved to a sitting position, putting a hand to her head. Eric nodded, and moved out into the hallway. The three grunts, except for the higher ranked one, weren't breathing. Eric couldn't tell if their chests were moving or not.. it seemed as though the fire had taken its toll, and had burned them to their deaths. There would be no more mercy tonight.
"Magmar. C'mon. We got one more thing to do."
The Magmar hopped over the potentially dead bodies, confused about the situation, and chased after Eric as he made his way out the back. "What the?! Get outta here, quick! We got most of them. Let's go!" A higher ranking officer realized the severity of the situation, and leapt into the passenger seat.
"Magmar! Use that Flamethrower attack on them again!" Eric pointed at the truck. The Magmar nodded, and hopped forward, using the same attack he had used on the others. The truck began to speed off, but, as the flames hit the truck, the tire popped, and the sudden shift of weight caused the truck to tip over onto its side. It skidded for a few meters, then stopped. Eric ran over to the truck, and opened the door, being careful, as the latch was super-heated from the Magmar's fire attack.
Inside, two grunts were slumped against the truck, bleeding profusely from the head. One seemed to have a broken arm, and a bit of blood was trickling down from where one grunts head had impacted with the wall of the truck. However, several boxes were still inside, and Pokeballs were all over the truck from a box that had opened when the truck had tipped onto its side.
Eric slowly moved to a sit, lowering his head slowly. He had resulted to drastic measures to stop petty criminals.. if he had his own Pokemon, there might not have been any casualties. This realization sunk in quickly, and the young trainer rested his head in his hands, closing his eyes. He hadn't even given them a chance to defend themselves with their own Pokemon. He had run through, and slaughtered them.. he was a murderer. He had burned them all to death.. or otherwise.
"What have I done....?"
-------
End Chapter 5
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The Gastly looked from trainer to trainer, as if it had just woke up, and let out a yawn of boredom. "Gast."
Eric's Pokedex was quickly retrieved from his pocket, pointing it at the purplish form hovering infront of them. ~"Gastly, a Gas Pokemon. This Pokemon can float through most any wall to reach whatever it desires on the other side. Its Lick attack can paralyze, and is an attack to watch out for."~ A few buttons were pressed. Vital stats for Gastly popped up onto the small screen, as a fake picture of a Gastly floated around in the background, next to an average sized person.
[Name: Gastly]
[Type: Ghost/Poison]
[Weight: 0.5 lbs.]
[Height: 8 inches]
[Trainer Tips: The Gastly is an elusive Pokemon, usually only found where mass amounts of Pokemon pass away, but some Gastly have been known to leave their graveyards at night, or to cause trouble.]
"Perfect. Poison is weak against.." Eric thought for a moment, trying to recall. "Ground, Rock, Psychic.. Aha!"
The tell-tale Pokeball was produced from his pocket, enlarged, and thrown to the ground. In a beam of red light, the Pokemon inside formed into a lazy, pinkish form.. Slowpoke. The Gastly's eyes opened in amusement, and it grinned, floating around the slow Pokemon.
"Slowpoke, you know the drill! Confusion!" the determined trainer commanded his Pokemon. Slowpoke turned towards the Gastly, and took a deep breath, before firing a small stream of water right into the Gastly's face. As if the tower had swayed, both Eugene and Mistral fell onto their sides with a sickening *THUD!*. "You guys okay?"
The Gastly looked a bit dazed, but a glint in its eyes showed that it was using its Hypnosis move in retaliation. The Slowpoke let out a yawn, but didn't seem to be phased by the hypnotism. The Gastly moved in, tongue out, to give the Slowpoke a good lick.
"Don't let it lick you, Slowpoke. Just use CONFUSION this time!" Eric commanded the Pokemon again. It turned a bit towards the Gastly again, and glowed in an array of colors. Slurp! The Gastly let out a howl of delight, as the intended Lick attack hit the opponant. Much to the surprise of the ghost, the attack didn't seem to have much of an effect on a Pokemon that takes a few minutes to even feel pain, and without much warning, was slammed with the deadly Confusion attack. It began to float around in circles, looking positively confused.
A free Pokeball was produced from Eric's pocket, and enlarged, "Hope this works..". With a flick of his wrist, the Pokeball flew towards its intended target.. and missed, as the Gastly took a dive to the floor in its confusion. WHAM! Eric had forgotten Li was even watching the battle, and, as it looked, Li was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Lying on his side, he twitched involuntarily, the Pokeball rolling to the floor from the indent it had left in his head.
"Ah, er.. sorry 'bout that," Eric grinned sheepishly, hopping over the Gastly to reach his Pokeball. "Let's try again." With another grunt of effort, the Pokeball was flung again.. and it hit its mark. The Gastly let out a howl of surprise, before disappearing into the Pokeball in a beam of red light. The ball hit the wood floor with a clatter, and shook momentarily. A 'ding' resounded through the relatively quiet room, finalizing the capturing process. The Gastly was now his to keep.
Li made his way up from the floor, clapping his hands, looking dazed from the hit he had taken in the head. "Well, you suffered a few hardships, but I think you'll do quite well against Falkner, now."
"Thanks," Eric replied, glancing back at the other two trainers. "Now, we'll be on our way.."
"Not so fast," Li smiled, sitting down. "Let us meditate, so that our minds will be clear of distraction before your first Gym battle."
Mistral leaned towards Eugene, and nudged him in the side gently. "It'll take alot of meditating to clear HIS head.."
Eugene gave a snicker, sitting down.
-----
"That had to be the most pointless ordeal in my life. How long were we in there?" Eric asked, as he closed the door to Sprout Tower when the other two had passed the door. The door was summarily locked, as the day was beginning to come to a close. "5 minutes."
"Seemed like an hour. Now, let's head for the Gym.."
"Well, not so fast, Eric," Eugene said, folding his arms across his chest in the usual way he does when he's got attention on him. "Your Gastly is injured and confused, as is your Slowpoke. If you want to beat Falkner with such weak Pokemon, you'll need--"
Eric punched him in the shoulder, looking aggrevated. "They are NOT weak."
Eugene's own fist dug into the top of Eric's skull, causing him to fall over, rubbing his head. "I'm not finished yet. We can go to the Pokemon Center, have them do a last minute heal, return to the Gym, and battle Falkner."
Still rubbing his head, Eric lifted himself from the ground. Again, Mistral had made herself as scarce as possible.. when the two male trainers talked, it was generally interesting. And, besides, Eugene wasn't afraid to knock the shorter trainer around. "Yeah. I suppose so."
-----
The Pokemon Center's doors swooshed open, allowing them into the air conditioned building. The building was half-full with trainers using the center to stay the night, all talking about the Pokemon they had caught, and the battles they had won. Eric longed to join them, to brag with the braggers, but he was reminded about his current status when he was elbowed in the back by Mistral. The Pidgeotto sitting on his shoulder ruffled its feathers, as if annoyed. "Ow. Alright, okay. I'm going."
"Welcome to the Pokemon Center. Will you be spending the night with us?" Nurse Joy smiled, as the three trainers approached her desk, Pokeballs in hand. "Can you put these away for the night, and heal them whenever you find the time?" Mistral asked, smiling, handing over four Pokeballs. Eugene quickly scooped out his own Pokeballs, putting them into a seperate box from Mistral's.
"W-wait, no-one said anything about spending the night here! I wanted to challenge Falkner!" Eric muttered, looking out the window. The sun had only just lowered beneath the horizon, and the trainers seemed to be talking about the sunset for a moment, before returning to the never-dying topic of Pokemon. A Volbeat, tail illuminated, buzzed past the window, and into the nearby trees. The trainers around had stopped their conversation once more, to discuss the fact there were rare Volbeat about.
"There's not much of a choice, Eric. The Gym's closed now, anyways," Mistral informed him, and, looking defeated, Eric deposited his Pokeballs onto the tray, but not before recalling his Pidgeotto. The Nurse Joy stacked the boxes atop each other, smiled at them, and retreated into a back room. A Chansey, dressed with an apron with a large red cross on it, shuffled around with a tray of hot cocoa and various snacks for the trainers. Shutters slowly closed themselves over the windows, as the three trainers took a seat. Eric glanced over to his right, at Mistral, then more still, at Eugene, who had chosen a chair a seat away from Mistral. A glance to his left revealed a brown haired trainer, who chatted with a friend about the recent Volbeat appearance.
"Can you believe it? Volbeat.. here! They're incredibly rare. I hear you can only find them in Hoenn. I bet Professor Elm released some Volbeat and Illumise to see if they'd adept to this environment," the trainer suggested in an excited, but theoretical tone. Eric leaned back in his chair, closing his eyes, trying to drown out the excited mutters of the other trainers.
The world soon went dark, as he slipped off into sleep.
-----
"Aha! Look at what I caught! A shiny Vulpix!" a dark form cackled, arching his back a bit, as if his body couldn't handle the laughing any other way. "We finally have the key!"
Eric seemed so distant. He couldn't make out anything around him, though, if they were buildings, they were certainly much further apart than normal, suggesting that he was in a large city. He could see Kazin, clutched in the arms of the tall, dark form. The Vulpix had a sad look in his eyes.
"Huh?" Eric blinked, confused. Eitherway, he had to help Kazin. He couldn't just let that person whisk him away.. couldn't let his first, though temporary, Pokemon get killed for that sadistic person's own gains. He ran towards the dark form, but before he could reach Kazin, an Onix appeared in his path in a bright flash of light. It let out a growl, and laid out flat, so Eric couldn't get by. "Get outta my way! Mankey, go!"
Eric threw the Pokeball, and it hit the ground, opening. Instead of a Mankey, however, a Goldeen appeared from the ball, flopping around uselessly. "I.. wha.. Kazin! Use a fire attack!"
"Goldeen!" the fish cried, before disappearing underneath the tail of the large Onix. Blood splattered in every direction, and into the young trainers eyes, causing him to fall over, clutching at his eyes. It was like the blood was some kind of acid. It felt like his eyes were being eaten away.. as he opened his eyes, the world was coming out of focus, and disappearing in chunks. The Onix turned towards him, and lowered its head to look straight at Eric.
"Onix.. Kill him," the dark form commanded, letting out a soft chuckle. The Onix reared back its head slowly, and dropped it towards the trainer below him, ready to crush him.
"NO! KAZIN!"
------
"KAZIN!" Eric yelled, lurching forward in his chair. He gasped slightly, having woken out of breath, and covered in a cold sweat. All the trainers had long gone to sleep, and the lobby was dark. The clock on the wall shone brightly, revealing the time. "9 after three," he muttered, bringing up the blanket that had been left over him to wipe the sweat off his face. He slowly made his way to a stand, looking around. One light had been left on near the hallway that connected the lobby to the back rooms, where the Pokemon were treated. He'd have to find the Chansey that helped to get a glass of warm milk to help him get back to sleep.
With a bit of effort, so as not to step on the trainers unfortunate enough to have to sleep on the floor, and not in a comfortable chair (a few were even sleeping on a table), and moved towards the hallway. A computer had been left on, letting out a chime that only someone of Eric's proximity would hear it. He stopped, glancing from the hallway, to the computer. Curiousity gripped at him.. he wanted to get back to sleep, but the computer seemed much more tempting. What kind of trouble could he get himself into by sneaking into business that might not even concern him?
He was already in trouble already, which fueled his curiousity further. Finally, giving in, he moved over to the computer. The words, 'Security Breach' flashed on the computer. Eric's heart began beating heavily, as he moved the mouse to click on the symbol. A small window, obviously live feed from the security cameras set up in the room where the Pokeballs were kept, appeared on the screen. In the corner, Nurse Joy had been tied up, and it looked as though the Chansey was already knocked out.
"W-what.. damn.. who the hell..?" Eric muttered, his heart nearly pounding out of his chest now. His panic was mounting.. several Pokeballs were missing from the racks, and Nurse Joy didn't seem to be concious either. His questions were soon answered, however, as five people filed back into the room, looking over the Pokeballs.
They all wore red garments, flamboyant clothing that suggested some kind of cult following. As if by instinct, Eric brought his hand to his pocket.. he didn't have any Pokemon with him. "Damn! I left them all with Nurse Joy.."
There was only one thing to do. Fight them. Hopefully, his charges would be lifted if he helped out. He took a few moments to prepare himself, before slowly creeping away from the computer towards the hallway. It was brightly lit, allowing him to see where he was going. A junction soon followed, and no signs lead the way anywhere. He peeked around the left corner, then the right.
"I hate guard duty," a voice called out. Eric duck back behind the wall, just as one of the flamboyant burglers turned the corner down the hall he had been looking, followed closely by a second, though, it was a female. "Well, think of it this way. We're both grunts, and, it also gives us time to get closer to each other." There was a hint of seduction to her voice. The sound of cloth pressing against the wall made Eric glance around the corner. The male grunt had pressed the female to the wall, allowing their lips to lock in a passionate kiss. This made things alot easier. He dug into his backpack.. but with a lack of anything hard, he'd have a hard time knocking the two out.
He opened a nearby door, and slinked into it, turning on a light. The room was covered in boxes.. desperate, he picked a nearby one, and ripped it open with his bear hands. Potions, Super Potions, and Hyper Potions were all accumulated in one neat stack in the box. "This doesen't help any, dammit." A second box was torn open. Full Heals, Full Restores, and boxes inside boxes of Lemonades and Soda Pop. "This is a supply room.. There's gotta be something useful here."
He pulled out a third box, opening it like he had the other two. "Finally!" The box was full of tool boxes. He quickly opened the nearest one, and looked through it. "Hammer, screwdriver, nails.. hmm.. aha! This'll work!" A mallet was produced from the toolbox. Eric checked it to make sure it was the hard kind, and moved towards the door, leaving the supply room behind.
"Did you hear something?" the female grunt inquired, glancing around slowly. She sounded out of breath, being deprived of air from having been kissed for so long. Her top was off, and the male grunt resorted to kissing her neck in order to enjoy himself. "Nah. Probably just the others moving boxes. They have tons of healing stuff here."
The female shrugged, and, to Eric's relief, turned back to the kissing. He waited until their eyes were closed, before moving slowly over to the grunts, mallet raised. He got within swinging distance, and aimed for the head of the male.. CLONK! Even though it wasn't a heavy swing, it was enough to knock out the grunt. The female opened her eyes, looking down at the male in shock. "Tim? Tim?" The female glanced over at Eric, her eyes filling with terror. Her eyes seemed to bore into his.. he wasn't quite sure it was the fact he was watching her while she was half-naked, or the fact that he had a mallet in hand, intent on knocking her out. Before he could do anything, her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she fainted, hitting the ground with a thump.
"Well, that was easy." Eric stooped over, trying not to become distracted, as he pulled two Pokeballs (one from each) of the two grunts. Though he had no idea what kind of Pokemon were inside, he was sure they wouldn't be incompetent if a group of burglers were running the show. He slinked down the hall, following the muttering of voices, and the sound of boxes as they were lifted. "Hurry up with that one, grunt. That's an order. Double time," a voice instructed, commanding obedience. Perhaps the leader.
Recklessly, Eric turned down the hall, where the red burglers were preparing to wheel a small cart down the hall. The boxes, he supposed, were loaded with the Pokeballs they had stolen. "Hey. Look. It's some kid. I thought you said you put sleep powder into that cocoa," the more dressed red person spoke. He recognized the voice.. it was the person who had been giving the orders. "I did. I dunno if this kid drank any or not!"
Mistral and Eugene had both accepted a cup, as Eric remembered, but he had turned down the offer, as he wasn't thirsty. The Chansey looked disappointed that he wouldn't take any, but had walked off, towards other trainers who were waiting for their turn. "Well, it doesen't matter. We're just gonna have to get him outta the way."
WHAM! Eric was quick to throw the Pokeball in his right hand. It smacked hard against the higher ranking person's head, who promptly fell over, coughing up blood. In a flash of red light, a Pokemon appeared from its Pokeball.. a Magmar. It stretched a bit, as if it hadn't been out of its ball for a while, and looked towards Eric.
Eric had no time to use his Pokedex. Precious seconds were passing, and the other members were quickly reaching for their Pokeballs. "Magmar, use a fire attack!"
The Magmar gave him an odd look, turned towards the three people, and began to let out a stream of fire. It took a few streams, but soon, all three of them were on fire, rolling all over each other to get put out. Their screams filled the halls, but he didn't pay attention. Eric dropped his mallet, and the other Pokeball in his left hand, and walked past the cart, into the other room. No-one was inside, but the Chansey, and Nurse Joy. However, Joy had long since come around, and witnessed the fire taking down the human trainers. Her eyes were wide with fear, much like the female grunt from before, as Eric approached her. He knelt over, and untied her bonds with a bit of trouble. Joy took off the tape from her mouth.
"You okay?" Eric asked, standing as Nurse Joy made a wobbily stand. "Y- yeah. I'm fine," Nurse Joy studdered, looking positively shaken. "They've p- probably already loaded the other Pokemon into t-the truck they c-came in here in. Y-you should hurry and catch them."
Eric nodded. "Can you find my Pokemon? Or..?"
"I c-couldn't find them now w-without a good ten minutes. Use that M-magmar and get them, okay?" Nurse Joy moved to a sitting position, putting a hand to her head. Eric nodded, and moved out into the hallway. The three grunts, except for the higher ranked one, weren't breathing. Eric couldn't tell if their chests were moving or not.. it seemed as though the fire had taken its toll, and had burned them to their deaths. There would be no more mercy tonight.
"Magmar. C'mon. We got one more thing to do."
The Magmar hopped over the potentially dead bodies, confused about the situation, and chased after Eric as he made his way out the back. "What the?! Get outta here, quick! We got most of them. Let's go!" A higher ranking officer realized the severity of the situation, and leapt into the passenger seat.
"Magmar! Use that Flamethrower attack on them again!" Eric pointed at the truck. The Magmar nodded, and hopped forward, using the same attack he had used on the others. The truck began to speed off, but, as the flames hit the truck, the tire popped, and the sudden shift of weight caused the truck to tip over onto its side. It skidded for a few meters, then stopped. Eric ran over to the truck, and opened the door, being careful, as the latch was super-heated from the Magmar's fire attack.
Inside, two grunts were slumped against the truck, bleeding profusely from the head. One seemed to have a broken arm, and a bit of blood was trickling down from where one grunts head had impacted with the wall of the truck. However, several boxes were still inside, and Pokeballs were all over the truck from a box that had opened when the truck had tipped onto its side.
Eric slowly moved to a sit, lowering his head slowly. He had resulted to drastic measures to stop petty criminals.. if he had his own Pokemon, there might not have been any casualties. This realization sunk in quickly, and the young trainer rested his head in his hands, closing his eyes. He hadn't even given them a chance to defend themselves with their own Pokemon. He had run through, and slaughtered them.. he was a murderer. He had burned them all to death.. or otherwise.
"What have I done....?"
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End Chapter 5