We've got you a new chapter already :)
Also wanted to add some music choices again if you're looking for some. Check out Pilotpriest. He makes some really interesting electronic music, has made some music for movies, and has even directed his own movie!
Letos and Espir hurtled back down the stairs to fetch Alexis. Neither was too concerned with their own health as they raced down the stairs at a dangerous speed.
Alexis was still sitting at the dining table, chatting to her mother, when the two Pokémon burst into the room. Espir wanted to begin shouting at Alexis to help, but he knew she wouldn't understand him, so he just pointed towards the front door as Letos explained what he could as fast as he could while still being understandable.
"There are people attacking others outside," Letos shouted, though it was translated into his own Pokémon speech as he spoke, "we need to go and stop them before they hurt anyone else!"
"You want me to go outside?" Alexis asked, trying to piece together what Letos was saying, "danger?"
"Fuck this," Espir muttered, not willing to wait for yet another confused and half-understood conversation. He turned and ran for the front door. The handle was too high up for him to reach easily, but he just jumped up and grabbed onto it, bracing his feet against the door and doorframe as he twisted the handle in both hands.
"Where are you going?" Alexis called after him, the tell-tale scraping of the chair letting Espir know that now she was invested in going outside.
Espir didn't wait or turn around to check if she was following, Letos was right behind him. She could follow him as he followed Espir.
Espir listened out for any louder sounds of trouble nearby. Surely, the grunts couldn't have run out of earshot already.
He heard heavier footsteps, moving at a fast rhythm, a few streets over. He took off in that direction, only half aware that the direction he was running in would take him back towards Eterna forest if he continued running for long enough.
He caught sight of the grunts up ahead, after a moment's running. They looked to also be heading towards Eterna forest, which wouldn't end well for them once Espir caught up. He still had his frustrations in mind, but these were people that he didn't mind hurting- at least, not a little bit.
He pushed himself forwards, propelling himself through the shadows of the evening. It wasn't up to him if Letos and Alexis fell behind. They were still close enough to be able to see the grunts running on up ahead, so if he could catch up to the grunts and slow them down, then the others would be able to catch up to him and help him finish the job.
He heard Letos calling out for him to slow down a little, but he ignored it. Frustration pushed him on and he could see multiple punching bags actively trying to run away. They had picked the wrong night to try messing around with their stupid antics.
Espir heard only the slightest bit of reason urging him to wait for the others, the quiet voice entering his mind, but he brushed it aside. Sure, it was unlikely he could take on three Pokémon trainers and their Pokémon alone, but all he needed was to buy the others some time. This wasn't about his own safety, but of the Pokémon that these people had stolen. He had to help. He knew what it felt like to be unwilling to be captured, even if Letos argued that Pokémon were okay with it. Perhaps, Pokémon were, but these Pokémon already had owners they were attached with. No matter what, they wouldn't be happy with being forcefully stolen away like this. Espir had to do whatever he could to get those Pokémon back to their rightful owners- and if he could punish these grunts at the same time, then that was just the cherry on top.
He let the eagerness of violence enter his thoughts and urge him on just that extra bit more. He was gaining on these three grunts and he was gaining fast.
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Mew recognized the people that she was watching, down below, as they rushed through the darkness. The forest trees lay ahead, a cover against prying eyes, but the three Team Cosmic members weren't going to make it in time. Espir, the Marshadow, was travelling across the ground far too quickly for them to have any hope of reaching the tree line before he reached them.
Mew looked back and noticed more people chasing after them, from the same trajectory that Espir was running at. A Piplup, running as fast as it could, and a trainer running alongside it.
Mew, curious, lowered herself down to get a better look at the Piplup and trainer.
"Letos," Alexis said, in-between short breaths, "hop back in the Pokéball, that way you'll be better rested when we catch up."
The Piplup nodded and, without breaking stride, the trainer withdrew the Piplup back into the Pokéball. Then, she began to run significantly faster, setting her sights on the three Team Cosmic members ahead.
"I hope he doesn't do anything reckless," Alexis said, muttering to herself, but loud enough that Mew picked up on her words, "please be okay. Please."
Maybe I should help. Intervene, Mew thought.
No, a secondary thought burst through her mind, sending her spiraling for a moment to try and withstand the pain of thoughts entering her mind without her permission, haven't you learnt your lesson from the last time you interfered?
The thought was unwelcome, but not incorrect. Mew decided to try and keep her mind at rest and watch on. She would observe, as she had done for so much of her life, hopefully- this time- she would learn.
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Espir was so close. He was moving so quickly and so silently through the shadows that the grunts had absolutely no warning when he slammed into the closest one at a ferocious speed.
Espir went from running to speeding through the air in an instant, aiming for a spot just below the grunts ribs as he shot himself off of the floor like a cannonball. The man folded around Espir as they both went crashing to the ground, causing the other two grunts to stop running and check on their ally. To figure out what had happened.
"You okay, Benji?" One of the grunts asked the one lying down, clutching at his side. Espir stood in front of the three of them, between them and the trees.
Off to Espir's right, gradually catching up behind the grunts, was Alexis. Espir had to stall for more time.
"What the heck is that?" The grunt that spoke up earlier asked, pointing at Espir.
"Do you think it's-" The second standing grunt said slowly.
"The mark," the one on the ground, apparently named Benji, said over his hisses of pain.
"Oh! Great," the first one said hurriedly, fiddling around with something on his belt as the other standing grunt began to let loose Pokémon from his own.
"Keep it occupied!" The grunt shouted to his Pokémon as they each appeared out of red bursts.
What? Espir thought, amused, I'm meant to be keeping them occupied, not the other way around. Wow, these guys really are stupid.
The area lit up slightly as one of the Pokémon that was released appeared to be made purely of fire, another looked like a huge dog, the third like a giant moth and finally, a humanoid boxer. Espir wracked his brain for what he could remember of his Pokémon fandom as the four Pokémon gradually closed in on him.
The Pokémon were a Magby, a Houndoom, a Dustox and a Hitmonchan, if he remembered correctly. From what he could remember, he hopefully didn't have to worry about the Hitmonchan as much, but the other three had to be watched carefully. He had no idea how strong each of the Pokémon were and he couldn't go getting himself stuck in a tough situation and then leading Alexis into a worse situation to try and get him out of it.
Espir decided to focus his efforts on the Houndoom first. He didn't have any solid reasoning behind his decision other than the fact it was scaring the hell out of him as it leered down at him. He was not a big Pokémon, and being surrounded by four other Pokémon really put that into perspective. He had been protected by the guidelines of Pokémon battles up until this point, but now he felt like he was in a significantly larger amount of danger than he had been in those, admittedly still, very dangerous fights. He had seen the effects of devastating Pokémon moves on his allies. He already knew this was nothing like a video game. He didn't want to be on the end of those moves here, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night. There would be no Pokécenter if this went poorly.
Espir took a deep breath, and attacked first, jumping towards the Houndoom to try and take the larger dog off guard.
The Houndoom was twice his height and clearly a more fearsome presence, but Espir figured if he struck it before it had a chance to strike him, he might be in with a shot at defeating the Pokémon before it could become too dangerous.
He was wrong.
Espir slammed into the Houndoom and bounced off without even making it flinch. If anything, Espir felt like he was hurting more than the pain he might have inflicted on the larger creature. He quickly dove to the side to avoid the other three Pokémon taking an opportunity to strike at him as he was lying on the ground. He would need a different approach to make any sort of difference in this fight. He'd need to be quick, agile and take the shots when he could, instead of attempting any direct, blunt force approach.
He slunk into the shadows, as there were shadows all around. Hopefully, he could use this to his advantage, to try and even the odds between him and the multiple other Pokémon.
"Is it ready?" Benji asked the first grunt, who nodded in response. Espir had no idea what they were talking about and, unfortunately, they didn't elaborate. They just looked blindly into the dark for him, as did their Pokémon.
Espir saw an opening and darted forwards to punch out at the Dustox, to hopefully bring it down to the ground, but it spun out of the way at the last moment. He had revealed himself.
"There!" One of the grunts shouted and suddenly Espir was in a beam of bright light. He winced and had to allow his eyes to adjust. He tried to move out of the light, but couldn't.
Once his eyes had adjusted, he looked around. He had been caught in some sort of futuristic, hi-tech trap. There were electrified bars of light making up the sides of the trap and a thin wiry tendril of light attached back to a disc that one of the grunts was holding.
"Gotcha," the grunt grinned.
"Why couldn't they just get us to snag it in a Pokéball?" Benji asked.
"I don't know," the first grunt shrugged, "but apparently it's special somehow. Boss' orders, that's all."
"Odd, I would've-"
Benji's words were cut off as Letos came speeding by and blasted the grunts with water to get them out of his way.
"Piplup," Alexis shouted, still catching up, "take care of the Houndoom and Magby. Starly, you focus on the Dustox and Hitmonchan!"
Espir admired Alexis' courage and her quick thinking for having the Pokémon focus against the others that were less effective in comparison. Even with the type advantages, Espir knew that the numbers made this a very one-sided affair. He was worried that his hastiness had gotten his allies into an unwinnable situation.
The four Pokémon turned and matched up against Alexis' two. This would be a tough fight to win.
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Mew watched with interest at the battle about to unfold. She still knew that she couldn't intervene, but she was curious to see how such a fight would play out, considering the lack of order in place between the combatants.
She noticed that Espir was trapped and that the trainer was outnumbered significantly.
Oh, go on, Mew thought, go and help them out. At least even the playing field.
Mew did consider it, for a moment, but held herself back. She couldn't. She had no idea if her actions, as positive as her intentions may be, would incur even worse fates upon those involved in this skirmish.
She watched as Espir struggled against his restraints and the trainer's Pokémon took the initiative to start the fight.
With the Team Cosmic members focused on the Pokémon fight, Mew noticed Alexis slowly inching her way back, through the darkness, closer and closer to the member that had Espir captive. Mew was unsure what her plan was, but appreciated that she wasn't just going to sit by and watch- like Mew herself was doing.
Hopeless, Mew thought unwillingly, shaking her head to try and dislodge the negative thoughts.
The Piplup shot out multiple blasts of Water Gun, keeping the two fire-based Pokémon back. As the Magby moved around to try and flank the Piplup, Mew could see it leaving a trail of singed grass and glowing embers as it dripped lava wherever it moved.
Despite herself, Mew couldn't help but admire the variety of life on display in this moment. A being made out of almost pure fire, a being made out of pure shadow, three different kinds of beings with wings, four humans- each with different morals, hopes, dreams and fears.
The Starly caught the Dustox off guard as it flew out of the darkness, striking through the bug's large wings and tearing a hole right through one with its beak.
The Piplup pivoted to shoot more water towards the Magby, but as it did, the Houndoom lurched forward and bit a chunk out of the Piplup's side, producing a splash of blood that mixed in with the water-soaked ground.
The Piplup stayed standing and Mew admired its courage as it shot off one last blast of water to almost douse the flames of the Magby before the Magby could truly act, taking another gnarly bite from the Houndoom in the process. There was a bright spark of light that alerted Alexis to Piplup's struggles and she immediately withdrew her Pokémon into its Pokéball as it continued to get brighter. The trainer looked confused at why Piplup was reacting that way, but Mew recognized what was going on, she had seen it happen countless times.
Unfortunately, the withdrawal of her Pokémon alerted the grunts and they turned to face her. Three men against one young trainer.
"Houndoom," one of the grunts said, "keep her away."
Mew watched as the large dog stalked the trainer like she was its prey, but Mew had no idea that the trainer would react how she did. She charged the Houndoom without taking a moment to compose herself. The grunts were surprised by the sudden burst of energy and the Houndoom jumped at her in response, following its orders, but she ducked down and tackled the hound from underneath, while it was in mid-air. She wasn't the strongest of humans, but her momentum carried her through the tackle and slammed the large dog into two of the grunts.
The grunt that had control of Espir's restraints landed badly, twisting at an awkward angle underneath the weight of the Pokémon, while Benji was just stunned that he kept getting hit so frequently.
As the grunts landed on the ground and the Houndoom jumped up to retaliate, the electric binds around Espir dropped, as the mechanism was broken upon the impact with the ground. The trainer flailed her legs at the Houndoom to keep its angry and sharp jaws away from her, and then stopped as the Houndoom was taken away by a different distraction.
Espir was free, and he was angry.
Mew was almost happy that she hadn't interfered, as now the fight was far more balanced. The Starly was swirling above the Hitmonchan, trying to peck at the Pokémon while Hitmonchan swung up at the bird, unable to land a significant blow either. The Magby was withdrawn by its owner, so now it was just Espir and Starly against the Houndoom and Hitmonchan, with the trainer trying to keep the three grunts occupied during the fight.
Mew was captivated by the various moving pieces of the fight, it was like a well-choreographed dance, except unfortunately with... well, blood.
The Starly swooped down and managed to rake its claws through the eyes of the Hitmonchan. Not a permanent injury, with the medical advancements of this world, but one that would put it out of possibly defeating the Starly any time soon. The Hitmonchan held its hands up to its face, trying to stem the blood flow and figure out if it still had sight at all, but the Starly used this painful distraction to dive down once again and claw at the Hitmonchan's back and neck. Unable to cope with the significant amount of pain it was being dealt, the Hitmonchan curled up on the ground and passed out.
Espir darted any which way he could, knowing that he was outmatched by this Pokémon. It seemed either unaffected, or simply too powerful for any of his attacks. It would have been good to have Piplup still out and fighting, but Espir could only do his best with the circumstances he had been dealt. He dove back into the shadows and began to pepper the Houndoom from all sides with numerous Shadow Sneaks, one after another, trying to hide away before the Houndoom could react in time. It was a strong and sturdy creature, but it was by no means fast, which gave Espir all the advantage he needed to whittle the Pokémon down. He looked to be applying a 'death by a thousand cuts' approach on the Houndoom until, finally, it fell down unconscious.
The trainer didn't need to worry about one of the grunts, the one that had landed poorly under the Houndoom, as he was still laying on the ground, unconscious. The second one recalled each Pokémon as they fell, first the Dustox, then the Magby, then the Hitmonchan and finally the Houndoom. Instead of waiting for his allies, or running towards Eterna City to heal his Pokémon up, he sprinted for the forest to get away from what had quickly become a beat down. Starly flew after him and forced him to run back towards the group by clawing at his face.
"The stolen Pokémon," the trainer demanded, "hand them over and you might be able to walk away from this right now. If not, you'll end up like your Pokémon and we'll fetch the authorities to collect your unconscious bodies."
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Benji asked, still gripping his torso where he had sustained various wounds.
"Does it matter?" The trainer said, "you're beaten."
The grunt that had been harried by the Starly threw down a collection of Pokéballs from his pockets, ones that he had stolen from other trainers. Benji did the same as Espir raided the pockets of the third, downed grunt.
Mew watched closely at it appeared the Espir pulled out more than just Pokéballs from the downed grunt's pockets.
"Those aren't yours!" Benji snapped.
"Hypocrite, much?" Alexis retorted, "get out of here. Before we change our minds."
Mew watched from above as the two standing grunts ran away, leaving the unconscious one on the ground, along with all of the stolen Pokéballs.
The trainer stepped closer to the unconscious grunt and Espir, who was holding a few different things.
"They won't be happy that we took those," the trainer said to Espir, "but that was a good idea either way. Let's get someone over to help this guy; he looks quite badly messed up. Starly, could you fly into town and let Nurse Joy know about this man?"
The Starly nodded and flew off quickly.
"You did well, Marsh," the trainer said to Espir, "I'm sorry I couldn't keep up. I know, I know, you probably think I'm going to have a go about you rushing ahead. I'm glad you did, despite the outcome. If you hadn't, we might not have gotten these stolen Pokémon back."
Mew continued to watch, waiting for Espir to reply. She thought he would, considering how talkative his other aspects had been- his body and mind, at least. But Espir just nodded and stayed quiet.
"I wish I could understand what was going on inside that silent mind of yours," the trainer laughed, "but I'll settle for just having your company around. It's more than enough for me."
It was due to this, and a sudden hug shared between Espir and this trainer, that Mew thought that she should keep watching this person. If she continued upon this path of goodness, maybe... just maybe, Mew would accept her as she was, to be her replacement.
It was certainly incredibly rash for Mew to be thinking about this sort of outcome, especially with how little she even knew about this girl, but there weren't many options floating around in her head. Who knew how much time was left before this problem became completely and utterly uncontrollable? At the very least though, Mew knew best enough that she needed to make sure she wasn't considering the wrong option, no matter how dire.
...and that was that.
Mew would stick around a little bit longer and watch the progress of this girl.
Hopefully, she wasn't making a mistake.
ultima-owner: Yeah, unfortunately :( She was just bored and curious. Who wouldn't be after living as long as she had? She had good intentions, but holy fuck she messed up lol. Thanks for the review :)