I love this chapter title! You'll see why later on. Although it's a bit shorter than the chapters have been lately, I still think it's a decent length for how often I've been putting these out.

Also...65 followers! SWEET!

BRADLEY CLARION

Under the watchful eye of Bray the Braixen, I trained for several hours at various moves that my new Pokemon species could use. Before long, I was drenched in sweat, but it was well worth it. I felt like I was doing something productive, and that, I can promise you, is a good feeling indeed.

True to Bray's promises, the Fireshield Stone's force field seemed to absorb all the flames that my moves produced. It was pretty weird at first, seeing all of it dissipate when it hit the barrier, but I certainly wasn't going to complain about it.

In fact, I learned to love the sound. Whenever a move collided with the barrier, there was a metallic, zipping sound, like a carabiner sliding down a zip line cable. There was just something about it that was very satisfying indeed.

Anyway, Bray taught me how to use Ember, Howl, and Flame Charge. I hadn't thought that those moves would take too much effort or concentration. Boy, was I wrong.

Ember was a matter of channeling the metaphorical fire in your body. Maybe you were angry at something or someone, or maybe it was the flames of determination. Either way, you had to channel it in just the right way in order to prevent it from backfiring and hitting you. It was a dangerous move to perform if you weren't careful.

"The fact that you're a Fire type makes you hard to burn" Bray told me. "But not impossible, Bradley Clarion. Not impossible".

Flame Charge was much the same as Ember, just that it took even more effort. I felt as though with each Flame Charge, I was draining a small amount of energy out of my body and giving it to the force field surrounding me.

Howl required you to focus very hard on letting out the right type of scream. This move was meant, not to hurt enemies, but to merely intimidate them into letting their guard down.

Much like with the other two moves, however, you needed to be cautious. If you let out a scream that was too weak, you risked invigorating your enemies further rather than intimidating them. If it was too strong, you could wear yourself out easily and become easy pickings.

The barrier would dissipate whenever I wanted it to. All I had to do, Bray told me, was say a specific word. "It'll make you look ridiculous when you say it, but it's better than being stuck inside the force field forever".

"What is the word?" I asked the old Braixen.

"Vinaka," he said.

Vinaka. What a strange word to say to a force field, or to say in general. I've never heard it before.

Bray then explained that in some archaic language, "vinaka" meant "thank you". He said that this made sense, because, in a way, you were thanking the Fireshield Stone for doing its job. It had protected you, after all.

In addition to the moves stated above and a couple of others, I practiced working the bag and sparring with Bray. Despite his evidently advanced age, he could sure pack a punch, as I soon found out the hard way when he hit me in the...well, let's just say it was in a sensitive area.

"OW!" I howled, backing away from the old Braixen. "That really hurt!"

And, to add injury to injury, I lost my balance and fell backwards...right onto my tail. I nearly passed out from the pain; it was that bad.

Bray came over to my side. "You okay, Bradley? Sorry if I was a bit too...aggressive, if that's the way you say it".

"It's fine," I replied. "The minions of Matamoros are going to hit me a lot harder, I would expect".

The old Braixen nodded. "Yes, I suppose you are correct. You need to be prepared for them to hurt you".

"How do I do that?" I wasn't exactly known for having a high pain tolerance; I'd been pretty shrill when he had just knocked me backwards.

"There's an important lesson for you to remember: Anyone can inflict pain, but the strongest are those who can take it and then get back up again". Bray spoke slowly, emphasizing certain words so as to make sure I got the message.

Well, that's a good motto to live by.

I saw what he meant. It was very important to be able to deal with the trials that life placed before you. As they say, you have to roll with the punches to get to what's real.

After what must have been a good number of hours training, I saw that the sky was no longer the inky blue color of the very early morning; the twilight had lightened considerably, to the point that the stars (if I'd been able to see them in the middle of a city) would be beginning to fade.

"Ah, yes, the morning light approaches" Bray pronounced as he took a glance outside the window. "You should soon head back to the home of Zora and Arthur Izola; they would not be pleased if they learned that you snuck out at night".

Hey, YOU'RE the one who wanted me to come here. What was I supposed to do, stay in bed all night when I couldn't sleep?

Even though I had stayed up for much of the night, I didn't feel as though I were deprived of rest. In fact, the intense combat training had left me feeling rejuvenated, reenergized.

"Thanks for letting me practice here" I told Bray. "I know that you're probably very tired from staying up all night with me".

The old Braixen chuckled. "Bradley, when you get to be a hundred and three years old, you don't sleep very well at night. Besides, I really wanted to help you".

"Wait, you're a…", I forgot the word for a moment, "...centenarian?"

Bray nodded. "Yes. I think I look good for 103, don't you?"

That was an understatement. He might have been extremely old, but he was in better shape than I was at eighteen. If you ask me, that's pretty impressive.

"Yes, you do," I replied. "But there's one other thing that I think is more important right now. How am I going to get back to Jenna's house?"

The only reason I'd been able to find the dojo in the first place was because Jacob had led me here. Without any sort of guiding light, without any direction as to where to go, I'd more than likely get lost in the sketchy alleyways of Skylock.

"You will teleport. That's probably the only way to get back fast enough; I have a Kirlia that I've bred for that particular purpose".

I instantly felt nervous. I had never teleported before, and, from what I'd heard, it was a very disorienting sensation. I'd hoped that I would never have to do it, but in this case, hope just wasn't good enough.

"Don't worry, I'll show you how to do it safely so that you don't get splinched".

"Wait...splinched? What the hell does that mean?"

The old Braixen gave a humorless laugh. "Splinching is what happens when one teleports, but does not concentrate hard enough on their destination. You can end up with half of your body in your destination and the other half where you departed from".

"Sheesh...sounds like it'd hurt".

"Indeed it does," Bray replied. "But that shouldn't happen to you today. There's one last thing I want to tell you".

"What is that?" I asked him.

Bray went back over to his cabinet and pulled out a black egg-like object. "This is another Fireshield Stone. I want you to keep it, as it will hopefully come in very handy on your quest".

Quest. The very word seemed fraught with danger, but I didn't comment on it out loud.

Bray tossed the stone over to me, and I caught it. Since I didn't have any clothes on, there was no pocket for me to place the stone in. "Hold on to it tightly" the old Braixen advised me.

"Is it going to fly away when I teleport?" I asked him, suddenly feeling more worried about teleporting than I had before.

The old Braixen shrugged. "That depends on how tightly you hold on to it. Now let me get Kirlia".

Bray went back over to his desk drawer and pulled out a Pokeball. He pressed the button, and, with a flash of bright cyan light, a Kirlia was released from said Pokeball.

True to his promise, Bray showed me how to grip Kirlia as I teleported, so that I wouldn't get splinched. He then said, "Okay. Good luck, Bradley Clarion. I'm rooting for you".

I took a large gulp and grabbed on to Kirlia. Holding the Pokemon tight, I said, "Take me to the home of Jenna Izola".

And then everything disappeared.

Teleporting is a very strange sensation indeed.

At first, it feels like you're spinning around and around, like a broken carnival ride at a very sketchy fair. It then feels like you're falling, then it's as though you are spinning and falling, much like a laundry machine on the spin cycle. Throughout the whole process, you can't see anything.

All in all, it's not a fun experience, and I don't recommend doing it unless you absolutely have to.

After about thirty seconds of this disorienting process, I found myself right in front of Jenna Izola's house, right next to the pier. Many of the houses looked the same, but I saw this one and I knew that I had teleported to the correct location.

I stood up, trying not to vomit, and tried opening the door. Sadly, it was locked, but after a few knocks Jenna came and let me in.

She had a wild expression on her face, more shocked than angry. "What were you doing out of the house at night?" she exclaimed. "You do realize that this isn't the safest city in the world, right?"

"It's...it was a good reason, okay? I'll tell you later".

Jenna shook her head. "It was still a pretty reckless thing to do, Bradley. A Braixen is going to attract a lot of attention here, and not in a good way. Plus, did you see the headline in today's edition of the Skylock Scribe?"

If I could have told Jenna exactly what I was doing at the dojo at night, then it would be completely obvious that I had not seen the headline, but I didn't say anything. I allowed her to lead me into the kitchen, which was deserted.

"The rest of my family isn't up yet," she told me. "Today's Saturday, so they like to sleep in when they can. That includes Nick".

I realized that I'd had no idea, until now, what day of the week it was. Indeed, even before I'd fallen into the Shaft, I had stopped paying attention to this. The jungle had been all that mattered at the time.

"Okay" I told her. I didn't know what else to say.

Jenna sat down with me and took a newspaper off the kitchen counter. She slammed it down on the table and pointed directly at the headline.

My heart skipped several beats instantly as I looked at the headline, as it was just that shocking. It read: Mysterious Braixen Moves Statue In Central Square, No Known Cause.

"Fuck" I said aloud. "They got me, I guess".

Jenna shook her head. "You guess?", she hissed. "Bradley, there are people coming after you! For a lot of the poachers in the dark market, you're their dream. They would love nothing more than to get your hide or some of your blood!"

"Blood? What do they want my blood for?"

"That doesn't matter right now" the Zoroark girl insisted. "All you need to know is that you fucked up badly, and that you're going to pay the price for it".

Jenna had taken me in yesterday, seemingly without a second thought. I suddenly wondered if she was going to kick me out today, throw me to the Mightyenas, and see if I somehow made it out alive.

"Just read the article" she told me, clearly trying to calm herself down.

I nodded and read through the article. It was a pretty short one, most likely owing to the fact that there was still limited information about me or what had caused the fountain to move.

Witness Lucas Enfield, 20, told the Scribe, "First the statue glowed orange, the color of the end of a Braixen's tail. It was bright, sounded like the sheathing of a sword. Freaked me out and made a couple people faint".

Michelle Merroutas, 22, told the Scribe, "I'd never seen anything like that before. As though a bomb had gone off, lots of people ran away. I mean, they'd never seen a Braixen before, so that makes sense".

There were several more eyewitness testimonies about what exactly had transpired in that square. Most of them told pretty similar accounts, which, as I recalled learning in high school history class, tended to be more believable than if the accounts had differed significantly on the details.

When I was done reading the article, I looked back up at Jenna. "Yeah, it's really shocking," I said bluntly. I didn't really think about it as I was saying it.

"Don't you see, Bradley? The whole city knows about you now! You are going to have to be extremely careful in Skylock from here on out".

"What should I do? Hide in the house all day?" It came out more harshly than I had meant it, but I hated the thought of staying inside the Izola's small home for as long as I remained in Skylock.

Jenna seemed to think about it for a moment, then shook her head. "That's not going to work. The news media has seen me with you, so they'll probably expect you to be at this house. No, you'll have to get out of here somehow".

"Out of the house or out of the city?" I asked her. I was willing to admit that Skylock wasn't my favorite place in any world, but I didn't exactly have anywhere else to go. The rest of this world was a total mystery to me.

"Out of the city" Jenna replied. "My mother will probably kick you out as soon as she sees that headline; she may believe that it's not safe to harbor you".

She's right. Mrs. Izola was reluctant to even let me stay in the first place.

I shook my head. "Where will I go? I know nothing about your world".

Jenna didn't respond. She went over to make herself a bowl of cereal, and, after she was done with that, I followed suit. It wasn't the fanciest breakfast, but it would do.

As we ate, I tried to get Jenna to answer, but she was rather evasive. Once we had finished, she said, "Okay. You're really sweaty, so you should shower before we leave the house today".

"W-where are we going?" I asked her. "Somewhere that we are less likely to be spotted, I hope?"

"Back to the harbor" Jenna replied. "There's something there that I want to show you. And I think it's going to help your current situation a bunch".

I put my bowl in the dishwasher and waited for her to elaborate. When she did not do so, I went upstairs in order to shower.

I hadn't realized just how badly I needed one. If you think a sweaty human smells bad, wait until you've seen a sweaty Pokemon covered in thick fur. It was heaven to wash off after hours of training.

Once I was done with my shower, I used one of the special towels to dry off my fur. I could have used another method that I'd heard about from my father, but I didn't know how to, and in any case I didn't want to waste any more time; Jenna did seem rather impatient to get me out of the house before the reporters showed up.

"There you are," Jenna told me when I arrived at the bottom of the stairs. "To the harbor we go. Keep an eye out for people who look suspicious, though".

It was about seven in the morning, and the sun had just risen over the horizon. Unlike yesterday, today promised to be sunny, although there were still a few clouds in the sky. The waves were also a lot less aggressive, merely lapping at the wall rather than crashing upwards.

Just because it was sunny, however, didn't mean that it didn't feel cold and damp, because it did. It had to be just above the freezing point if I had to guess.

We walked to the harbor with no issues. There were a few other Pokemon about, but no humans that I could tell. These Pokemon eyed me with what appeared to be suspicion, but I'll take suspicion over outright hatred any day of the week.

After a while, we reached the harbor, and the sight amazed me just as much as it had yesterday. The array of docks, ships, and industrial equipment was still there. In fact, everything seemed just the same as it had been yesterday.

Unfortunately, not only were all the docks, ships, and industrial equipment there, but so were the Lucario and Blaziken from last time. And, like yesterday, both of them looked absolutely murderous.

"Hey, you!" I heard Lucario yell. "If it isn't Jenna Izola!"

Even though I'd only known Jenna for a day, I still felt a certain degree of obligation to protect her. I saw Lucario ready an Aura Sphere in order to fire it at us, and my first instinct was to push the Zoroark girl out of the way.

Jenna looked at me angrily. "Is that any way to treat a girl? I can protect myself, you know!"

Under most circumstances, I would have sought to avoid getting in a fight whenever possible. But Lucario and Blaziken were fast approaching us, and I didn't see any way to escape.

We couldn't escape, so we would have to fight.

As I rushed towards the Blaziken, dropping my Fireshield Stone (which I'd brought with me) in the process, I couldn't help but feel the slightest bit guilty for shoving Jenna away from Lucario's line of attack. Soon, however, I heard something whiz past me...

It was the Blaziken. He had attempted a Blaze Kick on me and barely missed. He'd missed so narrowly that I felt a few hairs singed off my side, but it didn't hurt.

Jenna and I shared a quick glance as I got out of the way of Blaziken's attacks, and we seemed to come to a silent agreement that I would fight Blaziken and she would deal with Lucario.

"What's your girlfriend doing with you? She doesn't deserve you, Golden Boy!" my nemesis yelled at a volume high enough to wake the entire city of Skylock. He then aimed another Blaze Kick at me, and I got out of the way just in time.

I was going to protest that she wasn't my girlfriend, but that would take too much attention away from fighting. At a certain point, it wasn't just about self-defense; it was also about showing Blaziken and Lucario that they would not disrespect Jenna around me.

For the next minute or so, I tried to hit Blaziken with an Ember or a Tail Whip, but he kept dodging. This shouldn't have been a surprise, since Blaziken are a very agile species of Pokemon despite their large size, but it was frustrating all the same.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jenna holding her own against Lucario. "Take this, Luke!" she yelled, clawing at her opponent; she was successful in scratching his thick blue leg, which led to a trace amount of bleeding.

By now, a small crowd was forming around the "arena" that was the area next to the harbor. These were both humans and Pokemon, and I sincerely hoped that the authorities would look the other way, or else clearly see that we were fighting in self-defense.

There were too many witnesses for my liking, but I didn't let that distract me from my task. I aimed a Tail Whip at Blaziken, sweeping him off right off his feet and onto the ground.

There we go!

I leaped forward, trying to pounce on him while he was down, but Blaziken got up within five seconds and was able to knock me down. Now the roles were reversed, and I was the one on the bottom.

I tried to kick Blaziken off of me, but the other Fire type was stronger. He pinned me to the ground and held his arm over my face, ready to punch. I braced for the impact...but it didn't come.

Clearly he's toying with me, I thought bitterly to myself. He wants me to freak out, to get a reaction out of me. Maybe he's about to say something.

My hunch was proven correct when Blaziken laughed cruelly and said, "Golden Boy, why does Arceus favor you so much? Why can't we have superpowers like you?"

What superpowers? Oh yeah, I can move fountains. Big deal.

Before I could say anything in response, my nemesis hit me in the face, and I felt my nose begin gushing blood. The pain was so great that I could barely focus on anything else.

However, I then remembered something Bray had told me in that grandfatherly voice of his. It was a tip he'd given me for fighting. Who knew it would come in handy so soon?

Bradley, you need to kick him off of you somehow. A Fire Spin would work to stun him, and you can use that time as you need.

The problem with this was, of course, that I couldn't focus for long enough to use Fire Spin. Blaziken had no mercy, and he was more than willing to kick me when I was down, as he started doing.

He kneed me in the hip several times, which was rather painful. Not wanting to choke on my own blood from lying down while I had a severe nosebleed, I summoned all my strength and forced myself upwards.

Blaziken hadn't been expecting that. He tried to step away, but I had surprised him enough so that he wasn't prepared, and took a knee to the crotch.

"Yow!" my opponent yelled, backing away as I leaped to my feet. I had a split second to glance at the crowd, who all gasped at the sight of my nosebleed.

There had to be at least fifty individuals surrounding the "arena" by this point, and none of them seemed to be encouraging a de-escalation. If anything, they continued to egg us on by chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Okay. Is it time to use a Fire Spin on him?

The old Braixen back at the dojo had warned me about Fire Spin. It was a move that took a lot of concentration, to the point that it could leave you very vulnerable if you didn't time it correctly. Like many moves, it could be risky if you weren't careful.

Blaziken continued to hold a hand to his stomach; I'd clearly caused him a lot of pain, and I gained a sort of satisfaction from that.

A second later, I felt sick to my stomach myself. I hate fighting. I don't like hurting others. I repeated those words in my head several times as though trying to convince myself that they were true. It was like a chant, in a way.

I even caught a glance at Jenna, who had managed to knock her Lucario opponent unconscious. He was currently lying in a heap on the ground, and her "side" of the audience was cheering for her (the crowd was basically arranged in a circle at this point, so, geometrically speaking, there were no sides).

Blaziken seemed to have recovered from the pain, and he soon came charging at me. I almost immediately had a thought. The Fireshield Stone.

Bray had told me to keep the stone by my side wherever I went. Was it a good idea to try it out in the middle of combat?

Well, only one way to find out. Let's see if it's my lucky day.

I realized that I'd left the egg-shaped black object on the ground, having dropped it before rushing in for the fight against Blaziken. After a cursory sweep of the area, I found it, having managed to dodge my opponent's Blaze Kick in the process.

Seizing the Fireshield Stone, I leaped out of the way, spinning in the air like a ballerina. I smashed the stone against the ground.

Almost immediately, I heard the crowd gasp in shock; clearly, most if not all of them had never seen anything quite like this. The purple barrier formed around me, and I now felt somewhat protected.

I saw that even Jenna looked surprised, and I figured that Fireshield Stones were rare enough that she probably hadn't seen one either. It was something I'd have to talk to her about later, but right now I was too focused on the situation at hand.

My thought process was the following:

If I use a Fire move in here, it will deplete the oxygen supply quickly. This barrier probably mostly serves to buy me some time to think about my next move. I can't use too much force against it or else it'll break. If it breaks, then I'll be stunned and unable to move for a few seconds. But a few seconds is all it takes sometimes, so I REALLY don't want that.

It might sound as though I was thinking very quickly, and that's because I was. When you're in a fight like the one I was currently in, you have to think on your feet.

"What the hell is this, Golden Boy?" Blaziken all but yelled, kicking against the force field. "I can't get in!"

The barrier would stay intact...for a little while. But I didn't know how much more force it could take, and I certainly didn't want it to backfire.

So I had no choice. I picked up the stone and said, "Vinaka".

The purple force field dissipated, and now here I was with just me and the Blaziken. It was a fair fight once more. I saw that the crowd were eyeing me curiously after I'd said a seemingly nonsense word in the midst of a duel.

It was then that I had an idea.

I threw the stone again; this time I was careful to throw it so that it landed closer to Blaziken. That way, the barrier would hopefully surround him, and then I could break said barrier and stun him.

The first part of my new plan worked. When the Fireshield Stone landed on the ground, the force field surrounded Blaziken.

What move should I use? As much force as possible would be ideal.

Blaziken looked shocked to be stuck inside the barrier. He kept kicking and punching at the force field, trying to make it give way. And I realized something

He might not be destroying the barrier, but he is weakening it. That barrier's going to go down on my terms, not his.

In a split-second decision, I chose to use a simple Tail Whip on the barrier. It wasn't going to take too much force to break the barrier; Blaziken was unintentionally digging his own grave.

Not a literal grave, mind you. I had no desire to kill either of the duo who had fought us. I saw out of the corner of my eye (thanks to my Pokemon vision that was superior to a human's), that the unconscious Lucario was being carried away by a bunch of people who had been cheering for him.

Not my problem. I have to focus on Blaziken now.

I used Tail Whip on the barrier with as much power as I could muster, and, with a shattering noise, like glass exploding into a million pieces, the force field disappeared.

I stood back and saw that Blaziken had been stunned and knocked unconscious by the force of the barrier breaking. I looked triumphantly at his limp form on the ground.

Now that the fight was over, I saw that some of the crowd was dissipating. It appeared that they were only interested in the fight itself and not in the aftermath of it.

As the crowd began to disperse and go about their days, I looked out at the morning sun that was triumphantly breaking through the few clouds that had accumulated in the sky.

Much like the sun, I had done it. I'd won the fight.

But even if I had been successful, part of me felt guilty for hurting Blaziken, even if it had only been to defend myself and Jenna. But what can I say? I wasn't exactly the fighting type.

Speaking of Jenna, the Zoroark girl had come to my side. Once all the crowd had gone, she forced herself right in my face and hissed, "What the hell was that thing?"

"What thing?" I asked her. Since we were now alone but for the unconscious Blaziken, I technically didn't need to play dumb, but I did anyway. Don't ask me why.

"The egg you threw on the ground. The one that created the purple force field; I've never seen anything like it".

I realized then that I owed Jenna an explanation as to how I'd ended up outside her house early in the morning. I briefly told her about the Koru Dojo and the elderly Braixen who had taught me the moves that came in handy during the battle.

When I had finished my story, she spoke.

"You keep disregarding my advice, Bradley Clarion. First you move the statue, then you get us into a fight with Lucario and Blaziken, and now you're going to be in the papers even more".

I hadn't thought of it, but she was right. There was simply no way around it; I would be the number one story in all of Skylock for at least a couple of weeks. This wasn't to mention the legal ramifications of the fight we'd found ourselves in.

When I brought that up to Jenna, she shook her head. "Whether you like it or not, the cops usually turn a blind eye to street fights and the dark market. They just don't do their job here; it's just that this time it's to our benefit".

Okay, so Skylock is largely a lawless society. Got it.

"This wasn't the reason that I wanted to show you the harbor" she told me eventually. "I honestly didn't think those jackasses would be there".

I put my hand on Jenna's shoulder. "It's okay, Jenna. We got them good, and it's like you said, I'll have to get out of here eventually".

"That's actually what I wanted to talk about" the Zoroark girl replied. "You could escape on one of the cargo ships; they don't usually check for stowaways. Like I said, law enforcement is pretty lax around here".

Escape. After today's confrontation, I could definitely use an escape.

"And, Bradley…" Jenna trailed off, and I didn't know what else to say at first. Eventually,however, it came to me.

"What?"

I would end up being completely and totally shocked by what she would say next.

"I'll come with you".

I promise that in the next chapter, Jenna's reasons for coming with Bradley will be made clear. I also think it'll likely be a longer chapter than this one, since I have more slated to happen.

On another note, I am not the best at writing fight scenes, and it probably showed here. I hope you guys still enjoyed it, though, because I've been enjoying writing this story more and more as the plot progresses.

Much love, Lucas Whitefur