FEARFUL OF THE NIGHT

By: Cy Mendoza

CHAPTER 4

TORN ASUNDER

The sun hung just over the horizon. Pink streaked across the sky, and when Chip looked up at it, it reminded him of the night he'd arrived to Alola. He'd spent the whole afternoon training with Popplio, and he was already seeing gains. It was winning every challenge it made against the wild pokemon around, and Chip couldn't help but beam in pride. Popplio was a solid fighter.

Chip patted his partner on the head, then frowned as he glanced around. "Where did Rotom go?"

"AH!" Rotom burst out of the grass with a wide-eyed expression, flailing its arms.

Chip jumped back in shock, nearly falling. Popplio looked at him in alarm. "Rotom! Rotom, what is it?"

"Someone'zzz coming, and they don't look very friendly!" Rotom squeaked, dashing behind Chip with a streak of blue energy and peeking out from behind his shoulder.

Chip stared, wide-eyed, at the shaking grass in front of him. Popplio narrowed its eyes and growled. Footsteps grew louder and louder, then a moment later, two people dressed as gangsters burst out from the tall grass. They wore black tank tops with white crossed belts, and bandannas covered their mouths. Both guys looked five or six years older than Chip, and he backed up in surprise, unsure what was going on. Rotom ducked into Chip's backpack with a whimper.

"Yo! Look what we've found here!" one guy said, gesturing at Chip.

"Um…" Did they hear he was over here and wanted to fight him? Chip had read about how aggressive trainers could be about forcing a battle, but he didn't think that happened in Alola. Everyone here seemed so peaceful. "Hello...?"

"Yo, the way you're looking at us, you must know who we are!"

"Uh… no, I don't," Chip said, rubbing the back of his head. Maybe these guys were just eccentric? They certainly dressed strangely. There were some weird people who lived back in Kanto, for sure…

"What?" one guy exclaimed, his eyes widening. "You're serious?"

The other guy looked just as surprised. "You don't know who Team Skull is?"

Team Skull? Was that like Team Rocket? Chip was starting to feel a sinking sensation in his stomach. "No... did you want to battle?"

"Bah, whatever! It doesn't matter! Don't worry kid, we'll battle you, and then you'll go crying back home after!"

"Because that popplio's going to be ours!"

Chip stared at them in utter bewilderment. "Popplio's my partner!"

"And it won't be your partner after it's fainted in the PokeBall and we take it, and trust me kid, that's what's going to happen! Team Skull takes what it wants, when it wants!" The Team Skull grunts exchanged looks with each other, then grabbed the PokeBalls on their waistband and tossed them out with wide grins.

"Go, Zubat!"

"Go, Yungoos!"

As the two rival pokemon materialized in front of Team Skull, Chip yelped and scooted back. Popplio let out a huff and jumped forward, landing in front of Chip with an angry hiss. Chip had never fought in a trainer battle before, and his heart was pounding and mind racing with worry. It was sort of the same as a battle with a wild Pokemon, he knew, but this was different—this was terrifying—and how was Popplio supposed to win against two opponents?!

Chip froze in panic, then managed to shake off some of his terror, gritting his teeth. "Popplio! Use Water Gun on the zubat!"

The Team Skull grunt stomped his foot. "Zubat, use Confuse Ray!"

"Yungoos, Tackle!"

Popplio took a deep breath, then blasted water from its mouth at the bat. The water slammed the zubat back, but it fluttered its wings and opened its mouth wide, a stunning array of twirling lights shooting out from it, illuminating the dimly lit battlefield. The lights hit Popplio square in the face just moments before the yungoos smashed into it, sending Popplio flying back.

"No! Popplio!" Chip yanked open his backpack, pushing a quivering Rotom out of the way as he grabbed one of the potions. He rushed over to Popplio's side and sprayed the potion on the seal's scrapes and bruises. Popplio lifted its head, a dazed look in its eyes as it struggled to stand up. "Popplio, come on, Water Gun again! I think you can knock that zubat out!"

But Team Skull was already issuing their next set of orders. "Zubat, use Leech Life! And Yungoos, Tackle again!"

Just as Popplio managed to get up, the yungoos slammed into it, sending it skidding along the grass with a pained cry. Chip clenched his fists, terror in his eyes as he watched the zubat absorb some of Popplio's dwindling vitality with its Leech Life attack. Panicking, he grabbed the next potion, tossing the empty one off to the side, and sprayed Popplio with it. The wounds disappeared, but the little seal didn't look like it had a clue where it was, or what it was doing.

"Give up, kid! Your bag doesn't have endless potions in it!" one of the Team Skull members taunted, gesturing with both hands in a rapid, nonsensical way. "Do it again, Zubat! Leech Life!"

"And you, Yungoos, Tackle!" called the other.

It was then that Chip realized what a truly horrible position he was in. He sprayed Popplio with the last potion, panicked. "Popplio, you have to take them down! I don't have any more potions left! Use Water Gun and knock the zubat out for good, and then I know you can take that Yungoos! You've been training against them all day!"

Popplio struggled up, but another round of Leech Life and Tackle left it trembling on the ground. He could tell it was suffering, but the potion bottles were all empty, and now all he could rely on was hope. Hope. People really wouldn't steal pokemon, right? That was only Lillie being paranoid. And it didn't matter because Popplio would pull through, he knew it! Their budding friendship was strong, something had to happen, some sort of miracle, anything to stop this.

But as Popplio forced itself up and tried to aim its Water Gun attack at the zubat, it missed, and a final pummel from the Team Skull pokemon left it exhausted on the ground. Chip watched with a crushing terror as Popplio's body went lax, and the pokemon passed out. A moment later, its body broke down into data and shot back into the PokeBall.

"Popplio!" Chip gasped as he held onto the PokeBall. "No, Popplio!"

The Team Skull members sauntered over, flashing him their wicked grins. Chip took a step back, alarm blaring in his head. "You know what's next, kid! Hand over that popplio. We can either do this the easy way or the hard way, and the hard way's gonna end with you getting wrecked."

"Go away!" Chip shouted. He had to get away. He had to escape! The blond turned and ran, forcing his legs to move as fast as they possibly could. "You can't have my popplio!"

"Hey! Get back here, you stupid kid! Yungoos, go get him!"

Chip felt something slam into his back, and down he fell, hitting the dirt. When he turned around, scrambling to sit up, he found the mongoose-like pokemon snarling at him. The creature snapped at his hand, making him yelp and back up more. The Team Skull grunts approached, one of them with his arms crossed while the other cracked his knuckles.

"All right," the grunt said, grabbing the back of Chip's shirt and yanking him up. "The hard way it is."

THWACK! Pain exploded in Chip's face; he'd only seen a blur of Team Skull's fist. He hit the ground, feeling Popplio's PokeBall tumbling out of his hand. Vision swimming, he struggled to grab for it as it rolled away, then let out a cry as a hand entered his vision and grabbed the PokeBall.

"Thanks for the popplio, kid! This thing's gonna serve Team Skull well, so don't worry! We'll take better care of it than you would've! Oh… and just to make sure you don't follow us…"

Pain exploded in Chip's head. The world grew fuzzy… muted… then black.

Chip didn't know how long he'd laid there. When his consciousness slowly started coming back, he didn't realize where he was. Everything was still black around him, and he thought for a moment that he was snuggled in the blankets of Professor Kukui's bed, Popplio comfortably in his arms. Yeah. He must've still been in the professor's lab. Rockruff must've been near too. He could smell the earthy scent of the puppy's fur, like breathing in a whiff of dirt itself.

There was a voice, but it seemed so far away. Part of him recognized it as Rotom, but he just wanted to sleep. Just a couple more hours… he was so tired, and exhaustion felt like a rock in the pit of his stomach. He didn't need an alarm clock, why was Rotom still shouting?

"Chip!"

He definitely wasn't in the professor's bed. The ground beneath him was so hard, and tiny rocks dug into his skin. Rotom's voice swum around him. His mouth was so dry and tasted like dirt. He started to gag on the taste, and piece by piece his consciousness returned.

"Chip! Zzr… please! Wake up!"

The first thing Chip noticed was the exploding pain inside his head. He whimpered and curled onto his side, pressing his hands against his head. The second thing he noticed was the taste of blood in his mouth, heavy and metallic. Then, all at once, everything came back to him. The battle with Team Skull… Popplio had been stolen! His eyes shot open, and he pushed himself up, looking around himself desperately like he might find Popplio waiting beside him.

But Rotom was the only one nearby. They were surrounded by pitch black darkness, with only the light from Rotom's screen to see by. "Chip! Ah, you're awake… are you okay? Zzz?"

The pain in his head was nothing compared to the swell of agony that steadily grew in his heart. He clenched his fists, shoulders trembling, as tears started collecting in the corners of his eyes. Popplio had been stolen. He had no partner now, and he doubted the kahuna would give him another. Why would anyone trust him with a pokemon when someone would just steal it from him again?

"Chip?" Rotom whispered. "Let'zzz go back, okay? The professor will know what to do..."

"I can't," he said, sniffling, as he wiped his face with one arm.

"Why not?"

"I lost Popplio! What happens if a wild pokemon attacks me? I can't do anything!"

Rotom hesitated, then floated in front of him. "Chip… please don't cry. I'm yours too, zzrr? I'll... I'll protect you."

A dumb stare crossed Chip's face as he stared at Rotom. Then, he felt like someone had slapped him. Rotom was right. It was his pokemon. Kukui had given it to him. "But you… you said you don't battle…?"

"I can't battle in thizzz PokeDex. But I...I can leave it if I have to." Digital tears flowed from both eyes down Rotom's screen. "I was too scared to do anything when you got attacked… but… if you give me a second chance, I promizzze I'll protect you!"

A moment later, the screen on the PokeDex turned dark, the appendages disappearing from either side, and the machine fell into the grass. Rotom popped out of the PokeDex, tears flowing from its eyes as it floated in the air front of the boy, its electric aura sparking and jittering back and forth. "Ro, rotom! Ro-to-"

"Rotom, Rotom, calm down," Chip said, wiping his eyes. "I can't understand you when you're just saying your name."

Rotom abruptly stopped, then darted into the PokeDex once again. A moment later, the screen fired up once more, and the red appendages popped out of either side. The ghost still looked stricken with digital tears still flowing from its eyes. "I'm sorry! It'zzz my fault Popplio got stolen! I shouldn't have hidden..."

Rotom couldn't forgive itself for cowering in Chip's bag when Team Skull had attacked. If it'd been brave, it could have joined Poppilo, and it knew its Thunder Shock move would have knocked that zubat out easily, right? Zubat was a flying type, making it weak to electric. With the two of them, none of this would have happened, and Chip wouldn't be hurt.

Rotom hated itself. It was a coward, how could it not hate itself?

Chip reached to take Rotom in his hands, gripping beneath the red appendages making up its arms. Rotom's arms flopped in front of it, and it hung there, looking crushed.

"Rotom… are you blaming yourself for not joining the battle?" Chip remembered the look on Rotom's face when he'd pushed it out of the way in the backpack. It must have been terrified to hide in there like that. He bit his bottom lip, feeling that same consuming terror prickle in the back of his mind as he thought about the fight and the moments before he lost Popplio.

Rotom didn't respond, feeling disgusted with itself. A pokemon that was afraid to battle… how more pathetic could it get?

"Ah… it's okay," Chip said, hugging the ghost. He felt Rotom tremble and held it even tighter. "It's normal to be a little scared before a fight. Especially if you're not that confident in yourself…"

"Zzr…" Rotom murmured, rubbing its face with one arm.

"A-And you said you weren't bred to battle, right?"

Rotom looked up at Chip. It'd been told over and over its destiny wasn't to battle, and Rotom had absorbed that message obediently. "The other rotom, my siblingzzz, were the ones who were going to train for battle in different appliances… The professor told me I was special… I wazzz going to power a PokeDex. I'd be trained for something different. Something greater."

As Rotom spoke, it felt a deeper and deeper sense of sadness, and gradually trailed off. Rotom suspected that it'd been kept from the others of its kind to preserve its docile personality. There was a part of it that felt tempted to mischief sometimes, but that part had to be trained out of it, so it could be a proper addition to the PokeDex. But when Rotom really thought about it, it couldn't blame Oak for this fear of fighting. Oak had been kind to Rotom. It had been born with these anxieties; its task with the PokeDex had just exacerbated the problem, instead of Rotom being encouraged to fight from birth to strengthen its self-esteem.

"Ah, come on Rotom, don't be sad," Chip said. "You're an electric type, which means that you'll fight against the birds around here easily, right? And since you're a ghost type, the normal type ones like the yungoos can't hurt you. Right? See, you're not weak. You're strong, you just need to have faith in yourself. We'll get strong together, and then we'll rescue Popplio."

Rotom frowned. "You think so? Zz-zzt?"

"I know it. Come on, smile, Ro-Ro. I know you can." He poked the center of Rotom's screen. Rotom floated out of his hands and smiled back. "See? I knew you could. You'll grow strong and you'll amaze me and everyone around, I know it."

"If...If you say so," Rotom said, blushing lightly.

Chip smiled, but now that he'd calmed down from his panic, he still had a splitting headache, and it felt like there was a bruise forming on his face. When he touched his cheek, it felt tender there, and he could imagine there was a splotch of purple and dark red. There was a pain in his stomach that gnawed like a hungry animal. Or maybe it was his grief in there, clawing at his insides. Popplio…

He stood up shakily, scooping Rotom up in one arm and his backpack in the other. Rotom tapped him. "Chip, I can fly, so you don't need to carry me. I can carry your backpack too if you want, zz-zzz?"

Chip shrugged. "You don't have to. Besides, I like holding you."

Rotom blinked, then smiled and hugged the boy's arm. "Okay then, zzt."

"Can you map us the way home? I'm going to… tell Professor Kukui about what happened. Then, um, I'll talk to the kahuna too… maybe they can do something. Maybe they can get Popplio back for me."

Chip knew that they weren't too far from the lab. He'd originally told himself he wouldn't venture far on the first day, after all. If he were to estimate, he was maybe a twenty minute walk from the professor's home. He just had to be careful where he stepped to avoid running into wild pokemon. Rotom was definitely not ready to train yet, and with no potions, Chip didn't feel ethical asking Rotom to fight for him anyway.

Rotom's map appeared again and it marked a flag where the professor's lab was. "You got it! Right here'zzz where we want to go."

"Um, Rotom…" Chip wasn't really sure how to approach the topic. "If a wild pokemon attacks…"

"I'll be ready, zzzt," Rotom said, but it honestly couldn't shake the fear creeping up on it. Maybe its passive nature had been why Oak chose it to power the PokeDex instead of another rotom. Oak had mentioned something about studying a Rotom's ability to change forms, but that was for rotoms with natures better fitted for battle. Knowing what the PokeDex said about rotoms, though… maybe even ones with a bold nature would get scared and run away.

Chip suddenly felt a shiver pass through him, as if something was staring at him intensely. He looked around himself and found his gaze locked on two eyes out in the dark of the woods, where the trees were jammed closer together. His heart started pounding as he worried whatever was out there could hurt Rotom if it attacked, but then the eyes closed. He stood there, tense, but the eyes didn't reappear.

There was something shining out there in the woods where that pair of eyes had been.

"Did you see something?" Rotom asked, peering around. Its gaze fell upon the items glistening in the woods, and it popped out of Chip's arms, grateful for something to distract them. "Look! Someone dropped some stuff! Let'zzz go check it out!"

Chip was hesitant, but Rotom seemed so confident (or oblivious) that there was no danger, so he finally followed after it. The tears had disappeared from Rotom's face, and a smile was now occupying its screen as it dashed over to where the fallen items were. When he reached the edge of the tree line, he leaned over, bracing himself against one of the trees, and spotted… two items sitting in the grass, among the tree roots. One was a pale gray bracelet and the other a large yellow feather tipped in orange. The feather tingled with electricity.

"Zzr?" Rotom floated down beside the feather and picked it up. An electric shudder ran through the pokemon as it gripped the feather, then it looked up at Chip. "Thizzz is so weird. It feels like it'zzz boosting my electric powers."

"Really? And what's this?" Chip picked his way through the vegetation and made it over to where Rotom was floating. He leaned down and picked up the bracelet. It was odd—pale gray with a darker gray interior, with a black piece on one side and a white one on the other. Between the two, there was a slot, but it was empty. He brought it up to his ear, hearing a faint ticking sound inside, like a watch. Chip undid the clasp at the back and fit it around his wrist, then snapped it closed.

Rotom blinked, looking at the bracelet. "I don't know. Maybe you should show the professor? Perhapzzz he would know?"

"Huh," Chip said, tapping the empty slot on the bracelet. "Hold onto the feather for now, if it actually boosts your power then that's worth holding. Actually… hmm, let me see." He dug into one of his pants pockets, then pulled out an extra bit of black string. He'd used most of it to fasten the island challenge pendant to his backpack, but there was still some left. He tied one end of the string to the shaft of the feather, flinching at the shock of electricity it gave him, then tied it to Rotom's arm. "Does it still work? Even when you're not holding it?"

Rotom dropped the feather, and it drifted down before hanging loosely beneath its screen. "I can still feel it! Thizzz is a good idea, clever boy."

Chip gave Rotom an odd look, then shook his head with a laugh and reached to poke its screen. Rotom wiggled as the map popped up. "Um… okay. We're northeast of the professor's lab, right? Which means if we get to this road, and follow it southwest, then we'll get there in no time."

Rotom nodded energetically. "Let'zzz go!"

A/N: What do you think will happen when Rotom has to fight? Comment below and let me know what you predict!