Wardens Eternal
Chapter Seven: What in the?
Martian was quick to notice Scarlett's absence from the newly formed crowd inside the dojo, most of the new arrivals either insulted the fallen Machoke or praise the electric type for teaching the bully a solid lesson no one else could. A few Pokemon finally decided to drag the broken bully to the clinic for a long and painful recovery, just like the ones he put a lot of others into.
Getting through the crowd somewhat politely took the former human a lot longer than he would have liked, giving his partner a ten to fifteen minute head start to go somewhere and blame herself for being weak.
That was ten to fifteen minutes too long for his liking, especially when he found Scarlett's temporary badge on the ground just outside. The luxio picked up the discarded pin in his paw mentally hitting himself in the head as he let out a slow growl. There was no way he'd be able to find her now.
That's when he got a headache and the world seemed to lose focus, like a sudden case of motion sickness until he saw Scarlett.
Except she was blue and transparent like a ghost, or a memory.
The ghost Scarlett emerged from the dojo lowering her head in shame, trying to hold back a few tears as she unpinned her badge from her scarf and dropped it onto the ground in the spot Martian found it. The ghost gave one final look back before muttering goodbye one last time and leaving headed for the cliffs overlooking the sea.
And just as bizarre and abrupt as they appeared, the visions ended, leaving the former human behind to try and make sense out of what he just witnessed. He could tell almost immediately that it wasn't some sort of Psychic illusion or attack, no, the visions seemed to radiate some sort of primal energy the scale of which put any Psychic type's powers to complete and utter shame.
As much as it frustrated him, Martian accepted the fact that he didn't know what just happened to him and that it was too early to come to a conclusion. All he could do was trust his gut and trust in what the vision showed him until he learned more, if he ever did.
At least there was a silver lining he could be thankful for, he knew which way Scarlett went. He had her trail. . .
Wardens Eternal
The scarf wearing vulpix laid atop a formation on the cliff overlooking the Great Sea, taking refuge in the soothing trance of the clashing waves below and the cool, salty breeze above until her sobs ceased. Sure she still felt entirely lost, but at least she had stopped crying. Still, the lack of a path forward, the lack of a potential future kept digging away at her self-worth. Why was it that whenever she had a chance at making something of herself she always cut the ties and ran away? Worse, she had cut ties with the only other Pokemon that accepted her other than her mother. Martian didn't deserve that, he didn't deserve the disappointment she left him with, at least he had a bunch of new friends now.
"Quite the view isn't it? Nothing but water until the horizon."
The familiar voice caught Scarlett off guard but she refrained from jumping, choosing instead to move her head so that she was looking away from him. Part of her hoped that he'd take the hint and leave her alone but, but the other part hoped that he would stay with her.
Sighing at her response Martian laid down next to her before continuing. Maybe if he could get that curious mind of her's to return to focusing on wonder and adventure rather than her own shortcomings, the rest of her would follow.
"I guess I take that back, nothing is ever really limited to "Until the horizon," That's just as far as we know, but what's beyond that? What's beyond the horizon? Or the horizon after that?" Martian asked, waiting for Scarlett's response but sighed again when she only replied with more silence.
"I owe you an apology." The former human admitted. Even though she stayed silent Martian knew he had her attention, her ear twitched, she was listening.
"I was so eager to get started, to get out there and do good work, fight for the right cause I never stopped to question if you were ready to fight. I just assumed you were as good as me but looking back, I don't know why I even thought that." The luxio confessed.
"Because I'm so weak and pathetic?" Scarlett whispered, still refusing to look at him.
"No, because I've had training, I have practice and experience you don't. Granted those were in a human body and not. . . Well, not this." Martian admitted gesturing to his new form, "But the instincts are still the same. That's the main difference between us Scarlett, and if you'd let me I will be more then happy to correct that mistake."
"How?" Scarlett asked, starting to entertain the thought.
"Probably a lot of talks and practice in the dojo," Martian shrugged, "I'll try to talk you into the right frame of mind, teach you how to read your instincts and environment, how to think, how to act. We'll try to put all of that together in the dojo through sparing and more physical training. Besides, I might need some practice myself to get used to fighting in this body. I honestly have no clue how I used Thunderclaw and Thunderbolt back there, gonna need some practice to work out the kinks."
Scarlett let out the softest chuckle she could as she finally turned her head to look at him.
"Do you think this will work?"
"We won't know until we try."
The vulpix immediately felt no small amount of weight dissipate from her body as she rolled onto her side, resting her head on Martian's leg. There was something, wonderful about the fact that even though she gave up on herself, he never did.
"You're gonna need this," Martian stated after a few seconds of letting Scarlett rest her head on him before presenting her temporary badge, slightly crumpled from when he held it in his fist, but still intact.
"My badge!" Scarlett exclaimed as she reattached it to her scarf before pausing for a moment before addressing Martian.
"How did you find me?"
The electric type only groaned in utter frustration, "I have no idea. . ."