They sensed the atmosphere around them change, it forced them to wish with all of their willpower to be anywhere else but there during that moment. It was a daylight horror, the sun was shining brightly right above them, as if it were pointing them as prey to their merciless predator.
As they ran around the streets of Opelucid city, every single person who crossed their path turned to look at them just to give them a mischievous smile and a look filled with iniquity. From a group of adults drinking coffee at a table on a corner, to a woman carrying a child on a stroller, the sense of derogation and hate was inescapable. Each and every one of them, all with the same look on their faces. Cheren looked at the indifferent puppets under Zinzolin's control right in the eyes, even though their wicked stares instinctively told him to look away. He was able to notice a strange glow in their pupils, it was Zinzolin looking straight at him.
"How is he doing this? How is it possible for him to control this many people?" Cheren asked as he ran with the group,
"it's the espeon," Jonny cried out loud,
"how do you know that?"
"I've seen that espeon before, it's Sabrina's, she can communicate with it telepathically, Zinzolin must be exploiting that somehow,"
"how do we stop him?"
"I have no idea, we should focus on running away, maybe if we move far enough from the pokemon the mind control won't be able to reach us,"
"oh yeah, then why isn't he controlling us right now?..."
A couple holding hands let out a big chuckle as the guys ran past them,"because you are worthless to me..." the two of them shouted in unison, prompting the guys to run faster and farther away.
Suddenly the asphyxiating atmosphere of judging eyes disappeared, and the people around stopped looking at them. It seemed they had gotten far enough away from the espeon as they reached the deserted town square. The group took a few seconds to catch their breath.
Then, out of the corner of her eye, Bianca recognized a blonde, short boy, as he played with a pokemon on a water fountain nearby. He was wearing a politoed outfit, which only left his face and some of his hair visible, and the pokemon next to him was a politoed. Then she noticed it was actually Popito. Bianca ran over to him as soon as she saw him and her friends followed after her.
"Popito! What in the world are you doing here?" Bianca frantically asked using the little air she had on her lungs,
"I am making sure my master stays hydrated," Popito casually answered,
"why?" Jonny asked, and Popito laughed,
"why? Um, I don't know, because I owe him my life? Because if he isn't hydrated he will die? Because he bailed me out?"
"There's no time to solve this confusing scene, where are the rest of the remnants? We need to get out of here now!" Bianca pressed,
"they are still at the hospital," Popito replied,
"how did you get out?"
"I just told you, my master bailed me out," Popito said as he bowed to the politoed next to him, who responded to his gesture by obliviously licking the back of Popito's head.
"Thank you my master,"
"alright guys, so if Popito and the politoed are fine then that means the mind control is not strong enough to get here, right?" Jonny asked the group,
"how do we know if that's actually how it works?" Cheren challenged him,
"it must be..." Jonny replied, then he stared at nothing, deep in thought for a few seconds, before he turned to Popito, "...Popito, walk down the street right now,"
"okay," Popito immediately complied. He started walking down the street while the oblivious politoed continued gleefully pouring water on itself.
"No! Popito come back! Jonny why did you tell him that?" Bianca cried out,
"I just want to test something, don't worry I'll go save him if Zinzolin tries to control him,"
"what if you get mind-controled too?"
"Then you'll go and save me,"
"that's so dumb!"
"Alright guys I'm walking!" Popito intervened, as he gleefully walked away from the group,
"turn around and then walk backwards so we can see if your face changes!" Jonny said,
"what? Okay, but if this doesn't work you're going to look like a fool," Popito replied before obeying Jonny. He continued walking down the street backwards with a pleased expression on his face, all the way until something on his eyes changed. He stopped walking and put his hands on his temples, as if he had a painful headache. Jonny quickly ran over to him and grabbed him by the arm; that was enough proof; but before Jonny could drag him away, Popito opened his eyes,
"there you are, you worthless idiots, you think you can escape?" Popito said with a different tone on his voice, he seemed more aggressive. Jonny instinctively moved Popito forward a few inches, and saw how he changed back to his regular self,
"see guys, it's some kind of force-field!" Jonny shouted at the guys, "there's only so much space that the espeon can cover."
He then grabbed Popito by the shoulders and pushed him back just a few inches again.
"...Don't play with my power!" Popito quickly exclaimed.
Jonny pulled him back again, "how does it feel?" he asked Popito,
"are you asking me?" Popito answered, "it feels like someone is telling me what to think, and what to do, and then I do it,"
"can you stop it?"
"No, I have to do what the voice says,"
"does it hurt?" Jonny asked him,
"no..." Popito replied.
Jonny pushed him back again as soon as he uttered a word, and started shaking him forward and backwards repeatedly, snapping him in and out of his and Zinzolin's intermittent wrath.
"I think that's enough Jonny!" Bianca shouted, "you proved your point,"
"idiot!" Popito said, "I hope this is helping and you are not just shaking me for no reason..." "...what do you think you are doing?" "Groovy..." "...I'm going to kill you!"
"How many people do you think he can control at once?" Cheren asked,
"hundreds, maybe thousands!" Popito answered, "and all of their pokemon, all across the region..." "...I'm getting dizzy..." "...there's no escape!" "...I will puke on you dude..." "if they won't listen to me..." "...I'm only letting you do this because I want to fit in okay..." "I'll force them to listen, am I weak now?...You can stop skaking me, you do know the espeon can move too right? It's getting closer and closer to you as we speak"
Jonny let go of Popito and grabbed his forehead with a painful expression on his face.
"You know what?" Popito said. His eyes looked different and full of hate, "I changed my mind, I will take over your minds too, just to humiliate you,"
"you won't get away with this Zinzolin!" Bianca replied as she ran over to rescue her friends,
"but you are so wrong!" Popito exclaimed, "cause even after I slaughter you and your little friends there will be plenty of people left to marvel at my power before I slaughter them too."
After his horryfing words, Bianca quickly pulled Popito and Jonny toward her and urged them to run away with her, just as a myriad of angry people appeared on the horizon, with the shining espeon looming behind them. The group ran away from the ensuing crowd and felt the atmosphere behind them change, they could feel as it somehow became heavier on their backs. None of them dared to take a look back.
"Guys, I think we need to separate," Jonny said as he and Bianca reached the water fountain, where the rest of the group waited for them,
"when is it a good idea to separate? I'll tell you when, not right now," Cheren said,
"Cheren, shut your mouth," Jonny angrily replied,
"excuse you, I know you're mad at me, but you shouldn't just dismiss people, I think that what I am saying makes sense,"
"Cheren, there's no time for you to put into action everything that you've learned so far in an honest attempt to redeem yourself and to show that you have changed for the better, someone needs to alert the remnants and the people at the hospital, but we can't lead Zinzolin there, can we? Therefore someone must stay and draw him away from the hospital."
There was a silence that demonstrated how convincing Jonny's argument was.
"We are not sacrificing anyone," Bianca then added,
"Jonny's right," Helma intervened, "and it has to be me, I'm the slowest,"
The group silently pondered Helma's proposition for a second, but everyone, even Jonny, thought that leaving someone injured behind would be a horrible thing to do, so they quickly dismissed the idea.
"I nominate Cheren," Jonny said, and Popito quickly senconded him with an energetic nod,
"why me?" Cheren cried,
"it would be a great way to redeem yourself dude, I would forgive you if you stayed," Jonny said, and he saw how the sweaty Cheren seriously considered his proposal.
Bianca did not care for it, however, "I'll stay with Cheren then," she said, to Helma and Jonny's horror,
"we can't let you do that Bianca, you've already done a lot for us," Helma said, and Jonny nodded, "let Jonny stay instead," Helma then added,
"wait, no, why me?" Jonny cried, "...I mean I'll do it but I don't want to stay with Cheren...I'll forgive him, and we are cool, but that doesn't mean I like him,"
"what do I have to do in order for you to like me?" Cheren replied,
"you don't have to do anything Cheren, I'll stay with you, and that's the end of the discussion," Bianca exclaimed,
"the discussion is never over," Jonny said,
"I'm serious, you have to leave and warn the rest of the remnants about Zinzolin, come on Jonny, please."
Jonny looked to the ground and closed his eyes, then a painful frown appeared on his face. He then opened his eyes and nodded.
"This isn't right," Helma sorrowfully said,
"it's the only choice," Bianca replied, finally convincing Helma, who still hesitated for a moment before reluctantly running away with Jonny, Popito, and Politoed by her side.
"What do we do now?" Bianca asked Cheren once they were left alone, their friends were gone and hopefully safe.
"we walk slower than them," he answered.
The power of the espeon reached them, the two of them could feel it in their minds. It was as if someone were whispering into their ears from the inside of their heads. Bianca and Cheren stopped in the middle of the street, as the crowd full of malice slowly approached them. Still, Bianca tried her hardest to resist the mind control, and it seemed like her efforts were effective, in fact she didn't know if Zinzolin had already started trying to take control of her mind or if that was just some sort of prelude for the real thing.
Or maybe Zinzolin wasn't very strong after all. The voice inside her brain was telling her something she knew wasn't true, something that went against the core of what Bianca was and what she stood for. She was not his puppet, she would never be driven by hate and resentment; she thought of all this with Grimsley's voice, and it nullified Zinzolin's orders, and it repelled them from her mind. Bianca then knew would never do what Zinzolin was telling her to do, she was free.
Cheren wasn't however. She saw him struggling right next to her, with his hands covering his eyes, filled with distress.
"Just ignore it Cheren, you can fight it," Bianca urged her friend,
"I can't," Cheren calmly replied, as Zinzolin's voice creeped through his mind, "I'm not strong enough,"
"yes you are," she rebuffed him,
"just shut your mouth," Cheren said as she put his hand on Bianca's neck, and started pressing,
"I know he's telling you that you are weak and worthless but you aren't!" Bianca said as she grabbed Cheren by the shoulders, "it doesn't matter if people think you are weak, they don't know you like I do, I care about you and I know you are strong, I know you are, isn't that enough?"
Slowly, Cheren took his hand off of Bianca's neck, then he covered his ears. He kept struggling with Zinzolin's orders until he was able to repel his mind control. He opened his eyes and saw his best friend's face, and then Zinzolin was gone. Cheren hugged Bianca and buried his face on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry for everything," Cheren said, "I really am, now run!"
He pushed her away seconds before two middle aged men with weird frowns on their faces grabbed him by the shoulders,
"how on earth are you doing this?!" The two men cried in unison, before a myriad of people approached Cheren and grabbed him however they could,
"I'll show you," they all cried at the same time like a choir, "I'll figure it out, even if I have to open up your head,"
"seriously Bianca, run!" Cheren exclaimed before disappearing behind the multitude.
Bianca closed her eyes and bolted away from the multitude.