Hello again everyone! Had a bit more time this week, so here's a chapter. I don't know how soon the next chapter will be, it really depends on my workload next week. We're entering the final 3-4 chapters here I think, but don't hold me to that.
Rocker on: If a random human being got pokemon powers, the likelihood that they would abuse them is very high. Also, a hybrid might be more likely to be mentally unstable given what they are, so it make sense that people are afraid of them. The system's not really rigged, it's more that the local government for the small town has a lot less funding than a city does overall. That's pretty basic economics. One of those is correct, I'll let you guess about which. The last line won't be a love cliche, I know that much. I should probably start thinking about it now though, I really suck at last lines. Practice makes perfect. I'm not offended, when I look back at some of my older works I see some pretty obvious errors myself. Once the first draft is done I might post a link to it as a chapter. I might try and publish it as either an ebook or physical book eventually, who knows. The only reason I might not is because I don't particularly want my real name associated with these stories (I'm too socially awkward to publicly own up to it given the stigma fanfiction has), and that would make it a lot easier than it is now to figure out.
On with the story!
The next morning came, but Jake did not come with it. We waited longer than we should have, until almost noon, for him to arrive. I was conflicted; part of me wanted to stay longer, but I knew that waiting here was dangerous. If any of the townsfolk had a pokemon who could track us we were putting ourselves at risk.
The forest trail we walked was the same one that we had taken with Caleb when we left the forest months ago, only now we headed inward.
We walked silently, side by side, hands clasped together. The sounds of the forest calmed me some, but it wasn't enough to cease my worrying about Jake. If he got hurt I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.
"You're still worried about him, aren't you?" Alejandra asked, almost as if she had read my thoughts.
I nodded. "How'd you know?"
"You're all tensed up." She said. "Dead giveaway that you've got something on your mind. You remember he saved us back in Coumarine? He can look after himself and then some."
I sighed. "He never really got around to teaching us to fight. I'm honestly glad."
"Glad? Why's that?" She asked, turning to look at me.
"I don't want to fight at all, and I guess I feel like knowing how to would subvert that." I said, after a few seconds.
Alejandra nodded. "Papá always said that one should only fight when all other options are exhausted. I used to not follow that as much as I do now. Maybe you're rubbing off on me."
"Is that a bad thing?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.
She flashed me a smile. "I never said it was."
We were silent for a few seconds. "We've really come a long way since this all began. I know it's pretty obvious, but I feel it's only becoming clearer." She said.
"I know what you mean." I said. "Something about seeing this forest again from a different perspective. So much happened here, but it looks different now. Could just be that I'm taller."
Alejandra chuckled at the joke, and we lapsed into silence again. In the quiet, I heard the sound of distant footsteps, definitely human, and definitely more than one person. Alejandra's ears perked up, she likely heard it as well.
We glanced at eachother, then broke into a run, but the footsteps were only growing closer. There was a flash of light and Alejandra cried out, tripping over a root as she stumbled.
I skidded to a halt, whirling around. Three middle aged men with identically cruel looks on their faces advanced towards us, each with a pokemon.
The one on the left had a Houndoom by his side, it's eyes burning as it glared at us, teeth bared. On the middle man's shoulder stood a Raichu. That must have been what hurt Alejandra. The third stood by a large, frog-like pokemon I didn't recognize. It's tongue lolled out, wrapped around its neck like a scarf.
I gave Alejandra a hand up. She found her footing quickly. Good think her ankle didn't break there, otherwise we would have been in even more trouble.
"What do you want?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady against anger and fear.
The middle one spoke, his voice low. "You monsters need to stay out of our village." The others stayed silent, still slowly moving towards us. I felt the heat radiating from Alejandra as she gathered her fire.
"We're just trying to live our lives, the same as anyone else." I said, slowly backing up, maintaining distance with them.
The rightmost man spoke. "We don't care, boy. Houndoom-"
"One move and you all burn." Alejandra cut in, tongues of flame coming off her clenched fists.
The leftmost man gave a grim chuckle. "Fiery temper, this one. maybe we should have a go at her before we kill 'er."
I struck without thought, blinded by anger. The energy ball sent the man sprawling, and the frog leapt at me to counter attack. There was no time to dodge. I could only track the glimmer of movement and begin to raise my arms to guard my head, when the world around me distorted and changed, all but for Alejandra by my side.
Reality reformed into a very familiar cave, no sign of the three men anywhere. I looked up at our savior, floating in the air before us.
"Welcome once again, Children." Mesprit's voice spoke in my head.
"Thanks for getting us out of there." Alejandra said. I was still seething with anger, how dare they threaten her like that?
A wave of calm swept over my mind. Mesprit's gaze had turned to me, a soft glow in it's eyes. "Children," It spoke aloud. "Your journey has brought you far, but may never truly end. Destiny is as fickle as emotions, and not nearly as fierce." Its voice was a dirge, slow and somber.
"What do you mean? Should I not trust the compass?" I asked.
"I cannot say. I'll send you now to your destination, regrettably I have matters to attend to." Mesprit said, cryptically. Alejandra gave my hand a quick squeeze, as if reaffirming her presence. The world around us warped once more.
We stood outside the walls of Ramiro's pseudo-fortress. I hadn't really gotten a sense of their true height before, but I could now easily see over them. Ramiro walked towards us, cautiously. Alejandra smiled. "Hey dad," She said. "It's been a little while."