Chapter Twenty-one: Caught

Running From Myself

My heart pounded out of my chest. I started squirming and screaming, but my screams were muffled by the hand cupped over my mouth. I tried to remove the hand and I even clawed at the arm.

"You're hurting me!" I heard in a whisper.

Kedah? I recognized the voice. The light came on, I looked over. Ellena and Kedah had invaded my room. Kedah, thinking I was calm, removed her hand from my face and took a step back.

But I was not calm. "What are you guys doing?!" I whispered. "You can't just barge into my room unexpectedly! What if I was naked!" Then I gasped and looked down at myself. No, I was halfway clothed.

Ellena snickered. "Well hello to you too, Princess."

I crossed my arms over my chest. Then realization hit, they got my message. I smiled. "You got my message?"

"Yep. Hilbert contacted us and told us to get down here, and because the boys had to go to the mines it's just us." Kedah said. She looked at her arms, my claws left nice marks on her dark skin. "Sinnoh! Kitty left a mark!" I smirked.

"The mines hours got upped." Ellena sat on my bed. "Everyone works long days and they're not getting paid extra. Lea has it out for us."

"He does." I agreed. "I know where we have to attack."

"Not the same place as last time, that was hard!" Kedah groaned and sat on the sofa.

"Where was last time?" I asked.

"The coliseum. Didn't you hear about it?"

I thought back to the first Pastoria bombing. "I guess I did. But now we need to bomb a guards house, they are insane here."

"They're insane everywhere." Ellena said, I could hear the offense in her voice. They were worse in Oreburgh, for certain.

"We can actually do something about here though." Reassurance laced my tone. Ellena nodded and then smirked.

"I know just what we can do."

Rain started to sprinkle. I pulled my hood up and kept moving. I had Bibarel's Pokéball in hand, ready in case I had to call him out.

"Alright, there's the guard post." Ellena said. We looked at the back of a small brick building. There was a door that was ajar, at our angle we could see a guard napping on the couch.

I was beginning to feel apprehensive about the whole thing, but our plan was already in action. There was no backing down now. I took a deep breath. "I'm ready." I told Ellena. I lacked everything confidence related. That was the truth. I felt like this was a bad idea.

Why didn't I listen? Easy, I assumed the presence was telling me it was a bad idea. It decided to drop in to say hello, and even though it left I could still feel the bad vibes fluttering around me. I'm still mad at you. I thought, hoping that it could hear me. If it did or didn't I will never know, nonetheless it would figure it out.

Air whipped by me quickly. My cloak was caught in the wind and my hood slipped off my head. I hurriedly fixed it.

I heard Ellena take a deep breath, it was time.

She pulled out a small round thing. They explained that that was a small bomb, once it went off it would catch the post on fire and nothing else. It wouldn't take out the whole town.

Ellena jogged out to the back of the building, I could still see through the door. She pulled the top off the bomb, tossed it down and ran back to the woods for her life. Kedah was off in the distance watching for anyone coming our way. My job was to stand far enough away that I wouldn't take a blow but close enough so I could observe the attack and make sure everything went as planned.

The bomb exploded. Fire busted out of the shell and immediately rose up the wall. The grey and gold bricks turned jet black and I had to cover my nose to keep from coughing. Smoke rose into the air. I started taking steps backwards, afraid that crowds would draw near. I decided that it was about time to go meet up with Ellena and Kedah.

Before I turned and walked off, the back door to the post broke off its hinges and fell to the ground. I looked into the building. The man who had slept on the couch was now standing up. He was screaming and holding his face. His hands and arms were blooded, I noticed that his skin had started to peel from his body. He slumped to his knees. He cried out. Then the brick wall collapsed on top of him.

My first instinct was to run to his rescue, I had to fight that instinct. He's the bad guy, he's the bad guy. I repeated. Did I believe it? No. Not anymore.

I was frozen. The wall collapsed more and screams rang out. People were dying, that's a big deal. People were dying because of me.

The presence returned. The hand was placed on my shoulder. "Run." I heard. "Run."

I'm not listening. I told the thing. Then wind wisped by and fear shot through me. Unnatural fear made especially for possessed people. "Run." That time I listened.

I stumbled around the trees and tried to find the trail back to the field. That's where I would find Kedah and Ellena.

I tripped and fell face-first on the ground. I hit my head and everything went black.

Water covered my face. My eyes quickly fluttered open. I shot up into the sitting position, I was in the swampy field.

"Oh Cynthia!" Kedah said. "You're awake, thank Pokémon you're awake!"

"You scared me to death." Ellena muttered. Her eyes were glossy. It was out of character for her to tear up, but considering she lost not only her father but her sister, it was alright. She was allowed.

"How—how long was I out?" I grabbed my head. I didn't have a headache, I didn't feel any pain at all. I began to slightly freak out, but then peace coursed through me. The peace I was addicted to. I laid back and soaked up the peace, inhaled it like sweet smelling berries.

"Not long. You collapsed right outside of the field, when you fell you accidently released Bibarel and he started randomly hitting trees, we heard the noise and found you." Ellena explained.

"Then we brought you here and Bibarel shot you with a Water Gun." Kedah continued. I looked over at my Pokémon, he sat there happily. I patted his head.

"Thank you." I told him. He nodded then lifted his nose to the air proudly. I chuckled. Then I remembered. "What happened? The guard post is down, right?"

Kedah nodded and smiled. "You better believe it. The town is in uproar now."

I sat up again. "Sinnoh!" I jumped up. "I need to be in town! They're going to know it's me!"

Ellena jumped up with me. "No they won't. Let's get you back to the Center."

I had an idea. "No, not the Center. The coliseum."

I few minutes later the three of us were un-cloaked and behind the coliseum. "This is risky." Kedah said again.

"Kedah, it'll work. So be quiet." Ellena snapped. She looked at me, she didn't say anything but I knew she was silently asking me if I was ready. I nodded. She faced the door. It was a door that was at the side of the building. She opened it and peeked in. "Coast is clear. It's a hallway."

I looked in. Sure enough a hallway lined the inside. I stepped in, gave a nod to Ellena, and closed the door. My 'plan' was this: I would find the place to take my flying test, take it, and walk out the front door. If anyone asks me where I was I would say taking my test. Which was true… Sort of.

I walked down the hallway. At the end was the lobby. I could see through the glass front doors, groups were outside talking and yelling. I focused back to the room. Every corner held a desk, the desk attendants was away at the moment. The closest one, to my right, wouldn't really be in-view from outsiders looking in, so I inched towards that one.

Once I got there I realized that that was the Hunting Games information desk. And that wasn't my desk. Next would be the one to the far left, that would be more in-view, but it was a chance I had to take.

I moved to that desk. The trainer's information desk. Perfect. Right in front was a paper talking about the flyers test, it was in room B3. I looked around, every hallway had a letter above it. Hallway A was the one I came from then B was right next to it.

As soon as I made it to the hallway I grinned and fought the urge to jump up happily and scream. There were four doors, I found room three and stepped in. It was empty. Thank goodness. Every desk had the same screen that the counters in the Center did. I picked the closest one and tapped the thing with my finger. It lit up and the holograph appeared in front of my face.

Welcome! Prepare to take the test. It read.

For the next ten minutes the holograph would ask a question and give me three answers to choose from. I scored nine-out-of-ten. It was easy, the first five questions were about different types of Pokémon, one said: If up against a Staraptor, what Pokémon would most likely win? A. Pikachu, B. Goldeen, or C. Another Staraptor. Easy. Then the next three questions were location questions. Example: What town is closest to Sunyshore? Easy, Pastoria. Then the other two were 'flying skill' questions.

I walked to the front of the class where a large screen sat. "Congratulations, here is your license." A small card popped out of the screen, I grabbed it and walked out of the room with a big smile of victory on my face.

Once I got to the front door, I didn't hesitate when I walked out. As I suspected, a group of reporters ran to me. "Cynthia, how do you feel about the latest attack?" One asked.

I pretended to look shocked. I was a convincing actress. "Another attack?!"

"Yes, where have you been?" The man wasn't buying it.

"I was getting my flying license." I showed him.

The reporters decided I wasn't worth their time and walked off. Another smile of victory. With that, I went back to the Center.

As soon as I got to my room, the peace went away.

Kedah and Ellena bounced around me happily but I wasn't at all happy. I watched someone die. They died because of me.

I put on my fake smile and sat on the bed. They kept chirping about how well everything went and that they don't need the boys help. I wasn't having any of it. Please come back… I need you… I thought out to the spirit. I needed the peace.

The sun set shortly after. Kedah and Ellena said their goodbyes and left back for their town. I went out to the Mart to grab some dinner.

It was raining hard, I jogged to the shop. The door 'dinged' when I stepped in. I quickly found some greens that would make a nice salad and bought them. The bell above the door dinged, my gaze went to the person coming in. I recognized him as the sailor who was being beaten by a guard.

When I realized I was staring I grabbed my things and left the store. But once I exited, I heard the ding again. The rain had paused. I looked over my shoulder as I walked, he was following me. I got to the Center and walked in. He followed. No one but a nurse was in the lobby, and I was scared, so I decided to confront him.

I turned around and got right to the point. "Why are you following me?" Fear didn't shine at all in my tone.

"I know what you did." The burly sailor whispered.

No, he cannot know, he must be fibbing! "And that is?" I let my annoyance be known.

"I know you set the bomb off."

I swore. "How do you—you are insane." I rolled my eyes and turned around.

"You can't run from this." He said.

I stopped and sighed. He was right. I turned back around. "No one will believe you." I muttered.

He shook his head. "I'm not a tattle-tail Miss, I just wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?" I was shocked. "Thank me for… Doing what I did?" But I killed people…

He nodded. "My wife is very sick, she has a bad virus. Those guards were harsh and wouldn't let me go check on her, you gave them what they deserve."

"How do you know?"

"After the bombing I saw someone running in the woods. I followed them. I saw them hit the dirt and a Bibarel came out. That kind of gave it away." He chuckled. Our voices were hushed.

"Right… Please don't tell anyone."

"I won't. This'll be our secret. But I want to give you a gift." He dug into his pocket and pulled out a Pokéball. "My wife used to be in contests, she was a national champ, I talked to her and she wants you to have this." He handed me the purple and pink ball.

"…What?! A Pokémon? I can't accept this." I took a step back. "Really, that is too much."

"No, please. It would be my honor if you took this and fought with her and made her strong, and one day, when you're out in the big games, I'll see you fighting with this Pokémon and remember what a good person you are." He smiled.

I returned a smile. "Thank you." I took the ball. "Is this your only Pokémon?"

"I have a Whooper that runs around a house… He's more of a companion then defender." He laughed.

"Then I really can't leave you defenseless…" I thought for a moment. I knew what I had to do. I grabbed one of the Pokéballs from my belt-loop and handed it to him. "This is my Bibarel. He's strong and will protect you."

The sailor looked at the ball. He snarled his nose. "Really, I don't need that."

I took some offense, Bibarel was tough. I grabbed Golduck's Pokéball instead. "Here's Golduck. He's tough too."

The sailor gladly took him. "You're kind. But let me tell you, you're in way over your head. You're playing Lea's game now, that's not taken lightly. I'll hate to hear that something will happen to you… But that's what I'm afraid will end up happening." He shook his head. "You need to stop this. Stop what you're doing. This isn't good." With that, he left.

Okay, talk about being freaked. I wasn't just freaked, I was scared, worried, homesick, disgusted, tired and more importantly confused. Confused about everything.

"You aren't cut out for the job, Sweetie." I thought back to the conversation I had with Blake. That would make two people telling me I was in too deep. Of course Blake was manipulating me, but why? He likes Lea, he doesn't want me replacing him. I thought. He probably doesn't like me… Or anyone for that matter. He just wants to live in his dungeon and get money from Lea. If I become the champion I'll ruin all his little plans. That's a good reason.

On top of that, I doubted myself. This is a mistake. I am not cut out for this. I cannot be the champion, cannot be a rebel and frankly Sinnoh won't miss me. "If you quit, something will make them forget about you." Blake's words ran through my mind. I should have never left Grandmother. This whole thing is a mistake.

I laid in bed for hours. It was dead of night. I couldn't sleep. I heard rain pound down on the window. I had realized what I needed to do, but I didn't accept it until then.

I was going to quit. I would go home the next morning and never look back.

Flubby: Thank you for your awesome review! It was so great getting one from you, but something confused me. The last line "I like where you're stealing this from." Would you mind explaining what that means exactly?

Thank you for reading.