A/N
A bit of a shorter chapter in store for this time. But this is where we more properly introduce Tary!
Disclaimer: Pokemon does not belong to me or my friend and we take no credit for any of them. The only things that belong to us are the human characters, the personalities of the Pokemon that are central to the story, and the story lines.
Chapter 5: Kidnapping
Tary looked just as Matt had described her. She was a petite girl, small for even her age. Her black hair was pulled back into a pony-tail to keep it neat and contained while she was constantly on the go. Getting out and exploring was doing wonders for her. Even though she was alone, besides her Pokémon, and often felt lonely, it was a great experience. Traveling the region and training her Pokémon friends were good for her, even if it had just turned into a very dangerous journey. She wasn't aware that Alex was back in Kanto and looking to attack her favorite prey again.
A bouncy, hyper Growlithe bounced around her feet. Despite his darting and weaving, Tary managed to avoid completely tripping over him; it was a skill born of much practice. She continued walking, taking Route 6 south to Vermilion city. Already she had earned a few badges and evolved a few of her Pokémon. Things were looking up for her.
James used the Pokémon he'd mentioned to scope the route and look for her. They got rather pleasing results and that was when James took his chance to get her guard down. Taking out a tennis ball and bouncing it a few times, he threw it into the bushes and to the other side in the middle of the route. James uttered the words 'Time to play' and Dyavol bounced up and right after the ball, quite eager to get it. He loved playing ball. It was a lot of fun to him.
James exited the bushes, having shed his coat a bit away so the scent of Alex didn't linger all too much on him, and looked like just some not-sinister man playing with his Umbreon. Dyavol returned the ball, standing on hind legs, hoping to get his trainer to throw the ball again. He did, and this time down the road where it bounced, and would probably bounce somewhere in front of the little girl, Dyavol chasing after it in pure glee.
Tary was not all that startled by the sight of another trainer. Other trainers were rather common along the routes from town to town. Battling with them was often quite enjoyable. Still, Tary wasn't very outgoing and had been taught to be at least somewhat cautious around strangers.
Waka didn't seem to have the same inhibitions as Tary, however, and bounded forward in glee at the sight of another playful dog-like Pokémon. Maybe the dog would play with him! He barked, trying to get the Umbreon's attention so they could play together. Waka hadn't caught any scent of Alex, so neither the Growlithe nor the human were tipped off to anything dangerous going on. Tary stopped where she was to watch the exchange between the two dogs just in front of her.
Dyavol's eyes lit up in excitement as the puppy Pokémon gleefully approached him, calling out he wanted to play. Dyavol responded by jumping into a crouching stance, his tail wagging, watching him with the goofiest look, ready to pounce on the other Pokémon and wrestle playfully with him. Dyavol loved to play and liked to play with other Pokémon the most. He wanted to play with the puppy. He looked nice and he looked like playing would be fun with him. "Dyavol, what have you found?" James trotted up behind his Pokémon. "Found someone to play with?" he smiled. Dyavol was a child at heart.
Waka barked eagerly, dropping down into the same sort of stance with his butt in the air and his tail wagging furiously. He took the initiative, pouncing upon the other dog with a playful growl and nipping at him. It was quite the adorable sight; it made Tary smile to see that her Growlithe had found a friend to play with for a little while. The fire Pokémon had gotten used to playing with the other Pokémon that Tary carried with her, but none of them were dogs like this Umbreon, Dyavol, was. Besides, the other two around Waka in age were both somewhat disagreeable and only rarely chose to play vigorously with the puppy.
Dyavol growled playfully right back and rolled over, twisting and nipping at his ear playfully. "Sorry about that, little miss," James began, approaching her a bit. "Dyavol likes to play. A lot. He'll never pass up the opportunity to play with someone, especially a young puppy Pokémon. He's a child at heart, y'know? Dyavol won't ever grow up, I don't think," he chuckled. The sad part was that it was true. Dyavol would probably never grow out of this habit of playing with strange Pokémon when the opportunity presented itself. He loved playing with Pokémon.
Tary politely kept her distance as he moved closer, staying out of arm's reach of the man. Mostly, Tary did that with everyone, except her own family. Matt and her father were the only ones she got close to; she mostly kept her distance from the strangers, which was certainly understandable. However, despite her physical distance, Tary smiled a little bit at the stranger. "Oh, um... that's okay. Waka likes playing with everyone." Waka was friendly with just about every person and Pokémon that came along, as long as he didn't get the sense that they were dangerous. Right now, Dyavol was occupying his attention and James didn't come off as anything more than another traveling trainer playing with his Pokémon.
James smiled. "Dyavol does, as well. He'd play with anything that moves. He doesn't have a single bad bone in his body, which makes him the ideal Pokémon to have when meeting people," he paused for a moment, watching the events that unfolded, a sinister smirk sliding across his features.
Dyavol rolled over and bolted from Waka. Something red flashed by and took out the small puppy before Dyavol could go back and pounce; then, the red figure flashed behind Tary and wrapped its metallic arms tightly around her small frame so she couldn't escape nor reach her Pokéballs. Its wings buzzed lightly, holding the little trainer to its cold metal body, pointing its pincers in her face threateningly. Dyavol looked upset, looking between his trainer and Tary. Play time was over?
Tary had been so busy watching the two puppies play that she hadn't noticed the sudden arrival of the new Pokémon. The moment it struck Waka, Tary was on alert, but by then it was too late. "Waka!" And then the arms were around her and dangerous pincers threatened her. Whatever she had been about to say or scream died in her throat as her body began to tremble in the tight metal grasp of the Pokémon behind her. What was going on? She couldn't reach her Pokémon; without their help, she didn't stand a chance against this Pokémon. The threatening smirk on the man's face sent chills down her spine; this was his doing. What did he want from her?
Waka had been knocked into unconsciousness by the metal Pokémon, leaving him lying on the side of the route. He would be no help in taking down this much stronger Pokémon. Even if he had been awake, he probably wouldn't even stand a chance.
Dyavol left his trainer's side and stepped over to Waka's side, nosing the little puppy, his ears flattened, sad that it had to end like this again. He was having so much fun playing with the Pokémon, too. But his trainer and that woman who sat on his trainer, taking his spot, had plans for this girl. "I hear your brother's been looking for you, Tary," James began, his tone very different from his previous one. He took a few steps closer to her, analyzing her for a long moment, "and we plan to reunite you with him. I'm only here to catch you. Don't worry, though, I have no reason to do much more to you after this, my target is someone else. I'm just fetching you for someone," and she could probably guess who.
Tary continued to tremble, watching the intimidating man with wide eyes as he moved closer to her. His dark tone and that sinister smirk on his face were making her even more uncomfortable and the mention of the 'someone' that he was fetching her for made her pale dramatically. "W-what?" She practically squeaked, unable to keep her voice from trembling in terror. Tary wasn't sure exactly what was going on. Alex, obviously the 'someone' this man had referred to, had apparently teamed up with someone and they attacked her and planned to reunite her with her brother? That could only be a bad thing. The shock of being grabbed began to wear off and she began to struggle against the tight hold of the metal Pokémon. The struggles were next to useless, but she also took a deep breath and opened her mouth to scream. Maybe someone near-by would hear her and come to investigate.
James was suddenly at her side, clamping a hand over her mouth and wagging his finger. "Oh no, I can't let you do that little miss. Otherwise we couldn't reunite you with your brother if someone came to help you." If he let the brat escape, he wouldn't be able to lure in the other two and take his prize for the hard work he'd put into finding this little girl and catching her.
Sliding the glasses off her face, James tossed them to the side, causing the glass to break against a rock. They would be of use later in this game. He lowered himself to her level and leaned in close, tugging painfully on her ear. "Now, will you come quietly without force, or should I knock you up-side the head and wake you up later in some dark room?" he hissed quietly in her ear. "If it was me, I think I'd prefer to cooperate; I guess that's entirely up to you."
Tary's eyes widened further and sudden terror welled up in her again as the man approached her very quickly, very suddenly. She attempted to draw away from him, but the metal surface behind her was unyielding. A whimper escaped her as her glasses were suddenly removed; her chances of escaping this herself had just dropped further. Her eyes were bad and without her glasses she wouldn't make it far if she were to get free and try to run. Regardless of this, and the sudden threat and painful tugging on her ear, she wiggled against the inescapable grasp of her captor Pokémon and tried her damnedest to sink her teeth into James's hand. Despite her obvious terror and naturally withdrawn personality, just letting herself give into this was far from the best idea. James was going to bring her straight to Alex, and Alex would do far more damage than anything this man was threatening her with. Even if there was the smallest chance to escape, she would strive for it.
James laughed at her feeble attempts, though was annoyed from her biting. "Silly little girl," he hissed maliciously in her ear, "you fail to understand the situation you're in: you're not going anywhere except with me. And there's nothing you can do about it." With that, he glanced up to the metallic creature holding the struggling girl with ease and nodded. With one of his claws, the Pokémon gave the back of her head a thwack to knock her lights out for a while. Later she would likely wake up with a head-splitting headache, but whatever; James didn't seem to care.
The girl was out like a light after that. The strong strike against the back of her head left her unconscious and limp in the arms of the Pokémon that held her. She was going nowhere after that. Struggles had died and they no longer needed to worry about her escaping or calling for help; there was no one within earshot anyway. Now, James could return to Alex and hand over the lovely prize he had found along the route. After catching the girl and taking her where they wanted, they just needed to get word to the two trainers they were attempting to lure in. Shouldn't be too hard; Matt would come running the moment he found out his sister was in danger.
With a single movement, James swept the girl up and threw her over his shoulder, carrying her away and back towards Alex, recalling his trusty and very mean Scizor back into his Pokéball; his play time would come soon enough, but now was his time to simply wait. Dyavol picked up Waka by his scruff and dragged him back the way he came after his trainer, sad that he couldn't play with the Pokémon. Maybe when he woke up they could play more. It likely wouldn't happen, though. Dyavol was too innocent for his own good; he didn't realize that it would be very likely this Pokémon would no longer want to play with him since he was associated with the trainer who attacked and kidnapped him and his trainer.
Entering the bushes and walking further into the tree-line, James returned to where he'd left Alex. Along the way he'd picked up the broken pair of glasses, smiling to himself the entire time. "She's all yours. If you've nowhere to take her, I know of a place relatively nearby," James offered.
Alex had been leaning casually against one of the trees in the area, waiting patiently for James. She trusted him to get the work done. Even if he hadn't, it wouldn't have been too terribly complicated to snatch Tary up herself. It was just a little easier this way. She perked up at the mention of a place to take the girl James had just caught for her. "Oh!? Please, do tell. I didn't have any real idea of where we were going to go for this." While she spoke, she took the little girl off James's hands so he wouldn't have to carry her anymore. "And you're also welcome to join in on a little of my fun, if you'd like. I know your target is that other girl, the one with my boy, but I'm happy to share if you're interested." Alex was grinning underneath her hood, apparently more than pleased that she finally had her hands on what she wanted. That last time, with Matt, it had been her Tentacruel having all the fun.
A dark laughter escaped his person. "The place is quite banged up and very dusty. The halls are quite twisty, as well thanks to the left-over debris. It should suffice perfectly, in my opinion. I know my way around that god-forsaken place. It's been abandoned for many years, now and it's very unlikely that anyone will come bothering you and your little fun. As for my joining you; I must decline for you see, I'm not a hands-on type of guy. I prefer to watch as people writhe and I like to taunt them with horror stories of their loved-ones. However, Syler will be more than pleased to join you. He's one of the cruelest you'll ever meet." Another laugh. "He's been so bored for the longest time, waiting for that brat to finally be admitted out of the hospital after so long. Just last week she was released from the confines of the rattling beds and odious halls smelling of sickness, death, and really bad food. Or perhaps it was two weeks ago..." James tilted his head up as he pondered for a moment then shrugged. "Don't know: don't care."
"Not that long ago," Alex commented, her grin spreading a little wider at the thought of the girl in the hospital. "Well, too bad for her. I think you'll be sending her back very soon. We'll send mine along with her, as well. And I would be more than happy to include Syler in my games. Nothing enough to kill her of course; that's no fun at all! For now, please lead the way. I'm quite eager to see what place you've got that would suit our purpose so perfectly."
Alex was practically bouncing on her heels, Tary tossed over one shoulder and her Espeon resting peacefully on the other. She was excited; there was a whole new place to explore! She could find the perfect room to sequester herself and Tary in. It would be far away from the entrance; that would build up plenty of tension as the two trainers they lured in had to explore through the winding, debris-filled halls to figure out where Tary had been brought. It was a lovely setup and her blood was pumping at the thought. How exciting!
James smirked at her eagerness. He hadn't met anyone else quite so excited to get down and dirty their hands in a little blood since Syler. Syler was a twisted Pokémon, and he liked it. "This way, then," James led, turning to the west and beginning to walk. He was sure she'd like this place he had picked out. Personally, he hated the place, but loved it at the same time. He had his reasons for hating it just as he had his reasons for loving it. He knew this Alex woman would absolutely love it.
"Dyavol, stay here." He instructed, taking the puppy Pokémon out of his care and replacing him with the broken glasses. "I need you to delivery something for me, okay? Keep these glasses close and don't you dare lose them. We're going to return them to the owners brother, the boy traveling with our girl, okay?" Dyavol took the glasses gently by his teeth and nodded. "Good. When you return, I'll have an apple for you." After the small exchange, James disappeared further into the thick tree line, leading Alex away and leaving Dyavol to roam the dirt roads by himself until such time when the glasses were returned.
