I hate region music. It needs to die.

Prepare yourselves for one long chapter -you guys deserve it!

Price for Freedom

Chapter 23

Acceptance

By the time I got out of the Void, amazingly, Shayla, the dragons and Kazu were back to their normal selves. Kazu was embarrassed beyond reason that he had acted like that -thinking he could get to the Land of the Elves and whatnot. But he could have sworn that the shrubbery he was talking to said he could get there…

Anyway, not a few minutes after that, the door to the pokemon center (we were in the lobby) opened to reveal three figures, who I recognized as Illauna, Kuvai and Yasille, who were very, very soaked by the rain. Illauna removed her black sunglasses (how she was wearing them in a dark, stormy day as this, I don't know) and took a look around the center. When she saw Shayla and the rest of us, her stoic face turned into a slight smile.

"I should have known," she muttered. Kuvai seemed to notice us, but kept distant. Yasille, however, was completely delighted to see us again.

"Oh how wonderful!" she exclaimed as she trotted over to Shayla. "I was wondering what my brother meant when he said there was a surprise waiting for us at the pokemon center -I didn't think it would be you!" She hugged Shayla -who was a bit surprised- but then she drew back.

"Oh dear -I completely forgot I was soaked…" Yasille moaned to herself. "Now there's a wet spot on your shirt…"

Shayla shrugged. "It's okay. I don't mind."

However, Yasille was already on the way on getting a towel, and Shayla's comment went unheard. Illauna sat down on a wooden bench beside a teenage boy (who soon abandoned his seat due to Illauna's unwavering stare) and crossed her legs. "So, Shayla," she began casually, "I assume you're gonna take the Hoenn League?"

Shayla nodded and clenched her fists. "Oh yeah! This is going to be my third one, and I won't settle for anything less than number one!"

Kuvai scoffed over in his corner, where he was leaning against the wall. "All of the trainers here are thinking the exact same thing, you know."

Shayla narrowed her gaze and replied confidently, "Yeah? Well they all suck. My team can't be beat!"

Kuvai's reply was a non-committal "hmm" and he crossed his arms. "If you say so."

There was something of a tense silence before Yasille reentered the now empty lobby (Illauna's stares at everyone made them retreat to other places) with an armful of towels. When she reached Shayla, she dumped them onto my trainer's lap.

Yasille wiped the back of her hand on her forehead. "Whew! All right, I think that should be enough to get your shirt dry -I'm sorry that I couldn't bring more."

Shayla stared at the mountain of paper towels that could have very well been the population of a forest. "Um… no, this is enough… Thank you…"

Yasille sat down on the wooden bench beside Illauna, a dumb but happy expression on her face. Illauna didn't pay too much heed as Yasille tried to dry her hair out on the tile floor, and then got up.

"The Hoenn League isn't as hard as Kanto…" she began as if teaching, "…but it's not as wimpy as Johto. It's a nice happy medium." She turned to Shayla and asked, "You've been to them, right? What were your rankings?"

Shayla's confident smirk didn't waver. "In Kanto, I placed third. I won the Johto League. I think I'll be able to handle Hoenn just fine."

As Illauna was about to reply, Kaiyou burst through the door and quickly shut it, panting hard. We looked at him for a time, and then Kuvai finally broke the silence.

"…Do we want to know?" he asked, and Kaiyou merely smiled mysteriously back at him.

"Turn on the TV and you'll find out soon enough."

Kuvai frowned. "You didn't harass the news helicopter again, did you?"

Kaiyou looked up at the ceiling innocently. "No… Nothing like that." He then reached over to the small television Nurse Joy had on her counter and said, "Besides, that helicopter should have known not to mess with a guy and a remote airplane." As I pondered on all of the things he could have possibly done given the circumstances, he shouted triumphantly, "Yes! I found it! Listen, listen!"

We all turned to the TV and listened intently to what the blonde reporter woman had to say.

"This is Miya Sheen for channel 9 news. We have just received a tip on long-time pokemon thieves known by the alias 'Team Carnage'. We went in with the police, but what they found in the tunnels of Victory Road -in which I am in right now- was completely different than what they expected."

The camera turned to show the three goons I had seen hanging upside down by their feet, with random articles of clothing missing. One was missing his shirt (on his bare, blubbery pale chest was a large smiley face -the nipples were the eyes and a large, crooked, drawn smile was the mouth) and another was missing his pants, revealing white legs and… I couldn't believe it. A pink thong. The other was missing his shoes and his socks were now sock puppets, complete with fuzzy pink troll hair, dotted eyes and happy (yet creepy) smiles.

I turned to the now sopping wet Kaiyou and said, "So that's what you meant."

Kaiyou merely put his finger to his smiling lips and looked back at the TV. The woman was talking again.

"These crooks had taken a trainer's pokemon and the trainer herself when some unknown good passerby noticed and bailed the captives. And, heroically, the passerby took on all three goons by his or herself. And, of course, after winning the struggle, completely humiliated the goons. Oh, oh this is great." She turned back to the goons where the one with sock puppets for socks was trying to get out, consequently moving his feet. It looked like the puppets were talking. She laughed and began to say something more, but Kuvai turned the TV of and looked at Kaiyou.

"One would think I'd be surprised… but now…"

Kaiyou merely gave a smile back at the undead humanoid. "Oh, pish posh. You should have known that I wouldn't let them get away unscathed. Besides, they deserved it -and what's else, they made me look like a hero." He stood even taller, hands on hips, chin up -a very hero-like position. Then, in a low, bellowing voice, he commanded, "Evil beware, lest you be humiliated beyond your capacity to think!"

Kuvai merely shook his head and sat where Illauna had been -beside Yasille. He ran his pale hand through his wet hair and crossed his legs. "Kaiyou, you never cease to amaze."

Kaiyou, not owning a single ounce of humility at that moment, let his vanity take hold. "I know," he replied as he took a seat on the other side of the room. Then, I heard some intelligible murmurs from Kuvai and Yasille (to each other, mind you) and then, they left the room and went outside. I cocked my head and looked to my Lord, who had a strange expression.

"Where are they going?" I asked, and Kaiyou looked back to me, and the strange, unidentifiable expression formed a small smile.

"Out," he replied simply. Of course, that didn't satisfy my curiosity at all, so I made a move to follow them. That was when my Lord threw a magazine at my head.

"Don't follow them," he chided lightly. "That's rude."

I made a small frown as I shook the magazine from its status of being stuck on my head. "Then tell me where they're going."

Kaiyou rolled his eyes. From exasperation or merely putting on a show, I didn't know. "They're going to have some alone time. Let them have some peace."

I narrowed my gaze. "You make it sound like they're an item."

He shrugged. "They are."

For a moment, I was struck dumb. An undead… thing… and a living, breathing pokemon? It wasn't right. I was about to say something about it, but Kaiyou cut me off.

"I know what you're going to say," he began in an almost irritated voice. "I know. I know very well. Even I have something of a problem with it…" A shadow entered his gold eyes. "But they're both happy. That's all that matters. Besides…" He repositioned himself so he could cross his legs. "…Yasille and I still see him as he once was -Buganti. Not what you saw before you. He knows he has my blessing. So leave them alone -they haven't had a chance of peace since we left Sootopolis."

I frowned a bit. If Kaiyou was all right with it, then I should be as well. I knew I didn't know Kuvai as well as my Lord and his sister did, so I was in no position to make any kind of opinion or judgment. Before I could think any further on the matter, I felt Kaiyou's cold, wet hand on my fur.

"You must be tired," he said softly. "The rest have gone to bed -we should too." I looked around the now empty lobby and saw that they had already gone to bed. I wondered when, when Kaiyou made his way to a room and I followed. The room was empty. He removed his shirt and covered himself with a blanket and lay down on an empty bed. I went beside him and looked at his face, where a slightly troubled expression brewed.

"These little rooms are too small to accommodate my true form," he sighed reluctantly. "I guess I'll have to sleep like this. Are you going to stay in here, girl?"

I looked at him and shrugged. "I had might as well."

He frowned slightly. "You seem so enthusiastic."

I merely smiled in response and jumped up on the bed with him. He let me get under the covers, and I snuggled up next to him as the warm, soothing feeling washed over me again. I sighed in content. He wrapped his arm around my middle and scratched the place behind my scythe as he murmured a sleepy goodnight to me. However, I wanted to ask him something that I had been wondering about.

"Kaiyou," I began softly, "would it be okay… if… I came with you? You know, with you and Yasille and-"

"No," was his muffled reply.

My mouth agape, I turned and shifted in order to look at him. His face was stern. "Why not?" I asked incredulously.

"You're not supposed to," he replied simply again. I was suddenly irritated by his bluntness. The tranquillity that had inhabited my soul was now gone.

"What do you mean, 'I'm not supposed to'?" I asked again, this time sarcastically. His face began to become irritated as well. He sat up and I had to back away a little from him. His wet hair began to drip on me.

"Exactly what I said. You're not supposed to. The Pattern says you're not supposed to."

My jaw dropped. This stupid Pattern thing again! "Screw the Pattern!" I almost shouted. "I want to come with you!"

He sighed and then lay back down on his white pillow. "Go to sleep. If you can't even interpret the Pattern on your own, then there's no way you would survive a training session with me." As my anger broiled, he shifted and closed his eyes. "And keep your voice down. People are trying to sleep."

I got up on all fours. "Tell me what this stupid Pattern thing says -tell me why I can't go with you!"

He didn't even open an eye. "I already told you."

"That's not the Pattern's reason, that's yours!"

"Then that should be enough of a reason for you."

I snarled. "Why should I settle for a shitty reason like that!"

This time, his eye did open and he glared. "Because I am your Lord and you do what I say. Or have you forgotten this?"

Again, I was struck dumb. In all his casualness, I forgot my respect. He sat up and ran a hand through his matted, damp ebony hair. "Look," he started wearily, "I'm tired. I really am. And I don't want to wake anyone up. We can continue this in the morning, if you really wish. And no, I'm not going to tell you what the Pattern says. You can't know. Besides, someone has already told you what the Pattern has in store for you. One of our own, to be precise."

I blinked. "Eclipse?" I asked and he shrugged.

"It doesn't matter who did it, just that you know. And it'll happen soon. Very soon. In a matter of weeks or even days soon." My heart sank. But… Saji… Did that mean that another one of my teammates was going to die…? Then, a pang in my chest.

Wait… what if it's Kaiyou Eclipse was talking about? I asked myself. The thought of Kaiyou dead, butchered… I was scared. I then felt his cool hand on my head and he smiled.

"It's not me, girl," he murmured softly. "Know this. I'll be all right… but I don't know about your other teammates. Don't ask me which one. I can't tell you, even if I wanted to." He leaned back onto his pillow and pulled me with him. "Now shut up and go to sleep. I'm tired, and you're the only thing standing in the way of me catching pneumonia."

I complied and lay down as I welcomed the tranquillity again. Maybe it was Kaiyou's tiredness or my own, or both, sleepiness hit me like a hammer and I found myself drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

………………..

The next morning, everyone was refreshed and somewhat happy. I say that because I can never tell when Illauna and Kuvai are happy. Kaiyou didn't seem to be as radiantly happy that morning as he usually was. It unnerved me a little, but then Tai's obsession with pancakes distracted me.

The morning went on into day and we, being Kaiyou's group, Shayla and the rest of the team, went out into the city to scrounge about. Shayla was very excited since the Hoenn League, much to our disbelief, started the next day. We were in the registration office (which was right next to the pokemon center) as we waited for the chance to register.

Tai moaned as he rolled on the cold tile floor. "I'm so bored…" He placed a yellow paw on my elbow and groaned, "Ayako, you have to help me get free of this boredom!"

I, who was simply sitting on my haunches on the floor, shrugged his desperate paw off of me. "Tai, why don't you count the number of times that you have annoyed me over the time we've known each other? Of course, you'd have to count this time too."

For a moment, he stared at me and then he started whining again. I rolled my eyes and then, a golduck, who was standing in front of us, turned back.

"Could you get him to shut up?" he asked, perturbed. Tai didn't seem to notice, but I had to answer anyway. Besides, the fact that he asked so tactlessly annoyed me a little.

"Sorry, but I don't own a remote to him," I answered in the same tone as the golduck did.

The golduck snarled a little and said, "Hey, you had better show some respect. I am one of the pokemon that one the Johto championship two years ago.

Shoko, who was behind me, growled. "Well, that's quite an accomplishment since we're the Johto champions from last year, and I specifically remember kicking your sorry ass."

The golduck looked up and his eyes widened. "You…! The charizard!"

Shoko's battle smirk grew. "That's right. Now you had better leave my friends alone or else we'll make a repeat of that battle."

The golduck then lunged at Shoko, claws out, eyes glowing. Shoko was caught by surprise, but that didn't do much help for the golduck. Shoko caught the golduck, and using the water duck's momentum, slammed him into the wall behind us. The busy room came to a complete halt, and I saw Shayla smack her hand over her eyes in exasperation.

"Shoko!" she reprimanded. The charizard looked back at her and then pointed at the golduck with his claws.

"He started it!"

Shayla went to the trainer (who was trying to pry the golduck out of the wall) and apologized, but the other trainer would have none of it. Kaiyou, who had been standing beside me, sighed.

"Can't take you guys anywhere, can we?"

I shrugged and replied, "That jerk had it coming to him."

Kaiyou looked down at me with a bemused and slightly disappointed stare, but I didn't pay too much heed to it. I knew he thought it was funny. The golduck's trainer began to speak forcefully to Shayla, and her apologetic attitude switched to defensive.

Amburna sighed. "I suppose that makes another enemy."

Shayla's argument broke through our own conversations. "My charizard is NOT under-trained! Your golduck ran at him first! He was acting on instinct and reaction! It's your golduck that needs more training!"

The nurse Joy and the main register person came up to the two quarreling trainers. "What's all this?" the register person said.

The other trainer spoke first. "Her charizard flung my golduck into the wall!"

Before the two authorities had any time to comment, Shayla retorted angrily, "Yeah, because your golduck attacked my charizard!"

The nurse got in between them. "Stop this!" When the two trainers merely glared at the other, the nurse continued. "Now, I am not going to press charges, and you may still register, but I will not allow this kind of behavior. The pokemon involved -the golduck and charizard in question- may not be used. Am I understood?"

A look of shock came onto the trainers' faces, but then they settled into resolve. "Yes ma'am," they muttered together.

The nurse nodded her head tersely and then Shoko seemed to deflate. "Man…" he said to himself. "This sucks. I wanted to be in the League."

Shayla patted his shoulder. "It's okay. I'll enter you into a bunch of other things, okay? We'll train in between the matches." This seemed to cheer the charizard up a bit, but I began to get worried. Shayla was now out two pokemon. Then, I saw movement to my side and I looked to my left and saw Kaiyou taking Shayla aside for a moment. He began to whisper a little and then she seemed a little shocked, but then, her face lit up. Kaiyou shrugged as she asked him something and then she nearly skipped back to the counter to register.

Kaiyou came back to my side with an air of content. "What did you just do?" I asked cautiously.

The knowing smile made its presence known and he replied enigmatically, "Just giving her a little push in the right direction." At my slightly distrustful face, he replied, "Oh, it's not anything bad. Don't worry."

Another hour went by and we were all registered. I saw the registration form, and it looked very professional.

Trainer's name: Shayla Kyerson

Have you participated in the Hoenn League before? No.

Have you participated in a Pokemon League before? Yes.

If so, will your official League badge and picture work again? Yes.

Pokemon entered: Jolteon (Tai), Absol (Demi), Dragonair (Amburna), Espeon (Kazu), Aggron (Kiya), Kaiyou

I stared at the last name and then looked up to my Lord in astonishment. "You're participating!"

He smirked. "I haven't battled a trainer in years. I would love to crush some weaklings while I'm here. Besides, I want to see how Illauna's training has helped me." Still completely shocked by his news, I merely followed the now very excited Shayla out of the registration office and back to our room.

………………

That night came and went in the blink of an eye. Shayla and even Illauna were getting us ready for the next day with some last-minute training and boosters. We were walking around the plaza before our first match, meandering aimlessly. We had many, many hours to kill before our first match, and Shayla decided to get away from battling for a while, to which we all agreed.

Our new team member was Kiya, an aggron a little below our own levels, but she would catch up quickly. To my surprise, she was very shy and gentle, and when she battled, became a juggernaut. She was a very adept fighter, and her marvelous fighting skills made up for her somewhat low level.

We were all walking out in the open, like usual, when a familiar scent greeted me. I turned to my left and saw a very familiar umbreon sitting near an evolution stone booth beside a boy in his late teens. I trotted up to the umbreon, and, sure enough, it was Eclipse. I was about to say hello when he spoke.

"I wondered how long it would take you to notice me," he said airily. He turned and looked at me amiably, and then bowed. "Hello again, Miss Ayako. It's been sometime, hasn't it?"

I nodded. "About your premonition… It was right…" I said uncertainly. Many of my team members still hadn't gotten over Saji's death, and I didn't want to say it too loud, lest they hear me. Eclipse looked at me, and then cocked his head.

"Oh yes, I remember now," he said nostalgically. "When Kaiyou was about to awaken. But, I'm afraid to say… the prophecy hasn't been fulfilled yet, Ayako."

I blinked. But… Saji… and Tai… "What… What do you mean? Tai's and Saji's lives were in danger, and-"

"I know of what you speak," he said softly, "but that's not to what I was earlier referring to. You see, the lines that were in question still exist. I'm afraid to say that another will die, very soon, it seems. In fact, if you follow your nose, you're going to run into the other line. You mentioned the other line before."

…WHAT?

"Hey, Eclipse," the trainer said smoothly. "Come on, boy, we need to go." Eclipse looked up to his trainer, and then back to me. He bowed and then said, "See you, Miss Ayako." And with that, he left.

I stood there, stunned and appalled. So another of my teammates was going to die? Another! Ugh… I let my hindquarters buckle and I plopped onto the concrete. My nerves couldn't take much more of this…

I felt a poke in my back and I turned to see Shoko standing over me. "Hey, come on girl, we're going to another part of town. If you sit there in a daze, you'll get left behind." I nodded and followed him back to the main group. Tai had something in his mouth that smelled distinctly like meat, and Amburna was wearing a beautiful blue pendant around her neck. It suited her wonderfully.

I sighed and walked alongside Kiya for a while. She was glancing around the plaza excitedly, as if she had never been to a pokemon battling competition before. I hadn't either, but I guess she loved the excitement of battle more than I did.

"Oh, I love this!" she cried happily. "I can't wait until our match starts- I hope I go against a fire type so I can mop the floor with his ass! No fire type can withstand my earthquake."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Unless it's a flying type, right?" She thought about that for a bit, and then nodded meekly.

"I suppose so…" She turned to me, smiling. "Have you ever been to a League before?"

When I shook my head, her jaw dropped. "Really?" she asked. "I've been to the Johto one -it was really easy. Tai kept on telling me Indigo Plateau was so much harder than the Johto League, it wasn't even funny."

I wasn't surprised by that. Johto was more… beginner friendly than Hoenn and Kanto. Kanto especially, since for the first gym, a trainer's pokemon had to be at least at level 10 and the gym was rock type. I looked back over to the aggron to see that she was still rambling on how great it was to battle in a League.

I didn't really pay attention to her because I wasn't in the mood to listen to a battling fool. I was going to save myself for the League -I had a feeling I would be used a lot.

I kept on walking until I ran into Shayla's leg. After I shook my head, I looked up at her to find out what the matter was. She looked distressed.

"Shoko, fly up and see if you can find him. The rest of you -split up and search the plaza. We'll meet back here in an hour." She looked around the plaza again and then muttered angrily to herself, "Dammit, Kaiyou's run off again too! Where is he when I need him!" And with that, she ran off to my right.

Before he ran off, I stopped Kazu. "What's going on? Who's missing?"

Kazu looked at me, his face pale. "Tai. He's missing! We were just walking along, and then he disappeared without telling anyone where he went!" He then ran off to my left, and I stood there, not really knowing what to do.

Then, Eclipse's words rang in my head. If you follow your nose, you'll find the other line. I decided to just search for Tai's scent and find him that way. I retraced my steps and then found his scent, and then followed it for what seemed like a mile. When I looked up, I found myself in a dark alleyway, where I found nothing but trash cans and dumpsters. I looked around confused, but then I heard Tai's voice scream in pain. I immediately smelled his blood, and then followed that.

I jumped over the fence and went around a corner, and then saw Tai's back, and a figure in the dark, attacking him. I ran forward, and saw that the flesh on the jolteon's brow had been cut, making blood flow into his eyes. He couldn't see.

I saw the figure about to attack him again, and I lunged forward and bit into that flesh, but then my senses went haywire. I knew this person…

Hicha yelped in surprise and pain and then grabbed the scruff of my neck and threw me off. I landed on my feet -his bite didn't hurt that much- and then cried, "The hell do you think you're doing, Hicha!"

The mightyena took a step back from Tai and me, and then said, "Ayako! Thank goodness! You're all right!"

My jaw dropped. First, he was my best friend. Then he was under the delusion that it had been my fault for him getting captured, so he hated me, and now he was happy to see me? I was confused…

Tai was too, apparently. "What? Hicha? That retarded mightyena that blamed you for getting him captured?"

"Yeah. That's him." I scooted back a little in order to come in contact with the jolteon, then I gave him a little thunderbolt. Since his ability was "volt absorb" he transferred my energy into his own power source. He sighed in relief behind me. In front of me, Hicha growled.

"Ayako, why are you still hanging around that damn jolteon?" he demanded of me. "You're free now -we can both go back to the forest!"

My eyebrow cocked. "What are you talking about? I'm not free -I'm still owned! And why are you so happy to see me when the last time we met you were so determined to kill me!"

Hicha blinked. "I… Back on the ferry, I was so angry that I had let myself get caught, I guess I blamed it on you. Koka told me that she had talked to you, and what she told me set me straight." He took a pause, and then I mentally thanked the ninetails. He looked back up at me, determination set on his face. "I've… I've run away from my trainer, and I've come looking for you. I figured you'd be with the place with the most powerful pokemon around… so I came here." He took a step forward, and I took a step back. "Ayako, do what I did -leave your team and then come back to the forest! We can go back to the way it was before he and his trainer stepped into our lives."

I blinked and then looked behind me to Tai, who was trying to get up. From what I could tell, the bleeding had stopped and he could now see out of one eye. The other was tightly closed. I remembered Saji's words to me that one day when we were traveling to Fortree- If you ever have a chance to get out, take it. Breathe the air like you were supposed to- free. Do this and make up for my own cowardice.

Before I could even think about the subject, Tai growled from behind me. "No way, asshole! She's not stupid enough to fall for your crap! You selfish bastard, leave her alone!" He lunged forward, and then they began to fight again. Now that he could somewhat see, Tai was landing more hits than when I first saw the two fighting. My heart clenched. Which one should I help?

Even though Tai could now see, Hicha was doing his best to exploit Tai's huge blind spot on the jolteon's left side. I stood there in a daze and watched as time and time again, Hicha avoided Tai's attacks and struck with his own.

I really didn't know what to do. If I helped one, the other would feel betrayed. What could I do…?

Then, Hicha came up from under Tai and clamped onto the jolteon's neck, closing the windpipe. My eyes widened. He was going to kill Tai! I was frozen to my spot as I watched Tai struggle against the powerful mightyena. The jolteon sent wave after wave of thunders and thunderbolts, but Hicha held on. After a few moments, Tai couldn't make more movement that a twitch here and there. It was then when Hicha began to speak to me through his clamped jaws.

"Ayako," he began, "with this damn jolteon gone, we can be free! Don't you understand? We can roam around the forest again and do what we want! With this jolteon out of the way, everything can go back to the way it was. Don't you want that?"

I half-listened to what he said. After all, I had heard it all before. I couldn't tear my eyes away from Tai as he struggled vainly against Hicha. The jolteon could barely muster enough electricity for a thundershock… I heard his slowing heartbeat and how it was fading fast. My own heart clenched again. I couldn't let him die.

"Let him go!" I shouted at the mightyena. "For God's sake, let him go! He's dying!"

Hicha's eyes narrowed. "I see now. You only want to stay because of this jolteon, huh? Well then, he really does have to go!" I saw his jaws get tighter around Tai's neck, and then little streams of blood began to trickle down the jolteon's yellow fur. Tai winced, and then another trail of bright red blood began to ooze from the side of his mouth.

Something snapped. I found myself running forward, and then I lunged at Hicha, teeth bared, claws out. I bit onto Hicha's head, and clamped down as hard as I could. Out of surprise, Hicha let go of Tai, and the jolteon crumpled limply to the concrete.

I built up a flamethrower in my mouth and then let it out onto the soft black and grey fur of the mightyena in my grasp. He yelped and then ran to the other side of the alleyway, whimpering in pain. He looked up to me -the eye that had been near to my mouth had been melted shut, and the flesh was now burnt and seared. No fur remained at that spot. Hicha growled, and then attacked me.

I was ready. He ran at me, and I pelted him with an ice beam attack, where I had just now burnt him. He crashed into the other side of the alleyway, got up and charged at me again.

I don't know how long we battled. I just know that by the time Hicha collapsed from exhaustion the first time, Shoko and Kazu had found us. I looked over to the three about ten feet away; Tai was unconscious but alive, Kazu was standing over him, looking at me in horror, and Shoko was slightly in front of the two brothers, watching us warily. A sound in front of me diverted my attention to Hicha, who was struggling to get up. I waited for him to stand, and then braced myself for his extreemspeed attack.

It didn't hurt much, and when he was returning to his side of the alley, I followed him and then attacked him with a flamethrower and thunderbolt at the same time. He crashed into the side of the alley again, and collapsed to the ground.

"Give up, Hicha," I said. "You're too badly hurt to keep this up. I want to stay with my team. They're good to me. They're my friends, as much as you are mine. If you keep on trying to attack them or myself, I'll have to keep on battling you." I saw him glare up at me with his good eye. "I don't want to… But if I must, I must." I looked down at him with pity. "I'm sorry Hicha… but I can't return to that forest. I've grown too attached to the pokemon and people around me. Please… just go back on your own."

Hicha's glare didn't wither. "I knew it…" he said in disgust. "You LIKE being a servant -a slave! Well, then I guess I came all this way for nothing -the absol I knew had died long ago! You impostor- YOU'LL DIE!"

He charged at me again, his teeth bared and drool coming out of his mouth. I glared. So he was the life Eclipse told me about.

I rushed forward myself, and tilted my head slightly so that when we collided, Hicha would run into my scythe. We hit, and my scythe slashed through part of the mightyena's neck. We turned back to each other, and I saw the damage I had done. There was a pool of blood around Hicha, and I saw the gash my scythe had made. Still, even with his wounds, he charged at me again, and I did the same.

Again, I don't remember how long we battled. Hicha had eventually hurt my scythe, and I was forced to stop using it because of the pain. He had ripped open a spot in my side, put a gash over one of my eyes, and opened a wound on my left flank. God knows how much damage I put on him. By the time that we were covered in all of our wounds, I had decided to end it. I rushed forward at him while he was trying to recover from a slash attack of mine, and I bit onto his throat like he had done earlier with Tai.

Hicha seemed surprised that I had done it, and then he began to claw at my vulnerable underbelly. It hurt, but I held on. With each new gash he created, my jaws clamped harder and harder. I could feel his frantic pulse begin to wane and his body began to fail as I held onto his neck. For the few minutes it took for Hicha to slowly die, I felt numb. I couldn't feel his attacks anymore, and my mind was completely blank.

Then, I smelled death on his body, and felt no more pulse. I looked down at his face, and his slightly opened eyes were glazed and rolled into the back of his head. I had killed him. I killed him…

In realization of my deed, I let him go and took a step back. I looked at myself and saw my and his blood all over my body, and then, my vision blurred. I don't know why, maybe it was from tears or from lack of blood, but my vision blurred and my body collapsed to the ground. I heard a pitter patter of small paws on concrete to my left and I turned to see a light purple blob -Kazu.

"Demi…" he said in horror. "Demi… What… How… Why…?"

I stared up at him for a while as I tried to adjust my vision. When I gave up on my eyes, I let my head loll to the side and placed it on my bloody forelegs. "He was… killing him… I couldn't…"

I heard heavy footsteps in the same direction where Shoko and Tai were, and I heard Shayla cry, "DEMI!" loudly. I didn't really know why until I looked down and saw all of the blood around me, and not all of it was Hicha's. I felt sleep creep into my system, and I decided then that it was a good time to take a nap.

………………..

Wow… that last part really sucked….OH WELL! HICHA'S DEAD! (I didn't like him all that much.)

Today is me last day of freedom… booo… I want Labor Day weekend to NEVER END!

ja