Needless to say, Brio wasn't particularly enthused about the situation. I wasn't either, but what choice did we have? If we didn't follow through with the arrangement... well, I didn't really want to think about what would happen.
"Ever consider what Aeris will think about this?" Brio demanded, leading the way. I'm not entirely sure where we were going, because this wasn't the way back to my home, but I didn't dare ask while he was in the middle of his analytical rant.
"It crossed my mind for like a second, yeah," I retorted, my tails twitching. It's kind of hard to think of much else when the deal was that either we turn over Aeris to face torture, or we get poisoned or worse in retaliation for her actions, unless we bring the stolen tablet and a second one held by the same person who stole it from us in the first place.
Worst yet was we had a deadline before being marked by the hive. And Beedrill were frightening enough when I wasn't on their bad side, purely because I didn't live too far from their borders. Hell, I don't think I'll even be able to sleep comfortably there anymore, even if I did fulfill their demands. So much for that awesome spot.
Brio sat down abruptly. No seriously, he just sat down out of the blue. I stopped short, narrowing avoiding a collision. He glanced at me. "Why do you always walk right behind me?" he wondered. I'm going to assume that was rhetorical. And if it's not, I have only passing knowledge of what a rhetorical question actually is.
I sighed and sat down, reclining against his side, my tails twitching. To think, today had started as a normal day, and in just a couple hours, things were starting to get out of hand. Mental note: never get involved in Aeris' treasure hunting schemes. Actually, nix that note, I still will because she's my friend.
"What we need to do now," Brio said, in a tone indicating that he was drawing back on years of experience in this topic, "is to find out some more information on these Plates. Specifically, where they are."
"What are you talking about?"
Brio tilted his head at me. "You don't see it, yet?" he wondered. "It's a collection. There are at least two of them, so we need to research how big the set is, and what they do, or where they came from. Then we can-"
"Slow down there," I interrupted. "What makes you think that information even exists? What if it's a completely mundane collection and doesn't actually have any information on it because it's unimportant?"
Brio smirked knowingly. "Would you attack a Beedrill clan just to complete a collection of acorns?"
"If I'm completely insane," I scoffed. "Have we ruled that possibility out, yet? Maybe Huntress is psychotic and obsessed."
"Yeah, I don't think so," Brio said, with just a hint of dismissiveness. "So we're in agreement that we should go back to the library and-"
"Who's agreeing with you?" I protested, my voice rising in pitch. Brio frowned slightly, causing me to immediately regret my outburst.
"You don't have to come with me," he muttered. "I just thought..." he sighed and went silent. I'd be more impressed by his ability to play the guilt card if it didn't feel like sticking a hot stone against my chest.
"I just thought we could do something more productive," I said, desperately hoping he wouldn't insist on the library. I don't like it there, but I need his help out here. If he was friends with Huntress, even just an acquaintance, it would be much more useful for him to be working with me when I'm trying to find her, or convince her to give us the Plates back. It was a long shot, just like the Beedrill hive was and... This is a bad example.
Brio's ear twitched as if I had just said something borderline offensive. When he spoke, his tone was calm and patient. "I would think knowing more about what our opponent wants and where she'd go would be more useful than running around the country hoping to stumble across a specific person who is probably already doing this type of research somewhere else. It's not like she'll actually go back to my library now."
"That means she probably already has the information and we'd just be wasting time," I argued. Why couldn't he see what the priority really was?
Brio shook his head. "You and Aeris came to me because of that inscription. We never did research that, and now we have something more specific to look for. Don't lose your head, Sy. Focus on what needs to be done before you try to accomplish what should be done."
I sighed in defeat. There was no winning an argument with Brio when he starts prattling on about this sort of thing. He spoke with so much confidence as if he was an expert, and made my arguments seem childish by comparison. It was infuriating at the best of times, but over time I just went with it. His nose was buried in a book almost any time we interacted, and while I didn't see the appeal of reading, there was something within those books that made Brio tick a certain way. Maybe it was just something I wasn't meant to understand.
Upon entering the city again, we became immediately aware of some sort of buzz of excitement racing through the citizens. People and Pokémon alike were slowly being guided by some invisible magnet to some specific location.
"Hey, what's the commotion about?" I asked, seizing the nearest Pokémon by the arm when it tried to pass me.
"There's something happening at the post office!" was the excited answer and it dashed out of my grip down the street. I exchanged a look with Brio and he nodded, resigning himself to satisfying my curiosity, although he gave the library building a forlorn look, as if breaking a previous engagement. I've never really noticed how weird he is.
It wasn't hard to follow the noise to another, smaller human building. Brio helpfully translated the labeling sign as the 'Post Office', and the two of us craned our heads to try to see through the small mass of people, all gathering to see what the commotion was about. It took some work, but I managed to squeeze through the legs of a few people, enough to catch sight of what was going on within.
A meek-looking Cubone seemed to be somewhat cornered against the wall of the interior. In one paw, it loosely held a bone club, and the second arm was wrapped tightly around a brown paper bag, which it seemed unwilling to relinquish. The one cornering the bone Pokémon was distinctly familiar, a green bipedal lizard Pokémon with scarlet eyes and a confident smirk. I gritted my teeth, pushing past another pair of human legs until I could slip into the building itself. Now without the interference of onlookers, I could even see the green tablet tied around the Servine's neck, confirming her identity to me.
"You're still in the city?" I managed to say, mentally slapping myself for the lame statement. The Servine jerked her head up to focus upon me, and her red eyes widened in mild surprise. I guess she hadn't expected me to still be around, either. Really, what was she still doing here? Brio and I had reported the attack and theft over an hour ago. Her presence should have rang alarm bells for every police officer in town. Yet the only ones who looked concerned were the humans behind the row of counters, who clearly could see the spark of conflict.
"My patience is growing thin, Cubone. I have made you an offer that is more than generous. Now make your decision," Huntress said, her eyes back upon the trapped Cubone. He muttered something and Huntress shook her head. "I don't particularly care what your human wanted you to do. You are in possession of it; you are the one I negotiate with. That is the only way it should be."
"I...can't give it to-" the Cubone began, and Huntress rolled her eyes.
"So typical," she sneered, and turned on her heel, eyes upon me. "I expect you have a bone to pick with me?" she asked softly. "Speaking of which-" she whirled back around, a vine lashing out and coiling around the Cubone's wrist and tugging so quickly that the bone club was wrenched from his paw and skittered across the tiled floor. She flicked her left arm outwards; a green blade of energy extending from the general whereabouts of her elbow, if those tiny arms even had something like that. With a motion almost too fast to see, she brought the Leaf Blade across the Cubone's chest, a cry of pain echoing throughout the otherwise silent room.
Pandemonium broke out at once. The humans gave cries of shock, and some of them ducked down behind their counter. The gathering outside let out yells of protest and alarm. My eyes fixed upon the Cubone. He had recoiled from the blow, clutching his injured chest, the grip on the brown paper loosening until it fell to the ground with a clatter. Huntress' eyes widened in triumph and her vine extended, looping around the fallen package.
I don't know what made me spring into action then, but I charged, letting loose a spray of water over the ground and skidding across the now lubricated tiles, picking up speed until I could launch myself forward, my body knocking the package free from the vine. It clattered loudly as it bounced over some tiles and became lodged beneath a plastic chair. Huntress let a frown touch her face, but otherwise showed no negative reaction to my interference. Instead, she seemed a bit amused by the effort.
"Trivial setback," she remarked, sending her vine back towards the chair, but I tackled it, pinning the rope-like plant with my body. Huntress chuckled, and as I looked back at her, I saw a vaguely wilder expression take hold of her face, and her calm red eyes bulged gleefully.
I shifted my weight so that I could stand while still holding her vine down, tensing my body for an attack. I didn't have to wait long for the green blade to rematerialize on Huntress' left arm. She dashed towards me, striking fast and hard. I yelped at the first blow, which left a painful, burning gash across my chest. Huntress pivoted her arm and drove the Leaf Blade into my gut, the burning pain forcing me to my knees. The vine I had pinned immediately coiled around my legs like rope, tightening suddenly to send another spasm of pain through me.
The Cubone had gotten back to his feet and had lunged for his property, but Huntress was too fast. While he dodged the first vine strike, she took advantage of the miss, coiling the vine around a chair leg and flinging it after him. He let out a grunt as the blow to his legs sent from sprawling across the tiles.
I jerked my head towards my ankles and bit down with all my strength upon the vine ropes binding my legs, kicking desperately to free myself afterwards. Yet by the time I got to my feet, Huntress was clutching the papered object and swiftly tore the papering off, taking a moment to admire a pale brown rectangle, identical in all ways to the one around her neck. I internally scowled. Brio was right about the collection aspect.
"My hunt is complete, so enough of this foolish fight. I have won, and I will give you this chance to back down," Huntress hissed, brandishing her Leaf Blade. My side throbbed painfully at the mere sight of the weaponized grass energy, and my paws tightened into fists. "Refusal is not an option."
"Hey!" Brio's voice stole the Servine's attention. From where I stood, I could see that his icy fur had bristled into needles reminiscent of a Jolteon's, and the glare he was giving her was like nothing I had ever seen him use before, even when I was annoying him about the library. "Don't you dare threaten Sy!"
"That's sweet, but a better contribution would have been to just shoot an Ice Beam into her face," I pointed out. Brio ignored me, his brown eyes never straying from the Servine's scarlet gaze. She chuckled softly, the Leaf Blade fading away as she took slow, deliberate steps towards the Glaceon. Brio twitched, but stood his ground.
The tense silence was shattered as an orange and black striped canine dashed into the room, fur raised and a threatening growl leaving its throat. "Goldenrod police!" it barked, focusing on Huntress. "Don't even try to-" Huntress responded by slapping him in the face with her vine. Slowly, the Growlithe touched his cheek and inspected the paw. "Oh, you shouldn't have done that," he growled, throwing his head back and letting out an ominous howl.
At once, two uniformed officers burst into the room, accompanied by two adolescent humans, the latter clutching multiple Pokeballs. "Trainers, you are authorized to capture or use any force to restrain the Servine!" one officer barked. "Growlithe, Take Down!"
"Go, Pignite!" one of the younger humans shouted, hurling a red and white sphere forward.
"Pidgeotto!" the second shouted, throwing another Pokeball forward. Huntress' eyes narrowed to scarlet slits and at once, three vines extended from her body, snatching the Pokeballs in midair before they opened, and the third coiled around the Growlithe's throat before he could so much as charge. Shocked cries rose up from the officers and trainers alike.
"I'm finished here," Huntress hissed and slashed her arm forward. The Plate on her chest glowed with a vibrant green light, and a sudden gust of wind seemed to be conjured out of nowhere. Leaf-like particles leapt from her body, becoming absorbed into the gust and expanding, the humans grunting as the tornado surrounded them, sending their hair and clothing fluttering in all directions.
"Don't let it get away!" one of the officers shouted, but just as abruptly as it appeared, the tornado vanished, and Huntress was gone. The unopened Pokeballs thrown by the trainers lay on the ground besides a dazed Growlithe, and I was dimly aware that I tasted leaves that had slipped into my mouth when my jaw had fallen open.
Brio had a troubled expression on his face. He was the only one not looking around the room, but instead, out the door, as if watching a shadow departing. I stumbled over to him, feeling rather dizzy. "What is it?" I asked, spitting out the last of the leaves.
"I'm not sure yet," he said quietly. "C-can we go to the library now? I have a hunch..."