And this is chapter three! I hope the last chapter wasn't too confusing, but PM me if you are confused. And of course, feel free to leave reviews
Chapter 3
Finn's footsteps echo through Ilex Forest rather loudly, worrying him. Would they go after me? he ponders.
Even though the runner's thoughts tell him that they always will be after him, for once he overlooks his paranoia. With a huge wad of Pokedollars over his head, the paranoia isn't misplaced, but he has let it control him. One of the prevailing moments was the Azalea Contest.
He takes a left and pauses for a brief moment, allowing some of the fresh air to enter his lungs. Finn can hear, just barely, the sound of stealthy footsteps. What with running for a few weeks, pointing out usually unnoticeable things has become one of his talents.
Then breathing. It remains slow and steady, most likely so the creature could strike at any given moment. Finn recognizes the breathing patterns to be inhuman because the way it sometimes would stop breathing altogether to stay hidden, something that he's never heard of in the many people who have hunted him down.
A thick, insectoid arm reveals itself through some of the branches the refugee looks through. Heracross.
Finn moves back a little further, almost immediately halted by a thin tree. It has few branches, and the ones that do grow from its trunk are slender with barely any leaves.
The bug Pokemon could also hear breathing. His duty is to keep the tall boy from escaping, something that he can easily do if the boy remained unconscious.
WHISH! Heracross's arm is thrown after he leaps in front of Finn's hiding spot. Thorny branches slice right in between his two claws.
"That must've hurt," a male voice wonders behind Heracross. Albert walks to his side, Ledyba flapping her wings in a blur to his right. "Where'd he go?"
The blue Pokemon points at the slender tree with his uninjured claws, where a large object weaves itself around tight trees and their thick mid-brush.
Albert looks at Heracross, disappointed. "You're a freaking bug and you can't move through a few leafy trees? Comet Punch, girl." Ledyba zooms around Albert and sends four punches to his face, knocking him into the dirt path. Albert follows Finn through the trees, his Ledyba flying up, promising to meet him there.
BREAK
Finn emerges to the other side of the forest. Even in this dire situation he wonders. Has anyone even done this before? Surely I'm not the first one.
With the coast being so close, Finn can smell the ocean and its wet sand. He has no idea where he is, not the slightest idea, so he'd better find out soon or Liz's Heracross will have already made him cop meat.
Left? Or right? Branches being shifted into new places snap him back into escape mode, his slow-thinking reputation exploding from within him.
Until somebody decides for him.
A punch sends him skidding left. He manages to get a glance of an adorable little face flying above him.
"Ledy," she growls. This is her revenge after being humiliated by his Weedle.
Albert appears from the forest with a few thorns in his arms, but nothing major. He pricks one from his arm and leans down to Finn's level. "Hey, friend." Albert shoves the thorn into Finn's wrist. It strikes an artery as if it's Albert's job, forcing blood out.
"I heard that arteries are one of the most dangerous things to puncture in the human body-right next to the heart and brain, of course? If you were to dig the thorn deep enough..." Albert puts more pressure against the thorn, burrowing it further into his wrist.
Finn remains semi-conscious, not able to process everything happening quick enough. "Do you know how much trouble you've caused for Liz, Wade, Don, and me? Way too much. But finally, the money is approaching us." Albert pauses to call Ledyba to him. "And at a considerably fast pace."
Finn can only manage to look at his waist while laying down, so his punctured wrist is easily seen. The thorn is an olive green, more on the brown side. Despite its size, the thorn seems to dig down deep. Does it have poison on it? Could it cause hallucinations to the point where he wouldn't be able to tell if it was a thorn in his wrist, or a freaking sword?
"Confuse him," Albert orders.
"Do you think I was born yesterday?" Finn snarls. He pricks the thorn from his wrist and throws it at Albert. The youngster has barely just enough time to push his hand in front of his face. The olive thorn, living up to its reputation, digs deep. Ledyba floats next to him, shocked.
"Supersonic!" Albert howls. The familiar yellow-white rings of energy erupt from the ladybug's mouth. She locks onto her target and keeps it up. This is going to be her leader's revenge.
Finn grabs his wrist to slow the enormous amount of blood flow. The Supersonic is just slow enough for him to roll to his left, then get up in the little amount of time there is and run like hell.
And that's exactly what he did. Albert yields his Ledyba in his hand, now forcefully commanding her, and runs after the refugee. This is his only hope. Liz and Wade failed in Albert's best field of work.
And he knows that the prize is worth a lot of money. Hell, 100 platinum Pokedollars are enough to supply his whole family with food for an apocalypse, than have enough to supply Liz and Wade's whole family with food for an apocalypse. Than have enough to supply twenty more families, extended families, that is, with the exact same thing.
But Albert is greedy. This money could kick-start his dream to become a world-class bounty hunter. A far-off dream, yes, but a possible one nonetheless. At least with this money.
So Albert decides to do it. No one even cares about Finn, Albert reasons with himself. His mom is already in a depressive state and his step-father couldn't care less. The only reason he wanted Finn back was so his wife could get out of her state and they could begin loving each other again.
The young boy yanks a Pokeball out of his pocket and hands it to Ledyba. "Throw this at his head," he orders. "You're fast enough."
"Ledy?" she asks, not understanding. What would happen if she listened?
"Just do it, okay? And I'll think about evolving you." Albert understood right away that she just wanted to evolve, back in Azalea, so hopefully the slightest temptation would set her off.
She nods reluctantly. Albert finally stops to rest, keeping his eyes on the Pokemon holding a Pokeball. That, by no means, is how it's supposed to work, but now he has no choice.
Finn keeps holding his left wrist, not allowing himself to become woozy on a high-speed chase like this. The sound of fluttering wings starts to approach him.
Ledyba doesn't know what's going to happen, nor does she want to, but evolution is all she's really wanted. Now is not the time to give up. She flutters just behind Finn, a hard person to catch up to, and yields the ball.
It seems to move very slowly at first-right up until halfway. A knife emerges from the center circle, followed by countless other knifes scattered randomly around it.
"Ledy!" she howls in warning. With so much more coast in front of them, and Ilex Forest to their left, Finn has no time to escape. Ledyba immediately feels bad about her deed.
She is going to kill Finn Irving.
The spiked up Pokeball is two seconds away from piercing his skull when the brain it holds finally decides to do something smart.
He jumps left, into the trees. One of the longer spikes scrape against Finn's ear skin. He rolls through the less dense trees and eventually halts near the end of the now bushes. Azalea Town lies in front of him.
Finn doesn't know what it was, though he does rule out the possibility of adrenaline pumping his blood so fast that it felt like it broke his heart. That is what it felt like, but his brain seemed to kick all of the paranoid storm clouds blocking his natural thoughts out.
And a plan forms itself from thin air. The Egg, he understands. I have to steal the Egg and travel north. Goldenrod isn't the best idea, but just passing through won't be a problem. Then Ecruteak, move west than south, down to Olivine, and hightail it to Hoenn.
Finn stealthily moves from the bushes to the gym. What with everyone being inside the gym, probably getting a speech of how Bugsy accidentally released his giant Scizor into the contest area, Finn needn't be so stealthy. The Egg is only in the lobby, aka Bugsy didn't want anyone touching it while they were inside his actual gym. Two Slowpoke guard it.
They might be stupid, but they're still psychic type and could easily float me against the ceiling really hard. Or against the wall. Maybe a distraction...
Finn ponders his choices for a second, but a loud moving-through-leaves noise comes from the trees near the gym. Better hurry.
BREAK
"Slowpoke slow?" one of the Slowpoke asks the other Slowpoke. The gym door just stayed open. Being an automatic, it meant someone is near it.
"Poke!" the second one declares. They walk, single file, to the door. Something moves in the trees just ahead. "Slo po!" he screeches. The female Slowpoke uses a simple Confusion as they scurry together to the bush area.
Finn peers around the corner of the gym, both Slowpoke whipping a large living thing in the bushes. Albert deserves that.
"Hey! You stupid Slowpoke, I'm a contestant!" Albert growls.
Finn makes an effort to remain silent. Just the slightest noise and Bugsy will throw Pokeballs containing poison bugs at him.
Meanwhile, Bugsy explains the false situation with the competition. "So, you see, everyone can go home now. The competition is cancelled and I've been informed that the contestants are already on their way here." Disappointed murmurs echo across the room.
"Poke poe slop!" The door from the lobby to the actual challenging room bursts open, a dazed Slowpoke emerging.
"What is it?" Bugsy says, now worried. He runs to the lobby, finding an empty cushion and a youngster pinned against the wall with a Confusion.
"P-Please! I didn't do anything! The Egg would be with me if I did anything, too!" Albert screams in protest.
"Stop it, Susan," Bugsy instructions, calling her by her given name. Now to Albert: "What happened?"
Albert tries his best innocent face. Shouldn't Bugsy already know that he was after Finn too?
"It was Fi- I mean, Clark. He brought me hostage here and threw me into the bushes, then stole the Egg. The man's evil!"
I know, Bugsy thinks. I know.