Chapter 3: Heads n' Tails
"What I've felt, what I've known. Never shined through in what I've shown. Never free, never me. So I dub thee Unforgiven" -Metallica The Unforgiven
Felix's POV
Well, this was a lot easier than I'd imagine! After the fight, we left to our safe house in Castelia City which is a lot easier to get to than most would think. Did you know that Castelia's sewer systems branch out through route 4? It makes it almost laughably easy to traverse the sub levels without detection. Me an a few other's use the sewers as our main means of transportation in and out of the city. And while it is dangerous to be in Castelia City since the HAA is right there, that just makes it even easier to hide. Ever heard of 'Hide in plain sight.'? Same concept here. Ted landed near the edge of Route 4 near Castelia city with surprisingly little noise. I got off of Ted as the two of us walked over to one of the skeletonized buildings. Route 4 still had some construction machines and incomplete buildings out here that were abandoned during the war, now they serve to help as traps and watchtowers for the Grim and anyone who finds out about the sewer entrance while they escape from the HAA or any other threat. I looked up to the top of one of the buildings that were still under construction, a humanoid figure watching me pass by, one of the scouts . I looked back to the sewer entrance ahead of me and saw two people armed with assault rifles, they had ragged armor that could resemble post apocalypse survivors, gas masks and all. The one to my left announced my presence to the others in a relaxed tone. "Oi! Felix is back!" said the one to my left, a hint of an Australian accent in his voice. A few other guards waved and or grunted in response.
I continued to walk towards the sewers as the guard to my right walks up to meet me. "Felix, you're here early. Did you get all of the money yet?" asked the guard. My eyes widened as I facepalmed before berating myself for forgetting the money back at the mansion. "DAMNIT!" I yelled, earning a few laughs from everyone around him. The guard, however, didn't look pleased. "I'll take that as a no?" said the guard. "No, Ed, I just facepalming and yelling for no reason at all." I said sarcastically. Ed, the guard, rolled his eyes. "Ok, you have it. Why did you leave it all at some mansion?" asked Ed. "I was escaping from some HAA officers who had discovered my position, knowing that if I stayed, I would be prone to more attacks. So, I had taken the essentials and left back to here where I could rest for a few days till I find another house." I explained. Ed sighed and nodded in understanding. The HAA have been more aggressive in their search for humans. I looked up to see a few people nearby a few ATV's that were used to traverse the sewers quickly. "Hey! Runners." I yelled, getting their attention. They walked over towards me, one driving the ATV over as well. The one on the ATV stopped in front of me and asked what I needed. "I need you to take my stuff over to the safe house, just tell Cindy that it's Felix's stuff. She'll know where to put it." I said. The Runner nodded as we took the equipment and supplies off of Ted's back and onto the back of the ATV. Ted stretched his wings, glad he didn't have to carry it all anymore. The Runner drove the ATV through the sewers down to the safe house underneath the city.
No POV
Felix sighed again at his stupidity for leaving the other stuff at his shabby estate. Now he had to go back and possibly fight them again. Not that it was hard to beat them, but more patrols might come by to see the damage. A major problem if it's more than they could handle. Ed had sent three other guards to grab a Jeep and retrieve the other things from the mansion with Felix, so being overwhelmed might not be such a problem. Ted had decided to go back into his pokeball to rest for the night so there goes another escape route. He then brought out Weiss and Fangs, both of whom, were stretching as if they had just woken up. "Hey guys, we need to go back to the mansion." Said Felix, confusing the two Pokémon in front of him. "Did we forget anything important?" asked Weiss. Fangs decided to hop onto Felix's back in his usual resting spot and fall back asleep, which had annoyed Weiss. "Yeah, we forgot to get the bounties and some other things." Said Felix. Weiss' eye twitched in annoyance. She glared up at the mercenary, a look of 'are you kidding me'. "You, of all people, forgot the money? Just great…" she said with a sigh. "I thought you scolded me for getting the money in the first place?" asked Felix, a smirk on his face as he looked back at Weiss. She just rolled her eyes at his remark. "That's not the point." Said Weiss. "You were right in saying that we needed the money. However, now that we got the money, it's ours now." Weiss said. The truck rolled up to Felix, grabbing their attention. Weiss looked back at Felix. "So, let's go get it back, Felix." She said, walking up the truck. Felix smiled and entered the truck and laid back in the seat, crushing the sleeping Gliscor on his back. "Ow, what the fu-" Said Fangs before he was interrupted by Weiss "Language, Fangs!"
Weiss' POV
It was about half past midnight when we arrived at Route 1. Felix told our driver to stop out here so it would be harder to detect by others. Thankfully we were still close to the mansion so they didn't have to carry anything too far. Fangs had taken off into the sky to check for any nearby patrols while the rest of us got out of the Jeep and walked down to the mansion. "Alright Felix, where's the gear?" asked the third passenger. "I'll show you. Follow me." Said Felix, his signature grin on his face. We followed Felix quietly into the mansion, still in the same way we left it. "Holy… what happened here?!" the driver asked in a whisper, the rest in awe at the display. I smiled at our team's work, proud of our job. Felix walked near the couch and grabbed what looked to be the pack he left here. "Forgot this too." He said. before any of us could make a comment, the Jolteon Fangs fought earlier hit Felix with a Volt Tackle, sending him to the ground and sliding a good few feet. I immediately ran up and slashed at him with my horn only for him to dodge, and hit me with a Thunder Wave. Felix got up and stretched as the others had aimed their guns at the Jolteon. Felix held up his hand and motioned them to hold their fire. "Don't waste your ammo, we don't want to kick the hornet's nest. Plus, it'll wake up the neighbors too. Why don't you guys go get what we came for and leave the Jolteon for me to handle. Weiss, please show them the way." Felix said. I was a little shocked that Felix wanted to fight the Jolteon, but complied none the less. I whispered a "Stay safe." To him as I walked by and led the rest of the group down to the vault where we started to clean it out.
No POV
Felix looked at the Jolteon and cracked a smile. Well, looks like he survived. And he's awake! Either Fangs is getting weaker or this little guy is a lot stronger than I thought. He thought as he smirked at the wounded Jolteon who prepared to attack if he did. "Why hello there, my friend. Man, I am impressed you're still standing despite the wounds Fangs gave you. He really did a number on your neck there." Said Felix in a mocking tone. The Jolteon took a step back. "Why do you continue to resist the HAA? We just want you to go to a nice family and be safe." Said the Jolteon, his eyes gazing into mine. "Oh, my dear friend, I thought we all told you at the beginning that my team and I are already a family, one that you guys don't seem to understand. Now, would I mind living in a nice house in the suburbs with the other Pokémon families? I wouldn't mind, but seeing those other trainers in baby clothes? Sorry, that's a turn off for me. I mean, it's so damn degrading." Said Felix as he leaned against the wall. The Jolteon was still on edge, however, and lowered his stance to prepare for an attack. "But there are some families that don't treat some humans as babies and they all lived happy lives! Why don't you want that?" asked the Jolteon. Felix's smirk faltered slightly as he responded. "Well, it's not that I don't want one. It's just that I can't. Not yet, anyways. I still have done and still have to do too many things that can and have hinder my chances at going back to a normal life. If you could ever classify what you guys made the world now a normal life." Said Felix. The Jolteon picked up on Felix's slight change in mood. He cocked his head to the side "What do you mean?" asked the Jolteon.
Felix smirked again and shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry man, you don't really have a need to know." Felix said. he walked over to the couch, startling the Jolteon. He sat down and motioned for the Jolteon to have a seat. He looked confused at my offer. "Hey, you can keep standing if you wish." Said Felix as he laid back and put his feet on the coffee table. "Why haven't you attacked me yet? I could've hit you with a Thunder Wave and dragged you out of the house without the others knowing." Said the Jolteon, Felix chuckled at his comment and looked over to him. "Here's why you won't do that. One, you should never leave your teammates, no matter their conditions. Two, I doubt you'd risk the chance of failing to paralyze me and receiving a knife to the face in response." Said Felix, leaving the Jolteon in shock. "And three, what would the Lilligant think if she heard that you already ambushed me with a Volt Tackle?" asked Felix, a smirk on his face as the Jolteon glared at the young mercenary, knowing he was right. Felix turned his head toward the Jolteon. "Look. I know you guys see the world out here is dangerous and you just want to protect us, but as I said before, I can't live a normal life, or just being safe in general. Not anymore. Besides, why would anyone care for criminals like us?" Said Felix, his tone dropped to a sad one as he stood up and walked over to the Jolteon. He kneeled in front of the Jolteon. "Hmm, you and your team aren't so bad, that and I know your team won't stop hunting me down so I am willing to bet we encounter each other again. I'll give you various hints and clues that you and your team must figure out on your own. I'll give you the first two hints now. However, you cannot tell anyone of this encounter or the hints tomorrow." Said Felix. The Jolteon quickly scrambled for a piece of paper. "I'm currently 16 years old, my name is false and what you need will be on the trainer card." The Jolteon knew this information wouldn't be enough for the HAA, then a thought came to his head "Wait, where are your real parent's than? You're only 16 years old, after all." asked the Jolteon, getting the young mercenary on edge. "I know where they are, but you have to find them on your own." Said Felix. The Jolteon looked at the human with confusion. "Don't you want to see them? They're your family, why wouldn't you want to?" asked the Jolteon. "Well, it's the same reason I won't go with you guys, I still have things I need to get done and I doubt they'll forgive me for what I've become." said Felix, his smile now a frown. The Jolteon looked in shock at the human. He walked up to Felix and gave him as much as a hug as he could give. "Wha… What are you doing?" asked Felix, shocked by the Jolteon's action. "Simple, I'm giving you a hug. I may not understand you yet, human. But I know you need this." Said the Jolteon. Felix slowly and hesitantly accepted and returned the hug, a ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "Thank you…" Felix said. He heard the faint sound of footsteps coming up the stairs and knew it was time to go. "Can you keep your word, Jolteon?" asked Felix. The Jolteon nodded, knowing he had finally built some semblance of trust. "Good." Felix said before he flipped the Jolteon over and put him in a choke hold and gripped the Jolteon's muzzle. "I have to go, my friend. I wish you guys luck." Said Felix as the Jolteon thrashed about in an attempt to get out of the choke hold. His attempts slowly stopping before he passed out from the lack of blood flow. "Good night." Said Felix as he placed the Jolteon near the couch in the line of sight of the Luxray. Felix then went to the door frame of the entrance and balanced a knife on his finger as he waited for the others to come back up.
Felix's POV
Weiss and the others walked up the stairs with the money and as much as they could carry. I looked over towards them and flipped my knife over and sheathed it. "What took you guys so long?" I asked. The driver muttered a "show off" under his breath as the others walked back to the truck. Weiss handed me the suitcase full of money, which I gladly accepted. "Let's get going home, Weiss." I said. She nodded and we walked out of the mansion. Once we got to the truck and sat down Fangs glided back inside and took his seat on my lap. "Welcome back Fangs, I thought you'd be lost out there." Said Felix in a joking manner. Fangs looks back at Felix and smirks "Nah, I thought I'd just fly around a little bit longer. Enjoy the night sky, ya know?" said Fangs. "Heh, maybe later. Let's go back home for now. I'm tired" I said as the truck left for the safe house. Did I make the right choice to let them hunt me? Hopefully so. Else I'm up shit creek without a paddle. What would mom and dad think?