CHAPTER 4

The initial shock of what had happened wore off when we were called to dinner. We still ate in silence and went to bed the same way.

Slice woke me up (again) the next morning. I got up and went with him to breakfast with Berg, Chi and Scuttle.

"Shade, get over here!" the Hitmonlee instructor called out.

"Do we have another mission?" Slice asked.

"Only one way to find out." I said before going to the instructor.

"Alright, you've got another mission today." He said to me.

"Is it the same as yesterday?" I asked.

"No it's different. Our scouts have reported that a group of Amber Fang Pokemon is headed this way. We need you guys to take care of them."

"Fine. Where're they?"

"By now they're probably almost at the entrance of the forest here."

I nodded and went back to the rest of our team. "Guess what, we're fighting an Amber Fang team today."

"Great, more action today than yesterday." Slice said happily. We finished our breakfast and the Exploud horn sounded. All of us went to the gate while the other teams began training.

When we arrived at the gate, we noticed that we were the only team on a mission today. Slice said: "Looks like we're on our own guys."

"Yeah. C'mon, let's go." I said.

We entered the forest and kept going forward. All of us were tense because the enemy could strike at any moment.

"Berg, keep checking the skies. If we get raided by more Altaria, I want to know right away." I said.

"Sure thing Shade." Berg replied.

We continued advancing while Berg patrolled the skies. Suddenly, Scuttle fired Pin Missile at something in the bushes. We readied ourselves but there was nothing came from behind those bushes.

"What was that for Scuttle?" I thought there was an enemy." I said a little bit annoyed.

Scuttle went over to the bushes and pulled them apart. He let out a gasp and I said: "What's wrong Scuttle?"

"I fired 10 Pin Missiles." Scuttle said. He turned to us with a determined look on his face. "I searched and found only 6 of them."

"Wait that means-" I exclaim and all of us look around. "Those 4 missiles hit something."

"Shoot. We could be surrounded." Slice said. All of us tensed ourselves and waited because any moment, an attack would come out.

I was right. Suddenly a blue burst of energy came from the bushes. All of us had to scatter to avoid it.

"That was a Future Sight!" I yelled out recognizing the attack. "They probably have a Psychic type! Scuttle, be careful!"

"Don't worry, I will!" Scuttle called back. He dodged another Future Sight and fired Pin Missile at where the attack came from. He didn't hit anything.

"I forgot; Future Sight's an attack in the future!" Scuttle cried out. "You can set it and run away and it'll still hit!"

"That's right so fire your attacks when-" But I had to stop as Flamethrower went past me.

"They've got Fire types too?" Slice said annoyed. He fired an Ice Beam at the surroundings but he didn't hit anything either.

A Thunderbolt came right passed me while Berg ducked as a Flamethrower went over him. Then, I noticed something: Chi wasn't moving at all.

"Chi, what're you doing, dodge!" I yelled at her. Another Future Sight came from behind me and headed for Chi. Instead of dodging, Chi just stood her ground and the attack went right past her.

"Don't you see?" Chi said. "These attacks aren't meant to hit us! Just stand still!"

"Chi, are you insane? We'll get killed if we do that!" Slice said to her but she glared at him and we all stood still waiting for an attack to come.

A Future Sight, Flamethrower and Thunderbolt headed towards us. Slice, Berg, Scuttle and I screamed but we didn't move from our places. But the attacks went right past us without hitting us, much to our surprise.

"I get it." I said to Chi. "These attacks were meant to distract and confuse us not really harm us! Good thinking Chi!"

Chi nodded but we weren't in the clear yet. One question remained: what were they distracting us from?

A Thunderbolt came from the sides and scored a direct hit on Slice. He yelled as he was hit and slammed against a tree. He yelled out: "Man, that stings!"

"Slice, are you OK?" I said as I ran over to my best friend.

"I'm alright. They probably decided to hit us already." he replied. He got up and opened his mouth to speak but-

"Shade!" Berg cried out all of a sudden while pointing at the sky. All of us looked and gasped.

Altaria. More than thirty Altaria were in the air and they were all carrying Electrodes. One of them dropped on and it exploded, sending a lot of dust into the air.

All of us fired at the Altaria and Electrode. Even though our attacks hit several of them and knocked them out, there were still more of them.

"OK, change of plans, retreat!" I yell out to everyone but an Electrode exploded in the near us. All of us were knocked off our feet.

I got up and saw that I was surrounded by smoke. Lots of trees had already been knocked down by the explosions. I couldn't find Slice or anyone else so I opened my mouth to call out to them but another explosion knocked me off my feet.

As I lay on the grass, I heard more explosions. I got up and called out: "Slice! Can you hear me?"

There wasn't any response so I called again. "Slice! Berg! Chi! Scuttle! Where are you guys?"

"Shade!" I heard Slice's voice from nearby. I went through the smoke and heard more explosions until I saw Slice through the smoke. I ran towards him but an Electrode exploded between us and I was knocked off my feet again.

I got up and called out to Slice again but there wasn't a reply. I began to panic and ran around the smoke looking for someone, anyone. Then, through the smoke and the sound of more explosions, I heard a voice.

"S-someone! P-Please help!"

It was a female voice that I had never heard. Its owner sounded like she was in pain. Then, I considered finding the voice's owner and helping her but then I remembered my teammates.

Another explosion knocked me off my feet and I heard the voice again. I made my decision and started to run around looking for whoever was crying for help. Eventually, I found a clearing and in it was the owner of the voice.

It was an Espeon and she was lying on her side. I examined her and saw a bruise on her hind right leg; she couldn't possibly walk fast in this state. I suddenly realized that she was a Psychic type- an enemy, probably the one who set up those Future Sights.

Her eyes, which were purple and white, met mine. She looked at me in fear because she knew that I was an enemy and probably wanted to kill her. We looked at each other for several moments until I noticed something above her.

That Altaria probably didn't notice her because it dropped an Electrode right on top of her. I saw it fall getting closer and closer to her. Without thinking, I ran to her and scooped her up. She was lying across my back.

"W-what're you-" she stammered but I ran away just before the Electrode exploded where she was.

I started to run with her. Another explosion knocked us down. I felt weak but I ran back to her and scooped her up again. I started to run again while dodging more Electrodes. Eventually, I found a cave in the distance. I put on one last burst of speed and reached it.

"Get down!" I say to the Espeon while I let her down. Both of us lay down as more and more explosions occurred.

I thought an Electrode hit the top of the cave because an explosion caused rocks from the ceiling fell. I heard her scream and, almost instinctively, I lay across her and protected her. The rocks hit my back but I didn't budge and just closed my eyes.

When it was over I realized that it was dark. I lay down on my side panting exhausted from what happened. I looked at the cave entrance and saw that it was completely blocked by rocks. I lit up the rings on my body and the cave was filled with light.

I pointed my light at the Espeon and asked: "Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah." she replied. I walked up to the cave entrance and examined it.

"I don't think we should blast this open." I said while walking back to the Espeon. "I think we should go through this cave and check if there's an opening at the end."

She just looked at me so I asked her: "What's wrong?"

"N-no, it's nothing." she said. I thought I saw a blush on her face.

"Can you walk?" I asked. She got up and walked a bit.

"Yeah, It hurts a bit but I can handle it."

"Good let's get going." I said as I lit up the cave before us. I went forward a bit and then turned and faced her.

"Oh I forgot, I'm Shade by the way." I said.

"I…I'm Shine." she replied.

"Shine…well Shine, let's go." I said and she walked with me into the cave.