Oh no. Sapphire, you can't be serious.
I am, Rustfur.
What are we going to do? It's not like they'll let me up to go find any berries.
I-I don't know... she finally answered.
I don't want to lose you, Sapphire! We have to think of something!
But what can we do?
Rustfur didn't answer; his violet eyes were flooded with tears. He barely noticed the shadow that briefly blocked the sun out.
An extremely familiar voice did get his attention though.
"Team Galactic! I thought I had already dealt with you idiots!"
Rustfur looked up in amazement at the brown-haired Trainer climbing off the back of a red-orange winged lizard-like Pokemon with a flame at the very tip of its tail.
Needlefur had also looked up at the voice. "Torrentpaw, look!"
The Vaporeon also looked. "Flametail? Eric?"
"All right, Cyrus tell me why you have all of my Pokemon on the ground?"
"All we want is that Leafeon over there." The boss of Team Galactic pointed to Sapphire. "Let us leave with that Leafeon, and you can have all of yours back."
"You really think I'll let you take that Leafeon? So you can repeatedly run tests on it until you kill it? I don't think so." Eric retorted.
"Are you asking for a fight?"
"I think I can take you. I've done it once before."
"You think you can do it again?"
"Yes, I do, and unless you let all of these Pokemon up right now, you'll see that I can." As he spoke, the brown-haired Trainer unclipped five Poke Balls from his belt. Calmly, one by one, he opened them. Soon, in addition to the Charizard behind him, the Trainer was flanked on either side by a Lucario, Staraptor, Butterfree, Aggron, and Nidoqueen. "Last chance, Cyrus. Let them up. Now."
"Let us take the Leafeon and we will."
"I've told you, that's not going to happen."
"Fine! But let me remind you that you're outnumbered. Attack!"
At Cyrus' order, the grunts commanded their remaining seven Pokemon to rush the Trainer. He watched the oncoming Pokemon, as if waiting for something. Finally, he called out a single order.
"Flametail, Heat Wave!"
The Charizard opened its great mouth and exhaled a superheated gust of air at the seven Pokemon.
Even though Rustfur wasn't near the seven targeted Pokemon, he felt the heat from the attack. He now saw why his Trainer had let the enemy get so close; not only would they then receive the full potency of the attack, but Eric had also turned the attack away from his own Pokemon.
While Team Galactic's Pokemon were cringing under the Heat Wave, Eric gave another order to his Lucario.
"Matthias, use Extremespeed to get Needlefur and everyone else free."
The blue Pokemon nodded and vanished in a blinding burst of speed. In a short time, all of the trapped Pokemon were freed. The Lucario stopped at Rustfur and looked at the Espeon oddly. "But...Swiftclaw...is over there."
"That's because I'm not Swiftclaw, I'm Rustfur."
"Rustfur? Really?"
The Espeon didn't answer, but jumped up and bolted for the Weavile holding Sapphire down. He got the Weavile off of her with a furious tackle. He then knelt beside Sapphire and began softly talking to her, unaware that the Weavile was getting back up. "Sapphire? Sapphire, please, say something..."
Matthias stepped in behind Rustfur and grabbed the Weavile's outstretched paw. "How about fighting something your own size?"
Now that Rustfur's Trainer was here and his family had been freed, Team Galactic was quickly put back in their place. The arrival of the Veilstone police force helped, too. Cyrus and his five lackeys were promptly handcuffed and ordered into the back of a van.
"I'm glad that's over." Eric took his blue hat off and wiped his brow. "Those idiots never learn." The Trainer looked around, running his gaze over his Pokemon. "Wait, where's Rustfur?"
The Espeon in question was still crouched over Sapphire, gently licking her sweat-dampened forehead. "Sapphire...Sapphire, no!"
Leafpool heard his cry and spun around. She was at his side in an instant. "Rustfur! Are you all right!?"
"Forget me, Mom! Sapphire needs help!" he snapped, his eyes running with tears. "Get Eric!"
Leafpool shot back to her Trainer, shouting frantically. Naturally, he couldn't understand her, but he heard the urgency in her voice. He followed the Leafeon back, with the rest of Rustfur's family.
Eric unslung his backpack and knelt beside Sapphire. He gently caressed the Leafeon's forehead, and her eyes weakly fluttered open.
The Trainer quickly drew his hand back. Weak as she was, a fierce glow was still in her blue eyes. "Wow..." he breathed. "Look at those eyes..." He was stunned, until the Leafeon's body shook as she coughed weakly.
The Lucario held his paw over Sapphire's body, his eyes closed and the black antennae-like appendages on the back of his head stood out horizontally. Shortly after, the Lucario turned to his Trainer and spoke to him telepathically.
Rustfur tells me she's been poisoned. Her Aura is fading; I don't know how long she's been poisoned, but she's barely hanging on. The wounds on her back and side aren't helping either.
"What's her name?" the Trainer asked.
He tells me her name is Sapphire.
"I can see why." Eric answered, rummaging around in his pack, pulling a gray and green module. He flipped its lid open, revealing a sharp needle.
Sapphire saw the glint of the needle and bared her teeth as Eric brought it near her.
"It's all right, I'm trying to help you." he said softly, cautiously extending his free hand.
Sapphire snarled weakly as the human's hand came to rest gently on her head. She tried pulling away, but the gentleness of his hand surprised her. She squirmed and growled as Eric stuck the needle into her upper foreleg.
"Shhh...It's all right." he whispered softly, stroking the Leafeon's head. "I'm not trying to hurt you. You'll feel much better in a little bit. Shhh..." He pressed a button on the module, injecting the green medicine into Sapphire's body.
Slowly, Sapphire's vision cleared and strength returned to her limbs. Rustfur felt their link return, stronger than ever. the Espeon returned to Sapphire's side. "You're-you're okay, Sapphire. I-I thought I'd lost you..." Even as he said this, he furiously nuzzled the Leafeon, dampening her fur with his tears.
"I see why you were in such a hurry, Leafpool. It looks like Rustfur has found himself a mate. You guys have a lot to tell me; first, how you evolved, Rustfur, and, second, how you met Sapphire, and the Vaporeon next to Swiftclaw, too. You'll have a lot of translating to do, Matthias."
Sapphire looked up at the laughing brown-haired Trainer. So, this was going to be her life now; that of a domestic Pokemon? It would take some adjustment. But as she looked at Rustfur, she knew he would be there with her every step of the way, to help her. He would also walk her through every hardship, no matter how difficult. With him by her side, Sapphire felt like the two of them could take on anything the world could throw at them.
"See, Sapphire? I told you; Eric is the nicest Trainer you could want. Now you'll be a lot safer. But, are you sure you'll be okay with having a Trainer?"
Sapphire once more looked up at Rustfur's owner. "You know, Rusty, I think I will." she answered. "I'll be just fine."
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Epilogue
Three months... Three damned months...
The blue-haired man sat in the harsh, flourescently-lit cell, grumbling to himself.
That same kid! He ruins everything! We'll never get anything done with him around...
His ruminations were interrupted by a deafening explosion that smashed his cell wall asunder.
He stood up and walked calmly towards the gaping hole. "It took you long enough..."
A woman with short, white hair stepped from the black of the night into the bright cell. "Shut up and come on. It's only a matter of time until someone responds to that explosion. Climb on."
The man climbed onto the back of a large blue Pokemon with great red wings. The woman joined him on the back of the imposing Pokemon. Its huge red wings beat once, lifting its great bulk into the air, then carrying it off into the night.
As they flew, the blue-haired man looked back at the bright light of his cell seeping out into the black ink of night. "Thanks, I owe you one, J."
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Author's Notes:
There, all done. For those of you watching this story, sorry for polluting
your inboxes with all of my back-to-back uploads.
Next up, Shattered Truths.