NINETEEN
Serena considered herself to be pretty good at reading Pokemon. She could take a look at a Pokemon, watch it for a few minutes, and predict whether it would be a helper, more like a pet, or one more suited for battling. Right then, she could have used a fighter.
Unfortunately, Noibat was not much of one.
"Let's . . . try that again," she said, her voice altered by the congestion building up in her nose. She and Noibat had reached the Pokemon Village four days after Terminus Cave, having to lie low in the lower swamps of Route 19 for two days while Team Flare grunts conducted a training exercise in the area. Noibat had come in useful for finding edible fruits and berries, and his large ears allowed him to pick up on approaching people long before Serena heard them. However, Noibat's attacks were weak, and his accuracy in regards to moving targets was poor. Serena was trying to train his accuracy by picking flowers out of the ground and throwing them in the air for Noibat to slice using Air Cutter. His best attempt was marked by severing off the tip of a petal.
"Remember, aim for the stem," added Serena as she picked another flower and pointed to its stem. She then coughed, her body doubling over from the force of it. When she tossed this flower into the air, Noibat launched Air Cutter as usual, but completely missed the flower by an inch.
Why wasn't he getting it, she wondered in frustration. Greninja would be able to slice the flower stem five times before it even hit the ground – from fifty yards away, while blindfolded. Didn't Noibat understand what was going on? She didn't have time for him to be like this.
"Never mind, um . . . ." Serena sniffled. "Let's work on the power of your attacks for a bit. See that tree over there?" she pointed to a nearby small evergreen tree, which currently had two Espurr sitting underneath it. "Try to slice off a branch in one Air Cutter." She coughed again, and her throat felt like there were hundreds of tiny, scratchy needles stuck into it.
Noibat nodded in understanding, then flew off to the tree and began launching Air Cutters of various intensities at the branches. Serena watched, pulling up the collar of her jacket so it barely covered her nose and mouth. She coughed again, cursing her body for its feebleness. How dare she come down with a cold when she didn't have any medicine for it. At least her heightened body temperature gave her some warmth, but it came with the price of additional body aches and feeling generally miserable.
It wasn't Noibat's fault that he wasn't as good as Greninja, she reasoned. Greninja had years of training on his side, and being a sharpshooter with Water Shuriken came naturally to him. She had taken Noibat from his home and his family, and while she thought she needed a powerful Pokemon in the fight against Team Flare, maybe a small one with excellent hearing and a knack for finding berries would have its merits as well. Still, there was nothing wrong with assuring that Noibat could battle; knowing self-defense was never a bad idea.
Serena eyed the entrance to the Pokemon Village, where a hefty Zoroark was pacing back and forth in front of the opening in the trees that led back into the Winding Woods. That Zoroark must have been a newcomer to the area, she inferred, having never seen it before. It would explain why she found the entrance to the Village and was initially confused by the thick trees in the middle of it; she walked through anyway to find that those extra trees were an illusion.
Now, another figure had worked its way through the false trees: a large, gray-haired man wearing a light blue parka around his shoulders and holding a basket under his arm. Before Serena could discern those features, she leaped into a tall patch of flowers, lying on the ground and hoping the flowers would shield her sufficiently. She cursed under her breath when Noibat started screeching at the man.
"Bonjour little one!" Wulfric greeted Noibat in his usual warm, booming voice. "I come in peace! No need to – ACK!" There was a small whoosh of air that sounded similar to the sound effect associated with flying Air Cutters.
Serena shot upright to see that there was a shallow cut across Wulfric's cheek and Noibat hovering in midair a few feet away.
"Oh my – I am so sorry," she blurted out as she hopped out of the flowers and rushed over to Wulfric.
"Ah, no problem, I'm used to Pokemon here doing things like – Serena?!" Wulfric hopped back slightly when he recognized her.
"Uh, yeah, it's me," said Serena. She looked past Wulfric, raising herself up on her toes in order to do so. "Are you alone?" she whispered.
Wulfric nodded.
"This must be a great place to hide from the authorities – especially if I'm just now seeing you here," he added, giving her an earnest pat on the shoulder.
"I've only actually been here a couple of days," confessed Serena, following with a series of coughs. She covered her mouth with her jacket collar.
"Come with me." Wulfric gestured for her to follow him to the other side of the Pokemon Village, up to the creek that ran next to the blocked-off cave. Several Pokemon – Noibat included - tagged along, walking behind the two of them. Once at the riverbank, he laid out a blanket and sat down before pulling out a few slices of bread, some cheese, and sandwich meats. Serena sat on the blanket as well, across from him. At the bottom of his basket was an assortment of Pokepuffs.
"Serena, you don't look well," said Wulfric, looking over her face and letting his eyes rest on her red nose. "Make yourself a sandwich."
"Oh – thanks," she said with a sniffle. She made a sandwich that consisted of a slice of cheese between the bread, but she eyed the meats curiously.
"And you're skinnier since I last saw you. What have you been eating?" he continued as he passed out Pokepuffs to the Pokemon that were congregating around them.
"Just anything I could find, mostly," responded Serena before biting into her sandwich. All of the components of the sandwich were cold, and it tasted bland. Noibat swooped in and landed next to her, happily taking a mocha Pokepuff from Wulfric.
Her eyes drifted back to the entrance of the Pokemon Village; Zoroark was still there.
"Are you – are you going to tell anyone I'm here?" she asked Wulfric nervously.
"Why would I?"
Serena sighed in relief.
"You're figuring out what to do about Team Flare, right? You and your Pokemon have a plan of action?" he asked before assembling his own sandwich, piling the meats on high.
"Right now I'm just trying to stay alive and not get caught," admitted Serena; she then sneezed forcefully. "And . . . they have my Pokemon. Noibat followed me from Terminus Cave, and I'm training him . . . kind of . . . . What's going on back in civilization?"
Wulfric's expression soured. "You really want to know?"
She nodded firmly.
"Well, for starters, nobody enters or leaves Kalos. I heard a story about two Hikers being badly burned by patrolling Houndoom because they got too close to the border with Unova. Communication from the outside world's been shut down. Police and those Team Flare clowns are everywhere, well, at least in Snowbelle they are: outside the Pokemon Center, on every street corner, sometimes randomly searching homes and people. Ramos told me things are more or less the same out in Coumarine . . . ." Wulfric pause to eat a bite of his sandwich. "I've seen challengers come in, battle me, earn their badge, and think they're invincible. One Trainer left my Gym and challenged the first Flare member she saw to a battle. Unfortunately, she lost. She was arrested and her Pokemon were taken from her. Oh, and the bounty on your head's doubled."
Serena snorted in amusement at the comment regarding the bounty. "Do you know anything about my family or friends?" It would be a miracle of any of them escaped Teleurac's wrath, she thought.
"No, nothing about your mother or your friends," said Wulfric apologetically. "But I've seen on television, um . . . ." He cast his eyes down and tightened his mouth into a thin grimace.
"What?" Panic was rising inside of Serena.
"Professor Sycamore's one of them now." Wulfric said, his voice strangled. "You think you know someone – I'm sorry, Serena."
Serena let go of the sandwich in her hand, letting it drop onto the blanket, and she shook her head in disbelief. It didn't make sense – why would he join Team Flare, unless he was forced to? What was being done to him?
"Any other riots?" she asked hurriedly. "Is anyone dead? How many are in jail because of what happened that night?"
"I honestly don't know," answered Wulfric solemnly. "It's quiet in Snowbelle. Eerily so, and probably because people are scared. And there's been almost no news from Lumiose."
Serena coughed violently again, burying her face in her jacket's sleeve. It was then silent for a few minutes as Wulfric ate his sandwich, taking breaks to interact with nearby Pokemon. Serena hugged her knees to her chest and turned her head to look down at Noibat, although her eyes were unfocused and she stared into space. There were so many things she could have done differently that night, she thought. She could have gone deeper into the facility rather than up into Centrico Plaza, or stayed put and let Augustine try the diplomatic approach. She should have at least taken her Pokemon to the party with her – it could have all ended that night had she done so.
"How long do you plan on staying here?" Wulfric asked suddenly.
"As long as I need to," replied Serena, her voice raspy from coughing.
"You need to rest, Serena. I'll be back same time next week. If you want to stick around that long, I'll bring you some things."
"That would be wonderful," said Serena as she smiled weakly.
The following week, Wulfric arrived at the same time, like he said he would. He brought soup for Serena, cold medicine, a Pokeball for Noibat, a change of clothes (including a proper coat) and a backpack full of wilderness survival essentials. The medicine cleared her congestion and suppressed her coughing for a couple of hours at a time, enough for her to help Wulfric tend to the flower gardens in the Village and administer food to the Pokemon there; it took a few more days for her to completely recover. As two more weeks passed by, it became a routine for the both of them, and Wulfric would tell her news about the outside world. When he told her about an anti-Team Flare demonstration in Ambrette that was swiftly crushed, she spent the rest of the day thinking about those people and Pokemon whose lives had been ruined thanks to what she had done.
Training Noibat occupied most of her time. Noibat had learned to successfully strike moving targets, and Serena decided to move on to working on his defenses. Defensive training involved throwing small rocks and hoping Noibat would either dodge or deflect them back towards her. Most of the time he could defend himself, but whenever he was hit with a rock he shrieked at Serena.
"Well, we can't battle the other Pokemon," she reminded Noibat. Wulfric didn't care that she trained in the Village, but he had asked her to leave its permanent residents alone.
Serena looked over to where Zoroark stood at the entrance of the Village. She considered going into the Woods and allowing Noibat to pick fights with the wild Pokemon, keeping in mind that they would probably be stronger. On top of that, there was always the chance that someone from Team Flare or the police tracked her and came out this far.
"Hey Noibat," she called to her Pokemon. "Want to go into the woods for a little while?"
Noibat chirped excitedly. Serena recalled Noibat into the Pokeball Wulfric had given her and made her way out of the Pokemon Village.
She resolved to not go too far away from the Village, but the area of woods in front of her was practically deserted. The only living being in sight was a Sudowoodo, and Serena wanted to find a Foongus or a Trevenant for Noibat. Having the type advantage would make training easier.
The next area of the woods she entered was a roughly circular clearing with a lone tree in the middle of it. There were no Pokemon here either, and not even a patch of tall grass or fake-looking Pokeballs on the ground. She stepped closer to the tree, but stopped when she heard a girl's screams.
That girl ran into the clearing, and Serena darted behind the tree and began to climb it, going around the side a bit so she could see what was happening. She perched herself on a tree limb, the thick green foliage from surrounding limbs covering her yet leaving a space just large enough for her to see what was happening down below. Now she could see that a Flare grunt was advancing on the girl, holding his open palm out towards her.
"Give me your Pokemon!" the grunt demanded.
"No! You can't have Sylveon!" cried the girl. From the sound of her voice and the brief glimpse of her that Serena got, she had to be no older than thirteen.
The grunt sent out her Scolipede. "Make her ill," she ordered.
Scolipede charged at the girl, who backed up against the tree and screamed in terror again. Almost instinctively, Serena released Noibat and beckoned for him to come in close. "Attack the Scolipede," she whispered. After nodding in understanding, Noibat spread its wings and zoomed through the foliage.
From her vantage point, Serena had a limited view of the battle. She initially wondered if sending Noibat to battle a Team Flare member's Pokemon was a good idea, but her concern was assuaged once Noibat dove down swiftly and bit into Scolipede's belly with a Super Fang. Scolipede shook Noibat off, following with Venoshock that landed a critical hit. Once Noibat got back in the air, Serena noticed a festering black spot on his wing – he had been poisoned.
"Come on, you can do it," she breathed. "One good Air Cutter is all you need."
Almost as if he heard, Noibat swiped his non-injured wing across his body, sending sharp currents of air flying towards Scolipede. The attack struck Scolipede in the face and knocked it back some, but it did not faint. Scolipede retaliated with another Venoshock, which hit Noibat in the stomach. Although Noibat's health was falling fast (the festering black spot slowly growing larger) he launched one last Air Cutter, landed a critical hit, and fainted Scolipede.
"Come back," she murmured. Immediately, Noibat flew haphazardly back to where she was in the tree. "Good job," she added, recalling him back to his Pokeball.
"What the – where'd you go, Noibat? Come back here! I'm not through with you!" the grunt shouted. Serena braced herself as the tree swayed slightly, and she looked down to see that the grunt was attempting to climb her way up.
Being careful not to move the branches and limbs around her excessively, Serena began her descent. There was a thud followed by the grunt shouting "Merde!" Serena grabbed the next limb and held still for a moment until the tree swayed again, indicating that the grunt was making her second attempt at climbing. Serena climbed down another four feet, and then jumped the rest of the way to the ground.
The girl who was being chased was on that side of the tree, her back pressed against the trunk and a look of terror and confusion on her face. Serena landed right in front of her; once she got over the initial shockwave of pain shooting through her feet and lower leg from landing that hard, she straightened her body and started to back away. The girl's hand flew up to her mouth to stifle a gasp, and her eyes widened when she recognized who was standing before her. Serena whispered "Run" and watched briefly to make sure that the girl did so, escaping the clearing while the Flare grunt still ambled her way up the tree.
"I'm on the ground now, by the way," Serena said tauntingly. "Catch me if you can!" She turned and sprinted away, not stopping until she was back in the Pokemon Village. She watched the Village's entrance for a while, until she thought it reasonable to conclude that the grunt had lost her.
There was a Full Restore in the backpack provided to her by Wulfric, and Serena used it to restore Noibat's health. She watched as the festering black spot on his wing shrank, the color returned to his face, and he breathed evenly again.
"You did wonderfully," said Serena, scratching Noibat behind his ears. Noibat chirped happily as he positioned himself in Serena's lap and looked up at her proudly.
"My wimpy training program really pales in comparison now, doesn't it?" she asked jokingly, still petting her Pokemon. "I'll find you more Team Flare goons to fight soon. I promise."