Ray's POV

I really didn't like her on my back. She was heavy and obnoxious and made flying an unnecessarily burdensome chore. I guessed that really could describe this entire affair, unnecessarily burdensome. She was not growing on me the longer we spent together. She would not be growing on me. Her quirks, her awkward clumsiness was not an asset to her, was not endearing, was not cute. It was irritating and dangerous. I meant, really, she fell and dragged me down with her, and why? Because she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, because she was so wrapped up in her own little world, she forgot to pay attention to anything around her. She was not a good adventurer, or an idealistic dreamer, she was a hazard.

But she was a hazard I was stuck with, at least until I could find a way to get unstuck. And, make no mistake, I was looking for any opportunity to get unstuck. I wanted back into my world more than ever, now. For one thing, if I was in my world, I wouldn't have to be on the run from some weird shadow court that wanted to kill me for finding out their secret, or whatever… even though it seemed that this Strider fellow, and many other people in this outside world probably… already knew about them. Strider had talked about them so casually, as if they were just a part of his life. At least my government back home wasn't messed up like that, because I was going to be the government, and my father in law to be was the current government. Mel's father was a nice, wise man, who took me under his wing like a son. I used "wing" metaphorically, because he had no wings. Maybe that was obvious. Oh well, occasionally my thoughts wandered. That was something I would have to work on.

I flew on, following the Flygon's lead. He had been strangely silent this whole time, although it didn't seem to matter that he was silent, it seemed he and Strider could communicate just the same, without words. The two seemed very close, and like they understood each other. He flew much slower than I knew someone with his kind of build could go. It was probably a courtesy to the human riding on him. Go too fast, and they would be absolutely overwhelmed. That was something I learned when I was training to be a chosen one, a guardian for a princess, back when I was actually looking forward to going to this world and being one of the world's elite. Back then, I had a little regret over never knowing what might have been with Meliae, but mostly I was just excited for the status being a chosen one granted me. I would live with royalty, and live a charmed life. Back then, I wasn't incredibly eager to let anyone ride on my back, either. I had a reason. It was hard to carry anything along my body because of the way I flew, twisting and turning through the sky to generate and then catch the wind. Having someone there made it harder to do this. Mel's method of flying on me had been ideal. I could keep my head still while flying, but I couldn't keep much else still without problems. I was almost certain Emerald wouldn't care though. She would insist it was just something I needed to work on or something

Maybe I was assuming too many things about the princess. She had worked very hard to summon me, she had spent her whole life trying to accomplish this. Getting a Pokemon that didn't even want to be there must have been pretty frustrating. It was no wonder, knowing what she had been through, knowing what having summoned someone meant to her, it was no wonder that she didn't want to send me back, no matter what. I had a life before, but I didn't work nearly as hard to get it. In fact, I didn't work at all to get it. My life back home all sort of fell into my lap, it was not so for her.

So… I had an idea. Maybe I could go out and find her a different familiar, get her set up with someone who would get along with her better, who would love to go on the types of adventures she was so fond of. If I could find a Pokemon like that, that could help her grow and secure her place in society… then, maybe, she would be willing to cut the bond with me and form a bond with this new person. Not maybe, I was sure she would. She wasn't exactly enjoying my presence, either. If there was a better alternative that still got her what she wanted, a life, she would take it. Then I could go and have my life, and let some other guy deal with Emerald. There had to be a Pokemon out there that would be perfect for her this was a big world, there had to be someone. We just had to go out and find them. I resolved to tell Emerald about my idea tonight, when we had a chance to settle down a bit.

Where exactly were Flygon and Strider taking us? I had no idea. I had no frame of reference for this word except the one glance I had from the stratosphere when I came here for the first time. I knew the place where Emerald had come from, Waterfall Kingdom, was surrounded by a lot of ocean, with a few islands around, scattered. We would probably have to stop at one of the islands, at the speed we were going. Mainland was too far away. We wouldn't be able to sleep in comfort tonight, though. We could not go into civilized places until her majesty learned a simple trick like disguising us. Well, actually, I didn't know if it was simple or not. I had never really been taught too much about how a human's magic worked, only that we were linked to that force. I had no frame of reference for how hard making a disguise would be, but it didn't seem like it would be all that complicated. All you had to do was bend light a little to cause a distortion in vision, right? Something like that. I didn't know.

We flew for a long while, and not many words were exchanged. Actually I thought Strider might have fallen asleep. His legs were hooked around Flygon in an interesting way and he had dark glasses over his eyes. I knew Emerald was not asleep, because if she was she would have fallen again by now. Maybe Strider could teach Emerald something about not falling.

I would have been lying if I said the thought didn't cross my mind to betray him while he was asleep. The thing was that kid was smart. He had given away no information. We still actually needed him for any of the services he talked about, he had the information, the power, and the leverage. And so he could sleep peacefully in the sky, fearing no sort of betrayal. All the while, he could betray us at any moment. Emerald said she was going to pay him for his services, but if, at any time, he no longer felt that was important, he could turn on us in the blink of an eye. So Emerald had to watch out for him. I was fairly sure she could come to this conclusion on her own, if she had not already.

Eventually, Flygon started to descend. It was a very slight descent, so it was hard to notice at first, but he was definitely getting closer to the clouds. Then he dipped under them, and I followed. The sun was setting in the western sky, and we were flying directly away from it, which meant we were heading east. There was a small island nearby and ocean for miles and miles in every direction. I guessed that was our destination. Was the teacher there, was the seedy place there? But it looked pretty much deserted. There was a forest, or jungle, or whatever you would call it on the island, so we could probably rustle up some proper food and shelter. That was probably exactly what this stop was. Food, water, and sleep. The sun was setting, and it would be hard to navigate in the dark. Besides, we couldn't keep on flying forever. There were muscles you had to use to defy the force of gravity, and no matter how efficient you were at using them, they eventually tired out. We dipped lower and lower, dropping out of the sky and eventually landing safely, softly on the island.

Emerald hopped off my back, thank goodness. She was heavy. She wasn't that heavy, but speaking in relative terms, speaking in terms of what I was used to carrying… she was so heavy. Strider hopped off Flygon as well. As soon as he did, Flygon wrapped his wings around himself, curled up, and went to sleep. I wanted to do the same, but I didn't exactly trust Emerald not to mess something up for us. Or, I should be more specific, mess something else up for us. She had already screwed so much up.

"Alright, alright, ladies and gents." Strider said, stretching out and nodding to the rest of us. He had a pack on his back which he took off and dropped on the ground with a thud. "We are stopping here for the night. You build a fire. I'll rustle up some grub." Strider said. He stretched out a little more, probably stiff from sitting in the same position while flying for hours. I noticed Emerald doing the same. Meanwhile, I settled down to rest. Emerald had already had some rest today, just sitting on my back while I did all the work. She could make the fire. She didn't need to go very far to make a fire, we were amongst the trees right now, not just on the beach. I wasn't moving anywhere. However, Strider said he was going to go search for food, and yet, there was the Flygon, curled up and fast asleep. Strider would definitely have to get rather far from his Flygon to find some food. We were at the edge of the trees. I could see wood that could be used for a fire, but I couldn't see anything edible. My point was this, Strider would have to go far away, and did not try to wake Flygon or anything. That meant that either their tether was a lot weaker than mine and Emerald's, or it did not exist at all. Either way, there was probably something we could learn about the tether from them. I did not want to have to be this close to her at all times forever. I liked privacy, a life with no privacy at any point sounded awful. Plus, it would be convenient to not get dragged around every which place when Emerald had someplace she wanted to go.

"Got it. Meet you back here." Emerald said, and she was off, scurrying up and around trees to try and find wood dry enough to start and maintain a fire. Thankfully, it didn't seem to have rained recently, so it shouldn't have been too hard. I coiled up and tucked my head at the center of the coil, exhausted from flying for hours upon hours. I closed my eyes.

Strider… what a strange one? Just as strange as Emerald, probably, but in a different way. Didn't he say something about him being a horrible criminal? He had been pretty nice so far, a little snarky and condescending, sure, but he didn't seem like a criminal to me. Maybe I just hadn't seen him in action, yet. Maybe he was toning it down in front of us. Maybe he had been lying about that, to make himself seem cool. Who knew and who cared? I could only deal with what I was getting at any given moment. He didn't have my trust, but he didn't have my hatred, either. He walked into the trees, unafraid for himself or his Flygon, seeming to have very little concern. Concern that he probably should have had. Although, I guessed he had that much confidence in himself and his Flygon. They could both defend themselves just fine. I did not think I would trust Emerald in a similar way. She had given me very little reason to.

"So… you have been awfully quiet, what do you-" I started to ask the Flygon, but I was cut off by loud snoring. It was not as obnoxious as Emerald's snoring, but it was enough to tell me that my words were not going to be heard. I was very tired as well, very tired, both physically and emotionally. Plus, the sun on my back all day. I was used to staying indoors and lot of the day, out of the sun. Actually, that was right, I had been in the sun all day. The sun was setting, but it was still high enough in the sky to make itself known. I wanted shade, so I got up and moved closer to Emerald, under some branches. I would be anchoring her there, but frankly, I did not care. I hoped she would not misinterpret me coming closer as some sort of sublimated sign of affection. And, with these thoughts flitting through my head, I drifted off.

I woke up to a kick in the gut. What in the world?! I looked wildly around to try and figure out what could be doing this, who could have gone and kicked me, or was it something else? Was the sea food making me that violently sick? I had been sick to my stomach, before, but it never really felt like I was being kicked? I uncoiled and looked around. It was Strider, Strider had kicked me. I narrowed my eyes and was about to threaten him, when he shushed me and started to talk.

"You can argue with me later, for now, you gotta get Emerald, and we gotta go. Or, if you really want, Flygon and I can take her and hope she doesn't fall again for some stupid reason." He was whispering I assumed to not wake her. I was very confused, what was going on? I whispered too, I wasn't sure what was going on, but it felt like the right thing to do.

"Why not get her up, then. And what's going on?" I asked. Strider frowned in the pale moonlight.

"Somethin tells me she'd make too much of a ruckus and get herself and all of us killed. We've been found, I don't know how, and we gotta go like right now if we're going to stay ahead of them."

"What are you talking about, we've been found? I asked. I looked around, I didn't see anything threatening. He shoved a hand up against my face in an attempt to shush me.

"Don't talk, don't think, the darkness is coming. We have to go. Now." Strider said, his cool demeanor was entirely gone, and he looked and sounded like a scared little kid who had a nightmare and was coming to his parent to get them to make it go away. His urgency shut me up more than his actions ever could. The quiver in his voice said there was no room for questioning, and that something horrible was going to happen if we did not go.

It occurred to me that I did not get to actually have a meal. I fell asleep, and now this. I was very hungry, and very tired, but there was no time, now. My scales nearly itched in anticipation. There was something. I wasn't sure what it was but there was something out there. I could feel it, now that I was a little more awake. It was oppressive, it demanded to be fled from or submitted to, there was no fighting back, there was no standing your ground. It was such a strange feeling. There was something supernatural in the air.

"Put her on with you." I whispered. "She's asleep. If she's asleep on me, she will fall." I said.

"Alright, stay close." Strider said. If it weren't for the situation, I would have been sure that was another snarky sarcastic comment, because of course I had to stay close, I was held close to her, I didn't have a choice but to stay close. Instead, I just nodded. Strider lifted Emerald's sleeping body and leaned it against his body on top of Flygon. The three of them took off, and I went after them.

There was something in the air, something sinister, something that wanted to kill us slowly and painfully. How did I know this? I did not, it was a feeling, it was in my instincts. Something was very very wrong and fast approaching, even though we were flying fast, it was catching up, closer and closer. What in the world was this? What in the world was happening? Smoke, I thought I saw, out of the corner of my eye, and bright eyes, staring deep into me, clawing at me. What was this, what was this, what wa-?

oooo spoopy, have a good day, y'all