"So what am I supposed to do now? Will they blame me for something they can't even prove? What a ridiculous story," Farrioust groaned and murmured to himself, walking a few meters behind the disappointed girls. "Well, I'll just have to get it out from them," he ran to the younger girls and when he sprinted past them, he blocked their way. "If you want to be mad at me for something you only think is true, fine. I won't bother you two. I will be able to travel faster without you because I will be able to fly on Raden. So bye!" he said every word quickly and precisely, but both girls understood how childish he sounded.
It seemed he just wanted attention and that made the girls a little bit more irritated, but Catlesy sighed and explained.
"You're not going anywhere. You lost the bet. You have to travel with me now. So stop your whining and come along. I want to reach the next city as fast as I can," she said calmly and a little bit bossy. Walcekite thought she sounded like Farrioust. Come to think of it, Catlesy was the one always demanding attention, or something like that.
Suddenly, they reached a rocky valley. The setting sun shone on the mountain sides and somehow sparkled, maybe because of the different minerals the mountain was composed of. A slow stream was running near the short mountains. Even the water sparkled magically. To top it off, a rainbow appeared above the stream.
"Is this real?" Walcekite gazed at the sight, almost feeling dizzy from the overwhelming beauty.
"This-this is Rainbow Valley. Cottonee couples come here to be whisked away by the Diamond Breeze sometime in spring. I never knew it was this beautiful even in autumn," Farrioust showed his vast knowledge again.
"It's otherworldly," Walcekite awed. She sat down on one of the ledges above water and let her legs down. The others decided to join her.
A soft breeze played around the teenagers, stroking their bare skin and tousling their hair. The girls felt their heavy and long hair softly waving on the breeze, while Farrioust's hair were too short to move much, but he felt the wind's efforts.
A beam of light emitted near Walcekite - she was letting her pokemon out to see this wondrous view. A dark fox, creamy and pink kitty, a quite big purple cat, a white candle with a bright and quite demonic blue flame and a black and white flying squirrel gazed at the view just like their owner. The first two climbed on Walcekite's legs and decided to look from there, while Chesire sat beside his mistress. Palabella climbed on Walcekite's head, whereas Locus hid behind his new trainer. The teen girl didn't understood why was the shiny Litwick afraid, but after a gentle stroke on his somewhat cheek, he lightened up, literally.
Catlesy enjoyed Walcekite's idea and her pokemon were sent out as well. Flamboy was more interested in the mud behind the sitting teens and he retreated there. Shanna was more interested in her upcoming evolution that was so close that she couldn't refuse the opportunity to examine it, so she went to Chesire. Casolla followed Palabella's example and got on her owner's head.
"Well, I won't let my pokemon out of this as well," Farrioust thought to himself and looked at the six pokeballs attached to his belt.
Of course that owner's pokeballs emitted the most light and the biggest pokemon. The Gallade stood behind his master with Murina a bit closer to her trainer, but all others retreated further. It even looked that with all of them present, the edge would break and everyone would fall into the cold and sparkling water.
Some pokemon chattered, while others didn't say a word from the moment they were released. The trainers didn't talk as well. They were thinking, each something different. Even the chattering calmed down, when they saw how their trainers acted.
Walcekite noticed that only a hint of the sun was visible in the horizon. It would be dark soon, so she encouraged everyone to move out, though no pokemon were retrieved and had to go with their masters, but they didn't complain.
It could have looked like an army of pokemon from the side and they would be able to do some serious damage, but they weren't that kind, or at least their trainers weren't.
"Hey, children! What are you doing with so many pokemon?!" someone spotted the army.
The teens looked around, but no one was visible. For all they cared, it could even be team Plasma. They would just hound all the pokemon on those people.
"Hey, I'm talking to you three!" the voice was behind them and all the pokemon that were in the back, quickly turned around with fierce faces and let out claws, if they had any.
"Ok, ok, calm down. I'll just steal you and then you will be free," a young guy seemed to be serious about what he said, but the trainers couldn't help but giggle.
"Are you crazy? Just go away. Our pokemon will not only beat your pokemon, but you too," Farrioust smirked.
"Seriously. You think that our pokemon are suffering? They want to be with us and would never willingly go with you," Catlesy added.
"They just don't know better. Well now, I won't hurt you. Come with me," he approached Farrioust's Zweilous, as he was last. Both heads looked irritated and when he got close enough, bit the knight's both hands. "Oh you little pieces of...!" he calmed down after the bite and approached other pokemon. It was the the devious pokemon and its evolution, the cruel pokemon.
They behaved even worse: Shanna shot a Shadow Ball straight to the guy's face and Chesire slashed his body vertically. Most of the clothes were ripped, his face was dirty and the hood on his head was singed.
"You ungrateful little pests! I wanted to make this as painless as possible, but as you aren't willing to come in peace..." he stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly. The whole forest started shimmering and hundreds of Zubats landed next to the knight. "...I'll just have to show you my true power."
Everyone got startled and regretted not moving out earlier. Now the Zubats felt best in this darkness.
"Guys, I don't think we should even try," Walcekite whispered, looking at the dark, purple ground. "Let's just get our pokemon and run."
"No, we have to beat these. Our pokemon are strong enough," Farrioust was already going through a strategy in his head.
"Right. We are the strongest team. Our pokemon are the strongest as well," Catlesy smirked ready for battle.
*sigh* "Then there's no choice with you guys," Walcekite was a bit scared of the outcome. "Just promise we'll have each other's back, k?"
"Yeah, of course," Farrioust and Catlesy nodded and the commands began. Too bad Zubats were all getting the commands at the same time and executed their attacks perfectly. That was the real army.
"Now my pretties, Supersonic!" a dark cloud rose higher from the ground and thousands of sound waves were sent out.
No pokemon had the abilities, to avoid Supersonic and all of them became confused. These attacks weren't synchronized at all. The ones that managed to listen to their trainers, were hurt by those who had lost the ability. Only a few Zubats ended up getting hurt. Gladly, they looked kind of weak, cause those few hits took a few completely out.
The situation was quite comical: weak, but many Zubats, constantly confusing the strong and not so many pokemon that kept taking a few Zubats out in the process of hurting themselves or pokemon and even people around them. The Zubats had but a few attacks, like Astonish and Bite and those attacks gave but mere scratches, but many scratches could result in big casualties.
One after another, the Zubats fell to the ground, but the teens' pokemon didn't look so good either.
"We should retreat," said Walcekite fearfully. "We are just making our pokemon suffer."
"When one of our pokemon faints, then we will decide," decided Farrioust and on that note, Shanna fainted from Flamboy's Rollout, that went through at least five pokemon. "Ugh, our pokemon are just hurting each other. Fine. Let's get them back."
A pokemon turned into red mater once every second and fled the battlefield. Farrioust took the longest to return his pokemon, because he had the most and his got furthest into the dark Zubat cloud.
"Well, are the little ones running?" the knight teased the teens, but only got a growl from Farrioust and all young trainers disappeared into the woods. "Hiding are we? Zubats - find those children and take them out!"
The huge cloud rose higher and flew over the woods of Route 4. At least 15% were left on the ground after the battle, but that didn't make the flock seem smaller.
"Which way is the city?" Farrioust whispered, when they stopped under a big enough tree to hide them from creatures above.
Catlesy cautiously took out her Town Map and checked it as fast as possible, so the light wouldn't attract the Zubats.
"Not so far in... that direction," she pointed.
"Ok. On my signal we all run," Farrioust checked the skies. The Zubats weren't very good hunters and were way of course. "Ok... NOW!"
The three trainers dashed from their hiding place and ran even faster when they reached the normal path turning their heads back once in a while. Sadly, the movement of three teens was enough for the Zubats to spot them and the chase was on again.
"There! I see the city's lights!" Farrioust exclaimed joyfully and sprinted even faster. The girls were a little behind, but Catlesy was able to catch up.
"Walcekite, why are you such a Slowpoke!" the green eyed girl groaned loudly and slowed down for the cerulean haired girl, just to grab her hand and drag her after herself.
"This is becoming a habit," Walcekite sweat dropped and sighed, but her speed was increased so as long as she had her arm still attached to her body, it was good.
The lights were getting closer, just like the dark cloud. The trainers were getting tired, but the noises of Zubats kept them on their toes and didn't let them give up, especially when they heard thumpings. It seemed these Zubats couldn't even fly for too long.
The gate of the city was almost in their reach. Just a few more steps.
"YEAH! WE DID IT!" Farrioust jumped up and down excitedly and then turned around. "Oh, Arceus..."
"Farrioust don't just stand there! Make your pokemon save us!" Catlesy shouted from the sky.
Walcekite was caught by the Zubats and Catlesy didn't want to let go of her hand and was raised as well. The Zubats seemed to know Leech Life as well and used it on the girls, sucking out their blood form various parts of their body.
"Lysus! Raden! Come out and get the girls back!"
With speed and agility, Raden quickly got rid of the Zubats that weren't holding the girls and sent them flying with his Whirlwind. Then the tricky part came: how to get the girls back without hurting them. Obviously, Lysus was there for his Telekinesis, but he couldn't do much in this situation, because every moment the girls could fall and he needed to concentrate only on them.
Fast footsteps were heard in the distance. It seemed the dark army's trainer had arrived.
"Great, Zubats. Now shake those girls. We need to get their pokeballs."
Although Nimbasa City was famous for its amusement parks which included many entertaining rides, but the ride given by the Zubats was in no way pleasant or entertaining.
"Raden, rip off one Zubat at a time! And Lysus - be ready!" Farrioust commanded watching the screaming girls.
When the bat pokemon turned the teen girls upside down, the falling of the objects got really intense, as well as the screaming. Girls were more concerned about what might show when the bottoms of their dresses left their normal places and while shrieking louder, pressed the bottoms to their legs.
"Those girls got so much blood sucked out, but still they can scream like that?" Farrioust couldn't help but sweatdrop and fluster a bit, but kept his cool and ignored the screams that affected even the Zubats and their trainer. Raden was even thrown out of balance by the shrieks and fell a few feet, before he could get back to normal flapping.
The stuff that fell from the bags was important, like potions and unused pokeballs, but the ones that were really important, the ones that already contained pokemon were safely attached to the girls' belts and didn't show the wish to fall out anytime soon.
"Forget the shaking, just bite the pokeballs off!" the knight got irritated and changed his approach, but the Zubats weren't that bright and let go of the girls the moment they got a new command, which didn't include holding the two. As the knight's jaw dropped, Lysus saw his chance and quickly used his Telekinesis on the girls, safely bringing them to the lightened up city, landing them safely near his master.
"Oh thank you!" Walcekite leaped to Farrioust's arms, although they weren't quite ready to greet the girl, but he still slowly hugged her back. The boy could feel the pale girl's shaking. She was happy and scared at the same time. Catlesy just smirked at the two and shouted at the knight!"
"Yo! Knight! You have no power here! Get those Zubats back to their caves!"
"What are you talking about?! They are mine! I am the Zubat Whisperer!"
"Seriously? That's a weird power," Catlesy tilted her head and turned to the other two. Both of them were looking at the Zubat Whisperer. Walcekite didn't seem to want to let go of Farrioust, but the boy didn't refuse. Maybe she just didn't notice what she was doing.
"It's the best power. But as my army suffered..." he looked around the battlefield. "...a few casualties, I'll let you off with a warning this time. Zubats retreat!"
The dark cloud rose and flew off back to Route 4 along with their master. The teens were left a bit speechless and Catlesy was the first to shake it off. She turned around, smiled cunningly and went past Walcekite and Farrioust.
"Hey lovebirds, let's get a move on. Or do you two want to stay and sleep outside? I guess you two would stay warm hugging like that."
Then Walcekite flinched. She was obviously oblivious were she was. Maybe Farrioust's chest was just that comfortable, but it made her face be engulfed by a red hue when she finally came to. She quickly jumped away and ran after Catlesy with her face pointing down.
"I'll get you for this," she whispered groaningly to the blonde girl to which Catlesy answered with an innocent giggle.
At least the colorful city distracted all of them enough to forget the worst things about the recent scene.
*~.*.*.*.~*
"They are finally here. It took them forever!" a young man groaned, getting off the box he was just sitting on.
"Well they were attacked by that Zubat Whisperer," a teen girl pointed out.
"That lunatic? Ha! I could beat him with my eyes closed."
"Whatever," the girl rolled her eyes and some sort of device rang on her wrist. It looked like a normal, a bit advanced watch, but it was also used as a communication device. A black figure appeared on the watch's screen and the girl had a short chat with it. "...I can't believe it..." she whispered a minute after she ended the call.
"What is it?" the young man showed his interest getting closer to her.
"That girl... They forgot her... She was like missing for them..."
"Really? How did she slip through?"
"They don't know. Maybe an accident? But now we are the ones who have to fix it."
"Ummm...," the guy looked around hesitantly. "Rock, paper, scissors?" he smiled an awkward smile that made the girl flinch and giggle.
"I never saw you smile like that. It's really amusing," she smiled and started shaking her arm. "Sure. Let's do it."
Two out of three wins decided the girl to be the champion.
"Aw man... I'm not good with speeches," the guy groaned.
"Like it's a big speech," the girl smirked. "Ok, wait here. I've got an idea."
The girl retreated deeper into the alley, to find a comfortable place. Once she came back, she handed something to the guy and pushed him out of the dim alley, into a city that had lightened the darkness of the night all too well.
*~.*.*.*.~*
"I need to check some things out here. I'll be back shortly," Farrioust said to the two girls and went off, ignoring their questions and curious faces.
"Uh, that sneaky little..." Catlesy was pretty steamed about secrets, but calmed down when she saw the boy coming back... though he looked different. His clothes were mostly blue, with a few white and black accents. "When did you manage to change your clothes?"
"Me...um... I'm fast," his lies were obvious. "Anyway, Walcekite, this is for you," he turned to the blue haired girl and gave her a note.
"Huh? What's this?" Walcekite took the little piece of paper and saw some writing on it. When she raised her head to Farrioust, he was already walking away.
"Hey! Where are you going?!" Catlesy shouted, but Farrioust didn't even flinch. "What's with that guy?" she tilted her head and then turned to Walcekite. "So what's written there?"
Walcekite was reading the note over and over, with a rather poker facey look, but it was constantly decreasing into a sad and surprised look.
"Hey, Earth to Walcekite. What's written there?" Catlesy asked again.
"I can't believe it..." she gasped.
"Hey girls. What's going on?" Farrioust returned.
"What's the meaning of this?" Walcekite turned to him with a shocked face, showing him the note.
"What's that?" he took the note and read it. His face darkened with every word. "...You also got this? I'm sorry, but I won't give you chances, if they will hurt my own."
"Farrioust, just explain why you gave me this to me now," Walcekite was getting a bit furious.
"Huh? I didn't give you this. I was... doing some stuff," he diverted his gaze when he said the last three words.
"And you managed to change your clothes again," Catlesy noticed.
"What are you two talking about?!" now Farrioust was getting furious.
"There was a guy that looked just like you, but with different, mostly blue clothes. He came to us and gave Walcekite this note," Catlesy explained. "Come to think of it, he looked taller than you."
"Oh... Is that it...?" Farrioust's face darkened to the max. "I was thinking where he was. But I don't think he'll bother us anymore. You should forget about him," he suggested to the girls and turned to the cerulean haired one. "You know your goal. I hope it won't make us enemies. But I meant what I said. I won't give up for you."
Silence broke out and none of them could say a word. Finally, they all quietly retreated to the Pokemon Center and left their pokemon to be healed over night and went to their separate rooms. It didn't seem any of them wanted to be in the same room. A strong tension emitted from Farrioust's last words and, although only Catlesy didn't understand them, they seemed so cold and serious, it started to burden even her.
