Chapter 9

Payback

The past five years for our group of misfits have been very easy for them in comparison to finding a way back to earth. The friendly faces of the town's folk, easy search and rescue jobs along with Alex's family showing up every now and then had helped them keep their minds off what had troubled them for the longest time. Although on the outside they looked as if they didn't care wither they went back or not, in the back part of their minds there was a small part of them that wanted to know how their families were doing without them. But knowing there was no easy way to check, they continued on.

It was morning once again; the brisk scent of winter was in the air along with the cold winds that blew over from the north. Chance woke up from his very heavy sleep due to him lugging store merchandise for the Kecleon brothers the entire day before. He opened one of his eyes and scanned the room seeing none of his companions, his steadily stood up chuckled "Once again I am left to sleep the whole day away, while everyone else runs off to socialize." he looked up at the afternoon sun and took a deep breath "well I had better go as well" he said to himself dragging himself outside. The first person he saw was Zoei who was deep in conversation with the Kecleon brothers about what they had in stock and what she could get for cheap. Normally he would have expected to see them annoyed with her but they actually seemed to enjoy her company, they constantly do business with Pokemon who just want their supplies and get out of there as soon as possible so it's nice that they have someone to actually talk to other then themselves. Hunger started to attack Chance's stomach as it growled with a loud roar, he wanted to eat something other than berries but sadly that's all they had in the pantry back at home. He thought for a moment of where some of the other eating locations were around town but there wasn't many, the one place he could think of was Spinda's café. The café was pretty new compared to some of the other buildings that made up treasure town, but it never looked new. Since the last time he set paw inside the place it was extremely filthy, so much in fact that the owner Spinda had to close the place soon after its opening due to health issues with his customers. Since then the place reopened just a few days ago, five days ago to be precise, and from what he was hearing the place was getting a lot of good reputation.

He contemplated wither or not he should go check it out and ultimately decided to at least see if the place was as good as its public reviews. The café was right at the cross roads that lead to the guild, treasure town, the beach, and the road that lead more towards the center part of the land. When he stood at the entrance Chance noticed many differences, instead of there being a small tent there was a hole in the ground that had a hardened clay staircase. He took a quick glance at the sign next to him, making sure to read all the emphasized letters and bright paint that covered it. The sign read 'Welcome One And All To The Newly Reopened Spinda Café! Please Come In And Let Us Make Your Worries Disappear!' Chance rolled his eyes and scoffed at the words "last time I came here the place was an absolute failure, I don't think it could have changed that much" he descended the stair case and was stunned at what he saw. The place had been (to his surprise) completely remodeled. Windows that revealed the ocean dotted the right side of the room, giving the most beautiful view of the salty waters that he had ever seen. The tables and chairs looked as if they were masterfully carved out of sweet tree wood and one of which had Terry sitting and drinking one of Spinda's berry smoothies. Chance jumped onto one of the empty seats next to him "hey buddy, how are the refreshments?" he asked. Terry stopped consuming is beverage and spoke "hey Chance, sorry we didn't wake you up this morning but you looked really exhausted from yesterday's inventory haul for the Kecleon bros." a small drop of sweat ran down the Umbreon's face "Nah there is no way I looked that tired." Chance said signaling for Spinda to come over to take his order "believe me or not, you slept like you had just been hit In the head with a brick." Terry exclaimed taking another sip from his half empty drink .

Spinda came over to the table holding a ink tipped feather and notepad "what'll you have?" he asked "I'll take some pecha berry juice, please and thank you." it took very little time for Spinda to whip up the drink and deliver it to him. "How much do I owe you?" Spinda looked over his pricing list "ten poke is your cost" Chance took the money owed and tossed it to him as he took the drink in paws and tried to consume it. The flavor of the pecha juice tasted like heaven in a cup, more so than Chance had originally thought it was going to. Terry watched his reaction and laughed "good isn't it?" Chance came to his senses as he snapped out of his trans "its… terrific!" Terry grinned "I thought you would like it, you tend to have a sweet tooth for stuff like that" "no duh Terry, when have you known me to not…" Chance stopped mid-sentence and began to grip the top of his head. "What's wrong?" Terry asked him with a slight sneer "headache?" Chance shook his head "no, it's a brain freeze!" the Charmander laughed aloud "maybe you shouldn't be slurping that thing down like it was going out of style!" Chance rolled his eyes with a slight chuckle as the brain freeze slowly went away. He looked out the window at the sea "Never gets old does it?" Terry gazed at him with a smirk, then to the sea "what the sea? It kind of does when we look at it every day, but we never got this kind of view from our homes on earth did we?" "No we didn't, we were ether surrounded by too many trees or buildings to see anything. But anyway enough of that, have you seen any of the guys? I already saw Zoei on my way here." Terry thought a moment "Yes I believe that Jacob is teaching Michael on improving his move technique somewhere just beyond town, man after a few years you would think he would have mastered his moves. And Aaron is at Marowak's dojo I think." Chance nodded "alright I'll go see if I can find any of them, see you later."

The Umbreon made his way past the tables and chairs of the room and went outside to see that the sun was half way towards the horizon. He began to ponder if it was even sensible to go find anyone, after all they deserved a little time away from him just as much as he did from them. He looked at the sand of the beach shore and followed the dirt path that paved a passage way down the cliff side to its sands. The sand was warm as the sunset's rays reflected off the crystal clear waters of the ocean as Chance laid up against a heated rock in the shade. "Maybe I'll just lay down here for a while before I head back" he thought to himself. He curled his body up into a ball and closed his eyes as he quickly fell into a deep sleep, little did he know that he was being watched the whole time. "Looks like the little shit fell asleep, what do you say we repay him for last time?" a feminine voice said "oh yesss! I think it'sss about time." another said "let's give him something to remember us by" the last figure said as they crept up on the unsuspecting dark type.

During the evening inside the town's only training building Aaron had been discussing with dojo master Marowak about different medieval weapons that humans used during the middle ages. "I've heard stories of humans, how they have lived, what they ate. But I have never heard this brutal and vicious side to them…to you to be exact. Such weapons of war would never have been thought of here." Marowak balanced himself on a thin stick made from hard tree wood "a flail…what a disgusting abomination" Aaron laughed at his remarks "I'll see you later master Marowak, if I'm late for dinner again it'll be me who takes out the trash for the fourth night in a row." the master looked at him from the corner of his eye "alright, we shall train some more another day. Maybe you can teach me how to construct one of these so called maces." Aaron nodded a left his tent. The clear night sky showered the town in a soft moonlight while Aaron made his way home; even though he had been a Jolteon his whole life here he couldn't help but wonder what it was like to be another Pokemon. After all it wasn't his decision to be a Jolteon, he would have much rather have been a Absol which is favorite Pokemon by far. There wasn't much he could do though, it not like he could just magically turn himself into one. He could smell the scent of dinner which grew stronger in his nostrils the farther he descended in the hole he called home. "Hey everybody! I'm home!" he yelled as he came into view. Zoei grinned as she put the cooked berries on makeshift hardened clay slates that acted like plates for them "it's about time you come to dinner on time Aaron, I thought I had cooked your food for nothing." Zoei said. Aaron looked around seeing everyone present except for his Umbreon friend. "Where's Chance?" Zoei scoffed "heck if I know, I would have thought you would have known where he was." Terry swallowed a piece of meat he was chewing on "he was with me at the café just this afternoon, then he left and I haven't seen him since" Aaron thought for a moment about where he might be. The only other place he would potentially be would be the beach. "I'll go scan the beach for him; he might have dozed off again." Zoei nodded with approval "I will try to keep your food warm, but don't take too long. I'm not a miracle worker nor do I intend to be." Aaron nodded quickly and left with haste.

Looking over the edge of the cliff at the beach the moon shinned with so much intensity on the white sands. It made them glow as if the beach was filled with small crystals that reflected the moonlight rays. Out of the corner of his eyes Aaron saw one dark silhouette, A lone figure lying next to a boulder "There he is, next to the same dumb rock" Aaron said to himself. He walked once again down the dirt road that lead to the sea shore. The soil was as cold and hard as ever, not that it ever wasn't to begin with. He approached the line that separated the sand from the dirt and had a clear view of Chance; he seemed to be in a deep sleep. The closer Aaron got to him the more it looked like Chance was in severe pain. He rushed to his friend's side, curiosity and worry surfacing quickly "Chance! Buddy are you alright!" Chance cried in agony attempting to clutch his hidden side to ease his suffering "Oh god this hurts!" Chance whispered as tears flowed down his cheeks. Aaron flipped him onto his other side, completely terrified by what he was seeing. The right side of the Pokémon's body had a gash in it that stretched from his hind leg to his front leg. The opening was wide, easily revealing the Umbreon's muscle tissues as blood flowed out of the wound. Aaron was afraid himself, not knowing what to do other than try to bring him to Chansey the town doctor. But it was nearly eleven o'clock at night and she would be asleep by now so what could he do? He couldn't just leave him here to suffer, that much he knew but how else would he get help? "Chance please stay alive! I'm going to go get the group and be back fast!" Aaron took off with such speed that he could probably run ten miles in less than 20 seconds and returned with Zoei and the rest of the gang in no time at all. "Oh my gosh! Chance your bleeding everywhere! Quickly hand me the bandage tape! Michael put pressure on it!" Zoei yelled frantically. She quickly, but effectively, surrounded the Gash in the medical strapping in order to stop the flow of blood that made its way onto the crystal sands staining them a dark red. After completely stopping the blood flow they carried the wounded, whimpering soul back home and placed him onto his bed for rest.

He tried to speak, to move, to do absolutely anything in his to be able to show some kind of comfort that he would be alright, but his injury's was far to great to do anything of the sort. He looked into each of their eyes. Was it compassion that he saw? No…it was not compassion. Instead the feeling they showed was that of fear, the look of someone who had just seen another die right in front of them. A expression that defines the very meaning of worry itself. If he were to die right now, what would it matter? Would they somehow lose the will to go on? All the contemplating was hurting his head. Oddly he began to feel drowsy, as if he had begun to feel himself dying, not just on the outside, but also on the inside. He could feel himself slip away from consciousness until he finally blacked out. Terry laid a hand on his closest friend "is he dead…" his voice, surprisingly enough, didn't show any sort of remorse or sadness as he tried to feel for a pulse on the body. As faint as the pulse was Zoei could feel it, he was not dead. "No he's not dead Terry, he just fainted from blood loss. I'm glad Aaron got to us when he did or he might not have made it at all…" then as quietly as she could she whispered the words "who did this to you" to herself before going off to finishing her diner and going to bed along with everyone else.