chapter three: on thin ice

It's ironic that through the all the events of the night, everything I had put myself through, all the attention I got for breaking the law, I still felt really insignificant. Running through the streets of Camphrier, the man-made buildings sat with an eerie stillness, as if condemning me for my actions. Atop the hill in the distance, the silhouette of Shabboneau Castle's towering tops was a consistent reminder that I wouldn't get away with what I'd done, that everything around me was owned by the oligarchy.

Camphrier Town itself seemed to have turned its back on me.

Maybe it felt more isolating because I knew what Camphrier had become. In the old days, it was the apex of culture in western Kalos. Shabboneau Castle had a lot of historical significance, which the oligarchy effectually erased after taking over.

When the oligarchy gave Malva one of the strongest mega pokémon in existence and she won the championship title with it, the oligarchy had Shabboneau renovated to house her. It became her summer home, the offical vacation home for the league champion. The oligarchy turned something once so historically significant into an entirely different symbol, a symbol of their wealth and power.

Camphrier itself didn't have a lot to brag about. Not many trainers became all that successful after they left. I remember everyone made a big deal when a kid, who had given up on becoming a trainer, completed his journey with four badges. It was almost unheard of for us. We were a quaint community, non-threatening, but Shabboneau stood in the distance as a constant reminder that we were still subjects of the regime, and it could do whatever it wanted to us.

It was kind of a red flag, however, when they gave Malva the mega pokémon. No one could object, of course, or else they'd be gunned down where they stood. They tried to sell it with the fact that only the strongest trainers – deemed so by the oligarchy itself – could legally own pokémon with potential for mega evolution. Once Malva defeated Diantha and took the position, however, they immediately came for Diantha's gardevoir. That kind of double standard didn't sit well with most people.

I learned later that was around the time they began the registration process. Those who own both a mega stone and a key stone must register their pokémon with the government for approval. Per regulation standards, those pokémon can be recalled by the government at any time for whatever reason. Whether or not the trainer gets them back is entirely up to the oligarchy. More often than not, the right to own mega pokémon went to government officials anyway.

This caused quite a stir among the people according to my mother. Hushed talk of the oligarchy's corruption became almost commonplace. But the oligarchy tightened up on their rules with threats, and talk stopped for the most part. Even with all these people who allegedly didn't believe a word of the government's propaganda, the oligarchy was still able to perpetuate the belief that pokémon with the potential for mega evolution are too dangerous to own, and people accepted without question in lieu of being pumped full of lead.

Kids my age never talked about it either. Teachers were obviously hired by the government. If we ever questioned what we learned, they would take it up higher and someone from the internal government itself would confront our families, so most of us kept our mouths shut. They made sure their web of power was spun with utmost strength, but somehow I slipped through the threads, and they were going to make sure I payed for it.

I heard the crack of more gunfire. Ampharos was behind me somewhere. In my panic, I wasn't really concerned about him anymore. He could competently take care of himself and me as I had learned a few minutes prior. As long as he was frying the officials behind me, I felt safer. With every flash of lightning, my beliefs were reassured.

Most of the townsfolk made their way indoors as the street massacre ensued, but a few stragglers eyeballed me as a I ran for my life, their expressions a mix of pity, fear, and judgment.

I craned my neck around to look at the spectacle behind me. In the dark, I could just make out Ampharos' frame trailing pretty far back. He was running, but he wasn't very fast. The western arch was a mere feet away from me. I was almost out.

I stopped in front of the arch entrance and turned back to Ampharos. The yellow pokémon relentlessly dropped bolt after bolt on his encroaching enemies, but our pursuers kept reappearing left and right. I contemplated whether or not I should keep going, but the realization that I couldn't survive in the wild was an all too present threat that kept me from leaving without him.

"Come on!" I cried out in desperation. "Finish them!"

Ampahros planted its feet firmly on the ground as the guns trained on it once more. In the dark sky I could narrowly make out faint wisps of gray clouds as they quickly began blending together. Ampharos staggered back a couple steps as the soldiers readied their weapons, but before any of them could pull the trigger, Ampharos raised his arms into the air and a jolt of lightning cracked the space in front of him, electrocuting the crowd of soldiers easily.

After that moment I remember an eerie stillness taking over. Everything was silent. Ampharos slowly turned to look at me as I put my face in my hands. I was seized by a cold sweat. Peering through my fingers I could faintly make out the scorched veins in the pale skin of the bodies lying before us. I started shaking.

Ampharos cooed quietly, urging me to make an action before we were attacked again. In the distance, I could make out townspeople gathering, too shocked in what I had just done to offer me any kind of support, too afraid to attempt apprehending me. To them I was no longer insignificant. In that moment I had broken a law even worse than the illegal harboring of a mega pokémon, I had defied the very institution that enforced these laws. I had become one of the worst criminals in the eyes of the oligarchy: an anarchist.

I sank to my knees and started hyper-ventilating. The next thing I knew I was vomiting on the ground, the crowd of onlookers growing bigger by each passing second. I heard hushed murmurs within the masses. I looked towards them with tears in my eyes, and then the survivalist instincts grabbed me again. I didn't know what they were going to do. Call the stasis officers?

I leaped up from the ground and ran towards the pile of bodies in front of me. I closed my eyes and dove for a handgun. The crowd dispersed almost instantly, like a pack of rodents startled by its predator. I called Ampharos back into his poké ball and shoved the gun into the waist of my pants. With renewed vigor, I ran through the west arch of Camphrier and didn't look back.

Among a lot of other things, that night was immensely liberating. It was like the thin ice I'd been tiptoeing on all my life had finally shattered. Sure, the water below was bitter and cold and black, but I no longer had to worry about cracking under pressure. That ship had sailed, and it marked the beginning of my transformation from a scared little girl to a fearless revolutionary.

At this point I was not accustomed to adventuring. I didn't make it far before the cold won over my body and I had to stop. I found a spot deep in the trees to curl up on the hard ground, no fire, no water, no food. Exhaustion had a firm grip on me. It pulled my eyelids lower and lower with each passing second.

For some reason I wasn't afraid of death anymore. The stark brutality of nature should have been a threat, but it was altogether so beautiful. It was a place so equally free and unforgiving at the same time. No laws were kept here. There were no punishments for doing what was natural. So hypothermia didn't concern me. Being the next tasty meal to something vicious wasn't a fear of mine. What scared me most was falling back into the hands of the institution. I feared death by the will of the oligarchy.