AOF: This chapter is such a trainwreck, but it's not the worst that I've posted.
Astro.
"Saturn! What the hell are you doing?"
It was that Galactic boy that Lee had threatened before. Saturn laughed.
"I told our boss that I found the famous talking Riolu he was looking for, and he let me lead the mission to capture it!" Saturn told Lee proudly. "Now get him, you idiots!"
'Famous'? How did he even find me?! I thought in distress.
Lee growled out a low snarl. Mark glared at me, still pinning Riolu into the ground to protect him.
"Blaziken, use Slash, and keep those bats away from Astro!" He barked. "Amber, kid, put that Riolu in a goddamned pokeball!"
"I can't!" Amber squealed in distress. "Astro hates his pokeball, so I didn't think to take it when I left home!"
The Crobat and Golbats swept down at us again, and I held eye contact with Crobat. Then, I cowered into the snow with my paws over my head, Riolu motionlessly in shock under me.
Just before Crobat could grab me, I heard a grunt and a body slam. "Um!" Lee's Shift had slammed herself into Crobat and defended me!
One of the grunts gasped. "Is that a blue Umbreon?!"
"That'd be worth a fortune!" The other cooed. "Golbat, get that Umbreon, too!"
I looked at the kids. Dee and Riley both had pokeballs ready.
"You won't steal anything, you cheap bastards!" Dee snarled. "Snorunt! Powder Snow!"
"Aron, use Rock Tomb!" Riley chimed in. "All of you, protect Astro and Riolu!"
Amber stood there, petrified, too scared to even send out Magby. Did she even realize what was going on?
Before I could called out to her, I felt claws dig into my shoulders, and lift me up into the air. A Golbat got me!
"Amber!" I called out helplessly. I thrashed around, and even considered biting Golbat's foot.
"Astro!" Amber screamed. "Someone do something!"
I saw Mark get another pokeball, but he cried out when he threw it. "Gah!" He let go, and it fell into the snow. His bad arm!
"Strawberry, use Discharge!" Lee sent out his Ampharos, and Strawberry let loose a strong jolt at me and the Golbat. The Golbat was shocked so hard, it let me go; it hurt a little to be shocked, and a little more to be dropped, but I was absolutely okay with that.
All around me, all the other pokemon were fighting as more and more Golbat were sent out...fighting to protect me, none the less. I wanted to fight, too, to fight back, but...
I'm not scared, I lied to myself. There was just a shady organization that had apparently been searching for me and was famous for stealing pokemon, but I was totally not scared.
I was scooped out of the snow, into Amber's arms. She clutched me to her chest like a precious gem, and I nuzzled my face into her hoodie.
"Astro, I-I'm so sorry..." She murmured in my ear. "I won't let them take you...not my Riolu. Not you."
"Let me take him, Amber!" Lee told her.
Her arms tightened around me. "Why?"
"If I take him and run, then some of the Golbat'll definitely follow me!" Lee assured her. "I'll leave Shift and Strawberry here, to promise I'll bring Astro back. He'll be safe with me, kiddo."
Amber hugged me even tighter. "I..." After hesitating, I was accepted into Lee's arms. "You had better bring my Azzy bear back to me, little man."
"I promise!" Lee wrapped his arms tightly around me. He smelled like cigarette smoke and fear. "Keep an eye on that lug for me, for his arm!"
Lee turned tail, and ran at a speed I didn't think a man his size could accomplish. It was a second before Saturn noticed, cried, "Chase them, you morons!"
Between carrying me, his backpack, and his laptop bag, Lee was pretty weighed down as he ran. He tried his best not to jostle me around.
"H-hang on, Astro!" Lee begged. He was already winded from running.
A growl ripped out of my throat. "I am not fragile, you douche!"
He ran along the wooded mountain side, looking for something. I could feel his mind racing for a plan.
It was a minute or two before Lee found a cavern carved into the mountain. He practically threw me to the ground, along with his stuff, and collapsed to his hands and knees in the snow, panting and wheezing.
I stood up, brushing snow off of me. "Lee?!" A tinge of panic struck me. "Lee, you alright?"
Lee coughed a little, spitting a loogie into the snow. "Heh...yeah..." He assured me breathlessly. "I thought I could...I guess I oughta...cut back on the cigarettes."
I rolled my eyes. "Obviously." Why had he bothered taken me? "Why did you take me? I should be with the others, fightin' those Golbat and Crobat!"
Finally able to stand back up, Lee shakily pushed himself up. He looked into the cavern.
"Trees gave...a pretty good cover," He wheezed. "A Golbat couldn't fit through, only...fly ahead. I think...I think Team Galactic was looking...for something on Mt. Coronet...before we even got to Celestic Town..."
His babbled answer was lost on me. "What?"
Lee took a big breath of air. "Before we got there, Saturn had already been there...looking for clues about the legendary pokemon of Sinnoh. Dialga and Palkia. Arceus and Giratina are said to have disappeared, but Dialga and Palkia can be brought here, where they were born, at a shrine called Spear Pillar..."
How the hell did he know that? "How the hell do you know that?"
"Please, do you honestly believe I went to go thank Mrs. Rose for feeding us before we left?" He sounded offended. "I asked Mrs. Rose about the Creation trio, Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, and I did some research on the internet...Team Galactic wants to find Spear Pillar, do something with the legendaries, and I'll bet they think think you can help."
"Me?!" What the hell could I do?
Lee ignored me for a moment, looking into the mountain. "It's a rumor, that every path in Mt. Coronet can lead to Spear Pillar..." He unclipped a pokeball, and let Fallon out. "Fal, buddy? If anything tries to take Astro-" He pointed at me. "-then stop them. Do everything you can, okay?"
The hugeass Feraligatr nodded obediently at his trainer's orders. "Raahl!"
Lee flashed a grin. "Thanks, bud! You're the best."
"Where the [expletive deleted] do you think you're going?!" Out of all the ridiculous shit Lee did, this was getting pretty closer to the most ridiculous.
"Seeing if there's a place in here I can stash you and go back to them!" Jeezum, these crazy teenager were making me feel like a big bag of drugs. He walked into the cave, half-jogging; although, I did notice he was still panting.
I wasn't an idiot. I knew Lee had no intention of stashing me anywhere; he had his own selfish agenda, just as usual. I really hated Lee back then, because everything he did, he did for his own reasons. Never anyone else.
[Wow, don't I sound like an appealing guy? You little shit...]
Well, it was true! Not even Loverboy can deny it, his kokoro was doki doki-ing too hard to notice.
[You weeaboo trash little mother[expletive deleted].]
I looked up at Fallon. "So you're my babysitter, huh?"
"Yeah. There a problem?" Fallon hiked his...whatever the pokemon equivilant of an eyebrow is.
I shook my head. "No, I just...I hate that everyone's been trying to treat me like a damn piece of porcelain." It was pretty true.
Fallon laughed, opening that crocodile mouth of his wide open. "Ha! Wait 'til you're big and tough like me, Shorty! Nothing'll dare try mess with you!"
I laughed dryly. "Nothing, huh?" I challenged. "So if I get bigger and stronger, I could even take you on?" A smile cracked across my lips.
Before Fallon could answer, I heard approaching noises from the woods. Fallon pushed me back a step, his large arm covering my body.
"Stay back, pipsqueak!" His tail slapped eagerly against the snow. Fallon didn't know what he was protecting me from, but he was ready.
Out of the dark woods came Mark and his Blaziken. The big man ran right past us, tennis shoes slapping against the snow, but Blaziken stayed behind. Not a glance was thrown at me, or at Fallon.
I saw why Blaziken lingered just a moment later. Saturn himself held a Golbat's leg as it flew over the trees, into my sight, followed by his own Crobat and several other Golbat.
As Saturn approached, Fallon bared his teeth and flames sprung up at Blaziken's wrists and ankles. They were preparing to fight.
I noticed that Saturn held a trembling, but stationary bundle in a sack...
That gave off an aura of fear. I hadn't felt that aura in forever, since...since we were in Jubilife City...
"RIOLUUU!" The name tore out of me like an angry Tauros as soon as it entered my mind.