The sun hung high in the late noon sky, wave after wave crashing on the thin beach before a cliff in the low tide. A large wave placed the large man down on the sand. His clothes now stinking of salt, fish and booze rather than just the latter. With Annwn and the Ape shaking him, Ryan pulled himself to standing, brushing the sand off himself. Lifting his head he took note that if the waves had been any stronger, his head would have been smashed into the cliff face. With little other option, Ryan began to stagger left along the cliff face, hoping to find it branch out somewhere nearby.
At the sand bank ahead widened enough for a place where the tide was not reaching, Ryan witnessed an amazing and gorgeous creature laying on it's back on the sand. Recognizing Chuey instantly he smiled. The green and brown haired vixen was laying at the base of the cliff obviously enjoying the sun. She wore little more than a creamy white bikini that stood out from her skin only barely. She didn't appear injured, and didn't look up at the vagrant's approach.
It didn't take much for his imagination to fill in the blanks. He'd seen this woman laying like this before, so it was little work to strip away the small amount of fabric hiding what should remain hidden. Admiring her figure for a second, Ryan's mind had him sinking to his knees beside the woman. Sliding her sunglasses up to see her eye he wrapped his arm around her. She smiled silently and accepted the kiss as he pressed his lips against hers. Their tongues entwined as he lifted her slightly into the kiss. "Hey" Chuey's voice rang through his head after a couple moments, shaking Ryan from his considerably private fantasy. "What happened to you?" She removed her sunglasses, sitting up and looking the man over. "Are you alright?"
The large vagrant grumbled, annoyed both by what happened, and that his personal time had been interjected into. Shaking the thoughts from his head, the man smiled at Chuey as warmly as he could. "I had a run in with a group that calls themselves 'Team Flare'" he began, his left hand rubbing a point on his leg that had become particularly painful. "I've met them before. A group of stuck up fashion obsessed assholes" His mind drifted a little, recalling the groups strange red uniform that appeared to be something from a fashion show. "Four of them this time, their Pokemon were a lot stronger. But again they were threatening kids." Ryan lifted his left foot, balancing on his right as he examined what remained of his shoes. They'd be sliced through and ripped apart, his feet were bleeding from cuts that had gone a little too far. "I see them attacking this little girl, demanding her Pokemon and any money she had. Well of course I lost it. I didn't realize how sharp the stone road was until now" he chuckled, wincing slightly as he placed the foot back on warm glass. "I demanded they leave her alone, they bitched about something to do with gathering fossils. And apparently since we were in the way they were going to deal with us" Ryan could remember moving Shauna behind him as Leveyr and the Ape, the only two who kept up with his sprint across the rocks, moved in front of him. Annwn and the lion cub; Embeee as Shauna had called it at the time, arrived shortly before it happened. "I remember moving her to a safe place, where she wasn't being pushed back toward the cliff like I had been." He thought hard for a moment, muttering dialogue to himself to refresh his memory. 'Leveyr, Gimme her, there' He had said. The Eagle had lifted Shauna onto it's back and climbed up the cliff before racing off with her down the road. "I remember a popping sound, just one loud pop. I think I got shot?" His hand moved a little at his thigh, finding the bullet wound. "I wasn't expecting it and fell backward." Annwn had dived after him, the vagrant's arms around it before they hit the water, where he used almost all his strength to hold the small Pokemon above the waves. "I landed in a river, the tide was going out and I was pulled out to sea" he rubbed the head of the fox beside him before continuing. "This little wise guy decided to leap after me. So did an ape and a lion cub."
Ryan looked down at his feet, the hot glass sitting in the sand has scolded his soles. Though his feet still hurt, they weren't bleeding. Annwn was sitting beside his feet on the sand, playfully blowing spouts of fire into the beach, creating little glass trails. Thinking for a moment, the large man felt the back of his leg, becoming quite uncomfortable at being unable to find the exit wound. The lass became confused and then slightly concerned when the large man pulled out his knife. Ryan didn't hold the weapon in any threatening manner, instead turning it in his hand and using it to dig into the small wound. Ignoring Chuey as she grew more and more concerned, the man finally dug out the bullet, gripping his leg in pain once it was free. Annwn's paws immediately moved to grabbing the sliced open flesh. The vagrant groaned in pain as the heat from the little hands burnt at his skin. Looking around for the other Pokemon to distract him, Ryan only spotted the eagle, being chased around then chasing in turn, another Eagle he had seen at Chuey's apartment.
Watching the poor man mutilate his own leg to remove a bullet, the bikini clad lass rose from the sand. Once she wrapped her towel around her waist, Chuey approached the large vagrant. The bloody bullet was pulled out, and she looked concerned from it to him. "I could have done that for you. I have a lot of experience removing bullets." She shook her head a moment "You did the right thing though. Protecting her" She wrapped her arms around the large man. His mind instantly moved to a place that should not be written, or at least read. His arms moved around her to hold the lass close to him, as pathetic as it may seem, this was something Ryan had not had in several month, perhaps years. Though the simple embrace only lasted a short time, it was something he wished would last forever. Their moment was ruined however, by the loud squawking of both eagles as they flew out toward the sea. Looking across the water, Ryan could barely see the problem. Both the fiery ape and the lion cub were drifting in the water, shouting frightened as a strong current appeared to be pulling them out further and further into the large ocean. Each time the birds tried to seize and move the other Pokemon, the frantic fire creatures slipped from their talons.
The water was cold, very cold. He didn't want to go back in, but if he didn't, there was a good chance both those Pokemon would die. As he swam, he could feel the weight of his clothes pulling him down into the thick water. Ryan never liked to swim, he always sunk like a stone. But these two were following him, it's his fault they're in the water, if they died it was his fault. The water seemed thick and heavy, almost as if it was trying to pull him down within it. A shape, covered with lights but yet un-discernible, swam alongside him. The vagrant reached out, snatching the arm of the small ape and swinging it over his shoulder. The frightened creature clung to him painfully, it's fingers digging into his shoulders as he looked for the cub. It wasn't far, but he was tired and heavy. If he reached out to it, if he grabbed it, the weight would drown them all. Scrunching his eyes, Ryan turned back and began swimming to shore. Glancing over his shoulder he watched as the cub was dragged along behind him by the lighting shape. Glad it was going to be okay, he focused on getting back to the sand. Keeping himself as high in the water as he could, letting the waves move him and only paddling enough to fight the current under the surface. No sooner had he landed on the sand, than Embeee was deposited beside him. The cub growled and snapped at the creature that had been carrying it. struggling to his knees, Ryan lurched to the side, pinning the feline down and growling his dominance. It licked and nuzzled his neck in submission, causing the large man to roll off, slightly confused before blushing at a memory.
The shape that had been swimming, didn't actually swim. It was an odd entity, about as big as Annwn was before he learned to stand on two legs. It was a collection of tentacles extending from a strange translucent pink helmet. It had large eyes and a sharp beak, small spots of light glowing and shifting inside it's pointed helm. It seemed to bob in the air as a jellyfish bobs along in the sea. Holding his hand out, palm facing away from him, Ryan watched as it bobbed over to press itself against his long fingers. Chuey approached slowly, commenting that it was a creature known as an Inkay. Ryan knew this of course, but didn't respond as he simply stared at it's shifting and fading lights. Their movements were random but hypnotic, dizzying the vagrant as he continued to look at them. Once he moved his hand away, the little creature bobbed around until it noticed the ape holding it's hand the same way. It drifted over and nuzzled the pyro primate's palm, leading to the two chasing each other around the sand nearby.
The warm sun and sand eventually dried the group off as they trudged along the beach northward. Chuey had opted to stay and bake a while, enjoying the secluded area she'd found for herself. During the walk, Ryan realized that the small squid or jellyfish esc creature was following him. Turning around and looking at the thing that was floating directly in his sight, Ryan chuckled. "You're going to follow me then hmm?" the Inkay did a flying flip, twisting itself over backward before hovering in front of him once again. "Guess I should name you. And the rest of you too for that matter." He grinned, turning back north and continuing on his way. "Well you all know Annwn" the small Pokemon trotted beside him, holding his hand. "He's in charge after me when you are following me. Then I suppose Leveyr there is next" the bird squawked happily as it gently cruised on the wind beside him. "Mentally I've been calling you Ape, so if that's okay with you I'll continue" the Fiery monkey ook'd it's appreciation. "Shauna called you Embeee, and you seem to like that. And if you are following I might as well call you Leyte" he finished, addressing the lion cub and the Inkay in turn. Ahead he could see another small town on the edge of the cliff, knowing immediately Cyllage City.