Chapter 4

As we walked, we shot questions back and forth at each other. We swapped basic information like our names (his name was Eren), where we were from (the northern part of the region), and what we liked to do for fun (not much, apparently).

"So, how did you meet your Pokemon?" I asked.

He tried to hide it, but I caught the brief, uncomfortable look that passed across his face before he answered. "My father has a sort of... fascination with Pokemon. I guess you could say Fury was born into the family." He reached up to affectionately scratch the Meowth perched on his shoulder.

"So, your parents are breeders then?"

"Not... exactly," he mumbled, looking away as he dropped his hand.

It was obvious he wasn't comfortable with this topic, so I decided to drop it. I hummed my acknowledgment and then fell silent. A warm wind blew through the trees and I looked up just in time to catch the first few drops of rain on my face.

It must have been the fact that we had just been talking about Pokemon, but something finally clicked in my mind. I stopped dead in my tracks and dug frantically in my bag for Luna's Pokeball. Eren stopped with me, brows raised in a silent question. I ignored him for a moment as I released Luna and crouched down to look her in the eyes.

As soon as she was visible, I began to apologize, trying to come up with an excuse for my negligence. Luna was having none of it. I wasn't even halfway through my pathetic apology before she turned away from me with an expression that resembled disappointment.

I hung my head in despair, sighing as rainwater dripped from my darkened strands of hair. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to find Eren smiling sympathetically down at me with only the slightest hint of amusement in his eyes.

"I'm sure she'll forgive you," he offered. "After all, she's kinda stuck with you now."

I grimaced at his words. He was well-meaning but... not exactly encouraging. I reached out to stroke Luna's dampening fur, which she allowed, and then Eren and I returned our attention to the road. I was relieved to look back and find Luna following, even if she currently refused to walk beside me.

A short lunch break later, we made a marginally successful attempt to check the map without getting rained on and realized we hadn't gone as far as we thought we had.

"We should pick up the pace," Eren suggested, rolling up the only slightly water-stained map.

I pushed myself off the tree I had been leaning against and groaned. My feet already ached again.

"Unless you'd rather be stuck out here at night," Eren continued, sending a pointed glance my way. "Don't worry, if we make good time, we might just reach Malachite town by evening."

"Evening!? But we've been traveling for half the day!"

"Which is why we should hurry," Eren said over his shoulder, already walking away.

There was no point in complaining. I didn't want to be stuck on the road at night, and judging by the speed Eren was walking, I'd soon be stuck here alone if I didn't catch up.

"I take it you've never traveled much before?" He asked as I fell into step beside him.

"You'd be right. I've never actually traveled anywhere before."

"Ah, that explains it."

I snorted. "Rude." Eren didn't reply, but I caught the sly smile that crept onto his face.

The rest of the afternoon passed with agonizing slowness. The rain, while not strong enough to be a hindrance, definitely didn't do us any favors either. The scenery seemed to stay the same no matter how far we walked. I welcomed any battle with the wild Pokemon of the area, mainly because they provided me with a much-needed break.

By the time the sun touched the horizon, my feet felt ready to fall off. Exhaustion dragged me so heavily that I completely missed the sign on the side of the road that read, 'Welcome to Malachite!'.

"Look at that, we're almost there," Eren said, gesturing to the road ahead of us where the buildings of Malachite were just peaking over the horizon.

I snapped back to attention and nearly shouted with joy upon seeing the town. Instead, I settled for a relieved sigh.

"Finally! If I had to walk one more mile I might've had to make Luna carry me."

Luna, who had begrudgingly taken up a position at my side, chirped in alarm. Her wide eyes met mine and I waved a hand in dismissal.

"Only joking," I laughed.

We rounded the last bend in the road as darkness fell around us. Ahead, we watched a street lamp flicker on, illuminating a welcome sign and two teenage boys lounging underneath it.

When the pair noticed us approaching, they sprang up. One of the boys flipped on a ball cap and strode over to intercept us.

"Hey there!" he called, "are you two trainers, by any chance?" When we both nodded, he continued. "How about a battle then?" He spread his arms in invitation. "Call it an entry fee."

Eren's brows furrowed, and he opened his mouth, presumably to decline the offer, but I jumped in before he could.

"We'd love to!" I stepped forward, ignoring Eren's disgruntled glare. "Team battle or one-on-one?"

At this point, the second boy moved to stand next to his friend. "Heh, I like your moxie, kid." I raised an eyebrow at the epithet as we clearly were not that far apart in age, but he bowled onward, oblivious. "One-on-one, I'll trounce you and my friend will trounce yours."

I barked a laugh. "We'll just see who trounces who."

I motioned to Luna and stood ready as the kid stretched ostentatiously. Beside us, Eren and the second boy also faced off. Despite his initial reluctance, Eren wore a determined grin.

After an irritatingly long wait, my opponent turned his ball cap around with one hand and with the other, released a Spearow from his Pokeball. I smirked, this would be no harder than anything we had faced on the way here.

I was no longer paying attention to Eren and the other kid, but as I gave Luna her first command I heard the voice of Eren's opponent. "What do you say we make this a double battle?"

My focus shifted for a moment. I was sure Eren's only Pokemon was Fury. I glanced over to watch him give the kid a terse nod and grab a Pokeball that I had assumed was Fury's. Before I could see what was in it, though, my own opponent launched a counterattack.

"Peck!" the kid shouted to his Pokemon.

My eyes snapped back to the action, the word, "dodge" flying from my lips. Luna duked to the side but not quite fast enough to avoid getting grazed by the Spearow's beak.

"Bring it down with a slash!" I called out. Luna lunged toward the bird and grounded with a single swipe.

The Spearow, not out of the fight yet, struggled to its feet. Now covered in mud, it squawked indignantly at Luna who looked up at me, head tilted. Even though it was still conscious, there was no fight left in the poor Spearow.

"Do you surrender, or should we put the poor thing out of its misery?" I asked my opponent.

The boy looked crushed, but he called his Pokemon back and grumbled, "you win."

He trudged over to me and tossed me a small bag of prize money before plopping down on a dry patch of grass to watch the end of his friend's fight. I tucked the money away and joined him on the ground, in a much more dignified way. Luna sat between us and I absently threaded my fingers through her damp fur.

Eren's battle was still going, though it seemed to be winding down. The challenger had only one remaining Pokemon, a larger-than-average Rattata. Across from him, Eren stood tall with Fury and a Pokemon I didn't recognize.

It was a small blue thing with black fur covering its head and neck, concealing everything but its mouth from view. I could see a few purple spots in the fur around its neck that looked like they might be bruises. The fur atop its head took the form of a single small horn, and it had a small tail that appeared to have been bitten off.

I squinted at it, trying to match it to a description I may have read before. Then, I remembered that the professor had given me a Pokedex and I scrambled to fish it out of my bag. The screen flashed to life and, when I pointed it at the Pokemon, pulled up a page on a Pokemon called Deino.

'Deino's will bodyslam just about anything and will bite anything that moves.' The dex informs me. 'Their bodies are covered in bruises that reflect their rampant attack style.'

I looked up from the dex just in time to catch the end of the fight. The challenger shouts something to his Pokemon, but his words are lost to my ears as Eren interrupts.

"Fury, get in there, hold it down!" Before the Rattata can carry out whatever order it had been given, Fury is on top of it, pinning it to the ground. "Now Crystal, headbutt!"

The Deino sprung into action, rearing on its hind legs before tearing across the ground. I winced as it made contact with an audible thump. The Rattata fell limp and dispersed back into its ball. I was left gaping, amazed at how well the two Pokemon worked together.

Eren accepted the boy's money and kneeled down to give his team some well-deserved affection. When he stood up again, he wore the smallest of self-satisfied smiles.

He walked over to me and extended a hand. "You okay? You look a little... shocked."

I grasped his hand, allowing myself to be pulled up, and tried to shake off my surprise. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just... didn't know you had a second Pokemon," I replied.

"I didn't think to mention it, I guess," Eren said, rubbing the back of his head. An awkward silence blooms in the space between us until Eren turns to follow the two boys back to the town. He clears his throat. "You don't have any more Pokemon do you?"

I fell into step beside him. "Nope, it's just Luna and me."

"Oh..."

"What?"

"Nothing, I just thought that you'd have more considering how old you are," he stated, shrugging his shoulders.

Feeling oddly defensive about the statement, I shot back, "you've been a trainer for how long? And you still only have two?" After a beat, I add, "It is only two right? You don't have any more hidden away somewhere?"

Eren smiled, a hint of a chuckle in his voice as he replied, "touche. And no, It's just the three of us.

We fell into pleasant conversation as we entered Malachite. The rain was beginning to pick back up again, but even through the darkness and weather, I liked Malachite Town immediately. It was the perfect middle ground between the small town I had grown up in and the big city that we had just left. The streets were wide and cobbled, and most of the buildings were made of brick, but between every structure, blooming flower beds shimmered with the falling rain. Overall, it had a distinct foresty feel to it.

We hurried through town to the Pokecenter, shielding our faces from the rain that was rapidly growing in intensity.

By the time I finally collapsed onto a bed in the inn, I was beyond ready for sleep to take me. I didn't even bother to change clothes before I threw myself onto the mattress and drifted off.

I woke late the next morning. The door to my room was cracked open and Luna was nowhere to be seen. I stumbled out the door and into the general lobby to find Eren and all three Pokemon at a table sorting through potion bottles and extra Pokeballs.

Luna was perched on a chair and chirped a greeting when she noticed me in the doorway.

Eren doesn't look up from his counting as I plop into a chair between them. Fury, sitting proudly atop Eren's head, purrs in my direction.

"Good morning to you too," I yawned.

"I didn't say anything," Eren said, sparing me a glance.

"Wasn't talking to you."

I reached out to rub Luna's head and she leaned into my touch. On the table, Crystal waited patiently for Eren to finish counting an item, at which point, she gave it a savage bite. I gently removed a potion bottle from her mouth and inspected its mildly dented nozzle.

"Is there anywhere to get some actual food around here?" I asked, putting the bottle back with its fellows.

"Kitchen," Eren stated, helpfully.

"Yeah, that would make sense. How long have you all been up?"

Eren seemed to consider this question for a moment. "A couple of hours?"

I groaned. "Why didn't you wake me up too?"

He shrugged and stared even more intently at the Pokeball he held. "Figured that you aren't used to this yet and you should get all the rest you can."

I blinked, touched by the thoughtfulness of his words. "Oh... thanks."

"Don't mention it," he muttered.

By noon we were all cleaned and packed and ready to set out once again. The weather had not cleared up overnight, in fact, it looked almost as if it was getting worse. The wind whipped the rain into our faces as we set out. Eren had called Crystal back into her ball and tucked Fury inside his coat. Luna had opted to remain outside the ball and looked to be regretting it.

"Where are we going?" I practically had to shout to be heard over the wind. Eren raised a hand and pointed to a looming mountain just visible above the trees. "Ah, well that doesn't look too far away." If Eren heard my optimistic remark, he didn't show it.

There was no banter today. The weather thwarted all attempts at conversation. Most of the local wildlife were hiding from the weather, so I didn't even have battles to distract me from the boredom of walking. The good news is, that since I was no longer stopping every five minutes to battle something, we got to our destination much quicker than we would have otherwise. The bad news was that I was wrong about it being 'not too far away'. It was nearly evening by the time we faced the mouth of the cave leading into the mountain.

We ventured in far enough that the rain couldn't reach us, but neither Eren nor I wanted to go further until we had rested. We picked a corner that was as cozy as a cave could be and sank to the ground.

I removed my soaked coat, grateful that my clothes underneath, at least, were dry. Luna quickly saw to that, though, as she padded up next to me and proceeded to shake herself dry.

She met my glare with big, innocent eyes. "Thanks," I grumbled. In response, she lay down beside me and stared at me until I gave in and scratched her head.

Eren had gone off looking for usable firewood. He returned after about half an hour carrying an armful of only mildly damp wood. The fire we made with it was three-part smoke to one-part flame but it was warm and nobody seemed to mind too much. Food was brought out and divided between the five of us and, for a while, we sat in companionable silence.

I looked up at the sound of a light metallic jingle. Eren was staring thoughtfully down at a golden pendant that had been previously tucked into his shirt. His thumb stroked the smooth surface and even though I couldn't see it, I was sure there was a picture set into that golden oval.

"What's that?" I spoke softly, afraid that If I spoke any louder I might somehow scare him off.

Eren looked up, eyes wide. He glanced back down at his pendant as if contemplating a deflection. Then, he sighed. "It's my mother." He held the pendant in my direction.

I leaned forward. I was too far away to get a good look, but I noted the woman's green eyes and the hand of a man on her shoulder. The man in question, however, had been literally cut from the frame, either for the sake of fitting the picture into the pendant or for some other reason, I didn't have the courage to ask.

"She looks like you." My smile faltered as Eren cradled the pendant close once more.

His frown deepened. "Yeah. She did."

I winced. "Sorry." A beat of silence passed between us. "Can I ask how she…" I trailed off, afraid to finish my thought.

Eren let out a shaky breath. His head was still bowed over the pendant and for a moment I sat, terrified I had prompted him to tears. Eventually, he spoke, though his voice was choked with emotion. "It could have been prevented."

It didn't exactly answer my question but I wasn't callous enough to keep prying. So, instead, I changed the subject. "You know what else could have been prevented?" Eren raised his head, unshed tears brimming in his eyes. "The fact that Crystal stole like, half my dinner."

A wet chuckle escaped Eren's lips. His sorrow melted away, replaced by baffled amusement. "What?"

"No, I'm serious," I continued, emboldened by his reaction. "In the next town, we need to pick up some food that isn't dry jerky because she goes absolutely crazy for it. Especially when it's me holding it."

Eren laughed for real this time. He wiped his eyes with a sleeve and tucked his pendant back into his shirt. "Maybe she just knows you're an easy target," he shot back at me.

I whistled low. "Okay, now that was just uncalled for."

We shared a smile and I open my mouth to ask him another, lighter, question. Before I can utter a word, however, Crystal, who was sprawled by the fire, shot to her feet. Luna lifted her head from the floor and Fury scurried up to the top of Eren's head. All three Pokemon gazed further into the mountain as if sensing something.

Disturbed, I laid a hand on Luna's shoulder and felt her muscles stiffen. Without warning, Crystal let out a growl and bolted away into the dark. I gaped after her and my eyes flicked to Eren who looked equal parts shocked and worried.

I scrambled to my feet and grabbed my bag. "I'm going after her," I announced, before following the small Pokemon.

As soon as I left the light of the fire I was practically blind. I felt Luna at my side and took hold of her horn for security. Eren's voice echoed off the walls, calling for us to come back. Whether he was talking to me or Crystal I had no idea.

It was only when I forced myself to stop and breathe that I realized I may have made an impulsive decision. I called out for Crystal, but all I heard in response was my own ragged breathing. I looked behind me and my heart dropped. I couldn't see the light of the fire anymore.

I fell to my knees, burying my hands in Luna's soft fur. Her nose touched my cheek with a low, concerned purr.

"Can you see anything?" I whispered, my voice shaking as terror gripped me.

Something shifted in the space behind us. I turned towards the sound and that's when something slammed into my skull from behind and my senses went dull.