Chapter 13

I leapt to my feet as several more figures burst from the trees around me. I tried to run but I tripped over Luna who awoke with a yelp. A figure emerged from the dark to catch me as I fell and I reacted on instinct. I drove my fist into their gut and they doubled over in pain. I stumbled but caught myself and looked behind me.

Luna, now fully awake, was terrorizing the first figure who had been trying to chase me. Three others were making their way toward me and the man I had punched was slowly recovering. All the commotion had alerted my companions to an attack and they were beginning to rouse themselves.

Before I could make any moves against them, I found myself surrounded by four of the five bandits.

"Come with us peacefully and this doesn't have to get ugly," one of the bandits said as she advanced.

I stood my ground. "Who are you?" I asked, my voice only wavering slightly. "And what do you want with me?"

"I am Claudia," the woman answered. She gave me a mock bow, her long blonde hair tumbling over her shoulders as she did. "Who we are doesn't matter," she continued, straightening. "As for why we want you," she shrugged. "It's not personal, just an order. We don't ask que-"

The woman suddenly gasped as her knees buckled and fell to the ground. I caught a glimpse of red hair behind her before something barreled into the man on my left.

Before the other two men could react, I whirled and threw my fist into the abdomen of the same man I had punched earlier. This time, he fell to the ground, reacquainting himself with his dinner.

I white blur darted around my legs and suddenly Luna was knocking the last man off his feet and pinning him to the dirt below.

I placed a foot on the back of the man I'd knocked down. Holding him down as he lay in a puddle of his own sick. I breathed a sigh of relief as I looked around. Alex sat by the fire he had just rekindled, and Todd was in the process of tying the wrists of the first man together. Raylian and Margo did the same to Claudia. A small fawn-like Pokemon that I recognized as Raylian's Deerling stood patiently atop the third man, gazing at his trainer with large brown eyes.

Once the five would-be kidnappers were safely secured, we sat down in front of them and proceeded to interrogate them. Frustratingly, they were completely unwilling to give out any information. One of them even fell asleep in the middle of it all. Of course, the fact that it was the middle of the night didn't help anything.

Eventually, we turned away from them to discuss what we had learned, or rather, what we hadn't learned. I stayed silent, disappointed, and irritated at our lack of information. We were all so preoccupied debating our predicament, that we didn't notice Claudia, who seemed to be the leader of the bunch, struggling against her restraints.

The next thing I knew, our camp had descended into chaos. Four of the five bandits had gotten up and continued their onslaught, trying a much more aggressive tactic. The fifth member had fallen asleep during our interrogation and had, stubbornly, stayed asleep despite the havoc his companions were wrecking.

I looked around, stunned, as my friends all scrambled for their Pokemon.

An Ivysaur that had appeared next to Claudia, wrapped vines around Todd's waist and lifted him off the ground before he could reach his Pokeballs. Margo rushed off to save Jet who was being menaced by an Arcanine, while Raylian and Alex moved to engage a bandit that was headed toward the wagon.

I spotted Luna near the edge of the clearing locked in combat with the last bandit and his Pokemon. As I ran to her, I released Crystal and Shock from their balls.

"Not gonna play fair I see," the bandit sneered as I arrived. "Guess I'll have to do the same."

He reached back and pulled out two more Pokeballs. A Vaporeon and a midnight form Lycanroc sprung from the balls and joined a Houndoom already in the field. The bandit grinned at me and I glared at him. We shouted commands to our Pokemon simultaneously and the battle began.

"Shock, target that Vaporeon with a spark!"

Shock wasted no time barreling off toward the water-type Pokemon.

"Lycanroc, go for that Deino!"

The Lycanroc growled and threw itself at Crystal who chirped in alarm and dived out of the way.

Pokemon battles were only ever fought with, at max, two Pokemon per trainer, and I was beginning to see why. It was nearly impossible for one trainer to keep track of six different Pokemon on one field. Especially if that field was rather small and the battle was taking place in the middle of the night.

"This isn't working," I hissed to myself as the battle raged on. Luna and the Houndoom circled each other, occasionally jumping in when an order was given. Crystal was struggling to dodge the Lycanroc's powerful attacks and Shock was biding his time, looking to me for instructions. "I can't instruct them all at the same time."

An Idea came to me then and I didn't have the time to think it all the way through before I shouted, "Luna, Shock, Crystal!" All three of my Pokemon turned their attention to me. "Take control! Fight on your own!"

"What?" my opponent laughed, "You can't-"

He was interrupted by Luna's ferocious growl as she leapt toward the Houndoom. Seeing this, Crystal chirped excitedly and charged through the battlefield, biting ankles and headbutting anything that got in her way. Shock seemed a little unsure of his new freedoms, but he attacked the Vaporeon all the same.

I smirked as I watched my Pokemon quickly overwhelm the other three, thoroughly confused, Pokemon.

Taking advantage of the other trainer's rage and confusion, I skirted around the perimeter of the battle and rushed at him, throwing a punch toward his face.

"Whoa! What are you doing?!" He screamed at me, barely dodging my fist in time. "This isn't how Pokemon battles work!"

"And you'd know about proper battles would you?" I taunted, throwing another punch. "You steal Pokemon from other trainers!"

Before he could formulate a response, a deafening roar rang through the clearing and all movement stopped.

I looked out to the center of the clearing and stumbled back at the sight of a Tyrantrum towering over the scene. It was larger than the ones I had read about at h0me and covered in rust-red scales. An orange crest resembling a crown jutted from its forehead over its eyes.

Claudia stood next to it with arms folded, smiling triumphantly. "Stand down," she ordered. "Or your friend here gets eaten."

She waved a hand and for the first time, I noticed the Tyrantrum had trapped Raylian underneath its foot. Her small form struggled under its sharp talons, but it was no use. At Claudia's signal, the Tyrantrum lowered its head towards its prize. It opened its jaws and leaned in, dangerously close to Raylian's head.

I tensed as the Tyrantrum got closer. I glanced between my Pokemon and Raylian, wracked with indecision. On one hand, Shock had taken the Vaporeon out of the fight and things were going great. On the other hand, Claudia could be bluffing about Raylian, but was I going to take that chance?

A beat of silence passed. Then, one by one, we all called off our Pokemon and stood down.

"Good," Claudia purred. She waved her hand again and the Tyrantrum lifted its head away but didn't step off of Raylian. "Now, here's what is going to happen," Claudia continued, locking her arms behind her back and pacing in front of us. "You are all going to return your Pokemon to their balls. Once you do that, I'll let the girl go. Then," she stopped in front of me, "you will come with us."

"It's only me you want then?" I asked.

"Correct."

I nodded, bowing my head and pretending to submit. When I lifted my head again, I locked eyes with each of my companions. I could feel tears prick my eyes as I met Raylain's hopeful gaze. I strove to convey all of my emotions through the power of a simple look and hoped that one day I would see them again and be able to properly apologize.

I met Claudia's self-assured green eyes.

"You'll have to catch me first."

And with that, I whirled around and tore off into the trees.

Claudia's aggravated shout was quickly drowned out by the roar of the Tyrantrum. Something was happening behind me but there was no way I could go back now.

My Pokemon easily caught up to me as I ran and I managed to return Crystal to her ball without crashing into anything. Before I could return Shock, however, he began to glow. It took me only a moment to realize what was happening.

"You couldn't have picked a better time?" I gasped, equal parts exasperated, and excited.

I didn't have the luxury of watching his transformation, but in no time, Shock had evolved into a Luxio. I slowed down just a bit to ruffle his new mane before I returned him to his ball and kept running.

Luna and I emerged from the trees and entered the grasslands. There was nothing but empty space for miles. My heart sank and I began to regret my decision.

As flat as the land appeared to be, the moonlight didn't help my depth perception at all and I would have run right off a cliff if Luna had not leaped in front of me. It wasn't much of a cliff, more of a steep drop, but it still would've hurt.

I took a moment to stare out at the land and catch my breath. Herds of Pokemon roamed these plains but most of them were asleep by now. A lone Rapidash shone like a beacon as it wandered, enjoying the emptiness.

Just then, the Tyrantrum burst from the trees with Claudia on its back. Two others trailed behind her, riding Pokemon of their own.

I turned back to the Rapidash and bit my lip. It was far, but it was my only chance.

"Sorry Luna," I said, getting her ball out. "It'll be safer this way."

Once she was in her ball, I took a flying leap off the small cliff. I landed hard and stifled a yell as pain raced up my legs. As I ran, I hoped against hope that the rampaging Tyrantrum behind me wouldn't scare the Rapidash before I got to it.

I risked a glance behind me and was surprised to see that they were still held up at the cliff. I shrugged off my unease and crouched low to the ground as I approached the flaming Pokemon before me.

My heart was racing and it was hard to slow my breathing enough to go unheard. I was right behind it, ready to make my move and attempt to jump on it when it turned and spotted me.

Its eyes widened and its fiery mane flared in surprise. I tried to stand up, to run, or maybe make a last-ditch attempt at jumping on its back but I was too slow. I heard the shrill call of a bird Pokemon as a hoof came flying at me, and then all was black.