"You better run, you good-for-nothing!"
Donald's shouting woke me and I sat up, blinking the sleep from my eyes as I looked around, the sun filtering in through the heavy cloth of the tent. Percius laid on top of his sleeping bag, sprawled across the tent onto Donald's as well. Donald continued shouting angrily before I heard the distinct sound of an apricorn clacking shut and popping with a successful capture. Donald screamed, but whether it was in agony or victory I wasn't quite sure. I climbed out of the tent and gathered no further clues as Donald had collapsed to his knees, his open backpack hanging from his hand.
"What happened?"
"I caught a Munchlax." Donald's reply confirmed that despite having captured the Munchlax he had been thoroughly defeated. He held up his backpack. "It ate all our food."
"What happened to our food?" Allison stepped out of her own tent, gathering her massive head of white hair into her usual ponytail and tying it up with a flourish of ribbon. "There's no way you three ate all of it already, that was food for a three day trip!"
"Not us!" Donald snapped, scowling at Allison. "A Pokemon. Munchlax. Came into camp and ate all of our food."
"What?! Where is it, I wanna give the little brat a piece of my mind." Allison stormed up to stand next to Donald and look around the horizon, looking down as Donald held up an apricorn. Confusion crossed her face before understanding, and then a teasing smile. "You already gave him the Donald Special, didn't you?"
"What else was I supposed to do?"
"Have Sweepfoot chase it down!" Allison laughed, her tension immediately melting away as she moved back to her tent to continue getting ready for the day.
"Sweepfoot is still asleep. He deserves to sleep for a while, after riding all day yesterday."
"What are we going to do about the food problem?" I interjected awkwardly, shifting the topic back to what I felt was the more important matter.
"We can go hunting." Allison suggested, pulling on her crossbow-glove contraptions. "I saw a group of Sawsbuck while we were traveling yesterday. The meat is a bit gamey but it's not like we're going to find a wild Pignite to slaughter in the middle of the forest."
"Why are we slaughtering a Pignite?" Percius stretched his arms across his chest and into the air. "We have plenty of food already."
"Donald ate it all."
"Mew Themselves, Donald."
"I didn't eat it, it was a Munchlax."
"Your Munchlax."
"It wasn't mine when it ate the food."
"Donald Special?"
"How else does Donald catch Pokemon?"
"Can we focus?" Donald finally stood from his defeated position, moving to where the Mount Pokemon had been hitched. "We better find breakfast on the way, because we don't have that either."
Luckily we didn't have to worry much about breakfast as we came upon a small herd of Sawsbuck standing in a clearing in the forest. Pink flowers dappled their antlers, and a few Deerling of similar color idled near the herd. The Sawsbuck strutted proudly about, periodically tearing leaves from low hanging branches or bending to gather a mouthful of grass. I had seen Sawsbuck on the edge of the farm, but Blitzkrieg always relished in chasing them back into the forest, so I had never been this close. One of the Sawsbuck nudged a Deerling with its muzzle, and the Deerling hopped and bounced in a playful circle before looking up at the Sawsbuck. It reminded me of Riley when she would tell me she fed the Wooloo all by herself. I smiled at the thought.
A crossbow bolt launched from a bush near me and struck one of the Sawsbuck in the side, and they quickly turned and scattered. The Deerling bounded over me and let out a startled "Ling!" as it nearly landed on top of me. I threw out Blitzkrieg whose black form scared the little Pokemon off as he let out a Roar. He turned to me, and I nodded at him.
Allison emerged at a full sprint from the bush. "Let's go, Jackson! The longer we wait the farther they go!"
"Time to earn our keep." I whispered to Blitzkrieg, scratching his head as we emerged from our own foliage. Donald and Percius had already followed the Sawsbuck directly, but by taking a moment in the clearing I was able to have Blitzkrieg pick up the smell of blood and follow quickly along the path the Sawsbuck had taken. "It's no Odor Sleuth, but it'll do." I nodded to Allison as we took off after Blitzkrieg as he rushed through the dense forest. Allison was faster than me, nearly keeping pace with Blitzkrieg as I fell behind, not to mention that even while dashing through the forest she was remaining completely pristine.
"Kakuna!" She warned as she dodged out of the way of the yellow cocoon that hung at exactly face height. I didn't quite have the same dexterity, and though I attempted to maneuver around the Kakuna I ended up striking it with my shoulder, causing it to fall from the tree and roll into the grass. "Not good!" Allison hadn't seen what had happened, but when she said that it definitely felt like she had. We burst into another clearing where Donald and Percius had the Sawsbuck cornered, one of Donald's knives now accompanying the crossbow bolt that stuck from the Sawsbuck's side. I pulled out Excalibur as the Sawsback stumbled slowly in a circle, looking for somewhere to run. As it found nowhere to go, it turned and charged at Percius, who grabbed its antlers as he was slid several feet.
"Oh, you wanna fight now, do ya?" Percius challenged behind his helmet, suddenly twisting the Sawsbuck's head and slamming it into the ground, one of its antlers shattering off from the force.
I ran up while it was on the ground and swung Excalibur down at it but as I did the blade went right through it and plunged into the ground. I froze in shock.
"It's a Normal type, Jackson!" Donald reminded me, but by that point it was too late; we'd given the Sawsbuck a moment to stand back up and its back hooves struck me in the chest, launching me across the clearing where I slammed into a tree. I shakily stood again, sheathing Excalibur and looking around for Blitzkrieg to give him an order, but he was already on it, dashing through the clearing and slamming his entire body against the side of the Sawsbuck, causing it to stumble and fall again. Several more crossbow bolts hit the Pokemon, and as it let out a pained cry for help, it was answered. Instead of more Sawsbuck, a swarm of angry Beedrill erupted from the canopy accompanied soon after by a swarm of Pin Missiles that fired through the air. More Pokemon entered the clearing; Ballet, Justice, even Donald's Whismur appeared as the army of Bug types came down upon us. Dragon Pulse erupted into the air, vaporizing yellow exoskeleton as they darted here and there. Ballet had created a bubble of protection around Allison, who yanked several Pin Missiles from her arm before turning to fire her own projectiles into the air. Donald covered his ears as Crybaby erupted with noise that seemed to tear the Beedrill apart at the seams when they got close. I unsheathed Excalibur again and looked to Blitzkrieg who had dashed across the battlefield to get between me and the Pin Missiles, which didn't even properly penetrate his skin. I nodded and threw Excalibur into the air where it suddenly flipped over itself and a slicing wind began to emanate from its blade as it cut Beedrill into pieces.
With each of us doing our part, the swarm was quickly culled and returned to the forest, buzzing in anger and disappointment.
Percius walked over to the fallen Sawsbuck and pulled off his helmet, kneeling next to the deceased Pokemon. "That Darkrai dog of yours does some serious work, Jack."
"He's got a lot of practice." I smiled and looked down at Blitzkrieg, who I only then realized was also covered in blood. I looked at his apricorn and my thought was answered by Donald before I even spoke it.
"He'll still be dirty when you send him back out. We're actually going to cross one of the biggest rivers in Empir today, so you can wash him in the Draco Lacrimis when we get there."
Allison sighed, shaking her hands disgustedly despite her gloves still being pure white. "A bath would be nice for everyone, I think." She looked over and her disgust mixed with annoyance as Percius slung the still-bleeding corpse of the Sawsbuck over his shoulder, though it was barely noticeable on his already red armor. He paused, looking at her.
"What?"
After preparing the meat from the Sawsbuck for the journey, we continued our ride towards Oppida Prima, hitching our mounts at the mouth of a cave right near where Donald had said we would arrive; the Draco Lacrimis, a massive river that originated at the peak of the Dracollis Mountains before flowing slowly through the forest. Allison complained about sleeping in a cave and requested that Percius put up her tent, but when Percius told her to put up her own tent she relented, though remained annoyed.
The baths at the Arceian Church in Ecclessi City were cut into two different areas: one for males and one for females, which made sense to me. I didn't have any problem bathing with other people and I didn't have any problem with getting into the river with Donald and Percius to bathe myself and Blitzkrieg, though more him than me. I'm not sure what I expected, but I was still surprised when Allison came out to join us, wrapped in a towel.
"I hope you don't mind if I join you. Ballet could use a scrubbing as well." Allison smiled, holding up Ballet's apricorn.
"I feel like you'd just get more dirty in the river, though." Donald shrugged, Crybaby sitting in the shallow water next to him, splashing the water with their ears.
"Don't care." Percius dismissed immediately, standing near me and running his armor under the water downstream from the two, the blood from it and Blitzkrieg turning the stream further down from us a wispy red. I remained quiet, focusing on scrubbing Blitzkrieg, whose very existence was turning the water around him from a sparkling river to a steaming sauna.
"Jackson?"
"Yeah!" I rose, startled by her addressing me before turning to her and blushing deeply. "I mean... yeah."
Allison nodded in agreement and sent out Ballet, shedding her towel as she stepped into the water along with her Kirlia. Ballet's blue 'hair' hung against her head and her eyes were clamped shut in dismay as Allison poured handfuls of the cold river water across her. "A proper lady must always be well washed, you know." Allison cooed like Ballet was her daughter.
"So-" I began, startling myself as I broke the silent agreement the three of us had made not to engage Allison in conversation. "Why is Ballet blue? Shouldn't she be green?"
"We still have no idea." Allison shrugged, not turning from her work. "She's not any stronger or weaker than a normal Kirlia, she's just blue. Emilia says its from the love I poured into hatching her egg, but I'm sure Pokemon breeders have eggs they pour plenty of love into that don't end up odd colors."
"Kirlia are Fairy type." Donald interjected randomly, and when he didn't get the response he wanted he added "You said 'a normal Kirlia'. Kirlia are Fairy type. Not Normal type."
Allison rolled her eyes. "Haha, very funny."
"I do my best."
After we finished cleaning our Pokemon, we all went about cleaning ourselves before just relaxing in the water.
"It's been too long since we just got to relax." Donald complained. "It's been mission after mission ever since we joined up."
"The Church Of Arceus never rests." Despite her statement in opposition, Allison nods in agreement before turning to Percius. "Justice hasn't had an outburst in quite a while. It's good to see you use him properly in battle without having to dive for cover every time."
"We've been training." Percius dismisses, sitting the farthest away from all of us.
Allison allowed herself to be dismissed and turned to me instead. "And Blitzkrieg has been a wonderful addition to the team, especially since he evolved." Allison smiled brightly at me, a soft pink blush crossing her face. I scowled and turned away.
"Yeah." I dismissed as well.
A beat of silence swept the four of us along with the night breeze, and Donald stood to wade out of the water and dry off, Percius quickly following. Allison straightened slightly, looking between the two of them. "What's wrong?"
"You're in a good mood." Donald jabbed as he wrestled his shirt back on.
"What's wrong with me being in a good mood?" Allison stood from the water, clutching a fist to her chest defensively. Donald nor Percius replied as they approached the cave we would be sleeping in tonight and Allison turned to me, blinking a few times. "What's wrong with me being in a good mood?" She asked softly.
I looked away. "There's very few times you're in a good mood, Allison, and usually it means the people around you aren't." I stood up and followed the other two boys to dry land.
"But we were all having such a good time, I thought." Allison sloshed a few steps after me.
"I thought we were too. I hope you prove me right. Let's go, I'm not gonna leave you out here alone." I turned to look into the forest as she slowly climbed out of the river behind me. When we approached the cave, I touched the wall and looked out at White Omen, who stared back at me with unblinking eyes. I lifted my hand to see a carving of the symbol for Ghost type Pokemon; an odd circle with angry eyes; but dismissed it and went to join the others. As I laid awake late into the night, I sat up at the sound of crying which was immediately stifled when I moved. I stood and stepped carefully through the cave, eventually finding the source of the noise.
Allison looked up at me, her hand over her mouth as tears dripped slowly down her face. I knelt beside her. "What happened? Ekans? Joltik? Are you bit? Paralyzed?"
Allison stayed still long enough that I thought she actually might be paralyzed, but she eventually shook her head and moved her hand from her mouth. "I'm sorry." She whispered through her tears. I was taken aback for a moment and was unable to formulate a reply before she continued. "I'm sorry for ruining the chance our friendship had." Allison sat up onto her elbows, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her nightgown. "I've been so focused on trying to live up to my sister's potential that when you showed up I thought you'd just get in the way and I tried to get rid of you but you made yourself such an asset to the team and Donald and Percius like you and they don't like me and I thought I didn't really care if they didn't like me but tonight they were gonna leave me alone out in the river by myself and you stayed and now I want you to like me too but you already don't like me and-"
I touched Allison's shoulder so she would take a breath. "Hey. I like you."
"No you don't." Allison shrugged off my hand.
"I don't like the way you treat people, but I like you. You're calm and collected and you've always got the next step planned out." I smiled softly, using my thumb to wipe her tears. "Maybe not so calm and collected right now, but usually."
Allison smiled back. Not one of her fake smiles for priests or people of importance, but a genuine smile. One for a friend. She sat up further and hugged me, the new weight causing me to topple over and nearly land on top of her, though I managed to just barely avoid doing so. After collecting myself and taking stock of the situation, I resigned myself to hugging her in return, feeling her bury her face in my chest. "Don't leave me." She whispered.
"I won't."