Hello ladies and gentlemen, here is the latest chapter for you to feast your eyes on!
As always, huge thanks to LugiaMoon for betaing this.
And without further ado, enjoy!
The problem, with gangs and other such belligerent groups, is that, if anyone resists them, they'll seek to turn that/those individual(s) into an example of what happens to people who stand against them.
Snagem is no different. They would not, could not, let my defiance go unanswered. Because doing otherwise would've meant their reputation taking a hit, and other weaker gangs might've grown bold enough to challenge them.
The fact that someone took a picture during the battle and my face ended up plastered on the news for several days didn't help. It was never a matter of if, only when they would try to target me directly.
Wulfric, thankfully, had also seen the writing on the wall and quickly relocated his shop to the outskirts of Phenac City to deter another en masse attack from Snagem upon his business. It might've resulted in fewer customers, but it was better than losing his and his wife's livelihood altogether.
Which is the argument they would use to make me accept their gift as thanks, about two weeks after the attack.
"Rebecca, I can't. This is too much!" Aileen protests.
"Nonsense!" The tanned blonde woman denies with a wave of her hand. "This is nothing compared to what we would have lost had you not been there!"
"Even so!"
"Beside, the thing has been gathering dust for the past couple years and no one's been interested in it. Really, you'd be doing us a favor by taking it out of our hands."
"At least let me pay for it." Aileen grumbles, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Give me a discount if you must, but I'm not letting you give me that thing for free."
Rebecca rolls her eyes. "Alright, how about this, then: you give me one thousand and the promise to come to us for any mechanic job you need done on the thing. Sounds good?"
"I'm pretty sure the cost of that thing must be in the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands." The young woman deadpans, looking at the aforementioned object. She wouldn't lie and say she doesn't want it, but not for free dammit!
The bike is a beautiful piece of engineering, that much Aileen can tell. The design heavily reminds her of the Harley Davidson from back home and of Wes' future bike, though this one has two wheels and no hover technology. The fairing is colored in a sandy shade of yellow, contrasting with the chassis and frame's black and silver parts. She doesn't doubt for a moment that it must've cost quite a large sum of money to acquire.
"Girl, I don't think anyone in this region even has enough money to waste on this thing's original price. And no, I won't tell you how much that is." Rebecca sighs exasperatedly. "Five thousand and a discount on future jobs and repairs for the thing."
"Twenty five hundred every month for a year and the discount." Aileen haggles.
"Fifteen hundred every month, the discount, and free drinks. Final offer." The blonde replies.
"Fine. You win." Aileen says, slapping two bills on the counter. She studiously ignores Wufric's booming laugh and Pom's chortling in the background. "Stubborn woman." She grumbles.
"Pot. Kettle." Rebecca smugly smiles as she puts the money away and slides a lemonade in its place. "But really, neither Wulfric or myself have any use for it and, though we've maintained it, nobody's even looked at it twice since we put it up for sale. So we might as well pass it to someone who's done us a favor and who both needs it and will use it."
The young woman huffs. "Still feels like robbery to me."
"Wulfric and 'Becca are honest folks, lass." Pom comments from his seat, sipping his beer. "Trust me, if they needed the money they'd tell ya."
"And we would've needed the money if Snagem had cleaned us out." Wulfric adds, idly touching the pokeballs on his belt. "You really saved our bacon back there, Aileen. Against what we would have lost, this really isn't much."
Aileen frowns. She doesn't like to think of what might've happened if she hadn't been there to organize a proper defense, but the fact that Wulfric's shop wasn't part of the Orre map that she remembers tells her enough.
"Have I already changed things?" She can't help but wonder as she takes a long sip of her lemonade, amber eyes closing with an internal sigh. "Too late to ask yourself that, soldier. Only thing you can do is deal with the consequences as they come."
As a certain Sinnoh Champion would say, 'when two lives meet, something new is born'. It's only natural that something new, good or bad, comes from her meeting with people who would have never known her otherwise.
"I appreciate your gratitude and generosity, Wulfric. Even if I think this is too much." Aileen says at length. "I'll do my best to take care of it. It's been a while since I've driven one of these, though."
"Why don't you take her for a spin then?" The man proposes. "Get yourself familiar with this old girl."
"No time like the present, I suppose." She sighs, catching the key Rebecca tosses at her and draining her glass quickly.
It might've been four years since she sat on a bike, but Aileen finds it easier than she'd thought to recall her mom's teachings as she starts up the engine, which roars to life without even the slightest trouble.
"Steering, check. Brakes, check. Tires, check. Fuel, check..." She lists in her mind as she inspects the Daytona. "Engine doesn't seem to have any trouble whatsoever too. They've really kept this beauty in prime condition."
With a twist of her wrist, Aileen revs up the engine a couple times and, with a nod to herself, takes the Daytona out for a ride in the desert.
"Damn. Look at her go." Wulfric whistles as he watches the young woman maneuver the bike around the shop, her long hair trailing in the wind. "I know some bikers as old as I am who wouldn't be able to handle a Daytona as well as she is." He adds, stroking his chin.
"I told you Aileen knew her stuff." His wife huffs beside him, arms crossed. "But you have to admit, she's a strange one." She adds with a thoughtful frown.
"Whaddya mean, 'Becca?" Pom asks.
"She has no ID, no pokemon aside from that Poochyena she rescued, no money to her name." The woman lists off. "But she's hardworking, humble and clearly well-traveled. And with the way she commanded the defense against Snagem, you'd think she's an ex-Ranger of some kind. If you add in her knowledge of electronics and mechanics, which -let's be honest- people her age don't bother learning at all, it paints a most unusual picture."
Pom snorts."Aye, but she ain't no criminal, that's for sure. Lass doesn't have a single dishonest bone in her body."
"My money's on the girl being a Unovan or Kalosian orphan from the war." Wulfric says. "She told you anything 'bout herself, Pom?" He asks the old miner.
"Lass mentioned her mother a few times, said she used to help rehabilitate pokemon in bad shape." Pom answers, shrugging. "Nothin' more than that an' a few tidbits here an' there 'bout her father, though. For all that she's willin' to talk about what she knows, the lass's a very private person regardin' her own past."
Rebecca hums thoughtfully. "I think you might be correct in your assumptions, dear." She tells her husband. "Her parents would've been just the right age to have been drafted when the war happened. And there's been rumors for a while about why the Vertress and Lumiose conferences have less new trainers than expected." She sighs sadly.
"Doesn't exactly explain how she ended up in this hellhole of a region, though." Wulfric scratches his head.
"Wasn't o' her own will, that much she told me." Pom grunts, watching Aileen spin her new bike. "Dunno who dumped her 'ere but I'd sure like to introduce mah pick to their face."
Silence greets that declaration and the miner turns to see both Rebecca and Wulfric looking at him with surprised faces.
"What?" He asks gruffly.
"Nothing. Just... it's rare to see you get protective of someone so quickly." The mechanic comments, raising an eyebrow at his friend.
Pom huffs. "She reminds me of Eva." He admits quietly after a moment. "Physically they couldn' be more different, but they share this same driven, no-nonsense attitude that hides a gentle side they only show to those close to 'em. Although the lass has a certain sharpness to her that Eva didn't."
"...You know, now that you're putting it like that, yeah I can see it." Wulfric replies, turning back to watch the young woman. "There certainly are similarities, though Aileen is... tempered, for lack of a better word. She knows that the world can be a cruel and an unfair place but she's determined to achieve her goals regardless."
"They certainly have the same stubbornness." Rebecca sighs. "Hopefully she'll manage to get out of Orre before anything bad happens. I worry about what Snagem might try to do."
"Especially since she only has that Poochyena and her baton to defend herself." Her husband nods.
"Oh don't ya worry 'bout that." Pom interjects, a small smile on his lips. "Lass will get another partner before long."
The blonde woman looks at him questioningly before her eyes widen. "Pom, you can't mean...?"
"Aye." The old miner nods solemnly.
After about thirty minutes, Aileen brings the Daytona back into the shop, taking off her goggles with a contented sigh as the cool air hits her sweaty skin.
"So, what do you think?" Wulfric asks.
"She's a joy to ride, Wulfric." The young woman answers honestly, a wide smile on her face. "And a credit to your skill as a mechanic. I put her through her paces and didn't have any trouble whatsoever."
"I would hope so!" The tanned man laughs, crossing his arms with a proud grin. "Don't hesitate to bring her in for a tune-up from time to time. I don't want my work to be wasted after a few bumps on the road or something."
"Will do." Aileen nods before turning to Pom. "Shall we? We still need to deliver the coal to Dobit."
"I'm not the one who's been burnin' daylight by practicin' fancy moves on that bike, lass." Snarks the miner, making her splutter. "But lead on. I'll be right behind ya."
Aileen playfully narrows her eyes at him as she revs the engine once more. "Try to keep up, old man, lest you eat my dust."
Pom chortles as he puts his helmet on. "Cheeky brat. D'ya even know the way?"
"I guess we'll find out, hm?" She replies as she put her goggles back on her face and drives out of the shop after shouting a quick goodbye to Wulfric and Rebecca.
"Nice ride I saw you coming in with, Hawke. Been a while since I saw a Daytona." Dobit greets them as Aileen and Pom enter his shop. "Can't fault your taste. Must've cost you though."
"Not nearly as much as you'd think." Is all Aileen is willing to say on the matter. "What about you, any interesting news to share?"
The old shop owner seems to hesitate for a moment, which raises a red flag in her mind. "There's been shady stuff going on recently. More than usual, I mean." He says at length. "Not sure what, exactly, but people have been moving pokemon and resources around."
"Is it Snagem?" She asks, sharing a look with Pom.
Dobit shakes his head. "Nah. Haven't seen the skinheads in a while, to be honest."
"Cipher, then." Aileen concludes. "They probably must have enough data from their experiments at this point to have refined the shadow pokemon process, or at least started to. That would explain this."
"Do you know whe-"
"THERE YOU ARE, YOU PSYCHO BITCH! I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU!" A loud and, somewhat, familiar voice interrupts them.
The trio turns to the unwelcome sight of Calda standing in the shop's door-frame, pointing at Aileen with a snarl on his face.
"Oh, it's you." Drawls the young woman, crossing her arms as she gives him an uninterested look. "What do you want?"
"MY POKEMON BACK, THAT'S WHAT!" The redhead shouts.
Aileen's eye twitches at the demand. "In case you've already forgotten, we made a deal. She doesn't belong to you anymore. You released her."
"UNDER DURESS! YOU STOLE IT FROM ME AND I DEMAND THAT YOU GIVE IT BACK!" Calda retorts.
"The only thing I'm going to give you if you don't shut up is a black eye." She says, eyes narrowing as her irritation grows. She's never had any patience for morons. "Beside, I've already compensated you and you haven't tried to seek me out those past few weeks. Why now?"
"I don't have to explain myself to you!"
In one swift motion, Aileen takes the pokeball on her belt, pressing the button to enlarge it. "Then how about you try to explain yourself to the concerned party?" She says and tosses the pokeball lightly.
With a flash of energy, Poochyena materializes in front of the young woman. The bite pokemon blinked, shaking her head before looking around. It doesn't take long for her to notice the human legs in front of her and raising her head to look at the owner of said legs.
Her reaction upon seeing Calda's face is instantaneous.
With a deep growl, Poochyena immediately enters Hyper Mode, shadows starting to coalesce around her as she takes a threatening posture, muscles tensed to leap and glaring at her previous owner.
The sight is intimating enough to make Calda pale and take a step back in fear.
"Poochyena." Calls Aileen as she crouches down, running a hand through the dark-type's white and gray fur. "Poochyena. Calm down."
It's enough to snap the pokemon out of her enraged state and make her sit back, though neither the growl nor the glare stop.
"I think the meaning is clear enough." The ravenette says flatly, amber eyes coldly staring at Calda. "Poochyena is mine. And unless she wishes otherwise, it will stay that way."
She can hear the man's teeth grind against each other for a moment before he takes one of his own pokeball. "Then I challenge you for that Poochyena!"
The absurdity of the statement is enough to make both Pom and Dobit, who'd been watching the exchange, look incredulously at Calda. Aileen, on the other hand, tilts her head at him curiously.
"Interesting. And what do I get if I win?" She asks, causing the red-head to blink at her confusedly. "I can't be the only one to stake something in this battle now, can I? So what will it be?"
Calda seems to think for a moment before grinning and taking something out of his pocket. While having never seen one for real before, Aileen quickly recognizes the item, as does Pom by his sharp intake of breath.
"If you win, I'll give you this Technical Machine." Calda says, brandishing the case containing the precious disc inside. "Good enough for you?"
Aileen ponders for a moment, amber eyes flitting between Calda, the TM and Poochyena, before nodding. "Alright. You're on."
"Lass, are you sure 'bout this?" Pom asks after Calda leaves, telling her to meet him in the Duel Square in ten minutes. "That's a huge risk ye're takin'."
"He's right, you know?" Dobit adds his two cents. "His bark may be worse than his bite but Calda is no pushover."
"Don't worry, you two, I have a plan." Aileen smirks. "Oh, and Pom? Can I ask you for a favor?"
"Whaddya need?"
She tells him and the grin on his face mirrors her own.
"This battle will only end once one of us has no more pokemon able to fight." Calda says as he takes out two pokeballs, a triumphant grin on his face. "No backing out now."
"That's my line." Aileen replies, one hand on her cocked hip and her ponytail floating in the breeze. Around them, the various other trainers from Pyrite Town chatter between themselves, taking bets on who will win. "Let's get this started already."
"I'm going to enjoy shutting you up! Slakoth, Sentret, go!" The redhead shouts as he throws his pokeballs, both pokemon within appearing on the field with a flash of light.
"Poochyena, Rhydon, to battle!" Aileen says as she throws two pokeball of her own.
"Wait what?!"
Poochyena and Pom's Rhydon appear on Aileen's end of the field, the Bite Pokemon howling a challenge at her foes while Rhydon smashes his fist together with a deep rumble.
"You didn't have that pokemon before!" Calda splutters, pointing at Rhydon. "That's cheating!"
The young woman shrugs. "Your fault for assuming I'd only have one pokemon. Poochyena, Howl! Rhydon, Rock Blast!"
Both pokemon promptly obey, Poochyena releasing a haunting Howl of bloodlust and fury and Rhydon roaring in reply as he fires drill-shaped blasts of energy from his horn at their opponents.
"Shit! Sentret, get in front of Slakoth and use Defense Curl!" Calda orders and the Scout Pokemon dutifully curls protectively in front of Slakoth, shielding it from the worst of Rhydon's attack. "Slakoth, use Slash on the mutt!"
Showing agility that Aileen honestly wouldn't expect from a, well, slacker, Slakoth jumps at Poochyena, its claw glowing.
"Shadow Rush!" Aillen shouts and wisps shadows coalesce around Poochyena as she jumps forward to meet Slakoth in mid-air. Both pokemon collide, Poocheyna slamming into Slakoth and sending I to the ground but not before its Slash manages to score a glancing hit on the dark-type's flank. "Rhydon, follow-up with Rock Smash!"
With a rumble of acknowledgment, Rhydon charges forward, his fist glowing white as he smashes it down on Slakoth. The impact is strong enough to slightly bury the Slacker Pokemon into the ground.
"That should do it." Aileen mutters as Rhydon steps back.
Imagine her surprise as Slakoth's head pops up of the hole shaped like it in the earth, looking somewhat bruised but still conscious and ready to fight!
"Hah! You thought that would be enough?!" Calda taunts. "I've taught my Slakoth to use Slack Off reflexively whenever he gets hurt!" He gloatingly continues.
Aileen blankly stares at the red-head for a moment. "Rhydon? Rock Smash again. And don't stop until that Slakoth is down." She deadpans, Rhydon lifting his fist once more with a grin on his face.
Calda's eyes widen. "Oh no, you don't! Sentret, use Rollout!" He cries out and Sentret immediately curls into a ball before starting to spin at high speed as it rolls toward Rhydon.
"Intercept with Shadow Rush!" Aileen counters and Poochyena harshly slams into Sentret, knocking it aside as Rhydon starts slamming his fists onto Slakoth repeatedly. Thankfully, it only takes a few hits before the damage becomes too much for the Slacker Pokemon to mitigate and he falls unconscious.
"Dammit!" Calda curses as he returns his fallen pokemon. "But I'm not done yet! Go, Swellow!"
The beautiful blue, red and white bird that materializes on the field with a screech as it extends its wings before taking to the skies takes Aileen's breath away for a moment. Looking very similar to a giant swallow, and no doubt just as fast if it wanted to be, the Swellow starts lazily flying around the field, waiting for its trainer's command.
"Aerial Ace! Get the Poochyena first!" Calda orders, snapping Aileen out of bird-watching.
Immediately, Swellow becomes a blur as it dives at Poochyena, body outlined by white energy, and the young woman doesn't even have the time to speak before Swellow's dive-bomb hits her pokemon full force, sending the dark-type skidding back with a pained yelp.
Aileen's eyes sharpen. "Head in the game, soldier. Don't get overconfident." She chastises herself. "Rhydon, use Rock Blasts to keep Swellow away! Poochyena, finish Sentret with another Shadow Rush!"
"Dodge it, Swellow! Use Rollout again, Sentret!"
The two small pokemon collide again as Rhydon fires silvery blasts of energy from his horn at Swellow, forcing the flying-type to perform evasive maneuvers. But despite Sentret's Rollout being more powerful after its second consecutive use, it cannot compete against the sheer unnatural power of Shadow Rush and Poochyena doesn't even flinch as she slams into the Scout Pokemon once more, stopping its rotation and knocking it out.
"Freaking mutt!" Calda growls as he recalls Sentret. "Swellow, hit it with another Aerial Ace! Take it down!" Swellow screeches before blurring from view and swooping in to smack Poochyena again before ascending once more.
Despite Poochyena showing no sign of tiredness or pain, Aileen knows the damage she's taken and the recoil from Shadow Rush must be straining her pokemon's body. She has to end this, fast. "Rhydon, you need to restrain its movements!" She calls to Pom's old partner, trusting the Drill Pokemon's experience to know which move to use in order to achieve the desired outcome. Sure enough, Rhydon punches the earth with a roar, causing spires of stone to erupt around Swellow and making the flying-type squawk in surprise as the Rock Tomb cages it in.
"Howl! Drill Run!"
Poochyena lets out another hair-raising Howl, boosting Rhydon's attack further as the rock/ground type charges forward, horn spinning as a vortex of air surrounds him. Breaking through one of the stone spires as if it were wet paper, Rhydon collides with Swellow horn first, causing it to cry out in pain. The Drill Pokemon doesn't stop there, however, as he continues his charge to slam the flying-type into and through another spire.
As the dust settles and pebbles stop flying everywhere, the result is clear. Swellow is lying unconscious on the ground, half-buried under rocks.
"I win." Aileen simply says as she approaches a flabbergasted Calda, recalling Poochyena and Rhydon as she does. "The TM, if you would?" She adds, presenting an open hand.
That snaps Calda out of his shock, his face quickly reddening in anger. "You cheating whore! You don't have a Rhydon, there's no way that pokemon is yours!" He shouts.
The young woman raises an eyebrow. "Even if you could prove it, I don't remember you saying there was any rule forbidding that I use pokemon that aren't mine?" She asks, making the red-head splutter for a moment before falling silent. "I thought not. Now, are you going to honor your part of the deal?" She smirks.
Calda looks around, hoping one of his fellow Pyrite trainers would support him, only to get shrugs and head-shakes in return. It's obvious he's on his own in this. Moreover, he knows that if he goes back on his end of their bet, nobody would ever take him seriously again. You could lie, cheat, steal, ect... without anyone batting an eye but if you broke a bet or a deal, you'd become persona non grata as soon as someone could spread the information.
Honor among thieves, and all that.
Gritting his teeth, Calda takes the TM out of his pocket and slaps it against Aileen's palm. Wordlessly, he turns away and marches out of the square, returning his Swellow as he does.
"And that's that." Aileen sighs as she puts the disc away and walks back to her friend. "Thanks again for lending me Rhydon, Pom. Sentret and Slakoth, Poochyena might've been able to handle on her own. But not that Swellow." She says, handing his partner's pokeball back to the man.
"'Twas my pleasure, lass." Pom grins as he places the pokeball back on his belt and they start making their way back to Dobit's shop. "Good showing out there, 'specially for yer first real battle with the pooch."
"Thanks." The ravenette smiles before her eyes turn serious. "Poochyena is unfortunately pretty limited right now, and teaching her new moves isn't going to work until she's completely free of whatever was done to her. Until that happens or I get another pokemon, do you mind if I borrow Rhydon or Murkrow from time to time if I'm challenged?"
"So long as they agree, I'm fine with it." Pom shrugs. "What did ya win, by the way?"
"Good question." She takes the TM out, looking at the disc's casing intently. "Focus Blast." She reads, surprised. "Huh. Better than I expected, truth be told."
"Not bad." The older man whistles in agreement. "Punk was probably savin' it for when his Slakoth would evolve."
"Well, it's not exactly useful to me as things are, but I'll take it." Aileen replies, pocketing the TM again. "I can always sell it for money, if anything." She adds, making Pom loudly guffaw.
"D'ya figure why he wanted the pooch back?" He asks as his laughter subsides. "Ya were right, 's weird that he only tries now."
Aileen shrugs. "My guess is that he quickly blew the money I gave him and then saw me with Poochyena on the news. He probably thought that if he could take back Poochyena, whom I've obviously been training, he'd get money again in no time." She answers, before snorting. "If he really thought that loudly demanding that I hand over Poochyena would do anything, then he's a moron."
"Aye." Nods Pom.
Later, once they are back at the home trailer and as Aileen is reading on her Pokenav while laying on the couch/bed, Poochyena already curled on her lap and sleeping, she reflects on what she's said and wonders if that was really Calda's reason for trying to get back Poochyena. The red-head had looked... almost scared when she'd tried to question him on why he'd wanted Poochyena back so badly. Aileen had theorized a good reason, but she can't help but think that she's missing pieces of the puzzle.
"No use thinking about it now." She sighs internally, closing her Pokenav. "And as much as I want to blame Cipher for everything, the idiot probably just got into debt or something." Thinking about Cipher also reminds her of what Dobit had told them before Calda's interruption. "It won't be long before more shadow pokemon start appearing. Time is running out but what can I do? I'm not ready. Poochyena isn't ready. Even if I could purify her tomorrow, she wouldn't possibly be able to fight entire battles by herself."
The thought of being unable to help Wes and Rui in their fight against Cipher doesn't sit well with her. Kids shouldn't have to be the one to save a whole region from an evil organization, dammit!
"I may be on a time limit, but I'm not out of options just yet. There are still things I can do to at least tip the balance in their favor. But first, I -no, WE- need to get stronger." She thinks, looking at the sleeping dark-type. "And for that..."
It seems that she would need to visit Agate Village soon, after all.
"I'll be back this evening if all goes smoothly." Aileen tells Pom two weeks later as she's putting on her helmet, goggles and newly acquired gloves. "Hopefully this won't take long, but you never know."
"Take all the time ya need, lass. 'Em treasures aren't goin' anywhere." The older man chuckles. "Go have fun with the tree hippies, I'll be waitin' for ya to tell me how it went."
"I'll make sure to bring you a plant or two as souvenirs." Aileen jokes back before revving the engine.
With a quick two-finger salute to her friend, the young woman accelerates, leaving the home trailer as nothing but a speck in the distance in a matter of minutes. While Pom's ATV is nothing to scoff at, the Daytona is simply built for speed. And with no speed limit signs in the desert, there was nothing stopping Aileen from setting her cruising speed at over 160 kilometers per hour, turning what would've been a relatively lengthy trip into a short voyage.
After about three to four hours of driving, by her estimation, the terrain starts to change, slowly but surely becoming greener, trading rocks for small plants, then bushes, and finally trees as she enters the only lush part of Orre. Even the air feels different. From there, it takes her about another hour before she finally arrives at her destination: Agate Village.
Aileen only has vague memories of the place from the game she's played years ago, but whatever she remembers doesn't do it justice. The village itself stands against the flank of Mt Battle's western edge, a river running past and through it. Compared to Pyrite Town or even Phenac City, Agate Village is covered by verdant green vegetation, be it grass, vines, or small trees. Were it not for the people and the clearly modern installations she can see, Aileen would have believed she'd found the ruins of an ancient civilization.
What grabs her attention the most, however, is the great white tree at the top of the village, whose roots appear here and there between houses and even beyond the village itself.
"It must've been a truly magnificent specimen when it was alive. No wonder Celebi made its home here at some point." The young woman muses as she comes to a stop and dismounts her bike, taking off her helmet and swapping her goggles for sunglasses. "I wonder how old it was when it burned down."
"Hello there, young one." An elderly man greets her at the bridge. "Welcome to Agate Village. May I inquire the purpose of your visit?"
"I would like to enter the Relic Cave, if you would allow it." She answers, figuring she might as well be blunt. "I seek the artifact beyond it to help my partner."
The man, whose grip on his cane had tightened upon hearing the reason for the young woman's visit, relaxes minutely. "Then I'm sure you won't mind if someone accompanies you?"
"By all means, if that will assuage your worries." Aileen nods, gesturing at the single pokeball on her belt. "I'm not here to cause trouble."
"So you say, young one." He sniffs. "Come with me, if you would."
The old man leads Aileen through the village and the young woman can't help but take a deep breath as she trudges behind her guide. Save for the being in the shade of a volcano, the place reminds her of her grandparents' country house. In what feels like no time at all, they arrive at one of the houses at the base of the giant white tree, the man stopping to knock on the door with his cane.
A moment later, the door opens to reveal a tall elderly man dressed in purple robes with long gray hair and, more importantly, a beard and mustache rivaling (if not surpassing) Pom's. Aileen half expected to see half-moon glasses sitting on his nose and a wand in his hand.
"Ah, hello Skof. What can I do for you?" He asks the man who led Aileen, before noticing the young woman herself. "And who is this?"
"Hello to you too, Eagun." Skof greets back. "This young lady wishes to see the you-know-what in you-know-where. She said it's to help her partner."
"Is that so?" Eagun hums, stroking his impressive beard as he scrutinizes Aileen. "My memory may not be what it was in my prime, but I certainly do not recall ever seeing you before. How did you come to learn of what you seek?"
"I'm afraid you wouldn't believe me if I told you, honored elder." Aileen replies, shaking her head. "And I am unsure if what I'm here for will be able to help at all in the current state of things." She sighs, before her eyes narrow in determination. "Nevertheless, I have to try."
Eagun's sharp blue gaze stares into Aileen's sunglasses for a moment. The old man then blinks and gives her a nod, before turning back to Skof. "I'll take care of our young guest, Skof. Thank you for your diligence."
"It's no problem, Eagun. I trust your judgment." Skof says as he turns around and trudges away back to the entrance bridge, or so Aileen assumes.
"Walk with me." Aegun says and she obliges. After a couple minutes of silently walking around, he speaks again. "Forgive our caution, but you must understand our concern. Many people have sought the Relic Stone in the past, not all of them with good intentions. What are you hoping to achieve, exactly?"
"Let's say I want to open a door that has been locked and the key thrown away." Aileen answers vaguely. "And I'm hoping to prevent more doors from being locked."
The old man frowns. "Would you care to elaborate?"
The ravenette shakes her head. "It will be easier if I show you." She takes the pokeball on her belt and presses the release switch, Poochyena materializing in a burst of light.
The Bite Pokemon, as usual when she's let out of her ball, shakes her head before looking around. Dull eyes pass over the village and Eagun before falling on Aileen. A spark of something briefly lights up Poochyena's gaze before it fades away and the dark-type stays immobile, waiting for orders.
"Relax, girl. There are no enemies here."
It's a testament to the progress Aileen's made with her pokemon in the two months since they've been together that Poochyena relaxes and lies down, crossing her front paws and putting her head on them. After a few caresses, Aileen returns her, finally looking back at Eagun.
The elder's posture is tense, one hand in the folds of his robes, no doubt gripping a pokeball, while his eyes stare at the spot Poochyena had occupied. "I'm not sure what I just witnessed, but there's something very wrong about that Poochyena. Unnatural, even."
"Indeed." Aileen smiles grimly. "I do not know what was done to her before she came into my care, but it turned her into what you saw. And even that is the result from several weeks of me trying to undo the damage."
"Disturbing. Very disturbing." Mutters Eagun, a troubled frown on his features. "And you believe the Relic Stone can help?"
"That is my hope, yes." The young woman nods.
Rui's grandfather gives her a thoughtful look for several long seconds, then gives a slow nod. "Follow me, young lady."
Aegun leads her around the base of the tree and down a slope hidden from view before they come to a cave entrance surrounded by white roots. Without breaking his stride, the elder walks through, Aileen close behind. The sounds of the outside fade, leaving only those of their own footsteps and running water to fill the silence. After a few minutes of walking, they exit the cave into a dense forest and, further still, a clearing. At the center of it, on a stone platform, stands Aileen's main reason for this trip : the Relic Stone.
The sight of it causes her hand to itch for a pen and paper, the student in her wanting to sketch the Relic from different angles and study the symbols she can see engraved in the stone. The design is simple, yet complex, looking as if a single round pillar of stone was split in two and had parts of it pulled away or pushed in, like drawers from a desk.
"I wonder what it's supposed to represent." Aileen wonders as they approach the, dare she say, sacred grounds. "Something to pick Cynthia's brain about, if I ever get the chance to meet her."
"Here it is, the Relic Stone." Eagun announces, gesturing at the artifact before looking back at the young woman. "I'm still unsure how you're expecting that it will help, but I will not stop you. Do what you feel is necessary."
Aileen nods, moving past the elder and advances toward the Relic Stone. As soon as she steps onto the platform, the Relic seems to start pulsing with a soft green glow, motes of light starting to float off the ground and around it. Behind her, Aileen hears Eagun inhaling sharply.
Licking suddenly dry lips, the raven-haired young woman takes a deep breath and takes Poochyena's pokeball. "Moment of truth. Please let this work." She pleads internally as she tosses the pokeball forward.
As soon as Poochyena appears, her gaze locks onto the Relic Stone, her body unnaturally still. A hum starts filling the air, almost like... a melody. One that feels strangely familiar to Aileen's ears. Although she can't seem to place it.
"Then again, the Relic Stone is supposed to help pokemon remember their happy and carefree pasts. Who's to say it can't draw memories from humans as well?"
The melody intensifies, to the point Aileen can almost feel her bones vibrating with it and she can see Poochyena's form start to tremble as wisps of shadow appear around her. Suddenly, the motes of light surrounding the Relic Stone shoot toward the dark-type and surround her, Slowly, they start circling Poochyena, getting faster and faster until all Aileen can see is a swirling sphere of light around her pokemon.
"So far so good." Aileen thinks, biting the inside of her cheek nervously. "Come on, girl! I know you can do this!"
Things then take a turn for the worse.
The shadows inside the sphere get darker, obscuring Poochyena from view and pushing against the light. For a moment, it seems as if both forces are evenly matched before, with a sound not dissimilar to a primal roar, a flood of shadow energy shatters the sphere of light before dissipating in the wind, leaving only Poochyena's slumped form behind.
"Poochyena!" Aileen cries out, her heart jumping in her throat as she dashes forward. "No. No! Nonononononono! Please no!" Is all that goes through her mind as she crosses the distance between her and her partner in a couple seconds before she crouches and gathers the small canine in her arms.
To her immense relief, Poochyena seems simply unconscious, though her breathing is labored. Letting out the breath she'd been holding all the while, Aileen hugs her pokemon to her chest, blinking away tears as she does.
"What went wrong? The purification ceremony seemed to be working!" Aileen clenches her eyes shut. "Is it that the trauma she's gone through is too strong? Or is it that I did not do enough?!"
"Young lady." Eagun's voice snaps her back to reality and she turns to see the elder standing behind her, a grave expression on his face. "Let's bring your pokemon to the Pokemon Center. Afterward, I would appreciate a full explanation regarding what just happened."
Aileen wordlessly nods and stands up, Poochyena still in her arms, giving one last look over her sunglasses at the Relic Stone before following Eagun back to Agate Village.
She doesn't see the pair of baby blue eyes mournfully watching her from between tree leaves as she does.
"I see..." Eagun hums, sipping from his cup of tea as Aileen finishes her explanation of shadow pokemon, what she knows of their origin, and the power the Relic Stone has. "I am saddened to learn that, even now, there are people who treat pokemon like tools. But to transform them into unfeeling machines fit only to fight... The mere thought repulses me."
Aileen, sagged into her chair inside Eagun's house and nursing her own cup of tea between her hands, shrugs. "Humans have always had the capability for extreme acts of both good and evil. This is not the first time, and it probably won't be the last. Just another in the long list of our history."
"That's a sad way to look at things, dearie." Beluh, an old woman in a pink robe with a white shoulder warmer over it and Aegun's wife, comments. "Though not inaccurate, unfortunately."
"Still, this is troubling." The elder muses. "To think that Cipher has sunk so low. They've never been paragons of virtue, yes, but I still remember them to be a respectable organization back in my days." He shakes his head. "But that's obviously in the past. I thank you for explaining this to us, young Hawke, and for your warning."
The amber-eyed young woman raises an eyebrow. She hadn't told Eagun her name. "It was too much to hope that no one would recognize me, I suppose." She sighs, twirling her long single braid around her left hand. She'd taken to changing her hairstyle every week and putting on sunglasses after one too many people had recognized her in Phenac City from the picture shown in the news those past few weeks. She'd even put on some makeup to make her skin tone appear less pale in hopes that it would help hide her identity better.
The fact that her first name hasn't been released is nothing but a small miracle.
He chuckles. "Your disguise is simple and works well for you. But I don't think many people own a Poochyena as unique looking as yours, I'm afraid."
"Of course." Aileen closes her eyes in frustration. If she ever finds the idiot who took that picture of her and Poochyena, there would be a reckoning. "Still, warning you is the least I can do." She takes a sip of her tea, shoulders relaxing slightly as the hot beverage warms her from the inside. "I expected the purification to either happen or not at all. Certainly not for it to fail so spectacularly."
"Speculating won't do you or your Poochyena any good." Eagun says, cutting through Aileen's musing and she focuses back on the elder. "You must focus on the solution rather than the problem itself."
"Short of summoning Celebi, my only other option is to try again at a later time." She replies, mouth set into a thin line. "And I don't want to subject Poochyena to what happened today again. So I won't do that anytime soon."
"You have a good head on your shoulders, dearie. And I'm sure Poochyena can see how you care for her. The door to her heart will be ready to open in no time." Beluh consolingly says, patting her hand.
Aileen give Rui's grandmother an appreciative smile and drains her teacup. "I thank you for your time and hospitality, elders. Do you know if there is any place in the village where I could stay the night?" The Pokemon Center had told her they would keep Poochyena until the next day, just to monitor her condition and make sure there was no secondary effects to the failed purification. Also, all their rooms are occupied and now Aileen has to find somewhere to sleep.
"We have a free room you can use." Eagun says after sharing a look with Beluh. "But feel free to explore the village in the meantime."
With another word of thanks, Aileen rises from her seat and steps out of the house, the afternoon sun and a gentle breeze greeting her as she starts walking aimlessly down the slope.
"I've been too hasty. 'Expected the purification to happen or not at all'? Be honest with yourself and admit that you didn't think for a single moment that Poochyena wouldn't be purified" The young woman admonishes herself. Everything had been going her way since she'd been dropped in Orre. She'd gotten a somewhat stable way to get money, a roof over her head, had saved a pokemon, had managed to fight off Snagem without a single pokemon being stolen and gotten a magnificent motorcycle as a reward for it. "I've bulldozed through every obstacle I've faced so far and it's made me complacent."
And Poochyena had paid the price for it.
"'Never assume you won't make mistakes. But make sure that you don't repeat them.'" She remembers one of her mother's lessons, which she had always taken to heart. "That is one such mistake I will not make twice. If the purification ceremony can lead to such backlash if it fails, then I simply need to make sure it will not fail. Which means... Rui, who can see the passive corruption of shadow pokemon. Or the Time Flute."
A grimace twists Aileen's face. Seeking Rui out now would create even more ripples in the timeline, something she doesn't want to happen, or at least not yet. The Time Flute, in her opinion, is still too much of a gamble to risk it. If Cipher manages to corrupt Celebi... memories of the fourth pokemon movie send shivers down her spine. She couldn't let that happen. No matter what.
So deep in her thoughts she is that Aileen doesn't notice the person coming from the corner of a house she's about to walk past. The two of them collide, and the item in the other person's arms is sent tumbling away. The young woman has a split second to recognize the object as an egg as she dives for it, barely catching it before it hits the ground.
"Fuck that was close!" She internally swears. "Today just isn't my day."
"Nice catch!" A female voice above her says, prompting Aileen to look up at the face of a young woman about her age with neck-length light brown hair and hazel eyes. "I owe you one. Grandma would've had my hide with me if anything had happened to that egg."
"Considering it's my fault you let it go in the first place, I think it's safe to say you owe me nothing." Aileen replies as she gets to her feet and hands the egg back to the young woman. "I assume you work at the daycare?"
"Well deduced!" She smiles. "Sorry to cut this short, but I really need to deliver this egg to Grandma." She adds, moving around Aileen.
"Actually," Aileen says, falling in step with her. "I've been meaning to pay a visit to the daycare. Do you mind if I come with you?"
"Sure, I don't mind!" She chirps. "By the way, I've never seen you around here before. What's your name, handsome?"
"H-handsome?! I, I'm not-" Aileen splutters, cheeks reddening before clearing her throat in an attempt to regain her composure. "Ahem. My name is Aileen. May I ask yours?"
"So polite! And my name is Marina." The young woman -Marina- giggles. "What brings you to Agate, Aileen?"
"Ah, well, there was a matter I wanted to discuss with elder Eagun but my pokemon got hurt on the way and the Center said they'd like to keep her for observation at least until tomorrow just to make sure there will be no problems in the future." Aileen answers. "So I'm stuck here for the night."
"That's awful!" Marina gasped. "I hope your pokemon will make a full recovery."
It doesn't take long before the two reach the daycare, Aileen opening the door to let Marina enter without having to take her hands off the eggs and causing her to giggle again at the politeness of the ravenette.
"Ah, here you are Marina." The old woman behind the counter says as she looks up from her book. "Did you have any trouble with the egg?"
"Not at all, Grandma." Marina replies, carefully setting the egg on the counter. "Well, almost no trouble but whatever could've happened was averted by Aileen here." She adds, pointing at the amber-eyed woman.
"Is that so?" Marina's grandmother drawls, raising an eyebrow at Aileen. "You have my thanks then, Aileen. I've been expecting that egg for some time and it would've been a shame if anything had happened to it."
"No problem, ma'am." Replies Aileen with a sheepish -mareepish?- smile. "It was my fault the egg fell in the first place, the least I could do was catch it."
"You must have very good reflexes." The old lady comments as she inspects the egg for any damage. "Not a single scratch."
"Say, Grandma. You never told me what kind of egg this was." Marina interjects, poking at said egg. "I sure don't recognize it from the books you've shown me."
Now that Marina mentions it, the egg is indeed peculiar, Aileen realizes. The shell is of a pure black with white crescent motifs here and there, making the egg look somewhat like the night sky with moon crescents.
"That's because those books only have egg pictures of Kanto and Johto's native species." Her grandmother retorts before smiling. "This one comes from the Hoenn region. It's an Absol egg."
Aileen's eyes widen at that. Absol are solitary pokemon and they usually avoid humans unless absolutely necessary due to their reputation as omens of disasters. But what little studies had been made on the species, that she had read at night on her Pokenav, had revealed that they mate for life and are fiercely protective of their nest. That someone had managed to appropriate an unhatched egg... usually means that the parents are either dead or out for blood.
"Now, before you start worrying your pretty little heads." The old woman says, looking between the two youngsters who are eyeing the egg with mixed emotions. "No, I don't believe that drivel about Absol that says they're cursed or whatever. Yes, I got that egg through legal channels. No, no one died for it. It was abandoned at another daycare overseas and no one wanted it, hence how it ended up in my possession."
Aileen slowly nods, relaxing at the explanation, while Marina claps her hands with a "Whatever you say, Grandma!"
"Now Marina, I need you in the back. I got my hands full with the old crowd and the youngsters start to get rowdy if someone's not paying attention to them."
"Sure thing, Grandma." Nods the brunette as she steps around the counter and to the backdoor. "It was nice meeting you, Aileen!" She says, waving at Aileen.
"You too, Marina." Aileen replies, waving back as the other young woman disappears behind the door.
"Now," Her grandmother says as she puts the Absol egg in an incubator and puts it away. "is there anything else I can do for you?"
"Well, truth be told an acquaintance of mine, Doctor Pelam, suggested that I visit this place if I had the chance." Aileen replies. "I used to help my mother rehabilitate and socialize feral or abused small-sized pokemon when I was younger and he thought it would be a good experience to see how a proper daycare worked."
"Young Pelam?" The old lady blinks. "Now that's a surprise. I hear he's been busy in Phenac City." Aileen could imagine it, what with him working in one of the few Pokemon Centers spread through Orre. "Well we could always use another pair of hands, even if only for a short while." She muses, looking Aileen up and down. "Do you have anything scheduled?"
The young woman shakes her head. "I'm stuck here until tomorrow and have nothing but free time on my hands." She replies.
Marina's grandmother hums for a moment before nodding. "Alright, you're helping Marina with the little ones. Don't expect to be paid, though."
Aileen snorts. "Wouldn't dream of it." She says, stepping around the counter and through the backdoor.
Through the years of living with her mother, Aileen had seen plenty of cats and dogs come and go, from tiny feral kittens to bitter old german shepherds with amputated limbs. Hell, she'd even cared for a wolf-dog hybrid at some point until her mother had realized what the canine's pedigree was and called in the appropriate services. She had also helped local shelters more than once. Taking care of young pokemon barely able to use moves should've been a cakewalk.
How wrong she had been.
"Trying to herd cats has nothing on this." Aileen mutters, pinching the bridge of her nose as she glares up at the source of the headache she can feel coming. "I swear to Arceus, if you don't get down here this second I'm going to make you regret it."
Perched on one of the tree's highest branches, the Chatot gazes down at her before throwing its head back and letting out a mocking "Chaaaa-tot-tot-tot-tot!" sound, making the young woman's brow twitch.
"Chikorita, Vine Whip, please. Tie her up." Aileen flatly says.
The grass type on her shoulder chirps before green vines stretch out from the buds on his neck to snare Chatot, making her squawk in protest, and bring the Music Note Pokemon back to ground level.
Behind her, Aileen hears a wet sound followed swiftly by a distressed cry. She doesn't need to turn around to know that Phanpy has, again, sprayed mud at one of the other pokemon. She and Marina have been trying to restore some semblance of order for hours without much success and Aileen is starting to seriously consider asking Chikorita to use Sleep Powder or Sweet Scent to send all of the baby pokemon to sleep despite Marina's objections. Her patience is very much approaching its limits.
"Aileen, I need your help over here!" Marina shouts from the other end of the corral. "Tangela got their vines into knots again!"
"Azelf grant me strength." Aileen sends a prayer to the Willpower Pokemon before diving back into the chaos.
"Please tell me it's not always like this?" Aileen begs Marina as she slumps to the ground, thoroughly exhausted, her eyes staring at the orange sky. "They can't have that much energy everyday... right?"
"Well, it's not usually that bad." The brunette laughs as she sits beside her, offering Aileen a bottle of water. "But you handled yourself well for someone with mostly one-on-one experience. Grandma may not show it, but trust me she was impressed."
"Glad to know I managed to exceed expectations. And thanks." Drawls Aileen as she takes the proffered bottle and drinks several mouthfuls of water. "But to do this all week long... you're braver than I am, Marina." She had felt at the end of her tether by the time the little monsters had finally tired themselves out and fallen asleep.
"It helps that I've been doing this since I could walk." The other young woman tells her. "My parents didn't exactly expect to have a child while they were still traveling, so they left me with Grandma for most of my childhood and she taught me how to take care of pokemon. When she moved to Orre, I went with her instead of joining my parents."
Aileen blinks. "Your parents are dumbasses, then." She bluntly says, getting a giggle in response.
The two continue to chat as the sun sets, trading stories (though somewhat edited on Aileen's part) of their childhood and their families. Aileen tells Marina of her mother, a woman both strict and compassionate and of the lessons she had taught her everyday until she would know them by heart. In turn, Marina tells Aileen of her first friend, her grandmother's Tauros, who had watched over her while the old woman worked with the other pokemon at the daycare, and who had taught her much in his own way.
Aileen doesn't know how long they keep talking until her stomach voices its displeasure at the lack of food in it, much to Marina's amusement.
"You should probably go remedy that. We can continue to talk later." The brunette smiles, handing the amber-eyed young woman a slip of paper as she gets to her feet. "Here, this is my PDA number." And, before Aileen can react, she kisses her on the cheek. "See you, handsome!" She waves, dashing back inside the day care and leaving Aileen to blink at the door.
"...Do I really look that androgynous ?" The ravenette mumbles as she stands up and stretches. Though she supposes that with her lack of, ah, 'padding', shall we say, and the way she dresses it's not always obvious that she's a woman.
"Ah, young Hawke. Welcome back." Eagun greets her a she enters the house. "I heard you've been helping at the daycare."
"Idle hands and minds are the devil's playground, Eagun. I'd rather be productive with my time." Aileen replies, sitting across the elder and his wife. "And please, call me Aileen. Are you sure I'm not imposing on you?"
"It's fine dearie, it's been too long since we've had a guest." Beluh waves the young woman's concerns aside. "Only our granddaughter comes to visit from time to time and not even that often anymore. She's grown quite independent." The old woman chuckles.
"Independent enough to run around with Snagem's best snagger for company and try to stop Cipher by themselves." Aileen carefully doesn't say.
Diner is a quiet affair, with Aileen taking the opportunity to question Aegun on his trainer's journey. She's quite surprised to learn that the elder had held the hundredth floor of Mt Battle for a decade without being defeated until he retired, effectively marking him as Orre's strongest trainer at the time. Those days are far behind him now, but Aegun is quite proud of his title as Orre's Mythic Electric Master.
"The most important thing is to always aim higher than your current level." He imparts to her. "You can be satisfied, even proud, of what you have. But if you stop striving to go beyond, how can you know if you can surpass your limits? A trainer thrives on challenges, Hawke. Remember that."
Aileen promises that she will.
"Physically nothing's wrong with your Poochyena. She was exhausted when you brought her to me, but it was nothing a bit of rest didn't solve." The nurse tells her next morning as she hands Aileen back Poochyena's pokeball. "However, over the course of the night I've detected a lot of mental activity. I don't know if that was because of dreams, nightmares, or memories."
"But otherwise she's fine?" Aileen asks, just to be sure.
"Fully recovered. I've transferred the details to your Pokenav, if you wish to take a look." The nurse smiles. "I hope you have a safe trip."
With a word of thanks, the young woman exits the Pokemon Center and makes her way out of the village, having already said her goodbyes to Rui's grandparents and to Marina. As much as she likes the place, she needs to get going. Finding her Daytona where she left it, Aileen puts on her headgear and gloves before revving the handle, leaving Agate Village and its lush grass fields behind with a roar of the engine, along with a promise to return at a later time.
The first sign that something is wrong is the incessant vibration of her Pokenav about one hour after she's left Agate Village. Aileen can count on two hands the number of people who can call her and all of them know to leave a message if she doesn't answer after the second time. Still, she puts it out of her mind after whoever is calling stops trying to reach her.
Her second clue is in the form of Murkrow suddenly plunging from the sky in front of her two and a half hours into the trip and she almost runs the flying-type over, only managing to swerve around him at the last second.
"What the heck, Murkrow! I could've killed you! Don't you know how dange-" Her angry tirade stops itself in her throat as she sees the bird's battered appearance. Patches of his feathers are burnt or missing and his right eye is clenched shut, a trail of blood darkening his brow and dripping all the way to his beak. The usually spotless dark-type lets out a weak "Krow" as he hops toward her on one foot, the other a maimed mess.
Ice fills Aileen's veins as she jumps off her bike and catches Murkrow before he can collapse. Without a word, she opens her bag and gently puts the wounded bird atop her clothes, leaving his head out, before securing it across her chest. Taking out her Pokenav, she quickly fires off a message to Rebecca and Wulfric, distantly noticing the dozen missed calls from Pom before climbing back onto the Daytona and blasting off at full speed.
She barely stops by Wulfric's shop, only taking the time to drop Murkrow into Rebecca's arms with a brief "take care of him" before she's off again. The thick black smoke she can see coming from the general direction of Pom's home trailer after half an hour of driving at speeds she definitely shouldn't be is just the final nail in the coffin. With gritted teeth and a scowl on her face, Aileen accelerates.
The home trailer is a wreck. That's the only word that comes to her mind as she beholds the half-burning, broken, and ruined form of what used to be her and her friend's home.
"POM!" Aileen calls as jumps off her motorcycle. "POM! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!"
Only the crackling of the flames answers her.
Taking a deep breath, Aileen steps through the somehow still standing doorway and starts shifting rubble aside. After a couple minutes, she spots an arm coming from under a collapsed part of a wall and rushes over. With a grunt of effort, she gets under the piece of debris and, not without difficulty, slowly lifts it off the slumped form of Pom with a sound of metal grinding on wood. With one trembling arm keeping the wall from crushing them both, she slowly drags Pom away with her other hand, letting the piece of wall fall once they're both clear.
Grabbing Pom in a fireman carry, Aileen hastens to get some distance from the wreckage before putting the man on his back and checking his pulse. Thankfully, the man is still alive and breathing relatively easy, causing Aileen to let out a relieved sigh.
"Hopefully Wulfric gets here soon." She mutters, looking back at the home trailer. "Let's save what we can."
Digging out the fire extinguisher takes her a few minutes but, by the time she hears Wulfric's semi-truck, she manages to put the flames out.
"Aileen! What in the name of Distortion happened here?!" The mechanic demands, seeing her step out of the wreckage as he and one of his assistants are putting Pom onto a stretcher.
"What does it look like to you?!" The ravenette snaps back before shaking her head and reigning her temper. "Sorry. But I have no idea, aside from the obvious."
"Dammit!" Wulfric curses. "Who could've done this?"
"Sna... gem..." A voice croaks and they both turn to Pom, whose eyes are halfway open, darting to and fro but not really seeing anything. "'Twas... Snagem... Lass... ya there?"
"I'm here, Pom." Aileen says as she crouches beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder and squeezing it slightly.
"They c-came... lookin' for ya... but I told 'em nuthin'..." Pom continues, blinking rapidly. "Y-ya hafta... go after 'em... Ca-can't letem... get a-away..."
Aileen feels her heart drop into her stomach. "What did they do, Pom?" She asks, although she has a feeling she already knows the answer.
"Rhydon... a-an' Aron..." The man chokes out, half-sobbing. "B-bastards... took 'em..."
Aileen closes her eyes, struggling to retain her composure as Wulfric curses lowly, letting the words and their implications sink in. She should've known there had to be a reason for Snagem to be this quiet after their failed raid. She'd thought it was to consolidate their strength for an eventual bigger show of force but, clearly, she'd been wrong.
They had simply taken a step back, waited, and watched until they knew they could strike at her when she was vulnerable. It had been pure dumb luck that she hadn't been there when Snagem had attacked the home trailer. If the Pokemon Center hadn't asked to keep Poochyena for observation...
"Enough." Aileen mutters lowly to herself before letting out a breath. "Don't worry, Pom. I'll get Rhydon and Aron back. I promise." She tells her friend, standing up from her crouch. "Wulfric, can I count on you to see what can be salvaged from the home trailer?"
"Huh?" The mechanic blinks before registering her question. "I mean, sure but- where are you going?" He asks as Aileen walks back to her Daytona and climbs onto it. The young woman turns her helmeted head back to him for a moment before uttering a single word in a tone that raises the hair on the back of his neck.
"Hunting."
And so ends another chapter. This train is slowly but surely building steam.
As always, please do leave a review if it tickles your fancy. Criticism is, of course, accepted but flames and spam will be ignored.
This is MidnightFenrir, signing out.