CHAPTER SEVEN:

THE STORM

-Udon-

As I opened my eyes, I could hear the sound of rain outside.

It hadn't rained the entire time we had been in Talardi. In fact, it hadn't even rained since I woke up as a Pokémon for the first time.

It seemed to be coming down hard, and a loud crack of thunder shot me out of my slumber.

Ruffles was in the bed next to mine, but the covers were pulled above his head, and I could hear a low whimper.

"Ruffles? You okay?" I asked.

He pulled the covers down so I could see his head. He looked scared.

"I guess," he answered. "It's just kinda loud. The thunder, I mean."

I hadn't really thought about it, but it must not be fun having the heightened senses of a wolf. He could probably hear the thunder way clearer than I could.

Just then, another bright light filled the room, followed by a burst of thunder, which made Ruffles pull his head back under the covers.

"We should probably head to work soon," I said. "We need a little more money if we want to get supplies."

It took Ruffles a minute to respond. "I'm getting up," he finally said, beginning to peek his head back out.

Amp had left already. Most likely to find some kind of job.

I decided to leave my mail bag in the room, but Ruffles insisted on wearing his new flannel.

"I like it. It makes me feel human," he said, putting it on.

I couldn't blame him. In his situation, it must feel nice to have something to remind him how his old life was like.

Getting outside, the rain was pouring down on us, and it didn't really seem to be letting up. Every once in a while, there would be a flash of lightning in the sky, and the sound of thunder would follow.

Ruffles seemed in a hurry to get out of the rain, and, obviously, I did too. But, in his case, he just really wanted to get away from the thunder and lightning.

When we got to the restaurant, we were both soaking wet, but we dried off and made our way out back to the kitchen.

As the day continued, the rain kept pouring down. Customers kept coming in, and leaving us with more plates to clean.

We never really talked with any of our coworkers. We had no idea what they were even like. We mostly just kept to ourselves.

Then, the day's end had finally come, after what felt like forever, but we were still in the kitchen cleaning up. No one else was around but me and Ruffles.

Ruffles still felt a little shaken up after the storm, which was still, somehow, raging on.

"I can't wait to get back to the inn," he said. "It's been a long day."

"Yeah, it really has." I said back. "I…"

I was interrupted by something. A Pokémon had opened the door.

As it moved inside, I got a good look at it. It looked like some kind of reptile, standing on two legs, with sharp claws on its hands and feet. The thing that stood out about it was the fact that it had large tusk-like appendages that looked like axe blades.

Ruffles scooted behind me. We could both tell this creature was not going to be peaceful.

"Uh, excuse me," I said, feeling unsteady. "You can't be back here. This is for employees only."

The creature smirked and chuckled.

"My name is Hassel," he said. "And my sole purpose is to dispose of the anomalies that have cast their shadow on this world."

He was not making any sense. What was an anomaly?

Ruffles began to whimper behind me. I tried to keep my cool for him, but I didn't know how long I could go without breaking.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "What's an anomaly?"

"The anomalies. They are polluting this place like a sickness," Hassel said back. "The only way to keep the peace…"

He stuck out his claws, they looked sharper than blades.

"…is by KILLING YOU!" he continued.

Just then, he lunged forwards, swiping at us with his claws. I managed to get out of reach, but just barely.

Ruffles seemed like he wanted to run, but instead, he sunk beneath the kitchen counter.

As he lunged again towards me, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my arm. He had nicked me.

It wasn't enough to kill, but it started to bleed. Which answered my question of whether or not I could.

Hassel kept attacking, and I tried my best to dodge each blow, but I ended up with quite a few scratches and cuts.

"Why are you doing this?!" I asked.

My question only seemed to enrage him. "I already told you!" he answered. "You are an anomaly! You're not a part of this world! You must be eliminated!"

How did this creature know we were from another world? Had he been watching us, waiting for the right time to strike?

"No! You don't understand!" I said, trying to reason with him. "We're trying to get back home!"

"That's the point," he said back. "I must stop that from happening."

Another strike came from him, and this time, the pain was too much, so I fell over.

"Say goodbye," Hassel said, looking down at me, a cruel intent in his eyes.

"Is this it?" I thought. "Am I going to die? And if so, what about Ruffles? What's going to happen to us?"

Just then, behind Hassel, I heard something.

"Stay away from him!" I heard. It was Ruffles. He was holding a sharp kitchen knife.

Hassel turned around, surprised. He must not have thought Ruffles would stand up for me.

Then, he started laughing.

"You really think some little knife is gonna kill me?" Hassel asked. "You really are stupid creatures."

Hassel then lunged towards Ruffles, about to slash his claws through him. But at the last second, Ruffles dodged the attack, and managed to stab him.

Or at least, he tried to.

Hassel's skin was stronger than we had realized, and the blade of the knife managed to not pierce it whatsoever.

"Oh sh…" Ruffles started to exclaim, until Hassel slashed at him.

"No!" I yelled out.

Ruffles fell to the ground, a large wound now beginning to bleed out on his chest.

"You monster!" I screamed, getting myself off the ground.

It took everything I got, but I managed to get up. I couldn't let my friend die on me. I made a promise when I first met him that I would not have anything bad happen to him.

I was gonna keep that promise.

Squeezing my paw, I could hear what sounded like sparks. Looking down at it, I realized why.

There were little flickers of light bouncing off of it. Like tiny lightning.

Hassel glanced over at me, and shock filled his face.

"What the…?!" he stammered. "That's… that's impossible!"

"Get away from my friend," I said, the power inside beginning to grow.

"How are you doing that?!" Hassel asked. "No Pokémon has been able to use their full power in centuries!"

I stared at him. He hurt Ruffles, and now he was going to pay.

"I said, get away from him!" I yelled.

Hassel began to pull himself back. He knew what was going to happen to him.

But I couldn't stop now. I needed to protect my friend.

I ran forwards, my paw now charged fully with electric power, and punched Hassel with all my might.

A large booming noise, not dissimilar to the thunder we heard earlier, erupted through the room.

And then, Hassel fell to the floor.

As the power began to drain from inside of me, I looked down at the Pokémon I had just attacked.

He was still alive, and still conscious, which was both good and bad.

Good, because I didn't actually kill anyone. Bad, because now who knows what he would do to us.

Thankfully, Hassel was too stunned to do anything but stare at me.

"You should have listened," I said to him.

He got up and bolted out the door, scared to see what would happen if he stayed.

Then, I looked at Ruffles. He had been injured badly. A large cut pierced through him. The good thing was that it hadn't cut too deep into him, and his heart and other organs seemed fine.

But he was unconscious.

And I was starting to feel dizzy.

I don't know if it was because of my injuries, or the fact that I had just used up all of my energy punching Hassel, but I was about to pass out.

Then, my body hit the floor, and I fell into a deep sleep.