Always Audacity

Chapter IV - Stuff ain't what its made up to be

Sam ducked and weaved, trying to make up the distance between himself and those murdering sods. Licking his lips, he forced a determined look on his face, looking to keep up his confidence as he fled.

The truth was with his heart now pounding in his chest and threatening to blow out of it, he was terrified. Pokémon don't murder things! Do… do they?

He slowed, taking a sharp breath. Okay okay, just need to get to that road… oh shit, what if they were lying about that!?

"Stop pissing around and find that little brat!"

Head snapping round, he could hear the thumping footsteps of that Swampert coming up from behind him. Still chasing him… Dang it… even if I can outrun him, the Pidgey will keep pace… I need a better idea and q- wait, the trees!

Eying one particularly big oak, Sam kicked himself up and onto the first branch, grunting as he scrambled to pull himself up and onto it… only to half gasp as he nearly slipped off the other side with a creak, grabbing hold of a small branch to hold himself there. Right… I have no idea how to climb a tree…

"He went this way!"

Gulping, Sam pulled himself back up to his feet, looked up, and leapt again. Making his way that little bit higher into the tree with each and every jump. Just as he broke into the leaves proper, the Swampert forced his way into the clearing below, eyes narrowed as they scanned all directions. The Pidgey hovered in next to him and finally, the Rattata came in at their rear. Sam tightened his grip on one of the bark. Come on mates… move on, move on…

The Swampert's head snapped towards the Pidgey, a low growl rumbling forth. "I told you not to lose him!"

The bird merely narrowed his eyes, "If we were on a field. Easy. I can either track him or dodge trees. I can't do both."

As the Rattata marched onwards, the big amphibian could only let out a heavy growl in reply, "Grr… Well, he can't have got far. If we split up, we might be able to cover more ground."

"He's a Scorbunny, he ain't exactly slow."

"I'm not an idiot! Just… let me think."

The Rattata was now out of view with the other two Mons still at the edge of the clearing. Sam held his breath, trying to not shiver in the treetop. Come on you assholes… get out of here…

At last, the big Swampert seemed to straighten up, eyes fixed on something further ahead on the ground. "Let's move out, see if we can track down that rat a little further. If not, who's gonna believe him anyway? We'll get rid of the bodies, get our pay and be off this rock before anyone bothers to look."

Bodies? There was more than one?

Sam watched as the Swampert and the Pidgey drifted by underneath him and out of sight. But he didn't move. He stayed frozen where he was, not even daring to breathe as the footsteps began to fade away.

He waited one minute. Then another.

And after the third, he finally let out a sigh of relief. Okay… better drop down and go a completely different direction bef-

A massive crack rang out beneath him, the entire tree shuddering as the Scorbunny was thrown forward, wrapping his arms round his branch. His heart pounded again, squirming against the wood. What the flying f-

Something snapped… and he could feel the air shift as the tree began tilting... toppling over. "Oh come on!" he barked, as he struggled to get his feet onto the branch… and with another kick, blew clear of the leaves.

Straight into the Pidgey.

Crying out, he tried to throw a wild punch, hoping to catch the bird's wing… but it only tasted thin air as he flailed helplessly past. A second later, he struck the ground face first with a dull thud. Moaning, Sam pushed himself back up to find himself staring down the Swampert rubbing his front paws together. That tree was just a punching bag to him! But how did he know-

Down next to him, the Rattata was flashing a toothy grin at him, a big, leafy branch twice his size hanging out of his mouth. Plus, the pristine leaves all scattered across the ground between Sam and the criminals. He bit off a curse at that. Damn it… must have broke it off when I tried to climb up! Pushing himself back up to his feet, Sam glared back at the three Pokémon blocking his path again. The Swampert merely pulled its toothless grin once more. "Think you were being clever huh? Should have kept running kid."

Suddenly sensing a flash of heat within him, the Scorbunny raised his paws, tightening them into fists. "You've still gotta catch me yo-"

All other words were destroyed as the beam of water slammed into his chest. Pain tore through him, his ribs screaming as if they were being crushed as he was thrown back. His breath stolen away. I-I can't m-

He felt his head snap back against something hard, and he saw no more.

Sam groaned as he slowly came to, his entire head throbbing as if someone had rammed an electric toothbrush into his skull. His chest too ached, and for a moment he half thought his ribs were broken. Slowly and weakly, he moved one paw up onto his chest, taking in a sharp intake of breath as pain pulsed along his skin… but they felt intact. His vision blurred, his other paw drifting back to behind his head… and when the furry hand came back into view, the pristine white fur was now red, dripping with ichor.

"Damn, you survived that? You're tougher than you look."

In that moment, Sam realised that he was being dragged across grass under an open sky. T-The c-clearing? "W-W-Wha… W-Where are you t-taking me?"

"Somewhere I can give you a choice buddy."

The injured Scorbunny could only moan in response, barely noticing his leg getting dropped as his vision cleared a little bit… revealing the dark shape of that big leader. "I was just gonna kill ya and leave your corpse where no one would find you. But you're not half ballsy for a rabbit." He grunted, "So, you can join our crew and we'll patch you up. Or… well… you can end up like this lot."

Something pushed… no, pulled Sam upright, and his vision, whilst still dark around the edges, cleared up. It was the clearing he had first encountered them and…

His heart went still, unable to tear his eyes away from the bodies. The yellow body from before he recognised as a Pikachu. Their eyes were shut and their face was relaxed… but the amount of blood covering them, especially round their neck…

His eyes flicked over to the others. A light blue coloured turtle, its head twisted at an awkward angle. And another larger bug like mon, wings torn up… and another yellow mon, even smaller than the Pikachu with-

Unable to look any longer, Sam tore his gaze away, his stomach churning from both pain and… that damn sight. "You…" he gasped, "Want me to join you? To kill!?"

"Eh, ruffle them up sure. Kill? Eh, we try and avoid that. But you know what us Pokémon are like. Once we start fighting it's not easy to stop, you know?"

Eyes squeezed shut, the Scorbunny could only shake his head. "B-But this isn't just killing! You've torn them apart!"

He could hear that damn Swampert chuckle behind him, "Hey. We're just doing what we can to get through life. With the disasters coming back, only makes sense. So, whatcha say?"

Feeling the tears forming at the edge of his eyes, Sam slowly pushed himself up, he took a step forward, stumbled. His vision was clearing now, and a quick glance behind revealed the Swampert, now flanked on both sides by the Pidgey and the Rattata… with the bodies in plain view next to them.

No… I'm… he punched the ground and shakingly pushed himself back up. I'm- I'm not…

Stumbling once more, he managed to turn round to face the team, his breathing laboured. "No… I'm not becoming a killer just to stay alive for a few days longer!"

Weakly, he raised his paws up, trying to ready himself for the next blow. "I… I'd rather die."

The Swampert merely shrugged, "Welp… sorry to hear that."

With that he opened his mouth, a blue ball of energy beginning to form within, softly humming.

His arms continued to shake. Sam knew he wasn't walking away from this, never mind running. This… it's it…

As the orb started to look like a water ball, Sam could only close his eyes… and brace for the inevitable hit. For his bones to break…

Instead, the hum was cut out, and replaced with an almighty crack… and a surprised cry.

He opened his eyes.

Standing between him and the Swampert was a bipedal, avian like Pokémon with predominately red feathers, although also mixed in with yellow and beige ones too whilst cold, blue eyes were fixed on the water type… who had seemed to have backed off, rubbing his chin as his eyes burned. A… A Blaziken!? Where did he-

"I'm going to give you one chance." Stated the fire-type, eyes somehow looking even colder as he stared down the criminal. "Hand yourselves in."

"Or what?!" The Swampert barked, "You can't kick my ass!"

"I can. And so can this team."

The Rattata and Pidgey rushed forward, readying their attacks as they came down on the Blaziken… but Sam barely registered the shapes that rushed past him and the fire type in a blur of colour.

The Gallarde struck first, it's bladed arm rushing up to meet the Pidgey head on. Sam could just make out the bird's eyes widening before the blade slammed into its body. With a pained cry, the bird shot up well into the sky and out of sight. The Rattata, despite being on the ground, managed to leap back just as the Scyther slashed at him with their own blades. Its teeth flashed as it reared back, glowing as it readied itself for-

Too late, as the second blade struck across the whole length of the Rattata. With little more than a gasp, the rat was tossed aside, rolling across the grassy field as a battered pulp.

The Swampert roared, rearing back as it tore a boulder from the ground and tossed it towards the Blaziken.

Without even blinking, the fire-type merely stepped to one side, allowing it to bounce past them and the still frozen Sam, chips flicking off and landing just in front of the Scorbunny. Only then did the fire type finally strike, leaping up into the air with an almighty kick into the earth.

The Swampert could barely react before the Blaziken's clawed foot slammed down onto his head with a thunderous crack. Groaning, he stumbled back, but the Blaziken came after him with a barrage of punches and kicks, each one striking the bigger mon in the face. Bloodying it up and driving it back further and further. Sam could only look on in shock as the fighter pummelled the water-type into submission as with a final scream, their legs erupted into flames. Spinning round, the Blaze Kicks struck the Swampert in the chest with a powerful snap.

The big brute stumbled back moaning, shuddered… and toppled over with a thud, out cold.

Sam could tell his mouth was agape, his body still shivering from the surprise… from the power of each strike… and with fear.

Brushing it's shoulder off, the Blaziken turned round to face him.

Sam froze, his heart going cold.

The Blaziken seemed to relax as it looked down on him, it's blue eyes not looking as fierce. Likewise, the other two Pokémon had turned to face him too, looks of concern evident even as the Scyther cast a glance in the direction of the corpses.

The Scorbunny was about to utter a word when something blinked in the sky, just behind the Blaziken. A brown and tan shape diving down at high speed… its wings glowing white. The Pidgey…

And it was diving straight for the Blaziken.

Something burned within Sam, fear replaced by desperation as his eyes widened. Desperation turned into instinct as some new found strength shot through his body. One eye snapped towards the boulder… and one of the broken fragments laid out directly in front of him.

Screaming, Sam dashed forward… feeling a surge of heat running through his legs as he brought his foot back and brought it down with all the force he could muster.

The pebble ignited instantly, the little fireball shooting forward into the air. Eyes widening, the Blaziken jerked aside. Not that it was needed, as the Ember rushed past… and straight at the Pidgey.

The bird screamed as the fireball struck it in the face, the glowing wings flashing back to normal as it was blown back with an horrific bang. The bird spun in mid-air and slammed into the ground.

Even in his state, Sam could see it's chest smoking, the faint twitching of its wings the only indicator that the Pidgey was still alive.

The Blaziken took a second to glance at the downed Pidgey, before it finally turned back towards the Scorbunny… looking almost amazed… or surprised.

His body was already quivering again, feeling like jelly as he looked up at the evolved fire-type.

Sam just managed to muster up the remaining strength to pull a small grin.

"So… that's how Ember works…"

And with that, Sam toppled forward and fell face first into the dirt.