Chapter 18: Running Away

Looker straightened out the daily newspaper. The soft sounds of crinkling paper were the only noise inside the empty International Police HQ. He yawned and sipped his evening coffee, scanning through the columns with little interest. His eyes caught onto the far too familiar name Tori Windsoar, he spat out the coffee he was drinking onto the newspaper, leaving a large brown stain. Wiping coffee off the newspaper, he read the head title: Tori Windsoar stops village from being destroyed by Snorlax.

Looker scanned through his Emails, he sighed in relief, Jenny must've not read the news yet. If she saw this story, he would have to think of another lie to explain why Tori hadn't been captured yet. Looker sighed, Jenny's obsession with Tori's family was concerning, to say the least.

He reached for his microphone and turned it on, hoping that Korrina would pick up on the other side, he impatiently wiped the coffee off the table as he waited for Korrina to hear his call.

"Looker, I never thought you would call me!" Korrina exclaimed, Looker sighed in relief, "What's the problem?"

Looker replied, "You know what the problem is, the problem is that Tori isn't here at the International Police HQ. What are you waiting for, Korrina?"

"We don't need to rush, Looker," Korrina said casually, "Oh wait Looker have you seen the news?" Korrina sounded like a sister bragging about the things her little brother did.

"Yes, I have," Looker snapped, not wanting to hear Korrina speak, "That's why he needs to be arrested now before he gets any more famous."

There was a very long pause after Looker finished, it felt like he had said something that Korrina had been avoiding for a long time. "You've grown attached to him," Looker asked.

"No, I just… Yeah, I have," Korrina stuttered, "Looker, Tori isn't a bad guy, trust me."

Looker sighed, rubbed his temples, and said, "Even if he's good you still have to arrest him, Korrina you know that."

Korrina sighed. Looker said firmly, "I don't want any excuses, just arrest Tori."

She muttered like she was still collecting her thoughts, "We want to capture Tori because he has a Colress Machine, right?"

Looker didn't bother answering the rhetorical question. Korrina continued, "Then what if I just take his Colress Machine, doesn't that mean I don't have to arrest him?"

Looker tried to find a way to argue against her, "Hm… you might be right."

Korrina said, "I just have to find where he puts the Machine and take it, much easier than arresting a person."

Looker snorted, angry that he couldn't find an issue. "That is a genius idea, good job Korrina, just please get it down before this week, I don't want to deal with an angry Jenny."

Tori wiped some sweat off his forehead. The fire that Helia had lit had burnt out a few hours ago, and only the cold wind accompanied Tori as Korrina had run off to take a phone call, leaving him alone to set up the tents for the night. Lily had tried to help him but had trouble fitting the tiny pins that kept the tent in place, now she was just hovering around Tori seeing how she could help.

After a bit of finessing Tori had constructed a tent, Helia waltzed in when he was done and plopped herself in the middle, seeming to have falling asleep after a series of strange noises. Tori was in the middle of building his own tent when he had the heart to force Helia out.

"Helia get out, this isn't our tent," Tori said in a stage whisper. Helia opened one of her eyes and growled. Tori tried to drag her out, but she growled even louder, nearly biting him. Tori shot back, his heart racing, he sighed, "You're in one of those moods again?" Tori took Helia's silence as a yes. He sighed, tonight was going to be a long night of waiting.

While Tori set up the second tent, Korrina returned. She sat down and grabbed something from her bag, fidgeting with it for a while

"Can you help me over here Korrina?" Tori said, his hands outstretched trying to set up two pegs at the same time.

Korrina replied a few minutes later, "Not now, I have a few things to do…" She continued fiddling with the device in her hands. When Tori tried to look over to see what she was doing, Korrina would turn around, blocking his view to the small device she was using.

Tori finished setting up his tent and Korrina walked in, still looking at her weird metal device, without saying anything to him. "Can you at least thank me?" Tori asked. Korrina looked back and closed the tent, leaving Tori outside on a cold night.

Tori considered opening the tent again and demanded Korrina to thank her. His hand was on the zipper when his politeness stopped himself. He grumbled and sat down on a nearby tree stump, waiting for Helia to fall asleep so he could enter the tent. The sharp night winds blew around him, carrying the harsh cries of nocturnal Pokemon. Like many nights before, Helia was staring at him and whenever Tori got close, she would growl at him. Tori tried to see what she was thinking but her mind was blank except for a few floating images of fire.

"Alright, I get the picture!" Tori shouted after he tried to enter his tent for the fifth time but was stopped again by Helia. It was already very deep in the night and the only source of light was Helia's glowing eyes, fearfully watching him.

Tori clicked Lily's Pokeball, hoping she would be more kind. She came out in a flash of blue light, looked around, and asked, "What is the matter, Tori? It is already midnight, why aren't you asleep?" Tori pointed at Helia shivering in the corner of Korrina's tent. "Oh, not again," Lily said, "Why does this keep happening?"

"Maybe she's feeling territorial," Tori suggested.

Lily reached for Helia's Pokeball, "Why don't you just return her to her Pokeball?"

Tori slapped Lily's hand, "No we can't do that. I tried that yesterday, she only got madder in the morning."

Lily gasped, "That's why I haven't seen her in a while."

"Yeah, I'm afraid she's going to hurt one of us in her moods," Tori said, "I should bring her to a Pokemon Center when I have a chance, to see what's going on."

Lily suggested, "Maybe she feels scared?"

"But what have I done to scare her into this," Tori snapped at Lily, she pointed at Helia, lying like a pile of wet clothes, growling when each one of them moved. Tori laid his head on his hands and watched Helia intently, Lily patted his back.

Lily said, "I didn't say it was your fault."

"Sorry, I guess I'm just pissed," Tori said, defeated, "I feel like everyone's taking me for granted. Hop never thanked me for anything I did, Korrina stopped doing that weeks ago, and she," He angrily pointed at Helia, "Has never thanked me once for all the times I've saved her!"

"Thank you, Tori, for all the things you have done."

Tori sighed, "Thanks, Lily."

Lily squeezed herself on the same stump as Tori, she put her leaf over Tori's cold hand. The two of them sat motionless. Tori sighed wishing that Helia would vacate her tent. "How about we go find Meteor?" Lily asked, "He typically cheers you up."

Meteor's simple mind was easier to be around than most other Pokemon, and he wanted to be near someone who would be happy to see him, "Sure, why not?" Tori said he got up from the stump, going to find Meteor.

Meteor had gotten accustomed to sleeping underwater and quite commonly would refuse to sleep in his Pokeball. Tori found him sleeping inside a little pond, his eyes were closed although he was still swimming in circles. Lily and Tori stood there watching him mindlessly swim. Bored, Tori poked the water, Meteor immediately woke up, startled by the ripples.

"Tori was that necessary?" Lily asked, she smacked Tori's shoulder. Tori looked at her apologetically.

Meteor jumped up and down excited to see the two of them, he playfully smacked the two of them with his tail fin.

"Why are you two still awake?" Meteor asked when he eventually calmed down, he stuck his head into Tori's pockets, trying to get the berries out of them.

"Helia's taking up the tent again," Tori slouched.

"You can sleep here with me," Meteor grunted kindly. Lily shook her head as if warning Tori against the idea although Tori wasn't ever going to consider sleeping in a small pond with Meteor. His head got stuck inside Tori's pocket. Tori pulled Meteor out and tossed him a berry.

Meteor said excitedly after finishing his berry, "I have a theory on why she's so aggressive."

Tori laughed, "Go ahead."

"So, you know how you said Sycamore found Helia alone. Well, I've been thinking what if she was abandoned by her tribe?" Meteor said rhetorically, hoping for a response, he continued after he realized nobody wanted to, "After all, Delphox's are known for the protectiveness of their young, the only reason that there would be a lone Fennekin would be one if she was human bred which we know is impossible, or if she was abandoned by the alpha in her tribe," Meteor said, Tori had trouble keeping up with Meteor's thoughts as they all came in rapid succession. Meteor was talking so quickly that hid words mixed with the sounds of wind. He glanced at Lily; she was looking at Meteor with pure shock.

Meteor continued, proud of his deduction and delighted by their reactions, "And there's only been one Fennekin that's been abandoned in recent history. Considering all these factors, Helia must be the one that was abandoned!"

"How do you know that?" Lily asked, flabbergasted.

"Gossip is the fastest spreading news," Meteor said philosophically, "And an abandoned Fennekin is the best gossip you can get."

Tears welled up in Lily's eyes, her leaves were over her heart, "That's so sad."

Tori thought over Meteor's logic, surprised that there were no holes, and asked, "How are you this smart but at the same time you can't even get a berry out of a pocket?"

"What do you mean, I did," Meteor said. Tori opened his mouth to rebut but saw the blue smear of berry juice on Meteor's face and closed his mouth again.

"So do you think Helia is aggressive because she doesn't trust people anymore?" Lily asked.

Tori replied thoughtfully, "I don't think so, Helia seems to trust me at least… more likely she's re-experiencing her old memories, and those memories are so vivid she thinks we're an enemy or someone she can't trust. But I don't know, I've never seen what she was thinking when she's sleeping."

"It sounds like she has PTSD. The poor thing," Lily sighed, and she wiped her eyes.

"But that doesn't just make it okay to be so aggressive toward us," Tori said angrily but even he didn't believe his own words. Tori couldn't feel as angry toward Helia as he did before.

"I'm going to go back now," Tori yawned, he stretched and started walking back. Lily followed behind him, she reached for her Pokeball and returned to it, preparing to slumber as well, "Good night, Meteor."

Back at camp, Helia was scared, even though there was nothing to scare her. Helia had brought herself back to where she used to live, the place which scared her the most. She was around her mother, which was always scary but now she was especially scared. Her much larger elder brother was staring down at her cowering figure. Helia whimpered and blew a measly flame at him. The crowd of Delphox and younger evolutions booed at her miserable performance. Helia's brother grinned and dashed over to her. Before Helia could react, he had pinned her to the dirt and his mouth was wide open, preparing to burn Helia.

"Enough, the duel is over, Helia has lost- again," The Queen, Helia's mother, said lazily. Helia's brother kept his claw tightly on Helia, starting to choke her. The Queen pretended not to notice this and chewed slowly on a berry she had someone else pick. When Helia was beginning to make gagging noises, she finally spoke, "Release her."

Helia's brother moved his claws away from her neck. Helia breathed in sharply, savoring the cool air, her brother walked around her and back to her mother's side. The crowd looked at Helia with disgust, she was a smear on the species' reputation.

"You are a failure," The Queen said sharply, she got up from her throne of vines and walked over to Helia. Using her long staff, The Queen's mother hit Helia in multiple places, ignoring her cries of pain, and with every hit she insulted her.

"Stand up runt," The Queen growled, Helia shakily stood up. She said, "You have been nothing but a disappointment for the whole tribe, you simply lack the brains, the resources, and the talent to be a Fennekin. Maybe you should become a Magikarp instead." The tribe of Delphox, Braixen, and Fennekin laughed hesitantly, unsure of whether the Queen was joking or not.

"That is why," The Queen said emotionlessly, "I will be banishing you from the tribe."

The group gathered around to watch all collectively gasped, nothing like this had ever happened before. Helia had no idea what banishing meant but she could feel the atmosphere change and felt scared because of it. Many of the older Delphox turned their disgustful gazes at the Queen.

"How dare you," One Delphox shouted, "We never abandon our young, no matter how worthless!"

The Queen glared at him for one second like she was making up her mind. She opened her mouth and erupted a fireball large enough to cause an extinction event. It burned through the old Delphox's head, reducing him to cinders. The fireball continued to charge through the forest like a blood-frenzied soldier. The rest of the crowd became silent. The Queen shouted, "Who else here wants to question my decision."

Ethereal the Delphox pushed the shocked crowd aside, she rushed over to The Queen and bowed before her, "My Queen," Ethereal said, while on her knees "I trust your judgment but don't you think this is too harsh of a punishment." Helia edged towards her, wanting to feel her warmth.

"Would you like something quicker, perhaps," The Queen grinned, a fireball appeared in her hand, and she prepared to aim it at Helia.

"No don't kill her. Can't we keep her, please? I'll keep training her, she'll get better, please!" Ethereal begged, she was attaching herself to the hems of The Queen's dress.

The Queen sneered, "She's a runt, and worse of all a runt that can't wield fire. She can't even do the simplest things required to be a Fennekin. Either we banish her from this forest, or we banish her from life"

Ethereal looked down, and the Queen grinned, happy to have crushed her. Suddenly, Ethereal pleaded, "Then banish me as well. Let me go with her."

The Queen looked at Ethereal's pleading eyes, she wanted to deny her satisfaction but an awful idea sparked into her head, "Gladly."

Ethereal stood up visibly relieved, Helia stood up with her, still unknowing of what banishment meant but glad that she would be with Ethereal. The Queen walked up to Ethereal and whispered into her ears, "You better pray for Helia because I will make sure nobody will help her," The Queen blew a wisp of fire into Ethereal's ear, using her psychic powers she expanded the flame. Ethereal clutched her head as the fire grew, burning into her skull, she yelped and her head burst. Ethereal fell over like a plank beside Helia.

Helia sat down, too shocked to stand. Rage built up inside her and the first time she felt her inner flame lit, "You murdered her!"

"I just made sure my orders would be respected, like all queens should do," The Queen grinned, proudly looking over Ethereal's dead body like it was her masterpiece, "Now run away weakling before I decide to kill you too."

Helia growled and for the first time in her life, she blew a good line of fire, aimed directly at the Queen. Caught by surprise, the fire hit the Queen's foot. The Queen fell over and screamed. Helia gasped, surprised at her power, the crowd stared at Helia, the only person to ever injure the Queen. The Queen grasped at Helia but missed as Helia ran away, unable to catch her she shouted, "Whoever brings Helia back to me shall be handsomely rewarded!"

The crowd all leaped out of their positions and ran away from the Queen to catch Helia. The Queen added angrily, "Alive! I want to kill her myself!"

Tori sighed. He didn't want to believe that Helia had been abandoned but now the evidence had been laid in front of him. The closer Tori got to camp the more vivid Helia's memories became until her memories were overlapping with the things he was seeing, "Maybe she does have PTSD," Tori said, he clutched his head, he could feel Helia's intense fear as she was being chased by a crowd of Delphox, "It's like she's still there."

The campsite was deathly quiet and the fire that Tori lit had burnt out, plunging the camp into darkness. He squinted to find the two tents, he found the one that Korrina was sleeping in, the fabric of the tent was strangely warm. He stumbled upon the tent Helia was in. It was wide open, letting the cold wind into the tent. Tori tiptoed into the tent carrying his sleeping bag. Trying to make as little noise as possible, he got into his sleeping bag, keeping an eye on the sleeping Helia. Unfortunately, the noise of the zipper woke Helia up again. Helia shot up and squeezed herself deep into the opposite corner, growling at him. Tori leaped up, he backed away from Helia as well, trying to leave the tent. Tori's heart was racing as he hopped out of the tent still in his sleeping bag, Helia was still growling at him even after he left the tent and entered the cold lonely night. Tori turned around and looked at Helia, after he got a safe distance away he angrily asked, "Helia can you calm down?" The only response he got was annoyance that he hadn't left yet. As soon as the annoyance disappeared, Helia's memories of being banished returned. Tori sighed, maybe it wasn't her fault that she didn't trust him, the one person who helped her had died at the hands of her mother.

When Tori was about to fall asleep, he heard a near-silent high-pitched cry. He looked around, afraid that some dangerous Pokemon had arrived. He was seconds away from waking up Korrina when he realized that the voice was coming from Helia.

Helia's legs were moving frantically, so frantically it seemed like she was running. She was whimpering quietly in the corner of the tent; Tori could see the glisten of tears fall down her cheeks. Tori felt a strong tug of sympathy, he hesitantly got out of his sleeping bag and quietly walked over to Helia. The closer he got to Helia the stronger he could feel the fear emanating off of her. Tori saw snippets of her being chased by random Delphox, barely escaping them each time.

"Helia I'm not here to hurt you," Tori said comfortingly, he entered the tent and reached toward Helia, still afraid to get any closer. Helia's fear disappeared into shock, she leaped away, her fur and tail upright, smoke came out of her nose, and she growled like a feral Pokemon. Tori took a deep breath and kept going until he reached her head. Tori's warm hand stroked Helia's fur, her growls softened as she was comforted by the familiar soft petting. She lay back down, her breathing slowing.

"Thank you Ethereal," Helia said softly, "I feel much better now." She tiredly crawled over to Tori, crawling inside his sleeping bag. Helia fell asleep quickly. Tori tried to squeeze himself back into the sleeping bag without disturbing Helia but after a few minutes of delicate wiggling, he gave up. He bundled himself up in a jacket to keep himself warm and lay down facing Helia. Half her body had been tucked inside the sleeping bag and only her head, which was peacefully resting on her paw, was sticking out. Her ears had been wrapped around her eyes like a tiny sleeping mask. Tori, without reason, felt the urge to smile.

"Good night, Helia."

Korrina peeked out of her tent and exited it swiftly. She snuck over to Tori's tent with a small metallic device in her hands. It might have taken her all night to tune but now it would perfectly determine the location of the Colress Machine. It took her a while to find Tori's bag in the darkness until she nearly tripped on it. After making sure nobody woke up, Korrina used the device. It hummed softly as it scanned the bag, Korrina watched as numbers and words were added to the screen. Adrenaline heated Korrina in the cold night.

"Nothing?" Korrina asked, very confused. The device stated that the Colress Machine wasn't in the bag. "Maybe Tori always has it on himself?"

She looked over the corner of the tent Tori was sleeping in, after she saw that he was asleep she tip-toed into his tent. Using the device, she scanned Tori. To make sure the noise didn't wake Helia or Tori she muffled the device with her hand. On her way out, she could hear the soft rustle of the sleeping bag, sweat dripping down her face, had she been caught? She turned around Helia and Tori were both sleeping peacefully. "Guess I was just scaring myself," Korrina sighed but, on her way, out she felt like she was being watched.

When Korrina had reached her tent, she read the device. Impossible, the device must be wrong, why would the Colress Machine be there? She returned to Tori's tent and impatiently scanned Tori again, not even bothering to muffle the humming noise the device made. Too anxious, Korrina didn't even bother to leave the tent instead reading the device right above Tori. She looked at the reading multiple times and each time her heartbeat grew quicker. Her heartbeat grew so loud she couldn't even hear the sounds of Helia waking up. Korrina couldn't trust her own eyes because right in front of them was Tori's death sentence.

The Colress Machine had been implanted inside Tori's brain.

I will be taking a short break after this chapter, don't worry i will return.