"Ghost"

I hooked a corner and staggered into a quiet alley far from the scuffle, a place to sit, rest, and tend to my wound.

Arceus, that wasn't pleasant. If there was any consolation, the shocking Pride gave me numbed the area a little. On the way here, my entire hand became slick very quickly. I didn't want to look at it; I knew it wouldn't be good.

Removing my hand, it certainly wasn't pretty. My black hoodie got a new set of holes where that damn pokémon bit me, and all around was a dark red; I was leaking pretty bad.

Fuck, that's going to need stitching, isn't it?

Tossing around a garbage pile, I was glad to see my backpack I'd hidden before the plan this morning. I unzipped a side compartment, fishing around until I found a needle and thread. Not ideal, but what other choice was there?

Something made a noise at the entrance of the alleyway. I pulled the tranquilizer on instinct, but it was only a threat; I hadn't had time to reload it.

At the entrance was an Eevee, who responded by cowering. Was that the same one when I fought Pride? Did it follow me here?

"Eevee! Eevee, Eev…"

Well, the fact it didn't run away meant it wanted something. Great.

"Hold on," I said, digging through my bag again and pulling out a black box with an earpiece wired to it.

It was a Diamond Labs invention, a high-end device they call the "Dialectical Comprehension Unit" or something, though everyone called it "Di-Com." I had no idea how it worked, but it translated pokémon speech into something humans could understand. Being the equipment handler of my former group, they burdened me with this and other tools they hardly ever used.

I clipped the black box component into my utility belt and popped in the earpiece.

"Okay, now what do you have to say?"

It tilted its head. "What's that thing?" It asked; the voice coming through the earpiece sounded feminine, but I never knew with this thing.

"It's a device that allows me to understand you," I said. At this, the pokémon's eyes widened.

"Wait, you can understand me?"

I sighed. "Wasn't that what I just said?" I glanced at my shoulder. "Now, what do you want? I have important things to tend to."

"R-right, sorry…" It said, inching closer. "I need help getting back home," it said.

I dug through my backpack for more supplies. "Why should I?"

It seemed shocked at this answer, like this possibility wasn't expected. "Because you're the only one who knows how to get there! I don't know where I am or what direction even to take…"

Only one? It spoke like we knew each other, and I knew where it lived. I'd only seen one Eevee in the wild before, and that was only… wait…

Uh no.

I took a deep breath. "And could you describe to me where you lived?"

It brightened up. "I lived in a forest at the foot of some mountains with my mother and brother… where you captured us," it said.

Well, shit. This Eevee was the same one we captured while hunting that off-colored Glaceon for Ryker, and it was asking a lot. "You want me to take you all the way to the Craag Province? That's halfway across the Arceus-damned nation! Do you even know how far that is?"

"Please! I need your help! None of your packmates would do it; I need to get back home…"

Ignoring the strange language, I took in the task being asked of me and thought for a moment. Taking this request would be a long journey through the rest of this province and the entirety of Ferta. Though, where was I headed? My plan was to head to the tip of Seren and try to survive there as long as possible. It was the coldest and least populous of all provinces, the ground was white year-round, and no one went there on purpose unless they wanted to break from society; it was perfect.

There was nothing there waiting for me, and I didn't know if I had what it took to survive there, but that was alright; dying there was fine in my eyes, but taking the coward's way out before then was not acceptable.

Craag was on the way to my own goal, but despite the convenience of the request, I didn't prefer to take it. "That's like a month of walking, nonstop. Why can't you just make a new home here?"

The pokémon shifted uncomfortably. "Well, I wouldn't survive by myself. Things are so peaceful in the forest; fighting was hardly necessary. I'm weak; I won't survive here. Please, help me get back," it begged.

'Tough luck, welcome to the real world,' is what I wanted to say, but the words wouldn't leave my tongue, and to say I didn't know why would be a blatant lie. Unlike those pokémon in the Carbon building, I had a direct hand in fucking up this Eevee's life.

I should've just ignored those rustling bushes.

So, as I looked at my shoulder, still bleeding despite the pressure I applied, the decision would need to come sooner rather than later.

"Fine, I'll take you back, but you will do what I say when I say it. Got it?"

The pokémon jumped in place. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, human!"

"Yeah, yeah, just go sit over there and keep watch; I need to take care of this," I said, pointing back to the alleyway entrance.

Elated, it did as it was told and left me to tend to my wounds.

"Shit," I sighed, preparing a rag and sterilizing fluid. This was going to suck.

It was a cloudy night in central Idian, but that was okay. It wasn't like we'd see anything besides neon signs and several-story buildings as we made our way through Spin City.

As much as I desired to avoid the heart of town, I wanted to ensure I'd thoroughly vanished. Everywhere one looked, people were wasted, high, or some combination of both as they shuffled to their destination… if they had one. They poured into speakeasies and casinos, and none seemed to come out.

In the streets, overpriced cars drove nice and slow; some even had a dick-measuring contest by giving their engines a good rev.

One might have thought the night would beckon the people back to their homes, but that wasn't true here; the city was the liveliest when the people should've been sleeping on an early Wednesday morning.

My four-legged company thankfully piped up as we walked through the active part of the city, practically stuck to my side. It was probably stressed from the activity and the looks it kept getting from people, but we had to get through the city as soon as possible.

I wished these assholes would quit staring and get back to their pathetic lives. If anyone was trying to track me down right now, they would have an easy time with every other head turned my way. I didn't even know why we were garnering this much attention.

As much as I hated crowds, I had to admit that cities at night were quite nice in their own way, though more so when you could observe from some distance away. As I thought that, I narrowly avoided some dude retching onto the sidewalk… Classy.

Definitely not my ideal getaway.

After forty-five minutes of walking, the crowds finally began to thin as we neared the other side of the active city. The sky was no help in telling the time tonight, so I consulted my phone; it was half past two in the morning.

I recognized the nearby buildings, telling me I was heading the right way. I'd stashed some of my stuff somewhere nearby. Hopefully, memory serves.

"Are we almost out of this place?"

Spying an alley that seemed clear, I moved us in that direction. The last thing I wanted was a run-in with a mugger, so the desire to get off the streets was great.

"Hey, did you hear me, human?"

I sighed. "Yes, I heard you."

"Well? Are we almost out? I don't like this place…" it whimpered.

There was no time to stop, so I kept walking. "What does it matter? You still have the rest of the way to go, so save your breath for the walk."

The alleyway grew closer; the idea was to get in, get my stuff, and get out.

The payload, however, had different ideas. "N-no, no, no… I don't want to go in there," it squeaked and stopped at the mouth.

"That's fine, you don't have to. Good luck finding your way back home," I said, pressing onward.

"W-wait! Where are you going?"

My footsteps bounced around the alleyway. Whether it comes or not is not my problem, but not too long after, I sensed their presence behind me again.

I truly thought it would've been too skittish to follow, but I shouldn't have been surprised since it walked through all of downtown with me.

Whatever, I just had to navigate through this labyrinth, grab the stuff, and get out of there.

I stepped in something rough. I lifted my right leg and saw the shattered remains of a beer bottle; the shards glimmered threateningly in the light of the street lamps. Looking further out, I saw the entire alley was like this. Some kids must've been having fun.

I had no issues walking through them with my thick boots, but looking at the other party, nothing but bare paws. We wouldn't be getting anywhere fast if it got carved up.

"Why'd you stop?"

I gave it a dumb look. "Because there's broken glass there, stupid," I said.

It tilted its head at me. I realized after way too long it didn't know what glass even was; it was a wild pokémon. I felt myself frustrated.

"Glass. Sharp. Will cut the shit out of you if you walk over it with your bare feet," I explained.

"Oh," it said. "What do we do?"

I briefly considered turning around and finding another way, but that'd be wasting valuable time. It couldn't be helped; I sighed. "Sit down."

It did as told, sitting on the cold pavement. I walked around it and awkwardly felt around for the best way to pick it up. I looked like an idiot trying to figure this out, so I grabbed its small frame at the midsection and hoisted it under my arm. It was light but had some weight.

"Ugh," it heaved.

It felt weird feeling its mass against me and the fur of its body and mane on my fingertips. Why did it feel so strange?

The crunching continued as I navigated through the alleyways, trying to remember where I might've left everything.

Not down that way or anywhere to the right. I had to have stashed everything behind a dumpster or something…

I didn't notice the second set of footsteps crushing glass until the Eevee was flailing in my grasp. I whipped around, pulling the baton from my belt.

"Whoa, whoa, friend, no need for that." It was a dude about my age, maybe younger. He wore jeans and a white shirt with a pocket protector, inside which was a pack of cigarettes.

He checked every box for a stereotypical stoner, so I put the weapon back on my belt. "What do you want?" I asked.

The dude shrugged. "Nothin' much, just out for a walk on this lovely night," he said before looking at me closer. "Hey, aren't you that guy from the terrorist group?"

I would've knocked him out then and there, but the look in his eyes told the story. "Wouldn't you like to know? I ask again, what do you want?"

"Word on the street said you didn't have a pokémon; where'd you get her?"

"Her?" I asked. "How do you know it's a 'her'?"

The dude shook his head. "You're carrying her like a piece of lumber, man; everything you need to know this is on display. Have you never even checked? Man, the rumors have something going for them," he said, leaning against the wall. "I could take her off your hands; how much? I got cigs, feel-goods, even a nice stack with me, but don't tell anybody," he said, going into a whisper.

Jeez, this guy was fucking weird and perverted. "Why do you want her so bad?" I asked, suspicious of where this was going.

He was quiet for an uncomfortable amount of time. I could've walked away, but I needed to know why she attracted so much attention downtown.

"Dude, do you know about pokémon at all? How rare Eevees are? How rare females are? Their species are going extinct or something, especially with the die-off. Having one is like a status symbol and a cash farm… shit, maybe I shouldn't have said that," he said before bursting into a giggling fit.

Great, sounds like this is going to be a bane wherever I go with her. The Eevee shifted in my grasp again; I took that as my cue to leave. "Thanks, but I'll be fine."

"What if I sucked your dick?"

I froze and stared at him. "What the fuck is wrong with you? I can smell the Vapor on you, dude; go home."

His face sank. "But, no, I…"

I grabbed him by the shoulder, cleared a space, and sat him down. "I want you to count how many bugs are around that light," I said, pointing at one above him.

"Dude, that's eeeeaaaaasy, there's at least like four; wait, there's another one!"

"Count 'em all."

I left him as he stared at the light, giggling.

"Vaporhead," I said, not bothering to elaborate.

More walking, more searching, until I came across a familiar, smashed-up dumpster that hadn't moved in years. "Found it," I said, putting the Eevee down.

She gagged. "Hard to breathe like that."

I ignored her and reached behind the dumpster. Excellent, everything was still here. I immediately grabbed the cans of food, taking as many as I could carry a distance.

After taking a few more odds and ends, I looked at the large plastic rectangle sitting upright against the building behind the dumpster. It was a nice steal from a previous mission. We ran into a riot squad of all things, but I got the drop on one and stole their shield and baton before we escaped.

I was getting encumbered, so I dropped my pack, produced a bungee cable, wrapped it around my body, and clipped both sides to the end of the shield.

"Alright, no more going through civilization," I mumbled, hefting my pack over my front.

"What's that thing? It looks silly."

I glared at her. "A silly-looking thing that'll keep us alive if those other three find us; now come on, we're moving."

Another half-hour or so of walking through the deserted slums and dodging late-night dwellers, the other side of the massive city was breached, but I didn't stop there.

The vast expanse of grass was a much-needed change of scenery and much easier on the feet than pavement. However, it was tinted red from the flashlight I'd retrieved from my bag.

"We hadn't gotten to know each other; my name is Elise. What's yours?"

The grass here was long and quite dry; it made swishing noises as my boots pulled through it. I wasn't worried about wild pokémon at all; to my knowledge, the area had been picked clean for some time, so it was a pleasant walk.

"Hello? You there?"

It would've been a pleasant walk if the Eevee wasn't a windbag.

"I said my name was-"

"I heard every word you said."

Silence for the sweetest of moments. "Well, then, what is it? I need something besides human to call you," she said.

"Why?" I asked. "Will that get us any closer to where we're going?"

She stumbled for a moment. "W-well, no, but it'd be-"

"Then I decline."

Her head hung. "Sorry for bothering you."

Good; that seemed to work, at least for the time being.

We walked through the open plains and came to an area with rolling hills and some trees. Specks of light ran left and right in the distance in straight lines; that highway ran from some smaller towns into Spin City. I wasn't getting anywhere near that, but it was entrancing to look at, consolation for the clouds blocking the view of the stars.

About five hours had passed since we'd started for the mountains. We trudged through the tall, dry grass parallel the highway to keep us headed in the right direction.

There was a loud rustling of grass behind me; it was the Eevee; she'd collapsed on her side. "Please, can we stop? I'm so tired…"

I sighed. We were making good time, but I was noticing she was having difficulty keeping up. "Fine, but we leave when the sun rises," I said.

She nodded and struggled to her feet before curling up properly.

With nothing else to do, I dropped my stuff and took a load off. Thankfully, nights on this side of the nation weren't that cold; there was no way I was making a fire near all this parched grass… or out in the open like we were.

My thoughts naturally drifted to the past twenty-four hours. I'd thrown out everything I'd built up over the past seven years, now I was being hunted by those I'd used to be. I didn't have anything to rely on; no plans, people to go to, or places to run.

It all was unsettling, but I'd expected to be more stressed than I was. After a little more thought, I gave up—no use wasting energy on things that didn't matter. What did matter was the ache in my torn-up shoulder once I relieved it of the weight of my pack.

Ouch, surely there were some painkillers in my bag.

Elise

I pried my eyes open with the sun peeking at the horizon. My paws ached; I hadn't had to walk this far since we'd lived in the snowy land beyond the mountains.

I remembered what the human said, that we'd continue our countless trek journey when the sun rose.

Speaking of, where were they? Their scent was strong, so they must've been nearby.

A quick survey showed they were standing at a tree a couple of paces away, pulling some unknown things out of it; they seemed humanmade.

There was still a mountain of mystery around my escort; I didn't even know their name, what their face looked like, or even their gender, for that matter! I had little experience with humans and didn't know how to tell the difference with the articles they constantly wore.

I wondered if the scent held some truth I could gain.

Slowly, I crept to my feet and approached them as quietly as possible over the dry grass before leaning over and allowing my nose to reveal some truth.

Oh, that was definitely a male scent.

I expected to learn much more beyond that, but I didn't. Humans must not utilize scents like pokémon do.

"What are you doing?"

I jumped at the sudden presence of his voice. His steely eyes were boring into mine.

"W-what are you doing?" It was all I could come up with to respond in the moment; I didn't understand why being caught made me awash with embarrassment.

"Throwing knives, waiting for you to wake up," he said, pulling the last 'knife' out of the tree. I noticed numerous holes in the tree.

"Didn't you sleep? At all?" I asked.

Half-face glanced at me. "Yeah, sleep," he laughed derisively and backed away from the tree. He was holding the strange things he pulled from the tree; they were shiny and had a sharp edge that tapered to a point.

My ears folded. "Yeah, why don't you get some rest?"

He motioned me to move away from the tree before throwing a knife at it; it stuck in the bark in a red dot he must've made on the trunk.

He nodded, though I suspected it was for his achievement, not in agreement with my suggestion. "I haven't slept in about three days, sweetheart," he said, throwing more at the tree. Most of them stuck like the first, but some bounced off.

Three days? I felt sorry for him, but his tone and how he'd been treating me since last night was getting to me. "Hey, all I did was ask a question; there's no need to be so rude!"

He wasn't bothering to look at me anymore. "I don't see your issue. I'm taking you where you want to go, just like you asked."

"Maybe it'd be nice to make friends, so we have something to take our minds off our sore paws! Maybe talk about stuff to shorten the journey?"

He threw another knife. "I prefer sore feet," he said tersely, seeming to want nothing but to shut me out of conversation.

Then I did something I didn't expect; I growled at him. "What's your problem?"

I know he heard me, but he didn't give any acknowledgment, preparing another knife.

"What's your problem, huh? Answer me, or else I'll-"

His eyes opened wide, pupils dilated, and he threw the knife. It directly hit the one stuck in the red dot, causing both to fall and clatter on a rock.

"You'll what?" He snapped, eyes fiercely trained on mine. The anger and frustration gave chilling sensations as they drained from my body.

"You'll what, huh? You'll hurt me? Go ahead, first one's free," he said, opening his arms wide.

Flustered didn't begin to describe me. Why was he so angry? He was right; I was going to threaten him, but it seemed to provoke him so much easier than trying to engage in conversation.

"C'mon! Hurt me! Teach me a lesson!"

My eyes trailed over his form, inviting me to make good on my threat. I would have to stand on five of myself to match his height. Half of his face was still obscured by some material, the same as what covered him shoulders to paws, just in better condition by my judgment.

Across his waist, he had something carrying various human things: tools, weapons, and things I couldn't begin to describe. A small part of me was curious, but the other part trembled thinking what their purpose was.

"What, is this what you're scared of?" He took off the thing around his waist. "Is this what you're scared of?" he asked again before casting it behind him. "I've got nothing now; I'm just a weak, pathetic human, now c'mon! Hit me!"

But I didn't, instead standing there, trembling. He stood where he was for some time before scoffing and shaking his head. "Damn right you would last out here," he said under his breath.

Half-face gathered the things he'd thrown in rage. "I have to get moving; I can't be seen out here when day breaks." He pointed behind him into more dry grassland. "So that means ditching the highway and running further in this shit."

"Wait, um," I dared to say. When no backlash came as anticipated, I spoke again. "Do… do you have anything to eat?"

He stared at me again, eyes without a face. It was getting kind of freaky.

"Uh, what do you eat?" he asked.

I perked up. "I eat just about whatever I'm given: meat, berries, and all kinds of fruits!"

He nodded and dug through what he called his 'bag' for a shiny, thick circle… thing.

That was what humans considered food?

But he also found some kind of tool and opened it, revealing—I couldn't believe it—oran berries!

I felt my tail batter against the grass as it wagged behind me. For some reason, I didn't expect him to feed me.

He put the berries before me, and I dug in. The juices burst forth when I bit into them, giving me the strength and energy I'd undoubtedly need for the day.

Half-face sat nearby and put his things away. I picked up the pace, not wanting to keep him waiting too long.

Wait, he hasn't eaten anything, has he? I looked over again; his leg bounced impatiently, and his eyes closed. Ready to get going.

I took the thing containing the berries in my mouth and sat it before him. The sound made him open his eyes to see me and the offering.

"Please have the rest. I don't know how long it's been since you had food, but you'll need some for the treks today."

He stared for a moment before accepting. "Alright then, let's go."

So we continued our travels. I kept trying to spur some kind of conversation to pass the time with limited success. Beyond that, the first half of the day was quite boring. There was nothing but dry grassland with a few trees scattered here and there in every direction as far as the eye could see, but only after noting this I had a thought.

Where are all the pokémon?

Looking around again, I saw some birds flying high above, possibly searching like I was, but there was nothing else on this land but us. My nose gave me hints that there were things here at one point, but they were faint and far between.

I would've asked my escort about this, but he seemed to have shut me out again a while back. I'd have to remember to ask him later.

When we stopped next, the sun was high in the sky. We'd come across a stream, and the human set everything down. "I was looking for this; now I can get a fire going," he said.

I tilted my head. "You're a fire human? You don't look like it."

He began ripping the grass out of the ground in a sizable circle. "Humans don't work like that," he said.

"Then how are you going to make fire?" I asked, genuinely curious.

He took something out of his bag and tossed it my way. It looked like a black stick with something red and thick attached to it. I still didn't understand how this was going to make fire.

After a while, there was a nice circle around us and a little divot in the center. What was that for?

"Because I don't want everything to catch on fire; it'll be harder to escape in this hole," he said.

"Oh," I muttered, though it was nice for him to answer one of my questions.

He'd found a sizable branch that'd fallen from a tree nearby and broke it with his foot into smaller pieces.

From there, he took a few sticks with some of the grass he pulled up and placed them in the hole. He then grabbed the tool he dropped and stuck it in the hole as well. It made a clicking sound, but to my amazement, there was fire!

"Whoa! How'd you do that?" I asked.

Half-face held up the object. "It's called a lighter; it ignites flammable gases. Fire's the easy part; fuel is the hard part." He stuck one of his paws in the big pile of grass he'd made. "This stuff isn't ideal; it doesn't burn long and smokes a lot, so I needed that branch. Hopefully it'll be enough to get some water boiling."

I sat and watched him as he worked. He filled a "pot" with water from the stream and propped it over the fire, adding more grass and sticks. It was interesting to see how humans survived in the wilderness; it was nothing like how Mother did it.

"Finally!" I heard him say. When I looked again, the water in the pot was starting to bubble; apparently, this was good. Another "can" was retrieved from his bag and opened with the "can opener." Again, I found myself fascinated; he could provide food without going hunting or gathering.

"Water should be good enough for soup," he said, dumping in the contents of the can: a light brown sludge. It looked unappealing, but the lovely aroma assured me this was food.

It took a bit longer, but eventually, he seemed satisfied with the result.

When the fire died out, Half-face set the pot in the pit. "Eat what you want; I'll have the rest."

I nodded and approached the food to take an experimental lick. It was still a bit hot, and the taste was earthy. Everything about it was foreign but edible, so I happily dug in and ate my fill.

"Thank you," I said, letting a smile grace my face.

"Yeah," he said, sounding exasperated. He moved in toward the food and sat before it. "Look away."

My head tilted. "Why?"

"Because I'd like some privacy while I eat," he growled.

Message received; I turned around and looked toward the way we came. I didn't understand why he needed privacy, but I didn't want to agitate him.

"A little watery, damn it." He sighed.

I'd left him over half the pot, but he finished his portion in less than half the time it took me. He could pick the pot up and pour the contents into his mouth, but it was still impressive.

"Wow, how long had you gone without eating?" I inquired.

He took a moment to think. "About fifty-four hours."

"Hours?"

A sigh left him. "Hours are a human measurement of time. There are twenty-four hours in a day, dividing it evenly. The first twelve denote night into dawn into the morning; the other twelve are for the day into dusk and back to night," He explained.

"That's so complicated!" I complained. "Why does everything need to be so complex? It's so much better to say it's day or night."

"Well, good thing you're wild and don't have to learn it, then," he said. I felt slighted; was he judging me somehow? I wasn't sure.

I straightened up. "So fifty-four hours, that's…"

"A little over two days."

"Oh. Then why didn't you eat before? You had food."

"I eat when I'm hungry," the human said and stood up. He took the pot over to the stream and dunked it in. When he pulled it out, residue still clung to the inside. "Yeah, I expected as much," he grumbled and pulled out more items from his bag; one looked like a container of water, the other I had no clue.

Apparently, these were his tools for cleaning things. He took the articles off his paws and rubbed the remaining mess away with help from some strange white foam.

He still seemed receptive to conversation, and my curiosity regarding humans only kept growing, but I decided to try asking something more personal.

"Why do you wear that?"

He glared at me. "Wear what?"

"Uh, that thing over your face?"

He continued to stare at me. "Why do you ask so many questions?" he countered and went to finish packing up. Well, should've known that was a bad idea.

I was about to get up until the grass behind me rustled, and something harshly collided with my side, knocking me away.

I wailed until my body hit the ground a couple paces from where Half-face stood. That stung.

"Damn, that's a big Ekans!" he yelled.

He was right; what had to be the biggest snake I'd ever seen now sat aggressively where the fire was. It was mostly purple with a yellow ring on its upper body and a yellow underbelly. Its slit pupils stared directly at me as its tail rattled.

"It must've smelt the food; pickings are scarce around here," Half-face said.

I barely heard him through that glare the intruding pokémon was giving me. My limbs locked up, too gripped by terror to flee.

"What are you doing? Run!"

I tried again, but it was no use; it was like I was petrified. Slowly, the snake came ever closer as it kept its relentless stare.

"ELISE!"

I flinched at the shout. Only then did I notice my aggressor had coiled up and reared back to strike; it was already too late to get away.

Before it could attack, a sharp ding was heard as what looked like the pot hit it directly in the face. It hissed in pain and probably annoyance at the denial of an easy meal.

Half-face dashed up to it, holding his silly square thing in front of himself. "Get behind me," he seethed. I didn't need to be told twice; I took cover behind the human.

"Ghost"

Why did things end up going this way? We could've made an easy escape, but the spineless furball froze up, and now I had to bail us out.

Great, just fantastic.

I studied the Ekans' movements, hardly taking my eyes off it to blink. I'd never fought serpentine pokémon before, so I had nothing to go off of.

It coiled up again and lunged forward, colliding with the shield. The blow was absorbed pretty well, but I could still recognize the power it had behind it. I didn't know how much time I had before it tried something that needed a response.

Considering options, I realized they were pretty limited: potentially waste time trying to escape a persistent and hungry pokémon or take it out somehow, which seemed difficult with how it was always coiled up.

We had to get out of here; I didn't like the idea of being anywhere near where we had our fire. The possibility of being followed by my old team or some other Carbon flunkies already had me on edge; I had to get away from this situation.

There is another option.

There was another option. I took my eyes off the Ekans and glanced behind me. The Eevee was trembling big time.

The Ekans didn't care about me, it wanted her.

This tricky third option hung heavily, and it was… tempting. Give in and flee, there it was: my quick and easy way out.

My opponent was getting restless, itching to get past me. Though…

Tick tock.

With heavy feet, I got out of the way and lifted the shield, offering her up. I forced myself to tune out Elise's screams of terror; I needed to focus.

All too happy to accept, the Ekans coiled up tight and lunged, bearing two sharp fangs.

Perfect.

I thrust the shield down with great force when the Ekans' head went under. My timing was impeccable; I caught it just after the 'neck' area.

It wasn't enough to do any damage, but it couldn't move its head much being pinned like that. I took that opportunity to lean on the shield with my body and reach for my tranquilizer.

The problem was the pokémon was flailing like mad. It was hard to control it, and I couldn't guarantee a shot like this.

Thinking fast, I gave its body a nudge with my right leg. Predictably, it began coiling around my leg and constricting. Immense pressure befell the leg; blood flow stopped, and my knee quickly threatened to snap.

But now I had a clean shot.

Pop

And in just a few moments, it was done.

I holstered the tranquilizer—I had to remember to reload that—and unwrapped the now unconscious Ekans from my leg. I also pulled the dart from its entry point and tossed it in the fire pit before burying it.

"Don't do that!"

I turned my attention to the pokémon. She was still shaking, and tears welled up in her eyes.

I didn't care, though; I wasn't in the mood. "And tell me, princess, what was your grand idea? It looked like to me, it was sit there and get yourself killed."

My boots crunched the grass as I approached her. "And don't you complain when I just saved your fuckin' life! Probably at the expense of theirs!"

That shut her up; she sat there frazzled. I sighed. "Now get up, we're leaving."

After another hour of walking in silence, I finally saw the woodlands of southern Idian come into view, a necessary change from the dry rolling hills that made up most of the central province.

Other encounters with wild pokémon were minimal, and they all avoided us. I cooled off by tinkering with my tranquilizer, which I remembered needed reloading.

I kept no spare darts on my belt; the needles were a hazard, so I dug out a pack and extracted one from my bag. A tiny button detaches the chamber from the grip, exposing its inside, a space for a dart.

Loading the chamber, I closed it back up with a nice click. Next was a handle where a magazine would've been. It worked by air pressure, so it needed to be pumped to build it inside the grip for the next shot. It was a simple device, but it was light, well-designed, and, above all, effective; I respected this tool.

I slotted it back into its designated loop on the right side of my belt and caught sight of Elise, walking in silence, head down. Seeing her made my temper flare up slightly.

But why? She didn't do anything to me. It was her life on the line; I could've walked away from that situation and continued on my way to Seren, but for whatever reason, that didn't feel favorable.

Nothing but confusion and frustration followed those thoughts, so I dropped them and focused on what mattered: the path ahead.

Eventually, the grass stopped rustling beneath our feet as the environment became more moist. Not much, but it apparently made a difference.

Closer and closer we got to the woodlands until I laid my hands on the first tree in its bounds. What species it was, I didn't know. I never got to learn that stuff, but it interested me.

Seeing the woodland gave Elise her voice. "This reminds me of home," she said quietly.

"That's still a long, long ways off," I said. She nodded.

I dropped my stuff nearby and faced her. "Right now, you're learning how to fight."

She recoiled back a step. "Fight!? I can't fight!"

"You're right, you can't; that's why I'm teaching you," I said, beckoning to her. "Now, come on, show me what you've got."

She stood frozen despite my invitation. I shook my head. "Look, I'm a human; you're a pokémon. You probably could kill me with what you can do now; you just need to learn how to use it," I said.

"But I don't want to kill you!" she shuddered.

I shrugged. "Who knows, maybe there will come a time when you're powerful and see things differently." I beckoned to her again. "You have it in you; don't you want to stop being some victim of fate?"

My eyebrows raised. Those words seemed to stoke something in her. She lost the timid look and replaced it with something more bold. She said nothing as she charged.

She lept when she got close and hit me square in the stomach. I wheezed as we went down to the soft ground.

"Sorry!" she wailed; I pushed her off. "Don't be sorry, be confident! Go again!"

Again, she charged. This time, however, I sidestepped when she pounced. She landed facefirst in the dirt. "Hey!"

"Do you think anyone will just stand there and take it? If they do, you've likely got bigger problems. Come on, what else do you got?" I challenged.

After thinking a moment, her face lit up like she remembered something. Her tail wagged as she conjured numerous star-like projectiles that flew at me faster than expected.

One star hit me in the chest and another in the shoulder—my good one, thankfully—before I could raise the shield to block. "Keep it coming."

Once more, she ran straight at me. Once again, I dodged easily. "Do that again, and I'll show you why you don't do that!" I shouted.

She said nothing and attacked again with stars, this time shooting them into the air… which came back down at me! Despite being caught off-guard, I raised my shield and heard all five of them impact the sturdy plastic.

While I was busy blocking, she flanked me on my left and ran to tackle me again.

Well, some lessons had to be learned the hard way.

She lept, but I pivoted and met her with the shield, bashing her with a hard thunk.

Down she went. She seemed dazed enough for me to drop the shield and dogpile her. I used my weight to keep her down and my hand to force her face to the dirt. "And now you're done. I can do with you as I please; you're at my mercy."

She didn't try to struggle. That blow to the head probably hurt; I'd put some force behind it.

"Are you going to listen?" I asked. She moved her head as much as she could to nod.

I stood up and let her go. She wasn't quick to get up; I hoped I didn't do anything to slow our traveling.

"What did I do wrong?" she asked.

I leaned against a tree. "You want to hit me too badly."

She growled. "That's what you told me to do!"

I nodded. "Yeah, but there's no technique there; you run right at me."

She still didn't seem to get it. "You have the same problem as that Ekans: your intentions are easily read, and you've already lost if your opponent is reading you like a book."

She was giving me a look.

"What?"

"What's a book?"

My hand met my face. "Oh, for the love of Arceus."

There was a lot of work to do.