Chapter 34: Weak Executioner

Kai was running as hard as he possibly could, but he was running out of steam. He was sweating profusely and breathing heavily as his previously dogged pace was slowed to a near crawling pace.

Koraidon, who had Arven and Aeon on its back, had caught up and matched the boy's pace, walking very, very slowly.

"Y'know," Arven said, "You could just use Miraidon and ride on him."

"N…No…way.." Kai said. "Before...I was doing this...because I wanted to get...a kiss... but now... I decided... that...this… is training for me!"

"I see. Aerobic training. Very efficient." Aeon said.

"I'm… not training...my body… I'm training… my mind..!" Kai grunted and coughed as he kept running. "I'm…training…myself…on…being audacious."

Aeon tilted his head in confusion.

"I'm sorry? How does running help you on being audacious?"

"Cause I said...so!"

"I'm-" Aeon blinked in confusion. "What?"

"You heard…me..!"

"I think I get it," Arven said. "Kai's decided that he's all about 'audacity' now. I think he wants to prove to us that he can run on his own…. Or something. I dunno."

"Nope…!" Kai said. "I…want..to…" Kai stopped in his tracks and started to catch his breath. Koraidon stopped along with him and watched the boy as he started breathing heavily with his hands on his knees.

After a while, Kai was able to groan loudly and leaned back into a standing position. "I want to be in more situations where people tell me that doing something my way is stupid- and have the audacity to do it anyway and succeed." Kai rubbed his forehead with the back of his fist. "What can I say..? It's fun. Plus… I really want it to be my thing."

"Why?" Aeon said.

"Because I think that it's cool and… ugh... Maybe I should explain with an example. Okay, uh, Aeon!" Kai pointed at Aeon. "Say something rude or something to me."

"...All right," Aeon said. "The more I come to know you and watch you fight, The more I ask myself, 'why do I bother'?"

"Pfft-" Kai chimed. "There's no way dealing with me is that bad."

"It IS that bad," Arven teased with a smile. Aeon smiled himself and was about to say something to jokingly tease Kai again, but stopped, remembering to hold himself back. A bit of sadness began to tug on Aeon's mind the moment he did this, and his smile disappeared.

"Well, guess what?" Kai said to Arven. "Deal with it!" Kai said with a giggle. "See? That's what I mean. It feels nice to not care about what people think. If I start to believe in myself and know that I can succeed my way, even when everyone around me is telling me I can't…" Kai nodded to himself and smiled. "I can come one step closer to my goal.. Of becoming truly confident. Besides, if for whatever reason, my inner critic came back to kick my butt, I'd be at least a little prepared to ignore the stuff it says."

'Perhaps I should say something rude,' Aeon thought to himself. 'That may push Kai away and keep him safe from me.'

"I have a question." Aeon said. "Do you not wonder if your arrogance isn't…"

Aeon was about to continue to say something rude, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. Anything he could think of was just too mean. So instead, the robot boy just stopped talking. Kai tilted his head.

"Isn't… what? You think I'm arrogant?" Kai said. "Well…I'm kind of pretending to be…until I become arrogant. If that makes sense. For the longest time, I didn't know if it was okay to be overconfident and arrogant. I was just waiting for someone, anyone to give me permission to be 'me'. Or, overconfident, or whatever I want to be. I learned that I don't need anyone's permission to be me. I…kind of like that I'm doing what I'm doing. I think that's part of the reason why I'm trying to ignore you guys when I'm thinking of doing something stupidly outrageous."

"You do something too stupid and I'll come over to bonk your head, you hear me?" Arven said.

"Yeah, yeah," Kai said, grinning.

"I see." Aeon said, taking note that it was okay to say at least something. "So it's training in the sense that you're trying to improve your mental state."

"Yeah, and, while I may have been a bit carried* by my talent…"

"A bit?" Arven teased.

"I-Hey-... I'm not THAT talented."

"Oh, so now you're being humble," Aeon said.

"Hey!" Kai cried. The moment Aeon caught himself sharing a smile with Kai was the moment the robot boy started kicking himself mentally. No, Aeon, he thought. Don't tease him. It's only going to make him want to bond with you more..!

"My point is," Kai said, "I'm going to have to train if I'm going to get the Gym badges ahead! Actually, speaking of which-"

Kai pulled three of his Pokeballs and threw them one by one. First came Quaxwell, who appeared with a bow. Then came Tinkatuff, who came with a joyful bounce. And then came Pawmo, who came out with a yawn. Tinkatuff turned her head and saw Pawmo scratching the back of his ear. Tinkatuff smiled wide and sighed like a schoolgirl seeing their crush.

"We're all going to start running!" Kai cried before turning to Aeon and Arven. "You guys go ahead. We'll catch up!"

"All right then," Arven said. "Let's roll, Koraidon!"

Aeon sighed to himself.

Koraidon started running onwards. Kai smiled and took out his Pokeball and threw it. Out of it came Miraidon, who stretched after being let out of the ball. "You're exercising with us, Miraidon!" Kai swung his finger ahead of him and started running. "C'mon, let's go!" He cried.

The rest of his Pokemon started following Kai as he kept on running. Quaxwell was able to keep up with the boy- and Miraidon drove on ahead. Pawmo started running to catch up to the Miraidon with a smile on his face, seemingly ready to race the motercycle-like Pokemon.

Tinkatuff, who was still absolutely star-struck by Pawmo was able to give chase to the electric type, taking care to not come too close so that the Electric type would notice her- but not too far so she couldn't stare.

Kai and Quaxwell kept running side by side, turning to smile at one another.

"Yeah, Quaxwell!" Kai cried.. "Let's keep going! C'mon! You and me- Let's race!"

The two partners kept running onward as fast as they could.

Meanwhile, Aeon, who was staring off into the distance, saw Miraidon catch up. Seeing both Miraidon and Koraidon together gave the robot boy a sense of calm, for some reason. Why did those two give Aeon a sense of calm? His blue left eye and red right eye began to shine a bit as he sighed.

'Maybe it was because they looked cool,' Aeon thought.

The group kept moving until they reached what looked to be a cave. Aeon and Arven made it first- and Arven returned the Massive Pokémon he and his brother rode on into its ball. Miraidon, who was right next to where Koraidon previously was, lied down and started resting as Pawmo caught up. Tinkatuff, who lagged behind (on purpose) caught up as well, staring at Pawmo with admiring eyes.

Both boys turned their heads behind them to see Kai and Quaxwell finally catching up. Kai went in front of his human friends, breathing heavily and putting his hands on his lap all over again.

"Are.. we here..?" Kai asked.

Arven checked his phone. "This is the place…" He said. "The Pokémon in the area is Bombirdier. It's been grabbing people and dropping them. Luckily there were other Pokémon around to save those people, but I've been hearing a lot about this thing. It should be around here somewhere but for some reason it's not… must be out doing something."

"Perhaps it's looking for someone else to grab and drop…?" Aeon asked, crossing his arms.

"Maybe. Either way, I feel like if we go in there, we'd have t-"

"Hold on…" Kai said, "Before we do anything… Give me a second to… catch my breath."

Everyone waited for Kai to catch his breath, and meanwhile, Tinkatuff kept eyeing Pawmo. Pawmo, who didn't even know Tinkatuff was behind him, turned his head only for Tinkatuff to move quickly to avoid his gaze. Pawmo looked confused and turned his head the other side only for Tinkatuff to avoid his gaze again with her fast movements. Tinkatuff looked like she was shivering in fear, wondering of how Pawmo would think of her if she were caught.

"Hey, Aeon, you see that?" Arven said, elbowing Aeon and pointing at Pawmo and Tinkatuff. "That could be you and Kai right now-"

Aeon sighed.

"Hey- Aeon…" Kai said. "If I beat the thing…you'd best… oh god.. My lungs.. You'd best-"

"...While you catch your breath," Aeon said, "I need to take a moment to walk away. I need to do something."

"Okay… sure.." Kai said.

Aeon turned and walked away, and Arven and Kai exchanged looks before exchanging shrugs.

Aeon went far away enough so the other two boys couldn't see him. He went on his knees, and then his eyes began to glow as it made a spotlight in front of him. That spotlight projected both Professor Turo and Sada.

"Hello, #0183020201.," Turo said.

"What is the meaning of this call?" Sada asked.

"...I have a question." Aeon said. "Why is it that you gave me free will?"

Both professors just stared.

"If you wanted me to do exactly whenever you wanted, whenever you wanted… why did you give me free will and emotions? Why do you make me go through all of this?"

"The first reason is simple. We wanted to make a proper little brother for Arven, and the best way to do it was to give you free will," Sada said.

Aeon didn't respond.

"The second reason…was because we have further plans for you. All of which you cannot resist against," Turo said. "No matter what you do or say, it won't change the future."

Aeon's fists tightened.

"We see that you are currently angry," Both Turo and Sada spoke at the same time. "But your feelings are irrelevant as of right now."

"What matters most is the future," Turo said.

"And it's been predetermined by our plans that we made in the past," Sada said.

Aeon wanted to call them both monsters, but instead, he said nothing.

"Destroy Kai's confidence. That is your order." Both Sada and Turo spoke at the same time.

"We will not have you delay this any longer." Turo said. "If we must, we will temporarily take away your free will."

Aeon gritted his teeth.

"Aeon?" Kai's voice came to him right then and there, and Aeon's eyes widened in surprise as he stood up. His back remained turned to Kai, who crossed his arms.

"Arven told me to get you," Kai said. "For some reason he was smiling like he was playing a prank on me and even elbowed me. He's a weirdo. Anyway- he said we need you to be with us, and that you're taking too long.."

"Do it." The voices of Turo and Sada spoke up at the same time in Aeon's mind. "Do it now."

"Aeon, you heard me, right?" Kai said. "We-"

Aeon clenched his fists. He moved his legs in preparation to run.

Leg functions: Locked.

Aeon started groaning loudly, putting his hands on his head as he heard a loud ringing sound.

"Don't make us do it ourselves."

"Aeon?" Kai reached out for Aeon. "A-Are you okay..?"

"Leave me alone..!" Aeon felt as though he wanted to cry as he clenched his fists.

"...Huh?"

"Don't you see..!? I don't… like you…" Aeon felt his voice quivering as he was about to break into tears. "I never liked you!"

A gust of wind blew past the two boys the moment Aeon spoke. He didn't dare turn around to see the look on Kai's face.

"Keep going. Or else we'll shut you down. You will never see Arven or Kai again." Both Turo and Sada spoke to Aeon through his mind once again.

"I never liked you… you understand?" Aeon said. "So do me… a favor… and… and never talk to me again…!"

Another gust of wind passed by them- the timing was uncanny. It was as though nature itself had come to enjoy the show- letting the blades of grass below their feet wave their bodies as though they were in shock.

"Just go.." Aeon said. "Just go. Leave me alone. Go away. Just go away-..."

He stopped himself from saying, 'Go away so I don't hurt you any more than I have.'

"Aeon…" Kai sounded as though he was crying. "I… I didn't know you… I'm so sorry….for.."

Aeon felt his arms beginning to tremble with the amount of sadness he felt. Why couldn't Turo and Sada just rip away his emotions right here and now? This was too much. Kai gasped before breaking into sobs. It took everything within Aeon's power to resist turning to him and telling him that he didn't really mean it.

Every second that passed was like torture for Aeon. Hearing Kai's whimpering and sobbing made Aeon feel like he was getting gut-punched over and over again. The android couldn't move- and didn't dare to say anything lest he were to go against his masters.
But soon, Aeon couldn't take it anymore. He wanted something, anything to happen to have this situation pass. He silently hoped that Arven would come in... but no. Arven wasn't coming for a while. Of course, he wasn't- He thought the two of them were just flirting.

Aeon was starting to feel tears roll down his own cheeks as Kai's sobbing continued.

Please, he thought. No more. 'I'm so sorry,' Aeon thought. 'I'm so sorry...'

The sound of an Air Slash hitting its mark exploded in Aeon's ears as Kai screamed in pain. An Air slash had flown and struck the boy on the back. Kai, looking as though he became completely unconscious, slowly began to fall to his knees.

Just then, A massive Bombirdier had suddenly swooped in and grabbed the boy with its talons.

"NO!" Aeon cried. He tried moving.

His legs wouldn't move.

The massive bird started flying with its massive wings before it took flight, and Aeon could do nothing but watch.

"Aeon!" Arven came running in alongside all four of Kai's Pokémon. "What happened!?"

"Kai was-... He was kidnapped by a massive Bombirdier- and- And...! It's my fault!" Aeon cried.

Arven and all of Kai's Pokémon gasped in terror.

Leg functions: Unlocked.

Aeon moved as though he were breaking free from something that had his legs tied. He nearly stumbled to the ground.

"W-We need to go get him!" Aeon cried. "Bombirdier love dropping things that'll make noise from high places, and the longer we stay here…!"

"The more of a chance that Kai could get seriously hurt..!" Arven cried.

The robot boy clenched his fists. Electricity started to explode from the boy's body. "Now…activating… combat mode..! Level 1!" All four of Kai's Pokémon gasped as they saw Aeon suddenly starting to have veins appear around his body.

Aeon's feet suddenly turned into jetboots as flames burst from his feet. He began to slowly fly higher and higher into the air as he looked down at Arven and Kai's Pokémon.

"Get Miraidon and keep up with Bombirdier. If he drops Kai, catch him." Aeon turned his head to look onwards toward the sky, where he could see Bombirdier flying off. "I'll take care of the flying type," Aeon continued.

"R-Right!" Arven replied. "Go get him!"

Aeon started flying like a rocket toward Bombirdier.

*The Slang term of the word'Carried' or 'being carried' is a term used when someone's victory or achievements are only possible because of another thing or person. That thing or person is what 'carried' the individual to their victory.

Example:

"Hey man, so did you win that game?"

"Pfft, I didn't even have to try! I was carried by my friend, he did all the work!"