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  1. #28
    Lover of Centipedes Scytherwolf's Avatar
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    The Path of Destiny
    Chapter 79 – Unlikely Bond

    The group walked down the beach, in silence for the most part. The four trainers kept looking this way and that, marveling in the fact that they could understand the chattering of the wild wingull that flew overhead and could listen in on the conversations of other trainers’ pokémon playing in the waves. This time, no psychic type was needed.

    Justin stayed near the back of the group, still hardly believing he could understand what Wildflame and Alex were saying to each other as he watched the two of them walk up ahead.

    “You okay, Justin?” Spark asked, giving him a concerned look.

    Justin couldn’t help giving a jolt of surprise at the fact that he could understand the jolteon’s words. Even after hearing all the pokémon they’d walked by, he still wasn’t used to it. “Yeah, I’m fine. It’s just…this is weird, that’s all.”

    “Isn’t it great?” Spark replied. “Now we don’t need Arien anymore!”

    From up ahead, the alakazam turned and gave the jolteon a glare.

    “For the…translating, I mean,” Spark quickly corrected.

    “You guys,” Katie began, looking around to make sure the nearby beachgoers and their pokémon weren’t standing too close. “I don’t think we should let anyone know we can do this, all right?”

    “Why not?” Justin asked. “Humans that can understand pokémon are really rare. I’m sure it’d be useful if we could-”

    “People don’t just suddenly start understanding it after years of being like any other trainer,” Katie replied. “The legendaries behind the Forbidden Attacks want to stay hidden. If there’s a chance something like this could be traced back to them, then-”

    “I don’t think it would,” Justin said with a shake of his head.

    “Well, either way,” replied Katie, “it’s going to seem weird. We should keep quiet about it, at least for now.”

    Teresa, who had walked in silence the whole way back, just stared at her. “I just saw a legendary no one knows exists, and it gave me the power to understand pokémon. What am I supposed to think about that? And what was it talking about? Forbidden Attacks?”

    “Look,” Spark said, turning to face her, “first of all, we can’t give away their secret. You know what humans would do if they found out about a new legendary. Hundreds, maybe thousands would go looking for it. Fortunarc can’t help stop the Forbidden Attacks if she’s locked up in some rich poacher’s collection.”

    “I never said I was going to tell anyone about the legendary,” Teresa replied tersely. “I know that would be a bad idea. I just…you’re going to tell me what’s going on, right? Why you’ve seen another one of those things? Maybe why you have a white growlithe while we’re at it, and what Forbidden Attacks are, what Tanzenarc is, just…everything?”

    “Of course we will,” Damian told her before Spark or Katie could react. “Fortunarc trusted you. Why shouldn’t we?”

    Katie and Justin looked at each other. “We’ll tell you the whole story,” Katie sighed, “but just remember not to tell anyone else.”

    “I got that that would be one of your conditions,” Teresa replied.

    Damian looked uneasy about the tension between Teresa and the other two trainers. “Let’s go back to our resting spot on the outskirts of the city,” he said. “We’ll tell you everything there.”

    “We’re wasting time with this,” Yenn growled from up ahead. His yanmega eyes didn’t betray much emotion, but something about him told the others that he was glaring at the four trainers.

    “She did help us,” Snowcrystal called up to him. “She deserves to know.”

    “Oh, of course she does,” Yenn muttered under his breath.

    Damian gave the yanmega a worried glance before he turned back to Teresa. “Look, I’m sorry we kept everything a secret. I promise we’ll tell you what we know, and we won’t leave anything out this time.”

    “Okay,” Teresa replied hesitantly. “Trust me, after what we’ve just been through, I don’t think much will surprise me.”

    -ooo-

    Back in their temporary resting place, each of the trainers and pokémon got comfortable as they waited to tell Teresa what they knew would be a long story. First, Damian and Katie sent out their other pokémon, the ones they’d kept hidden from Teresa during the mountain search. Then they explained that several of the ones traveling with them were actually wild.

    Snowcrystal was the one who first started talking. She started by telling Teresa her real name, and how she had left her mountain to seek out Articuno in search of help for her tribe of white growlithe. Soon Spark, Stormblade, and Rosie jumped in, explaining their sides of the story as well. With some prompting from Wildflame, even Blazefang began explaining, telling Teresa how he’d mistakenly found what he would later come to realize was a Forbidden Attack.

    Thunder had no interest in explaining her side, so Redclaw filled in for her when he could. He didn’t tell of Thunder’s attack on Nightshade until they reached the part about the underground fighting ring.

    As Damian and Nightshade explained what had taken place down beneath Stonedust City, Teresa looked horrified. “I had no idea that sort of stuff was still going on in Stonedust,” she said. “If Mausk is still part of this, we should do something.” She looked at Damian, who avoided her gaze.

    “What are we supposed to do?” Justin replied. “Damian and the pokémon barely got out with their lives. We want to stay far away from Mausk.”

    “You said that early on, Snowcrystal and some of the other pokémon found Thunder at one of his training sites,” Teresa said. “Maybe if we go back there, we could get some real evidence.”

    “It’s too dangerous,” Thunder said, speaking for the first time since they’d reached the resting place. “They got lucky because Master didn’t have any of his real fighters with him at the time. He’d be more on guard now. It’d be wiser not to mess with him.”

    Redclaw glanced away from Thunder and nervously pawed the ground. Nightshade, Blazefang, and Snowcrystal also looked uncomfortable.

    “Look, if the opportunity ever arises,” Damian began hesitantly, “we’ll try to do something about Mausk. But…she’s right. We should stay away from him.”

    There was silence before Wildflame said, “Blazefang took out one of their arenas. That should count for something. They probably don’t have anywhere else in Stonedust to fight their death battles. And the other humans involved are probably mad as hell at Mausk for what happened.”

    Teresa looked uncertain, but when she looked around at the other pokémon, they merely nodded or gave a few uncertain words of agreement. No one mentioned the other arenas that must be lurking in dark corners of Inari.

    Snowcrystal continued on with the story, the others chiming in when they had information to share. When she got to the part where she’d been told of Articuno’s death, she trailed off, and luckily Stormblade sensed her unease and explained that part for her.

    Finally, after what felt like hours had passed, the pokémon and trainers had told Teresa everything important about their journey, and about what they’d learned from Yenn about Cyclone.

    “So…shouldn’t we warn the authorities?” Teresa asked once they’d finished. “If Cyclone’s gathering of pokémon has gotten that big, the people of Inari should know…”

    “We…probably should,” Katie agreed. “I’m not sure they’ll believe us on the Forbidden Attack part, but maybe after what the police must have seen in the Stonedust arena, they might…”

    “I wish we could have done that before,” Damian said. “We only just recently learned how big Cyclone’s army had gotten, and that they had Forbidden Attacks. And at that point, me and Justin still thought the police were after us.” He closed his eyes and tilted his head downwards. “Maybe we should have done it earlier anyway. I can’t believe I thought Cyclone’s only threat was trying to get his paws on other Forbidden Attacks.”

    “Well, there’s no reason we can’t tell them now,” Snowcrystal told him. “We came close to the army. The police knew Damian and Justin were wandering the wilderness for a while, so they’ll know we could have seen something.”

    “That’s all well and good,” Blazefang began, looking uneasy, “but I think…Yenn and I should keep our own Forbidden Attacks a secret. Who knows what the authorities would do to us if they really knew.”

    “That’s probably for the best,” Redclaw sighed. “The humans may have good intentions, but it’s the legendaries who can really help you and Yenn now.”

    “Good,” Yenn growled. “Any of you try to turn me in to some humans and I’m gone. And I’d fight whoever tried to stop me.”

    “No one’s turning anyone in,” Wildflame quickly interjected. “We just need to tell them about Cyclone. Maybe the humans can deal with him while we search for a way to stop the Forbidden Attacks themselves.”

    Arien nodded. “That looks to be all we can do for now. We can’t stop Cyclone on our own.”

    “We also need to free Blazefang and Thunder from Mausk. For good,” Katie added. “If Mausk was tampering with poké balls so that he didn’t show up as the trainer, any authority would know something weird is going on. They should allow us to break the connection and give them our own poké balls.”

    “Since when did I need a poké ball?” Thunder scoffed.

    Nightshade was quick to reassure her. “They wouldn’t need to use it. It’s just so Mausk can’t recapture you. And the poké balls they have aren’t like Mausk’s; you could learn to send yourself out pretty quickly.”

    Thunder gave him a long look and then sighed. “I guess you have a point,” she muttered reluctantly. “I doubt any of these humans could manage to use it against me anyway.”

    “All the wild pokémon should have poké balls,” Teresa said.

    “I agree,” Katie replied. “Snowcrystal especially. If Justin catches the wild pokémon, they won’t be sent to a lab through the PC system and the rest of us can keep our pokémon with us. With Justin, they’d still have a trainer code, it would just be a…well, an unregistered one. Which could pose some problems, but…”

    “Well, if you want to do it that way,” Teresa began, “he should be okay as long as he doesn’t enter any official battles. If one of those pokémon has to use the pokémon center, Justin can release them and one of us can capture them – temporarily - so they can receive treatment without anyone realizing Justin’s illegally keeping pokémon.”

    “Well, that sounds good,” Katie said. “As good as we could hope for, at least. So, I guess the question is, when do we set off for Steelspire City?”

    “Well, once we can get the poké ball situation resolved, and warn the authorities about Cyclone, we can prepare,” Damian replied. “Maybe if we get everything ready, we could leave tomorrow?”

    “I’ll go with you,” Teresa said, standing up. “My team and I will help when we can. After hearing all that, I don’t want to sit around while pokémon with Forbidden Attacks wreak havoc on the world. If these legendaries can help once we bring Yenn and…Blazefang, right?” she asked the houndoom, who nodded. “If we can bring Yenn and Blazefang to them, then let’s do it.”

    “Well, then, welcome to the team,” Katie told her, giving Teresa a quick handshake. She was relieved that someone else around Damian’s age would be going with them; Damian could definitely use the help if they ever had to sneak into a place that teenagers would be turned away from again.

    “Well, I guess I need to catch everyone who doesn’t have a poké ball of their own,” Justin said. He glanced uneasily at Yenn.

    “Blazefang, Thunder, stand back here,” Redclaw instructed, before the arcanine came to stand in front of Justin. He then beckoned to the remaining wild pokémon who did not have their own poké balls.

    Snowcrystal came forward, followed by Wildflame, Alex, and, more hesitantly, Rosie. Yenn stayed where he was, sneering at the pokémon.

    “This is ridiculous,” he said. “I’d never let myself be captured.”

    “That’s exactly why we’re doing this,” Arien told him with a glare, “so that they can’t be captured. Your poké ball will be kept safe by Justin, but he won’t use it on you. If you don’t believe me, remember that you can send yourself out of a poké ball if he returns you.”

    “I don’t know about that,” Yenn replied. “I don’t trust him.”

    That was obvious,” Rosie scoffed. “Look, I don’t like it either, but it’s better than being captured by some stranger.”

    “Well, let’s get on with it,” Wildflame stated, and Justin nodded while Katie pulled a handful of minimized poké balls out of her pocket and handed them to him.

    Justin clicked the button on the first poké ball, enlarging it and tossing it at Redclaw. The arcanine vanished in a beam of red light and the ball hit the ground. It didn’t twitch even once before the button light went out with a ping. Several seconds later, the poké ball reopened and Redclaw appeared again, shaking his mane.

    “It’s a bit tricky to send yourself out at first, but you’ll get the hang of it,” he told Rosie reassuringly.

    “Okay, thanks,” the ninetales said with a sigh.

    Rosie, then Snowcrystal, then Wildflame, and finally Alex were captured. Justin allowed each of them to figure out how to send themselves out, and then he collected the poké balls.

    “If I get caught with more than six, I’m toast,” Justin muttered, looking to Spark and then Nightshade. “You guys better help me out when I need it.”

    “Of course,” Katie replied. She turned her attention to Yenn. “You sure you don’t want your own poké ball? If the wrong person captures you, then-”

    “No, I-”

    “You could send yourself out,” Snowcrystal told him, “like we did. You saw us all do it. Justin wouldn’t be able to use it against you. He’s not like…like Mausk or those other humans. It’s only to protect you, I promise.”

    Yenn hesitated, but Snowcrystal’s words seemed to impact him far more than Katie’s. He sighed. “All right, fine. But if he ever tries to use it against me-”

    “He couldn’t if he tried,” Wildflame told him impatiently.

    “Just get it over with,” Yenn muttered.

    Justin’s arm shook as he tossed the poké ball at the yanmega, who flinched but didn’t move from his perch. To their surprise, the ball merely bounced off Yenn as if it had hit a wall. Justin looked confused for a moment before realization dawned on him. “Oh, that’s right…” he mumbled.

    “What?” Spark asked.

    “In the pokémon center, his original trainer came up as a weird code. Whoever owned him must still have the poké ball.”

    “You mean it’s probably locked up in a building of some sort?” Scytheclaw asked. “Well, problem solved, I guess. We’re far from them.”

    “They…still have it?” Yenn gasped.

    “They must,” Katie told him. “It’s unfortunate, but we can fix it. All you need to do is come with Thunder and Blazefang when we take them to get their connection to their poké balls severed.”

    “And where is this…machine that severs the connection?” Yenn asked.

    “They keep it at the police station,” Katie told him. “You see, it’s something trainers could easily abuse if they-”

    “I am not going inside a building,” Yenn growled.

    “Well, they won’t bring it out. You just-”

    “No. Forget it,” Yenn replied. “If it’s inside a building, I’m not coming. I’ll make do without your ‘protection.’”

    Exasperated, Katie continued to try to reason with him, while Teresa glanced around the group, unsure what to think of Yenn’s behavior.

    “In case you’re wondering,” Scytheclaw muttered to her, “yeah, he’s always like this.”

    Teresa said nothing, and soon Yenn’s adamant refusal caused Katie to give up.

    “All right, fine,” Katie told him. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t backfire on us.”

    “Yenn, listen to us,” Nightshade told him. His voice still sounded weak. “All we want to do is help you. We’re not trying to-”

    “I know, okay?” Yenn told him. “I know why you’re trying to do this. But listen. I’ve done a lot of things for all of you. I’m working with humans for you. But going inside a building, just…don’t ask me to do that.” His voice suddenly sounded very tired. “Please. I’d let the human capture me if there was another way. But that’s something I cannot do.”

    The others watched Nightshade, waiting to see what he would say, but the heracross merely nodded. “All right, Yenn, I understand.”

    Yenn looked visibly relieved, but Rosie just looked confused. “I’ve done it,” she said. “If I can do it, so can he. If his poké ball gets in the wrong hands-”

    “Rosie…just leave it, okay?” Redclaw asked.

    Rosie sighed. “All right, fine. I just think he’s being ridiculous.”

    “Well,” said Katie, changing the subject, “flying to Steelspire would be fastest, but it would be hard on our flying pokémon, and we need them to be fairly well rested. And with Yenn injured…” She glanced nervously at the yanmega. “…Maybe we should take it slower. It’s only a few days walk.”

    “That’s probably the best idea,” Damian agreed.

    “Is everyone all right with that?” Snowcrystal asked the group. She was met with no arguments.

    “We’re kinda used to the whole traveling on foot thing anyway,” Spark said with a grin. “This will be easy.”

    -ooo-

    By the time the sun had almost set, the group who had gone to free Mausk’s former pokémon from their connection to their poké balls returned to the meeting spot. Walking proudly beside Katie, Thunder and Blazefang rejoined the group, where Justin nervously held two poké balls.

    “Don’t be worried about Thunder,” Spark told him. “She’s not as scary as she seems.”

    “It worked,” Katie said happily. “The police knew something suspicious was going on with these two, so they had their poké ball connection severed.” She turned to Thunder and Blazefang, smiling at them. “Mausk has no hold on you anymore. You’re free.”

    Blazefang breathed a sigh of relief and limped forward to Justin, who threw one of the poké balls at him. The houndoom vanished in a beam of light, and the ball went still. Justin then turned to Thunder, his hand shaking as he held the second poké ball.

    “Come on and throw it,” Thunder told him. “Seriously, if I was going to hurt you, I would have done it long ago.”

    Justin took a deep breath, and then tossed the ball at Thunder, who also vanished. As with Blazefang, Thunder did not resist the capture, and the light on the poké ball’s button quickly dimmed. A few seconds later, and the ball opened, Thunder returning to stand in the clearing.

    “That was surprisingly easy to send myself out of,” she remarked.

    Justin was pondering whether to send out Blazefang when the houndoom emerged, shaking himself briefly before looking at Justin. “Well, that will take some getting used to. But it’ll be nice to be able to take breaks from traveling when I want. Heh, turns out you guys were right. Easy to get out of. Nothing like Mausk’s.”

    “Remember,” Katie told Justin, “if anything goes wrong or we need to have a registered trainer code for them for whatever reason, I can send some of my pokémon to the lab and recapture some of the wild ones for you. Right now, though, I think we’d be safer with my team on our side as well, in case we run into trouble.”

    “Got it,” Justin said with a nod. “I’m keeping Spark, though. Unless, you know, he has to check in to a pokémon center or something.”

    “Of course. I’d give you Spark back.”

    At that moment, they noticed a large shadow overhead, and Fernwing landed with Damian and Teresa on her back.

    “Well,” began Teresa, “we told them about this ‘Cyclone’ pokémon, and they didn’t seem very surprised with what we were saying. I guess someone out there had noticed that a lot of pokémon were gathering in the wilderness, if nothing else.”

    Damian nodded. “It seemed like they already knew something was up with them.”

    “We’re…not sure what they thought about the Forbidden Attack part,” Teresa continued. “Damian told them that it was like the fire that burned out the underground fighting ring in Stonedust. I’m not really sure what they thought of that part; they didn’t seem to want to tell us much. But at least they know.”

    “It sounded like they knew it was dangerous to approach Cyclone’s pokémon,” Damian added, looking nervously at the ground. “But like Teresa said, I don’t really know what they thought of the Forbidden Attacks. At least they didn’t say we sounded ridiculous.”

    “We can let the authorities in Steelspire City know, too,” Teresa added.

    “What about everyone else?” Spark asked. “Should we…be spreading the word about this?”

    “I don’t think we want trainers going to investigate,” Teresa replied. “But…maybe we should warn them in case something happens. I can post something online, but…until the authorities make some official announcement, I’m not sure how many trainers it will reach.”

    “Let’s do the best we can,” Katie said. “It’s all we can do, and hopefully with Tanzenarc’s help, we’ll get to the bottom of this. Let the authorities do most of the warning; they’ve got to be wanting to monitor Cyclone’s pokémon at this point, even if it’s from a distance.”

    “I sure hope so,” Rosie growled.

    “Well, once we’ve gotten everything ready,” Arien said, “we should get some rest. We start early tomorrow.”

    Wildflame rolled her eyes. “Of course we have to start early.”

    “Anyone wanna go with me and Justin for a last-minute snack run to the city?” Spark asked.

    “I’m in!” Rosie called out.

    “I thought you didn’t like the cities,” Stormblade told her with a grin.

    “Well, for a human place, I actually think Shellreef is pretty nice,” Rosie retorted.

    “I’ll go with you,” Redclaw offered, then muttered, “Justin could use the help keeping you two out of trouble.” When Spark and Rosie turned to glare at him, the arcanine laughed. “I was joking! I’d like to pick out some snacks too.”

    As Justin and the few pokémon who’d chosen to go set off, Snowcrystal turned her attention to Yenn, who had flown down from the trees and was hovering near the end of the clearing. Alex was standing beside him.

    “Damian?” the floatzel called out. “Yenn decided he trusts you enough to give him medicine.”

    From the look on Yenn’s face, Snowcrystal thought Alex’s words were an overstatement. “Trust us, it’s all right,” she told him. “Just about all of us have had medical help from him.”

    “You know what will happen if you try to trick me,” Yenn growled.

    “I won’t,” Damian promised as he walked over to the yanmega, who landed but still looked tense, his wings twitching.

    “He’s trying to keep your wound from getting infected, you jerk,” Scytheclaw muttered from where he stood leaning against a tree. “Show at least a bit of gratitude.”

    Ignoring Scytheclaw, Damian reached into his backpack before finding the medications he needed. Yenn tensed as he watched him pull out the bottles, but Alex reassuringly stroked his back.

    “Okay, this one is for fighting infection, and this one’s for pain,” Damian explained. “I also have one that reduces scarring; Alex told me that she told you about-”

    “That’s all they’ll do?” Yenn asked.

    “There might be some side effects, but they’re pretty rare,” Alex interjected. “My old trainer never had a problem with any of her pokémon. And if there is a problem, it won’t be major, and we can just get a different kind.”

    Yenn looked at her skeptically.

    “I may not like humans,” Thunder added without looking at them, “but their medicine does work. If it makes you any happier, I’d stop the trainers if they did anything. Not that I’d really need to, considering what you’re capable of.”

    “I promise I won’t hurt you,” Damian told the yanmega. “I just want to help.”

    “Well, then get on with it,” Yenn said reluctantly.

    As Damian began to apply the medicine to the wound, Yenn bared his teeth but stayed still. The yanmega’s body was tense, his wings fluttering a few times as if he wanted to take to the air, but he let Damian finish the job. The other two medicines Damian had were liquids meant for pokémon to drink. Yenn looked repulsed by them, but he drank the amounts Damian offered him and then flew back up to the tops of the trees immediately afterward.

    “He still seems so nervous around you,” Teresa said.

    “Don’t worry about him,” Scytheclaw called to her. “He’s been like that since he joined up with us back in Sequoiarc’s forest. “Maybe once he gets it through his head that not all humans are like the ones he encountered, things will be better.”

    “Like the ones he…encountered?”

    “Humans did whatever gave him the scar; that’s all we know,” Blazefang stated.

    “Well, is there anything else we need at the city?” Scytheclaw asked, trying to change the subject.

    “Well, I guess we could always go find Justin and the others and help them pick out snacks,” Katie suggested.

    “Good idea. Let’s go,” Scytheclaw replied.

    Damian waited a moment before he sighed and followed the scizor and Katie. Yenn still glowered at him from the treetops.

    -ooo-

    The next day had most of the group in high spirits, the excitement of encountering Fortunarc still fresh in their minds, and the tension of the previous day for the most part, gone. They had been walking toward Steelspire City for most of the day, having started early in the morning and taking time for breaks, where the pokémon and trainers alike would relax in the warm sun.

    Now that it was nearing late afternoon, they had decided it was time for another break. The pokémon who had been carrying supplies lay down in the grass, laughing and joking with one another. The pokémon who had spent the traveling portions of the journey in their poké balls were sent out, giving them a chance to mingle with the others.

    “It’s kinda nice not having to walk the whole way,” Scytheclaw said as he lay down. “Unlike those who feel like they have to be around their trainer practically every waking moment.”

    “You’re just lazy,” Spark shot back. “Plus, you missed out on some exciting stuff. I helped Redclaw and Rosie chase off some aggressive beedrill while you were sitting in your poké ball doing nothing.”

    Redclaw turned over in his spot so that he was facing the jolteon. “You left out the part where those beedrill only attacked us because you had to mess with the kakuna in those big trees we passed.”

    “Hey, it’s not like I was hurting them,” Spark replied, then muttered, “I just wanted to swing them back and forth a bit. It looked funny.”

    “Well, how about from now on, we just leave the pokémon we find be,” Snowcrystal said, walking up to him. “Remember the combee?”

    “You wouldn’t let me forget,” Spark replied with a grin.

    “Okay,” Teresa said with a laugh, “you’ve got to tell me more about this combee hive. You didn’t mention much when you told me about your journeys.”

    Perched on a thick branch above the group, Yenn scoffed to himself as Snowcrystal and Spark told the story. “Who would want honey when there are perfectly good combee to eat?” he muttered to himself. He knew however, that that wasn’t what was bothering him. It was the willingness of these pokémon to be so friendly toward the humans, even this new one who’d only just joined them.

    He turned his thoughts to other things, noticing with annoyance once again that it was quite a bit hotter here in the lower parts of the Inari region than up north where Cyclone’s army trained. He wasn’t sure why it irritated him so much; the bizarre northern desert was much worse, but he was restless, and he realized he possibly needed something to focus his frustration on.

    “I’m going to find a stream,” Yenn called down to Snowcrystal. “I’ll be back before we start going again.” Without waiting for an answer, he took off, soaring to a great height. He took in the sprawling grassy landscape below him, watching the small shapes of the rest of the group shrink as he flew higher.

    Almost immediately, he spotted a ribbon of blue in the near distance, next to a man-made path. He hadn’t realized they were so close to one of the routes trainers used to travel from city to city. Perhaps, he thought, the humans leading the group didn’t want to be bothered with other trainers, or perhaps they’d strayed away from the path because of pokémon like him or Thunder. He wasn’t sure.

    Luckily, he couldn’t see any trainers for miles, so he flew down toward the stream. It was barely big enough for him to dip his body into as he flew along it, watching as a few small pokémon quickly darted into the trees to avoid him. The water was cool and refreshing, exactly what he’d needed.

    Then he spotted something just off the trainer path, partly hidden in some bushes. It was clearly a pile of human garbage of one sort or another, but among it, something glimmered. He stopped, not sure why at first, and then he noticed a bit of plastic, a sharp point…

    Yenn backed up, his wings beating so fast that water splashed up on the banks of the stream and smaller trees were blown back. That image, that seemingly harmless glimmer, only seemed to transfix him. He felt frozen. He forced his body to turn around, flying away from the trainer path and into a group of trees. He could feel a familiar panic building. ‘No…this isn’t going to happen again. Not like last time. It’s not…I can…’

    But he knew it was too late. Suddenly, all at once, terror crashed on him, and it was as if he was back in human captivity. Not literally, he knew; he could see the trees around him and the sky and the grass, but it didn’t matter. Everything he’d felt during the worst of his days in the laboratory was hitting him all at once, and he flew onward with no direction.

    Without realizing it, he was shouting, no longer flying but clawing at the grass on the ground, ripping and tearing in a way a yanmega’s claws were not meant for. He didn’t notice when blood began to seep into the earth.

    “Yenn, what are you doing?” a voice called.

    Yenn could suddenly see Wildflame standing between two of the trees near the group’s resting place. He must have flown too close to it by accident. He couldn’t tell whether a long time had passed or if they had heard him right away. Nothing seemed real at the moment.

    Scytheclaw and Damian appeared beside the houndoom. The scizor stared at Yenn with wide eyes. “What’s going on? What’s wrong with you?”

    “Scytheclaw, please…” Damian began, but before he could finish, Teresa appeared beside the others, looking to Yenn with concern.

    “Hey, it’s all right,” she said, and unlike the others, she was completely calm rather than shocked or confused. “You’re with us. It’s just a panic, there’s nothing-”

    “Stay away from me!” Yenn screamed, taking to the air again.

    “I’m sorry,” Teresa said, backing away toward the others. “But if you need anything, we can-”

    “What do you mean?” Yenn cried. “You don’t understand! None of you understand! You humans don’t have any idea-”

    “Maybe we would if you’d tell us what’s going on!” Wildflame shouted back.

    “No!” shouted Yenn, who didn’t seem to be addressing Wildflame in particular. “Get away from me! I don’t want any of you humans near me. I hate you. I hate every last one of you!”

    “Let’s go. He wants us to go,” Teresa whispered to Damian, lightly touching his arm.

    Damian jumped at the sudden contact, but he nodded and followed Teresa, beckoning Scytheclaw to come with him.

    Wildflame watched as Yenn began to scream profanities at no one in particular, launching a shockwave at a tree before flying off. She sighed, then turned and followed the others.

    -ooo-

    The group didn’t get any more walking done that day, but most didn’t mind, because they had been close to ending the day’s journey anyway. After he had returned, Yenn had stayed a ways away from the main group, hardly reacting to anyone who tried to talk to him.

    Late at night, when most of the others had fallen asleep, Snowcrystal tried again.

    The growlithe stopped below the tree Yenn had landed on. As far as she knew, he hadn’t moved from that spot since before the sun set. “Yenn?” she asked, aware he could already see her, even though he wasn’t facing in her direction. “If you want, you can come back to the group. I think the others are just worried-”

    “It’s fine up here,” Yenn said, a bit too quickly.

    “Oh, okay.” Snowcrystal tilted her head toward the ground.

    “Look, I’m…” Yenn began. “I’m sorry if I worried you. It…happens sometimes. I promise I’ll try not to yell at anyone next time. I know we need to work together. Humans or not. We need their medicine. I know.”

    “Don’t be sorry about worrying me,” Snowcrystal said. “But I think…maybe you should talk to the others about what’s going on? Like me, or Stormblade or Redclaw-”

    “Nothing’s ‘going on,’” Yenn said tiredly. “It’s just…” He trailed off. “Never mind. Look, we should probably get some sleep.”

    “Okay,” Snowcrystal replied. “If you need our help, just let us know.”

    The growlithe turned and walked back to the main campsite. Yenn gripped the branch he was resting on tighter, his gaze focused on the moon and stars and the silent landscape below them.

    -ooo-

    Early the next morning, they set off again, walking for most of the morning until noon arrived. As they walked, some of the pokémon cast nervous or worried looks at Yenn, who hung near the back of the party, pretending he didn’t see them.

    “Hey,” Spark called up to Redclaw and Teresa, who were currently walking at the front of the group, “we’ve made good time today. Let’s stop for lunch.”

    Teresa turned to Redclaw, who answered with “Why not?”

    “Yeah, let’s stop,” Stormblade agreed. “I can see a stream through those trees. We can refill our water containers.”

    Yenn watched as the pokémon found places on the grass to relax and the trainers sent out anyone who had been waiting in a poké ball. Teresa’s pokémon, still newcomers to the group, were soon laughing and talking amongst the others like they had known them for weeks. Yenn couldn’t help finding their open trust bizarre.

    As the trainers set about preparing food, Yenn saw Thunder dart into the trees, only to return a minute later, dragging a few large branches in her mouth. She walked over to Nightshade, trying to set them up like a makeshift shelter, and Nightshade assured her it wasn’t necessary.

    Yenn had heard what the others had said about Thunder’s history. She was a fighting ring pokémon, abused for probably most of her life, and there she was among humans, completely fearless.

    Yenn watched as Thunder pointed toward where Spark and Inferno were mock-wrestling in a patch of tall grass near the stream. Spark pushed Inferno into the water, only for the flareon to drag him in afterwards. Thunder whispered something to Nightshade, who laughed.

    Redclaw walked over to Thunder and nudged her shoulder before pointing his snout over to a bowl of food one of the trainers had set out. She gave the arcanine a quick nod and walked over to it.

    Teresa came over to Nightshade, offering him some food before gently stroking his head. Thunder glanced at them from where she was, but then turned back to eating.

    Yenn felt uncomfortable seeing Teresa so close to the vulnerable heracross, but Nightshade showed no signs of fear. He looked serene and calm, and was clearly enjoying the human’s attention, not worried at all. The other pokémon looked the same way. They were completely at peace around the trainers. Even Thunder seemed more annoyed with them than wary.

    Damian walked toward the yanmega, setting a large bowl of food down. Yenn stared at the trainer until he backed away, then slowly approached it. He still didn’t like accepting the human’s food. It had taken the others a bit to convince him it wasn’t tainted in any way, and he still examined every piece carefully before eating. The only reason he had even agreed to eat it in the first place was that it meant he didn’t have to take the life of a wild pokémon.

    As he was sifting through the food, Teresa carefully approached him, holding out something in her hand. “I found these mago berries yesterday. Snowcrystal told me you liked the sweet ones. Want to try some?”

    “I don’t want it,” Yenn growled.

    “Okay, that’s all right,” Teresa said. Instead of looking offended, she just smiled at him before returning to the others.

    He watched as Teresa sat down near Blazefang and Snowcrystal. She offered the berries to them, and afterward, Snowcrystal jumped on her lap, leaning against her in a friendly manner. “I’m so glad you decided to help us,” the growlithe said.

    Yenn continued to use a claw to sift through the food. The other pokémon obviously loved those humans. If Teresa and the other trainers were the sort who forced pokémon into labs, or allowed it to happen, they certainly did a good job of hiding it.

    -ooo-

    That night, Yenn stayed closer to the group, at Snowcrystal’s request. They were spending the late evening hours telling stories of past adventures or mishaps. The yanmega didn’t pay attention to most of it. He was perched in a tall tree at the edge of the camp, catching only snippets of conversation.

    However, at one point, something someone said caused a change in Nightshade. Most of the group looked confused, but Snowcrystal was alarmed. Nightshade turned away from the others and left the main circle. He sought out a clearing by himself, with Snowcrystal following. Soon they were joined by Teresa and Damian, who seemed to have immediately noticed something was wrong.

    Yenn noticed the humans and the growlithe with Nightshade, but he couldn’t see their faces. It was clear something was wrong, and it wasn’t Nightshade’s physical injuries. The humans seemed to be trying to calm him, and it suddenly struck him that their behavior reminded him of how he and Ashend had talked to one another through difficult times.

    He made himself fly to a new perch, where he couldn’t see them. He didn’t think they would have wanted him to see them. He still pictured the scene in his head; something about the humans had seemed…pokémon-like.

    -ooo-

    Throughout the next day, Yenn found himself watching the humans, even though a part of him still didn’t want to. Justin was constantly distancing himself from Stormblade and Thunder, but he had a clear bond with Spark that even Yenn couldn’t ignore. Katie’s pokémon were clearly loyal to her, and she treated both them and the ‘wild’ group with kindness. Damian was skilled at treating and taking care of wounds, and he took great care not to cause any unneeded pain, which was something Yenn had never thought any humans would bother with. Teresa was friendly and caring to all the pokémon, but she did not press when one wanted to be left alone. He could see that, at least on the surface, these trainers were nothing like the humans Yenn had known.

    A few times, Teresa offered Yenn various treats, but his fear and anger would not let him accept them. He was already eating human food; he didn’t need to take anything more from them. Yet, though he didn’t want to admit it, he found himself tempted by these offerings, not for the food itself, but for the kindness.

    Teresa never pressured him, but she gave him the offer and was fine when he refused. A part of him wondered why she kept trying, why any of them kept trying. He hadn’t joined the group to befriend humans. He was there to undo what Cyclone had led him into.

    He stuck to that thought as the day wore on, and by early evening, Teresa approached him again. She didn’t get too close. She looked at him with a smile he still wasn’t used to seeing on humans.

    “Look, Yenn, I know you don’t want treats right now. And, whatever humans did to you in the past, I understand why you don’t trust any of us. But we want to help, and while we can have one of the pokémon help when possible, I still want you to eventually be able to feel like you can trust us. If that takes a long time, that’s fine. Whatever we can do to help you feel more comfortable around us, we’ll do it.”

    It struck Yenn as incredibly strange that a human would say such things. However, he couldn’t be sure it wasn’t a ruse. “What do you want from me?” he asked her, keeping his voice low.

    “I just want you to know that you’re part of the group, part of this journey, and we’re going to do whatever we can to look out for you. You don’t have to be afraid of any of us, but if you want us to stay out of your way whenever we can, we can do that. I’ll talk to the others about it.”

    “Why?” Yenn asked, not sure why he was saying it himself.

    “Why what?”

    “Why do you care so much? Why do you want to help all these pokémon? You have nothing to do with the Forbidden Attacks.”

    “I don’t want to see pokémon or people die because of them,” she answered.

    Yenn lifted off the branch, coming to land on a tree stump near where Teresa was standing. “Can I ask you one question then?” he growled. When Teresa nodded, he continued. “You seem to think that humans caring about pokémon is normal. If that’s the case, why don’t you humans, with all your technology, do something for the pokémon being locked up against their will?”

    “Well,” Teresa replied, not seeming angry or defensive at all, despite Yenn’s attitude, “most of us wish we could. But it’s not that simple. Often we don’t know enough, and there isn’t an easy way to find out. And a lot of times, there isn’t much we can do on our own. But a lot of us are trying. We can’t stop every bad person from harming pokémon, but we help those we can.”

    Yenn went silent, watching her with a skeptical gaze.

    “Maybe there weren’t humans to help you before. But the other trainers and I…we can help you now if you still want that.”

    Yenn thought for a moment. “All right,” he said, his voice still not quite friendly. “How can you help?”

    “Well, for a start, maybe your wound would feel better if it was covered rather than in open air.” She glanced at the cut on the yanmega’s head, then reached into her backpack and pulled out a bandage.

    She waited until Yenn gave her a wary nod before walking toward him. He tensed as she cleaned the wound area and then placed the gauze and bandage over the cut. Nevertheless, he kept still until she had taped the bandage down.

    Afterward, he pulled away from her. “All right, that’s…fine. I’ll go now.” He lifted into the air and headed deeper into the trees.

    “Remember to come back soon. We’ll be walking a bit further after everyone’s rested,” Teresa called cheerfully to him.

    “Yeah, I’ll…remember,” he said back, not sure if she could hear.

    He landed on a new branch, his thoughts quickly growing troubled again. “What am I doing?” he sighed to himself. “This is a human, not some helpful audino looking to…” He trailed off, peering back at what he could see of the group’s campsite.

    At the moment, he wasn’t sure he knew just what he was getting into.

    -ooo-

    Most of the next day passed uneventfully, with Yenn keeping his distance from the others for most of the time, ignoring the efforts of some of his companions to get him to join in with their games and storytelling.

    With the use of their pokégear maps, the trainers were very optimistic that they could reach Steelspire City that night, possibly by evening. The thought unsettled Yenn. Steelspire wasn’t a place he’d known personally, but it was yet another city he would have to face.

    The group had just taken their mid-afternoon break and were back to walking when the trees cleared, and they found themselves on a hill looking down at a small farm. A herd of mareep wandered a fenced-in field, not paying the newcomers much attention. A growlithe lifted his head off the porch of a large farmhouse and barked.

    “Yeah, keep barking,” Rosie muttered to herself. “You’re real threatening.”

    “We don’t need to antagonize them,” Redclaw said. “The mareep can see we’ve got humans with us so we aren’t looking for a snack.”

    Rosie shrugged and followed the arcanine as they set off down the hill. The others followed. They stayed far enough away from the mareep but decided to walk near one of the other fenced-in areas, knowing it would save them time if they didn’t try to go around the farm. A tauros looked up from his grazing and watched them pass with mild interest.

    More barking and growling from the farm growlithe distracted them. The fire type, bigger than Snowcrystal but looking just as young, ran back and forth alongside the fence as the group passed.

    “Keep moving, keep moving!” he shouted at them.

    “What does it look like we’re doing?” Rosie muttered.

    “Move faster! I’m here to protect the farm and I can’t allow strangers to linger,” the growlithe said boldly.

    “Well, you’re doing a good job. Just keep looking for actual threats,” Wildflame told him.

    The growlithe huffed in annoyance and continued to follow them as they walked alongside the fence. Snowcrystal placed herself behind some of the other pokémon, aware that in her days traveling from Shellreef, she hadn’t been careful and some of her orange fur dye had washed off.

    Rosie gave the growlithe an annoyed glance and then looked ahead. They were nearing the farmhouse, but without their vantage point from the top of the hill, most of the view was blocked by a grove of fruit trees surrounded by another fence.

    “Don’t even think about it!” the growlithe snarled at her. “Those are our trees.”

    Rosie rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t thinking about it. I was thinking about how long I’d have to put up with your yapping. But if you want me to leave faster, then fine. Try to keep up with me.” The ninetales took off running.

    The growlithe gave chase from his side of the fence, shouting as Rosie reached the fruit trees. Several of the pokémon and trainers hurried after Rosie as the growlithe sped toward her. The ninetales was faster, however, and before the growlithe had even reached the trees himself, Rosie had come to the end of their fence, rounding the corner and vanishing from sight. Then she gave a startled yip and the front end of a vehicle came into view on the dirt road where she had just vanished, tires squealing as its owner hurriedly slammed the breaks.

    Forgetting the farm growlithe, the others rushed forward as a frantic farmer exited the truck, looking down at something his vehicle blocked from view. Seeing the other human, Yenn quickly grabbed Snowcrystal and lifted higher into the air, afraid that any abnormalities in her fur might be noticed.

    The farmer, however, hardly even glanced at the strange group. Redclaw, Damian, and Teresa were the first to see Rosie lying still on the ground. The color drained from Teresa’s face.

    Rosie was lying on her side, wide-eyed and breathing heavily. However, she didn’t look to have any injuries other than a few scrapes.

    Damian moved closer to the ninetales. “Are you okay?” he asked.

    Rosie took a shuddering breath and got to her feet. “I think so,” she said, testing all four paws. “It didn’t hit me.” She shook herself, scattering dust and bits of grass around her. “I…just didn’t see it coming.”

    The farmer began to profusely apologize, Damian quickly insisting that Rosie was fine and it was merely an accident. Yenn, from his view up above, saw Teresa back away from the others, mutter a hasty excuse, and run toward a small group of trees opposite to the farm. The rest of the group were still focused on Rosie and the farmer; they didn’t question her.

    “Yenn, you can put me down,” Snowcrystal told him.

    “Oh. Right. Sorry,” the yanmega replied. Yenn lowered himself to the ground and landed a short distance away from the group, setting Snowcrystal down on the grass. She ran toward the others, though she was careful not to get too close to the farmer.

    Suddenly feeling nervous about the strange human, regardless of how he seemed concerned for Rosie, Yenn took off again, heading away from the farm but keeping the group in view, so he could rejoin them when they left. Then he noticed Teresa.

    She was among the trees, out of sight and hearing of the others in the group, huddled on the grass. In the short time since she had joined the group, she had always seemed so confident and cheerful. Now, she looked anything but. Yenn was used to seeing humans fearless, acting as if they were invincible thanks to the technology they wielded.

    The way Teresa looked, scared, terrified of something that wasn’t there…or wasn’t there any longer. It suddenly struck him that she was in the grips of the same panic that consumed him when he least expected it. He’d never known that humans could feel like that.

    He flew downwards toward the trees, realizing that Teresa hadn’t sent any of her pokémon out. Did she have no one who understood? Almost without realizing it, he reached Teresa’s side. She had to have heard the light humming of his wings, but she made no reaction. He slowly reached out and nudged her arm.

    Teresa glanced at him, but was still unable to calm down. Yenn landed on the grass beside her and lay down. “Teresa, you’re safe here, it’s just…it will pass.” He felt strange, talking in such a way to a human, but he tried to ignore the feeling.

    “I know,” Teresa said, hardly able to speak between breaths.

    “I…” Yenn knew a part of him was still reeling at the fact that he trying to help a human, yet this human had proven herself to be so much different from what he’d thought all humans had been. “What can I do?”

    “I don’t know,” Teresa gasped.

    Yenn wasn’t sure if anything would help either, so he merely lay beside her, until she began to calm down. Slowly, Teresa reached out her hand to Yenn’s head, and this time he didn’t flinch. For what seemed like a long time, but could only have been several minutes, Teresa’s breathing returned to normal.

    “Did…humans do something to you too?” Yenn asked. After he’d said it, he wasn’t sure if he should be asking that, especially after the way he had treated her the past few days.

    Teresa shook her head. “No, it was nothing like that. It was something else but…I don’t want to talk about what happened."

    “Yeah, I understand that,” Yenn replied.

    From somewhere back near the farm, the two of them heard Redclaw and Stormblade calling for them. Teresa reached for one of her poké balls and threw it, releasing Vicky the sableye.

    Vicky looked at Teresa with obvious concern, but the trainer only said, “Tell the others we’ll be back there in a few minutes, and that we’re fine.”

    “Are you sure…?” Vicky asked, but at a nod from Teresa, the sableye reluctantly turned away and headed off through the trees.

    “Your pokémon…I’m sure they’d understand-” Yenn began, but Teresa cut him off.

    “I didn’t want to bother them,” she said. “I shouldn’t have bothered you. In a bit we can get back to the others and keep going. We could still reach Steelspire by late evening, night at the latest.”

    “You’re not bothering me,” Yenn told her. “You tried to help me. And I guess…maybe I should do the same. I shouldn’t have treated you and the others that way. I’m sorry.”

    “It’s fine,” Teresa replied, but she sounded distant, distracted. She started fiddling with strands of grass. Yenn watched her, seeing her not as just a human, as an enemy, but as someone who had gone through something terrible the way he and his friends had before they’d joined Cyclone’s army. He hesitantly moved closer, checking to see that she was okay with the gesture before laying his head in her lap. A moment later, Teresa ran her fingers over his back, the feeling of the smooth chitin giving her a feeling of calmness. For that moment, whatever was happening off in the rest of the Inari region, beyond that grove of trees, seemed a little less threatening.

    To be continued…


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