18

[Dragon Master Mike]

Chapter 3: Blood

Out of the bush a small Pokemon came. Corey could not possibly have forgotten about this Pokemon. It was the Sylveon. Corey immediately lied down, trying to hide in the grass. The Sylveon walked out of the bush, looking as upset as when the tournament had started. Even though Corey had never seen a Pokemon like this, it looked somehow familiar to him. Corey saw no threat from the strange Pokemon. Slowly, he stood up. The Slyveon instantly saw him.

“Please don’t hurt me!” The Slyveon said, panicking as she slowly stepped backwards.

“I… I’m not going to hurt you!” Corey said. This seemed to alleviate her panic. Corey walked towards the stream. He decided to cross the stream by jumping on stones sticking out from the water. The stream was not very wide, and it only took three jumps to make it all the way across.

“W-what's your name?” The Sylveon said as Corey walked towards her. Corey stopped less than a meter from the strange Pokemon.

“Corey.” He said. “Whats your name?”

“Ivy.” The nervous Sylveon responded.

“I-” Corey didn’t even have a chance to finish before he felt the teeth sinking into him. He didn’t even need to look to feel the sharp pain coming from his shoulder. It was a trap. Corey fell down on his side, as the Slyveon’s teeth dug into him deeper and deeper. Corey didn’t know what to do. He noticed the Sylveons ribbon like strands draping down from its neck , and he did the only thing he could think of, he turned his head towards the closest ribbon and bit it. The Sylveon briefly loosened its hold before biting back down full force again. It was then that Corey realized He couldn’t fight it. Corey’s panic began to fade slightly as it hit him. The realization that it was over. Corey knew then that he would never see his friends and family again. He would die then and there, at the feet of the Sylveon. He closed his eyes and accepted his fate.

Suddenly Corey felt the Sylveon release her grip. The pain immediately lessened. Corey almost didn’t want to, but he opened his eyes. He looked up just in time to see the fire hit where the Sylveon had been several seconds earlier. He then saw the source of the fire. Ruby leaped down from a tree across the stream and began running towards Corey.


“So that's why she ran off…” Corey thought, almost forgetting about his rapid loss of blood from the injury on his shoulder. He attempted to stand before collapsing back down on the ground, immobilized by pain. Ruby ran over and grabbed Corey, moving him away from the fire.

“Corey,” Ruby said, “you’re going to be ok!” Corey looked up to see blood flowing out of the wound on his shoulder. He began to feel light headed. He briefly looked around for the Sylveon, but she was nowhere in sight. Ruby pressed her paws on the wound, attempting to slow the bleeding. As Corey looked up at her, everything began to get dark. The pain in his shoulder began to dull. Was he dying? He asked himself. If he was, he was in too much pain to care. It only took a few moments more for all consciousness to fade.

Corey opened his eyes. It was dark. Looking up, he could just barely see stars through the leaves. It had clearly been several hours since he had lost consciousness. He noticed Ruby lying a few meters away. He looked down at his wound. It did not look as bad as he expected, but it did not look good. His whole shoulder and leg was covered with dried blood. Corey began to stand, but quickly fell back down, yelping at the sharp pain from his injury. Ruby quickly darted her head towards him.

“Don’t move.” Ruby said, standing up. Corey looked up at her as she walked over. “You need to rest for a while. That wound is going to take a long time to fully heal.” She said, sitting down in front of Corey. It was then that Corey noticed the burnt patch of fur on Ruby’s back leg. This patch had not been there when he had first met Ruby.

“What happened to your leg?” Corey asked, staring at the small spot.

“Oh… That?” Ruby began, her tone immediately changing. “Well…” She said, looking away. She paused for a few seconds before looking back at Corey, a look of sadness in her eyes. “I… I told you there were others who did not want to fight. Earlier today, when i instructed you to come here… I left to try and find and gather them. I… I found one… But then…” Ruby paused for for a few more seconds, tears beginning to form. “I couldn’t save him, I tried, but the Talon Flame… I barely got away myself…” Ruby said.

“I… I’m sorry.” Corey said.

“It’s ok. Just try to rest.” Ruby responded. Corey looked at ruby for a few seconds longer before speaking.

“I want to go home.” Corey said.

“I’m sure you do, and i’m going to do what i can to get you there.” Ruby responded. “I have a plan. I can’t tell you now, as the Humans are watching us, but you will see soon.” Corey was curious, but did not bother asking any more about the plan.

“What’s it like where you're from?” Corey asked.

“Sector 7? Well, that depends where in the sector you are. The area i like stay in is much like your sector, all forest. There are also some grasslands. Most of the sector though is desert.”

“How do you know what my sector is like?” Corey asked, puzzled.

“The same way i know about all the other sectors.” She responded.

“But-” Corey began when he was cut off.

“I’ve already said too much.” Ruby said. “You need to try and get some sleep.”

“But-” Corey was saying when he began to feel very tired. He looked up at Ruby and saw a slight shine in her eyes. That was the last thing he saw before falling asleep. This time when he woke, it was lighter. Though he could not see the sun clearly through the trees, he estimated it was still only dawn. Corey looked to where Ruby had been before and noticed she was gone.

He decided to take a look around for her. He slowly stood up, trying to tolerate the pain. He stood for a few seconds before taking a step. He only managed to make it two steps before the pain became too great for Corey to stand. He fell down, landing on his side. He closed his eyes as tight as he could, waiting for the pain to fade. After the pain was gone, Corey tried to stand again. He decided it would be a good idea to try and wash his cut, so slower than before, he walked towards the stream. As Corey let the water from the stream hit the cut, it stung bad, but after several seconds the pain began to fade.

After letting the stream rinse it for a minute, Corey made his way back to where he had been laying earlier. He had just gotten there when Ruby jumped down from a tree in front of him. She was holding a large branch.

“I brought you some oran berries.” Ruby said, dropping the berry filled branch to the ground.

“Thank you.” Corey responded, looking at the berries. He ate one, then looked back up at Ruby. “Aren’t you going to have any?” Corey asked.

“I already ate.” Ruby responded. Corey continued eating berries until he was full.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Corey hid in a bush and rested while Ruby gathered berries and scouted the area, regularly checking back to make sure Corey was ok. It was sunset when Corey began to notice the drop in temperature. It was only another minute before Ruby mentioned it.

“Are you feeling cold?” Ruby asked.

“Yeah, kinda…” Corey responded.

"The temperature is dropping. I will go make a fire." Ruby responded. She ran off into the forest. After a few moments she came running back with a large branch. She repeated this several times until she had built a small pile of branches. Then, looking down at the branches, she opened her mouth. Almost immediately after that, a small stream of flame came flowing out. Corey was briefly startled by the fire, but quickly calmed. He looked down at the branches as the fire began to catch. Ruby then looked over at Corey. As Corey saw her look at him, he noticed her expression immediately change. It was then she spoke.

“Don’t turn around.”