Chapter numero cinco...
Alright, chapter five. Don’t you just love how my chapters are like a weekly drama – you skip one, and you’re basically screwed when it comes to knowing what’s going down? The good news, though, is that you can go back and read them instead of having to wait nearly six months for them to show that episode again. I say that to say...well, don’t miss this one. If you skip over this one, your computer will suck out your soul and send it to the hottest, darkest level of Hell...
Nah, it won’t be that bad. You’ll just be completely lost as to what’s going on and who’s who. So, on with the chapter.
Chapter 5: Pursuit of the Scarlet Shadow
May 25, 2013 – Route 104
Fourteen feet – six belonging to three human beings and eight belonging to the two Pokémon that were with them – traversed the coastal Route 104, which led northwest from Petalburg City into the Petalburg Woods, which led (sooner or later) to Rustboro City. This coastal road was a very beautiful place with a rather scenic view of the sea – but there was no time to stand still and admire that. They were pursuing someone and had been for a full day with very little rest to speak of. Behind them were the cliffs that were right above the beach that was right next to the ocean. It was at that point when the oldest member of the group – a young man by the name of Kenjiro – directed them slightly away from a dock that was close to there. It was at that point that Travis had a horrible thought.
“I hope she hasn’t hopped a ship somewhere...” he muttered, speaking, of course, of the girl that he, his girlfriend, and this mysterious young man were pursuing. That girl had stolen his sword and taken off west with it, in hopes of reaching (at least this is what Kenjiro speculated) Rustboro City.
“Nobody with any sense would try hopping one of
those ships,” Kenjiro replied. “Just trust me on that. I know a little bit more about this area than you do.”
“Well, yeah...” Travis panted. The fact that Kenjiro had just stated had been, of course, what Travis had been counting on when he enlisted Kenjiro’s help to find the thief who had stolen the Sacred Flame. The fact still stood, though, that as much as Kenjiro knew about the land, Travis and Katrina knew just that little about him. Here’s what they knew: his name (if, of course, he hadn’t told them a bold-faced lie) was Kenjiro Kazaki. Apparently, he was number six or so of the ‘ten most wanted’ people in Hoenn. For his age (which he had not revealed, but Travis figured that he was somewhere around his late teens or maybe twenty), he was very worldly as opposed to being naive, which might be expected of someone of his youth. He was far from innocent. Travis’ original thought, which he’d had at their first meeting, had been right – it was clear that this young man had seen things far beyond his years, which made him not so different from Travis himself. The question was, though – what were those things? It was a question to which Travis knew he would probably never get an answer.
“You’re not tired already, are you?” Kenjiro asked.
“Of course not,” Travis replied defiantly. The truth was, he felt like he’d just run a marathon – and, since he could see the edge of the forest from this hill...the forest that he knew from planning this leg of his trip with Katrina was two days off...and they had gotten here in less than one...he probably wasn’t that far off, either.
“Wait a second! Look down there!” Katrina shouted, pointing. Travis shielded his eyes against the sun and looked off into the distance. He saw a small dot moving very quickly into the forest.
“That’s her!” Travis shouted instantly, taking off at a run. This time, he was in the lead, followed by Kenjiro and Katrina, who both broke into sprints themselves to keep up. He tore down the hill, these long yards feeling like nothing because of his adrenaline and his desperation to get his sword back.
Two summers ago, he would have liked nothing better than to be rid of it – to have given the sword and the responsibility that came with it to another. Now, though – a bit older and a bit wiser – he realized that he and that sacred sword were one. Having that sword stolen was like having a small part of his soul stolen. So, he had to get it back, for his own sake. Not to mention the fact that...if that sword ever fell into the wrong hands, he might never get it back.
As they neared the forest, Travis saw two forms standing near the edge of the woods. Katrina gasped as she got a good look at the face of the girl, who was brunette and wearing a schoolgirl outfit.
“That’s Jadyn,” Katrina gasped. “How’d she get here already?”
“Who?” Travis asked.
“Jadyn – I’ve battled her before,” Katrina said. “Let’s just hope they don’t lock eyes with – damn it!”
Jadyn and the boy that she had been talking and giggling with – he had spiky hair the tawny peach color of sand, and was wearing a mustard-colored shirt and jeans – both locked eyes with Travis and Katrina simultaneously. Of course, in the Pokémon world, if Trainers lock eyes like this in any sort of wilderness, it was taken as a wordless challenge, and the only way out of it was usually if all parties involved refused to battle.
“Ngh...there’s no time for this...” Travis muttered.
“Try telling
them that,” Katrina said as the tawny-haired boy and Jadyn approached their counterparts. Kenjiro frowned and groaned loudly.
“Well, you can keep going after her,” Travis said curtly, not bothering to look back at Kenjiro. “You don’t have to stand here.”
“Fine – I’ll do that,” Kenjiro replied with a hint of irritation in his voice, running off and smirking. Without their witness and potential interference, he could dispose of her anyway he wanted.
The tawny-haired boy extended his hand. “Cliff Arland – Littleroot Academy Alumni. Class of 2013,” he introduced himself.
“Travis DePaul – New Bark Academy,” Travis replied, taking Cliff’s hand and matching his formality.
“Johto?” Cliff asked. “That’s cool. I’ve never met anyone from Johto before. Oh – right. This is Jadyn –“
“We’ve met,” Katrina interrupted coldly. “She seems to have a knack for getting in our way when we have to be somewhere...”
“Now’s not a good time to argue,” Travis said seriously. “I’d rather not have to battle you two, but if you won’t let us go, then let’s make this quick.”
Both pairs of Trainers took ten long steps away from each other, creating a battlefield in the space between them. They all turned around and chose their Pokémon.
“Since you didn’t bother to speak up, I’ll assume you know that this is a double battle,” Cliff said. “You
do know what a double battle is, right?”
“You’re not dealing with rookies, Cliff,” Katrina said coldly. “We’ve won double battle tournaments while you were still sucking your thumb in fourth year.”
Cliff, justifiably, was a bit put out by this statement. “I trust you’ll make this a challenge, then.”
Kenjiro squinted for a bit of extra clarity of vision as he moved as a shadow through the myriad trees in Petalburg Woods. The scenery around him consisted of earthy greens and browns, shaded by either sunlight or shadow. Small, white Cocoon Pokémon known as Silcoon, and lilac ones known as Cascoon hung from the trees. He walked slowly, listening for any noise and looking for any motion that might alert him to another presence there in the forest. She was around here somewhere.
“I know you’re here, rogue,” he said in a breathy growl. “Come out, come out, wherever you are...”
His words echoed into the eerie silence and seemed to travel for miles – yet they returned to him empty. He could find nothing or no one – let alone the person he was searching for. He walked a few more yards and then heard a rustling sound to his left. His golden-brown eyes narrowing, he pointed his gun to his left without looking. Then, turning his head in that direction, he fired a shot.
“GOT YOU!” he yelled as a lightning bolt shot forth from the barrels of his gun and burned the bush to a crisp. As the ashes that were formally the shrub started to fall apart, they parted to reveal a small, bright red worm-like creature that was curled up in a ball and shaking horribly. After taking a close look, he realized that he had frightened a Wurmple rather badly. Sighing, he muttered dispassionately, “Guess not.”
He then heard a buzzing sound of sorts and looked up with a rather confused expression on his face. His eyes widened as he had to jump out of the way of two rainbow-colored beams of energy. He saw buzzing toward him, two angry-looking giant insects with purple bodies and huge eyes. These were both Dustox, Bug/Poison-type hybrids which were one of the possible final evolutions of Wurmple.
“****,” Kenjiro cursed. “Those’ll be the parents...”
He saw the Pokemon’s eyes glowing and took off in the opposite direction. Rainbow-colored beams of energy exploded behind him and sailed dangerously close to his head, exploding on nearby trees and blowing large chunks of wood out of them. He gained some space and then dove sideways into a thicket. Unfortunately, this thicket was quite thorny, which caused Kenjiro a great deal of pain as he crouched there, his body now riddled with small puncture wounds and scratches. He heard the buzzing of the two Dustox as they flew past the bush. Sighing in relief, Kenjiro now worked to extricate himself from the thorny bushes. After about ten seconds, he rolled out onto the ground on the other side, landing on it with a clearly-audible THUMP. Grunting in slight pain, he worked to stand to his feet. He found that he was standing in a clearing now. This large patch of grass, accented in places by small, wild flowers, was colored in tones of yellowish sepia from the sun that was filtering through the topmost leaves of the trees above him. With a suspicious expression on his face, he worked his way around the clearing until he had his back to the nearest tree. He looked up.
On a high limb on the tree directly opposite him was a shadow of sorts...Kenjiro couldn’t make it out, but it looked like it shouldn’t have been there...
He then heard a yell reverberate throughout the clearing...
“Baishoraizan!”
He made the mistake of looking up in the opposite direction. He then looked up toward the tree where he’d seen the shadow before and saw a gleam of sorts coming toward him. It took a second and a half – almost a half-second too long – to realize that this gleam was a glowing blade. He leapt sideways out of its path, rolling to his feet as he watched it hit the tree behind him and explode in a flash of light and a puff of smoke. He looked back to where the knife had come from, and there, he saw the full body of the attacker. She was a beautiful girl with a youthful face that made her at least appear to be in her mid-teens. Her tight, scarlet outfit matched her hair, which appeared to be just past her shoulders. Her hands were covered by gloves that extended from her hands all the way up to just below her shoulders. One of those hands had just dropped a sword with a white sheath. The other was clenched into a fist around a kunai knife.
“I was right about you...” Kenjiro muttered.
“I have no business with you,” the girl said. “I thought I made that clear.”
“Circumstances change,” Kenjiro said, pointing his gun up into the tree. “People’s minds change. In other words...**** happens. Now that I know for sure...you’re under the judgment I vowed to bring down upon them...so you must die.”
“I can’t let you kill me,” the girl said. “I’m searching for something important, and I can’t die until I find it.”
“Sure, you can,” Kenjiro replied nonchalantly. “In fact...YOU CAN DIE NOW!”
He roared as he fired a thunderbolt into the tree. The girl jumped into the air, pulled out a solitary kunai, and shouted, “
Shoraizan!”
Kenjiro leapt into the air just as the lightning-charge knife exploded where he’d just been standing. He turned his head and set his eyes on the girl’s airborne body. Roaring loudly, he swung at her with the sword that was between the twin barrels of his gun. She blocked with two kunai that she’d somehow come up with in mid-jump. Kenjiro yanked his sword away and then attempted to slash her again. The scarlet-clothed girl blocked a second time. Kenjiro snarled maliciously as he attempted to force through her guard. He then pulled the trigger on the gun portion of his weapon. The gun, as expected, let off a shot, and a small explosion occurred, blowing the girl backward and away from him. Performing a rather acrobatic move in midair as her body was trailed by smoke, the girl righted herself. She and Kenjiro landed on the ground simultaneously...
“C’mon, let’s go, Royal!” Jadyn shouted, throwing her Pokéball and revealing her Taillow.
“Arcus!” Katrina shouted. Out of her Pokéball came the Arcidane she had caught a few days earlier – this would be his first battle against another Trained Pokémon since he’d been under her command.
“Meru, let’s go!” Travis yelled. Out of this ball came the aquamarine-haired, brown-eyed, fox-like Kitide. She looked sideways and realized who her partner was going to be. Apparently, Arcus saw her, but didn’t acknowledge her by looking.
“<Stay out of my way,>” Arcus growled tersely.
“<That’s not how it works,>” Meru said just as sharply.
“<I can take these two down on my own,>” Arcus replied. “<I don’t need or want your help.>”
“<Well, you’ve got it, so you’ll have to deal,>” Meru answered, to which Arcus responded by growling loudly.
The fourth Pokémon – the one belonging to Cliff – had been revealed. He was a small, green, birdlike creature with a body that was a light green color, almost like the inside of a lime. His sky-blue eyes were so bright that Travis could pick them out even at this distance, and two dark-green leaves protruded from his body. One was short and stubby and served as the crest of his head. The other was long and flowing and served as his tail. He flapped his short wings and took to the sky with surprising skill, considering his small size. Scanning the creature, Travis saw that it was a Leafen – a Grass/Flying-type with decent speed.
“Vipiri, use Razor Leaf on the Kitide!” Cliff shouted. Vipiri swung his tail twice, revealing several spinning leaves that were designed to cut into their target.
“Meru, shoot down what you can with Water Gun, then get out of the way!” Travis shouted.
“Arcus – use Quick Attack on Royal!” Katrina yelled. Arcus, growling loudly, took off in a blur toward Royal, who attempted to fly higher. However, Arcus performed an amazingly athletic jump and managed to clip the bird Pokémon before he got too far. At the same time, Meru skillfully shot down several Razor Leaves with a rapid-fire Water Gun, rolling to her left to avoid the last two, which both arrived too quickly for her to shoot down. She looked up and saw Vipiri descending toward her, his beak posed to strike. Inhaling quickly, she shot a jet of water directly at the Leaf Chick Pokémon, not damaging him much due to his Grass-type affinity, but obscuring his vision and causing the Peck attack to miss her by a mile.
“Shoot!” Cliff groaned.
“Nice defense, Meru!” Travis shouted encouragingly.
“<You know it!>” Meru affirmed.
“<Tch...not impressed,>” Arcus muttered, getting the attention of Meru, who looked at him for a second before getting bowled over by a flying Taillow.
“<Crud! See what you did, Arcus?!>” Meru shouted, rolling to her feet.
“<Blame that on your – short attention span!>” Arcus grunted, jumping out of the way of Vipiri, who had been ordered to switch sides and use Wing Attack.
“Damn it...why did it have to be two Flying-types...” Travis swore.
Cliff and Jadyn looked at each other, and nodded.
“Vipiri!” Cliff shouted.
“Royal!” Jadyn yelled as well.
“WING ATTACK ARCUS!” they chorused. Both of the bird-like Pokémon turned around in midair and proceeded to dive-bomb the flightless wolf Pokémon. He looked up and growled loudly in an attempt to intimidate them. It didn’t work very well, though (which was saying something, as many bigger Pokémon have been known to run from an Arcidane’s growl), and Vipiri and Royal continued to descend upon Arcus’ position. Then, Vipiri banked all of a sudden. The Arcidane looked up and could only see one flyer or the other. They were about to catch him in a pincer. He bared his fangs. He’d take a shot, but he could at least get a chunk out of one of them before everything was said and done.
“Arcus!!” Katrina shouted in concern. All of a sudden, a fast-moving jet of water came from Arcus’ left, striking the Taillow dead-center and sending him into a tail-spin. Noticing this, Arcus focused his attention on Vipiri, who was still coming in to strike. Although not an expert at scratching, he managed to jump and lay a grazing claw into Vipiri’s back just as he passed by. He landed on the ground and saw Meru running over to him, continuing to fire Water Guns at Royal, who had weighed his options and thought it better to retreat.
“<I said, don’t get in my way!>” Arcus exclaimed.
“<You’re welcome,>” Meru replied.
“<What are you, stupid?>” Arcus barked. “<What part of ‘stay out of my way’ don’t you understand?!>”
“<The part that involves you getting your *** kicked and leaving me to fight these two birdbrains by myself!>” Meru exclaimed pointedly. Arcus growled in frustration.
“<It’s time to end this,>” he growled. “<I want to take a nap.>”
“<Oh, widdle wee Archie wants to take his nappy-bye?>” Meru teased. “<What’s next? Does the cute widdle emo baby want his bottle and pacifier, too? Aw...too bad...>”
“<Meru...you’re starting to act like Amber,>” Arcus warned. “<Don’t push me.>”
“<What’s widdle Archie gonna do? Run and tell his mo–>” Meru started, but ended up squealing loudly in pain as she felt something sharp slash her across the face...
...he felt something slash him across the face and growled loudly. He looked up into the trees and only saw a moving shadow. He tried to take aim with his gun – no good. She was too fast, even for him. He only saw his shadow bouncing from tree to tree. With her smaller frame and quicker style of fighting – a style which he’d seen and knew firsthand – he was definitely at a speed disadvantage. He had to admit...picking of the King’s soldiers wherever and whenever he could was a lot easier than chasing prey like this girl or that kid. Because the King’s soldiers couldn’t move quicker than the naked eye – and ear – could follow.
He saw a thin, pale arm, grabbed it, and threw the mysterious girl to the ground. She slammed into the dirt and began to roll away from Kenjiro, who drew his gun and began shooting. Somehow, though, she was able to roll and evade Kenjiro’s shots (which consisted of small fireballs and lightning bolts), finally vaulting herself off the ground from that position and barrel-rolling to a standing one. Kenjiro was a bit taken aback. It’d been a while since he’d seen moves as good as these right here. He had no time to marvel on them, however, as he watched the girl leap into the air. She ended up on the same tree limb where he’d seen her last. Her voice began to echo throughout the forest.
“Shoryuu-ninjutsu! Kaen!” she cried, leaping into the air. Kenjiro recognized the chant and his eyes widened. She held her hands above her head and a fireball about the size of a beach ball formed. She hurled it at Kenjiro, who jumped to the right and avoided direct contact, but was still too close to the resulting explosion. He saw flames leap up around him and felt himself being uncontrollably knocked backward. He felt a sharp pain in his back as it smashed into one of the larger trees surrounding the clearing. He looked up and saw smoke. And then he saw something come flying out of that smoke.
“Guargh–“ he gurgled as he felt one of the girl’s kunai penetrate the flesh in his side. His eyes glossed over momentarily, and then regained focus as he grabbed hold of the girl’s wrist and looked into her eyes. They were silver and seemed, again, to be widened in an apparently-permanent expression of fear. Even now, when she was fighting...and beating him...she looked so incredibly afraid...
...and that would be her undoing.
He raised the gun to her belly and fired it. She screamed loudly as she was blasted backwards. Once there was some distance between him and her, Kenjiro yanked the knife out of his side and, for good measure, chucked it rather skillfully at the girl’s retreating form. To his great shock, the young kunoichi, while drifting backwards, caught the blade of the knife between her index and middle fingers as she landed.
“What in –“ Kenjiro muttered in frustration. Meanwhile, the scarlet-clad girl flipped the kunai and caught it by its handle. “****!”
Kenjiro rolled out of the way as the girl threw the kunai, which glowed an electric blue and hit a nearby tree and exploded. Seeing that the girl had (somehow) drawn two more knives – slightly longer, this time – and was rushing him, he defiantly brandished his blade and charged her.
The weapons clashed as the two wielders met over the soft grass. They traded blows for several seconds until finally, Kenjiro, his patience at an end, turned on his heel and aimed a swift kick at the girl’s face. He made contact, which resulted in her being sent into a fast and uncontrollable barrel roll as she flew backward. His eyes wide and glittering with malice, he roared, “SLAVE OF THE TEMPLE! DIE!!”
Stepping off his right foot, he charged and went in for the kill...
“Arcus, look what you did!” Katrina shouted – for, it seemed as if right when Vipiri had come in for an attack, Arcus had clawed Meru across the face while he was aiming for the bird Pokémon. “Watch where you swing next time!”
“<Ah...>” Meru rolled to her feet and seemed a bit unbalanced – probably understandable, as she’d just nearly gotten half of her face clawed off by her partner. But something settled in her heart, demoralizing her. Arcus was...
“Meru, watch out!” Travis shouted. “Dodge that attack!”
Meru looked up and saw Royal bearing down on her with a Wing Attack. She inhaled quickly and produced an extremely powerful Water Gun that smashed into Royal just as Royal hit her. She fell to the ground, her will to fight utterly lost – just as Royal crash-landed into the dirt, knocked out.
“Tch,” Katrina groaned. “Now, it’s one-on-one...”
“Let’s finish it, then!” Cliff shouted. “Hit him with Razor Leaf!”
“Dodge it, Arcus!” Katrina shouted. Fearlessly, the Arcidane stared down the sharp, spinning leaves and, at the last second, rolled out of their path. Just after that, he was hit hard by Vipiri, who had been ordered to follow up with a Wing Attack.
“<Damn!>” Arcus swore.
“Hey, Katrina!” Travis shouted. “Isn’t Arcidane an Ice-type?”
Katrina gasped – Travis was right. If Arcus had any Ice-type moves, it would be extremely advantageous for him and Katrina, as Leafen were part-Grass and part-Flying, both of which were weak against Ice-type attacks.
WHAM.
Arcus rolled to his feet again after getting nearly knocked silly by a second Wing Attack from Vipiri. Growling loudly, he looked up at the Spring Fowl Pokémon as Vipiri banked and came around one more time with the intention of finishing off Arcus.
“Arcus, wait for it!” Katrina yelled. Travis held his breath. The eyes of Meru, whom Travis had picked up, opened slightly and looked straight at the Puppy Pokémon, who crouched low and narrowed his eyes as he watched Vipiri go in for the kill. “NOW! Grab his wing with Bite attack!”
Arcus leapt high and sank his sharp, dagger-like teeth into the left wing of Vipiri, who screeched in pain as he was dragged downward and hit the ground hard. Arcus let Vipiri go, but with an injured wing, the small Flying-type was completely at the mercy of his opponent.
“Now, use Aurora Beam!” Katrina shouted. Arcus, growling loudly, reared back and shot a rainbow-colored ray of light into the ground. This light engulfed Vipiri and sapped what was left of his energy. After five seconds or so, Arcus leapt back toward Katrina, leaving the fallen Leafen in the middle of the field, knocked out with an injured left wing.
“Vipiri!” Cliff shouted. “No!”
“Maybe you’ll think twice before challenging us next time,” Katrina said. “Now, move. We’ve got somewhere to be.”
“Are you alright, Meru?” Travis asked. “Meru?”
“<Don’t talk to me,>” Meru whined, looking down morosely at Arcus, who caught her eye and then spat on the ground in disdain. “<I can’t believe you’d attack your own friends...>”
“But that was an accident...right?” Travis asked. “I mean, Vipiri was coming in, and Arcus just missed. That’s what I saw, anyway?”
“<Either way, you deserved it,>” Arcus said nonchalantly. “<Oh, yeah...and I don’t attack my friends. Because I don’t have any...because I don’t want or need them.>”
Meru attempted to keep a defiant, angry face while watching as Arcus was pulled back into his Pokéball. She closed her eyes then, and two fat tears spilled forth from them.
“We need to hurry,” Katrina said. “Who knows where Kenjiro or that girl went...”
Kenjiro let out a malicious chuckle as his sword finally pierced the heart of...
An afterimage.
“The hell?!” Kenjiro shouted, turning around and barely blocking a knife from the young kunoichi he was fighting. Dodging another slash, he bent over backwards in a way that would have made Neo proud. Sliding to his left, he slipped one of his legs behind hers, and swept her off her feet, causing her to land face-first in the ground. Standing, he gesticulated defiantly with his blade and raised it high, turning it downward with the intent of stabbing the girl through her back. She rolled over and looked straight at him just as he was about to bring the sword down. “You’re too late. DIE!”
He started and then heard her ragged, short breaths. He looked into her silver eyes as he had the sword to her throat now. He tried to push and end it, but it was as if there was some sort of barrier preventing him from advancing his blade those last few inches into her windpipe. What the hell was his problem?
He’d never had an issue with killing anyone before – personal grudge or not. Why was he hesitant to kill her, of all people? He hated her – he hated her kind. All of them. Rogues, not rogues – it didn’t matter. He hated her kind with every fiber in his being. Far from having a problem with killing someone of her kind when he had the chance, he found that he enjoyed it. He took a pleasure in hearing them beg for mercy in the last moments of their life. He found comfort in the chance to withhold that mercy – because they had withheld it from him.
And yet...this one...he couldn’t do it. She didn’t look like someone who actually believed it all. If you looked in her eyes, she looked like someone who didn’t want to fight, yet was being forced to fight. He couldn’t do it...he couldn’t kill her for some reason.
WHAM.
Before he knew what was going on, he was on his back with a debilitating pain coursing through his body, the epicenter being his nether regions. With her silver eyes suddenly aflame, she was on top and in control. He saw her eyes from point-blank range, although his own were out of focus because of an extremely painful injury coming from less than a foot below his navel. She could kill him right now if she wanted to...the funny thing was, though, that she didn’t look like she wanted to.
She stood up, allowing him to stand as well – or at least, try to. The pain still hurt too badly, and all he could manage was to roll over and get into a kneeling position. The roar of his agony and rage echoed in the clearing as he heard her quickly escape on foot, no doubt with the Sacred Flame in her possession.
By this time, Travis and Katrina were in the forest. They peered around vigilantly, looking for any sign of a human presence other than their own.
“Still no sign of Kenjiro,” Travis said.
“You don’t think he bailed out on us, do you?” Katrina asked.
Travis responded by shaking his head. “I made a deal with him, remember?”
“Yeah...about that...” Katrina muttered. “Why’d you do that, anyways?”
“Like I said,” Travis replied. “The fact that everyone on the face of the planet suddenly wants my sword for some reason or another just confirms what I thought earlier – something’s rotten in Hoenn.”
“What do you mean by that?” Katrina asked.
“See, that’s just it. I don’t know,” Travis responded honestly. “When I fought Kenjiro the first time...”
;251;
“One thing history has taught us...” the young man said. “When a sword crosses the borders of its home continent and enters another...something big is going to happen.”
“Something big?” Travis said.
“Do you know the political situation in this country currently?” the young man asked. Then, shaking his head, he said. “Never mind – a kid like you wouldn’t understand conflict.”
“You want to bet?” Travis replied harshly, the young man’s comment having set him off.
“In any case, I know one thing that the stories say – those swords are powerful,” the young man said. “If the sword you carry really is the one I think it is...it might be a risk for it to be in this country. There are some who seek power...and they will seek your sword.”
;251;
“ ‘Political situation’?” Katrina repeated.
“Yeah, those were the words he used,” Travis replied.
“What kind of ‘political situation’?” Katrina asked.
“No idea,” Travis replied simply. “But since Kenjiro knows something about it, I figure he might have something to do with it – and so would this ‘somebody important’ that he wants me to see in exchange for helping me get my sword back.”
He stopped walking and shook his head.
“Travis?” Katrina uttered, walking to his side.
“It’s maddening,” he sighed. “I keep trying to put two and two together, but I’m getting – three-and-a-half or something. So, that’s why, maybe if I see this person and find out what the hell’s going on, I’ll know what to do next. Of course, it’d be better if I could just have a normal Pokémon Journey without a whole bunch of extra garbage. This is so irritating...”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have brought the sword with you,” Katrina said.
“No, that’s not the answer – that would have been worse,” Travis answered. “Think about it – what if it turned out somebody in Johto still wanted that sword for something? I couldn’t put my family in danger like that. Especially Kylie. That’s why I wanted to bring it with me. Actually, seeing all that’d happened in the last few days, I was stupid to just leave it in the room like that...”
“Don’t beat yourself up over it,” Katrina sighed. “All we have to do is find that girl, and...”
“...’All we have to do.’ Right,” Travis replied bitingly. “It doesn’t really help that she’s gotta be as fast as I am...”
“You really think that?!” Katrina exclaimed, knowing what the implications would be if Travis were right.
“She was a fighting machine,” Travis said emphatically. “You don’t just run into some random person on the street that has
that kind of martial arts training.”
“You’re right...” Katrina muttered. “I hope she’s not giving Kenjiro a hard time...what if he’s...”
“No,” Travis cut her off, shaking his head. “I fought Kenjiro, too – he can definitely take care of himself.”
Just then, they heard a human voice yelling. The voice seemed to be coming from a male who sounded like he was in pain.
“You don’t think that was –“ Katrina started to ask quickly.
“I sure hope not!” Travis replied, taking off at a run with Katrina right on his heels.
;384;
Two infantrymen in light, black armor stood on the other side of the forest, flanking a figure with a royal-blue, sleeveless garment over an orange shirt and blue pants. He looked to be over five and a half feet tall – therefore a bit short compared to the two soldiers, both of whom were at least a head taller than him. This figure had his head bowed and covered with a hood as the two infantrymen addressed him.
“There are rumors that the known serial killer known as the ‘Iceman’ is around this area,” one of the soldiers said clearly. “Have you seen anything suspicious?”
“Actually, I have,” the figure spoke in a voice befitting of a young man.
“Really?” the soldier who had spoken first intoned. “You mind telling us what it is?”
“I’m not sure you would like it,” the young man replied.
“The only thing I’ve seen suspicious is you,” the other soldier said. “What kind of person that’s up to any sort of good walks around a forest in a disguise?”
“You ask me for your assistance and then you question my motives?” the young man said. “That’s not a good move, since I’m not obligated to tell you anything.”
“What was that?” one of the soldiers exclaimed. “You’d better retract that statement quickly if you want to live!”
“And you’d better retract that sword quickly if
you want to live,” the young man said flatly, knowing that the soldier who had just yelled had pulled a weapon on him.
“How dare you disrespect the army of your king?!” the soldier shouted.
“He’s not
my king,” the young man replied. “You see, I’m not from around here...”
“A foreigner? That’s even worse!” the soldier yelled. “I should have you dragged to Sootopolis and executed for sedition!”
“Try it,” the young man said. “I can’t die until my atonement is finished.”
“ ‘Atonement’? What are you, one of those freaks from that cult?” the other soldier asked.
“ ‘Cult’? No. This is a personal atonement,” the young man replied. His hood flapped around in a sudden breeze, revealing that his left cheek bore a long, cross-shaped scar. “But while we’re on the subject of a cult...”
“Come out with it!” the soldier shouted. “Tell us what you know!!”
“That’s just it – I don’t
know, I’m only guessing,” the young man replied.
“That does it!” the young man didn’t even bother to look up and watch the soldier’s blade come toward him. He raised his hand and, in a flash of white, the soldier was blasted a nearly immeasurable distance. His cry echoed through the forest, grew faint, and then disappeared entirely.
“Wh...what are you?!” the other soldier asked, dropping his sword.
“A broken soul seeking redemption,” the young man replied, his eyes flashing.
“You’re a freak of nature...” the soldier stammered. “You’re too dangerous to be left alive. Die!”
BANG.
This soldier was blasted in the opposite direction. At this point, the two soldiers who had, a minute ago, been in the center of the forest, were each at opposite ends.
“You don’t understand,” the young man said to no one. “I’m already dead. I’m just waiting until the day I can stop breathing.”
He turned to his front. There, framed in the trees, was a girl with scarlet clothing and scarlet and silver hair. The young man’s eyes turned to the sword she was carrying –
She charged – whether she was coming straight at him or trying to run past him, he wasn’t completely sure. It didn’t matter, though. He went inside of his cloak and pulled out a straight longsword. Taking one quick step, he aimed the hilt right at the charging girl’s face.
WHAM.
He made contact, causing her to flip in odd angles and directions not known to man before she finally came to a stop, face-down, in the dirt and grass. Her body was tense against the ground for a moment – then she went limp. The sword she’d been holding, meanwhile, went flying and clattered several yards away from the girl. Quickly sheathing his sword and concealing it within his cloak, the young man turned around and began to walk off.
“Sorry...but I can’t let you have that sword. It’s no good in your hands,” he muttered, sounding suddenly very sympathetic for someone who had just knocked a girl out cold with the hilt of his sword. He leapt into the tangle of tree limbs above him as a breeze, caressing the hair and face of the girl that now lay unconscious on the ground, signaled his departure.
Forced into sleep on this bed of earth, this girl’s dreaming mind wandered, as it often did when she slept, back to her past...
;251;
A young girl of about ten with short, scarlet hair and clothed just within the limits of decency, destroyed targets with the two kunai that had been given to her as two figures with green hoods watched her through a glass screen. One of them was quite portly and short, and the other (as if to be the perfect answer) was tall and lanky.
“She is improving rapidly, this one,” the portly man commented. “She’s a natural fighter.”
“Yes, I’ve heard about her,” the lanky one replied in a calm, almost sleepy voice. “She’s good, all right. There’s just one issue with her – well, this is what I’ve heard...”
“Hm? What’s that?” the portly man asked.
“She won’t submit to one part of her training,” the lanky man replied. When this heavyset fellow looked at him with confusion obvious on the visible, lower part of his face, the lanky counterpart continued, “You know which training I speak of.”
“Oh – well...is that absolutely necessary?” the portly man asked.
“It shows them their place,” the tall man answered. “If they do not know that they are literally the property of this temple...they have a tendency to...rebel.”
“Well, then, we do what we do to all of the other ones who rebel, right?” the portly man said. “We kill them.”
“Kill her?” the lanky monk repeated. “You’d really kill someone this skilled? I’m not sure that’s the right answer.”
“It’s the only answer,” the fat monk said emphatically. “If they do not submit, they die. Surely you must know the repercussions if she lives...and manages to escape.”
“I know that!” the taller of the two shouted. “Maybe we don’t have to. Maybe we can break her...”
“We’ve been trying,” the portly man sighed. “She won’t let anyone even lay a finger on her.”
;251;
Great chapter, I enjoyed it.