Chapter Text
“You know Ruby,” Malaya sighed, leaning against Ben’s neck as the dog rushed through the forest, small embers leaking out of his maw as his paws thudded along the ground. “I feel bad for leaving Klara behind, even if she did try to attack us. What if whatever we’re looking for attacks her again while she’s alone?”
Too risky. Ruby scoffed, digging her claws slightly into Malaya’s shoulder. If we go near her she’s just going to attack us again, and we can’t risk her taking the Ultra Ball from us! What will we do then?
“You’re right, I know you’re right,” The trainer let out a loud huff as Ben finally came to a stop in a rather small cave, large enough for them to stand in but that was just about it. “Plus. I know he’s sort of tried to apologize for everything, and says he’s not going to fly into a rampage but–what’s to say that he isn’t lying? Or maybe he just underestimates himself,” Putting a hand on her forehead she groaned. I just can’t get the image of what he did out of my head.
I mean, we stopped him once, we can stop him again! Besides, we wouldn’t necessarily have to do it alone again either, Sally is pretty strong! Plus if Mustard and Mrs. Honey are as strong as everybody claims they are, then the combined forces of everybody would surely be enough to take him down. Ruby’s purring was optimistic, but Malaya shook her head.
“I would hate to put them in danger. Maybe coming back was a mistake,” Bile rose in her throat at the thought, but she did her best to push it back down as Ruby’s tail whapped her over the head.
Well there’s no going back now. Even if maybe we should’ve waited a bit longer before coming here, back to people instead of sitting around in hiding, is there really any point to wasting energy worrying about it when we have a lot more at stake? Ruby’s words hit like a truck, but Malaya knew the Fire Cat was right. What was the point in regretting it now when they had some crazy Pokemon to find before someone else ended up getting injured or worse!
“Alright, we need to get back to looking–” She was cut off by a beeping sound from her phone, heart skipping a beat when she realized who was calling. “Sally? Hey, what’s going on? Did you find it?”
“Yes!!” Sally’s voice was hoarse, her pants and gasps echoing loudly in the small cave. “Please, come quickly! We’re on Challenge Road but I think we might have to run, we’re running out of Pokemon!”
“And how exactly would we Emergency Exit?! Rapidash is far too exhausted!” Faintly she could hear Avery’s voice over the line, his voice breaking in a few places. “Meowstic, Protect!!”
“Just give me Rapidash’s Pokeball, if the rest of your and mine Pokemon all band together at once, it should buy me enough time to give her enough energy to help us escape!” There was the sound of a Pokeball opening, and then Sally’s voice returned. “Don’t look for us on Challenge Road, we’ll loop through Brawlers Cave to try to lose them. Just come quick!!” After that she hung up. Them? Malaya’s stomach twisted, them?? As in multiple? Her mouth ran dry at the very thought, no no, surely Sally had misspoke!
“Okay we need to move, come on Ben,” Malaya stuffed her phone in her pocket and the Arcanine took off, dashing through the Forest of Focus and quickly finding an entrance to Brawler’s Cave and ducking inside. She did her best to have her eyes peeled for someone, anyone, her voice echoing throughout the caverns. “Hello?! Sally, Avery, where are you guys?!” She had no cell service in the cave, so surely they didn’t either, with her heart thumping painfully in her chest she had no choice but to eventually come to a stop in the darkness, with nothing but slight embers from Ben illuminating the cave. “They should be around here, we’re close to Challenge Road aren’t we?”
Perhaps they fled further in… Ben raised his head into the air and sniffed, then sneezed. I cannot catch their scents. Perhaps they are psychically disguising them somehow in order to hide?
“Is that even possible?” Malaya groaned, checking for the third time that she indeed had no service. “Maybe we should check Challenge Road anyway, what if they never made it here in the first place?” Just then the ground underneath them rumbled and the Legendary dog took off in a sprint towards the sound and after a moment Malaya could faintly hear the sounds of yelling in the distance.
“Just keep running! We’ll have to lose them eventually, surely they can’t keep flying so well in the caves!” Sally’s voice echoed towards them. “I don’t know!! They’re legendaries, they–why are they even doing this?!”
“Doesn’t matter, Carol use Agility!! Now!” Finally the Rapidash came into view rushing towards them, having just turned the corner. “Ah! There!”
“Malaya turn and run with us, quick! There has to be somewhere in the caves we can catch our breath,” Sally scanned the area up ahead as Ben spun on a dime and started to run, although looking behind them none of them could see their pursuers yet. “Oh, up ahead! See that crawlspace? If we return our Pokemon and go one at a time we could fit through that hole and hopefully lose them for now,” Return their Pokemon? Malaya gulped as a horrific screech echoed throughout the chamber and she saw a massive flying Pokemon soaring after them bathed in blood red flames.
A fire type Pokemon? Maybe I can convince it to stop! Hey!! Stop chasing us! We don’t mean any harm! Malaya’s thoughts seemed to bounce off of the creature, despite the flames extending to the very tips of its wings she didn’t feel any sort of warmth coming from it, only the feeling of pure malice and hatred.
I bet Rosa and the others probably tried that already, it–we can’t take this thing on in a fight Malaya! It’s for sure Enraged!! The hair on the back of Malaya’s neck stood up, even Ruby didn’t want to battle? Hey, pay attention to the others! Malaya glanced over to see Sally pointing ahead, the crawlspace was getting closer, her shoulders hiked up and she buried her face in Ben’s neck fluff as the bird let out another scream, her ears ringing.
“We’re going to have to be fast. Malaya, have Ben hold it off for as long as he can so we can get through! Avery have Rapidash do the same,” Finally they skidded to a halt in front of the hole, which thankfully seemed to be the only hole in the wall so there was no way for this creature, whatever this Pokemon was, to continue after them.
Go now, master! Before you are injured!! Ben snarled, his eyes turning a bright red as he frothed at the mouth, rushing towards the bird headstrong in Outrage with Ruby right behind him. Malaya gasped, he looked so small as the bird seemed to fill up the entirety of the cave, another screech sending agonizing pain through her head and causing her to stumble backwards.
“Malaya, come on!” Sally’s voice snapped her back to reality, she turned to see Sally slipping through and moving out of the way, since Avery was nowhere to be seen she could only assume he had gone first. “Quick!” Her head still pounding from the birds cries as the four Pokemon fought she turned and started to shimmy through head first, Sally grabbing her by her shoulders and yanking her through to safety. Immediately she turned and looked through the hole, gravel getting in her hair as she watched in horror as Ruby was flung back and hit the wall, Ben quick to follow. Now able to get a better look at the bird she saw it had a mainly black body bathed in flames that ranged from bright red to neon pink, its claws were nearly as long as her own arm and its beak seemed to be twisted and bent at a strange curved angle. It slowly descended towards Avery’s fallen Rapidash.
No!! Ruby yowled, struggling to her feet and rushing the bird, only for the three of them to disappear as Avery and Malaya both recalled their Pokemon. The bird paused, staring at the now empty space before screeching, looking at them through the hole and rushing forwards, its mouth agape.
“Move!!” Malaya gritted her teeth as her arm felt like it was yanked out of its socket as Sally grabbed both of them and tugged them out of harms way just as the massive bird shoved its beak through the hole and attempted to snap at them, but it couldn’t reach far back enough. It then moved back and tried to use its claws and when that didn’t work, it finally resorted to attempting to breathe flames, but it couldn’t angle itself to aim towards them properly. After several heart-pounding minutes it finally retreated, and they heard the sound of powerful wingbeats.
“What the hell was that thing?!” Malaya wheezed, finally leaning against the wall and letting her shoulders relax. “It doesn’t look like any Pokemon I’ve seen before!” Ruby reappeared at her side but she was visibly favoring her hind left leg, but she attempted to hide it with her tail.
Maybe it’s some kind of Ultra Beast? A new Ultra Wormhole could’ve formed, perhaps? Her eyebrows raised, but fortunately Sally disproved the theory almost immediately.
“No no, it was the legendary Pokemon Moltres!” Moltres?? Malaya had only heard tales of the fire bird Pokemon, sure it was a wandering legendary but why would it ever come here? She had heard that it was mostly spotted in Kanto, Sinnoh, and Kalos. “I used the Pokedex on it and that’s what it identified it as, but Moltres isn’t supposed to look like that!” Sally shook her head, bringing out her Pokedex and extending it so the others could see the written entry as well as the various images and drawings submitted for its appearance.
“Moltres was not the only Pokemon we encountered, there was another bird there as well. In all of the Confusion I was not able to have a Calm enough Mind to get a good look at the specimen, did you?” Avery frowned, he hadn’t really looked Malaya’s way yet and she tried to avoid looking back.
“I only saw that it was purple and it had a tail similar to Articuno,” Sally swiped in the Pokedex to Articuno’s entry and showed a few images that depicted the tail. “My dad saw Articuno once when he was exploring, but only far off in the distance! But even from that distance the picture he took you could tell the distinct tail shape,”
“Okay but what would they be doing here, and why would they be attacking people! Legendary Pokemon hardly care enough about humans most of the time to meddle in their affairs, much less attack innocent trainers that aren’t doing anything wrong. This isn’t part of their territory either, is it?” Malaya looked at her own Pokedex to confirm that these regions is not where they often resided.
“No, it is not. They very rarely pass by Galar once or twice every decade for their migration, it is a very well known affair,” Avery adjusted his glasses, his lips drawn in a thin line. “Typically they fly only close enough to be seen in the distance, and there are rumors that Ho-oh follows them in the distance and can be seen as well if you have the right timing. But sightings of them are even more rare than sightings of the legendary birds!,” Sally exclaimed.
“Even if that is the case, there’s clearly something wrong with them. What do you think could’ve happened?” Malaya frowned.
“There’s no telling. I-” Sally took in a shaky breath, now that the danger was gone the other two could see her hands starting to shake. “I really think we made a mistake in coming out here. They were both so strong, and-even though we somehow managed to lose Articuno, Moltres just wouldn’t stop chasing us, it knocked out every single one of our Pokemon with such ease! I just, never expected it to wipe us out so easily, even if it was so strong!”
“Hey hey, maybe we shouldn’t have come out here but it’s too late now,” Cautiously Malaya reached out and gave her a quick hug, quickly stepping back from the contact. It made her skin prickle unpleasantly, but now wasn’t the time. “We either need to fight back or get back to the dojo as soon as possible,” Her stomach sank at the thought, they risked all of this for nothing?
“Take Heart Sally, there is indeed strength in numbers is there not?” Avery cleared his throat, tugging at the end of his sleeve. “If we keep our Barrier up there is no way we will fall under their Eerie Spell and into danger once more. For now we should Rest until our Pokemon are healed,” He looked around before freezing, the Pokeballs spinning around his hat before abruptly stopping. “Wait. Malaya, where is Klara?”
“Uh,” Her mouth ran dry, and she stared at the ground. “...we split up,”
“What?! Why ever would you make such a foolish decision! What if that thing Teleports to her and rips her to pieces with its Expending Force?!” His breathing was coming a bit faster now as he began to pace back and forth, the Pokeballs whirling around his hat at breakneck speeds. “No no no, she is by herself out there. This is unacceptable!”
“I-It’s not like I had much of a choice, okay?” Malaya raised her voice, stepping away slightly. “She attacked me and seemed to be confused, she was insisting that I was some kind of Pokemon Thief! Saying that I stole a Pokemon from someone and they wanted it back,” Gulping, her throat closed up when she realized that she might actually have to explain, so she covered it up for now. “Maybe she got me confused with Chase on the news or something and thinks I’m a shiny hunter,” There. Better than explaining, at least for now. At that, Avery stopped in his tracks, before slowly looking at her with his glasses fogged up.
“Ah. So that is why she continued her incessant murmurings,” He muttered under his breath, and Ruby’s ears pricked up.
Incessant murmurings?! Why I outta–! She was talking nasty about us for sure! Ruby snarled, but Malaya raised a hand and her fur flattened reluctantly, while Sally gave her a horrified look.
“What?! She’s saying that you’re a Pokemon Thief? That doesn’t make any sense,” Shaking her head she sighed, shuffling through her purse and starting to pull out a variety of items. “We’ve got to set the record straight with her,”
“More importantly, ensure she is not Psyshocked into bits,” Avery sighed, still pulling on his sleeves slightly harder this time. “However, I do feel a bit of Confusion on why she would believe you were a Thief. Perhaps…” uh oh. Unwilling to let him stay on that line of thought for long, Malaya hurriedly jumped in.
“It’s a long story, and I think it’s related to what went down with Chase in some way, with him working with those shady people,” Ah, now they were nodding. “Like she might’ve been fed a story and sent by the same people, but I’ll have to explain everything later. For now…” Even though Klara attacked her, and after everything she had done so far already, could Malaya even blame her? Her actions against Sally were certainly unwarranted, but, Malaya couldn’t help but think that she would attack someone if she thought they were a Pokemon Thief as well. “We gotta go after her, when I left off she was in the Forest of Focus. We’re close by anyway, we should find her and bring her back with us to the dojo before she’s attacked again,”
“Clearly. I refuse to allow some twisted version of a Legendary blow her to bits when that is very clearly mine and Sally’s duty, as her favorite rivals,” Avery sniffed, while Sally perked her head up.
“Favorite rivals? Really? But she hates my guts! At least you two get along,” Avery snorted.
“She continues to Nasty Plot against you constantly, you are clearly her favorite to bother besides me,” With a snap of his fingers his Pokeballs all fell to the ground and opened, revealing his defeated and injured team scattered about around them. “Perhaps you should put those nurse studies to good use and Heal Pulse all of our Pokemon to full, or the closest to full capacity they can be,”
“What does it look like I’ve been doing this whole time?” Sally rolled her eyes, Malaya realizing that she had been pulling out various potions and sorting through them. “I have enough Revives and Potions to heal all of our Pokemon, even yours Malaya. Let's do this as fast as we can,” Doing their best to help the three of them joined her in using the Potions and Revives on their Pokemon, until they were nearly done save for Rosa.
Rosa got hit by some pretty powerful dark moves in the battle, it looks like. Perhaps that Pokemon is a Fire-Dark type? But it’s flames felt so empty. Ginger explained, as Sally meticulously tended to the wounds.
“Sorry guys, this is going to take a second,” She frowned, the rest of her team crowded around her.
“Take your time,” Malaya shrugged, returning all of her team except for Ruby, who was anxiously kneading the ground looking over Sally’s shoulder, fur bristling to its max extent. Man, if Rosa could get hurt pretty bad, imagine what those attacks could do if they hit one of us. Could Mustard or Mrs. Honey even be strong enough to fight back against the legendary birds in this state? Sally had described the battle, and how Avery’s Slowbro seemed unable to do any super effective damage with its Scald attack…speaking of Avery, Malaya noticed him pacing anxiously in the corner.
Forget about him, we have important things over here! Ruby meowed mentally, staring at each potion as Sally carefully sprayed it onto each wound. I think she’s almost done, Rosa will be waking up any minute now!
…This will just take a second. Malaya took a deep breath and walked over to where he was pacing, her hands shoved into her pockets but still fidgeting. “Hey, Avery,” He stopped, the spinning Pokeballs freezing in place as well as he stared at her, eyes hidden behind fogged lenses. “Uh, I just really wanted to apologize about earlier,” She stopped when he held up a hand, stomach sinking as it seemed he wanted to say something.
“...Perhaps that should wait until we are of a Calm Mind and safe. Then it can be discussed properly, yes?” Malaya looked away, nodding. It made more sense, but what if something happened? Guilt gnawed away at her, causing her to shift uncomfortably. “Later,” He hummed, and she looked up at him quickly.
“But-”
“Yes, Rosa!!” Sally’s voice cut her off, the two turned to see that she was up and returning her team now. “Alright guys let's get out there, hopefully we can find Klara before nightfall,” She immediately began to make her way through the hole again, Malaya stepping to follow her but hesitantly looking back at him.
“As I mentioned. The discussion should be held later. But, in my extremely generous ways, I shall ensure that you do not get blown to bits either,” He huffed, she froze.
Malaya come on! We don’t have time to waste, it’s time to roast some stupid bird’s tail feathers! Ruby yowled, she quickly nodded and crawled out of the cave after Sally.
XXX
“Are you sure she was in the Forest of Focus when you left her? What if she decided to go further on her own?” Avery huffed as they finally skidded to a stop, not having found a single trace of the girl. “For someone who is on her phone constantly she should’ve picked up by now,”
“Maybe it’s dead at this point, it’s been a few hours. Do you think she might’ve gone back to the dojo?” Ben stretched, the weight of Sally and Malaya on his back still felt like nothing, or at least that’s what he was claiming. “But if we go back, Mrs. Honey definitely won’t let us leave if that’s the case,”
“There has to be something. I don’t understand why Rapidash hasn’t found them yet,” Malaya grabbed Ben’s neck fur, frowning deeply.
Ca–I mean, Rapidash says that Klara could be using her Gengar to hide, maybe she’s trying to hide from the birds! Either that or she went back to the dojo already…hey, maybe we could ask some of the nearby wild Pokemon if they’ve seen her! Ruby leapt off of Ben’s back and looked around, only to frown. Hey, is it just me or does the forest feel awfully quiet?
Malaya shivered as her arms tingled, hair raising as she noticed as well. The air was stagnant, not even the leaves making so much as a whisper as they remained frozen in anticipation. There wasn’t even a single sound from any wild Pokemon, no voices, no smells, no sounds, not even the quiet skittering of any Skwovet amongst the trees. Under her hands she could feel Ben’s soft fur prickling her fingers as it began to stand up as well, and he growled lightly.
“It feels as though a Pokemon has used Intimidate or Gravity here, does it not?” Avery frowned, adjusting his glasses and putting a hand on Rapidash's side. “Hmm, perhaps even the wild Pokemon are frightened of the bird’s fury,”
“Maybe! I wonder if they’ve been attacking other Pokemon too, or if it’s just trainers that they’re going after,” Sally sighed. “I don’t know, is there anywhere that we could’ve missed?”
“This forest is huge, there are places so hidden away surely none or very few students have stepped foot there. I am confident she’s still here if she thinks Malaya might be hiding here as well,” Almost as if he had predicted it they heard a shrill scream echo throughout the forest from not too far away from them, immediately his Rapidash turned and sprinted towards the sound with Ben not far behind her, Malaya Sally and Ruby jumping off once they were close enough to see the trainer in the distance. Klara was surrounded by her Pokemon with half of her team scattered around her but the other half still standing around her defensively, her Toxtricity, her own Slowbro, and a Scolipede.
“Klara, do not fear! We shall vanquish this opponent with our Hidden Power,” While Avery sounded confident, the Pokeballs around his hat were spinning far too quickly as he dismounted Rapidash and looked around for which one of the two birds was attacking her, unable to see anything.
“What the-what the hell are you doing here?!” Klara scowled, noticing Malaya first before noticing the rest of them. “Well you’re a bit too late, I certainly could’ve used some backup earlier idiots!!” However her scowl abruptly turned into a look of panic as she pointed, shouting something at her Toxtricity for it to lunge straight for Sally.
“Hey!!” Sally dropped to the ground and ducked, only for Toxtricity to jump right over her and tackle something to the ground, the sounds of electricity crackling filling the air until Toxtricity was kicked into a tree and slumped to the ground in defeat. “What the–what is that?!” Sally yelped, jumping up and backing away from the large bird standing where she had just been. “It-it has to be Zapdos!” The beak shape was the same, and if the other two members of the trio were there, why couldn’t Zapdos be?
Alright, finally a fair fight! Now they can’t up and fly away, huh! This bird had unusually long legs that looked powerful, but it didn’t dissuade Ruby from rushing forward with Ben behind her, Malaya releasing Flint as well who joined in the attack. Time to get some sweet revenge for earlier! The Fire Cat crowed, while Sally released Ginger and Rosa again. All of them combined with Klara and Avery’s Pokemon swarmed the bird, but it was still fast enough to dance out of reach and retaliate with a combination of electric bolts, swift pecks from its long beak, and powerful kicks strong enough to knock out a Pokemon on impact.
“Oh man–I’m out of healing items! Return your Rapidash, Avery!” Rapidash, although injured, was still able to fight, which was far better than Ben who had collapsed earlier into the battle. “We’re running out of Pokemon again!” Klara had entirely run out of Pokemon, Sally was down to just Rosa and Sakura, Malaya had only Chiku and Flint left, while Avery surprisingly still had the most of his team left.
“Again? What do you mean again?” Klara’s eyes widened, and for the moment she didn’t have all that much to say, staying near the edge of the group and trying to heal her Toxtricity. “This is Tauroshoof! This was the stupidest idea and I’m blaming all of you for convincing me to come out here just to get attacked again!” Despite the biting words they could see Klara flinching and jumping away whenever the bird seemed to get close to her. Oddly instead of being focused on the other Pokemon the Zapdos seemed more interested in trying to catch the trainers themselves off guard, attempting to snap at them with their own Pokemon getting in the way to block the attacks.
“I think we might have to get out of here. Even if we do win, what if all this commotion attracts the other two? Then we’re screwed!” Malaya bit her lip, searching the skies but she couldn’t see any hint of the birds above the trees, for better or worse. “It feels like we haven’t made a dent in this thing,”
We will win! We must! Flint snarled, using his last Stone Edge to block the Zapdos from striking Sally from behind. I’ll stop this thing before it hurts any more innocents. Chiku echoed the sentiment with a Psychic, which was powerful enough to make the bird stumble and create an opening for both Alakazam and Rosa to strike.
“Orbeetle, Psychic!” The bird yelped as the third attack struck it, unable to keep its balance and falling. “Aha! It seems this one is weak to the almighty Mystical Power of the Psychic type!” Avery smirked, as his Pokemon landed another super-effective hit. “This one doesn’t stand much of a chance against us!”
“But what do we do? We can’t just leave it here to potentially attack another person,” Malaya frowned. “Do any of us have any spare Pokeballs? I’m out for sure,” She moved over to Sally as the girl started to sort through her bag, the purse jingling from all the trinkets Sally had attached to it.
“Pokeballs?! Are you suggesting we try to catch these things? Are you that power hungry?” Klara scoffed. “Not even I would do something as stupid as that, even if that thing was a Poison type!”
Ugh could she shut up for one second– “It’s not about being power hungry, if this thing’s contained then it could get some actual help for whatever’s wrong with it!” The Zapdos laid on the ground motionless, if anything now was the perfect time to strike! “Sally, you’ve got to have some Pokeballs cause you wanted to catch that Jangmo-o the other day, yeah?”
“I do! I have a collection of Pokeballs actually, but I’m not sure where I–” As Sally reached into her bag in the blink of an eye Zapdos appeared, flying through the air quickly with its leg raised and covered in electricity, ready to deliver a powerful kick–without thinking Malaya shoved Sally to the side, digging in her feet to try to leap away but the bird was too fast.
The air left her lungs in a breathless gasp as something hot, scorching, painful slammed into her side and sending her flying, where she landed on the ground in a heap. She could hear the thud of the birds feet near her head, surely its beak now was raised to land the final blow–she could hear voices, but they were muffled as she struggled to move, think, she couldn’t see. The faint snarl of Flint reached her ears, barely audible over the droning ringing, and she slowly brought a hand to her side to feel wetness, blood staining and seeping through her shirt. Oh.
“Malaya? MALAYA NO!!” At the sound of Sally’s voice Malaya somehow lifted up her head to see Flint and the other Pokemon holding Zapdos down with Psychic, the Pokeball still uselessly clutched in her hand.
“Sally throw the damn ball before that becomes all of us!” Klara yelled, her snarl enough to snap Sally back into reality enough to throw the ball, hitting it square on the head and enveloping it into a bright red light. “Huh. Guess you’re not completely a nuisance then,” However Sally ran right past her and skidded to a stop at where Malaya was crumpled up on the ground, holding her hands over her mouth in a muffled gasp.
“Use Psychic to keep it Imprisoned!” She could hear Avery faintly calling to the other Pokemon, who quickly complied.
“Oh no, oh no no no this is bad, this is bad, she’s bleeding what do we do–” Zapdos’s massive claws had sunk into her, Malaya dimly could feel at least three different punctures if not four, but her fingertips felt numb. “What do we do?!”
“Move aside, move aside, MOVE,” Avery shoved his way between the Pokemon, including Ruby-when did Ruby come out of her Pokeball? Malaya couldn’t focus, couldn’t even hear Ruby’s mental voice calling out to her as the cat helplessly attempted to put her paws over the wounds. “I said move !” Ruby snarled and lashed out, her claws nearly raking down his arms except for one of his Pokemon, a small purple one, blocking the attack and gently moving Ruby aside. “My Indeedee is capable of healing humans, as all Pokemon from the Psychic Gym are. Allow her to use Morning Sun,” Indeedee raised it's hands, sun filtering through the leaves seeming to focus on Malaya’s front as slowly, the wounds disappeared. The blood remained, staining her shirt and the grass, but the searing pain and punctures were gone.
“Malaya? Are you still…” slowly she nodded, groaning and sitting up. There was an aching soreness where the wound used to be but other than that, it was as if it had never happened in the first place. “Oh thank goodness, I was so worried!!” Sally threw her arms around her and Malaya squirmed, trying to throw her off until Avery abruptly pulled her back.
“Do not Imprison her. She will need more Rest,” with that he stood up and walked over to Klara, who was yelling something Malaya couldn't quite make out at first.
“I can't believe she actually caught that damn bird…least now I don't have to worry about some featherbrain dive bombing me again,” Klara kicked the PokeBall where it flew into a tree with a dull thunk . “That's for ambushing me!!”
“Klara. Sally and I encountered two other birds…these Pokemon are strange, Enraged forms of Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres,” immediately the small grin faded from her face.
“What. You're telling me there’s MORE?! Are you KIDDING ME???” She then began to kick at the air while going on a rant, if this one was so bad, how were they supposed to tackle two more of them? “This whole thing was a stupid idea, I'm blaming it on them! She's probably just greedy and wants to catch these birds for herself,”
“That is not true,” Sally stood up, crossing her arms at the pink haired girl. “These Pokemon clearly need help, and they won't get any unless we can send them to professionals–”
“Ahem. I hate to interrupt this rant but more noise will only Attract further attention. It's best if we Teleport immediately,” His Rapidash seemed to be steadying herself. “Rapidash can carry us all if it's quickly over a short distance,”
“You're right, let's get out of here. Can you stand?” Quickly Malaya nodded, nearly doubling over as she staggered to her feet but managing to stay upright and lurch towards Rapidash, leaning heavily on her neck and mane as she settled into position. Ruby padded around her feet and then Rapidash’s hooves until she returned the cat and the rest of her team members, a tiny thrill of alarm in her chest as she realized she still could not hear the cat’s voice. She grimaced as Sally got behind her and put her arms carefully on her sides to stop her from falling off of the Pokemon.
“Ugh, stop leaning on me!” Klara scoffed as the four of them started to move. “And move your head, I can’t see ahead of us!”
“It’s not my fault you’re shorter than me,” Sally huffed. “Besides, it’s not like we can lean much, Malaya might fall off!”
“Might not be THAT bad if something bad happened to a thief…” Klara muttered under her breath, before yelping. “HEY! I told you do not tug on my bow like that, it took me an hour to get my hair like this!”
“We will debate that later Klara,” Avery mumbled back, Rapidash expertly navigating through the trees. “Do not fret! My Future Sight tells me that Rapidash will have us back at the Dojo in no time, without interruptions!” And just like that Rapidash froze, her head looking around quickly.
“Spoke too soon…” Malaya coughed, her fingers digging into Rapidash’s mane, it flowed between them like silk. Her side still felt sore but the feeling of Sally leaning on her felt even worse, like an unending itch that wouldn’t go away. Snorting, Rapidash recoiled underneath them and began to move backwards, but it was too late–the four humans flinched and leaned down as a horrific screech split the air, a fast moving blur flying above the treeline casting a brief shadow on them. Malaya could feel her heart sinking in her chest almost painfully, the other trainers sharing similar feelings as she could feel Sally’s trembling fingers digging harder into her arm, she bit her lip and said nothing.
“You have GOT to be kidding me–get lost you stupid stupid over sized useless pile of feathers!! Just let us go home already!” Klara screamed, “At this point this stupid island is going to give me early grey hairs! Or wrinkles!”
“Rapidash…” Avery muttered a few commands, but they were inaudible over the next screech, a blast of ice nearly striking the mare in the leg but she moved out of the way just in time, struggling to move quickly with the four of them on her back.
“We don’t stand a chance, there’s no way she can run fast enough with us all on her like this,” Sally wailed, Malaya finally had enough and pushed her hand off of her as it dug in painfully. “Oh Arceus, save us!” A biting chill swept through the forest as the sun hid itself from the scene, a thin layer of frost beginning to cover the grass and nearby foliage as Articuno expertly descended between the branches not even having to flap its wings. How could it perform such a feat? Despite the danger, Malaya couldn’t help but feel a sense of awe, perhaps from the sheer pressuring aura that all legendaries naturally gave off, or perhaps she was too numb to feel any fear. The leaves began to rustle, the cold wind slowly and surely tearing through their thin summer clothes as it picked up speed, all without the Articuno needing to move a muscle, watching them from its hovering in the air until the branches creaked and groaned, the wind slamming into Rapidash until her legs gave out and the four humans fell, Rapidash using the last of its energy to ensure it didn’t crush any of them on the way down.
“N-n-no!! M-m-my c-coat!” Klara managed to eek out from chattering teeth, her arms and legs trembling uncontrollably and her eyes wide as the bird almost seemed to enjoy the reaction, sending a powerful wave of wind to spray a thin layer of dirt over her. “T-t-the n-nerve…” It was half-hearted, and all of the others could hear the fear lacing her voice.
With a triumphant screech, the Articuno gazed at the four of them, Malaya feeling a strange wave of dizziness as the blue glow over its eyes seemed to glow brighter, brighter still until–
“Ambushing these kiddos? That’s snow fun, icy you need to be taught a lesson in battle etiquette!” The glow vanished and the purple Articuno turned its head, it’s wings finally moving as it reeled away and attempted to fly but a massive shadow lunged into view and tackled it, sending it and the shadow flying further into the forest out of view, although the screeches of the bird and sounds of battle were still clearly audible.
“Wh-what,” Klara blinked, and quickly started to try to brush the dirt out of her hair, unsuccessfully. Her fingertips were still shaking as a shadow overcast them all, and they looked to see a Mudsale with an old man sitting atop it, his beard swaying slightly in the chill wind.
“Master Mustard!!” Avery leapt up at once, before looking at his Rapidash but it was unfortunately in too poor of a condition to stand, so he returned it to safety inside her Pokeball immediately. “Thank Arceus you arrived,”
“Climb on, quickly. Mudsale can easily support all of you,” His tone quickly turned serious as he glanced in the direction that the shadow Pokemon and Articuno went, the sounds of battle continued but didn’t sound like they were getting closer yet. “Are any of you injured?”
“No–” Malaya was cut off by Sally.
“Malaya got hurt!” And then Avery stepped on her words.
“My Indeedee took care of it,” He injected.
“But she’s clearly still aching, look at her!” Sally snapped back, only for Klara to shove both of them out of her way and climb onto Mudsale’s back, curling her lip at both of them.
“Are you two dense? Get up here before we get mauled to death,” At that the two ceased bickering and leapt on, Mustard and Mudsale taking off at once at a brisk speed towards the dojo–inwardly Malaya marvelled at how in shape the Draft Horse Pokemon was in. Sure, Hapu’s Mudsale was strong, and so were other Mudsale that she had seen back in Alola, but had she ever seen a Mudsale move this quickly before? Her mind turned to how quickly the Slowpoke had moved, perhaps Mustard had done similar training with his Mudsale as well…or it could just be the danger of the situation as well, she supposed. Whatever the case was, she couldn’t help but let out a hefty sigh of relief and feel a weight off of her shoulders as they came to a stop in front of the dojo, all looking back to ensure that Articuno hadn’t followed them.
“We actually made it out,” Sally breathed, her hand still clutching the Pokeball. “And…” And they had Zapdos. Articuno and Moltres were still out there, but that was one bird Pokemon that wouldn’t be able to hurt any innocent people. “I-I’m so thankful, thank you Arceus…” She looked away from the group as her eyes began to water, Mustard saying nothing but wordlessly helping the others down onto the ground before returning his Pokemon, his face unreadable as he gazed out one final time before throwing the doors open. They creaked loudly and they immediately heard footsteps running to the front door, Mrs. Honey appearing in an instant, her eyes red and puffy.
“Oh there you are! You’re safe!!” She immediately descended onto Avery, giving him a tight hug before moving to Sally, giving her an equally tight hug before giving a slight, hesitating look to Klara. However, the woman’s eyebrows rose up as Klara rolled her eyes but invited the embrace, before finally moving to Malaya and giving her a gentle pat on the shoulder. “I am so thankful you’re back, I was praying fervently to Arceus for your safe return…how could you be so reckless?!” In an instant her voice rose and she whirled on the four of them, her eyes glistening. “I told you not to leave the dojo for your own safety, you could’ve gotten killed out there…!” She took a deep breath, and Mustard took the opportunity to step forward.
“Well, it seems as though I’ll have to discuss our chilling, daring escape with my dear Mrs. Honey, so for now how about you kids wait in the kitchen and make something to eat for yourselves? I’m sure you must be starving, and your Pokemon too, go ahead and take whatever you like from the fridge for yourselves…except for my collection of exotic cheeses of course,” He winked.
“Feed your Pokemon out back, in the battle arena. It’ll be safer there, and if you see anything suspicious come inside immediately . We’ve had the others feed their Pokemon out there with no problems so far today,” Mrs. Honey included. After all, the battle arena was surrounded by tall stone cliffs that jutted out of the ground, almost like a protective barrier to keep powerful Pokemon moves from getting out…or, to keep unwanted Pokemon from getting in. “Do not sneak out again, do you understand me?”
“Yes Mrs. Honey, words can not describe the immeasurable Expanding Force of my regret for disobeying and disappointing you,” Avery hung his head and her eyes did seem to soften at that, but in an instant the stern look returned.
“Mrs. Honey I’m also really sorry, we never should’ve left!” Sally’s eyes were still wide, but her hands were no longer shaking. Malaya said nothing, while Klara mumbled something that sounded like a half-hearted apology. “It was so stupid of us,”
“Malaya, Avery, and even Klara, I’m not surprised to see such reckless behavior from you, but Sally? I thought you would have known better than to go running head-first into danger,” She sighed, but Mustard shook his head and gave her a gentle nudge.
“I didn’t want them to go alone, what if something happened and I wasn’t there?” Sally’s voice wavered, and Mrs. Honey quickly looked away.
“Yes yes of course…I’m sorry, that was a bit out of turn. We’ll return shortly,” With that the two of them headed in the direction of their room leaving the four of them standing in the main dojo, nothing but the groaning of the floorboards under their feet as they silently shuffled into the kitchen.
“I shall use Mrs. Honey’s expert cooking skills to whip up an incredible dinner that shall bestow upon all of us a Lunar Blessing so we can Take Heart, and if I hear any dissenters your food will be levitated into your face. Understandable?” Malaya, Sally, and Klara all sat down and nodded, Malaya watched him quietly as he began to set things up and carefully grab certain ingredients from the fridge, he seemed unsure what flavor to go for…she still found herself waching him, despite everything she was surprised to see that his hair looked as pristine and lucious as ever, unlike Klara’s. The kitchen remained silent save for the sounds of pots, pans, and boiling water until Sally sniffed, the other two girls glancing up to see her quickly wiping her eyes.
“Sorry for being a wuss. I just…I don’t know. I’ve never, ever seen a Pokemon so determined to hurt a trainer before that they outright ignore battle Pokemon. It’s just. The way that Zapdos seemed to crush you like that, t-the blood,” Her voice shook, Malaya winced and carefully put a hand gently on her arm. “I-I’ve never seen so much. I’ve-I’ve never, ever seen something like that,”
Klara cleared her throat and Malaya’s gaze shot up, glaring at her, but she continued talking anyway. “Yeah I’ll admit that was definitely–something. You freezing up couldn’t happen though, we had to get it while it was down,”
“I know,” Sally took in a shaky breath, folding her hands on the table. “I guess what matters is we got it, and it won’t be able to do that to anyone else. What about the other two birds, though?”
“Let’s not think about them for now, alright?” Malaya tried to give her a smile, but it didn’t seem to improve the girl’s mood. “We’re safe, and once we eat something we can go feed the rest of our Pokemon too, I’m sure they’re extremely exhausted and definitely need something,” Even thinking about their Pokemon made her stomach sink as well, how did that Zapdos tear through their Pokemon so quickly? The silence felt deafening as it seemed the other three were thinking about that too, although Avery’s back was turned and he seemed focused on curry.
“Hey. What were you three doing in the Forest of Focus anyway,” Klara’s eyes glanced from Sally to Malaya, staring at her. “Were you just passing through, or were you…”
“We were looking for you,” She answered, taking her hand off of Sally’s arm. “Sally and Avery were attacked by that purple Articuno, and a similarly strange Enraged Moltres and called me with their location, so we grouped up and managed to escape. I told them were I last found you, and we went searching,”
“Why would you do that?” Klara’s brow furrowed. “If anything you would’ve been better off lying and saying I returned back to the dojo or something,” She shifted a bit in her seat. “Cause isn’t that what people like you do anyway?”
“She’s not a Pokemon thief,” Sally interrupted, putting her hand on the table quickly, eliciting a thunk. “You’re lying, she would never do something like that!”
“Well–isn’t that what they always say and act like? You never know who might be a decent trainer and a thief, it’s–” Klara trailed off as her bow seemed to tug on her hair, glancing at Avery. He hadn’t turned around, but he had stopped moving. “Whatever. That’s not what I was going to say. Uh,” She frowned. “Forget it. For now,” Crossing her arms she muttered quickly, “Thanks for making sure that thing didn’t fry me again. That doesn’t mean I owe you anything though!” Klara added quickly, adjusting her hair and her bow.
“Ahem. I’m finished,” Avery interjected, a bowl swishing dangerously close to Klara’s nose before she grabbed it and placed it on the table, giving him a stink eye. “I expect no disrespectful behavior at the table, or any tampering with food,”
“Yeah yeah I get it, nobody cares–hey!!” Her bow tugged out of her hair completely and fell onto the floor, she whirled to Avery and gave him a light shove as he tried to sit down next to her, scooping her bow off of the floor. “This’ll teach you to act stupid with that stupid smug grin of yours!!” She knocked his top hat off, only for it to float right back onto the top of his head. Sally giggled, carefully taking her bowl and blowing on it while Malaya dug right in–and damn, it was just the perfect level of spicy! She took in another eager bite, watching the two of them.
“You’ll have to think of better tactics to mess with the great Avery,” He snickered, Malaya nearly choking as his eyes flitted in her direction and their gazes met for a second, just as second, had he been wondering what her reactions to his antics were? Not that it mattered, not that Malaya should care, she only cared that they made eye contact for a split second and he caught her watching him–
“HA! Got you!!” Klara lunged forward and dragged her fingers against his glasses, leaving huge smudges visible all the way across the table despite his shouts of horror and dismay. “That’s what you get for getting distracted, oh so great and powerful,” She rolled her eyes, smirking as he instantly recoiled and snatched them off of his face.
“Augh!! Of course, leave such dirty underhanded tricks to a Poison type trainer, such shameful behavior!” He scoffed, floating his glasses into the sink for it to clean itself. “You are disgusting ,” His glasses returned to his face a few moments later looking brand new, Klara inched forward like she was going to attack again and he held up a gloved hand to block her. “Don’t you think about it!”
The food was gone far too quickly for Malaya’s liking, she licked her lips and suppressed the urge to ask if there were leftovers, which there surely would not be. “Thanks, you’re pretty good at cooking,” The words left her mouth without her thinking, she quickly froze and tried to look busy with cleaning the last few remnants out of the bottom of the bowl…but there were no remnants, she hoped that the others didn’t notice.
“Oh,” Avery blinked, staring for a moment before giving a nonchalant shrug. “An expected comment, as my cooking is not merely sublime, but exemplary. Detail and thought went into each bowl,” He paused for a moment, fidgeting with his sleeve as Klara and Sally were staring at him, Sally was smiling. “Uhm!! For example, for Sally, I put some extra Kasib powder into hers, and I, ah, added some Tamato shavings into Malaya’s. And of course for dearest Klara , who deserves nothing but the best, I put pieces of Petaya berries,”
“No you did not, you know I hate those nasty excuses of a berry!” Klara scoffed, giving him another light shove. “They look ugly and nasty, just like you! Little do you know I actually know what you put in mine, I know the taste of a wiki berry anywhere,”
“Unfortunately you are correct, the kitchen lacked any Petayas…perhaps next time,” Avery gave an exaggerated, disappointed sigh.
“Oh hell no, there won’t be a next time for any of your tricks,” Klara sniffed, standing up with her empty bowl. “Well, being constantly harassed by this four-eyed nerd was fun and all, but my Pokemon need something to eat that isn’t laced with their least favorite flavors,”
“You know you love Wiki berries–”
“Nobody asked you! I know you would’ve used those stupid Petaya’s if you had the chance,” Avery silently smiled, which only fueled the fire. “I hate you! Ugh, the nerve!” Klara sauntered out of the room and Malaya heard the sound of the dojo door opening and closing, and she quickly stood up.
“My Pokemon are probably starving too, and I really want to check on Ruby,” She said, quickly putting her dirty dishes in the sink and started to follow Klara.
“Me too! I gotta reassure them that they all did a great job in the fight,” Sally practically flew out of her seat and rushed into the battle field as well, the four of them setting up a good distance away from each other and releasing their Pokemon teams.
Ruby!! Are you alright? Malaya let out a sigh of relief as she could feel their mental connection again, feeling a strange warmth around her neck. Idly, her fingers grabbed ahold of the necklace she was wearing and ran over the smooth surface of the red gem. And how about the rest of you? Ears and tails were drooping, eyes seemed half-lidded, but otherwise her team seemed to be alright without any major injuries, Em walking around as an Espeon and using the sunset’s rays and Morning Sun to heal anything that seemed major.
Malaya, how about you? Her trainer let out a yell as the Torracat tackled and nearly knocked her over, nuzzling against her leg and knees. I was so worried-you were hurt so badly!! Ben barked in agreement, leaning against her.
I cannot believe you put yourself in so much danger, never do something like that again! He admonished the others chiming in in agreement while Chiku began to get the food ready.
“Come on guys, it all worked out in the end. That Indeedee over there is pretty good at healing people,” Malaya gestured to Avery’s team. “At least it’s over and Sally has that Zapdos, maybe Mustard can send it to this region’s Professor and they can cure whatever’s wrong with it. Speaking of which, did you guys notice anything that might give us any hints on what’s going on?”
No. We tried to speak to it but it wouldn’t acknowledge any of us, it was as if it couldn’t understand our language. Em frowned, healing Granny’s snapped wing. Even when I reached out telepathically, it felt like its mind had such a strong barrier I couldn’t get through. Perhaps the other Pokemon could’ve noticed something about the other two?
“Maybe, I’ll have to ask them,” Malaya glanced over at Sally, who was giving each of her team members a hug, even her golden Luxray. At first it shied away from the touch, but seemed to relax when Sally held her hands out and gently stroked its fur, going from flinching to leaning into the touch. Not right now though, that’s for sure. “Lets just try not to think about it for now,” She raised a hand to her side, but it was aching less and less.
Hmpf, fine. That Zapdos is lucky it got such a good hit on me, or I would’ve clawed it to bits the second it did that to you! Ruby snorted. If that thing ever leaves its Pokeball it better watch out! Because I’ll be waiting.
Me too. Ben added, growling quietly. I’ll be eagerly waiting to sink my teeth into the other two as well. Fortunately dinner for the team didn’t take very long, and after a few minutes Malaya’s Pokemon were eagerly munching away at their doubled portions, double the food for what she hoped would be a swift recovery, and as whatever compensation she could offer for the horrible day they had all had, having to endure being curb stomped by the Zapdos.
Hey…do you think I should try to resolve things with Klara? I’m sure there’s a way I can prove I’m not a Pokemon thief to her. Malaya wondered, Ruby growled and snapped her jaws shut viciously on a chunk of berry in her food.
Ugh. I could care less about her . She dismissed it with a flick of her tail, leaving Malaya to continue to think on her own. Still…could Malaya blame her? Pokemon thieves like Chase were unfortunately rampant, if someone had given Malaya the same story about Klara she probably would’ve behaved in a similarly aggressive way. Recalling the questions Klara had asked at dinner, perhaps there was a way for Malaya to prove she wasn’t the terrible person the girl thought she was. Well, she at least seems to want to be civil for now. She hated how her heart skipped a beat as her thoughts turned to Avery’s actions each time Klara had brought the topic up–and, he had been thoughtful enough to notice she liked spicy food? When had she ever told him that? Unless he noticed just in general how much she liked the spicy foods that Mrs. Honey made at times.
Malaya, you thoughts are wandering. And it’s really annoying to hear, can you think about your mate a little quieter? Ruby’s voice echoed in her mind, she practically leapt out of her skin.
SHUT UP. You weren’t supposed to be eavesdropping on that! Besides he’s– She shouted mentally, glaring at the cat while she finished up her food. Stop laughing, all of you! Glaring at the rest of her team, she threateningly held up their Pokeballs. Sounds like y’all can relax here for a bit. Once they were done eating she returned all except for Ruby, sitting on the ground and absentmindedly ruffling her fingers through the Fire Cat’s fur. Hey Ruby. When I got attacked, I couldn’t hear your voice. What happened?
Hm? The cat looked up from where she was curled up against her leg. Oh, that? You probably went into shock of some sort. Your mind was too panicked for me to get through to. Her ears flicked, tail thumping against the ground as Malaya scruffled between her ears, the thought bringing a larger frown to her face. Try not to think about it too much, you’re safe now and that’s what matters.
“Ah, I figured you would all be out here,” Mrs. Honey’s voice rang across the battle arena as she opened the door, Mustard standing by her side. “Are all your Pokemon done eating?”
Oh great, human stuff. I don’t have time for this, so I'll be taking a nap. Ruby stretched and began to pad away as Malaya collected their things. Come join me when you’re ready to sleep.
Ruby, this is important– Well, important for Malaya and the trainers. Its not like their Pokemon knowing what was happening would make much of a difference, would it? She rolled her eyes, watching Ruby happily trot past Mrs. Honey, wishing she could do the same and lay in bed for a thousand years.
“Yes, yes of course they are Mrs. Honey!” Avery sprung up and quickly stood near them, all of his Pokemon being returned via telekinesis. “We are ready to hear your decision–verdict–your Judgement,”
“Judgement?” Mustard blinked, the other three trainers walking over as well. “Come inside,” The two led the other trainers into the living room, where Mustard gestured for them to all sit on the couch, Malaya sitting on the end piece next to Sally who was tapping her feet against the ground and gripping the cushions rather harshly.
“Now. Your behaviors were foolish, reckless, and you went directly against the express orders that I gave you to stay here where you were safe, no matter the reasons you had for doing so,” Mrs. Honey crossed her arms, her glare seeming to linger on each of them in turn for several seconds, causing Malaya to squirm in her seat a little bit. Was she going to scold each of them? How bad was this about to be? She recalled images of her own mother who would act similarly whenever she discovered Malaya had snuck out of their village in the hopes of seeing a Pokemon, and how she would frequently remind her about what happened to her father.
“Mrs. Honey, if I may, our behavior was terrible yes, but please have a Calm Mind for just a moment! Albeit very foolish indeed, we Imprisoned one of the dangerous Pokemon with our combined Hidden Power,” He hurriedly gestured for Sally to pull out the Pokeball, his own Pokeballs flying at a breakneck speed around his top hat. “Please consider that we didn’t fail entirely…and perhaps that you still want us in your dojo even if we were very disobedient,” Mrs. Honey’s eyes widened, her and Mustard sharing a look before she quickly seemed to relax her shoulders.
“Yeah, maybe instead of punishing us you should maybe reward us for catching one of them in the first place!” Klara crossed her arms boldly. “Even if it was dangerous, we still succeeded!”
“Avery, no no, you misunderstand us. Of course we wouldn’t throw you out of the dojo for this, I meant it when I told you I wasn’t going to throw you out even if you made foolish decisions, or even if there were times where we had disagreements,” He seemed to be speechless at that, blinking and then giving a tiny nod, adjusting his top hat. The pokeballs around his hat slowed in pace. “I was going to punish the four of you for this, as if it would teach you to not put yourselves in so much danger, but Mustard told me what happened, or at least as much as he could see of it,”
“That’s right you little rascals,” Mustard gave another goofy, yet affectionate grin at the four of them. “We decided not to throw you out because who else am I going to send out to fetch those delicious Max Mushrooms for me so I can have my wife’s delicious Max Soup? I don’t know what I would do without it, but gathering them is so much work! I could never!” He made some exaggerated movements, his grin widening a bit when he saw Sally giggling and Avery’s tenseness melting away. “And, I told her that what you went through dealing with that Pokemon was certainly punishment enough. We just ask that you don’t throw yourselves into danger like that again, you might’ve been popsicles if Mudsdale hadn’t sensed the commotion and come running!” Klara relaxed and sat back into the couch.
“Well that’s good, you Isle of Armor lot aren’t as dumb as I thought,” She huffed.
“Oh, thank you so much! I’m really sorry we didn’t listen to you-but Avery’s right! We did manage to catch one of them!” Sally held the Pokeball out to them and Mustard took it, his goofy expression quickly becoming grave as he sat down across from them.
“That’s certainly concerning. You said one of them, are you implying that you came across more than just that one Pokemon Mustard saw?” Mrs. Honey’s face turned pale as she and Mustard examined the Pokeball.
“That’s right…!” The four of them explained everything that happened except for leaving out a few key details–namely Klara’s actions, and the full extent of Malaya’s injury–although it seemed like Mustard and Mrs. Honey could infer well enough how badly the injury must’ve been, as their expressions grew grave at that mention.
“This is even worse than we thought–not just one, or maybe even two, but three dangerous Pokemon, and Enraged Legendary Pokemon at that! You say this one that you captured is supposed to be the Legendary Zapdos?” they nodded, Mrs. Honey tapped her nails on the surface of the Pokeball, swallowing thickly.
“I will have this Pokemon sent to Professor Magnolia right away,” Mustard said. “I will also be going out to try and locate the other two that you mentioned–although it seems like they might be a liiiitle scared of me,” He winked. “I didn’t see claw or tail feather of any of them, perhaps they can tell I’d wallop them in a good fight. But it’s still worth trying, the quicker I can catch them the better,”
“Yes, Mustard will be the one doing the catching. You four will be resting here and not going out, just like everyone else! Is that understood?” The four nodded, and Mrs. Honey smiled. “While I’m not pleased you were in danger, I can’t help but say I’m proud of you for holding your own against such a powerful Pokemon and capturing it, no less. It did take a lot of bravery from all of you…bravery and foolishness,” Malaya glanced at the others, the Pokeballs around Avery’s hat were spinning away and he had a wide smile, so did Sally.
“Thank you very much for such generous praise!” Avery was still tugging on his sleeve, but not as harshly as earlier.
“Yes yes, now I am sure you’re all exhausted, so how about you go rest up. Especially since I’ve been having everyone do more physical training exercises since we’re all stuck indoors, you’ll be getting quite a workout tomorrow!” Malaya’s heart sunk, but she did her best to keep her trepidation off of her face.
“Oh great–well, as long as I don’t have to wear y’alls drab uniforms, I seriously do not understand your sense of fashion,” Klara stood up and seemed to recall there was still plenty of dirt in her coat, and hurriedly started brushing it off. “My dojo’s got wayyy more stylish uniforms–but I still don’t wear them! Because uniforms are for sheep,” She walked away quickly, with Avery standing up and following after her, and then Malaya and Sally getting up together and leaving.
“Thanks for understanding you guys,” Sally mentioned as they walked out, before letting out a huge sigh. “Malaya, that was crazy! I was sooo sure they were going to throw us out of the dojo or something, I can’t believe they weren’t more angry with us!”
“I mean they were kind of right, weren’t they? I feel like getting kicked by a legendary pokemon is punishment enough for sneaking out like that,” Malaya sighed.
“And seeing it,” Sally rubbed between her eyes, before seeming to shake the thought off of her. “Well I’m exhausted, so I guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow!”
“Mhm, sleep well,” Malaya hesitated, watching Sally walk into her own room and close the door, before shuffling over to the door next to her own. Was this a better time to try to resolve things with Avery, now? She felt her insides churn at the thought, but he himself said at a later date, when they weren’t in danger of being pecked to death…however, as she raised her hand to knock she heard the faint sounds of Klara’s voice as she was exclaiming something rather loudly, Malaya couldn’t quite hear what it was. Quickly she withdrew her hand and slipped into her own room, feeling something in her sagging a bit. Well, it could wait until later, couldn’t it?
Finally, it took you long enough! I’ve been waiting forever! Malaya joined the Fire Cat under the covers, snuggling with the cat’s paws nudging against her chin. Try not to think too loudly, I want to actually enjoy my sleep.
“Yeah yeah whatever, don’t have to be so rude about it,” Her trainer huffed, her fingers absentmindedly fidgeting with her cats paws, until they brushed up against something smooth again–ah, that necklace. She had had the thing for as long as she could remember, a simple red gem in the shape of a tear, attached to a golden chain that she had worn just about everywhere, and almost never removed. It had felt strangely warm earlier, hadn’t it? She frowned as she thought back, and it wasn’t the only time it had felt strangely warm either, that time with the Gigantimax Lapras, it had practically burned her neck when the ice was melting around her from that G-max Ice Beam…she grimaced and tried not to dwell on the thought too much, closing her eyes and rolling onto her side.
She didn’t have to acknowledge it or worry about it, did she? It was just a passive thing, a passive thing that didn’t have to be touched or used beyond what she already used it for, and random moments of defense like not being burned, eating hot food whenever she wanted, and things like the Ice Beam. Why risk tapping further into it when that could just cause damage or get people hurt? It just wasn’t worth the risk, wasn’t worth the potential damage overworking herself could do to her body either. Right. Malaya took a deep breath, trying to melt further into the soft mattress and put her thoughts at ease, imagining a peaceful field that she was laying in with Ruby instead.
It wouldn’t be so hard to stay out of trouble, would it? All she had to do was stay at the dojo and not go out trying to play the hero, protecting everyone while putting herself at risk…she didn’t need to do that anymore, did she? Playing the hero, putting herself in danger, if she had never done that in the first place then she would’ve never lost him, would she?
But the entire world would be gone as a result. Ruby’s voice floated into Malaya’s own mind and she groaned, burying her face in her hand.
You’re right. And I hate it. But still, that didn’t mean she needed to do it again now, right? Besides, she already contributed plenty, they had caught one out of the three birds, and with the information they gave Mustard surely he’d have no problems at all finding the other two and then there’d be no more danger and nothing else to worry about! They’d be fine. Perhaps. It’s not worth the risk anyway. What if, instead of her receiving the Zapdos blow, it was Sally? What if it was Ruby, or another one of her Pokemon–what if Avery’s Indeedee didn’t know Morning Sun, and there was nothing they could do when the injury happened?
They were right. There’s no point in putting ourselves in danger like that again. If she still hadn’t gotten over her loss of him, how could she ever forgive herself if something happened to Sally, Avery, or even Klara again? She drew the covers over herself and tried to rid herself of the very thought, surrendering herself to sleep at the first opportunity.