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Amethio tries to appear outwardly relaxed as he turns down another alleyway, holding back a sigh of frustration when he finds another camera mounted.
He measures his steps to be fast enough to be quick, but not so fast as to be suspicious or draw unwanted attention. Ceruledge, in his pokeball, is clutched tightly in the small pocket this suit provides. Just incase. Corviknight is flying high above the cityscape, keeping themself at a distance only close enough to see when needed. That is, until he turns back onto the main street of whatever city in Paldea he had made it to, and they fly down at his gesture to the sky—quickly returning to their own pokeball without a word.
Going inside, he gives only the smallest polite greeting to the lady at the desk before making his way to his room.
Once he is there, he begins the habit of checking things that he had been forming in his week of going from hotel to hotel. The windows, the bed, the phone line. All seemed normal, so finally, he sat on the bed. Setting the small bag down beside him, both of his partners come out of their pokeballs.
Amethio gives them both the treats he had managed to get for them and attempts to ease himself as he watches the pair eat contentedly. Even picks up his own sandwich and tries to eat something. A thing that he had been thoroughly putting on the back burner for the last week. No time to eat when you move from place to place so quickly. At the very least, he tried to make sure his Pokémon were getting nutrition, even if he couldn't spare it for himself too much of the same, at least until now.
Hamber's voice scolding him for not caring for himself echoes in his ears, and he tries to take a few deep breaths and finish his food to silence it.
The effort to calm down works well enough.
Taking off his outer layer, Amethio lies back on the bed.
A week has taught him to fight the temptation to look at his rotom phone, or turn on the TV. Hearing or seeing another update on how Exceed has already fallen under Spinel's thumb, and how the story of what really happened at Laqua continues to be twisted.
Part of Amethio burns with rage at that, even as he is the calmest he thinks he's been in days. For a hundred years or more, his Grandfather had built what it took Spinel a few months of sweet words to steal. To destroy. And he was helpless. Not only was everything Spinel continued to take stolen, but it was also taken with lies.
He hated to admit he really only could trust Zirc and Onia. The rest of the Explorers were loyal to Spinel, or at least he had no reason to think they wouldn't be. And he couldn't even rely on the two he could trust the most- not if they were going to avoid any punishment for being associated with him. No, he had to send them away. Let them be loyal to Spinel so any malice he has toward him won't backfire on them.
Hamber, though more capable, was too precious to put in danger as well.
Falling asleep was hard with all the thoughts swimming in his head, but after some tossing and turning, Amethio managed.
______________
The next morning, Amethio makes a plan to find a change of clothes and take a train out of Paldea. At one of the last stops, start walking until he finds the most remote place imaginable. It wouldn't be a long-term solution. Surely, if Spinel wanted Amethio as severely as he expected him to, he'd be found. A rural enough place might give him the time in one place to come up with a more permanent idea of what to do.
With no other option, Amethio walks out of his hotel intending to do just that. Ceruledge and Corviknight put into their pokeballs. The teenager began walking, looking for a clothing store that might sell the average, unremarkable clothing he desperately needed. None of the ones on the several blocks he walked before finding breakfast suited his needs off the bat. With every store that showed off flashy, elaborate clothing, his nerves are further pressed. On top of his impatience, his stomach begins to protest to him as well.
And he can't even manage to find some breakfast before he notices it, and it makes his blood run cold. The same person he had seen three blocks ago was still a dozen or so paces behind him. Caught watching him just as Amethio's gaze lands in his direction. Not that the person, covered in a dark umbrella and tall-collared coat, allowed him a long look. Still, being caught doesn't make them bashful. Amethio picks up his pace, and they follow.
Another block, still tailing him. A third makes him have to use every trick in the book to keep from hyperventilating. There was a part of him that knew to expect this, but the knowing didn't make him feel like less of a mouse downwind from a crouching cat.
You want a fight, come and get it, he eventually thinks. Making an obvious turn down a quiet, out-of-view alleyway.
Just as they follow him out, he calls out Ceruledge.
"Psyco Cut, now Ceruledge!' Without skipping a beat, his partner listens to the command and lands it just as his pursuer calls out their own Pokémon.
A Medicam.
"My my my. Predictable as ever, young Amethio." A honey smooth voice says. The figure pulls down their hood, revealing the matching face of Chalce.