Chapter Twenty-Four - Soar
So this is my celebratory exams-are-over chapter! It's a bit of a long one, but nothing ridiculous. I've been writing a lot thanks to NaNo this month, so this is the result of my labour. I've got two more chapters lined up after this, so I'll throw the next one out . . . after the weekend. Maybe Tuesday? Thanks to you guys who are still reading - I appreciate that this fic chugs along a bit more slowly than others I've seen, so I'm truly grateful to everyone who slogs it out with me.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Soar
"The Feather Carnival will be underway in just a minute!" Winona said, speaking into a microphone someone had handed her. Her voice boomed out from speakers arrayed strategically around the square. Drawn by her voice, the residents of Fortree and the multitude of tourists that had been milling around aimlessly began to converge in front of the stage.
Ren could feel their eyes on him. At least half the crowd had recognised him, he was certain of it. While their attention was still largely on Winona, he knew that wouldn't last. Any minute now, he would be the centre of attention. Near the front of the crowd, he caught a glimpse of Karl's scowling face again. Rather than worry him, though, it paradoxically made him feel better.
I told myself I was going to get over this, he chastised himself silently.
"We have a very special guest here at the Feather Carnival with us this year," Winona was saying. "Folks, I want you to meet Ren Goodwin, the newest Champion of the Hoenn League."
Ren smiled and waved. It wasn't so hard. The people of Fortree cheered as he gave them an awkward bow, thinking it the polite thing to do. With a start, he realised that Winona was handing him the microphone.
"It's easy," she reminded him in a whisper.
For the first time, Ren believed her. "Hello, Fortree City!" he said brightly, letting the trees and the atmosphere of the city itself lend him strength. "I've just got to say that it's amazing to be here right now. The last time I came through here was a little over two years ago, when I stopped by to challenge your Gym Leader." He glanced over at Winona, who winked. "It was about a fortnight out from that year's Feather Carnival, but I had to move on to the next Gym in a bit of a hurry. I really regretted missing that opportunity, so of course I was excited to come along this year. I still have no idea what to expect, though, so I hope you'll help me out."
Ren paused for a moment, suddenly aware that his heart was pounding. A crowd of friendly humans in the mood for a party shouldn't have been scarier than a horde of
Iehkti'na, but somehow they were. Even so, he was surprised with how well he was doing. He sneaked another look across at Winona, who nodded, seeming pleased.
Whenever you're ready, she mouthed.
"Well, I for one can't wait for this thing to get started, so I suppose we should get underway," he said, a suggestion which was met with roars of approval from the crowd. "In that case, I, um, declare the Feather Carnival officially open!"
A blast of loud music from behind him almost caused Ren to lose his balance. Somehow, a large brass band had sneaked up onto the stage without him noticing, and now they started playing all at once, a lively showtune with a hefty beat that could be heard even over the noise that the crowd was making.
A multitude of screeches, squawks and chirps from overhead alerted him to the sudden presence of hundreds of Pokemon soaring back and forth across the square – startled by the noise or deliberately released at his unknowing cue, he wasn't sure. There were Flying-types of all shapes and sizes, winged Bug-types and even the uncommon sight of a Charizard soaring ponderously overhead. On the spur of the moment, he reached down to his belt and plucked two particular Poke Balls off it. He wasn't normally one for showmanship, but he figured he could make an exception just this once. Tossing the two Poke Balls high in the air, he shouted, "Fly!"
Yanmega and Braviary appeared in mid-air, leaving the Poke Balls to fall back to the ground, where Ren caught them and reattached them to his belt. The appearance of the Champion's Pokemon elicited a further cheer from the crowd as they spiralled upwards to join the multitude of Flying-types that already wheeled in the sky.
Leaving them to it as the crowd quickly dispersed to all corners of the square, Ren crossed back to Winona and handed her the microphone. "That was . . . not so bad, actually," he admitted.
"Easy?" she queried, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes, it was," he said. "You win. It was still hard, though. If that even makes any sense."
"Ren, I've been the Gym Leader in this town for seven years now," Winona said seriously as she led him down off the stage. "When I first took up the position, I was really surprised by how much I had to do stuff like this – public appearances, taking challenges and all that. From what I gather, you're a lot more freaked out by it all than I was – and that's fair enough, because you're four years younger than I was when I became the Gym Leader – but if it makes you feel better, you're doing a far better job of it than I did. I saw you on
Hoenn Buzz the other night, and I was just as impressed then as I was now."
"You mean that?" Ren asked curiously. "Because you know, ever since I started doing this thing a couple of days ago, it seems that it's just been one massive string of screw-ups. I sort of stumbled through the press conference after the Championship match, mumbled through
Hoenn Buzz and fumbled my way through the class at the Academy in Rustboro. I just have no idea what I'm doing."
"That sort of thinking really isn't good for you, you know," Winona said disapprovingly. "I'm relieving you of your Champion duties for the rest of the day. Have fun, all right? I'm sure it's been hard these last few days, so just take today to unwind. Eat some hot dogs, play some games, win a few prizes and make some friends. Be . . . be a normal kid for a while, okay?"
Ren couldn't say anything for a moment. He didn't really know
what to say. "You planned this, didn't you?" he said at length.
"Of course I did. I remember the day when you came through my Gym like it was yesterday. I wasn't sure then whether you'd make Champion, but I knew that if you did, you'd have a real hard time of it. Was I right?"
"Yeah. Yeah, you were," Ren said.
"Okay, then. I'll hear no more against it. Do what you like for the day. Go along with Karl – he'll show you around the carnival. I'll see you back here just before dusk, but until then, you're free."
Karl shoved his way through the crowd to stand next to them, looking sulky once again. Ren frowned slightly, but simply made a note to ask the other boy about it later. "Come on, Champ," he said, seeming supremely unenthusiastic. "Let's go see the carnival."
Ren paused a moment before following Karl through the crowd. "Thanks, Winona," he said, a confusing mixture of gratitude and irritation bubbling within him. While on the one hand, he was definitely grateful for her understanding, he couldn't help but feel that she was patronising him a little bit. Deciding to take her at face value for the moment, he pushed his way through the crowd in the direction Karl had gone.
"Don't run off on me like that," he said when he caught up to the other boy, who was eyeing up a shooting game stall with evident interest.
"It's your fault for not being quick enough," Karl grumbled. "Here, let's have a go at this to start with."
"I don't think I'd be any good," Ren said uncertainly, looking worriedly at the toy rifles lined up across the front of the stall.
"Half a dozen shots on the house for the new Champion," suggested the jolly-looking fellow manning the stall. "And his friend too, if you like."
"Wicked!" Karl said eagerly. "Look at that, hanging out with you has its perks after all!" He stepped forward and picked up one of the toy guns, aiming it at the garishly coloured targets on the back wall of the stall.
Ren hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and picked one up himself, weighing it carefully in his hands. It felt strange to be holding a weapon, even one as garish and fake as this. He had only ever seen real guns in books, and he'd never been one for toy guns. Nevertheless, he hefted it gamely, standing behind a line drawn on the ground in front of the stall and sighting down the barrel.
His first shot flew high, the gun kicking unexpectedly in his hand. Readjusting his grip, he sent his second shot wide. His third went wider still, but his fourth flew relatively straight, cracking against the back wall of the stall between two of the targets.
"Holy crap, you suck," Karl laughed. "You plan on hitting something?"
"I wish," Ren said, frowning down the barrel. His fifth shot flew wide again, missing the stall entirely. His sixth narrowly missed the largest of the targets. "Oops. Well, thanks," he said, handing the gun back to the stall's proprietor.
"All right, move over and let a real man give it a go," Karl said, shouldering Ren out of the way as he stepped up to the mark.
Ren almost laughed at the serious look on Karl's face, but he thought better of it and remained silent. For at least ten seconds, nothing moved except the tip of Karl's toy rifle, wavering slightly up and down as he eyed up his target.
Suddenly, there was a series of sharp cracks as Karl fired all his pellets in quick succession. Five of the paper targets in the stall were knocked off their perch, and the last round narrowly missed a sixth.
"Good shooting," Ren said with some surprise.
Karl frowned. "I missed one. What do I win?"
The man running the stall blinked in apparent shock. "Five out of six gets you anything off the top shelf . . . except I haven't stacked the shelf yet. They're all still in the boxes round the back. I'll open them up for you."
"What sort of prizes do you get at things like these, anyway?" Ren asked Karl as the man bustled around behind the stall and dragged out a sizable crate.
"Stuffed Pokemon toys, usually," Karl said, sounding less than enthused.
"Not your thing?" Ren asked.
"Hardly."
In the end, Karl picked out a large plush Mightyena that, while impressive, looked much less fierce than Scar. Ren had to grin at the sight of the grouchy teenager wandering around the carnival with a three-foot-long stuffed toy under one arm.
Three hours passed quickly at the Feather Carnival. Many of the stall owners and salesmen recognised Ren and offered him free shots, throws or sweets. Ren soon discovered that he was absolutely terrible at all sorts of carnival games, although he picked up a good number of consolation prizes. By two o'clock, he was wearing a winged hat and a pair of aviator's gloves, his Pokenav had a colourful sleeve printed with Swellow, and his bag had half a dozen helium balloons of various colours and sizes attached to it.
Karl had refused to take part in most of the games since winning his Mightyena toy, which, Ren noticed, he still carried under one arm. He seemed to be enjoying the benefits of Ren's presence in scoring free food, though.
Hands full of hot chips, soda and candy floss, Ren nudged Karl with his elbow and indicated that they ought to sit down somewhere. They found their way through the festival-goers until they reached a small open area ringed with benches. In the centre, a tall, thin man was doing juggling tricks with his Scyther. Sitting down, Ren watched with interest as the Scyther batted several brightly coloured rubber balls into the air with the sides of its massive claws, keeping at least ten of them moving at once while its Trainer juggled a further six or so. Even as Ren watched, they began tossing them fluidly back and forward between each other, causing the small crowd sitting on the benches to clap enthusiastically.
"This is nice," Ren said. "I can't remember the last time I went to a carnival like this."
"They're not as common nowadays as they used to be, I hear," Karl said. "My mom always talks about the travelling fairs they had when she was a kid, but there just aren't any of them around. The Feather Carnival isn't the only one – there are a couple others – but it's the only one that comes around like clockwork every year. Only here in Fortree, though, of course."
"Why is that?" Ren asked. "I mean, I get that it's a special thing for people here, but I never really asked why. Something to do with all the bird Pokemon, I guess."
"Yeah, that's about it, actually," Karl said. "Folks here love Flying-type Pokemon. I mean, come on, they build their houses in trees just so they can live closer to them! Fortree and Flying-types have been real tight for hundreds of years. Every year, they hold this carnival to celebrate that relationship."
"You talk about it like an outsider," Ren said, craftily noting the opportunity to give Karl a gentle push. "You said you'd lived here for five years. How come?"
"What? A guy can't live where he wants?" Karl said, suddenly on the defensive.
"That's not what I mean," Ren said, wondering if he'd been too direct. He changed tack slightly, steering away from Karl's past a little. "If you're training to be a Gym Leader, wouldn't you want to be, you know, travelling around? Catching more Dark-types and battling all different kinds of Trainers?"
"Well . . . I have been doing both of those, sort of. I get the battling practice I need at Winona's Gym. I battle some of the Trainers who come in to challenge her. Some of them want a warm-up, others want the extra practice themselves. Some just want to show off. But they come from everywhere, and they have all kinds of different Pokemon."
"Don't you have to use Flying-types to be an apprentice at the Gym?" Ren asked, frowning.
"Normally, yeah, but Winona made an exception for me while I'm here. It was great of her to help me out like that, but don't you dare tell her I said that!"
"Sure, sure," Ren said, wondering again why Karl was so keen to give Winona the impression that he didn't like her. "But what about catching Pokemon?"
Karl sighed, leaning back on the bench and staring up at the treetops that surrounded the square. "I came here, to Fortree, when I was eleven," he said quietly. "I was doing just what you expected – travelling around and battling, training and trying to catch new Pokemon. I came here because I'd heard rumours of a certain rare, powerful Dark-type Pokemon that hung around in the forest around here. You know it?"
Ren nodded. Suddenly, a number of things began to make sense. "Absol, right?"
"The Disaster Pokemon," Karl recited. "Rumoured to sense impending disaster with its horn, it naturally became a target for collectors. The few small populations of Absol across the world withdrew into wild areas like the forests near Route 120, and they only emerge when great danger threatens. I've spent five years of my life trekking through those woods, trying to find one. I swore to myself I wouldn't leave until I caught one."
"You want one that badly?" Ren asked.
"Hell yes, I want one that badly," Karl said forcefully. "I'd be unstoppable with a Pokemon like that! And imagine the prestige that would come with owning one! They're unbelievably rare!"
Ren thought about this for a moment. "Are those . . . are those your reasons?" he asked seriously. "Because it doesn't sound like-"
"Look, spare me the lecture," Karl said, waving his hand dismissively. "I've heard it all from Winona, not to mention everybody else I told this to. I know what I want, and I know why I want it. That'll have to be good enough for you. Alright?"
"Fine," Ren said. "I won't criticise the way you do things. Arceus knows I get mad enough at people who complain about my methods, so it'd be unfair of me to do it to you."
"The hell?" Karl said. "Who criticised
you? And what for?"
"Nothing major, really," Ren said. "That's the worst part, really. A while back, I met some people who really disagreed with how I battled. Not because they thought it was unethical or any of that crap, but . . . well, they were purists. They thought Pokemon battles should be 'instinctual and beautiful in their intransitiveness', I think it was. They didn't like how I took everything to pieces and analysed everything when I battled."
Karl gave him a skeptical look. "You're screwing with me, right? Nobody's that anal about battling."
"I'm afraid not," Ren said, his mouth twisting as he remembered. "I got into some trouble with a bunch of them a while back. After my loss at the Ever Grande Conference last year, but before I went back to compete again a month ago. It was . . . messy."
"Don't wanna talk about it?" Karl asked.
"Pretty much."
"Fair enough. Everyone's got stuff they don't want to talk about," Karl said pointedly.
Ren sighed. "Fine. I won't ask you about where you came from."
"Oh, I'm from Fallarbor. It's not
where I came from that bothers me. It's
why I left."
"Then all right," Ren said. "I won't mention it again. I wouldn't mind knowing why you don't want to talk about it, but finding that out would probably involve, you know . . ."
"Talking about it," Karl finished. He looked at Ren for a moment, then burst out laughing.
Dumbfounded, Ren watched him for a few seconds before joining in. It hadn't even been particularly funny, but in the sunlight and cheer, surrounded by people having fun and talking peacefully with someone who might be considered a friend, everything seemed magnified somehow.
"Hey," Karl said when he managed to calm down eventually. "I think they set up a haunted house down the west end of the square. Want to go check it out?"
"Sure," Ren said. "I've finished eating, so let's go." He stood up, applauding one more time for the juggler and his Scyther, who were just finishing up a turn, and stepped over the bench.
Karl swore, patting his belt as he stood. "What the hell? My Pokemon!"
"What? You lost them?" Ren said.
"I didn't
lose them!" Karl growled; he scanned the area, one hand shading his eyes from the sun. "I keep them attached with powerful magnets, just like any sensible Trainer. They don't just
fall off!"
"So someone stole them?" Ren said incredulously. "Do you have any idea who? How long have they been gone?"
"I don't damn well know, do I? I had them when I sat down just now," Karl said, clenching and unclenching his fists as he paced back and forth, glaring around at passers-by.
"If someone stole them, they're probably well away by now," Ren said, checking his own belt just in case. All six Poke Balls were present, though Yanmega and Braviary were still probably flying around somewhere. "We should go and tell Winona, at least."
"Winona? What the hell is she going to do?"
"More than you are right now, at any rate," Ren said decisively, grabbing the other boy's arm and pulling him towards the centre stage.
Even as they approached the stage, Ren saw Winona swooping down on her Skarmory with a small girl of about eight seated in front of her. He climbed up onto the stage, practically dragging Karl behind him, as the Gym Leader returned the girl to her parents.
"Oh, hello, Ren!" she said brightly when she spotted him. "Been having fun?"
"Well, yes, but not right now," he said urgently, stepping in close to talk in a low voice. "There's a thief about. Someone stole Karl's Pokemon!"
"What? Are you sure?" she asked, directing the question at Karl. She looked positively horror-stricken.
"Positive," Karl growled. "And when I find the son of a Bidoof that did it, I'm going to punch his face out the back of his skull."
"No, you aren't," Winona said sternly. "We're going to find whoever it is and we're going to hand him over to the police. Now, I might put an announcement over the PA, but that could panic people, which we don't want. For the meantime, I'll just get the apprentices from my Gym on it, as well as the police who are stationed around the carnival. They'll be able to keep an eye out for suspicious characters, though I don't know how obvious our thief will be."
"That's all we're going to do?" Karl asked.
"That's all we
can do, Karl," Winona said firmly. "If we alert everyone here, not only will people panic, but the thief will know we're on to him and probably leave. Then we'll never find him. Is that what you want?"
"No," Karl said, rolling his neck restlessly. "But what are we going to do, then?"
"The thief might strike again today – you might not even have been his first target. The best thing we can do is be on high alert, watching for any suspicious activity."
"Couldn't we just go up to everybody and make them bring out all the Pokemon they have on them?" Karl said. "Then we'd be able to find who has my Sableye and Scar!"
"Remember what I said about not panicking people, Karl?" Winona said mildly. "Besides, do you really think the person who stole your Pokemon would walk around wearing them on his belt?"
"He might," Karl said, but Ren could tell he'd been stung. "For Arceus' sake, I just want to hit someone! Preferably the ass who took my Pokemon, but if we don't find him soon it'll have to be you, Champ."
"Me?" Ren yelped, stepping hastily away from Karl. "Easy on."
"None of that, Karl," Winona said, a slight edge creeping into her voice for the first time. "You two just keep wandering around the carnival for now. I think I have an idea . . ."
* * *
"You seriously think this is a good idea, Ren?" Karl asked anxiously.
"Using me as bait? Of course it's a good idea," Ren said with false confidence. "It's no secret that the Champion is here today. To a thief like that, nobody's Pokemon are worth stealing more than mine. Winona's right – they probably just want to sell them, and I have some pretty rare – or powerful – Pokemon on me. If they're looking for a target, I'm pretty much the best one."
"But you were with me before when they stole mine," Karl said. "They'll expect you to be on guard."
"They will if I'm with you," Ren said. "If we went our separate ways before you noticed Sableye and Scar were gone, I still might not know. So tag out. Got somebody else I can wander around with?"
"Wouldn't you be an easier target on your own?" Karl asked.
"Hmm, that's true," Ren said. "You go back with Winona and I'll just wander around by myself, then. I'll call you if anything happens."
"I'm not giving you my Pokenav number," Karl said with a frown.
"Winona did, because she knew you'd be like that," Ren said, grinning back. "Now go on back," he said, talking over the other boy's protests. "I'll get your Pokemon back. I promise."
Karl hesitated. "Uh . . . thanks," he said.
"Every second you hang around me is a second the thief might see us and realise I know," Ren said. "Go on, scoot."
Karl looked like he was about to say something else, but he evidently thought better of it, turning to head in the opposite direction.
Ren headed towards the west side of the carnival.
Half an hour later, Ren still had all six of his Poke Balls. He wondered if he was being too obvious. He had, after all, been doing his level best to look vague and dreamy, wandering slowly through the temporary alleys of the carnival with his eyes on the sky, paying as little attention to people around him as he could. It was a surprisingly difficult act to keep up, for every instinct he had was telling him he was a target.
Does that mean it's working?
Subtly, he glanced down at his belt. Six Poke Balls. He stopped for a moment to chat to a friendly stall owner he'd met earlier, complimenting the man on the Kecleon that he was using as an attraction. The Pokemon changed colour repeatedly as its owner held up different-coloured slides behind it, its skin seeming to fizzle slightly as the pigments morphed. Ren stayed at the stall for a good five minutes, genuinely interested in the unusual Pokemon. More than that, though, he wanted to give any potential thief another opportunity to try and sneak up on him. He had remembered that the thief had taken Karl's Pokemon while the target was sitting down, distracted by something else. He kept one eye on his belt, but all six of his Poke Balls remained where they were.
Deciding that staying at the stall any longer would be suspicious, Ren turned to leave. Preoccupied with his dilemma, however, he crashed into a blonde girl who had been walking up behind him.
"Ow! Watch it!" she said sharply.
"Sorry!" he said hastily, ducking quickly around her and moving on.
Well, that was embarrassing. I guess there's a limit on vagueness.
He sneaked another quick glance at his belt and almost shouted out loud. Four of his Poke Balls were missing, leaving him with just the two that were attached to his right hip.
That girl! He cursed his idiocy. She had to have stolen them when he'd bumped into her just seconds ago. He'd fallen for the oldest trick in the pickpocket's book.
Ren spun around and dashed back towards the stall with the Kecleon, all pretense of ignorance abandoned. The girl was gone. "Did any of you see that girl that was just here?" he asked the people clustered around the colour-shifting Normal-type. "Blonde, quite tall . . ."
Most of them shook their heads or just looked puzzled, but one man pointed east, back towards the centre of the carnival. Ren thanked him quickly before sprinting back towards the centre stage, scanning the crowd for the girl. The carnival whirled colourfully around him, and he swore silently as he realised that it would be almost impossible to find one person in the chaos. He covered the rest of the distance to the stage quickly.
Winona spotted him from her position on the stage and she hurried over, looking concerned. When she saw the empty slots on his belt, she paled slightly. "They took the bait?"
"Yes, but I couldn't catch her. I did see her face, though."
"You're sure? You know who it was?"
"She bumped into me, and a few seconds later I noticed they were gone. A hundred to one it was her who took them."
Winona nodded, still looking slightly flustered. "All right. What did she look like?"
"She was blonde, about this tall," he said, holding one hand a few inches above his own head. "Maybe eighteen or nineteen. She was wearing a red top and a black skirt, and I think she might have had a backpack."
"All right, I'll pass that on to the police. They'll find her. You just wait here with me."
"What? I'm not just going to sit here!" Ren protested. "If nothing else, I promised Karl I'd get his Pokemon back!"
"I understand you want to help, Ren, but the police are professionally equipped and trained to deal with this sort of thing. You'll just-"
"What? Get in the way? I doubt it. I'm the only one who's seen her face, remember. Even if they have a description, I'm still going to recognise her better than anyone."
Winona sighed. "All right, Ren. Do what you like. Just be careful, okay? I'm going to call the police in now. They've got people all around the carnival in case of emergency."
"Thanks," Ren said, dashing off before she could say anything else. He didn't know what he was doing or where he was going, but he wasn't going to sit around while other people chased the person who'd stolen his Poke Balls.
He looped around the carnival in a wide arc, wondering whether the girl had even stuck around. Two Pokemon of Karl's and four that belonged to the Champion would be a good haul, he suspected – even discounting anything else she might have stolen. If the girl had any sense, she'd leave.
Then again, the Feather Carnival was a massive event and very few people left before it was over. There was to be a synchronised flying performance and a fireworks display after dusk, he had heard. Hardly anybody would be wandering around the rest of Fortree. Most of the population of the city – remarkably small despite its geographical spread – would be concentrated in the square. He reflected briefly on how ironic the name of the carnival's location was, given that it wasn't even vaguely square-shaped, never mind being the size of half a dozen football pitches.
No time to get distracted, he told himself as he moved quickly through the south section of the carnival.
If I were the thief, what would I do? He would take his chances lying low among the festival-goers, he decided. Leaving the carnival would make him stand out too much, and the police would be watching for people leaving early. No, he would keep his head down among the crowds and slip out when they did, and under cover of darkness no less.
So the girl was most likely still around, he reasoned. He just had to find her.
Half an hour later, he was beginning to tire of wandering aimlessly through the crowds in the hope of finding one person. He had made his way over to the west quarter again, but the mysterious thief was still nowhere to be seen.
Suddenly, he noticed a disturbance nearby. Several people were shouting, and the crowd was milling around in a slightly more confused manner than elsewhere. Ren sprinted towards the source of the the ruckus. He pushed his way through the crowd until he reached a roughly oval-shaped space that had been vacated by the mass of people that otherwise occupied every square inch of the square.
Three people stood in the open space: two policemen and the girl who had stolen Ren's Poke Balls. The girl stood in the middle, glancing back and forth at the policemen who were advancing slowly on her from either side. The crowd was thick; there would be no escape.
Ren sighed as the two policemen each sent out a Growlithe. He had kind of wanted to catch the girl himself, but it was good that she had been caught nonetheless. She
was wearing a backpack, he noticed, which would be where she was carrying the stolen Pokemon.
As the two Growlithe prowled towards the girl, however, something inky black flashed across Ren's vision, moving at an incredible speed. The Growlithe nearest to him howled as sharp claws raked across its muzzle, drawing blood which dripped to the ground below it.
The Pokemon that had made the attack came to a halt and faced off against the other Growlithe. It was a Sneasel, Ren saw – a Pokemon native to the Johto and Sinnoh regions, with a stubby, vaguely humanoid body and large, wicked-looking claws.
The girl smiled as both policemen backed up a little. It was a cold smile that sent a shiver down Ren's spine. The girl was eerily beautiful, he noticed absently. Her face was narrow and soft-looking, and her blonde hair was straight and long. Her eyes, though, were as hard as steel.
Sneasel swiped at the nearest members of the crowd, who stumbled backward in their haste to get out of range of the Pokemon's wicked claws. The Dark-type stepped forward and swung again, causing people to move back even further.
The girl's smile grew even wider as she followed her Pokemon, though Ren noticed she kept a weather eye on the policemen, who were warily moving after her.
For a brief moment, the crowd shifted even further out of the reach of Sneasel. A gap opened, and the girl and her Pokemon bolted.
Cursing, Ren tore after her, dashing past the policemen and through the opening that the girl had just used. He could see her some way ahead of him, jinking back and forward as she ran through the crowd. He followed quickly.
She was making a run for it, he realised as he followed her. Her cover blown, she was heading straight for the edge of the square, where she could disappear between the trees of Fortree City. He was gaining on her slightly, but he didn't think it would be enough to catch her before she left the carnival.
Sure enough, the girl reached the edge of the square while he was still twenty metres or so behind her. She slipped past a pair of police officers and out along the road that led west. Ren followed hot on her heels, though he wasn't confident he could catch her. Behind him, he dimly registered the police officers starting to follow, but he and the girl were already well past.
Shortly after leaving the carnival grounds, the girl left the main road, veering off towards the south. She must have recalled Sneasel at some point, he noticed. Ren followed her, realising that he was gaining ground again. He was no athlete, but five years of travelling around the Hoenn region and overseas – largely on foot – had left him more than moderately fit.
He could hear running water, he realised suddenly. They were approaching the Fortree River, then. What was she planning?
The river came suddenly into view as he topped a gentle swell in the forest floor, the thief still some metres ahead of him. She headed directly for the sturdily-built log bridge that crossed the river, shrugging her bag off as she ran. Ren followed with growing worry as she rummaged within it. Whatever she was doing in the bag slowed her down, so Ren almost caught up with her. He was within ten metres of her when she hit the bridge.
The girl swung her arm high as he ran onto the bridge, two Poke Balls flying back at an angle that would send them towards the riverbank – or maybe even into the river.
A distraction. Clever. "Braviary!" he shouted, not letting up his pursuit of the girl.
With a mighty screech, Ren's proud Flying-type burst down through the canopy, where he had been flying silently, waiting to be called upon. He swooped down in a swift arc, snatching the two Poke Balls out of the air and pulling up again to follow Ren and the girl onto the bridge.
The girl stopped, whirling around to face Ren with an ugly snarl on her pretty face. Before he could get any closer, however, she thrust an arm out over the river, another Poke Ball in her hand. Ren stopped short, eyeing the Poke Ball warily.
"Braviary," he said quietly after a few seconds of silence. "The Poke Balls, please."
Swooping overhead, Braviary dropped the spheres before perching on the handrail on the other side of the bridge. Ren caught the Poke Balls and pressed the release switches on them. Scar the Mightyena and Sableye appeared before him, looking confused. "Good to know you two are all right," he said, clipping their Poke Balls to two of the empty slots on his belt.
"You're going to let me go," the girl said suddenly. Her voice was quiet, but sharp as a knife. "If you, or any of these Pokemon, move an inch, one of your Pokemon goes over the side. Your Braviary's quick, but not quick enough to catch it this time. The current runs quickly here, and you'll probably never see the Pokemon inside again. They'll get waterlogged and sink somewhere between here and the ocean, but where, I have no idea. I've got the other three right here, and they'll go the way of the first quickly enough."
Ren bit his lip thoughtfully. "But if I let you go, I'll probably never see my Pokemon again either," he said, forcing his voice to remain level.
"True," the girl admitted. "But at least you'll know they're alive."
Ren glanced over the side of the bridge. The current was swift, the bridge naturally having been built over the narrowest part of the river. There were rapids a way downstream, too; he could hear them, but they were out of sight. She was right, he realised. Something as small as a Poke Ball would be lost forever if it went over the side.
"What's your answer,
Champion?" she asked mockingly, placing a derisive emphasis on the last word. "Will you watch your Pokemon die, or watch them leave you forever?"