Another Joint Post!
I'm going to VM you, Fearless Love, since this three member meet up post coming up needs to get all organized.
But, for now, enjoy this second Jae/Valentine encounter, guys!
UPDATE: Now with the wonderful Fearless Love as Cheyenne!
UPDATE AGAIN: Valentine ending chapter three is now added! It gets a bit gruesome, so be prepared with your Linkin Park background music. It fully makes use of the T rating. Please note that I plan to make Valentine's Pokemon symbolic to him, and I'm saying that for reference so you don't think I'm a murderous bastard or anything :/
WHAT DO I MEAN BY THAT?! WELL YOU'RE JUST GONNA HAVE TO READ, HM!
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"Get your hand off me," She said is tensely. Friendship is weakness. Jae couldn't stand the idea of anyone seeing her as weak.
"Couldn't help but notice that you were the one accompanying our Great and Powerful Leader. Is your head firmly up his ass yet, or what?"
She wasn't about to trust this guy, but if Derek had nicked the eggs, perhaps he could give her a hand...
Valentine's hand was ripped from Jae's shoulder with the same fiery rage she used to fuel her words with. Even though he knew she would do something like this, he still flinched a bit at her reaction due to its intensity. He quickly regained himself, and put himself into a calm disposition.
"I wouldn't trust that bastard even if his throat was under my knife." He retorted.
Jae eyed the boy suspiciously, but silently approved. She despised herself for it, but Valentine was beginning to grow on her. She kept her steely composition however, and refused to drop her guard. She knew it was foolish to trust anyone, and this guy was no different.
"Level with me then, Val. Did he take my egg?" The emphasis Jae put onto the word "Val" was almost mocking. She smirked slightly as she said it, careful not to sound too friendly.
"Let me start at the beginning," Valentine said firmly, ignoring any power struggle Jae was possibly integrating in her speech. "Your real name is Jaclyn. Your real hair color is blonde. You're from Ecruteak. You were orphaned when your parents and adopted brother were killed in a fire." Valentine paused for any response she had, and knowing Jae, braced for something violent.
Jae's eyes widened at Valentine's words, blood pounding in her ears. She could barely manage anything other than a snarl, and so she grabbed his wrist tightly with her deceivingly strong fingers and pulled him to the side of the forest. Upon seeing that they were alone, Jae released her grip. She forced an eerie calm upon herself, her eyes glinting in the shadows of the trees.
"Look, bucko. You're going to tell me how you know this, and you're going to tell me now. If you know all that about me, then you'll almost definitely know that I'm not afraid to burn down a room filled with people. Lie to me, and I'll find out. Are we clear?"
Her teeth were bared, and she was inches away from Valentine's face. It was obvious that he was in this with Derek; how else would he have known?
Valentine remained his composure, and finally overcame his quagmire of stress from the previous night. He felt strong, even when Jae was forcefully digging her nails into his wrist and spraying venom in his face with her words.
"There's a run-down cabin in the outskirts of the main building. Right before we were given the vegetable-picking job, I stumbled upon it and looked in it. When I examined inside, I found files. They were on every rancher here. I went to grab my file, but I ended up grabbing yours, too. Curious about the resident pyromaniac, I only read yours and it described you.... in shocking detail. Everything you could imagine. I also found this," Valentine paused for a moment and uncapped the switchblade while it was in his pocket and lifted it towards Jae. He motioned his eyes to let go of his wrist.
The resident pyromaniac. Jae liked that. She let go of Valentine's wrist as she contemplated what he said. As she had done so he had pulled out a small blade, to which Jae smirked.
"A switchblade, huh? You're going to need a lot more than that to scare me, hun."
What Jae did fear was Valentine's knowledge. How much was in that file? The idea of people knowing her made her uneasy, to say the least.
She kept her composure however, although her tongue was considerably less acidic now.
"So, you happened to stumble across my file. Funny, Witton and Curamos aren't usually next to each other in the alphabet..."
Jae interrogated Valentine calmly, although she was fairly certain he wasn't lying. She could sniff out a lie without too much difficulty, and this guy... She could read him quite well indeed, and there was no sign of deceit.
Valentine hadn't quite thought of that. They weren't in alphabetical order. This filled him with dread. Did the order mean something? He made sure Jae had no idea what he was thinking, if she were to distrust him completely, they would both be corpses soon enough. And as much as the thought of Jae's dead body didn't strike any concern in his heart, it would mean the end of any hope he had for surviving himself. She was probably the only capable one out of the bunch of groaning hormone-fueled ranchers there besides him, and facing Derek alone might end up with his body being in a shallow grave.
"Whatever the order, that thing had everything on you. I assume the same for mine and everyone else's. It even listed the length of your limbs. Explain to me how files like those exist in a cabin that, through any other extent, was abandoned and forever banished to be filled with nothing but darkness?"
The length of my limbs? Jae glanced down at her own arms instinctively, and then back at the ranch buildings. Well. That's just creepy. She looked back at Valentine, slightly annoyed that he saw it fit to read her file. For once, she swallowed her pride and tackled the task at hand.
"Right. Say that I believe that you accidentally came across my file, and that I believe this grade A dung that you're flinging my way. You think Derek knows about it?"
Jae didn't trust Valentine, but she trusted Derek a whole lot less. So much so in fact, that her voice was as civil as it had ever been. To compensate, she wore a mocking smile on her thin-lipped mouth.
"And the eggs... Him as well?"
Valentine read the expression on her face. If she didn't believe him somewhat, she wouldn't be humoring him.
"You gotta wonder, Jae," he said as he twirled the switchblade in his hand, to show a little backbone to Jae. "Even if my story is bogus and I'm just some lying lunatic, why wouldn't Derek take responsibility for having his ranch grounds invaded and having things stolen from them? He is in charge of protecting us." He paused to have Jae chew on that for a second. "Then after that, why would he make us go into a forest, full of Pokémon that wouldn't hesitate to make us their supper, for eggs that might not be for-sure still in there?" He paused again for another moment, closely watching Jae's reaction. Oh, how was Valentine keeping himself from exploding.
"Can't this girl just believe me already?" He frantically thought.
"From where I'm standing," he continued, "I'm seeing him using the bond we have with our eggs to send us to the death. And whoever actually survived and brought back their egg," Valentine, making another pause like it was his trademark, eyeing the switchblade in his hand, "he probably would have something else in store to get rid of them."
Jae nodded slowly, decided to give up any charade of disbelief. If Valentine was correct, she was better off at his side. He proved to be somewhat useful at digging up information.
"That's exactly what I had thought. Sending a bunch of idiot ranchers - excluding myself of course - into the forests? Not exactly the most responsible man in the world. He's either up to something, or he's incredibly stupid."
Jae tutted as Valentine twirled the knife in his hand, attempting to look tough. As idiotic as it looked, Jae took it as a compliment to her ego that he saw it as necessary to look like a badass in front of her. "Either way, I'm not about to let my egg just sit in that forest. I'm tougher than anything in that place, and I'm pretty sure I can handle Sir Derek's crap too."
She walked away from him, her hands balled into fists. She paused a few feet away, but didn't turn around.
"You coming, or what?"
"Oh, thank God." Valentine thought to himself as he scurried to just beside to her. Now that the pyro is sort of believed him, maybe they both had a chance for whatever Derek might have in store for them. As they walked into the entrance of the forest, Valentine noticed it was a bit cold and the wind was picking up somewhat. Jae appeared unaffected and was making firm, powerful steps. Valentine's mind started to wander now that he felt safe, somewhat, what with this lethal firecracker at his side.
He started to wonder back to Derek's expression when they were discovering the eggs were stolen and scattered.
"What if Derek had nothing to do with this? What if he's just a dolt like Jae has said...." He internally pondered, "Then what is this all about?"
He thought like this constantly as the two walked and examined their area. Then Valentine spotted a moving humanoid figure on the path they were just walking, its full figure hidden by the brush.
Derek? Henchman? Pokémon? Real Perpetrator?
"Jae!" He exclaimed. "We got company!" Valentine saw Jae turn her head backwards from the corner of his eye, as if she was skeptical, and then turning completely around in a prepared fighting stance when she saw what he was talking about.
To both of their curiosity, a girl appeared before them. Valentine recognized her from working in the patch, hold the looks-like-she-just-got-out-of-bed look that all the ranchers had been plastered on with that morning because of Derek's scheme. She was the one with the camera slung around her neck, as she had on that moment. Valentine paused and looked at Jae.
They seemed pretty ridiculous looking all tense to a girl who, so far, showed no potential threat. Valentine loosened up.
"Um…. Hi," He said.
They act like I'm gonna murder them. Cheyenne thought to herself, holding Caterpie tighter.
"... Hi right back at ya." she said slowly. She stood there awkwardly for a minute, realizing how weird it must have been if they had noticed her take that picture of them. "I'm Cheyenne."
Valentine eyeballed this girl. She seemed innoccent enough, what with the caterpie cradled in her arms. That little bug was doing the same to him and Jae, appearing ready to pounce if they come closer to its master without permission. Valentine looked at Jae, who was pursing her lips and not responding.
"Might as well be me doing the talking," he thought.
"Well, it's nice to finally know your name. Uh, I'm Valentine," he said, awkwardly gesturing, "and this is Jae."
Jae simply turned her head.
"So.... looking for your egg, too, hm?"
Cheyenne rolled her eyes and nodded. "Yeah. It seems some idiot decided it'd be a good idea to snatch my egg."
She sighed and placed Caterpie on the ground, patting it's head quickly. Standing straight, she grabbed the camera around her neck and started searching through the few photos she had taken. When she found the one she had taken of her egg, and she took a moment observe it, making sure when she found it, that she would know it.
After a moment, she glanced up from her camera, and then just let it fall back around her neck.
"Valentine. Jae." she repeated, looking from one to the other. "Got it." this was more of a memory precaution for herself. Saying it outloud made it easier for her to remember it.
The freaking camera! How could I have not guessed?! She's been taking pictures for Derek, hasn't she? Gathering information! Now she knows our names! Jae is going to be pissed and we're both dead! What-
...."W- what am I saying?" Valentine thought accompanying the mental freakout he just experienced. Valentine was spazzing himself out again. But this "Cheyenne" was a tad bit suspicious. What was that camera for, anyway?
Might as well ask.
"Say, Cheyenne," He began, "You take a lot of pictures?"
Cheyenne looked at him with a bit of surprise. Sure, people had asked her about her camera before, but usually in a lot ruder manor. She just fidgeted with the camera, glancing down and smiling at Caterpie as it rubbed against her leg. With a sigh, she looked back up at Valentine.
"It's basically a memory tool for me." she said, playing with the string on her camera.
With that thought, she pulled her camera back up to her eyes. She focused the camera on Valentine, and quickly snapped the picture. She pulled the camera down, checking the picture, then pulled the camera off from around her neck. She turned it around to show him the picture.
"See? It's so I don't forget. People, places, events." she sighed, thinking about some of the older pictures she had on that camera. It had been a present from her brother, years ago. So pictures of her father and brother, and the events of that night still resided in the camera.
"What a likely story," He thought. However, he just couldn't drop his suspiscions. Taking a picture of specifically him? What other pictures could be on the camera....
"Mind if I just take a look at the pictures you took so far?" He asked casually, quickly glaring towards the Caterpie giving him dirty looks and back to Cheyenne. "It looks like you'd be a great photographer, and I'm curious."
If she was associated with Derek, or whoever this culprit is, he had to make sure this girl wasclean. She seemed too nice.
Cheyenne thought for a moment. Her camera really had nothing to hide. She'd only taken a handful of pictures since arriving at the ranch, and her past was common knowledge to most of the kids she had gone to school with. She fidgeted with the camera a little, shifting through the photos herself.
Sighing, she held out the camera for him to take. "Sure." she said, shrugging. "And thanks."
She only slightly remembered all of the pictures on the camera. She had gotten the camera the day before the accident had happend. So she only really had a few good photos of her brother and father. The majority of them were pictures she had taken at the lake, and a few of the accident itself. She had deleted most of the pictures she had taken during school, as most of them were classmates, and she no longer needed to remember them. Nor did she want to.
Valentine flipped through the pictures. There was the one of him, one of him and Jae talking (odd), one of a caterpie wrapped around an egg, one or two of a lake, a murder.
What.
Valentine had no idea what to say to this. Did he even dare to say anything about it? He looked over at Jae once more, she was looking through some of the brush in her silence.
Valentine gave the camera back to Cheyenne. Valentine sighed a little, eyebrows painted with confusion.
What did that all mean?
"Well, those were, um, interesting." Valentine struggled to say.
Cheyenne rolled her eyes, putting the camera back around her neck. "I take pictures of everything I need to remember." she responding, flipping through the photos.
She sighed, letting the camera fall around her neck. She picked Caterpie up again, glancing between Valentine and Jae. "You probably think it's weird, right?" she asked, holding Caterpie tighter. "The. . not so pleasant photos."
She turned her attention to the forest, where everyone else had gone. This reminded her of why she was out here in the first place. Not to converse with these two, but to find her egg, and maybe the person who snatched it.
"We aren't getting anywhere if we stand here all day." she said, sending both of them a glance.
Valentine definately felt a little shocked and awkward. For now, this girl seemed fine, real. She didn't seem like she was hiding anything. Valentine gave her a chance.
"You're right. We can talk later. It's still very nice to meet you." Valentine managed to utter.
Valentine called over Jae and the three of them walked together to find the eggs. They finally reached a clearing, the sky barely peering through the tall trees. In the middle of the field, there was three bulb-shaped things intwined with grass and dirt.... Valentine tried to make out the colors. Orange, Red, and a blue-like color, but a bit darker, like indigo.
Indigo. Those were eggs.
Valentine stood still. He just stared at the eggs for afar, them just sitting there in the mound of grass. The indigo of his personal egg almost was creating a light of its own with its shimmering glory. It was beautiful, even from a distance. Valentine wanted to stretch out and just grab it from here, serenading it with words of sympathy and apologies for losing it. Just the thought of re-holding it close to himself was so magical, it felt like this opportunity was made of pure dreams.
….Still not budging. Even Jae and Cheyenne were almost right next to the eggs in front of him, walking with no hesitation. What was wrong with him? Oh, right. Derek.
Valentine understood what his subconscious was warning him of. The eggs were left perfectly out in the open, with only the trees bordering the clearing as their company. He searched around. It's was Derek's trap. This was his plan. This is how he chose to specifically take care of him, Jae, and Cheyenne. But how did he know that the trio would end up together in the forest? He's probably learned so much about our psyche from those files that he knew that the three of us would be in a group, and planted the eggs accordingly. Bastard. Bastard. The only way for Valentine to get his indigo mystery was to step right into Derek's death trap, whatever it may be.
"No, no, this can't be the only way. Please." He whimpered to himself. He felt like he was losing his mind trying to figure out what to do. He looked at the other two trainers, content with reuniting with their eggs. "Why can't that be me?" he thought.
He tried to reassure himself of his safety by reminding himself he is pseudo-teamed up with a pyromaniac and a girl that photographs murder, of all things. These two wouldn't go down without a fight no matter the form it took. He finally found the courage to stride over, fists clenched, to the middle of the clearing, where he was finally standing right in front of the indigo egg. In his eyes, it looked like it wobbled as if to say,
"Hi Daddy! Boy, did I miss you! Where have you been? Give me a hug, silly!" and he imagined it like the creature inside was smiling the most adorable grin ever to stretch across any creature who walks, squirms, or wobbles on the land or in the sea. A tear almost fell out of Valentine's eye; and for the first time, he actually cracked a smile, however subtle it was. He picked up the egg and lifted it over his head. Dirt spots. Those glorious dirt spots.
He lowered it. It was oval shaped, too. This was his egg. There was no mistaking it. Its warmth heated his skin, and vibrated its message of safety and happiness into Valentine's entire body. Valentine clenched it to his chest and hugged it tightly.
Crack.
Valentine eyes opened wide, and he glared at the egg. D- Did the noise come from it?
Craaaacccckkkk.
It sounded like leaves breaking under a person's foot. It was oddest noise, and it sounded like it was coming right from the indigo marvel. But…. nothing was changing about it.
Then it struck Valentine. He was only looking at it from one side. He slowly turned it around. The egg was developing a crack. Valentine began to put his hand to it. That only caused it to chip further and make that odd noise again. Valentine eyes finally lost the battle and water started pouring down his face. His egg was lost. It probably smashed against the ground too hard when it was being placed, or hit something hard along the way, but that didn't matter. Whatever had had happened, the egg broke and the Pokémon residing within was killed in the process, having the shell pieces jammed into its body.
"No." Valentine whispered into its crack while raising it up to his face in his arms. "No…." This couldn't be; his indigo prodigy was dead. Dead. Dea-
Crraacckk.
Valentine opened his eyes again. He didn't do anything this time for it to crack. Was it- was it cracking on its own? Movement from within the egg shoved itself from the crack and bumped Valentine's noise. Valentine looked over to his companions. The same thing was happening to theirs. He directed his attention back to his egg.
CRACK, CRUNCH, CRRAACCK CRUNCH
It was pulsating more and more, something trying to free itself from inside the egg using the crack as a door. It finally broke through somewhat, and Valentine saw a scaly back and a tail finally poking out. "This thing's alive!" He thought.
Finally, whatever it was gave a forceful smash with its back and broke its indigo prison. The being was immediately caught into Valentine's arms, it recoiling a bit from its breaking push on Valentine's chest a little and ending up in a lying down position in his arms and clenching its teeth from the little pain it felt from the previously mentioned bump. The shell remnants scattered on the dirt floor below them.
Valentine looked curiously at the Pokémon lying in his arms. This- this was what he was waiting so eagerly for. This was what was in his indigo treasure. No, this is his indigo treasure. The egg was just a container.
…. But, um, what was this? Valentine had never seen one of these one of these before. The poor thing was still clenching its teeth and slightly flailing its arms from the mild pain it was feeling in the back of its neck, and was shivering from the introduction from its warm capsule to the chill morning air. Valentine was examining it.
Its feet were pointed into two points per foot, it had a yellow triangle on its belly, it had two, little arms, it had two little fangs protruding from its mouth on each side and had a yellow jaw to match its belly triangle, two holes for ears that were surrounded by yellow circles, and it had two eyes on each side (closed right now) that came out of what looked like a silver mullet made of steel; and its skin was a beautiful shade of indigo, matching the shell it came out of.
"B- B- Bay," it cried softly as it endured the pain. It probably seemed like a whole lot more than it was since it hadn't felt pain in all of its existence up to this point. Valentine didn't want to bear seeing his indigo creature feeling grief. He put his hand on the back of its neck and rubbed it slightly. The tiny beast sighed with relief and content on having its pain soothed away by a tender, caring hand. Accompanying his compassion for his newborn, Valentine couldn't help but feel baffled at trying to put a name to what it was. He started to search through his head. Thankfully, the more he thought about it, the more he regained a faded memory of a class he wasn't paying attention in. The class was discussing all the known species of Pokémon. He knew he was staring at the screen at the time, watching the images of Pokémon galore, but his mind was miles away. All he got from the memory was that that day they were discussing Pokémon originally discovered and inhabiting the Hoenn region, and that this guy was probably apart of the bunch. He stopped his trip on memory lane when the pocket monster tried to budge his eyes open. They were fidgeting and slightly cracked when they sealed shut just as before, apparently from pain.
"Bay! Bay!" it yelped. The light was hurting its newly introduced eyes. Valentine bounced it up and down a little. He started to talk to it softly, trying to calm it down. On the outside, he was perfectly calm in tending to his prodigy. On the inside, however,
"Crap crap crap crap calm down calm down calm down calm down please please please please!" he thought as he frantically tried of ways to tame his creature. He even started to sing a little.
Sure enough, the miniature indigo terror calmed and even started to smile. "Bay~" it said as it rolled in its master's comfortable arms. Valentine suddenly remembered that Pokémon usually say their names or something close to it. His indigo pet was constantly saying "Bay," so the species probably started with the same Ba or Bay sound.
The Ba or Bay monster that was almost laughing its tiny squeals in joy for the big thing, presumably its parent, it was resting on and making all its pain go away. It again started to crack open its eyes open to meet Valentine. Its eyes were finally adjusting to the world's light and were completely open. From the expression in its pupils, Valentine justified it was probably only seeing blurs right then as the final tweaks set in. It blinked twice quickly and looked straight at him, making perfect eye-contact.
"Bay?" It questioned Valentine. It was probably asking it Valentine was its maker, the big thing in question making it feel relaxed. Valentine nodded his head slightly. "Bagon!" it joyfully cried for meeting it's "dad" for the first time.
"Bagon. So that's what it is," Valentine thought to himself, glad to have the mystery gone. He still didn't have much knowledge on it, but he planned to learn through the rest of his life with it.
Valentine turned over to Jae and Cheyenne. And tilted his arms to showcase his little buddy. "Hey guys, look, I got a Bagon!" he said as he eyed the others' too. Jae got what he believed to be a Charmander, or something to the tune of that, recalling it was very popular starter Pokémon in the Kanto region. Cheyenne had what looked like a tiny humanoid Pokémon with floppy ears, something that was maybe called a Roulou or Rilou or something. When the Bagon saw their company it let out a cry of utter terror.
"Baybaybaybay Bagon baaaayyy!" It whined into Valentine's chest as it turned its head and closed it eyes. It rubbed its head on him a little and let out a little "Bay!" to finish, and then opened its eyes, littered with tears, directly into Valentine's pupils, piercing his soul in the process.
"Little guy must not like company," Valentine said out loud, trying to explain the Bagon's weird and sudden behavior. Valentine stroked the creature's rock head with the softest touch he could manage. It enjoyed that and calmed right down. "Whew. Now that that's over with," he thought, "this shy killer needs a name."
"I've already given you an array of different names in my head, buddy." Valentine said to the Bagon, who was trying to understand what the humble giant was saying. "Um, let's see. Indigo something. Indigo…. marvel? No. Um, Indigo…." Valentine just gave out whatever he was thinking, and the Bagon lowered its lids in concern for its guardian. The giant looked troubled as far as he could tell. The Bagon tried its best to sit up in its master's arms and licked Valentine's face a little to cheer him up.
"Hey," Valentine said playfully. The Bagon silently rejoiced for curing its apparent creator of its worries. "How about you be named Indigo Prodigy?" Valentine finally decided. The Pokémon looked un-phased by the statement. It simply looked at him and blinked. "That's right," Valentine realized, "You have no idea what I'm saying, do you?"
The Bagon blinked again. It smiled, raised its arms towards Valentine's face and said "Bagon!" as if to play a game of lets-reply-to-your-noise-with-my-noise. Valentine tried to think of ways to bring the name across. He started to point at the Bagon's belly.
"Indigo Prodigy. Indigo Prodigy." Valentine said as he constantly pointed his finger. The Bagon was looking down at this strange action its master was doing. W- what was it? Is it referring to him?
"Bay?" it said quizzically. It wasn't getting it. Valentine then poked the Bagon as he said for a third time, "Indigo Prodigy!" in a playful fashion. The Bagon managed a little laugh from the silly action that tickled him. It looked back up to the giant and said "Bagon!" with gusto.
"It still probably has no idea what I'm doing or saying," Valentine concluded. "Oh well, it'll probably get it after a while." Valentine shifted his arms so that the Bagon was comfortably clutched in his arms, with the creature's stubs for arms slouched over his own. The creature constantly looked around, and grew more uneasy with its surroundings. It only wanted to look at its dad. Looking at its dad meant nothing else mattered but its own safety. It meant being constantly graced with his love, and always having that magical touch to stop any worries and pain it felt. This area, filled with giant brown things topped with green stuff surrounding them scared him. The thing tried to justify that the giant it called dad was around him always, and that he should be fine.
Oh, if only his master had the same feeling of safety.
Valentine resumed right where he left of being suspicious. And now with the addition of the small creature he had to protect in his arms, he felt more paranoid then ever. The three humans there eyed each other to leave. They took one step and-
Scree?
Valentine's heart stopped and so did all movement. Indigo Prodigy's eyes grew wide. Valentine looked up at the trees. There they were, hundreds of them, who were previously blended into the shadows of the leaves but clear as day now.
They were Zubat.
All of them were asleep, expect for the one that made the noise. "Scree?" it said again.
"Why is it crying?" he thought. "Wait, Zubats are blind. It can't see us. Why would it be….? Crap. Echolocation. It wasn't looking at us, it was detecting us. Okay, that's fine. It should see us as no threat, I mean, there wasn't anything of value here besides the eggs-"
"Crap! Zubats eat eggs!" Valentine said quite loud, scaring the dickens out of Indigo Prodigy, who looked up at him, not knowing what he was saying but obviously seeing that something was disturbing his master.
SCRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEE!
The one Zubat had shouted at the top of its lungs to alert the rest of the herd. It then swooped down at the trio and their Pokémon, trying to attack them. The Zubats made various noises, knew what was going on, and then made the same horrible noise, and doing the same action.
Indigo Prodigy's eyes grew wide and bold as it saw the fog of Zubats that swarmed above them. He didn't know what was going or what the things were, but they was screaming wretched noises, were constantly moving and freaking out his master. The Bagon started to cry. "Bay! Bagon! Baybaybaybay!"
Valentine looked all around him in terror. Derek you ****ing bastard. These things were going to rip apart the trio, limb by li- wait. No! Valentine had a Pokemon now! It knew moves! It had power beyond that of any imagination!
Valentine set Indigo Prodigy on the ground. The little Bagon stumbled and landed in a sitting down position. It cried louder, terrified that not only was the mass of flying things swooping down and attacking everyone, but now his master was not surrounding him with protection. As the seconds pasted, the more its cry got louder and more frantic, flailing its arms and flinching around in panic.
"Crap. I forgot this thing was a baby for a second. It doesn't even know how to stand, let alone battle!" He thought. He had to think fast, the Zubat were closing in on them. Valentine managed to remember that Pokémon had instincts. They know how to use their power from the start, but it needs to be brought out by danger or threat. He grabbed Indigo Prodigy by his back in one hand.
"Make me proud, buddy!" He said as he threw the Bagon at the sky of Zubats. "Baaaayyyyyy!" it screamed right before something in it triggered. Its eyes focused on one juicy Zubat as it saw him and swooped. The Bagon licked its lips and revealed its sharp fangs. The Zubat landed perfectly in its mouth, and Indigo Prodigy sunk its teeth into the prey's body. The Zubat cried in pain, which only made Indigo Prodigy hungrier. It punctured its teeth down more into it, causing the body of the Zubat to start to break into two and scream louder.
Valentine positioned himself just right to catch Indigo Prodigy. "Please be okay," he prayed. He didn't see what was about to come next. The Bagon landed in his arms, safe and sound, and Valentine almost released his breath in relief if he hadn't started to fell liquid trickle down his arms. Valentine tilted his head to see what Indigo Prodigy was doing. His eyes grew with confusion and fear when he saw the Zubat's flesh being ripped right from its body, blood spraying everywhere all over the Bagon and Valentine's arms. Valentine couldn't describe the feeling he felt as he heard the Zubat's increasing gargled cries as it drowned in its own blood. Finally, through all the torture it put the Zubat through, Indigo Prodigy cracked open its mouth wide again and ripped the poor thing it was holding's head off, allowing even more blood to trickle on Valentine and the ground.
"In- Indigo Pro-" Valentine started as he saw the Bagon look towards him with these eyes. These weren't painted with the same sensitivity they had before. This was rage. The Bagon then jumped up again, grabbing more un-expecting Zubats in its hands by their wings. As it land on the ground, it ripped one wing from both the Zubats and ate them. Ate them. The one-winged Zubats flopped on the ground before Indigo Prodigy decided he wasn't done being hungry. He ripped apart each one quickly, eating whatever he found fitting in no particular order. Despite the cries above him, Valentine could only hear the howling cries of Indigo Prodigy's victims. Once the current ones were good and dead, the previously scared-to-the-bone Bagon again jumped up, and then used its head to pelt more of the poor Zubats to the ground, this time at least five, right next to Valentine.
There's probably no point in explaining in depth what happened next. Of course, Indigo Prodigy was continuing his violence binge and went down to the Zubats, ripping off heads, disemboweling them, and even biting down on one in a way where he pierced one of the main arteries so blood embellished Valentine's person even more. This continued for a while until most of the Zubat were killed by the trio's Pokémon or retreated. Valentine helplessly watched every single kill his prodigy made, eating whatever it pleased.
Finally, there was just one delirious Zubat left, flying in circles and suffering from a damaged wing. Indigo Prodigy looked upwards, still locked in his rage. It jumped up and grabbed the sucker, smashing it to the ground with his iron head. Once landing right near the victim, he grabbed it, and readied for the signature bite of death. Suddenly, Indigo Prodigy heard something.
"Stop it! Stop it! Right now, stop!"
It was Valentine. Once he stopped pleading, his heart pounded with intensity and was breathing heavy, looking up at his Pokemon. Indigo Prodigy blinked his eyes a couple of times and frantically looked around. Where was he? What's happening? What-
SCREESCREESCREEEESCREEEE!
Indigo Prodigy noticed the screaming and injured Zubat in his hand. Its mouth was jostling up and down, and it was flinching with panic and despair. It frightened Indigo Prodigy, especially since it was right next to his face. He let go of it, only for it to flop aimlessly on the ground. The Bagon wobbled a bit. It was standing? It plopped immediately to the ground.
But something was weird. His bottom felt welt. Indigo Prodigy looked around. Red. Everywhere. All red. He was completely coated in it. Things that were oozing the red that looked like portions of the creature he was just holding in his hand scattered the ground. His stomach was full, even though it had been completely empty just a moment ago. His dad wasn't around him to make it all better. He couldn't help to lose himself in a sea of tears. He was completely confused and upset, and wanted his guardian so much. He didn't want to be there.
Please make it go away. Please. What's wrong with the screaming thing? What is the red? Why was it wet? Oh, just please hold me. Hold me.
Indigo Prodigy felt a presence, but he was too upset to figure out what it was. He just kept crying. He wanted his Daddy. He wanted the bad things to go away. It wasn't like this before.
Valentine was looking over the squabbling Zubat. "It can't live like this," he thought. Hesitantly, he pulled out his switchblade and uncapped it. He pinned the creature down to make sure its neck was steady, even though everything else on it was twitching frantically. It was in pain.
Valentine made a straight line with the blade. It was like cutting into butter. The Zubat twitched a bit after that was done, but then stopped to lye in rest forever. Valentine wiped his blade on a clean part of his already bloody sweatshirt, and then placed it back into his pockets. Valentine turned his head to his crying prodigy. It was completely losing it, stuttering over its own words and blinded by its copious tears. Valentine looked around. Jae and Cheyenne had already left and he was all by himself. Valentine looked back at the upset Bagon.
"What are you?" He asked. The Bagon gave no answer but his constant flood of sadness. Valentine got up and picked the crying beast in his arms so it was lying down. The tears stopped.
M- Master?
It opened its eyes. It was his protector. The Bagon finally went to peace and fell right asleep. It was safe now. Valentine knew that the rampage was probably something that it didn't intended or remember. It wasn't its fault, it was just triggered. It didn't know how to control it.
Valentine sighed and started to walk out of the clearing. He remembered that he was drenched in blood. Well at least Derek will think twice before putting traps like this again.
Valentine made it to the main building, not bothering to change. He stood calmly with eyelids half lowered in front of Derek and the entire group, apparently being the last one to get there. The Counselor noticed him and stared at the fresh red stains that covered his entire person. The other ranchers looked at him with disgust and awe. Everyone taped with their own unique expression.
Valentine shifted his eyes back and forth, sighed, and then asked "What?" almost menacingly.
