[PKMN FULL] The Revelations [IC](T)

"Alright! nice going Goro." Sirius cheered as Goro clashed with the fighting-pokemon. His glare had fluctuated to a stale interest that was quickly quenched.

Believe it or not, Sirius was just noticing that Machop was mimicking the boy's movements; it had a slight delay of course, but still it was mimicry. What's with them? they're like...together...but in whole different way. He noticed, a odd sense of yearning being birthed inside of him. The ashen battlefield slowly crumbled and back into reality. Wait? This was new, he had never yearned for something that someone else had possessed before.

Slowly, he shook his head from his thoughts. When he looked up, Gible was leaping back to her place in front of him, her left leg slightly bruised. "Goro! what happened?" He shouted. He could feel whatever fuel that had been inside, that had been pushing him with such intensity slowly dying.

With his imagination crumbling, Sirius had seen the crowd surrounding them, urging them to go on. It had in a way, made him realize the faults in his anger. And though it may not had been too evident to the crowd, it was pretty clear to Sirius. He had started to lose control again, gone crazy in a sense.

The tension in his body loosened a bit and a more focused stare appeared in his eyes. "Sorry about that Goro, let's work through this!" He told him. "Quick, use twis-" His mouth had been covered, clasped around as he was about to utter his counter. He caught Goro looking back out of confusion and then with a quick punch from the Machop, she was flying towards him.

He felt himself being pulled back forcibly and his arms slightly restrained by rough and calloused hands. "Enough of this brawl!" A slick-tongue male spat from behind him, probably the one that had restrained him. "Ease yourself, lad. You and your clan has been here for a week, maybe less and you're already causing trouble."

Against the guard's hand, Sirius called out for Goro, who was lying on the ground with ice shelled over her gutlet. What rotten luck he had and it was that guard's fault for interrupting him. Damn those bastards. Struggling from the man's grip on his mouth, he was able to slip his lips free. "Hey, Goro! you okay?"

The Gible looked up at him and shuddered before weakly standing to her feet. He let out a sigh of relief before letting the guard arrest him.

​

The surprise of Malin being able to hold his own against that tackle, seemed to have worked, as he saw his Machop had landed a clean leg sweep against the Gible's body. It had sent the dragon-type flying back a bit, and the fellow questioning what had happened. Did his opponent really take his eyes off of the duel for some other thing? Was he not aware that was a foolish move on his part? Darren wasn't sure exactly what the fellow had been distracted from, all he knew was, their companion's earlier impact, had caused some kind of small explosion.

It didn't keep him from losing focus of the duel however, nor had the urging crowd telling them to continue on, which although was expected to happen, it didn't mean the act wasn't savage. As the Gible had leaped back to it's companion, Darren had noticed the dragon-type's left leg had been slightly bruised. While it didn't look serious, it did reveal the cost of not paying attention, and he was glad that Malin hadn't gotten hit too much. The fighting-type's condition was still a problem though, and it showed in his Machop's last assault on the Gible.

Seeing a strange movement in the crowd, as civilians had started to drift away from the area, Darren had noticed a flash of gold come out. He would recognize that color anywhere. The Bronze Guards had finally arrived, and seeming to be just in time too. It sounded like the fellow was going to command his Gible to attack once more, but before the word was able to get out, one of the Bronze Guards had covered his mouth. That had gotten the Gible's attention, which is what his Machop had needed, to deliver a clean Ice Punch towards it's gut.

The dragon-type was flying in the air towards the fellow, and he had seen Malin look back at him, the fighting-type panting, but clearly happy it was over. Darren had smiled at the Pokemon, and when he had seen the look of surprise across the Machop's face, he had turned his head around, to see a Bronze Guard place a hand over his shoulder. Saving the man the trouble, Darren had turned himself fully around, and looked at the guard, feeling a tad bit embarrassed. What was currently happening to the fellow behind him sounded troubling.

Was a duel out on the Bazaar like this particular trouble for him? He could understand if it was the fellow, still believing firmly in his suspicions, even though he seemed to cheer up at the end, as he had a Gible. While his Machop was strictly physical, if one didn't count that Ice Punch could be shot out by a Pokemon. "Come on lad, we're taking you and the other one to the clinic to heal your Pokemon. You've caused a bit of trouble here in the Bazaar that will need to be taken care of." This one was clearly less strict than the one the fellow had gotten.

It was what he had expected from a majority of the bronze guards, that they had to have patience to serve their king properly. Why the other one was such a brute, he didn't exactly know, nor was he going to question it. Darren had only given a slight nod, and was led by the guard, without the kind of restraints the fellow had received. He had confidence whatever trouble that was caused would be taken care of, without too much of the day taken away. He still had a job too tend to after all.

The sounds of his stomach growling had brought more embarrassment, and a hearty chuckle from the Bronze Guard, who after jokingly asked about his state, Darren had admitted that he hadn't eaten at all today.
​

Astrid
Forest outside Twinleaf

Wiley let out a relaxed sigh as he walked through the forest. Astrid watched him as he gazed appreciatively at the scenery, amused by the sight of him. He was normally never this relaxed or happy, but when it came to the forest all his worries seemed to fade away. Wiley's past was a big mystery to Astrid, but she guessed he must have lived in a forest before he came to befriend her uncle. Unlike her, the Pancham seemed to know his way around any wooded area he came across, which helped them not to get lost.

The two allowed the soft chirps of the Taillow to soothe them for a moment. Astrid herself wasn't particularly fond of forests, though for Wiley's sake she did try to enjoy it every now and then. If he didn't get his occasional forest walk he usually ended up smashing something, or someone's face.

Suddenly, Wiley's eye twitched and his usual look of irritation spread across his face once again. Astrid, surprised, wondered what was wrong. His right ear perked up, and he suddenly began running eastward.

"H-hey! Wait! What are you-?!" Astrid shouted after him, but he was already sprinting away. She followed after him, shouting for him to stop.

"Get back here, idiot!" she exclaimed. The Pancham didn't seem to hear her, and as she got closer to wherever it was he was headed, Astrid could see - or rather, hear - why. A strange cacophony of cries reached her ears, nothing like the chirps of the Taillow, but more... desperate. As if pleading. It was very eerie, and she felt a chill go up her spine. Wiley, however, didn't seem unsettled in the slightest, heading towards the noise angrily.

Finally, the two reached a clearing. And Astrid recoiled in shock at what she saw there. Dozens of Pokemon seemed to be tied to posts planted in the ground. Each one was crying out in fear, and together they had made the unsettling noise from earlier.

"What in the world...?" she wondered. "Who could've done this?"

Wiley, however, was unfazed by the sight. Instead of being shocked or scared, he walked up to one of the Caterpie that was tied to a post and punched it viciously. "Cham!" he shouted at it, hitting it again with a Karate Chop until the thing had fainted. He proceeded to move on to the next captured bug, beating it mercilessly until it had fainted.

"Wiley, you dolt, what are you doing?!" Astrid asked, even more confused at his actions.

"Pan!" Wiley growled, pointing at his ear, and then at one of the crying Pokemon.

"So... the noise bothered you," Astrid guessed. "That's no reason to go around beating up Pokemon."

"Pancham!" the Pancham huffed, shrugging off his owner's remark as he beat another bug senseless.​

"Thanks, I really appreciate it." Uttered Sirius as he woman gave Goro a clean bill of health. The first time he had to take Goro to the clinic and it was with a "lost" under his belt. He couldn't of have felt more helpless then in that moment. All his life he had dreams of Goro and him dominating others.

Sirius let out a sigh as he walked out the clinic, Goro cheerfully following behind as if she didn't just get into a fight. With her left leg bandaged and her stomach partially wrapped, Sirius couldn't help but feel at fault. That small slip of time, that damned stray thought had costed him the battle; well that and the guard. His eyebrows scrunched up a bit as he thought on the lost.

How humiliating...I relied too much on my imagination...it wa- it was a nuisance.

Shoving his hands into his pockets, Sirius continued forwards behind the oblivious Goro. She seemed so content with the world that for a second, he had almost believed that it was okay. The faintest smirk lifted his lips as he followed behind. He passed by several crowds, some of them teeming with kids, others of adults, and a few just seemed tossed together on accident. Amongst them all, as he people watched, he could remember a head of blue hair and a bulbasaur.

He looked back to the path. I wonder if that Bulbasaur ever found its trainer? But in the middle of his thoughts, he found himself halting because of Goro pulling at his leg. The small pokemon seemed enthralled by the same blacksmith stall that they had just gotten in trouble over. Rolling his eyes, Sirius continued forwards. "We can't Goro," was all he offered as an excuse.

As he turned around to call Goro, he bumped into someone rather hard. Hard enough that if they weren't especially observant they could have fallen.

​

Astrid
Forests outside Twinleaf

"Pan!" Wiley shouted. "Pan..." he said again, weaker this time. Astrid noticed his eyelids flitting slowly closed, and he ceased his constant punching to stumble a bit.

"Hey, uh... Wiley?" She approached him with concern, but he suddenly fell to the ground.

"Chaaam..." was his last word before his eyes shut, and he fell unconscious. Astrid was at first worried he had been poisoned or something equally dire, but was relieved to hear him snoring loudly. So he was only sleeping.

It was only now that she seemed to notice every other Pokemon tied to the posts also having fallen asleep.

"What in the...?" she wondered.

She wasn't able to think about it for much longer, however. From seemingly nowhere, a voice came from behind her, and she whirled around to see the tip of a spear. Her eyes seemed transfixed on the dangerous weapon as she began backing away, her breathing heavy. As she did she stumbled over her own foot accidentally, falling to the ground with a soft thud.

Her eyes moved slowly from the spear to the man holding it. It took her a moment to realize he was the one who had spoken. Beside him was an Eevee, growling menacingly at her. It just made her even more panicked.

"W-wait," she said meekly, holding up her hands in front of her to defend herself. She was sure this man was going to kill her. He had said 'hunt'. Was he a man of the wild? Weren't they savages? Didn't they kill anyone they thought were enemies? All these questions raced hurriedly around in Astrid's head as her eyes filled with fear.

"I-I didn't mean to, I..." she trailed off, unsure of what to say. Should she just run? No, he would surely catch her, she thought. "I'm sorry, I-I'm uh... I'm Astrid and that's... Wiley," she managed to said, pointing a shaky finger at the Pancham.

"I d-did-didn't mean to... to disturb you I just... i-it was an accident so... so..." At this point she was almost shaking in fear. "P-please don't uh... kill me..."​

In denial of his own actions in the faultiness of his imagination in battle, Sirius had bumped into someone. He stumbled back onto his butt as his face was being annoyingly slapped. Struggling with the small assailant, Sirius had started to shoo it with his hand. "Go away wontcha? leave me alone," He argued, backing up onto his feet in a hurry.

All the while, Goro had silently made her way to the jar of honey and absentmindedly started licking at the crack in the jar.

Sirius looked passed the flailing arms of the pokemon and towards the person he had bumped into. "Hey, help me out here. This Pokemon is crazy and I can't afford to battle it!" He yelled.
​

Astrid
Forests outside Twinleaf

The look of fear on Astrid's face began to fade as it seemed this man was not intent on hurting her. Of course, that's just what it seemed. The Eevee, too, seemed to have calmed down. She did not take the boy's hand, instead opting to stand up by herself. She was still on her guard, but decided to try and act as calm as possible so as not to worsen the situation.

Astrid glanced briefly over to Wiley, who still snored loudly. Then, back to the man and his Eevee. She had to evaluate this situation carefully. In the time it would take her to scoop up Wiley and run away, either the boy, his Eevee, or both could easily catch and hold her down. This meant running away wasn't an option. She didn't know much about men from the wilderness and how they differed from regular people, but if they were anything alike, his seemingly apologetic demeanor could easily be just another act. He claimed not to have met many people before, which worried her even more. How could she know he meant no harm?

"No," she thought. "I'm just over-thinking it... calm down..." She took a deep breath to try and bury the fear and suspicion. The best way to deal with this would be to try and talk him into leaving, she figured. If she did anything to insult the boy, he might pounce on her, so best to try and be as nice as possible.

"Um, t-that's quite... alright," she said shyly. From the tone of her own voice she could tell she clearly wasn't very calm. "I should be the one who's s-sorry, um... he's pretty s-stupid, the Pancham."
​

Utter confusion touched Sirius' mind just long enough to leave him speechless as the male apologize and ran. Cocking his head to left, he watched him disappear in the crowd. It was a few seconds before he regained his composure and realized he had just been assaulted. Racing forwards three or four steps, Sirius glared at the fading back of the boy. "Hey! you can't just do that!" He uttered with faint vigor. It much too late to be getting rowdy, besides, Goro was diligently licking the outside of the honey jar. She wasn't going to be moving on her own.

Shutting the door behind him and placing Goro on the couch, honey jar still in her stubby hands, Sirius made his way up into his room. He hoped that Addy had been around but it seemed that she was still hanging out with her friends. He plopped onto his cot face first and yelled into his pillow. His head was still swirling around that fight he jumbled up. It wasn't Goro, she was just as serious as he was. It could only had been his own fault for losing.

He heard his door creak open, Goro's small pattering following suit after it. Looking over the edge of his bed he saw her hold up the honey jar towards him. "Yea, yea. I'll hold it while you climb on." He pulled up next to him, feeling Goro's struggles as she pulled at the sheet to get onto the bed with him. Once on, she wobble next to him and laid down next to him. There was times when she seemed like she actually cared and it was those times that Sirius enjoyed the most. He turned his head towards the still-snacking Goro and decided to let himself sleep.
​

What sounds of chatter they had heard out on the streets of Twinleaf Town, didn't exactly leave, when they had entered the clinic. The building where Pokemon were generally treated of their injuries, was actually part tavern, and one of the popular places in town. At night it was anyway, when the businesses in the bazaar had closed for the day. Darren was actually one of the townsfolk who usually came around that time, and being here so early, was different. What chatter the place had now, was rather tame compared to that of the bazaar.

Still, he had followed the Bronze Guard in anyway, towards one of the stools at the bar, where a gruff looking man had stood behind the counter. "Get the lad a proper meal, he hasn't eaten all morning. And an ale for myself as well." Before he could actually place an order himself, the Bronze Guard had done it for him, and again, Darren had felt a bit embarrassed about his situation. It was quite the honor actually being acknowledged by one of the Bronze Guards, who more than likely knew about his occupation in this town as a blacksmith.

He had just wished they were associating on better terms, instead of what would likely be some questioning. Him, being questioned. As if he was one of those rebels this town harbored. How could he have not been embarrassed about this? "Thank you." Still, it didn't mean he had to be rude, and not thank the man for seemingly treating him, even though it was likely to be under false pretenses. As the bartender had entered a side door and disappeared, the Bronze Guard had turned to him.

"You're a stiff fellow aren't you?" It was a joke. He was supposed to laugh. But Darren wasn't exactly the kind of person to joke around, in a situation he would view as serious. In his eyes, this was one of those situations, so he had only held the man's gaze, as he should when talking to someone. There was nothing more than doing that, and appropriately answering. The Bronze Guard had seemed to have understood that, else he wouldn't have made the joke in the first place, and sighed afterwards, when he didn't respond to it.

"Usually when we bring one of you lads in for this, you panic and start asking questions. You're not one of them, clearly, which can be respected for, if you're talking to the right person." Another joke. He was supposed to laugh at this one as well. But again, he hadn't. The Bronze Guard had gave him another hearty chuckle this time however, patting him on the shoulder. "Those rumors were right, you really do have patience." Now this, had caught his attention, his eyebrow raising up at the man questioningly in response.
When Darren had later left the clinic, Malin had came outside with him, fully healed of his injuries. "Well, that wasn't so bad." He muttered sarcastically underneath his breath, which the Machop, as always, had caught and mimicked. About an hour or so had passed, since his chat with the Bronze Guard, where they had came to the conclusion of charges. Despite him mentioning his own suspicions about the fellow, he was still considered to be at fault, and had to pay for damages. There was no real open protesting, just bitter feelings.

Before he could really walk anywhere or go too deep in thought, a figure suddenly landed right in front of him, as if it had dropped out of the sky itself. It straightened out and revealed itself to be a white-haired girl with a Chimchar on her shoulder, a smile on her face and a staff held in place against the back of her neck, with her hands coiled around the ends of it.

"There you are! Been waiting for a while for you to come out. That was some fight, huh?" She continued smiling, acting like she had known him for ages and now just waiting for him to answer. The Chimchar looked equally as cheerful, looking down and spotting Malin, which prompted him to grin in a friendly way.

After looking the girl over, and listening to her talk to him like they knew each other, he had given her a slight nod in agreement. "It was, yes. Dragon-types aren't a common sight, and it was a pleasure being able to duel with one." Truthfully, he wasn't sure what to make of this woman's appearance. On the inside, he was searching his mind to see if he actually did know the woman, as a way to avoid the embarrassment of forgetting her, if he did. Malin, however, was more welcome of the duo's appearance, and went over with a grin of his own.

"I can imagine! I haven't fought with someone with a dragon-type yet, myself." She glanced down at Malin as he stepped closer, smiling as she crouched down, resting on the very front of her mostly bare feet while still holding the staff in place behind her. "Hey there! You did pretty well against that dragon back there. Must be quite a fighter to pull off something like you did."

The Chimchar let out a series of ooks and eeks before hopping from her shoulder and onto the ground, moving over on all fours before standing up on his two hind legs, mimicking Malin's stance. The girl snickered and stood up, tossing her hair to the side with a flick of her head, although the fringe in front of her left eye stayed in place. "Anyways, I'm Nadia! It's a pleasure to meet you, although you could do with loosening up a bit." She added with a small smirk.

It hadn't actually taken that long for him to recall what he knew about this woman, which wasn't much. There was occasional talk in the Bazaar, about a strange figure jumping from roof to roof, and judging from the way she was dressed, he didn't have any doubt that this was her. That bit of information had been all he had listened to whenever it was brought up, out of how strange it was than anything else. Meeting her in person didn't exactly change that, but it wasn't something he would actually point out. She seemed to have thought different.

Nadia was a bold one, actually talking to a stranger like he was in that way. He should have actually felt offended, but there was nothing but amusement in his eyes. There wasn't really any suspicion about her, even though the lack of a surname and appearance was asking for one. Nor would there be. She seemed much too genuine, that calling her a fair maiden would be nothing short but inappropriate. Teasing, really. The kind she was trying to place upon him, that made it almost difficult not to retort something of equal back to her.

But he was a blacksmith, and had to keep up a professional appearance. "Darren Gregory. You'll have to excuse me if I'm a bit cautious in a town like this. The Bronze Guards wouldn't be here without a reason." It wouldn't be professional to openly talk about the rumors of rebels, and this was what he considered to be a safe answer. He had caught his Machop's glance at him earlier, when the fighting-type didn't really have anything to mimic, and had settled for rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Now though, Malin was giving the Chimchar something to mimic, the Machop flexing his arms, after noticing the fire-type had mimicked his stance.

Iggy giggled, clapping his hands while dancing a little on the spot before flexing his arms as well, mimicking Malin once again while putting on a serious face. Nadia smiled down at the Pokémon before looking up at Darren again. "Nice to meet you, Darren. And yeah, I suppose so. They have to keep the townspeople safe. And occasionally break up a fight in the streets, no?" She gave another, playfully wry grin while lowering her staff from her shoulders to prod it up against the ground, one arm wrapped around it before leaning against it.

Another tease. This one was just as difficult, but there was still a safe answer for this one as well. "Right. That was a bit of a mess, wasn't it? But what happened couldn't be helped. And it's nothing that isn't settled now." Darren had avoided openly putting the blame on the fellow from earlier, simply because it was his own problem to deal with. As much as Nadia could make it feel like he could, they were still strangers, and it wouldn't exactly be fair to wrap up someone he barely knew into his problems.

"This was a nice chat, but Malin and I should get going. The trip to the clinic cost us a few hours of payment we need to make up. I'm sure we'll see you around." His eyes glanced over to the Machop, who looked like he had just about finished, pretending to carry something heavy. After giving a slight nod of his head, and saying a few words in pokespeak, the fighting-type had followed on after Darren.

"Oh, of course! Don't let me keep you. Have a good work!" She called out after him as he headed off through the crowd, smiling as she lifted her staff to balance it on her shoulders again. Iggy jumped a little up and down in front of the Machop, chattering cheerfully before waving at the Machop as the duo headed off. "Interesting pair, huh Iggy?" Nadia commented, smiling down at the Chimchar, who proceeded to climb up her leg and back onto her shoulder. "If a little stiff. We'll work on that, though." She finished with a grin.
​

Thomas & Astrid
Forests outside Twinleaf

Astrid was somewhat startled by the Eevee, Lucy, poking her foot, but tried not to show it. When Thomas picked his Pokemon up, she realized they were now at a far closer proximity than earlier. That made her chances of escape virtually zero.

To make things worse, Astrid's paranoia was only fueled by the fact that Lucy went over to Wiley. If that Pancham woke up to find the Eevee standing over him, his first instinct would undoubtedly be to attack.

"Um, that's fine," she managed to say, as her eyes darted from the boy to his Eevee. She briefly wondered who this 'Sam' was. Another boy from Twinleaf, she supposed. Either way, it didn't matter much right now.

"He's a bit t-too violent for his own good, so, uh, it might not be a good idea to get so c-close to him..." she advised. "J-just saying..."

Thomas thought about this. "Lucy! Come on back here." She stopped examining the pancham. She walked over to a sleeping caterpie, bit the string tying it, and carefully brought it over to Astrid. She laid it next to her shoe, before sitting down and wagging her fluffy tail. Thomas chucked a bit at this. "I think Lucy likes you. Well, to be fair, she likes most people." Lucy got back up and sat down on Thomas' shoe. The sleep powder was starting to wear off now. "Will you help me untie these bugs?" Thomas asks politely.

Astrid frowned slightly as the Caterpie was placed before her; bugs weren't exactly something she was too fond of. What bothered her even more, however, was that the Caterpie had begun to show signs of awakening. If the sleep effect on the Pokemon was starting to wear off, it meant Wiley would soon awaken, which wasn't good.

She tensed up as Thomas asked her to untie the bugs. She couldn't really refuse given the situation; as nice as he seemed, Thomas was probably unpredictable. One wrong move and she was done for. On the other hand, things would get bad if she stayed too long, what with Wiley's awakening. "What the heck am I supposed to do in a situation like this?" she wondered.

Astrid quickly realized she'd just been standing silently for a while after Thomas's query. "S-sure," she squeaked, the sound of her own pathetic voice making her cringe.

She moved over to one of the posts with shaky hands, and examined the knot. She'd read about the different kinds of knots and how to untie them a few times before, but she'd never actually tried applying that knowledge. So, at first, she fumbled around with it, the constant shaking of her hands and the wriggling of the tied-up Weedle serving to hinder her efforts even further. However, as if in an epiphany, the knowledge came rushing back to her. Soon enough, she let the Bug drop to the ground, sighing in relief.

A few feet away, a Pancham stirred.

Lucy turned towards the awakening pancham, holding a wiggly wurmple in her mouth. She set it at Astrid's foot like the last one, before running over to the pancham. She carefully pawed at him, helping him to wake up. As he stirred further, she wiggled her tail and let out a small noise. "Vee?" She helped the little bear stand up, as he was still tired. Thomas was watching her do this. "Lucy just loves making friends today."

Astrid's eyes widened as she saw Wiley rub his eyes, slowly recognizing the world around him.

"No, no, no, no! What do I do?!"

She looked around frantically for something that could help. Wiley had already turned to look at Lucy, though it didn't seem like he was aware that it was a Pokemon in front of him.

"Chaaam...?" he muttered sleepily. Finally, Astrid's eyes rested on what was right in front of her: the post that the Weedle had been attached to. Astrid got up and used all her force to pull the post from the ground. Holding it steadily with both hands, she walked up to Wiley and struck him in the head with it.

The half-awake Pancham let out a small moan before falling back to the ground, unconscious. Astrid realized what she had done was undoubtedly cruel, but it was better than the alternative: an all-out brawl. Dropping the post, she turned to Thomas in and, in a desperate attempt to appear nonchalant, smiled slightly.

"Um... s-sorry, it's uh... better t-that he stays asleep..."

Thomas stood staring for a moment. Lucy was curling into a small ball, and whimpering a little. Thomas ran over to Lucy, and calmed her down. Without saying a word, Thomas pulled out a home-made oran berry potion and sprayed it on the pancham's head. "People from that town still surprise me." Turning towards Lucy, Thomas gave her some instructions. "Lucy, fetch Rose, and Ella if she want's to come. It would help to have our medic pokemon on us." She gives a small nod. "Ee!" She calls out behind her in goodbye as she runs to fetch her friends. Thomas looked Astrid straight in the eyes. "Why would you do this to your friend? You could have caused permanent damage to his head." Thomas continued setting bugs free, healing any broken wings he caused. He then began talking to himself. "Even I know it is cruel to leave a pokemon hurt. Why does this girl not understand that violence does not have to be the answer? Why would she think I would kill another human? I'm not a cannibal, or some crazy forest person. I'm just a guy who grew up in the forest with my parents, who leave and never come back. Am I supposed to act any different? I have no idea what this girl deems normal...." Thomas had been talking a bit too loud, and Astrid heard the whole thing.

Astrid just stood silent, looking down at the ground in shame. Thomas was right, and she knew it. Not only that, but she'd made him mad; not good. She wondered if Wiley was seriously injured... surely, with his thick skull, he'd be able to sustain a hit like that. Right? She'd seen him headbutt his way through a wooden wall before. She had to tell herself this in order to remain calm, and proceeded to look over to Thomas, who had resumed untying the knots. He seemed to be muttering to himself, and rather loudly at that. Astrid wasn't one to eavesdrop or pry, but she heard everything he said.

Before she was able to think on it any longer, she heard a sound.

"Chaaaam," Wiley groaned, putting a hand to his head. He was waking up. Astrid couldn't pull the same stunt twice, and she couldn't think of anything else to stop him.

"It's all over," she thought. "We're gonna die!"

Wiley's eyes flickered open, and he looked around a little, still dazed. He spotted Astrid, who had her face buried in her hands as if shielding her eyes from some horror. Next, he saw Thomas, and instantly his vision sharpened. He cracked his knuckles, and began a slow, menacing march towards the boy.

Thomas stares the little pokemon down, not blinking at all. A noise off to the side causes both of them to briefly turn, as Lucy and Rose walk out. Rose takes one look at the pancham, and starts rubbing her wings together. A small jolt of electricity flies out, and hits the pancham. Static flies around his body. Thomas looks wide-eyed. "Thunder wave. He will be paralyzed for awhile, until Rose heals it off." He shakes his head. "Rose, I could of handled it. I really could." Rose has flied towards Astrid, waving her little hand in greeting. Thomas looks back at Astrid. "Well, that is fixed for now. Since Rose can heal him perfectly, he should be fine. More sparks fly from the little panda. Lucy has creeped up in front of him, wagging her tail.

Astrid was rather shocked that a Thunder Wave seemed to have come from nowhere, until she turned to see a Pokemon emerge from the forest: a Togetic. Astrid nervously waved back at it, before looking over at Wiley. She couldn't help but feel bad for him, despite how things might have ended up had the situation gone differently. She sighed, both in relief and exhaustion.

But just then, all of a sudden, several sparks flew from Wiley's right arm, and it seemed to be undergoing some spasms. Then, it just shot up in a punch, right at the Eevee in front of him. The rest of his body, however, remained paralyzed.

Astrid buried her face in her palms once again.

Lucy took the punch, but did not retaliate. "She is too gentle for her own good." Thomas muttered as he shook his head. Lucy stared at him with big, light brown eyes. The pancham seemed affect by this in an odd way. "Baby-doll eyes..." Thomas seemed amazed by this. "That is new." Lucy curled up in a ball against the pancham, not caring if she was punched.

Wiley's brow furrowed as he struggled to look beside him, the paralysis preventing him from moving. He let out a strained sound, something almost like a cross between a growl and a sigh.

Astrid put her hand away, confused by the sight she saw. Wiley had apparently ceased trying to resist, and just lay there, trying to keep his eyes off of Lucy, but failing.

"W-what's with him...?" she muttered aloud. The thought was quickly pushed out of her mind by something more important though.

Astrid turned to Thomas, and bowed apologetically. "I-I'm really sorry I hope your Eevee isn't hurt he's just really stupid so... um..." she said so fast it almost seemed like one word. She trailed off, unsure of how to finish that sentence. She figured the best way to make up for it was to help untie more bugs... maybe then, she would be allowed to leave.

She gulped and avoided eye contact with the boy, before hastily returning to untie another bug from its post.

Thomas seemed a bit puzzled at her odd reaction. After shaking his head he told her, "You did nothing wrong. Lucy seems fine, too, so everything is fine." Untying the last bug, Thomas glanced at the two other pokemon. Lucy was cuddled against the pancham, and she seemed very happy. Rose was making sure all of the bugs got away from the clearing. She glanced over at the cute little eevee and giggled. One of the weedles was trying to crawl onto Wiley, which caused Lucy to become angry. She stood up quickly, bit it very hard, and threw it against a tree. As it struggled to get up due to the teeth wounds in its body, Lucy ran up to it and started beating it with her paws. Rose quickly flew over and pushed Lucy away before grabbing and healing the weedle. She put it in a tree and stayed up there with it. Thomas was looking stunned at his soft and gentle partner's sudden anger. Lucy ignored his stare and settled back down next to the pancham. Thomas looked up at Astrid with wide eyes.

Astrid had been entirely immersed in the act of untying bugs, but upon finishing her attention was drawn back to where Wiley lay.

"That Eevee seems awfully comfortable..." she couldn't help thinking to herself. She'd never seen any living creature take such a liking to the Pancham, friendly or not. When Lucy began to violently assault a Weedle, Astrid just stood speechless. She wouldn't have taken the Eevee for a violent type based on her previous actions; protective, maybe, but this... it reminded her of Wiley himself.

The look on Thomas's face told Astrid that this probably wasn't supposed to be normal. "Um... I..." she began, just as confused as he was. Was Wiley's aggression contagious or something?

"This situation's just getting stranger and stranger by the minute..." Astrid thought worriedly. "I need to get out of here..."

Lucy continued to cuddle closer to the pancham, letting out something similar to purring. A caterpie started to approach her, before she jumped up and growled at it. It quickly turned and squirmed away. The eevee wandered over to Rose, who had sat down at the base of the tree. They exchanged a few words before a bell chime could be heard. Upon further inspection, Rose had her hands together and her eyes closed. As she opened her eyes, the chiming stopped. All electricity left Wiley's body. Lucy ran over to him and rubbed her head on him, doing her odd, purr-like noise.

Wiley didn't hesitate to push the Eevee's head away with one arm, looking the other way as he did.

"Pan," he scoffed. He scowled in his usual grumpy manner, but Astrid noticed he wasn't attacking anything. That was odd. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't be afraid to try and beat everyone other than Astrid senseless. Instead, Wiley just stood his ground, using his arms to try and push Lucy away.

She had to take advantage of this. Wiley might come to his senses later and start a fit. She had to leave before that happened.

"Um..." Astrid croaked. "I... sort of have some stuff I need to do and um... I have to go..."

A sad look briefly flashed on Thomas's face, before being replaced with a slight smile. "I'm not going to force you to stay. You could have left whenever you wanted. The only one here who won't be happy about that is Lucy." Thomas looked back at Lucy, who was still attempting to cuddle Wiley, had also started trying to lick his arms every time he pushed her away. Rose was watching this with an amused look on her face. A rustling was heard off to the side as a girl emerged. She waved towards Thomas before stopping and staring at Lucy and Wiley, then at Astrid. "Um..... Thomas? What is going on here? And who is this?" Thomas looked at her. "El, this is Astrid and Wiley. And I think they were going to leave soon." Ella looked at Astrid. "Hello there. my name is Ella, but my idiot brother always calls me El." Thomas embarrassed at her small insult. Ella asked a simple question towards Astrid. "Now, will you please tell me what is going on with these two?"

"Another one!" Astrid thought, her fear building up again. It showed as her muscles tensed and she stood silent for a few moments. How was she supposed to know what they were doing? Wiley, meanwhile, began backing away as the Eevee continued to lick at his arms. He looked ready to make a mad dash towards the forest. Honestly, Astrid was dumbfounded by this; the foolhardy Pancham had never let himself be intimidated by any Pokemon before, let alone a small Eevee.

"I... don't know..." was all Astrid could muster.

Thomas chucked. "I think Lucy has taken a liking to Wiley." Lucy, upon seeing the pancham backing away, had drooped her ears. She seemed to take this as a rejection. She whimpered a little, and curled up into a ball. Rose, looking a little angry, shook one of her fingers. Bubbles flew away from her at the pancham, making him soaking wet. She flew over to the sad eevee, petting her head. Lucy just buried her face in her tail.

"I don't know what I just saw, but I take it that Wiley is not interested." Thomas shook his head. Walking over and crouching next to Lucy, he reach out to pet her. She responded by starting to cry. Ella was looking at the pancham, and started searching through her bag. pulling out an oran berry, she offered it to him. "You can have this if you want."

Wiley growled in annoyance, ruffling his fur to get rid of the water and shooting an angry glance at Rose. He snatched the Oran Berry from Ella's hand and turning around. Looking over at Astrid, he began walking towards her.

"Cham," he said, stuffing the berry in his mouth and crossing his arms before moodily marching off into the forest behind her.

"U-um, sorry, I can't let him go alone..." Astrid said hurriedly. She looked down to the Eevee, feeling bad about just leaving her like this. Plus, if she left so suddenly, Thomas and his sister could easily avenge their Pokemon or something...

"I'll... have him come back," Astrid said. As soon as the words left her mouth she wanted to slap herself. "What am I saying?!" But, it was all she could do. Maybe seeing Wiley again would make Lucy feel better, and Thomas would refrain from exacting revenge upon Astrid.

"I-if you want... I can bring him back here if she wants to see him again..." she elaborated. Looking behind her, she could barely see Wiley through the tall grass anymore. At this rate she'd lose him again. "But I have to go, s-so uh... I'll see you guys again..."

And with that, she followed after Wiley in a hastily.

Thomas watched as she ran after her pokemon. "She is even odder than me." Looking back at the sad eevee, Thomas sighed. "What do you see in that violent Pancham? He punched you in the face!" Ella seemed startled at this, as she was not there to see it. "H-He punched her in the face?" Thomas turned and nodded his head at her. "Rose came and paralyzed him, and Lucy walked up to him. He still managed to punch her. Even after taking a punch to the face, all she can think about is lying next to him!" The four of them were left alone in the clearing as Astrid chased down Wiley.

As soon as the two Pokemon and their owners were out of sight, Astrid heaved a sigh of relief. Followed by a look of anger. She ran over to Wiley, her fists balled and her ears practically steaming.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" she shouted after him, though he paid her no mind as he stomped through the grass.

"You stupid- you could've gotten us killed! Many times!" Astrid continued. "You've done some pretty dumb things in the past, Wiley, but this has got to be on the top of the list! No food for the rest of the day, and no breakfast or dinner tomorrow, you hear?!"

Still the Pancham didn't pay attention to her.

"And Twinleaf is this way!" she said, pointing to the left. Wiley turned to see where she pointed and moved, though he ignored her the rest of the way back. It seemed strange that he didn't even know where he was going when he was normally so accustomed to the forest.

Astrid simmered down eventually, relief overcoming the anger as they approached the exit. She still felt some dread at the thought that they would have to return, though she tried to forget about it for now. They were safe. That was what mattered. Hopefully, things would go more smoothly next time...​