The Children Are Hunted

Alyss gave him a blank look eerily similar to Zaria's currently default expression. "I've been in a coma for four years. Somehow. I don't know how it happened exactly. Details get fuzzy after you've been shot near your heart." Zanna snickered and shook her head. That was likely the closest Alyss would ever come to being rude.

"If you wanna protect him, then you have to be brave and take back what he took from you," Zaria commented, even though he likely couldn't hear. "You were able to leave before and look what happened. You can't leave now. You have to help him. And to do that... you may have to enter his head and take what belongs to you."
 
Esper agreed with Zaria, and sent it to Marcus. Marcus didn't respond, likely because he didn't hear either of them. Thomas was looking at Alyss oddly.
"No need for antagonism, I didn't know," he said gently. Esper sent a brief plan to Thomas. Thomas sighed.
"Is there no other way?" he asked. Esper sent him a negative.
"Esper says he can help you do that. He says first he'll have to go in your mind and see what happened. Then he'll take you into Robby's mind if he has too. If Robby only sealed your visions, then Esper will be able to unseal them. But what's more likely is that Robby stole your power somehow, and he's the one using them," Thomas said.
"That doesn't sound so bad," Marcus said. Thomas shook his head.
"Esper would be in your mind. Most minds are not built for two. It would be very painful, though Esper would be as gentle as he could be. And Esper would see everything in your mind. That would make you see it too. Sometimes, the memories are more painful than the pain. And then you'd go just as deep into Robby's mind, and no one knows what you'd find there," Thomas said. Meanwhile, Esper was preparing to go into others minds. The only minds he had been that deep in before were Thomas and Zoran. Though Zoran didn't count, as the only thing that had been there at the time was the shadows. Esper was about to go into two minds, one after another.
"Let's do it. Nothing will scare me off!" Marcus said. Thomas smiled at him. Esper sent himself into Marcus's mind. He moved as fast as he could, but that didn't make it any better. He saw all of Marcus's life. Saw his memories, even the ones that were sealed away. He felt every vision that Marcus had ever had. Marcus was reliving all of these events as well. He didn't cry out, he just sat there, tears streaming down his face at the sad or painful parts, a hint of a smile at the good parts. Thomas saw far more smiles than tears. Esper stopped. He was horrified by what he found.
"Oh my goodness!" Esper cried out. Everyone could hear him. Vulpix and TGP woke up, and TGP started his nonsense again.
"Please, be quiet for a minute! Esper what is it?" Thomas asked.
"The entire psychic part of his mind hes been forcably removed! No wonder he could never hear me! Even now, he can't hear me!" Esper said. Thomas recoiled in shock at that. Marcus proved what Esper had just said. Thomas gave a brief explanation. Well, what little he understood of the subject.
"Esper said that the part of your brain that had the visions was removed. Even the part that everyone has, like being able to hear Esper and Zaria," Thomas said.

(OOC: Delving into TGP's brain next!)
 
Alyss shook her head. "I wasn't trying to be." She looked guilty as she watched them work. "I just don't know how else to say it. It wasn't like it was actually worth worrying about. I-" She broke off and looked at Marcus. Just like Zaria, she knew how fragile people were. She knew how much pain this caused others and hoped he would get through it with at least most of his sanity. A little of it gone would likely help him deal with it.

"Be careful Esper," Zaria muttered distantly.
 
"I'm sorry. Heh, I'm more than a little over sensitive. Don't worry about it," Thomas said, looking just as guilty. Esper pulled slowly out of Marcus's mind.
"You ready, TGP?" Thomas said when Esper signaled him that he could continue.
"I'm always ready! I don't know about this, but anything to help Marcus!" TGP said. Thomas wondered if it was TGP talking, or one of those brief times it was Robby. Esper took a hold of Marcus's mind and went into TGP's. After a moment, Thomas spoke.
"I can only show you what to take. I can't take it for you," he said. His eyes were glowing pink, and his voice was not his own. It was an oddly highpitched squeak. Thomas's eyes returned to normal and he looked around.
"He's never done that before!" Thomas said. After a few moments, Marcus looked around again.TGP fell flat on the ground. Marcus curled his knees to his chest, and stared off into space. TGP sat up and looked around.
"What the?! Where am I?! He-help!" TGP said.
"Relax! Do you recognize me?" Thomas asked. TGP looked at him. It appeared that something clicked in him.
"Pokeboy?" he asked as though he weren't sure that was even a name.
"Yeah. But my name is Thomas. Do you know your name?" Thomas said.
"Yeah, I'm The... I'm Robby," Robby said slowly. Good, things were coming back to him.
"What's the last thing you reme,ber?" Thomas asked. Robby frowned.
"I... I don't know! Everything is so mixed up! Tell me, where is Marcus, is he ok?" Robby said.
"He's right next to you," Thomas said. Robby looked at the boy next to him, then jerked in surprise.
"What?! This can't be Marcus! He's just a baby! This kid looks like the pictures of grandpa when he was a kid!" Robby said.
"He was a baby, 7 years ago, if you can call a 4-yearold a baby," Thomas said. Robby looked at him again. Thomas sighed and went into an explaination of what was going on.
"So... That was real. It sounds crazy. The only reason I believe you is because part of me still say that I'm The Great Pokemaster. Also, why doesn't it seem weird to me that that girl is floating, and the other one has wings?" Robby said. He had accepted that Marcus was sitting next to him and put his arm around the boy.
"What's wrong with him?" Robby asked.
"Probably trying to digest what he did. He'll be alright, I hope," Thomas said. Vulpix ambled over and began sniffing at Marcus.
"Hey, you fixed him! Wake up!" Vulpix said. Robby went balistic. With a gesture of his hand, Vulpix went flying into a tree. Vulpix was on his feet in a flash.
"Hey! What was that for!?" Vulpix said angrily.
"Don't touch my cousin!" Robby said.
"Calm down Vulpix, he doesn't get what's going on here. Robby, all of us here are friends of Marcus. Don't worry about that. Even the sharp tongued Vulpix you threw into the tree," Thomas said. He yawned. It was getting late.
 
Alyss waved Thomas off and looked at Robby with a strange look in her eyes. She knew him all right. He had spoken to Zora and Asha a couple of times. Or rather, Zora had dragged him to be their friend on Asha's orders. Asha had thought him fun but Zora had been worried. Zaria spoke tiredly. "We're like you Robby. We were in that place too. We were friends I think. That's what Zora says. Well," she looked almost like herself again. "I was like you. I died. Maybe you'll recognize Alyss better." The albino flapped her wings and in a gesture only used for comrades, pulled out a feather. She would be molting soon anyhow. She offered the white object to Robby, wondering if he'd take it.
 
Robby took the feather with great care. He looked at it, then caught sight of himself.
"What the heck am I wearing?!" Robby asked. Thomas laughed abruptly at that.
"Your superhero outfit! I'm glad I'm so big for my age, because I think I may have some clothes that fit you," Thomas said. He dug around in his bag, and passed Robby a shirt and a pair of pants. Robby took those too, and he went off into the woods to change. If he had recognized Alyss or Zaria, he didn't show it.
"He's a lot better, but he's still very fragile. We'll have to be careful how we handle him," Thomas said looking at Vulpix. The two girls knew that already. Vulpix gave a mighty huff and lay down in the fire.
"Fine, but if he throws me again, all bets are off!" Vulpix said. Thomas lay back. He thought it would be best to leave Marcus alone for the moment. He was very tired. He should get some sleep, he knew it. Robby came back. He had gotten dressed in the clothes. The shirt was very tight on him. He was broader in the shoulder than Thomas was. Or, he should say, Mickey. Because that's where Thomas had gotten the clothing from. It was too big on Thomas, and a shade to small on Robby. Thomas wondered what would happen to them all. Was it a good thing to do this? After all, Marcus and Robby had escaped from Theo. Robby especially. What if word somehow got back to him? Well, then Thomas would deal with it if it happened. No use worrying about what might happen. Not when what would happen was just as scary. He lay down and went to sleep. Robby took Marcus into a tight hug, then he lay down too.
"Thanks Marcus," he said before closing his eyes.
 
Alyss and Zaria looked at one another and finally Zaria seemed to exhale. "They're finally sleeping," the younger mumbled, looking almost relieved.

Alyss nodded, drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her head on them. Sometimes she really wished she wasn't so scrawny. Cold was the worst. She was only awake right now because the girl wanted her to be. "So what is it," she asked through her knees. "What did they do to brother that made you so bad?"

Zaria seemed to struggle for a moment, finding the words. "They were trying to get rid of the power."

"Theo?"

"No," the girl replied firmly. "The other scientists. They were trying to take it out of him by force."

"Why?"

"'Cause Zora and Ash are dangerous, in their opinion. They think Zora wiped out the base."

Alyss looked horrified. "But he didn't. He was dying. How?"

Zaria shrugged. "There was nothing left. Zora's power is mostly used to obliterate everything around it. Only natural." Reluctantly Alyss agreed. She understood the rest of it without having to force Zaria to talk. She squeezed the girl's ghostly hand before curling up to sleep. They both knew something so they didn't attempt to talk about it.
 
Thomas awoke to the familiar sound of Vulpix and Robby arguing. He sat up slowly and tried to listen in. They were keeping their voices down.
"We will lose to much time if we go around! We have to get to the coast by nightfall!" Robby said.
"It's too dangerous to go through the town!" Vulpix said roughly.
"Not if you keep your mouth shut and pretend you belong to one of us! It's not like you haven't done that before, right?" Robby said.
"Well, yeah. But-" Vulpix began.
"No buts! Pokemon aren't banned in the streets. Tell him Thomas!" Robby said.
"Well, when I went in last night, I had to leave Amber outside. But this is your time. You come up with a comprimise," Thomas said sleepily. Esper came back to camp looking very smug. He dropped a pile of fruit on the ground.
"Esper, where do you keep getting that?" Thomas asked. Marcus began stirring.
"Good morning cousin!" Robby said. Marcus looked up at him.
"So, last night wasn't a dream?" Marcus asked.
"Nope," Vulpix said, "now, tell this fool that it's too dangerous to go thruogh town! Not with the attitude they have towards pokemon there!"
"As long as we don't do anything, they can't touch us! You're being paranoyed Vulpix!" Robby said. Thomas sighed. While the council made there decision, he was going to train with Amber. He got up and walked away from the camp. Amber and Esper followed him.
"Amber, let's start with Growl," Thomas said. Amber growled at first, then started coughing. Thomas moved toward her, very scared. Was she sick? She coughed up several light green, cresent shaped leaves.
"What the heck?" Thomas said. She looked up at him.
"Leaf!" she said.
"Um... Let's try that again, use Growl!" Thomas said. She coughed up some more leaves. Thomas picked her up and tried to figure out what was wrong with her.
"Are you ok?" Thomas said. She looked at him like he was stupid. She felt fine. He set her down.
"One more time, but this time, don't try to hold the leaves back. Try to shoot them at Esper," Thomas said. Esper gave him a look, but stayed still. Amber opened her mouth, and after a moment, a few leaves shot out. They went way out of control. They flew past Esper, missing the mark by several feet, and cut into a tree. Amber looked proud of herself. She was learning Razor Leaf. Now, if only she could aim it.
 
Regis finished looking over the files of a Theo in the AAPM. He had been suspicious about that character, but he didn't know why. He looked over the file of another strange woman, Ms. Robuski. She had been in some strange project where she was fired. The only reason she had gotten so high in the AAPM was the fact that she had brought some interesting information. It appears that there are more people who have special powers. Maybe, 1/1 million of the population have powers. For some reason, these powers hold them closely to Pokemon. The bonds will never break, and Regis had no idea why. Maybe it was time to call Samuel. After all this time, would he even speak to him?

Samuel had always been incredibly gifted and quite smart. But, Regis had taken something from him. He snapped out of the zen-like state he was in and turned on the small camera he had following Mark. It wasn't that he didn't love him, loved him like a son. Like a son. They had picked up another companion. Regis zoomed in and slowed the picture down, the other boy seemed to levitate a Pokeball. He jumped out of his seat, that's...that's incredulous. He hadn't seen Mark's ability yet. He watched as they exited the forest and headed for the nearby city.
 
Alyss stirred quietly, waking to them arguing. She shook her head sleepily and got up. Arca ran up to her, looking curious. She picked up her Glaceon with a solemn look on her face. She was deep in thought about what Zaria had said and also what she hadn't said.Mister Theo... what are you going to do? She looked at the waking Zaria, who was glaring at nothing, looking more than annoyed.

"Alyss..."

"Mm?"

"Can I kill them?"

"Why?"

"Their psychic waves are a pain."

Alyss shrugged. "Sorry." Arca escaped her arms and went to go check on Amber. Alyss ran after her.
 
Moving In

Oh, snap. "Probably better if we go in now, Leo," Garet warned, keeping an eye on the map. If the humans got too close to the city, then the Devisers would have to wait even longer.

The RDM plane began to circle lower and lower above the humans. "You have anything in mind?" Leo asked. "Or will smoke bombs do?"

Garet glanced at the camera-screen, testing his left leg. Still a bit of an ache that he could probably ignore. The humans didn't appear to be running at the moment. "That first," he answered. "No weapons, though, we need them alive."

Leo raised an eyebrow, though he didn't turn his head. "You're not plannin' on capturin' all three, are ya?" he questioned.

"I know nothing of who the third human is. Unless something happens that needs to be reported, I'm aiming for Clair and the boy."

"Right," Leo muttered. "Anyways, we've done this sort of maneuver a few times, so I know what to do."

Two or three thousand feet lower, the RDM plane stopped circling long enough to drop several smoke balls, which were aimed to fall around the humans.
 
Amber's aim was improving, but only a little. Esper was still not moving and not getting hit. Thomas wondered if they had come to a decision. He spotted Arca watching Amber training. He figured Alyss wasn't to far away. Sure enough, he spotted her too. Amber used Razor Leaf again. It missed by a foot. which was better than what she had been doing. She had been several feet away. Esper got up and told Thomas that Vulpix and the others had come to a decision.
"Ok Amber, that's enough for now! Let's go see what the others have decided," Thomas said. He nodded to his friends that were watching him.

"Oh, we were just about to come find you!" Marcus said. He was still pretty pale. That's when it occured to Thomas that his vision had fully returned. He would have to remember not to use that much power again.
"Really? What have you decided?" Thomas asked.
"Well, despite my protests, we're going through the town. Alyss can either fly around it and meet us on the other side, or hide her wings and walk with us," Vulpix said.
"If that's what you want to do," Marcus said to Alyss quickly.
"From there, we shall proceed with all haste toward the coast!" Robby said. Thomas wondered if he knew he still talked like TGP. Thomas doubted it. At least he wasn't using that annoying fake voice.
"Alright, are we ready?" Thomas asked everyone. He grinned at his friends.
 
Alyss smiled softly. "Only people who are allowed to see my wings see them." She drew them back to her back with a small wince. "I've made sure of that." Her wings actually looked like a part of her dress. She leapt lightly to a rock and then paused a moment. "I-I've got an idea actually." She dropped Arca, who knew what she was thinking about and ran off into the town. Alyss fixed her expression of terror and confusion on her face before hurrying after her, looking panicked as the Pokemon got further away.

"She'll meet you at the edge of town," Zaria stated, grinning slightly at her friend's distraction plan.
 
Thomas laughed as she ran off. He shot a knowing glance at Zaria. Marcus looked confused.
"What the?" Marcus started, then he shrugged. Robby picked up Vulpix, who turned around and bit him.
"OW!" Robby yelled. His power reacted to his pain, and Vulpix went flying through the air. Thomas took a step to the left and caught the flying fox.
"Hey! Don't touch me!" Vulpix said.
"What was that for?" Robby asked, his hand bleeding. He wrapped it in a scarf. Thomas placed Vulpix on the ground, and the group set off. Thomas ignored the stares he and the others were getting. Amber and Esper walked proudly in front of the group. Vulpix was hanging out at Thomas's feet, glancing around nervously. Robby was also looking around, though his gaze was one of challenge. Thomas walked next to Marcus and whispered in his ear.
"Want to really freak them out? Let's have a battle," Thomas said with a smirk. Marcus jumped.
"No! We don't want to do that!" Marcus said. Thomas made a pouty face. He was almost enjoying the attention he and his friends were getting. Almost. If only those were stares of admiration and not fear.
 
Zaria sighed as they walked, floating over the heads of most of the people. She waved at little kid, who grinned cheekily and waved back. The kid had a spark but she doubted it would do much more than that. "Times like this make me really hate humanity." Hearing the sound of a stand crashing, she seemed to smirk.

Zanna mewled as Emma flew over the buildings. "Times like this kid?" she cracked. "I thought you just hated humanity."

"I do not!" the girl retorted, guessing what the fox was saying. "For God's sake, I am not you."

"You're about as innocent as your brother." She snorted and didn't reply, instead waving at Alyss, who was hugging Arca.
 
The small group finally reached the other end of town. Thomas turned around grandly, and bowwed. Esper and Amber mimicked the motion they best he could.
"Oh come on!" Marcus said, and he and Robby dragged Thomas with them. Thomas was laughing at the faces of those people.
"That was crazy!" Marcus said.
"The only thing you could have done to make it worse would have been to open your mouth!" Vulpix snarled.
"I would have, but I couldn't think of anything to say. They were the ones that were so interested in what I was doing!" Thomas said between laughs.
"What if they come after us!?" Robby said urgently.
"Oh please, we have command over what they probably consider demons from hell or something. They won't come," Thomas said bitterly. He hated people like that. They were actually scared of him. Why would they be scared.
"Um... We should get..." Marcus began. He fell over.
"Marcus?" Thomas said. Robby rolled him over. Marcus's eyes were glowing, and he didn't seem to be aware of anyone.
"You ok?" Vulpix asked. Abruptly, it stopped.
"I saw something!" Marcus said. He was scared.
"What?" Thomas asked.
"Um... I saw a great white Arcanine! I... I can't make sense of it. Just the Arcanine," Marcus said. Vulpix shrank back.
"What's with you?" Thomas asked.
"I've only heard of one white Arcanine! If it is who I think it is, we should stop and run as far as we can! Especially Thomas!" Vulpix said with panic in his voice.
"Well, Marcus didn't say where or when he would show up. In the past, if he gets a broad vision like this, then the details aren't set. We're probably going to meet this Arcanine wherever we go," Robby said.
"Which means we should keep moving," Thomas said to himself.
"I'm with Thomas and Robby, we don't know what will happen. We'll just have to be prepared for anything," Marcus said.
 
Alyss shook her head. She didn't even notice the stares and had only looked at Marcus having a vision with mild curiosity. She had a vague idea of what they were talking about but she wasn't all too interested. Zaria floated down to her. "Looks like your mission is going well."

Alyss nodded. "Now that I know what it is, I guess."

The pair of them caught up with the others, and soon only Arca was released from her Pokeball. "Not very surprising is it?"

"No..."Alyss released her wings, letting out a happy sigh. "How do birds do that?"

"They don't have a human spine."

"Good point."
 
Thomas looked over at Alyss and Zaria.He wondered what they were thinking about what had just happened. He was still slightly put out by that town. He had never experienced anything like that, and while his first reaction had been to laugh it off, he was now thinking about the implications of it. He was also thinking about the vision Marcus had had. Well, no use worrying about it now. The group walked down to the coast. It had taken them all day to get there. The sight was breath taking. Thomas looked out at the sunset. He could just barely make out the shore on the other side of the water. But that sunset! He called out all his pokemon to enjoy it. Vulpix had gotten over whatever had been bothering him, and was off hunting. Robby was excersising his powers, pulling fish up out of the water. Marcus was starting a fire. Thomas sat down. Esper walked over to him. He sent Thomas a brief message.
"I know. It's fine. I already knew that," he said. He looked over at his pokemon. Deluge was in the water, resting. Volt was sitting apart from the rest, acting like he was too cool for them. Amber was climbing all over Razor, pursuing something only she knew about. Razor herself didn't look bothered by the youngster. Draco was praticing using Zen Headbutt. He wasn't getting it that well. Usually it was a normal Headbutt, but ocasionally, he got it right. He returned his gaze to the sunset.
 
Zaria nudged Alyss and pointed at the sky. She nodded, took off her shoes and socks, and flew into the air, dappling her dress in the sunset colors. She let herself soar over the water and rise higher and higher, flying upside down a few times, letting her wings touch the water. Emma attempted to mimic her, but she was only really good at basic flying and fell, barely catching herself. Arca gestured for her to come back to shore, the flying squirrel gliding over her head.

Zaria sidled up to Thomas. "It's a painful experience isn't it?" she asked gently. "Getting looks of fear and hatred and not understanding why. It's agonizing, isn't it?"
 
"I do understand why, but that doesn't make it any easier. And it wasn't really me they were looking at. It's what they thought I was because I had Esper and Amber with me," Thomas said quietly. He watched Alyss flying, and smiled. She looked like she was having fun.
"Hey, Thomas! We've got fish!" Robby yelled out to him. Thomas waved him off.
"If they hadn't seen Esper and Amber, I would have been just another kid to them. Because of my pokemon, I instintly became something horrible" Thomas said. He leaned back. His dream had been making him do this to protect everyone. But did he really want to protect people like that? He tried to tell himself he did, but some small part of him hated them. He guessed it was only natural, but that didn't make it right. He was confused by this. He hated feeling hate. It took to much effort. Esper purred at him, and sent him soothing images. He smiled at the pokemon. How could anyone fear and despise something so wonderful?
 
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