The Children Are Hunted

Alyss looked up from what she was doing, which was playing absently with Sparx's fur. The Pokemon had easily stopped the girl's tears and was now keeping her occupied. Dora was watching this with a vague sort of amusement before turning to the fight. "Master?" she began softly as the fight continued. "Is this bad?"

"Looks like it," Zoran mumbled, that smile still there. "But let's believe in Thomas and see what he can do."
 
Razor was being buffeted by the wind. She couldn't get up any kind of speed for any attack. She was only able to dodge by dropping altitude. Then Thomas realized what he was doing wrong. He was trying to have her fight the wind. She was to heavy to fight it like Swellow could after an attack.
"Razor, drop to the ground and walk to the other side of the gym!" Thomas said. Razor listened. She began walking slowly to the other end of the gym. Simon thought to capiltalize on this, and sent Swellow in for an attack. Razor simply turned around and used Air Cutter to blast him away. She reached the other side of the gym and took off again.
"Now! Use the wind to get up enough speed for a Brave Bird!" Thomas said. Razor flew on the wind and got the fastest Brave Bird Thomas had ever seen. Swellow was flying along next to her with Drill Peck. They veered into each other and hit each other as hard as they could. Swellow fell to the ground, fainted. Unfortunately, so did Razor. They called their pokemon back.
"Amber! Let's finish this!" Thomas said, sending out the hyper Leafeon.
"Snorlax! Go!" Simon said. Snorlax came out. That thing was ugly. And it was the biggest pokemon Thomas had ever seen. Amber had this. That thing would be slower than molassas in winter.
"Amber! Use Quick Attack!" Thomas said. Amber went flying into it's gut, and bounced back out harmlessly.
"Care to try that again?" Simon asked.
"Um... Use Razor Leaf!" Thomas said. The leaves Amber sent out hit the Snorlax hard, and it got really upset. It roared at her, and she cowered.
"Snorlax! Giga Impact!" Simon said. Amber barely got out of the way. She was still terrified, but she used Razor leaf again. She missed him though, and he crushed her with a Giga Impact.
"Now, use Solar Beam!" Simon said.
"Leafeon!" Amber yelled in terror.
"Stop! Don't hurt her!" Thomas said.
"Do you give up?" Simon asked. Thomas considered this. Amber would take a lot of damge from the Solar Beam. She would be very hurt, even more than she was from that Giga Impact.
"Yes... Nothing is worth Amber getting hurt," Thomas said. Snorlax was returned. Amber ran and hid behind Thomas.
"I need to train and get tougher! But I'll be back for my badge in no time!" Thomas said.
"No problem! Come back anytime!" Simon said. He walked away. Thomas felt horrible. He turned around and sat down next to Amber.
"You ok?" he asked her. She was limping very slightly. She had been pushing herself so hard, and Thomas hadn't even noticed that she might be overdoing it. He felt even worse because of that. Thomas picked Amber up and walked over to his friends.
"Well... I guess that shut me up," Thomas said sadly.
"Don't worry, you'll get it next time," Marcus said.
 
Zoran gave him a small smile. "Don't take it too hard. You'll win next time." Asha nodded in agreement, watching Sparx carry Alyss over to them. "And Thomas..." he lowered his voice gently as he sat down beside him. "I don't like saying this but... this is a battle. For fun or not, this is a fight for survival. As long as it's a fight, your Pokemon are gonna get hurt, sometimes scarred. You're going to have to get used to that fact, or stop fighting. It's all right to care about them. I'd hurt you if you didn't but..." He reached out to gently pat Amber's head as Dora walked over. "That's the way it is when you fight."

Asha reached out and pat Zora's shoulder. His own Pokemon had in bad condition after this fight. But they like him, wanted to win against the opponent, so even if they were near death, they refused to lose. He didn't like this way of doing things, but his Pokemon had insisted so who was he to go against those wishes? Thanks to Dora, they were all right, but there was no doubt Cody would be out of action until they went back to Stonehenge. Zora gave her a small, knowing smile.

Alyss looked like she was about to reach out to Thomas but decided not to, returning her hand to Sparx's head. Dora leapt over to them, curtsying low to Thomas. "Would you like me to heal them?" she asked.
 
Thomas smiled and shook his head.
"Thanks. That would be great," Thomas said to Dora. He turned his attention to Zoran.
"I know all that. But Amber wasn't ready for this. I didn't listen to her and sent her in anyways. I'm not going to let her get hurt because of my mistakes. And of course I will win next time!" Thomas said. Thomas did notice Alyss, but didn't say anything. He couldn't explain it any better than that. It was just a part of who he was. He was going to do things his way. That way he would have no regrets. He knew it was naive at best, but he didn't care. He was who he was, and that was that.
 
Dora complied without hesitation, releasing a light Heal Pulse. Zoran sighed. "It is who you are all right," he acknowledged before glancing at Alyss and patting her head. "Hate to tell you this man but you're not Mr. Perfect. Everybody makes mistakes."

"Even you?" Asha asked teasingly.

"First mistake I made was listening to you the day we met," Zoran quipped back and she rolled her eyes. He sighed and stood. "Well, we were told to stay here for a bit, so why don't we show them a good place to train?"

"If you want to join us any way," Asha added.
 
"Heh, I may not be perfect, but I'm as close to it as one can get!" Thomas said with a mocking grin. Vulpix snorted, and tried not to laugh. Marcus scratched his head. Robby put his palm over his face and started laughing.
"Allright, all jokes aside, I'd love to see a good place to train. And why wouldn't I want to join you? You guys are my friends!" Thomas said. He stood up. Amber lightly leapt to the ground. Esper got up from where he had been sitting with Vulpix and walked over to join them.

Thomas walked out of the gym, followed by Marcus and Robby. Vulpix sat down and waited for them. Before Thomas could turn to Zoran and ask him where they were going a girl ran up. She was about Thomas's age, average height. She was wearing a light blue skirt with a red top. Her hair was dark brown and went halfway down her back. She had it in a braid, and it was sticking out from under a blue baseball cap with no design on it. She said something in Italian to Thomas with an agressive smile.
"Um... Sorry, I don't speak Italian," Thomas said. She sighed at first, then her expression brightened again.
"Ah! English? You American?" she asked. Thomas was baffled by her. Why did it matter where he was from?"
"Yeah... I'm Thomas," Thomas said.
"I am Mia! And I challenge you to a battle!" she said.
"Um... Alright! This will be a good way to start training! Esper, let's take care of this!" Thomas said. Mia looked at Esper with great interest.
"One on one! Go Delcatty!" Mia said.
"Um... Why do you want to battle me now? Not that I'm complaining, but I just got out of a gym battle," Thomas said scratching his head. Mia muttered something in Italian. Thomas had the impression he was being insulted.

(OOC: Next up, battle with Mia. You may laugh at what I'm going to do with her.)
 
(I bet I will.)

Asha followed and watched this with amusement. "Hey Zora," she said softly. "This should be a fun distraction for them right?" He shrugged curiously. "You should go on ahead, give the report and all. I'll stay here and watch." Zoran nodded and gestured to Sparx and Alyss, who followed. Zaria floated after them, her eyes ringed violet. Asha winced. "Ooh this won't be pretty."
 
Thomas noticed Zoran, Zaria, and Alyss leaving. He shrugged. They must have something important to do. He turned his attention to Mia.
"What was that?" he asked her.
"Nothing! Delcatty, use Quick Attack!" she said. She charged at Esper, who didn't even try to get out of the way. She collided with him. He stood up and shook himself off like nothing had happened.
"Esper, use Bite!" Thomas said. Esper stood there staring at Delcatty. His mouth was slightly open and his eyes were glowing a bright vibrent pink. Not the pale pink they glowed when he was doing something minor with his mind.
"Esper?" Thomas asked.
"Hah! Delcatty has Cute Charm, which causes any male pokemon she touchs to fall in love with her!" Mia said triumphantly. Thomas shook his head. One lovesick pokemon was enough! He didn't need any more!
"Oh my god!" Thomas sighed as Delcatty hit Esper with a Thunderbolt. Esper snapped out of his infatuation, and completely ignored the Thunderbolt.
"Esper, use Psybeam!" Thomas said.
"Delcatty, Sing!" Mia shouted happily. Delcatty began singing a soothing song. Esper lay down and went to sleep instead of firing his Psybeam.
"Oh for gods sakes! Esper wake up!" Thomas said. Esper ignored him.
"Fury Swipes!" Mia yelled looking happy. Delcatty smacked Esper in the head twice, then leapt away. Esper sat up, looking really bored.
"This is getting annoying. Can I take her out? Please?" Esper said to Thomas.
"Hm... I'm getting bored too. Esper, Psybeam!" Thomas said.
"Hey! Stop treating me like a joke! I'm winning!" Mia said.
"Says who? You haven't even done anything to Esper!" Thomas said. Esper shot the Delcatty, and knocked her to the ground. She didn't get up. Mia was livid.


"What the heck!? How did you win! I have a gym badge! I'm not supposed to lose to a loser!" Mia said.
"Um... Thomas has three badges," Marcus said.
"It's true! And how do you figure I'm a loser?" Thomas said. He was more curious than annoyed.
"Three?! How can you have three!? I saw you come out of that gym a loser!" Mia said hystericly.
"Just because I lost this gym battle doesn't mean I haven't won at three other gyms!" Thomas said. Mia looked at the ground.
"Hey, that was an interesting battle. You're not that bad. A little practice, and you'll go far!" Thomas said kindly.
"I want a rematch!" Mia said.
"Uh..." Thomas replied. He knew anymore battles with her would turn out the same. Her pokemon were weaker than Marcus's. Vulpix couldn't stand it anymore.
"Thomas! This is getting stupid! I want to get rid of her, please?!" Vulpix said. Mia changed her tone instantly.
"Aw... That's a cute little Vulpix! Can I have him?" she said.
"Uh... If you can catch him. He's wild," Thomas said with a laugh. Vulpix glared at him before getting struck with a pokeball. A second later, Vulpix burst free. He was enraged.
"Try that again, and I'll murder you!" Vulpix yelled.
"I'd listen to him. He's not joking," Marcus said. Mia bit her lip and nodded.
"I'm going to train with you!" she said after a moment. Thomas sighed.
"Uh... No? I need to get stronger, not make you stronger. But Marcus is free, train with him!" Thomas said.
"You just don't want to train with her because she's annoying!" Vulpix said. Thomas shook his head. This was absurd!
 
Asha was laughing wildly, clutching her sides. "Can't breathe, that was too ridiculous."

"Mistress, that's too much," Dora protested, having stuck around. Asha wiped her eyes, still laughing.

"S-Sorry," she gasped out, still chuckling. "That just reminded me of a battle I had once. Mia certainly did better than that other girl: her Delcatty froze her and went to fight on her own! That's a good sign." Still grinning from ear to ear, she gestured for them. "Come on, you're gonna train, we know a good spot other than, well, the middle of the street. Let's go!" She walked ahead, laughing again.

Dora shook her head. "Sorry, she's terrible over things like these. Please do follow us. My master and the others are waiting."
 
Thomas sighed and followed Ash. Marcus and Robby fell into step behind him. Mis ran up next to him.
"This isn't over!" she said.
"Only cause you won't let it be," Thomas said.
"I'll get you next time!" Mia said.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Thomas said.
"Train me!" she said.
"Train with Marcus! When you can beat him in a battle, then you can train with me!" Thomas said.
"I'll beat him now!" Mia said. She called out her Delcatty, who was still fainted.
"Do you have any onter pokemon?" Thomas asked.
"Um... No," Mia said miserably.
"I'll help you catch one later, if you want," Thomas said. Mia's eyes brightened up.
"Really! Thanks so much!" she said. She gave him a hug and kept walking. Vulpix was laughing at this. Thomas ignored him and kept walking.
 
Ash was humming to herself as she went to a large garden park. "This is the Garden of Remembrance," she said solemnly, heading inside past the trees. She saw Zoran staring up at a tree, where Alyss was climbing happily. He turned and smiled at them, pointing towards the clearing at Doom, who immediately ran up and sniffed Robby's hand before licking it. "Looks like he knows you too," Asha laughed. "We are glad to see you friend," she told the other male before going to Zoran's side and hugging him. Zaria was out cold with Arca sleeping nearby.
 
Robby smiled and patted Doom on the head. He then said, "please don't take this the wrong way, but I can't remember either one of you. I can't really remember that much..." Mia looked around.
"Where are some pokemon!? I want to catch one!" she said.
"In a lttile while! I have training to do, remember?" Thomas said. Mia shut up at that, and went to go sulk in the corner. Thomas shook his head. She was really getting on his nerves.
"She alright?" Thomas asked Zoran, gesturing at Zaria. Amber walked out into the clearing and meowed loudly. Thomas sighed and walked out to her.
"What? You want more training? Ok then, Deluge! Let's go!" Thomas said, calling out the Water type. Marcus sat down and called out Poochyena, and the two of them were watching Thomas training. Robby sat down. He wanted to keep working his powers. They were still really weak from being surpressed, but he didn't dare while Mia was around.
 
Asha laughed. "Trust me mate, there are no issues there! We don't want to remember." Zora smiled casually and raised a hand to his sister's head.

"She'll be fine..." he said distantly, sitting down with Asha. Sparx purred gently, pawing at his hand. He moved it to pet her, taking a brush and carefully grooming her fur. Cody was snoozing in the shade, healing. A few moments later, there was a cheerful bout of chirping and Adler went spinning around Deluge, seeming to be laughing. Zoran and Asha both chuckled.
 
Thomas smiled at Adlers antics. He was still training them, and moved on to training Razor and Draco. Thomas then realized that Zoran and Ash had never seen Draco before.
"Hey, this is the sixth member of my team! Draco, the Bagon!" Thomas said proudly. Draco looked at the newcomers and huffed as though he was bored. He didn't like meeting people. He prefered to train. That was exactly what Thomas did. Mia looked up and spotted a Glameow watching them. She got up and ran over to it. She started speaking to it in Italian. It answered her back in Italian. Thomas laughed.
"I guess wild pokemon learn whatever language that is in the area they are born in!" Thomas said. Mia turned around.
"She wants to join me! Now what do I do!" Mia shouted.
"Throw a pokeball!" Thomas said.
"But I don't have one!" Mia said. Thomas swore under his breath again.
"What kind of trainer wanders around with no pokeballs!" Vulpix said nastily.
"I had none when I started," Thomas said. Marcus tossed her one of his pokeballs.
"Thanks!" Mia said. She caught the Glameow. She turned to Marcus.
"Let's battle now!" she said. She sent out Glameow. Thomas turned as attention back to his training as Marcus used Poochyena. Draco was getting close to evolving, and Thomas knew it.
 
Zora smiled indulgently, before glancing at Thomas. "You may want to change your strategy with Draco. He's going to be very slow when he evolves. Heavy armor and all." He went back to brushing Sparx's fur, the Electric type having whined. "Oh, hey Thomas," he began. "You want to see if Volt can fight Sparx yet?" Sparx perked at this, looking excited at the opportunity. She meowed at Zoran and he laughed.

Alyss climbed down to hug Arca, smiling faintly. Asha mussed her hair and Zoran grinned. "Are you two going to battle?"

"Prob'bly," he replied, grinning as Doom tackled her happily, licking her face.
 
Thomas shook his head. Zoran had totally missed what he was training Draco for. Draco was already slow as a brick, and there was nothing to be done for it. Thomas had been traininghis power. But he was surprised to hear that Draco would evolve into a tank. He hadn't known that. Mia started sulking and walked away from Marcus.
"What did I do?" he asked.
"You forgot to let her win," Vulpix said tiredly. Marcus shook his head. Thomas thought about the rest of what Zoran said.
"You want to battle? How many pokemon?" he asked. Battling someone with pokemon of a similar level would be just as good training as training by himself would be. Amber walked over to Thomas and tried to get Esper's attention, who ignored her. Deluge looked at her. She had just lost interest in the battle. That was another one Thomas had been training in defense.
 
Zoran sighed and lifted his fingers from Sparx. "Just a three-on-three for today if you want. I'm more interested... in what Theo talked to you about." Asha looked at him with a slight fear. His hazel eyes flickered black and she nodded, focusing quietly. They had been worried since they found out and that was more important than getting their Pokemon some action right now. Sparx agreed with this, looking forlorn.

Asha quietly hugged Alyss tightly and the younger instantly latched onto her. Alyss whispered in her ear for a while and she listened with solemn silence.
 
"Theo? Who's that?" Mia asked. Thomas ignored her.
"Oh... Nothing much," Thomas said. He launched into an explaination of what had transpired between him and Theo, aided by Esper when he felt the need to clarify things. They were surprisingly brief. He finished his explaination as quickly as he could. He was a little eager to battle.
"And that's pretty much it. I think I was more than a little easy to read. I don't know what he's planning to do with, or about, me. But I'm fairly sure I'm not going to like it. So... Three on three sounds fine. Volt, let's go!" Thomas said. He sent out Volt, who was ready to battle. Thomas waited for Zoran to come to whatever conclusions he wanted to. Mia stood up.
"That is totally unbelievable! Why would anyone that... I can't think of the word in English, but why would he want you? You're just a kid!" Mia said.
"Should we enlighten her or let her stew in it?" Thomas asked Zoran with a slight hint of a grin. He didn't know how she would react. He didn't really care if he scared her off. It would be good ridence to tell the truth. And he always did love being in the spotlight...
 
Zoran sighed. "You can tell her if you'd like. Everybody will know anyway... go on Sparx." The Luxray padded forward and gave her feral intimidating stare. She didn't care how much the Pokemon liked her, there was no way she would make this fight easy. She crouched, waiting for an attack.

Ash gave him a wary look. "Zora... tell them."

Zoran nodded. "We've been guessing about why he would talk to you. And our guess is... he wanted to shake up your beliefs. Like when he sent Alyss to you, he wanted you to question your judgement, your reasons for fighting, your dreams." He had never explained his dream to Thomas, but figured he eventually should. "He's testing you. Theo enjoys it. I never told him about the dreams Thomas, but he knew."
 
"Well, I'm not going to lie. For a moment he had me. He had me good. But I'm fine. I always do what I believe is right. Nothing he can say would change that. So... I won't let him shake me up like that again," Thomas said. Mia was livid.
"Stop ignoring me!" she said. Thomas sighed. Then he smiled. He held up his hand, and with a grand gesture, created a wisp. Mia gasped in shock.
"Whoa! That's... That is so awesome! Is that all you can do? Show me more!" Mia said when she got her voice back. It didn't take that long.
"Yes, it is pretty awesome. Yes, I can do a lot more than that. No, I will not show you more," Thomas said. He hadn't expected her to react like that. He focused on Volt. Volt looked sad. Thomas shook his head.
"You alright Volt? Can you fight?" Thomas asked. Volt straightened up and roared a challenge at Sparx. That was a little surprising. He had expected Volt to act like he had last time. Thomas realized Volt was a little subdued, and probably nervous. Was he intimidated by her? For goodness sakes!
"Volt, calm down. You'll do well. Just listen to me, and everything will be fine," Thomas said. Volt looked relieved.
"Hey, can the rest of you do anything like that!?" Mia asked.
"Shut up and let us battle!" Thomas said, losing his temper slightly. Mia looked shocked, as though no one had told her to shut up before. But she listened to him and fell silent.
"Sorry, but you have no idea how annoying it is to be constantly harrassed about things like this. Volt! Use Zap Canon!" Thomas said. Volt charged up the blue sphere of electricity and fired it at Sparx. He was off moving as soon as it was fired. Thomas had worked on stratigies for Volt. This was one of the better ones.
 
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