The Children Are Hunted

Doom shook his head. "Nope! You people are very serious yes you are! You just don't know it! Most don't know they are, but they just are! That's how funny people are yes for certain!" The Houndoom looked up at the ceiling wistfully. "I love to play games but it seems the games we play now aren't fun anymore."

"Doom you are a dog trapped in the past," Ash commented lightly, scratching his ears. Doom's tail instantly wagged and he rolled onto his back, paws in the air. Ash complied, rubbing his belly. She laughed softly at him.

"Very."
 
Esper laughed at this. It was his usual giggle. He couldn't help it. Doom just brought it out of him. He didn't know what else to do. That dog was very silly. Esper couldn't help it. He was like a little pup. He returned to scanning the area for anything that might be construed as danger.He didn't want anything to get past them.
"Maybe we could play when it stops raining," Esper said to the dog.
 
"Maybe," Doom agreed. He was a hellhound, a dog breed raised by the Nishant for guarding the master under any circumstances. But he had been given to the first child as a way of keeping the child unseen as much as possible. So while he had been born to guard, he had been raised to play. Eventually, the two had become one and the same for the hound. He was older than Vulpix and likely quite a few Pokemon here but it didn't affect him much. As long as he remained childlike and happy, he thought those fun moments would keep happening. It would be nice. Regardless, the hands rubbing his belly felt very good, yes they did. His tongue lolled out despite himself.

Zaria floated through the walls, sitting by the Houndoom with amusement on her face. She scratched Esper's ears. "Is he being a pest again?"

"No," Ash replied. "Just wants attention."
 
"Who, him or me?" Esper asked, clearly enjoying the attention he was getting. He looked at Zaria. She seemed to be alright now. He glanced back at Doom and burst out laughing again. The dog looked crazy, laying on his back with his tongue hanging out. Esper wondered if he looked similar. He definately looked more dignified, or maybe not. He didn't care. Zaria was scratching the right spot on his head. And he loved it. He looked over at Marcus. He wondered what was going on in his head. Ever since Marcus started getting those visions, Esper had stayed out of it for fear of triggering one. They hurt him alot, from what Esper could tell.
 
"Both of you," the girls told him with a laugh, Doom suddenly rolling over. He trotted up to Marcus and licked his face.

"You are too down in the dumps," the dog declared and licked his face again, sniffing aroundhis face and climbing halfway into his lap, anxious to make this boy react. He was more serious than Thomas was and way too depressing. You needed to be happy or life would just keep being miserable. That was how Doom saw it and his opinion, it was right. "You cheer up," he said. "Your family will be fine, yes he will and so will you. You must not keep looking down or you will get nowhere no you will not. Nothing will change if you mope about it, that is for sure, so cheer up and enjoy time with your friends because nothing lasts forever, no nothing does at all."

Zaria watched Doom, continuing to scratch Esper's head. Was Doom having a rare wise moment? Interesting. Too bad it was likely Marcus did not know what he was saying. She chuckled to herself.
 
"Hey! Cut-cut it out! Really! I-" Marcus began. He grew silent as his eyes lit up. Esper knew he was having a vision, and looked at Ash to see what she would do. He turned his attention to Zaria.
"What do you find so funny?" Esper asked. After a moment, Marcus came back. He clutched his head and rocked back and forth.
"Damn! I hate those visions!" Marcus said. Esper could feel his pain, and whinced.
"That must have been some powerful vision. But as I was about to say, Doom is right. You need to relax. You'll get gray hairs by the time you're 25 if you don't," Esper said. He yawned and looked at Doom.Marcus wasn't paying attention. He was sorting out what he had seen.
"Ok... This one is a little clearer. I saw Mia standing in some kind of field. She had an oddly colored Rattata, and they were deep in a battle with a Bulbasaur. I couldn't see who won, but Mia had a smug look on her face," Marcus said finally.
 
"Well she normally has that look so who knows where this is going?" Ash replied, clapping her hands lightly. Doom woofed softly and obediently joined her again. He licked her all over now, looking overjoyed at the prospect of a happy person.

Zaria giggled softly again. "Doom," she said softly. "Doom is always so silly and wise. I hope he's always this way." She looked right as Sparx padded into the room, carrying a bandaged and sleepy Alyss. Sparx looked smugly amused about something, while the albino looked plain uncomfortable with the treatment.

"This girl is very reckless," the Luxray stated coolly. "She needs to stay down and rest but no, she was getting very bored in there when she woke up So this was our compromise." She flicked her tail. "Doom, go to Zoran. He needs conscious company." Doom rolled his eyes at her before getting up to do so. He left the room quickly as Sparx took his place. Zaria smiled at her former Pokemon, still not quite sure where her arrogance came from.
 
"Good afternoon, Alyss. How are you feeling?" Esper said. He looked at them all with gentle eyes. Marcus was still in pain after his vision, but he looked up and smiled. Esper wondered if he should let out Volt. That ought to be good for a laugh or two. In the end, he decided against it. Unless someone else wanted him too. He wondered what promted Sparx's change in attitude. She was acting like Volt normally did when he wasn't around, well, her. Well, she was a little more tolerable than he was, but still. Maybe it had something to do with her evolving. Oh well, not his concern.
 
"Oh no," Zaria assured Esper. "She's always been that way. She's just annoyed because she wasn't allowed to go fight earlier." Sparx let out an embarrassed hiss at that, looking down contritely. The girl giggled softly, patting the Luxray's head. Alyss managed a shy sort of a smile. She winced as her wings twitched. It hurt to move them so they were mostly drooping there.

"Bad," the young girl admitted softly, looking down at her feet. She was lucky. Her clothes were mostly okay. "I'll get better." She reached out and carefully stroked Esper's fur, trying not to hurt herself mostly. "Um... is everyone else okay?" She wanted to ask about Bryan but kept quiet. That was a question more for Robby than the others.
 
"Reminds me of a certain hotheaded pokemon I work with," Esper said teasing the Luxray, watching to see her reaction. He was enjoying all of the attention he was getting. He was no different than Thomas in that regard. He turned back to Alyss.
"Everyone seems to be alright. They are just resting. Marcus just had another vision, concerning our friendly new friend," Esper said. He told her what Marcus had said. He himself wondered what it meant. Well, he assumed the Rattata was Sparkles. So, Mia would be reunited with her first pokemon, then battle with her? That was odd.
 
Luxray growled and rolled her eyes. Sparx was like that; she was battle-hungry, just like Zoran. She was much better at fulfilling her duty to Zoran and it showed. She just wanted more chances to get stronger. It rankled her that she could not protect her human from everything and Sparx had always fought against that. Fights had her pride on the line, which she was willing to stake. And apparently, so was Volt. Sparx growled again, looking vaguely irritated before huffing proudly and walking over to Ash. Ash snorted and scratched behind the feline's ears.

Alyss thought about it. "Um... sometimes friendship is made stronger through battles. It happens with Pokemon a lot. Maybe it's a way of showing things had changed but they were still friends."
 
"Hahah! Relax a little! It's not that critical! I was joking!" Esper said to the irritated electric type. He laughed as she instantly assumed it was Volt he was talking about, especially considering that Draco was just as hotheaded as Volt. That was really interesting. Hah! It was pretty funny. He turned back to Alyss.
"I agree with you on that one. Everyone on Thomas's team, myself included, have grown closer to him through our battles. Each one of us would give our lives to protect him. As time goes on, we will change, but we will remain friends forever," Esper said. He meant everyword, and he knew that the other pokemon would agree. In fact, Amber looked up from where she was resting next to Thomas and said, "that's right!"
 
Sparx huffed. She was also easily embarrassed. She didn't know Draco as well as Volt. Alyss nodded, a small smile on her face. She knew her Pokemon felt the same about her and each other. That closeness came from sharing life with each other. Those bonds would not break. That was what she hoped. She looked at Amber with a small smile. Alyss smiled placidly. "I hope that extends to the rest of us as well," she told him, looking almost playful.
 
"Of course! Thomas cares very deeply for all of you, and so do the rest of us. Especially a pair of electric types from where I'm sitting," Esper said eyeing the Luxray. He knew if Volt ever heard him talking like that, they would be fighting. He wondered how Sparx would react to his teasing. Even if she didn't like Volt, she was so proud that she would see this as a challenge to her honor or something like that. He grinned playfully at the room in general.

Marcus looked over at him, but said nothing. He was still messed up from that vision. It really had been a powerful one! He had seen far more details than ever before, and it had lasted longer.
"Piplup. That's who Mia and Sparkles were battling. A piplup," he said finally. It wasn't important, but it was important to him. So he spit it out, then leaned his head back against the cool metal of the wall. He listened to the rain pounding on the roof. He felt like it was in his head, pounding away at his brain.
"Was it this bad when you did something really hard with your powers for the first time?" he suddenly asked. To be honest, he had been experimenting with his powers. That's how he had gotten the vision. He called it up himself.
 
Alyss laughed softly but Sparx seemed not to mind these words. She only smirked quietly and rested her head on her paws. She heard Marcus' question and paused, thinking about it. She shrugged after a moment. The first time she had been so extreme was not a time she enjoyed thinking about. But she did vaguely remember the backlash being bad. "Um..." she attempted to recall."I think I was pretty bad. I don't really remember. I lost a lot of blood, a guy said. That's all."

Zaria paused. "Zora did, though that caused the fire so... that's the one I know about."

Ash grimaced. "Ooh did I. Ask Zora about the day I met the brat known as Keenan Wright. He was very lucky I ran out of energy before I finished that fight. The coma was a pain but breaking that kid's bones was worth it."
 
"I know you saw how Thomas got after we got Zoran out of that place. That was the first time he had used his powers that much. I'd never been more scared in my life. I was losing him, and I could do nothing about it. It was only because of you lot that he's here today. I... I haven't said thank you for that have I. Well... Thank you," Esper said, all joking aside. That was a serious question.
"I guess I'm being a bit of a whiner, huh? I shouldn't complain about this. I'm sorry I asked. My head feels like it's on fire. The reason I asked, is because I made myself have that vision. I've seen all of you using your powers freely, and I can't even control when this happens to me! I guess I feel a little jealous," Marcus said quietly. He looked emberrassed by the whole situation. And Thomas slept, blissfully unaware about anything they had been discussing.
 
"Don't worry about it," Ash told him. "It's natural to get jealous of people sometimes. Besides, don't forget, almost all of us had ours pushed to the limit every other day. We've kind of learned to get used to its full strength, sometimes. Not always though. Thank God."

"It's okay Marcus," Zaria reassured. "Powers are tricky. You'll get a handle on them soon. Visions are tricky as it is but if your only backlash is a headache, you're probably okay."
 
"Hey, don't worry about it! Everythings going to be just fine. But don't try that again until you've recovered. Visions of the future put a large strain on the mind, and I don't want to pull you put of one," Esper said happily, forgetting that he had been so serious a moment ago. He looked at Amber, and she meowed happily.

"You guys really think so?" Marcus asked with the shake of his head. He didn't sound too confident in his own abilities. Esper wordlessly sent him strength. Marcus reached over and pet him. Amber got bored and stood up. She walked out to where Zoran and Doom were. Esper noticed that she was still limping a little. He wondered what was wrong with her leg.
 
"Course we do," Ash said, sounding innocently stupefied that Marcus didn't. "Wouldn't say it if we didn't." Zaria agreed instantly and Alyss nodded quietly. She was focused more on one Pokeball in her hand. She was really afraid of letting it out. It was just a baby and very shy. She wasn't sure how the little critter would behave in this place. Arca, who had been with Robby, came up and pawed the ball, pretending to play with it. Alyss snatched it away, knowing she was messing around but still. She handed her another ball, which Arca amusedly used instead.

Zoran saw Amber limping closer to him and picked her up in his lap. "Stop walking you," he scolded gently. "Gotta let your leg heal." He pet her absently
 
At least my power isn't dangerous. If it was, I'd be really scared of it. I don't know how they all deal with it, being able to kill people with their powers. I don't think I could, Marcus thought to himself. Esper was now watching the pokeball that was being played with by the Glaceon. When she knocked it to close to him, he batted it back with hs paw. Marcus absently scratched around his ears.

"It's just a little stiff! You worry too much!" Amber said, knowing that Zoran couldn't understand her. Alyss could understand what she said, and Thomas always seemed to know what she meant, even before she said anything. She didn't get how he did that, but he did, and that was all she cared about. She got the feeling she was missing something back there, but didn't move. These humans were so different from the ones that had raised her. She was astonished by how different creatures that looked the same could be!
 
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