The Children Are Hunted

Vulpix had snuck away and eaten his own little rabbit. He crept back and looked at Zoran laughing at something.
"What! What are you laughing at!?" Vulpix asked sharply. He winced as his chest hurt unexpectedly from the bark. He looked at Esper, who had fainted.
"What happened to him?" he asked a little more quietly.
"I have no clue! Zoran and his ghostly friend haven't exactly been keeping me in the loop!" Marcus sleepily. He was a little upset, but more sleepy. Vulpix had the same idea, as he curled up next to the fire with a loud yawn.

"Am I ok? Yeah, I'm fine! But you guys better hurry, cause they're planning on moving me in a few days, and it will take a day or two to get back to Toledo! Do you understand?" Thomas asked. Deluge looked up at him questioningly. Thomas smiled at him.
"You will get to meet my new friends soon enough, Deluge," Thomas said to the Squirtle.
"Who are you talking to!?" the guard asked.
"Who do you think! Did you forget that you left me someone else? Man, you're a moron!" Thomas said. The man swore angrily at him, but didn't do anything else. Thomas was glad. His mouth could get him into so much trouble. He hoped that his friends would hurry.
 
Zaria nodded. "We understand Thomas," she said softly. "Just be careful."

Zoran took that as his cue. "All right you two, don't pass out yet. Sorry, we weren't sure this would work. Thanks to Thomas' partner, we've managed to contact him. He's in Toledo and we've gotta get there soon before he moves. Apparently you know the way there Marcus?"
 
Marcus groaned. He had just gotten comfortable. Then what Zoran said registered in his mind. He jerked awake at that. Esper seemed to come to as well. Marcus sighed and started packing his sleeping bag up, because it seemed they would be walking all night. Once that was done, he walked over to Vulpix.
"We can't be waiting around for you if you walk. OUCH! Why'd you bite me!?" Marcus yelled, pulling his hand back.
"I don't like the way you smell! Keep your grubby little hands off of me!" Vulpix yeelled. This was a fine time for him to start being picky! Marcus looked imploringly at Zoran. Esper watched the scene with little interest, cleaning his coat at the same time.
 
Zoran smiled gently and picked Vulpix back up. "I don't think I smell that bad," he joked. "We won't walk too much today, just until we get to a town. We need more supplies and a break." He released Sparx, who looked at him in confusion. "Could you scout ahead for us? Both you and Doom would be very good at keeping us safe." The Luxio's chest puffed out and she nodded.

Zaria looked at Vulpix. "Are you feeling any better?" The pink ring had not left her eyes, but it was dimmer.
 
"A little bit," Vulpix admitted. Marcus was torn. On the one hand the ghost never talked to him, as it did to the others. On the other, he'd probably have a heart attack if she did talk to him. Knowing she was hanging around was unnerving enough. If he had to interact with her, he didn't want to think about it. He began leading them down toward the road. There was a small town not too far from here. It was a town that had lots of shops that people could stop at and get stuff to climb the mountain.
"I know where we can get some stuff, but it is very expensive, so I hope you have cash! Thomas and I stopped here, but couldn't afford to bye anything," Marcus said. He looked from Zoran to Vulpix, awaiting their approval. He then noticed Esper was lagging behind.
"Hey, Esper's lagging behind. Maybe we should put him back in his pokeball to rest," Marcus suggested. Vulpix ignored his second statement, but focused on his first.
"I say we just take what we need! Those humans don't need it! We do! Why shouldn't they share?" Vulpix said. Marcus glared reproachfully at him. Esper growled at Marcus. He tried to make it clear to Zaria that the connection to Thomas would be lost if he went back in his ball and that he wasn't sure he could do that again.

"Ok Deluge! We're going to be rescued, but things might get tough. I need to know what moves you know! I don't have my pokedex, so I want you to use them on me!" Thomas said. Deluge nodded. Thomas nodded, and got hit by a stream of water from Deluge's mouth. Must be Water Gun, Thomas thought to himself. He hodded again, and Deluge withdrew into his shell. Withdraw, that was a good move to defend with. Deluge startedd spinning after a moment. Thomas knew that one. Torkoal had used it on Razor in the gym battle. Deluge popped out of his shell and fired a bright blue beam at the wall, leaving a patch of ice. Thomas had little doubt as to what that was. Ice Beam, Water Gun, Rapid Spin, and Withdraw were what he had to work with. A pretty good move pool.
 
Zaria saw Marcus' confused face and floated over, after giving Vulpix a worried glance. "Um, are you afraid of me?" she asked, trying to see if he could hear her.

Zoran smiled softly and shook his head no. "It's not right to steal." Zoran saw Esper trying to communicate with Zaria and looking at Marcus in anger. Taking a guess, he knelt, placed Esper on his shoulders, and said. "I don't think he wants to risk it buddy. Could damage this little experiment. And I do have a fair bit of money. I have a rich friend."

Sparx growled in a way that sounded like, Lucky bastard.

Zoran laughed. "Stop harassing Mickey. He's not even here." Doom barked scoldingly at Sparx, who scowled.
 
Marcus heard nothing. But he had this odd feeling again. He put it out of his mind and kept walking.
"You're lucky! My family is really poor. They barely had enough money to buy me Clefairy. But don't mind me. I'm very happy with them," Marcus said, as he saw Zoran pick up Esper. They were still in contact with Thomas? Marcus wasn't worried too much anymore. He was doing something about it. They reached the road.
"Not to far now! Look, you can see the lights!" Marcus said pointing to where you could barely see a light.

Thomas was bored. Deluge had fallen asleep, and Zaria hadn't contacted him recently. He was very bored. He walked to the door.
"Hey! Kevin! Can you get me a book or something!? I'm bored! How can you expect me to sit here with nothing to do?!" Thomas yelled to them.
"Shut up!" was the expected reply. Thomas walked back over to the bed. He wondered if he could contact Zaria, because she had been the one to start with him.
"Zaria, can you hear me? I forgot to tell you, I have a new pokemon. If we have to battle, I'm prepared!" Thomas said. He lay down and stared at the ceiling.
 
Zoran grinned almost bitterly and shook his head. "Mickey and I weren't always friends... and if circumstances had been normal, I would have been in the same boat as you, or worse." Zaria realized Marcus couldn't hear her and sighed. Zoran glanced at her. "The lights burn," he quipped playfully, hiding the brief pang of sadness in his heart. It wasn't like that sort of thing was important anymore. "And I guess you aren't spiritually aware. Sis says you can't hear her."

"You have a new Pokemon," Zaria repeated. "Just don't do anything reckless with him! Who knows what condition he's in right now?"
 
"She was trying to talk to me? I had a funny feeling there for a second. Oh well, it's not that important," Marcus said as they neared town. Vulpix gave out a loud yawn.
"I hope we get there soon! This is very tiring!" Vulpix said. Esper looked at him as if to say he wasn't doing anything. Marcus shot Vulpix a sidewise glance. How much could he trust the Vulpix? He was working for the RDM, another enemy. Vulpix must have seen him looking at him.
"What are you looking at?" Vulpix asked.
"Nothing!" Marcus said. Vulpix narrowed his eyes, and Marcus looked away.

"I know that! Besides, there isn't anything I could do, even if I wanted to. He's asleep!" Thomas said. He wished he could do something. He hated this. He tried to go to sleep.
 
Zaria sighed. She was beginning to believe Thomas was more of a reckless idiot that Zoran and in her eyes that took skill. Zoran grinned at Vulpix. "It's so tiring because you're so stressed m' friend. If y' don't chill a little bit, you'll use up all your energy with your inner panicking and growling and stuff."

Zaria giggled, spinning over their heads. "I think Vulpix should take this as a vacation."

"I approve," Zoran commented as the town grew closer. "And I have another suggestion: guys, please stop looking at each other like you want to eat one another. We're kind of stuck with each other right now, and it'd be good for everybody if you tried to get along. We were enemies before, we're allies now. After Thomas is safe, who knows?"
 
Marcus sighed.
"You're right, of course. Hey, we're at the gates! You can take the lead, I can barely see straight," Marcus said. Vulpix whimpered a little bit. Marcus looked at him, a little worried.
"... Sorry, but I don't like human towns. I may tell you about it, but not right now," Vulpix said. He sounded more worried about something else. Marcus couldn't fathom what.
"Hey, sorry I bit you earlier!" Vulpix said.
"Me?" Marcus asked.
"Not you! You should have known better! No, I mean Zoran!" Vulpix said resolutely. Marcus had forgotten that he had bitten Zoran earlier that day. He glanced at Zoran's hand. It was still bandaged.
"Um... Anyway, we should find a place to rest. I would prefer a hotel, but if we have too, I can find us a good alleyway to sleep in. I used to be an alley rat after all!" Marcus said. He went on to explain, "My parents lost everything to some group called the Rockets. I went to foster care. I got shuffled around from one home to the next. The last one I went to tried to take Clefairy away, and I ran. That was two years ago," Marcus said, his eyes with that far away look that told an expert observer that he was taking a stroll down memory lane.
 
Zaria gently rested her hand against Vulpix's head. "It's okay," she said softly. "We won't let them get you. We won't. Hide your fear Vulpix. Be strong."

Zoran agreed. "It's okay. I've had worse." Turning to Marcus, he held out his free hand. "Take it and hold tight so we don't get lost." As they walked, Zoran said softly. "You must miss your parents a lot. Honestly, I don't remember what mine look like. They weren't really around before the fire and... well, they certainly weren't after."

Zaria snorted almost bitterly. "Like they cared about us enough to come back from the dead."

Zoran smiled faintly. "True that." He checked to see Esper hadn't fallen then whispered in Vulpix's ear. "Thanks for using my name."
 
Garet was a little miffed. True, he might not have liked the situation his mission had been in, but he'd been looking forward to actually catching up with the boy (and the trolley, wherever it might be now).
The Arcanine had been beaten to the chase, though, judging by the message the shiny Swellow had brought to him as he'd neared the Lavaridge Hotel. Soon after that, he'd boarded the plane that had been sent to take him to Kashmir, India, where he would interrogate the boy.

Garet's plane had just recently landed on the RDM base's runway. The Arcanine yawned as he left the runway, making his way towards the RDM building. When was the last time I slept? he thought, ignoring the fact that he'd snatched some sleep on the plane.

In a few minutes, Garet was walking through a hallway when a Kirlia appeared, slightly startling the Arcanine. "You're needed in Madame Agatha's office," the Kirlia reported.

And he'd just gotten here. Of course. "I'll be there," Garet replied, picking up his pace after getting a few directions from the Kirlia.

Madame Agatha, as Garet had learned, was the only human allowed to be a Deviser. Considering that he'd been a member of the RDM for less than a year, he hadn't had much of a chance to meet Agatha. The Arcanine had heard something about her and Ghost Pokemon, if he'd heard right. He didn't know much else, really.

In any case, Garet had sped up a little so that he was not walking so much as he was trotting. In minutes, he was approaching Agatha's office now. What was he needed for this time?
 
Marcus let Zoran grab his hand. He felt vaguely awkward. He tried not to let it show, dismissing it as being tired. He looked at Esper, who was totally relaxed, and blinking at all the lights. Vulpix was trying not to show his fear, and failing miserably. Marcus decided to try and take his mind off of it.
"So, Vulpix, you know quite a bit about us. Why don't you tell us a little about you. I'd love to hear how you joined the RDM!" Marcus said. Vulpix looked at him for a while. Marcus began to worry he'd said something wrong.
"I don't want to tell you what caused me to join the RDM. But I do think you deserve to know a little bit about me. I joined the RDM about 5 months ago. I took on as many missions as I could. I was hoping to get noticed by someone. I was somewhat successful in my missions, and became one of the lower ranking Devisers. Then I was sent on my first mission by myself. It went way out of hand, but I refused to go back with my tail between my legs!" Vulpix said finally.
"What happened?" Marcus said. He wished that Vulpix would give him the details of this mission.
"I don't know yet. One way or another, I haven't completed the mission!" Vulpix said. What? This was that mission? Marcus felt a pang of guilt. They had messed up his first mission! Marcus hoped that he hadn't gotten Vulpix in trouble with his bosses!
 
Marcus was easily made awkward it seemed. This made Zoran laugh softly. He didn't quite understand why but it was funny to see him squirm a little. He listened to Vulpix and gave him an apologetic look. "Apologies mate. We musta screwed you up." Before the Pokemon could speak, he added. "Despite my dislike of your organization, I think I can say good job on moving through the ranks. It means you have more brains than most in those places."

"Or it means he's being used," Zaria pointed out.

"There is that."
 
"It's not a big deal! They can't exactly do that much to me! And like I just said, I haven't failed my mission! After all, I;m still tracking you, Zoran! They can't ask for much more than that!" Vulpix said. The silence lengthened as they made their way through the city. Marcus left in wonder at the pronouncement.
"So, um, where are we going?" Marcus asked.
 
Zoran pointed. "In there. It's a hotel for humans and Pokemon. It's not a Pokemon Center because it only has restoration machines in the rooms instead of a Shop too." He released Marcus and went in. It was a clean, well-organized hotel, but not too fancy. "We're gonna have to share a room, bud. I'm not that made of money." Doom and Sparx were standing at the entrance, both looking calm and tame. "Vulpix, I'd stay quiet. To outsiders, you're a wild Pokemon when you talk. So stay quiet until we get to the room." He went up to the clerk, a sweet, slightly sly smile on his face. "Evenin' ma'am. We need to stay a night."

"Just one," she cracked, smiling kindly. If she was really attractive, Zoran ignored it. He was pretty sure Marcus was behind him, drooling slightly. "Awfully strange. The few trainers there are usually are outdoors, braving the wild or something silly like that."

"I guess we're the sensible folk ma'am," he told her as she handed him the key. "Thank ya kindly. Come on buddy," he said to Marcus. "Time to crash." He went down the hallway and entered a room. His Pokemon followed, still maintaining the image of docile guardians.
 
Marcus followed Zoran to the room. He fell on the bed and was asleep instantly. Esper leapt off of Zoran's shoulder and climbed in one of the chairs and streched out, his forked tail twitching slightly. Vulpix looked around, and when Zoran closed the door behind them, he had a bit to say.
"Put me down on something padded so I can sleep. I've not slept for the past few days, what with trying to keep tabs on you and Thomas AND the AAPM that was in the area. Anyway, so this is what human homes look like? I had imagined you all lived like kings! This place is a dump! I've gone on missions through better places than this!" Vulpix said, keeping his voice down in case anyone was listening in on them. He wondered if anyone was tracking him yet. He rather doubted it. Winny's Destony Bond would have passed the information he gave her to Trigger, who would have told either Merin or, may Arceus help him if he told her, Agatha! Whomever he told would then call Winny back and question her. Then they would discuss it with the other high ranking Devisers. Only then, if they decided that it was worth it, which Vulpix knew they would, they would send someone after him. That person would certainly be far more capable than Vulpix, and would set things right. Vulpix would be set to the side and forgotten about, or worse, punished for his incompetence. He sighed. There was nothing he could do about that now. All he could do was try and complete his mission as best he could and hope for the best.
 
Zoran grinned wryly and shook his head. "Actually no, most don't. I know lots of folks who have no home at all. Very few live like kings really, aside from the powerful and rich people. Most live in small, but kind of comfy places. It depends on how much money they have." Sparx, who had gone to the bathroom, returned with fluffy towels and placed them on the ground. Then she yanked off one of the blankets and a pillow and placed it there. Zoran gave her a thankful nod and gently rested Vulpix on the bed with Doom and Sparx. "This'll do right?" he asked cheerfully. "Don't worry I like the floor!"

"Don't protest," Zaria told the Pokemon. "He prefers it." Doom and Sparx agreed solemnly, both shaking their heads.
 
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