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The Children Are Hunted

(Got a guess, but I'm currently half-asleep because of the heat wave.)

Ash rolled her eyes but grinned. She had a vague idea on what was going to happen. She waved at Mickey as he walked back alone, his hair dripping on his shirt. "The other two are...?"

"Alyss' wings had a wound that needed cleaning," Mickey replied, sitting down. He watched the fight with a smirk. "She's awfully good at getting tunnel vision huh?"

Ash hummed, both of them speaking too soft to be easily caught. "And being big-headed? You know it. I wonder when she's going to figure out how the fights are really going."
 
"Esper?! Listen to me! I want to win! Use Swift!" Mia said. Esper just sat there and licked his paw.
"Everything alright over there?" Thomas asked lightly.
"Fine! Esper, come on! Use Shadow Ball!" she said urgently.
"Sorry, but I'd rather clean my paws. They get quite dirty, you know," Esper said, broadcasting it to everyone. He laughed, his odd high pitched giggle that meant he was really enjoying himself.
"I... You... Thomas! Make him listen!" Mia said. Thomas smiled and shook his head.
"Sorry. You're his trainer right now. You make him listen," Thomas said. Marcus walked back outside, drying his hair off with a towel. He jumped when Mia shouted.
"Esper! Come on! Why won't you listen to me!?" she shouted.
"Because I don't like you. It's a wonder your own pokemon listen to you. You're a spoiled selfesh brat! Why my trainer goes out of his way to be your friend, I'll never know," Esper said, still laughing like this was all a joke.
"Hey! Stop laughing at me! You heard Thomas, I'm your trainer for now! You have to do what I say!" Mia said, clearly outraged by his behavior.
"If you want anyone to take you seriously, then you should try treating people with respect and dignity. We aren't here for your amusement. If you hope to make it anywhere, then lose the attitude and become someone worth listening to. I won't do anything you say until you do!" Esper said, switching to his other front paw. He was shaking he was laughing so hard.
"I... Thomas! I swear-" Mia began.
"What? I'm not going to do anything. When you're traveling, you may catch a pokemon that doesn't like you. Who's going to step in when that happens?" Thomas said. Esper shook his head. She just wasn't getting it.
"But I-" Mia began.
"If you can't deal with Esper, who is very laid back, how are you going to handle a pokemon like Volt?" Thomas said.
"Let me talk! Esper, please! I'm sorry. Please forgive me! I was rude and self centered," Mia said.
"Was? You still are. I know how your mind works. These statements are fake and contrived. Thomas I'm done here. I concede," Esper said walking back to Thomas. Thomas called back Volt. Mia looked like she wanted to say something, but kept her mouth shut.
"You battled... You did alright. You need to treat your pokemon with love and respect, even if you refuse to treat any of us the same. If I see you treating to your own pokemon the way you treated mine, I will take them from you and find them good homes with people who appreciate them," Thomas said.
"Hey! Stealing others pokemon is illegal and wrong!" Mia said.
"... Just so you know, I basically stole half of my team. Esper was abused by his former trainers, so I took him from them. They turned their acts around, and if they had asked me, I would have given him back at the time. That was long ago. They saw Esper was happier with me, and let me keep him. Deluge was the pokemon of someone that was trying to kill me. If Zoran and I hadn't taken care of him, he probably would still be trying to kill me! And Amber was a project for some scientists or something. When I raided their base, I took her with me. Now, can you tell me that my pokemon are worse off because of what I did?" Thomas said. Mia shut up at that.
 
"Yo Thomas," Zoran called, grinning as he walked up with Alyss. He had been a few feet away with the girl, fixing her dress, when he heard Esper and Thomas verbally beating Mia to the floor. Mickey and Ash were cracking up on the stairs, probably because of this and a secret reason. "Isn't it kind of wrong that my team was genuinely captured and I'm the one with the liking of destruction and mayhem? Just thought of that."

Ash snorted. "Probably because he's been getting noticed more by the big bad guys where he has the chance to." Zoran laughed.
 
"I never thought of that. Good one!" Thomas said with a laugh. Esper chuckled to himself. Just then Vulpix shoot out of the RV as fast as he could.
"That jerk tricked me!" he said. His fur was soaking wet. He shook himself off, but only succeeded in making his fur look spiked and poofy.
"Wait, what?" Marcus asked as Esper cracked up laughing.
"Your cousin put me in the shower! I'll never forgive him for that!" Vulpix said.
"So what? It didn't hurt you any," Mia said, sounding slightly annoyed.
"Look at me! I look ridiculus! My fur is soaked! I told him I wasn't interested in learning how it worked!" Vulpix said shaking himself off again.
"Where is he?" Marcus asked.
"Probably taking a shower himself," Vulpix said.
"You'll be alright, Vulpix. Calm down," Thomas said. He turned to Ash.
"Of course they notice me! I can call the spotlight on myself like the best of them!" he said to her.
"Oh god! Let's hope he doesn't start doing that with his powers!" Vulpix said, only a tad bit sarcastic. Thomas grinned, but did nothing. He knew he could, but why waste his powers for that?
 
Ash laughed as Zoran took pity on the fox. The boy went over with a towel and carefully dried him off before pulling out a brush. "Don't worry, I'll avoid yanking out your fur," he told him, carefully beginning to brush. He had a lot of practice with smaller creatures, mostly because Sparx got really fussy over it while they were on the mountain. "And Thomas, if you got the slightest idea to try and do that, you would do it. Believe me; I can tell these things."

Ash snickered as suddenly Adler popped out of his Pokeball. The flying-type chirped merrily, soaring over everyone's head before, for some reason, landing in Mia's hair. He chirped innocently at them all. Ash, Zoran, and Mickey choked before cracking up. Alyss couldn't help but giggle shyly. "Zoran," Mickey stated through laughter. "Why do you always capture the weird ones?"

His friend shrugged, carefully working on Vulpix's tails. "What can I say Mickey? I attract the abnormal and just plain insane."
 
"Oh Zor... If I feel the need to show off, I'll call you first. And which one am I, abnormal or insane?" Thomas said jokingly. Vulpix sighed and decided he'd rather look presentable again rather than biting Zoran for touching his tails. Mia gave out a laugh and carefully removed Adler from her hair and held him, gently petting him. They were all insane, she thought.
"Well, then that proves that you belong with us," Esper said to her. She looked down at him. He wasn't looking at her, instead watching Thomas joking around with the others.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" she asked him.
"Don't get mad. You were the one thinking it," Esper said serenely.
"You were in my head?!" she said, shocked.
"Hardly. It's written all over your face. Don't be shy. When you aren't acting like your the greatest thing around, you're actually pretty likable. And if you stopped acting like that for more than two minutes, the others would see that. Thomas seems to have already seen it, either that or he's..." Esper said then his voice faded.
"He's what?" Mia asked.
"Never mind. Just, try to be friendly. The others will like you, and then you'll feel better. Everyone needs friends. Thomas is only here right now because of his friends. Think about that for a moment. Friends are more than people to hang out with, though that is the best part. Consider it. Or, you can prove me wrong and keep this up. It's up to you, but I can tell you, they won't stop acting like that until you stop with the little thing you've got going on. Now, I'll see you elsewhere. Feel free to join us, but only if you stop acting like a *****. Bye," Esper said. He got up and walked back toward the group. Mia thought about it for a moment. She readjusted her hat, and continued petting the bird in her arms.
 
Zoran grinned. "Thank you and boy you are merely abnormal. You are not nearly as insane as us." He smiled at Adler. "Good boy. Adler's a good judge of character. Right buddy?" Adler chirped merrily, enjoying the attention. Ash was humming as she played with Alyss. Zora carefully finished brushing Vulpix. "Sorry about that. Feel better?"
 
"Hah! Abnormal, that's pretty good! I actually think Vulpix is the most normal out of us all! At least he's consistant in his nuttiness!" Thomas said. Vulpix glared at him.
"Bite me! And yeah, I'm feeling better," Vulpix said.
"Heh, see what I mean?" Thomas asked. Mia walked over to the group with what she hoped was a friendly smile.
"Hey... Uh..." she said.
"Finally get lonely over there? Welcome to the loony bin!" Thomas said warmly.
"Whatever!" Mia said. Her tone was sharp, but not mean. She bit her lip.
"So... Um... You guys seem to have been through a lot. Would you tell me about some of it? Like Thomas, how did you become able to do, well, what you do?" Mia asked. Thomas smiled.
"Well, it would take hours to give you the whole story," Thomas said.
"I got time to kill," Mia said enthusiasticly.
"Trust me, you won't like what you hear," Thomas said.
"What could possibly be so bad that you can't say it?" Mia asked.
"You aren't going to give this up, are you?" Thomas asked. Mia shook her head no. Thomas sighed and shook his head. Vulpix looked up at Mia.
"I'll tell you my part. It's probably the easiest to hear anyway.The others can pick it up if they want. Do you know what the AAPM and the RDM are? Good. Well, I was in the RDM. I'm not anymore. I was born five and a half months ago. A human trainer captured me, but I was set free by some RDM members. Only later did I learn that they had saved me during a raid on a AAPM stronghold. I decided that day that Humans were evil and swore to stop them. I was partnered with a Wynaut named Winny, and we were overseen by a Staravia named Trigger. Trigger was on a mission one day, and got into some trouble he couldn't get out of, and I saved him. He evolved during the fighting, and I was promoted to a full Deviser. We got rumors that the AAPM was on Mt. Saint Helens, and I was dispatched to go investigate. It was there I met Thomas and Zoran and Marcus. They convinced me that not all humans were bad, and I have traveled with them ever since. Happy? Good! If you guys want to continue, that's fine with me!" Vulpix said. He walked away. Thomas knew there was more to it than that, but the shorthand version worked too. Mia looked thoughtful.
"And you?" she asked looking at him. Thomas sighed and told his story, leaving out the part about him killing everyone at the AAPM base. He also left out everything that had to do with Theo, figuring that Zoran would be able to explain it better.
 
Zoran looked shakily at Ash and Mickey, who both shook their heads no. He nodded solemnly. If he said everything, he would get in trouble. So he spoke quietly, intensely about how he met up with Thomas and the others, filled in details Thomas hadn't been aware of but he kept Theo quiet, instead saying they separated because he didn't want to burden Thomas and the others while he was paralyzed. As he spoke, a shadow curled up his arm like a snake, making strange noises akin to chirping. Meanwhile, Zari remained hidden behind her brother's legs. He didn't talk about how she had died or about their parents. When he finished, there was a vacantly sad look in his honey-colored eyes. Alyss knew something was wrong and, surprisingly, gave Mia a scolding look as she went to hug Zoran. He managed a smile and held out Vulpix, who she shakily took into her own arms. She petted him shyly, hoping he wouldn't get angry.
 
Mia gave Alyss a questioning look.
"What was that for?" she asked. Vulpix growled a little at the unexpected manhandling, but he stopped when he saw it was only Alyss.
"Maybe it's because you're being nosy. We all have things we'd rather forget," Marcus said. Thomas knew that wasn't it, but didn't say anything. Mia looked at Marcus.
"And what about you?" she asked.
"Don't tell her about Theo. She doesn't to know about that. Thomas, Zoran, Ash and Mickey all see that," Esper said so that only Mia couldn't hear him. Marcus nodded.
"Uh... Fine. I grew up in foster homes for as long as I can remember. They tried to take Clefairy, so I ran away. I met Thomas and joined him on his travels..." Marcus said, carefully skirting around the subject of his powers, just as the others had.
"...And that's all," Marcus finished. Thomas now had a full understanding of some things he hadn't been aware of. Mia turned to Robby.
"Aren't you two cousins?" she asked.
"I was in a mental hospital up until seven years ago. I escaped and took on the persona of a superhero. I was found by Thomas, Marcus, and Vulpix. They brought me back to my senses, though my memory is very shaky. I can't remember much more than that," Robby said. Mia failed to recognize the not so subtle signals saying that she should shut up. She turned to Ash and Mickey, after glancing at Alyss.
"What about you three? This is turning out to be a fantastic story, and I want to hear your parts of it!" she said with a smile. Well, this was certainly a departure from her usual self, but Thomas wasn't sure he liked it any better. He glanced at his friends that hadn't talked. This was getting very sticky.
"I think that's enough, Mia," Thomas said.
"No, I want to hear it all!" she said stubbornly.
 
Alyss shook her head no. She was trembling, very close to tears. Interesting? Their lives, full of pain, death, and now finally hope were interesting? What was she, a zoo animal? She was not going to be thrown in a cage and pointed at just to satisfy some normal person's curiosity. She decided right then that Mia would never see her wings and hid her face, carefully placing Vulpix on the ground. Zoran gave the girl a quiet smile and took her hand. "Come on Alyss, let's go play a memory game. Those are fun." She blinked timidly and nodded, following him into the trailer. The screen door slammed shut, the only indication of Zoran's fury.

Ash gave Mia a look of hate. "Satisfied now? This was the happiest I have seen Alyss in years and you just blew every bit of her trust in humanity out the window with your nosy behavior. Can't you catch hints? Congrats, I didn't respect you much before this; now I really don't." Mickey pursed his lips but remained quiet. He hadn't even explained how he had gotten here from Idaho yet to his friends, due to a lack of time. Why would he tell her?
 
"What? How am I supposed to know what's going on if I don't ask?" Mia said. Thomas was upset.
"You just don't listen, do you? I even tried to tell you! I... I have nothing left to say," Thomas said.
"I didn't even do anything! She's just hyper sensitive!" Mia said. She knew instantly that she had said the wrong thing. She could feel the anger everyone had towards her. Thomas opened and closed his mouth, unable to form an articulate sentence.
"You don't get it, do you? There is nothing that I can do," Marcus said softly. Vulpix was bristling, though probably not as much as Ash was. Thomas finally found his voice.
"Mia, I know you've just made all of us very angry at you. You don't even know what you did wrong, and that makes it even worse. I think you should go," Thomas said darkly.
"I didn't do anything!" Mia said angrily.
"Go! You've messed things up in ways you can't even fathom!" Thomas said, his temper and his powers flaring up. Mia said nothing, instead choosing to walk away seethingly. Once she was gone, Thomas turned around.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want this to happen," Thomas said sadly.
 
Ash spat on the ground, her eyes glowing bright blue. That was the only hint of her powers flaring up. She had much better control of herself in a temper than when she was calm. "Why? Did you interrogate us like that? Did you not notice the fact that Alyss was showing symptoms of PTSD and plow ahead anyway? No, you didn't, so don't worry Thomas. She," Ash sneered, her whole body bristling with raw hatred. "Will have to tread very carefully. If I see her and I get the chance, I swear I will beat her to an inch of her life. Or I'll let Zora shatter her mind and see if mush dribbles out of her ears. Whichever gives me more satisfaction."

Ash glanced at the door to Zaria, who was speechless with rage. They were both grateful Mia hadn't noticed her. Mickey was even more grateful Zaria had been quiet. She was Alyss' best friend and that sort of thing set her off almost as badly as her brother's pain. And with that sort of rage, he knew for a fact that Zaria would easily be able to break Mia's mind or worse. Ghosts had strong emotions.
 
Thomas was still seething. His powers ran wild inside him, but he was barely able to keep control of them on the outside.
"Guys, calm down. We don't need to be dragging around a corpse as we flee the country. We can't do something like that. Just relax," Marcus said. Thomas was thinking along the same line of thought as Ash. She didn't seem afraid of his powers. Well, there was more that light could do than just be pretty to look at.
"I hope for her sake that she caught the signs and doesn't come back for a long time!" Vulpix said.
"Thomas, you're glowing," Robby said. Thomas looked at his hand. He was indeed glowing, a bright furious red. He thought it looked good on him. Esper began sending everyone that was gathered there kind, and more importantly, soothing images. Marcus contiued to try and calm everyone down as well, but was having very little luck. Thomas still felt his anger burning. He looked at Alyss as like a sister, and he knew that for the others, it was even deeper than that. Zaria especially, from what he could tell. Thomas had felt it before, but this was his family, and no one, especially not some brat with no talent to back herself up, would be allowed to mess with them.
 
Ash spat. "It's not that easy kid." There was a soft snort from the trailer door.

"Ash, you are going to get arrested and I am going to laugh," Zoran told her, stepping outside. "Alyss is sleeping," he explained. "I figured that would be better for her to sleep through us and our emotional issues."

"How in the hell aren't you angry?" they heard Mickey mutter with pure awe. Zoran grinned, a savage look as his eyes looked almost amber.

"I am Mickey. You have no idea." His own shadow was bubbling, hissing and snarling with its human's fury. "Alyss is family in every sense of the word and she has probably had the worst life out of everyone here. No one has any right to poke into her past. However," His shadow quieted from pure force of will. "I am not getting in trouble over an insignificant brat like that. I will not degrade myself in wasting my power on fools. Monsters yes, fools no." He gave the furious group a stern, firm look. "And you all are better than that. So all of you, enough." The last word was full of power, ferocious and cold. It would not be disobeyed.

Zaria instantly obeyed, her energy dropping down to a manageable level and her self into a calm. Ash snarled and forced her Aura to ease back into its usual state: fueling her worthless eyes. Mickey whistled. "You have learned how to command."

"Unfortunately," Zoran replied dryly.
 
Vulpix lay down and began panting. Being that angry took too much work. Thomas simply shrugged Zoran off.
"That doesn't work on me, Zor. And you know it!" Thomas said with a savage grin. But Zoran was right. This was just wasting his energy. He began doing some deep breathing excercises. He wasn't going to let Mia get him so riled up like this. He watched as the glow went away from his hands. His anger remained, but it wasn't in control anymore. He looked up at Zoran and smiled ruefully.
"Heh, care to try that again? Kidding. You are right though. I shouldn't let myself get so angry while I'm still teetering on the edge of control," Thomas said, a little more calmly. Marcus and Robby hadn't gotten angry, but they were being very quiet. Vulpix shook the effects of the command off and stood up.
"Now what?" Vulpix asked. Thomas shrugged. He had no plans right now. He didn't let them know how lucky they had been that he could stop himself, but then again, there was a lot of that going around right now.
 
Zoran shrugged. "Long as you shut up I don't care." he thought for a moment. "Ash..."

"What?" Her tone was grumpy.

"Can't believe I'm suggesting this, but why don't we let Thomas use you as a sparring buddy?

Ash stared at him. "Dude, I'd kill him."

The younger shrugged. "His fault."

"Yeah well..." she looked at Thomas. "I'm in if you are. You'll be sore though."
 
"Whatever Zoran!" Thomas said with a shrug. He turned to Ash.
"What does he mean? A sparring buddy? If that means what I think it means, you may be surprised at what I can do. But, yeah, I'm sure I'll have some bruises... Why not!" Thomas said. Vulpix looked at him.
"This should be good! Twenty bucks on Ash!" Robby said.
"I'll take that bet," Marcus mumbled.
"Shut up you guys!" Thomas said.
 
"Not what he means yet Thomas." Ash was smirking. "What we wanna know is: can you do more than just flash light everywhere? Can you use it on yourself, turn it into a weapon? This is a test of your power."

Zoran chuckled. "Aw leave Thomas alone. He can do it." Mickey snorted. He earned a pout. "That's mean: he has a chance."
 
"Well, I've killed people with it before. So I must be able to. I don't know how I did it though. Hmm..." Thomas said. How did he do that? He didn't know if he wanted to remember. That was a painful time for him. That was the day he lost everything him his past.
"You've got to remember it some time," Esper said.
"Thanks for letting everyone know what I was thinking," Thomas muttered.
"They already knew. It's written on your face like an open book," Esper said. Thomas shook his head. He knew he was easy to read, but he didn't know he was that easy! Even thinking about what he had done rattled him. The effects of it were lingering, even now. But he had to try. He had to remember what it had felt like. For if he didn't he would never master all aspects of his power, and this was the most dangerous one. He lowered his mental shields, and felt the light pour into him. It had remembered the feeling well, and was only too pleased to remind him of why he hated the AAPM. Then he understood. He knew all to well. His anger and agression and hatred fueled this part of his powers. He could tap into it now. He didn't use it, yet.
"I know how to fight with it now. I... I don't like feeling like this. I don't know if I can control this when I let it loose. I know I don't have to say this, but I'm counting on you guys to stop me if I go off. Preferably leaving me alive and mostly undamaged," Thomas said, laughing at the last part. He was ready to learn. If he could learn to fight without making himself mad, that would be amazing. He saw that he was glowing again, this time a deep dark red.
 
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