Bodies: All of them blood drenched, hung up on the scaffolding of the warehouse. Their faces locked in horror and fear, their eyes were wide, and mouths agape as if they were pleading for mercy. But whatever had done this obviously had none of it.
Chris hastily grabbed the letter off of the ground threw the letter into his backpack. He had to get out of here, he had to get to the others; he had to save them.
"Takeo!" Chris yelled to get the Pokemon's attention; double-checking his gun was cocked and loaded. Nodding to each other, the pair sprinted across the dark warehouse towards a side door. Chris threw open the door with enough force to make the hinges groan as they struggled to keep the decrepit thing attached, and ran out into the downpour of rain. He sprinted around the building, turning the corner as fast as he could. A streetlight flickered in the rain, a forewarning to the flash of lightning that blinded both him and his partner and sent the whole town into darkness. A crack of thunder resounding soon after, and with it, power returned to the town.
As his sight returned, Chris's gaze was brought back to the lamppost, despite the momentarily outage, still flickering. However, under the light stood a figure obscured by the downpour. Gun raised, Chris slowly moved towards the figure, squinting through the rain that trickled down his face. He got closer and closer, the figure doing his best to replicate a statue.
"Hey!" Chris bellow, a crack of thunder echoing the same. "Hands up! Comon!"
The figure stood there for a moment, before slowly raising it's arms. Chris rushed to the being as fast as he could, Takeo following close behind. Chris was a few feet away when a smile formed over his face.
"Greg! Thank Arceus." Chris grinned, lowering the gun. "Perfect timing. Listen. Get the others and meet us by the trucks. I'll fill you in then alright?"
However, instead of bursting into action like he imagined, the Uprising member just stood there, the rain unremittingly pounding everything around them.
"Greg.." He took a few steps closer, both of them now standing under the flickering lamppost. "You alright? Where are-" Chris froze, his eyes growing wide as another bolt of lightning sliced the sky into two. The rain. The relentless, unforgiving rain drenched the street, the road, the city, and even Chris. But in the flickering light he realized: Greg was dry.
Chris meant to bring the pistol up, he meant to call Takeo, he meant to yell at the imposter, but instead stood there, eyes wide as blood trickled down his chest with the rain. The imposter stood there with a maniacal grin and wild eyes, still in the form of Greg's body, but its right arm was the claws of a Zoroark. As quick as the lightning around them, the imposter had slashed its claws across Chris's chest.
The gun in his hand slowly fell to the ground, Chris soon following. He fell to his knees, one hand grasping his chest as blood trickled dripped to the street below, only for the rain to wash it away. Chris desperately looked up, struggling to keep his eyes open. Greg's image faded away to reveal a Zoroark, teeth bared and claws still dripping with blood. The light above the two sputtered and wavered, before finally going out.
"Bui!" An aqua jet attack came from behind the Zoroark, Takeo attacking from behind. But the Zoroark would have none of it. With another quick swipe of its claws, it knocked away the incoming jet of water, sending the Buizel slamming into the side of the warehouse
"Takeo!" Chris shouted, doing his best to stand up, to run to his Pokemon's aide, but immediately fell back to the ground. Confident in the water-weasel's defeat, the Zoroark returned its attention to the human.
With a swift kick, Chris was knocked onto his back, the contents of his backpack, his extra-pokeballs, his supplies, and most importantly, the note from Isabel, were scattered across the street. Chris tried to sit up, but was immediately slammed back to the ground, the Zoroark stomping down on his chest and pinning him to the ground.
Chris yelped as the Zoroark's foot pressed down on his open wound, it's claws digging deep into his skin. His head titled sideways, and he saw, what could possibly be, his one saving grace.
The fox creature's face became stern as it watched the human struggle beneath it. Suddenly, slowly but surely, it did the unexpected. The creature bent down towards Chris, until it was only inches away from his face. Chris could've sworn it was the end, that the creature was going to bite out his throat, but then did something unexpected.
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Humans. Who could ever understand them?
A Zorua paraded through Huin City, masquerading as just one of said creatures. She had long mastered the art of illusion, but although she looked just like them, she never felt so out of place. Every single one of the creatures pushed past one another, only concerned with was right in front of them, not one even paying notice to the little girl she had morphed into.
With a sigh, the Zorua slide her way through the never-ending stream of people, past the flashing billboards and people spouting nonsense, finally spotting her target. Although the line seemed to be never ending, she was not concerned. Expertly, she slid through the crowd quickly swiping a hotdog from the stand and slinking away unnoticed.
Or so she thought.
"Hey! Wait! " Dropping the hotdog, the Zorua immediately took off running, nimbly dodging through the crowd.
Why did it have to come to this? She sprinted left and right, all the while keeping up her masquerade. Her mother was captured by a trainer, forcing her to live on her own, but how could she call this living? Every day, she would have to scavenge for food, and most of the time, she scoured the streets hungry.
The small-fox-Pokemon sprinted into a back alley, hiding behind a dumpster, hoping that whatever saw her had now lost her. The Zorua closed her eyes burying her face in her paws and holding back bitter tears, only thinking of her, once again, empty stomach.
"You know. You shouldn't take things that aren't yours." A chill was sent down her spine, as she looked up, every horror imaginable filling her mind, only to see a grinning face in front of her. A young human boy, probably only about six or seven, stood there, a grin ear to ear. However, what threw the fox pokemon off was not his expression, but his scent. The boy did not smell like the trash and grime of the city, but, strangely enough, smelled of soot and ash. The boy continued to smile, but instead of returning the boy's cheeriness, the Zorua jumped up, again ready to bolt.
"Hey. Hold on." The boy reached behind his back, revealing a hotdog. The Zorua, still disguised as a little girl, hesitated for a moment, unsure. "It's alright." He chuckled, holding the food in front of him. "I bought it for you. You can take this one!" Cautiously, the Zorua approached. Every instinct, every thought, told her that it was a trap, but her stomach screamed that it was not. Carefully, she lifted the hotdog out of his hand, and, once it was free, devoured it in seconds.
"And I wouldn't worry too much. I don't think the old man running the stand saw you." The boy sat down, sitting cross-legged. "So where you from? And where are your parents?"
The Zorua dare not say a sound, lest she give away her disguise. But, this human, he was the only one that had shown any intrest
"Not much of a talker, huh? Alright. I get it." The human boy sighed, the grin on his face dissipating before standing back up. "I'll see ya around. Maybe"
Suddenly, A feeling overtook the fox pokemon, one of guilt and shame, and before she knew it, she was acting on instinct. The Zorua leaned forward, licking the human's cheek, but her illusion planted a kiss.
The kid immediately turned a bright shade of red, paralyzed and helpless, mouth agape. The Zorua, if not covered by fur and masqueraded by and illusion, would've looked the same. However, before the boy knew it, the young woman took off running. He could only watch as the girl ran past him, sprinted down the alley, and disappeared into the crowded street.
Slowly, the kid brought a hand up to his cheek.
"CHRIS! WHERE ARE YOU!? WE NEED TO CATCH THE BOAT BACK TO SOOTOPOLIS!" The boy winced as his mother's shrill voice echoed over the crowd and through the city. With a sigh, he walked out of the back alley and towards the crowded street.
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The Zoroark shot back up, unsure of what to think; the man below her had the same sooty scent. The Illusion Pokemon froze in place, not even noticing the Buizel's attack until it slammed into her. The aqua jet knocked the Zoroark clear off of Chris, who seized the moment to grab the empty PokeBall off of the ground. With no hesitation, he pitched it at the fox-Pokemon, hitting it square to the chest. It was immediately sucked into the ball, moving two times before lying still.
Gasping for air and grasping his chest, Chris limped past his new Zoroark's Pokeball, to Isabel's fallen letter, doing his best to both open the letter and stay awake. The rain had soaked it to the core making the ink run, but most of the message was still legible. Under the flickering light, he silently read the message.
Chris.
I'm ------ ------- I must apologize to you. A- you -a-- have already realized, --e mission I sent you on along with the rest of the Uprising --------- was a decoy. I -- currently located at a base a half hour's walk d--ec---- East of where I directed you to go. I have by this time made an a--e-pt to dismantle PXS's main information sy-tems, which could potentially disable it enough to allow the Uprising and go—nme--t to gain the upper hand. I have st-s-ed a small amount of su--lies the th-rd tree into the forest on the left side of the southern path leading into the base. If Cha---e and I are not there and there is no sign from us to be found, assume that we failed and have been captured. If that ha----s, you are the U-ris---'s new leader. Do not attempt to save us, as that will only lead to everything being lost. Remember Sh---w Valley. I have esta------d connections that w-ll be in contact with you if this mission -----, but you will for the most part be on yo-r own.
I am ----- sorry and hope to -ay so to you directly soon
Is----.
p.s. Please keep an -ye on Audrey for me.
Chris reread the letter once, then twice more, growing both angrier and more worried with ever word he read. As Takeo sulked over to his trainer, Zoroark's Pokeball in his paws, Chris threw the soaked letter back into it's envelope, still, ironically, dry(ish). His trainer accepted the ball, shoving it into his pocket, before giving his Pokemon a scratch behind the ears before handing the Buizel Isabel's letter.
"Go get the others." He told the Pokemon, tucking clenching his chest and wincing in pain. "We need to head out." Breathing heavily, Chris walked over to lamppost, sitting down and leaning against the flickering light. "And give that letter to Aubrey."
Takeo nodded, placing the envelope in his mouth, and racing off to the others. Chris sat there in the never-ending rain, the light above him flickering on and off.
