Literature for excited Thespians & wise/all-knowing people!

The footsteps stopped just outside the door. I held my breath, and waited in silence.

I saw my attacker’s arm slowly push open the barely closed door, clutching his weapon in his other hand. I held the rubber of the plunger with both hands. I knew he knew I was in here.

As soon as I saw the weapon, I swung the plunger’s handle as fast as I can onto the hand holding it. The Typhlosion let out a small shout, but it was mostly surprise than pain. No matter, though, because I got what I wanted; the shock of the sudden attack on his hand, even though it was weak, made him dropped the pistol. I took another swing and this time whacked him on his other hand. He let out a small grunt as he backed up a step. Obviously, he didn’t expect this. I got out of the bathroom, swinging the handle around like a complete madman. He avoided most of my swings, becoming more and more annoyed with my stupid resistance. I tried hitting him on his head, but then he grabbed the handle while I was swinging it. With great force, he pulled the plunger out of my hands, held it with both of his hands, and broke it in half as easily as if it was a toothpick. He tossed the broken toilet tool out of the way and looked at me angrily, visibly wanting to do the same thing with every bone in my body.

I went back into the bathroom and, before he could try anything, I had his gun in my hands. Now that I was holding it, and not running from it, I could see that it was a Walther P99 pistol, with what seemed like a home-made silencer at the end of it. He was able to hold it in one hand, thanks to his size. But because I was so small, I had one hand holding the gun and the other on the trigger. I aimed the gun towards his chest. He gazed at me, and then the gun, and then looked back at me with an angry, skeptical face, as if daring me to pull on that trigger. I told him:

“Get on the ground NOW, or I SWARE I’ll shoot you!”

He kept staring at me, and noticed something I was desperately trying to hide; the gun was heavy in my hands. I had trouble holding it still. That means it was easy to disarm me. He quickly whacked the pistol out of my hands with a swift movement of his arm, making the gun slide to the other end of the kitchen. He then delivered a powerful punch right in my face, knocking me onto the ground. I looked up from the ground, and saw the Typhlosion heading for the firearm.

No. I couldn’t let him get it. If he did, I’d be dead.

I quickly got to my feet and ran towards him. He grabbed the gun and turned to face me, but I tackled his in the stomach with my whole body. As I tackled him, he squeezed the trigger, making a bullet hit the ground before we did, but it was another miss. I managed to hold down his gun while he tried punching me off of him. I scratched his face viciously with my right hand while I tried to take the gun with the other. We kept struggling like this for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, I managed to take the gun and, using the grip of the gun, I started hitting his face. I slapped him with the butt of the gun until he seemed to have lost consciousness.

At that point, I was sweaty, my face was hurt, and I was panting very hard. I got off of the Typhlosion, still breathing heavily. I gazed at the gun, and the question I didn’t want to answer came up: Should I kill him? The answer came as quickly as the question: No. No, instead, I’m going to get some rope, tie him up, and call the police. I remember having some rope in my room. I grabbed the gun, just out of precaution, and headed towards my room. As soon as I entered my bedroom, I tossed the gun onto my bed. I hate those things. I grabbed the rope, when suddenly I heard noise.

Coming from the kitchen.

I ran towards the kitchen, and I noticed the attacker wasn’t there anymore, and that the kitchen window was wide open. I ran to it and looked outside. I saw the Typhlosion running down the street.

My mind was set before I even thought about it. I climbed out of the window, and decided to follow him from a distance.

What am I doing? This is crazy! I could get killed!

I kept thinking that while following him discretely. Those thoughts weren't going to stop me. He kept looking back to make sure no one was behind him, but like I said earlier, I learned how to avoid being seen when I needed to. He ran down a few empty streets in the residential area of town. I kept following him, but it was getting harder and harder to do so, since I was getting tired and he was faster than me. Finally, I saw him slow down a bit as we entered the city park. Now what on earth could he be doing here?

He started walking down the park pathway, looking in all directions, possibly looking for someone. I followed slowly and cautiously behind him, making sure to hide the flame from my tail as we went deeper into the park. Damn tail. The light it gives is useful when I’m walking in the dark, but it really is a pain when I’m trying to follow someone without them spotting me. Luckily, my hands can cover up the fire completely without extinguishing it.

He finally stopped near a big tree, and just waited there. I looked around for a nice place to see and listen to what was going to happen without the risk of getting caught. I saw a nice little bush under a nearby tree. I quietly snuck into it without the Typhlosion noticing me. That should be nice enough.

I stayed there silent for a good 5 minutes, with nothing happening. The guy was obviously waiting for someone, but no one seemed to come. A few more minutes passed, and suddenly I heard him talk for the first time. His voice was deep and a bit dark, but it also sounded slightly rusty, meaning he didn’t talk much. He said to someone I couldn’t see yet:

“About time you showed up.”

A familiar voice responded:

“Sorry, Stretch. I was being held up.”

I tilted my head a bit, and saw my old buddy Mike the Treeko. Stretch must be that Typhlosion’s nickname or something. I can’t really imagine it being his real name. They were both standing near the tree. Pure silence for a good minute. Suddenly Stretch spoke up:

“Where’s Float? Wasn’t he supposed to come with you? And what about…Sarah? She said she’s be here too.”

Sarah. Wasn’t that the name of that Zangoose the Pikachu was so scared about? The leader of the gang? Mike looked stunned.

“Sarah?” he asked, “She said she’d come? Why?”

“Beats me, but she is. Now what about Float?” said Stretch

“Oh, him? Sarah asked him to try to find Sparky, you know, that Pikachu who owned us money? I find it useless to search for him now, the prick probably skipped town. All thanks to that Charmander, who felt like acting like a fucking hero. Say, I heard you were in charge of doing him in tonight. So? Did you make him suffer?” asked Mike with a smile gaining his face near the end.
Stretch simply grunted and turned his eyes away, as if the tree over there suddenly became very interesting. I saw Mike’s smile slowly fade as he said, almost pleading:

“Please tell me you did not screw up.”

At that point, a Floatzel came up to the group. He must be Float. Float, Floatzel. Original name.

“No luck. He really must have left town” he said as a greeting to the others. He turned to Stretch, and asked “How’d your job go, Stretch?”

Mike responded for him:

“The big lug didn’t manage to waste that Charmander, even though he was armed, and…”

“Hey! Shut up, Mike!” Stretch replied, his face suddenly mad. “Or do I have to remind you that you and Clash were two against one in that alley, huh?”

“Damnit!” Float said, with fear in his voice. “She only gave out two jobs tonight, and we both screwed them up! She’ll be pissed! And I heard she was coming over here tonight! Aw man, I can’t believe this, we’re-“

He suddenly stopped and kept looking towards me. His face changed from being afraid to being puzzled. Was Sarah here? Coming from that direction?

“Float? What is it?” asked Mike.

“Nothing…it’s just that…well, I could’ve sworn I saw something in that shrub over there.” Float said, as he was pointing a bush.

My bush.

All 3 of them were looking in my direction. My heart skipped a few beats and I tried to stay as still as I could. Stretch then turned to the others and said:

“I’ll go check it out.”

He started walking towards me. I thought about the gun he used to have. Maybe I could use it to defend myself…but I left it on my bed in my room! Geez, I’m an idiot!

There was no chance for running away without getting caught, and fighting wouldn’t save me now, since I’d be alone against 3.

He was a few feet from me at that point. His arm was stretched out, and any second now he was going to move the twigs away and spot me.

I was done for.

(OH wow, I just realised I wrote a whole bunch in a short ammount of time. I guess I just like working on my story.)

I read these on my downtime in school. o3o

I read them whenever I can. I sometimes even reread what I wrote so far.

(LONG READ. It took almost 2 hours to write this)

Time seemed to slow down as Stretch’s arm was reaching for the nearest twig. I was silently hyperventilating as I waited to be found, completely defenceless, laying in a bush while eavesdropping on this reunion. He was just about to uncover me when Mike spoke up.

“Here she comes, Stretch. Get back here. It’s best to break the bad news all together.”

Stretch looked a final time at my hiding spot, possibly to spot something, but he must have decided Float was seeing things, since he walked slowly back to the group without finding me. I sighed in massive relief. Without even knowing it, Mike saved my life that night.

The three of them were waiting as Sarah slowly walked to them. That was the first time I saw her, and believe me, that Pikachu, Sparky, described this Zangoose perfectly to me. She didn’t even do anything yet, and I already knew she was the last person you’d want to cross. She was smaller than Stretch, but still about twice my size. Her fur was clean and well groomed, but her red fur, instead of being cherry red, was darker, almost the same red as blood. Her paws were armed with sharp claws that seemed like it could cut through anything. She had a rather small mouth and her red eyes almost seemed to glow in the dark. Just looking at her sent chills down my spine. Stretch, Mike and Float almost seemed to share my feelings for her, as they were all seemingly nervous and rather uncomfortable with her presence. She looked at each of them with the same face, before simply saying:

“Well?”

Her voice was authoritative, but rather light. The perfect voice for a female leader. Float risked himself by moving a step forward, and saying, while stuttering madly :

“W-well, um, I-I-I looked all over town, and e-even asked a f-few of the peoples th-that knew him, a-and I didn’t find him. H-He mus-must have left town or something…”

Sarah took a few steps towards Float, which almost seemed on the verge of fainting in fear. She looked at him straight in the eyes and asked, in a voice that sounded almost like a whisper:

“Didn’t I ask you to search for Sparky earlier this week, so he can’t escape?”

“Ummm, y-yes, but I, uh…”

“But what?”

“Well, I’ve b-bee-been rather busy t-this week, and I di-didn’t manage to-“

“Nothing is more important than what I ask you to do. If you ever disobey another order from me, Float, I’ll rip you open in the most painful way imaginable, do I make myself clear?”

“P-perfectly clear, ma’am.”

I almost felt sorry for Float at this moment; his face was almost white with pure terror. Sarah then turned her attention to Stretch, and asked:

“What about you? Did it go well?”

Stretch froze for a second before saying:

“Uh, oh, the Charmander? Yeah, he’s dead.”

Sarah smiled and walked towards him.

“Dead, huh? So you took the gun I gave you and killed him, did you?”

Stretch suddenly looked reassured. She was buying it. He kept lying, this time adding some details:

“Oh, yeah! I came into his house, and as soon as he saw the gun, he almost dropped to his knees and begged me to let him live. But I didn’t, and you should’ve seen the look on his face when he realized nothing could save him. I even whacked him a bit before giving him a bullet right into the head.”

Sarah had a great big smile on her face as she stood about a foot away from him. Nobody said anything for the next 10 seconds. Then she said:

“Let me tell you something very important about me, Stretch.”

She then, without warning, delivered a powerful punch right into his stomach. It knocked the air out of Stretch, who bent over groaning in pain. Sarah then grabbed the back of his head and, with a force I didn’t even imagine she had, dragged him towards a nearby tree. She held the back of his head and whacked it onto the tree. She pulled the head back, so Stretch could look at her face before she continued her phrase:

“I can see if someone is lying to me from miles away.”

She whacked his head against the tree and pulled it back again. The face was already bleeding.

“And if there’s anything I hate, it’s a liar.”

Whack.

“Especially the ones that lie straight to my face.”

Whack.

“So if you lied about killing that Charmander, that can mean only one thing, Stretch.”

Whack.

“That means that you failed the easiest (whack) job (whack) that I (whack) ever (whack) gave out!”

She then made him raise to his feet. Stretch’s face was a bloody mess, and he had a hard time standing straight. Mike and Float looked at the entire scene, not daring to try anything.

“I’m feeling in a good mood tonight, so I’m not going to kill you, Stretch. But if you screw up any other job that badly ever again, you will wish I did.”

She then clobbered him in the face with her arm, knocking him to the ground. He stayed on the ground, not moving at all.

She turned to Mike and Float with an angry look on her face. The park light not too far from here shone on only half of her face, making her look even more menacing. She raised her right arm, which had spots of Stretch’s blood on it, and made sure they saw it.

“Same goes for both of you” she added, before leaving the area.

As soon as she was gone, Mike start swearing under his breath at the sight of Stretch, which still hadn’t move. I saw them get near him, both grabbing an arm, and carrying him off out of the park, possibly to a Pokecenter or something. As soon as I was sure everyone was gone, I got out of my hiding place and walked back home, my mind only thinking of the things I just saw.

I barely got any sleep that night.

(I found an amazing picture on Deviantart, and decided to use it for my fic. It's when Sarah turns to Mike and Float after beating up Stretch and shows them his blood on her arm. Here.)

I can't keep up with these stories! :C My paws are too big for the damn keyboard, it takes me an age to press the scroll button without hitting the 'x' by accident :C


((Good stories, though! Very good! :3))

Solution:



And thanks! It's good to know I'm not writing this story for nothing =D

The next morning dawned early enough. If six a.m. isn't early enough for a crew who'd just saved a town from total destruction, then you may be asking too much of them.
The sun had barely rose, when a great booming emitted across the camp. Pikachu and Esbby (who had been slumbering under a tent in the communal area) awoke drearily, each yawning and stretching as they get themselves up.
"Ugh..." Pikachu groaned. "Good Morning." he said in a monotonous way.
"Hey." Esbby replied, as he blinked his eyes several times to try and adjust to the state of being awake.
"It's like being back at the guild, except earlier. And Colder" Pikachu laughed, bringing his arms round himself to keep warm. "What was that thing that woke us up, anyway?"
Pikachu walked over to the entrance of the tent, and peeked out from the front. He saw that the large, open area was slowly being populated by Pokémon, all chattering in tired tones, gathering into small groups.
Pikachu sighed and returned to the tent.
"Sorry, Esbby. We're gonna have to get up and get out there. There seems to be a meeting of some form." Pikachu consoled.
"Not a problem" Esbby mumbled, getting himself up and stretching his tail.
He shook his head and followed Pikachu out of the tent. There was nothing to leave behind, as they decided to sleep rough around a small fire they made inside the tent. Charmander had assured them it wasn't a fire hazard, and to Pikachu & Esbby's surprise, it hadn't been.
As they exited, they found that a much larger congregation had gathered in the open area. The mumbling had grown louder, and there was a fair range of ages when it came to observing the citizens; The elders that they had seen last night (mainly Torkoal & Xatu) were fairly close to Wigglytuff & Chatot, who were all together in a group apart from the rest. Then there were many of the town denizens and vendors, such as the buoyant Kecleon Brothers, the dazzling Electivire, and the formidable, yet friendly Kangaskhan - all may have been chatting business. Ursaring and his son, Teddiursa were chatting concernedly about their home, which they had supposedly lost to a fire. And at the furthermost perimeter, there was a fairly large group of Pokémon, who didn't seem to mix with any of the others. Esbby saw a few Glameow, some Stunky, and a few other Pokémon he didn't know of.
"They're from Lysia." A voice said.
Pikachu turned and saw that Charmander and Squirtle had joined them, each spick and span after (seemingly) having showered.
"Oh, I see." Pikachu said, supposedly having been observing what Esbby had. "I guess that's why they aren't mingling with our guys, huh?"
"I'd imagine so." Charmander replied. "Despite them not speaking our language, they're still our neighbours, and our allies. They were attacked a few weeks ago; me and Squirtle were on reconnaissance over there.
"Yep. It's a very pretty place." Squirtle went on. "It's quite desolate and isolated in parts though. It seemed like an easy target for the Eastern Bloc, but in spite of that, they only managed to capture one town before being booted out by the Frontier Forces that were there."
"Frontier Forces?" Pikachu asked, interested.
"The Stars and Stripes." Squirtle replied. "My Homeland. The Home of the Free."
"Yeah." Charmander laughed. "About the only place that isn't fighting a damn war."
"Governors of the world." Squirtle added, grinning. "Anyway, we better join the party. Sooner we get in, sooner we get home."
All nodded in agreement, and walked into the middle of the gathering of Townsfolk. Almost immediately after, Chatot hailed the crowd by flapping his wings.
"Everyone! Everyone! The Guildmaster!" he said.
A Politoed by his side seemed to translate.
"Tout le monde! Le Chef de l'association des Explorateurs!"
There was a polite ovation, and Wigglytuff stepped forward.
"Thank you! Now, to be very brief, I would like to start by wishing everyone a good morning!" he said, in a jolly manner.
Pikachu slid next to Esbby.
"He's official when he needs to be."
"Yep." Esbby replied, nodding in agreement.
They turned back to Wigglytuff.
"It has been a hell of a week. I won't deny that we have suffered, but that is only material. What makes me happiest -even among the tension, and the fears we have no doubt been subjected to - is that we have stuck together. Our Lysienne friends know well enough, and for that, I salute them.
Our efforts to ensure the security of the Time Gear in the region have been fruitful, and we are one step closer to keeping a peaceful, temporal state, so we can concentrate on the state of mind and oppression to which we are fighting against.
Yet, this war isn't fought with arms alone. It's fought with courage, bravery, and will. Only a few days ago, four young go-getters were sent with a message of freedom, scribed on their arms, to repel an invasion force that could have made even the strongest of entities shiver.
Those four are here today.
Please, for the sake of gentry, and appreciation; could we have a round of applause for Special Operatives Charmander & Squirtle, alongside our recruits, Pikachu & Riolu?"
And as a one, the whole camp rose, and gave a booming ovation the likes of which none had ever encountered. It was indeed, the most swelling of scenes.
It took a while for the applause to die down, and Chatot replaced Wigglytuff at the makeshift, tree podium.
"Thank you very much, the service will not go unrewarded.
Now, as a practical matter, I wish to inform everyone that we will be leaving the camp at midday today, so please remember to grab your tents, and anything else that you may have had in your possession when you arrived. Oh, and do keep the place clean."
He smiled, squawked, and departed.
The crowds immediately started chattering away as they led off through different forest alcoves to their respective residences.
Esbby looked up at Pikachu, and waved his paw in front of his face, trying to get his attention.
"Awesome." Pikachu said. "We are... AWESOME!" He jumped in glee, and clapped his hands in the air.
Esbby smiled broadly, and the pair led off back towards their tent. But before they got in, he saw that Squirtle rushed over towards him.
"Hey, kiddo. Thanks for the help." he said in a quiet voice.
"Anytime." Esbby said, smiling back.
Before he left, Squirtle turned back.
"Oh, and I think Pikachu and you have a fan club." he added, gesturing behind him.
Esbby looked around, and saw a small group of Guild Members, as well as a few Townspeople and some Lisiennes standing just before the path to their tent.
Esbby was startled, and quickly dived back into the tent.
Pikachu was taken aback by the sudden blur of blue that had jumped into the tent.
"What's up?" he asked.
Esbby picked himself up.
"Nothing." He said. "Smooth Operator." he added, laughing reservedly.
"Damn Straight." Pikachu added, chuckling lightly to himself. "Let's get to work."

Once again, a great story written by SB.

Good job!

^^ Thanks a lot Someguy

In all honesty, I'm a bit jealous of your enthusiasm in writing yours XD

Maybe it's the difference between European & North American Storywriting :3

In all honesty, I'm a bit jealous of the quality in your story =P

The next couples of days went by with no major trouble. There’s just a few details I need to say before we move on.

I started feeling rather paranoid in the days that followed Stretch’s attack. The slightest weird action by anyone made me freak out. Every time I came home, I slowly opened the door and peeked in, to make sure no one was hiding anywhere. And when I saw I was alone, I immediately took my gun that I keep under my mattress and kept it with me at all times. The only reason I didn't bring the pistol outside with me is that I had no place to store it while walking, and strolling around with an armed weapon in your hands would probably get me some looks. I don’t have to explain that what I saw in the park scared the hell outta me. I mean, if she does THAT to someone who’s on her own side after he simply lied to her, one can only imagine what she would do to someone like me. Being trapped in a small cell that is slowly filling with water as peoples are watching me painfully die never came to my mind, though, because not even my imagination was that crazy.

Almost two weeks had passed since the alley brawl, and the hype over me died down a bit. However, I still got stared at and sometimes followed. I knew a few of them must be part of the Kerberos gang, but I didn’t know who, so I avoided anyone watching me. Every time I saw one looking at me, my mind would suddenly give me images of what would happen if that person was a member of the gang, that he or she was ordered to kill me by Sarah, and that me and that person were alone in a room for 5 minutes. My own mind was sometimes scaring me by showing me some rather gruesome deaths I’d suffer. It was the kind of deaths you’d get in a horror movie; suffocation, impalement, body parts crushed or ripped off, being slashed, you name it. Of course, I tossed those images away. I recognised Float at a street corner one day, trying to discreetly spy me. Of course, I didn’t told him off on it, since that would be reckless, and nowadays I tend to not grab more attention than needed.

Now, don’t think I didn’t try to get some help. A few days after the incident, I went to the local police station, hoping maybe to get some protection. Every police pokemon I spoke to was willing to help me out, until I mentioned the name “Kerberos”. At that point, half of them suddenly got scared and said they can’t save a doomed man and that they don’t want any trouble, while the other half, who were less scared, gave me the same advice Sparky the Pikachu already gave me. I tried going to my friends, and, long story short, I got the same results.

I started seriously thinking about doing this much repeated advice. I liked Goldenrod, and I wished to stay there, but I didn’t feel like staying in the city’s graveyard. So I decided to do something that, now thinking back, I should’ve done a long time ago. I would just need to pack my things and a bit of food and I’d be good to go. My things were rather easy to pack, but I was running out of food. I’ll have to get some. I also thought of how I would get out of here. I needed to get away fast and to be sure I wouldn’t be followed. I decided the town’s magnet train would be perfect for the job, and, just in case, I’d get out of the town I’d arrive to.

Now, it’s what happened in the next days that are a bit more interesting…

(BUT YOU GUYS WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR IT LOL)

Two and a half weeks after the alley fight.

I woke up in shock. I placed my hand on my heart and I took a few deep breaths to calm my body down a bit. I just had a nightmare; to quickly describe it, it was the park scene all over again, only I replaced Stretch, and I didn’t live at the end. I sit up on my bed, the Walther P99 laying down beside me. I make a quick mental note of what I need: some food, a train ticket, and a bag to carry my stuff. I really wish I could stay inside, near the gun, but if I want to get out of this mess, I have to get out of the house first. I got up, grabbed the gun, slipped it under my mattress, and headed towards the kitchen to eat a small breakfast.

As I was heading out, I noticed a piece of paper that someone stuck to my door. I grab it, and look at it. The message is written in bright red:

“You think that just because you’re still alive that you’re safe from us? We killed hundreds of wannabe heroes like you. You are going to die, and we will enjoy being the ones doing you in.

Signed, The Kerberos Gang.

P.S. We know you’re planning on skipping town. If you try anything, you’ll die SLOW.”

I angrily ripped the message into a hundred pieces and threw them into the garbage. They want to scare me, and I wasn’t going to give them that satisfaction. But how did they know what I was planning? Are they spying on me? Or did they just guess, since “wannabe heroes like me” try to leave after being attacked? Whatever, I wasn't going to ponder on that all day.

I head out. There’s lots of fog this morning. Oh, that’s great. There’s nothing better after receiving a death threat than limited visibility. Luckily, I lived in this town long enough to know the way to the nearest corner store. I have a friend working over there, a Pachirisu, who owes me because I helped him out a while back.

I entered the mart and headed over to my bud, who’s putting food in the aisles. I say:

“Hey, Rick!”

He turned vividly as soon as he heard his name. His surprised face turned into a smile. He climbed down from his small ladder and said:

“Chuck! Hey! I thought you were my boss for a second. I’ve been hearing a lot about you these days. Is it true that you saved a Pikachu from a full sized Nidoking?”

“No, man, but listen, it’s about the money you owe me…”

“Oh right! No wonder why you’re here, you’d never want to visit little ol’ me for any other reason. Listen, just give me ‘til Tuesday, and I’ll give it to you.”

That reminded me of somebody. I smiled and said:

“No, listen, do you think you can pay me back in food? I mean, like, I take the food, and you pay for it.”

“Hmm…maybe. But why?”

“Long story. Wouldn’t want to bother you with it.”

“Well, I’d have to check with my boss first. Just stay here, I’ll be right back.”

He left and headed for the backroom. I looked around the store. The food in here would be able to last me a few days, no doubt. The human behind the counter was helping out some trainer, and an Azumarill was looking around for something. Other than that, nothing much was going on. Rick came back a few minutes later and told me:

“He said it was alright. Take what you need, and I’ll pay for it.”

I smiled and looked at the food. I grabbed some decent things that would help me when I left town without going over the price limit. Rick gave me a bag to carry the food. I thanked him greatly and headed out. The fog was becoming more dense. I started walking back home, my food in the small plastic bag.

Completely unaware that the Azumarill was following me.

Pikachu extinguished the small fire that was crackling inside the tent, and Esbby swept the floor of dust with his tail.
"Why sweep?" Pikachu said. "It's the forest floor, leave nature to it!"
"Just like being clean." Esbby replied, smiling.
Pikachu grinned, picked up the logs and walked out of the tent. Esbby followed him, and went to pick the pegs up from the ground, which kept the tent up. Pikachu threw the logs into the undergrowth, and gestured to Esbby.
"Nah, leave it! I overheard that there are some guys who'll pick up all the tents later. Some Pelipper, I think."
Esbby nodded, pretending to know what a Pelipper was, and he dropped the pegs.
"So... What do we do now?" Pikachu asked seemingly no one.
"We can just head out to the checkpoint, and leave." said a voice.
The pair turned round and saw Squirtle walking towards them, Charmander close behind.
"Checkpoint?" Pikachu asked.
"There's a small gate that leads into the camp, Chatot and some other uptight people are there, checking arrivals and departures. Well, mostly departures now, seeing as the citizens are leaving. Anybody entering is either a volunteer to clean, or a Security HQ Member conducting investigations around the area." Charmander stated, in a pseudo-concise manner.
"Yup. Very quick, very official." Squirtle said. "We've got everything out. Wigglytuff and a few of his pals is taking care of the arms and equipment we used, and anything else you can think of... you imagined!" He laughed as Pikachu looked at him, questioningly.
"Well... Anyway, we should set off! I guess you'd want to get back to the guild and have everything return to normal, huh?"
Esbby opened his mouth to say something, but Squirtle continued;
"Well, as normal as it will ever be from now."
Pikachu nodded.
"Yeah, hope so." Pikachu said, in a tone that suggested there was an absence of anything else to say.
There was a brief silence as Pikachu and Esbby exchanged sceptical looks.
"We best get walking, anyway." Charmander said. "We can meet Charizard and tell him all that's been going on. I think he was sleeping just outside the camp anyway. I could feel a warm wind of breath last night."
There were smiles exchanged at this proposition, and the four started to walk into a path out of the camp.
Only a few minutes walk brought them to a small stand, behind which stood Chatot, as well as a Kingler. Judging by the lack of conversation between the two, the Kingler was assumed to be French.
The group approached the stand, and Chatot hailed them in.
"Hello there, leaving I see?" he asked.
"There's only so much time you can spend away from home." Charmander replied, politely.
"I know all too well how you feel" he said, sighing. "Well, seeing as these two (he gestured to Pikachu & Esbby) are ours, and you two were called in to help, there's no bureaucracy here, so... Thank you very much for your services, and we'll see you in a few hours."
He smiled, nodded, and waved them on, as the Kingler behind him started talking Lisienne to a Patron who approached the stall.
"Quick and easy." Charmander said. "Just how I like it."
"Too right." Pikachu added, grinning. He coughed, and Esbby made out between the cough something like 'Shotguns', to which he nodded agreement.
They continued to walk along the wide forest path, and it was only after a few minutes that they had come to a clearing, where they saw the hulking figure of Charizard, snoozing quietly among the trees.
Charmander walked up to Charizard, and tapped his snout lightly.
"Hey there, sleepyhead." He said, smiling.
Charizard inhaled deeply through his nose, and when he exhaled, he knocked Charmander back into the trees at the edge of the clearing.
He suddenly woke up, mumbling.
"Hey, wha?" He said, before seeing the three who were on their feet before him.
"Oh, hello!" He said, smiling widely. "How are you!"
"Good, thank you." Squirtle said. "At least, better than Charmander."
Charizard looked concerned.
"Why? Where is he? What happened?" He said, shocked, getting up swiftly.
Squirtle laughed and waved his hand.
"No worries! Just a bit flustered, is all." he said in a jolly tone.
At that, Charmander got out of the bushes and shook to remove twigs from his body.
"Well, I know now never to stand in your way!" he said, laughing.
Charizard chuckled jovially and stretched himself.
"Well, I assume you would like a ride back to Treasure Town, yes?" he asked.
"How about that, kiddos? Wanna ride on Charizard's back?" He said in a manner that suggested he was their guardian.
"Yeah, sure thing." Pikachu said, looking happily at Charizard.
"Yeah!" Esbby said, waving his tail emphatically.
"Someone's on the Enthusiasm bus!" Charmander said, shocked at Esbby's sudden outburst of joy.
Charizard beamed at him, and Esbby likewise to Charizard.
As they climbed on Charizard's back, Esbby thought about the Chemistry he shared with Charizard. Not a month or so ago, he had not even be sure of who he was, or what his purpose was. Now, he'd made a tight group of friends to save a world that he was very, very new to.

(I wanted to post this a few days ago, but I didn't have the time. But whatever)

I was silently walking back towards my house. I wanted to drop my food off before buying the train ticket. As the fog surrounded me, my mind was going over a whole bunch of things; where I store the money at my house, what I’d do as soon as I arrived at the new town, if my house was being watched, what a great guy Rick was for giving me the food, and a whole bunch of other stuff that’s rather unnecessary to the story. At one point, I suddenly realized that I was so deep in my thoughts that I had taken a wrong turn. The street I was currently at was a block of two away from my house. I was completely alone in the street; no cars were passing, no peoples were walking by, nobody. Or so I thought.

I heard footsteps coming up behind me in the eerie silence. I turned and saw the Azumarill walking towards me. As soon as he realized that I was watching him, his walking turned into running. His face changed from normal to furious concentration. As he sprinted towards me, he made a quick, outwards movement with his right hand, and I saw the blade of a pocket knife come out. I dropped my bag of food in surprise as he was a few feet away from me. I tried to move out of the way, but he was too close to me now, so I pulled back my waist as he ran past me, the blade passing dangerously close to my stomach.

As I turned to try to face him, I realized that the guy really believed in his “Jack the Ripper” role. He perfected every trick, especially the one of disappearing into the fog after an attack. I looked around me, hoping to see his shadow in the mist, but no luck. I knew he wasn’t gone, and that he wouldn’t leave until he made sure my insides littered the street floor. I wasn’t going to give him a second chance, though. As I continued to look around, I bent over, grabbed my bag of food, and started running towards my house. If I could just get to my gun, I’d be safe. I ran down the street, when I saw the Azumarill’s shadow, right in front of me, running for a second attack. I stopped and sprinted in the other direction, my attacker hot on my trail. We kept running down a few roads. I wasn’t running as fast as I wish I could, since I had to carry my bag. I was hoping to find somebody, anybody, to help me out from this maniac, but the neighborhood was empty, probably because peoples didn’t dare to venture out with all this fog.

After 5 minutes of intense running, I looked back and saw that the Azumarill was nowhere in sight. I slowed down a bit, before finally stopping. I was breathing hard, and was holding on to my knees. I kept looking around. Nope, he was nowhere to be seen. I must have lost him. I looked at the street name: I was at the corner of 27th Street and St Richard’s Boulevard. Much farther from my house than before. I figured that if I did a massive detour, I could reach my house without any bad encounters. Thinking a bit more, I noticed that while doing the detour, I would pass by the bank. There, I could take out some of my money and, if I did another small detour, I could reach the train station, and order a train ticket. I smiled at the thought of leaving these crazy bastards a day or two sooner. I decided to follow my itinerary.

I only took a few steps before I heard running behind me.

The four climbed up onto Charizard's back, which he had courteously laid-down for them to jump on. Whilst Pikachu, Squirtle and Charmander had fixed themselves on his back, Esbby took up a Position 'Shotgun' - That is to say, on his neck, by his shoulders.
Charizard smiled at him.
"Ready?" He said, priming his wings for flight.
"Yep!" Charmander said, to confirm everyone's readiness.
"Got it. Let's go." Charizard said, flapping his great wings. They were loud as they made slow swipes through the air, but soon enough, they were off the ground. Jostling for the first few seconds, Charizard found that the air was resisting less against him, and so he was able to make more fluid motions.
There was a general sigh of relief as he levelled just above the treeline, and managed to streamline to reach a comfortable speed.
Esbby looked back to see the other three were already engaged in conversation, laughing and exchanging pleasantries. He looked back to Charizard's formidable head, which was concentrating on the way ahead towards town.
He decided to shift himself up by his head, and Charizard took notice of him.
"Hey, what's up?" He asked politely.
"Nothing much, thanks. I was just going to ask; Where were you last night?" Esbby inquired.
"Ah, I was just resting in that enclosure you found me in. Quite comfortable, if you ask me." He chuckled. "I couldn't really fit anywhere else close enough to you guys without flattening you."
The two shared laughs, and smiled at each other

--Pause... Sorry! :S --

I turned my head at the exact moment that the Azumarill was about to stab me. He was now holding the knife in the same way you do in those horror movies. I turned towards my attacker, who’s face was still in furious concentration, while his blade was nearing in on me. I raised my arms and grabbed his, stopping them from moving. We both struggled like mad in the middle of the street, one trying to kill, the other trying to live. He was strong. I tripped backwards and both of us fell down onto the ground, him over me. The knife was nearly an inch away from my face at this point, but I refused to give up and let myself die. I had to get this guy off of me quick. Thankfully, and I don’t want to bluff, but I’m a rather fast thinker. I noticed my hands were holding both his arms, and since my right hand was holding his non-lethal arm, I decided to let go of it. That surprised him a bit, and made me able to push the knife a bit farther away from my face. I then, with my free hand, gave him a blow in the face, knocking him off. I quickly got up. He was recovering from my punch. The knife was on the ground. I ran up beside it, wanting to pick it up, but the Azumarill was reaching for it, so I was forced to kick it away. It fell into some sewer hole at the other side of the street. The Azumarill, seeing that his weapon was out of reach, slowly got up. We looked into each other’s eyes as we both mentally and physically prepared to fight.

Now, I know what you’re thinking; it would be crazy for a fire pokemon like me to take on a water pokemon like him. But, thankfully, I was a few levels higher than him, so it evened the odds a bit. A powerful jet of water suddenly erupted from his mouth. It was fast, and I didn’t expect him to attack so quickly, so it hit me squarely on the chest, lifting my body off the ground and back a few feet. It was painful, too. I got up as he shot another blast, but this time I was ready for it, and dodged to my right. I then ran straight towards him, but he side-stepped at the last second, and my tackle missed. I rapidly turned around and managed to scratch him before he could send more water in my direction. He started punching my face a bit, but I then grabbed his arm, pulled him towards me and gave him a strong headbutt, and, before he was able to recover, I scratched him some more. He was getting weak, so I kicked him in the chest, and he fell to the ground. I panted and looked at him. He fainted. I was happy and worried at the same time. Happy because I lived through this encounter. Worried because now, the Kerberos Gang will want me dead even more than before.

I left the Azumarill laying on the ground in the street. Someone’s going to find him eventually. I grabbed my food bag and I walked the remaining blocks to the bank. As soon as I entered, I got stared at. I wondered why, and as I passed a mirror, I noticed that I was injured a bit from the fight. Nothing big, just bruises, but still surprising. I didn’t mind much. Right now, I think I’ll just skip this part, since it’s rather boring; it’s just me getting some money from my account (thank goodness for the pokemons who worked there, otherwise I would've taken an hour trying to explain to the humans that I want my money), and reaching the Train station without any trouble. It’s what happens around there that is more important.

I stayed a few minutes inside the train station. Unlike the bank, only humans worked there. I think they finally got what I meant when I placed my money on the counter and kept pointing frantically at an ad for Saffron City. Maybe they were surprised that a Charmander like me could have so much cash on himself. If I could talk, I’d tell them I got it by doing small jobs around town, but if I could talk, buying a ticket wouldn’t be a big problem. Finally, I got a ticket; tomorrow’s 12:30 train. Good. I was already regretting not listening to that Pikachu about leaving town, so the sooner, the better.

I went out and started walking towards my house. I have my food and my train ticket. I was ready to get out of here, all I needed was to stay low and be patient. As I was walking, I made sure no one was following me by stopping every now and then, discretely looking behind me. I even took different paths than usual. Nobody was following me. In fact, little to nobody was in the streets. I guess I’m rather thankful for the heavy fog for that reason.

I was only a few blocks away from my house when I saw a grey SUV pass by. I jumped a bit at it’s appearance; since it was the same color of the mist, it almost seemed to have came out of nowhere. It past by me, and I calmed down a bit, thinking it was just some human that had to go somewhere. But then, I heard some loud screeching. I turned, and saw that the SUV made a 180 turn and was now facing me. I wondered what was going on. Did the driver swerve to avoid hitting something? Did he pass out or fell asleep and made the car turn like that? Did one of the tires just slip out of control?

Nope. The car started moving and headed straight for me. The explanation hit me like a ton of bricks.

It was another guy sent to kill me.

I dove to my right as the car passed beside me, but I was more scared than hurt. I got halfway up and saw the car do yet another 180 turn to come back at me. If I didn’t fear for my life at that moment, I would’ve said that he has some very good driving skills. The van was driving at me again, but this time I had plenty of time to grab my bag, turn and run off towards a bike path, hoping to lose him there. The path was small, since it was between a few houses, and there was a chain link fence on both sides of the alley, so I figured he couldn’t follow me in here with the car. I entered the alley and bolted towards the other side as fast as my legs could carry me. I heard a screech as the car did a tight turn, then I heard a small ‘’thump’’ and then some weird sound. A constant clacking noise. Something like ‘’clackclackclackclack’’. I kept running as I looked behind me, and noticed that the noise was simply coming from the car’s rear view mirrors as it was hitting the fences. That’s right; the crazy bastard driving that car followed me in this tight alley with it. I kept running as I heard the roar of the motor and the clacking noise come ever closer behind me. I was so close; just a few more meters before I reach the end of this bike path. I risked a quick look behind me and realized in horror that the SUV was barely a few feet away. If I slowed down for a second, I’d be dead meat. The car was almost touching me as I reached the end of the path. As soon as the fence was behind me, I dove out of the way as the vehicle roared by me, missing me by inches. The car drove a bit and did another 180 turn. That madman just won’t quit.

That’s when I noticed that the street I was on right now was familiar. In fact, this was my street. I looked down the road and saw, to my greatest relief, my apartment building. I ran towards it. The SUV’s motor roared as the car started following me. I was getting so tired that running almost seemed impossible. The car easily caught up with me, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before my body ended up under those wheels or splattered on the windshield. I had to do something, so I then did something I thought was both awesome and totally fucking crazy. I jumped on the ground, lying down completely as the car passed right over me, not hurting me at all. I was hoping the driver would’ve thought that he ran me over so he could leave. But he didn’t buy it, unfortunately, since he turned yet again to try to kill me. I was tired as heck, and he was coming back. Half of me just wanted to give up at that point, while the other half told me that quitting while so close to your goal would be stupid. I thankfully decided to listen to the latter.

I got up and avoided the car. As it turned, I bolted towards my house, giving the last of my energy in making my legs run faster than fast. The car was coming towards me, but I kept running. I was so tired of running, I swear, my legs were aching me as if they were going to fall off. To my huge surprise, I reached the door of the building before the driver had a chance to catch up with me again. I ran to my apartment, rushed in, and closed the door. I then placed the bag (thought I forgot about that?) on the ground and ran to grab my gun. If anyone was coming, I was now ready.

I waited, but nobody came to the door. In fact, I looked out the window and I saw that the car wasn’t even there anymore. The killer must’ve given up. Thank God.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful; I just watched the TV a bit. I love how humans throw away perfectly good television sets. And I also love how we get free electricity here thanks to an Electrobuzz who lives a few doors down.

So let’s just fast-forward to tomorrow, at 11:45.

(WHY DO I LOVE WRITING THIS SO MUCH)

I placed my bag on my plastic bag on my mattress and opened it, to make sure everything I needed was inside. My food, my train ticket, a bit of money, and, most importantly, the Walther P99 pistol. I took it and held it in my hands, pointing it at some imaginary enemy. It really sucked that my hands were too small to hold the gun using only one hand. I still had to hold it with one hand on the trigger and the other on the grip. Thankfully, though, I was now able to hold it still. I took out the magazine and quickly counted the bullets. A total of 7. There’s 12 in a full clip, but 2 got shot by Stretch the Typhlosion. The other 3 were shot by me; practise shots, to see if I could still hold the gun straight while shooting. I took out a few old cans, went into the back alley of my apartment, and decided to shoot them. It was a good thing I tried, because as soon as I shot the first bullet, the gun nearly flew out of my hands. By the second bullet, I was able to hold the weapon a bit more straight, and even more so on the third. I decided to stop shooting by then, for two huge reasons. The first, being that I have to save my ammo. The second is that, even though the pistol was equipped with a silencer, the gun still makes some noise and a lot of light. I was getting worried that somebody in the building would notice, so I came back inside.

I kept looking at the gun, turning it around in my hands and examinating every square centimetre of it. I knew I wouldn’t be able to bring this with me in the train, but at least I’d have some something to defend me with on the way there. I wondered how the Kerberos gang could’ve gotten this. I knew they couldn’t have bought this legally, since there’s a law stopping humans from selling weapons to Pokemons. They probably got it from some shady, black market weapons dealer around town who sells his merchandise to the first person or Pokemon with money. I think this must be the gang’s only firearm, seeing as how the Azumarill attacked me with a knife yesterday. The knife…that was probably easy to get, it was a simple pocket knife. I’m sure any boy scout or any house have at least one, so they just took it when the human’s back was turned. Heck, I’m sure I could get one easily myself. What about the car, though? How on earth did they manage to get a hold of a grey SUV? There was laws against letting Pokemons drive (for obvious reasons), and I’m sure nobody would let them borrow a car. I was thinking about it all yesterday, and I thought of a theory. They simply stole it. Simple stuff, if you’re in a gang. One guy goes in front of the car and pretends to get run over. When the human, frightened at what they thought they did, comes out of the car to look at the Pokemon they “ran over”, the others get into the car and drive off with it while the one with the fake injury legs it quickly. The simple fact that they probably did all of this work for little ol’ me made me feel rather special.

I placed the gun back into the bag, and I started looking around the room. I’m sure gonna miss these four walls. I still do, actually. Me and them shared a whole lot of things together. But I had to go. I grabbed the bag and headed out, making sure to tell the landlady that she can rent out my room.

I opened the front door, and quickly looked both ways. Nobody I knew, and no SUV. I got out and started walking, keeping the bag and the gun close to me. I looked around nervously. Random peoples walked the streets on this busy Thursday, but none of them seemed to pay much attention to me. I tried blending into the crowd a bit, hoping to lose anyone following me this way. Every time a silver car passed, I almost freaked, before calming myself down by realising that it doesn’t even look like yesterday’s vehicle. I kept walking the streets, utterly silent. I was a few roads from the train station, and if the outside clock at the nearby bar is right, I still got about 25 minutes before my train rolls out of this town. I started thinking about what I’d do as soon as I arrived in Saffron City. I was thinking maybe getting out of town there and living in some other city in the Kanto region, just in case some of the Kerberos gang decided to follow me there. I was so busy in my thoughts that I ran into a Pokemon standing in front of me. I backed up a bit, and said:

“I’m sorry, my-“

I stopped talking when I realised that I bumped into my old buddy Stretch, who glared down at me rather unhappily. I backed up some more, and was just about to turn when I noticed some other Pokemons come from behind and from the side. I saw some other familiar faces, such as Float the Floatzel, the Azumarill, which seemed more messed up than yesterday, Clash the Sandslash and Mike the Treecko, along with other peoples I never met before. A Mightyena, a Aipom, a Scyther and a Munchlax. They all formed a nice circle around me. Aw crap. I was surrounded.

I was frozen on the spot. My heart skipped a few beats. I looked around me, hoping to see an opening where I could maybe run. No such thing. The circle was tight. Instead, I only saw the faces of the peoples who were surrounding me. Some were angry while other were grinning wickedly. One thought kept coming back into my head.

The gun.

I have to reach for the gun. I gotta put my hand in that bag and pull out the gun.

But I can’t. I can’t reach for the gun.

Why can’t I reach for the gun?

Simple answer to a simple question. I was scared. I couldn't move my arms. They were paralysed in fear. Grabbing the weapon seemed utterly impossible at that moment. I was trying to keep a straight face, but I knew they knew I was terrified. The peoples who were near us either ignored what we were doing or were looking from across the street, wondering what was going on.

Grab the gun.

The Mightyena chuckled. It sounded more like a growl than a laugh, though. He looked at his gangmates and asked:

“So this is the Charmander you guys had such difficulty with? This scrawny little thing? You’re kidding, right?”

Stretch turned towards the Mightyena angrily, telling him without words to shut up.

It’s right there! Just grab it!

“Can we just do this already?”, asked the Scyther. “This is a waste of my time, and we’re starting to get stared at.”

“Yeah, besides, it’s almost lunch time, and I’m getting hungry here.” added the Munchlax.

“Ah, geez, Derek, can you think of anything other than food for just 5 minutes?” exclaimed the Aipom.

Derek sighed and responded:

“Right, right. Let’s bring him someplace with less witnesses and just do him in already.”

The circle was slowly closing in. My imagination thought up what would probably happen; I’d be dragged into a dark alley, away from wandering eyes, where I’d be brutally murdered, and then my attackers would go and report it to that crazy Zangoose before going to eat lunch, like if nothing happened. It’d be a small while before somebody found my body. That gruesome thought seemed to have awaken my arm a bit. Now I could reach the pistol and save myself, and that’s what I intended to do. I was just about to slip it into my bag, when Clash spoke up:

“Wait, wait, hold up guys.”

I turned to him, and noticed he was looking at someone down the street. Every other gang member looked at the direction in which Clash was looking at, and some of them lost their grins a bit. Who is it? A Police officer? A trainer or a Pokemon who wants to save me? Ha, I wish. Stretch moved aside a bit to let Sarah into the circle. That’s great. Just what I needed.

Remember how I said she looked really menacing when I saw her at the park? Well, she looked really cute and kind compared to right now, as she’s towering over me with a smile etched on her face in the noon sunlight. I was really shorter than her, about twice as small, so to stare in each other’s faces, I had to look up a bit and she had to look down. Since she was about two feet away from me, I noticed she smelled a bit strange, like a mixture of wet fur and that smell that’s always in hospitals. Not that it was unpleasant, just weird.

“Your name’s Chuck, right?” she asked.

I simply did a quick nod to approve. I think that if I would’ve opened my mouth, either I wouldn’t be able to say a single word, or I’d scream like a bloody maniac. She looked down at the plastic bag I was carrying, chuckled a bit, and asked:

“Going somewhere?”

I was just about to shake my head in a “No”, but then a thought came over me; a nice, solid tree in the park. A concrete wall is a bit harder than wood. I gave another quick nod. She laughed a bit more, before saying, to her followers:

“Well, then, gentlemen, this is the perfect example of an idiot. We tell him not to try anything just yesterday, and here he is doing just that!” She turned back to me before saying ”Well, don’t worry, we’re gonna keep our promise and kill you slowly.” A few small laughs coming from the others finishes her sentence.

TAKE THE DAMN GUN OUT!

Before I even realized it, I did just that. I pulled out my gun really quickly while still holding the bag with my arm. Both of my hands were on the gun, the bag was near my elbow, and the gun was pointed straight into Sarah’s chest. To my surprise, it wasn’t shaking in the slightest. Her smile turned into angry surprise, while everyone else around me seemed shocked at the sudden turn of events.

Yeah, who’s laughing now, assholes?

I thought that Sarah would’ve been the slightest bit scared, but she wasn’t. On the contrary, she was mad. She told me, in a voice that seemed to be controlling her anger:

“Kid, if I were you, I’d put that down, right now.”

Some peoples who were passing by noticed I was carrying heat, and started to back away and even panic a bit. One of them would probably call the police or something soon.

Good! I hope lots of officers come! I’ll be saved! Shit, call the Army, for all I care!

The gang didn’t want to try anything, since the risk of them getting shot was still high. Sarah and I didn’t break eye contact at all. She continued, this time visibly losing her patience.

“You wanna know what you’re missing right now, Chuck? You need a cool head and some strong nerves to properly use a gun. Since you don’t have either of those right now, you won’t pull on that trigger, and you won’t kill anyone. You know it as much as I do.”

A drop of sweat started dripping down my face. The gun shook a bit, I wasn’t able to hold it straight anymore. She was right. Even when I was practising shots in the alley near my apartment, I wasn’t thinking about killing anyone with it at all. I was thinking of using it as a threat if I got into trouble. But now, since she said that, everyone around me will realize she’s telling the truth, and I’ll be disarmed and killed within minutes. My mind was racing. I had to think of a way out of this mess. I looked around the circle. Still as tight. When my eyes passed over Mike, an idea popped up in my head. A brilliant idea, if I say so myself. I aimed the Walther P99 at the ground right between his legs and fired.

Everything seemed to have slowed down at that point. The bullet hit the ground dangerously close to Mike, but it didn’t hit him. I wasn’t planning on that, either. I accidentally dropped the pistol, but I didn’t care much for it anymore anyways. Mike was surprised and jumped slightly, and I knew everyone’s attention was at the area I shot. While everyone was distracted, I ran towards Mike and, before he even knew what I was doing, I violently shoved him aside and kept running away from the group and down the street, making sure to keep a good grip on my bag. I heard Sarah scream behind me:

“Get him!”

(lol am I the only one who posts in this thread anymore?)

((Ooh, please believe me, I'm not dead! I just haven't been motivated recently :C))

(Oh good. I was worried nobody was paying any attention to anything I posted here anymore =P )

I ran down the sidewalk, avoiding peoples around me as best as I could. I could hear the gang close on my tail behind me, but I didn’t dare look back. I just sprinted as fast as I could, while making sure to hold the bag tightly. I almost got hit by two cars when I ran across a street, but I didn’t care much. The only thing I wanted right now was to put as much space as possible between me and those crazy fuckers. One thing I have to say, though; I didn’t just randomly run down the streets. I was heading over to the train station while fleeing for my life. I was hoping to catch the train at the last possible moment, and leave town before they got me. I know that would be a long shot, but it was my only hope.

After some intense running, I finally found it; the train station, just down the street. I was home free. I just had to reach it, and I’d be more or less fine. I say more or less because I was hoping they wouldn’t enter the train to look for me. But suddenly, I stopped. I noticed some of the gang members running towards me from down the street. I quickly looked behind me, and saw that more gang members were coming. They were trying to corner me. I dashed to my right and down the street. Only problem was that the street was a dead end. Knowing this, I decided to enter the first building that came into view, without even seeing what it was.

I took two steps into that building when I was hit by a cold chill. It surprised me so much that I nearly stopped. I saw some humans go about, looking at shelves of stuff. At the other end of the room was an elevator, a fleet of stairs and a counter, where another human was behind it, helping out some Trainer. After noticing these things, it took my tired mind another second to conclude that I entered the Goldenrod Department Store, the largest supermarket in all of Johto.

I heard a small “Ding!” and saw the elevator doors open. A small kid was coming out. Without a second thought, I ran towards the elevator, under the surprised looks from the customers. I entered it, quickly pressed the button for the sixth floor, the highest floor I could go to. At the same time, I heard the main door open. I glanced at the door, and saw Sarah and her goons looking around for me, under the even more surprised looks of everyone in the room. She spotted me, and screamed:

“There he is! Get him! Quick!”

Instead of pressing the “Close door” button, I was almost bashing it. She was running for the elevator, hoping to stick her hand in the doorway and stop it. I kept bashing the button while repeating, in a panicked voice:

“Work, damnit! Work! C’mon!”

The doors started slowly closing. Sarah was a few feet away. I saw her stick out her hand while running. Her hand was only a few inches away from the doors before they closed for good. The elevator started rising slowly, with some stupid little music playing in the background. I leaned back against one of the walls, my hand on my fast beating heart, trying to catch my breath and slow down my adrenaline a bit. A small “Ding!” told me I reached the sixth floor. It wasn’t much, just a few vending machines and some free space to relax. No time for that, though. I grabbed a garbage can and shoved it between the two elevator doors, so it won’t go away and bring some undesirables up here. Then I thought about the stairs. I ran to them. Luckily, some human had the brilliant idea of adding a door to the stairs. I looked in the stairs and saw the Aipom was near. He saw me before I slammed the door. I pushed the lock in. I heard some rattle, the sound of someone trying to open a locked door. Then screaming:

“He’s here! He’s on the last floor! But keep an eye on the other floors, in case he uses the elevator!”

I heard peoples rush in the stairs. When the running stopped, the Aipom added:

“He locked himself into the last floor. What a coward.”

I’d like to see you try, I thought angrily. I heard Sarah order:

“Clash! Blade! Break down that door!”

Then I heard some slashing and cracking noises. No need to be a genius to know I got away from there. There was one last place I could run to; the rooftop. I reached it, with a small breeze blowing across my face. It gives a nice view of the urban jungle around you, since it’s high up. A few benches, some binoculars that you have to pay money to use, a wooden box and a PokeDoll vending machine, solidly screwed into the ground, were the only things up here with me. A small wall, about 4 foot tall, was the only thing protecting peoples from falling down. It was only at this point that I realized that I was trapped. I had nowhere else to run, the stairs were definitely out of order and the elevator would bring me to another floor, yes, but right into the arms of whoever is waiting on that floor. I put down my bag a bit and picked up the box. I placed it near the wall and climbed on it, to finally climb onto the wall. I looked down. A small, dark alley, about two meters wide, complete with a small dumpster, and some nice, solid ground, perfect to smash the life out of anyone stupid enough to jump. But on the other side of the alley was another building, a bit smaller than the Department Store. Could I jump across the alley and land on the roof of that building?

No. Yes. I had no clue.

But then again, I had no other choice available. I wasn’t going to risk using the elevator, in case I end up in front of Stretch or that Mightyena, and it was either try to jump it and have a chance to live, or patiently wait here and have no chance to survive.

I jumped back on the roof of the store. I ran and grabbed my bag, making sure to bring it up to my shoulders. I then ran to the other side of the roof. I looked at the long run before reaching the box and wall. I heard the door give one last final cracking noise. They busted it opened. Now or never. Being slightly religious, I did a quick mental prayer to Arceus before running. One foot on the box, the other on the wall, and a small push. Time slowed yet again as I was in mid-air. I missed the roof by a small inch, but I managed to grab hold of the ledge of the other building. I just needed to pull myself up. I heard some laughter behind me. Then Sarah’s voice:

“Feeling suicidal, Chuck? Don’t worry, we’ll help you out…”

A blast of water barely missed me. I looked up to the roof of the store, to see that the Azumarill was aiming at me. Along with him was Clash, the Scyther (he must be the one called Blade), the Aipom, Float and, of course, Sarah. I tried to climb up, but a blast of cold water hit me squarely in the back, making me lose my grip.

I started falling down into the alley.