Friend or Four? [Pokémon 1x1]

romamaro

Well-Known Member
The Blazkien stared Shine down, the hairs on the back of his neck lifting up, though he wasn't about to let that show. He flexed his claws again. "Just let him go and you'll be perfectly fine." He promised, but as soon as he saw Shine's jaw ice over, he lifted his senses. When he figured out where she was going, he jabbed his arm down to take the bite, wincing as he felt the cold seep into his bloodstream. He was suddenly aware of the fact that he'd shown a sign of weakness, and composed himself with a deep breath. He lifted Shine off the ground, and kept on lifting until he felt that her entire weight was on his arm. His fist gained an orange, fire-like tinge for a few seconds, like slips of fire licking the sky on a campsite, before he rammed his fist into Shine's gut as strong as he could, using Power-Up Punch.



Shine snarled when the Blaziken moved his arm to block the Ice Fang, though she felt her jaws going around his arm and inflicting damage no matter how much he resisted it. She shook her head and waved her tail around as she kept her jaws locked, but was caught off guard when she was suddenly being lifted up off the floor, but she kept steadfast on the Blaziken as she tried to weaken the Pokemon's arm strenght. But once she was completely off the floor, Shine felt a tinge of worry and hesitation, unsure of what he was about to do.

She then began to feel something that reminded her of something that happened a while back, but it was currently a blur as she was in a fighting mode. Suddenly, it hit her: it was almost as if Daja Vu was going on as Shine remembered when she was capture as taken to the humans with their white coats.... The woman that she attacked and bit on the arm... The sudden attack on her neck...

But this time wasn't an attack on her neck, but a powerful and painful assult on her soft belly. Shine clenched her teeth with a howl that was cut short due to the air leaving her lungs, forcing her to let go from the incredible pain. She began to see large black spots as she collapsed on the floor, her body curled up as she tried to lessen the pain that made her gasp softly for air. She closed her eyes to hide the tears that threatened to drop down her eyes, and she somehow managed to keep them from falling. She felt sick from the pain, but wouldn't dare show how much she felt, and made an attempt to get back up. Mark and the Herdier widened their eyes at the brutal attack on the Luxray, so much shock in their eyes that the Herdier even came from his hiding spot to rush to her side. "Are you okay?" He asked with a whine. Shine snorted and gave a small nod, even though she wasn't even near okay. Mark knew that from that point on that the Luxray and Blaziken weren't going to back down from each other until one had completely went down, and clenched his fists as he watched the Luxray stumble closer to the Blaziken. Before she did so though, he stepped in and grabbed her tail, making her turn around with a snarling hiss. This startled Mark, but he quickly bounced back and roared back at her, making Shine back away in surprise. Never had a human done that to her before... She honestly didn't know what to make of it. Mark huffed as he grabbed his arm again and scowled at Shine, for he was, for some reason, angry yet intimidated at the same time. Perhaps it was because he was always being pushed around and had little to say on his own behalf despite being an adult... He had enough of being yelled at. "Look! I've had just about enough of your confrontational and aggressive attitude. You growl at me, then you rub up on me, then electrocute me, then you lick me... What the hell is the matter with you?! Do you even like me? Or do you just toy with me like all cats do? I'm trying to help you, and you just shock me like I'm a toy or something," Mark scoffed as he pointed at Shine.

The Luxray lowered an ear and hesitated, though she opened her mouth to say something. "Lux... Luxray Lux-" Mark shook his head as he interrupted the Luxray. "Stop it! You aren't helping me and you aren't helping yourself by fighting him. What are you trying to prove? Stop fighting and stay away from me! Blaziken isn't harming me, but you are! Thanks to you and that psychotic Toxicroak, one of my partners is dead! And I have to answer to that!" Mark ranted with an angered look in his eyes. Shine stood with a shocked look on her face, surprised and conflicted, for she didn't think that Mark would say such things to her. She felt her body get a bit weak as she let the words sink in, though it could be argued that it was because of the fight. She lowered her head and tail with a low moan, the steel that was was formed around it wearing away as she felt her fighting spirit fade. A shadow fell over her eyes as she stood, her mind becoming clouded with emotions concerning Mark's rather harsh words. It was at this moment, when the pause and quiet came upon the room, that Mark realized what he had said to this Pokemon, and his anger quickly flushed away, turning into regret. "Oh Arceus... I'm so sorry... I-" Mark said with a quiver in his voice, reaching his hand out to pet her. When he did however, the Luxray roared at him, making Mark cry out and stumble to the back of the wall. She panted with a mix of emotions as she turned away, passing everyone to pad over to her bed. She stumbled here and there, but she managed to make it, sitting on top of the blankets as she curled her tail back to it's normal form. The Luxray's fur sparked loudly as the fur moved like grass in the wind, hinting at the Pokemon's emotional state. Mark stared and tried to walk to the Luxray again, despite himself being poisoned.



The Blaziken breathed out quickly when Shine let go, feeling her weight disappear from his arms. However, he could still feel the cold, and could feel his movements slowing, pain springing through his body if he tried to move quickly. He winced again, unable to stop himself. Before the fight sprung out between the human and the pokemon, he barrelled through the pain and sprung on the bowl of berries. His sudden movement toppled the bowl, and before he solidified, he shoved a berry that he recognised from it's warm scent into his mouth. In this moment, he knew that he was incredibly vulnerable to attack, so as soon as he could manage, and as soon as the pain had numbed itself and returned to a normal feeling (which was long after the fight had began and ended) he spun around, only to see that Shine wasn't trying to fight anymore. He looked around the room in panic for a few seconds, before seeing her, lying down on her bed.

He looked down at her, then at the berries around his feet. In a moment that would get him hit if his master was around, he was - truly, for him - brave. Movements slow as part of his brain tried to convince him to stop, he picked up a Sitrus berry. But before he could reach out to hold it to Shine, he thought he heard footsteps. By the time that he had shoved it in his mouth to get rid of it, he realised that it was his heartbeat, pounding against his head like an angry demon.

He sighed, relieved to not be in danger anymore, but also from the pure pleasure of feeling his health slowly replenish. After his close call - though there was really no danger at all - he didn't dare to try and build up the courage. He walked over to Mark and held out a hand. "Blai, zi-ken?" He asked sharply, but not angrily, staring at the human with eyes that only seemed a little bothered by it's situation. He hoped that the human could (because then he could focus on carrying around the dead body of his partner) but if he couldn't, then he would have to carry two bodies over his shoulder. Or could he do one over his shoulder and one on his back? Or just supporting the live one? He shivered, both from his close encounter with being frozen, and the fact that he had to think about the logistics of carrying a dead body and a wounded person.

He looked over at the Herdier. "Are you his pokémon?" He asked, though he sniffed the air and smelt the defined stench of urine and faeces; a kennel pokemon. His nose instantly wrinkled in involuntary distaste. Kennel pokemon were dirty, and diseased. They were mostly there for specific dog fights, or guarding the building, or the younger ones were just distraction if the building got attacked by the police. The Blaziken didn't really see the point of them, but it didn't usually matter to him, because he never had to interact with them. "Why are you here?" He asked the Herdier.



Shine didn't move at all when the Blaziken had its little panic attack with the threat of being frozen, she just sat with sparking fur. She sensed Mark's hand getting closer to her when he reached out again, and responded with a slap of his hand with her tail, making him reel his hand back in pain. He sighed and shook his head, realizing that he'd done wrong in speaking like that to her.

He backed away and stood near the door, looked up to the fire type as he asked him a question. It seemed to be asking him if he was okay, which made sense considering the situation. "Yeah... In okay," Mark responded. He looked down at the Herdier, who whimpered and lowered his ear, saddened at how the Luxray looked at the moment.

But he was still wary when it came to the Blaziken, and he backed away from him when he spoke, though his fur was a bit on edge as he looked up. "No in not his Pokemon... I'm a Kennel Dweller," the Herdier said with a sigh. It was a nickname that the Pokemon that lived above the Kennel area gave those that weren't so fortunate to be more than tracking mutts and slaves, even though, in a sense, all of the Pokemon were slaves in a way. He saw the look of disdain in the Blaziken's face, and growled with bristled fur, as he was insulted that the Fire type didn't seem to have the decency to act that way when he wasn't there. "And I was picked up by him and his partner to track down some girl... When I found this room, the other human busted down the door and began shouting at her and some creepy frog, shooting at them and causing a ruckus," the Herdier explained as he pointed a paw at Shine.

Shine growled lowly when she heard the explanation, for even though it was true, she didn't feel like hearing anyone speaking. "Leave my room.... Now," Shine said with a huff. The Herdier lowered an ear and slowly crept to the bed, whimpering as he looked to the down-trodden Luxray. "Are you sure you're okay? You don't have to be-"

"I said GO AWAY! AND TAKE THAT SORRY CHUNK OF MEAT AWAY WITH YOU!" Shine roared as she whirled around with bared teeth. The Herdier yelped and dashed out the room as quickly as he could, not looking back as he turned the corner. Mark flinched and scrambled out the room with a gasp, not daring to go back in the room after what the Luxray just did. Shine panted as two had left the room, turning her hurt gaze to the Blaziken. "You got what you wanted... Now go before I Wild Charge you out," Shine growled.



The Blaziken nodded to Mark and held out a hand to help him up. "Blaz." He said, nodding to his hand. He turned his attention back to the Herdier, and scowled at his growls. "Go back home." He said in a monotone voice, though he had a definite growl to his voice, at the back of his throat.

Now a little angrier than before, he grabbed Mark by the wrist and pulled him to his feet. "Ken." He growled, beginning to drag the human out of the room. When the Luxray lashed out, he let go of Mark and shoved him out of the room. He grabbed the Herdier by the scruff of the neck and threw him out after him, slamming the door shut behind him. He turned around and looked at the Luxray again. "If you won't settle, I'll knock you out myself." He growled, his muscles rippling again as he prepared a move.

Mark and the Herdier grunted when the Blaziken shoved them out of the room, with the Herdier yipping as he was thrown to Mark. Mark caught the dog just before he hit the floor, sighing when the door slammed shut. "He's pushy too isn't he?" Mark asked the Herdier. The Herdier quickly agreed with a growling yip, nodding his head as he lowered an ear.



Shine's fur crackled at the Blaziken's threat once he closed the door, cross at the way the Fire type insisted on threatening her. She noticed his body as he prepared to do something, but she was a bit emotional and angry to think logically. "Make me you overgrown meal on two legs!" Shine snarled as she flicked her tail. She extended her claws and bared her teeth at the Blaziken, warning him to stay away.

The Blaziken narrowed his eyes at the Luxray. "You're quite close to fainting." He growled, taking a few steps forwards despite Shine's claws, though he stayed out of Shine's swiping range. "If I were you, I'd back down." He taunted and advised at the same time, watching her the aggressive flicks of her tail and the sparks that her body still gave off. He turned his attention back to her face and head, and finally took notice of the mark on her forehead. He stared at it curiously, unsure of what it even was.

Shine huffed at the statement the Blaziken said; she didn't want to admit it, but he was right... She was close to fainting... And she couldn't hide it from him either. When he came a few steps closer , she snarled lower at him, but didn't make any moves, unwilling to feel the embarrassment of fainting in front of him. She let her tail unravel and rest beside her legs, keeping her eyes on the Fire type as long as he stood there, making sure he didn't make any sudden moves. Shine then noticed that the Blaziken was focused on her face- or rather, something on her face. She tilted her head in confusion, wondering what he was looking at. After a moment, it dawned on Shine about her moon mark, and gasped a little, turning her head while putting a paw on her mark. "What are you looking at?" Shine asked regardless of knowing what the answer was.



The Blaziken could tell that Shine's stubbornness was faltering by her lowering tail, and smirked a little in his head, but showed no change in his outer appearance. He was beginning to get tired of the atmosphere in the room; grim. Smelt of betrayal.

He was surprised when the Luxray noticed him staring, and even more surprised when she seemed ashamed of it. He was tempted to leave the room to see if he was in the Special Wing, like he suspected, but didn't dare turn his back on the angry pokémon. Instead, he gruffly replied; "that mark, on your forehead. What is it, a scar?”

Shine growled when the Blaziken replied to her and asked about the mark, unsure and mostly unwilling to tell what her mark really was.... She wasn't keen on anyone seeing her mark, as it often let to judgmental looks and mocking taunts, something that she had grown used to. But it didn't mean she liked it. She lowered an ear and growled a bit, flicking the tip of her tail as she slowly sat down. "No it's not... I was born with it. And my tail, and my size.... Why? So you can tease me and mock me? Say you're better than me just because you're normal?" Shine asked with a raising voice.



The Blaziken didn't seem to respond to the latter part of what she said. "What does it do?" He asked curiously, his guard lowering as he became more and more curious. "Does it give you psychic typing?" He asked, not moving backwards despite gradually becoming easier to strike. He had heard about some pokemon in the Special Cup were there because birth defects gave them an additional typing. He could also see how her tail alone could have gotten her in; it was easily stronger than one of his arms, since it could drag him closer to her when she used that Wild Charge headbutt. He placed a hand on the top of his head; a lump was beginning to grow.



Shine snorted when the Blaziken asked her about her moon mark once again. What was he to gain from knowing about her? Why did he care? It surprised Shine that there were still Pokemon that didn't subjugate her immediate because she was different. With a slower flicking tail than before, and her fur slightly more relaxed, Shine sighed and shook her head from side to side. "No... I'm a normal Luxray in that sense... My moon doesn't do anything but make me a target for these hunters... I've been hunted for as long as I can remember," Shine said as she turned her head to the side. She huffed her breath and put a paw over her moon mark again, her self-conciseness taking hold again.



The Blaziken hesitated. He titled his head. "Why didn't they just kill you?" He asked bluntly. "If it doesn't do anything, why didn't they just skin you? I'm sure my master would love a new rug," he said. He didn't mean it in a bad way, or even a threatening way. For as long as he could remember, he had to think of what was best for his master, what his master wanted, so of course he was going to remember the angry comments made about how his master's rug was getting stained with blood. He still didn't realise, just stared at Shine as he waited for her response.



Shine put her paw down and glared at the Blaziken with narrowed eyes for a moment when he mentioned the hunters killing her. She wasn't sure if it was said in a threatening way, but she didn't make any moves for the moment. "Humph.... I don't know why... Perhaps they want to see how I am in here first. But I'll be damned if I let those despicable humans try and lay a blade on me to skin me.... I'll kill them all before I'll let that happen," Shine growled as she extended edger claws out of her paws a little bit.

She then looked to the Blaziken and stared at him for a moment, not saying or doing anything to signify what she was going to do. Then, without warning, Shine got up on her feet and padded over to the Blaziken, slowing her pace down as she went behind his legs. She sniffed his legs, barely picking up the scent of a stranger. She also managed to pick up the little girl's scent, making Shine tilt her head with a snort in curiosity. "Why is she on your scent? How do you know her?" Shine asked as she curled up her tail.



The Blaziken made a noise somewhere between a scoff and a chuckle. "You do realise that if you bite a human any higher up than a grunt, every pokémon in the facility will be sent to hunt you down, right?" He said with a raised eyebrow. He smiled slightly, almost peacefully, as if the thought confronted him in some way. He noticed her claws, and in that instant, he was back on high alert, his muscles tensing as he anticipated an attack. He flinched when he saw her stand up after the silence, and carefully turned body to look at her wherever she went, unwilling to turn his back on the beast.

He raised his eyebrow. "Who is this her you're talking about?" He asked in a low growl, forgetting that the whole reason he'd been sent was to find the girl's babysitters.



Shine lowered her ears with a growl at the Blaziken when he growled at her, tempting her to strike at him again. But she didn't want to engage with him again, for she hadn't healed herself at all. She decided to get back to the question at hand, for she almost forgot about his own question. "You watch yourself here.... You're still in my space you know... And the little human! If you don't know what I'm talking about, then why do you have her scent on you? What other young human had you seen when you came down here?" Shine asked with a huff.



The Blaziken dared to smirk at the angry, but wounded Luxray. "If you try and attack me, you'll find that you'll faint rather quickly," he warned. His smirk turned into a smile for a quick second as he realised that the two could move so effortlessly and seamlessly between threatening one another and having a (somewhat) civil conversation. The smile went straight into a scowl as he considered Shine's question, still not turning his back on her. "You mean the master's granddaughter?" He asked.



Shine growled when the Blaziken threatened her fainting... She warned about her space. 'I don't care if I'm close to fainting! If he threatens me once more...' Shine thought with a snort. She straightened out when the Blaziken finally said something that suggested the little human, and sat down with a tilted head. "Head Hunter? His granddaughter?" Shine asked in disbelief. She didn't know that Claudine was related to the person who ran this place. That was a small problem; now Shine can't show that much aggression towards him just to keep Claudine in her good spirits. Shine sighed and swayed her tail from side to side, thinking on how Mark was involved in all this.... He seemed to know the girl on a more personal level than he showed.... She saw that when he apologized to her outside the room.... "Oh!" Shine suddenly said as she looked to the door. The Luxray shook her head slightly and got back up, padding back to her bed with lowered ears..... "You better go out there and help him..... He's still poisoned you know," Shine said while she had her head halfway facing the Blaziken.



The Blaziken hesitated. "Why didn't you say so?" He asked, walking backwards to her berry bowl. He turned the large bowl upside down so that the berries all fell on the floor. He began to shuffle through the berries, and picked up a large Pecha Berry. He threw it from one hand to the other, testing the weight. He judged that it was strong. He walked to the door, opened it, and rolled it along the ground towards Mark. He closed the door again and pushed himself up against the door. "I'm not leaving yet." He growled, standing tall. "How do you know the master's grandchild?" He asked, entire body flexing.



Shine snorted when the Blaziken knocked over her berry bowl, watching as the Fire type grabbed a Pecha berry and walked over to the door. She tilted her head when he simply threw it out of the room, but bared her teeth a little when he didn't leave. Shine flicked her tail softly as she listened to the Blaziken as his question, growing irritated at his aggression and the flexing of his body. What did that mean? Was he preparing a move or something? Shine kept her guard up while she turned around to face the Blaziken, blinking as she searched her thoughts to answer his question.

"I met her earlier today.... She was on the top of this tall den when I came down from that loud human carrier.... Accompanied by a quiet Toxicroak.... Perhaps you know of him? Or are you kept in your little cage to often to see the outside?" Shine asked with a snort.



The Blazkien scoffed at Shine and turned up his nose at the Luxray. He let out one strong, confident 'ha!' "I know every part of this building like the back of my hand." He growled. "I've seen the rooms of the best pokémon, I've seen the cells for the losers." He growled, and cracked his knuckles. "And may I point out that you are not allowed out of this room unless you are lead on a leash." He added, going into baby speak when he got to the leash part.

He cleared his throat again. "But yes, the Toxicroak." He smiled. "He's easy to beat if you don't get him mad." He said, then rolled his shoulders. "Explain further." He commanded.



Shine lowered her ears at the bragging Blaziken; she didn't like it when one bragged at what they did.... But then again, Shine might've done the same thing about the forest if it was her... Either way, his confident and snooty attitude made her huff at him, and when he said that she wasn't allowed to be let out without a leash, it made the Luxray growl with contempt, for she didn't want to be taken out by anyone but herself. She remembered when she was captured by those hunters and taken to the humans with the white coats and had collars and leashes to pull her around. She hated it then, and she knew that she'd hate it now. The baby voice was plain irksome, and she sparked her fur in response. She hated being treated like a clueless kit, even though there were things that she didn't know.

She scratched her side when he said that Frog was easy to beat if she didn't get him mad. She didn't want to make him mad, but if she was to fight him, it sounded near impossible in her opinion... Or just common sense would say so. She shuddered a little at the possibility of having to officially fight him, and curled her tail around her leg, though she looked up when the Blaziken told her to explain herself more. With a small snort, Shine lifted her head stuck out her tongue at the Blaziken, searching her mind on what to say. "What? What do you want me to say? I met the Toxicroak in the forest.... Well, kinda... I was... Captured," Shine said with a sigh. She turned her body halfway and lowered her ears, reminded of how she was captured in from of her friends... It was humiliating and demeaning, and it had brought Shine's spirit down quite a bit (even though she would never want to admit it). "Why do you care?' Shine asked with a growl.



The Blaziken snorted at Shine's vague mixture of emotions; lowered ears, but growling and sparking fur. He snorted again. He noted the shudder and scoffed a little. "You...you do realise that you will have to fight him at some point, right?" He said slowly, almost tauntingly. He sighed slowly and pressed his clawed finger against his forehead. "No, no, that's not what I'm asking." He growled, glaring at the Luxray. He wanted it to come across that he had no interest in her backstory, but it was more that he could actually be pretty emotional when it came to the kidnapping stories. He looked away from Shine. "Tell me about the girl!" He shouted. "How do you know her? Why was she anywhere near you?!"



Shine gave a 'humph' at the Blaziken's statement of her having to fight Frog, though she was a bit nervous at this fact; she wasn't willing to go through it... But if it would help her get home, ten she'll do so... Perhaps her beating Frog would help her get closer to escaping. When the Blaziken shouted at her, Shine at first flinched, but almost immediately recovered, and sparked her fur with anger. She unwrapped her tail and launched it at the Blaziken's legs, wrapping around them before pulling hard to make him fall. With a growl, Shine jumped on his back straight from her bed, and snarled in his ear with bared teeth as she dug her claws in him. "You don't shout at me! I don't care where you think you stand in this twisted pecking order. You are in my room..... Let me tell you now that I'll gladly die from harming you rather than dealing with these cruel humans," Shine warned with a snarl. After a few moments, she exhaled as if she was releasing some of her pent up anger, and sat down fully on the Blaziken's back, flicking her ears as she tilted her head. "Now, you were asking about the girl yes? She must've walked into my room on accident..... I... I remember her carrying a sort of flat object that had human food on it, so I can only assume that she was looking for a place to eat... Does that answer your question?" Shine asked with a huff.



The Blaziken seemed taken by surprise at first by Shine fighting back. Quickly, he wrapped his claws around her neck and flung her over his shoulders, onto the ground in front of him. He scrambled to his feet and pressed one foot against her chest, pinning her down to the ground. He snatched her tail and wrapped it around his hand, pulling up sharply. He moved crouched down and, keeping one hand on Shine's stomach, pinned her neck down with his claw-hand so that she wouldn't reel up and bite him. He pulled harder on her tail, growling. He growled even louder and even more aggressively at the information he was given. He pressed down harder on her neck, only loosening up when he realised that if he killed the Luxray, he would get punishment. She had certainly been amusing to watch. He now wished that he had gone to see it, since if he had he would likely have been able to prepare better for any tactics she used commonly. But maybe it was good for him; if he knew what to expect, he probably would have accidentally killed her by now...
"Tell me more. Tell me what happened after." He commanded.



Shine gasped when she was suddenly grabbed by her neck, giving a surprised roar when she landed on her back. It took her by surprise, not to mention a bit painful, so Shine didn't react as quickly as she would normally would. Before she could get up she was pinned down by the Blaziken's foot, making her raise a paw to swipe at the sometimes sensitive leg. She did this a couple of times until her tail was wrapped around the Blaziken's other hand and tugged on, making her flinch and gasp in pain. It was different when someone else forcefully pulled on Shine's tail than if she tugged it herself.

Her toes and lower half of her body instantly curled up at the pain, and her tail immediately began zapping at the Blaziken's hand for grabbing it too hard. Shine always knew that there was a weakness to her tail, and always made sure to keep those weaknesses under management... But she normally fought Pokemon like her- four-legged Pokemon that often fought with tooth and claw- and even if they were able to use two paws, they normally wanted to go for the neck and back... This Blaziken on the other hand, was much more smarter, and proved to be a much more difficult enemy to fight. Her belly was a bit ticklish, so she shook her body to cover up for her sensitivity in that particular area.

The Luxray snapped at the approaching claw-hand that the Blaziken was getting closer and closer to her neck, raising a paw to dig her claws into his arm, but couldn't do it once the claw-hand was around her neck. She gasped and began to choke, her tongue sticking out as she struggled to fight back. The pressing down on her neck made her body spark up her fur involuntarily, all while Shine began to see spots. 'I... Can't... Breathe....' Shine thought with closed eyes.

Suddenly, the grip on her neck was loosened, allowing for her to breathe normally. She coughed and wheezed for air, her mouth slightly foaming as she stopped struggling for a short moment. When told to tell him more about her experience, Shine managed to let a growl escape her throat, as she couldn't believe that this arrogant male expected her to spill her story after choking her out. But she sighed inwardly and lowered her ears, for she seemed to not have a choice.

"I was minding my own business when she came in.... I didn't know that they were coming in; she must've came in on her own accord. I scared her a little, but we eventually got a bit friendly and..." Shine paused mid-sentence and looked down, unwilling to say what she did with the girl.



The Blaziken hissed in pain as the sparks hit against the parts of his body that were weak. Over his time training, he had trained himself to not have any weak points that could really lose him a battle if they were struck, but points still remained on places like his wrists, his ankles, his knees, places like that. Having never immobilised an electric type like he was currently doing, he had never comprehended the possibility of sparks hitting these points. He mentally thanked the Luxray while he listened to what she had to say.

He growled. She was no help. Roughly, he got off of the Luxray and shook out his hair. It would appear that he got off because he was done with Shine, which was part of it, but really, the stinging from the sparks was really, really beginning to hurt. He subtly rubbed his wrist. "I'm done with you." He growled, kicking Shine in the back in a way that was almost akin to play-fighting with how light it was. "I'm not sending a Chansey for you." He growled, swiftly leaving the room and closing and locking the door behind him.

He looked down at the Herdier, the dead body, and Mark. He fixed the dog with a sinister, intimidating glare, like he was a stern teacher and the Herdier an incompetent brat. "Blaziken ken." He growled.



Shine panted a little as she pawed at her neck a little, growling at how much her neck hurt. When he got off of her, Shine got on her paws and curled her tail, lightly licking it on the areas that the heavy-handed Blaziken gripped. The light kick on her back made her growl, turning around with a tired look and irritated on her face. She hadn't fought in such small spaces since her capture, which was infinitely infuriating. When he said that he wasn't going to send some stranger Pokémon, she huffed as the door slammed, padding up to the door to hear a lock on it. This made her angry again, which prompted her to get on the door with a loud roar. "Next time we meet, I'm tearing you to shreds you two legged human pet!" Shine threatened as she slammed a paw on the door. With that, she huffed and slid back to the floor, where her anger quickly began to die down. She soon began to feel her adrenaline begin to waiver, which gave way to her body's exhaustion. All that energy that she used up on the Blaziken was a large amount, but Shine had prevented herself from feeling herself get too tired.

But once all of the fighting was over, her body forced itself to allow all the drainage overcome her, making Shine grow extremely tired in a short amount of time. It surprised her very much to see herself so tired, and it somewhat scared her, for she didn't like how she felt in this state. She got up on her paws to stumble over to the berry bowl, which had been knocked over by the damn Blaziken. She nosed through the leftover berries and saw that there were no more Sitrus berries, forcing her to go for whatever was left. With a begrudging huff, Shine grabbed an Oran berry with her teeth, and ate it with her increasingly tired jaws. A yawn escaped Shine's mouth as she turned around, dropping on her bed with a couple of blinks. She thought about how she was ever going to live in such a hostile environment before for only a couple of moments, as her exhaustion almost immediately made her shut down to rest herself. Shine closed her eyes as she played on her somewhat messed up bed, her body halfway curled up as she went to a deep sleep.

The Herdier jumped a little when he hears a roar and a slam on the door he was sitting in front of, lowering his ears as he suddenly saw the Blaziken glare down at him with scary eyes. He let out a small whimper before he shook himself, making himself stand in such a way that he didn't seem afraid of the tall and powerful Fighting-type. He looked over to the sleeping human and sighed, looking back over to the Blaziken with a huff. "Herdier. Herdier herd-herd," the young Normal type protested back.

The Blaziken glared down at the Herdier. "You're a slave dog," he spat. "Find yourself a human that's as low as you and run back home to your little filthy family." Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be so cruel or so blatant with how he hated the kennel-dwellers, but in that moment, he was wounded and now faced with the duty of carrying back a sleeping and a dead man. Speaking of the sleeping man...

The Blaziken approached Mark. Scowling, he knelt on the ground and grabbed the human by the neck, pinning him to the ground so that he wouldn't lash out whenever he woke up. With the other hand, he slapped the human roughly across the face, making sure that his claws got right into his skin. As long as one of the humans was awake, it was one less body to carry, of course.
 
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The Herdier lifted his ears and stood with a shocked look on his face at the cruel comment. He couldn't believe how harsh the Blaziken was for doing his job, and he felt a flicker of anger inside of him. However, he quelled the flames down, as he knew that he wouldn't be able to fight the Fire type even if he was injured.
The Herdier couldn't hold back the downhearted whine that came out his throat, and with lowered ears looked to the sleeping human with saddened eyes. In such a short amount of time, he had grown a bit attached to the man, and wanted to see and to know if he would be better. It was his job, despite it not being his choice in the first place, but this once it was a bit more and duty.

Defeated, the dog sadly padded down the hall as the Blaziken proceeded to wake Mark up, who gasped from the sudden pain on his face. He panicked when he wasn't able to get up and gasped for air frantically, but when he saw who it was holding him down, he calmed down, although not by much, and tapped the Fighting type's hand with his good arm.

"Okay.... You can let go now," Mark strained to say.
 
The Blaziken watched the Herdier go, a sick feeling of satisfaction in his heart. Mutts didn't deserve to speak with anyone that was owned. He turned back to the human, noticing that he had woken up. He nodded and stood back up, grabbing Mark under the armpit and forcefully hoisting him to his feet. He grunted and tipped his head in the direction of the elevator as he walked over to Cameron's dead body. He gagged at the sight of the human, but slipped his arms under the body and lifted him up. He avoided looking directly at the body, instead staring rather eerily at Mark.

He started to walk towards the elevator, looking over his shoulder constantly to make sure that Mark wasn't going to run off. He stepped into the elevator, which was already at their floor, and pushed the button to keep the door open. He watched Mark with steady eyes, dropping Cameron's heavy body down to the ground.
 
Mark grunted when he was lifted up by the Blaziken, reflexively holding his jabbed arm with his good hand as he stood up. He watched as the stronger Pokémon walked in the direction of the elevator, reminding him of what he needed to do. He briefly turned his head to the Luxray's door, still very repentant over how he exploded and brought her down, then gave a short sigh before following the Blaziken to the elevator.

He noticed that the Pokémon was watching him as they walked; at first it didn't mean anything to Mark, but when they eventually had to be in a smaller space it began to take hold of his conscious. He tried to think of other things besides the eyes staring at his person, but he couldn't stop, sometimes taking small glances on the corner's of his eyes to see if Blaziken was still watching.
Of courses it was going to be the most uncomfortable once they were actually inside the elevator, the thudding of the dead body hitting the floor making the atmosphere even more morbid at the minutes went on.

As several floors went by, he couldn't take it anymore, and turned His gaze to the Fire type. "Honestly? What is your problem? I can't run away so stop looking at me. Jeez, you are so like my father," Mark claimed with a short huff.
 
The Blaziken huffed at Mark, but didn't move his gaze. He opened his mouth to say something, but knowing that Mark wouldn't understand, he said nothing. Instead, her pointed at Cameron's body, then at Mark; clearly a sort of threat by the look on his face. He smiled smugly and then turned back to the elevator door.

It binged as it reached the Mr Moreau's office floor. The Blaziken tugged Cameron up, carrying him over his shoulder as he stepped out of the elevator and down the singular corridor towards Mr. Moreau's office. When he came to the huge door, he knocked politely, and gave a short 'Blaz' to announce who it was. The door beeped as the lock slid open and the Blaziken walked into the large room, face grim. He crouched down and laid Cameron's body on the ground, careful that it wasn't in an area that would stain whatever ground it was under.

In the room, Mr Moreau sat at his desk, going through some paperwork. He didn't look up from his work until Mark walked into the room. Claudine and Frog sat in a large armchair in the corner, Claudine in Frog's lap with his arms wrapped protectively around her, sleeping soundly. The Blaziken walked back out of the room, holding the door open as he watched to make sure that Mark was following.
 
Mark briefly took his gaze to the limp body under him when the Blaziken pointed at him and Mark and shivered. Of course, he was going to be questioned about the whole situation, and why a dead body was being lugged by his Blaziken. Damn it, he did not expect the mission to take such a sudden and violent turn. He followed the Pokémon to the room of the Head Hunter, and hesitantly walked in. As he stepped in, Mark thought about how the two Pokémon - and speak of the Giratina - here was one of them. He gasped quietly when the sight of the Toxicroak graced his eyes. He nearly panicked when his arms were wrapped around Claudine, but sighed when he was under her protection to begin with. He was happy that the Pokémon was asleep, as he didn't know how he would feel with those aggressive eyes glaring at him - he was going to get enough of that as is.

He sighed and tentatively walked closer, trying to mentally and possibility physically prepare for the various assaults that were about to be unleashed on him, and tensed his body as he stood still. "Yes sir?" Mark spoke in as much of a normal voice as possible.
 
Mr. Moreau finally looked up from his work. His Blaziken retreated to the area beside the armchair, sitting down crosslegged as to stay out of the way. The frightening Frenchman's eyes fell upon Cameron's body, and then to Mark. He breathed in slowly, and sighed. He got out of his chair and walked up to Mark, taking great care to be uncomfortably close to him.

"You had one. Fucking. Job." He hissed, standing a good few inches above Mark. His long grey hair shimmered in the bright office lights, and his wrinkly skin looked ill and pale. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't sell you out to the police right now." His voice was very low. To anyone else, it would look like sheer intimidation tactics. In reality, he didn't want to wake Claudine or Frog up, at least not until Mark was beaten to bits and out of his office.
 
Mark tensed up when the man rose up from his chair. He inched closer to Mark in a horrifyingly slow pace, and stopped in an equally, if not surpassing manner of terror, inches from him. Literally inches from his face. Mark at this point lost all hope of hiding the fear in his body and shivered a little, flinching when Mr. Moreau spoke up in his low voice.

Oh there were no amount of words that would describe how much Mark wished he was in Cameron's place. To be in this position... It was like insulting Arceus in its face and then being approached by it at a painstakingly slow pace. He'd much rather be dead... Or at least running for his life in the forest from a pack of Mightyena. The terror wouldn't even compare. He didn't even want to say anything to the man, out of fear that he would be killed on the spot or something.

But he had to say something... Anything. So he did...

"S-sir," Mark started with a quiver in his voice, "It just so happened that Claudine and Frog were inside a Pokemon's room. Cameron..." He paused and looked to the limp body, and wondered if he should keep going. It would be unwise to stop at any chance... It might anger Moreau even more than he is now... Although, it seemed impossible that he'd be more angry than he was now.

"Cameron angered the Pokémon... Both her and the Toxicroak. It killed Cameron in an attempt to protect her and then jabbed me in its rage." Mark paused once more and felt a twinge of boldness in him. Would it be smart to act upon it? "It was Cameron's fault for getting himself killed, not mine. He should've listened to me when things were going as planned," Mark said with an accidental huff.
 
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Mr. Moreau stayed silent as Mark spoke, and for a little while afterwards too. He glanced over at his granddaughter, still sleeping in the armchair. Mark had answered a question that he hadn't asked, but it piqued his interest far more than any other answer would.

He raised a huge eyebrow, hands folded behind his back. "What pokemon was in the room?" He asked, turning around and walking back to his desk. He perched on the edge of it, putting his hands on his knees as he stared Mark down. "Which pokemon was responsible for the death? Whatever pokemon it was will receive great punishment. Either death, or severe humiliation, followed by death." This was a blatant lie. If it was revealed that it was Frog that had killed Cameron, nothing would happen to him. He valued his granddaughter's babysitter more than any other pokemon in the building. "Also, why was the door not locked?"

When he was finished asking those questions, he plucked up a notepad from the table. Even before Mark answered, he was writing something down. There was barely a moment where his pencil was off the page. This was a common form of punishment or interrogation in the event of a death; someone would write down a long list of questions, and then the paper would be passed to the interrogated party. If they didn't answer a question, or answered it in a vague way, there would be violence. Suddenly, he heard the snakiness in Mark's voice.

He dropped the pad and pen onto the table, looking up at Mark slowly. "I best not have heard insubordination there." He stood up, walking closer to Mark again. He stood closer this time, bending down ever so slightly to be eye-to-eye. "Believe me, I know about the link between you and that Luxray. If I hear something like that from you again, I'll hang you both upside down by your toes and have you eaten alive by the beggars." He said in a low, taunting voice.
 
Mark blinked when Moreau asked which Pokémon was in the room, for he didn't know why he would want to know. He was a bit wary, as he didn't know what he would do if he did tell. Nonetheless, he knew it wouldn't be wise in the very least to lie to Moreau. "It was a Luxray sir. A female Luxray," Mark stated in a quieter voice.
When he asked Mark who had killed Cameron with the threat of punishing the culprit, it took everything in Mark to not laugh out loud at the clear lie. Mark knew better than to believe that if any of his Pokémon - especially those that are taking care of his grandchildren - did something so drastic they would get away with an excuse and even a praise for protecting them. He scoffed inwardly and shook his head, knowing better than to test anything. "Toxicroak killed Cameron sir. I have no idea why the door wasn't locked sir."

Mark nervously eyed the paper and pen in the man's hands, wondering what he was writing as he spoke. But did he really want to know? Even so, it was possible that he would know soon enough. When Moreau looked up from Mark's last comment, Mark immediately regretted saying it. He should've known that Moreau would've caught that. While he wasn't trying to be disrespectful per se, he was just stating his irritation in that he had to deal with this crap when everything fell on him.

Moreau walked closer to Mark once more, and what's worse, he was practically in the younger man's face, waaay worse than the first time. Mark subconsciously held his breath as Moreau threatened him, holding himself back from straight up hyperventilating.
"N-no s-sir... No insubordination here... Just a slip of the tongue sir..." Mark pleaded as he backed himself to the wall behind him. He blinked when he felt the thud behind him, and he knew at that moment that he was truly trapped. He couldn't back away from this terror of a man, this man who he believed could intimidate a damn Salamence and make it bend at his will. Mark whined in his head at why he was getting the worst out of this man. But yet at the same time, Mark had the terrible thought that this probably wasn't the worst of Moreau... And he prayed that he wouldn't see that side of him any time soon.

When the old boss mentioned the 'link' between Mark and the Luxray, he blinked in confusion, half of it being pure confusion, and half of it was Mark trying to be misleading; however, the actual confusion won out first. "A l-link sir? I-I don't understand what you mean by that," Mark said with squinting eyes.
 
A smile spread across Mr. Moreau's face. It was a big, toothy one, stretching ear to ear. With the right lighting, it would be enough to give a child nightmares for the rest of their lives. "Ah, the Luxray." He whispered, tapping his fingers smartly together. "Under normal circumstances, she would be beaten just for being involved. But she is the most promising pokémon in the building at the moment. So I'll leave her be." His smile lowered down to a more normal, taunting level.

When Mark said that it was Toxicroak that had taken Cameron out, Mr Moreau froze in place, staring Mark down. "Well, you did say that it was Cameron's fault," he said, lifting up one hand and spinning his wedding band around his finger (what sort of woman would marry such a man?)

He smiled at how uncomfortable Mark was getting, and stepped back a little to give him some relief, satisfied with his fear. He let out a low chuckle. "The link is quite obvious, you imbécile." He said with a smile, slipping into french easily. "Jakal told me about your odd behaviour, so I decided to do a little background check." He shrugged, almost careless. "I mean, if you do just as I say, neither you or her will get hurt. Or her little family, all the way back on that little island." He fanned his hand in the air as if to show the distance.
 
Mark mentally sighed in relief when he heard that the Luxray would be spared. He didn't know what he would do if she was hurt by these cruel humans. He couldn't see why Moreau did the things he did... But he was happy that the Luxray was okay... For the time being at least. When he saw the ring on the man's finger, he sighed quietly to himself, shaking his head but keeping quiet as to not attract any more attention. He did not want to argue to this man about his marriage. That would not be a good thing to talk about considering his mood as of now.

To his surprise, Mark finally breathed when Moreau backed off of him, which suggested that he was holding his breath all that time when he was backed against the wall. 'Ridiculous. I hate it when he does that... Does he really find pleasure in this?' Mark asked questioned in his head as he crossed his arms. The young man was a bit insulted when he was called imbecile, as he didn't think it was necessary for him to be called such things. Besides, he was smart, able to think for himself and able to solve problems. He just had a bit of compassion with it, and it made him hesitant to do certain things that might've came easily to the other cruel people here.

When he mentioned hurting the Luxray and her family, he looked back up and frowned, glancing out of the large window with a small whimper in his head. Why them?

"But why would you hurt them? Isn't that a waste of resources and time? They are far away from here, and they have nothing to do with this place," Mark commented as he stared out to the horizon.



~~~~~

Bayside Forest

The clouds rolled slowly through the sky as the day went by. The group had still been trying to get over the entire event that had gone down just a day before, and everyone seemed to be feeling the pain. Even the young children tried to take it in. Hatch often asked where 'Mommy' was, and the Shinx kits often tried to search in the woods in slight denial; they kept hoping that Shine would just be laying somewhere in the woods, perhaps wounded and unable to come back - then they'd save her and she'd be back. Leosear and Jacob tried to comfort Peter at times, but they were often met with growls and small Flamethrowers to drive them and others away.
Thankfully, Jacob was willing to keep Leosear company, and they were able to cope a little together. Jacob often let Leosear sit on his back while he laid on a large rock on top of a small sand mound. He didn't do much but stare in the distance, where the helicopters took Shine away.

At this time, the kits and Hatch sat on the sand and ate berries that had been gathered a while back. They spoke to each other and tried to keep a friendly conversation.

"Those five Wingull flew like they were on fire! It was super funny how they slammed into each other like that," Xion exclaimed with a laugh. "Yeah! And then that random Pelipper came up and Ray tried to chase it off but was scared when it opened its big mouth!" Shia added with a laughing voice. "Not funny! It was gonna eat me! You wasn't there!" Ray whined. "I was right behind you! It was yawning you silly dofus," Shia teased with a poke to his back.
 
Mr Moreau rolled his eyes behind his circular glasses. It was such a powerful gesture of 'I cannot believe how stupid you are' that anyone that saw it would likely feel guilty, even if they had only just walked into the room. "This is why you're not ever going to be successful. Jamais." He clapped his hands together, the smile on his face sadistic, not caring to translate the last word.

"This business is worth more money than you can comprehend," he began. "And we have other ways to make lots of money. Blackmail, hitmen, and just our normal income." This was no news. Everyone knew that Moreau dabbled in all types of shadiness. "So, il n'y a aucun problème to send out just one helicopter with the necessary equipment to go and get one of those pathetic pokemon. And if we tell the Luxray that we killed her family, that'll make her angry, won't it? And angry pokemon are good fighters. We put up notice to our regulars about an eventful fight, and we make triple the money we would normally."

He smiled, content with himself, and finished with his tangent. "Do you have any more asinine questions?" He didn't wait for an answer. "In any case, you need to dispose of this now. Evidently, you are to blame, so you will take responsibility." He hesitated, obviously starting to think about what to do as he sat down behind his desk. "Take the body down to B5." This was a worrying start. Basement level five was, most notably, where the butcher was. "Take it to the butchers room. Stay there - in the room - until the butcher is finished. Then, pack him up and take him down to the restaurant on Lusso Street."

Lusso Street was a street full of high end stores. The shops were expensive and the clothes inside were worn by celebrities. It had VIP Clubs and everything a rich man could wish for, but most notably was the only restaurant there, named The Lucky Goose. It was one of ten seven star restaurants in the world. The food there was perfect.

Mr Moreau started again. "When you get to the front desk, the code phrase is 'livraison délicieuse'. You must remember that. When you say that, they will take the package off of you." He smiled eerily. "You may take one pokemon from the kennels to assist you with the load. But pour l'amour de tout ce qui est saint, get the body out of here." He added in a growl.




Things really hadn't been the same. Lavinia had come outside a grand total of two times, both times just to go to the bathroom. She'd spoken five times, and they hadn't exactly been riveting conversations - in order: 'no' 'thanks' 'sure' 'please' and 'okay'. Her mother had to feed her, since she refused to eat or drink herself. She had been camping out in one of the many wrecked cabins, and inside it was pitch dark. She'd bitten both Forest and Peaches when they tried to convince her to come out to hunt.

Forest had become both emotionless, and emotional. He hadn't been talking with any of the youngsters, only really spending time around Old Lady Nina and Lavinia's parents. They had all been having very serious sounding conversations, but they were kept very quiet and anyone that tried to butt in was shooed away. Apart from that, Forest had discovered a small gun in one of the old cabins. He hadn't been using it, since there were only six bullets, but he had been carrying it about and any time something loud happened he would hold it with his finger on the trigger. He told off anyone that tried to touch it. He knew full well that Shine wouldn't approve of the weapon, but he didn't seem to care. It was obvious it made him feel safe, so he kept it tucked in his pocket, always easy to grab.

Old Lady Nina had been...surprisingly okay. "I've seen a lot of loss in my life, and I've always found a way to fix it back up again." She said whenever anyone had asked. She was really, quite normal.

Now, Forest came out of one of the old cabins. He was covered in wet sand, dirt, cobwebs, and looked ruffled. Judging by the cabin he came out of, which was the one he found his gun in, he was looking for more ammunition. By the look on his face though, he hadn't found anything. He slumped out of the cabin and down over to the nearby group of youngsters. "What's going on?" He asked, scooping Peaches off his shoulder and letting her sit comfortably in his hand.
 
Mark sighed when Moreau explained his reasoning for saying such things to the Luxray. The amount of sadism and cruelty in this idea was absurd and shocking.... Well then again, Moreau wasn't one's average man. Either way, Mark grew increasingly worried and saddened by the plan behind the Luxray - didn't Moreau know that Pokémon felt more than just anger? They also felt happiness and sadness and confusion and... Betrayal... And since they can feel all of that, it was more than possible for them to feel depression. Mark knew how emotional the Luxray truly was, even when she did her best to not let it show. He feared how the Luxray would react to this type of lie.

But then again, Moreau most likely didn't care about a Pokémon's emotions, and the argument would therefore be useless. Irritated about the lack of compassion, yet too fearful to bring up an argument, Mark reluctantly left it alone. He'd have to find a better way to relay the message to his boss at a later time.... Maybe when it's truly relative to his concerns.

At the mean time, the instructions given to him in how to dispose of the body was of a much much more concern. When he heard that he had to go down to B5, he widened his eyes a little and tensed his body. Rarely anyone went down to B5; many grunts said that it was a place where only the most psychologically hardened people went to do... whatever they were sent down there for. Sure it was a butcher's room, but suspicions of it being used for ulterior and more sickening purposes were more than spread around. It was so rarely talked about since most were afraid to talk about it, and those that did go down there were either to be disposed of or otherwise. Mark never talked to anyone about it, but he passed enough conversations to get a good grasp of the idea that it wasn't for the faint of heart.

Unfortunately, Mark, by those circumstances, was definitely faint of heart.

Mark pleaded in his head that Moreau would send someone else, but his prayers were not even looked at. He meakly nodded at the rest of the instructions and sighed, looking at the limp and morbid sight of Cameron as he slowly approached him. After doing what he needed to pack him up, Mark began his morbid and disheartening quest to dispose of a body...

Well.... There's a first for everything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Shinx kits perked their ears and turned their heads to see Forest coming towards them. They knew of the gun that he had grabbed hold of, and were wary of his usage of the weapon. But so far, he hadn't shown any true want to use it, so they calmed down a bit and flicked their tails in relaxation. Shia was the first to speak up.

"Hey Forest! Hey Peaches! We were talking about how Ray was scared of a yawning Pelipper and ran like the baby he is," Shia said with a renewed laugh. Ray was beside himself with irritation and denial. His fur zapped and his ears twitched occasionally.

"I was not! It's mouth was HUGE! Anyone would've thought the same thing... Peaches, would you think that a yawning Pelipper was trying to eat you if it was in front of you?" Ray asked with a small hope in his voice that she'd agree.
 
Forest snickered. "I'm not surprised. You always were a scaredy-meowth, Ray," he teased, reaching over and prodding the kit in the side. He pulled his hand back and winced at the shock he received, but chuckled anyways, shaking his hand as if the pain was something he could just shake off.

Peaches listened to what Ray said, considered it, then did something as much like a shrug as she could manage, considering that her hands were pincers and she didn't really have much in the way of shoulders. "Even Peaches is braver than you, Ray. And she's half your size." To demonstrate, Forest placed the Paras by the kit's side, and proved his theory true, though Peaches was in the shock zone and hissed as she jumped away from the pain.

"You gotta chill out, kiddo," Forest warned, waggling a finger at the Shinx. "You keep doing that when you're older and everyone's going to think you're a wimp!"
 
Ray lowered his ears and whined at Forest's prodding, making his siblings struggle to not snicker so hard in front of him. His fur zapped a little harder, frustrated that he was still being teased by everyone. He sighed when Peaches was compared beside him, seeing how much larger he was when they were side by side.

Forest's teasing made him plop on the sand with a huff. At this point, Shia and Zion were rolling on the sand, their laughs near impossible to contain. "What?! A whimp!? For what? I'm not the only one who gets scared," Ray said with a paw stomped on the sand. He then pointed at Shia as she came back up, letting her see him pointing his paw at her. "Shia! Remember when we were at the place with all the other little Pokémon, and that Herdier came from nowhere? What did you do when he went to you? You cried and whimpered like a little kit, like I did! Xion had to come in and shove you out of the way or else you would've been frozen there like a piece of ice," Ray stated as he stood up.

Shia stopped laughing and walked over to Ray to slap his paw down. "Did not! I don't know what you're talking about," Shia stated as she turned around and sat down as if she was a human's pet. The two started to argue, in which Xion chuckled as he went over to Forest. "Ray always does that when he gets picked on. It's funny to see them go at it," Xion said as he sat down.
 
Forest gave a few mellow chuckles, but they were far from full on laughter. He pulled Peaches away and sat her on his left thigh, where she turned to face the sun before settling down for what looked like a nap. Forest turned to watch Ray call Shia out, but he just chuckled again. "You just admitted you were scared too. Not a good look." He said, dusting a hand over his white hair.

He turned his gaze to look away from the kits, and towards one of the far away cabins. Lavinia had been in there for days now. His lips tightened into a line, thinking face on. "Hey...maybe we should go check on Lavinia?" He offered. "Have any of you done that today?"
 
Xion continued to watch his siblings go at it, until he heard Forest's voice. He lifted his ears to catch him speak, and tilted his head at the inquiry. He looked in the same direction that Forest was facing, and lowered an ear at his question.

"Ummm... Check on Lavinia?" Xion asked slowly. The question made the other two Shinx cease their arguing and look up, seeing the other two having a conversation about Lavinia. Shia sat down on Xion's left side while Ray went on the right.

"Ummm... We tried to ask her if she wanted to play with us earlier, but we didn't get an answer," Shia said as she looked up to Forest. Ray concured.

"Yeah. We weren't even sure if she was in there, but we were.... Not sure about going in," Ray added quietly. Xion nodded and tapped on Forest's paw.

"Have you gone in to check on her? Since you're thinking about her," Xion asked with a flick of his tail.
 
Forest ran a hand through his greasy hair with a sigh. He nodded understandingly, lifting up his left hand. Running up and down his pinky there was a very light, but still angry looking bite wound from the previous day. He blew lightly on it, and a small wisp of purple smoke drifted from it; some sort of Crunch and Dragon Breath concoction, probably. There was a similar one on Peaches back leg. "Not today, at least," he muttered with another sigh. He glanced back to the cabin. "I'm gonna go try," he declared, standing up and starting towards the cabin. "You can tag along, if you'd like," he called over his shoulder.

Peaches was left on the ground. The bug pokemon blinked a few times in shock, before rushing after Forest. She climbed up his leg, his torso, and then perched on his shoulder, clicking her little claws anxiously.

Regardless of wether or not the Shinx cubs followed, Forest came to the cabin door. It was one of the smaller cabins, but it was solid enough to weather a few storms. It had a big hole in the ceiling that was letting in sunlight, but not enough to fully light it up. There wasn't a door handle on the door, since it was just a push. Forest pressed his rough palm against the door and slowly, pushed it open.

At first glance, it looked like there was nothing, but once Forest's eyes adjusted, he could see a little, red blob in the corner. Lavinia, covered over by a raggedy red blanket, stared blankly at the door. Her one revealed eye glistened in the light. She stared for a few seconds more, before she turned over and faced away.

Forest looked over at the Shinxes, and then at Peaches, looking for their verdict on the situation.
 
The Shinx kits looked at each other when Forest began to go to Lavinia's cabin. They gave each other nervous glances before following Forest, unsure of how this encounter was going to go. When Forest got to the door and opened it, Shia and Xion were the first ones among the trio to enter the room, and stood at the doorway with hesitation still evident in their demeanor.

They got a bit tense when they only saw darkness, but calmed a little when they adjusted to the dark, and saw the red lump in the far corner of the room. They froze as they saw the shining eyeball staring at them, then stared at Forest as if asking him for what to do.

Shia whimpered and looked back at Ray, who was unsurprisingly lingering outside the door, and went up to him to tell him something. He nodded and went off, and Shia came back over to the two and looked up at them, then slowly continued on despite Xion's protests.
Shia quietly crawled beside Lavinia and sat down for a moment. She took a deep breath and lifted a paw, tapping the little dragon's side lightly. "Lavinia? It's me Shia and Xion and Forest and Peaches. We want to talk to you," Shia said softly.
 
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