A Same Path

An expected consequence

But as soon as they began to grunt in horror, even the man who was enslaving them, even in his desire to continue torturing the Riolu, was surprised by the same thing.

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Before my hand with that piece of gauze covering his mouth and nose was the last thing that overwhelmed him completely... before he finally fell hopelessly to the ground after immediately falling asleep, while in my other hand he was still holding the jar he had used.

"Vileplume sleeping spores" was what was written on its label.

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He couldn't do anything about it, but even I was exhausted just trying to hold him down until the spores took effect, I could barely stand back and lean against the wall next to the alley, before I saw all the other Pokémon watching me with fear and concern.

I couldn't stay there, I wouldn't know if that man was working with or for others, but the sight of Riolu himself was enough in itself to make me act.

The frightened pokémon clutter remained in the air, while I could only approach the small, unconscious pokémon still in front of me with concern.

I would raise my trembling hand, fearing that my shaky action due to my wounds would end up hurting the Riolu even more, however, by that time I could not afford to wait in that alley, the sleeping pill would not last forever, so I could only squeeze my lips and frown with helplessness and pity, once I took the body of the pokémon, to then leave it as carefully as possible on the cart where the rest of the pokémon was.

I barely left it on the edge... it didn't take long to feel the looks of those who had moved to the other end; leaning against each other, I saw how the Buneary, still unconscious, was carried and embraced among other pokémon whose names I didn't know at the time; even there I felt how these, even in that situation, only had themselves to comfort and protect themselves.

There was a moment of silence and what seemed to be a strange tension between us, it didn't take long before I started to see her necklaces, the reddish glow emanating from them didn't take long to bother me again. I took the Riolu again to leave it closer to the rest of the pokémon, not without first feeling its frightened reaction accordingly, only to ignore it, and rush back to the man.

He was still holding the damn remote control, with his thumb on one of the buttons, again I open his hand carefully so as not to make him activate it by accident.

I could only look at it, too many buttons, as if it were a macabre and sadistic game that could give different tortures with electricity, but there was no symbolism that I could deduce from an off button; it was not a safe place to stay and investigate how to deactivate those necklaces. In spite of everything, I knew that, as bad as it seemed, I could not trust that those Pokémon would stay quiet after taking out the only thing that kept them static, so, at least while I was in the capital, I had to keep them under control.

─ Hina is going to kill me ─ Already I didn't even want to think about how expensive the Vileplume spores were, ironic at least after all the helplessness I felt after Hina spent her medicines on me, and then used them without her permission.

I was a hopeless impulsive, but it was something I could not control, not in those situations; by then I would be lying if I said I was a former and tireless seeker of justice; nothing could be further from the truth... I lived for and by my people, it is true, but up to that point; I would never think of seeing myself taking justice into my own hands by stopping that slave-driver. But that Riolu had too many characteristics and even, wills that, beyond feeling identified, I overcame and even envied to have in the same way. It was his pride in rising for the last time that had caused my lack of courage to choose to help him, even though I did not know what the consequences would be.