Angel of the Shadows

6. A Race Against Time

Shadow Skill: Mock. A laughing whinny that brings to the forefront of the mind, a person's shortcomings in order to make them utterly lose faith in themselves and their abilities.

Rapidash can go from 0 to 150 in ten steps. They are a sight to behold when they race, for the faster they go, the hotter their mane burns. Highly competitive, they can often be seen challenging others to races. Shadows seem to desire a win, and will play dirty to achieve it.

Angel opened her eyes to a bright light directly in her face, followed by the voice of someone who demanded to know who she was and why she was in their stables. The person didn't lower the beam even when she raised a hand to shield her eyes. They yelled the question again, and she knew she must devise something quickly to prevent this from becoming a public scene. "I'm so sorry! I brought an injured Pokémon here to rest." She looked around the area of the stables that she could see, then turned back to the owner. "It looks like she wandered off when I fell asleep."

After several seconds, they lowered the light, and Angel blinked her eyes repeatedly as if that would help get her vision back faster. Their flashlight usage finally connected to the reality that it was nighttime, and she swore softly under her breath. She stood and gave a small curtsy. "Excuse me. I'm late for an important meeting!" Angel ran towards the man, who surprisingly moved out of the way to let her pass.

Thoughts rushed rapidly through her mind as she paused long enough to get her bearings before she headed toward the target. As she maneuvered her way through the obstacle course of a city, she heard a loud neigh. Instantly, she went into panic mode, wondering if the stable's owner had decided to punish her for trespassing after all. But a glance behind her made her stop in her tracks.

A Rapidash ran by her so fast that the force of the backwind knocked her to her bottom. She cried out as she hit the ground hard and then heard a sound like car tires as they screeched to a halt. The absence of hooves let her know before she turned around that the Rapidash had stopped. Well. Either that or was far enough away to no longer be heard. Wait. Was the purple aura she'd just seen in her imagination? Or had she found a third Shadow on the same day?

When she turned around, the Rapidash was no longer in sight. Angel stared at where she last knew the horse to be, only to cry out and spin around when she felt warm air on her face. How had the horse gotten behind her so fast? Rapidash nickered, backed off a little, and then pranced in place. The way it did so reminded her of a scene from a movie she'd once watched called The Emperor's New Groove.

"You...Want to race?"

It gave a loud whinny and reared. Its front feet danced in midair, which allowed Angel to see that it was female. Even though Rapidash seemed aware of how squishy her new friend was, Angel still scooted back a foot with the understanding that it was better to be safe than sorry. Rapidash then hopped beside her in such a way that reminded her of Pinkie Pie from that one children's cartoon, and she couldn't help but burst out in laughter.

The Rapidash stopped her dance to look at Angel strangely as if she were confused by the words. But she shook her head as she got to her feet. "You wouldn't understand." She looked to the ground to ensure nothing had fallen out of her backpack and readied herself for the race. "On the count of three. One. Two—"

With another whinny, Rapidash sped off.

Angel managed not to cough at the dust cloud that was left behind. "Oh-oh. So that's how you want to play, is it?" Even had Rapidash played fair, Angel knew she wouldn't have won anyway. But at that moment, it didn't really matter to her. She chose to enjoy the moment and ran after the Shadow.

After a few minutes, they halted across the street from the Silph Company. Her body tried to go limp on her, and she had to place a hand on the wall of the house beside her to steady herself. She'd pushed herself harder than expected with that run. But Arceus, did she feel so much better. Though only temporary, the burning sensation in her legs and lungs gave her a different kind of pain to focus on.