Painted Ghouls

Chapter 4

Mary felt her heart sink at the single sentence the human spat out. Looking up at May, then to Brendan, she began to struggle against the grasp of the trainer that held onto her, letting out a series of desperate and anxious chirps. Brendan looked a little flustered as he brought his blue-gray irises down onto her. He appeared to be biting his lip lightly as he did so.

"I don't think she wants to be captured," he softly observed, eyebrows furrowing as he watched the struggling torchic. May only shrugged her shoulders, still smiling as she looked at the scared fire type.

"Nonsense! You just gotta use a poké ball," she said, handing him an item from the accessory attached to her waist. Mary began to flap her wings, trying to hit them hard on the trainer that was holding onto her. Unfortunately, her method of attack did not work. Looking down at Damien, May asked, "Damien, can you aid Brendan in capturing the torchic?"

The mudkip jumped up and down, much to Mary's horror, and soon enough she was placed on the ground. With the poké ball clutched in his hand, Brendan took a few steps back, positioning himself a little ways away from the torchic as May set her down. Damien hopped in front of the male trainer, facing Mary as he shifted into a battle stance. She tried to scurry away, but May quickly- and effortlessly- stopped her with a foot.

"Tell Damien to use tackle!" she ordered, looking up at her companion.

Brendan obliged, awkwardly looking down at the water type. He appeared to be not too confident in his battle abilities as he bunched his shoulders together. "Uh-"

Without even receiving an order, the mud fish pokémon nodded. Swiftly, he dashed forward and tackled himself into Mary. Instinctively, she let out a squeak as the male pinned her down, a happy smile on his face as expected.

"Throw the poké ball!" May ordered, proudly watching her pokémon.

Brendan jumped just a tad, before taking a few steps toward the fire type. Crouching down, he lightly scooted Damien off of her, and pressed the circular item he held against her forehead. In an instant, a black blanket enveloped over Mary, and the sounds of the outside world faded away.

At first, she was a little confused, but then it dawned on her: she had been captured. Or, rather, she could be captured, should she not try to break free from the pitch black capsule. Looking around the circular area, she desperately sought a way out. The area was pretty small, and she had almost no extra room for her to move around. Soon enough, it seemed as if her small efforts turned out to be in vain, for a loud clicking noise echoed around her.

Oh no! She was captured.

In front of Mary was a large, white dot. Other than that, there was nothing but a strange, ebony black essence that drifted around her.

The dot must be the way out.

With little hesitation, she pushed the button, allowing a bright light to engulf her frame. After a few moments of the blinding light, she soon felt the comfortable feeling of the grassy forest floor. Scrambling to her feet, she scanned around the surrounding premises, smoothing out her fluffed feathers. She was still where she had fought Damien. However, both him and May were gone. Turning around, the torchic saw Brendan staring blankly down at her.

"Do you mind?" Mary chirped, narrowing her eyes in disgust. Jeez, these humans are creepy! she scowled to herself, eyeing her new trainer up and down. His outfit was honestly a little weird to her. Does he have any other hair, other than that mess on his head?

His red and dark gray clothing clashed violently with his neon green backpack. At least the accessories on his feet- she guessed those were what humans called shoes- had some neon green on them, most likely to match with the backpack.