Painted Ghouls

Chapter 16

WARNING: violence

The next morning Athena did not feel too well. Despite how much she tried to shove the ongoing questions and images regarding the Sceptile out of her mind, they kept on returning, almost relentlessly. The way the inky black goo seeped out of every wound and pore on the grass type's entire frame was certainly haunting, let alone the fact that it tried to drown her alive. Not to mention that it bore a resemblance to the Sharpedo and Milotic who murdered her family. Either way, Lucas seemed oblivious to her current problems that were tied to the situation, or he just simply didn't care, for he continued his usual angry tone of voice and actions.

Gulping down the oran few berries that had been placed in front of her by the dragon-and-psychic type, the female would happily savor the satisfaction of gaining a full stomach. Although she shouldn't be picky, she had to admit that she preferred cheri berries over oran berries, but both tasted good in her mind. Lifting herself to her feet, she would saunter toward the entrance of the cave, not bothering to wait for the eon Pokémon to shove her outside.

Padding out of the dark cave, the tiny chick Pokémon shuffled around, blinking her eyes as she felt Brendan's cap rub against her back. As usual, the knit hat was placed on her head, covering her forehead and back. Glancing up at the sky, the fire type would blink, wincing slightly at the bright sunlight. A few clouds covered the sky, but other than that, it was a perfectly sunny day. A rather small breeze danced through the air, rustling the leaves on the nearby trees.

Floating out of the cave, Lucas would follow the fire type's gaze, releasing a small snort before bringing his attention back down onto her. "You need to train," he would flatly comment, flapping his blue wings as he positioned himself in front of the smaller Pokémon.

Athena blinked, narrowing her beady eyes just a tad. Does he forget how bad I am at battling? she mentally questioned, flapping her useless, yellow wings slowly. Frankly, the female didn't want to train at all. She would never improve. Plus, she was still curious as to what was wrong with the Sceptile from the day before. "Lucas," she began, flinching when she received a cold stare from the male, "w-what was wrong with that Sceptile? Its entire body was gray, and black goo poured out of it.."

The dragon-and-psychic type snorted, nonchalantly rolling his eyes. "Now is not the time to ask about that, alright?" he spat, backing a few steps away from the Torchic. "It isn't something you should worry about." Athena blinked, not satisfied with the answer she received from the male.

"Anyways," he continued, lifting his irises to stare off into the distance, "you need to practice some more. Just so you don't die a pitiful death, I'll be near you. Now let's go." With another flap of his blue wings, the eon Pokémon took off, going at just the right pace so Athena could easily catch up. Dashing after the male, she tried her best to keep up as he raised his speed just a bit.

Suddenly, the male abruptly halted in his tracks. Before Athena could cease to a halt herself, she had managed to trip over a small branch, which consequently caused her to tumble down a small- yet steep- hill. With a loud thump, she landed on the ground, releasing a groan as she shook Brendan's cap off of her body. Heaving herself to her feet, the fire type would glance up at Lucas, who was glaring down at her with a look of disapproval.

"I'll be right here," he stated flatly, curtly nodding his cranium. "There's got to be at least one Pokémon around here. Go look around." Reluctantly, Athena obliged, scooping up Brendan's knit hat as she turned heel and began strolling straight ahead.