Painted Ghouls

Chapter 20

"Time to get up," Lucas grumbled, poking the Combusken's side with one claw roughly. Releasing a groan, the female allowed her eyes to flutter open, her vision landing onto the Latios. He was floating above her, a rather blank expression on his features. "We must leave."

With a nod, she lifted herself onto her feet, stretching out her arms as she did so. Despite being asleep for a lengthy amount of time, she couldn't help but feel groggy, especially after the dream from the night prior. She could still feel the anger pounding through her, the betrayal seeping through her mind. She had done so much, and he didn't even bat an eye at how much she had improved physically.

A few oran berries were placed beside her. Bending down, she would scoop them up with her claws, toying around with them a bit before placing one in her beak. As expected, it tasted rather sweet. She still preferred cheri berries over the blue ones, but they tasted good nonetheless. Swallowing it whole, she sauntered toward the entrance of the cave, peeking out to view the world outside of the stone walls.

The sun was just barely peeking over the horizon. The sky was a vibrant orange, with splashes of blue and even purple mixed here and there. The few clouds that were sketched across the sky were pink in color. Long shadows stretched out from the trees, showing that the sun had just a bit of ways to go before making it past the horizon. Lucas must've chosen such an early time of day due to how long the journey must be.

The young fowl Pokémon hesitated, remembering the scenario with Damien last night. How was he feeling right now? Was he even awake at this time of day? She still felt guilty over suddenly saying goodbye to him like that. A part of her wished she had stayed with him longer, and possibly even comforted him. Clearly he was upset that she and Lucas had plans to head north. With a forced sigh, she tried her best to erase those thoughts from her mind.

Gazing back into the cave, she would note the abandoned cap of her trainer. As much as she wanted to leave it there in the cold, something in her mind told her otherwise. Reluctantly, she stalked over toward the cap and briskly pick it up with her claws. Just by staring down at it did she she feel the anger she had felt toward Brendan the night before. Turning heel, she promptly headed to the entrance of the cave once more, but this time did she place her taloned feet on the grass.

Dew clung to the green blades, causing her feet to feel a little chilly as she made her way over toward Lucas. The eon Pokémon was waiting for her beside a log, his expression slightly annoyed once she came into view. "Took you long enough," he would sigh, flapping his wings. "Did you eat the berries?"

"Yeah," she responded flatly, halting in front of the dragon-and-psychic type. Flexing her free claws, she would look around, before a sudden thought hit her. "Where are we heading?" she asked, bringing her vision back onto the male. She knew that they were going to head north, but that was all of the information she received from him.

He would hesitate for a bit, before blinking his eyes, and opening his mouth to speak. "I've decided that we should head towards Pyre Mountain," he drawled, flapping his blue wings nonchalantly as he did so. "The Pokémon there would be a challenge for you, but you'd become stronger by fighting them."

The fire-and-fighting type nodded. She had never heard of Pyre Mountain before, but just by the name of it, it sounded intimidating. "What's it like?" she asked, kicking the grass in front of her idly. The eon Pokémon sighed, as if he was already annoyed with her.

"There are mostly fire type Pokémon there," he informed her, his tone having some edge to it. She has been asking too many questions already. "Numel and Camerupt being the main ones. We may find Slugma, but those are rare, as they only dwell in the lava of the mountain."