Pathos「Pokemon Fanfiction」

Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Reminds Me Of You

He remained rooted to the spot, paralysed, and his mind offered him nothing but a screamed thought of what the hell is going on?

From where Avis stood, it didn't quite look as if the blast had done anything fatal to anyone—but it was easy to be fooled, and the upturned tables and chairs scattering over the cold ground made his blood freeze along with the sounds of distressed guests starting to shift and disperse.

"S-Stay calm, everyone!" He realised somewhere deep down that he wasn't Avis any longer; that he wasn't the passive boy who could fade into crowds when situations like this arose—he was Aiden no matter how much he hated it and he was forced to take charge. "Follow the army leader and evacuate—we'll figure this out!"

For once, he was grateful that some of his brother's allies had bothered to turn up to the event, and he shouted at them to attack because he wasn't even sure if he was able to do so by himself.

"You must have done something wrong in that meeting you had," his captain mused, his voice tired and not concealing any form of hidden anger. "It looks like the injuries caused were minor, though, so I'll lead them towards the local hospital."

Suppressing an annoyed grunt and replying with a brisk nod, he unsheathed Aiden's sword, making his way off the stage and trying to ignore the faint tremble that ran through his fingers as he clung on to the blade's hilt with far too much force and far too little technique.

Try to remember whatever he taught you, he tried to remind himself, and his mind glossed over the short night of training that his twin's leader had put him through as he lunged at a Hoenn soldier with all the power his shaking legs could give him.

Somewhere beside him, he heard a fellow knight call his name as he struggled to knock his enemy to the ground. "Don't you dare show any of your softness now," the man shouted, raising his weapon and stabbing it through his opponent's neck. "You'll get killed otherwise."

Fighting back the unpleasant bile rising in his throat, the teenager kept his tone light as he spat out a response in Aiden's voice. "Of course not."

He would have regretted doing something like this in any other time or place, when he wasn't doing his job, but this was one of many endless battles Kalos would have and it wouldn't end unless they managed to defeat the other side.

They would kill him if he didn't strike back, he reasoned, and he didn't have any of the natural talent or knowledge that his brother possessed to spare the enemy.

Perhaps it was the adrenaline rushing through his veins as he drew back; perhaps it was because there was no other way this would have gone, but he didn't feel as bad as he thought he would.

"You're pretty bad at this for a Kalos knight," one of his opponents laughed, slamming his blade against his own. "I mean, they aren't very good in the first place, but really? The only thing you have going for you is your Pokemon."

He bit back a growl, taking advantage of the small window the soldier had given him to one-up him and shove his blade against his neck.

"You're pretty talkative for a dead man," he spat in return, plunging his sword into his stomach and holding it there for a few seconds before realising what he had done. The adrenaline had helped somewhat, but it wasn't taking away the fact that he was pissed and that he had just killed another man.

He was surprised by his own nonchalance. This was a war; there were bound to be casualties in the first place. Besides, his enemy had ticked him off. He'd taken out his anger on him because of that.