We Are The Pokemon, & We Don't Need You Anymore

Chapter 16

I hated cymbals.

I hated mornings.

And I hated my life.

Not necessarily in that order.

We had all woken up to the orchestra practicing, which sounded like a herd of Bouffalant trampling tubas and yes, cymbals. Pidgey had nearly fallen off his perch and Kip jumped so high it was a miracle he didn't go through the skylight. We had left the theatre the same way we came in, and ventured from alley to alley in the city.

"What are we looking for?" Charmander asked me behind a dumpster.

"Anything suspicious. A logo, a crime scene, a--"

"Unitard!" Kip cried.

"How is a unitard--" Pidgey started, but Kip cut him off.

"No there!" He pointed to a man, who was indeed dressed in a black unitard walking amoungst the crowds. The kind our trainer's murderer had worn. We all had a silent agreement and started to follow; Pidgey gliding from rooftop to rooftop and Snivy moving like a Serviper in the shadows. Zoura did his Dark-Type thing and became nearly invisible in the limited darkness. Kip, Charmander and I hid behind anything we could find without getting caught. We followed the suspect to the back of a colorful building in a park-like area. He went in the back exit and closed the door.

"This is an evil bad guy headquarters? I'm unimpressed." Zoura tutted as we studied the door.

"Maybe they're using our approach. Hide in plain sight." Kip suggested. Charmander walked up and pushed the door open.

"Weird. Guess they forgot to lock the doors?" He suggested.

"More like they're waiting to lure some Pokemon inside." Snivy hissed but went in anyway. The rest followed her lead. I frowned. Something wasn't right, but what choice did I have? I followed my group inside. The place was actually nicely painted and clean for an evil villan's lair. The labels above the doors didn't make any sense either. One said, "MAKEUP", and another said, "HAIR STYLING." I was about to say something, but then Kip said,

"Oh, this looks important!" He was in front of a doorway that had a curtain over it. A considerable amount of noise and lights were coming from the other side.

"Ah, Kip I don't think--" Charmander was cut off by Kip ducking under the curtain. We heard a squeak and rushed after him. My paws were frozen to the ground.

"Kip, if we ever get out of this, I'm going to kill you." Snivy stated.

We were on a runway; and no, it wasn't the airplane kind. To put it plainly, the building was a huge box with brightly colored walls, full of screaming people and Pokemon.

Whoops. 

Multi-colored lights and pop music assaulted our senses, and the cheers of the crowd intensified when they saw us. So much for stealth. The runway seemed to be pretty long, an island in a sea of bodies, with paparazzi crowding at the edges, snapping photographs at anything that moved. I thought things couldn't get much worse until the models came out and nearly stepped on us. They were dressed in ridiculous outfits that supposed were considered to be fashionable, and seemed pretty confused about six random Pokemon on their runway.

That's when the realization sunk in: we were at a fashion show.

The girls looked at their apparent leader who was dressed in a sleek black dress which was simple yet elegant. "Just make it look like part of the show." She ordered, and scooped me up before I could protest. The other models grabbed my friends and showed them off like accessories, flashing smiles at the cameras. I looked up at the human who was holding me; she had blonde hair, blue eyes, and for some reason two electrical wires running down her sides like earrings.

"Wonder where you came from little fella." She muttered. Little fella?! I was a girl! That was one of the things I hated about the way humans treated Pokemon. We were 'its', not 'he's' or 'she's'. The models gathered at the end of the runway with my friends, Snivy hissing, Charmander squirming uncomfortably, Mudkip scared stiff, and Pidgey flapping his wings in desperation to escape the model's arms. Zoura on the other hand seemed comfortable as could be, jumping on his carrier's shoulder, smiling at the cameras, even blowing a Vulpix in the crowd a kiss, which made me want to bite him for some reason. The human girls struck poses, and I saw the door; a wide open square of light over a sea of people. I locked eyes with my comrades and they understood immediately.

I chomped down on my model's arm and she screamed and dropped me. The others followed my lead, making the other models scream as well.

"ROUGE POKEMON!" Someone yelled and the entire building erupted in panic, humans trampling each other in an effort to get away from us and stampeding to the doors. Unfortunately, that was our destination too.

"Let's move!" I called and we all jumped down from the stage, weaving in between human's legs and occasionally jumping on someone's head.

"Eevee, do you know where we are?!" Pidgey asked, nearly delirious with fear, flapping above the mob's heads.

"If I did I wouldn't have walked in here!" I snapped back, knocking off some important looking guy's wig.

"We're in Nimbassa Gym, ran by Elsa who is famous for her fashion shows; Eevee, you just bit the GYM LEADER!"  

I was so surprised I nearly slammed into a high heel. 

Whoops. Note to self; don't bite important people.

I felt the impact of a tennis shoe in my side, and rolled across the floor. I glimpsed a combat boot above my head, and had just enough time to think, past the fire, Basculin and rabid trainers but a boot will finish me. I heard a powerul roar, and a full grown Luxray landed above me, snarling with his body above mine, eyes glowing and teeth bared. The man let out a squeak and clomped away in his big heavy boots. I was too shocked to say anything until the Luxray flickered and a Zoura landed on top of me with an "Oof."

"Zoura!" I cried and shoved him off of me. He gave a cocky grin.

"The one and only. Come on fearless leader, we have a hell hole to escape from." He offered me his paw, which I grabbed and we both bounded for the exits. We all broke from the crowd as soon as we hit the door, and I had a second to take in a carnival; ferris wheel merry-go-round, popcorn, the whole enchilada. People were still flooding from the gym doors. Children and clowns were staring at the stampede in confusion. Maybe we could get away in the confusion, past the popcorn stand, through those bushes, under the bench and--

"There! The rouge Pokemon!" Elesa yelled, pointing at us. About four trainers saw us and released Pokemon, their eyes set on us.

"I hate carnivals." Snivy snarled.