A Blond Ray of Sunshine

Chapter 24

It had been two days since Latoshi rid himself of Lazarus' spirit. Antoshi stood on the porch of the cabin, gazing up at the starry night sky. By then, all of the injuries he sustained from his fight with Latoshi had healed completely. His red aura slowly flickered on and off, almost like a firefly. Fireball sat on the wooden porch swing, which quietly creaked under his weight. The Typhlosion ate from a small bag of Pokémon snacks. Mitoshi opened the front door to accompany them.

"What's going on out here?" she asked. "You're making my head go 'bzz-bzz-bzz' with your energy."

Antoshi laughed, turning to her. "Sorry about that. I'm just ... I dunno, sending out a signal for Latoshi. Maybe he's trying to find us. I want to let him know we're right here waiting for him."

Mitoshi smiled warmly, closing the door behind her, standing by him.

"That's so sweet, Antoshi. I think that's a great idea, and I'd love to join you, but, ... I don't know how to do that with my, uh, 'aura' was it?"

Antoshi chuckled. "It's simple enough once you get the hang of it. Think about what matters to you and what you care about the most. Feel your emotions for that from the bottom of your heart. Imagine your emotions like a burning fire that's going to ignite and explode, trying to burst out of you. Focus all of your energy into that and then just ... let it out."

She looked at him, baffled, expecting a little more in terms of instructions. "Uh, all right. Guess I'll give it a shot." She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, focusing herself in the way Antoshi told her. The boy smiled, as he and Fireball watched her grunt and strain, clenching her fists. After a few moments of trying, she slouched over with an exasperated sigh.

"Did anything happen?" she asked.

"No," Antoshi said, laughing. Mitoshi groaned in defeat. "Just keep working at it. I know you'll figure it out soon."

"Well, ... what if I ... came to train with you?" she asked nervously. "I've been thinking about it lately, and ... I'd like to be able to do the same kind of things that you and Latoshi can do."

"Sure thing," Antoshi replied. Her face lit up with delight. "I think it might be fun to teach someone else what I've learned so far."

"Ooh, that does sound like fun!"

"I can help, too!" Fireball chimed in, raising a paw. "I can take a punch like nobody's business!"

"It's true," Antoshi said, smirking. "Fireball's built like a super reinforced brick wall."

Mitoshi laughed. "Awesome! So, maybe we could start tomorrow?"

"Sure thing!" Antoshi replied.

Mitoshi headed back to the front door. "Well, I guess I better check on those cookies."

"Cookies?" Fireball mused in excitement, quickly springing up onto his hind feet. "I'm ready, bring on the cookies."

"They're going to be hot," Mitoshi said, as they headed inside together.

"Mitoshi, I can breathe fire."

Antoshi smiled, turning his attention to the night sky once more.

⁂ ⁂ ⁂

The next morning, Latoshi gasped for air, jolting awake. He sat up on the bottom platform of a fire escape, propping himself up with one hand. A wild Koffing groaned curiously at him, hovering and slowly spinning around, while exuding grimy, putrid smoke from its round body.

The boy covered his nose. "Wow, I thought I was just dreaming that horrible smell."

He looked up and grabbed the hand rail behind his head, leaping over backwards, landing on his feet in the alley below. The sable-haired boy had managed to get some semblance of sleep here and there in the past couple of days. He hummed curiously, staring at his open palms as he summoned forth some of his dark aura.