The first thing Cerci noticed was a bucket of freezing cold water landing on her head. It wasn't just the water she felt, it was the physical, freezing bucket as well- Someone was clumsy enough to drop it on her.
"What are you doing?"
"Cerci, are you alright?" Cerci say up on her arms, looking now to find Hank looming over her. She noticed some cloth was wrapped around her head, and she felt some sort of scab or cut had formed, making her hair stiff and uncomfortable. "Cerci, how many fingers am I holding up?"
"Uh..." Cerci looked at the fingers in front of her head, counting to three. "Three."
"Okay, good. Now, follow the tip of my finger with your eyes..."
"I have a concussion."
Hank stopped moving his finger about and reached a hand out for Cerci. "Well, if you say so... Sicily dropped a rock on your head."
"Sicily?" The masked red haired woman asked, showing confusion in her voice. "You mean the Flygon, right? Why would she attack you?"
"I don't know."
Hank continued with, "She was flying off eastwards... I think. Eros is gone too. Everybody else is fine, though. You think she kidnapped him? That would explain the Pokeball."
The red hair lady interjected by asking, "So, is this like an everyday thing? Or what? You guys seem to be the chaotic type."
Cerci replied with a brusque sentence, "No. No, this is not. Hank?" A look of pure fury inhabited every asset of Cerci as she said the next statement, "I want you to find and kill Sicily."
"Woah, isn't that a little extreme? I mean-"
"Sicily could very well end up ratting us out. We'd be dead. I have no sympathies for her, even if she is Eros' stupid little pet. You need to find her."
"Look, I can't just go and kill his Pokemon like that!"
"Well, come up with something. Bring Eros back. Alone. Lest we have to start over..." Cerci was now standing, looking about, confused from the blow she received to the head.
"Look, say I would be willing to get rid of Sicily. Yeah, that's physically possible. But I have no idea where she went!"
"I could help..." Hank turned to find Dusk floating ever closer to Hank, holding a special Scarab in the shape of Giratina.
Cerci translated for Hank, "He says he can help."
"That's an awfully short haiku."
"I mean it. He didn't speak in haiku. And," as Cerci turned to Dusk, "how can you possibly know where he went?"
"I have a Scarab
Of unholy creation
That will guide us there."
Cerci translated once more, "He has an unholy scarab- damn, Giratina gave you that? Nice pendant."
Hand interjected, "Well? Where is Eros?"
Dusk turned to Hank, then to the pendant. He thought to himself, "Hm. Hmmmm. How do I use this?"
As he finished his thought, a voice flooded his mind, definitely alien in origin. "One simply concentrates on a question or desire, and should I wish to fulfill it, hm. I may hear your plea."
Dusk thought for a second, the concentrated on the question, "Where is Eros?"
As this process was going on, a feeling of evil and maliciousness washed over those who stood near Dusk, although it was almost counteracted in the slightest by the feeling granted by the Equilibrium. The others stared at Dusk, not quite understanding what was going on in the silence.
"You wish to find the boy? Petty." The voice felt more irritated than compliant, almost reluctant to answer. "Why would you need such an insignificant pawn? He isn't that essential. He can be replaced by almost anybody."
"We need to find him, or..." Dusk stopped his focused thoughts for a second. He couldn't simply state that Eros was a friend- What did Giratina care? "Cerci said that without him, she's have to start over. And-"
"She said that? Hah. She misleads you... Do you truly believe that?"
"Well... Eros IS my trainer."
"Petty. I look down upon you, petty Duskull. Maybe you will be worth more than the space you occupy by the time you're a Duskinoir. Shame, the Sneasel would've surely been more of a man than you are. But, being the petty subject you are... Know that you are forever in my debt, Duskull."
With that, a phantasmagoric Murkrow seemed to struggle out of the Scarab, almost as if the Scarab was a rift in existence itself. The creature seemed to be in pain throughout the process, fitting its body through the tiny space granted by the amulet. After miraculously fitting its entire body through, it waved its wings a bit, taking off after a few seconds. The creature quickly made it into the noontime sky, soaring far into the east; Not after long, it circled back, staring at Dusk with a sense of frustration.
Dusk looked at Hank, communicating implicitly that they were to follow the strange bird. Hank and Dusk wasted but a second walking around the wall in order to follow the phantom wherever it may lead.
Cerci muttered to herself, "Thanks for leaving us here." Of course, she knew she couldn't follow. Not with the concussion.
Elsewhere...
Eros walked close to Sicily, still feeling a sense of protection from her, as if her own protective nature could stop her violent side, no matter how ersatz the feeling. He tried constantly to utter something in retaliation to her behavior, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he felt the imminent pressure of Sicily's disapproval crush him as would a boot to a bug. He just followed silently, almost shaking in the fear that something bad would happen.
The threat was not Sicily alone, as while he walked the streets of Ashport, he found a many strange people in odd costumes. Most of these costumes were the red trench coats and white humming-bird masks that belonged to witch hunters, giving no way to the emotions of those who wore them. Say, one in four people had this decor, and it certainly wasn't inviting. Even with the masks on, however, he could still feel the stares of the people behind them, watching his every move, as if he were a witch himself.
The truth was that people were staring at him, yet it wasn't because he was a Druid. No, nobody had known that he was a "witch" himself; They only knew that he was kidnapped by a woman named Cerci.
Aside from the witch hunters, all of which who noticed Eros but did nothing to stop him, as if doing so would be the death of them; They simply treated him as if he never disappeared. What really made Eros afraid, and even more so Sicily, were the previously nonexistent logs around the streets, forming burnt pillars that were once rope-bound. Atop these, the corpses of men, women and Pokemon were hung, burnt to death at the stake, and not all under purely superstition.
As gathered by the numerous fliers and adverts on the televisions across town, at least 3 of those burnt revealed some sort of magical capacity before dying. Were there really witches amongst us? But, as they revealed, at least 40 people died in the week, bringing into question the efficiency of the witch-hunts. None of the suspected Pokemon were even close to obtaining true sorcery, and as such, they advised against the cremation of the Pokemon.
"Eros, please don't look at this. I'll protect you." Eros simply quivered at this. "Eros? You haven't been talking a lot lately. Gee, I sure hope you don't choke during our battle!" The last line was said jokingly and dismissively, as if it wasn't a problem at all. "Hey, where's the gym?"
Eros pointed to a large iron building on the side of the street, which looked almost like a regular house, save for the iron walls and red glow from within. Eros tried to mutter a warning to the gym leader's type, managing to get the word "Fire" out from under his breath.
"What's that? A fire gym leader? That's swell! Let's go!" Sicily was now doing an odd jog, her legs being too stumpy to actually run. She grabbed Eros tightly around the wrist, causing him to bleed in the slightest. With this wrist, she dragged Eros not far behind her, eagerly making it to the awkward metal doors.
As she leaned in with all her weight, Sicily managed to push the door all the way through. This released a wave of heat on the two, searing the skin in the slightest. This didn't stop Sicily from rushing in, running right up to the red-haired man in the back, the gym leader himself. His hair was dyed a deeper red than normal, as he wasn't satisfied with the hue of his natural hair. He was the typical heroic type in appearance, shoving his chest forwards and leaning his head back.
As he saw an eager Flygon position itself in front of him, standing on the sheets of metal floor below, he looked to find the trainer, that being Eros. The furnaces on both sides of the room hid trainers who kindled them eternally with their fire-type Pokemon. Those who stood near believed the eternal heat would make their fire Pokemon stronger; And so, they let their Pokemon battle and kindle here.
The gym leader gave an unexpected greeting by stating, "Oh! Pepe! You know everybody's been looking for you! Where've you been?"
Eros looked up, wanting to reply; Yet, as if the very will of Sicily suppressed it, all he released was a whisper, the meaning lost to even him himself. The gym leader, who goes by the name of Kirk, looked up in confusion at the ferocious Flygon in front of him, as well as the oddly silent trainer. "He-LLO! Earth to Pepe! Can you hear me?" A silent nod answered this. "What's wrong-" and, as though triggered by the years of experience as a trainer, Kirk continued, "Oh, I see what's going on. Well, you want a gym battle, don't you? Who am I to say no."
Kirk motioned for one of the trainers from the side to come over, waving him briskly with his arm. He whispered into the young boy's ear, "Bring me Ninetails."
The boy whispered back, "But, eh, Kirk, isn't that a little... Cruel? From the looks of it, he has only one Pokemon. Even with his advantage-"
"I didn't ask you. Now please, bring it over." The boy nodded, rushing over to one of the furnaces. He quickly plopped out a Pokeball, red from the immense heat it had suffered. He ran back over to Kirk, handing him the ball quickly. Kirk then pressed the button on the side, releasing the beautiful golden fox Ninetales.
"Shall we begin?" With this, Sicily started batting her wings quickly, starting a shrill sound that could only forecast a Sonic Boom. As this started to pick up speed, Eros couldn't help but to look down, as if still oppressed by Sicily. Kirk uttered, as if with the intention of being heard, "Humph. So I'm right. Ninetales, Quick Attack."
As of this point, Ninetales seemed almost completely unaffected by the Sonic Boom. Adding to its might, it spent but a fraction of a second closing the few yards/meters (I respect all means of measurement) between it and Sicily, ramming her with a force great enough to sent her flying. And so it did, in an almost ludicrous fashion, as she screamed while flying out the front doors.
Eros turned to see that Sicily had crashed into the building across from the gym, certainly fainted yet not injured permanently. The only thing Eros thought to get out, this time with full confidence, was a measly "what" in the place of anything meaningful.
Kirk then walked up to Eros, slowly making his way across the scorching room and standing in front of him, stating, "So, she tried to stand up to you. Or alike. Right?"
"Uh. She just scares me sometimes."
"Ahaha." Kirk motioned for Eros to follow him, which he did. As they walked out of the gym and onto the streets, looking at the body of a fallen Flygon across from the bench they sat, Kirk continued the conversation. "You know, my Pokemon was once the same way."
Eros looked up with a newfound confidence, taking pride in his city's gym leader. "Really?"
"Yep. Me and that very Ninetales. I was just 18 when it happened. Silly little thing tried to attack me until I gave it poffins. You wouldn't believe how long that went on for!"
"But... But how did you stop it?"
"How did I stop him, you mean? You must treat your Pokemon with respect, for sure. Some people would advise beating them, which is okay if you don't care for the personal part of training. I tried to tell it that the poffins weren't good for it-"
"Aren't they called puffins?"
"- yet it wouldn't listen to me. So I made it challenge the city's gym leader. Got his ass handed to him the first five seconds."
"How did that help?"
Kirk sighed, seeing the fallen Flygon slowly stand its way up, dazed and confused. "Well, sometimes they just need a little humility check. Don't know why, but it works. Of course, some people would suggest counseling, but who's got the money?"
"... Okay..." Eros had no idea where Kirk was going with this. "... But, if you don't mind me asking..."
"What I'm trying to say is that even if you and your Pokemon go through a rough patch in your relationship, that doesn't mean it's the end of your partnership. Even the best of times, a person and their Pokemon will have troubles. That's just how life works. Am I getting to you?"
"Okay. I get it."
"Good. That's good." The gym leader slouched back in his chair, looking towards the evening sky. "So... What happened between you and the witch?"
Eros was taken aback by the informality and casualness from this remark, and he answered in a like tone, "It's been... Weird." A peculiar look from Kirk not only signaled that this wasn't enough for him, but also that Kirk also knew better than to accept an answer like that. "Well, she's been... Teaching me. You know... Stuff."
"Oh. I see." Kirk looked to Sicily, who was struggling immensely to get up. The could barely make it to her arms, only barely able to make eye contact with the gym leader of Ashport. Only for a second could she move this gaze towards Eros, communicating in the way that only a Pokemon and their trainer could understand, that in the deepest meanings and sense of the words, that by all means, she was sorry.
Eros gave a look that was just as deep, just as meaningful, and communicated only the most sincere message a trainer could give towards their Pokemon, and in perfect response to Sicily's gaze, he forgave her. With this, she collapsed.
Eros turned back to Kirk. "So, uh, you're not going to tell anybody about, you know..."
"As a gym leader, it's my duty (hah) to protect my people. And, to be honest, I personally don't like these witch hunts. They've gotten out of hand."
"That's awfully nice of you."
"Yeah. I mean, my wife's gone. The witch hunters took her. Damn Cerberus killed her, he did. Even took the children, he did. Now I just sit at home, watching, waiting for him to come for me. He's heartless, mindless. She wasn't a witch by any means. I just can't bear to see the disappointment on our Houndour's face every day...
"Pepe. You're always welcome to stay with me, whatever need be. Just... Whatever you're doing, stay safe."
"I... I will."
"Oh, and take this. You did good with that Flygon."
After placing a small badge the shape of a ruby flame in Eros' hand, Kirk nodded and slowly stood up, rising onto his muscular legs and making it back inside the gym.