Running
Running
Running
A stumble...
"Nicole!" the man shouted, running back to the girl. He helped her up, and they continued to run.
He had a purple beard, but she couldn't see the rest of his face.
'He seems... familiar'
"Who are you?!" Nicole shouted, but the man didn't answer. Her hand slipped through his grip, but a shorter girl kept running with the man.
"Ni-ol-!"
Huh?
"-ico—!"
What?
"NICOLE!"
A thump.
"Ow~" Nicole moaned, rubbing the back of her head.
"Sorry about that. You looked like you were having a bad dream." Nicole looked up and saw Wyatt there, holding a hand out.
"I... guess so." Nicole said, rubbing the back of her head.
"Why don't... Why don't you go and take a shower? I'll bring you your clothes." Wyatt asked, looking away with a slight blush.
Nicole blinked, then smiled. "Thank you, Wyatt." Nicole said, and headed to the bathroom.
"So..." Wyatt looked at Damian, a slightly annoyed expression on his face. "You haven't even gotten your gift for the Augur yet?" Damian looked down, ashamed.
"I... I forgot. I was so busy helping out with the smaller chores that I forgot." Wyatt sighed.
"I heard there was a rare stone you could get in a cave in Shade Forest, but you'd need a Pokémon to travel safely." Both boys looked up at their father, and Nicole had to repress a shudder at that.
"No! Absolutely not! Damian and Wyatt are just children!"
"Everyone else in town has already got theirs and have left!" Wyatt argued, annoyed.
"And you two aren't going to follow them! You'll get yourselves killed!" their mother argued.
"Why do you care? It's not like your our real mother or anything..." Damian mumbled, eyes downcast.
"I raised you since birth, Damian! And you, Wyatt! We gave you a home!" their mother said.
"You two aren't capable of raising a plant, let alone a Pokémon! You two are irresponsible, antisocial, and you can't even-!"
"That's ENOUGH out of all of you. You're embarrassing us." their father said, and both boys looked down while their mother was flushed red.
"How about you let them have a Pokémon while going out to find the gift for the Second Augur, and if they come back fine, they can keep the Pokémon." Nicole suggested, and the family looked at her, causing her to shift uncomfortably.
"...alright. But only if you go with them." their mother conceded, and Nicole sighed in relief.
"Let's head to Professor Sylvan's lab. She should still have some Eevee's to hand out." Damian said, pulling Nicole and Wyatt behind him.
They ran down through town, until they were in front of a lab. They entered, and stopped when they saw a woman in a lab coat talking to a man in a suit.
"Who's that?" Nicole asked. "The lady is Professor Sylvan." Damian said. "But the guy's a mystery." Wyatt added.
"Listen, Professor. These Pokémon, they're freaks. No other trainer would want them, and we can't keep them any longer. All I want is for you to take them. You already keep a bunch of Eevee as is, surely these three won't be a bother?" the man said, and Sylvan sighed.
"Why do you care about them? I know what you've done."
"It's true, I'm merciless. I've done awful things. But there's no reason for these Pokémon to die."
"Um... hello?" Wyatt and Nicole looked at Damian, who looked very shy at the moment. The professor and man turned to the three.
"We're here to get a Pokémon so we can go into the forest safely." Damian motioned to the three of them.
The man then turned back to Sylvan.
"Sylvan, if you don't take these Pokémon, I'll release them, and they're sure to die in the wild. If you want, you can just give them to these kids, right?"
Sylvan sighed, then looked at the man. "Put them on the table."
"Very well." the man said, then placed the case on the table and opened it. There were three Pokéballs inside.
The man then walked to leave. "Excuse me." Damian moves to the side, allowing the man to pass.
"So, you three are in need of a Pokémon?" Sylvan asked.
"Yes, ma'am." Damian said, and they nodded.
"I see..." Sylvan looked at the Pokéballs.
"That man was one of my colleagues in university. He's a smart man, and a great scientist."
"Oh. He didn't se-"
"He's also the leader of the Cult of Perfection." All three froze, staring at the Professor with a mixture of emotions.
"A... a cult leader? Those people are evil, Professor! You shouldn't be talking to them, let alone be accepting gifts from them!"
Sylvan walked towards them.
"Tell me, have you ever heard of something called 'Delta Species'?" Sylvan asked.
"No. What's that?" Nicole asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Delta Pokémon are based on a phenomenon in the Holon Region, far away. They're Pokémon that have different DNA than normal Pokémon. Simply put, they're a different type than normal. An example would be an Electric-type Dragonite, or a Water-type Porygon. These Pokémon on the table now are Deltas." They all looked at the table.
"I'm not sure what type they are, but they seem to be experiments of Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle. They're scientific marvels. I'd love to keep one to study." Sylvan sighed, then looked back at the three.
"Now, normally I would give you an Eevee as a Pokémon to start kids off on their journey. However, it's seems there are three more options for you to chose from. So, I'll offer you this." The three looked at Sylvan.
"You may chose one of these three Delta Pokémon to travel with, or the Eevee I normally give away. The choice is yours." Sylvan said.
"So, what are we gonna do?" Wyatt asked, hands in his pockets.
"I don't like the idea of using a Pokémon made by a murderer." Damian said, and Nicole placed a hand on his shoulder.
"If you don't want to take a Delta Pokémon, then get the Eevee." Nicole said, giving him a small smile. Damian looked up, and smiled back.
"Thanks. I'll get the Eevee. Then, what will you two get?" Damian asked.
"Well, I want to see what the Delta Pokémon look like." Wyatt said, and Nicole smiled.
"I also want to see what the Deltas look like."
The two walked towards the table, while Damian got his Eevee from Sylvan.
They let out the Pokémon one by one.
There was a pink colored Bulbasaur with a flower near its ear, a grey Charmander with a purple flame, and a primarily dark purple Squirtle.
"I'll take Squirtle, what about you Nicole?" Wyatt asked, taking Squirtle's Pokéball.
"I'll take..." Nicole looked at the two others, and found Charmander staring right back at her. "Charmander." Nicole decided, taking its Pokéball.
"No prodding the Bulbasaur." Nicole said, and the three walked out of the lab.
"Wait! Take these Pokédexes with you!" Sylvan said, rushing up to the three and handing them the devices. "Thanks!" the three chorused, then continued walking.
"I'll head on to Shade Forest." Damian said, and the two looked at him.
"Well, Nicole doesn't know the area, and we know it really well. So, I thought, maybe you could show her around." Damian said, blushing slightly.
"Fine, Dami. You win."
Damian grinned, then rushed off.
"Geez, you'd think we was a little kid." Wyatt complained, and Nicole giggled. "I think it's actually kinda cute." Nicole said.
"Ah!" Nicole stumbled backwards, landing on her behind.
Wyatt rushed over, a concerned expression on his face.
"You alright?" "Y- Yeah. That Caterpie just surprised me, is all." Nicole said, taking Wyatt's offed hand and getting up.
They continued on, and Nicole managed to catch a Gastly while Wyatt caught a Nidoran male.
They came upon a cave, and Nicole couldn't help the shiver that ran down her back.
"You alright?" Wyatt asked, looking at Nicole in concern. "I'm fine." Nicole said, holding her arms close.
They entered, and walked around. Nicole caught a Cubone, and Wyatt managed to catch an Onix.
They walked a little more, and found Damian crouched behind a couple of rocks.
"Damian, what are you-?" "Shh." Damian motioned them closer, and they walked over.
"He will not leave Telnor Town alive." The three were shocked, and saw two figures on the bridge. One wore red while the other wore blue.
"My agent is already in place. I assume yours is, too?"
"Yes, and armed to the brink with the strongest of Pokémon. Rest assured, he will be dead before he leaves Telnor Town."
"Very good. This Augur disgusts me. I could at least grudgingly respect the first one, but this one is just useless. He's practically brainwashed the entire region with all this propaganda he's spread about himself. Have you heard how ridiculous some of it is? He was born of fire and lightning and he rode Xerneas as a steed? The man's been Augur for a year, and already the people are worshipping him."
"Well, we won't have to worry about him after today, will we? Let's get going."
The two people then walked away.
"Those were cultists!" Damian whisper shouted, eyes wide.
Wyatt's hands were clenched.
"They plan on assassinating the Augur! I may not like the man, but not to the point of wanting to harm someone!" Wyatt hissed out.
"We have to warn him." Nicole said, and the two boys nodded in agreement.
"You three are late! The Augur arrived five minutes ago!" the boys' father scolded, tapping his foot on the ground.
"He's waiting in Town Hall." Their father then walked towards the hall.
"Come on. He could be attacked any minute now." Nicole said, and they headed towards the Town Hall.
They went towards the back, and found a man with long blond hair and white clothes turned towards them.
"Hello. I'm Jaern, the Second Augur. It's nice to meet you all- you have a very lovely town. What might be your names, young ones?"
"O- Oh, I'm Damian. He's Wyatt, and she's Nicole."
Nicole trembled under the Second Augur's gaze, and Wyatt stood in front of her protectively.
"Sir, we're here to warm you that one of the guests here want to kill you." Wyatt said, and everyone looked at them in shock.
"That's... a very serious accusation, Wyatt." Jaern said, slightly disturbed.
"I'm so sorry about this, sir. Wyatt isn't a very big fan of yours."
Their father walked over.
"Wyatt, what are you saying? You're embarrassing us!" his father reprimanded, and Wyatt halted at him.
"You'll be punished for this!" "Try me, old man." Wyatt hissed.
"Actually, I wouldn't worry about it. He'll get enough punishment here as is." one of the bystanders said, and two of them stood up.
"And who might you be?" Jaern asked, an easygoing smile on his face.
"We're cultists." the one who spoke before said, and the two ripped off their clothes, revealing one in a blue uniform and one in a red uniform.
"And we're here to kill you." the other one said.
"W-what? No! You can't!" Damian shouted, standing in front of Jaern defensively. Nicole and Wyatt stood on either side of Damian, fingers twitching over their Pokéballs.
"You two won't even get a chance to battle him." Wyatt taunted, a grin on his face.
"We'll stop you two right here and now." Nicole said, and had to suppress a shudder when she felt eyes on her back.
"... have you been watching too many superhero movies?" the one in blue asked, annoyed and unimpressed.
'Abyssal and Infernal.' Nicole noted, and grabbed Charmander's ball.
"We're cultists. We have strong Pokémon and actual weaponry. We've only come here to eliminate the Augur. Step aside, and we won't kill you too." the one in red advised.
"Like heck we're gonna back down!" Wyatt snarled.
"Alright, then, kid. Just don't say we didn't warn you." the one in red said, and they both brought out their own Pokémon.
"Charmander, lets go!" Nicole shouted, bringing out her first Pokémon.
"Skrelp, go." the Abyssal Cultist said, bringing out the small sea horse.
"No matter, I'll take you down with him." the Infernal Cultist said.
"No, you won't." Jaern said, a frown on his face.
"Trying to kill me is one thing, but threatening innocent children? That's one strike too many. I'm sending you to Helios City for your trial... although after all that, I don't see a bright future for you." Jaern brought up a hand, and there was a slight blue glow around his hand.
"Vinculorum mortae!" Jaern chanted, then swiped his hand to the side.
There was a flash of bright light, and when it died down, the cultists were gone.
Nicole fell to her knees, her hands over her mouth as she bent over, her entire body shaking.
"Did you just... kill them?" Damian asked, horrified.
"Of course not. I've just taken them to Helios City." Jaern dismissed, and Damian relaxed slightly.
Wyatt narrowed his eyes.
"Sorry for letting you three fight my battles, but I was curious to see how you would do. Don't worry, if you had lost, I wouldn't have let you get hurt."
"Really?" Wyatt hissed, but no one except Nicole heard, but she was busy with her own problems.
"I'm very impressed. You three are talented and responsible. If you ever pass through Helios City, why not stop by? I'd love to see the three of you again." Jaern sighed.
"For now, though, I should return. I have a trial to attend to." Jaern turned to the mayor, bowing.
"Thank you for hosting me. You have a very lovely Town." Jaern said, then walked out of the Hall.
"Did the Augur just... give you a compliment?" their father asked, stunned.
"I... I think so." Damian said, just as stunned.
"I think your foster mother is going to have trouble making you stay if that's the case." their father said.
Nicole stood up, albeit a little shaky.
"Damian, this is your chance to go on an adventure!" Nicole said, smiling at the white haired boy.
"You did get an invitation from the Augur himself." Wyatt said, giving an easygoing smile.
"Y-Yeah. I guess you two are right. In that case, I need to get going as soon as possible. Everyone else must have arrived at Midna Town and are training at the Trainer School!" Damian said, and the three smiled among themselves.
"How about we race?" Nicole suggested as they walked out of the hall, getting looks from the boys.
"Midna Town is just on the other side of Telnor Cave, so it is a feasible idea." Wyatt said.
"So, until then?" Nicole asked, and the boys nodded.
"Until then." they said, and parted ways.