“So considering you’re the one who’s saying that, that means you’re the leader of the group?” Nina asked.
“Leader?” You asked confused. “I mean, I was simply pointing out where this place was.”
“It was your choice to keep going and you allowed us to come with you.” Rachael added.
“Then you suggested we go find medicine for Kate.” Felix added as well.
“You also chose to help stop the Salamence from attacking the village.” Vargus added with the others.
You were nervous about that as you turned to Neku who shakes his head.
“I’m here because you saved my life, plus I felt you’re doing a good job, I have no complaints about you being a leader.”
You sweatdropped a bit as it’s pretty much unanimous. “Then yeah, I am this group’s leader.”
“You’re rather unremarkable looking, but I’ve been told appearances aren’t everything, so I’m with you.”
Your ears twitch at her at her response, but you stare at the sky, with the sun rising halfway up the horizon as you look over your things. Thanks to foraging berries and… acquiring some supplies from the abandoned homes, you still have a good amount of items. Just as you were about to lift your bag up, Kate came to you.
“Rai, are you gonna be teaching me more moves today?” She asked which got the other companions to look at you, particularly Rachael who’s ears stood straight up and eyes wide from what she heard.
“More moves?! Rai, did you teach her Pokemon moves?” She asked you. “Why didn’t you talk to us about it? Were you just gonna keep this a secret?!”
You sweated a bit from her response, not surprised that she would react that way considering the standard rules of the world. “I was gonna tell you. I only taught her Agility and Thunder Wave yesterday.” You answered her, though it did nothing to calm her down.
“Why? She’s not even 10! It’s against the law to teach an underage child how to fight.” The Buneary reminded you about that.
“Remember when that Poochyena attacked her moments after you two rescued me?” Neku asked, watching the two of them. “Considering that, I think it’s smart to teach her how to defend herself if a situation like that happens once again.” The Zoroark nodded his head as he finished.
There was that moment with the Sandslash too. She would’ve gone after the girl if Rai never got in her way and insisted that I put her somewhere safe first.” Felix stated, with Neku giving him a look for a moment before sighing. “For the record, it was still rather stupid as you were an Electric type too.”
“I managed long enough didn’t I?” You asked back. “And I’m not teaching her this so she can fight alongside us as Neku said. This is just for emergencies only.”
The Buneary grumbled as she looked down, digging her paws in the ground and gripping her arm a bit tight.
“You know, I do understand where you’re coming from, but as they said, they will attack anyone they see as potential prey, young or old. It won’t hurt to take precautions.” Vargus added as well, nervously placing his paw on the Buneary’s shoulder before she gently moved away.
She looked up to you. “Was this your idea?” she asked you and you shake your head no.
“Felicity suggested this to me, even though I made the same argument as you did. She made some good points as to why I should do that.”
“Make sense, you three haven’t gone through what we went through, so it’s obvious you wouldn’t come up with this idea on your own.” Nina stated, making you and Rachael’s face scrunched up from that response.
“No need to say it like that!” Rachael stated as she looked at you with concern. “Sorry Rai, I just…” she paused, trying to find the right words.
“Rachael, I know this is wrong, but right now, I should be taking some precautions if I want to keep her safe.” You stated, walking towards her and hesitantly placing a paw on her shoulder. “Please, trust me.”
“I do trust you, I just don’t like what you’re doing.” Rachael answers.
You sigh in response to that until you hear Vargus speak.
“Hey, wasn’t there a cave back there just moments ago?”
Your eyes raise up from that question as you turn around and see that instead of the cave entrance, there was a mountain wall where you all came from.
Nina smirked at you and the others confusion. “An illusion. The cave entrance is there, it’s just covered by Felicity’s illusion power.” She explained. “She uses it in order to fool the infected Pokémon’s eyes. When she leaves the cave, it’ll be revealed.”
“You did say that you and your grandmother don't get attacked much, so that explains it.” Felix stated.
“Wow, your grandmother is so incredible!” Kate stated in amazement.
“Hehe, I know.” Nina answered with a giggle.
You smile at her as you notice the Grovyle moving towards the Zoroark. You move towards your sister to try and make out what they’re saying.
“Hey… I want to say I’m sorry again for attacking you and Rachael unprovoked.” Felix stated, looking up to him. “I should’ve let you state your case before deciding my action.”
Neku was quiet for a moment, taking in what Felix said to him. He takes a deep breath before looking at him. “You told us before there were bandits hiding about. I’ve met others who would take advantage of those who are unsuspecting. I can’t blame you for assuming the worst, and I dealt with terrible Pokémon when this had started for a long time, so don’t worry about it.” the Zoroark stated as he extended a hand out and Felix accepted it.
You smile at seeing them bury the hatchet as Kate patted your arm. “Oh right, um… I’ll teach you something later. We need to get going.”
The Pachirisu nodded her head as you took out your map.
“Well Felicity will be meeting us back at the survivor camp, so we should be heading there next.” You stated, looking back at the path they just took.
“We could make it there in less than a day’s journey going back the way we came… If it wasn’t for the bridge being out.” Neku stated, voice low from remembering that moment.
“We can just cross the river?” Vargus suggested. “I know a shallow point through it.”
“We had to walk through a forest to get there. Plus the current was quite strong, and I don’t want my sister to get swept away.” You state, shaking your head.
“Then the only option left is to go around and reach the camp the other way. It’ll be a day worth of travel…” Rachael stated, tracing her paw around the path they’re at to the camp.
“If it were normal circumstances…” Nina added.
“Yeah, under normal circumstances.” Neku agreed.
“Well we’ll just have to go then. Maybe we may find out something along the way.” Vargus said, sporting a smile.
“Yeah… maybe.” You stated, not as upbeat as Vargus spoke, which Neku noticed. “Though… maybe we’re in over our heads.”
Felix’s eyebrow raised when you said that.
“I mean, all these incidents happened in only two days. What else are we to expect over the time we travel?”
“Rai, you passed Felicity’s trials. That showed you are sharp-”
“That doesn’t mean we’ll succeed!” You stated, making sure you keep your voice down in order not to be loud. “It takes one mistake and…”
“Well as grandma said to us, we have to look out for each other. That’ll give us the best chance to make it through this.” Nina reminded you of what she said.
You do remember her words, but you’re still unsure of your chances. You sigh as thinking about it isn’t gonna do you any good. You should at least get moving and not lose any more sunlight. You take one more look at the map as everyone was starting along the dirt path.
A bit in front of their path leads to a branching path which one leads towards the Church that Melanie told about you. You could go and check it out. You thought about her words when she was talking to you a couple days ago. You don't know why, but it felt that she was warning you to not come there. Why? What reason would she want to keep others away? You put up your map as you decide that you’ll talk about it with the others when you arrive at the point.
“Mr. Neku? Kate asked, moving to pick something up. “This fell out of your bag.”
The Zoroark stopped and turned to see what she was holding, then look at her bag, with one of the tape starting to peel off. He growled at that as he put the tape back on. “I knew I should’ve asked for another bag before leaving.” He said as he takes the item Kate had and put it in his bag.
As this happens, you took more notice of Neku’s bag. It looks old and is practically breaking apart. Just how long has he had that bag for?
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author