Chapter #5Why did the tiny cross the road? by: sneakyk   Surveying your surroundings, observing the vast cityscape, its warehouse sized mom & pop stores, and the myriad giants that inhabit it, you come to the conclusion that staying here is tantamount to waiting for your death. You have already seen what you are viewed as here. A commodity for these consumers to play with or snack on. This is not Honey I Shrunk the Kids. The giants are not friendly relatives going at great lengths to save you, and the domesticated creatures are not deus ex machinae waiting to save you from your troubles. Getting spotted -or, rather, captured- will not bring you to a magical growth ray. It is more likely to lead to you lying helpless on a dinner plate as some affluent middle aged consumer brings a fork into your chest or drags the serrated edge of a steak knife into your neck. Or would they be more inclined to view you as a pet to be exterminated? Images of the myriad pokemon employed to catch non-pokemon vermin - from houndour with death-dealing fangs and flames that can scorch flesh without damaging their surroundings, to Pichu that show almost uncharacteristic glee in hunting down , paralyzing, and toying with lesser rodents - flood your mind.
Regardless, it is clear that the your best chance at surviving this giant version of Lumiose is to flee... and since you've been traveling away from the city's center, you can be confident that the most effective path forward will see you crossing this road in one way or another. Perhaps once you have made it out of the city, you think, perhaps you might be able to find some settlement more in line with people your size. Yes... you know for a fact that this gigantic version of Lumiose will not afford you any shelter, but beyond the city's limits there's an entire world out there, and you can only hope the giants have not colonized it.
Judging by the presence of nearby pedestrians, it would probably be better to cross sooner than later. You approach the edge of the sidewalk, lift the candy wrapper you're sheltering under up enough to give you a view of your surroundings, then follow the universal advice given to pedestrians and look left and right, still following the protocol even if it was not meant for little things such as yourself. You then turn your attention up to the tree and the Pachirisu perched upon it. The squirrel Pokemon is not yet looking in your direction, but it could turn your way at any moment. The Pachirisu, an opportune scavenger, may well view a discarded candy wrapper as just as tempting a morsel as your body would be. With an overwhelming speed and range advantage over you, its curiosity and hunger would be beyond your power to deny.
Seeing no immediately apparent signs of traffic, you advance onto the street. You are immediately met with a surge of heat. The stonework street might not be asphalt, but it is better at absorbing heat than the sidewalk is. The air around you is sweltering, and is particularly painful on your feet. But steeling yourself against the heat, you rush forward, hoping to get into the Pachirisu's blind spot -and into the shade- as soon as possible.
RmmmmblermmmbleRMMMBLE
As you sprint across the street, panting in and out, hoping that no one will pay a candy wrapper blowing in the wind any heed, you hear the gradually growing sound of something grinding its way towards you. It would appear as if you should have looked left and right twice...you spent too much time distracted by that giant squirrel! Turning in the direction of the noise, you let out a little scream as you catch a glimpse of an enormous bike headed your way, powered by a pair of bright orange sneakers belonging to some giant whose face you will never see. Realizing the danger , you take a sudden dive forward, the near-deafening sound of the wheel grinding upon the road imposing itself upon you so thoroughly that you feel for sure that you are about to get crushed. But no deathblow comes. The sound of grinding and the associated ringing in your ears begins to fade, and you catch a glimpse of the biker's ample backside, and slim legs shifting and pivoting as they pedal off none the wiser to your existence.
Not wanting to risk getting run over any longer, you rush onto the median, panting in and out now that you've made it past the immediate danger. You've made it halfway there...and now that you're under the tree, you'll be better equipped to hide from the Pachirisu... or from passing giants. You sit at the edge of the median, still hidden under the candy wrapper. Your bare feet smart from the heat. The earlier fall has left both your knees and elbows scraped. Your nerves are shaken, and you are more than a little tired. But perhaps now you can...
RMMBLERMMBLEWHOOOSH.
Another bike comes passing by... and though you are not in its immediate path, you find yourself swept up by the rush of displaced air in its wake. You are very nearly knocked onto your chest. Quickly reacting to the disturbance, you catch yourself and turn around to face the rush of wind.. only for the wind to curl around you and send you tumbling back onto the road with a little shriek. Moments later, you hear a sound more imposing than even that of the rumbling bikes...
The towering figure of a fiery rapidash treads towards you, its muscled legs and stonehard hooves pounding deafening bursts of noise outward as it stomps. You struggle to right yourself, but find that you can barely move against the rumbling of the rapidash's hoofbeats. As you get to your feet, you feel a surge of pain in your soles as the already heated road grows scalding hot. You cry out in pain, causing the Rapidash to halt right in front of you, looking down at you. The Rapidash snorts noisily, then lifts one of its mighty hooves up, hovering it upon you, as if contemplating whether or not to trample the candywrapper -and the thing hiding beneath it- into the ground.
"What's gotten into you, boy?" The feminine voice of the stallion's leather-booted rider resonates from overhead. Shit shit shit shit. This is not good! You lowered your guard for one moment and reality has already has you at mate-in-two, courtesy of the rook sized stallion and its queen. If only you had moved a bit farther from the edge of the median before celebrating your 'victory!' Hindsight is 20/20. You quickly get onto the curb before the Rapidash can tread upon you, and you immediately begin crawling forward, hoping to avoid detection by the rider.
You crawl through the grass, using the candy-wrapper as cover. Speaking of the candy wrapper... the chocolate paste smeared upon its interior wound up melting from the heat of the Rapidash and the stonework path, leaving you sticky and candy scented. You can add' take a bath' to your laundry list. You sigh as you near the middle of the median, hoping the lady hasn't realized that you're anything other than a candy wrapper blowing in the wind... or that she's at least decided you aren't worth the trouble of dismounting in the middle of the road. You've now fallen onto a hard surface twice... your back is smarting, too.
Arriving at the center of the median, you pause for a moment before deciding to move forward. But as you do, you hear a THWUMP. Loud, likely giant in origin, but nowhere near as loud as the Rapidash's hooves. You shrug before stepping forward, only for the candy-wrapper to suddenly hold you in place where it did not before. Surprised, you fall onto your back , landing on the soil. You get to your knees and attempt to push forward, only to realize that the candy wrapper is now stubbornly resisting your movements... and that one end of it appears to have caved in. That could only mean one thing.
It's being held in place!
You feel a dreadful pit in your stomach. You hesitate more than you have any reason to hesitate before poking your head out through the opening. You look out to see nothing but grass extending off into the distance. That must mean that you're looking in the wrong direction. You turn your head in the other way... or behind you. Turning to your right, you notice something right off the bat.
To your right rests what appears to be a wall of leathery armor, pink in hue. Various stickers depicting cartoon heroes, butterflies, and advertisements for local businesses have been slapped upon it without rhyme or reason. Is this the Rapidash Rider? You briefly consider , before ruling out the possibility entirely.
Wait... pink... you turn your head up to see a thin strip of purple and a wall of white above it. It then dawns on you that you are standing in front of the Toxel. The Toxel! You forgot all about it! Having focused on the Pachirisu sentry overhead and the potential dangers of oncoming traffic, you completely neglected the presence of the little baby Pokemon sleeping against the tree. Well. It is no longer sleeping. It is not at all little. And it is looking at you -or at least the candy wrapper you're hiding under- intently with that ugly-cute baby face it has. You feel a pit in your stomach, and in an instant the streets and canopy become completely distant to you. For now, you have one thing and one thing alone to worry about.
And that source of your worry is a lowly baby Pokemon just waking from an afternoon nap.
Your heart races as you consider your options... you won't have a lot of time to decide!  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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