The trees flew past in the periphery as Patrick heaved ragged breaths. A hefty weight on his shoulder dragged him down a notch as Nickit groomed its own fur with an apathetic look on its face. The sounds of the police officer died down minutes ago, but Patrick kept his run, not daring to look back. Zigzagoon kept up the pace in front of him, looking back with a smile on its face, enjoying the whole escapade.

  Everything around him tapered off as the forest decreased in density. A huge clearing opened up in front of him and the sun battered his eyes, undefended by the canopies of the trees. A sign was rooted into the ground, firm. It had three wooden arrows and a wooden plate. One pointed straight at him—Dappled Grove. The other pointed to the path straight ahead the sign labeled with numerous places, Axew’s Eye, East Lake Axewell…Patrick ignored the rest. The third pointed to the direction opposite to him, it labeled places like: Giant’s Seat, South Lake Miloch, and North Lake Miloch.

  The wooden plate signified their current location. The Rolling Fields.

  His heart jumped into his throat as he caught up. He creaked his head to the right…and there it was: The Main Entrance. Loads of Wedgehurst and Postwick’s inhabitants—people he recognized, kids his age—conversed, battled, and guffawed. An invisible force gripped his heart. A voice echoed in his head.

  You’re not like them. You’re different. Someone spoke from within his brain, its voice similar to his but with a gurgle. Friendships? Love? Baggage. You’re here for revenge. Kill. Kill or be killed, Patrick.

  Patrick’s beating heart settled. He glanced once more at the group in front of the main entrance, his eyes searching. They didn’t bother looking his direction, their eyes were filled with their own Pokemon or their own friends. Nobody could spare a thought for a vermin running from the authorities.

  “Pat…Patrick?”

  A familiar voice came from behind. Patrick stumbled down as he lost his balance. Nickit jumped off his shoulder as he fell. It landed on the ground with grace and continued its grooming. Patrick’s elbows throbbed with the thud and he looked back with fear filling his widened eyes. Red hair, bloodshot eyes, red tracksuit, it was all there. Amber.

  “Amber.” Patrick got up off the dirt and wiped the dust off his shorts. He got self-conscious of his appearance. Bare chest smeared with dirt. Disheveled hair, dirty shorts, bare feet. A vermin indeed. “Get away.” He marched towards Amber, pushing her to the side, but she didn’t budge.

  “I’m not going anywhere. You know how much time I’ve invested into finding you? You know the conclusions I jumped to the moment you disappeared like that? If not for your shirt’s remnants in the bush beside your house we would’ve deemed you dead.” Amber’s voice cracked with the last few words. Tears welling up in her eyes. She held her arms to the side blocking the way to the lake ahead. “Police are looking for you. We’re here to save you.”

  Lies. They know you burned your own house down. They’re here to deliver their twisted perception of justice. The voice echoed in his brain. Run, don’t let society shackle you again. You saw how that ended up last time.

  “Out of my way, Amber!” Patrick raised his voice. A few heads behind him flicked to witness the argument. Patrick pushed forward but Amber opened one of her Pokeballs and Sobble popped out.

  “I won’t go down without a fight.” She smiled, her mouth contradicting the stream of tears dropping from her eyes.

  It was still a Sobble. That guaranteed it was below level 16. Zigzagoon beside Patrick hissed, its spiky fur puffing out. Sobble inched back, its back met Amber’s foot and it hardened its resolve. Nickit glanced at its own claws as it glowed red with a bored expression. A smile extended from each of its cheek as Zigzagoon glowed the same hue of red.

  “Sobble, Water Gun.” Amber commanded as Sobble’s mouth glowed blue.

  Patrick kicked the dirt with his bare foot, a cloud of dirt shot up. It blinded Sobble’s vision and threw off its aim as Zigzagoon approached in a zigzag pattern, making the shot even harder to land. It pounced onto Sobble clawing at it with Nickit. A two versus one.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Amber’s mouth flew open and she stared at Patrick. “Pat…what are you doing?”

  “Not playing fair.” Patrick shrugged.

  Amber got another Pokeball out of her belt and released the expected. Vulpix flicked the strand of hair drooping between her ears backwards as she stared at the battle unfolding in front of it with disgust.

  “Vulpix, Disable.” Amber called out.

  Vulpix’s eyes glowed white as it stared down on Nickit. Coincidentally, the entanglement ended at the same time. Zigzagoon and Nickit jumped backwards as Sobble huddled up to its ally, Vulpix.

  “Knock off.” Patrick muttered. With Beat Up disabled, Knock Off was the second best option. The fight was void of weaknesses and resistances, it was an even playing field. But Amber would never allow that.

  The moment Nickit’s blackened claws landed on Vulpix a pink orb flew off of it. It had a yellow ring in its center. A Life Orb. Zigzagoon snatched it off the air and threw it back at Patrick. Nickit’s body glowed white as it teleported to Sobble’s side—Quick Attack. Its claws blackened and it landed another Knock Off at Sobble. A pair of yellow, sun-shaped glasses flew off the Sobble. The glass was tinged red with both the blood of the Sobble and its original stained glass color.

  Choice Specs.

  Patrick caught the glasses and pocketed them. He looked at the Life Orb with his Pokedex in the other hand.

  Life Orb:

  An item to be held by a Pokemon. It boosts the power of moves but at the cost of some HP on each hit.

  He tossed the Life Orb at Zigzagoon. It melted into its body the moment it landed on its fur. With the boost of power the Life Orb offered Zigzagoon, a single Lick fainted Sobble.

  Zigzagoon let out a whimper. It flopped on the ground, its body tense. The Life Orb’s toll wasn’t as simple as Patrick thought. Blood leaked out of a few small pores in Zigzagoon’s sides forming a puddle of blood that surrounded Zigzagoon as it kept whimpering in pain.

  The Pokedex vibrated in his pocket but he ignored the notifications. Amber ground her teeth. She curled her fist until the knuckles whitened.

  “Pat, come back. Go back to the Pat I know.” She pleaded, her eyes moist.

  Footsteps echoed from Dappled Grove behind him. He darted forward, picked up Zigzagoon, and ducked under Amber’s outstretched hand before she even shot it outwards. His feet carried him towards the open lake in front of him. “I don’t have time for this, Amber!” Patrick shouted as he ran from the police.

  “Catch.” Amber croaked.

  Patrick instinctively turned around and caught the spray bottle flung to him. It was one of those small, purple bottles. A Potion. His eyes softened slightly.

  Kill or be killed. The voice reminded him.

  He kept up his march, not glancing back. The voice in his head motivated him to keep running forward, to ignore his past, his relationships, his family.

  ***

  Zigzagoon’s old pores knitted itself shut the moment the spray hit it. It got back to its old energetic self, shaking off its lethargy, as it ran ahead of him to the lake in zigzags. He thirsted for a drink from the lake, but with the police on his tail he couldn’t stop for a second.

  However, the wild area said otherwise.

  The water of the lake reflected the orange rays of the setting sun. Painting the grass and the trees around Patrick in a cool orange sheen. A fist slammed into Patrick’s leg. It didn’t carry that much weight behind it but it still left a tiny sore on Patrick’s leg. He looked down to find a black and white creature, of the same color gradient as his Zigzagoon. It kept a barrage of the punches going as Patrick dashed backwards.

  A small leaf hung out of its mouth as it ran towards Patrick, obviously distraught. Patrick stayed out of its range as he signaled to both of his Pokemon to stand back. Nickit…was likely not going to help either way, but Zigzagoon was itching to fight the wild Pokemon. As soon as the Pokedex left his pocket it bombarded him with notifications that he dismissed. He pointed the device onto the Pokemon and awaited the familiar voice.

  “Pancham, the playful Pokemon—”

  Well, one of us is finding this fun at the very least, Patrick thought.

  The woman kept going. “—wanting to make sure it’s taken seriously, Pancham’s always giving others a glare. But if it’s not focusing, it ends up smiling. It chooses a Pangoro as its master and then imitates its master’s actions. This is how it learns to battle and hunt for prey.”

  Patrick flicked his head around as he kept his distance from the Pancham. According to the Pokedex entry, this Pancham should have a Pangoro as master…

  Rhythmic heavy footsteps shook the earth. From the tree line, a massive shape cut the monotony of the trees, fur black as obsidian, a cape of white merging with the black, and a bamboo sprig twitching in its mouth. Behind Patrick, static sounds of the police’s walkie talkies came through the Rolling Fields. The Pancham didn’t stop its onslaught from his front as it still hadn't noticed its master’s return. A cold sweat emerged on Patrick’s entire body as he looked at all three threats around him. One from each direction. Nickit stopped its grooming and looked serious for a second.

  As expected, though, Zigzagoon ran straight at the Pangoro, with no care in the world.

  Water type hooked me when I first watched the anime—probably because of the infamous Squirtle Squad. I made the Water type my entire personality as a kid and still prefer water type Pokemon/starters over all else.

  Fun fact: my gamertag everywhere is "Wave," fully inspired by that childhood obsession.

  What is your favorite type?