The Bonds Between People and Pokémon

Oh crap run-

I woke up to the smell of burning. I looked towards Aspetto, already looking at me with alarm. I jumped to my feet and pushed back the tent flap, Yuki tense next to my leg. I never could have expected what happened next.

A literal mob, complete with torches and pitchforks was standing at the beach entrance. "There they are!" a middle-aged man towards the front yelled, waving a newspaper. "There's the Voltorb killers!"

Damn, those newspaper people must have posted the story without getting all of the information. So of course Aspetto and I standing next to a bunch of dead Pokémon would look really suspicious.

"Get them!!" some woman's voice called out. Aspetto and I glanced at each other, wide-eyed. "RUN!!" I screamed. Aspetto, Yuki and I sprinted across the sand at the mountain, the jeers and yells of the mob behind us.

"What the heck Fiore? Do you know what you're doing?" Aspetto frantically signed.

"I DON'T KNOW! WHAT IN THE HECK MAKES YOU THINK I HAVE A PLAN?! YUKI USE QUICK ATTACK ON THE LEADING GUY BACK THERE!"

I immediately regretted my decision as I saw the blur of my snow-fox speed towards that guy. I mean sure, the sheer power blew him backwards into the rest of the crowd, creating a domino effect and tripping up everybody. Not to mention the torches they were carrying ended up burning a good amount of them all. But all it ended up doing was making them somehow even more enraged though. If the rebound of quick attack didn't return Yuki right to my side, I'd fear for her life.

Aspetto just stood there, dumbfounded. "Aspetto we have to go!" I exclaimed.

He shook his head and followed me. We grew ever closer to the ice-capped mountain. "I mean, if you thought you had enemies before, you definitely have them now."

"Shut up Aspetto," I growled in response. Yuki seemed to be getting tired, so I took it in my arms and kept running. Yuki quickly licked my face, which was surprising, but I didn't have time to reminisce.

Finally, we reached the base of the mountain. "Ok Aspetto. Don't forget you're looking for ice stones."

Thankfully we only had to go a short while before I saw a blue glint in the mountainside. Stooping down, I picked up the stone. I brought it next to Yuki, and it started pulsing with her. A bright blue light engulfed us all. Where the Vulpix Yuki stood, now stood a beautiful Ninetails. Yuki started to emit a soft white light - it wanted to learn a new move. I didn't have any of my books with me to determine what the heck it was going to learn, so I just said "Whatever you want to learn, replace Draining Kiss."

I allowed myself to laugh. "Well, that was refreshingly easy!"

I looked at Aspetto, expecting him to be smiling. Instead he stared, openmouthed at something over my shoulder. Already dreading what I was going to see, I turned around.

A woman was riding a Mudsdale on the beach, bent over its neck. I could see a pitchfork in one hand and the other holding a set of reigns.

I had no idea what to do, so I just said the first thing that came to mind. "Yuki! Whatever you just learned, use it now on the Mudsdale!"

Ice and snow began to swirl around Yuki's mouth. By the time I saw what was about to happen, it was too late. A cylindrical beam of ice rushed forwards at the horse. I stood, helpless, watching as Ice beam missed the horse and instead struck the rider, violently throwing her backwards.

The atmosphere was tense as Aspetto and I rushed to the woman. She lay facedown on the ground, unmoving, her Mudsdale pacing next to her. Aspetto reached down and pushed her over.

Cold, lifeless eyes stared up at us. You could see where Ice Beam hit her, square in the chest. No one could have survived that. I started hyperventilating.

"A-a-aspetto I j-just killed someone."

"I can see that."

I sat on the ground and started violently sobbing. "What happened? This was supposed to be a PG adventure! We were supposed to stop Leone and live happily ever after! Now I just killed someone and a mob is still chasing us!"

As if to prove my point, the angry sounds of yelling people drifted to my ears.

"We have to go back and face our fate Fiore."

"Y-you're k-k-kidding right? I just ki-killed a woman!"

"Yes. But it'll be all right. Just stick with me."

"NO! IT'S NOT ALL RIGHT!! I-I DON'T WANT TO BE SENT TO PRISON!"

"Fiore, it's what we deserve."

His words were like a slap to the face. My anxiety was replaced by white-hot anger. "I never meant for this to happen. I don't deserve prison. And if you have a problem with that, leave me. I'm going to Leone. Maybe it's time to start a new life, and she looks like she'll be a good friend."

"A friend that kills Pokémon for science experiments? I won't let you."

"Oh yes you will. Let's go Yuki." I spun around on my heel and stalked off, heading in the direction of the beach. I saw the dead woman had two Pokeballs strapped around her waist. I hoped they would be empty, or at least contain a water-type that I could surf around on.

Aspetto grabbed my arm. His grip was like iron. I could see something in his eyes, something I've never seen before. It seemed like a mixture of anger and despair. "I can't do this without you Fiore."

My eyes narrowed. "I don't need you. Especially if you're going to turn yourself in." Without another thought, I kicked him as hard as I could in the balls. He keeled over in sheer pain. I took my chance, and ran towards the ocean before the mob could catch up.