Adventures Beyond!

Chapter 39: Trial By Sapphire

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Sapphire Town, Sinnoh

The Rockruff found himself waking up in a room, looking up at a familiar ceiling.

"My room?" He sat up, taking a look around. His room windows were blocked by curtains, restricting a lot of light from coming into the room.

His eyes moved to look down at a familiar Zorua, who was fast asleep next to him. His eyes widened as he began going through all of the events that led up to this.

However, he didn't know how he had fallen unconscious after he stopped his mom from attacking the group of Pokémon that saved him, and his best friend.

"Akari..." He whimpered as his eyes shifted to her bandaged wound.

The Rockruff jumped out of the bed, making sure to quietly land on the ground so as to not wake Akari up.

He opened his bedroom door silently before walking out and closing it behind him.

He walked through the hallway before peeking out into the living room, where he could see various Pokémon sitting. They had been sitting in silence.

Oliver looked back and forth in a room, looking at the group of Pokémon around him. He glanced at Jacob, who met his gaze. A non-verbal conversation ensued between the two, as their eyes only looked between each other and the group.

"What the hell just happened!?" Logan suddenly asked, completely shattering the delicate silence. Both Oliver and Jacob flinched at the yelling.

"Be quiet!" The female Lycanroc growled quietly at him, "They're sleeping just down the hall!"

"My question still stands..." The Scorbunny huffed, "Is this just something that happens here?"

"Things like this aren't exactly common..." Oliver smiled nervously, "It's not like we're still in Forest Grotto..." His eyes moved to the hallway, where he knew Sophie was in the guest bedroom.

"Who were those Pokémon?" Jacob asked, "I've never seen Pokémon strong or fast enough to dodge and counter my strikes..."

"Strikes?" The Garchomp asked, looking at him.

Jacob smiled nervously, "It's hard to explain..."

The Lycanroc sighed, "Regardless, I want those two stopped before they end up hurting any other children."

"Ms. Carla, we don't really know much about them right now, trying to get anyone to stop them would be a challenge..." Oliver put a paw on his chin, "First we would have to know what they're gaining in all of this..."

"Mark?" Carla looked at the Garchomp.

Mark looked down at the floor, "The kid's right, the first thing I have to find out what those two are after."

"An orb."

The whole group looked over to see a familiar Rockruff, who stepped out of hiding, looking at the whole group.

"An orb?" Mark asked, his eyelids lowering.

The Rockruff nodded, "Those two were looking for an orb..."

"Miles, you're awake?" Carla asked, tilting her head confusedly, "I thought you would wake up in the middle of the night at earliest..."

Miles shook his head, "I couldn't sleep..."

Carla's ears fell, "Aw you poor thing... Come here."

Miles hesitantly came over and sat where his mother was laying.

"I think I know what they're after now..." Mark stood up, "They're likely part of a force under a greater mass of Pokémon... But there's no way to be sure of that..."

Jacob looked at him, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"That we're dealing with something beyond just them now..." A familiar voice rasped, coming from around the corner.

Oliver's eyes widened as he saw who it was, "Sophie! Are you in a good enough state to be moving around?"

"I'm..." Sophie tried to say, nearly falling as she propped herself up against a wall, "...I'm fine..."