Harmonia | Pokémon Fanfiction

37 | Running From The Storm

Music in media: Running From The Storm by Gary Moore

18 January, Tuesday, 11 a.m. | Winter

Every Cinccino's deadly weapon is its irresistible cuteness. However, the issue with Attract lies with its limit on gender. There was but a 50% chance the Eelektross was female and because Rae wasn't Unovan and didn't know much, she couldn't tell its gender at all. So why did she gamble her way like this?

Technically, it wasn't a gamble. Her mentor, Kaspar, had tried something similar back then with his Teddiursa in his battle against Arena Tycoon Greta at Hoenn's Battle Frontier. She was simply learning from him and utilising her immediate environment.

So of course Rae expected Chilchil's Attract to fail, though expectations didn't have to materialise. Funny. She rarely went for drastic, out-of-the-box thinking like this but when fight or flight kicked in, she would always choose to fight and let the ordinariness of the everyday shine through in times of need. That was a strategy Kaspar taught her too. That to be a Normal-type trainer didn't mean simply to befriend and train a bunch of Normal-types but to embrace "normalcy" and "mediocrity" and let the status quo do its moderation business, perhaps even bite its own tail in the process.

The Eelektross guffawed at Chilchil's failed attempt. More shriek of mockery than guffaw, really, which made him all the more haunting.

Perhaps not that haunting if it was interjected by ferocious cries as a swarm of Eelektross which Rae guessed must be female encircled him in a matter of seconds.

"Now, we run!" Lenora hollered over the Eelektross' screeches and pulled Rae and Chilchil out of the crossfire. Rae's gaze never left the scene. A twinge of guilt bugged her as the male Eelektross tried to excuse his actions and regain his ilk's trust. She didn't need to understand their language to know this. It was all panning out like the incident with N at Driftveil. To think she was the instigator now.

"What was that even?" Cheren shot Rae a look as the trio bypassed a Chargestone boulder.

Rae, with a determined flare in her eyes, evaded the question while turning a corner.

The deeper they ran, the sparser the area, leaving but a couple of Pokémon that lived in their own little bubble roaming about. Where Chargestones blocked their paths they pushed them aside without much effort. The water bodies didn't alter the original route thankfully.

Suddenly, Cheren gripped Rae's shoulder and they all dropped to a halt.

"What is it?" Lenora blinked. "Why did we stop?"

"The Eelektross aren't chasing us at all. Why did we run?" Cheren asked.

"You don't know if they changed their mind," said Lenora. "Anyway, we should have covered a lot of distance. We should be safe for now."

"I don't think so," Rae mumbled and pointed to an oblong patch of light illuminating a split rock face.

"Based on the map, that's the exit. We are safe. What are you saying?"

Noko-Noko leapt off Rae's shoulder at Cheren's question and wiggled to the exit. However, she was unable to pass through.

But it couldn't have been a barrier. There wasn't any psychic energy in the area. It couldn't have been a Pokémon, especially not a Snorlax. This wasn't Kanto.

"Why can't we pass through then?" Lenora rubbed her temples and surveyed the area. The water bodies were the only thing that changed in the cave, the only addition. "Hold on... How are the waters so clear and serene? Like a layer of film."

Cheren pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "If an Eelektross survives in that water, it must have a high salt content. It's unlikely to be seawater given our location but we can't dismiss it either."