The Tale of Twin Hearts - [A PMD Story]

The Tale of Twin Hearts - Chapter 1, Page 2

I have to make this right.

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The Tale of Twin Hearts

(Chapter 1)

Page 2

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A Rank...What's an A Rank mission?

It's been an hour since we headed out from the Guild to this unknown location and so far, nothing out of the ordinary. Just trees and more trees. During out travel, all I could think about was Chatot freaking out over this "A Rank" mission. I mean, how hard could it be?

The road to our destination was kinda straightforward, but we didn't know that at first. When we reached the crossroads outside of the building, we spent about a good minute staring at each other before realizing we didn't know where to go. Searching around our bag, we found a map inside one of the front pockets showing the entire region. It even had my hometown.
On the map, we noticed a small red "X" over a location not too far from the guild; about 10 miles or so northeast. Next to the mark was a small message that said "Read the letter, be safe" also in red ink. confused, Miya reached into the pocket again and found a letter folder almost perfectly in the same pocket where we found the map (It wasn't there the first time, I checked myself). The letter was mostly burned up, containing almost illegible writing except a few sentences mentioning demands for money and items in exchange for the hostage. The recipient? The big boss himself, the Mightyhena chatot squawked about. Although burned up, the unsettling part was the claw marks on the letter looked like they made the scorches.

As we continued our way there, Miya started looking around uneasily. Her expression was wary as if something had spooked her.

"I don't like this place. Something's not right about it..."

"Yeah, something feels off..." Pumpkin chimed in.

I'll be frank, this was the first time I've traveled with them since I just met them less than a week ago on the beach not too far from the guild. Although Miya doesn't seem like the type to run from danger, Pumpkin was definitely someone who would leave both of us in the dust if an Ursaring showed its ugly rear. Unfortunately for him, I'll even fight the impossible.

"I don't know what you two seeing, but everything looks the same to me," I said, looking around, trying to see what they were seeing.

"You came from Blizzard Island, right?" Miya asked, looking back at me.

"Yeah. we rarely see anything as green as this, except the plants my mother would grow in the house, but they were small compared to these trees."

"I can relate. I used to live on the islands in the middle of the Grand Sea. According to my father, it's not part of this region."

"Cool, so we both used to live on an Island, but that doesn't explain why you feel something is off."

"Do you not feel that?" Pumpkin said, halting for a moment. His fur puffed out, standing on ends like a cornered glameow. "W-we're being watched."

"The only thing I feel is heat and it's coming from up ahead. Why would a forest be this hot?"

Before anyone could respond, the bushes behind us rustled. Quickly, I moved closer to Pumpkin and Miya; our backs against a tree. After a moment, the rustling stopped. Dead silence overtook the area, not even the wind was blowing. Looking around, we spotted nothing, just more trees than the eye could see. Unconvinced, Miya slowly walked up to the bushes. Out of nowhere, a dark blur jumped out of the bushes and Slashed at Miya, only to miss and cut a chunk of bark off the tree next to her. as quickly as it appeared, the blur scurried away, quick enough that Pumpkin and I couldn't get a good look at it.

"That was...close," She said, shaking herself off. "What is going on? And what was that?

"I'm not sure, but I can sense that feeling again," Pumpkin said as his fur puffed out once more. At the same time, the spikes around Miya's neck suddenly became jagged and sharp, like a spiked collar. I've never seen a Chikorita have a reaction like that before.

Getting her attention, I point to her neck. "Uh, Miya..."

"...? What?"

Looking down, she noticed the spikes and slowly touched them.

"What the-Why would these be...oh. Oh great."

"What?" Pumpkin and I said simultaneously.

"sigh, Whatever is watching us is using Taunt," She said as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Suddenly, the spikes around her neck round out and return to normal. "That was the feeling we kept noticing."

"I'm starting to have second guesses about this mission. We're probably not cut out for this..." Pumpkin said, shaking his fur.

"We're not quitting this mission, besides, we're in too deep at this point."

"Wait, Hold on guys. How come both of you felt it, but not me?"

"I'm not sure Liloxi, but it miiiight be best we keep moving. There's no telling what they'll do if we don't hurry."

Although Taunt should've affected me, I knew better than to believe that. It was obvious one of my abilities, Oblivious, blocked it. It was cool and all, but I wish I would've felt it. Then I would have been able to tell where it was coming from and attacked whatever was doing it.
As I began following Miya, I noticed something-no, someone was missing: Pumpkin.

Looking back, I noticed pumpkin was staring at the tree were just at, with his paw pressed against the mark left behind by the blur. Letting Miya know, we both went over to him. Looking at him, it almost looked like he was frozen. Miya frowned.

"Pumpkin? Are you ok?"

No response. The look in Pumpkin's eyes was distant. Just a mile-long stare, almost as if he was looking through the tree.

"Ok, this is getting weirder by the minute. Pumpkin, can you hear me?" I said, getting impatient.

"Is...that...the leader...?" Pumpkin mumbled to himself.

"What? Pumpkin, are you alright?" I started tapping him.

"Who is that pokemon...tied up...? Need...to get..closer."

Bewildered, I try poking him some more. No matter what we did, he didn't move. Not even flinch. Losing my patience, I reached out to remove his paw from the tree. Before I could, Miya grabbed my arm with her vine.

"Hey, Hold on. I'm not sure what's going on, but I have a feeling that's a bad idea. Let's just wait a little longer."

Hesitantly, I nodded. I wasn't sure where she was going with this, but I stood back and watched as he continued to mumble.

"Who...are you...? Are you...ok?" He whispered. For once, Pumpkin squints. It's the first reaction we've seen since we got to him.

"We're coming...We're...huh? No. W-Who..."

I tilted my head in confusion. "Hey dude, are you-"

Before I could ask, Pumpkin's eyes widen and without warning, gets launched away from the tree. Frantically, we rushed to him and helped him up as he shook himself off before looking around in a panic, blinking repeatedly.

"Pumpkin, are you alright?" Miya asked, giving him a concerned look.

"Miya...Liloxi...I...I don't know what happened, but I saw them. I saw the Hostage and-"

Before he could finish, his face grew dark. Static rippled through his fur as he shook in fear. Trying not to get electrocuted, I let go of him, but Miya, all too eager, remained.

"Saw what? Pumpkin, what did you see?"

"The leader, I saw the leader. He attacked me. He knows we're here.