Tale Of The Guardian Master

Chapter 17 - False Imprisonment!

After letting Kirlia sing for a short time, he looked towards the sky with a sigh. "Well... If we're gonna make anymore progress today past the border, we better get going. The night seems like it comes faster than the day does..." he told Kirlia as he stood, placing her on his shoulder while rummaging through his rucksack, taking out a soft towel. "This will have to do... I don't have any small blankets or anything..." he muttered while scooping up Snivy, wrapping her in the towel and cradling her in his arm. He stuffed the clothes he had used for her bed into his rucksack and set off once again, stopping by the spring Kirlia showed him earlier to restock on fresh water. "At least this time I remembered, huh?" he chuckled, tucking his bottles into the side pockets of his rucksack. "Man... This thing really is handy, and with all the improvements the seniors made, its been an incredible help so far... I really owe them..." he smiled, giving the rucksack a pat before putting it back on and setting off down the mountains.

"Geez... The trip to the old mans village seemed to take a lot less time when I first arrived... But leaving feels like its taking forever... Is that odd-ish?" he laughed, looking at Kirlia who seemingly let out a groan in response as she shook her head. "Seriously...? You didn't understand what a lullaby was yet you understand a bad joke? Sure..." he scowled in response, with Kirlia shrugging and showing a teasing troll-like smile. Throughout the rest of the afternoon and far into the evening hours he traveled, Snivy waking occasionally to see what was going on before passing back out in its cozy cocoon of softness and warmth within the towel. "You know... I remember seeing a center somewhere around here... At least... I thought I did... When I first went through here years back... Although it could be gone by now the way those things pop up all over the place..." he muttered, making sure to keep an eye out for it in case he was lucky enough to pass by. Once the sun set just enough, some of the random posts set along the trail flickered on, making him jolt in surprise.

"...That's new. I didn't think these trails had any lights when I first came here. We must be close to a developed place then if they have electricity running through this part of the mountain..." he thought, continuing forward. "Its nice though... It means we can keep going even once the sun is gone." he muttered, thinking out loud, causing Kirlia to make a "huh?" noise as she tilt her head confused. "Oh... Nothing. They have street lights here now, so even though its dark I can easily see where I'm headed and I can see whats around us. It makes walking at night a lot safer and more convenient, so we might be able to reach the bottom of the border before tomorrow after all!" he said with a laugh. "I'll be glad too. I'd love to walk on a straight path again after this..." he mumbled, looking around through the trees. It wasn't long before he caught a glimpse of what looked like windows lit up in the night through the woods, and he eventually found himself standing in front of a Pokemon center. "I knew it!!! That's why they must have added the street lights... When you see that, people can't be too far away!" he smirked, heading inside and looking around.

"Well... Outside it looks pretty old, but it sure is nice on the inside!" he said with a smile, noticing an officer at the door who nodded while tipping his hat to greet him as Chris headed up to the counter and rang the bell. A nurse came out after a moment wiping her hands off with a rag, letting out a sigh as a second nurse came out as well, the two standing in front of him with a bow and a smile. "Sorry for the wait. And for the... Extra help at the door. We stay pretty busy here considering the mountain borders only have so many centers, and being so isolated like this, some form of security if a must. Now then... How can we help you?" one of the nurses asked. He smiled in response and set Snivy down on the counter, setting Kirlia down next to her, asking them to take a look at both and offer whatever advice they could give him as far as Snivy went. "Certainly! Lets just take a look at what we ha..." they said with a pause, their eyes shooting wide as their tones turned pale as ghosts. They started examining Snivy while whispering to one another, pointing out various parts of her body as they also took a look at Kirlia, pointing out her eyes. The more they looked over the two and spoke, the more their glances towards Chris turned into glares, causing him to sweat nervously. "Ahh... Ha ha... So... About that... Advice?" he asked nervously, raising a hand to wave. Kirlia picked up on his unnerved emotions and reacted to them, starting to cautiously pull back from the nurses touch. They suddenly looked over his shoulders and made a motion with their hands, causing him to blink confused before suddenly being grabbed from behind, his hands yanked behind him as he heard clicking sounds, causing Kirlia to gasp and face towards him with an arm reaching out.