Eighteen [ hiatus ]

7: A Second's Hesitation and Dreadful Truth (Lucas)

GAH I LOVE THE GOOGLE DOCS <3

Recently, you can just number chapters, and they should show up on the left side like a table of contents [at least for me it does]. And then on the right side I put comments of things to fix that are attached to specific parts of my writing [the text attached to it is highlighted, and it's awesome for later editing]!

7: A Second's Hesitation and Dreadful Truth

> > Lucas

Although the message ended, the air hung to its final words, as if there was something else that hadn't been said. I scowled at the device in my hands, its glistening red sheen taunting my inability to like pokemon.

"Even if what he says it's true, that doesn't mean I want to do it. He's not here to make me either," I said, breaking the silence. I looked distastefully at the capsules in my hand before holding them out to Nathan again.

He shook his head. "You hold your own; I don't have the pockets for mine." Somehow managing to balance everything in one hand, he rubbed his neck. "Let's go home for now, so we can talk about it without being in a public space."

With a splash of light, he returned Chimchar and looked at me in expectation. I nodded, returning the other and taking the lead back to Twinleaf Town. As we walked everything seemed eerily calm, and with Nathan deep in thought, I was left with my own wandering mind.

Why do I have to do it? I bet any kid in Twinleaf would gladly take this pokemon so her or she could start their journey. It's a rather girly looking pokemon... I bet Liliana would take it...

It's that old man's fault for being there... It's Nathan's fault for wanting to meet her... It's my fault for agreeing to help him... It's her fault for forgetting the briefcase there...

I wonder if I could just release it... I hear you just smash the ball and let it go in the wild... But would it be able to survive? Probably, but if it suffers it would be my fault...

What will mom say? I don't think she'd want me to go... then she would lose the one other person she can call her family. But... what if she'd want me to go because I'm just a bad memory of Dad? Because just one look at me can send her into a fit of hysterics, since she's greeted by a mirror image of her dead husband every morning... Wouldn't it be better to leave just so I'd know I wasn't causing her pain?

"Hey you!" I snapped out of my racing thoughts, hesitating for a moment before ignoring the call. "Yes, you!"

I slowed again, tearing my gaze from the lush grass to meet the eyes of a young boy. "What?" I asked dully.

He looked a bit shaken by my gaze but planted his sneaker clad feet apart firmly, his arm raised to reveal a Pokeball. "Two trainers have met gazes! It's time to battle!"

"I'm not a trainer..." I rolled my eyes, turning back to walk away.

"You have Pokeballs, so you obviously are! Are you scared to battle me?" he taunted. No one ever fell for that taunt anymore; I don't even know why he tried.

"No, I'm not a trainer!" I took another step.

"You're obviously a liar, I can see why you don't want to battle. You just don't have any skills for anything but being a lowly liar." His personality slid from being cocky and annoying to overconfident and sly so smoothly; something I never would have expected from a kid several years younger than me.

My jaw clenched, and I spun around to face him. He simply turned his nose up towards me, a finger tapping his Pokeball annoyingly and a smug smile on his face as he awaited a response. Nathan slung his arm around the front of my neck and tugged me, but I refused to move.

"If you want a fight, you'll have one!" My finger skimmed the button of the capsule, releasing the small blue avian into the air. It landed on its feet, a semi confused look on its face, but faced the youngster. "It's not that I want to use you, I need to put him in his place. I'm not a liar, and will never be one," I told the pokemon darkly.

I flipped the cover of the PokeDex smoothly, for once glad that I had been taught the mechanics of it both inside and out in school. Pressing the side, a small panel slid out. I pressed on the circular pad, facing the creature Rowan had given me so the machine could scan it and give me basic information such as gender and name. Looking up, the youngster had released a small quadruped pokemon with spiny ears. Its red eyes glared at us as the tiny body vibrated with a cry as I scanned it as well.

"Piplup, Pound!" I called, and the small water type sped towards the poison type, flipper raised to strike.

"Dodge, and use Leer!" The poison pin pokemon's ears trembled, before he slipped ever so slightly to dodge. Piplup froze under his hardened gaze before shaking her body and retreating.

"Growl," I called out, watching her lower her body and spread her flippers to appear bigger.

"Peck!"

Our attacks had been called simultaneously, and Nidoran rammed his delicate horn just as the petite bird had let out a series of growls. Piplup cried out, falling back on the grass, just as a shooting pain seemed to embed itself in my side as well. A yelp escaped my lips as I fell to a knee, the youngster looking at me baffled. However when I didn't move, he decided to use the moment.

"An opening! Peck again!" he yelled, pointing at us with a delighted grin on his face.

'Those trainers and their pokemon were close; too close. Why were they so close? Because they were connected by their lives.' Rowan's, or whoever's they really were, words echoed through my mind.

I stepped forward, picking Piplup above the Nidoran's reach. Surprisingly she didn't squirm in my arms, instead sitting quietly as if in defeat. Our opponent veered slightly off as to not hit my leg, tripping and falling into a tumble. When he sat up, the purple pokemon looked slightly dazed before wobbling back to his trainer.

"Hey, you can't do that in a battle!" The kid scowled, folding his arms. "That means I win. Hand over my prize money."

"I told you, I'm not a trainer! I don't have any stupid prize money," I retorted, one hand moving to nurse my side.

Nathan, who had been eerily silent during the battle, reached out to grab my wrist. "Let's go." He spoke in a hushed voice before pulling me along, breaking into a sprint and leaving the trainer behind.