Pokemon: Next Generation

Chapter 42: Long Day

Chapter 42: Long Day

Emma

"I love you." His words kept repeating in my head over and over. I knew how he would say it without the suit. That exact look he would have had. The one he used on a daily basis and I always pretended not to notice. That I ignored on purpose because I was too scared to lose my best friend if we ended up not working out. Because I was too scared of change.

But life was change, I realized. This whole trip, I'd changed. My parents had changed. They hadn't always been a perfect couple. They still weren't. A perfect couple didn't exist. But they went through everything together, no matter what. And my friends and I, we didn't give up on each other. We protected each other. Silly fights weren't going to get in our way.

"I love you" he'd said. I'd known, but this was different. This was hearing it. This was me almost getting choked to death and fearing the worst for all of us and hearing that just in case it happened.

This was me being too late to say it back as Daniel stormed off to save the day. But I knew I wouldn't have said it. Because I was scared that if I said the words out loud, something bad would happen, like my confession was a curse. And I couldn't let him get hurt like that because of me.

Zuko was next to me as soon as he left, asking me if I was ok. But none of that registered.

"Help him," I said. "Go help."

He obeyed instantly, leaving me alone as I forced myself to stand up and breathe. My throat burned. My vision flickered. My back ached from earlier. But it didn't matter. Because I needed to make sure he was ok. That he would be safe.

And then everything went back to normal speed as I realized how quickly Daniel and my attacker were fighting. Crikey would use Hydro Pump every once and awhile, the attack least likely to hit his Trainer on accident.

Another red burst of energy hit Crikey, knocking him onto his back. Daniel rushed forward just to get thrown to the ground.

"No," I croaked out.

Zuko used Flamethrower, but a force field came up. He stepped over Daniel, but Daniel brought his right arm over and hit behind his knee as hard as he could, making the guy trip to his knee. Zuko tackled him the rest of the way, breaking the shield.

Daniel got up quickly. "Out of the way, Zuko."

Zuko got up quickly. Daniel pointed the gun at the man, holding it steady.

"So that's it then." The man didn't get up.

"That's it," Daniel said simply.

"I always did what was best for you."

Daniel didn't say anything. I was confused by the wording. Who was this guy?

"Don't mess with my life anymore," Daniel said, sounding faraway.

If the man in the red suit had anything more to say, we didn't have the chance to hear. Daniel pulled the trigger. A wispy bright light shot out at the man, sucking him in. It expanded into a circle momentarily before shrinking into nonexistence.

Daniel lowered the gun, then dropped it. He held his right arm out, palm facing the ground. The suit started shrinking in one itself until it was just an arm guard. He slid it off robotically.

"Daniel?" I said uncertainly, taking a step forward.

He seemed to realize I was there for the first time. His eyes were tired, but instantly showed concern for me. "Emma. Are you alright?"