The Aura Within | Pokémon

Eleven | Mental Battles

"Wait, they left already?" Axel asked the knight who guarded the gates of the Law House.

"Yes," he replied in a stern voice. "Major Fraverden and the others left about twenty minutes ago."

"Do you know where they went?" Mark questioned further, to which the knight shook his head to.

That was strange. Soul wouldn't leave just like that and not say where she's going. Same thing went for the others too. Mark shrugged and sighed, knowing that they weren't going to get any more answers from the local knights.

"Well, thank you anyway." Mark bowed in respect, to which the knight acknowledged.

He and Axel turned around and walked away from the Law House, their Pokémon walking beside them. It was strange that Soul and the others left already. They took longer than they did, what with all the fighting and long interrogation with those two men. Mark couldn't help but feel kind of bad for turning them in, but letting them go would be like letting an unstable person roam free. It would cause trouble for the other people and potential harm.

"It's strange for Major Fraverden to do something like that," Axel commented as they kept walking.

"Yeah," Mark agreed. "It is pretty unusual."

"Do you think they went back to check on Blake?" he asked as a suggestion.

"I don't know, probably," he answered. "We should go check."

• • •

The two of them walked through the grounds of Azure Village heading to the infirmary where they left Blake at. Mark wondered what happened to him that caused him to become so aggressive. He didn't look like the kind of person who'd snap like that, but he supposed looks could be deceiving. This just made him wonder who Blake really was before he joined the Indigo Palace Knights.

Was he just like him? A low class no-good who did nothing but hurt the ones they loved?

If that's the case, then Mark understood the kind of pain he might've gone through. The feeling of being looked at like a monster, the feeling of struggle, and the feeling of loneliness. Blake covered it all up by showing his comrades his goofiness and bright smiles because he wanted to hide it from them. However, knowing Soul, Blake was going to have to spill. Besides, he couldn't hide the past forever, it was bound to resurface at some point.

Axel and Mark arrived at the infirmary. He opened the door and the two of them entered, greeting the lady who was at the counter writing up some documents. They went to the room where Blake and the others should be residing at. Once they did, Mark placed his hand on the brass knob, twisted it, and pushed it open. His eyes widened slightly once he was greeted by an empty room.

"Great..." he muttered under his breath.

"They're all gone?!" Axel exclaimed, eyeing the now vacant room.

Something was up. If Soul and the others weren't here, then where could they be? And what about Blake and the Pokémon? Where the hell could they've gone? Mark sighed and ran a hand through his hair in frustration. Where could they all be?

Suddenly, Mightyena walked passed him and into the vacant room. Curiously, he followed his Pokémon and they both were led to the empty bed that was once occupied by Blake. Mark eyed him as the Bite Pokémon jumped onto the bed and began to sniff it. It took a while, but it had finally dawned on him. With Mightyena's sharp nose, they could track down where Blake could've gone, and maybe even the others!

"What's Mightyena doing?"

Mark looked back at Axel, who was watching his Pokémon sniff the bed sheets thoroughly. His gaze then went down and landed on the hellhound looking Pokémon. He felt as if a light bulb had gone off in his head once a thought came to mind.