Timeline of Errors

Part 17 - The Man's Story

I waited for a second, then two, then three...

...

Nothing happened.

When I opened my eyes, there was a Salamence standing in front of me using Flamethrower to fight back the Lava Plumes. I lowered my arm slowly, as I looked at the scene in disbelief.

Ehh? A Salamence... I thought.

"Are you alright?" asked a voice from behind, "sorry, I should've looked for you first thing,"

I turned around and saw the very same young man with golden bangs framing his temples and covering his forehead. Both of his chestnut eyes looked at me in concern, his shoulders went up and down slightly. The dark brown coat he was wearing swayed in the wind, along with the feathers on his dark brown fedora.

"Y-yeah..." I said and nodded.

Right at that moment too, the water Pokémon left around the area delivered their final attack to Groudon. On top of that, Salamence took a deep breath and blast a Hyper Beam right to Groudon's chest. Finally, Groudon fell on the ground, fainted. The water Pokémon quickly scurried away, leaving the defeated Groudon alone.

Oh, thank goodness... I thought, sighing in relief, gosh, I almost died...

"Excuse me," another voice piped in from my right. When I turned around, I found the very same baker, who was holding on to his wagon with trembling legs. "Are you-"

Right then, I noticed a piece of brown fabric draping my view. When I turned around, the young man had just turned around to briskly leave the place.

What the... I thought and watched his back distancing from view, show-off... making a dramatic exit like that...

"...excuse me, miss..." said the old baker, turning to me, "do you know that young man?"

Hmm, if I said I'm his coworker, I'm going to be in trouble again... I thought, well, then...

"I happened to see him on the city gate this evening, sir," I said.

"...if you happen to see him again, can you please give this to him?" he asked as he handed me a bulky paper bag.

"Oh? What's this?" I asked.

"Some bread for you two. He was my loyal customer back then," the baker replied, "a very nice young man... I know him since he was still a little boy,"

"Oh, really?" I asked.

"...that was about... ten years ago?" the baker said with sad eyes, "he used to be full of smiles. Very polite and friendly. That poor boy,"

...what... happened to him, exactly? I thought, but the baker wouldn't know, would he?

"I'll give this to him," I said, "maybe this will make him happier,"

"...yes. Please tell him that I sent my gratitude as well," he said and nodded.

"Yes, sir! And... about this place..." I said and looked around, then turned to him with a pleading look.

"...I won't tell a soul. We almost died here," he said, "miss, you are the only one who stayed until the end and tried to get everyone out of this situation. Just leave them be - don't worry about them,"

"...Thank you very much, sir. I'll see you later," I said and took off running.

Oof... that was close, I thought and cringed.

~~~

I took careful steps into the wilderness after returning both of my Pokémon to their Pokeballs. The grass rustled underneath my feet, the cold evening breeze blasted my coat and skirt away. Relying only on a small flashlight, I looked around the prairie to check for any signs of camps.