Pokémon PrismGold

Chapter Eight: "Devoid of Color"

Sean staggered to his feet, spitting blood and holding his throbbing cheekbone. Coughing loudly, Sean used the wall to support himself as he snapped out bitterly. "FUCK!" Mark sat back on his heels, his arms wrapped around his ribs as he groaned and coughed. Pryce rolled over on his back, clutching his arm and favoring one of his legs. Sean checked the ground for any of his stuff or pokemon. It was pointless. Nate had gotten it all. Clenching his jaw, he glared at Mark to say darkly. "How do you feel about helping him now?" Mark returned the glare, retorting. "Don't put this on me. I didn't know he'd do that." Sean tossed his hands up, snapping out. "Really? You didn't know that a member of Team Rocket would betray us? WE COULD DIE DOWN HERE!" Mark got to his feet, growling out sternly. "You think I don't know that! I thought... Forget it. You wouldn't understand. You have too much brain and no heart!" Sean felt his anger boil over and he ran for Mark. Mark turned to face him, grabbing his arms tightly. Sean didn't care. He slammed into Mark so hard that Mark tripped over Pryce and they both went splashing into the lake.

Adrenaline fueled Sean into punching Mark as they thrashed in the water. Mark got a few of his own punches in too. Mark then manhandled Sean to shove him beneath the water to keep him there. Sean punched Mark in the balls in the hopes that it would force him to release him. It had worked. Shooting up to the surface, Sean gasped for air. Spotting a rock, Sean grabbed it when Pryce smacked him across the face. His already throbbing cheek burst with enough pain now that he screamed. Pryce then smacked Mark across the face too, yelling out. "Get ahold of yourselves! Your pokemon get stolen and the first thing you do is try to kill each other?!" Sean huddled against the shore, his anger was fading to be replaced with a deep sense of fear and dread. Refusing to look at any of them, Sean felt like he was going to cry. His pokemon were everything to him. They trusted him to protect them and he'd failed. Pryce sat down more comfortably on the bank, telling them both calmly. "Look. We still have the two Dragonites. Let's use them." Sean finally risked looking at Pryce, asking sourly. "How?"

Pryce pointed to the roof where some light was getting in through a crack to reflect off the crystals in the walls. While pointing, Pryce told them rationally. "We use the Dragonites to dig a way out. I take one to go get my pokeball. You two take the other and get help. He's injured. It's unlikely he'll get out of these caves quickly." Mark glanced up at the crack, saying softly. "It could work..." Sean hefted himself out of the water, climbing to his feet to move away from them as he said grimly. "That will take too long... and it's pointless." Mark shrugged, grunting out to him. "Why? Pryce has a point. With help we could get a team together to track him down." Sean straightened up, locking guilty eyes with both of them in turn. Mark read his face better than Pryce, stiffening in the water as he asked him with sudden deep concern. "Sean... What did you do?" Sean swallowed, reluctantly telling them. "Pryce's pokeball isn't out there... It's in my bag." Pryce's face paled as he took in the information with a blank expression. Mark gawked at him, accusing him sharply. "Your bag? The one Nate now has?!" Sean nodded as his only response.

Mark rushed out of the water, pointing at him as he sternly stated aloud. "Let me get this straight. YOU stole from Pryce and have the balls to bitch to me about the 'criminal actions' of Nate? You son of bitch!" Mark started to lunge for Sean, causing Sean to back away. Pryce grabbed Mark's arm to stop him though, butting in quickly. "If he has the pokeball than we have to get to him before he uses it!" Sean shook his head, muttering out. "He wasn't even awake when we talked about Celebi. Or any of the future shit with Pryce." Mark yanked his arm from Pryce, retorting seriously. "He's got Pryce's pokedex. He figures out how to use that and it will tell him everything he needs to know." Pryce nodded, moving to grab the reins of a spooked Dragonite as he said. "We need to stop talking and go. Every second we waste, he gets farther away from us." Sean gestured to the water, commenting dryly. "Be my guest. But I'm not going down there without knowing how far that goes and what is in there."