Ah, fun stuff! Yep. I should probably try to eat to match my Chi…

Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo and Shogakukan Comics. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*

Notes: <> for telepathy, ** for thoughts, italics if a pokemon talks

Chapter 9

 

            It was unlike him to be so quiet, but after Silph, Red was still recovering so he did not fret much. He found Red curled up on the couch, but he was not asleep, as Lance had first assumed.

            Lance sat down next to him, and was surprised when Red turned tear-streaked eyes to his face. What was it now?

            He had thought Red had been getting better… and then his eye caught the article in the magazine. Without a word, he plucked it from Red’s limp fingers and turned the pages, eyes scanning rapidly.

            He wanted to kill them!

            Red did too, if he was reading the expression right. Without a word, he opened his arms and Red flung himself in.

            Precious.

           

            “I hate them.” Red’s voice was scarcely audible, but Lance had good hearing. “I want to kill them, Lance. They already took my dream. Now they want my pokemon. What’s next?”

            Yes, what was next? He was sure that Oak would fight this as hard as he could, but if those idiots truly wanted to punish the innocent, well…

            A knock sounded on the door.

            Lance got up to answer it. Four uniformed men in blue came in, followed by a man in a purple league suit.

            “Red of Pallet, we are here to relieve you of your pokémon. Hand over your poke belt now. Failure to comply will result in drastic action.”

            As the man spoke, Red had been looking more and more terrified.

            Why was it happening so soon?

 

            “I-I…”

           

            “You were sent the notice five days ago. That was ample time for you to say your good-byes.” The leader spoke coldly.

            “But!”

            “No buts.” He motioned, and the man behind him unsnapped his weapon. Red froze. Lance did not.

            < He’s been asleep and recuperating the past three weeks! Today was the first day he could get out of bed without assistance! > The trainer shouted.

            The leader looked unmoved, though one in the back shifted nervously as he kept his stun gun focused on Lance.

            Red said not a word, only shivering.

            No!

            They couldn’t take his pokemon away! They couldn’t! He had done nothing wrong! He was already barred from League participation – why did they have to take his pokemon too!

            He would not let them take his pokemon!

 

            Lance sensed the shift in Red’s aura. Normally quiet embers had just burst into an inferno of roaring flame. Never mind that Red was still weak, never mind that despite all the food Lance had been shoving into him he was still weak, never mind that the men had weapons and all he had was… himself, his pokemon were in another room, sleeping in their poke balls…

            He attacked.

            The man fired purely out of reflex, but the others did not. Red dropped down with a cry, clutching his side in pain.

            So, that had not been the stun guns the two other men had held. That had been an actual bullet.

            He had to hurry.

 

            He moved quickly, blades in hand, and five men dropped to the ground, their throats slit. It was the quickest way, after all, and he materialized at Red’s side, visualizing a shield to protect them both just in case someone else tried to shoot them.

            The men were too injured to attack now. He had cut deeply and quickly. In fact, if he thought about it logically, he had probably beheaded one or two in his haste. It mattered little.

            He did not keep painkillers on hand, but he had to dig the bullet out of Red’s side, and holding him down was difficult. However, once the lead chunk was gone, he used his Viridian Power and Red looked fine, except for a scar.

            Well, some things could not be fixed.

 

            Red stared at the corpses, but he could not say he regretted their deaths. Still… “What are we going to do now, Lance?”

            I don’t know. What do you think we should do? He wrote.

            “We can’t just stay here. They’ll know…”

            Indeed, but I doubt they will send reinforcements for a while. We have time to pack. And if we are running away, we must prepare supplies.

            It made sense. Red nodded. Lance began packing his few belongings into his backpack (which was probably subspace), as Red did the same. He was surprised when he managed to fit all his extra blankets inside, but did not bother. Then, they went to the sporting goods/camping shop in town and picked up some supplies they would need. They bought water purifiers, instant food, and that sort of thing.

           

            When they went to the Lab, Oak was missing. The lab was empty. Red grabbed all the poke balls on his shelf, knowing they were his.

            It wasn’t stealing if they were already his pokemon, right?

            Of course it wasn’t… and if he left them here, the League would take them away, his pretty Eevee and his cute Sandshrew and the Snorlax he had caught during the bike race, and so many others, all the ones he had caught in the Safari Zone…!

           

            I will take you away. Lance wrote.

            Red nodded. “I know. I don’t care.” He packed the last of the poke balls in his backpack, and saw the three pokédexes still there.

            It was not fair. But if he took it, then it would sound, and they would be able to find him.

            He did not want that, so he did not pick it up.

            Outside of Oak’s lab, they carefully shut the door and released their flying types – both Aerodactyls, and took off into the sunset.

            Destination: Cerise Island.

           

End Chapter

Completed 6/6/06

I hate stupid lawmakers…