Shadows of the Mind Pt 14

About a week passed after that, we stayed in the general area, moving from hotel to hotel to avoid getting caught, Eloise was still training me to use moves, but it was tough to practice when you didn't have anybody to fight. I awoke in the hotel bed, I was still having some trouble with Night Daze. I looked around to see the others laying in their beds, we had taken off our rings during the night. I reached over and picked up my ring and slipped it on. I walked over and opened the door to the balcony, all of the apartments had a terrace. I stared out over the street, watching everyone walk by. It got me thinking, when, if at all, would society finally be accepting of us, I knew that first Mr. X had to go down, then we would work on that problem. I heard someone shift around and looked to see Ruby stirring. She got out of bed and joined me on the terrace. Her brunnette hair flowing in the breeze.

"Good morning" I said. Her response was a smile followed by a kiss. We held it for a minute and parted.

"So, what are you doing out here?" she asked.

"Oh, just stepped out for some air is all" I said.

"No, there's more to it, please don't lie to me" she said.

"I was just thinking, what happens when all of this is over and we win, assuming we do, what do we do?" I said.

"Well, Sorion always did say that we would work towards securing a place in society for Pokeumans when this war was over" she said. We stood out there enjoying each others company for some time. Dustin had awoken, but honored our right to privacy and left us alone. Eventually, we walked back in to the room.

"Hey, we need to get moving" Dustin said.

"To where?" I said.

"I..uhh..." he said.

"Face it, we have nowhere else to go, we can't stray too far from the base, in case Johnathan and Felicia manage to prove our inocence" I said.

He set all of his stuff down and said "I guess you're right, but I hope they hurry, I don't feel comfortable with this anymore."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, strangely rythmic. Dustin perked up and said "no, no this isn't good." He walked up to the door and looked underneath. He opened the door and peeked through, the door was suddenly flung open and someone walked in.

"Theres no need for secrecy, Dustin" he said.

"Hi, Gerard" Dustin said.

"Are you here to arrest us" Ruby asked.

"Far from it, actually, I'm here to tell you that Sorion wants you to come back to the base" he said.

"And how do we know this isn't a trick" I said. He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to me, I read aloud.

To Aaron, Ruby and Dustin.

I apologize for everything that happened over the past few days, it has come to my attention that Armand has been consorting with the Pokextinction and he has been revealed to be the true spy. We are currently on the hunt for him and I would like you three to return to the base.

Signed, Headmaster Sorion.

I put the note down and looked up at Gerard. I looked at Ruby and Dustin and I could tell they believed it too.

"We'll return with you" I said. We gathered up our stuff and walked out. We climbed into a car that was waiting for us and it began the drive back to the base.

"So, Armand was the true spy" I said.

Gerard nodded and said "yes, I caught him on a communicator talking with the head of the pokextinction base, the guy was giving him orders, I went to turn him in when he ambushed me and escaped, we're still hunting for him, he's confined to the base, so we'll get him eventually."

"Thats good to hear" I said. We arrived at the base a few hours later, they ditched the car in a nearby parking lot, turns out it was Ruby's old car, the lot had shut down months ago and they hid her car in the area. We went back up to the entrance and walked through. Sorion was on the other side, waiting for us. He smiled as we walked in.

"Welcome back, you three" he said.

"Great to be back" I said with a smile.

"You're back" I heard, I had just enough time to look before I was thrown to the ground. Johnathan and Felicia were standing above me, Johnathan in a full-on hug.

"Hey Johnathan" I said.

"It's great to see you guys again" he said.

"Hasn't been the same since you left" Felicia said.

"My apologies for everything" Sorion said.

"It's alright, I'm just glad the true spy was exposed" I said.

He nodded and said "we are currently tracking him, but it's tough going, the base is big and theres lots of places to hide".

"I'm sure you'll get him eventually" I said.

"You guys must be tired, why don't you head to bed" he said.

My stomach rumbled in protest and I held it.

"heh, maybe you should get some breakfast first" Sorion said.

"That would be for the best" Dustin replied. Sorion walked up to us and we gave the humanizing rings back. We headed inside, after spending so much time away, it was an awesome feeling to return to the area. We headed to the cafeteria, bumping into a few people, they looked at us with a bit of suspicion, but otherwise didn't do anything. We arrived at the cafeteria and walked in. Ms. Monderna was working behind the counter and she lit up at the sight of us.

"Hey, you're back, how are you?" she said excitedly.

"We're good, but we've been better" Ruby said.

"Well, this time I hope you're here to stay" She said. We picked up some food and headed to the table. We ate in silence and caution, aware of the people around us. Afterwards, we headed to our rooms, I walked in and threw myself on my bed, happy to get back. I looked over to see Ruby lay down and fall asleep and I followed suit.

"Back so soon?" Eloise asked.

"Yea, my name was cleared and I'm just readjusting to life at the base again" I said.

She picked me up and cradled me in her arms, she said "I'm glad to hear that your innocence was proved". She started to rock me back and forth, and I closed my eyes and smiled softly. She started to pet me and, strangely, I began to purr. She chuckled and said "you're enjoying this, I can tell". I nodded and she continued it for some time.

"Mind if I show you another move?" she said.

"Which one" I asked.

"Vine Whip, it could come in handy" she said.

"Okay" I said, she set me down and I moved away from her a bit.

"Okay, you have to focus and create illusionary vines first" she started.

I focused and after a bit, they formed, I moved them a bit to make sure I had total control over them.

"Very good, the rest should be easy to figure out, just hit your target as hard as you can to cause damage" she said.

I looked over at a tree and focused on it, I sent the vines flying at it and they struck, stripping some bark off of it.

"Very good, they can have other uses as well, grabbing and lifting things, they could act as a second pair of hands if you wanted them too" she finished.

"Cool" I said. I let the illusions evaporate and lay on the ground for a bit. Eloise came over and sat down next to me, petting me again. I was enjoying myself. Eloise suddenly said "somethings wrong in your world, we need to part ways, I'll see you again tonight". The world vanished and I was in darkness.

"Get your hands off me" I heard a familiar voice say, I opened my eyes to see Armand, he had Ruby in a choke hold and was dragging her out the door. I jumped out of the bed and used my newest illusion move to knock him into the hallway. I ran out and used crunch to get him to release Ruby. She ran back and turned, a crowd was forming and Sorion was at the front, I was poised ready to fight. Armand looked around.

"There's no where to run" Sorion said.

He looked at me and a devious smile formed on his face, he said "fine then, how about this" he lunged at me, but I jumped out of the way and hit him with shadow ball, it stunned him and I used vine whip to grab him and throw him against the wall. He slid to the ground and sat back up.

"You got spunk, kid, I'll give you that" he said.

"Less spunk, more defense of the one I love" I said with a sneer. He lunged again and I jumped out of the way, but he swung his tail and hit me dead in the face. I slid down the hall, the crowd parting and I stopped. The hit had stunned me, but I wasn't out. I stood up and fired several shadow balls at him, a few hitting. I focused and fired an illusionary Ice Beam at him, it hit and threw him into the wall, the bad thing about the moves being illusions is that they don't have the status effects that usually can follow with them. He sneered and then used toxic. I tried to jump out of the way, but I was too late and it hit me. I stood up and looked when I suddenly felt like I was going to puke. He had poisoned me, not good. I fought through the pain and used Thunderbolt, he dodged it and coiled around me. He started to crush me and I screamed in pain.

"Time to die" he said.

As I neared the threshold and was about to pass out, I heard Eloise say "Allow me to help you". I felt a rush of energy and it exploded out, knocking Armand away. I opened my eyes to see the bracelet was glowing and there were rune-like patterns covering parts of my body. I heard Eloise say "just focus and let the energy pool, then release it". it was Night Daze she was talking about. I closed my eyes and let some dark energy build up, pooling into my forepaws. I held it above my head and opened my eyes. Armand was standing up and he looked at me with a look of pure rage.

"I..WILL..NOT..LOSE" he yelled out and lunged at me, his fangs bared. I yelled out and with one move, slammed the ball of energy into the ground, the resulting explosion was spectacular. I could see so many colors in the burst of energy and I heard Armand yelp in pain. The explosion cleared and Armand was sprawled out on the ground, unconscious. I had caused some damage to the hall as well, but it didn't matter. I panted as the runes faded from my body and I felt very tired. Ruby ran over to help support me and I was given an oran berry. I felt a bit better and looked to see Armand being put into chains and led away.

"That was incredible" Sorion said.

"Thanks, but I don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon" I said and then everything went black.

I awoke in the med wing, Ruby was sitting next to the bed.

"Hey" I said. She nuzzled me and said "hey, I'm glad you're okay, thank you for saving me" she said.

"it was no problem" I said. We hugged again and I noticed something..off about her, I felt the area around her stomach and was shocked to find that it was distended quite far. She looked at me with a relieved smile and said "can you guess why that's there?".

"Is that why you brought it up with me a week ago?" I asked.

She nodded and said "you're going to be a father."