(1200 words) Content warning for some violence in this chapter.
Chapter 15
Alone


Compass wakes up and instinctively looks toward Thorn's bed... but they're not in the base. They're in their room, at their house. Thorn isn't here. They haven't been for days. Compass gets up and heads for the door-

"Compass!" The door swings open to reveal an oshawott.

"Avalanche!" Compass greets.

Avalanche the Oshawott lunges forward and wraps Compass in a hug.

After letting Avalanche hug them, Compass steps back. "So, what are you doing here so early?"

"What, we can't just swing by to say good morning?"

"'We'? Torch is here too?"

"Yeah, they're talking with Typhlosion. Come on!" Avalanche leads Compass to the kitchen, where they're greeted by the scent of a freshly baked apple pie.

"Good morning, Compass," says Torch the Charmander. "You look well."

"Compass," Beacon says, "I'm sure you've noticed, but Team Arrow came over to make a special treat for you."

"Surprise!" Avalanche says, pulling Compass over to the table. "Come on, sit down and have some pie!"

Compass laughs and takes a seat. "Thanks, you guys are the best!" Everyone sits down for breakfast. They talk and laugh, and listen to Team Arrow tell about their latest rescue mission. Compass can't stop smiling, until...

"How are you feeling today, Compass?" Beacon asks.

That question again. "I'm... better." A little, at least.

Avalanche puts a hand on Compass's shoulder, and they resist the urge to pull away. "Hey, we know how hard this is for you. I can't imagine how I'd feel if I lost Torch." 'Lost'. As if they just disappeared. "But we're here for you."

"Thanks," Compass says, expression blank. "I'm glad to know you care about me."

"Of course!" Torch says. "We're your friends. If you need anything, you can talk to us, alright?"

"... Yeah. Thanks."

"I'm sorry to ask this of you," Beacon says, "but later today, would you be willing to answer some questions about Thorn to help with the search?"

The 'search'. "... Okay."



The questioning happens at the town center, in a meeting with several rescue teams. They ask Compass about Thorn's preferred locations, adventuring experience, fighting style, and weaknesses, and Compass answers. It's uncomfortable, being surrounded by such a crowd, but they have to do this. To restore the world's balance.

As the questioning slows down, Beacon takes notice of Compass's discomfort. "Compass, are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

"We can stop if you need to. I know it must be hard, having to revisit those happy memories now that you know the truth about Thorn."

"That's not... I can keep going."

The questioning doesn't last much longer, and the rescue teams start dispersing as they run out of questions. Finally, the last question comes from a pikachu. "What was Thorn's favorite food?"

Compass tilts their head. They remember, of course; they remember how Thorn smiled as they bit into one, peel and all. They remember baking the pie for them. They remember last week, when they baked a pie together, and they remember Thorn's... 'emphatic' declaration of it's delicious taste. "Oranges, why?"

"Perfect, we'll use one as bait for a trap."

"... Oh."

The meeting ends, and everyone leaves. Compass starts back toward their house, but they're stopped by Torch. "Hey, Compass, are you okay? You don't look so good."

"I'm fine, I just... It's... I don't know."

"Avalanche and I are going on a mission, an easy one in Tiny Woods. Want to come with us? I think it might cheer you up."

Compass smiles. "Maybe. I just... I keep thinking about that night."

"I see. That night must have been terrifying for you." Torch puts a hand on Compass's shoulder. "You were really brave that night. I wouldn't have been half as composed as you if I found out that Ava was a bad pokemon."

Compass shrugs off their hand. "I think I'll just head home. There's books at my house, maybe I can find something about the world's balance."



Compass is on a stroll through Tiny Woods, enjoying the pleasant weather, when they spot someone collapsed on the ground! They spring into action; if they want to be a rescuer, then they can't ignore a pokemon in need!

Compass rushes over to the collapsed pokemon. "Hey, are you okay?"

No response.

"Hello? Wake up!" Compass shakes the pokemon awake.

No response.

Uh oh. Compass flips the pokemon over to get a better look at them-

"AAAAHHH!!!" Compass scrambles backward from Thorn's bloody and beaten form. "T-Thorn?!"

"h... help... help me..."

"I-it's okay, you're gonna be fine!" Compass grabs an oran berry from their pack and approaches Thorn.

"c-compass... what are you doing with that..?

"Isn't it obvious?" Compass moves the knife toward them. "I'm helping- W-what?!" Compass tries to jerk away the knife, to toss it aside, to pull it back, but they can't move their hands.

"compass, please... don't..."

Compass's hands push the knife closer. "No, no no no!"

"compass... why..?"

"I-I didn't mean to!" The knife hovers over Thorn's throat.

"compass... wait..."

"I... I..." Compass thrashes and yanks, but their hands won't listen. They squeeze their eyes shut as the knife makes contact.

"Compass, wait!!"

*THUD*

Compass opens their eyes, but everything's dark! They thrash around, but they're restrained by... blankets?

A door opens. "Compass, what's wrong?!" It's Beacon. She turns on the lights and unwraps the blankets. "Are you okay? What happened? I heard screaming."

"Nightmare... Just a nightmare..."

Beacon wraps Compass into a hug. "It's okay now. You're safe."

Their mind races through the events of the dream. "It-it was Thorn, they... the blood, the knife, I... I couldn't move, I couldn't..."

"Shh... It's okay." Beacon wipes away Compass' tears. "Everything will be okay."

Compass pushes her away, backing out of the hug. "No, no it won't! I-"

"Compass." Beacon puts a hand on Compass' shoulder. "Listen to me. It will be okay. We'll catch them, and they won't hurt anyone."

"... right..." 'Catch them'... "Mom, I... I can't do this anymore! I don't want to-"

Suddenly, a voice echos through the house. "Leader Beacon! There's an emergency! Team Bridge used an escape orb!"

After a moment of shock, Beacon rushes to the door, with Compass close behind. An escape orb is a powerful object that lets a team instantly teleport back to town, but they're rare and expensive, so they're only used in emergencies. And Team Bridge was following Thorn eastward...

Compass and Beacon find Team Bridge in the town center, a riolu and a sneasel. Thorn is nowhere to be found, and Compass isn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. But then they notice a doctor treating the riolu's leg. Thorn didn't... They wouldn't...

Beacon rushes over. "What happened?!"

"Broken leg," the doctor reports. "It looks bad."

"Forget about me..." the riolu says, flinching from the pain. "Sneasel was stabbed!"

No...

"Stabbed?!" Beacon gasps. "By who? Was it Thorn?"

No, please no...

"It was..."

Compass wants to plug their ears, to run away, but they need to hear this. Please, not Thorn. Please don't say Thorn, please, anything but Thorn!

"Alice."




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