(1300 words)
Chapter 22
No More Running


Compass is up early; gathering food, checking the area, eating breakfast and now lunch as they wait for Alice to wake up. They roast some of the veggies and nuts they find, trying to get some good flavor out of the scavenged food. The result is a poor imitation of the food they're used to.

"G'morning partner," Alice says, walking over from deeper in the cave.

"Oh, good morning Tho- I mean, Alice! Did you sleep well?"

"You can call me Thorn, either name works. And about my sleep, well, I have some GREAT news for you bud!"

"Did you talk to Gardevoir!?"

"Yup! And guess what? We're gonna save the god damn world."

"... Wait, seriously?"

"Right? Yeah so, it turns out I was brought to this world- Oh yeah, I'm from another world by the way- and I got dragged here to save the world from disaster."

"Why you? Is it because you're a human?"

"Dunno, I'll ask later. So, I don't know the details yet, but I at least know where we need to go."

"That's great! Where is it?"

"Okay, so it's-" Alice snickers. "Oh my god, just, just guess."

"Uh, okay. Do we need to... find an ancient artifact?"

"No, try again."

"Um... We need to ask Articuno and the other legendary birds for help?"

"Close, but wrong person."

"Groudon? Rayquaza?"

"No, no, getting farther away."

"Hmm... The only other person I can think to ask would be Xatu, but-"

"Bingo!"

"What? But we already asked him!"

"Right?! I don't get it either, but at least we've got a lead. So! I don't know where the hell we are, so can I trust you to navigate us to Great Canyon?"

Compass giggles. "I'd be a pretty terrible compass if I couldn't navigate! Let's see, Great Canyon is south of Pokemon Square, and we've been going... north."

"..."

"..."

"... Well shit."



The team starts their journey southward, sharing stories to pass the time; Compass talks about their time with Avalanche and Torch of Team Arrow, and Alice shares the tips and tricks they've learned about living in the wilderness.

"It's nice to hear you had some friends," Alice says, "Team Arrow sound like nice people. When they're not trying to kill me, at least."

"Y-yeah, sorry. They didn't know-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. So did you go on rescue missions with them, like before?"

"No, I... wasn't really in the mood for missions..."

"What do you mean?"

"Well... I had just chased away my best friend. I wasn't in a very good mood."

"... Oh..."

"... But uh, you know how you fought Team Meanies?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, before they headed out, they were calling everyone else weak for losing against you, and boasting about how they'd be the ones to beat you."

"No..."

"And they had hit Silver Rank by then, so everyone thought this was when you'd finally get caught."

"No way..."

"... and then," Compass says, "the next time anyone saw Gengar, he was complaining about a massive headache!"

"God, he really boasted that much?"

"Right? With everything so serious in town, that was some much-needed comedy!"

The team laughs over the story of Gengar's embarrassment. "God, what a day that was... Hey, um, Compass, I don't mean to ruin the mood, but it's been bugging me for a while..."

"... Y-yeah..?"

"Was... Was the poison orange your idea?"

"The WHAT?! Oh good lord Groudon, of course not! Poison?!"

"Yeah, yeah, I didn't think that was your style. But I was just so scared because... how did they know to use an orange as bait..."

"... I'm sorry. I told them. I-I would answer all the questions the hunters had about you, about all your strengths and weaknesses. I had no idea they would do something that awful with something as innocent as your favorite food..."

"Yeah, well, 'for the sake of saving the world' and all that. Makes people do desperate things."

"Eventually, I even told them you were afraid of the dark."

"But I'm not afraid of the dark?"

"..."

"... Oh you sneaky bastard!"

The team laughs. "Well, it wouldn't be the first time I've lied to protect you."

"Yeah... Sorry. I didn't exactly make it easy for you to choose me."

"We both made mistakes; I betrayed my best friend, you snapped from the fear of being hunted and the despair of the inevitable apocalypse, nobody's perfect."

"Heh, yeah, I guess-" Alice stops, then sighs and readies their club. "We've got company."

"Hold on!" An aipom emerges from the brush, followed by a chikorita. "We're not here to fight."

"Oh hey, it's you two again. So what, you were hiding in the bushes, waiting for the perfect chance to strike up a conversation?"

"... Yes."

"Cyndaquil," Chikorita says, "why do you trust Alice so much? How are you so sure they aren't lying?"

"Because I know them. I've known Alice, known Thorn, longer than anyone, and how they were acting didn't make sense. I won't excuse what they did, but I know they aren't lying now."

Aipom sighs. "Leader Beacon warned us you were a terrible judge of character."

"Sh-she said what?! I am not!"

"You totally are," Alice says.

"Not helping! Wait a sec, you two talked with Beacon?"

Aipom nods. "We sent our report by Pelipper Mail."

"So she knows? She knows Thorn is innocent?"

"She knows you say Alice is innocent. Our orders are to bring you back safely, and to capture Alice, in that order."

"She... she doesn't trust me..?"

"She doesn't trust Alice, and neither should you. Do they have any evidence to back up their claims?"

"Well..." Ninetales on Mt. Freeze, Gardevoir in their dreams, all of the evidence is seen only by Alice. If only there were some... "Oh! Gardevoir told Alice that we can find out how to restore the world's balance by asking-"

"Hold up!" Alice says. "Compass, if we tell them where we're going, there's going to be a massive ambush waiting for us when we get there. We'll never make it."

"Oh... But, what if you-know-who could tell them everything?"

"I don't know, maybe they'll only tell me. We can't take any risks."

"But..."

Chikorita frowns. "Don't you see, Cyndaquil? Alice isn't letting you trust us. They're using you."

"Well how am I supposed to trust you when you won't trust me?! If you want evidence so bad, why do you just go to- Hey wait, yeah, go to Mt. Freeze! You can talk to Ninetales and get the truth yourself!"

"... Mt Freeze," Aipom says.

"Yes."

"The place that is days away from Pokemon Square. Filled with powerful wild pokemon. Where Ninetales definitely is."

"... Yes."

"There's no way we're sending a strong team away for several days just to check if Alice the Human is telling the truth."

"Cyndaquil, please," Chikorita says, "if Alice says there's someone with information, tell us who. We'll check it out and get the truth. If there really is another way to restore the world's balance, then we'd all prefer that over taking a life. So please, Compass, just tell us. Everyone is tired of fighting."

"I... I can't. If there's even a chance that you-know-who will only tell Alice, then I can't risk it. I can't risk losing my partner again. I'll fight a hundred battles if it means protecting them!"

Aipom sighs. "I told you it wouldn't work."

"We at least had to try, didn't we?" Chikorita says, turning to leave. "Well, goodbye."

"Huh?" Compass says. "Wait, you're not gonna try to capture Alice? Or bring me back?"

"Um, no? We've seen what Alice can do alone, there's no way we're gonna fight them when they have a partner. And you've made it clear you won't leave their side." Chikorita and Aipom head back to town, leaving Compass and Alice alone.

"... So," Alice says, "wanna see how to make berry juice in the wild?"

"Wilderness cooking lessons? Sign me up!"




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