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What Lies at the Core	By : Twill Category: Pokemon > General Views: 6203 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. I'm not worth anything so don't sue.

Chapter List
- 12
- 13
- 14
Pain reminded Rel that she lived. A gash leaked crimson into her slate fur, stupid mistake. Not life threatening, but it would keep her from sparring for at least a day. She almost told Alex to stop watching her practice. You're pushing yourself too hard. No. Others pushed her too hard.

Open mouthed, panting, her body began to shut down. The dry leaves below her shattered like glass beneath sore paws. Scarred trees fell victim to missed attacks. Numbness spread from the wound on her arm; she could barely move it. She asked for Alex to find her a stronger opponent, she asked for this, and she wouldn't let the beast win. It had a weakness.

Even on the brink of exhaustion, Rel out-sped the hulking Aggron by a long-shot. Grace long abandoned her movements, but her wild charge worked just as well in delivering her attack. Claws blazed to life. Three sickles of angry, red light adorned each of her paws. Power surged through her, alleviating pain and fatigue, or numbed her from feeling her body's warnings. It didn't matter. She would win.

Steel parted beneath her claws like the flesh of a young Eevee. She did it. The scream of agony trumpeted her victory. In defeat, Aggron used its last remaining energy to clap Rel across the chest with its powerful tail.

Rel tumbled through dirt and plant-life. Adrenaline still masked the pain. Dirt, she could taste dirt. Dirt and blood. Not even a real fight. Nothing at stake, nothing to lose, and she had risked her life. Preparation.

Alex grabbed her arm. "I'm stopping this. You've already proved that you're an idiot, but I'm not going to let you prove you can kill yourself." He injected her with something and let her arm fall limply to the ground.

Filth coated her tongue, and struggling lungs barely kept her conscious. Warmth spread through her arm, and with it, a reminder of how much power hurt. "I'm stronger," she managed to spit out through the grit.

"Let me leave you here and you'll see how far that strength gets you. If you've broken a rib, you're going into the ball until I can get you to town." Alex walked off.

Rel tried to stand, but couldn't even lift her shoulders from the ground. Her limbs refused to do what her mind screamed. Sceptile, Raichu, Aggron, she fought all three at once, and all three fell. Yet she still needed that human. She only cried because of the pain. That was the only reason.

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Rel groaned. She didn't remember passing out, but little light remained above when she opened her eyes. A dull ache throbbed throughout her entire body, and she avoided her left arm as she sat up. Leaves stuck to the dried blood matting her fur.

Between her natural ability to heal and the strange drugs Alex gave her, injuries didn't slow her for long. Rel smirked. The other three pokemon wouldn't be fighting anytime soon either. She'd made sure of that. With her illusions, she doubted any pokemon could stand against her anymore. Norman and Winona didn't even warrant staying in town for the night.

"Two more," she said to herself. Then, she'd be pitted against the strongest pokemon in the entire region. A quick search found Alex, tent and fire already set up.

Alex looked up. "We'll be in Mossdeep tomorrow."

"We aren't staying, are we?" Rel asked.

"With the beating you let yourself take? You aren't fighting in that shape. We'll have to stay at least a day, probably two."

"It's a psychic gym," Rel spat. "I haven't been touched yet. And fighting with a single type is a stupid strategy. Who designed these challenges?"

Alex pulled out a bottle and threw it towards her left. "I don't care. You can wait a single day."

She caught it with her right hand and glowered at him. "People are going to notice you in town. Injured as I am, I might not have the strength to hide you, Shade Trainer."

"Don't be juvenile."

Rel glared but drank deeply from the bottle. She could ignore fatigue like she could pain. "How long until you're champion?"

"Well if you'd stop taking these idiot risks we could probably defeat the elite four in two weeks, less if we move quickly."

Rel slammed the cap back onto the bottle. "You're the one worried that I'm not strong enough to win!"

"Strength and skill are two different things. Besides, what do you care?"

Because you owe me an answer to one question. Light began to fade earlier in the thick of the forest. They never camped where others might stumble across her training. It took longer, but the fame Alex had garnered from her battles made it even more enticing.

Rel lay back against the hard ground, the dry leaves a poor cushion. Traveling had lessened the worry of maintaining her coat, but she still hated blood. The smell, the way it glued her fur together and pulled at her wounds. How it ran against her hide, tiny rivulets snaking between her fur, a sickening, sticky warmth.

No. She could wait one more night to clean herself. She'd make Alex get them a room while they waited for a ship. Alex said it wouldn't rain that night, so she shored up her long mane into a makeshift pillow and let herself drift to sleep.

-----------------------------------------------------

Alex's voice woke Rel. "Get up." The sun already crested the horizon, and Tailow chittered merrily in the dense forest. They should have already been on the move.

Rel sat up with a grunt, stretching her injured arm gingerly. Stiff, but manageable, the cut in her hide already closed. Muscle took a little longer to fully heal. "What time is it?"

"Ten, but we still have at least two hours until we're in Lilycove. And you look like shit. Invisible or not, you're cleaning yourself off before we get on the boat." Alex already packed up camp, and he handed her a small breakfast. "You can eat while we walk."

Rel didn't complain as they made their way back towards the path. This early, only trainers who slept on the road would be this far from the city, and Rel could mask Alex's identity. Sticking to Route 121 would help make up time for oversleeping.

An illusion could bend the sun's rays around her, but Rel missed the coastal warmth. The flat terrain made spotting others on the path easy, and at the first blemish on the horizon, Rel changed herself into Zangoose.

She left Alex mostly the same. Despite his recent fame, most trainers didn't pick him out on the road. Thankfully he only wore that ridiculous jacket to gym battles. He knew her contempt for the thing.

"There's a human ahead." She changed his hair color and made him appear slightly shorter. Maybe a little heavier too.

"I saw him. Doesn't seem to have a pokemon with him."

She didn't care either way. Her illusions scared most challengers off without a single attack. The trainers that did try and fight only ended up having to carry their team back anyway. Fear made even strong pokemon stupid.

As the other person drew close enough to hear, a voice Rel recognized shouted from the lone man. "Show yourself, Zoroark. I know it's you."

Both froze, and Alex asked, "Who else knows what you are?"

Rel tried to speak, but only a whimper managed to squeeze from her throat. A hand touched her shoulder. She reacted without thinking, wrenching the hand from her and throwing Alex to the ground. She didn't even realize her illusions dissipated.

"What the fuck was that for?" Alex massaged his shoulder.

Rel's clenched fists shook uncontrollably. "Leave."

"What?"

"Turn around, and go the other way. Run."

"I'm not leaving just because some asshole knows what you are. You don't have to worry about me giving up your powers."

The man slowed at seeing her reaction, and sauntered towards them unhurriedly. Fear threatened to overtake her. Anger warred to counterbalance the crippling terror, and she snatched Alex from the ground, careless of her claws against the weak human's skin. "You found me when I ran from that man. Leave my pokeball here, and leave. If I can, I'll come find you."

"Don't tell me you're running back to the creep who raped you."

Rel's lips pulled back into a snarl. "Leave now, human, or I'll kill you myself." She threw him back to the ground.

Alex glared up at her, but reached into his back and pulled out her pokeball. "You will come back to me. You still owe me." The pokeball rolled off the side of the path and into the tall grass. Alex jogged away.

Hatred, a sick, twisting desire to hurt that man burned within her. She clung to it, her only chance to keep from being pulled under by the choking grasp of terror. With fury clouding her mind, she spun, and using the speed she trained these past months, rocketed towards ruin himself.

Sunlight gleamed off her blood-red claws, air rushed through grimy fur. Her feet kept perfect balance, eyes locked onto a thin, fleshy, weak throat. She could ignore that sick grin, confident in his complete power over her. She'd go back in that room. The boxes.

Her limbs locked, and the ground crashed into her, driving the air from her lungs as she bounced to the man's feet. She couldn't move, not even to pull her face off the ground, the taste of dirt and bile filling her mouth. Dust entered her nose with each frantic breath.

The man laughed over her, his shadow covering her trembling body. "You got lucky once, slut, but no matter how far you try and run, you always belong to me."

No. It had stopped working, released her body from its control. Rel writhed on the ground, but her body refused to listen, twitching uselessly in anticipation of whatever horrors that monster planned to inflict upon her.

"I should really thank that idiot boy for making you so easy to find," her master knelt beside her head. "And I did very much want to find you again."

Rel could do nothing as strong hands rolled her face up. A mad grin looked back down at her, adrenaline burning inside of her with no outlet. Her body screamed to run, but the device in her neck held total power.

"After those soldiers destroyed my home, I had a lot of time to think while I waited to meet you. Looking back, I may have given you too much freedom, underestimated those idiots back at The Core." He straddled her and sat down hard atop her stomach, once again knocking the air from her chest. "And I promise to make you suffer for this inconvenience you've caused me."

Rel choked for breath, gasping to refill her lungs, desperate to pretend the man didn't exist, just another nightmare. The weight on her chest made each breath that much more of a struggle. Her vision wavered. Terror gripped her, like thick fingers of crushing ice. Something dragged across the bridge of her nose, scratching at her hide. A strange knife, long and barely thicker than a man's finger slid towards her eye.

"I'd take an eye, but that would just make you less useful to me." He tapped the blade against her cheek, drawing a thin line of blood. A mad glint, one that kept her up at night, burned in his eyes. He grabbed her wrist. “But, I did take a bit of inspiration from the locals.”

Rel tried to hold in a scream, instead whimpering pathetically as flesh parted beneath the blade. Metal scored bone. All of her training, pushing herself, for nothing.

The man exulted in carving another long gash into the back of her hand. “It brings back memories, my pet.”

Rel tried not to give him the satisfaction of seeing her in pain, but she could help it. Tears wet the fur around her eyes. Warmth spread across the back of her palm from each new gouge.

“Well at least that other human didn't pamper you while I was gone. I'll let him die quickly for taking good care of you while I was gone.”

“Fuck you,” Rel spat between gritted teeth. Her body locked up even tighter, muscles refusing to even spasm uselessly.

The man smiled. “You know, you don't need a tongue to serve me.” He let her ruined paw drop to the ground, the fur already heavy with blood. “So these poor excuses for humans have this interesting practice – well it's quite barbaric, actually.” The man lifted himself just enough to turn around, and once again sat down on her chest facing her legs.

“Every now and then a population gets out of hand, you know how you beasts get.” His fingers dug into the soft flesh of her lower abdomen.

Fear squeezed her throat, and she whimpered a soft plea. “Don't, please.”

His fingers stopped: one hand spread her slate fur, and the other gripped the long, narrow blade. “But since pokemon heal so quickly, it's almost never fatal. More than they deserve, really.” After carefully lining up the blade, he plunged it into her, twisting.

Rel shrieked until her lungs emptied, pain refusing her breath, so she gurgled weakly. Nauseating pain ate through her insides like acid. She'd been tortured often by this man, but never had she felt such pain. Darkness swirled teasingly at the edges of vision, taunting with the sweet reprieve of unconsciousness.

“This should fix some of the problems you caused last time for yourself as well.”

Rel hadn't even felt him search the second time, but once again, unimaginable pain ripped her abdomen apart, and her lungs found air to scream. The world swam around her, nothing real except for the pain. Such a small knife couldn't have cut her in half, but she felt like it had.

A blast, an explosion, the thunder to accompany the lightning that struck her body rang through the air, and Rel heard a gasp. Her master rose from her chest before sitting back down, though he fell off of her. Through the haze of tears and pain, she saw him clutching at his chest. The shadow of a Gengar appeared beside him, suddenly alert.

Blood began to seep from beneath his hand. “Kinetic weapons? No, they couldn't have.”

Then she heard it. Not the frantic beat of her heart, but boots, and shouting. Attempting to quiet her sobs, Rel let her head fall to on side. Five men dashed from the forest's edge. Pain consumed her mind's ability to comprehend anything but the pain.

“Get on the ground!” One shouted, four pokemon flanking the group. Each man leveled a small metallic object at her.

The constricting force that bound her released. I'm on the ground, she thought weakly. Rel tried to curl up, cradling her bleeding hand against her belly. Something light struck her.

“He must have the pokemon captured already, the ball didn't respond.”

“You, what kind of pokemon is this? Give us its ball.”

Rel couldn't see who spoke. Her head spun between pain and the brink of consciousness. A familiar voice brought her back to lucidity.

“They'll do the same to you. Kill them,” her master commanded.

Kill. She wanted to kill, kill everyone, every last human. She had dealt with pain before. Laughter bubbled up from within her and drew the attention of the humans. Picking her damaged body from the ground turned her laughter into a choking cough, but the humans kept their eyes on the illusion of a broken Zoroark bleeding onto the dusty ground. The first human didn't even realize he died before Rel scooped out the front of his neck with a quick swipe of her right paw.

The scent of blood filled her nostrils, and thick red liquid coated her hand with a pleasant warmth. Zoroark appeared all around her, attacking each human and pokemon at once as if from nowhere. Chaos erupted from the orderly soldiers, and more explosions cracked the air.

“Hold your fire!” one yelled, but a human fell to the ground, grabbing at his shattered hip.

Rel slipped about them, invisible even as she tore their throats open. Blood, nerves, oxygen, all conveniently wrapped up in a weak fleshy column, the small lump a perfect target for her bloody claws. If the humans could have seen her, they'd witness the aura of dark energy rising around her like an angry shroud.

She didn't spare the pokemon either. Alakazam, Mightyena, Poliwrath, eight in total. None were allowed to see their killer. A pulsating sphere of dark energy blasted apart Gengar's amorphous body, never to recombine. Maybe her master hadn't come as unprepared as she though, not that it helped him.

Pain lingered as a distant memory, a low burn within her, far overpowered by the hatred of these people. Blood, her own and not, dripped from her six claws. The remaining soldier could have tracked her motions from the red trail she left if he hadn't looked around frantically.

“Call it off!” the lone soldier demanded, his gun held steady, though his eyes darted about seeing nothing. “I can have a medic here in minutes for you, just call it off.” To his credit, he still had an air of authority about him.

She padded up to him silently, quickly severing the tendons in his wrist to loosen the gun from his hand. The weapon clattered against the ground.

“You'll never have me.” She smeared blood across his cheek before he slumped to the ground, missing the front of his throat. As the adrenaline emptied from her system, the pain her master inflicted upon her resurfaced. She walked over to where he lay and fell to her knees with a groan, clutching her belly.

“Why did you do it?” Rel whimpered to the dying man. During the fight, she took the time to glance at his wound before killing the others. The doctors here probably couldn't save him even if he made it to a hospital, and she would make sure that never happened. Tears slid from her face. “Why?”

Her master coughed, and blood leaked from the corner of his mouth. “Your kind were never meant to be anything more than slaves to us. Mewtwo, your savior. If you knew a tenth of the secrets that monster is hiding from the world, the Core Nations would collapse.” He spat blood and saliva onto her black-furred chest.

Rel lowered her face just above his. “I beat you. I win.”

He turned his face away. “Don't breathe on me. If you do it quickly, I'll let you end this embarrassment.”

Rel laughed until the pain in her stomach overwhelmed her. “I want this to last as long as possible, and after what you did to me, I almost wish I could have your pathetic life saved.” Searing pain touched her shoulder, if just for a second.

“Either do it, or I spend my last hours trying to break that simple mind of yours, and I have waited a long time to get my hands on you again.”

“What were you saying about Mewtwo?” Rel squirmed as heat welled up between her legs, as if something very hot drew close to her skin. She roared, raising a blood-drenched paw to strike.

“Do it. Obey me one last time.” He didn't look at her.

“What about Mewtwo?”

“Why bother. You simple minded beasts wouldn't disobey your masters, just like you will obey me this last time. Finish it.” His chest heaved, and each breath became more and more labored.

“You won't take this pleasure from me. Goodbye, Master. A pokemon bested you.” Rel placed on paw on his struggling chest and used the other to extend his throat. Pale white skin constricted in one final swallow before Rel sank her powerful fangs into the human's neck. Tender skin burst.

Blood poured between her fangs, filling her mouth with hot, metallic-tasting liquid. It overwhelming her sensitive nose and coated her fur. She basked in it, tearing flesh and sinew, waiting for the final beat of his heart. After a few seconds, she sat alone in the middle of the pathway.

Rel laughed with blood running down her chest. She did it. She killed him. She was free. The taste of death coated her mouth thickly. It tasted magnificent, wondrous, her booming laughter echoed off the trees lining the path. No one could defeat her. At last, the only one to hold true power over her died, and by her own hands. She laughed until tears rolled freely from her bloody face.

A painful spasm racked her body, and Rel curled in on herself, clutching at the two cuts in her belly while her left arm hung limp at her side. She hadn't even looked at the cuts, so small, and yet she knew the damage he'd caused. Without healing back in Unova, her body wouldn't be able to repair the damage on its own, not fully. The thought crushed her euphoric high.

Alex's voice called to her. “Zoroark?”

Footsteps rang in the distance, but Rel looked down at her belly, stroking fur sticky with blood. Alex crashed to his knees beside her, grabbing her by the shoulders.

“Are you fucking insane? What the fuck did you do?” He tried to shake an answer out of her.

“They hurt me,” Rel whispered. Her breath reeked of blood.

Alex brought his face close to hers. “Do you know what they'll do to you, to me, if they catch us? Do you?” His tight grip threatened to tear the fur out of her shoulders.

Tears dripped to the ground. Words died in her throat, so she merely shook her head. Flecks of spit struck her matted fur as Alex continued yelling.

“Eleven people, and their pokemon. What the fuck were you thinking? I don't care if they were about to fucking skin you alive!”

“I'm not going back!” She gagged at the taste of warm death in her mouth. “And if you keep talking, I'll tear your throat out too.”

“By all means, you might as well at this point.” Alex threw her to the ground. “Fuck!” He checked on one of the nearby corpses.

Rel let him pace. To better the lives of these people. That's why she came here. That's what she did – made things better. “It is better without you,” she growled and slammed a fist into her master's chest. Thick blood leaked from the hole where his throat had been. Each blow left a red smear from her knuckles.

Alex grabbed her arm, but the slick fur slid from his grasp. “Zoroark!”

Rel slumped back in Alex's arms as he dragged her away. “My name is Rel, human. He doesn't own me anymore. I killed him. I killed him!” Sobs turned to laughter, deep earnest mirth, even as blood continued to run from her wounds. Alex's face appeared close to her, and she struggled to keep his face in focus.

“I need you to listen. If we don't get away from here very soon, you're going to wish they had killed you.”

She grabbed the front of his shirt and almost dragged him down on top of her. “I'll kill all of them. I'll win.” Blackness encroached on her vision. Her tongue, still thick with the taste of blood, lolled from her panting muzzle. “Human.”

-----------------------------------------------------

Air rushed into Rel's lungs in an unsteady gasp. Light twinkled above her, but darkness covered everything. Something strong gripped her, and she thrashed to break free.

Alex's voice hissed close to her ears. “Zoroark! Calm down, it's me.” Arms let her go.

Rel panted, trying to take in everything at once, but the darkness made it impossible to see anything more than shapes. Beads of sweat formed beneath her fur, and her heart fluttered in her chest.

“Everything is going to be okay.”

An involuntary whine escaped her throat, every muscle in her body thrummed to the frantic beating of her heart. “I think I'm going to die.” She almost tripped over the words.

“You're not going to die unless you get us caught, now listen, you're going to be fine.”

“No. I don't feel fine. I'm going to-” Her arm, her left arm, she couldn't move it. She tried, but a shooting pain stopped her from trying again. “What's going on?”

“Breathe. I had to give you something so you'd wake up. It's all I had. Try to relax.”

“You did this to me?” Her chest tightened painfully. In a box, trapped, shrinking, crushing. She couldn't breathe.

Alex pulled her against him, hands stroking the back of her head in a soft, steady rhythm. The calm beat of his heart thumped against her cheek, a cheek that seemed to stick wetly to the soft fabric of Alex's shirt.

He spoke in a calm but firm voice. “Breathe, and try not to think. The drug will keep you alert if you calm down. You're hurt, and I need you to listen so I can get you help.”

Don't think. Breathe. Tremors shook her body, but Rel managed to wrestle her breathing under control. Despite the burning energy filling her, she had trouble concentrating. Pain flared up in her pelvis, and she groaned against Alex's warm chest.

“Can you make an illusion to cover both of us?” He waited for her to nod weakly. “Good. Take deep breaths, and try not to make any noise. If you need to stop, tap me on the shoulder.”

Alex helped her to her feet, lifting her injured arm up over his shoulders and supporting her with his other. She could feel a sticky liquid dripping slowly from her claws. Blinding lights shown through the trees. Apparently Alex had brought them right to the edge of the city. Why did he need her? The answer seemed right at the edge of her thoughts, yet she couldn't grasp more than fleeting memory. She held the illusion over them.

Minutes stretched to days, though the sky overhead never lightened. Sometimes she'd stop and try to remember where they were going, but Alex always urged her on. A cramping pain like a constant kick in the stomach made her stumble against her human support. Her heart rate slowed.

“I don't think I can do this much longer,” she slurred, trying to keep her voice low. “So tired.” She felt him change direction.

Towering brick walls appeared around them, and Rel looked up to see high buildings on either side of the dingy alleyway. He lowered her to the ground, her back to the icy cold brick.

“Sorry,” she mumbled. “It's just so hot. Tastes like blood.”

“It's fine. You did good enough.” He rummaged through his pack and pulled out a few items she couldn't see. “Close your eyes and rest for a moment. I'll take care of things.”

Rest sounded like a great idea. Rel let her head fall back against the chilly wall behind her. Breath, and don't make much noise. No, she had to help do something, sneak into the city. But Alex said he take care of everything. She could rest a few moments, if she could trust him.

----------------------------------------------------

Streams of steaming liquid crashed against Rel's fur in the small tub. She sat with her left arm hung over the edge so she wouldn't get the tight bandages wet. The wounds to her abdomen had closed – on the surface at least. Cramps still clenched her belly every now and then.

Alex slept on the single bed when she woke. The night sky outside their small window could have been the same one she last remembered, though likely not. She hadn't woke him. How he managed to sneak the two of them in, and get her treated no less, could wait.

Water flowed pink from her body, and the smell of iron and death made her sick. Blood caked most of her body, and Alex hadn't done anything to clean her off. She wondered what would have happened if someone entered their room and saw her. She probably wouldn't have ever woke to find out.

Freedom. That man, the one who forced her into submission died at her hands. Someone else caused the true fatal injury, but she had finished him. And she would pay the price for that victory again.

A clawed paw brushed across where she still felt the two tiny wounds. Muscles tightened in remembrance. It was probably better this way. She'd make a terrible mother, even if she could find someone to accept her as a mate. She had a different purpose now.

With a groan, Rel stood beneath the steady stream of water. Most of the gore washed off of her. She spent the first fifteen minutes scrubbing at her face. She turned the water off and grabbed a towel. From the tightness in her left paw, the cuts hadn't quite healed. A day at most.

Alex sat in a chair, the room's single dim lamp barely enough to reach the corners of the room. “You okay? Hungry?”

Rel kept the towel around her shoulders and nodded. With only one bed, Alex made a small pile of blankets and towels on the ground for her. Blood stained most of them. Instead she sat against the wall.

“There's not much.” Alex threw a small package of their usual travel rations to her. “I haven't left the room since we got here.”

Rel bit into the tasteless food. “How long?”

“A little less than a day.”

Rel chewed. The room looked like that of a pokemon center. Alex wore different clothes, but he looked tired.

His pack lay next to the chair, within quick reach. “How did you know those people, the ones who attacked you?”

Rel narrowed her eyes. “I thought I told you to run from there.”

“Don't try to turn this on me. I heard you scream, and that- Are you sure you're okay?”

Rel pulled the towel tighter around her. “I'm fine.”

“And those others?”

“I only knew the one. Not the ones with kinetic weapons.”

Alex frowned, dragging a finger across his chin. “I didn't recognize the one you – tore apart.”

She snarled. “He deserved it.”

Alex threw his hands up. “I didn't say he didn't. The soldiers though, I've seen them before. We'll have to watch our backs from now on, at least until I'm League Champion.”

Rel didn't realize she rose to the balls of her feet, but slumped back against the wall. Did she even care about the League anymore? It had only been to train, to prepare. Though she didn't have a clue about how to get back to Unova. What did League Champion even mean?

“Rel is a nice name,” Alex said.

She clenched her right paw. When had- It felt like a dream, blood frothing at her lips, raving. She'd told him. “Shut up, human.” Her lips pulled back to reveal fangs that tore through a man's throat like water.

“So who was he?”

“Nobody.” The old scars on her back throbbed in tandem with the cuts on her left paw. “And now he's dead. He's nothing, less than nothing. He doesn't even have a name!” Rel panted.

“Calm down. You're going to hurt yourself.” Alex dimmed the light so they could barely see. “I patched you up myself. Can't go to any of the nurses here, not after what happened.” He stood and made his way towards the bed. “I'm sorry I yelled at you back there. I just – hadn't expected that. Rest up, you might need your strength back.”

Rel forced herself to breathe, slowly, but her heart refused to back down. She looked at her bandaged hand. Wait and plan. In her current state, she wouldn't be able to fight, and who knew what she'd face if she managed to get back to Unova. This would end with at least one death.
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What Lies at the Core