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An Uncertain Future	By : Twill Category: Pokemon > General Views: 12846 -:- Recommendations : 3 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 15
- 16
- 17
Rob was fairly certain that he left any hint of sanity back in Goldenrod, but it felt great. His team would be the ones to suffer for his stupidity though. The fact that he found peace in his decision wrenched his stomach, but his step was light on the dirt path.
Two months they'd been together, Quilava and Gardevoir. A lot had happened in those two months, and they'd spent almost every moment of those days in each others company. Was it such a stretch that he'd become attached to his pokemon, his friends? Obviously not. He just hoped for all of their sake his feelings were driven by more than lust.
She was beautiful though. Her flowing gown, graceful step, slender body light and willowy, her white and green skin perfect beneath his fingers. He shook his head before that line of thought could continue. And he had taken her. The connection they'd shared in the forest, under the setting sun would fill his dreams for a long time. That night made him a felon.
He had tried to ignore her, those mornings he woke up, Gardevoir clinging to his side and her soft body finding him vulnerable. He tried to ignore it, only some sick freak would take advantage of their pokemon like that. A rapist, a trainer that forced his pokemon to fight during the day and use their body at night. Yet he couldn't feel the disgust in himself that any sane person would feel.
Gardevoir was sweet, beautiful, smart. Her time before they'd met left scars, issues she may never fully get over, but in his hands she melted into a fiercely loyal and kind person. She wasn't just a pokemon. Her mind was no different from his. He let out a dark laugh. No one else would see that.
His mother would be devastated when the league went to his home, looking for a fugitive. Their son, the worst kind of trainer, betraying every moral they'd tried to impart. He could never tell his parents about Gardevoir, anyone really. They wouldn't live long anyway, best to just enjoy the time. He had already ensured their deaths.
Gardevoir had broken him, crushed his ability to resist. He had tried, but in the end, he had failed her.
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Lucario strode down the path beside the others, happy to have a warm sun above them and this new body under her control. She felt powerful. Nothing could stop her. And she felt happy. Happy about everything, bubbles of carefree laughter floated through her and kept a smile pinned to her canine lips.
She could understand the aura that flowed around them fully now. It flowed through her, waves of feeling and emotion, Rob and Gardevoir's especially, their golden aura infecting her, making her want to sprint through the green fields that flanked the path. With the past behind her, and a group that accepted her without question, she felt free of the chains that weighed her soul down to the place she was born.
Lucario spoke to Gardevoir with her new powers to manipulate aura, able to speak directly to the psychic's mind. “Nice day, isn't it?”
“Mmm.” Gardevoir smiled.
“You and Rob returned late last night.”
“Did we? He uh, took me to a meadow he found in the forest.” Gardevoir stared ahead at Rob.
“Did he.” Lucario could feel her friend's aura shift. Embarrassment and passion mixed with the general warmth of joy. Lucario sidled closer to Gardevoir. “You enjoyed it then?”
Gardevoir nodded, and a light flush colored her pale cheeks. “When he-” Gardevoir cut herself off, her face deepening another shade.
A pang of jealousy gripped her heart. Not about Rob, she didn't care for the human, but she had felt their aura. Even from the distance the two were from camp, the intensity of feelings they shared, the brilliant force of their souls combining. An aura like sun made liquid. She wanted that, to experience that.
The others couldn't hear their mental conversation. “Those scratches. Are they from you?” Lucario lightly touched her friend's back.
Gardevoir jumped.
Lucario moved her mouth close to her friend's ear despite communicating with aura. “I could feel your aura, both of yours. I could feel that storm of pleasure when he released in you.” She could feel the heat radiating from Gardevoir's cheek.
“What has gotten into you?” her friend squeaked.
Lucario could smell the reaction of her words, a tangy scent floating from Gardevoir's graceful body. She looked at Quilava walking obliviously a few paces ahead. She released Gardevoir.
“Sorry,” but her words went unnoticed, her friend's half-glazed eyes seeing something else. Soon.
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Focusing had become an impossible task since the night before. Her body expected a child, desired to bear her mate's young. That would never happen, but her body didn't know, so she wandered through the day, mind split between thinking of Rob, and attempting to not think of what she wanted him to do to her. A losing battle.
With the other pokemon searching for firewood, and Rob just finishing setting up his small tent, Gardevoir went to him. “Did we have to leave the other place so soon?”
“Unless you wanted to drink the lake water.” He smiled though and gave her hair a quick stroke. “It won't take us long to challenge the gym and resupply.”
She sidled up against him, but Rob rebuffed her affections. “You can't, not here.”
“But I've been waiting all day. I-” Her face burned, but the tightness in her belly was ready to overwhelm modesty. “Our mating started something, something I need from you.”
Rob pulled her to his chest with a gentle grip, his voice soft. “You know I can't.”
Gardevoir cooed against him. “I know.” His scent filled her senses. “But I still feel the need.” The others were out of sight. She had Rob to herself, a predatory light in her eyes. “I've dealt with it all day.”
She touched his face before moving a hand beneath his shirt. The gentle thrum of his heart beat beneath her fingers, warm and steady. The wounds on his back had just begun to heal. She gazed up into his summer green eyes. “Please?”
Already a light sweat formed between her palms and Rob's chest. She ran her hands down his stomach before coming to rest on the waist of his jeans, insistent. Her advance forced Rob back towards the tent opening, their eyes locked.
“If someone comes-”
Gardevoir pushed him through the flaps, hunger burning within her, and she could see it mirrored in Rob's gaze as well. Once inside the protective shroud of the tent, her insistence broke Rob's resolve.
“We really shouldn't-” but Rob already had his shirt halfway off his body. Lightly tanned skin looked inviting, his chest wide and firm compared to her own willowy form.
Earlier, when they had been traveling, Gardevoir had explored the band that wrapped Rob's waist with her psychic powers. A simple device, and now it was the only thing between the two of them. As strong hands roamed over the gown that covered hips and legs, her mind reached out to unclasp the remainder of Rob's clothing, leaving her hands free to trail his back. Psychic energy removed the remaining barrier between them.
“That's a neat trick.” Rob let out a low chuckle before he pulled Gardevoir's face to his and kissed her.
The strange gesture still felt odd, but the desire she felt in Rob's every move sent waves of blissful heat through her body. She clutched her mate tight, pressing their bodies together and letting Rob kiss her lips and neck. The hard length that pressed against her stomach filled her mind. She would give herself to Rob once again.
Rob broke the kiss. “You're beautiful.” His eyes drank in her form, but his smile radiated more than simple lust.
“I- You look nice too.” Gardevoir stammered, feeling her cheeks burn. No one had ever complimented her before; she didn't know how to respond, and the giddy embarrassment that his words created froze her tongue.
Rob laughed, and guided her down so they knelt before each other, her gown spreading out behind her. He kissed her once again, but his hands snaked between the folds of her pale gown and found her hips.
Hands ran down and around her thighs, fingers almost brushing against the wetness between her legs. A quiet whimper escaped against Gardevoir's lips. One hand stroked her stomach, before a fingertip tickled the hot flesh just above her entrance.
“What are you-” Gardevoir had been trying to remain quiet, the thin walls of the tent offered little privacy, but Rob's touch drove thought and care from her mind. Just a light touch to the outer folds of her sex, but Gardevoir moaned against her mate.
His finger continued to trace her wet lips. Each pass coated Rob's finger with her slick arousal, and her body begged for more. Had he asked, she would have given him anything. Instead she panted against his chest, her hot breath mixing with Rob's masculine scent.
A fog muddled her thoughts, everything besides the all consuming heat and desire to be bred was pushed aside and replaced by need. Rob's finger continued to move, pressure slowly building until she felt him press into her.
Gardevoir gasped, her vision blurring while she struggled to breath, her muscles turning to water. Her hips jerked in an attempt to take more, the walls of her sex quivering, penetrated by her mate's finger. It was nothing compared to the excruciating fullness of truly being mated, but as Rob pleasured her with his hand, she felt the pressure building within her, her body tightening before the torrent of blissful release.
So close. Nothing else in the world mattered. Rob sent her into a dizzying spin, her mind failing, body trembling. Liquid heat trailed down her thighs and let Rob fill her with ease, each tiny thrust bringing her closer to the pinnacle of existence itself. So wondrously close, and then emptiness.
“Don't-” Gardevoir spoke aloud, her mind unable to speak in a way her mate could understand. Movement through the haze. She looked up, and Rob pressed his finger into her open mouth. Her own taste overwhelmed her senses. It wet her lips and covered her tongue.
Rob quickly withdrew and pressed his lips to hers, forcing his tongue into her mouth. His other hand positioned his length between her. He pressed, slow, gentle, firm.
Gardevoir's claws extended. Only just, penetrating Rob's skin, tiny beads of red against glistening tan flesh. She whimpered, her body desperate to accept her lover. Each gasping breath seemed to take him deeper within her body, stretching her that she might rip open.
Rob changed as he took her. Tender caresses replaced the unrelenting hunger that consumed them during their first mating. Gentle kisses touched her neck and shoulder while fingers ran through her hair, pulling and holding. His breath was a whisper against sweaty flesh, delicate as he eased further into her body.
It hurt, he was too much for her. But for Rob, she accepted the pain. She whimpered, cried out against his chest. Heat, pressure, pain, bliss all muddled her mind, each feeling inseparable from the other. She wanted this torment to go on forever.
Gardevoir grunted. Rob had reached her limit, pressing against her most protected depths. She clutched him tight, the pressure of his length against her cervix making her eyes water, but she clung to him. She wanted to satisfy him fully, take him fully despite the pain.
Rob withdrew. Slow, just as he entered her. He whispered, confessed his love to her, how good she felt. Each touch of his lips to skin, fingers to her bosom, teeth with a loving nip of her pale skin bought a piece of her soul. She was his.
The edge he led her to before loomed once again. Her voice was a frail whimper; she couldn't tell if she spoke to his ears or mind, her thoughts scattered. “I love you.” With her two hands she took one of his. She was so close, the tightness, the compressed flames were ready to consume her. Psychic energy aided her, granting her vacant mind one wish. Gardevoir pressed Rob's hand to her fin, and she let the energy flow between them as she felt her release.
Two bodies connected. Gardevoir no longer resided in the tent, but became part of something more. She felt the release her body experienced, but it was nothing, not compared to the brilliance she felt through their psychic connection. She felt Rob. Not him as a person, but as a soul. His golden radiance bathed her, everything he felt, everything he was, laid out before her, a part of her. During that brief eternity, there was no difference between them. Human and pokemon didn't matter, the world they lived in didn't matter. There was only two bodies entwined.
Gardevoir gasped for air and tightened around her mate. Her arms clutched him, her body constricting in the throes of pleasure. Heavy breathing hissed in her ear from her human mate.
Rob continued to drive himself into her, and she could feel his own release approaching, a second well of pleasure inside her. His pace quickened, Gardevoir's tiny body on the verge of tearing apart beneath him, each thrust forcing her body to take his entirety.
Strong fingers dug into her supple flesh, and her mate tensed, slamming one last time into her depths. Gardevoir cried out at the brutal treatment of her delicate body, but cooed into Rob's chest at the feel of his release within her. A warm pressure blossomed inside her abdomen, and Gardevoir let herself finally relax as Rob finished.
Her head swam. Coherent thought still eluded her, so she just lay in Rob's arms and continued to slowly process each feeling that washed through her body. Rob's slowing heartbeat against hers, his fingers brushing the hair from her face, his soft lips against her flushed skin. And so she lay, arms holding her body to his, the combination of their release warming her thighs.
“I hope this can last,” Rob whispered and drew her head into the crook of his neck.
With a loving nip at Rob's neck, Gardevoir sighed. “I'll always be here.”
“Gardevoir?”
“Mmm?”
“You'd tell me if this wasn't what you wanted, right?”
Gardevoir concentrated on forming hands made of psychic energy. She used them to run along Rob's back and draw him against herself. “Of course.”
Rob hugged her. “That was cute in a somewhat terrifying way.”
Gardevoir smiled and buried her face against his chest. She spoke aloud. “I love you.”
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“I don't like this place,” Gardevoir said to no one in particular. The forest wall pressed right up against the human city, a stark border between untouched nature and human development. It wasn't that in particular that bothered her though. The city itself felt – wrong, like an oily slick of corruption hung in the air. She could see Lucario nodding in agreement out of the corner of her eye.
Rob sighed. “You don't like any place with a lot of people around.”
“This is different.” She couldn't quite explain it though. Not quite a psychic premonition, but she wouldn't believe it was just her imagination. The feeling made even small details seem ominous.
Despite the warm, midday sunlight and pleasant breeze, few other humans shared the streets with them. The ones who did scurried along, in a hurry to be off the silent streets. No one looked at their small group, at least not directly. Quick glances and hateful looks followed them on their way.
While normally crowded, the lobby of the large pokemon center lay almost empty. A trainer sat in the far corner, huddled over his food and ignoring their group. Gardevoir could feel fear and hatred from the lone woman who occupied the front desk. The invisible filth dampened every positive emotion, only allowing the darker sides of others' hearts to her notice.
“What do you want?” The nurse's eyes swept over Gardevoir and the other pokemon.
Rob looked taken aback by the open hostility. “I uh- Sorry?”
“We just gave you the last of what we had. There's nothing left.” The nurse put on a brave face, but Gardevoir could feel the stomach twisting fear through the fin on her chest.
Rob put his hands up defensively. “I really don't know what's you're talking about. I only just got to the city a half hour ago and was hoping to get a room.”
The nurse looked stunned. “You just got here?”
“I came from Goldenrod. Has something happened? There weren't any others that I saw on the way here.” Rob looked around the lobby again.
“You have to leave,” the nurse said, leaning in towards Rob and lowering her voice. “I don't know why they let you in, but go the same way you came.”
“What are you talking about? What's going on?”
The nurse scanned the lobby before walking around the desk. “Hurry.” She jerked her head and headed towards a hallway.
“We should just leave,” Gardevoir said to Rob. Her skin prickled, the other pokemon quiet.
Rob shrugged. “There's something not right here, and we can't just leave without finding out what it is.” They followed after the nurse.
The woman led them to a room and motioned them in. Once they had all entered the nurse followed and shut the door behind them. “Are you here to help?” She gave Rob's pokemon a dubious look.
“To help with what? I have no idea what's going on.”
“So, news hasn't even left the city? But Morty said- Team Rocket has taken over. They control the city.”
Rob raised an eyebrow. “Team Rocket? That's ridiculous.”
“You have to leave the city. As soon as possible. Please. We need someone to get word to someone outside who can help, and if they let you in, then maybe you can...” The nurse chewed her lip. Gardevoir could tell she was holding something back.
“I came here to challenge the gym. I can tell Morty about it but if this is as bad as you say, why hasn't the league already been brought in?”
“No.” The nurse grabbed Rob's arm. “He said he has, and if you don't know all of this already, that means he's involved. There have also been deaths, accidents. Sometimes pokemon get hurt during battles, but we thought it might be a cover up. But if they actually are from Morty's gym...”
“No one stopped me on the way in, and how could anyone stop word from getting out? No one here has a flying pokemon?” Rob's face showed worry, but his voice held firm.
The nurse looked over Rob's pokemon once again. “They let you in for some reason. With that many pokemon trailing, they should have picked you up. They know you're here. Get out.”
Rob sighed. “I'm sure my team is exhausted, and we need supplies.”
“Then leave first thing in the morning if you must.” The nurse pressed the room key into Rob's hand. “Don't leave the room with more than one pokemon. You'll already draw suspicion, and it's not only Team Rocket who have come out of the woodwork. Leave, if you can. As soon as you can.” And just like that the woman left.
Rob stared down at the key in his hand. Silence hung in the room, all eyes waiting for Rob to act, say something, explain what was going on. He merely slipped the pack off his shoulders and flopped onto the room's single bed.
Gardevoir spoke so they could all hear her. “What was that about?”
“I don't know,” Rob said, voice weary. “If it really is that bad why wouldn't she explain more? How could anyone stop news getting out of the city? And Team Rocket?”
Gardevoir had heard that name before. “Didn't a nurse in one of the other cities say something about them?”
“Someone is always talking about them, but they broke up years ago.” Rob twirled the key around his finger and stared up at the ceiling.
“You think that woman lied? Why would she do that?” Gardevoir asked.
“I don't know.”
The others moved into the room. Quilava jumped up onto the bed and nuzzled against his trainer, earning a distracted ear scratch. Sandslash stretched out on the ground, and Gardevoir was about to try to slip onto the bed as well, but noticed Lucario's dark expression.
“Something wrong?” Gardevoir asked her friend.
“I saw that look he gave me. He wants to capture me.”
Gardevoir frowned. “It would only be briefly, and he never keeps us in them.”
“He's a human,” Lucario spat.
Gardevoir's mental voice was hard. “He's my mate.” Their eyes met, but Gardevoir didn't wait for a response before entering the room. She wasn't angry, not really. She had hated Rob before, but he had proven himself. The chair in the corner of the room, close to the bed, looked comfy enough, and Gardevoir took a seat in it to wait. Rob would figure out something to do.
After a time sitting in silence, Rob got off the bed. “I want you guys to stay here.” He hesitated. “If anyone forces their way in here, I'll leave it up to you to scare them off. If they refuse to leave, well, do what you can.”
Gardevoir stared at him, and she saw the others wide-eyed as well.
“Gardevoir, could you come with me, please?” It was a question.
She stood, well aware of the tension in the way Rob stood, the tightness in his voice, but she would not let him go alone. Whatever the humans wanted, they would leave the two of them alone, and if not, she would protect Rob. Outside the room, everything was still. No one moved around the lobby; no one spoke. The solitary trainer sat in one corner, his eyes darting back to the table when he noticed her looking.
“If you are worried about the others, shouldn't they come with us?” Gardevoir asked.
“They will be safe in the room. If there's even anything to worry about,” but his voice didn't sound confident. In fact Rob seemed to have adopted the hunched shoulders and withdrawn posture that the other human's in this city wore.
“If it is true, well, it's better they aren't with us.” Rob didn't explain, but Gardevoir felt the weight of his words, why Rob had only asked for her to accompany him.
“We could just stay in the room too, and leave in the morning?” Gardevoir followed close behind Rob. If anything happened, or she felt anything, she could grab him and teleport them both to safety before something could happen.
“We wouldn't make it with the supplies we have. Besides, no one would try anything out in the open like this.” But Rob's gaze betrayed his words. His head swiveled, trying to watch every door and alley at the same time.
The other humans gave them a wide berth, and no one looked up at them, yet Gardevoir couldn't help but search with her psychic powers. She felt them, human and pokemon both, but also a faint hint that there was so much more hiding just out of reach of her mind's eye. And of course that thick, heavy feeling the city seemed to exude. It clung to every tendril of her psychic power, seeped under her skin as the two of them walked towards the heart of the city.
Gardevoir tried not to look like she cowered behind Rob, but her trainer also walked as if to blend in. His shoulders slumped, mimicking the other humans that walked about. She found herself hunched as well, but she kept her eyes and psychic powers searching, ready to attack anything that might threaten Rob. She wasn't supposed to attack other humans, but this place felt different, and she wouldn't watch Rob get injured.
Rob lead them into an almost empty store and moved towards the back where travel supplies were kept. He kept his voice low despite no one being around. “I want to capture Lucario, even if it's just until we leave the city. Is that going to be a problem?”
Gardevoir looked to the shelf which held the dried food they ate when traveling. “I don't think so.” She could feel the shopkeeper watching them from the front of the store.
“I need you to-” but the shop door opening drew Rob's eyes.
A human entered the store. He didn't have any pokemon with him, but he didn't walk with the slumped posture of this city. He glanced around, eyes lingering on where she and Rob stood. The man looked at them, and then left the store without even looking at a display.
“I don't think we should stay here,” Gardevoir said. The man's psychic presence quickly faded in with the others and beyond her reach.
Rob had already began to snatch items from the shelf. “Agreed. Something's not right here.” He grabbed a few more items on the way to the front counter. “Hi.”
The shopkeeper didn't smile, nor did he respond to Rob's greeting. He only took the items and pointed a strange red light at them. Maybe the shopkeeper could feel it too, and Rob's forced smile stood out like a reminder of the city's wrongness.
The two of them had only been inside a short time, but streetlights already began to struggle against the deepening shadows, the sun's rays hidden behind a low skyline. Few people remained on the streets now, and all of them had pokemon at their side. She couldn't sense some of them. Dark types. She stopped herself from grabbing Rob.
“We just need to stop by the gym,” Rob said at the corner of one of the streets.
“Not now.” Gardevoir peered down the darkening road that Rob faced. Shadows lurked just out of reach of the tiny pools of light given off by the lamps. “If you really need to, do it tomorrow.”
“We're already out. It's just down the road,” but he sounded as if he just wanted someone to convince him to go back for the night.
Gardevoir nudged him in the direction of the pokemon center, and Rob started moving. She still couldn't shake the oily filth that clung to her body and mind. It felt like being locked in Wes' basement once again, Absol looming over her, the creature's foul breath hot against her cold skin. She had killed Absol. “We should just leave in the morning.”
Once they were back inside the pokemon center, Gardevoir breathed easier. The interior was well lit, and despite her initial experience, the clean white and red buildings were beginning to feel like a safe-haven. Warm rooms, a bed, rest for herself and the others, it was a break from everything, nothing would bother them here. Even the wrongness of the city seemed lessened by the sterile building.
The lobby truly was empty this time. The human in the corner had gone, and no one watched over the front desk either. A silence followed them back to their room. Inside, Lucario and Quilava sat together on the bed. Sandslash slept curled up on the ground, the blades on his back forming a protective barrier that tended to destroy sheets and furniture he slept on.
As soon as soon as the door shut, Lucario stood and strode towards them, her eyes fixed on Rob. The angular features of her canine body gave Lucario an imposing figure, intense and focused.
Gardevoir felt her body tense, and she took a step forward. In a fight, Lucario wouldn't stand a chance against her. Typing and power both favored her, but Lucario ignored her, instead stopping a few feet before Rob.
Lucario's aura-carried voice was clam, but hard. “You want to capture me don't you?”
Rob met the wild pokemon's gaze. “Yes.”
Gardevoir's breath caught, waiting for one of them to make a move, to protect her mate if needed. She looked from one to the other, each sizing the other up. Even Quilava stood on the top of the bed, waiting.
“I guess I should thank you.” Lucario didn't blink, red eyes against green. “You let me be free this long. But if you try to use me like the other humans used my mother, or steal my pups.” Lucario's paws clenched into fists. “I won't let you.”
Gardevoir bared her fangs at the threat. Rob would never do anything like that, and no one would threaten her mate right in front of her face.
Rob placed a hand on Gardevoir's shoulder without looking and nodded. “You're free to do what you want; this is just in case.”
Lucario nodded, and Rob reached into his pack to pull out a pokeball. He tossed it, and Lucario snatched it from the air, careful to avoid the button on the front. She broke their staring match to look at the small red and white sphere. Finally, Lucario pressed it, and a red flash sucked her into the device. It fell to the ground and clicked without a tremor.
Rob bent down and picked up the pokeball and released Lucario back into the room. “We should get some sleep.” He bolted the door to the room.
Gardevoir intercepted Lucario as she tried to enter the room. “Rob wouldn't do any of those things.”
Lucario met Gardevoir's eyes. “I was just letting him know my terms. You know what they did to me, and you should know what humans do to pokemon.”
“You didn't need to threaten him.”
Lucario looked down, and Gardevoir walked past her to join the others.
Gardevoir shared the bed with Rob and Quilava. Lucario sat in the chair in the corner of the room, moonlight reflecting off her large eyes.
Gardevoir couldn't wait to leave this place. It had everyone on edge, and she could feel the slime seeping into her. She snuggled up against Rob, breathing deep against his back, and she closed her eyes.
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Gardevoir followed Rob off the main road and turned west. This new street held far fewer people, and Gardevoir went from trying to weave between humans to having the entire sidewalk to herself. Something about it felt wrong. She tried to sense for danger like she had been able to in the past, but the only thing she felt now was the sense of corruption Lucario had described. They would be out of the city soon.
Rob's pack weighed on her trainer's back, and for once he had a belt of pokeballs at his waist. He had decided to follow the nurses advice and only bring Gardevoir along for protection. Lucario hadn't liked it, but had agreed.
Only two other humans walked down the road. This street was the main way in and out of the city in the west, but something felt missing with so few occupants. Gardevoir could feel humans around them, in the buildings and nearby, but none ventured out onto the street.
A man walked out of an alley and straight into her. “Oh, please excuse me,” the young man said. “But don't make any sudden movements, or your trainer will die.”
Gardevoir stared at him with wide eyes. Instinct filled her body with psychic energy, causing the air around her body to shimmer. Something brushed against her gown. A Liepard strut at her feet to let her know exactly how close the pokemon was.
Her hands shook, eyes darting. This couldn't be happening. Rob! And then she saw them. Honchkrow flew overhead, some perched on the sides of buildings, but they all had eyes pointed towards where this human had stopped her. A Mightyena crossed the street ahead on the heels of another human.
Rob's voice called out to her. “Gardevoir?”
She tried to move past the human, but he stopped her with a hand to her shoulder.
“Easy now. If you try anything, he'll be dead before you could get close. If you just calm down, everything will be fine, and your trainer will walk away without any problems. We just want to talk.”
Anger filled her telepathic voice. “Who are you? If you hurt him, I'll kill every human on this street.” But she didn't move, the human was right. She would never get to Rob in time. She couldn't stop all of them.
The human spoke in a soothing tone, the grip on her shoulder reassuring. “Just calm down. I know someone who wants to talk with you. That's all we want to do, talk.”
Gardevoir hissed at his mind. “You don't need this many pokemon to talk.”
“But you're dangerous, Gardevoir. You need help, and we want to help you. You don't want to keep hurting others do you?”
Threatening Rob's life wouldn't help anyone. “Then why not talk to Rob. If you just wanted to help then you wouldn't have to kidnap either of us.”
“I'm sorry, but he's not allowed to know about what you are.” The human gave her shoulder a squeeze.
“What I am?” An arc of psychic energy leapt and struck the human's hand.
He jerked back, grimacing at the shock she'd given him. “Please just try to stay calm. This won't take long, and the others will be able to explain better. I'm just here to collect you.”
Another human came up behind the first. This one was thick and muscled with a Houndoom at his side.“We got the ball.”
Gardevoir screwed up her face in a snarl, baring her tiny fangs at the pair. “What did you do to him?”
“Easy there little one. Your trainer agreed to let us borrow you for a bit. Don't worry. He said he'd be waiting for you when we're done,” the thick armed human said.
“Liar,” she shouted into the man's mind.

“Come now. The quicker you go with us the quicker you and your trainer can leave.” The first human firmed his grip on her shoulder and steered her back towards where she and Rob had come from. Two dark pokemon flanked her, and she could still see the Honchkrow overhead. She trembled as the two humans escorted her back into the city. For the first time since meeting Rob, she felt alone amongst them again.
The building the two humans led her into didn't look any different from the others that filled the city, but the oily, tainted feeling that encompassed the city increased with each step closer. The human had let her go, but the two dark types still flanked her, ensuring that she didn't try anything. She could try to run, teleport away, but she'd never get to Rob before they- Gardevoir wanted to cry.
Other humans had seen them on the street, the two humans and their pokemon escorting her along the walkway, but anyone who saw left. These people must be the Team Rocket that Rob and the nurse talked about.
Should she have attacked, tried to free Rob? Would they even let him go if she did cooperate? The power that lurked within her sang. With that she could have done it. The thought seemed to belong to the power as much as herself.
“The boss is waiting for you downstairs. You should be polite to him. We just want to help.” The larger human grabbed her shoulder in his giant hand and shoved her towards what looked like a closet. She entered, and the two humans got in with their pokemon.
Gardevoir tried to edge away from the two dark types, on at each side, but there was no place to go in the tiny room. One of the men pushed a button and doors slid shut. The closet moved. Gardevoir's stomach dropped along with the floor. Not a quick descent, but not an expected one either. The doors reopened a moment later, and she assumed they were now underground. A shove got her moving again.
Gardevoir bristled, but as soon as she stepped outside of the moving closet, the sense of – wrongness – intensified. It felt cold, oppressive, like a layer of filth covered her skin. The grime became thicker the closer the human shoved her towards a pair of large wooden doors. The burly man moved ahead to open them.
“Welcome back, Gardevoir.” A man in a dark suit sat behind a large wood desk. The polished top shone in the dim light, empty except for a small stack of papers. Two Houndoom guarded each side of the doorway.
Gardevoir could sense other pokemon here as well, ghost types, though she couldn't see them with her eyes. And something interfered with her abilities, her mental sight blurred as if seeing through a dense fog. “What do you mean? Who are you?”
“It has been a while, so I won't take it personally. You've been causing trouble again I hear.” The gray-haired man took the pokeball from one of her captors, and the two humans who escorted her in departed, shutting the doors behind them.
Gardevoir's eyes narrowed. “Why am I here? What have you done with Rob?”
“The trainer you were following around?” The man laughed. “Yes I heard you had a – fondness for him. Not to worry, we just wanted to ask him a few questions and then he'll be on his way.” He placed the red and white sphere on the top of his desk.
The way he had emphasized the word fondness sent a ripple of fear through her. These couldn't be the people who didn't want her and Rob to be mates; they couldn't have known. “What do you want with me?” The unseen filth that clung to her skin made even communicating difficult. The very air seemed to scramble any attempt at using her psychic powers.
“How much do you remember?” the man asked.
Gardevoir tried to hide the worry from her voice. “Remember what? I don't know why you attacked us. We've done nothing wrong.”
“You are too dangerous to be left alone. I'm sorry, but I can't let you leave again.”
A fist of ice gripped her insides, the chilling touch preventing her from even trembling. “I don't know who you are. You must be mistaken. Rob hasn't done anything. Please just let us leave.” Her eyes darted around the room for any chance to escape, but with the number of pokemon, her only opportunity would be to teleport.
“You have siblings you know. Or had. You were all born in Team Rocket's laboratories. You all had incredible powers, but the power was too strong. It drove one of your brothers insane. We tried to help him, but instead he murdered every single person in the facility.”
“You don't have any proof of this.” But she couldn’t feel any deceit in the human's words. It must be the filth dampening her abilities. Maybe this human was what created it, to use in tricking her. “I have memories of my parents, in the wild.”
“We gave you those memories in hopes that it would help you adjust better.”
“Liar,” Gardevoir hissed.
“I can tell you exactly what your memories are if you would like. But why do you think they're so indistinct? I know you have trouble remembering.”
Gardevoir stepped back from the man, his calm surety more terrifying than any of Absol's bared fang snarls. He was guessing, trying to confuse and intimidate her.
“Your brother killed the humans and released you and your siblings. You all fled, and we've been trying to find you since. You need to be watched. We know what the signs are, and we can help you from killing anymore. No one wants anyone to die. I know you don't want any more people to die, right?”
Gardevoir trembled, back now to the door, half to get away from the man, and half to support her. “I'd never hurt anyone.”
“I know you don't want to, but you can't control it can you? I can help you. If you stay with your trainer, he's only going to get hurt. You don't want to hurt your friends do you?”
“I wouldn't do that.” Gardevoir felt emboldened by the man's lies. He was just trying to trick her. “And you can't stop me from leaving.”
He sighed. “If you try to run, my men will kill that trainer you came here with before you can leave the building.” The man picked up some papers from the desk. Lines upon lines of human symbols covered each of the crisp white sheets.
“That boy, Rob as you call him, he has done something. While we don't particularly care what sick pleasures he takes from his pokemon,” the man leered at her before returning to the papers. “He has been traveling with you, and that makes him a liability. If you don't follow, that means it would be better for everyone if he were to die.”
“No! You can't do that. He hasn't-”
The man raised a hand. “But we're willing to let him go on his way so long as he doesn't know too much about you, and that you remain here with us.”
Her chest tightened into a knot, fingertips tingling with fear. No escape, no other options, her only choice was to listen to the man. They had Rob, and he couldn't die, not for her. Her tiny claws bit into her palm.
“And if I stay, you'll let him go?”
The man smiled. “Of course. He'll be safe, and we can help you. You wont be a danger to him anymore.”
“Why am I dangerous? Just because my brother killed someone doesn't men I will.” The room was dim, a blessing, but she still couldn't look at the man, tears polishing her eyes. Could she even trust this human's words?
“Haven't you noticed it? You're special. You have powers that a pokemon shouldn't have. All of your siblings did. We gave them to you.”
“I don't want them.” A thick tear released from her face and plopped against the thin carpet beneath her feet.
“You don't have to be scared. We're your family here. Even if you don't remember yet, we can help you. You're important to all of us.” The man stood to walk around the table.
“Why?” Gardevoir flinched away from the arm that attempted to comfort her shoulder.
The man's voice became hungry. “You were blessed with a very special gift. You have a bond with the Creator. The power and wisdom of the being that created our world is locked within your mind. You can change everything, make the world better for every one of us, including your old trainer, and more importantly, yourself.”
“You're wrong.”
“It's true. You know it is. You have used this power before.”
“That's not the Creator,” Gardevoir whispered. “My power is evil. It lies to me.”
His eyes gleamed, his voice a fevered whisper. “You talked to Him, spoke to Him directly?” Hands gripped her shoulders.
“Please,” Gardevoir whispered. She wanted Rob. He would hold her, comfort her, tell her everything was okay. This man didn't care; and she could feel it. He wanted her power.
“I want to see Rob.” The world seemed to ripple, a surge building within her, her will barely enough to hold it at bay. Power. It waited, called. It tried to speak to her, a desperate message. All she needed to do was listen.
Them man's fingers dug into her shoulders. “He doesn't matter anymore. You said you would stay here, help us.” He released her and returned to his desk but not to sit down. Light flickered to life on a small screen.
A mad light shone in the man's eyes. “You see this? This is what happens. This is what you're doing to him.”
The screen showed Rob. Her trainer, her mate, sat in a chair between two men. The man to his left struck him, Rob's body thrown in the chair by the force of the blow.
“No.” It called to her. A sweet song. The screen showed another blow. The man in the room with her spoke, but his voice didn't make a noise in the still room. Silence. Power. It called to her. Sang.
Nothing moved, only the black and white grains that showed men hurting Rob. Her mate. Her lover. Her fault. She couldn't protect him. Filth clung to her skin, her power useless. It sang.
Building, stretching, her mind assaulted by the beautiful temptation. Nothing mattered, not while they hurt Rob. She could scour the world with this song, turn it to ash, remove everything that would hurt her and her mate.
Gardevoir looked at the repugnant human that stood before her, black suit, crazed eyes, eyes that didn't understand when they should feel fear. Gardevoir yielded, filled herself with the song. Its deafening crash eroded her soul.
Gardevoir understood. Power laced her body and mind. The world melted before her very presence, the air rippling in a maelstrom around her, peeling back reality and replacing it with the chaos that was her being. Crimson bolts of energy arced from the fin on her chest. Her white gown flowed around her, fluttering in the immense power her body radiated. She understood.
The two pokemon behind her leapt at the first hint of the disturbance she created. She erased them from the world.
The man's eyes widened in terror. “No, you can't use your power in here. It's impossible.”
“That pokeball doesn't belong to you.” Gardevoir's psychic voice alone was almost enough to destroy the human's feeble mind. The pathetic being cringed away from her, clutching at his head. She couldn't stay here. Rob needed her, and her continued presence would break down the fabric of reality that held this world together. She understood now.
A commotion sounded on the other side of the door, but it didn't matter. Gardevoir focused, an insignificant amount of her power, and she snatched her pokeball with invisible hands and destroyed the building, teleporting before the steel and concrete crushed her beneath tons of rubble. These humans had grown too pervasive; they needed to be culled.
She appeared in the room where they hurt Rob. Finding them had been easy. Her mind could search the entire city in a heartbeat. They couldn't hide, not from her. The first died instantly. She flung him towards the wall. The force of her attack ruined his frail body before it even ruptured against the concrete, the noise of flesh and bone tearing apart drawing the attention of the others.
The Mightyena that had ambushed them before attacked. They had sided with the humans, and for that, would die as well. Gardevoir understood now, and she used her mind's infinite power to fuel her focus blast attack. Too much power.
A pair of legs, haphazardly connected by the mangled remnants of the creature's hips, skid along the floor beneath a pink mist. She refined her attack for the second one, a more clean death. Neither would have suffered. That honor was for the human that hurt Rob.
She spoke quietly as to not ruin his mind. “You were the one who hurt him, didn't you?” She floated above the floor towards where Rob's limp body slumped in the chair.
The man's eyes locked on hers, but his mouth flapped in a wordless, gurgling noise. He flinched at her mind's touch.
She felt him, understood him. A biological machine, her psychic powers following the connections between mind and flesh. She felt the true him, the flow of blood, electricity, the chemicals his body produced in response to seeing a true god before him.
“You hurt my mate.” Her mind traced his nervous system in tandem with the electrical impulses that ran the human body. She filled each receptor capable of feeling pain with the searing hatred she held for the human scum.
The human screamed. Not in pain or in fear, but as if his body tried to tear itself apart rather than endure the sensation she fed it.
Gardevoir smiled and strode to her love. “This is my fault.”
Rob stirred at her approach. Blood, vibrant and full of life dripped from parted lips. Skin swelled where the screaming man's fist had struck. “Gardevoir.” It was a quiet whimper.
She placed her pokeball in Rob's lap and cupped her mate's face in green hands. “I couldn't protect you.” Her voice spoke gently into his mind, overpowering the guttural screams that ripped themselves from the man's throat.
She watched the screaming human, tearing at his own skin with bloodied fingers in an attempt to stop the pain. It wouldn't stop. Pain would be the last experience the human had. Its screams began to quiet, throat torn and useless.
“I cleansed them from this world,” Gardevoir told Rob. “They wont hurt you. I can fix all of them, the entire world so that we can be together. I'll make everything better.”
The man on the ground made his final shuddering gasps, his heart unable to continue under the strain. He twitched and then lay silent on the concrete floor, blood oozing from the deep rends his fingers left.
Gardevoir pressed her lips to Rob's, the metallic taste of blood filling her mouth, the miasma of power draining from her body. Her vision blurred. Life, knowledge, energy, it flowed out of her like a great river cut off from its source. She knelt before her mate, and lay her head in his lap. Her eyes closed.
-----------------------------------------------------
“Gardevoir!”
That was Rob's voice wasn't it? Distant. She moved, or was moved, but all she wanted was rest. Her mind demanded it, plead for it. Such pain. Where was she?
“Gardevoir!”
She opened eyes, heavy eyes, eyes that didn't want to see. Someone, something had died. Somehow she knew that. “Rob?” Her vision blurred, but she didn't need to see to tell that it was her mate's lap she lay upon. The sharp tang of blood lingered in her mouth. Gardevoir looked up. Her eyes snapped open. “Rob, your face, what-”
“Stop.” Rob rarely gave her commands, and never like this. His face. One eye swollen shut, his cheek cut and leaking a brilliant red.
Someone did this to him. Gardevoir would find out who and destroy them. Blood lay thick in the air. More than that small wound would leave.
“Gardevoir!” Rob's voice snapped her eyes back to that beaten face. “I need you to listen to me. Look at me.”
Her voice shook. Anger and fear. “I'm looking at you. What-”
“Keep you eyes on me.” Rob's voice echoed in the too still silence.
“Where are we? How did we get-”
The harshness in Rob's voice was the worst of it. “I need you to break the ropes tying my wrists. Do you understand?”
“Rob please. What's going on?”
“Do you understand me?”
“I-” She closed her eyes. Her claws dug into the front of Rob's shirt in an attempt to stop them from trembling, to hold to something firm and real. Rob. She felt the cord, her mind seeking out the weakness between the coiled threads. They snapped.
Before she could talk Rob's hand pulled her to him. Her face pressed against the rough fabric, held firm by Rob's tight grip. Rob's chest was warm, his heart pounding. The hand on the back of her head shook. His scent filled her mind along with the metallic odor of blood.
“I need you to take us away from here. As far as you can. Don't think, just get us away.”
“What's going on? Please tell me.”
Rob's grip tightened. “I need you to listen.”
Gardevoir fell silent.
“Now get us away from here. Do you understand?”
Gardevoir tried to nod against his chest, her head held tight. There were no other sources of life within the building. She clung to Rob, her claws pricking soft human flesh, and the world around them shifted.
Pain. A whimper died against Rob's chest, the agony of her mind being ripped from her skull threatening to end her very existence. Do you understand? The words echoed, as heartless as when Rob spoke them. She pushed herself, and the world shifted again. Take us away from here. Again. Tears soaked into Rob's chest, but his grip held her. She fled without thought, Rob dragging at her mind's attempt to flee. There was only darkness, darkness and pain.
-----------------------------------------------------
Asher stood atop the flat roof of one of Ecruteak's taller buildings. He still didn't know what to do. That creature was beyond anything he'd ever experienced. He had watched, or felt rather, while Alakazam relayed the information. Felt wasn't quite the word. That pokemon's mind had tried to crush him, her presence blanketing the city with such awesome power. No wonder Giovanni wanted the thing back.
“Can you follow it?” Asher asked his psychic companion.
The pokemon gave him a flat look. “Follow that abomination? Did you not feel the world scream at that thing's presence?”
Asher remained silent.
“I could follow it, but we would be fools to do so.”
If only it were that easy. The phone in his pocket began to vibrate. “Sir.”
Giovanni's cool voice responded from the other side. “I want to know what has happened.”
“It didn't go well. Twelve confirmed dead, but they're still digging people out of the rubble. That pokemon brought down the entire building. The target is gone. Teleported. The two watching over the kid were also killed.” Asher didn't know much more than that. What details came out of the twisted heap that used to be Team Rocket's headquarters were sparse, and Asher didn't have any intentions in visiting the scene himself.
“Follow it. I don't want that pokemon loose.” the cool voice said, complete unconcern at the other news. “And I suppose I don't have to warn you further.”
Asher hesitated, looking to Alakazam. “And if it notices us?”
“Then you'll be dead.” The call cut out.
Alakazam did not look pleased. “Abandon this job. We have done enough at your insistence I try to fix that thing's shattered mind. You will kill the both of us.”
Asher strode to the edge of the building to look out over the darkening city. “And what if we just leave that thing alone? What kind of destruction could it cause? How much are we to blame for that? Whether I follow Giovanni's orders or not, I don't think I can leave that thing to destroy entire cities.”
“And why do you think we can stop it?”
“I don't. If you want to leave, I'll release you.”
“You know I don't want that,” Alakazam said, not moving from where he sat at the center of the roof. “But I will not let you kill yourself needlessly.”
“Then we need to plan,” Asher said, turning towards his friend. “And we need to move quickly before that monster disappears.”
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An Uncertain Future