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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
- 6
- 7
- 8
Rel stopped, panting as she rest against a tree, alone in the forest. It had been a long time since she had tasted freedom. Well, some freedom anyway, but there might be an end in sight. If this continued, the device may just let her run herself to death. If not, she would bleed out before much longer. The wound didn't even hurt anymore. She could still feel her blood, hot and thick drenching her shoulder and back, but there was no pain. Blessed numbness. For a few more moments she'd rest, and then continue into the forest. It was a nice place to die.

If there were any other pokemon around, they ignored her. Occasionally she would catch a fleeting glimpse of a native, but no more than that. Rel didn't care, she had no business with them and they would have no reason to bother her. Any carnivores would be able to tell that there wasn't much life in her. Prey that ran itself to death didn't fight back. Rel could feel her mind slipping, slowing to a crawl as her body tried to keep enough blood for the other organs.

The sun was already beginning to sink low in the sky above, coloring the clouds a brilliant orange and pink. Rel struggled to continue running, but her feet were becoming sluggish, snagging on the overgrown ground, slipping into leaf covered holes. The sky was pretty, such beautiful colors watching her from above. Time was an odd concept to her starved mind. Each step seemed to stretch on for eternity, yet her journey from the compound seemed to take less than a moment. Rel didn't even know how long it had been. More than a day for sure; she remembered running through the darkness, chased on by the cries of nocturnal pokemon.

She had fallen as well, waking up to a mouthful of dirt and loam. It was almost over. Rel smiled, wiping the froth from her mouth with her working arm. Soon, she would be released, her conciseness stripped from this corporeal shell, and her energy returned to the infinity. Just a little bit further. Her journey was almost complete. A strange noise called out to her failing mind, telling her to focus. Rel tried, but her thoughts were so slow. Almost there.

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Alex walked through the underbrush, making sure to make as little noise as possible. It was difficult in the uneven terrain, especially with the dense cover of leaves hiding roots and dry twigs. His Treecko walked beside him, though unlike its trainer, the grass type moved like a wraith through its natural habitat.

The duo had left the heavily trafficked path of Route 115 and delved deeper into the forest that moved east along the foot of Meteor Falls. The range extended for a surprising distance despite not being named as a true mountain. He was old for just starting out as a trainer, but then his path to this point hadn't been under normal circumstances either. But out here in the forest with no one around, it was easy to ignore the past; he was a new person.

Alex had no real destination in mind. He wanted to be away from the city and to enjoy some time out with his Treecko. While Alex wasn't new to battling pokemon, he had always fantasized about the carefree life of a trainer. There was no pressure, nothing else to worry about other than when to stop for the day. And out here? Maybe he'd run into something besides all of the usual pokemon that every trainer in the area already owned. Not that it really mattered to him, but he was in no real rush. He would enjoy his time here.

A tug at Alex's pant leg caused him to halt and look down at his pokemon companion. The small green lizard motioned for him to silent, and so Alex listened. His ears weren't as keen as the pokemon's, but once he stopped moving he could hear it, an uneven gait, almost crashing through the brush. Most of the pokemon they had encountered out here had been reclusive, wary of approaching Alex and his Treecko, and they had all been as quick and silent as the wind. This sound was also moving away from them now, but it had already caught Alex's interest.

“Like we planned it. Hit them quick and then back off and get ready for their retaliation,” Alex whispered, and Treecko nodded. With that the pair took off after the noise. Treecko darted away, moving with the precision of a born grass type through the trees. Alex had much less skill in navigating the densely wooded area, but their quarry wasn't far off, and he did his best to keep pace.

Ahead a Zangoose moved through the trees, though once the two of them made it in sight it spun to confront them. Alex nodded as Treecko gave him one last look for confirmation, and then his grass type turned into a blur. They had been practicing his quick attack, and Treecko was already quite fast. Alex liked quick pokemon. Zangoose would make a nice heavy hitter.

The Zangoose's reaction was too slow though, and Treecko slammed its small fist right into the wild pokemon's stomach. White and red fur tumbled to the ground as Treecko leapt back awaiting Zangoose's follow up. It never came. Alex stared as his pokemon apparently took down the Zangoose in one attack. He deftly reached into his pack, drawing out a pokeball and tossing it at the downed pokemon.

The red and white sphere rebounded off of Zangoose and sucked the pokemon inside before falling to the ground. There was no wait. In fact the device had indicated capture before the ball even made it back to the ground. Alex picked it up, unsure of what to make of it. The Zangoose hadn't looked that young or injured. Glancing over at Treecko, Alex saw that he was just as confused.

“You attack harder than usual?” But at Alex's question the pokemon merely shrugged, about as much insight into the pokemon's thoughts as he ever saw from his green friend. “Well it shouldn't have been too injured, how about we meet our new member?” A bolt of red light shot from the device as Alex pressed the release, and his new pokemon rematerialized before him, but it was no Zangoose. Gray and black fur, tinged with crimson appeared right before Alex. It was a dangerous looking creature of sharp angles and claws. Alex was unfamiliar with this species. Humanoid in both shape and height, the unknown pokemon stood for a brief moment before its legs gave out.

Alex rushed in to catch the pokemon. He grunted as he wrapped his arms around the furry pokemon, grunting under its dead weight. Rasping breath hissed into his neck as the pokemon's head fell on his shoulder, and Alex lowered them both slowly to the ground. Wet heat covered his arm, the pokemon's fur wet and sticky. After resting the gray furred pokemon on the ground, he saw that it was blood, quite a lot of blood.

The creature's chest rose slowly, labored breath gasping through its froth covered muzzle. It must have been running hard, and in such an injured state... Why? Alex removed a rag from his pack and began to clean the blood from his arm. He didn't need this kind of attention right now, not so soon after starting his new life. On the other hand, he would feel bad leaving this pokemon out here to die after catching it. He watched it, the creature's impressive mane fanned out before him. Damn it.

Alex withdrew the injured pokemon back into its new ball. “Well it looks like we're cutting our trip a little short Treecko.” Nothing ever seemed to phase the lizard who just stared back, waiting for Alex to make a move. He threw the rag to the ground, heavy with his new pokemon's blood. Bouncing the pokeball in his palm, he began to try and figure out how to keep this under the radar.

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Late afternoon sun pierced through the light cloud coverage as Alex finally made his way back into Rustboro City. It had taken them the better part of two days to return to civilization, but the unknown pokemon would be safe in the ball. At least until the pokemon center could extract it and tend to its injuries.

People jostled about the crowded sidewalks as cars congested the streets. Alex had always liked cities. Their large crowds were easy to blend into, and people were oddly less wary than they should when surrounded by such chaos. But these were things of his past, and he had other issues to focus on at the moment. Treecko rode along on his shoulder as to keep out from underneath of the army of feet that marched along the streets. His size made him a little awkward for Alex but at the same time it was kind of a nice feeling.

The pokemon center had its usual crowd of trainers packed into the wide lobby. Some were waiting for their pokemon to be healed; others were catching up with one another. The centers also provided shelter for traveling trainers, which Alex had been taking advantage of since he arrived in the city. The rooms were nothing fancy but a roof was better than the side of the road.

Now he just had to figure out how to approach one of the nurses so he could get his unknown pokemon tended to without causing a commotion. For a long time he just observed, examining the staff as they worked before he settled on one. She was a girl around his age, late twenties, with short brown hair and a gentle smile. She seemed to get on well with the trainers she encountered. Then it was time to bring out his silver tongue and hope they believed him.

Alex waited until his target was away from the main counter that other trainers had crowded around. “Uhm, excuse me nurse?”

The woman turned to greet him. “Oh hello, is there something I can assist you with?”

Alex placed a look of concern on his face and began to tell his story. “I found an injured pokemon when I was out in the forest up by Route 115. I don't think I've ever seen one like it before, and I just wanted to see if you would be able to heal it up for me without causing a stir.”

“All of our trainer and pokemon information are kept confidential, but if you really got your hands on a rare pokemon, I can tend to it if you’re still worried about getting swamped with trade requests,” the nurse said with a smile.

“Thanks that would be great. It looked pretty badly hurt though, I didn't even fight it, but I couldn't just leave it out there.”

“Don't you worry, we'll do our best,” the nurse said with sympathetic look and took the pokeball he offered.

After the nurse left Alex took a seat by one of the televisions. Current events didn't interest him, he had enough of politics to last a lifetime, but the background noise would help him think. Did I do the right thing? If he was found out then there would be no where left to run. Whatever kind of pokemon that had been was nothing he'd ever seen before, and Alex liked to think himself rather well informed. He should have examined her wounds more, if they were suspicious, maybe it would have been better to just leave the thing out there. Or maybe he could have tried to tend to it himself. He didn't have any medical training besides the basics, but it would have been safer than bringing it here.

“If something goes wrong, and I give the order, I want you to smash the window behind me and then stay here. Don't follow me, okay?” Alex said in a quiet whisper to his Treecko. The lizard looked up with his calm, calculating eyes, large and yellow. “I hope it doesn't come to that, but just in case.” Treecko gave him a long, hard look but nodded. “Thanks,” Alex said with a pat to his pokemon's head.

He probably wouldn't get far if it came down to it. A few days out in the wilderness was one thing, but he was no woodsman. And anywhere that people stayed he would be found, whether by authorities or not. He didn't want to bring his one friend down with him.

An hour or two later the nurse who had taken his pokemon returned with a decidedly less friendly expression on her face. “Could you return your pokemon for a moment please?”

Alex looked at her and then gave a quick glance to the surrounding people. There were no police in the room, so he decided to play along, returning Treecko. “Is there a problem?” he asked, doing his best to look confused.

“Could you follow me please?” The nurse didn't wait for him to answer before turning and walking off into the section of the building where pokemon were treated. This seemed like more of a bad idea every second, but if the nurse had called the authorities they would be doing this themselves. She also seemed genuine enough. Alex followed the woman through a long tiled hallway, florescent lights shining overhead. The place smelled like a hospital, every spec of dirt and disease scoured away by chemicals. The nurse turned into an empty exam room and closed the door behind them.

“I thought you seemed like a decent person when you first asked me to take care of your pokemon, so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt. But we're going to have a very long talk, and if I don't get answers that I like, I'm not going to protect you from this. I imagine the police would be very interested to hear all about you and your mysterious pokemon.”

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The door to his new room closed as Alex sat down onto the bed with a sigh. He didn't release Treecko just yet, instead lying back onto the soft mattress. While the nurse was clearly inexperienced at interrogating someone, she had kept him talking for what must have been at least two hours. It had worked though. The nurse had set him up with this room, and his mystery pokemon now rested in the other, bandaged up but stable.

The single lamp that Alex had turned on gave the room a dim but gentle light. He rose from the bed and moved to check on his sleeping pokemon. The nurse had said it – she – would probably be unconscious for a few days. After losing so much blood and nearly running herself to death, it was lucky that she would even survive. Many questions leapt to his tongue, but he would get no answers now. White linen covered the majority of her shoulder where the nurse had said she'd picked out a large amount of concrete shrapnel. Just what exactly had this pokemon been doing out there?

And then there was that strange marking scarred into her back. Alex ran a finger gently over the exposed pink flesh, his fingers tickled by the surrounding fur. Such an odd mark. It was clearly no accident, but why would the creature mark herself so? Dwelling on it would get him nowhere, and after the day he'd just had, he was ready to get some sleep. Treecko could be filled in tomorrow, and with that though, Alex collapsed onto the bed and quickly fell asleep.

When morning rolled around, Alex found it very had to work up the motivation to pull himself out of bed. All of this, coming here, starting over, it had been to escape the hiding and lies. He had though being a pokemon trainer would be simple, and now there was this. Alex rolled over in bed so he was facing the large pokemon occupying the other bed. Its back rose and fell, slow and steady, but made no other movements. A knock at the door made the decisions to get out of bed for him.

Peering through the peephole he saw the nurse standing outside with a small bag. “Morning,” he said, opening the door and letting the nurse in.

“I hope I didn't wake you,” she said, looking over his wrinkled clothing. “I was just thinking about her all night and wanted to make sure everything was still okay.”

“Don't worry about it, she hasn't moved an inch,” Alex said through a yawn as he head into the bathroom to splash water on his face. “Look, I really appreciate you doing this for me,” Alex called from the bathroom, letting water run down his face. He didn't even have to fake the sincerity in his voice. Showing off a never seen before pokemon would make him an instant celebrity, something he couldn't afford. Not yet anyway.

“Oh it's nothing. Poor thing. The attention she'd get wouldn't do her any good either. You should try and keep her calm when she wakes up, if you can. Don't worry about the room; you can stay here as long as you want.”

“Thanks,” Alex said returning to watch the nurse examine his pokemon. There was no change in her state. Her slow breaths were the only indication she was still alive.

“She should be grateful when she wakes up. You got her here just in time. A little longer and she probably wouldn't have made it. Not without lasting injuries anyway. She should make a full recovery,” the nurse said. “I'm Erin, by the way. Sorry about the twenty questions yesterday.”

“Well, it sounds like no one taught you how that game worked, you're supposed to stop after twenty,” Alex replied with a disarming smile. “But it's nice that you care, I'm sure this isn't exactly by the books.”

Erin laughed a bit. “Well, I guess you could say I'm not a big rules person. When she does wake up though, let me know.”

“Sure thing.” Alex closed the door behind the nurse as she left and then returned to the room. Erin had re-bandaged the pokemon's leg and had injected a few things into its arm. The creature gave no indication of noticing though. It didn't seem like it would be waking any time soon. He wished he at least knew what to call the thing. Either way, a shower first, then he could decide his next move.

While the shower had woke him up, Alex still didn't have a very good plan of what to do. He didn't have a time frame on when the unconscious pokemon would wake, but he wanted to be here when it did. On top of it, despite what the nurse had said, he still didn't trust word of this not to get around. He wouldn't call himself paranoid; he merely liked to be very certain. That left him with few options, the safest being to just sit tight until the pokemon woke. This would be more trouble than it was worth. Maybe Treecko would keep him company.

The next few days moved by slowly. Alex kept to his room, only leaving to pick up food and then return to the room to eat. Treecko lazed around the room occasionally, but with the blinds drawn and no sunlight, the grass type preferred to spend his time inside his pokeball. Not that he was the best of company anyway. Language barrier aside, the lizard was just not very animated. So that just left him to sit in front of the television. Of course there was nothing good on, but it was better than silence.

Erin returned each morning to check up on the recovering pokemon. “She's so beautiful,” the nurse said on the third morning, stroking the pokemon's mane with a gentle hand and trying to feed it from what looked like a baby bottle.

“Don't get too attached,” Alex said from his spot in the other bed. Days of inactivity had turned him lazy. “Once she's healed enough to travel I think we're going to head off. Not that I'm not grateful, I just want to be away from the city.”

Erin sighed. “I guess it would be for the best. I've just never seen a pokemon like her before. I wonder where she came from.”

“Yeah she's full of mysteries. I was thinking about trying to look for a psychic pokemon so that maybe I could talk with her, but maybe we'll just lay low for a bit. I don't know.” He was growing careless too. Erin seemed trustworthy enough, but still. A giggle brought his attention back to the other bed. Beautiful maybe, but the injured pokemon looked nothing if not deadly. The sharp face of a predator, blood-red claws that looked as if they could tear right through a person.

Erin however had the creature on its side, head cradled in her lap. The pokemon was suckling from the bottle in her hands.

“Isn't there an easier way to do that?” Alex asked, sitting up and watching with a confused interest.

“Doesn't she look cute? You'd be surprised at how many pokemon will eat like this when they're unconscious. It's a little more effort but it works better than just IV fluids.” She smiled as the pokemon drank, and she smoothed its fur. Maybe it was a little cute.

“Now don't take this the wrong way, but don't you have work to do? Wont someone notice that you keep sneaking off to a strapping young trainer's room and disappearing every morning?” Alex asked, a wide grin on his face. Humor was a key to trust.

“Don't flatter yourself,” Erin deadpanned, but her eyes twinkled behind the grimace she shot his way. “There are more than enough of us to staff the center, and I am tending to a patient am I not?” She continued to feed the pokemon.

Alex threw his hands into the air in defense. “I just don't want to attract any more eyes then necessary.” It was bad enough that one other person knew about his pokemon. He just hoped she stayed true to her promise of secrecy.

“Relax, you worry too much,” she quipped back and turned her attention to the pokemon who had finished the bottle. “Good girl, you'll be all better real soon now,” she cooed, tucking the pokemon in. “If you ever do find yourself a psychic pokemon and learn her story, come back will you? I'd – hate to be right, about what I said earlier.” Erin's face was suddenly very sad.

“Yeah,” was Alex's only reply, and Erin stood to leave. “I'll see you tomorrow then, no?”

“Yup, I'll be back to check on my girl,” she said, quickly stepping back into her usual cheery demeanor. It was always the nice people who got used.

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Rel groaned. Her body felt weak and sore. Why was she even alive? Memory drifted back to her as if in reverse. A Treecko, a strange noise, running, explosion, and before that... She tried to move, but her limbs were stiff. Something bound her left arm, and the weakness in her right made moving difficult. Eventually she merely rolled onto her back, grunting in effort and pain.

“Are you finally awake?” A human's voice, unfamiliar. Adrenaline transformed her injured body into a storm of movement as it flooded her system. Rel leapt from the bed, acquiring the person who had spoken, and she threw the stunned man into a wall as she landed. Once her feet hit the floor she launched herself again. Her injured shoulder drove into the man's sternum, causing pain to shoot through her back as the air was driven from his. Three claws shot up to tear out the human's throat, but her arm stopped just short, her paw trembling, drawing thin red lines on the human's pale throat.

No one was forcing her, no hand but hers determined the fate of this human's life. Blue eyes gazed calmly into hers, fearless. And she couldn't do it. Rel panted as she sank to the ground before the human. She couldn't do it. At the human's feet Rel hugged her legs into her chest with her good arm as the other hung uselessly at her side. Why was she so weak? She could have done it, another inch and he'd have been the one on the floor. Now she would just be slave to a different human.

“Are you okay?” the man asked, moving to take a seat on the floor against the foot of a bed. His voice was steady despite her attack. Rel didn't respond to the human's question. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Rel's body shaking as it processed the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

“Can you at least tell me what kind of pokemon you are?” His voice was gentle but firm, showing no sense of fear or worry.

“You should just kill me now human, I'll do nothing for you,” Rel spat, struggling to control her breath.

“So you're a coward, looking for the easy way out huh?” The look he aimed at her made the hair on her neck crawl, but she returned it with a glare of her own.

“You know nothing human.” Rel glanced quickly over the man sitting on the floor and saw he had nothing in his hands. “Don't think I can't kill you. You have nothing to defend yourself with, and you'll be dead before you can reach for anything.”

“I'm not worried. You won’t do it,” he said, and he didn't look like he was worried. “You're too weak to follow through with it. You might talk a mean act, but I can smell the pungent stink of fear coming from you.”

Rel rose, anger boiling in her stomach. He grinned up at her as she approached, further fueling her rage. With one motion she grabbed the grinning human's shirt with her good paw and lifted him off the ground, throwing him into the wall.

The smile remained plastered on his face though. “You're adorable, but you played your hand. I looked right into your eyes when you tried this before. You don't have it in you. You're pathetic.”

Rel roared, inches from his face as spittle fleck his cheek, but nothing removed that condescending grin. Hatred burned inside of Rel, her vision tunneling as her entire body quivered with the desire to tear apart the entire room. Destructive tension made her muscles scream to be used, but she couldn't kill him. Rel grabbed the man by the throat and threw him back to the ground, but she had nothing to follow her threats up with. She sunk to the floor as tears stung her eyes.

“Kill me, or do whatever. I don't care. But you don't have to tell me I'm useless. I know,” Rel snarled through the tears. There was silence in the dimly lit room aside from Rel's sniffles. She was an embarrassment to her kind. It was a cruel fate that prevented her from killing herself.

“No. You're not useless.” A low voice came from the room. It was the same as before, though the tone had changed completely. “Defeated, but not useless. Come with me and I'll prove it,”

“I told you I won't help you.” Her voice was muffled as she hid in her mane, but loud in the small room.

“Well then think about it. You don't have to do anything, but whatever you want, revenge, to prove something, you'll never achieve it as you are now. And we can both help each other out.” The human said no more as Rel's quiet sobs eventually died out, replaced by intermittent hiccups. What did the human know? She wouldn't let herself get taken in by anyone, not again. Not after what Mewtwo had done to her. If she was forced to live, then her journey would be made alone.

“So you can talk,” the human said finally, breaking the silence.

“Of course I can,” Rel snapped, not moving from the small comfort of her huddled form.

“Do you have a name?”

Rel remained silent.

“Well I'm Alex. I don't mean it the way this is going to sound, but what are you? I mean I know you're a pokemon but...” he trailed off.

Rel took a moment before answering. Why was he being nice all of the sudden? “I'm a Zoroark.”

“I've never heard of your kind. But if I had to guess, talking pokemon, a species I've never heard of... Are you from the Core?”

Soft words that were sharp as a whip to Rel's ears. She lifted her head to give the man an intense stare. “What do you know of that?”

“So you are. Interesting. I don't know why you're here, and I don't want to. I have things in my past that I'd rather not share either. So how about we agree to just focus on the future?” His voice was calm and sure, but his eyes flashed dangerously.

“Whatever,” Rel muttered, placing her head back on her soft mane.

“If you join me, I'll make you strong, strong enough to get what you want. You're not dead yet, so come with me.” Alex rose, and moved to run a hand through Zoroark's mane as he had seen Erin do every morning. His hand touched the soft red fur on the top of her head. Rel was on her feet in a flash.

“Fuck,” Alex swore, moving back and clutching at his arm.

“Touch me again human, and I will kill you,” Rel panted. She could feel the icy grasp squeezing around her throat, crushing her chest.

Blood dripped to the floor as Alex stared, but his features softened. “The nurse who took care of you, she said that you had other injuries. That looked like you were... Are you okay?” He left it unsaid, but Rel knew what he meant. Rel's back thumped into the wall as the icy grip clenched around her.

“Get-get out,” Rel choked out. Her body burned, trembling as she grasped at her throat with claws stained by the human's blood. “Get out.” Rel watched as Alex nodded before ducking into the bathroom to grab a towel. After one last worried glance, he disappeared through the room's only door. Breaths came in quick, short gasps as she retreated to a corner, the walls closing in on her.

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“So, do you want to do a little tending to me?” Alex asked, approaching Erin who had her back to him.

“That may be the worst pickup line I've ever- Oh my- Alex you're bleeding!” The nurse quickly moved to him, examining the wound as best she could as he continued to keep pressure on it with the towel.

“So I noticed,” Alex replied dryly.

“What happened to you? These are deep,” she said

“Well I really wanted to talk to you, and this seemed like the quickest way to get your attention.” Alex tried to grin through the pain.

“That's not funny, and this looks serious, quickly, this way.” Erin ushered him through the double doors and into an empty exam room.

Alex watched as his nurse friend scurried around the room, pulling out various tools and bottles. “So, are you almost off shift, care to get a drink?”

Erin didn't stop her movements to reply. “If you seriously did this to yourself I swear I will have you in a ward faster than you can say you aren't insane.”

He chuckled, still holding the towel tight to his arm. “At least give me credit for being persistent, but I'm serious about getting out of here. We should talk, and I'd rather it be somewhere else.”

“Did you lose much blood before getting here? You aren't making any sense,” Erin said, placing a tray of items next to him on the exam table and moving his towel aside. Her hands were delicate but deft, moving with practiced precision. “These cuts are deep. What did you do?”

“Just concentrate on fixing me up. Like I said, I don't want to talk here.” He was beginning to feel a little light headed. Alex rest his head back as Erin went to work with needle and thread. She worked quickly, and before long Alex's arm was stitched and bandaged.

“So what is this all about?” Erin asked as she washed her hands.

“Are you almost done with your shift? Or can you leave for a bit?” The room swayed slightly as Alex got to his feet but otherwise he felt alright.

“What are you in the mob? What is your deal?” She dried off her hands and motioned for him to follow her, leading them back into the lobby.

“This is important, trust me. I'd just rather talk about it where we won’t be overheard.”

“Fine, but we have your information on file Alex Reed and they see us walking out together.”

“Oh come on, I think I just lost a few pints of blood in that exam room. I can barely stand,” Alex chuckled.

“Then we should just stay here. You know that could have killed you,” Erin chided. “I still want to know what happened to you.”

“There's a place just down the road,” Alex indicated, pointing to a building.

“If you pass out on the sidewalk I'm not carrying you back.”

“Noted.” Alex still wasn't sure if this was a good idea, and the blood loss may have been swaying his judgment more than he realized, but what was the worst that could come from this. The pair of them walked into a restaurant and bar, Alex leading them to a table in the back corner. It was the perfect place to talk without being interrupted. Enough of a crowd where they wouldn't be overheard, yet not crowded enough where someone could get close without being noticed. A waiter took their order for drinks.

“If you really did all this just to get me to have a drink with you, I don't know if I'll be impressed or frightened,” Erin said, swirling the lemon into her glass when the waiter returned.

Alex grinned. “Don't get your hopes up now, I hate to let a lady down. But no, the pokemon you've been helping me hide woke up.”

“What?” Her hand froze in the middle of stirring her drink. “Then why are we here? You just left the poor thing in your room after who knows what happened to her?” She glowered at him.

“Not exactly, we talked for a bit when she woke up. Talked as in she can speak like a human.” Alex continued over the gasp of amazement. “But she's the one who gave me the scratches, and she was very insistent that I leave her alone. I figured I'd give her some space for a bit.”

Erin blinked, staring at him as if unsure of what to make of his words. “And you're sure you didn't lose more blood than you thought.”

“Fairly sure.”

She pursed her lips. “How can she speak? And, no- What I should ask is what did you do to her that she attacked you?” Heated eyes bore accusingly into him.

Alex raised his good hand in innocence. “I didn't, well...” He did almost feel bad for manipulating her the way he had. Old habits die hard. But she had been too easy to read, and Alex didn't even know how to interact with people normally anymore. He'd have to work on it.

“I think you were right, about what may have happened to her,” his voice was low. “I tried to bring it up but...” Alex indicated his injured arm. “I don't really know what to say; maybe you could try and talk with her?”

Erin's face sunk. “Oh the poor thing. I didn't want to believe it but... Are you sure she's even safe? Do you think we should report this to someone-?”

“No!” Alex commanded, voice hard. “Err, sorry, but no. Please, you promised you wouldn't tell anyone about this. The last thing she needs is to have a bunch of scientists gawking and prodding her. She's fine, but I'd try not to make any sudden movements or try touching her.”

“You're right,” Erin sighed. “Do you think we should go back?”

“Let's just let her be for a bit longer. Give her a chance to adjust to her new surroundings.” He took a sip of his drink but left it mostly untouched. With so much blood missing it would probably knock him on his ass. Damn his arm hurt.
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What Lies at the Core