Tora- Another Close Call

Story by darkdragon33 on SoFurry

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#13 of Tora


So, here's the next chapter. I gotta say; this is becoming dangerous for me. I got people looking for me and threatening me with torture scenes from movies. You know who you are. I'm starting to feel the pressure, but I work better under pressure. To those doubters who thought I couldn't update in a month, I showed you. Hahahahaha! No torture for me. (^.^) Great news, I finally beat that Persona game, so no more distractions... except for school. I still gotta go there. I finished it friday and I meant to do the editing saturday and post sunday, but some things happened and I somehow ended up helping to babysit for 1 1/2 days. So, I had to start editing sunday night and finish up today. So, without any further delay, I present to you chapter 13. Alright!!! Remember, Comments and Votes are welcome and appreciated.

**********8**********

Three days passed since Tora decided to wait to tell Chris about her dream, which made it easy enough to keep from accidently letting it slip out. In the meantime, she's kept silent and acted like everything was normal, but she was paying a little more attention to him than before. She snuck quick little glances at him when no one was looking, just admiring what makes him him. She'd get that little extra hug time and lightly inhaled his scent, savoring his essence. Even during their time in the bath, she often found herself sneaking peeks at his preteen member, which would bring up some feelings of lust that was so unlike her. It felt strange to be doing those things, but at the same time, it was really exciting. It made her feel more alive than she had been in a long time. Was she just getting bold? Was she getting in touch with her feral side? Were her physical desires having this effect on her? Whatever this new side of hers was, she liked it and she was going to enjoy it.

She wasn't the only one to notice the change in her. Lani was a bit thrown off as the once shy, yet outgoing raichu was suddenly sneaking looks at her trainer. The dragon knew that the large chu was looking at him for one reason and one reason only. She confronted Tora about her change in behavior, but all she got for a response was "I'm just feeling good right now."

"Yeah, right," Lani thought. She knew what those looks were and she'll be damned if she gets scolded for making passes at Chris again. Even though she's been told numerous times that they didn't have that kind of relationship, Tora was making it hard to believe that was true without even realizing it.

The morning started off pretty normal... or as normal as it could get. Tora and Lani were fighting at the table for the fifth time in a row about the dragons' actions, which would be countered with Lani bringing up Tora's dream with the threat of telling someone about. Tora would always counter that with the fact that no one can understand the dragon but her. From there, it would escalate into an insult contest and Chris would have to break it up before it turned into a full-on battle.

For the rest of the morning, the three watched a couple movies to keep from tearing at each others throat. Tora took this opportunity to snuggle up to Chris, which he didn't mind because it was normal for them. As she leaned on him, she looked out the corner of her eye and saw the pink dragon glaring at her.

"And what's your problem?" she asked calmly.

"You already know what the problem is. How can you sit there and throw yourself at him all day when you scold at me for doing the same thing? It's not fair and you're being a hypocrite." Lani hissed.

"I am not being a hypocrite and I'm not throwing myself at him." Tora whispered.

"Throwing what at who?" Chris asked as he barely heard her.

"Um, nothing. She just wanted to talk with me for a second." Tora hopped off the couch, followed closely by Lani, and the two went into the kitchen. As soon as Tora stopped in the middle of the kitchen, Lani went off on her.

"How dare you constantly get on me for flirting while you pretty much do everything but dry hump him?!" she hissed barely above a whisper. "I'm surprised he hasn't gotten on you for the way you've been acting! Admit that you two are fucking and explain why the hell I can't have a few minutes with him so I can go back to my trainer!"

"First of all, we are not having sex!" Tora snapped back. "How many times do I have to tell you that?! Secondly, I'm not flirting with him. I'm just... enjoying his company."

"Bullshit! I see the way you look at him when you think no one is watching you. You want to fuck him so bad, but you know you can't. You just can't wait to feel his prick in your cunt and fuck your stupid, little brains out! I'm not going to stand for this anymore. I'm going back in there and I'm going to get him off at least once before this day is over!" Lani turned around and headed straight for the living room, but Tora grabbed a hold of her tail before she could get very far. "Let me go!"

"No! What makes you think I'm going to stand by and watch you try to rape him?"

"Because you do it with your eyes all the fuckin' time," the dragon snapped back as she snatched her tail away.

"I do not rape him with my eyes; and watch your mouth! You swear like a sailor!" Tora said a little louder than she should have.

"Are you two fighting in there?" Chris asked from the other room.

"Nooooo!" Lani and Tora said together.

"Why do want to do this so badly? It's not like your life depends on it." At this, the dragon started growling.

"What do you know?! You don't know anything about me! Stop trying to be my mother and telling me what to do!!!"

"I'm not trying to be your mother! I trying to get you to realize that we're-"

"Not like my master?!" she interrupted. "I have a real hard time believing that! The next time you get the urge to try being my mother, don't! So help me, if you tell me not to do one more thing, I'll tear this house apart!" Lani was beyond angry with the electric mouse and it didn't help that little sparks of electricity were shooting out the white fins on her head. Tora knew she had to act quickly or things would get out of hand... again. The last thing she wants to do is tear the house apart fighting Lani over something like this, even though it was justified. Still, there was no need for it to escalate to that level. Before she could say anything more, Chris walked in the kitchen.

"Knock it off you two. I can hear you shouting in the other room. What's going on?" Lani tore her gaze from Tora and glanced at Chris before turning and storming out the kitchen. Chris was going to stop her, but thought it was better that she vent for a little while before he tries to talk to her. He let out a heavy sigh and knelt down in front of Tora. "What did you two fight about this time? You know all this fighting is getting us nowhere with her."

"I know," she replied, looking at the floor with her ears drooping. "I'm not trying to fight with her."

"Look, I know things aren't working out now, but I really need you to get her to trust us."

"Just me? What about you?"

"I can only do so much, since I can't understand what she's saying. You're the only one she can have a conversation with, so I'm counting on you to get her on our side."

"How am I supposed to do that? She won't even listen to me." Chris thought on that for a moment, and then he remembered one of his favorite detective movies: The Pink Persian. There was one scene in the movie when the detective had to go undercover and find some sort of common ground with an enemy to get valuable information. Though Tora didn't need to put on a disguise, he wanted her to try and play the part. He explained what he wanted her to do. She was unsure if his plan would work, but promised to go through with it.

"She's probably in our room venting right now, so give her a few minutes before you go up and... Do whatever you're going to do." Tora nodded and sighed, not knowing exactly how she was going to pull this off. She felt a hand on her head and slowly looked up. "Don't worry. I know you can do this. You're Tora, the toughest raichu in all of Kanto." He said the last part as if he were ring announcer. Tora tried to suppress her laugh, but it came out as something between a snort and a giggle. It was more because of the way he said it that made her laugh. She knew she wasn't the toughest in all of Kanto, but she was sure that she was greatest raichu in his eyes. With that little bit of faith from him, she agreed to go along with his plan... Even though it sounded similar to a scene off a movie she watched with him.

*****8*****

"Who the hell does she think she is?! She can't tell me what to do!" Lani was Chris' and Tora's room venting her frustrations on the cushion that served as her bed. She pounded it, bit it, and shook it until her head got dizzy, but none of that made her feel any better about her situation. She was stuck with two complete strangers away from her original trainer and the ones she cares about more than anything in the world. She vaguely remembers what had transpired that fateful day when she was handed over to her new owner.

"Why the hell do you keep on crying?! I thought you wanted to get stronger!" His words echoed in her head as if taunting her.

"It's not fair! I didn't do anything wrong! If they didn't say anything, then I... I... Wouldn't be here..." Her eyes started to water as she thought about her future with them. Soon enough, she began sniffling and then the waterworks came full force as she collapsed onto her beaten cushion. She didn't bother trying to hold back the tears since no one was around to see her. "I don't want to be here. I want to go home, back to her and brother..." She continued sobbing for what felt like hours and eventually fell asleep.

*****8*****

It was sometime later that the young dragon awoke from her sleep. She yawned and shook her head slightly to get rid of whatever sleep was left in her. She glanced toward the window and saw the afternoon sun shining brightly into the room. Sighing softly, she got up and felt something soft slip off her back, which was strange because she knew she didn't fall asleep with anything on her. It turned out to be the blanket she was given to sleep under. The young dragon pondered as to who would've done this, but didn't think on it too long due to a couple of soft knocks and a familiar voice.

"Hey, Lani, is it okay for me to come in? I wanted to talk to you." It was Tora. She was standing at the doorway with half her body visible to her. At the sight of the large mouse, Lani wanted to chew her out again, but didn't feel like spending her newly restored energy in a useless argument.

"I don't have anything to say to you," Lani said as calmly as she could, but still letting some of her anger be heard. Tora seemed unfazed by the dragon's attitude, as if she was expecting it, but said nothing of it.

"Um, okay. I just wanted to apologize."

"Apologize? What exactly are you apologizing for?"

"Mind if I come in?"

"It's your room. I don't see what's stopping you." Lani watched the large mouse come inside the room, wondering what she had to say. Tora hopped up situated herself on the edge of the bed. The two stared at each other for a while, making it seem a little awkward. "So, are you gonna talk or are you gonna sit there and stare at me all day?" Lani said, finally tired of the silence between them.

"Oh, right. Look, I know you're upset about... everything, but more upset with me than anything else."

"You can say that again."

"You have every right to be angry with me because I haven't been on my best behavior lately. I thought about everything you said earlier and... You're right." The last part confused Lani. Since when did Tora say that she was right about anything? As far as she knows, the mouse thinks of her as nothing more than a nuisance.

"You say I'm right? What am I right about? About you being a hypocrite by throwing herself at your trainer/best friend? About how you act like you don't want to have your way with him? About how you try to act like my mother by scolding me at every chance you get?" Tora didn't look at her right away, a bit absorbed in her own thoughts as the dragon's questions assaulted her, but when she did finally look up, she showed no signs of getting angry or irritated. She still kept the same calm face as if knowing that this would happen.

"Yes," she said finally. "Everything you said is true, although I don't like to admit it. I have been a little hard on you by getting on your case all the time and the way I've been acting toward Chris is inexcusable. I'm sorry that I gave you a hard time, but it's not without a good reason." Tora jumped off the bed and approached Lani with a serious look in her eye. "I want us to be able to get along, but I can't do that if you're going to fight me every step of the way. If you want to have a pleasant experience while you're here, you're going to need to know everything about me, Chris, our parents, and the way we do things here. I'm going to be completely honest with you right now. No lies or tricks, okay?" Lani was a little skeptical of the chus' statement and thought about dismissing her entirely, but curiosity in what she had to say got the better of her.

"Alright, I'll listen to what you have to say. You better not be lying to me."

"Trust me, I'm not." Tora said as she sat down.

*****8*****

Chris sat on the couch flipping through the channels on the television. He had just finished watching the movie from earlier and was running out of things to do.

"Jeez, there's nothing on today," he sighed. "There's not even a good movie on." It was a little more than half an hour ago that he sent Tora upstairs to check on Lani a second time. The first time he sent her up, she came back down saying the dragon was sleeping and had put a blanket over her. He thought it wouldn't take too long for her to find something in common with the dragon, since she was so young, but that thought was quickly tossed out the window by the time fifteen minutes rolled by. He hasn't heard any shouting or furniture being broken, so he took that as a sign of things going well.

Since there was nothing he could do that would keep him from getting bored of it easily, he turned his thoughts to the possibility of going outside, maybe even go into Viridian Forest. "Yeah, that sounds like a good trip." The thought of being surrounded by nothing but nature and exploring some new areas got him really excited. "Well, I'm already dressed to go, might as well make it official." Without a second thought, he got up and ran upstairs to his parents' room to let them know of where he'll be going. They gave him the okay to go and told him to take Tora with him because he'll be around wild pokémon and some might hostile. Chris agreed and quietly made his way over to his room. He didn't want to interrupt their session, so he stood by the door and to see if she was nearly done.

"... You understand now? Our relationship is perfect the way it is. There's nothing more that we could do that will make get even closer than we are now and mating with him is not a good way to try and get what you want." Tora said. Chris heard Lani say something to her in soft coos. "I'll tell him about it when I'm ready. In the meantime, I'll just try to keep things normal."

"Who's she talking about? The only guys she knows are me, Aaron, and that butterfree." Chris thought. "I guess if she's talking about someone she's close with, it'd probably be me since I've known her even before she hatched. But what would she have to tell me that had to wait until she was ready?" Before he could think on it more, he heard her speak again.

"I know it's hard, but I'm sure we'll see your trainer again someday. By then, I hope you'll want to stay with us." She sounded sincere from what he could tell. He hoped that she'd made some kind of breakthrough with the dragon. He chose now to go inside.

"Hey, girls," Tora and Lani quickly turned their heads to Chris. "It's a good day outside and I was thinking that it would be a good idea to go out." After a brief discussion amongst themselves, they agreed to go out, this time without any problems.

*****8*****

The afternoon sun was especially warm today. Most of the people they passed by were wearing shorts and short sleeved shirts. Some people even had ice cold drinks or ice cream cones. Had Chris known it was going to be so hot out, he would've worn some shorts too.

"Man, it's hot out here," he complained. "Wish I brought some money with me so I could get us a drink."

"I want one too. Can we go back and get it? I'm sooo thirsty right now." Tora whined as she trotted along beside him.

"If he checked the weather, he probably would've had the money and we wouldn't be dying of thirst." Lani said. She slithered on the opposite side of Chris with her head hung low, but the heat wasn't what was on her mind. The talk from earlier with Tora was fresh in her mind. She couldn't believe that the raichu and her trainer have never attempted to, in her words, fuck each other. It almost blew her mind that as much as they spent alone and together, that they haven't crossed that line. It was only after she was given a brief lesson on the difference in the maturity rate between humans and pokémon that she started to understand. Still, all that time together couldn't mean that it was only a one sided desire to be more, right? After all, it does take two to tango. Maybe he was keeping his own desires to himself until his body was more mature and could provide the necessary "equipment" to please them both. But these were just her thoughts and she would keep an eye out for any more suspicious, or flirty, behavior until she was sure that there's something for her to go on.

The trio walked through the streets of viridian getting more dehydrated as the minutes went by, with envy and thirst growing with each passing person they saw with a refreshing beverage in their hands.

"Hey, where are we going anyway? You still haven't told us." Tora asked.

"To explore the forest," Chris replied.

"T-the forest? W-what are we gonna do there?"

"Nothing really. I just thought that we'd... Wait a second..." Chris stopped walking as a thought just popped into his head, like he was forgetting something. The way she asked was already putting up warning signs in his mind. "Oh... Oh! I'm so sorry!" He exclaimed apologetically. "No, we're not going near our spot. I just wanted to go exploring for a bit." Tora relaxed a little and let out a held breath.

"Oh, okay... Thanks."

"You don't have to thank me. Besides, today's a good day to go exploring."

"If you don't mind the heat," Lani commented, which made Tora giggle.

"What did she say?" Chris asked.

"Nothing."

After what seemed like forever, the trio finally made it under the shade of Viridian Forest. They took a quick break as soon as they reached the edge due to the sun draining nearly all their energy, each taking a spot on the grass. The surrounding nature was a nice change of pace from being indoors. Chris and Tora loved being outside more than anything. Feeling the sun on their faces as they lay on the grass and the warm summer's breeze when they played their games made life worth living. The call of the wild and sense of freedom made them feel alive, like there was nothing that could stop them. Lani on the other hand felt a little lazy. She usually trains when she's outside, both her pokéball and the home she's known, with other pokémon to practice her moves. It was one of the only times she was allowed outside and as a result, didn't get a chance to appreciate it more. The need to do something other than rest was slowly building inside her, along with some guilt at doing nothing but resting so far.

"Um, shouldn't we be exploring or something right now?" she asked.

"In a minute," Tora replied as she rolled over to face the dragon.

"Don't you want to take a break after walking in that hot sun?" Lani shifted a little uncomfortably.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Then relax. It's not like it's a sin to take it easy." Lani made to say something, but flinched when she felt a hand on her head.

"It's alright. Just lie down and try not to think of anything." Chris said with a warm smile. She wasn't sure what it exactly it was about his smile that made her want to listen to him. It almost reminded her of someone else she knows and trust. Slowly, she laid her body down on the grass as he said. Almost immediately, a certain smell hit her nose. It wasn't new, but at the same time wasn't very familiar. Taking another whiff, she found that the grass was the thing she smelled.

"I don't remember it smelling... This good," she thought. Most, if not all, of her memories of the unforgiving ground weren't as pleasant as this, especially the way it felt on her belly. On more than one occasion, she'd be on the receiving end of an attack that she failed to dodge and the ground only served as a reminder that failure hurts, but not this time. This time it made her feel funny again, the same funny feeling she felt a few days ago when she was complimented for her name. A smile slowly made its appearance on her face, along with a pleasant sigh. "This feels nice," she cooed.

After a few more minutes of relaxation, the group headed further into the dense forest, much to Lani's displeasure. They covered a good portion of the forest, or enough that they could safely navigate through, in only an hour into the walk. Lani had to keep asking if they knew where they were going, which Tora would quickly reply with a 'yes'. Other than the dragons' questioning of their navigational skills, it was pretty quiet, too quiet. Tora was finding it strange that it was so quiet, and even stranger that they hadn't crossed a single pokémon since they started. Not even the ever common caterpie or rattata was in sight. Chris had noticed the sudden drop in the pokémon population as well and was feeling slightly nervous.

"Hey, you notice that there's no one here?" he asked.

"Yeah," Tora replied. "It's starting to creep me out. I kinda feel like we're being watched though."

"Same here." As they continued deeper into the wooded area, Tora's paranoia grew. It got so bad that she could've sworn that she saw something in the trees.

"Chris, I think we should leave. This place is really starting to get to me," she said nervously.

"Don't tell me you're scared of trees." Lani said.

"Of course not! This isn't how a forest is supposed to be like! It's creepy, quiet, and pretty much dead! There's not a single pokémon here; no metapods, no pidgeys, not even a caterpie."

"Shh, calm down." Chris said soothingly. He knelt down and rubbed her head to try to calm her down. "We'll get out of here and head back to the house or something. Come on, Lani, let's go." The pink dragon groaned in disappointment, having her trip out the house cut short just when she was actually enjoying being outdoors for once.

Before they got even two steps, several white threads shot out from the trees from all sides. None of them could react fast enough to dodge them before the thick threads stuck to their bodies.

"Ugh, what is this stuff?!" Lani shouted as she tried to break free.

"It's string shot!" Tora replied as she fought against the threads as well. Chris was finding it difficult as well to break loose.

"Crap! We're stuck!" he thought. The more they struggled against the sticky threads, the more stuck they got, and it didn't help that more was being shot at them.

"It's another one!" someone shouted.

"They've come with the same dragon to beat us up again!" another shouted.

"It's not the same one! The other was blue and he was with another human!"

"Use thunderbolt!" Chris shouted. Tora's cheeks released a few stray sparks before she unleashed a wicked thunderbolt. The electricity ran up the sticky threads to their users and shocked them. A few shrieks were heard, followed by a couple of weedle and caterpie falling out their hiding place in the trees unconscious. Thinking on her feet, Lani did the same thing with her Thunderwave and shocked her captures from their hiding place as well. Not too long after that, more white strings shot out the trees and immobilized them once again. Before they could shock them again, a swarm of beedrill came out of nowhere and ambushed them. The bugs jabbed the young dragon and chu with their large, poison-filled barbs multiple times while they tried to charge up enough electricity to form an attack. It wasn't until that Tora and Lani stopped trying to charge their electricity did the bugs stop their attack and pin them down.

Their cries of pain spurred Chris on to break free his restraints, but then a few rattata shot through the bushes and growled at him threateningly. Even though he wanted to kick the purple rats for, apparently, keeping him in check, he knew when he was beat. Between the pained faces of his pokémon and the helplessness he felt of the situation, he was infuriated and torn at the same time. "What the hell is going on?!!" he screamed.

Out of the madness, appeared a large green bug. It stood at about Chris' height and carried itself with pride. Its head was sort of reptilian with three points on the top of its skull. The wings on its back were large and had a slight cream color to them, but the most intimidating feature were its blade-like arms that could easily cut through any tree in the forest. The attacking bugs grew silent when it made its way to the center of all the chaos, its eyes completely focused on the human.

"Scyther..." Chris thought. He and his pokémon were terrified. They were at the mercy of this impressive bug and all the pokémon that had trapped them. The scyther glanced at Lani for a moment before it addressed Tora, knowing that Chris couldn't understand it and it seemed to detest the pink dragon.

"What is your business here in my territory? Have you also come to do more harm to my fellow forest dwellers with your human and... strangely-colored dragon?" he spoke with clear anger in his voice, like it took all his willpower not to kill them on the spot. Although Lani wanted to say something about the comment made about her scales, another thought just hit her. This was the second time they had mentioned another dragon like her coming by here with a trainer.

"What did the human look like? Did he have a black jacket on? Did the dragon look like me or was it really big and-"

"Silence, you filthy abomination!" the beedrill holding her down hissed. "You will speak when spoken too."

"That's quite alright. They deserve some answers before I decide what to do with them," the scyther said to the bug before facing Lani. "To answer your first question, yes, the human had on black around his torso. The dragon we speak of is of your species, but a bit larger and... Blue. Why, do you know them?" Every eye seemed to be focused on the young dragon when he asked this.

"No, she doesn't." Tora said before Lani could respond. Tora, whose curiosity was on the rise along with everyone else, didn't think it was a good idea to tell a group of hostile pokémon her relation to them. "We just saw them passing through town a few days ago." Lani had a mind to snap at the chu for saying that.

"Hmm, I don't think that's entirely true. Her questions suggest that she knows an awful lot about that human. Let her tell us what she knows." Scyther approached Lani and held his bladed arm uncomfortably close to her head, just under her neck, making her nervous and scared. Had she not been pinned down, she would've gotten away or taught the cocky bug a lesson in personal space.

"Leave her alone!" Chris shouted. All eyes were suddenly on him. He wanted to punch the bug for getting that close to her with his arms, yet his little outburst earned him a bite from one of the rattata.

"Ooooh, someone's a little feisty," the scyther said with a sadistic smirk. He removed his arm from Lani's neck and ever so casually walked up to Chris. "Say, chubby chu, this your trainer?" He got in Chris's face and took in every feature. Tora growled and was about to throw a fit at calling her chubby, but she bit her tongue and tried to keep what she wanted to say next as civil as she could.

"Yes, he's my trainer and my name isn't 'chubby chu'. It's Tora. If you're going to talk to me, at least call me by my name instead of some lame insult," she snapped, earning some 'ooo's' from the surrounding pokémon. Lani, as well as Chris, were surprised to say the least at her. Given the situation they were in, she was the last one they would expect to say something insulting to their captures. The scyther started chuckling, which grew into a hardy laugh.

"We've got a rowdy bunch! Even when they're outnumbered and clearly aren't any more of a threat than a wingless butterfree." The other pokémon started laughing, which only angered Tora and Lani. "That aside," he continued in a serious tone, with a deadly glare to back it up. "I don't take kindly to those who insult me." He held up one of his bladed arms to Chris' neck, who immediately tried to get away the best he could. It was crucial times like this that he wishes he could understand pokémon. "It seems like I'll have to make an example out of him to get you two and that entire town to think twice about coming into this forest and bullying us." Tora's heart skipped a beat.

"No, you can't!!!" she exclaimed. "We didn't even do anything to you!"

"Who's to say you won't?!" he snapped back. Tora and Lani were at a complete loss of words. This scyther was actually going to kill Chris just to send a message to the town. Although Lani hadn't known him long, she couldn't stand the thought of some random pokémon killing her trainer, even if she was with him for a short time. Besides that, he was the only one who could take her to her previous trainer. If he's gone, then there'd be no one to take here home. Tora on the hand was devastated. Once again, her best friend was in danger of losing his life in front of her eyes. Old feelings of grief and loneliness came back full force and she was on the verge of tears. Though she tried desperately to build up a charge and wrestle free from the beedrill, but they'd jab her with their large barbs.

"Trainers come through everyday with their pokémon! They either steal us away to fight their battles or just plain out abuse us! I won't stand by and let this-"

"Enough, Ryuke!" someone shouted. In an instant, a large, crimson scyther appeared before them, but it didn't look exactly like a scyther. The body was a shiny metallic red and it looked very durable. Instead of having long, sharp blades for forearms, it thin arms and huge claws with a yellow and black circular marking on either side of them. Its face was more like a helmet with three points at the top. Its feet were different too. It had only one clawed toe in the front and back of its feet. The wings were a bit smaller and had more of silver than cream color to them. "What do you think you're doing to the human child?" The scyther didn't look too pleased at the scizors' arrival.

"I don't have to answer to you and you're overstepping your boundaries, Iori!"

"Not without reason. Remove your blade from the child's throat or need I remind you of who's in charge?" The two glared at each other for the longest time, neither willing to back down from the other. "Remove it!" Ryuke, the scyther, reluctantly withdrew his arm from Chris' throat, much to Chris' relief.

"Why do you deny me revenge on the humans after what they did?!"

"It is useless to punish someone for a crime they never committed. Have you even thought about what the consequences of your actions? You kill this child, and you might as well have sentenced us all to death! Instead of looking for just you, the humans might come for all of us as well!" Iori angrily spoke. "Just as you challenge me every so often for more power, the human trainers come through here seeking that as well. How they obtain it is entirely up to them."

"But that human-"

"Is a troublemaker; there's always one in every bunch." Iori turned toward the beedrill holding Tora and Lani down. "Release them." Almost too quickly, the beedrill cut the sticky thread that held them and the caterpie sprayed a light acid over them to make the threads fall of their bodies. Had they not gotten beat up and had their trainers' life threatened, they might have been more impressed.

As soon it was clear, Tora ran up to Chris and tackled him to the ground as the full weight of what almost happen set in. She cried into his chest at almost losing him again right in front of her, and what ate at her the most was that she couldn't do anything to stop it once again. The other pokémon looked on she poured out her emotions, but she didn't care if they saw. He was just released from the hospital and already he had a foot in the grave just a few moments ago. She was just as terrified for him as she was when he was hit by the car. Just the thought of seeing his blood spill from his neck and his body collapsing on the ground completely lifeless was enough to scare her.

She felt Chris' arms wrap around her and a hand rub her back. His touch only made her grip his shirt tighter. Whatever he was saying to try to calm her were drowned out by her own thoughts. Doubts about her strength filled her mind at having to fail at protecting the one she cares about most in this world. How can she be the best when she can't even protect one person? What good is a pokémon that can't defend her trainer from danger? She felt completely useless and it didn't help that the would-be killer was standing not even three feet from them.

"Look, Ryuke. Look at how much pain you've caused this young chu simply by threatening to kill her trainer. Think of how much suffering you would have caused her and the rest of his loved ones had I not stopped you. If you want revenge, go find the human that's upset you and take it up him, don't take your frustrations out on the innocent." The scyther looked on at the sobbing raichu and her trainer, suddenly feeling a bit guilty about his actions. Although he didn't say it out loud, he knew the scizor was right. With two bangs of his claws, the gang of pokémon slowly dispersed, along with him. "I'll be seeing you later?" Iori asked. Ryuke knew that it was more of a statement than a question, seeing as he wanted to be alone for the time being and the metal bug would approach him later no matter what he said. He just shrugged with a little "Meh" and kept on walking.

Once everyone was gone, Lani approached the scizor hoping to get some answers out of him.

"So you saw the trainer with the black jacket and the dratini?" she asked.

"If you're referring to the trainer who caused this madness, then yes.

Why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if you knew where he was going." Iori eyed her for a moment before answering.

"From where I saw him heading, it looked to be toward to human town north of here. Tell me, what your relation to them is?"

"He was my... Old trainer and the dratini that he has with him is my older brother."

"I see. You wish to see your kin. If that's your only reason for pursuing him, I suggest you don't." Lani was confused and angry as to why he told her not to go after her own brother wanted to tell him off, but he held up a claw to silence her before she got too upset. "I've lived in these woods for a long time and have seen many trainers with their pokémon companions. I won't persuade you from striving to your goal, but I think it's best you stay with them," he said as he gestured toward Chris Tora.

Lani looked back at them. Tora's sobbing had reduced to light sniffling and Chris was still holding her with his head resting on hers. "I've seen them come into these woods many times with nothing less than good intentions. Be it venturing into the unknown or simply being at each others side, not once have I seen him display such an uncaring attitude toward his partner as your former trainer does toward your brother. At least with this child, you get the respect you deserve. These are just my thoughts. You can do whatever you want." Just as quickly as he came, he suddenly vanished.

Lani pondered on what the metal bug shared with her. True, compared to her old trainer, Chris was a lot nicer to her and gave her a bed she didn't have to share, but he seems just a little too carefree for her. She was used to training most of the week, resting when she could, and spending nights with her family, but even then she was always doing something that kept her busy. That's not to say everyone else wasn't going through the same thing, but that sums up her life so far. Compared to her home, this place was... relaxing. It was almost like nobody had a care in the world. Everyone was nice to her, when she wasn't trying to get into Chris' pants, no one yelled at her, and probably the best part was that she didn't need to perform any services to her new trainer. Her life... was actually better here. As much as she knew Iori was right, she couldn't abandon her mission to see her family again. She didn't even get to say goodbye to them and guesses her brother really misses her right now. With that last thought in mind, she determined more than ever to see her family.

Lani went over to check on Chris and Tora. They were still holding each other and it looks like Tora's calmed down. It almost looked like she was sleeping. The young dragon was slightly impressed that the large chu could shed so many tears in front of so many pokémon she didn't know. It took guts to do that in her opinion. Speaking of those other pokémon; they were gone and so she thought they should get going too. As she got closer, Chris noticed her out the corner of his eye and looked over at her.

"Hey, if it's okay with you, would mind if we... stay here for bit?" he asked in saddened tone that was unlike him. Seeing that both he and the chu were upset, Lani nodded and took a space next to him.

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