FSE

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Chapter 3- Confrontations

The roar of the busy city fills the streets as Shane cautiously steps into it. She can't help but feel somewhat small compared to the gigantic buildings on both sides of her (mostly in part to her new size), though the buildings are undeniably large for what seemed to be a small town moments before. The signs advertise Pokemon-specific goods and services, and Shane can't help but be slightly drawn into the Shinx-related ones. Voices can be heard from everywhere in the city- English voices- and as normal as it sounds...

<Okay. Let me get this straight. I'm a Pokemon. A female Pokemon. I'm stuck in a strange new world. And the world I'm stuck in is inhabited by Pokemon WHO SPEAK ENGLISH?!... What the hell is going on here?!>

Shane looks around as she walks through the town, noticing all the busy English-speaking Pokemon strewn about the city.

<Well, one thing's for sure. If anybody here has an explanation as to how and why I got to be like this, it's going to be tough to single them out without causing unwanted attention... Maybe the best thing right now would be to lay low until->

Shane's train of thought is interrupted as she accidentally runs into a Sneasel, causing quite a scuffle as the Sneasel knocks her to the ground.

"Hey! You better watch where you're going!" says the Sneasel menacingly.

Stumbling to her feet, Shane shakes off some of the dirt she got on her, turning to her defensively.

"It's just as much of your fault as it is of mine, jerk," says Shane.

That was a MUCH better idea in her head, when she wasn't taking into account that she was a smaller Pokemon than her with no fighting experience at all. A crowd had now begun to gather, the people in it whispering nervously to one another. The Sneasel steps forward and bends down, a Houndour and a Seviper right behind her, and turning her head sideways towards Shane, puts a hand to her ear.

"Excuse me? I'm not sure I heard you quite right the first time... Would you mind repeating what you just said?"

Shane takes a step backward, her head to the side.

"... I said excuse me. It won't happen again," Shane says defeatedly.

The Sneasel stands up, brushing herself off. "That's what I thought. We'll be going now... And trust me. Next time, there won't be any warnings."

The three Pokemon walk away from Shane, parting the crowd and heading for the entrance of the town. After a few moments of awkward silence, the crowd dissipates and everyone leaves, mumbling variations of why Shane was lucky to get out of that unharmed.

<Damn... Who were those guys, and what did I ever do to piss them off so bad? It seems like they've got some sort of reputation here, so I should probably stay away from them as best as I can...>

As Shane starts to head closer to the center of town, something on the ground catches her eye.

<Hm? What's that?>

Shane slowly paws over to the object, looking around to see who could have dropped it. She has a pretty solid guess.

<A folded up piece of paper? For what?>

Shane attempts to pick the paper up with her hands... Er, front paws, rather, realizing it's a futile effort.

<Of course... Well, this is going to be tricky.>

Positioning herself beside the note, she uses her right front paw to hold the front part of the paper up, and her left paw to hold the bottom part down, making the inside readable.

<Let's see what it says...>

To all you stupid competing Rescue Teams. We're not sure if you're pretending not to know, or you're just plain ignorant, but we need to make something clear. This town belongs to Team Vile, and so do all the rescue requests. We demand that you hand over all your winnings and requests, and disband your team, or else something... Well, "unfortunate" may happen to your team. In the past, some teams seem to have regarded us and our demands as jokes. To prove our point, we have sent the Eevee from the yellow-colored Rescue Team on a wild goose chase into the Dark Lakes area, where he will be ambushed and "taken care of" tonight. Let this be an example to all other teams residing in the area that we stay true to our word. Don't make us repeat ourselves. We hope your resigning processes go smoothly, and we shall be paying visits to Rescue Teams to claim what is rightfully ours. Thank you for your "cooperation!"

We mean it all.

Team Vile

Shane stands speechless upon finishing reading the paper.

<I... I don't believe it. This "Team Vile" is about to kill an innocent Rescue Team member to "prove a point" and take everyone else's rescue requests?! This doesn't make any sense! I have to do something! I have to save him!>

Stepping off the note, Shane dashes out of the town, starting down the same trail she saw the Eevee leave on as the sun begins to set.

Shane makes it to the woods in 15 minutes flat, but another 10 minutes later, Shane still finds herself running through the labryinth of woods aimlessly. Shane begins to panic as dark begins to set in, the only object lighting the forest being the full moon.

"Damn it... Damn it... I'm going to be too late! Where could he be?"

Coming to a complete stop, Shane takes a deep breath, closing her eyes.

<I just need to calm down and focus... What can I use to find him?>

As she ponders this, she feels her ear flick, a faint noise coming from the distant left.

<I... I can hear something! These ears really do come in handy!... But could it actually be him?>

Not hesitating another second, Shane darts to her left, the noise growing louder and louder as she runs towards it. It isn't long before she can make out what the cause of the noise is... although she would almost rather not know.

<S... screaming? It's... that Eevee...>

"Why are you... doing this?..." Shane hears the Eevee ask.

"Well, Team Vile asked nicely for you to hand over your Rescue Team's benefits and leave town, but you refused, didn't you? Hit him again, boys."

Shane approaches the scene just in time to see the Eevee get blasted by a good number of Hydro Pumps. Quickly taking cover behind a bush, Shane assesses the situation, as well as her options.

The Eevee is on a small piece of land surrounded by a rather large body of water, filled with less-than-friendly Pokemon. Shane spots a Golduck, a Poliwhirl, a Totodile, and a Wartortle in the water, so it's not hard to guess where the Hydro Pumps came from. Standing to the side of it all is the Sneasel Shane ran into earlier during the day. The Eevee's obviously taken a beating, and Shane can't just sit there and do nothing while he takes more of it... But... What can she do?

The Eevee tries to get to his feet, immediately falling back to the ground. He lifts his head off the ground defeatedly, looking towards the Sneasel.

"I... I don't understand... If you really care about rescuing Pokemon, why try to get rid of other Rescue Teams that could help you?"

Scoffing, the Sneasel turns her head. "Help us? As if! All the other Rescue Teams have ever done for us is take our jobs and take our rewards! We don't care about rescuing Pokemon- all we want are want the benefits of it! So if we were to be the only Rescue Team available... Imagine the monopoly we could impose on rescues!" She shrugs, smiling. "So don't take it personally, Mr. Eevee. It's just business!" she says, cutely and innocently.

Hatred wells up inside Shane. <That monster!>

The Sneasel's attitude quickly changes to one of seriousness. "But that's exactly why I can't allow you to live," she says, turning around. "Wait until you know I'm gone to kill him. I don't want to hear him scream any more." She steps into the dark forest, Shane quickly losing sight of her.

<Finally... I'm not sure how much more of her I could take!>

Shane peers through the bushes, noticing the water Pokemon swapping glances with each other.

<... this isn't good, though. It won't be long before they finish off that Eevee... but... What can I do? I'm completely out of options... I can't hope to face off against that many Pokemon by myself! I don't know how to use any of my attacks! For all I know, I don't even HAVE any!>

Shane looks back towards the center of the lake where the Eevee is, the Eevee staring wearily in her direction. A strange mixture of guilt, helplessness, and determination wash over Shane.

<But... I can't just leave him here!>

The Poliwhirl turns to the other Pokemon. "She's gone. You guys ready to finish the job?"

Tears well up in Shane's eyes, her body beginning to tremble. <He doesn't deserve to die like this!...>

The other Pokemon nod, the Golduck replying. "Yeah, let's get this over with."

The Eevee closes his eyes, turning his head back towards the ground.

The bushes rustle. The water Pokemons' heads turn.

"Wh... who's there!?" the Wartortle asks, startled.

Shane stands on the edge of the water, her legs shaking. She opens her mouth to say something, finding she can't.

The Totodile sighs. "It's just some Shinx. A really scared one, by the looks of it."

The Wartortle sneers. "We've got a job to finish. Get out of here."

"No."

He turns around. "Excuse me?"

Shane chokes back the tears in her eyes, stepping forward into the water.

"I said no."

The Wartortle laughs, slowly swimming towards her. "Haha! And what are you going to do about it? You can barely stay on your own four legs, let alone put up a fight against the four of us!"

The Golduck smirks. "Yeah, but I think we can have a little 'fun' with her first..."

The Eevee struggles to lift his head. "Just... run! They'll only... Hurt you, too..."

The Poliwhirl splashes forward. "He's right, you know. But you don't have to listen to him."

"That's right!" says the Totodile, grinning. "We'd prefer it if you stayed!"

Frozen in fear, Shane stands helplessly as the water Pokemon draw closer and closer.

<I... I can't let this happen!>

Clenching her teeth, Shane feels something beginning to well up inside her.

<These guys are creeps!>

Her fur standing on end, it makes a strange crackling noise.

The Wartortle slows to a stop. "Wh... What the hell?"

Shane tilts her head downward, stepping further into the water as she clenches her forepaws.

<I'm going to protect him!>

A strange glow emanating from Shane, the Wartortle quickly panics, scrambling for shore. "Out of the water! NOW!"

Shane snaps her head up, white light enveloping her body, yellow light shining from her eyes.

"Take THIS!"

White lightning shoots through the lake, discharging itself from Shane's body. The water Pokemon hardly have a chance to respond before getting devastated by the attack, and now float face-up in the water. Shane doesn't know how she did it, but she managed it. She stands awestruck in the water, looking to the center piece of land, where the Eevee lies unharmed.

<I... I did it! I... I can't believe it!>

Shane smiles, her knees still shaking. She gets into the water and (with a little effort) succeeds in doggie-paddling over to the Eevee. Lying down on ground next to him, Shane laughs, getting the Eevee's attention. He lifts his head off the ground.

"I knew you would do it," he says, smiling.

Shane cocks her head, then smiles again. "It was nothing."

The Eevee shakes his head. "You saved my life. That's definitely something!"

Shane blushes, scratching the back of her head. "N... No, really!"

The Eevee laughs, pausing as if he had an idea. "You know... My Rescue Team offer still stands."

Shane stops smiling. "I... I don't know. What just happened was pure luck. I'm not sure I can pull that off again..."

The Eevee shakes his head. "It's not all about how well you can fight... If it were, I would be asking those water Pokemon to join my my team! You have the will to protect people you don't even know, and that's enough to be on this team. So... what do you say?"

Shane away for a moment, pondering over what she should say. She turns back to him, able to tell that the wait is killing him.

"I've been looking for a purpose lately. I know I'm not the best fighter in the world, but I know I'll always do my best when it comes to fighting for the sake of others... Eevee, I accept your offer." Shane extends a paw.

The Eevee grins ear to ear, rolling over and extending a paw. "That's what I like to hear. And it's not just "Eevee." My name's Ace. Nice to meet you, miss..."

"Shane."

Ace cocks his head confusedly. "Hm?"

<Uh... Damn! I mean... I mean...>

"Shaina. My name's Shaina."

Ace nods. "Nice to meet you, Shaina. Welcome to the team."