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Chapter 10: The Lost Hours

Thomas had stayed awake for hours, nervous as he battled with the thought of going out to look for the shiny Hakamo-o. But in doing so he'd either be leaving the pokemon sleeping in the tent alone or he'd have to bring them all with - in pokeball or otherwise - just in case someone were to stumble on their camp. And even if he did pack up and Jeremy came back, nobody would be there. So he waited, flashlight in hand listening to every rustle of leaves and snap of twigs.

It was past midnight when Jeremy finally showed up, unzipping the tent without a care for those inside. Thomas instantly flicked the flashlight to it's low powered lamp setting. The pokemon had been walking, and by the look of him he'd been battling as well. Mud caked the Hakamo-os feet, several of his plates were missing and he had managed to acquire a large cut across his midsection, tearing Parker's vest open. Jeremy stepped over the sleeping pokemon scattered across the tent floor to get to the pack, withdrawing a super potion and his pokeball before heading back outside. Thomas scrambled after him.

“Jeremy!" He shouted as quietly as he could. “Jeremy, are you okay? What happened?" Jeremy completely ignored Thomas, spraying himself with the orange bottle's contents. The man watched as the gash closed, the half-moon and diffused lamplight barely enough to see the somewhat miraculous healing effects of the potion. “That looked like it hurt."

But Jeremy still wouldn't respond. He dusted himself off, trying to get as much dirt off as possible before turning to look Thomas straight in the eyes as he pressed the button on his pokeball. In a flash of light, and a thud of the ball hitting the ground, Jeremy was gone. His night vision completely screwed, Thomas fumbled around for the pokeball, muttering curses and all sorts of foul language at the dragon-type until he found it.

It was a pretty big flash when he was summoned back in, no doubt one that could be seen for some distance. And as much as the man wanted to know what his pokemon was in such a huff about, he couldn't risk the safety of the group by bringing Jeremy back out again, especially if he was just gonna force his way back in with a third flash.

Thomas slid backwards into the tent, tapping his feet free of dirt and general forest detritus. A snort of hot air blasted his neck. He turned to see the Mudbray standing, looking curiously at Jeremy's ball. Thomas sighed. “He's pissed. Not sure why." The mudbray nodded, grunting. “I'll find out in the morning, it's too much of a light show to have him going in and out all night." He zipped the tent flap up and slipped back into his sleeping bag. The Mudbray knelt down and stared at him. He Sighed. “Best get some sleep. Got a long day tomorrow. Gonna need everyone on their game, especially if…" He looked back to Jeremy's ball, the glossy white surface glinting in the lamplight. Thomas didn't want to finish the sentence, so instead he just rolled over, flicking off the light.

Come morning Thomas woke first. He had not slept well, the thoughts of Jeremy's battered body haunting his dreams. After checking out the tourist area and looking from there down route 13 for any sign of the mobsters, Thomas came back to an active camp. Everyone was up stretching and yawning as they took in the first rays of morning light. Everyone except Jeremy.

Thomas reached into the tent and grabbed some of the rations. He'd made sure to bring plenty of poketreats just in case, but for the most part, dedicated rations for the majority of the pokemon would be required to keep them at their best. As far as he could find, Mudbray only needed to eat dirt; presumably there were enough minerals and possibly vitamins from small roots and vegetation to keep him going. He handed out the food to the pokemon one by one until he just had Jeremy's portion left. The man sighed, grabbing the Premier ball and making for a small trail away from camp. The Sliggoo grabbed at his pant leg questioningly. “I'll just be a minute." He said, slipping out of her grip before setting off through the trees.

He didn't walk for long before he stopped, checking to see he wasn't followed. Then in a burst of light Jeremy stood in front of him. He looked worse than Thomas remembered. The vest was torn open at the front and caked in dirt. Thomas reckoned the fresh blood was mostly Jeremy's but a little spatter here and there might not have been. The Pokemon's arm was missing one of it's plates, or rather, was in the process of growing a new plate. But most of all, Jeremy had a distant stare. Thomas had seen that stare before, and didn't like that his friend had it.

But all the man could do was be there for his pokemon. “Breakfast." He held the nutrient bar out for the pokemon to take, but Jeremy just stared at it, then at Thomas. The man took a very deep breath. “Okay, this has to stop." Jeremy huffed, his glare condescending and troubled. He cared for Jeremy, probably more than he should have given they've known each other less than a week. But he cared still. Jeremy looked from the nutrient bar, to Thomas, then the direction of the camp.

Thomas knew Jeremy was thinking about their little green legend. “What, you don't think I know how this has changed things?" He sighed, gesturing to the outcropping with the painting.

“Mo." He waved the human away, walking back to camp.

“Jeremy." He said, trying to be more firm. “You gotta talk to me buddy. Ever since Miss Blisseys you've had something on your mind, and I can't help if I don't know." He stepped closer, trying to take Jeremy's hand in his, but the pokemon pulled away. “Tell me what's going on! What is wrong?!"

Jeremy opened his mouth to talk when the image of his bladed tail severing the Scyther's neck popped into his vision. He stumbled backwards, trying to get away from the sight. But Thomas grabbed the pokemon's wrist, spinning Jeremy round to face him.

“No. Enough of that tauroshit!" He shouted, wrongly assuming the pokemon was trying to leave yet again. Jeremy was taken aback, he'd not seen Thomas that fiery before. He knew roughly what the man had done for him back in the forest before they met, but not once had he ever shown that ferocity in front of Jeremy. “Has your concept of existence changed? Are you having a crisis of Faith? Or are you just pissed off that you're dragging an ancient and powerful pokemon halfway round the fucking world because some Human told you to? What is it? Because I have no FUCKING CLUE what you're getting so pissy about!"

It was then Jeremy could see the true emotion in Thomas' eyes. It wasn't anger, or hatred. It was fear. He thought back to the night before, how him leaving probably looked. Shouting at their charge, damn near screaming at it before running off. How him returning bruised, beaten and not wanting to talk would have caused concern. He picked up enough of Thomas' history over the last few days to know that the man was relying on the deceptively legendary pokemon arriving safely in Unova to be able to provide for not only himself, but any pokemon he'd befriended during the trip.

But most of all, he saw what Thomas feared most. Losing Him. Jeremy stood there, silent, just staring as the man's breathing turned to masked sobs. Jeremy didn't know what to say, but Thomas needed something, anything. Anything Jeremy could say. An affirmation, a half hearted acknowledgement that they would get through this. But Jeremy said nothing. He had no words.

Eventually silence got the better of the man. He slammed the white pokeball into Jeremy's chest. “I'm taking that pokemon to Unova. I'd rather you by my side, but…" Thomas looked to the ground, blinking away tears “If this is something you can't do, I'll… I'll have to respect that." He let go of the ball and walked off, leaving Jeremy alone amongst the trees.

---

“Are you insane?!" Jeremy blinked as Thomas snatched the flashlight from him. He looked out towards the road, a set of shimmering eyes off in the distance blinked back. He handed their burden back to the man before setting off through the trees.

<Stupid! That was Stupid!> Jeremy growled. Miss Blissey was right. That little bastard was going to bring nothing but bad luck as long as it was with them. He knew it was his own damn fault for shining the light down the road. He just hoped whomever had seen them would be some wild pokemon that didn't care, or at the very least one more interested on investigating before heading back to Rocket Rising with information.

He made his way down the hill, slowing as he reached the bottom. The carpark was just ahead, the empty space flanked by a small restroom building and some trashcans. The trail leading up to the outcrop had a wooden sign to one side with the tourist trail number carved into it. There were places to hide, but they were very obvious. All he could hope was that whomever showed up, would be counting on being the surprisers, not the surprised.

It was an agonizing few minutes, but Jeremy waited patiently. And his patience was rewarded. Into the carpark came a black-suited man riding on the back of a Dodrio, following up behind was a Scyther. Jeremy squinted in the half-moons light and sighed. He recognised the pokemon from the night before. <You can't be serious> He muttered, waiting to see if anyone else showed.

“Up here?" The man asked, the scyther nodding as it pointed to the outcrop. He swung his leg around to drop off of the Dodrio, landing on the carpark's gravel with a grinding thud. “Well, what're you waiting for. Check it out. Not gonna call it in unless it's the prick with the dragons."

The Scyther and Dodrio both nodded, moving towards the trail. But they stopped dead in their tracks as Jeremy stepped out into view, blocking their path. <You know why we're here.> Scyther stated, glaring menacingly at Jeremy. <There doesn't need to be blood.>

Jeremy jabbed a finger at the green bug, growling <You broke the rules. Us before them.>

<You don't put food in my stomach.> The Scyther shot back.

<It's a God.> The Hakamo-o tensed, his opponent was not going to be swayed.

<It's coming with us.> The left Dodrio head piped up. <Whether you like it> said the middle one <Or not.> The two said together. <Yeah.> said the third, menacingly.

Jeremy blinked, shaking his head at the terribly executed display of aggression. <We both know what comes next. Let's stop wasting time.> Jeremy leered at the Scyther, who flinched before launching at the Hakamo-o, hand scythes cutting through the air with terrifying speed.

Jeremy's first act was to sidestep the slash and duck under the Dodrio's peck. They were fast, but to him, it didn't matter. Most any other pokemon would have gone out of their way to ensure not being hit. But with the Hakamo-o's hardened plates, Jeremy moved where he wanted and if he was struck, he was struck. It was a fighting style that suited him well, and tended to confuse his opponents more often than not.

His first strike hit neither the bird or bug pokemon, instead the edge of the plate covering his left hand smashed into the throat of the suited-man, crushing his windpipe and leaving him voiceless and gasping for breath. The other two pokemon looked on in shock.

<Now who's breaking the rules!> The Scyther screamed, launching a series of furious slices through the air. Jeremy intentially took a hit to the gut so he could turn to the side and strike hard with the blade of his tail. The bug took it to the part of it's carapace under one arm, where vertebrates have ribs. The air was knocked from the green pokemon as it slumped to the ground.

But Jeremy had become unfocused. A Drill Peck blindsided him, sending the dragon-type flying onto the road. He got up, unsteady as the crazed Dodrio followed up the strike with a devastating fury attack. Jeremy was once again sent sprawling across the bitumen, coughing blood onto it's still warm surface.

As the Dodrio advanced a third time, it leapt into the air as if taking flight, it's body a speck of shadow against the moon. Jeremy grinned. As the scyther looked on in wide-eyed horror, Jeremy crouched down, his fist glowing with power before launching himself skyward, the pavement below cracked with the shape of his clawed foot. A yellow streak shot up towards the moon, Jeremy's uppercut landing firmly upon the Dodrio's solar plexus, while seconds later a blinding headbutt sent the bird pokemon plummeting towards the ground.

Had it hit the ground after Jeremy, it may have survived. But Jeremy's weight and claws saw to that. <Y-You…> The Scyther stammered, backing up to its master. <You killed him.>

Jeremy breathed in deep. He had crossed a line. Fighting for survival was one thing, but it was generally agreed that pokemon in a trainer battle would always stop at knockout. Part of the rules; pokemon before humans, no matter what the trainer said. But both the Dodrio and Scyther had broken those rules, so the gloves were off. 'They would have done the same to the others' he reasoned, thinking of the four pokemon no doubt sitting in the tent peacefully and happily eating their dinner. For the briefest of moments his mind acted out the horrible fate Jeremy was trying to avoid. <You act like you are innocent in all this.>

<YOU KILLED HIM!> The Scyther Screamed, several Hoothoots taking flight at the outburst. Jeremy waited for the echo to die down, hoping the trees had muffled the sound enough for Thomas not to hear it.

<You forfeited a fair fight the moment you chose your human over the rest of us.> He said, walking slowly, purposefully towards the two.

<You heard what she said! It ends things, ENDS things!>

Jeremy remembered what Miss Blissey had spoken to the two of them about, how if it was what she thought it was, that at full power it could destroy humanity and anything else it deemed a threat. Only Arceus and the Trinity of Weather were it's equal. He shook his head. <Your master's master seeks to exploit it for his own profit. Mine just wishes to understand and protect it. Tell me again how I'm in the wrong.>

<You're mind's gone to Giratina, hasn't it?>

Jeremy's eyes glowed red with anger at the assumption. He ripped off one of his armour plates and with a hidden power he didn't realise he possessed, flung it towards the bug pokemon's head. It barely missed the Scyther, striking a tree behind him, and a tree behind that, and a tree behind that; the sharpened plate glowing with heat as it finally embedded itself in a rock a fair distance into the forest.

But the Scyther continued it's mocking tone. <You do don't you. You want to see all this end.>

Jeremy stood over the two bodies, both of them looking up at him with terror in their eyes. <Only you.>

The moon was high above him by the time Jeremy had filled the third hole. He wiped the sweat from his cheeks, or was that tears. He didn't care; he could barely move, his body ached, his mind throbbed and his heart pounded so hard in his chest it had drowned out all other noise. The three mounds were far enough into the forest he doubted they'd be found by anyone any time soon. He just hoped them not calling to check in would go without investigation until morning.

On the walk back up to camp Jeremy thought hard about his actions. 'You killed their Trainer. So? They killed yours. One death does not make another right. But I stopped them from doing it again. Would they have? Wouldn't they?' He shook his head, trying to get the horrible thoughts out of his mind.

'You did what you had to. Thomas is safe. They can't tell the rest. Nobody can know. Thomas is safe.' Jeremy spotted a magenta and green tent like Thomas' new pack poking out from under a smaller outcrop a hundred yards behind the main one. He sniffed the air. Rations, poketreats, but no blood.

<Thomas is safe.>

---

“C'mon, time to pack down." Thomas said arriving at the camp, the Venipede and Deino quickly pulling the bedroll and sleeping bag from the tent and doing their best to roll them up. Thomas smiled weakly, they were certainly attempting to do it. The Mudbray pulled the pack out while the Sliggoo concentrated on carrying four pokeballs at once in her stubby little arms. “Nice going guys, we should have this packed in no time!"

Thomas was right, with all of them working together the camp was packed and tidied in a matter of minutes. He checked on the little green pokemon, safe in his dark little hole before double checking the zips and straps. They were down a little more water than he'd have liked but there was a river marked on the map that they should be able to reach by mid-afternoon. So aiming for that, Thomas readied the troops, sending them off in the right direction as Sliggoo got zapped back into her ball.

He turned back to where he'd left Jeremy, wondering if he should check to see if he was still there. But there wasn't a sign of him through the trees. “I guess he made his choice." Thomas said, voice breaking as he began to tear up. He felt the bindings around his wrists, and for the first time, they felt heavy. Deino's bark from up ahead snapped Thomas out of it. He wiped his cheek and began the long hike.

Thomas was glad for the shade the trees provided, the sun was scorching and it would have been devastating to go via the road. After a while the hiking trail running alongside Route 13 crossed his path, the man choosing the ease of the trail over having to head further south to avoid being seen from both it and Route 13 proper. He doubted there'd be any out on route 13 when he'd expressly stated to a few people that he'd be taking Route 9. But even if they were coming this way, he doubted those suits would leave the comfort of their cars to look for some guy along a hiking trail.

As the morning turned to day, several trainers passed by the man and his trio of excitable pokemon. Fortunately Thomas had learned from his experience with Shep and figured out what moves his pokemon knew. For the most part it was exercise on trying not to think about Jeremy. And while there were battles to be had, it worked. When there weren't he had to keep his mind busy in other ways.

He tested his posse's moves out on stumps and the occasional hot-headed wild pokemon they encountered. The Weedles and Foongus stood no chance against the Mudbray and Deino, but proved excellent practice for Mac. In no time at all he managed to learn a couple new moves, which of course meant his Ego levelled up as well. After taking down a Skarmory, Mac kept one of it's razor-sharp feathers as a trophy, carrying it around in his mouth like a Growlithe with a bone.

But as fun as the battles were, and as distracting as the Venipede's progress was, Thomas couldn't help but wonder what Jeremy was doing. Every now and then he'd check behind them to see if the pokemon was following, but all he could see was forest. It was eerily reminiscent of the first day he had met the dragon type. The Mudbray left the other two to their wrestling and play, slowing down to walk by Thomas' side. The man was grateful for that, occasionally ruffling the wavy blonde mop of hair as they made their way down the trail.

“Was I asking too much?" Thomas asked the donkey pokemon rhetorically. They watched as the Deino found a long enough stick for he and Mac to start swordfighting. “The way he was last night. It scared me." Thomas fought to hold back tears. “He lost it at the painting and did what: wander off to battle random pokemon?" Thomas stopped and turned to the Mudbray. “He came back covered in blood. Blood! And I'm pretty sure only some of it was his."

Thomas fell to his knees, the day finally draining him as he cried into the Mudbray's mane. To the pokemon's credit he shuffled closer, letting the man lean onto him more easily. It took several minutes before the Deino and Mac stopped playing and noticed their trainer weeping. The came over slowly, nudging his leg before he pulled all three of them into a hug. “I want him back so bad." He blurted out, tears streaming from his eyes. “I shouldn't have forced him to make a choice. But he wouldn't talk." Thomas' voice was shot, his body wracked with sobs as he unleashed the days worth of anguish on the trodden path. “He just wouldn't talk."

The Mudbray whinnied, his neck pushing Thomas' head out of the hug as he pointed to a sign up ahead: 'Major Creek'. Thomas took a moment to calm down with long, heavy breaths. Him breaking down like this served no purpose. It wasn't getting them to the institute any faster, and it didn't leave him in a good state to battle if one were to occur. So he pushed his emotion down and brought himself back to a level head. “Okay." He wiped his eyes with his sleeve. “Okay, lets go."

The three walked together to the creek, only the occasional hollow log or pile of stones taking Mac's fancy as they made their way silently down the trail. Deino behaved as well, their concern for Thomas' well-being outweighing their usual exuberant nature.

“Of course." Thomas growled. It took the pokemon a few more steps to see what the man slumped at. But upon reaching Major creek, it had dried up. Years ago probably, given how the cracks in the dried mud had been filled in with dust and sand. The joke of it being a 'Major Disappointment' rolled through his head, but he let it go unsaid. 'Jeremy would've laughed at that.' He thought to himself as he looked around in case the creek had wound another way over the years. But that was it. Dust and disappointment.

The afternoon sun was slowly stretching towards the horizon, leaving two hours at most of decent light left. Feeling the day had done its worst, Thomas cleared his throat. “Ahem. Okay, so the map is a bit outdated. But we still have enough water to get us to the mountains. There we can melt snow if we have to, but we should be able to find a brook or stream somewhere there. For now though…" He looked up the creek to the bridge north of them where the paved Route 13 crossed. Then he looked south, to what appeared to be a winding gully, pointing towards it. “We head that way, away from the road. Follow the creek and set up camp in the trees. We can be far as we want from the trail, we can always find our way back via the creek."

Mac and the Deino shot off into untamed bushland, eager to finally explore off the beaten path as the Mudbray stayed with Thomas. After a half hour or so of walking they came upon what might have been a nice little beach but was now a sandy hillside next to a mud pit. Naturally all three pokemon dashed into it with reckless abandon. Thomas began setting the tent up behind one of the larger rocks, so even with a telescope one couldn't spot it from the trail.

He let the pokemon frolic and play with what little sunlight remained, bringing the Sliggoo out as well to inform her of what happened with Jeremy. She took it a lot worse than the others, sobbing into his chest as he hugged her tight. He explained to the best of his ability what he had said back at the other camp, what Jeremy didn't and tried talking out what went wrong, but neither of them could find an answer.

Dinner was mostly quiet, Mac and the Deino having been given tiny clay boots by the Mudbray, so they spent most of their time on their backs letting them dry like a person waiting for their nail polish to set. It was the first smile Thomas had cracked all afternoon. He checked up on the little guy in the hard case. Once more, Thomas could tell it was alive, but weak. He offered food, water but it didn't make any motion to try anything. It just stared at him. So leaving the zipper open and the skein out, he let the pokemon rest at the back of the tent. “For a legend, you sure don't act like one."

He poked his head back out of the tent. “Right you lot. Dust off before you come inside. And yes, you can keep the booties." An ecstatic Venipede and Deino tip-tapped their way into the tent, followed by a bemused but happy Mudbray. The Sliggoo opted to being carried. Thomas took one more look around, noting the dark clouds on the horizon. He was glad he set the tent up proper, with fly and all. They might get rain before morning.

Once everyone was inside, Thomas placed a sealed pack of pokemon treats on one of the stumps they were using as a seat and looked out into the night. “Please come back…" he whispered. Zipping the tent up, Thomas slid into his sleeping bag. It felt so empty. But it mattered little, as the weight of the day finally pulled Thomas down into the depths of sleep.

A crack of thunder startled Thomas awake. He checked his pokedex. '3:54 am'. “Ugh… figures." the man moaned, staring up at the tent roof, the light patter of rain striking the water-resistant outer shell. A snort of air from nearby alerted him to the Mudbray's state of consciousness. “Sorry. We should try to get back to sleep." But the Mudbray got up, moving across the tent to kneel down on the sleeping bag. He looked at Thomas with big black eyes.

“You okay?" He asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the others. The mudbray nodded, but still looked as though he were deep in thought. He looked at the pack, swishing his tail against the clasp where Jeremy's pokeball used to be. “I dunno." Thomas groaned, feeling everything that had been bottled up start to rise to the surface. “I was too hard on him. I shouldnt've-" The Mudbrey bit him gently on the arm, looking up with a serious expression. The pokemon grunted, flaring its nostrils at Thomas. He thought about the interruption and realised what the Mudbray was getting at. “I know there's no point looking back. Judging myself." He sighed. “It just hurts."

The Mudbray looked between Thomas and the empty pokeball slot, raising an eyebrow. Thomas gulped. He figured he'd have to say something sometime. He didn't want to have to explain it to Deino and Mac, given how young those two seemed, but the Mudbray certainly seemed experienced enough. And he remembered seeing the 'breedable' icon next to the pokemon's name in it's pokedex entry, so maybe he'd understand.

“Okay." He sighed, turning to face the Mudbray as he set Jeremy's ball aside. “Jeremy and I are- were... more than just trainer and pokemon." The Mudbray smiled smugly, obviously having had his suspicions confirmed. “I, we…" Thomas took a deep breath. “I wanted someone to take care of me, and I think he wanted to be in control. So things kinda just… happened." Thomas was opening up, the day's worries slowly sliding away as he was able to talk to the pokemon. The Mudbray nodded in understanding, then with a curious expression he tilted his head towards the other pokemon in the tent. “What?" It took Thomas a moment to understand the inference. “Oh, No, no. Well, the Sliggoo and I have ahem had a little fun, but the other two are off limits." The pokemon raised an eyebrow. “Too young. It'd be… wrong."

The Mudbray had a newfound respect for the man. He'd suspected Thomas was sleeping with Jeremy given how emotional he had gotten despite only knowing the Hakamo-o for several days. Love tended to do that. But the Sliggoo was a surprise. He snorted again, pulling at the edge of the man's sleeping bag with his teeth. “You want in?" Thomas asked, smiling. “Sure, why not." He unzipped an edge and held the flap open for the pokemon to shuffle inside. The Mudbray carefully made his way under the covers, rolling to his side with his back against the man's chest. Thomas chuckled, his mind distracted from Jeremy for the time being. He scratched the pokemon's neck in small circular patterns, eliciting a quiet whinny from his new bedmate.

The two lay there, listening to the patter of rain against the tent and the occasional crack of thunder. The night consuming their conscious once again.

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