Categories > Games > Pokemon > The Spirit of Alola - Book 2 - A Hurting Heart
Mel stood, Burnet, scooting out of the way at the sudden movement. I had already scrambled to my feet when I noticed a shift in the woman’s mood. I know it was common for Psychics to be able to feel others' emotions. I’d seen it affect her and Kabir many times before.
This was different. There wasn’t a draw on my mind as it was probed. That feeling I knew all too well, and I had felt it countless times in the past This new sensation was a push into all the surrounding beings in the room. I could practically see the fury Mel was letting off as she strode over to the back door. In fact, maybe that’s what the haze surrounding her was, power provoked by wrath.
Everyone else seemed to feel it too. Hala and Opūnui had quieted suddenly, their purposely averted eyes drawing to our location. The Pokemon Mel had left upstairs rushed down to us, but they didn’t approach her like they normally would. Even Squall ventured over. I barely noticed as the Raichu placed its body protectively in front of me, though it shook fiercely in its fright.
“Mel, what is it?” Hala asked carefully. I’ve admired this man since I met him several years back while studying under the tutelage of Opūnui. He’d proven to be a powerful man, and his Pokemon had done the same. Even now, he stepped up to the woman, undeterred by the energy flowing off of her, holding her fierce gaze with his own.
She paused for the briefest moment, their eyes locking onto each other. Then she merely moved passed him, opening the sliding door to the backyard without lifting a finger. I knew telekinesis was a power most Psychics have, but in the 26 years I had known her, I have never seen Mel use it before.
The Kahuna kept his face turned to her but pulled a PokeBall out, pressing the button and allowing it to grow in size in his hand. “We should follow her.”
“What just happened?” My old mentor asked, pulling out a ball of his own.
“She knows where the investigation took the police,” Hala answered simply.
I felt a shiver run through me at the implication. Mel had pulled that information straight from his mind. No words had passed between the two, so I also knew she had taken it by force. This isn’t Mel. It can’t be her. She would never do something like that. I felt a bead of sweat run down my neck as a new fear began to engulf me. It was taking nearly all my strength to force myself to remain calm.
The Kahuna looked back at Burnet and me, his gaze remaining on my terrified face for a moment. “You two stay here.” He commanded.
“Absolutely not,” I responded without a thought. I had never seen Mel in such a rage; in fact, I rarely ever saw her truly mad. This was far different than simple anger though. The power emanating from her filled me with a dread far greater than the one I felt even as a child stuck in the clutches of the Malamar.
I looked over to Burnet, still seated, who’d remained silent, her hand clutching at her chest and yellow eyes wide with shock. “Take Squall and get to your parent’s house,” I told her, worried at her pale form.
She shook her head, as if pulling her mind from a thought. “I can’t. We need to stay with her and make sure she doesn’t get herself killed.” The conviction in her voice prevented any fight from us. She rose to her feet suddenly, rushing out the door and following the footprints left by the enraged Psychic, Hala moving behind her.
“Anya, Hala is right,” Opūnui muttered, rushing away from everyone and to my side. “You need to stay behind. Here take one of Kabir’s -“ but he broke off his words, grasping at his empty pockets.
“You gave them to Mel last night, remember?” I whisper, recalling that the older doctor had picked up Sashi and Kabir’s Pokemon while he was visiting town with the children yesterday.
He cursed under his breath, glancing to the door to see the swiftly fleeting forms of the others. “Please, Anya.” He pleaded, his grey eyes sparkling with worry now. “You’re important to me, like a daughter. I can’t have you getting hurt too. Or worse.”
“Mel would never do anything to harm me.” I blurt out, shocked by the words both he and I spoke. He had always seemed so unshakable to me, but I found myself questioning his resolve. My hands still shaking, I push past my old mentor and move out the door as well. “And besides,” I call over my shoulder, “we need to make sure we are there to back her up.” I find my footing more easily as I draw away, my confidence growing with each step I take until I’m running, Squall floating by my side.
I hear the old man sigh shakily before his footsteps catch up to mine. I see a flash of light as he releases his own Pokemon. We all reach the others as Mel strides into the forest.
The world around us was already dark as the clouds of the storm continued to build, but now it blackened to a closer semblance of night. The trees, bark stripped away, branches long ago deadened and bare, crowded in on us, so close together that they blocked out the sky. Our feet shuffle noisily through rotting leaves and underbrush. The wind whips overhead, clattering the branches like a skeletal percussion. I don’t see a single sign of a wild Pokemon, though I can’t say if that was due to the forest or the clumsy group parading by.
I try to keep my eyes focused on the ground, cautions that the tangling floor might trip me up, when suddenly, I crash into a solid wall before me. Looking up, I see that it's Hala. He holds his arm out, halting the progress of the others and then pointing ahead to Mel, all six of her Pokemon now out but keeping a distance, their worried glances and stamping feet indicating their own fright at the still raging woman. She crouches in the dirt by a set of bracken, the debris under the woman swirling around as it’s swept up into the aura coming off of her, then blown away by the wind.
“This is where the first trail ends.” The Kahuna spoke, raising his voice to be heard over the noise.
“The first one?” Ori asked, coming around to stand by his friend’s side, asking what the rest of us had been thinking.
“There were two sets of tracks, both showing signs of someone being dragged.” He nodded, pointing to the first one. Large footprints showed barely in the grass, a set of drag marks just poking through as well. If it hadn’t been pointed out to me, I would have missed it. “That, we believe, was Sam’s tracks. We don’t know who was with them, but I think it may be a diversion. The smaller one is much harder to see but leads farther in, right up to the lake. We’ve dredged it multiple times but have found nothing.”
The man shakes his head at the failure, yet never takes his eyes off the Psychic before us, as if concerned she may Teleport away. I realize with a sinking feeling that I’ve never seen the extent of Mel’s powers. For all I know, she may be able to do just that.
“Come on, let’s head to the lake.” The old doctor says, indicating with his arms to us that she had merely walked off.
Mel’s trek slows as a shimmering mass breaks between the trunks of trees. A stench, like dead things and sewage, permeates the air, assaulting our noses as we draw closer, making our eyes sting. Sludge slows the progress of water as it’s washed against the shoreline, clattering over sharp pebbles and broken debris. The woman stops and stares out over the expanse, her clothes and hair whipping in the wind, her head making a slow turn as she views the liquid before her. Though we still kept a safe distance from her, I could just make out her clenched and quavering right fist at her side.
A sudden ringing breaks out over our silent forms. All but Mel tear our eyes away from the lake and towards Doctor Opūnui, his phone the location for the caustic noise. He shoves his hand into his pocket, muttering softly to himself, and silences it, not even making a move to view the reason for the alarm.
A small glimmer hidden in a tangle of long grass and by the base of a tree catches my attention. I squint my eyes but can’t make it out any better in the gathering darkness. I pull away from the group and approach, careful about where I place my feet, worried about a sharpened bit of ground-breaking through my shoe into the sole of my foot.
“Anya, wait. Don’t go off on your own.” Hala calls.
I ignore him and keep my eyes pinned on the shining object, cautious about losing sight of it. A flurry of footsteps follows me, and I hear the heavy breathing of Doctor Opūnui.
“It’s best to stick to a group.” He says, though his voice stays hushed.
I finally draw close enough to grasp the item of my attention. I crouch on the ground to get a closer look. Mine and my companion’s breath quiets as we both suck in air, holding onto it as my hand reaches out. I touch it, wariness making my quavering arm draw back slightly.
A light appears next to me suddenly, blinding my dark-adjusted eyes and I reel back, releasing a string of profanities in my shock.
It was the old Doctor’s phone again. I curse the man and the very ground he walks upon as I haul myself off my rump. He snatches it out of his pocket, grumbling in annoyance then putting a few paces between him and me to answer the call.
My hand moves out once more and I snatch the item off the ground swiftly, pulling it out from within the tussock of dried grass, and I eagerly bring it to my face. It was something soft, stretchy and circular, like a bracelet, but made of fabric, a single hard speck connecting two ends together being the cause of the shine that had caught the light of the sky. It felt oddly familiar in my hand, though, in the darkness of the forest, I couldn’t make out what it was.
I shuffle closer to the group, noticing Mel was now with a large, dog-like creature, realizing it to be a Pokemon of Kabir’s. It stands nearly as tall as her, with a blue and white body and a flowing mane of purple. I believe its name to be Boreas, but I can’t recall the species. The others continue staring at the powerful Psychic, and I could just make out their faces of shock. Opūnui stands to the left of me, whispering animatedly into his phone.
I pull my own out of my pocket and use the light from my screen to get a better look at the item I had picked up. My heart drops into my stomach. “Sashi,” I choke, the words catching in my throat as I make to call out to the others about my discovery.
“What?” Hala asks, moving away from Burnet and staring at the object in my hand. “What did you find?”
“It’s the guys!” Opūnui interrupts me, waving his arms in the air and running back over. “Their awake!”
This was different. There wasn’t a draw on my mind as it was probed. That feeling I knew all too well, and I had felt it countless times in the past This new sensation was a push into all the surrounding beings in the room. I could practically see the fury Mel was letting off as she strode over to the back door. In fact, maybe that’s what the haze surrounding her was, power provoked by wrath.
Everyone else seemed to feel it too. Hala and Opūnui had quieted suddenly, their purposely averted eyes drawing to our location. The Pokemon Mel had left upstairs rushed down to us, but they didn’t approach her like they normally would. Even Squall ventured over. I barely noticed as the Raichu placed its body protectively in front of me, though it shook fiercely in its fright.
“Mel, what is it?” Hala asked carefully. I’ve admired this man since I met him several years back while studying under the tutelage of Opūnui. He’d proven to be a powerful man, and his Pokemon had done the same. Even now, he stepped up to the woman, undeterred by the energy flowing off of her, holding her fierce gaze with his own.
She paused for the briefest moment, their eyes locking onto each other. Then she merely moved passed him, opening the sliding door to the backyard without lifting a finger. I knew telekinesis was a power most Psychics have, but in the 26 years I had known her, I have never seen Mel use it before.
The Kahuna kept his face turned to her but pulled a PokeBall out, pressing the button and allowing it to grow in size in his hand. “We should follow her.”
“What just happened?” My old mentor asked, pulling out a ball of his own.
“She knows where the investigation took the police,” Hala answered simply.
I felt a shiver run through me at the implication. Mel had pulled that information straight from his mind. No words had passed between the two, so I also knew she had taken it by force. This isn’t Mel. It can’t be her. She would never do something like that. I felt a bead of sweat run down my neck as a new fear began to engulf me. It was taking nearly all my strength to force myself to remain calm.
The Kahuna looked back at Burnet and me, his gaze remaining on my terrified face for a moment. “You two stay here.” He commanded.
“Absolutely not,” I responded without a thought. I had never seen Mel in such a rage; in fact, I rarely ever saw her truly mad. This was far different than simple anger though. The power emanating from her filled me with a dread far greater than the one I felt even as a child stuck in the clutches of the Malamar.
I looked over to Burnet, still seated, who’d remained silent, her hand clutching at her chest and yellow eyes wide with shock. “Take Squall and get to your parent’s house,” I told her, worried at her pale form.
She shook her head, as if pulling her mind from a thought. “I can’t. We need to stay with her and make sure she doesn’t get herself killed.” The conviction in her voice prevented any fight from us. She rose to her feet suddenly, rushing out the door and following the footprints left by the enraged Psychic, Hala moving behind her.
“Anya, Hala is right,” Opūnui muttered, rushing away from everyone and to my side. “You need to stay behind. Here take one of Kabir’s -“ but he broke off his words, grasping at his empty pockets.
“You gave them to Mel last night, remember?” I whisper, recalling that the older doctor had picked up Sashi and Kabir’s Pokemon while he was visiting town with the children yesterday.
He cursed under his breath, glancing to the door to see the swiftly fleeting forms of the others. “Please, Anya.” He pleaded, his grey eyes sparkling with worry now. “You’re important to me, like a daughter. I can’t have you getting hurt too. Or worse.”
“Mel would never do anything to harm me.” I blurt out, shocked by the words both he and I spoke. He had always seemed so unshakable to me, but I found myself questioning his resolve. My hands still shaking, I push past my old mentor and move out the door as well. “And besides,” I call over my shoulder, “we need to make sure we are there to back her up.” I find my footing more easily as I draw away, my confidence growing with each step I take until I’m running, Squall floating by my side.
I hear the old man sigh shakily before his footsteps catch up to mine. I see a flash of light as he releases his own Pokemon. We all reach the others as Mel strides into the forest.
The world around us was already dark as the clouds of the storm continued to build, but now it blackened to a closer semblance of night. The trees, bark stripped away, branches long ago deadened and bare, crowded in on us, so close together that they blocked out the sky. Our feet shuffle noisily through rotting leaves and underbrush. The wind whips overhead, clattering the branches like a skeletal percussion. I don’t see a single sign of a wild Pokemon, though I can’t say if that was due to the forest or the clumsy group parading by.
I try to keep my eyes focused on the ground, cautions that the tangling floor might trip me up, when suddenly, I crash into a solid wall before me. Looking up, I see that it's Hala. He holds his arm out, halting the progress of the others and then pointing ahead to Mel, all six of her Pokemon now out but keeping a distance, their worried glances and stamping feet indicating their own fright at the still raging woman. She crouches in the dirt by a set of bracken, the debris under the woman swirling around as it’s swept up into the aura coming off of her, then blown away by the wind.
“This is where the first trail ends.” The Kahuna spoke, raising his voice to be heard over the noise.
“The first one?” Ori asked, coming around to stand by his friend’s side, asking what the rest of us had been thinking.
“There were two sets of tracks, both showing signs of someone being dragged.” He nodded, pointing to the first one. Large footprints showed barely in the grass, a set of drag marks just poking through as well. If it hadn’t been pointed out to me, I would have missed it. “That, we believe, was Sam’s tracks. We don’t know who was with them, but I think it may be a diversion. The smaller one is much harder to see but leads farther in, right up to the lake. We’ve dredged it multiple times but have found nothing.”
The man shakes his head at the failure, yet never takes his eyes off the Psychic before us, as if concerned she may Teleport away. I realize with a sinking feeling that I’ve never seen the extent of Mel’s powers. For all I know, she may be able to do just that.
“Come on, let’s head to the lake.” The old doctor says, indicating with his arms to us that she had merely walked off.
Mel’s trek slows as a shimmering mass breaks between the trunks of trees. A stench, like dead things and sewage, permeates the air, assaulting our noses as we draw closer, making our eyes sting. Sludge slows the progress of water as it’s washed against the shoreline, clattering over sharp pebbles and broken debris. The woman stops and stares out over the expanse, her clothes and hair whipping in the wind, her head making a slow turn as she views the liquid before her. Though we still kept a safe distance from her, I could just make out her clenched and quavering right fist at her side.
A sudden ringing breaks out over our silent forms. All but Mel tear our eyes away from the lake and towards Doctor Opūnui, his phone the location for the caustic noise. He shoves his hand into his pocket, muttering softly to himself, and silences it, not even making a move to view the reason for the alarm.
A small glimmer hidden in a tangle of long grass and by the base of a tree catches my attention. I squint my eyes but can’t make it out any better in the gathering darkness. I pull away from the group and approach, careful about where I place my feet, worried about a sharpened bit of ground-breaking through my shoe into the sole of my foot.
“Anya, wait. Don’t go off on your own.” Hala calls.
I ignore him and keep my eyes pinned on the shining object, cautious about losing sight of it. A flurry of footsteps follows me, and I hear the heavy breathing of Doctor Opūnui.
“It’s best to stick to a group.” He says, though his voice stays hushed.
I finally draw close enough to grasp the item of my attention. I crouch on the ground to get a closer look. Mine and my companion’s breath quiets as we both suck in air, holding onto it as my hand reaches out. I touch it, wariness making my quavering arm draw back slightly.
A light appears next to me suddenly, blinding my dark-adjusted eyes and I reel back, releasing a string of profanities in my shock.
It was the old Doctor’s phone again. I curse the man and the very ground he walks upon as I haul myself off my rump. He snatches it out of his pocket, grumbling in annoyance then putting a few paces between him and me to answer the call.
My hand moves out once more and I snatch the item off the ground swiftly, pulling it out from within the tussock of dried grass, and I eagerly bring it to my face. It was something soft, stretchy and circular, like a bracelet, but made of fabric, a single hard speck connecting two ends together being the cause of the shine that had caught the light of the sky. It felt oddly familiar in my hand, though, in the darkness of the forest, I couldn’t make out what it was.
I shuffle closer to the group, noticing Mel was now with a large, dog-like creature, realizing it to be a Pokemon of Kabir’s. It stands nearly as tall as her, with a blue and white body and a flowing mane of purple. I believe its name to be Boreas, but I can’t recall the species. The others continue staring at the powerful Psychic, and I could just make out their faces of shock. Opūnui stands to the left of me, whispering animatedly into his phone.
I pull my own out of my pocket and use the light from my screen to get a better look at the item I had picked up. My heart drops into my stomach. “Sashi,” I choke, the words catching in my throat as I make to call out to the others about my discovery.
“What?” Hala asks, moving away from Burnet and staring at the object in my hand. “What did you find?”
“It’s the guys!” Opūnui interrupts me, waving his arms in the air and running back over. “Their awake!”
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