PokeWild

It took several days, but Finn discovered enough to survive at the least in Fuchsia.

Some of the rules he came up with were simple – wear a disguise for one. It would delay the general public’s reaction and knowledge of his presence for a while. Not for too long, someone would always notice in the end, but for a while. The disguise did nothing about those following along behind him on the roofs, but they didn’t seem willing to tip anyone else off either.

That inevitable reaction led to his next rule. The second, and most important rule, was to come at night. Fuchsia trained its people to be sly, scheming and savage. They would sniff him out with their masses. Yet, they were still only human. They couldn’t see in the dark. They needed to sleep, and only with quiet streets would he be able to do anything in this city.

There was some push back from the organizers of the search when he proposed it – night wasn’t the best time to search for anything. All reluctance was temporary. The difficulty of his assignment was well known. No one could be too upset if he refused to go, and no one wanted to replace him.

Besides, he wasn’t the first sent to Fuchsia. No one actually expected success from the city.

There were other rules and exercises he cajoled and bribed out of his family. Methods to deal with the city’s response to Psychics learned from careful study. Once upon a time it had been a matter of great import, a response to the growing danger that those same practices would be implemented on a wider scale. It was ruled out, however, when his family learned of the cost and the hours of training that the people of Fuchsia required. No one else would be so foolish to devote resources to such a technique. Not for something that only worked on the largest of scales. The study had stopped at the effectiveness of pain and breathing techniques. Neither were very effective. At that point, his only option was to retreat out of the city as fast as he could and wait for pickup.

Finn spent a lot of his time in the city searching the emotions around him for early warning signs. It was how one evening he recognised the ones in the nearby training grounds. With a groan, he slowed his steps and debated his next action. To his dismay, responsibility won out, and he walked through the gate.

Immediately he was rewarded for his choice as he spotted a Venonat squatting beside the vaguely familiar trainer, and his more familiar emotions.

Maybe this won’t be a bad night after all.

-.-

Small flickers of lime lit up the cold, dark training ground. Satisfaction and determination welled up.

Venonat attacked the chair, sending wood chips flying. A smile grew on Finn’s face.

It wasn’t a particularly impressive demonstration, not after what he’d seen in the clan compound back home, but it was a successful use of the Move. After what, four days? All from a small tip from him? That was the impressive part.

Maybe Finn was being a bit generous, but as Fred cheered for his Pokemon, and both of them emitted positive emotions – blocking the awful ones from the roofs – he didn’t care.

Fuchsia’s visitor training ground had become a bit of a neutral zone. There were no roofs overhead for pesky watchers, and few locals came here at night. It was a safe zone in the awful city.

He relaxed, feeling the tension from two hours in the city leaving him. Some of that relief escaped his mouth before he could stop it.

Surprise. Amusement.

He groaned at Fred and gestured at the surrounding city. “Don’t judge me like that. You have no idea how that all feels.”

-.-

“Can you tell me how to teach Venonat to use his mind?”

Finn coughed, sitting up in a panicked surprise. Any hope he had of a peaceful rest, gone.

Is this why Fred’s been so distracted all night?

“You want me to what?”

Fred shrugged. Venonat’s trainer was a little cautious as always, but nowhere nearly enough to be dropping that kind of bombshell on Finn. There was that resolve, but nowhere near enough to ask some for a favor of that magnitude. “You know a lot about Venonats, and given your family, I thought you might have some ideas. Some tips on where to start.”

Finn stared at him, shocked by how casually Fred had just asked him to reveal a sovereign’s training methods.

It was absurd.

Sorrow. Understanding.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to. I know you don’t talk about the whole-” Fred waved both hands in front of him in an odd spiral. It looked ridiculous, and Finn had no idea why he was doing it. “-psychic thing much.”

Now Finn felt affronted. That was how the tall blond trainer was going to wave away the whole training methods question!?

He didn’t talk about the whole Psychic thing because he wanted to make it out of the city alive. Besides, Fred wasn’t exactly tripping over himself to ask about it like so many others. They’d known each other, what two weeks now? Not one question about Finn’s abilities!

It was weird, and Finn hated how he was starting to want Fred to ask about them. His abilities might not have been the strongest in the family, but they were impressive! He was proud of them, and while he usually hated being poked and prodded about his abilities – everyone always wanted to see teleportation – having such a large part of him ignored was starting to itch. It had gotten to the point that he’d put on a show two days ago to try to provoke a reaction.

If anyone found out about that, he’d never live it down.

Two weeks of no questions, and now Fred wanted to learn it all. It was mad; it was insane; it was... growing on him. A sick part of him reveled in the idea. Him, teaching someone about Psychic energy in the ancient city of his clan, the home of his clan’s enemies, all while watched by those enemies. Revealing secrets after being sent here by his own clan.

It was all so twisted in the most pleasurable kind of petty revenge. He couldn’t help himself.

“If I help - If! You’d have to keep everything to yourself.”

Fred nodded easily. Too easily for how important this was.

“I’m serious. A lot of very powerful people would be very upset if they heard anything about this.” Finn was starting to talk himself out of this.

“I understand.” Fred gave him a sad smile, emitting no guilt, but a deep resolve and... amusement that was such a puzzle.

Fred always had such strange emotions.

Maybe a small tip or two wouldn’t hurt.

“Well,” Finn began. “It starts in the mind of course.”

-.-

Marsh trees and the buildings of Fuchsia city appeared in a swirl of pink. Teleportation complete, Finn’s transport shoved him away.

“I’ll be back at four in the morning.” His transport snarled. “Don’t make me wait.”

“Whatever,” Finn said, dismissing them. The relationship was doomed from the beginning and had hit rock bottom when he’d managed to change his travel times to the middle of the night. It turned out that easy merits weren’t all that easy when it required teleporting across the continent at odd hours of the day instead of whenever suits your schedule.

As his transport charged the energy to teleport again, Finn couldn’t help himself.

“Bloody muggle.”

He didn’t feel any guilt at all about the flash of anger emoted before his transport teleported away. Well... he did feel some guilt about how the term had started to spread around the clan. A few ill-thought, muttered curses near some children who were on the verge of being labeled dregs themselves, and it was too late. The word was out there.

Now the term was making its way higher and higher up the clan as more people took a liking to it and it became a Problem with a capital ‘P’. Hopefully, that fact wouldn’t make its way back to Fred for a loooong time. Finn still felt guilty about how he’d turned his friend’s story into an insult.

Not that he was going to tell him that, of course. Especially not today, a day late after Fred’s challenge.

He grimaced, remembering why he was a day late and the mess that was yesterday. The thought alone was enough to send a shiver down his spine and fold himself over and in. Aftershocks were still bouncing around back home. There had been no announcements or gossip as to the cause yet either. As much as he wanted to know what happened, there was no way he was walking out into that storm. That he was even here today was a shock. Nothing had returned to normal at the compound, and his nightly trips to Fuchsia were far from important after such upheaval.

Shuddering, Finn hurried into the city. A quick walk about on the pointless search and he’d go find Fred.

Finn felt the murk over the training grounds before he saw it. Too many emotions, strong emotions at that in a bunch.

Ah. His challenge didn’t go well.

He knew it was going to be awful, and each step forward confirmed the fact. His safe zone was no longer so safe. Still, Finn tried to keep himself steady for Fred.

“Hey, Muggle!”

-.-

Abra reached forward, plucking the Iappapa berry from Finn’s hands. The pokemon sat down beside Finn, curling his tail around to protect both himself and his prize.

Progress.

The success after several... fraught weeks at home was enough to put a glorious smile on his face, and he let some of that leak out towards Abra. Only a little. Strong positive emotions were just as likely to cause them to flee as any kind of negative.

Inevitably though, the buzz faded. Finn was once again forced to confront why the past few weeks had been so fraught, and why he was still afraid while walking through the compound every day.

Yet, he hadn’t been torn to bits or sent into a stupor with no end. He still had his thoughts, his emotions. He didn’t know why.

There was so much he didn’t know, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to seek out Sabrina Voyant to ask her.

The only other option was Fre–David. If the two had really met – Finn fully believed they had – then only two people knew the results of what they’d discussed. What happened on Monday, the thirteenth of March? An event that sent shocks through his entire clan which still affected them today. A conversation that had put Sabrina on the war path, that sent messages flying around the clan and beyond.

It niggled at him, it puzzled him, when the orders for him to go to Fuchsia stopped coming. When the Merit arrived in his account without any message accompanying it.

But Finn couldn’t ask Fred. Not that he could trust anything the man said anyway, that much was clear. Dislike of Voyants, anger at being chased, rightful fear of a horrible death or not, Fred had lied while asking for utter trust from Finn. This was on him. Besides, Fre–David’s second challenge was scheduled a day or two ago. There was no telling if he’d still be in the city. Finn settled down, content with his choice.

Yet, something niggled at him.

Days later, when playing with Abra again in a quiet room, Finn came to a realization. He set the toy down, and recalled his Pokemon, keeping a tight grip on his emotions the whole time. Only when the bright flash of light had left the room did he release them.

He needed to know. How could he make a decision without knowing everything? All he had to go off was feelings and guesses. It wasn’t enough. Something was going on. It was affecting his home, his family. Those he loved, those he enjoyed, and even those he hated.

For once Finn found himself in a position of influence, connected deeply to events.

He didn’t want to escape it.

“Ugh... I’m going to owe aunty so many favors.”