Chp 22: Mute 
 
Seth's eyes opened, as usual in the morning. He freaked out for a moment when he saw the ceiling not of the pokemon center, but of a cave. But then the memories came flooding back. Especially... he looked to his right to find Soul, sprawled halfway off the bed. Her fur was matted and tangled with sweat and... other things. It had been quite the long night.  
 
He moved, his entire body sore and aching, especially his lower portions. Sky was off to the side, lying curled up on the floor. He looked down to see light blue fur along his chest, along with a pair of diamond shaped tassels. They had tried tons of forms, and anthro glaceon must have been the last. But that was the weird part. Usually he turned human in his sleep. "Whatever..." He muttered, getting out of bed and changing back, his clothes reforming on him. His backpack was back in the- Actually, it was in their room now. One of the other pokemon must have brought it. He went over to it, took out his dex, and checked the time. It was already two in the afternoon. "Girls!" He shouted, clapping his hands. "Wake up! We gotta go!"  
 
"UGGHHHHHH!" Soul groaned out, rolling back onto the bed and burying her head under the pillow.  
 
"No." He said sternly before she could even pose the question. "We are not staying here overnight."  
 
"I agree. These people are... off." Sky said, after a quick check to see they were alone. "They seem nice, but..."  
 
"FIIIIIINEEEEEE." She groaned. "Just put me in my ball. I doubt I can walk straight anyways."  
 
Seth shrugged. "Alright." He rummaged around his pack, until he found the long since buried ball. There were three in there. An ultra ball for her, a love ball for Sky, and a plain old pokeball for him. He had broken his original one and dumped it somewhere, only to discover that balls auto released the pokemon if it was broken. So he had to get a new one. Even so, he had only spent a few seconds in it. He only had one as a precaution, in case of a wandering trainer. He pointed Soul's at her and recalled her. "What's it like in those?" 
 
"Kind of like sleeping and a dream. You get vague flashes of the outside world, but it's all blurry. And time goes by really fast." 
 
"That doesn't sound too bad."  
 
"It can be really disorienting. Kind of like waking up from a really vivid dream or a scary one."  
 
"Ah, I see." He put the ball away, making sure to leave it on the top of the pile of junk in his bag. "Well, let's get on the road. If we keep moving, we should make it to Floaroma." 
 
+++ 
 
"I think I misjudged our time frame." Seth muttered as he dug around his backpack.  
 
"I'll say."  
 
He continued digging in his backpack. "Damn... Can you make light or anything?"  
 
"A little bit." She walked over and her gem began to glow, projecting a dull blue light into his pack.  
 
"Uhh... HA!" He cheered, pulling out a flashlight and holding it up victoriously. He flicked it on, projecting a brilliant beam through the dark forest. Night had fallen quickly, and they weren't through Eterna Forest yet. "And I want you scanning for ghosts. They might wander out of that old mansion at night."  
 
"Shouldn't you call Soul for that?"  
 
"I could have sworn psychic types were good against ghost." 
 
"That has never been a thing. But I think I can manage."  
 
"I appreciate that. I hate those... Hello?" He called out. His flashlight went over and illuminated a person, with two pokemon by his side. The man was wearing a dark blue full body trench coat, and he had an umbreon and an espeon with him.  
 
The man said nothing, but turned to face Seth. With a stone cold gaze, he walked closer. Seth lowered his light so as not to blind him. 
 
"You lost too?"  
 
The man said nothing still.  
 
"Uh... hi?" 
 
He remained silent, grimacing. He made a series of complex hand maneuvers that meant little to Seth.  
 
"Oh! I get it. You're mute?"  
 
The man nodded. His espeon suddenly stepped forward and sniffed at Sky. That was all it did though. Not a peep left its mouth.  
 
"What was that all about?" Seth asked Sky, but acted like it was just something he said to his pet. 
 
"I have no idea. Can you speak?" Sky asked to the other espeon.  
 
"Yes. Only master is mute." The male espeon responded.  
 
"Does he have a name?" Sky asked.  
 
"Wes."  
 
"So, W-" Seth caught himself. He shouldn't know this guy's name. "We're heading for Floaroma. But we got a bit... lost. Do you..." He trailed off as the Wes turned around. He made a follow me motion over his shoulder and began to walk. "Cool." Seth said.  
 
They walked for a while in silence, except for the crunching of leaves. "So uh... You like eeveelutions too?" Seth asked. He put his hand to the side and gave a thumbs up. "Yeah, they're pretty popular I guess." He said, trying not to sound awkward. Wes looked down to his espeon, who shook his head. Both his pokemon were male, from what Seth could tell. Seth decided to give up the small talk.  
 
He followed behind diligently, as the canopy soon began to lighten. Twenty minutes later and they were out of the forest. Another twenty minutes, and they arrived in Floaroma Town. Even in the dark, Seth could spot hundreds if not thousands of flowers all over the place. Which would explain the fragrance the town had. "Must be a nightmare around here during pollen season... Well, I guess this is where we part ways. Thanks for showing me the way out of that damn forest."  
 
Wes stopped and turned around. He pointed at Seth, walked his fingers, and then pointed at himself. "You. Follow. Me." Seth's brain interpreted.  
 
"Uh... okay?" Seth said. This guy was serious, but didn't seem dangerous. Wes lead the way across the dark field, towards the tree line to the north. They came back onto the path, and were right at the way into the town park, where lamps lit the stone path. They started to walk in, but Seth stopped when he felt a tug at his wrist. He looked over to see Sky with her tail wrapped around it. 
 
"There's something... weird about his pokemon. I don't know what, but they just feel off somehow."  
 
"If I could change..." Seth muttered. "Got it, we'll play careful." He said, rushing to catch up before they got noticed. They walked in silence, only the wind and night dwelling pokemon making any noise. It was that way for a while, until the sound of two people talking could be heard.  
 
Wes held his hand out, palm facing Seth, before silently sneaking off the path and towards the voices. Seth followed, just as quietly.  
 
"- hell is it? If we don't find this little bastard... We're screwed." 
 
"Dude, chill. We've got like a week left before the auction. It has to be around here somewhere."  
 
Wes suddenly bolted forward, breaking through the tree line and bursting into a clearing where there were two men. He grabbed one by the neck, carrying him forward and slamming his back into a tree, holding him nearly a foot off the ground. The man dropped the electric lantern he was holding, casting long shadows everywhere. Wes' umbreon went for the other man, tackling him to the ground and holding him down, growling into his face. The man Wes held made a few choked noises, while the other one desperately asked, "Who the hell are you guys?!"  
 
Seth just stood by in shock. He had no idea what was really happening. Wes had took them down pretty handily. There was a clanging as both men were disarmed. They both had handguns, and one had a net gun, and the other had a dart gun. Almost as if they were hunting something. Wes loosed his grip a bit, allowing the man in his grasp to breathe. Suddenly, he grabbed hold of the man's wrist, twisting it back with a sickening crunch. He howled out in pain.  
 
"What... What do you want with us?" He asked, gritting his teeth to fight through the pain. Wes said nothing. With his other hand, he pointed to the hunting tools. "Oh... we're just trying to catch a rare pokemon. We don't have our own, so we have to-" He cried out again as Wes twisted the man's wrist further. "Fuck me! Fine, we're trying to find the legendary pokemon shaymin. That's it, I swear."  
 
"We work for the Poke market!" The other man volunteered. It would seem the vicious umbreon was a better interrogator. Wes grimaced, making a face that nearly equaled his pokemon's rage. With his free hand, he reached up, taking hold of the man's forehead, before slamming it back into the tree, the sound of splintering wood sounding out. He dropped the unconscious man, who crumpled to the forest floor. The damaged wood had flecks of blood on it. Wes turned to face the other man, Seth seeing the fire burning in his eyes. 
 
Wes leaned down and tapped umbreon on the shoulder. The pokemon stepped back, getting off of the man on the ground. Wes turned around, picked up the dart gun, and shot it into the man's arm. The pokemon grade tranquilizer knocked him out instantly. Wes gathered up all the guns and set them in a pile in the middle of the clearing, before pointing at his espeon. Espeon's gem glowed, as the weapons twisted and warped, until only a pile of broken metal scrap remained.  
 
"Okay..." Seth whistled. "Mind explaining? Somehow?"  
 
Wes frowned. He fished around in his pockets, pulling out a PDA. He tapped away on the screen, before handing it to Seth. "These people work for the pokemon black market. They kidnap pokemon and sell them."  
 
"Oh... That helps. If you had warned me, I coulda helped, but uh, you didn't really need it. Why did you even bring me?" 
 
He took the PDA back, and typed again. "Light says you're special." He pointed to his espeon. 
 
"That's nice. If that's all, I think I'm gonna head for the pokemon center." 
 
Wes nodded, but didn't let Seth go before giving him one last message. "Be careful. They go after rare and strong pokemon the most. Your espeon and absol would be quite the catch." 
 
"How do you know about Soul?" Seth asked suspiciously. 
 
He held up his gloved fingers, making a T then a V.  
 
"Ahh. Well, good night then." Seth said, turning around and walking back to the path. "Seems like a nice enough guy, even if he is a little brutal." He said to Sky once they were out of earshot.  
 
"He seems... driven. And not too different from us."  
 
"Yeah, I can see that. Though he probably doesn't..." He poked a finger through a circle formed by his other hand, causing Sky to giggle. Seth suddenly tripped, falling forward. He managed to stop his fall with his hands, but got scraped up by the stones.  
 
"You okay?" Sky asked with concern. 
 
"Owwww..." Something with a high-pitched voice whimpered.  
 
Seth looked back, but the small ball was shrouded in darkness. They were between lights. It was bright enough to see the border of the path, but no detail.  
 
The thing didn't move as Seth took his flashlight out and shined it at the creature. It was a green and white little hedgehog pokemon, lying on the ground. Seth got up and kneeled over the whimpering pokemon. "Are you okay?"  
 
"Maybe..." It whimpered. It was tiny, so Seth accidently kicking it probably hurt it. 
 
Seth reached into his backpack and took out a potion, spraying it onto the pokemon's side. "There, that should make it feel better. Sorry." 
 
"Thank you." It said, before getting onto its feet and scurrying off.  
 
Seth and Sky left the park and went to the pokemon center. They got a room, despite the late hour. As soon as the door was open, Seth went in and collapsed onto the foot of the bed. "I'm gonna have so many bug bites." He complained.  
 
"Well don't pass out yet." Sky said. "I think those guys... and that day care thing from veilstone... I really hope they aren't but they might be connected." 
 
"They sound like it. Kidnap all the powerful pokemon from a daycare and capture a legendary, and make profit." He rolled over onto his back, legs still hanging half off the bed.  
 
Sky hopped onto the bed next to him. "Then we have to stop them. We should team up with Wes." 
 
"I know... but... I don't want anything to go wrong." He reached over and pulled her onto his chest, holding her close. 
 
"You've got to get over that. We're special, so it's our duty to help people." 
 
"I don't feel very special..."  
 
"I think you are. And who else's opinion do you care about?" 
 
He smiled up at her. "Thanks." He leaned up and gave her a quick peck of a kiss. She smiled back and leaned down, kissing him much more deeply.