Past Sandgem, past curfew, past what he knew. Presently, Lucas was still rushing toward his destination; making like a Sharpedo, to be exact, although those were more about speed through the sea than dashing through the forest, which was exactly what Lucas was doing.

  Cold wind licked his face in a gust. The sound of grass and trees rustling in the dark whispered in his ears as he trekked through the gravel route at night, but no matter how fast he dashed, it felt like it would take nine nights to get to the Capital; and according to the GPS on his Poketch, it would take an estimated 30 minutes to get there at his current speed!

  Again, the chiming and ringing of Kricketunes sang in his ears with the crescent moon hanging in the starry orange-black sky. Unfortunately for him, the moon was an invitation for some of the darkest things the wild had to offer.

  He gripped his scarf.

  “I bet Mom would freak at the thought of me out here in the wild by myself!” he said between huffs, jaggedly sprinting past a wall of shadowy trees like inky black towers. He felt like he was in a heater. “But why the heck did I wake up so late—seriously! Now I’m running through this stupid forest all by myself, and who knows what might be out here!”

  Alone again. The not-so-distant howling echoed all around him, doing little to quell any nervousness he felt, but it did answer some curiosity he had about what might’ve been out there. Enough to make him swallow any doubts he had about not bringing his partner out; so, with swift conviction, he pulled his Poké Ball from his pocket, feeling it inflate in his hands as it spewed his partner out in a bright flash.

  “Azure! Good to see you, buddy! Hey, I need your—ow! Stop!”

  Wasting no time, Azure immediately poked and stabbed Lucas with his yellow knife of a beak! If anything, his partner was helping him run faster, even if it was to avoid getting hurt. “Please stop! Listen, Azure: we may have lost to Barry, but that's in the past now. I know you're angry. I am too. So let's take that energy and use it to build each other up—ow!" Lucas tried and failed to negotiate with the angry blue bird, which let out a frustration-fueled tweet that sounded more like a bold-faced “No!” than an avian cry, still wearing an angry look on its fluffy white face—until a series of entanglements and rash waddling led him to fall on said white face.

  “Woah, are you okay?” In that moment, all the tension building up within Lucas was mostly flushed out, replaced by surprise and a tickling feeling in his gut that made a few chuckles spill from his mouth.

  “Ow! What's your frickin’ problem? Are you that much of a sore loser? Look, we don’t have time for this. We need to get to Jubilife City, but… well, not that I’m completely freaking out, but I heard this forest isn’t safe, so I need your help, okay? Now come on, let’s—”

  Azure slapped away his hand with one of his little wings, picking his bobbly head off the ground and puffing up his chest. He didn’t need the help of a little weakling like Lucas!

  A faint snap cracked in Lucas's ears, and before he even turned around—

  A feral roar paralyzed him as a shining beast cloaked in polished yellow light burst out of the blackness of the trees!

  Lucas yelled, shocked by the sudden ambush. Literally. A fur ball shrouded in crackling electricity tackled him onto the ground and let out a vicious feline hiss.

  It was a Shinx.

  A wild wield Shinx bearing its pointy demonic fangs at him, its crazed glowing yellow eyes, with pupils like knife slits, beamed into the very depths of his soul. Lucas shrieked as the savage cat dug its claws into his arm—only for the cat to be sent crashing into the ground as Azure tackled it into the grass!

  The boy's heart drummed like never before, his mind flipping out like it was falling from the sky. “Azure, no!”

  The two Pokémon growled violently, rolling around in the grass with murderous intent. Azure screeched as the Shinx's devilish fangs sank into his fur before he delivered a horrible peck to its eye that squeezed out a blood-curdling shriek that shook the forest!

  Lucas was paralyzed. This was insane. This was… cruel! It was such a raw display of animosity; too pure to be hatred, just kill or be killed. The most undiluted form of violence, and people made their Pokémon battle like this deliberately? This was sick!

  This was much different from that sorry battle he'd had with Barry. This was horrible. In fact, it made Lucas want to vomit just thinking about making Azure fight mercilessly in that trainer match.

  And yet…

  This was what it meant to venture out into the tall grass. All those times he'd whined about being denied the chance to explore by adults in the town… was this what they were shielding him from? Something as gory and ruthless as this—this was just wrong.

  Soaked in the hazardous yellow light the Shinx radiated, fierceness etched onto his avian face as he struggled, covered in bloody scratches and bruises... Azure stood.

  That's when Lucas realized. An epiphany. The cruelness, the rawness, the carnage seemed to be exactly why trainers and Pokémon alike did this. He could feel it in his trembling hands and racing mind.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  One twisted thought.

  A realization.

  There was nothing more exhilarating, nothing more entertaining than cruelty.

  But that knowledge was useless. A powerful surge of electricity entangled Azure like searing ropes, before exploding in a wild flash of golden light!

  Azure lay on the black grass. Lifeless. It was over. "Azure, return!" Lucas cried, holding out the Piplup's Poké Ball as bright light spilled out of it. But the penguin rolled away from the light, getting up and limping out of its way.

  Lucas grit his teeth. "You lost! You can't fight anymore; that thing’ll kill you! I get not wanting to give up, but this is too much! Azure, return—"

  An explosive screech zinged in Lucas's ears. Azure stared at him, utterly rejecting any notion of losing. Lucas's eyebrows crunched his face in twisting rage. "Are you stupid?! Just do what I’m telling you to do, you stupid idiot! You’re gonna get yourself killed with all your stubbornness; can’t you see?"

  But before he could even finish that thought, another streak of searing lightning fired, lighting the inky black with vicious yellow as it entangled Azure and fried him in a stuttering burst! The bird collapsed to the ground once again.

  "No!" Lucas exploded, turning his head at the Shinx, which wagged its spark-tipped tail that looked like a string of electric wire. He gritted his teeth, his heart pounding as he pictured it playing out in his head.

  There was no time.

  He charged at the charged-up feline, lunging at it to pin it to the ground. The baby-blue electric devil sidestepped his advance effortlessly, hissing aggressively at him as it scratched his back; he howled and winced, the sharp pain of its savage claws slicing through his jacket and digging into his skin zinged throughout his whole body.

  The first of many.

  Lucas jolted and cried, being ravaged by the Pokémon; his jacket was torn and ripped by its carnage-causing claws, blood leaking from his body out of the slits it scratched into his skin. But just when he thought he was about to be mauled to death, light thumping drummed on the grassy ground, and he heard a loud hiss entangled with brutal tweeting.

  Azure bashed his head into the wild Shinx, taking it down once again! The two little beasts tumbled in the black grass, sparks flying from the Shinx's now-glowing body, which looked like a star; its fur was smothered in a gleaming coat as it clawed and clawed away at Azure, who tweeted furiously, pounding it over and over again in a bloody mess.

  Lucas sat up, paralyzed again, the burning sting of sores squeezing tears from his eyes. He was such an idiot; what on Earth made him think he could go out late? What was he thinking? He was so stupid! Charging at a wild Shinx as if he had any hope of catching something as agile as that with his bare hands to beat it up!

  Catch it in his…

  There it was.

  Something sparked in Lucas's brain, blood running down his face from an open scratch. He frantically threw off his backpack and rummaged through it, throwing everything out—potions, repels—snatching a white box that rattled with millions of balls. A box of Poké Balls. He tore it open without a second thought, grabbing hold of one, feeling it inflate in his palm before—

  “Azure, get out of the way!” he ordered, squeezing the ball in his hand as he aimed. Ignored. “You stupid piece of shit, get out of the damn way!” Lucas snapped. In a blind fit of rage, he dashed at the Piplup and swung his foot like a bat, kicking its little frame away from the feral feline—all before flinging the Poké Ball at the cat like a rock, thwacking it dead on its head and enveloping it in a bright blue light.

  1… 2… 3…

  The Poké Ball pulsed a bright victorious blue. Lucas dropped to his knees.

  "Yeeesssss!!" He punched the air over and over again in furious victory. "I… I caught one! I caught a Pokémon! I..." His eyes fell on the body of a battered, unmoving Pokémon that looked like a lump of black and blue under the moonlight.

  "Azure!" Lucas cried in distress, grabbing his bag, which was lighter thanks to him taking out most of its contents, and running toward the Piplup. "Azure! We won! Hey!" He shook the Pokémon, rolling it over to see its eyes flickering white and rolling into the back of its head. His heart hammered in his chest. “Shit! No, no—hey! Wake up! Oh my god, Azure, I’m so sorry!”

  He scrambled for a potion spray in the dark, squeezing the trigger, his nose struck by the clinical smell of alcohol fused with fruitness. He aimed as best as he could with a shaking hand and drenched the piplup’s bloody sores with the ointment.

  “It’s okay, you’ll be fine!” he cried.

  But he wasn’t fine. No response. Still. Quiet.

  Lucas put his hand on his little feathery chest, which had now deflated… he felt a little heartbeat. Stubborn and staunch. Without a second thought, he returned Azure to his ball. He needed to get to a Poké Center. Fast.

  With his bag on his back, Lucas dashed through the forest, grass groaning with rustling complaints as he kicked through it in a frantic hurry. His breath, jagged and stressed, came out in foggy clouds chilled by the night's cold. Sandgem was far behind him at that point; the only thing around him was blackness swaying in the wind, leaves like inky clouds rustling in eerie whispers. He looked down at his wrist.

  17:48 PM.

  "What the hell? Time can’t be going that fast—no, it’s okay; I'll get you healed up, Azure! I’ve got it all under control, okay? Straight to the Poké Center, straight to Dawn—it’s all under control, it’s all…”

  The words froze in his throat. He couldn’t scrape them out. Up in the air, there it was again; gliding in the air just barely ahead of him like a kite; a murky, black and winged shadow.

  There it was again, following him.

  Something was horribly wrong. Harmonious howling rippled through the air, deathly synchronized hymns fused with the sound of stuttering electricity hit his ears and made his heart drop to its knees. Lucas started shaking as if he'd been electrocuted, frantically looking around as he ran on increasingly heavy legs, analyzing the deep darkness between the trees until...

  He stopped.

  A pair of yellow dots beamed at him from the shadows of the trees.

  Gleaming eyes.

  He wasn't out of the woods yet.