>>15190249The blood is making my teeth stick together now, it's getting hard to see. I reach for the third poke'ball, the quick ball I caught my Fletchling in. That day... in the warm grass, feeling the silky feathers of my new friend under a cloudless autumn sky... it was so small... I never thought it would end like this.
The ball explodes in sound and light, whitehot energy shining bright in the dozens of red glasses that surround me, in the eyes of their Scraftys.
They're all smiling, like it's a fucking party.
When the light fades, I can hear Feu, she's crying out, flapping her wings over me, keeping them off of me. I try to stand, but my legs don't let me. It's all I can do to stay awake.
Feu collides with a Scrafty, then another, another. She never misses her mark. I remember the day she learned that move, she was so proud, flashing by the target in record time while Voler, Boire and I watched.
I remember it so clearly... Boire was hopping like mad, shooting bubbles at Voler for stealing his food. Boller didn't care, he shot this way and that, snatching anything left unattended. The dex said Zigzagoons were like that, but try telling that to a rash Froakie dealing with hunger pangs. I laughed as they tussled, urging Feu to strike again, to strike harder, faster.
She was so small back then.
Her cry pulls me back from delirium, a Mightyena has her by the wing, shaking his head furiously as red, wet feathers hit the floor below.
Instinctively, I reach for Boller's great ball, and only when my hand finds the slot empty do I remember it, empty on the floor some ten feet away, my Linoone still twitching nearby, that silky coat stained black-red.
Boller's eyes are still, but in his little paws, I can still see a candy he'd picked up somewhere along the way. Had he been holding it for me?
I try to pull myself up, and make it to my elbows, I feel my leg to asses the damage. The gashes are deep and sticky-wet.
(cont.)
