#fates entangled

The streets were rather quiet at this hour of night, with barely any people outside, most were probably sleeping or relaxing after a long day in their apartments.

Two creatures beneath black cloaks roamed through the seemingly empty streets, always careful to avoid light spots and to cover themselves as much as they could in order to blend in with the dark night and avoid suspicion from any person they might be unfortunate enough to stumble across.

Although, despite any possible suspicion, no person would be able to piece together what lied beneath the cloaks unless they saw them directly face to face. As long as Tobias and Samir prevented that, it wouldn't be that risky to be spotted outside by anyone, still, it's better not to tempt fate.

They were returning from their usual trip to the local forest on the outskirts of town, its location was rather convenient to their current situation and traveling there and back at night meant less chances of being seen.

They had found the forest to be the most viable way of sustenance, at least for now, usually being able to pick enough fruits to satiate their hunger. The fruits from the human world didn't have the healing properties the ones on their world had, but they seemed to fill one's hunger more easily, and that was good enough.

They made their usual path to the little hideout they made when suddenly they started to hear voices approaching, many voices.

Tobias and Samir looked around frantically for any suitable hiding spot they could find, the panic in their expression growing by the second. After spotting an empty alleyway, Tobias caught Samir's attention with a quick patting on his back and made a waving motion with his hand followed by a pointing gesture at the alleyway.

The two of them ran until they were halfway deep into the alleyway, pressed themselves upon the wall and crouched in order to blend in as much as possible. Fortunately, the alleway had no dead ends, so they could continue to traverse it to reach an open area if they needed to flee, not like they ever had to.They just needed to wait, as they always did. The cloaks did a wonderful job at keeping them concealed in the dark and their small size, compared to everyone else's, made them less noticeable to the average eye. Even when they spoke in a quiet low voice they usually just got ignored, their unknown language blending into the rest of the sounds of the night.

The group of humans strolled leisurely and slowly by the alleyway's entrance, exposing their view to the two pokémon, all while talking in a muddled incomprehensible mix of voices. They were all fully covered in a myriad of clothes with symbols distinguishing each of them, along with what seemed to be thematic masks. They all looked very detailed and of high quality, especially the masks, which captured the Charmander's curiosity.

"Didn't Nia speak of this once?" He whispered.

"How sometimes humans had events where they would compete against each other and how it was common for some of them to wear special clothing while it happened. She even said she was in a team herself once. Wombat, If I remember correctly." 

One of the humans suddenly stopped dead in it's tracks, as if they had been stunned. They looked around for a second, to the apparent confusion of their companions, if the tone of their voices was any indicator.

Shoot, Tobias thought while giving Samir an apologetic look, Did I speak too loud?

After a bit more talking between the humans, they all went on their way, disappearing from view, all but the stunned one. They bidded farewell to the others and stood still for some seconds, watching the others go, before reaching inside of their pocket and taking out a rectangular shaped device. They messed with it for a short period of time, tapping on it continuously, much to Tobias' growing anxiety. He just wanted that human to leave as soon as possible.

Suddenly, a loud sound came out of the device, loud enough to catch the two already tense pokémon off guard and make them violently flinch accompanied by a mild scream.

The flinch was big enough to uncover parts of their bodies from underneath the cloak, which Tobias tried to remedy by fully covering them back as quickly as he could.

When they looked back at the human they were greeted with a masked face looking straight at them.

For a moment Tobias and Samir stayed frozen in fear, staring at the human, and the human at them, for a few seconds in a deadlock that seemed to last an eternity.

Did the human actually see them? They were deep into a dark alleyway, so maybe the human didn't have time to discern anything in that darkness before they covered themselves back. The figure wasn't making any moves, so that was good at least. Tobias wasn't taking any bets. He slowly moved his head closer to Samir without breaking contact with the masked figure.

"We need to leave now" He whispered to the stunned Skiddo. The unexpected shakiness of his voice prevented it from being as quieted as he wished. Apparently it wasn't quiet enough, as it earned a slight flinch from their observer. 

Great, Tobias cursed silently in his mind. If he didn't know whether they had been spotted, now he definitely knew they had been heard. 

Maybe if they moved slowly without sudden movements the human still wouldn't be able to discern them in particular amidst the dark, as long as they made no sound. The human still made no moves so who knows, maybe they would lose interest soon enough and finally go on their way, Tobias could only hope. It wasn't the greatest idea but it was the best option they had at the moment.

He looked at Samir and put his finger on his own lips in a shushing sign followed by waving it in a circular motion while he slowly turned around. Samir followed suit and the both of them slowly walked, as pressed to the wall and the alleyway's darkness as they could, to the opposite exit of the alleyway. Tobias had to make a conscious effort to keep his breathing on check. He could feel his heart beating like a drum in his chest.

By the end of the alleyway Tobias and Samir had subconsciously increased the speed of their pace, not to the point of running, but enough to give them a small speed boost. It also meant it made them more prone to being spotted.

After leaving the alleyway, Tobias let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He was gripping his cloak a bit too strong as well. Hopefully his claws didn't make holes into it, finding a replacement would be bothersome.

The two pokemon walked into another empty street as Samir looked around restlessly trying to find any sort of exit or escape, anywhere they could quickly jump to in order to change their navigation route and cover their tracks. But before they could do so they heard the faint sound of steps right behind them. It was growing faster, and louder.

Tobias’ heart rate spiked. “Oh no.” 

By that point, He remembered snippets of conversation he had overheard between Will and Fidel, of the possibility of returning to the human world in their Pokémon forms, the dangers of it and the consequences of being found out.

The Chamander anxiously gulped. He did not want to entertain those thoughts, not right now. They needed to escape, and fast.

Samir stared at him with wide eyes. They needed to book it, and so they did.

Still trying to cling to the cloak around them, after all one pair of eyes on them was less worse than a dozen, Samir and Tobias ran as fast as they could, turning any corner and entering any alleway or exit they came across in an effort to try and lose their tracker at any costs. It didn't prove that effective however, as no matter how much they ran and turned, their tracker seemed quick to catch on them.

Tobias was starting to tire. Damn it! Why do humans have to be so fast? He thought with a pang of irritation.

Even without taking into account how their shorter legs, in comparison to their pursuer, made them slower than them, it always seemed that their chaser knew where they were going despite not being able to fully see them in the darkness of the night, turning alongside them as soon as Samir whistled the direction to follow.

The running didn't last for much longer. Upon turning into an alleyway, Tobias and Samir were faced with a long corridor with a high wall covering any possible exit behind it.

Tobias panicked. Dead End.

They had half a mind to turn the other way and try to leave the exitless corridor as fast as possible, but the set of claking sounds of the concrete street behind them quickly killed that thought.

They turned around to see the human standing between them and the way out of the alleyway.

The running seemed to have done its job in them too, seeing as how they were panting, or so it seemed, could never be too sure of what was going through behind that mask. And so there both groups stood, unmoving, unflinching, with all their muscles on edge.

That brief pause gave Tobias time to breathe, and the surplus of oxygen may have just cleared his mind for long enough to save them.

"Didn't Nia say humans were far more weaker and fragile than Pokémon once?" He whispered. “We could attempt to fight this out."

Loud. Samir whistled as quietly as he could in return. His eyes were fixed on the possible foe in front of them.

"There's no point in keeping this much hidden anymore, we have already been seen. Plus, we're in an alleyway at night, we should be able to do this quickly. I can't use fire moves without drawing attention, but you can still use your grass type moves. We just need to knock them out, if we're lucky enough they might just wake up thinking it was all a dream."

...Quick. Samir quietly conceded.

The two pokemon removed their cloak, earning a slight gasp from their stalker. They narrowed their eyes and spread out as they could in the somewhat large alleyway, trying to look as intimidating as possible.

Suddenly the stranger lifted their arms slowly, as if surrendering.

Wait. they whistled.

Wait.

Tobias furrowed his brow. They knew whistle language? I suppose that explains how they always seemed to be on our tail. He thought

Peace. The human continued

Friend.

They cautiously took some steps forward, slightly lowering their head and crouching enough to stand at their eye level. They pointed at Tobias' red scarf, and to their right arm.

Tobias waited but the human made no further movements. They just resumed staring at him and Samir. Were they expecting a reaction?

Samir seemed just as confused as he was, given by the looks the Skiddo gave him with the corner of his eye.

Friend, the stranger whistled again.

They motioned their hand to the bandana and then to their arm a second time.

Tie

Friend

Partner

Now it was getting even more confusing.

The human let out a sigh. They pointed at himself, then at Samir, then at Tobias.

Team.

The confusion of both Pokémon only increased.

Team? Friend? What was this human talking about? At this point most of the tension of the previous chase had given way to confusion. Were they trying to make him and Samir lower their guard? They still needed to lay low again fast, but the way this situation kept dragging itself longer and longer wasn't helping. Anytime another human could pass by and see them, which would only escalate the situation. Things were already bad enough as they were. This standoff needed to end soon.

Tie? Tobias looked at his scarf, then at his arm.

Why would this random human ask him to tie his bandana against their…

His heart skipped a beat and his eyes slightly widened. 

"Can you understand me?"

Yes, the stranger whistled.

"You know whistle language."

They nodded in return.

"And you also understand Ordiune."

The figure didn't reply. Instead they slowly brought a backpack from their back to the ground in front of them. They opened it and alternated between shuffling through it's contents and glancing at the two Pokémon. They were probably worried he and Samir would try something on that momentary lack of focus, Tobias guessed.

After some more shuffling, the human took a notepad and a pencil out of the backpack. They flipped through the pages and ripped a few out of it before slowly sliding them towards the Pokémon. 

Samir kept his eyes locked onto the human as Tobias picked the pages and started examining them. The first page was full of words written in Ordiune, all scattered around without any order or pattern. A look of surprise took hold of Tobias' face.

He put the page on the ground for Samir to see before going through the next one. The eyes of the skiddo widened as he stared at the page. Samir looked back at the human, his expression wasn't as hostile anymore.

The other pages, Tobias noted, were full of drawings. More specifically, the drawings of seven Pokémon: a Charmander, a Skiddo, a Megamium, a Leafon, a Luxio, a Deerling and a Sneasel. Above each drawing, a name was written in a messy Ordiune. Tobias’ breath quickened as he read the names of the members of the Lexym Guild, including Samir's and his own. Above the drawing of both of them there was another writing.

"Team Scarlet" Tobias whispered. He looked like he had seen a ghost.

It took a few moments for him to register reality again. It seemed like he suddenly had been hit with a solar beam to the head. Breathe. He needed to breathe.

After taking a deep breath and looking at Samir, only to see tears in his eyes, he looked back at the human. They had come a lot closer to them while he was examining the papers, which Samir didn't seem to mind. At that point curiosity had gotten the best of both of them. The masked figure was holding a paper with a drawing for them to see.

A messy drawing of a riolu with something written below it:

Nia

Tobias' blood went cold. He started to breathe so fast he felt nauseous. A low wailing noise escaped his mouth, then another one, then another each time he exhaled. It was as if he couldn't control himself. Because he couldn't. He started crying, and Samir alongside him.

"Nia!", he wailed in a crying voice. "It's really you!"

The now recognized human approached them even more. She held her arms wide, imitating a hug gesture.

Imitation or not, the Skiddo and the Charmander jumped straight into her arms, holding her as tight and close as they could.

"I can't believe I found you!" Tobias said in a shaking voice. "I cant believe I finally found you! 

She embraced them tight as well, sniffles being heard behind the mask.

Tobias did not know what clothes she was wearing, but they were warm, it only made their situation more familiar and soothing.

Family. she whistled.

Come.

Safe.

Home.

With that they let themselves go of each other and wiped the tears of their faces. Nia waved them to follow her while pointing to their cloak. Before having the chance to get up and lead the way, however, Tobias held her hand with his own, his claws softly massaging the texture of the gloves she was using. He carefully untied his bandana from his neck. Seeing this Nia snorted and offered her arm. With the bandana tied to it, Team Scarlet was officially renewed.

After covering Samir and Tobias with their cloaks, Nia stood up and carefully led the way.

No words were spoken on the way to Nia's home, but none were needed.

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After arriving at Nia's house, it dawned on them how tired the three of them were, physically and emotionally. Their eyes were starting to grow heavy and their movements were becoming more sluggish by the second.

A yawn made its way out of Tobias’ mouth, quickly being followed by Samir's and Nia's and earning a laugh out of them.

She wasted no time in guiding them to her room and to the bed inside of it, on top of which the three of them promptly collapsed with a long sigh, finally being allowed to take a breath and rest from the eventful night.

Nia's mask laid on top of her bedside table, giving her some breathing room while, after some shuffling, she laid fast asleep in a somewhat curling position on her bed.

Tobias laid comfortably with his back facing Nia's chest, enjoying the warmth she gave while she hugged him. Samir peacefully slept next to Nia's knees, below Tobias' position on the bed, the side of his head softly touching Nia's legs.

The rest of the night was calm and the chill breeze that got to their room only made them huddle closer to each other.

Tomorrow's problems could wait, rest came first. They had each other now, and that's all that mattered.

The night was dark and so the future seemed to be, at least for now, but it was bound to pass, ready to be conquered by the morning sunshine.

And as long as Nia's presence shined with them, Tobias and Samir knew that, as bad as things might get, they would get through this, together as a team, like they always did.

He didn't know what the future had in store for them, but he knew that in the end all would be well.

After a while the night got a little less darker and the rays of the sun started to burn like scarlet in the sky. And with that sight their journey had officially begun.

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