Chapter 4
Those two weeks were the most painful times I had ever been in a hospital. I couldn’t say anything until we tried to practice speaking after a week of bedrest.
“You have to be gentler.” The Jigglypuff said calmly.
“But I don’t (cough) want to be (cough) gentle!” I shouted. I knew the shouting was really bad for me, but I hated being silent. At every cough Leanna moved closer to the “Call Nurse” button. My voice had shifted to a hoarse croak for the most part, but I was working on that. Right now actually.
“It won’t matter if you have another episode like that. Ms. Clearwater might not be able to save your voice again.” I quieted down.
“You mean I could’ve completely lost my voice (cough)?” Leanna nodded sadly. I suddenly had a new appreciation for the Audino. I took a deep breath (wincing since I was completely healed yet) and turned to Leanna with determination.
“Alright, I’ll try to take it easy from (cough) now on.” Maybe it was just my imagination, but I thought my voice sounded clearer. Leanna beamed.
“That’s great! Let’s get back to the ‘ch’ sounds.”
“But first, can I get out of this bed? I’m getting (cough) really sick of it.” I asked. Leanna smiled like she knew a secret.
“Sorry, not this time.” I sighed and we continued. It was my last day of silence when Ms. Clearwater came in with a Machamp following behind her.
“Good morning, Forza. How are you feeling?” She asked.
“Sick. Sick of this bed! Can I get out of (cough) this now?” I practically begged. She sighed and motioned the Machamp forward.
“Fine, but you’ll have to be careful. Your voice has gotten better, though. That’s good.” I smiled. Getting compliments was nice, especially after being neglected by my father for my whole life.
“Thanks. I can’t wait to get back on the battlefield!” I threw the blankets off of me and almost jumped off the bed. The Machamp grabbed me and very carefully let my feet touch the floor.
“Forza, there’s something I need to tell you.” Ms. Clearwater said with sorrow.
“Go ahead, shoot.” I said and took a wobbly step toward her. The Machamp was at my side, ready to catch me if I fell.
“You can’t go back to the battlefields.” She said, bracing herself for me to scream, or act surprised, but I did none of those things.
“Why not?” I asked, almost innocently. I was standing fine and if I had more room I would have tried running. I felt perfectly fine. A little sore, admittedly, but fine. Ms. Clearwater sighed and told me what had broken inside of me. I stood there, still as a statue. This can’t be happening. I took a deep breath, feeling anger rise to the surface.
“So, I’m basically a human that looks like a Pokémon, right?” I said through clenched teeth. The Machamp stood closer to me, most likely to restrain me if I decided to attack.
“Oh no, you’re still stronger and faster than a normal human, but you can’t fight a Pokémon to a fainting point. You can only kill them.” I stared at my claws as my anger pumped adrenaline into my bloodstream. He did this to me.
“Forza, calm down. Your eyes are glowing.” I checked the mirror nearby and they were actually glowing. I calmed down, but only enough so my eyes weren’t shining anymore.
“I’m getting out of here. Today.” I said and walked toward the door. The Machamp stepped in front of me and I growled. Well, half-growled half-coughed.
“Don’t you see, you need at least one more day here. Tomorrow you can go back to your dorm room okay?” Ms. Clearwater asked without expecting me to oppose.
“Fine! But only one more day.” I said and the Machamp raised me onto my bed. Oh how I hated that bed. I kept the blankets off, just to spite them. They left and I just sulked. After about an hour I heard someone knock on the door.
“Who’s there?” I asked. Hopefully it’s Fortis. Whenever he came to visit he would knock on the door twice and we would do a knock-knock joke. His idea, not mine.
“Dishes.” It was definitely Fortis.
“Dishes who?”
“Dishes Fortis, can I come in?” He opened the door and poked his head in while I laughed.
“Hey Fortis. How’s class?” I asked, sitting up a little taller. Fortis groaned and sat down in the chair next to me.
“Horrible. Mr. Bankers assigned us homework. We have to smash 200 dummies each with just our Aura Spheres!” I chuckled at his drama. He was most likely exaggerating.
“Well guess what? I’m getting out tomorrow.” I said. He jumped onto his feet and whooped loudly. I heard the Rattata next door grumble about how loud we were.
“That’s great! Now we can work out your cooping up here on the battlefield!” My smile vanished and Fortis sat back down.
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy?” He sounded so genuinely concerned, I had to tell him.
“I’m not going back to the battlefields ever again.” I said simply, but he didn’t take the hint.
“Salazar won’t be there. He’s been banned from the gym until he graduates.” I smiled slightly at that news, but it didn’t last long.
“That’s not it. I can’t fight anymore. Salazar broke me.” I said. Fortis smiled slightly.
“You say that like you’re a little kid. ‘He broke me’ what nonsense. You can’t be broken too bad right?” He searched my face for some humor or a sign that I was kidding.
“I don’t kid around often enough to be lying. And it’s serious enough that I’ll be stuck on level one forever.” I said and looked away. I could tell he was very anxious now.
“What did he do?” Fortis spat and I turned to face him. His face was tinged red through his fur and he was breathing heavily. I told him and he freaked out.
“What? This isn’t something you can fix, Forza. How will you fight? Zoroarks are naturally aggressive and if you try to tamper that you’re going to run into some issues.” He took a deep breath and started pacing the room.
“You ready to hear the good news now?” I asked sarcastically.
“There’s good news to this? I am ready to hear it.” He sat back down and I smiled, thinking about how he will respond. The silver lining was a great silver lining to have in this situation, and Fortis agreed.
“That is good and bad. It would help you keep up appearances, but if someone were to find out about this, they could use all the moves in the world to bring you down. Who can we tell?” Fortis thought about this like it was his problem.
“Fortis, this isn’t your problem. I only told you because I trust you. I’ll tell you who I want to know, and you can tell me if they’re trustworthy. Got it?” I said. He nodded his approval and sat back down.
“I want to tell Igna, Aurum, Velox, and Vulpi. Are they good to trust this secret with?” I asked. Fortis thought for a second.
“I trust Igna completely. Aurum and Velox won’t tell anyone if we tell them it’s a secret. I’m not so sure about Vulpi. She really likes to talk. I don’t think she’s shared any secrets though.” I nodded at his judgement. I trusted Igna too.
“Then it’s settled. Could you bring them here? I’m afraid I’m still banned from leaving this room.” I joked, but Fortis didn’t laugh. He simply walked out of the room counting on his fingers. Once he shut the door I stepped off the bed. There wasn’t much to do, so I just read some of the charts and looked at the different medicine bags. After about 30 minutes, Fortis came back.
“Hey, what took you so long? And where are the others?” I asked. Fortis shushed me and motioned for me to turn around. He was smiling, so I did.
“What’s this about?”
“Close your eyes.” He said in a strong but compassionate voice, like when you need a younger sibling to go turn off the lights before you go to dinner. I closed my eyes and felt something being tied across them.
“Can’t risk you peeking before the surprise is ready.” He answered before I could even ask.
“Okay, I trust you.” I said as he led me through the door. I didn’t put my arms out, I said I trusted him and I did.
“Where are we going?” I couldn’t help but ask. I could almost feel him smiling.
“You’ll see.” He said in a sing-song voice. I groaned in mock annoyance and kept my ears perked. I didn’t hear anything other than our breathing. I didn’t even hear any side conversations around the halls. No one was there.
“Where is everyone?” I asked Fortis. He didn’t answer. We suddenly stopped and Fortis took off my blindfold. I still couldn’t see anything, the room was pitch-black. I tried to look around but there wasn’t any light.
“Fortis?” I whispered. I couldn’t hear his breathing anymore. I tensed up for a battle. Suddenly, the lights came on and blinded me.
“SURPRISE!!” Hundreds of voices shouted and I almost punched the person next to me, which was Vulpi.
“I hope you like it Forza. We had to rush things so you wouldn’t have to wait for too long. Can you tell us what it was like to fight Salazar?” Vulpi asked. The other Pokéumans nodded earnestly. I shied away whilst giving Vulpi a pleading look.
“Okay, nevermind. Come try this punch that Aurum made!” She dragged me toward the snack table and I finally noticed she was on two feet. I was about to say something when Velox and Igna showed up.
“Forza, it’s great to see you up and running again. Fortis wouldn’t shut up about not being able to see you.” Velox teased as Fortis came up from behind him.
“Yeah, I had to deal with his pacing all night!” Igna laughed. I couldn’t help but smile at their happiness. It felt great to have people care about me enough to go out of their way to make me feel welcome.
“Oh Forza, are you okay?” Fortis asked. I touched my cheek and found it wet. I quickly wiped it away before Aurum or Vulpi could see it.
“Yeah, the drugs must be messing with my emotions.” I said in a raspy voice. Fortis looked at me as if he was giving me a secret message. You didn’t sound like that a few minutes ago. I avoided his gaze and turned to see Aurum and Vulpi coming over. I nodded at Fortis and he got my message. It’s time.
“Hey guys, we need to talk. Let’s all go to my dorm.” Fortis said once the others got close enough to hear.
“Sure thing Fortis, but what are we going to do about them?” Igna asked and motioned to all the guests. I saw a group of them pass by and had an idea.
“I’m tired. Can I go back to my dorm now?” I said loud enough for the group to hear and saw them talk to some other Pokémon. It was like a chain reaction. After a few minutes, everyone was looking at me. I squirmed under their scrutinizing gaze.
“Alright everyone! Forza is feeling rather tired, so we will be taking her back to her dorm. In the meantime, you can all still stay if you like. Thank you.” Fortis stepped down from the table and proceeded to escort me out of the gym. I didn’t think anyone tried to follow us. Until I heard him at the door to Room #156.
“You can stop following me now.” I whispered. The others turned around and Velox growled.
“You. What are you, of all people, doing here?” Aurum spat. I turned my head to the side, but not to see him. I already recognized his scent.
“Salazar, what a bold move. Come to finish the job?” I snapped and spun around. What I saw instantly made me regret my tone. He had his head hung down and his wings were drooped. I placed my arm across Velox’s chest to push him back.
“Forza, what are you doing?” Igna asked, but I ignored her. Soon, I was standing right in front of him.
“If you have something to say, you better say it quick.” I said and he cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry for what I did to you. I wasn’t trying to kill you. I just wanted you to stay off my back.” He swallowed hard and I put my paw on his shoulder. He looked up at me.
“I lost, didn’t I? So, I’m off your back. For now at least. Once I get my strength back I want a rematch. Got it?” He smiled at me and nodded. Suddenly, his smile changed to something more sinister and he lunged at me. Now, I’m not going to lie and say that I knew he was going to do that and reacted accordingly, since he actually caught me by surprise.
“Forza!” Vulpi cried and intercepted Salazar. He was launched into the wall and I scowled at him.
“I was ready to forgive you. I would have let you come into my dorm room and I would’ve told you my secret. I would have trusted you.” He looked up at me with malice burning in his eyes.
“But guess what, Salazar? You’ve broken that. No one else will ever trust you again. I’ll make sure of it.” I turned back to my dorm room and stepped inside. The others followed one by one until the door closed behind Fortis, who was the last one in.
“So, what’s this about Forza?” Vulpi asked. I noticed her standing pretty close to Velox. I also noticed Igna holding Aurum’s hand.
“Something happened to her. Something that Salazar did when he hit her with his Fire Blast.” Fortis started.
“Can I tell them what’s wrong with me, please?” I interrupted. He spread him arm out as a gesture of knock yourself out.
“Go right ahead.”
“Thank you. Salazar broke something inside me. Something that can’t ever be fixed. But there is a good side to this. I need you guys to save the revenge for another time and to promise you won’t tell anyone. Not even Headmaster Grayson. Can you do that?” I asked. They all exchanged glances.
“We can do that. We trust you, Forza. We care about you.” Vulpi said with a smile and I had to smile back. The others nodded in agreement. I was about to continue when Fortis interrupted.
“Vulpi, are you sure you can keep this a secret? We know you like to talk a lot so…”
“I work in the infirmary, Fortis. I’m pretty good at the whole ‘patient confidentiality’ thing. In fact, I think I already know what’s broken. But I’ll let Forza tell you that.” Vulpi answered and stepped back. I nodded while the others just stared.
“Thank you Vulpi. Okay, here’s the big news…” Everyone leaned in closer. I looked to Fortis.
“Good or bad?” I asked.
“Start with the good.” He said and I turned back to the group.
“The good news is, I am no longer affected by Pokémon moves.” The boys relaxed and started high-fiving each other. Igna started to relax as well, but Fortis and Vulpi were still as tense as ever.
“Tell them the bad news.” Fortis said loud enough for the others to hear and settle down.
“The bad news is…” I stopped for a moment. What if they can’t control their thirst for vengeance? Could they possibly reveal my weakness on accident?
“Yes?” Igna asked, scooting closer to me. I pushed my doubts aside. I didn’t know them very well, but I could still trust them to keep this a secret.
“The bad news is…I can never use Pokémon moves for the rest of my life.”
Chapter 5: Next
Those two weeks were the most painful times I had ever been in a hospital. I couldn’t say anything until we tried to practice speaking after a week of bedrest.
“You have to be gentler.” The Jigglypuff said calmly.
“But I don’t (cough) want to be (cough) gentle!” I shouted. I knew the shouting was really bad for me, but I hated being silent. At every cough Leanna moved closer to the “Call Nurse” button. My voice had shifted to a hoarse croak for the most part, but I was working on that. Right now actually.
“It won’t matter if you have another episode like that. Ms. Clearwater might not be able to save your voice again.” I quieted down.
“You mean I could’ve completely lost my voice (cough)?” Leanna nodded sadly. I suddenly had a new appreciation for the Audino. I took a deep breath (wincing since I was completely healed yet) and turned to Leanna with determination.
“Alright, I’ll try to take it easy from (cough) now on.” Maybe it was just my imagination, but I thought my voice sounded clearer. Leanna beamed.
“That’s great! Let’s get back to the ‘ch’ sounds.”
“But first, can I get out of this bed? I’m getting (cough) really sick of it.” I asked. Leanna smiled like she knew a secret.
“Sorry, not this time.” I sighed and we continued. It was my last day of silence when Ms. Clearwater came in with a Machamp following behind her.
“Good morning, Forza. How are you feeling?” She asked.
“Sick. Sick of this bed! Can I get out of (cough) this now?” I practically begged. She sighed and motioned the Machamp forward.
“Fine, but you’ll have to be careful. Your voice has gotten better, though. That’s good.” I smiled. Getting compliments was nice, especially after being neglected by my father for my whole life.
“Thanks. I can’t wait to get back on the battlefield!” I threw the blankets off of me and almost jumped off the bed. The Machamp grabbed me and very carefully let my feet touch the floor.
“Forza, there’s something I need to tell you.” Ms. Clearwater said with sorrow.
“Go ahead, shoot.” I said and took a wobbly step toward her. The Machamp was at my side, ready to catch me if I fell.
“You can’t go back to the battlefields.” She said, bracing herself for me to scream, or act surprised, but I did none of those things.
“Why not?” I asked, almost innocently. I was standing fine and if I had more room I would have tried running. I felt perfectly fine. A little sore, admittedly, but fine. Ms. Clearwater sighed and told me what had broken inside of me. I stood there, still as a statue. This can’t be happening. I took a deep breath, feeling anger rise to the surface.
“So, I’m basically a human that looks like a Pokémon, right?” I said through clenched teeth. The Machamp stood closer to me, most likely to restrain me if I decided to attack.
“Oh no, you’re still stronger and faster than a normal human, but you can’t fight a Pokémon to a fainting point. You can only kill them.” I stared at my claws as my anger pumped adrenaline into my bloodstream. He did this to me.
“Forza, calm down. Your eyes are glowing.” I checked the mirror nearby and they were actually glowing. I calmed down, but only enough so my eyes weren’t shining anymore.
“I’m getting out of here. Today.” I said and walked toward the door. The Machamp stepped in front of me and I growled. Well, half-growled half-coughed.
“Don’t you see, you need at least one more day here. Tomorrow you can go back to your dorm room okay?” Ms. Clearwater asked without expecting me to oppose.
“Fine! But only one more day.” I said and the Machamp raised me onto my bed. Oh how I hated that bed. I kept the blankets off, just to spite them. They left and I just sulked. After about an hour I heard someone knock on the door.
“Who’s there?” I asked. Hopefully it’s Fortis. Whenever he came to visit he would knock on the door twice and we would do a knock-knock joke. His idea, not mine.
“Dishes.” It was definitely Fortis.
“Dishes who?”
“Dishes Fortis, can I come in?” He opened the door and poked his head in while I laughed.
“Hey Fortis. How’s class?” I asked, sitting up a little taller. Fortis groaned and sat down in the chair next to me.
“Horrible. Mr. Bankers assigned us homework. We have to smash 200 dummies each with just our Aura Spheres!” I chuckled at his drama. He was most likely exaggerating.
“Well guess what? I’m getting out tomorrow.” I said. He jumped onto his feet and whooped loudly. I heard the Rattata next door grumble about how loud we were.
“That’s great! Now we can work out your cooping up here on the battlefield!” My smile vanished and Fortis sat back down.
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you happy?” He sounded so genuinely concerned, I had to tell him.
“I’m not going back to the battlefields ever again.” I said simply, but he didn’t take the hint.
“Salazar won’t be there. He’s been banned from the gym until he graduates.” I smiled slightly at that news, but it didn’t last long.
“That’s not it. I can’t fight anymore. Salazar broke me.” I said. Fortis smiled slightly.
“You say that like you’re a little kid. ‘He broke me’ what nonsense. You can’t be broken too bad right?” He searched my face for some humor or a sign that I was kidding.
“I don’t kid around often enough to be lying. And it’s serious enough that I’ll be stuck on level one forever.” I said and looked away. I could tell he was very anxious now.
“What did he do?” Fortis spat and I turned to face him. His face was tinged red through his fur and he was breathing heavily. I told him and he freaked out.
“What? This isn’t something you can fix, Forza. How will you fight? Zoroarks are naturally aggressive and if you try to tamper that you’re going to run into some issues.” He took a deep breath and started pacing the room.
“You ready to hear the good news now?” I asked sarcastically.
“There’s good news to this? I am ready to hear it.” He sat back down and I smiled, thinking about how he will respond. The silver lining was a great silver lining to have in this situation, and Fortis agreed.
“That is good and bad. It would help you keep up appearances, but if someone were to find out about this, they could use all the moves in the world to bring you down. Who can we tell?” Fortis thought about this like it was his problem.
“Fortis, this isn’t your problem. I only told you because I trust you. I’ll tell you who I want to know, and you can tell me if they’re trustworthy. Got it?” I said. He nodded his approval and sat back down.
“I want to tell Igna, Aurum, Velox, and Vulpi. Are they good to trust this secret with?” I asked. Fortis thought for a second.
“I trust Igna completely. Aurum and Velox won’t tell anyone if we tell them it’s a secret. I’m not so sure about Vulpi. She really likes to talk. I don’t think she’s shared any secrets though.” I nodded at his judgement. I trusted Igna too.
“Then it’s settled. Could you bring them here? I’m afraid I’m still banned from leaving this room.” I joked, but Fortis didn’t laugh. He simply walked out of the room counting on his fingers. Once he shut the door I stepped off the bed. There wasn’t much to do, so I just read some of the charts and looked at the different medicine bags. After about 30 minutes, Fortis came back.
“Hey, what took you so long? And where are the others?” I asked. Fortis shushed me and motioned for me to turn around. He was smiling, so I did.
“What’s this about?”
“Close your eyes.” He said in a strong but compassionate voice, like when you need a younger sibling to go turn off the lights before you go to dinner. I closed my eyes and felt something being tied across them.
“Can’t risk you peeking before the surprise is ready.” He answered before I could even ask.
“Okay, I trust you.” I said as he led me through the door. I didn’t put my arms out, I said I trusted him and I did.
“Where are we going?” I couldn’t help but ask. I could almost feel him smiling.
“You’ll see.” He said in a sing-song voice. I groaned in mock annoyance and kept my ears perked. I didn’t hear anything other than our breathing. I didn’t even hear any side conversations around the halls. No one was there.
“Where is everyone?” I asked Fortis. He didn’t answer. We suddenly stopped and Fortis took off my blindfold. I still couldn’t see anything, the room was pitch-black. I tried to look around but there wasn’t any light.
“Fortis?” I whispered. I couldn’t hear his breathing anymore. I tensed up for a battle. Suddenly, the lights came on and blinded me.
“SURPRISE!!” Hundreds of voices shouted and I almost punched the person next to me, which was Vulpi.
“I hope you like it Forza. We had to rush things so you wouldn’t have to wait for too long. Can you tell us what it was like to fight Salazar?” Vulpi asked. The other Pokéumans nodded earnestly. I shied away whilst giving Vulpi a pleading look.
“Okay, nevermind. Come try this punch that Aurum made!” She dragged me toward the snack table and I finally noticed she was on two feet. I was about to say something when Velox and Igna showed up.
“Forza, it’s great to see you up and running again. Fortis wouldn’t shut up about not being able to see you.” Velox teased as Fortis came up from behind him.
“Yeah, I had to deal with his pacing all night!” Igna laughed. I couldn’t help but smile at their happiness. It felt great to have people care about me enough to go out of their way to make me feel welcome.
“Oh Forza, are you okay?” Fortis asked. I touched my cheek and found it wet. I quickly wiped it away before Aurum or Vulpi could see it.
“Yeah, the drugs must be messing with my emotions.” I said in a raspy voice. Fortis looked at me as if he was giving me a secret message. You didn’t sound like that a few minutes ago. I avoided his gaze and turned to see Aurum and Vulpi coming over. I nodded at Fortis and he got my message. It’s time.
“Hey guys, we need to talk. Let’s all go to my dorm.” Fortis said once the others got close enough to hear.
“Sure thing Fortis, but what are we going to do about them?” Igna asked and motioned to all the guests. I saw a group of them pass by and had an idea.
“I’m tired. Can I go back to my dorm now?” I said loud enough for the group to hear and saw them talk to some other Pokémon. It was like a chain reaction. After a few minutes, everyone was looking at me. I squirmed under their scrutinizing gaze.
“Alright everyone! Forza is feeling rather tired, so we will be taking her back to her dorm. In the meantime, you can all still stay if you like. Thank you.” Fortis stepped down from the table and proceeded to escort me out of the gym. I didn’t think anyone tried to follow us. Until I heard him at the door to Room #156.
“You can stop following me now.” I whispered. The others turned around and Velox growled.
“You. What are you, of all people, doing here?” Aurum spat. I turned my head to the side, but not to see him. I already recognized his scent.
“Salazar, what a bold move. Come to finish the job?” I snapped and spun around. What I saw instantly made me regret my tone. He had his head hung down and his wings were drooped. I placed my arm across Velox’s chest to push him back.
“Forza, what are you doing?” Igna asked, but I ignored her. Soon, I was standing right in front of him.
“If you have something to say, you better say it quick.” I said and he cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry for what I did to you. I wasn’t trying to kill you. I just wanted you to stay off my back.” He swallowed hard and I put my paw on his shoulder. He looked up at me.
“I lost, didn’t I? So, I’m off your back. For now at least. Once I get my strength back I want a rematch. Got it?” He smiled at me and nodded. Suddenly, his smile changed to something more sinister and he lunged at me. Now, I’m not going to lie and say that I knew he was going to do that and reacted accordingly, since he actually caught me by surprise.
“Forza!” Vulpi cried and intercepted Salazar. He was launched into the wall and I scowled at him.
“I was ready to forgive you. I would have let you come into my dorm room and I would’ve told you my secret. I would have trusted you.” He looked up at me with malice burning in his eyes.
“But guess what, Salazar? You’ve broken that. No one else will ever trust you again. I’ll make sure of it.” I turned back to my dorm room and stepped inside. The others followed one by one until the door closed behind Fortis, who was the last one in.
“So, what’s this about Forza?” Vulpi asked. I noticed her standing pretty close to Velox. I also noticed Igna holding Aurum’s hand.
“Something happened to her. Something that Salazar did when he hit her with his Fire Blast.” Fortis started.
“Can I tell them what’s wrong with me, please?” I interrupted. He spread him arm out as a gesture of knock yourself out.
“Go right ahead.”
“Thank you. Salazar broke something inside me. Something that can’t ever be fixed. But there is a good side to this. I need you guys to save the revenge for another time and to promise you won’t tell anyone. Not even Headmaster Grayson. Can you do that?” I asked. They all exchanged glances.
“We can do that. We trust you, Forza. We care about you.” Vulpi said with a smile and I had to smile back. The others nodded in agreement. I was about to continue when Fortis interrupted.
“Vulpi, are you sure you can keep this a secret? We know you like to talk a lot so…”
“I work in the infirmary, Fortis. I’m pretty good at the whole ‘patient confidentiality’ thing. In fact, I think I already know what’s broken. But I’ll let Forza tell you that.” Vulpi answered and stepped back. I nodded while the others just stared.
“Thank you Vulpi. Okay, here’s the big news…” Everyone leaned in closer. I looked to Fortis.
“Good or bad?” I asked.
“Start with the good.” He said and I turned back to the group.
“The good news is, I am no longer affected by Pokémon moves.” The boys relaxed and started high-fiving each other. Igna started to relax as well, but Fortis and Vulpi were still as tense as ever.
“Tell them the bad news.” Fortis said loud enough for the others to hear and settle down.
“The bad news is…” I stopped for a moment. What if they can’t control their thirst for vengeance? Could they possibly reveal my weakness on accident?
“Yes?” Igna asked, scooting closer to me. I pushed my doubts aside. I didn’t know them very well, but I could still trust them to keep this a secret.
“The bad news is…I can never use Pokémon moves for the rest of my life.”
Chapter 5: Next
Might...