Quest for Life, Part 1 ( A Pokémon Story)

Chapter 26: Soaring to New Heights

(Kathrin)

The following morning, Caius told us that he was heading out to Ai to pick up some possible recruits as generals. How unfortunate, I thought, that Caius would have to be training all of them. Not that I felt bad for Caius, I could just imagine all the trainee's faces when they realize they'll have to spar with either Lilith, or Caius. When I trained Caius, I had to spar with him while he was battling with his scythe! Thankfully, after seeing how close he was getting with it, he was asked to put the scythe down and go hand-to-hand. By that point, I was ready to knock his block off with Earth Power. Ayah was adamant about letting him go there alone, but when he said that he was taking Sarah and Raiden with him, she seemed content. Sarah persisted that he should bring Carinthia as well, which he agreed to. Thalia kind of brought herself into the group as well. Caius asked me if I would watch over Ayah while they were gone traveling. I was a little hesitant because of how it could interfere with my work, but Caius assured me that Ayah wouldn't be too much to worry about while I was mapping out the surroundings. So, to tell you a little bit on my temporary job, I was hired as a sort-of high-value scout for Adom. I didn't really go to other cities and steal plans like my supervisor Calin did, I was tasked with flying around Adom and making sure that there wasn't anything suspicious happening around the city. Calin seemed a bit stressed out around me, but I never knew why. I would assume that he just had a rough day of scouting someplace else and give him his space. At one point, I guess I got a little too close, because when I bumped into him by accident, he nearly fell behind his table. Afterwards, he warned me about sneaking up on him like that. I retorted by saying if he didn't want me to run into him, then he shouldn't be wearing armor that makes it to where I can't see him. This has pretty much been the cycle between us. Now I'm starting to think that it's more than just stress that's getting to him. Soon after Caius told us this, he and the group left not an hour later. I still had my scouting to do, so I took Ayah with me to the morning meeting I attended every day. We talked about our schedules for the day, and like normal, I was assigned to watch over the north-east section of the city. Ayah slept through most of the meeting. I don't think anyone really minded having a child attend a meeting, although Calin was interested in why I brought her here. After the meeting, he took me to the side.

"So would you explain to me why you brought Ayah with you?" Calin asked.

"Well, Caius is going to Ai to pick up some possible recruits, and he's taken Raiden, Carinthia, Sarah, and Thalia with him." I responded. "He's asked that I watch over her until they return in two days."

"Why didn't he just leave her with Lilith?" Calin questioned.

"Because she works on training the new Pokémon joining the army." I replied. "And I don't think Caius would really like to see Ayah get caught in the cross-fire with all the training and yelling."

"Now that I hear that, it does sound more reasonable." Calin admitted. "But what are you going to do when you have to fly around to map the location?"

"I'm still deciding on that." I replied. "But I think the best choice would to probably have her come along with me so I could keep an eye on her."

"That worries me." Calin replied. "What would happen if she fell off?" I folded my arms and stared at him.

"I'm not going to let her fall." I replied. "What kind of Pokémon would I be if I let a child plummet from three-hundred feet in the air?"

"Look, I'm not saying you're not capable for it, I'm just worried that you might get ambushed while taking her with you and then you end up having her land either in a lake, or become a pancake on the ground." Calin said.

"I can understand that." I replied. "But I can assure you, if anything of the sorts happens, I'll head straight back here to get help." Calin was a bit hesitant at this point, but he conceded to my plan so long as I make sure nothing happened to her. Ayah walked up beside me as Calin was walking away.