Four Paws and One Last Tale

Chapter 4: Pixie

I can't believe it... Jacob's gone. Just like that. I sat down heavily and didn't move, I didn't know what to think.

Tertle sighed loudly. "Looks like Jacob's in trouble. I suppose it's up to us to save him, again." Tertle grinned broadly at me.

I nodded and stood up, I began walking in the direction the boys had gone. Tertle and Glair followed me, but Ace wasn't interested.

"Seriously? We're going after them? I say leave him. He got himself caught, he can live with it. It's not like he's anything special. Besides, you guys have got me now."

I stopped walking, my ears pricked up. Glair started giggling. "Oh, this is gonna be good," she whispered.

Tertle began waving his fins. (Fins? I still don't know what to call them...) "Now Pixie, just ignore him. The important thing is that we save Jacob."

"Oh, come on, you're a strong independent Vulpix. You don't need him," Ace laughed, "Like I said, you've got me now."

Tertle couldn't believe the Emolga's stupidity. Tertle eyed him in disbelief and stopped blocking my path. I walked forwards, my paws were alight with fire, my eyes burned with fury. I socked Ace straight in the face, he flew backwards and slammed into a tree.

"Ow! What the hell!?"

He tried to stand but I ran over and pinned him down. He winced as my claws stabbed into his cape. I growled menacingly.

"We go back for Jacob," I hissed. "You could never replace him."

Ace's eyes shrunk, his breathing was fast, he was scared, and sad, and angry. I didn't care. I breathed a small flicker of flame, it singed his fur and he glared at me. I huffed and got off, walking sassily away. Glair and Tertle followed without a word. I didn't wait to see what Ace did, but he slowly trailed along behind us.

After walking awhile, we arrived at a small town. It was surrounded by open plains and there were only a few houses. "Okay everyone, divide and conquer. Pick a house and look for Jacob or the two boys we saw. If you find anything gather the rest of us and we'll go from there."

Everyone nodded and scattered in different directions. I was worried about Ace, he seemed angry when I confronted him earlier, could he be relied on to save Jacob? Guess I'll just have to pick up the slack. I cleared my head as I ran towards the first house. Looking in through the windows I couldn't see anything, the house looked empty. I couldn't hear anything, no-one was home. I ran on to the next house, again looking through the window I investigated. There was a baby, it was being cradled by its father, who was smiling lovingly at it. They looked happy. I hope that one day Jacob and I can be like that. I got distracted and never noticed Glair circling overhead. Lost in thought I snapped back to reality when Tertle placed a gentle hand on my back.

"Ah!" I screamed. "Tertle!" I took deep breaths struggling to slow my racing heart. He smiled gently.

"Sorry. Glair found Jacob."

I nodded and Tertle led the way, moments later we stood outside a white two-storey house. Glair and Ace were peering in through a window, Tertle and I joined them, and we scoped out the scene. Sure enough, the two boys we had seen earlier were seated at a table eating. I pounced when I saw them but Tertle caught me before I could crash through the window. I growled but stayed still, he was right, we needed a plan.

The two boys started laughing and the younger one pulled a Poké-ball from his pocket, his older brother nodded, and the kid ran to the middle of the room. He threw the ball and from outside we could hear him shout; "Go Eevee!"

Jacob appeared in a flash of light, he looked around confused. The boy ran towards him with open arms, Jacob saw the kid coming and panicked. What ensued was actually... quite hilarious.

Jacob ran away from the kid and jumped onto the table. As Jacob knocked plates from the table the older boy started shouting and trying to catch him. Jacob jumped and used the teenager's face as a launchpad. He kicked of the boy's face and ran between the kid's legs. He saw a window on the other side of the room and ran straight for it. He jumped for the window, but he never made it. A red beam of light hit him, and he disappeared back inside the Poké-ball.

It had been funny to watch, but I wanted my Jacob back. I'm getting tired of walking, who's gonna carry me if Jacob's not there? No one.

I jumped and crashed through the window, the little boy screamed and the older one yelped as I ran straight for him. I jumped and smacked the Poké-ball out of his hand, using my tails I hit it out the window. Tertle caught it and after some fiddling Jacob was out of the ball. Tertle crushed the capsule between his hands. (Hands now?!)

I made to jump back out the window when I heard a shout. The little boy had thrown a Poké-ball, it was coming right for me, and it was too late to dodge. A single bolt of electricity coursed through the air and intercepted the ball, it flew far off course and the little boy collapsed in a mess of tears. I looked out the window and saw Ace, he wore a grim frown. "Hurry up!" He shouted.

I nodded and ran for it, I jumped out the window and we bolted from the town. We didn't stop until we were far away. Deep in the forest, we sat breathing heavily. I was panting hard. Jacob was nuzzling and doting on me, normally all the attention would've been annoying, but I was just happy to have him back.

I looked around for Ace, I wanted to thank him. He stood by a tree facing away from everyone else.

"Hey Ace." He turned with a raised eyebrow at my call. "Thank-you," I told him gratefully.

He nodded. "You're welcome. Now would you lovebirds stop, you look like you're trying to smother each other to death."

I rolled my eyes at his comment and began nuzzling Jacob, then we sat and waited until we had all regained some energy. Annoyingly I was going to take a bit longer than the others.