Arisen Anew- a Pokémon Fanfiction

Chapter 23- Coliseum

We run all the way to Fusion City, not even pausing to speak to each other. I don't think there are any more words that can be said about the atrocities that come one after another. I hope Azura is okay. My stomach is in knots at the thought that she could be dead or hurt or worse all for us. I force the thought out of my mind for what seems like the thousandth time, panic welling up as hot bile in my throat.

For the first time since we started running, I stop by a tree and throw up again. Not much comes out-- I haven't eaten in days. I just stand there, propped against the pole of a stoplight while I dry heave, unable to stop the tears from swallowing my vision.

What if she's dead, like Oliver? A cold hand reaches into my chest and twists at my heart. I can't stop. I claw desperately at my chest, willing to do anything to stop this feeling. I want to go home. I just want to be safe again.

"Amethyst!" I hear Garnet's worried voice over the road noise to our left. My world won't stop spinning. His hand grabs my shoulder, turning me to face him. I can't even look him in the face as he attempts to ground me. It isn't working. "What's happening to her?" He asks the rest of the crew desperately.

"She's panicking," Diamond shoves him aside, taking his place. I all but fall into her as she wraps her arms tightly around me. "It's okay! Azura is going to be fine. This is the path she chose,"

"She didn't have to!" I choke out. "She didn't have to do this!"

"We can't turn back around!" Diamond pleads, and I see the panic in my eyes reflected in her own. "We just have to pray that she is going to be okay, we have to trust her, like she said, like she promised--" her voice begins to break down, and she starts crying too, and I hold her as tightly as I can.

"This is so fucked up," scoffs Lynn from somewhere behind us, kicking a rock into the street.

"Tell me about it," says Green, and his voice is numb.

I break free from Diamond, pulling her body away from mine to wipe the tears off her cheeks. The only thing that can take our minds off of the pain is trudging forward, no matter how hard it is. We have to. It's all we can do at this point.

"We can't think about it," my voice is ragged. "I won't be able to do anything if I keep worrying about her."

Diamond blinks, trying hard to stop more tears from falling. She has needed to cry for so long and the only way she could allow herself to was by letting my own tears be her catalyst. She's not only crying for me, she's crying for Ampharos, for Green, for Dragonite, for every fucked up thing William has thrown at her.

Fusion City is the bastardization of Kanto's Fuchsia, but the similarities stop there. In a single word, the city is trashy. There's garbage and grime everywhere I turn, and the neon lights do nothing to mask the filth in the city. Men leer at us from the storefronts as we pass, and women in barely-there outfits huddle at street corners, watching each other's backs. I feel like a piece of meat with a price tag, but it's better than being in the pit. Still, there are next to no stars in the night sky above Fusion. I can't even find the moon amongst the tall buildings of the city.

"We're getting closer to the end," says Cobalt, in an attempt to bring some hope to the bottomless pit of despair that is the rest of Team Rogue. "Every day, we get closer to being able to go home,"

"I miss Slateport so much," says Lynn bitterly. "Nothing will be the same if we make it home. You know that, right?"

Cobalt bites his lip. "But it can't be that bad. We'll be together, won't we? It can't be that bad if I'm with you guys."

Diamond reaches for his hand, and the look they share causes me to avert my gaze. It's deep, and intimate, and everything Diamond deserves; so full of love that it makes my chest feel hollow. "Of course we'll be together," she sniffles.