Pokémon BW: Rise of Clarity (book 3 of the HBoD series)

Chapter 19: Stolen Pokémon

"Take me home, country rooooooaaaaaads!"

"Oh for the love of-!" Alex slapped Robert's head.

"Ow," Robert rubbed the back of his hood. "Why you gotta hate on country roads?"

I sighed, holding my raincoat's hood in place as I glanced skywards. The rain that had started yesterday hadn't shown any signs of letting up, so the three of us had decided to risk it after staying the night at Amanita's house. Thick, gray clouds blocked the sky and it looked like darker ones were on their way. Water splashed around my boots as I stepped into a puddle on the muddy road. 

"We might have to stop soon if this gets any worse," I told my friends. 

"Woah!" Alex shouted.

I turned to see her landing on her butt in a puddle, splashing water around herself. The Pokemon that had caused her to trip ran past. The three Bidoofs scurried off the path and into the forest to our right.

"Dang Pokemon tried to kill me," Alex muttered as I helped her to her feet.

"It's definitely getting worse," Robert said, tugging on his hood as the wind picked up speed. "Follow me. There should be an orphanage up ahead."

"An orphanage all the way out here!?" Alex exclaimed. "We've left Striaton City hours back! And Nacrene is what!? Half a day away on foot!? And it's nearly night!"

If Robert answered, his voice was carried away by the wind. So instead Alex and I held our hoods with both hands as we splashed our way after him. It almost felt like night had fallen with how obscured our vision had become. Lighting lit up the landscape, reflecting off the enormous puddles that had formed. For that brief moment I saw the outline of a huge house down a side path not far ahead.

Speeding up, I nudged Robert in that direction. With a nod he followed my lead. With Alex close behind, we turned onto the side path and hurried to the barely visible building. Light suddenly burst into view ahead of us as the two doors to the house were thrown open. A figure was outline by the yellow light, gesturing for us to hurry inside. We passed them and practically slid inside, stopping on a rough carpet. The three of us stood their, trying to get our breath back as water dripped from our soaked raincoats.

"Ah crap," Robert moaned, his boots squelching as he tested them on the ground. "They're totally filled."

"I didn't think there would actually be anyone else crazy enough to be out in that storm," the person who let us in said as she shut the doors. She looked young, maybe 12 or 13, with medium length, light orange hair and teal eyes.

"Not like we expected it to get this bad," Alex had already shed her coat, pulling back her soaked hair. "Gah, this is why I hate rain."

The girl giggled. "You're all welcome to stay here for the night. Hopefully the storm will have passed by then."

"Is this the orphanage?" I asked, putting my black coat up on a free coat peg hanging on the wall next to the doors. Around a dozen smaller and more colorful raincoats already hung there, several featuring Water types like Gyarados, Wailord, and a large snapping turtle-like Pokemon.

"Yep!" The girl had us leave our boots near the door as she led us up creaky wooden stairs. It was darker up here, but the girl whistled and a single blue flickering flame came to life on top of the banister. The Litwick cooed as the girl walked by and a black lantern unhooked itself from the wall, flames erupting within it to reveal it to be a Lampent. When we reached the second floor, which seemed to just be a curving hallway with several doors, the girl pressed a finger to her lips. "Shh. Everyone else is asleep." Light flashed in from a rain soaked window, the boom of thunder closely following it. She shrugged as she motioned for us to follow, Lampent providing light as it hovered by her side. "Hopefully."