"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
Sean kept screaming as the Torterra rampaged its way through the streets of Slateport, disrupting public services, causing lots of noise pollution and knocking around trainers dumb enough get in its way and to try to challenge its trainer. Sean thought he'd be lucky if he wasn't arrested and charged for homicide by the end of the day, but to first be arrested he'd have to get out of this alive, and the prospect of that grew dimmer each passing second. Especially considering the trouble he had holding on, and the expression Thomas was giving off, one of deranged excitement, one that, if his own mother was to see him, she would be very, very unnerved. And probably hide all the kitchen ware. And any other pointy objects in the house.
"Be careful!" yelled Thomas as Sean stopped screaming due to running out of breath, "Jips is kinda fast!"
"I CAN FREAKING TELL!"
At this point Sean wasn't sure if Thomas had a twisted sense of humour or genuinely thought that pointing out the obvious was the mark of an intellectual, and, frankly, considering the fact that he could very easily meet his untimely demise in a myriad of painful and exceptionally gory ways, he didn't really care. If he survived through this, he would do his best steer the heck away from Thomas the Maniac Trainer.
For what it was worth, Jips was among the fastest pokemon Sean had ever seen which that meant that, at the very least, this nightmare would soon be over. The thought brought him a small amount of comfort, but as the Torterra kept running even well into the Route, trouble brewed.
A tall, flamboyant man(?) dressed in purple and blue was waving at them. While standing in the way of a Torterra running faster than Rapidash in heat.
And he wasn't budging. Even as the Torterra was getting closer the man wasn't. budging.
This was a recipe for disaster, and all the ingredients were top notch.
Oh no. Oh no ohnoohnoohnoohnoohnoohnoohno. If he's from the group and we run him over-
"She's waving at us," said Thomas in a remarkably relaxed tone, ever eager to point out the obvious, "You think she's from the group we're looking for?"
Wait, she?
"YES! YES THEY ARE! NOW WILL YOU PLEASE STOP BEFORE WE-"
In a sudden twist of events, using all the momentum he had built up from his rampage, leaped and landed just a few meters away from the flamboyant youth, stopping after sliding for a fraction of a meter, barely enough to turn to the side. The stop was absurpt, enough to almost throw Thomas off his seat, while Sean...
Sean was sent flying like a ragdoll launched from a ballista.
Barely missing the man that was but a few moments ago waving at them, Sean continued on for a few meters, before finally hitting ground.
"GAH!"
And bouncing.
"G'OH!"
Again,
"DAH!"
and again,
"SONOFA-"
Before finally landing on his arse, his upper body still standing. Sean sit like that for a few moments, his mind only now catching on what had just transpired (filling him with pain along the way), until finally, much like a derelict building after an earthquake, collapsing on the ground. Sean weakly raised his trembling hand to show that he was still alive.
"I need a... minute." With what little strength he had left failing, Sean let his hand fall. Closing his eyes, he let out a sigh of relief that it was all over and he could finally re-
"Ty-RUNT!"
OH NO!
Sean opened his eyes again and looked to his side. Ragna was out of his pokeball, staring at him judgingly.
"C-c-come on, now, R-Ragna. L-lemme r-rest a s-s-s-second!" said Sean pleadingly. He was absolutely terrified, with a nervous smile and twitching eyebrows and lips, as though death himself was staring at him and wondering whether or not his had come.
"Ty-"
Ragna jumped...
"RUNT!"
...And landed on Sean's stomach, causing his entire body to spasm from the pain as he let out a groan. As Ragna showered him with loud roars as though demanding that he got up, Sean stared at the sky, utterly defeated, with tears flowing down his cheeks.
This day just didn't want to end.
[hr]
Meanwhile, back at Jips...
Despite the fact that his up-until-now companion had just been launched from Jips and flew like a speeding bullet towards parts unknown, Thomas didn't really seem to care, or maybe even notice. No, there were bigger, more important things at stake here, and the physical wellbeing of a guy he had met minutes ago was too small a thing to fuss over.
"Come out, JoJo!"
Coming out of the pokeball was a large, imposing Pangoro with a serious look and arms crossed.
"Go get food." ordered Thomas as he jumped down from Jips' back in a crouching position.
"Now..."
Thomas got up and shot a sharp, powerful glare at the people of the group, the sharp-dressed bare-chested girl in particular. This was the most serious face he had pulled off in a long while.
"Tell me..."
With one hand in a pocket, Thomas raised the other and pointed at the girl-that-looked-kinda-like-a-dude, striking a dramatic pose.
"...where the bikini town is!"
A few moments of silence passed after such a display. Thomas threw a glance at his Pangoro companion.
"Hey!"
JoJo had struck the same pose as Thomas, also pointing.
"What are you doing? Didn't I tell you to go get food?"
After a brief second of being taken aback by the shock of his masters words, JoJo started running, apparently to go look for things to eat. With that out of the way, Thomas reverted to his previous pose, awaiting a response.