The walk back to the forest was quiet. The few people who saw her scurried away, their fear a palpable wave in the psychic ether. Eliana could feel their gazes on her back, a mixture of terror and awe. Her actions, confined to that small restaurant, had already spread through the city's grapevine of whispers.
The story would warp and grow with each retelling: karmic retribution for the gang's actions in the city, a monster in a child's body, a single Pokémon that defeated three without breaking a sweat. It was an efficient form of advertisement. She would be left alone, at least until one of the gangs made their move. And when they did she would be ready to deal with them.
The forest welcomed her back, its silence a relief after the city's noise. Eliana found a secluded clearing and sat, leaning against the rough bark of an old oak. She released Ralts from his ball. He appeared, looking up at her with an unwavering gaze.
Ralts flinched, a pulse of shame passing through their connection.
Ralts looked up a happy feeling coming through their connection as it smiled at her.
Switching over to speaking normally, Eliana turned towards the sky, "It's getting late, we need to rest."
Ralts looked around at their surroundings before settling its gaze back on Eliana, who was sitting down against the largest tree in the area.
"We don't have any camping supplies, however it's a nice day. We can both sense if something gets close to us so we'll be fine"
( ദ്ദി ˙ᗜ˙ ) Ralts nodded and gave a small thumbs up, then walked over to lay down beside her, closing its eyes as a small glow surrounded it. Eliana also closed her eyes, her psychic abilities active in case something came near during the night.
…
Later that night, the moon high in the sky, shining a white light on the forest below. Eliana's eyes snapped open as she sat up, Ralts already awaking looking over towards the right of their tree. Eliana's eyes narrowed as she realized that something had come into their field of senses. She closed her eyes and reached forward to brush against the mind of any living thing nearby. The only thing she found at first were Pokémon but she soon found the issue, the two thugs from earlier were leading a small group around the forest.
Ralts also narrowed its eyes as it got up, pausing when Eliana held up a hand.
Ralts nodded and used Magical Leaf to conceal them in the shrubs and bushes.
…
A few minutes had passed before footsteps and voices were finally able to be heard. A moment later the woman and one of the men from stepped into view with a group of five following them. The group of five was composed of three men and two women.
"That girl couldn't have gotten far," The woman grumbled as she walked further into the area.
"We've been looking for this girl all night," one man huffed in annoyance
"That little brat killed Jacob, we'll get rid of her and have time to be back for tomorrow's battle against those Kaz." The man from earlier huffed, crossing his arms as he scowled at the others.
"If this girl did all that, is it really a good idea to fight someone this strong," a voice from the back nervously piped up.
The woman snapped angrily at the young man, "She's not strong she just caught us off guard."
Ralts eyes glowed dimly as a bolt of psychic energy, once again struck the woman in the chest. The time she gasped grabbing at her chest, and collapsed to the ground. As the group around her panicked looking for the source of the attack she coughed up blood and went still. The nervous woman from earlier jaw dropped as she looked at her fallen teammate. She bit her lip and turn tailed running as fast as she could out of the area.
Ralts eyes glowed before he was stopped by an order from Eliana,
The Yas Gang members still here yelled in anger at the woman for betraying them. The man from earlier in particular screamed, "You coward, wait til we tell Leader Yas about this!"
This seemed to be the last straw for Eliana, who was getting tired of hearing their whining voices grating against her ears.
A wave of psychic force washed over the clearing, invisible and absolute. The remaining six gang members were lifted into the air as one, their bodies going rigid. For a second, they hung suspended, their faces frozen in expressions of shock and fury.
The man from before yelled out, "Oi you little coward, come out and fight so I can break your face in!"
Then, before he could say another word, Ralts' eyes narrowed and it slammed them down.
They struck the ground with a series of wet, crunching sounds. The impact drove them into the dirt, leaving shallow human-shaped depressions. One man, the one who had threatened her in the restaurant earlier in the day and had just done so again, was driven headfirst into a rock at the base of a tree. His head didn't just split; it burst.
Silence returned, thicker this time, heavy with the coppery scent of blood. The only movement was the gentle rustle of leaves in the night breeze.
"We should probably go back to the city, the lady we let escape should have reached her base by now." Eliana paused looking over the corpses on the ground, "Use Confusion to bury those bodies."
Ralts gave an affirmative chirp, its orange eye glowing blue as the dirt and grass moved around the corpses as they were sliwly sunk and covered.
"Good, let's go." Eliana turned and started to walk away.