Sleepless in Saffron City

Shay Miniwa was out very early that morning. Normally she wasn't allowed out this early in the morning, but today the tiny pre-teen had a train to catch. Apparently, it wasn't safe for her in Saffron City anymore, and Shay was honestly fine with the move to the Johto region. Specifically, the much healthier town of Azalea Town. Good riddance to this smelly city, Shay wanted to have some fresh air for once. Air that didn't make her randomly explode.

The line for ticketing stretched out into the streets of Saffron, meaning the tiny green-haired girl with the white dress and white sunhat could be very easily picked out among the not-so-colorful full-time city dwellers around her. She had been using the "I'm just a pokemon cosplay fanatic" for as long as she could remember, and people had been eating it up for just as long. No one ever seemed to question her, although the funny looks never seemed to go away.

"...Ori, are you even listening to me?" The voice on the other end of the phone line woke Orion up with a start, nearly jumping out of his seat on the train as an irritated female voice spoke through the line.
"Eh? Yeah, I know. I've been listening." The boy rubbed his hand through his dark black hair, passing by a blue circular ear resting on the top corner of his head. He took the moment to glance around the train car he was in, searching the area for anything out of the ordinary or strange. Flashing gold for a moment, his eyes scanned the people inside, searching for anyone matching the description of the target he had been given, coming across nothing substantial.
"So, what's so special about this girl we're looking for? Seems a bit odd if you ask me."
"Got me there. Nobody told us why, but the pay is looking pretty good if you don't end up screwing it up. Just don't let it go like that incident in Snowpoint." The voice on the other line chuckled as she finished speaking, leaving Ori to roll his eyes.
"Wasn't my fault," As he spoke the breaks squealed on the train car, the announcer speaking over the intercom that the train was now rolling into the station in Saffron City. "Whoops, phone's dying, gotta go, bye." He spoke quickly in the phone, wanting to rest a bit more.
"What? Ori, you're an electric type, just charge it up-" The line went dead as the bounty hunter hung up on the call, shoving his phone into the pocket of his blue pants. He showed a smug smirk, pleased with himself as several passengers moved off of the train, with several more coming on.

The Magnet Train coasted into the Saffron City Station so smoothly it was almost as if the train's undercarriage had been greased with butter. The Magnet train was known for being a smooth and enjoyable ride, something that Shay had been looking forward to since she had been told about her move.

Shay shifted her white messenger bag over to her other shoulder and looked up at the train. It was so sleek and new; she felt her heart skip a beat with childlike excitement. Surely this ride would be just what she needed to clear her mind of all the bad omens that had been fouling up her daily routine.

Slowly, the ticket line lurched forward as the other passengers, mainly Goldenrod Commuters, climbed out of the train. Shay made sure to pull out her passport before she approached the Kanto Customs Counter, so that she didn't waste time fiddling with it later.

"Name?" the customs clerk asked as Shay stepped up to the counter.

"Shay Graci Miniwa." Shay replied courteously.

"Age group?"

"Minor. I have a parental consent form." Shay replied, offering up the form. The clerk reviewed it, then stamped the paper and Shay's hand and returned the paper to her. Shay carefully returned it to her messenger bag.

"Ticket; passport; reason for departure?"

The clerk was moving a bit fast for Shay; she was getting a bit unnerved. She shakily produced the paperwork for the clerk to scan. "Uhhm, I'm moving to Azalea Town. Because there's fresher air there. I-I get sick easily," she sputtered without much grace.

"Don't be nervous hon; I see this kind of thing all the time," the Clerk reassured her as she studied the computer. "...Alright, you're cleared to board. The entrance to your car is that way," he clerk explained. She pointed Shay in the right direction, then called out for the next passenger.

Once in her seat (after thoroughly cleaning and absorbing any nasty grime or butt germs that the last person had left behind), Shay felt like she could finally breathe a sigh of relief. Only she couldn't. She was just so excited! And a bit nervous... but mainly, she was excited. After observing the passengers as they boarded the train and inspecting every little detail about the station, Shay settled cozily into her seat and pulled out her copy of the novel "Battles and Peace;" she happened to enjoy reading material far beyond her age level. She cracked the novel open and read quietly while she waited for the train's departure.

Pulling his phone back out of his pocket, he ignored the calls coming in from the girl he had been talking to and began to get to work. After all, getting some z's on the Magnet Train wouldn't get him his target, would it? Tapping the screen of the phone with his fingers, Orion managed to access the internet server, using a bit of a trick he had learned in his time in the trade. After all, while you didn't make many friends being a Bounty Hunter, sometimes you worked together on jobs, and sometimes it helped to show a few tricks off, partly to help and partly to show off. This little trick in particular had been shown to him by another electric type, with one important key to the lesson: data is just coded electricity. Crack the code, and you could hack into all sorts of networks.

A small "ping" went off on his phone, hidden in the sounds of other people on the train as he managed to get into the station's information, checking the passports of the passengers that had checked in. Nope, not that one, or that one- hey, that's a good looking-...the mission, Ori, don't get distracted. He thought to himself, scrolling through the various records.

A single name got his attention, showing up along with the picture of a strangely dressed girl. She had a look that screamed either "pokemon fan", or if you knew better, someone like him, a gijinka. That's who I'm looking for. Shay Graci Miniwa, matches up with the intel we have on her, and she just boarded.

Of course, this begged another question. Why wasn't she using a fake I.D.? For a target that people felt the need to hire a Bounty Hunter to go after, she was relatively unprotected. So why use him? Never mind that, that's their problem. As long as I get my pay, I've got no complaints about an easy job.

Orion continued to watch closely, viewing the people that entered the train cabin. That was when he finally saw her, the girl matching up with her picture stepping inside the train car, stepping over to her seat and...cleaning it? Great, she can't stand germs or whatever she sees as filth, that's my guess.

The train began rolling once more, and Ori closed his eyes, flashing a golden color as he did so and looking through his eyelids. He payed close attention to the outline of the seated girl, waiting for the opportune place to take her. Everything was planned out, and she didn't know he was watching. Now all he needed to do was execute the plan smoothly.

When the Magnet Train pulled out of the station, Shay abandoned her book completely in favor of watching the scenery go by. She thoroughly cleaned the glass before pressing her nose up against it in innocent wonder. The tall buildings of Saffron City got smaller and smaller in size the closer they got to the city's border.

Upon crossing the border, Shay was introduced to a sight she had never seen before: Suburbia.

Free-growing nature. Trees. Shay pressed up against the glass even more; it was all so pretty and free of city pollutants. Shay was willing to bet she wouldn't even need to wear a hat over her flowers, or breathe through a hankie out there. The idea of having a life where she could go five days without causing a bomb scare was completely riveting to her. She kept watching the beautiful, clean countryside go by with wide eyes and a huge grin; picturing herself out there in the clean wide open.

Shay stayed in this position to about midday, although it felt like barely any time at all passed. Once again, Shay saw something very exciting; something she recognized: Mount Silver. Many times Shay had heard that a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, VERY distant family member of hers lived out there in the rocky halfway point between Johto and Kanto, but she had no way of confirming this. She had never really been been out of her apartment in Saffron before, and she had practically never been outside Saffron itself. Shay stared at the great mountain, completely mesmerized.

The train rolled past the scenery, though Orion really wasn't looking out at it too much. He needed to watch out for Mount Silver, but mainly he was keeping his eyes on Shay as she looked out the window at their surroundings. Luckily, he managed to avoid looking like an absolute creeper due to the ability to see through certain objects, including his is eyelids. For all anyone else knew, he was fast asleep.

There it is, Mount Silver. Time to get this show on the road. Opening his eyes once more, the Luxray Gijinka stood up, walking over towards the girl and pulling a cigarette out of his pocket, along with a lighter. He sat down in the seat next to her, crossing his legs and leaning back as he lit the cigarette, letting the smoke get into the air. No, he didn't actually smoke, but one of the vague tips he had gotten from the clients was to have some sort of way to get the air dirty. Why? They didn't say. Of course.

"Don't mean to alarm you, but there are some people on this train looking for you." Orion said to her, not making eye contact as he kept looking ahead, holding the lit cigarette in his hand.
"Don't know what you did, but a few guys back there were talking about taking you and running off. I don't suggest looking." He said calmly and casually, glancing over at her for a moment and taking a good look at her.

Shay was feeling really comfortable as the strange man walked up to her, comfortable enough to remove the sunhat which hid the two large flowers on either side of her head. Those flowers were no decoration; they were real, bonafide flowers that were absolutely attached to her head. Shay had more than one reason to keep them covered...

*sniff.* *sniff.*

Was that cigarette smoke?

The stamen of Shay's flowers began to twitch. "But... but......... smoking isn't allowed on the train!!!" Shay panicked in her head, not fully grasping the situation. She kept her back turned to the rest of the bus, also keeping her face pressed up against the window. Shay was sweating major bullets as she painfully tried to keep the reaction under control, but she was still young and she really had no control over it. She was especially weak to poisons like Nicotine.

Her flowers began to glow faintly as they drew in the cigarette smoke, but they didn't just stop at that. Impurities in prescription drugs, hazardous gasses, grime and even gum under the chairs, right down to the impurities leaked by the living body; all the uncleanliness was drawn in by the flowers as Shay's body went into overdrive. She wanted to scream out in pain, but she couldn't draw attention to herself, she couldn't let people know what was going on.... She bit her lip hard, quickly breaking the skin. Her hair and skin began to grey and wilt; she looked absolutely sickly.

This was why. The reason Shay Miniwa had to clean every chair she sat in. Why she couldn't go out walking in the city, especially during smog alerts. Why she had to wear hats.

Shay's stomach churned and did somersaults all at the same time. There was no stopping it now.

The Seed Flare.

Shay made one little squeak noise before an explosion ripped forth from her now glowing body; forceful enough to send shockwaves out a good distance away. It shook the whole train and punched a huge hole in the wall Shay had been leaning up against. Shay herself was completely devoid of energy afterwards and fell completely limp; dangerously close to taking a tumble out the side of the train.

Orion raised a brow as Shay removed her hat, looking at the flowers on her head. They seemed odd, almost as if they were alive. Which, as it turned out, they must have been considering the stamen began to twitch on them. Well, that's something interesting. That "something interesting", was also the first sign that something was about to go unexpectedly.

The second sign was her flowers beginning to glow somewhat, and her hair appeared to change, almost as if it were wilting like a plant. Well, crap. I can't be bringing back a dead target. Whatever it is, she's looking pretty bad. Maybe it's the smoke... If it were the smoke, why would they have suggested that he bring something like that? It looked like it was nearly killing her, and from what they had told him they wanted her alive.

"Uh, I'll be back..." Ori stood up, taking a few steps away just in time for the final sign. Which, by the way, was a pretty decent explosion. The force hit his back hard, knocking him to the ground as it burst in the cabin around them. The other passengers let out yells and screams of surprise as a hole was blown in the side of the train, with Shay nearly falling out.

Standing back up, and his back hurting like hell, the Bounty Hunter groaned somewhat, stepping over to Shay and grabbing her arm to prevent her from falling out. With a firm grip, he looked out at the water, knowing what they were above. Perfect.
"And this is why you don't smoke on trains." With one snide remark to the rest of the train car, he tossed the cigarette out the hole in the train before grabbing the side, interfering with the electrical current of the train using his own electricity. The train car skidded to a halt roughly, making Ori stumble a bit on his feet. Recovering, he picked Shay up and jumped out the side of the train, aiming for the water below.

Shay couldn't feel her body at all, yet she was feeling pretty light-headed. The violent explosions always left her completely drained and weary and, well, exhausted. As she was hauled out of the train by a complete stranger, Shay was overtaken by petrifying fear. Was this what they meant by "Shay, you're not safe here... ?" She immediately began wishing she had never left home; that she was back in that smelly old city with the smelly old cars and the smellier old people. Anywhere but here would be preferable.

A few tears, triggered instinctually by fear, rolled down Shay's cheeks.

The impact was a shock, the cool water giving Orion a chill as compared to the air. He still remembered to hold his breath, though he had to make a conscious effort to keep his electricity under control. Alright, breath held, not zapping anything, still got the girl? He could feel her arm in his grip still, and taking a quick look through his eyelids revealed that she was indeed still there.

Kicking his legs, he surfaced at the top of the water, taking in a deep breath of air as the sound of the train picked up once more, no longer hindered by his own electricity and continuing on its path. Authorities are probably going to be by here soon, better get us out of here. With that in mind, he continued to kick, swimming to the shore of the water and climbing out, close to the base of Mount Silver.

He trudged up the dirt, still regaining feeling in his legs as dragged Shay out of the water, laying her down on her back. She looked, well, young and harmless still, but there was the whole matter of the fact that apparently she exploded around cigarette smoke or something. That brought up another question, why did the people that hired him make him activate that without warning? There was definitely something off about everything, and since he was transporting a living bomb apparently, he figured it would be a good idea to get a bit more information out of his clients.

Unluckily for him, he hadn't exactly thought ahead. His phone was undoubtedly fried from the little swim they had taken, and no amount of electricity he pumped into it would recover it. Which meant that he had to get back to his own little home base as soon as possible, before he had the chance to find out any more unwanted features Shay had.

Without much else to do at the moment, he sat down in the wet dirt, deciding to take the time to relax a bit, keeping a close eye on the girl as he waited for her to wake up. He had some questions he wanted answered, and he had to make sure she trusted him enough to not put up much of a fight with him. While he would probably be able to subdue her, it would still make things a bit more complicated.

Shay started to feel her arms again after she was dragged out of the water by her kidnapper. She could also feel her eyes stinging from the salt water that had gotten into them; she hadn't had a decent chance to close hers eyes and brace for the water until she found herself actually in it. She cautiously tried to open her eyes, but the light and the stinging was too painful for her to keep them open.

Shay was far too scared to even try to move around. She desperately tried to will feeling back into her legs so that maybe she could try and run away, but she had no ideas on how to escape. What was she to do? She was small, and even if she tried to use the Flare she wouldn't be able to run away afterwords...

A few stifled sobs emerged from the girl's chest.

Feeling lonely, upset, and terrified, Shay found the strength to roll onto her side. It wasn't much, but it was just enough to have her back towards the stranger who had taken her. She didn't even want to look at him; she was too afraid to. She just stared into the blackness of her eyelids, trying to forget the whole situation. She conjured up an image of her old home and her roommate. She wanted to go back and play marbles with Prim again. She didn't even care if she had to deal with smelly city air for the rest of her life!

Thinking about it all only made Shay cry harder.

He watched as she began to recover, starting to cry as she did so. Orion simply sat where he had been, watching her with a look of indifference. The crying irritated him, it didn't accomplish anything and it was just useless. Why couldn't she just hold it in or something? Despite this, he still had to make her as comfortable as he could to make things easier, which he had a feeling would be a hard task.

"Are you hurt?" The boy simply asked her, speaking over her crying. His voice was one with a calm, neutral and near apathetic air. As he asked, he looked up at the train line, checking for any sign of unwanted attention finding them. Not that he couldn't take care of it, he reminded himself, it was just that they would be a bit of a hassle to get past.

Ori brought his gaze back to Shay, waiting for a response from her as he made a mental note to keep a close eye on any other sorts of tricks she might have. After all, he almost took a lot more of the explosion then he really did. Had he not moved in time, he wondered if he would have been plastered across the side of the train.

Shay wasn't going to talk to this guy. She hadn't ever talked to strangers before in her life, and she wasn't about to start. Plus, the sound of his voice was nothing if not more upsetting to the young girl. She could tell he didn't even care. Shay just curled into a tight little ball and sobbed very quietly into her own knees.

Overhead, a few seabird pokemon circled innocently and squawked. Oh, to be a bird. If only Shay could just fly away from this weird guy. She'd find the police and then they'd take her somewhere safe and warm. They'd take this guy to jail and everything would be okay... but hedgehogs couldn't fly, and Shay was in no way gonna go fast in her state. She began to shiver.

Shay read the news very frequently, she knew what happened to little girls who got kidnapped by strangers.

Orion sighed, furrowing his brow and rubbing his forehead. This was going to be a bit difficult, and he needed to decide how much he should tell her. Standing up, he took a few steps closer to Shay and knelt down beside her, not wanting to get too close and risk scaring her off.

"Look, I'm like you, alright?" He said, trying to think carefully about what he would say. "I was there because somebody's after you, and they want you for some reason. I really don't know. But, if I get back to where I stay I can figure it out. It's not safe for you to be on your own, so I'm going to need you to come with me for a short time. Nothing too long, just until we figure this out." Ori explained, trying to keep his tone at something somewhat sympathetic.

He looked back up at the train line, noticing the flashing lights of police and a few news reporters at the area. Ah, Nora's going to have a fit about this... The boy sighed, thinking to himself. Not only would she probably be checking the news, but she wouldn't be able to call him. He was definitely going to have some issues when he got back.

This was quite the troubling situation. Shay knew there was no way she should be trusting this guy no way she should be following him anywhere, and ABSOLUTELY no way she should let him take her anywhere. She knew this, but... Shay wasn't looking to get this guy mad at her, either. She really felt like she would have the best chances of surviving if she just played along until she found help, or at least some kind of opportunity for escape...

...well....

Shay still wasn't exactly confident in her ability to escape. She wasn't exactly all that strong. There was no point in getting herself on anyone's bad side, though; she couldn't exactly do much if she was dead. She wondered if he even wanted her dead. What exactly did he want, anyways? He was sure weird.

Slowly and shakily, though making it apparent that she wasn't going to accept any help, Shay rose to her feet. She kept her head low and her eyes to the ground, letting her hair hide her face. She also continued to refuse to look at him. She would obey the law, if not the spirit.