Meeting Terrence and Gloria

“I better not regret this…” he stated as you felt him lightening his pressure against you. You feel your body sliding down the wall.

“Terrence, what are you doing?” The Nidoqueen went to him just as you landed on your hind paws.

“We’re not gonna hurt you.” You said once more, and Rachael went towards you, limping a bit.

“You alright?” She asked and you nodded in response.

The Nidoqueen looked at him in concern.

“It’s alright Gloria, he was calm and made no attempt to be hostile.” The Nidoking said, holding her palm.

She looked at the two with worried eyes, “You… really aren’t bandits?”

“No, we’re really not.” you stated once more. “We're trying to find shelter and rest for my friend. She got hurt due to an infected attack.” You motion towards Rachael who was leaning on the wall with her good foot.

Gloria looks at her and then to you with a regretful look on her face. “I’m really sorry for my behavior.” she said to the both of you.

“It’s alright, you two had a bad encounter with those bandits.” Rachael stated as she sat down. You were about to do the same until you heard a bump from somewhere, making you jump a bit followed by shushing.

“I-Is someone else here?” Rachael asked with the two nidos looking downward.

“I kinda hoped we could keep that part a secret…” Terrence stated as he turned to the large hole. “James, Margaret? You can come out.”

Moments passed by until you saw two figures entering the living room. Two of them look similar, with the only differences is that one was pink-purple scales while the other is sky blue, and the former had longer spikes.

“Sorry..” The male Nidoran stated, “I bumped my head on the underside of the bed.” he stated as he moved in front of the female. When he apologized, you can barely notice that the female moved her paw to her head for a moment before moving it away.

They don’t notice that as Gloria looks at the two of them. “I told you both to be still and quiet until I say so.” She told them firmly, but gently. Considering the way the four are acting, it’s clear that they’re also family.

The female Nidoran spotted the two of you, “Who are they?”

“These… are our guests.” The Nidoking eventually answered before turning his head towards you two. “Rai, Rachael. This is our son and daughter, George and Margaret.”

“Hello there.” Rachael greeted with a wave with her paw.

They were snickering as they waved back. “The Raichu’s name is Rai?” George asked, struggling to keep themselves from laughing.

“Don’t laugh at someone because of their name.” Gloria told her children.

“It’s alright, this isn’t the first time children laughed about my name and it certainly won’t be the last..” You assured them. “My mother likes the way Rai sounded…” when you mentioned your mother, your face made a crestfallen appearance.

“Still, it’s rude to make fun of and laugh at someone because of their name.” Gloria explained, before noting your expression. “Now that you mentioned it, you both look so young…”

“Yeah…” Rachael muttered, “Our parents are one of the infected now… Right now we’re trying to-“

“Survive and make it through to the next day, the best we can.” You quickly spoke to keep Rachael from mentioning what you might be doing.

She turns to you in surprise, but you give her a look to keep her from speaking.

“That’s terrible. I’m sorry you both had to go through that.” Terrence stated, “You can say our story is pretty much similar, though with the added context of the bandit encounter.”

You looked at him, remembering that he said that they were attacked, and seeing your gaze encouraged him to continue.

“The Survivor camp back across the bridge was full at the time, so we decided to hide out here until vacancy opens. Four days ago, we tried to go back, but then a Pokemon came out, begging for help. I decided to follow him into a forest, though I spotted a hidden Pokémon among the bushes. I attacked and three more appeared. It was a rough battle, but I managed to **** them to retreat.”

You gripped your paws as they continued,

“As that happened, 3 more Pokémon appeared in front of us.” Gloria started speaking, “They demanded that I give up and surrender everything we have and ourselves to them. I couldn’t let that happen, so I faced them while protecting our kids.” She spoke, holding them close. “It was a struggle, and I was hurt pretty badly during the battle, but I managed to hold on until the father returned. Seeing they had no other options, they retreated.” The Nidoqueen stated, patting their kids' heads.

You smiled to see how they survived the encounter, but you know they’re not finished yet.

“Unfortunately, we were both worn out and couldn’t risk the trip with a potential denial of entry, so we headed back here.” Terrence stated, as he sat down on a wooden chair. “We were hoping to try again in a day or two, but hunting for food is getting difficult as I have to travel further, but that is already risky with the ravenous infected lurking around.”

You listen to their plea and as much as you think about it, you know one potential place they could get some provisions, but you remember Melanie’s words, how hard she tried to hide secret messages within her compliments. Deciding to test the waters first, you asked, “Have you seen any Psychic types passing by? Non-infected of course.”

Gloria blinks at the question. “Actually, we did meet them a couple days before we tried to go a second time, talking about how they can provide some food, comfort and safe haven from the infected. We followed and found out where they were located in case we may need to go.” She looked over her children and their supplies. “And considering our circumstances, it might be a good idea to see if that’s true.”

“Did you hear this from a Gardevoir?” You asked next.

“No, it was an Exeggutor.” Gloria answered while staring at you. “Why are you asking all these questions?” she asked you in return.

You were silent as you thought about what to respond with. You’re almost certain that the Gardevoir wanted you all to stay away, but there’s no doubt that they’ll run out of food if they don’t find another place, and with the bandits attacking…

“Rai, is everything alright?” Terrence asked in return, making you blink a bit to get your focus back.

“Terrence, Gloria… I don’t think that’s a good idea…” You told them.

“Why do you say that?” The Nidoqueen asked in response.

“We met one of the church members, a Gardevoir named Melanie.” You explained. “She explained the same things you mentioned about what they do at the church, but she had an expression, tone, and some particular advice that tells me that there may be something sinister going on there…”

“What do you mean? What are they doing?” She asked in concern.

“I don’t know. My group was being chased there by an infected pack before we got separated.” You bite the lip as you remember the others before continuing. “You said you found where it is right? Think you can give us directions where to find it?” You went to Rachael to check on her sprain. “I think we’ll just need a little while to rest.”

“Aww, you have to leave so soon?” George asked, looking sad. “It’s been lonely just the four of us.”

“I’m sorry, but we really need to get back to our group. I have to know Kate is okay.” You answered calmly.

Terrence looked at you. “Who is Kate?”

You were taken back a bit when the Nidoking mentioned her name, but then you realized you never mentioned her before until now. “She’s my little sister. She’ll be turning 7 in less than two weeks. We both were **** to leave our home due to the infection… a-and she’s all I have left to family for now…”

“That’s horrible…” Gloria stated, taking a moment to lightly play with her daughter. “Terrence?” She looked at her husband for what he would say.

“We’re running low on food, we haven’t been finding much around here for awhile, and I’m not gonna let me, my wife and my children starve.” He stated, looking at you as he added, “But I know that you’re not lying…” Terrence crosses his arms as he finishes with. “We need to go there, but if what you were told is true, then we must make sure we keep our guards up even after we do arrive.” Terrence answered as he went to the others to tell them to get their things and rest up for the trip.

You sigh from the response as you lay down near the wall as Rachael does the same. You’re relieved that you have a moment to rest yourselves, but you can’t stop thinking about your sister. You want to believe that the others will look after her without question, but with how things are right now and how little you know about them, you can’t say for sure they wouldn’t.

You shake your head. No amount of thinking about it is gonna make you feel better. So you decided to close your eyes and relax as you wait until Rachael is ready. However, your adrenaline finally wore off as you fell asleep.

Meanwhile, at an unknown terrain...

A figure was staring at your sleeping figure through the orb he’s generating in his palms. He stares at you with a look of intrigue on his face.

“Humph, even after the beating and fright I gave him, he only conflicted about whether to continue or not. Others have been broken after the first haunt.” The Hydregion grunted.

“The youth has a stronger drive it seems.” The one projecting the orb stated.

“Well I’ll be sure to break it soon enough.” The dragon said before adding, “And why should we only focus on that Raichu? Wouldn’t it be more efficient to target everyone in his group?”

“He gathered quite a number of allies in a short amount of time. Going after all of them would take a lot of energy. Besides, he’s the one who everyone’s connected to, one could break the group if they get the leader.”

“I supposed, though I would be lying if I said I’m not up for scarfing that mouse down.” He said, licking his teeth, not noticing the figure scowling at him for a moment.

“Better wait longer, because I have something else in mind.” The mysterious figure stated, bringing his other hand out and it glowed with dark-red energy.

“What’s better than me dealing with him now?” The dragon asked.

“That’s none of your business.” He responded, leaving the Hydregion to groan in annoyance as the figure finished whatever he was doing. Pleasant dreams, little chu…’