Heart of Gold

I remembered the crime shows Luca made me watch with him. I remembered people getting mugged, bodies stuffed in trash cans with banana peels, broken beer bottles, suffocating black garbage bags, rotting ice cream. I remembered what my mom told me if something like this happened. Do what the attacker says, she said. If they want money, give it to them. Money can be replaced. Your life cannot.

"Back off," I said instead.

Luca swung his arm across me to protect me, or maybe to stop me from attacking. "We don't want to fight," Luca said. His voice was calm, despite his arm trembling in front of me. "We'll give you money; I have three thousand marks. That's enough to buy yourself a fancy dinner."

"Did you mishear me, fucker?" the boy said. "I want that egg. Hand it over."

The boy released a pokeball from his belt as a further threat. This pokemon was a fire type with a long snout and flames on its back. A cyndaquil. I'd trained one back at the lab just like it.

"Astrid," Luca whispered.

"I'm not giving up this egg," I said. Maybe it was some kind of maternal instinct within me, or maybe it was my body's revolt against being harassed, but a feeling like a typhoon welled within me. A raging storm of wind and rain. My chikorita barked. "Ulric, help me! Use tackle!"

I wasn't sure if Ulric was trained to know what 'tackle' meant, but he launched himself at the cyndaquil and slammed his body into it. The cyndaquil, startled, rebounded with a tackle of its own. Ulric rolled out of the blow, mostly unharmed. The red-haired boy hissed profanities. "Ulric, hit it again!" I said.

Ulric tackled it once more. The cyndaquil swiveled on its small legs out of the blow. The momentum sent Ulric tumbling forward, but he caught himself. The cyndaquil's strategy was familiar. I remembered teaching new pokemon at the lab similar fighting techniques, like how to use momentum against the opponent.

I stalled. "Why do you want this egg so bad?"

"I want something, I get it," he said. "What's it to you? Give it to me or I'll crush your pokemon." The cyndaquil ran another tackle at Ulric. Ulric dodged, and the cyndaquil u-turned and came back at Ulric. It hit the chikorita this time and sent him rolling away with a panicked bleat. The tactic the cyndaquil used was just like I'd taught back at the lab. The particular cyndaquil I trained was named Audric.

"Where'd you get your pokemon?" I asked.

"Astrid, stop egging him on!" Luca said.

"Why would you want to know?" the boy said. To the cyndaquil he commanded, "Finish that chikorita!"

I didn't think Ulric could take another tackle. "Audric, stop! Heel, now!" I said.

The cyndaquil halted. He looked at his trainer, then me, and shuffled to my feet. It sat and looked at me for further orders.

The red-haired boy blanched, jerked the cyndaquil's pokeball forward, and returned it. The cyndaquil disappeared in a flash of red. "Who are you?" I said.

Ulric extended a vine and slapped the knife out of the boy's hand. The boy squared his shoulders even though he was outnumbered. "Vincent," he said. "Not that it matters."

The boy burst into a sprint and vanished into the woods. I almost went after him, but it felt like all the energy had been sucked from my body. As if anticipating my unspoken desire, Luca grabbed my arm to stop me. I sank into him. Luca shifted his arm around my shoulders. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Ulric trotted over to me, a little bruised, and wove himself between my legs. The boy and his pokemon were gone, all that was left was a silver knife on the ground. I reached to my egg pouch and held it close to me. "We could've been mugged," I whispered.

Luca laughed. It was a harsh, short, laugh. "And you would've mugged that guy. You really scared me. Like, really scared me."

"I'm sorry."

Luca seemed to realize that my fight or flight response was over. Like he was protecting me from bullies, he reached over and petted my head. It was like we were little kids again, like some snotty child dumped sand in my shirt and Luca came to save me. Only it was different now. I'd never felt this kind of fear and anger before.

"He got that pokemon from the lab," I said.

"I know. C'mon, Professor Elm needs us back."