Bits of dirt clung to her skin as Alex lifted herself off the ground. She wasn’t in much pain, but they all would be in serious trouble if they didn’t get moving. The woman was about to return both of her Pokemon to their balls—Polizi as a protection from the flames and Marlow due to his injury, when she heard whimpering to her right. Turning her attention to the sound, she spotted the source. An Eevee had gotten caught in the fire, the burns to its body clearly evident as it lay trembling on the ground. It seemed almost too weak to move, the canine remaining nearly motionless on the ground as the heat around them continued to rise.
“Mon dieu,” she muttered, the sound of her voice being consumed by the crackle of the flames inching closer to them. There was a flash of light as she returned her two Pokemon to their balls. She needed to focus on getting away from the blaze, and they were just one more thing to worry about if loose.
Knowing the Eevee didn’t stand a chance in its current condition, Alex snapped up the small Pokemon. The sudden movement caused the weakened canine to struggle, yelping in mild panic as Alex managed to pull it close enough to zip her jacket up around it. Its protests at being picked up were silenced by a surprised yelp as the fire gave a sudden pop. Alex instinctively jumped to the side to avoid the small embers that had been sent flying, arms wrapping securely around the bundle in her jacket.
By this point the fire had all but surrounded the small clearing she’d stumbled into. Frantically she scanned ahead for any route of escape. Spotting a sort of path which was more just a spot where the fire wasn’t burning as thickly as everywhere else, Alex put her hand gently on the Eevee’s head. She wanted to protect the injured Pokemon as much as she could from what she was going to need to do.
After taking two steps backward—the flames behind her feeling exceptionally warm as she did—Alex took off in a sprint toward the slight gap in the blaze. She made a headlong dive through the crackling tongues of fire, landing in a somewhat awkward roll to keep the force of impact spread across her back and away from still trembling Eevee. One hand braced against the ground as she pushed herself up immediately following the roll, the other arm stayed firmly wrapped in front of her to keep the canine in place.
Now there was some semblance of a clear shot out of the field. Alex ran as fast as her legs would carry her, the ash in the air making her lungs burn. She could barely see what looked like trees up ahead through the hazy smoke. If it was the same forest she’d come through to get here she knew there was a small river that could provide a route of escape from the fire. Without any real options, Alex changed course, her target the trees.
She stumbled a few times over rocks the haze around her hid from view. It slowed her more than she would have liked, but the air around her was getting hard to breath, and it didn’t get much better as she zipped past the first few trees. The Eevee’s struggling had slackened since she began running. Alex worried it was inhaling too much of the hazy smoke.
She continued to dart through the trees, trying to find some hint that the river was nearby. The air quality was slightly better here, the bulk of the flames rising up above them to lick and snap at the dense foliage of the canopy. It was starting to look hopeless that she’d find the planned escape route. Alex couldn’t even tell if she was still headed in the same general direction as before or if she’d somehow taken a wrong turn trying to avoid fallen limbs and leaping fire.
A fiery branch falling a few short feet in front of her forced Alex to skid to a halt. Without the sound of her feet pounding on the ground she could better hear the crackling of fire within the forest. Panic began to rise in her throat, the trembling from within her jacket reassuring her that the Eevee she was attempting to rescue from the blaze was still alive. The canine let out another string of whimpers as the fire in front of them let out a loud pop. Alex quickly ran the reasons fire popped like that through her mind, a half-hearted attempt to calm herself enough to get her bearings on the direction they needed to go. It was impossible to tell the time of day or direction from the sun, the fire and smoke overhead completely obscured any sunlight that was still shining. The orange light from the flames was plenty to illuminate the area, eerie flickering shadows flashing haphazardly on any trees still strong enough to remain upright.
The air was getting thicker. Alex knew she couldn’t stand around searching for escape much longer. She needed to move. As she adjusted her hold on the frightened Pokemon a familiar sound rose up under the crackling of fire. It sounded to Alex like rushing water. Pulling up reserves of strength only adrenaline could provide, the Interpol agent took off at a hard sprint toward the hopefully real sound. The thick air made her wheeze, ash and smoke starting to become too much for her to handle. She stumbled over a fallen branch that remained somehow untouched by fire, coughing and panting at the exertion of righting herself.
Her coughing subsided, she could actually hear the rushing water of the river despite the roaring of the fire around her.
Arceus be praised. With renewed vigor she ran headlong for the water, the river itself coming into obscured view after a few yards. One last headlong dash had her stumbling into the surprisingly cool shallows of the rather fast waters. She didn’t stop though. Running downstream, her speed was hampered by the knee deep water. The fire continued to blaze as she began down the watery path, the rush of the water bringing with it somewhat fresh air. It still felt thick and hard to breath, but it didn’t burn her lungs as the air among the trees had.
There was a downside to her plan. The shallows she was running through were changing from muddy sands to smooth stones the farther down the river she got. She started stumbling more often as the stones increased in number. Her strength was failing as well, which made trying to regain her footing and balance more difficult. Finally, her legs could hold her up no longer, and a slip on one of the stones sent her crashing into the water.
Fast currents easily pulled her to the middle of the river, the undercurrents keeping her under. It was a struggle but she managed to pull her head above water, gasping for air as she pulled the Eevee up as well. Now wet and burned, the canine was very displeased with the current treatment and gave a few more weak struggles. By some grace, Alex kept a hold of the squirming Pokemon as the river carried them both further from the epicenter of the wildfire.
Alex could do nothing but keep the Eevee restrained and their heads above water as the river pulled them along. The gradually increasing air quality gave her a second wind, and they floated along down the river for what seemed like ages. Once she was sure they were well clear of the flames spread, Alex used her second wind to push them both out of the main current and back to the opposite shore. If the river had been any faster it would not have worked; as it was they were carried another good chunk of yards before getting out of the current’s hold.
Finally safely on dry land again, and away from the heat of the flames, Alex could tell she had sustained quite a few burns as well. Nothing seemed too serious, so she’d worry about getting them treated once she was back in a town. For now, she wanted to tend to the Eevee.
Staggering to a spot of level ground, Alex slowly sank down so she was sitting on the grassy floor of the thinner part of the forest. It could have been a different forest entirely really. Alex hadn’t paid very much attention to anything aside from staying afloat while in the river. Keeping an arm firmly around the Eevee’s shoulders, she began unzipping her jacket. The Pokemon didn’t show any signs of trying to immediately bolt. This both worried and relieved Alex; she could try and tend to the canine’s burns more easily, but it also meant the creature didn’t have much strength left. The stress of being caught in a fire, picked up by some random human, and then being swept down a river had taken its toll on the Pokemon. Alex just hoped it was strong enough to pull through.
Laying the weakened Pokemon on the ground, Alex began rummaging through her very soggy supplies. She was glad to have had the foresight to get a watertight first aid box, and pulled it out along with a burn heal. Taking a firm hold on an undamaged part of the Eevee’s scruff, she began spraying the burns on its body with the healing spray. It stung, a fact made very obvious by the weak thrashing of the canine as she continued treating it.
“Oh mon chere, I know it hurts,” she cooed, trying to calm the stressed Pokemon as she finished spraying the burn heal. Still with one hand on its scruff, she managed to open the first aid kit, albeit with a bit of difficulty. The watertight seal had held, and Alex pulled a roll of dry gauze out. Deftly, she began to wrap the soft cotton material around the burned parts of the Eevee’s body. Since this was not a painful exercise, the Pokemon didn’t appear to be inclined to flee from her treatment.
By the time she was done Alex had hardly any gauze left, and the Eevee was covered in more gauze than fur. It looked like a sorry sight; wet fur and heaps of gauze coating it as its body trembled from both the cold from the river and the stress it had gone through.
She’d just been trying to find a meal when the fire started, and then she’d been scooped up by this human female and dragged clear across the river and well downstream. That wasn’t even touching on that nasty smelling and painful liquid she put on her body. Though the burns from the fire were starting to feel a bit better, the painful liquid leaving a numb tingling on her skin now. She let out a pitiful cry, voice cracking and wheezing from the smoke inhalation.
Alex continued to coo quiet words of comfort to the Eevee as she rummaged through her bag for something else. The canine eyed her warily, unsure what other nasty substance she would pull out. What she did pull out however, was something quite different from medicine.
“It should still be good,” Alex murmured to herself as she pulled a soggy bag of Pokefood from within her pack. Opening it with the knife from her belt, the white haired woman managed to shake some of the water logged food out onto the ground in front of the Eevee.
Nose twitching, the Pokemon was reminded of her lack of a meal before this ordeal. Creeping forward warily, the food didn’t seem too appealing. It was food though, and after a couple tentative mouthfuls she dug in greedily. The soggy texture wasn’t pleasant, but her filling belly wasn’t complaining one bit. With the last bit of food in her stomach she gave Alex an expectant look before glancing at the bag of food still sitting nearby.
Getting the message quite clearly, Alex dumped another serving of the soggy kibble in front of the Eevee. As the canine dug in, the woman slowly reached out a hand toward the Pokemon. With a deliberate slowness, Alex gently gave the Eevee’s head a few strokes. The canine paused in her eating, giving Alex a cryptic look before returning to her meal. The woman was feeding her, so she’d tolerate the touch. It was much more pleasant than the grab to her scruff before. A soft smile graced Alex’s face as she continued stroking the Eevee,
“There, c’est mieux.”Still keeping her movement slow and deliberate, she reached her other hand into her bag, still stroking the Eevee’s head. This time she pulled a Safari Ball from her bag, pressing the button to enlarge it from its travel size before holding it before the Eevee.
“If you come home with me I promise better food than those soggy bits, and a warm place to sleep.” She wasn’t sure if the Eevee could understand her, but she did know that even with the burn heal there was still a chance the Pokemon’s injuries could become infected. Especially so if it continued to stay outside. Once the canine had finished eating the second helping of food, Alex pulled her hand away from its head. It just sat there and stared at her. Taking that as a positive sign, the Interpol agent gave the ball a gentle toss. The Eevee was pulled within in a flash of light, and the ball dropped to the ground. The light behind the button remained on as it rocked, and Alex held her breath as she waited for it to either stop or the Pokemon to burst back out.
2316---
Ahahahaa I am so sorry about the length of this
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