Wrong Choice: Phoenix Edition

Phoenix couldn’t shake the unease that settled on his shoulders as he listened to the old lady he’d chosen to sit next to when the car had filled up, bumping him and his sister from their seats to make room for others that needed the more luxurious booths. That unsettling smile of the grandmotherly type, reassuring and yet… there was an undercurrent of menace that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand alert. It wasn’t necessarily directed at him, though. Instead, it seemed more directed at those around them, an unspoken warning against those that dared threaten the young man. Maybe he was imagining things, though. He hoped he was imagining things.

Still, the little Pichu eyed him suspiciously, even though the little thing hadn’t seemed to mind his presence at the start. It smirked and tucked itself into a little ball on its Trainer’s lap, or was that smirk a shadow passing over the Pichu fusion as the lights overhead flickered? Everything about the woman and her Pokemon had Phoenix on edge, when at the beginning of their conversation, this journey had been something he looked forward to. Still, she offered a form of protection to the fused Trainer, and he couldn’t stop himself from looking over at his twin for reassurance. When everything else fell apart around them, they’d had each other, and she looked back at him when she picked up on his gaze on her. She seemed just as bewildered and unnerved by what she was talking to the handsome man about as he was after his encounter with the grandmotherly old woman.

He looked back at the old woman for just a second, but his eyes went to the spiky tufts of that Pichu that seemed far smarter then it should have been, and once more, it stretched itself out, flexing its black and yellow wings as wide as it could before tucking them back against its back again. It continued to stare at him, and it niggled at him that he couldn’t place where he’d seen the Pokemon before. He broke his gaze first, and as he looked around, he heard the old woman chuckle and give him another pat to the arm. Again, he caught a glimpse of the suppressor, and while he’d been comfortable when he’d moved to this booth, he couldn’t help but run his fingers absently along his own suppressor, assuring himself it was still there and functioning. Obviously, it was, as he didn’t have his two pronged tail drifting beside him, filtering air currents for the intent of those around him. 

Phoenix felt the pressure in the middle of his forehead building, as if a tight band pulled taut across it as the Pokemon instinct tried to warn him about… something. It had been bugging him since they’d entered the carriage, but even after this long, he still had trouble reading those clues his body tried to give him. Still, he rubbed at his neck gently, as if to soothe himself as he glanced over to his twin again. This was going to be a long ride.