Chapter 3: On the Run

They could talk!

Technically, Quinn could always talk, but only at that moment could Avery make sense of what he was saying. It meant his attempt to talk to her had worked, that the mental connection he felt was real. He wouldn’t waste that chance.

"He's not the only one here from the funding organization," Quinn said, gesturing down at the fallen guard. "They had a whole team here to protect their particle trap. A dozen people across the campus. I think we blew it up."

Avery stepped over the fallen guard, kicking his handgun away from him along the floor. She took a few halting steps forward. "Baast? And… Sirius too, come with me. We're getting out of here!"

"Carry the fairy, sure. He did the easy part." The cat followed along behind her, expression sour. Not that Quinn could easily tell the difference, that cat always looked like she was in a bad mood.

"Right behind you, master." Sirius resisted far less, hopping over the fallen guard and breaking into a trot to keep up with Avery.

The girl showed no sign of recognition. She looked between the Pokémon, obviously hearing them—but the sounds they made meant nothing to her. "What kind of asshole just tries to kill someone like that?"

He winced, looking down. He tried to look away from her completely, but there was little he could do. His head was so huge, and he could only twist it so far on his neck. If I'm really a Celebi, I must be at least 50% head. "It doesn't matter! You can still drive, right? Go to the end of the hall, then left. We'll go through the guys' lockers, then steal my car. Well—not stealing. I'm telling you to take it."

Avery obeyed, flanked by both Pokémon. But there was no longer any easy way to stow Sirius, even if the fox didn't hate it. His Poké Ball was on Quinn's belt. "Should I hide you in my dress or something? There are cameras everywhere!"

Quinn shook his head so vigorously he nearly fell over. More of those stupid proportions that definitely made sense and weren't completely absurd. "Won't work, they already saw. They'll know I'm with you, just hurry! Everything's in there!"

Besides, there was only one way he was ever ending up in Avery's dress, and it wouldn't be while the size of a helpless plush doll.

She hurried down the halls, turning where he instructed and opening each door he said.

"While the building is evacuating, almost all the doors should be open!" he called. Quinn wasn't sure exactly what he was doing, so focused instead on keeping the connection open. If he lost his connection with her mind, he might not be able to find it again. Not in time to make a difference, anyway.

Despite her complaints, even Baast followed them, her delicate paws leaping over toppled furniture and bits of rubble along the route. Sirius had a little less patience, and just tossed things out of the way when they got too close.

The men's locker room already hung open, with more flashing lights inside.

"I'm not sure how I'm supposed to believe this, Quinn. If I hadn't seen it for myself… Arceus, you're a Celebi!"

He squirmed in her grip, nearly falling. His friend was gentle enough, but could only move as fast as any human being. It would be so much easier if he flew himself…

Quinn twisted sideways, slipping out from her arms. Something moved on his back as he did so, a faint buzzing that reflected his need to move on his own. He sagged in the air a few seconds, then floated back to eye level with Avery. "Don't remind me. I can think about it once we're away from the accelerator. If those bastards at Team Plasma knew this would happen…"

But he didn't say what he was thinking, instead drifting down the row of lockers until he found his own. Of course he didn't have the key anymore, left behind along with his clothes. "Sirius, rip off this door for me please?"

The fox bounded over, tossing his stick up and down between his hands. "Sure? Master wants us to break rules. Attacking humans, ruin things…"

Everything he had trained the Pokémon not to do. Sirius couldn't exactly come with him to the lab each day if he acted like a wild animal. Apparently that was working against him now.

"Very sure! Bad humans will kill me if we don't escape. Need what's inside. Don't burn it—psychic." It might not be exactly true from what he'd seen—it was only Avery they had tried to kill so far. But that was even worse—this was Quinn's experiment. Avery was only here because he asked. He would die before allowing anything to happen to her.

Avery wrinkled her nose, stepping over empty robes, discarded towels, and scattered pieces of PPE. She hesitated behind him as Sirius moved, ripping off the front of the locker with a faintly glowing attack. She dodged around the tumbling door, appearing just behind him.

"Alright. What do we need?"

He pointed into the opening with stubby fingers. "Keys, wallet, phone. Then we run."

She took all three from inside, fingers knocking awkwardly around in the opening for a few seconds. She shoved all of it into her purse, then turned to go.

Quinn followed, though he didn't make it very far. He'd stopped to inspect a large backpack fallen in front of a mirror. In that instant, he had his first clear view of himself. He froze, mouth slowly opening and closing as he tried and failed to process what he saw.

Few humans on Earth had ever got such a clear view of the mythical guardian of the forest. Yet here it was, close enough to take detailed scans. If he could've taken biological data from a specimen like this, the tachyon experiment would probably have been much, much more successful. Maybe it wouldn't have exploded.

That part of his mind was soon silenced by everything else. He shouldn't be staring back through huge blue eyes on an even bigger head, with short feet and hands with three small fingers. His hairstyle didn't just resemble Celebi anymore, his head really was that big.

No ears, though he could obviously still hear. So the antennae must be taking care of that.

"It's real," Avery said, stopping in the mirror just behind him. "Sorry, I don't mean to rush you… but I'm rushing you. You said those people want me dead."

"I wasn't looking. I just…" He gripped the strap of the backpack, and it lifted up into the air with him. Somehow it didn't seem to weigh anything, so long as he kept his fingers wrapped tightly around it.

I won't think about what's happening. I won't think about it, won't think about it… The instant he did, he would probably drop right out of the air all over again.

Avery took the empty bag from him. "What's this for? Somewhere for you to hide?"

He barely heard the rest, his eyes locked on the little plastic card on her chest. It had rotated all the way around, going past yellow and red all the way to solid black, the absolute limit of the detector's sensitivity. "Shit!" He ripped it off her chest. The card flew across the room, smacking into one of the walls.

"Quinn? Another vision? Or did you want to change your mind?"

"Humans coming," Baast called. She had remained in the doorway, where the worst of the smell couldn't reach her. And apparently, where she had the best view of traffic moving in. "Two. With Pokémon."

Avery looked up, face blank as usual. No time to watch the slow-motion ballet while Avery figured out what the cat meant. Maybe she would get it right or maybe not, but by the time she did… "Showers! There's a window to the parking lot through there! Hurry!"

Avery turned up her nose. "Fine. But this is not the way I imagined you would get me in the shower. You're lucky I already liked you."

Quinn twisted through the air once, waving back the way he'd come as energetically as he could. "Come on, we're going this way.” Then out loud to the Pokemon, he asked, “Do you think you could block the door, Baast?"

The cat followed, expression blank. "Maybe I could. Big cat didn't ask."

He ground flat teeth together—assuming that was even what those were. Did Celebi have teeth? "Avery, maybe your Pokémon could block the door? She won't listen to me when I ask."

"Is that what you were talking about?" Avery hesitated by another open door. Steam still wafted out from within, along with the stink of a large public shower that hadn't been cleaned recently enough. "You think it's okay? Getting out was one thing, but we're kinda tearing this building apart."

If that radiation card was right, it doesn't matter what you do.

But he couldn't let that grim thought linger for too long, or he would give up. This wasn't hopeless. Once they got away from Team Plasma, he could figure out the rest.

"The professor will forgive me! Just seal the door!"

Avery pointed. "Baast, rip up those lockers and close the door behind us please? I'll be really grateful."

The Pokémon turned, her ears twisting towards the opening. Lights flashed in the hallway behind, bright white spotlights pivoting towards the opening. "Grateful. But she doesn't do it herself. Acts like helpless kitten, mewling and mewling."

Metal groaned, then lurched. A dozen lockers ripped free of the floor, zooming into the open double doors. The first few only widened the gap, ripping the doors out of their frame. But then came another, and another. The benches ripped up next, followed by some of the sinks. Water sprayed through the gaps made by the plumbing, splashing onto the floor.

A second later, and flames licked through the opening, washing over layers of rubble clogging the entrance. Tongues of bright orange squeezed inside, though none could get far. Someone shouted, but Quinn could barely make out the words.

But he could feel their anger, burning as hot as the flames of those Pokémon. If he focused, he could feel them standing there—two people, with another few Pokémon around them. He turned his back on the doors, floating through the showers towards the window.

Avery wasn't completely helpless. She'd turned off each shower in the row as they passed, and waited beside a cloudy window of security glass about halfway up the wall. Neither of its two halves were large enough for Avery to fit through, but if they removed both…

"One more, Sirius." He pointed for the fox, then floated back to Avery. He settled back against her chest. Without a word exchanged, she wrapped both arms around him again, holding on tight.

Importantly, if he was right next to her, then his Pokémon would be extra careful to avoid hurting her.

"Okay, master." The fox looked up at the window, hopping gingerly between dry patches of tile. "You ask a lot close together. Getting tired."

"Just one more!" he said. "We have a way out up there! We can get away!"

The Pokémon took a few seconds. Metal groaned, and glass shattered, blasting away from the window and onto the grass beyond.

Grass, and leaves, and bushes and trees. The BBLEC was mostly underground after all, with its infrastructure entirely covered with living plants. Quinn inhaled sharply, drifting towards the opening. How had he stayed underground all this time, when there was sun up there!

Avery released him, letting him flutter over to the opening. The window was barely big enough for Avery to fit through, but at his size it was easy. It felt a little like climbing, except there was nothing for him to touch. He ascended, careful not to brush any of the little pieces of broken glass.

Then he was out, through one of many windows artfully concealed in the side of a grassy hill. Other Unova plants grew here, young trees planted by the academy, broken by ferns and wildflowers. It would take years before all those plants grew to their full size. At that moment, many were still small, with little wooden supports to help them get started.

Quinn ascended past the trees, not really thinking about how he would get there. But the sun was there, waiting for him to leave the last shadow. If only he could reach it, he would feel that warmth on his own skin!

Then he touched it, and his whole world turned slightly fuzzy. He floated in place, spinning slowly as the heat washed over him. For a few seconds, nothing mattered—not Team Plasma and the PMC here to protect their "investment," not even the awful things he'd seen on Avery's card. If he got his way, Quinn would never go under the ground ever again!

"Hey, Quinn? A little help here? Our friends are… cutting through the barricade…"

Her voice caught through his brief disorientation, dragging Quinn's thoughts back to reality. He wasn't just here to relax—his friend needed him!

Avery can't fly. She'll get cut apart. He dropped back down onto the dirt floor, narrowly dodging a few shards of broken glass. How had he been doing that flying thing again? His back ached, and his head was starting to throb too. Maybe he should slow down…

Avery bent down, helping Baast through the opening, then doing the same for Sirius. She lingered on the edge, eyeing the few shards of glass stuck into the frame. She couldn't exactly avoid them when she had to lift her own weight.

Avery tossed her purse through, along with the empty backpack. Then she frowned, pacing nervously back and forth. "Any second now!"

Quinn stumbled over, barely able to keep standing on his own feet. This body was so top-heavy that a single sudden movement might make him topple over.

"I'm… I got it…" He reached towards her, brushing at the windowsill with both hands as though trying to wave away some flickers of morning mist. Glass shards splintered and fell away, knocked to either side and leaving a nearly flat surface behind.

That was the easy part, but now—what about her? "Just close your eyes! And maybe cover your face, just in case."

Something banged in the room behind her, and more flashes of orange radiated towards her.

Avery obeyed, lifting both arms over her face a second before Quinn's gesture did anything. Her body shimmered with faint blue, lifting up off the ground—and she toppled forward through the opening, soaring just over the shards of broken glass before crashing into a nearby bush.

The girl groaned, rolling off the bush and onto her back. "Please… try to be more careful, Quinn. You don't see me… practicing my psychic powers on you."

Quinn half ran, half floated his way over to his fallen friend. "You're not from Saffron, Avery. You don't have powers!"

She moaned in reply, pulling herself slowly into a sitting position. "Whole… point of my research. Granted, it's not as… explosive as yours." She wobbled, shuffling awkwardly into a standing position. The shrub hadn't done much to stop her fall, and several branches now stuck from her dress. "Alright, I'm up. Time to… parking lot."