Jared raised his voice despite the pain.

"Thank you... for saving my life."

"I didn't do this for you, I am simply upholding justice. When you return, I would do your best to lay low while Yannick sorts this out."

Jared and pidgey looked at each other.

"Can I stay here for a while?"

Bannock nodded.

"I understand your worries, and until Yannick settles this matter you may."

Bannock then clapped twice, and two young women and a young man came through the side door. On their backs, 'outer gym member' was written.

They exclaimed simultaneously as if they had practiced a thousand times. "Yes, master Bannock?"

The elder looked over the three, before landing his gaze on the brown-haired male.

"Lucas, this boy beside me will be staying with us here for a few days. Take him to the guest accommodations and give him what he needs."

Bowing, Lucas gestured for Jared to follow.

Before Jared could leave, Bannock raised his voice.

"I must warn you, Jared. Normally, a novice pokemon like yours wouldn't pose a serious threat to a human, but when paired with your 'invoke,' that Pidgey becomes a deadly weapon. I've judged that this accident came about by naivety, but if another life is lost, it will no longer be naivety, but carelessness."

Bannock then narrowed his eyes, "I don't want unsheathed swords flying around the city, and what that sword does from now on is your responsibility. Do you understand me?"

Looking to the confused bird on his shoulder, Jared turned back to nod. "Yes... and thanks again."

The guest accommodations were near the south entrance. Lucas had explained that trainers from other towns or cities would come to the gym to study or train. In rare instances, a big shot would challenge the gym, and eventually, the southern wing was turned into a hotel of sorts for the wealthy clans.

Sometime later, Jared was clicking his tongue when he opened the door to his room. Lucas had taken a key from reception, and given it to him.

The room was more like a self-contained environment. It was spacious and held two sofas along with three beds. It was even equipped with its own indoor arena. Jared had no idea what it would cost to stay there, and he didn't want to find out.

Putting Pidgey down on a coffee table, Jared sat on the sofa.

"Jared's head drooped into his hands, "This is all my fault. That poor kid would be alive now if I wasn't so careless."

"pididgey piidgg"

"No, you weren't supposed to kill anyone!"

Unperturbed, Pidgey raised his beak up in protest.

"pidgg pidgge iidgeey"

Hearing Pidgey speak about how he did nothing wrong, Jared was coming to a realization about the bird.

'He can understand what I say, but his point of view is too different than mine. But what was I expecting? it's not a human, why would it have human sentiment? Even if he did it accidentally, he still doesn't realize that what he did was wrong. Is this like the adage, 'If a lion could talk, you wouldn't be able to truly understand it?'

Meanwhile, Pidgey was eyeing Jared with growing confusion.

Thinking of Hendrik lying in a pool of his own blood made Jared want to puke, 'It's like Bannock said, I'm naive and stupid. While I didn't know the amplification would be this dangerous, I still wielded pidgey like an unrestrained tool. I'm supposed to be the trainer, and if I had trained Pidgey to do more than spam attacks, then he could have controlled his gusts more precisely, and not risk literally murdering someone.'

"piddggeye piddgy"

Jared wiped his face.

"I will be fine, but I need you to understand what you did was wrong... and after this is all over, we need to make amends to Hendriks family somehow."

.

Finished with moping, Jared raided the pantry and then spent the next three days training in the small arena. He refused to take a step out the door until he felt satisfied, but this was cut short later on the third day.

He had been sitting down to eat with pidgey in the arena when he heard a loud knock on the door.

"Pidgey, keep eating, I'll be right back."

When Jared opened it, he was taken aback to see it was Yannick, and beside her was an unknown man.

"Yannick?"

Yannick responded in an uncompromising tone,

"Let us in, this won't take long."

"...ok."

Leaving the door open, Jared walked over to take a seat, as he posed a question, "Is everything...?"

The older woman remained standing, as she towered over Jared, "This man beside me is the father of Hendrik."

Jared then realized that they did have some resemblance.

Before Jared could apologize to the man, Yannick continued, "Here is the compromise that has been reached between me and Nathaniel. In exchange for letting you off, that pokemon of yours will have to pay for this murder. Of course, you can refuse."

Jared's face twisted, as he stood up.

"Wait, wait, Bannock didn't say anything about this!" then he finally processed the last few words, " Wait, I can refuse?!"

The brown-haired man finally snarled, "Yannick, this little bastard clearly isn't even sorry for what he did, and he will probably do it again, let's forget the deal put this rabid dog down."

But he was met by Yannicks raised hand.

"Yes, you can refuse."

Jared's eyes widened.

"I can?"

"For your safety, I recommend you leave the city... with that said, this matter is already considered settled, and I will take my leave."

As Yannick was about to leave the door she added, "If you run to Richard, you'll find that after learning of what happened, he doesn't want to see you again."

Jared also saw Nathaniel sneak glances at him. Jared had seen that look before and he didn't like it.

When the door was closed, Jared cursed.

"Shit."

Once he was back in the arena, Jared found Pidgey had just finished eating.

Seeing his trainer's nervousness, Pidgey became wary.

"Things have gotten worse, the boy we killed... his father came and told me that he wouldn't let this matter go until you were dead. We need to leave."

Pidgeys eyes widened in alarm, as it looked around for the threat.

"He's gone now, I refused him, but if we don't leave this city, then people will come af..."

Stopping in his tracks a thought emerged, 'Yannick was the one who opposed Bannock's decision. So why would she tell me all that? Wait a minute, she told me from the very beginning that I could refuse, so why? She also didn't say I was forced to leave the city, only that she recommends it. Then she told me Richard doesn't want to see me again. Wasn't Richard still away, when would she have the chance to meet him? and even if that were true, why would she tell me?'

Jared chuckled, as he turned to the confused bird, "How would a normal sixteen-year-old react in this situation?"

"Chirp?"

"If I were, I would be thinking of fleeing the city immediately to get away from the farmers that want me dead, but isn't that what they would want? Yannick and Nathaniel can't do anything to me because Bannock already made his decision, which means they likely wanted me dead from the very beginning. If they killed you, even if I never left the city, I would be helpless without a pokemon. On the other hand, If I left the city with you, then they could track us down and kill us."

"piidd ggeyy"

"No, we won't do either. Since we have nowhere to go, we will find a way to stay in this gym, even if I have to beg and plead."

Firming his resolution, Jared packed up and left to find Bannock.

Fifteen minutes later, Jared was speaking with the receptionist at the guest entrance.

"I need to speak with Bannock."

The middle-aged woman recognized the boy "Bannock isn't available... Oh it's you, someone left a letter for you."

"Who did? what did they say?"

"I can't say, it's just the letter. Now please move aside, you are holding up the line."

As Jared walked away, he thought, 'I'll read this before deciding what to do, and who knows, maybe Bannock left the letter?'

Sitting in a chair with only Pidgey for company, he tore open the letter, and read the first line.

"I hope you don't think me cruel for this situation you find yourself in, but truthfully my hands are somewhat tied."

As Jared kept reading, he realized the words never indicated who wrote them, but Jared imagined it was in fact Bannock. "There is quite a bit of outcry surrounding the death of Hendrik. Unfortunately, with the decision made regarding this crime, the outer clans have begun rallying against the Pewter clan, and if the Pewter Clan does not distance themselves from the matter, it could lead to more tragedy.

With that last sentence, Jared felt himself falling into hopelessness. This was the same as saying the Pewter Clan would not take him in.

'You will find there is an outsider from Pallet who intends to challenge this gym in the coming days. His name is Davos, and with his strength, he has the ability to protect you, but the matter of convincing him might prove difficult. He is known as a temperamental and intractable man. He has never taken in a student, but with your talent, it's possible he will take an interest in you. I also have reason to believe that he would not care about Pewter Clans matters. He resides at door number thirteen in the guest quarters. '

What Jared then read sent shivers down his spine, 'Please remember this. Do not believe that the city streets will be safe, or even this very clan hall.'

Looking up, Jared found that many eyes turned away the moment they felt his gaze.

"Shit."