Snippet #2282208

Mar was pretty sure he was being followed by some sort of hitman, but for the life of him he couldn't understand what he had ever done to be the target of an assassin. The man who had been walking silently behind him, expressionless under a pair of dark sunglasses, certainly looked like he could probably pick Mar up and snap him in half with ease, and he was extremely out of place in their hometown. Trying his best to ignore the possible-stalker, Mar focused on the familiar path to the Pokemon Center, frowning all the while.

That was, until his gaze lighted upon Sumara and her brother, waiting for him in front of the Center. Then his frown of concern for his general well-being morphed into a grimace-smirk. He could not believe how stupid he'd been to fall prey to his older cousin's sacred "no backs" rule earlier in the week. He ought to have known better than to leap before looking, and sure enough, his blurted promise of "whatever it is, I'll do it!" lead him to this situation. Who knew that his family, who were supposed to love him, were capable of such random cruelty? He was pretty sure it would be infinitely safer for Sumara and him to travel alone and risk getting mauled by rogue Pokemon or robbed by highway bandits than to travel together and probably destroy one another within the first hour.

"Hey short stuff," Mar said, digging at the fact that he'd gained considerable height over her in the past year. "So I understand I'm to be baby-sitting you for the next indeterminable amount of time."

Much to his absolute chagrin, the creepy big guy stopped walking near him as well. However, instead of getting Mar into a headlock or punching him out, the guy merely glanced over at Sumara's brother and nodded to him once. "Jace Zabat," he said, not like it was a question but more of a statement. Suddenly Mar wondered if Sumara's brother was the target of the possible hitman instead. "Brigson." Mar had no idea what that meant but assumed it was his name.