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Re: How to Conquer Kanto in Eight Easy Steps - Interlude 13 (100th Chapter!)
@AetherX: I'm glad someone reviewed this in the end
We did discuss much of this via PM so not sure what to touch on here now. Your review does make it clear you're annoyed with Alaska: hopefully the next few chapters will shine her in a more sympathetic light as she faces her issues more clearly. The change in Cycling Road came as part of my action-reevaluation post one of your Galactic reviews, so glad you liked it Also, I'm not sure what you mean by things not lasting long, since nothing blew up in that chapter - would you mind clarifying that bit please? Otherwise thanks for the review
@chaos_Leader: Welcome to this mad little story, thanks for immersing yourself! Basically all the issues you had are things I hope my rewrites will address when they get posted (fingers crossed this month!) I see your points on Freddie but I don't plan on changing his attitude. I have two cousins that are both eight: one is chatty and intelligent for his age, the other can barely string a sentence together (yet doesn't have any medical/mental/behavioural/educational issues), so I think maturity depends on the person and the upbringing. It will be something that gets touched on in a few arcs time of where I'm currently writing though. And interesting note about the length: they have added about a page or so in the rewrites if you want longer chapters.
And don't worry: Buzz wanting to kill Alaska straight away won't happen anymore. After many complaints, I am cutting that out and changing it around. Watch this space
Long wait between chapters, which is entirely my fault. Hope people like this since it did take a while to get right and I still think I could have done more, but I'll leave that up to you!
Chapter Seventy Four: No Escape
“Wait – stop!”
Sandy froze, turning back to Alaska with her left foot hovering in mid-air. An eyebrow was raised, and Alaska pointed defensively behind her. Sandy turned again, this time facing a wooden sign propped up behind them.
“Welcome to Fuchsia City – our gym may be poison, but we promise the people aren’t,” she read drolly. “That’s cute, but was that really worth pointing out? I didn’t think folksy town signs were really your thing.”
“Not the sign, I don’t give two shits about that,” Alaska scoffed. “It’s what it represents: the town line, the boundaries where route meets city.”
“What are you on about?”
“This will be the first time in god knows how long we have actually entered a city without our lives in danger,” Alaska said. Sandy’s quizzical look turned to a frown, and she too turned and gazed at the sign. Alaska sighed and cast her gaze over the newest bit of their journey: the bright blue waves crashing against the beach; the port where the smell of fish was wafting up to meet them; cottages and town houses scattered around earthen roads. When was the last time I actually got to experience this, walking into a new environment on my own accord, not fleeing or sneaking around or waking up bound and gagged. This is me, walking into a city with no one on my tail, with no obvious threat to my safety waiting within these city lines.
“I don’t know what you’re on about, Alaska,” Sandy said after a few moments. “We’re always in danger.” And with that, she stepped into the city. Alaska felt like she had been winded, but after a few moments and she sighed and nodded, and followed her friend into Fuchsia.
***
“Charm, quickly!
“Aurora Beam, go!”
Eevee leapt up and turned to face Shelley, shaking the dust off after being thrown a metre into the air. Her brown fur dirtier than ever, the Evolution Pokémon ignored that and pulled a seductive face, lips pursed, topped with a wink, in Shelley’s direction. The Shellder smiled goofily in response, but quickly shook her body to snap out of the Charm.
“SHELL!” She cried, opening her mouth wide and firing the rainbow coloured beam. The temperature across the field lowered, and Eevee cried out as a frosty sheen washed over her.
“Tackle!” Sandy shouted.
“Icicle Spear!” Alaska countered. Shelley cut off the Aurora Beam, leaving a dazed and stiff Eevee in its wake. The Shellder flashed her wide, goofy smile before opening her shell, ensuring there was enough room to fire out her attack. The first icicle shot out, like a glittering frozen missile, and soared over the pitch to hit Eevee squarely on the head.
“VEEEEE!” She wailed, toppling to her side. Sandy gasped, but Eevee quickly forced herself up as the second icicle came out: the icy spear scraped across her fur but fell to the ground with a clatter, failing to hit.
“Eevee Vee!” The furry Normal type squealed delightfully, and she sprinted forwards as the next icicles came out: she swerved, running past the third and fourth and closing in on her small target. Shelley’s eye widened in fear, and she put all her energy into firing out the fifth icicle. Eevee was too close to avoid it now, and the attack slammed into her ribs. She winced and stumbled, nearly somersaulting into her target, but her speed kept her going, and Eevee crashed into her opponent.
“SHELLDEEEEEER!” Shelley wailed as she was sent flying upwards. Everyone watched as she wildly spun around, hurtling through the air like a tiny purple projectile, and then…
“Oh for fucks sake, she landed in the gutter!”
Shelley’s feeble cries sounded down as Alaska, Sandy and Eevee left the Pokémon Centre training grounds behind and edged closer to the building, staring up at the rusted blue guttering. The tip of the Bivalve Pokémon’s shell was just sticking out, but it was clear she would not be able to get down herself.
“Alright, get on your knees, I need a boost,” Alaska huffed, pointing at the ground. Sandy remained where she was, eyebrows raised, and Alaska turned to her crossly. “Don’t give me that look – your Pokémon knocked her in there, you owe me, and I’m sure you don’t want me standing on the fluffball.”
“Eevee!” Eevee replied, looking at Sandy in shock, and the blonde rolled her eyes.
“Fine – just this once though,” she groaned, hitching her dress up and lowering herself to the ground. “Though I thought we had established a few weeks ago you weren’t going to walk all over me anymore.”
“Ha ha,” Alaska groaned, putting one foot in Sandy’s cupped hands and the other on her shoulders. With a groan, Sandy unsteadily rose up, and Alaska grasped onto the railing. “Urgh – when did they last clean these out, the seventies?” She groaned, flicking sludge off her fingers.
“Vee!” Eevee huffed, the brunt of it landing on her. Good, Alaska thought bitterly, that’s what you get for knocking away my Pokémon like this.
Though you really didn’t struggle with that, did you? As she stood there, her knee jabbing her best friend in the eye, her fingers submerged in dirt and leaves as she fondled about for her Pokémon, Alaska couldn’t help but be amazed and distressed by what she had witnessed. Eevee had sent Shelley flying with little effort, and that was just the tip of what had been a fairly even match.
Sure, Alaska had only had Shelley for a day before Sandy rescued the Normal type, but she rarely trained as much as Alaska did. Shelley had even brought down two of Sabrina’s Pokémon – but, of course, that had been after much setting up, and it took Gardevoir one move to defeat her.
That’s the weird thing about my Pokémon. They can be so strong in one battle but get creamed the next. I may have had the upper hand but Jack was coming close to defeating me. All my gym matches have come down to the wire. My Pokémon have no proper training, and –
“Hurry up Alaska, I think my shoulder is about to dislocate!”
“Shell!”
“Got her!” Alaska cried as her fingers brushed against a squirming object. Trusting it was her Pokémon and not something living in the filth, Alaska grabbed hold just as Sandy cried out. The latter collapsed, and Alaska fell awkwardly on her butt, a jolt rattling through her bones.
“Is there a reason why you didn’t just use her PokeBall?” Sandy groaned.
“Yeah – you only brought it up now.” Alaska winced as she sat up, already feeling a bruise forming. You’d think all the explosions and getting shot at would make me a little more invincible, she thought with a stifled sigh. Putting her pain aside, Alaska raised her arms so she could examine Shelley closely. The Water type seemed fine though: despite being covered by brown sludge that was quickly drying, Shelley beamed back at her trainer when their eyes met.
“I’m glad you’re alright, but we need to get you cleaned – and I need an ice pack.”
“This match is over, I take it?”
“Damn right,” Alaska groaned, massaging her bruised behind as she stumbled to her feet.
“Does that mean we won?” Sandy’s face lit up at the prospect, and she scooped up a chirping Eevee and hugged her tightly.
“If you want.” The sight of her friend’s happiness made Alaska smile, but when she looked down at Shelley, the Bivalve Pokémon was frowning, dejectedly avoided looking at her. “Hey, don’t feel bad, it’s not your fault – besides, we’ll get them next time.”
“Oh yes, next time,” Sandy called, stopping mid-spin to face her friend. “How many more times do you want to train before you battle Janine? You can’t just call on your legendary overlord to save you again.”
“I know that,” Alaska snapped, eyes narrowing, and Sandy innocently raised her hands and went back to celebrating. Alaska watched her for a moment before sighing, grabbing her bag and heading inside. She was annoyed; annoyed at losing, annoyed that Shelley had been defeated, annoyed at her sore ass. Yet she couldn’t blame Sandy for that; the only person who deserved her anger was herself.
“Shell Shellder?”
“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Alaska said quietly, but she couldn’t escape her own thoughts. Shelley, she can’t move outside of water; Nadia is strong but she’s mostly show; Frances still wets herself every time a Caterpie comes near her; Paige has reached her peak, and if she evolves…that’s another story; and then there’s… him…
Alaska marched back to her room with those thoughts pounding inside her head, forcing herself to hold back the urge to scream.
***
“There’s a sushi restaurant in town, do you want to go there for dinner?”
“What, with all that money we have?”
“Oh, right.” Sandy shut Alaska’s laptop and peered into the bathroom. “You know, if you hadn’t destroyed so much stuff around the region, maybe the elites might actually pay you for saving the world?”
“I only temporarily destroyed one power plant and damaged a few gyms; if they were going to pay me, I’m sure they have some loose change lying a-UCK!”
“What is it?” Sandy leapt off her bed, nearly standing on Eevee and Pichu, and ran into the bathroom. Alaska looked up as her friend burst in, trying desperately to wipe sludge out of her eye. “What happened?” Sandy repeated, throwing her friend a cloth.
“Shelley apparently swallowed some of that gunk and decided to clear her throat on my face,” Alaska replied bitterly, collapsing onto the toilet to wipe it away. “OW, DAMNIT!” She swore, jumping back up and clutching her butt.
“Are you alright?” Sandy asked, watching as her friend hobbled around. “I mean, we’ve faced robots and psychotic killers – a few bruises and a sore eye don’t really compare, do they?”
“It’s just – no, forget it, I’m fine.” She threw the cloth aside and picked up an old toothbrush. Shelley apologetically looked up from her sink-bath, the water around her a murky black.
“No Alaska; we made a promise to tell each other when we were having issues.” Sandy leaned forwards and grabbed the toothbrush, keeping Alaska’s arm steady. “Something is clearly bothering you and it
sure as hell ain’t… whatever that is,” she trailed off, looking squeamishly down at Shelley’s murky bath. Alaska sighed, and when and leaned against the shower, knowing there was no way she was getting around this.
“So I’ve got Darwin back now, I’ve had my lessons, we’ve scratched the surface of what we are meant to do– I’m just wondering what to do now. I’m supposed to ride Paige into battle at the end of all this, but I don’t think I am anywhere near ready for that.”
“What are you on about? Your Pokémon are amazing! Not everyone can defeat five gym leaders, you know. I certainly wouldn’t be able to…”
“Yeah, but they aren’t fighting me to kill, are they?” Alaska replied, shutting her eyes as memories washed over her. “I’ve only ever gotten out of there because something blew up or someone else came along and saved the day. Trevor, Looker, Jericho; they aren’t going to be around to save my ass when the whole world turns to shit. I need to get cracking if we are going to stand a chance at winning.”
Sandy paused, face scrunched up as she dwelled over her words. “I’m not sure quite why you are worried: you’ve always done well in battles, even if you have been… unconventional, let’s say, in some victories.”
“That’s entirely what Sabrina was trying to teach me: I can’t just use tricks and luck all the time to win. I still want to win my own way, not how they tell me to, but I do actually need to prepare myself for whatever comes next. You said it yourself this morning: ‘We’re always in danger’? I can’t slack off or relax just because I’ve got Darwin back, I need to get my act together, but I’m not really sure where to start.”
Alaska fell silent, and suddenly the bathroom was quiet; nothing moved except for Shelley bobbing softly against the surface of the sink.
“I think… well…” Sandy began but paused, staring wistfully into the murky water, lost in thought. “We’ve both been through a lot, there is no denying that. I think the biggest downside is that we’ve been too focussed on ourselves and not enough on our Pokémon. Your Pokémon are great, but when you put it like that, you haven’t really focussed much on training them properly, have you?”
Alaska shook her head. “I barely won against Sabrina: I had to spend half the battle setting up those final moves, and even then I still needed Latios to trick her. Just look at the last few days: Paige and Nadia should have wiped the floor with Jack’s Pokémon, and if Shelley struggles against…” She drifted off there, suddenly tightening up, but Sandy laughed.
“If she struggles against my Eevee, how can she bring down an army?” Alaska nodded guiltily and Sandy sighed. “Don’t feel bad, we’re both guilty of not paying them enough attention. All we can do is train and train and train and nothing else: forget about the robots and Gideon and everything until they come up. We just need to buckle down, level up and evolve our Pokémon, and everything should be good.” Shelley nodded enthusiastically from within the sink, and both girls laughed.
“I’m probably just being silly,” Alaska said, picking up her Pokémon and stroking her.
“And here I was thinking you were the happiest you’ve been for ages,” Sandy smirked, to which Alaska raised an eyebrow. “I read your blog this morning. You woke me up when you got into the tent last night, I was wondering what you had been doing.”
“Oh, that.” Alaska shrugged and placed Shelley down, beginning to scrub her shell again. “I was in a bit of an odd place after getting Darwin back, I just ended up venting.”
“You know, sometimes it’s like you’re a different person on there. Always so sassy and witty even when we were in our darkest places. Please, you really aren’t as eloquent in real life as you pretend to be on there.”
“Excuse you!” Alaska scoffed, flicking her friend with the toothbrush. “It’s a blog, I’m allowed to be a bit creative and, you know… expressive.” Sandy gave her a look, the impact of which was dented by the muck crawling down her cheek. Alaska snorted, and quickly the two descended into laughter. Eevee and Pichu came in to see what they were on about, looking bemused, and that made the two laugh harder. Alaska slid down the wall, unable to stop herself, and when she landed on her butt and swore, the two only laughed harder.
“Alaska Acevedo, will you please report to the front desk?”
“Looks like I’ve been summoned,” Alaska wheezed breathlessly as the loudspeaker whined around them. She forced herself up, still giggling, and passed Sandy the toothbrush.
“Always leaving me to clean up after you!” She said sarcastically, and Alaska continued to laugh as she made her way out of the room.
Once she closed the door, it was deathly silent. The sudden change in environment silenced Alaska instantly, and she felt her joy evaporate as quickly as it had come. This Pokémon Centre was quieter than most she had been to: she had seen only seen two other trainers since arriving this morning, and the emptiness really impacted the mood. As she made her way down the corridor, it was so still she could hear every conversation coming from within the half dozen rooms that were occupied. It was unsettling, being in a place this quiet: usually when things were calm, something would go wrong a few minutes later.
The corridor ended in a set of swinging doors. Alaska pushed through and found the waiting area was as empty as it had been that morning. Couches that made the Cycling Road gatehouse looked modern were dotted around a few worn-down wooden tables, tired pot plants scattered about for decoration. The posters on the baby pink walls were the newest things there, though as she walked past one display, Alaska noted that Koga was still listed as the local gym leader.
“CHANSEY!” Alaska jumped, nearly tripping over a table. She turned, her heart pounding, to face the desk. The Chansey behind, nurse’s hat sitting neatly on her head, was positively beaming at the sight of a customer, and once she calmed down, Alaska realised the poor thing had been left to man the desk alone, the local nurse clearly not expecting much action.
“Um, hi there. My name’s Alaska, the nurse called me up here?” The words were barely out of her mouth when the Chansey’s face changed, and she did something that made Alaska’s skin crawl: she frowned at her.
Alaska had basically grown up alongside Chansey. When she was kid and her mum got stuck at work, Alaska would end up in a corner of the Viridian Pokémon Centre’s nurses office, waiting until she could go home. The Chansey and Blissey there always brought her hot chocolates and cookies, and Alaska only had fond memories of the first Pokémon she had ever really interacted with.
One thing was for certain: they had always smiled at her.
“Sey,” the Chansey said coldly, and walked into the back room. Heart pounding, skin crawling, Alaska tentatively followed after. She stepped into a long corridor equally as outdated as the rest of the centre: linoleum floor, peeling wallpaper, ceiling tiles that changed between brown and white. A door to her immediate right led to a cramped nurse’s office; the one next to it a dormitory. There were more scattered on either side, but Alaska had no chance to explore as the Chansey disappeared left through more swinging doors. Alaska cautiously stepped through, struggling to ignore the feeling she was being led to the gallows. She stepped into a small room with a giant window, and what awaited her on the other side made her heart stop.
Darwin. He was staring right at her, pupils constricted, eyes wide and pointed. It was like he was staring into her soul, judging her for what was being done to him. For a moment, she thought he was awake, staring at her as he prepared to jump towards her. Once the initial shock had passed, Alaska realised she was staring into an operating room: Darwin was unconscious, in the middle of surgery. His bruised, beaten body, more blood than fur, lay motionless on the table. Wires and electrodes led from his body to a half dozen machines stacked around him, all beeping and flashing. A doctor, cloaked all in white and covered by gloves and masks, was poking around his lower back, while a Blissey loomed over shaking her egg, preparing to use Softboiled.
What happened to him out there? How could it have gotten this bad? He was only there for a few weeks… I saved him in time though… didn’t I?
A second set of doors burst open, making Alaska jump. The nurse, a brunette woman with a stern face, mask hanging limply around her neck, emerged from the operating room with her lips pursed.
“Glad you got the message.” Her voice was rough and cold; from her tone, Alaska could tell she was biting her tongue, doing her best not to lose control. It was an attitude Alaska had heard all too often this journey. The nurse looked over at the Chansey, and when Alaska copied she was surprised to see two more collapsed on a couch, being fed berries by a frantic Happiny.
“What happened to them?”
“Exhaustion.” The nurse banged a file onto the table, making Alaska jump. “While you’ve been training, the two of them were wearing themselves out in there trying to heal them as best they could. Thank god Dr Monroe and his Blissey got here when they did; Chastity was ready to keel over when they took over.” She pointed to the one on the right, and Alaska realised in horror that the Chansey was soaked in blood.
“Isn’t… wasn’t… couldn’t you have helped?” Alaska asked, the question stumbling out of her mouth. The nurse didn’t respond for a moment; instead, she removed X-rays and readings from the file and spreading them across the table. All was quiet as she did so, but Alaska couldn’t look away, the only other choice being to face Darwin again, to look into his empty eyes and face her past.
When the nurse had finished several minutes later, she turned and faced Alaska with a face like thunder.
“I did everything I possibly could to help your Pokémon!” She snapped. “I am a small town nurse; my job is to deal with remedies the machine can’t zap away. But never in all my years have I ever seen anything like this!” She picked up an X-ray and held it up to the light, hand shaking with fury. “Dislocated shoulder, broken elbow, fractures in the hand – and that’s just the right arm. His fur was so matted with blood I’ve had to shear half of it just to see the wounds properly. He has at least two dozen lacerations; several deeper cuts; eight broken bones; a dozen more fractures. And don’t even get me started on his organs, or the possibilities of brain damage! How could you let this happen!”
“I… I… I told you, I set him free for a few weeks, and these people –” but Alaska never got to finish: the nurse angrily banged her fists, making the table wobble and startling the Happiny so much she dropped her berries.
“I don’t care what the circumstances are; this is the worst case of Pokémon neglect and abuse I have ever seen. As he was still your Pokémon at the time this happened, you are still responsible for his safety and care!”
“He was practically a wild Pokémon – you can’t hold me responsible for what they did to him!” Yet even as she said it, Alaska knew it was her fault: she had set him free, she had put him into that situation, it was her fault, it was all her fault.
“Oh yes I can,” the nurse snarled. “I have been in this job for twenty years, I have earned the right to call out trainers who don’t value or respect their Pokémon. I am going to do the best I can to fix your Pokémon, but there is no chance I am letting him back into your care.”
“No, you can’t do that! I only just got him back!” I’m getting better, I’m learning, you have to trust me!
“I don’t care; I am obliged to report abusive trainers to the Pokémon League, and I plan on doing just –” The nurse never finished her sentence. Her face, so red and angry and twisted, froze as the phone began to ring. Her pointed finger that was inches from Alaska’s nose became limp, and she snatched the machine up in a single swoop. “Nurse Rhonda Jones, Fuchsia City Pokémon Centre, how may I help?”
Alaska didn’t dare move. She stood there in silence, watching the conversation play out. The phone call felt too good to be true, and as the thought crossed her mind, Alaska noticed Rhonda’s narrowed eyes narrowed flicker towards a corner of the ceiling. She nervously followed her gaze, and Alaska’s heart dropped as she realised there was a camera there, quietly blinking as it watched the scene play out.
The nurse hung up in silence. She paused, clutching the handset and staring at Alaska as though about to beat her.
“You’re wanted.”
“By who?”
“Janine.” She practically smashed the phone back into its holder. The nurse gave Alaska a final withering glance before stepping back into the operating room. The first Chansey followed after, not even dignifying Alaska with a look. Once they had left, Alaska clutched her face and let out a noise somewhere between a sob and a gasp. She wanted to collapse, she wanted to fall to the ground and never get up, just lay there and drown in her own tears. She felt sick; she was shaking; she felt like she had been run over, and as much as she wanted to blame someone else, Alaska knew only one person was responsible for her guilt.
She vomited. It came before Alaska even knew what was happening: she opened her eyes and found herself on the ground, her knees resting in liquidy brown puke. Wheezing, throat burning, eyes watering, Alaska stared at it for a while, unable to process anything. Then, after a few minutes had passed, she slowly turned and looked up at the camera. She stared into the thick black lens, watching the blinking light, and wondered what exactly was waiting for her on the other side.
I imagine some people are reading this and rolling their eyes thinking "Here we go again, someone getting angry at Alaska!" To those people, I would suggest not jumping down the annoyance path straight away. I don't want to tell anyone what to think or how they should be reading the story, but be rest assured this isn't just someone getting grumpy with Alaska and being forgotten about. This arc is what the story has been building towards since the first round in Celadon.
@AetherX: I'm glad someone reviewed this in the end
We did discuss much of this via PM so not sure what to touch on here now. Your review does make it clear you're annoyed with Alaska: hopefully the next few chapters will shine her in a more sympathetic light as she faces her issues more clearly. The change in Cycling Road came as part of my action-reevaluation post one of your Galactic reviews, so glad you liked it Also, I'm not sure what you mean by things not lasting long, since nothing blew up in that chapter - would you mind clarifying that bit please? Otherwise thanks for the review @chaos_Leader: Welcome to this mad little story, thanks for immersing yourself! Basically all the issues you had are things I hope my rewrites will address when they get posted (fingers crossed this month!) I see your points on Freddie but I don't plan on changing his attitude. I have two cousins that are both eight: one is chatty and intelligent for his age, the other can barely string a sentence together (yet doesn't have any medical/mental/behavioural/educational issues), so I think maturity depends on the person and the upbringing. It will be something that gets touched on in a few arcs time of where I'm currently writing though. And interesting note about the length: they have added about a page or so in the rewrites if you want longer chapters.
And don't worry: Buzz wanting to kill Alaska straight away won't happen anymore. After many complaints, I am cutting that out and changing it around. Watch this space
Long wait between chapters, which is entirely my fault. Hope people like this since it did take a while to get right and I still think I could have done more, but I'll leave that up to you!
Chapter Seventy Four: No Escape
“Wait – stop!”
Sandy froze, turning back to Alaska with her left foot hovering in mid-air. An eyebrow was raised, and Alaska pointed defensively behind her. Sandy turned again, this time facing a wooden sign propped up behind them.
“Welcome to Fuchsia City – our gym may be poison, but we promise the people aren’t,” she read drolly. “That’s cute, but was that really worth pointing out? I didn’t think folksy town signs were really your thing.”
“Not the sign, I don’t give two shits about that,” Alaska scoffed. “It’s what it represents: the town line, the boundaries where route meets city.”
“What are you on about?”
“This will be the first time in god knows how long we have actually entered a city without our lives in danger,” Alaska said. Sandy’s quizzical look turned to a frown, and she too turned and gazed at the sign. Alaska sighed and cast her gaze over the newest bit of their journey: the bright blue waves crashing against the beach; the port where the smell of fish was wafting up to meet them; cottages and town houses scattered around earthen roads. When was the last time I actually got to experience this, walking into a new environment on my own accord, not fleeing or sneaking around or waking up bound and gagged. This is me, walking into a city with no one on my tail, with no obvious threat to my safety waiting within these city lines.
“I don’t know what you’re on about, Alaska,” Sandy said after a few moments. “We’re always in danger.” And with that, she stepped into the city. Alaska felt like she had been winded, but after a few moments and she sighed and nodded, and followed her friend into Fuchsia.
***
“Charm, quickly!
“Aurora Beam, go!”
Eevee leapt up and turned to face Shelley, shaking the dust off after being thrown a metre into the air. Her brown fur dirtier than ever, the Evolution Pokémon ignored that and pulled a seductive face, lips pursed, topped with a wink, in Shelley’s direction. The Shellder smiled goofily in response, but quickly shook her body to snap out of the Charm.
“SHELL!” She cried, opening her mouth wide and firing the rainbow coloured beam. The temperature across the field lowered, and Eevee cried out as a frosty sheen washed over her.
“Tackle!” Sandy shouted.
“Icicle Spear!” Alaska countered. Shelley cut off the Aurora Beam, leaving a dazed and stiff Eevee in its wake. The Shellder flashed her wide, goofy smile before opening her shell, ensuring there was enough room to fire out her attack. The first icicle shot out, like a glittering frozen missile, and soared over the pitch to hit Eevee squarely on the head.
“VEEEEE!” She wailed, toppling to her side. Sandy gasped, but Eevee quickly forced herself up as the second icicle came out: the icy spear scraped across her fur but fell to the ground with a clatter, failing to hit.
“Eevee Vee!” The furry Normal type squealed delightfully, and she sprinted forwards as the next icicles came out: she swerved, running past the third and fourth and closing in on her small target. Shelley’s eye widened in fear, and she put all her energy into firing out the fifth icicle. Eevee was too close to avoid it now, and the attack slammed into her ribs. She winced and stumbled, nearly somersaulting into her target, but her speed kept her going, and Eevee crashed into her opponent.
“SHELLDEEEEEER!” Shelley wailed as she was sent flying upwards. Everyone watched as she wildly spun around, hurtling through the air like a tiny purple projectile, and then…
“Oh for fucks sake, she landed in the gutter!”
Shelley’s feeble cries sounded down as Alaska, Sandy and Eevee left the Pokémon Centre training grounds behind and edged closer to the building, staring up at the rusted blue guttering. The tip of the Bivalve Pokémon’s shell was just sticking out, but it was clear she would not be able to get down herself.
“Alright, get on your knees, I need a boost,” Alaska huffed, pointing at the ground. Sandy remained where she was, eyebrows raised, and Alaska turned to her crossly. “Don’t give me that look – your Pokémon knocked her in there, you owe me, and I’m sure you don’t want me standing on the fluffball.”
“Eevee!” Eevee replied, looking at Sandy in shock, and the blonde rolled her eyes.
“Fine – just this once though,” she groaned, hitching her dress up and lowering herself to the ground. “Though I thought we had established a few weeks ago you weren’t going to walk all over me anymore.”
“Ha ha,” Alaska groaned, putting one foot in Sandy’s cupped hands and the other on her shoulders. With a groan, Sandy unsteadily rose up, and Alaska grasped onto the railing. “Urgh – when did they last clean these out, the seventies?” She groaned, flicking sludge off her fingers.
“Vee!” Eevee huffed, the brunt of it landing on her. Good, Alaska thought bitterly, that’s what you get for knocking away my Pokémon like this.
Though you really didn’t struggle with that, did you? As she stood there, her knee jabbing her best friend in the eye, her fingers submerged in dirt and leaves as she fondled about for her Pokémon, Alaska couldn’t help but be amazed and distressed by what she had witnessed. Eevee had sent Shelley flying with little effort, and that was just the tip of what had been a fairly even match.
Sure, Alaska had only had Shelley for a day before Sandy rescued the Normal type, but she rarely trained as much as Alaska did. Shelley had even brought down two of Sabrina’s Pokémon – but, of course, that had been after much setting up, and it took Gardevoir one move to defeat her.
That’s the weird thing about my Pokémon. They can be so strong in one battle but get creamed the next. I may have had the upper hand but Jack was coming close to defeating me. All my gym matches have come down to the wire. My Pokémon have no proper training, and –
“Hurry up Alaska, I think my shoulder is about to dislocate!”
“Shell!”
“Got her!” Alaska cried as her fingers brushed against a squirming object. Trusting it was her Pokémon and not something living in the filth, Alaska grabbed hold just as Sandy cried out. The latter collapsed, and Alaska fell awkwardly on her butt, a jolt rattling through her bones.
“Is there a reason why you didn’t just use her PokeBall?” Sandy groaned.
“Yeah – you only brought it up now.” Alaska winced as she sat up, already feeling a bruise forming. You’d think all the explosions and getting shot at would make me a little more invincible, she thought with a stifled sigh. Putting her pain aside, Alaska raised her arms so she could examine Shelley closely. The Water type seemed fine though: despite being covered by brown sludge that was quickly drying, Shelley beamed back at her trainer when their eyes met.
“I’m glad you’re alright, but we need to get you cleaned – and I need an ice pack.”
“This match is over, I take it?”
“Damn right,” Alaska groaned, massaging her bruised behind as she stumbled to her feet.
“Does that mean we won?” Sandy’s face lit up at the prospect, and she scooped up a chirping Eevee and hugged her tightly.
“If you want.” The sight of her friend’s happiness made Alaska smile, but when she looked down at Shelley, the Bivalve Pokémon was frowning, dejectedly avoided looking at her. “Hey, don’t feel bad, it’s not your fault – besides, we’ll get them next time.”
“Oh yes, next time,” Sandy called, stopping mid-spin to face her friend. “How many more times do you want to train before you battle Janine? You can’t just call on your legendary overlord to save you again.”
“I know that,” Alaska snapped, eyes narrowing, and Sandy innocently raised her hands and went back to celebrating. Alaska watched her for a moment before sighing, grabbing her bag and heading inside. She was annoyed; annoyed at losing, annoyed that Shelley had been defeated, annoyed at her sore ass. Yet she couldn’t blame Sandy for that; the only person who deserved her anger was herself.
“Shell Shellder?”
“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Alaska said quietly, but she couldn’t escape her own thoughts. Shelley, she can’t move outside of water; Nadia is strong but she’s mostly show; Frances still wets herself every time a Caterpie comes near her; Paige has reached her peak, and if she evolves…that’s another story; and then there’s… him…
Alaska marched back to her room with those thoughts pounding inside her head, forcing herself to hold back the urge to scream.
***
“There’s a sushi restaurant in town, do you want to go there for dinner?”
“What, with all that money we have?”
“Oh, right.” Sandy shut Alaska’s laptop and peered into the bathroom. “You know, if you hadn’t destroyed so much stuff around the region, maybe the elites might actually pay you for saving the world?”
“I only temporarily destroyed one power plant and damaged a few gyms; if they were going to pay me, I’m sure they have some loose change lying a-UCK!”
“What is it?” Sandy leapt off her bed, nearly standing on Eevee and Pichu, and ran into the bathroom. Alaska looked up as her friend burst in, trying desperately to wipe sludge out of her eye. “What happened?” Sandy repeated, throwing her friend a cloth.
“Shelley apparently swallowed some of that gunk and decided to clear her throat on my face,” Alaska replied bitterly, collapsing onto the toilet to wipe it away. “OW, DAMNIT!” She swore, jumping back up and clutching her butt.
“Are you alright?” Sandy asked, watching as her friend hobbled around. “I mean, we’ve faced robots and psychotic killers – a few bruises and a sore eye don’t really compare, do they?”
“It’s just – no, forget it, I’m fine.” She threw the cloth aside and picked up an old toothbrush. Shelley apologetically looked up from her sink-bath, the water around her a murky black.
“No Alaska; we made a promise to tell each other when we were having issues.” Sandy leaned forwards and grabbed the toothbrush, keeping Alaska’s arm steady. “Something is clearly bothering you and it
sure as hell ain’t… whatever that is,” she trailed off, looking squeamishly down at Shelley’s murky bath. Alaska sighed, and when and leaned against the shower, knowing there was no way she was getting around this.
“So I’ve got Darwin back now, I’ve had my lessons, we’ve scratched the surface of what we are meant to do– I’m just wondering what to do now. I’m supposed to ride Paige into battle at the end of all this, but I don’t think I am anywhere near ready for that.”
“What are you on about? Your Pokémon are amazing! Not everyone can defeat five gym leaders, you know. I certainly wouldn’t be able to…”
“Yeah, but they aren’t fighting me to kill, are they?” Alaska replied, shutting her eyes as memories washed over her. “I’ve only ever gotten out of there because something blew up or someone else came along and saved the day. Trevor, Looker, Jericho; they aren’t going to be around to save my ass when the whole world turns to shit. I need to get cracking if we are going to stand a chance at winning.”
Sandy paused, face scrunched up as she dwelled over her words. “I’m not sure quite why you are worried: you’ve always done well in battles, even if you have been… unconventional, let’s say, in some victories.”
“That’s entirely what Sabrina was trying to teach me: I can’t just use tricks and luck all the time to win. I still want to win my own way, not how they tell me to, but I do actually need to prepare myself for whatever comes next. You said it yourself this morning: ‘We’re always in danger’? I can’t slack off or relax just because I’ve got Darwin back, I need to get my act together, but I’m not really sure where to start.”
Alaska fell silent, and suddenly the bathroom was quiet; nothing moved except for Shelley bobbing softly against the surface of the sink.
“I think… well…” Sandy began but paused, staring wistfully into the murky water, lost in thought. “We’ve both been through a lot, there is no denying that. I think the biggest downside is that we’ve been too focussed on ourselves and not enough on our Pokémon. Your Pokémon are great, but when you put it like that, you haven’t really focussed much on training them properly, have you?”
Alaska shook her head. “I barely won against Sabrina: I had to spend half the battle setting up those final moves, and even then I still needed Latios to trick her. Just look at the last few days: Paige and Nadia should have wiped the floor with Jack’s Pokémon, and if Shelley struggles against…” She drifted off there, suddenly tightening up, but Sandy laughed.
“If she struggles against my Eevee, how can she bring down an army?” Alaska nodded guiltily and Sandy sighed. “Don’t feel bad, we’re both guilty of not paying them enough attention. All we can do is train and train and train and nothing else: forget about the robots and Gideon and everything until they come up. We just need to buckle down, level up and evolve our Pokémon, and everything should be good.” Shelley nodded enthusiastically from within the sink, and both girls laughed.
“I’m probably just being silly,” Alaska said, picking up her Pokémon and stroking her.
“And here I was thinking you were the happiest you’ve been for ages,” Sandy smirked, to which Alaska raised an eyebrow. “I read your blog this morning. You woke me up when you got into the tent last night, I was wondering what you had been doing.”
“Oh, that.” Alaska shrugged and placed Shelley down, beginning to scrub her shell again. “I was in a bit of an odd place after getting Darwin back, I just ended up venting.”
“You know, sometimes it’s like you’re a different person on there. Always so sassy and witty even when we were in our darkest places. Please, you really aren’t as eloquent in real life as you pretend to be on there.”
“Excuse you!” Alaska scoffed, flicking her friend with the toothbrush. “It’s a blog, I’m allowed to be a bit creative and, you know… expressive.” Sandy gave her a look, the impact of which was dented by the muck crawling down her cheek. Alaska snorted, and quickly the two descended into laughter. Eevee and Pichu came in to see what they were on about, looking bemused, and that made the two laugh harder. Alaska slid down the wall, unable to stop herself, and when she landed on her butt and swore, the two only laughed harder.
“Alaska Acevedo, will you please report to the front desk?”
“Looks like I’ve been summoned,” Alaska wheezed breathlessly as the loudspeaker whined around them. She forced herself up, still giggling, and passed Sandy the toothbrush.
“Always leaving me to clean up after you!” She said sarcastically, and Alaska continued to laugh as she made her way out of the room.
Once she closed the door, it was deathly silent. The sudden change in environment silenced Alaska instantly, and she felt her joy evaporate as quickly as it had come. This Pokémon Centre was quieter than most she had been to: she had seen only seen two other trainers since arriving this morning, and the emptiness really impacted the mood. As she made her way down the corridor, it was so still she could hear every conversation coming from within the half dozen rooms that were occupied. It was unsettling, being in a place this quiet: usually when things were calm, something would go wrong a few minutes later.
The corridor ended in a set of swinging doors. Alaska pushed through and found the waiting area was as empty as it had been that morning. Couches that made the Cycling Road gatehouse looked modern were dotted around a few worn-down wooden tables, tired pot plants scattered about for decoration. The posters on the baby pink walls were the newest things there, though as she walked past one display, Alaska noted that Koga was still listed as the local gym leader.
“CHANSEY!” Alaska jumped, nearly tripping over a table. She turned, her heart pounding, to face the desk. The Chansey behind, nurse’s hat sitting neatly on her head, was positively beaming at the sight of a customer, and once she calmed down, Alaska realised the poor thing had been left to man the desk alone, the local nurse clearly not expecting much action.
“Um, hi there. My name’s Alaska, the nurse called me up here?” The words were barely out of her mouth when the Chansey’s face changed, and she did something that made Alaska’s skin crawl: she frowned at her.
Alaska had basically grown up alongside Chansey. When she was kid and her mum got stuck at work, Alaska would end up in a corner of the Viridian Pokémon Centre’s nurses office, waiting until she could go home. The Chansey and Blissey there always brought her hot chocolates and cookies, and Alaska only had fond memories of the first Pokémon she had ever really interacted with.
One thing was for certain: they had always smiled at her.
“Sey,” the Chansey said coldly, and walked into the back room. Heart pounding, skin crawling, Alaska tentatively followed after. She stepped into a long corridor equally as outdated as the rest of the centre: linoleum floor, peeling wallpaper, ceiling tiles that changed between brown and white. A door to her immediate right led to a cramped nurse’s office; the one next to it a dormitory. There were more scattered on either side, but Alaska had no chance to explore as the Chansey disappeared left through more swinging doors. Alaska cautiously stepped through, struggling to ignore the feeling she was being led to the gallows. She stepped into a small room with a giant window, and what awaited her on the other side made her heart stop.
Darwin. He was staring right at her, pupils constricted, eyes wide and pointed. It was like he was staring into her soul, judging her for what was being done to him. For a moment, she thought he was awake, staring at her as he prepared to jump towards her. Once the initial shock had passed, Alaska realised she was staring into an operating room: Darwin was unconscious, in the middle of surgery. His bruised, beaten body, more blood than fur, lay motionless on the table. Wires and electrodes led from his body to a half dozen machines stacked around him, all beeping and flashing. A doctor, cloaked all in white and covered by gloves and masks, was poking around his lower back, while a Blissey loomed over shaking her egg, preparing to use Softboiled.
What happened to him out there? How could it have gotten this bad? He was only there for a few weeks… I saved him in time though… didn’t I?
A second set of doors burst open, making Alaska jump. The nurse, a brunette woman with a stern face, mask hanging limply around her neck, emerged from the operating room with her lips pursed.
“Glad you got the message.” Her voice was rough and cold; from her tone, Alaska could tell she was biting her tongue, doing her best not to lose control. It was an attitude Alaska had heard all too often this journey. The nurse looked over at the Chansey, and when Alaska copied she was surprised to see two more collapsed on a couch, being fed berries by a frantic Happiny.
“What happened to them?”
“Exhaustion.” The nurse banged a file onto the table, making Alaska jump. “While you’ve been training, the two of them were wearing themselves out in there trying to heal them as best they could. Thank god Dr Monroe and his Blissey got here when they did; Chastity was ready to keel over when they took over.” She pointed to the one on the right, and Alaska realised in horror that the Chansey was soaked in blood.
“Isn’t… wasn’t… couldn’t you have helped?” Alaska asked, the question stumbling out of her mouth. The nurse didn’t respond for a moment; instead, she removed X-rays and readings from the file and spreading them across the table. All was quiet as she did so, but Alaska couldn’t look away, the only other choice being to face Darwin again, to look into his empty eyes and face her past.
When the nurse had finished several minutes later, she turned and faced Alaska with a face like thunder.
“I did everything I possibly could to help your Pokémon!” She snapped. “I am a small town nurse; my job is to deal with remedies the machine can’t zap away. But never in all my years have I ever seen anything like this!” She picked up an X-ray and held it up to the light, hand shaking with fury. “Dislocated shoulder, broken elbow, fractures in the hand – and that’s just the right arm. His fur was so matted with blood I’ve had to shear half of it just to see the wounds properly. He has at least two dozen lacerations; several deeper cuts; eight broken bones; a dozen more fractures. And don’t even get me started on his organs, or the possibilities of brain damage! How could you let this happen!”
“I… I… I told you, I set him free for a few weeks, and these people –” but Alaska never got to finish: the nurse angrily banged her fists, making the table wobble and startling the Happiny so much she dropped her berries.
“I don’t care what the circumstances are; this is the worst case of Pokémon neglect and abuse I have ever seen. As he was still your Pokémon at the time this happened, you are still responsible for his safety and care!”
“He was practically a wild Pokémon – you can’t hold me responsible for what they did to him!” Yet even as she said it, Alaska knew it was her fault: she had set him free, she had put him into that situation, it was her fault, it was all her fault.
“Oh yes I can,” the nurse snarled. “I have been in this job for twenty years, I have earned the right to call out trainers who don’t value or respect their Pokémon. I am going to do the best I can to fix your Pokémon, but there is no chance I am letting him back into your care.”
“No, you can’t do that! I only just got him back!” I’m getting better, I’m learning, you have to trust me!
“I don’t care; I am obliged to report abusive trainers to the Pokémon League, and I plan on doing just –” The nurse never finished her sentence. Her face, so red and angry and twisted, froze as the phone began to ring. Her pointed finger that was inches from Alaska’s nose became limp, and she snatched the machine up in a single swoop. “Nurse Rhonda Jones, Fuchsia City Pokémon Centre, how may I help?”
Alaska didn’t dare move. She stood there in silence, watching the conversation play out. The phone call felt too good to be true, and as the thought crossed her mind, Alaska noticed Rhonda’s narrowed eyes narrowed flicker towards a corner of the ceiling. She nervously followed her gaze, and Alaska’s heart dropped as she realised there was a camera there, quietly blinking as it watched the scene play out.
The nurse hung up in silence. She paused, clutching the handset and staring at Alaska as though about to beat her.
“You’re wanted.”
“By who?”
“Janine.” She practically smashed the phone back into its holder. The nurse gave Alaska a final withering glance before stepping back into the operating room. The first Chansey followed after, not even dignifying Alaska with a look. Once they had left, Alaska clutched her face and let out a noise somewhere between a sob and a gasp. She wanted to collapse, she wanted to fall to the ground and never get up, just lay there and drown in her own tears. She felt sick; she was shaking; she felt like she had been run over, and as much as she wanted to blame someone else, Alaska knew only one person was responsible for her guilt.
She vomited. It came before Alaska even knew what was happening: she opened her eyes and found herself on the ground, her knees resting in liquidy brown puke. Wheezing, throat burning, eyes watering, Alaska stared at it for a while, unable to process anything. Then, after a few minutes had passed, she slowly turned and looked up at the camera. She stared into the thick black lens, watching the blinking light, and wondered what exactly was waiting for her on the other side.
I imagine some people are reading this and rolling their eyes thinking "Here we go again, someone getting angry at Alaska!" To those people, I would suggest not jumping down the annoyance path straight away. I don't want to tell anyone what to think or how they should be reading the story, but be rest assured this isn't just someone getting grumpy with Alaska and being forgotten about. This arc is what the story has been building towards since the first round in Celadon.
