Chapter 24
“
Shelton…” a voice cooed. “
Shelton…”
“I swear to god, Dorian,” Shelton threatened.
“
Shelton…” the voice said again.
“Dammit what!?” she roared, popping up into a sitting position.
Dorian wasn’t in her room however, no one was. As she scanned the width of her room the shard on her desk wiggled softly. Instantly alert, Shelton scrambled out of bed and over to the artifact. A few shallow grooves had been gouged into the wood around the shard, as if someone had spun the stone in a circle. Though the thought of the stone moving on its own was disconcerting and frankly shocking, she was actually somewhat thankful for it. She had heard slight scratching sounds throughout the night and this visual affirmation made her believe she wasn’t just hearing things.
Not willing to try and go back to sleep with the devil stone still in her room, Shelton decided to go ahead and start her day. Pulling on a day old pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt, she pocketed her phone and grabbed the biggest purse in her closet. After spraying a quarter of a can of dry shampoo into the dried out grease bomb that was her hair, she pulled it into a tight bun at the top of her head. She grabbed Spoink and Growlithe’s pokeballs off Dorian’s nightstand before she went downstairs and jotted him down a quick note in the off chance that he woke up before she got back.
Garrett was still asleep in Ronnie’s bed as she crept towards his closet, for some reason sleeping as close as he could to the edge of the bed without falling off. She deposited the shard in Ronnie’s floor safe and withdrew the ruby for Golduck as well as six tangerine sized diamonds. On her way to the front door she stopped at the hall closet and grabbed two of her asps. After she tucked them into the back of her jeans she grabbed Ronnie’s shehnai and clipped it onto a belt loop. Satisfied, she turned to Golduck who was watching her from the couch.
“Guess what.”
“Du?”
“We’re gonna go back to Viridian and talk that doctor into fixing your head today.”
Golduck sighed heavily and threw up his right hand in a ‘praise god’ gesture.
“Do me a favor and get Shuppet up and around. I’m gonna go outside and try and find us a ride.”
“Gold,” he nodded.
Shelton stepped outside into the cool breeze and let it wash over her. The wind chimes at the far end of the porch clinked annoyingly as the air ruffled her shirt. She stood in place as long as she could, trying to enjoy the cold of the wind, but she was soon driven off by the incessant chiming.
She had seen the ice blue Cerulean Police car parked behind the house which meant that the Pewter City protection was probably just around front. As she rounded the porch she found it exactly where she thought it would be. As she approached the vehicle, both officers inside turned to look at her.
“Hey fellas,” Shelton said with as much flirtatious stupidity as she could muster.
“Mam,” the older officer said.
“Listen,” she started, pausing for a moment to flash them another smile. “I really need a ride to Viridian. Could you please help a girl out?”
“We’re here for your protection mam, not to be your chauffeurs.”
Dropping the airhead routine, Shelton leaned in close, “You guys get chewed out when my brother flew off yesterday?”
“Yeah,” the younger cop admitted.
“Well, I’m sorry about that, he can be a little impulsive. I need to get to Viridian, I don’t know how to drive a motorcycle, and there’s no way I’m walking. So since you guys have to follow me anyway if I leave, why don’t you just give me a ride?”
Both of the officers turned towards each other for a moment.
“Or I can borrow my brother’s Vibrava,” Shelton suggested.
“No need!” the older officer barked.
Shelton returned Golduck and Shuppet as they descended the porch, then slid into the backseat at the officer’s prompting. “I need to go to the Pokemon Center first.”
All she got in return was a curt nod.
Along the road she saw a few newbie trainers, evident by their luridly bright attire and stomped tall grass that followed their every step. They were lucky that there weren’t very many evolved Pokemon in this area as their technicolor clothing would practically ring the dinner bell for any experienced predators. She hoped they’d learn eventually, especially since only two out of the seven they saw had Pokemon with them. Didn’t their authority figures teach them anything? Ronnie had beaten proper safety into her head since, since…
Ronnie…The thought of his name in her head wrenched her heart from side to side. The sting she felt was both physical and a ghostly shade of spiritual. Her perception slowed as the road blurred past, her thoughts crawling like recently melted wax. Where was he now? Was he waiting for her? For Dorian? Were their actions hurting him? Her throat tightened and she began digging her nails into her palm.
When they eventually arrived at the Pokemon Center, Shelton hopped out and hurried inside, unfortunately followed closely by the two officers. After a moment of scanning the triage area she spied Dr. Thompson. He was leaning against the nurse’s station; drinking a coffee with one hand and massaging the bridge of his nose with the other. His expression changed as he saw her approach, and he nearly spilled his drink trying to shake her hand.
“Pleasure to see you again!” he exclaimed. “How’s that Golduck of yours doing?”
“Pretty good from what I can tell. He’s seemed to have gotten the hang of emptying his excess energy.”
“That’s wonderful. Some patients I’ve had in the past have had trouble with that sort of transition. Once again I’m so sorry that we were not able to find a more permanent solution for him.”
“That’s actually what I came here to talk to you about,” she admitted as she pulled the sizeable ruby from her purse.
The technician’s eyes widened as she handed the precious stone for him. So radiant was the color of the gem that the fluorescent lights above reflected off of it and turned his face a deep shade of burgundy.
“Where did you?” he managed.
“My brother and I took a vacation to Sinnoh and found it on a day mining trip,” Shelton quickly lied. “Just got lucky I guess. Is there enough there to make a replacement for him?”
“I’d say that there’s enough for three,” he laughed. “Wonderful, just wonderful.”
“Would you be willing to do the surgery?”
“Of course. Though it may take some time for us to get the crystal shaped. We have the machinery required but we don’t keep that kind of specialized technician on staff. I do have several colleagues at Saffron Memorial though who would be up to the task.”
“Sounds good, what time do you think I should come back?”
“Well,” he started, clearly uncomfortable with what would come next. “I should be able to fit you in within a week, two at most.”
“What would it take to get someone down here today?” Shelton asked.
“An extremely handsome fee,” he replied, topping the statement off with a nervous laugh.
“How about you just get the technician here today, and after they’re done shaping the stone, let them know that I’ll give them half of whatever’s left of it. You think that would do the trick?”
“I would say that would definitely do the trick. But if I may ask, what’s the rush? Has he been exhibiting symptoms that would make you think he needs the surgery immediately?”
Shelton stared at him blankly as she thought. She could see why he asked the question, though her motivation for wanting him to fix him now was in no way medically related. She had guilt. She and Dorian had chosen the route that had led to the Graveler confrontation. He had almost died trying to protect her; and not only did he succeed in doing so, but he held not the slightest bit of resentment even when he woke up and faced his disfigurement.
“He’s lost so much for me. He’s never going to be completely whole again, but I want him to be as close as possible. Period.”
Thompson smiled. “Understood. Let me make some calls.”
Shelton took a seat as the technician disappeared down a hallway. The younger officer shot her a few looks as she waited but she paid him no mind. A few minutes later he returned with a stack of papers.
“As I expected, someone is more than happy to make the trip now. We should be able to set something up for tonight, if that’s agreeable. However, I will need the stone now to go ahead and start prepping it for shaping.”
Shelton smiled and gripped the technician around the neck. She pulled him tightly and squeezed. After she had signed over temporary ownership of the stone to the center and signed off on the usual medical forms for Golduck’s surgery, she practically skipped out the front door.
“We can go ahead and start heading back,” Shelton told the officers as they walked back to the car. “I just need to make one more stop along the way. I’ll tell you when.”
They begrudgingly nodded and resumed their stark silence as they headed up the highway towards Pewter. She thought she remembered an empty field about two miles outside of town, but despite her eyes being glued to the side of the road, all she saw was the cement bike path that was closely lined by trees. Sighing, she had just about given up when woe and behold, the emerald field came into view.
“Can you pull over?” Shelton asked.
The car slowed and pulled about ten feet into the field before halting. Shelton exited the vehicle and pulled five pokeballs from her purse. The officers exited as well and took up positions on either side of the car. Placing one pokeball on the ground, she opened the rest and shielded her eyes as light splashed brightly across the clearing.
“Listen up guys, I need some help.”
Golduck and Shuppet turned towards her and stared, while Spoink rolled her eyes and Growlithe trotted forward and flopped onto his back for a belly rub. Shelton rubbed his stomach for a moment then shooed him away towards the others.
“Golduck, take this and empty some water pulses into it. Growlithe, come with me.”
As Shelton watched, Golduck retrieved the shehnai from her and opened it to its full length. The suction and barbed end both blossomed lethally and the sapphire avian began emptying stream after stream of glowing water into the receiving end of the weapon.
“Growlithe, do you know what an x is?”
“Grooo!”
“Alright. Use flamethrower to make an x here, here, and here,” Shelton instructed, pointing to three separate spaces of grass about twenty feet apart.
The fire type nodded and unleashed torrents of flame in x formations where instructed. The grass smoked heavily at first, but then quickly yellowed and blackened as the fire took its toll. Turning back towards Golduck, Shelton saw the younger officer stalking towards her.
“Mam, you can’t just start lighting fires! This is public land. What are you thinking?”
“Sorry,” Shelton said with a wave of her hands. “Golduck?”
The water type nodded and sprayed each flaming letter with a wide stream of water. The fires quenched, the officer stalked back to the car. When the smoke lifted, Shelton saw that three jagged x’s had been burned into the ground, precisely what she was hoping for. Shelton took the shehnai back from Golduck and spun it a few times by her side. Blue white light crackled on the barbed end of the weapon, signaling that it was fully charged.
“Alright. Spoink, I need your help.”
“Oink, Spoink oink!” she growled.
“Please?”
“Oiink!”
“Growlithe, throw a flamethrower in the air. Spoink, could you please trap three bubbles of it and hold them? Please?” Shelton pleaded.
“What are you doing?” the younger officer asked.
“I’m about to try and break a Steelix I caught,” Shelton admitted.
“Yeah right,” the officer laughed.
Fighting the urge to call the man a jackass, Shelton crossed her arms and waited for the two Pokemon to follow her instruction. Growlithe breathed in deeply and released an inferno into the air, making the grass dance with orange light. Spoink flared mauve and three bubbles of the roaring flame coalesced around in the stream and floated over to hover above the psychic type.
“Here we go,” Shelton warned, steadying the Pokemon as well as herself. “When I release it, no one do anything. It’ll probably go after me, and if the shehnai doesn’t work, throw those fireballs down its throat. Everyone clear?”
A series of nods and bobs followed immediately. Whispering a quick prayer, Shelton picked the Steelix’s pokeball off the ground and pressed the button to release it. The white beam of energy shot forward and pooled on the ground ten feet away. The light grew longer, thicker, and more defined as it rose taller. After another two seconds of cascading light, the iron snake materialized. Rising to its full light and casting a sizable shadow across the ground, the Pokemon drew in a deep breath.
The roar that came next shook the ground and made the officers scramble back inside their cars. Out of the corner of her eye Shelton saw Golduck edging closer, seeking to put himself between her and the iron behemoth. Shelton waved him away and shifted her grip on the shehnai. What came next didn’t surprise her, as she was ready for it, but she was still shocked at the Pokemon’s speed.
“LIXX!” the Pokemon bellowed.
The iron serpent swung its head in a circle towards her torso, which would have undoubtedly killed her if she hadn’t swung the shehnai in an upward arc to intercept it. She was temporarily blinded as the blue nova of energy was ejected against the Steelix’s chin. The Pokemon was blown backwards so explosively that it flipped completely over and landed with a thunderous crash against the grass. A chorus of growls echoed across the field from her Pokemon as it undulated and rose to meet her again.
“STOP!” Shelton commanded the Steelix. “Spoink! Bring those over here.”
The three balls of captured flamethrower zoomed forward and hovered in front of Shelton, waiting. The Steelix, weary of the attack that knocked it out a few days ago, simply dropped its head lower and snarled at her.
“Lose the attitude,” Shelton ordered, pulling one of the diamonds from her purse.
The Pokemon’s mindset changed instantly. Its tongue suddenly wormed out of its mouth and started following the line of its jaw. Not wanting to tease the Pokemon, Shelton tossed the diamond towards it. The Steelix’s head raced forward and caught the jewel in its mouth and crunched, its eyes slightly rolling back in pleasure. After it had swallowed the precious morsel it resumed its throaty growl.
“None of that,” Shelton cooed.
She retrieved another three diamonds from her purse and marched over to the furthest marker that Growlithe had made. Taking a breath, she growled as loudly as she could while pointing at the spot with one hand and waving the diamonds around with the other. The Steelix growled again as the balls of captured flame settled down in front of her. Glaring at the assembled Pokemon spaced around it, the Steelix moved forward towards Shelton. As the gargantuan Pokemon arrived, Shelton tossed another diamond into its mouth. The Steelix repeated the action of crunching the diamond and swallowing the pieces.
“Spoink, release one of the balls.”
Refusing to take her eyes off the Steelix, Shelton felt the hot wind of the bubble bursting into the air. She saw that the Steelix took notice of it as well, and then it followed her with its eyes as she quickly walked over to the next marker burned into the grass.
“COME!” Shelton bellowed, pointing to the new marker.
Raising her arms wide and baring her teeth at the steel type, she kept the pose until it started moving slowly towards her again. When the Steelix arrived, she waved her arm at Spoink. As another rush of hot wind washed across her, she tossed another diamond into the air. The Steelix gobbled it up like before and turned his attention back to her. Shelton repeated the sequence at the last scorched portion of grass and found to her pleasure that the Steelix followed without her prompting.
“Lix!” it snorted, opening its mouth.
Shelton smiled and tossed another diamond into its mouth. The gargantuan Pokemon crunched hard and opened its mouth again.
“Not just yet,” Shelton said.
The steel type began a low throated growl, but stopped when Shelton made the motion for Spoink to release the last fiery ball. Confused, the Steelix lowered its head and stared. Flicking out her asp, Shelton walked a few steps forward and reached out with it towards the Pokemon’s head. Smiling broadly and humming a low tone to reassure the beast, she reached up and ran the rough iron rod against the underside of the Steelix’s jaw. The action earned her a deep chuckle and the Pokemon began to make a somewhat acceptable approximation of a purr.
“Golduck,” Shelton said softly. “Tell the Steelix that it belongs to me now. I’ll give it food, water, and shelter. In return I want it to fight for me when I need it too. Tell it I will help it refine its strengths even more than it already has. And ask if it’s male or female.”
Golduck sighed and approached the Steelix. Gesturing with his remaining arm towards Shelton, Golduck gave different snorts and quacks of its own name. The Steelix listened intently and looked down towards Shelton with a bemused expression.
“Steelix, Lixxx Steel Steelix,” it said simply.
Shelton looked towards Golduck for the translation. The avian spoke quickly.
“Do I have more diamonds?” Shelton asked with a laugh. With a cheerful grin, Shelton reached into her purse and retrieved another sparkling gem. The Steelix excitedly slithered closer and opened its mouth. Shelton tossed the diamond inside and clipped the shehnai back to her belt loop. Looking around at the assembled Pokemon she weighed her options and beckoned the Steelix closer.
“Should I be afraid of you?” Shelton asked.
Golduck translated and the reply was immediate.
“Not for the moment?”
“Lixxxxx.”
“Well how about this, you give us a ride back to Pewter and I’ll give you another diamond when we get there. Sound good?”
The Steelix thought it over for a moment and lowered its head to the ground. Taking it as an affirmative, Shelton stepped forward and grasped and iron spike protruding just behind the behemoth’s head. She swung herself up and into a somewhat comfortable sitting position just as Golduck clambered up behind her.
“Spoink, come on up.” Shelton commanded.
Dorian’s psychic type gave her a look of supreme disgust before hopping a few feet away and turning North towards Pewter. Growlithe followed suit and trotted up next to her, while Shuppet cackled happily and swooped down to land on Shelton’s shoulder. With a sharp rap from her asp to the back of his head, the Steelix rose up to its full height and growled at the police cruiser twenty feet away.
“I guess I’m gonna ride back on him,” Shelton called.
“That’s fine mam,” the older officer replied. “We’ll um, well, we’ll be behind you.”
Shelton tapped the Steelix again and it began moving forward. As they made slow but steady progress towards Pewter, Shelton was amazed at the steel type’s control. The Onix and Steelix she had seen in the past had a hard time not churning up roads or ground with their bodies as they slithered, and while hers bent the grass and flattened saplings as it moved, the dirt underneath barely shifted at all. The Pokemon seemed to float on top of the ground instead of move across it, and she marveled at its ability to move relatively silently despite its size and bulk.
As they neared the border of Pewter, Shelton noticed a lot of people stopping in their tracks to stare or take photographs; especially the trainers who had Pokemon out beside them. A Steelix in a small town like this wasn’t unheard of, as there were a fair number of its pre-evolution located nearby, but a Pokemon this massive entering the city limits being followed by a cop car was certainly a rarity. Shelton directed him through the neighborhoods with small taps to either side of his head with her asp, and he surprised her by following her direction without question. Soon enough they came across Ronnie’s house where Dorian and Garrett were sitting on the porch. Both stopped talking and stared open mouthed as she approached.
“Morning!” Shelton exclaimed.
She pressed her asp down hard on the base of the Steelix’s neck as they arrived at the porch and he lowered his head so she and Golduck could hop off. Growlithe trotted inside the open front door as Garrett and Dorian descended the steps, both clutching a beer.
“You guys are already drinking? It’s ten-thirty in the morning!”
“We’ve only had a couple,” Dorian explained. “We had to start drinking cough syrup and schnapps because we ran out, so who’s really the loser here?”
Garrett laughed.
“Cough syrup? How old are you? Jesus.” Shelton muttered.
“Don’t worry, we sent Shiftry and Kecleon for more beer. How did you manage to break the Steelix?”
Before she could answer, the Pokemon in question lightly growled. Knowing that it wanted its promised treat, Shelton extracted the last diamond she brought and quickly tossed it into its waiting maw.
“Was that?” Dorian asked, eyes wide.
“Nope, rock candy,” Shelton lied. “I read online that they’re crazy about it.”
“Thank god.”
Shelton thanked Steelix for the ride and returned him back to his ball. She made a mental note to transfer him to a different Pokeball so she wouldn’t have to hold something that Ethan had touched. She climbed the steps and collapsed into a deck chair to get a handle on her anger. She was just about to unload on Dorian when Garrett sat down in the chair next to her and offered her a cigarette. She took it with a smile and lost her rage as she realized that he was still probably raw over what had happened.
“How are you?” Shelton asked.
“I’m alright,” he said simply.
“I hope you know that we’re torn up about what happened to your Ledian. I’m sorry that you got dragged into our mess.”
“Well,” he started, dragging out the last two letters like he was pulling out toffee. “Like I told Dorian, it’s not your fault. He would have been disappointed in me if I had seen what was happening to you guys and not done anything.”
“You think so?”
“Yeah, his nickname was ‘conscience’. He always tried to get me to do the right thing. Doesn’t make it easier, but, I feel like he wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
“I’ll drink to that!” Dorian bellowed as almost fell backwards off the porch.
Garrett’s arm shot out and grabbed the front of his shirt and reeled him back in. Dorian nodded his thanks and lit another cigarette. He inhaled deeply and gave Shelton a big smile, which made her desperately want to punch him in the face. Just before she could ask Garrett something else, Shiftry came around the corner holding a case of beer with
Kecleon following close behind.
“Keckec!” the diminutive lizard clicked as he saw Shelton.
“Hey!” she grinned.
The small Pokemon hopped up into her lap as Shiftry tossed Dorian and Garrett another beer and opened one up for himself.
“Thanks buddy,” Garrett nodded.
“You’re drinking now too?!” Shelton screeched.
“Shiftry?” the grass type shrugged, spreading his arms wide.
“Come on you wet blanket, he can have a few. He’s grown now,” Dorian said proudly, clapping his Pokemon on the back. “Now how’d you break the Steelix?”
With a sigh Shelton regaled them with the less than exciting story on how she got it to obey. Both listened intently and quietly, only breaking their silence to laugh when she told them how the cops had rushed to their car like they were on fire and their vehicle was a pool when the Steelix was released. After she finished she accepted another cigarette from Garrett, despite the frown that Kecleon gave her as she did so.
“Spoink helped you?” Dorian asked. “That’s not likely. She doesn’t even listen to me.”
Upon hearing her name the psychic turned around in the grass and glared. Dorian stared right back and spoke again.
“Yeah I’m talking about you. If you recall, I beat you fair and square, so how about you drop the attitude? Unless you’re just abnormally thick and can’t comprehend what I’m saying.”
As Spoink heard the last word leave Dorian’s lips, she did something that immensely surprised Shelton. She smiled. Shelton saw Dorian **** his head sideways in confusion, then noticed the purple glow that enveloped Dorian’s hand. Guided by Spoink, his hand arced straight up and smacked him in the face. So vicious was the unwanted strike that Dorian flew backwards off the porch.
Beer sprayed from Shiftry’s mouth in shock just as Shelton, Garrett, and all of the assembled Pokemon burst into laughter.
“You little
shit!” Dorian screamed.
Dorian scrambled to his feet and launched himself at the smirking psychic type. Seeing his approaching assault, Spoink bounced upwards onto the low slung roof of the house. She lightly bobbed up and down in place and stuck her tongue out at Dorian. He stood below, seething for a moment before walking back to the porch and grabbing another beer.
“This isn’t over!” he warned.
“You ever notice how much trouble your mouth gets you into?” Shelton asked.
“Shut it.”
“Easy lippy,” she admonished.
Garrett ran a hand through his sandy close cropped hair and turned to Shelton again. “And I appreciate you guys letting me come to Unova with you.”
“I’m sorry?” Shelton asked, raising her eyebrows at Dorian.
“I filled him in on everything. Shocked him a few times with the shard and he’s on board,” Dorian explained.
“Did you think to ask me, like, anything before you decided this?” Shelton asked.
“I think he has a pretty decent reason to want to get back at Ethan, don’t you?”
That stopped Shelton in her tracks. Granted, Ethan had killed his Ledian, which from his reaction the day it happened she knew that he had meant as much to Garrett as Golduck meant to her. She knew that her opinion had changed over the last several days regarding Ethan and what they would do to him when they found him, and from what they had all witnessed what he was capable of, they would need all the help they could get. Acknowledging that fact though was different than inviting someone who may be unhinged along, especially since they barely knew him.
“Of course I do, but we haven’t even figured how we’re going to get the next shard. If you recall, it’s in Unova. How are you expecting to set foot within a hundred miles of it?”
She regretted asking as soon as the question left her mouth. They had probably already put together some hair brained scheme which was assuredly going to fail. She hadn’t thought much of Unova since they learned that’s where the last shard was. Probably for the best seeing as how it would take an act of God to get them inside. Ever since the terrorist bombing of Anville Town five years ago, the already tyrannical and perpetually suspicious communist continent had closed its borders completely. To this day, foreigners were still being deported and only top political representatives were allowed into the continent. All the borders were monitored and any kind of civilian and commercial air travel had been indefinitely postponed.
“I think that’s why he told me about it,” Garrett started, pulling out his cell phone. “I think I can get us into Unova.”
“And how’s that?”
“Well, when I’m not training, I work for a company that specializes in cargo transport to Unova.”
“There’s no cargo transport to Unova ever, there hasn’t been in five years,” Shelton said.
“Well it’s not technically ‘legal’ in the sense that the government really knows about it,” Garrett explained.
“So you’re a smuggler?”
“I’d say it’s more like outlawing,” Dorian suggested.
“Thanks buddy,” Garrett laughed, passing his phone to Shelton. “That’s mine.”
Shelton gazed at the photo on the screen and his words started to fall into place. The picture was of a small airplane parked in a river, white hull glowing a soft ivory. Each wing had a silver propeller and flanked by radio antenna and what looked to be small satellite dishes. The most distinguishing characteristic of the plane though was that it was supported by two massive canoe-like pods that allowed it to float on the water.
“Seats three,” Garrett smiled.
Before she could ask how he planned to actually get them into the country, she saw Shiftry stiffen. The grass type set his beer down and jumped off to the porch, staring intently into the woods. Kecleon climbed down from her lap and joined him. The two Pokemon uttered a few quick words to one another and shrugged.
“What are you doing?” Dorian asked.
“Shiftry shif,” Shiftry explained with a wave of his hand.
“You heard something? Like what?”
Shiftry shrugged again and took a long pull from his beer.
“Whatever. Anyway, Garrett’s coming, unless you have a better idea of how we’re gonna get in,” Dorian said.
Knowing that it was pointless to argue and seeing as this was the only reasonable option she had been presented with, Shelton lit her cigarette and gently threw up her hands. Typical, she had been shanghaied once again.
“That doctor that fixed Golduck says he might be able to replace his jewel today,” Shelton offered.
“That’s awesome!” Dorian grinned. “Where’s he at?”
“He had a little bit of a headache this morning so I’m keeping him in his ball till I go back to the hospital. You wanna come with me?”
“Definitely.”
“Speaking of balls,” Garrett started, pulling three shiny orbs from his pocket.
“Hah!” Dorian laughed, swaying lightly.
“Oh my god you’re twelve years old,” Shelton moaned.
Garrett laughed and continued, “Here’s the rest of my bunch.”
The first pokeball released his Pidgeot, and as the bird formed the rest of their Pokemon turned to watch. It was an impressive specimen, very large, and its plumage spoke of rich gold and tawny tones accented with light shades of scarlet. The bird Pokemon flared its considerable wingspan and screeched loudly, which elicited a snarl from Shiftry. Garrett descended the porch and flicked the bird on its wickedly sharp beak.
“Calm down you cranky
bitch,” Garrett ordered.
The next Pokemon released was a slightly overweight Vileplume, who upon released spun in a circle, its four gigantic head petals pulling its blue body up into the air a few inches. The short Pokemon gave a small bow when it saw everyone on the porch and a noxiously sweet aroma of drying flowers washed over the assembled group.
“This is Sticky,” Garrett explained.
The final Pokemon had the lithe and lightly muscled body of a canine. As the Pokemon fully formed and began to bark excitedly, Shelton noticed bright sparks of electricity jumping into the air from the mane of spiky yellow hair on its head. Following the sapphire fur that lined its torso to the tip of its pointed tail, Shelton nodded in appreciation. A Manectric.
“And this is Harvey.”
Upon hearing his name, the Manectric jolted forward faster than Shelton could follow and tackled Garrett to the ground where he began to nip at his fingers and lick his face. Vileplume trotted over as well and spoke to Garrett while waving his stubby arms around. At the sound of the grass type’s voice, Manectric broke off his licking and started chatting away to him as well. Garrett stuttered with his words before taking a breath to calm himself.
“He went chasing after some Ledyba that flew into the woods,” Garrett explained.
Vileplume and Manectric started for the tree line but a yelp from Garrett stopped them in their tracks.
“You won’t be able to find him. It was a couple hours ago and he said he’d be back later. So just hang out here, okay?”
Both Pokemon reluctantly nodded and began creeping towards the porch to inspect the other Pokemon. Garrett followed behind them and when he spoke, his tone was barely a whisper and he wouldn’t show them his face.
“I need to go take care of something and see about finding a hotel. Do you mind if the two of them hang out here for awhile?”
“Hotel? Screw that man you’re staying with us. You can have my bed and I’ll sleep in Ronnie’s room.”
“We don’t want to put you guys out, it’s cool.”
“Garrett,” Shelton started. “We insist. It would make us feel better, especially since we don’t know where that psychopath is.”
“We saw him in the desert,” Garrett said. “Dorian shocked me a few times while I was holding that shard-thing. He’s nowhere close.”
“Regardless, it would make us feel better. Please?”
“Yeah alright,” Garrett acquiesced.
With that the lean muscled man lit another cigarette and swung himself up on top of his Pidgeot. The bird screeched in proclamation and flapped hard. Soon enough they had both vanished into the sky with a wailing police car struggling to keep up on the ground.
“Well that sucked,” Dorian commented.
“It’s sad,” Shelton agreed.
At that moment she wanted to chastise Dorian for inviting Garrett along without asking her first, but after seeing what he just had to go through, he deserved the opportunity for vengeance just as much as they did. Ethan thought they had stolen from them and it was obvious he was going to do everything in his power to repay them for their supposed crime, even kill uninvolved Pokemon and people. Shelton thought she should feel guilt for the people on the freeway who had died in Ethan’s rampage, but she didn’t. She wasn’t a person who didn’t feel sympathy; it was in fact quite the opposite. It was heartbreaking, but she didn’t feel the sadness that she thought she should.
“So when do we go to the hospital?” Dorian asked.
“Whenever he calls me,” Shelton replied. “How about you slow down on your beer intake, I don’t want you to have to have your stomach pumped when we get there.”
“It’s fine Shelton.”
“I’m serious Dorian, don’t you think the answer to everything going on is not to get completely plowed?”
“I actually think it’s a great idea.”
Seeing the futility of her argument with him, she changed the subject. “So where’s the psycho at?”
“Still on the roof for all I know. I’m gonna get her back though.”
“Not Spoink you idiot, Ethan.”
“Oh. Well, we saw him running through the desert so we were thinking probably Orre.”
“You sure it wasn’t that desert north of Castelia City?” Shelton wondered.
“Yeah. When the shard took each of us there, we saw ocean in the distance, Orre is the only place he could be.”
“That’ll make sure I sleep a bit more comfortably tonight.”
“I know what will make you sleep better tonight,” Dorian claimed, popping the top off of another beer and holding it out to her.
Shelton’s eyes widened and she drew in a breath to yell, but the sight of Dorian’s sincere smile stopped her. As the condensation from the bottle dripped down to the porch, she looked at him fully, completely. He was scared like she was, despite his grin, but something about the way he looked made her think that he was really ready for whatever was coming. That was the one thing she knew for sure amidst all the blaring confusion of her life. That something was coming. Shelton took the beer from him and took a long pull. The liquid stung her dry throat in a monstrously pleasing way.
“You’re an idiot,” Shelton smiled.
*****
Alakazam watched the three humans and their Pokemon and seethed.
It wasn’t their fault he was angry. He didn’t share Ethan’s abominable sense of fury for them. They were a byproduct of his own crazed lunacy and an unfortunate one at that. He had tracked them down because he was having no luck whatsoever finding Ethan, and since he had vowed to murder them, Alakazam deduced being close to them would lead to an inevitable confrontation. He soon found out though that that moment had already come and passed.
Which is why they infuriated him. If he had been faster in finding them, not only could he have found Ethan, but he would also have prevented more lives to be lost. Too slow yet again. Despite what he told Ethan about the voices and the flakes, Alakazam knew that it was all real; he had known it for years. He had tried to quell Ethan’s quest with casual suggestions and logic but they never worked. Not only that but now he was faced with the fact that he had threatened Ethan with desertion and had no idea what to do about it. The prospect of leaving him filled him with a sadness that he had never dreamed possible.
Alakazam moved slightly closer through the woods to get a better view of the humans and his right foot snapped a twig. The sound drew the Shiftry’s attention and he hopped into the yard. Alakazam stiffened as the grass type was joined by a Kecleon. Not even daring to take a breath, he waited in silence. After a few tense seconds both Pokemon retreated back to the porch and he began listening to the conversation again.
He had learned through the morning by watching the two males that they apparently had figured out a way to view Ethan’s location through the shard. It had to do with electrocuting themselves while holding it. He plucked Ethan’s location from their mind each time they activated it, but fought the urge to fly off in pursuit. The only reason being because they planned to go to Unova after the last shard, which assuredly would be where Ethan was heading; meaning they would probably find him and Alakazam would have the opportunity to prevent him from taking their lives. He was still astounded that he hadn’t during their last confrontation. Ethan had grown so powerful that even he couldn’t keep contained for long.
After another few minutes of talking, the blond male released three Pokemon and flew away on his Pidgeot. The other male and the female began speaking again, but Alakazam stopped listening when he realized it was nothing of consequence. He knew that they would leave for Unova soon and that was all that mattered. He had even entertained the idea of stealing the shard from them and using it to find Ethan, but that presented two problems. First, he had no idea whether the shard would work on a Pokemon, and secondly because he didn’t want to risk getting into an altercation with them. He knew that his power was great enough to more than likely make sure that didn’t happen but there were always unaccounted variables in every situation. He wouldn’t be able to cope with himself if he accidentally hurt them. They didn’t deserve that after all they had been through.
He would wait, he would observe, and he would follow. Sooner or later they would find Ethan or Ethan would find them. When that happened he would intervene and rid Ethan of the shards and flakes. As he began listening to the two humans again he leaned back against an ancient oak and resumed doing the only logical thing he could. He waited.
