Summary: They say that trauma can both split apart and unite. The selfless actions of one man to save a Typhlosion trapped in a burning building may unite them more than either ever expected.
Note: As always, apart from OCs, I don't own any of the places or creatures described in this story. They are all property of Game Freak, Nintendo, or other companies.
JJ: Hello everyone! It's your friendly neighborhood JJ here! I'm back from a LONG hiatus to bring you some new words!
Amber: Is this the story with me in it?
JJ: Yeah! I always loved it…
Amber: *Smacks JJ* You liar! This story already exists! It isn't new.
JJ: Well… I guess it isn't… But it's more of a slight reimagining and touch-up of the original!
Amber: You! You give these people some new material or i'll smack ya again!
JJ: I guess that's my cue to leave, enjoy the story folks, and as always: Favorite, Review, ect.! *Runs away*
Amber: YOU CAN'T HIDE JJ!
Wind through the roads. Another normal night in Goldenrod City. The flickers of light dance through the eyes of its denizens as they mindlessly shuffle down the well-worn streets. People shout, cars rush by, and hundreds of busy bodies, all going their separate ways and all oblivious to each other, fills my view. I always found a bit of comfort in the chaos of a Friday night downtown. It seemed like a form of privacy in plain view, a box where I could see everyone, but they couldn't look at me. In a way, it was like the high skyscrapers that loomed above me even now. Like their reflective glass windows that only rewarded one side with privacy.
All my daydreaming rewarded me was a very angry businessman and a bruised nose as the crowd unknowingly came to a halt. I sighed, shifting my weight forward to peek above the crowd. Tossing my dirty blond hair back and surveying the intersection in front of me, the red light in front was the cause of the human pileup.
I chuckled, realizing my friends would have to wait a bit longer for me to arrive at our usual friday night haunt. Relaxing after a hard weeks work at Sylph Co. with a couple of cold beers and good friends at Mickey Finn's Pub and Brewery and a night of TV with my Pokémon at home was some great medicine and I was a sick, sick man. Hopefully the light would turn because the quicker I could get a cold pint in my hand, the quicker I could start melting the work stress away.
I slipped through the crowd, hoping to save a few seconds waiting for people to start moving again. Upon arriving towards the front of the mass on the street curb, my ears were treated to the shrill screech of a fire truck, several cop cars, and an ambulance as they raced past the intersection.
"Where's the fire?" I softly joked to myself, chuckling.
The lights changed, and the masses began to move across the streets. I broke out of the herd and walked into the local pub. I saw my friends already seated at a small table and waved at them. Their faces glued to a TV in the corner of the room, they didn't even notice me. I ignored it and walked up to the bar to get a beer. With bottle in tow, I slipped between tables and over to my waiting comrades. I jokingly punched one on the shoulder.
"What's up guys, you didn't even acknowledge me when I walked in!" chuckling softly. Only one of them responded by slowly pointing towards the TV. "What is it? Did the Goldenrod Galvantulas finally win the Kalos National Soccer Cup?"I looked up at the screen and a news woman was covering some kind of "breaking news."
"We're live with News Chopper 7, hovering over the site of the fire." She exclaimed in a serious tone before the camera cut to the view from the chopper. A view of my apartment on fire.
The smile instantly vanished from my face. Oh no... I dropped my beer and ran out of the bar. I sprinted down the street like a man chased by a herd of Tauros. Dodging a man with a bushel of apples, vaulting over alleyway fences and slipping between buildings, I raced closer and closer to my apartment block. I climbed one last fence and ended up on the end of my street.
Looking down, I could clearly see that my block in addition to 3 others were engulfed in a blazing inferno. I followed the flow of people, trickling in to see what all the commotion was about. I pushed my way through the slowly moving crowd, trying to get to the front so I could get some answers.
After a vicious battle with the massive blob of observers, I made my way to the barricades holding the public back from the building. Three fire trucks had pulled up, but none of them were spraying water all over the buildings. I waved my hands like a maniac, trying to get one of the firefighters attentions so that I could ask him if they had gone in the recover any pokeballs still trapped in there.
I got no purchase on the firemen, so I turned around and began asking the public around me. My answers were a jumbled mess of "I don't know," "I just got here," "Maybe," and complete obliviousness.
Fed up, I vaulted the barricade and rushed over to the fire engine to get some help. I rounded the front of the truck and ran head first into one of the fire fighters. We both recoiled and I was thrown to the ground. He helped me up and then began to push me back towards the barriers. "Back you go buddy, it's not safe up here."
"Please, I need some answers!" I exclaimed frantically while trying to get him to stop moving me.
"Get behind the barricade and maybe I'll answer them." He said in a commanding, bellowing tone. I cooperated and soon found myself back where I had begun. "Now, what is it?" He said.
"Why aren't you guys putting out this fire! It's going to demolish this building!" I said.
"For that exact reason," the fireman explained. "It's too dangerous to go in there with the building in such a condition. The whole damn thing could collapse at any moment."
"Well, have you evacuated everyone in there?" I asked.
"Yes, every person living in that building has been accounted for." He answered.
"What about the Pokémon?" I wondered.
"What about them?" He snobishly asked back.
"Well… have you evacuated all of them as well?" I asked, starting to get annoyed with the fireman's tone
"Why would I? Those damn animals can fend for themselves, I'm not putting my men in harms way so that some little kid's pet bidoof can get out." He said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a fire crew to pack up and a dangerous building to collapse."
I just stared at him completely emotionless. He's going to collapse the building… He's going to kill all my pokemon… I can't let that happen!
I took one look at the chief who had turned away from me to talk on his walkie-talkie and spotted the rest of the emergency crew packing up their gear and preparing to collapse the building to put out the fire. I knew then what I had to do. I couldn't let my team die.
Taking two steps and vaulting over the barricade, I dashed into the house. The yelling of several firemen and spectators couldn't deter me now as I crashed through the front door and into the burning house.
As I hit the ground, the wall beams above the now shattered door crashed down where an opening once stood. Taking one look back to assure I was well and truly trapped, I pressed on through the glowing hellscape that awaited me. I pulled my cotton zip-up jacket off and wrapped it around my mouth as a makeshift gas mask to keep out the smoke and pressed on through the fiery abode. The charred remains of furniture and belongings were no match for my trusty work boots, but the flaming chunks of house singed me more than once. On my way through the first level, searching for stairs, I had to dodge pieces of flaming drywall, curtains, or random belongings that would have burned me on their way to the ground.
Finally, I made my way to the staircase. Thankfully they were at the back of the complex and were made of cinderblocks and steel. As I climbed the relatively safe steps up to my third floor apartment, I wondered what awaited me. I sincerely hoped that the balls hadn't burnt up or had something crush them. I don't know what I would do if my pokemon friends had been killed due to some idiot's carelessness.
My thinking came to a sharp end as a crack sounded above my head. One of the I-beams supporting the stairs had failed due to the heat and a large piece of metal came crashing down, narrowly missing my head, but cutting a deep gash in my left arm and leg as it fell. I bit back the tears and pain, ripping off the sleeve of my jacket to wrap my shredded limbs in. The world began to spin as a combination of blood-loss, shock, and pain set in. I shook it off, convincing my body to keep going, as passing out here would be a death warrant.
I carried on, kicking down the burnt husks of doors with my good leg. Taking a right at an intersection in the hallway, I opened my mostly intact door and hobbled into my slightly burning room. Getting down on all fours, I crawled through the living room toward the master suite in the back. I pushed open the door and reached around the corner for my belt with pokeballs in tow. Clipping it over my work belt, I crawled back outside the apartment and started to make my way back to the staircase. However, down the hall opposite to my room, I saw a mound. It certainly didn't look like a pile of ash or embers, so I rushed forward to see if it was some other pokémon who had gotten trapped.
Upon getting closer, this pokémon, a typhlosion by the looks of it, had escaped fairly unscathed due to its fire-proof fur and place slightly away from the bulk of the flames. I tapped its shoulder, trying to wake it up, but it didn't move. Fearing the worst, I put my fingers on its neck. The weak thum-bump that feebly made it to my fingers confirmed it was alive, but only just. Using a nearby beam and a brick to make a makeshift lever to compensate for my torn up limbs, I rolled the typhlosion over on to its back to see what might be wrong and to get a better grip to pick it up or drag it out. As I looked over its body, I couldn't find out anything more than this it was actually a her.
Befuddled, I got down on my knees and attempted to wake her up again, but she didn't even stir. Realizing that the only way we could get out was by carrying her, I pulled her arm over my shoulder and rolled her stomach on to my back. Lightly gripping her leg with my mangled left arm, I stood up and began to carry her back towards the staircase.
I slowly made it down the stairs to the second floor and began on the first when another creek shot through the staircase. Before I had time to think, a second beam had failed, and another piece of metal was heading for me, the only difference being where it would hit. Conking me on the head, stars exploded in my vision. I dropped the typhlosion and hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, completely out cold.
