To Blanche, the sky above the city had turned the colors of a bruise. Mottled purple clouds, hints of yellow and green on the edges, churned above them, and thunder growled from the distance. A fat raindrop struck Blanche's cheek, and they gently brushed it away with their thumb to inspect it, as if it contained some vital piece of information.
"Blanche! Get a move on!"
Blanche turned to see Candela waving her arms at them from the entrance to Professor Willow's lab.
"We've got all the pokémon in the basement, but we're waiting on you," Candela added, gesturing over her shoulder. "The radar says the storm's almost on top of us!"
The discordant moan of the tornado siren swelled, threatening to drown out Candela's warning. Heavy raindrops smacked the pavement around Blanche's feet as they gazed back over the town. The little streets were deserted and dark, despite it being late afternoon. The colorful boutiques and typically bustling cafes were still and silent. From the high position of the lab, Blanche could see most of the town, and noticed that several neighborhoods were already without power.
"Blanche!" Candela shouted again.
"Spark still hasn't answered me," Blanche said, but they hurried up the path to the lab to avoid the escalating downpour. They paused under the lab's marquee next to Candela, and they noticed for the first time the tiny vulpix quivering inside Candela's collar, where she must have tucked it to comfort it.
Candela must have seen Blanche staring, and laughed nervously. "Ha, yeah, she's a little jumpy. She keeps breaking out of her ball, and I was afraid she'd get spooked by the thunder and run away, so now she's my little parasite."
Candela patted the vulpix, and the tiny pokémon squirmed closer to her and closed her eyes. Blanche allowed a small smile, but it quickly faded as they thought of Spark. Blanche pulled their communicator from the inside of their jacket and checked for missed messages for the umpteenth time.
Candela strained to see Blanche's screen. "I'm sure Spark's fine. The guy loves a good storm. He's probably at his apartment, waiting until the last minute to seek shelter. Because he's an idiot."
"Hm," said Blanche. As loathe as Blanche was to admit it, Candela was probably right. It was useless to worry over something they had no control over. Besides, the actual likelihood of something as destructive as a tornado developing over the little town was fairly low. Blanche predicted high winds, more power outages, a few downed limbs here and there.
And yet, they couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.
"I'll leave you out here, you know," Candela warned as she stepped into the lab.
Blanche sighed and followed the leader of Team Valor inside. Willow had turned off most of the upstairs lights, but the path through the clutter of computers, complex diagnostic machines, and racks of pokémon-handling gear was illuminated by the mane of Candela's ponyta. The ponyta stamped anxiously on the tile floor, waiting to guide his human companions into the basement. He started at the roar of suddenly much closer thunder, and Candela reached out a hand to settle him.
As the two team leaders descended into the basement, Blanche observed, "The pokémon are reacting more strongly to this storm than the previous ones this summer."
"Pfft, they're always antsy in bad weather," Candela said.
"Not this antsy," Blanche said.
Candela reached the bottom of the steps and groaned dramatically. "Blanche, let it go. I wouldn't even be down here if the professor wasn't so phobic over storms. Let's just chill and wait it out, yeah?"
"I have a bad feeling. That's all," Blanche stated, determined to maintain their cool in the face of Candela's childish eye-rolling.
"I didn't know you had those," said Candela.
Blanche narrowed their eyes. "Had what?"
"Feelings."
Blanche bit their tongue as they followed Candela deeper into the basement. The space was used predominantly for storage and was littered with outdated machines, boxes of mildewed paperwork, and the seasonal decorations Spark had insisted were a necessity. Professor Willow had cleared a sitting area under the fluorescent lights and was using a dusty crate as a chair. Several pokémon wandered freely, but most were contained in their balls, which were closed in stacked cases for easy transport.
"No Spark?" Willow asked.
Blanche shook their head.
Willow pressed his lips together. "Hope he has the sense to be inside right now. The radio says swirling cloud formations were sighted west of town, heading our way. Best we stay camped down here until-"
With a clunk and a moan, the power went out. Instead of the whir of air-conditioning and the buzz of the overhead lights, all Blanche could hear was the wail of wind above them. After a few beats, they heard something large and electric powering up in the darkness, and the lights came back on shortly after.
"I knew the back-up generator was a sound replacement for the pikachu-powered one we had before," Blanche noted, relieved to be able to see again. "Much more reliable than… Professor?"
Willow's face looked gaunt and white under the harsh fluorescent lights, and he sat so rigidly that Blanche thought he could tip over and shatter like a porcelain figure. Candela chuckled and lounged on a dented filing cabinet, apparently tickled by Willow's fright. Such a child.
Blanche was pleased to see Candela jump up in surprise at the clatter of the lab door being thrown open upstairs, though Blanche was startled themself. The vulpix squealed until Candela hushed her and stroked the curly fur of her forehead.
"Was that the front door? Do you think it's Spark?" Candela whispered, so as not to further excite the creature on her chest.
Blanche said nothing, choosing to wait for whoever had opened the door to come downstairs. But after a couple minutes of nothing, they grew uncomfortable. If that was Spark, why wasn't he coming downstairs? Or at least calling down to let them all know he was there?
"I'll check it out," Blanche announced, their hand hovering over a pokéball on their belt.
"I wanna come," Candela said, standing.
Blanche glanced at the professor, still pale-faced and tense. "You stay with the pokémon. Don't put that vulpix in harm's way. Just in case."
Candela huffed, but after looking down at the shivering vulpix, seemed to agree. "Fine. If it's Spark, kick 'im in the shins for me for scaring the pokémon."
The pokémon, right. Blanche smirked and ascended the stairs.
When Blanche opened the door to the main floor, their senses were overwhelmed by the cacophony of wind and rain raging just outside the large glass windows of the lab. They were surprised they'd even heard the front door from the basement.
Standing in the doorway was the unmistakable silhouette of Team Instinct's leader. His spiky hair fluttered in the wind that blasted into the lab from the open door. As Blanche approached, they realized his back was turned to them. Rain gusted in through the open door, but Spark didn't flinch.
"Spark? Come inside. You're letting water in," Blanche said.
He was soaked. His jacket and pants clung and sagged, and he looked like he was being pulled downward with the weight of them. His hand was against the doorframe, and Blanche supposed it was for stability, as they could see now that he was panting.
"What's going on?" they asked. Blanche plucked the pokéball from their belt and prepared to release the pokémon inside. Was the lab in trouble? Blanche cursed themself for reacting so overdramatically. It was just the storm. Spark must have tried running through it and had winded himself.
Spark whirled on Blanche, and they reflexively stepped back. "Have you seen a meowth around the lab? Sorta fat, wears a pink collar?" he asked with a manic look in his eye.
Blanche blinked. "Again, Spark, what's going on?"
It wasn't odd to see Spark manically pursuing some absurd goal, but the desperation in his face was unusual. Blanche peered into the storm, but the world had gone gray with water. A flash of lightning briefly lit the scene, and thunder boomed far too soon after for comfort. The wind howled with the ferocity of a wild persian. When Spark didn't answer, Blanche placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
"Blanche, this little girl's meowth ran out into the storm," Spark explained, pulling away from Blanche. He never turned his eyes from the tempest. "I promised I'd find her, but I can hardly see anything out there."
The wind roared louder, and Blanche gasped as a chunk of trim was wrenched from the marquee. They grasped Spark's sleeve, fighting the impulse to flee to the basement. Blanche's heart thudded violently in their chest.
"Spark, we must go downstairs."
He shook free again. "I can't! I know she's out there. If I can-"
Blanche raised their voice. "It's just a pokémon, Spark!"
They immediately regretted their words. Spark looked at them as though he'd been struck in the face.
Blanche backpedaled. "I didn't mean that. But you have to be rational."
Spark opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by blinding light and deafening thunder. Blanche yelped and jumped backwards. The strike had to have been mere meters away from the building.
"I see her!"
Before Blanche could shout for him to wait, Spark had bolted out the door. Even if they'd tried to call out, the impossibly loud wind would have carried their voice away. It sounded like a freight train was barreling toward the lab, and Blanche feared their heart would leap from their throat.
A tornado.
The rain flew sideways, and through it, Blanche could barely make out Spark scooping something off the ground. They screamed for Spark to run back, but the air was whipped from their lungs. More pieces of debris whirled through the air, and Blanche watched helplessly as Spark staggered back up the path, hunched over something that could only be the hefty pet meowth. Blanche covered their mouth as the gale forced Spark to one knee. They wanted to run to him, but their feet were anchored to the ground.
Suddenly, Spark squinted at something just beyond the lab that Blanche couldn't see. Spark's jaw dropped, and he twisted so his back would be to whatever it was he had seen. A white blur spun toward him and crashed against his back. Blanche screamed as Spark was thrown several feet. He landed hard on his side, still curled around the meowth.
He lifted his head for a moment, then sagged back down, and then was completely still.