Pokemon: Incarnation
Chapter 2: The Digital Man
"I'm sorry Basil, I can't go through with your plan. Not this time." I heard my sister say as I dropped my numerous pages of notes in shock.
"Wh...what do you mean?! It's half an hour before the match starts, and you're backing out?! I spent two sleepless nights perfecting the best possible strategy against Omar and his team, and you're just going to ignore it?! Why, Melinda, why?!" I replied, almost screeching in surprise and dismay.
"I just don't see what you're trying to achieve with this. I know that his sceptile is a huge threat, so how do you expect anyone but Blaziken to be able to stand up to it? Also, a lot of these ideas and tactics seem really...quite cruel." She said as I started shuddering, fearing as though she might be returning to her old habits.
"Because that's what he does! I've cracked Omar's tactics by observing all his battles in this tournament so far! He always prepares his pokemon for the worst match up! If you go out there with conventional tactics, you will lose! See that sceptile? He'll likely litter the place with seed mines so Blaziken won't be able to do shit! He's done it time and time again, which is why you need mamoswine to take him out!" I said, picking up my notes to show her. "Get him to start generating a snowstorm immediately; that'll slow and wear the sceptile down. He can also make small tremors to trigger the mines remotely, and when you combine those things, he'll be very vulnerable!"
"And slowly draw out the pokemon's suffering? I know you were never one for etiquette, but it's universally frowned upon to battle like this by every national and international battling organizations, and for good reason. I won't slowly freeze or poison them into submission while drawing them endlessly around the arena. It's needlessly cruel, as well as this 'wing clipping' strategy you have for dealing with his toucannon. My team wouldn't be happy battling in a long, draw out fashion like this either! Besides, don't you have faith that Blaziken can pull through?" She asked, and I realised that I was starting to speak to her younger self. It felt like everything we had done together to reach the finals of the British Isles annual tournament was all falling apart at the seams over sentimental nonsense.
"With all due respect Melinda, I don't think he will. Sceptile will completely wreck him. Also, I don't give a shit about Omar's pokemon! I care about your pokemon! I care about you! I want to see you and your team win! Yes, my tactics are underhanded, dirty and maybe even..." I said as I made an effort to visibly roll my eyes. "...Maybe even a bit mean, but it doesn't matter! These tactics are perfectly legal, and they will grant you the victory as long as you can execute on them well! Say, Melinda, don't you care about your own pokemon? You're sending them out to battle without a proper strategy! You'll be responsible for allowing them to get hurt more than they need to be!"
"Don't lecture me about caring for pokemon Basil! You were a failure at that, hence why you gave up being a trainer!" She said as I felt the tensions rise even further. "Planning was all you could do! You planned meticulously, but when your opponent did something odd, BAM! Plans in ruins, and because you were always shoddy at training your pokemon, you ended up failing at every corner!"
"No need to bring that up again, but if you insist, I'll remind you that you didn't even reach the semi-finals in the Yorkshire regionals until I graduated from university to help plan out your battles! You'd have gone nowhere near this far without my help! You're nothing without..." I said before I stalled myself. As angry and agitated as I was, I didn't want to say anything I'd regret. Regardless what she done, I'd still root for her, and I was still determined to see her win, even if I thought it was a lost cause by this point. "Melinda...I'll always stand beside you in what you do. I'll be honest with you – I don't think you'll win if you just try to improvise, but stranger things have happened I guess. Maybe you can prove me wrong. I think I'd love to see that more than anything."
"Don't worry about that, I'm sure my team will pull through." Melinda said, smiling at me. Clearly, she was more optimistic than I was, but I guess nothing was impossible.
"Well, I'll go take my place in the stands then. Go get that trophy – that Scottish Arab has nothing on you!" I said before waving her goodbye, figuring the best I could do by this point was to encourage her. Regardless of whether she won or not, I was really proud of her progress and how far she got. From a semi-finalist from the Yorkshire regionals to the British Isles tournament in one year...I think I could be happy with that.
"...And here comes the home-town favourite, Omar Haddad!" I heard the announcer say, seeing Omar walk into the stadium grounds with a Scottish flag around him alongside his team. The crowd of Edinburgh erupted into a searing wave of applause and cheers that almost drowned out the booming speakers that tried their best to keep the announcer's voice heard. "This is his sixth British Isles final in his long career as a professional trainer, and yet, he has never actually won! As he announced last month, this will be his last year as a trainer, so I can imagine him to be wanting to win and qualify for the 2067 worlds more than ever! I'm amazed that his sceptile and dragonite haven't even slowed down much given how old they are for professional battle pokemon at this level of competition! Trademarks of a true professional!"
"Opposing him from Yorkshire is Melinda Squire! She came out of seemingly nowhere with a slew of upset victories to get all the way to the final!" The announcer said as I saw my sister walk onto the field of battle, flanked by three members of her team on either side of her. Clearly, her sponsors wanted great photograph material. "Her strategic game has soared ever since her ventures in regional tournaments, which is often attributed to her brother and right hand man, Basil Squire. I wonder if he managed to come up with the strategy to undo a dominant Omar, who looks like the clear favourite to win this tournament. As a reminder to those of you just tuning in, the winner will be able to attend the world championship in Canada later this year."
"I wonder if the mysterious disappearances of national champions this year will ever weigh on their minds in this final?" The other commentator said with a thick Scottish accent. "The seventeenth disappearance was noted today when Danil Egorov, the Russian champion, hadn't been seen in just over a week week. At this rate, we won't have much of a world championship."
"Doesn't seem like either Omar or Melinda are worrying about that by the looks on their faces though. Omar said in an interview recently that it was 'a bunch of conspiracy nonsense.'" The first commentator said as I began to think about this. Nah, it'll never happen to her. Regardless, I'd keep an eye on her, just to be on the safe side. On the bright side, if she did lose, like I expected, then it'll be Omar who'd have to worry about that, so it wouldn't be my problem.
Watching the battle unfold in front of me, it started going exactly how I thought it was, and Melinda was already falling behind quickly, only having two pokemon left to Omar's four. I wanted to scream out to her and try to get her to listen to me, but all things considered, Omar's lead was insurmountable, given he was winning hard on all fronts.
"Honestly, I was expecting more from Melinda. She seems to be battling like she did for the past few years, and against Omar, it's not working at all." I heard the commentator said as she sent out Rhyperior. Fool! I told her that Omar's exploud knew water techniques that Rhyperior wouldn't have a hope in the world of avoiding! However this heretic right here was about to be proved wrong, and the English crowd around be started cheering loudly when Rhyperior started gunning down Omar's exploud with an almost endless rock blast stream. He barely even got a chance to act before the referee declared it defeated. I hardly anticipated such a degree of accuracy when firing away that quickly, and from such a huge distance too!
"Doesn't seem like Melinda's going down easily though, that was such a perfect execution! She still has to deal with sceptile and dragonite though." One of the commentators said before Omar sent out Sceptile. He looked old for a battle pokemon, but experience and intelligence was something this pokemon had in spades. I knew he was more then capable of taking out Rhyperior and Blaziken and ending this with a 3-0 victory. I sat there, praying Melinda would pull a rabbit out of the hat, but sceptile was effortlessly dodging every flying rock and boulder sent at him, and looked like he was already setting up a sea of mines. Sceptile eventually pressed the assault, throwing energy balls at Rhyperior, eventually bringing it to his knees, and did didn't even need its mega form to do so!
"You're going to need a miracle now..." I muttered as I saw her send out Blaziken, her last pokemon left. I could see the entire thing unfold now. I studied this potential match-up heavily. They'd both mega evolve, and sceptile would just run rings round him. As soon as Blaziken stood on a seed mine, he'd be juggled endlessly. I really wanted Blaziken to suddenly turn into a war god and bring about a legendary comeback and an upset win for Melinda, but two short minutes after they both mega evolved, Sceptile stood victorious after slam dunking Blaziken into mine after mine.
"YEEESSS!" I heard Omar scream through a microphone before dropping to hug Sceptile, the middle aged man acting like an excited child on the morning of its birthday.
"It took him nineteen times in the British Isles championship, six finals, but in the twilight of his career, he finally done it! We have your representative for the he world championship, Omar Haddad!" I heard the commentator scream into the microphone, trying to sound himself over the Scottish crowd. It went pretty much as I expected, though the thoughts of 'what if she just listened to me?' still raced through my head endlessly as I walked down to the preparation hall to meet her after being mobbed by the press.
"Sorry Basil, I really should have listened." She said, looking more down than she let on while she was battling Omar. She wiped her straight black hair out her eyes and sat down sadly beside me.
"I know it's real painful to get this close to winning, only to fail at the last hurdle, but all things considered, you did tremendously well to get this far." I said, trying to make her feel better.
"It's not just that Basil. I feel as though I let people down. I let my fans down, I let my pokemon down, I let you down. My pokemon, barring a couple of them, did what they could, as did you. This failure was on me, all because I wasn't willing to go the extra mile and do what I needed to do to win." She said, sounding completely gutted – a far cry from the respectful way she acted in front of the press just after the match was over. "I just never considered what was really at stake there. Think it's due to my inexperience in tournaments this big?"
"Ah, don't beat yourself up over it too much. Besides, you're only twenty-seven – your career as a professional trainer has only just begun, and I'll still gladly be your primary analyst." I said, smiling softly and patting her on the back. "Still, the important thing is that you learn from this."
"I know; trust you and don't hold back." She said slowly, looking a little better.
"Your pokemon will thank you for this. Oh look, I'm on TV!" I said, pointing at the screen in the corner of the room, where I saw a clip of Melinda and I speaking to one another before the match through what must have been a very well hidden camera. My somewhat fluffy blond hair made me looked a bit taller than I actually was, the strands rising up from my centre part before falling to the waysides, stopping just before my ears.
I always looked rather pale, though it seemed to be exaggerated slightly in the photograph of me that they used, which made my green eyes stand out even more. Sadly, they also caught my awful attempt at smiling. It looked rather creepy, as if I was some kind of sociopath who was in the middle of torturing a poor victim. Or maybe that was just Melinda teasing me about it so often that I started to actually believe I looked like that when I smiled.
"...He's clearly done wonders for Melinda. Looking into his past when he was a part-time trainer while at the University of York, he always seemed like he was a natural mastermind of battle theory, tactics and strategy, even though he was faltering badly at all other facets. He could be one of the great minds of professional battling. Amazing how he could rank alongside Kubota Susumu and 'Lord' Taylor at this rate, and given he's only twenty-three, he has decades to go before he retires if he keeps this up. I know that he and Melinda faltered hard in the final against Omar, but I can't wait to see more of them in the future." One of the pundits said, making me smile broadly. Were my talents and skills being regarded this highly already?
"Hah, Melinda! We'll smash 'em next year!" I said happily, which seemed quite infectious to Melinda.
"I'm feeling a bit better now. I'll go talk to my pokemon for a short while then meet you at the party. Something I need to get done before we have some fun..." She said as I gave her a confused look.
"...Oh yeah, the party...for the top sixteen, right?" I asked, only vaguely remembering this being mentioned earlier.
"And one guest for each...you're invited, in case you didn't get the message." She said, grinning slightly and stood up. She was quite a bit taller than me, though that was more due to me getting the short gene in the family. I confess, only standing at 1.7 meters occasionally made me a bit self-conscious.
"Yeah, I'll go get ready for it." I said, gathering my stuff into a large backpack quickly.
"Got your costume?" She asked as I gave her an even more baffled look, looking into her eyes which were just as green as mine. "You do know about the traditions of the British Isles tournament, right?"
"Sorry, I was too busy planning out your victories to worry with such nonsense." I said, putting my bag on my back.
"Every British Isles final takes place on Halloween, and it's customary to dress up as a pokemon for this prestigious party." She explained as I coughed, trying to hide my laughter.
"Please, Melinda – 'dressing up as pokemon' and 'prestigious party' are not two phrases that belong in the same sentence." I said as she frowned slightly, getting what I assumed were two costumes out from the locker she was using.
"Guess I got you this one for nothing then." She said, turning to look at me through the far corner of her eyes. Sighing, I took it off her.
"You know I always found Halloween a giant waste of time...but...only for you, Mel'..." I said, taking a look at it. A noivern costume. A big dumb dragon. She could have at least got me a costume of a pokemon I liked. "Only...for you...I'll meet you there."
"Nine thirty at The Voodoo Rooms, and be sure to try and have fun." She said, as we left Murrayfield stadium. Walking out onto the street, I wondered if I had achieved any degree of fame? I knew Melinda had, hence why her sponsors organized travel for her, but I hated being bustled around by them, so I just went my own way to destinations. Seeing her lose in such a horrible fashion was still bothering me, but I'd get over it to face the next days. The past hurt a bit, but I could learn from it. It was the future, however, that I was always anticipating every second of. How could I find a way to deal with the cringe of a Halloween party? What a stupid and pointless tradition!
A few people recognized me on the street, and it was quite embarrassing fighting for the losing side. Some of them chanted 'Omar, Omar Omar!' over and over again in my face when I was on the way to get a taxi to The Voodoo Rooms. Perhaps the party wouldn't be as bad as this. I flagged down a taxi with the simple push of a button on the empty taxi rank, and I saw one drive its own way to me within about fifty seconds. Seems like service was a little faster here than in York. I marked the coordinates in the panel once I got inside, and off the taxi went, winding quickly and efficiently through the streets of Edinburgh.
These self-diving vehicles always made me feel a little nervous in case something went wrong, but it seemed like the technology had been perfected enough to cause less accidents than human drivers, so I suppose it was an irrational fear. Paying the 'driver', I walked outside and shivered a bit, not noticing how cold it was earlier. Seemed like I was one of the first ones to be here, since I only recognized the Welsh champion who we defeated in the quarter finals getting out of another taxi that was just ahead of me. He was already dressed up in his costume, as an excadrill to be precise, and was talking to some interviewer. I didn't want to get involved with that as I went straight inside.
"...Yes, Melinda said I was coming. Check the guest list if you like. She'll be here in about fifteen minutes." I told the bouncer, frowning ever so slightly as he let me in. Finding a toilet cubical, I discreetly changed into my costume. While it looked unbelievably stupid on me, it was at least of reasonable quality and fit oddly nicely. The wings underneath my arms would make holding things a little tricky, and I could already see myself knocking over a couple of drinks before the night ends thanks to these things. My face was mostly uncovered, so I thankfully could see, speak, eat and drink just fine tonight.
Tucking the loose strands of hair away underneath those awkwardly large ears and ensuring the costume's tail wouldn't get stuck in the hall, I left the bathroom to find a few of the guests had arrived in the hall, including Omar himself. He was dressed as a sceptile, clearly proud of the ace of his team. The Voodoo Rooms looked fairly antiquated, with a couple of chandeliers dangling from a fancy, painted ceiling. Gold paint seemed to cover almost everything metal, as tropical plants shaded the black leather table booths. It was a bit of a bizarre mishmash, all things considered.
"Hey dude! I was hoping Melinda would bring you!" Omar said through his shaggy beard as he swiftly moved up to me to shake my hand, clutching a glass of champagne in his left hand. His dark hair, which was even messier than my own, bounced rather merrily as he walked towards me quickly.
"Yeah...any reason?" I said, not feeling quite as friendly and forward as he was. He still seemed to carry a youthful energy in spite of approaching his late fifties, and it made me a little uncomfortable.
"No particular reason. Guess it's more interesting seeing people who worked with the trainers rather than just being a spouse or something that most of them bring to the top sixteen British Isles tournament party, though I'd be somewhat hypocritical there, uhuh! I've been to over ten of these things, it's always fun! When's Melinda coming?" He said, clearly still overjoyed at finally winning the title that had been eluding him for so long.
"Any moment now I'd imagine." I said simply. "It's a shame, really. I had a plan to undo you pretty hard, but Melinda didn't follow it."
"Aw really? I'd have love to have seen it! Actually, no, I wouldn't have. I just wanted to win after being in this business for so very, very long. I could tell that Melinda was underperforming badly, and I'm not complaining about that at all." He said, coughing slightly, his smile fading slightly.
"Lying about wanting to face Melinda at her best before the match then in that live interview then?" I said, smirking slightly at him. "Trust me, I'd have loved for you to choke too."
"Sponsors are always looking for a marketable image, so I just had to go along with what they asked. Still didn't stop the English fans from whining like babies all over the internet about all this. 'Waaaahhh, Omar only won because of cheese!' Seriously, sort our your fanbase!" He said before calming down a bit. "Eh, my fans acted like that too when I lost in previous tournaments I guess."
"I'm more concerned about the 'fans' giving my sister a verbal lashing after her underperformance. I'm not sure how she'll take it, given its the first time she's been on the big stage." I said as Omar looked around the room as if he was looking for something
Floyd, where are you? Must have got stuck in traffic, or maybe he's still tied up with police duty..." The rather emotional Arab trailed off as he checked his phone for messages.
"Hey Basil, looking good!" Melinda said, walking up to me and giving me a glass of some fancy looking cocktail. Of course her flygon costume had to be less restrictive than mine.
"Lemme guess; it's because these massive ears make me look like less of a manlet, right?" I replied, exaggerating a smile.
"It's a start anyway." She said and pat me on the head before speaking to Omar.
"So, you just qualified for worlds. Better watch out for those alien abductions then!" Melinda said as Omar laughed loudly.
"That won't happen to me! Sceptile actually got worried about it though, but that's nothing compared to my guest that I invited here. He's super paranoid about it, and I wouldn't be surprised if he orders police protection for me, whether I like it or not. Hope he doesn't make me regret inviting him over my wife." He said, taking a big swig of champaign as if it were a light beer. "Great guy though. He introduced me to Sceptile, and speaking of which, that's him there!" He continued and pointed to a fairly tall and muscled person, who put up his hand, or, to be more precise, his claw, in greeting. Well, maybe I wasn't the silliest looking one there, since his fairly bushy grey moustache looked beyond silly with the scizor costume he was wearing.
"You know, if it wasn't a costume party with a theme, I'd have just dressed in my uniform. People would have assumed I was dressing up as a policeman." Floyd said, clearly not being too thrilled about dressing up as a pokemon either. "Sorry I'm late, had to do some important paperwork. Still, what a performance Omar! Amazing how you managed to completely shatter...Melinda." He said, only just realising that she was right there.
"Well, it was a one-sided; I won't pretend it wasn't." She said, shaking his hand. I shook his hand right afterwards, but for some reason I couldn't explain, I couldn't look him in the eye while doing so.
"Oh Floyd, have you seen Sceptile since the final?" Omar said, bringing out a pokeball as I saw the tall, bulky policeman shake his head. "He really wants to see you!" He said and let him out, which I didn't think was allowed within this building, but it was clear that Omar didn't care.
"Omar, I don't think that's-" Floyd said, but was immediately cut off by Sceptile who pounced on him, and started smothering him with hugs and nuzzles. Everyone in the hall noticed this and started smiling and laughing as Floyd tried his best to survive the affection. "Damn it Sceptile, compose yourself! Yes, I am very proud of you and stuff, but could you take it easy for one moment?!"
"Sorry, I'm just so happy right now!" Sceptile said, getting off the rather dizzy looking Floyd before helping him up. The idea of a talking pokemon was very rare, albeit hardly unheard of, and Sceptile was quite well known for speaking English quite fluently.
"We're getting old; we're both in our mid fifties. Mind acting your age?" Floyd grumbled, though he still looked very happy for Sceptile and Omar.
"Yeah, but you're still adorable." Sceptile teased as Floyd started looking a bit less stoic and composed.
"I am not cute! ...And someone's already probably in the middle of uploading this online. Thank you. Sincerely." Floyd said, sounding quite indecisive on whether he was happy or annoyed. "Sorry, very stressful day at work. Had to organize all the security for the final, which was no easy task."
"Eh, humans have always been pretty cute to me ever since I evolved into a Sceptile." He said, grinning cheekily at him.
"...Ok, back onto more pressing matters. Omar, I'm going to have a couple of officers stay with you for a while until we can figure out what's going on with the disappearing champions. Don't worry, I won't have them breathing down your neck and whatnot." Floyd said, giving Omar a serious look
"You're overreacting buddy, I'll be fine." Omar said but Floyd shook his head.
"Sorry, that's not for you to decide. Also, Sceptile, keep a very close eye on him for me, would you?" Floyd said firmly. He was clearly off duty, but he still acted like he was doing administration work.
"All these years, and you still don't know how to relax." Omar said, grumbling slightly before getting himself another drink.
"Not wanting to take any chances, not until we know what's behind the disappearances." Floyd said, clearly not interested in having any drinks. He retreated to a table by himself with a glass of water and some nuts, and as the night continued, I swore I could see him constantly watching Omar. It was hard to really pinpoint why, but I really hated the sound of his voice. Was it because it sounded so nasally? Somewhat gravelly? All things considered, as long as these strange disappearances didn't affect Melinda, I had nothing to worry about. All things considered, if Omar did vanish, I'd almost be happy, since I'd know that Melinda dodged a massive bullet by not following my plan. Perhaps it was all for the best, and by next year, I'm sure the cause of these disappearances would be found and solved.
As the night went on, I started enjoying some fairly fancy whiskies. They all tasted rather delicious, but after a while, I was wondering whether I had enough. Nah, I'll have one more...
"So what happened in the final? Melinda-" One of the semi-finalists said before I cut him off.
"I'm keeping that a secret. I'm not revealing any strategies. Nice try!" I said, giving him an awkward, cheeky smile. Looking around, Melinda was starting conversations with just about everyone, as was Omar. Floyd, however, just sat by the table all alone, observing everyone intently like a hawk in a hidden tree. What an absolute creep. The smell of drink and sweat started to become noticeable, as I noticed a couple of young trainers start to get seriously drunk and make a fool of themselves. I couldn't lie, I might be tempted to join them in a different circumstance. All through the evening, I swore that Floyd cast me nasty glances every once in a while, though that could just be my imagination.
"Melinda, think we should head home now?" I asked eventually. "It's about midnight, and I'd like to get back to the hotel."
"Sure, why not. Just gimme a few minutes to say goodbye to everyone. You should come with me." Melinda said, grabbing my arm and hauling me out of the chair. She made sure to say goodbye to everyone there, even those who she didn't know until the party. She gave full sentenced farewells, whereas I just have a casual 'see ya.' I didn't bother saying anything to Floyd's ugly face, though he didn't seem interested in saying goodbye to me either, so it suited me fine.
"Hey Melinda, if you're wanting to keep up the training for the next couple of months, I could use a training partner to get ready for worlds, as well as testing out a couple of new pokemon once I get ahold of them. Want to be said partner?" Omar said before she got a chance to leave.
"Of course, I'd be glad to! Gotta keep my team and I in shape all year round if I want to win next year." She said happily.
"Alright, I'll keep in contact with you so we can arrange things when we're fully sober, huhuh!" Omar said, chuckling as we left the building to get a taxi. Melinda never even bothered to take off her costume, so I guess she really liked it. I felt ever so slightly woozy on the journey home, thinking I had about one or two too many drinks, but I had suffered far worse than this before when it came to alcohol through my university years. Melinda looked just fine though, even though she probably had more than me. The streets still looked somewhat busy, full of tipsy people who were likely still celebrating Omar's victory, being the first Scotsman to win the British Isles tournament for twenty-two years. Good for them to be so full of jubilation. I guess.
"Oh, shit. I forgot to check my phone!" I said, seeing that I had about thirty texts and fourteen missed calls from friends and family. "Er...I think they'll still be awake." I muttered to myself as I started addressing each and every person on the way back to our hotel room, apologizing to each and every one of them for not getting back to them sooner.
"It's ok, it was a hectic and busy day for you." They all said, or some variation of those words, but it was still rather thoughtless of me to not respond sooner. Slouching down on the chair in the hotel room, I made a grab for my laptop to view the footage from today's match against Omar, already wondering what lessons can be learned from it. The hotel room probably wasn't as glamorous as our sponsors would have liked, but expensive hotels were always such a waste to me. I'm here to see the city, not slob around in a room!
"Not getting some sleep Basil?" She asked me as she lied down on her bed.
"I assume you're not either, given you're still wearing that thing." I said, still looking at the screen. I only was able to see her through the faint reflection of the screen as I watched the start of the match, furiously taking notes as I did so. It was hard to concentrate since I felt a bit drunk, but that wasn't going to stop me. "By the way, you mentioned that you needed to do something before we went to get ready for the party. Don't tell me you're replacing team members again Mel'!"
"Weavile and Fearow are getting the boot for not working as hard as the others." She said firmly as I sighed in frustration.
"Fearow did fine in the match; he wasn't the reason you lost." I replied, my eyes narrowing slightly at her. "Ok, Weavile choked hard, but-"
"I worked round the clock to get as far as we did, as did you and the other four pokemon. We gave it everything we got, and they two didn't. They cut corners during training and didn't put in all the hours that the other four did. I don't tolerate team members not giving it a hundred percent, but it was too late to replace them when I realised the issues. They don't know about it yet though, so don't tell them. I'll work out a way to break the news next week." She said as I grunted slightly.
"Yet, during the battle itself, I can tell you who was the one who didn't give it their all. Here's a hint about who that is: I'm looking at them right now." I said as Melinda sighed sadly. "...Sorry Mel', I didn't mean to be so-"
"Nah, you're right. If I applied my own rules to myself, I'd be retiring right now. Listen, it's more for a team morale thing: If someone slacks off, it'll only encourage the others. I want a team that can inspire each other to put everything they've got into their training. Each team member must think and feel along these lines, but clearly Fearow and Weavile simply don't. I could already see that Rhyperior was getting frustrated with them as a result. Listen, I promise to follow your lead when it comes to preparation and tactics from now on. I need to lead them by example you know." She said said as I merely nodded in response before returning to my work.
"You can rest for a few days Basil, you don't need to work all the time." Melinda said, getting up to get changed in the bathroom.
"I can rest when I'm dead! You're winning next year, and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that happens. When I say everything, I mean everything! I can't afford to be a slacker either." I called out as she went into the bathroom as I continued to make notes, before making even more notes. Weavile standing too far back against crawdaunt, Dodrio's running patterns becoming way too predictable...so much to discuss and improve.
"You'll only burn yourself out like this. Enjoy a week off, then we can have a look. The next notable tournament we can enter isn't until February next year anyway." Melinda said, trying to lecture me into sleep. I guess she was right, and overworking her team wouldn't help anyone. I guess I can think about it in the morning. After getting into my pyjamas and brushing my teeth, I climbed into the other bed. Sleeping would be a little rough tonight, and while I didn't think much of the party, it sure seemed to make Melinda feel better, so I couldn't complain.
"Hey Mel', if Omar really does get taken away to nowhere land or whatever, then not listening to me really was the right call. Maybe this is some next level improvisation from you, haha!" I said laughing slightly as I set my alarm for the morning.
"That's pretty callous towards Omar." She said, frowning slightly.
"Barely know the guy, barely care about him." I said, shrugging as I put my phone down on the bedside table to wake me up in the morning.
"How typical...anyway, we can hopefully explore the city without being hounded too much by the locals. Beautiful place, and with no battling to worry about, we can relax and just have a good time." She said, smiling slightly after giving me the look of disapproval.
"Sounds like a good idea. Goodnight Mel'." I said as I started falling asleep. The bed was particularly comfortable, and I was wondering if I could get a bed like this for myself back home in York. I think I'd like that very much. It made sleep a breeze, even with the whisky flowing through my veins.
The pounding riff of BU2B from woke me up very quickly at half past eight in the morning. I reached over for my phone before accidentally knocking the loud device onto the floor with a small thud.
"Whoops..." I said, crawling out of bed to silence the alarm. I looked around to see if Melinda was already awake, which I assumed she must have been, because she wasn't in her bed. Scratch that, she didn't seem to be in the room at all! I quickly checked the en suite bathroom, and she wasn't their either. Was she that hungry that she went to get food without me? She could have woke me up! Regardless, I felt quite smelly after last night, so I made a quick dash for the shower to clean my self up, thinking she'd have returned by the time I got washed, dried and changed. However, I was wrong.
"Melinda, where are you..." I muttered as I decided to give her a quick text, only to hear her phone buzz from the other side of her bed, and it wasn't until I looked over at the source of the sound that I noticed a piece of paper on her bedside table. Perhaps she had to go somewhere for her sponsors in a hurry or something like that, but as I read the note she left me, I discovered she was a long way from here. A very, very, very long way away.
The more I read, the more I felt the colour drain from my face as my mouth became dryer than the Sahara Desert. By the end of the note, I was in a state of absolute terror and felt trapped in a barbed cage of helplessness. Yesterday wasn't the best of days for me, being full of disappointment and whatnot, but today...the day had only just begun for me, and it was already ranking up there with one of the worst days in my entire life.
Dear Basil:
I had a very unusual dream at about three in the morning. All I could see and hear was an entity who referred to himself as 'The Guardian of Forever.' He only said I had ten minutes left in the human world before he would take me to his own plane of existence, saying that I was needed to held defend and save his planet. He kept fading in and out, and I couldn't tell what he looked like at all. I had no idea what to say to him, but I figured hat this was just a crazy alcohol-induced dream, so that nothing would happen. Then again, if this entity is the source of the highest ranked trainers disappearing all across Earth, then perhaps I'm his next target. If you are reading this and I am not there, then I have been taken.
If I never see you again, I just wanted to say that you were the best brother that any sister could have ever asked for, and that I'll know you'll kick some serious ass in whatever you end up doing in life.
Love, Melinda.
