Chatper II: Cutting Reminiscence

-Tuesday 16:28 GMT // 4:28 PM-
The late afternoon sun dawdled in a high corner of the sky, as if waiting for the clouds beneath it to part. A while back, the road had become a smoothly paved artery of traffic and started breaking off onto other smaller roads that probably led to more rural towns. Cars had become increasingly more frequent compared to the dusty old path through the woods he'd been on the day before, and while it did make traveling by foot a bit noisier than Cole would've liked, at least it reassured him that he was headed in the right direction. Of course, by this time, Goldenrod City was clearly visible, and in a less than metaphorical sense, the city really did seem to be colored golden under the sun's bathing light.

Aw, man… Cole grumbled to himself as he rummaged through his bag. Apparently, taking Vulpix wasn't enough for last night's bandits. His head dropped with a beaten depression as he checked inventory. Hm… a few berries, my pictures of mom and dad, my First-Aid kit, a few pokeballs, and… a slice of bread? Great. He quirked an eyebrow. Hey…? They took all the sandwiches mom made for me?! What, did I get robbed by Yogi in the middle of the night? Geez… He sighed and swung the bag around to fasten it into place on his back again. The arching steel entry gate into Goldenrod passed over his head as Cole shoved his hands into his back pockets. He blinked when he pulled out a wad of cash. Money… came a vague statement as he squinted at it, trying to remember when it had gotten there…

"Now, you be careful," Cole's mother told him with a bit more of a commanding tone than might have been expected of such a housewife.

"Don't worry, mom," he reassured her, "I'll be fine."

"You better be fine," she retorted with a hard stare, "Don't do anything stupid. And don't agitate Vulpix into burning off your eyebrows in your sleep again. Made you look like a darn fool 'till they grew back three weeks later."

"…ah-" he rolled his eyebrows, remembering how much it had stung, "Okay, mom."

"And take this First-Aid kit with you," she went on, hardly even pausing for a response from Cole as she dug into his bag to ensure it wouldn't be forgotten, "It's got all the basic things you need for small injuries, but don't go thinkin' you can fix a broken arm with that, ya here?"

"I know, mom… If I get a serious injury I'll go to the nearest hospital…"

"Good. I don't want you trying to put a Band-Aid on your second-degree burns like last time."

"Alright…"

"And take this extra money with you, just in case." A rare smile accompanied the fistful of money she held out for him. "I don't want you overstaying your welcome at those Pokemon Centers all the time. Lord knows we've got enough people leeching off the government, already."

"Thanks, mom…" Giving her a weak grin of his own, he accepted the money and shoved it into his back pocket instinctively.

Then, she paused, just looking straight into his face. For a second, he could almost see a tear in those stern, yet somehow still motherly eyes of hers… But instead of a crying, she bashed him over the head with her fist. "It's impolite to stare!"

…Thumbing through his newfound loot, Cole tried to estimate the capacity of the stack in his hands. Meals and a place to sleep will probably be the most expensive things unless I go to the Pokemon Center, but Mom told me not to rely on the system unless it was an emergency… It didn't occur to him that getting beaten up and robbed might be considered a type of emergency. …I might wanna pick up some extra pokeballs next time I go to the Pokemart, so… looks like maybe a week's worth of cash. Might be able to make it last a bit longer if I play it cheap, but I definitely need to find a new pokemon somehow... I could try to win one at the casino here, but that seems pretty risky. Maybe as a last resort… He shook his head, trying to think. There's supposed to be a big park with pokemon at the other end of this city, so maybe I can find one there… Not sure how I'll actually weaken one enough to able to capture it, but… The inside of his eyebrows dipped up at the prospect of his idea, feeling it to be a bit half-baked. "Hey, it's better than nothing, right?" he suddenly decided aloud with a grin plastered on his face. At the strange glances of several passersby, he decided to keep up a steady walk.

Goldenrod City seemed endless. Its vast streets, packed with people and cars and all kinds of other vehicles, were lined with some of the tallest buildings Cole had ever laid eyes upon. Though that wasn't saying much, he still knew this place to be one the largest city, if not the largest in all of the Johto region, and perhaps most other regions, as well. The sun streaked sky painted a fitting background for the town, and the towering structures only reflected the ambiance right back. The whole city felt like it was glowing; even the people within it had an aura of their own. A certain kind of hum clung to the air as well, driving the lively nature of the place forward as the community went about its business. Everything contributed to the atmosphere; the voices from all that dwelled here pitched in to create the voice of the whole city. People, animals, cars, bikes, busses, pokemon; they all played a part, even if they weren't seen or heard individually.

After a while of walking indecisively, Cole finally rounded a corner to catch sight of a modest restaurant at the foot of an immodest office building, wedged there between a souvenir shop and some kind of department store. Without another thought, he turned into the store to give it a chance. Upon entering, he noticed a bit of 'experience' about the interior.

"Welcome!" came a friendly greeting from behind an extensive counter. It was a man, and a rather large one, at that. "Welcome to Shap's Classic Diner!" A fearsome mustache curled off the sides of his face, making a stark contrast to the gleam from atop his bald head. A tiny pair of sunglasses teetered on the brink of falling at the crest of his massive nose. "What can I get for ya, stranger?" He planted a heavy hand down on the counter-top, leading the eye up a massive arm to his burly chest.

"Uh," Cole started as he walked forward, scratching his head, "Sorry if I don't order the most expensive thing on the menu, sir, but I'm in a bit of a bind right now… so…"

"Ah, no worries, son," the man replied with an open-mouthed grin, "I've had my share of financial troubles, as well. Why don't you try our 'world famous' noodles? They're just about the cheapest thing to eat in this whole town."

"Are they really world famous?"

"Nah," the man laughed, "But they're definitely cheap!"

Well, I guess I walked right into that… Feeling slightly bewildered by the mere presence of this strange individual, Cole only nodded.

"Great!" he shouted with more than a little enthusiasm, "One 'world famous' bowl of noodles coming right up!" He spun around to whip up the meal on the stove right behind him. The sound of sizzling water filled the air as the kitchen came to life.

The right side of Cole's face scrunched up as he stopped trying to understand the man's attitude. He took a high-chaired seat at the front of the counter, folding his arms over the heavy wooden top as a relieved breath spilled out of his lungs. He'd spent almost the entire day walking, and now the sun could be seen dangling just above the horizon's layer of cloud. The sprawling bay windows covering the wall that lined the street made for a just barely suitable light source against the shadow of this towering building.

As he let his eyes wander around the small shop not known for its 'world famous' noodles, a few distinct details caught his interest. For instance, there was a rather robust-looking boat capsized into the far wall with a couple matching oars; and on the other side of the shop, a heavy white cloth was stuck to the wall, presumably a small sail. Two fish tanks abundantly packed with underwater life stood at either end of the restaurant, further hinting at this place's tie with some kind of fisherman's lifestyle, so Cole took a shot.

"You used to be a fisherman?"

"Sure did," he began without turning away from the cooking food, "Always been my greatest passion, even when I was still a just a speck of a boy hardly able to walk straight."

"That long?"

"Well, I didn't quite master that art until I was about eight years old," he explained, belting out a hearty laugh in that gruff voice of his.

He sure is a strange old guy… Cole surmised, shifting awkwardly in his seat before asking another question. "So, if you love it so much, why'd you give it up?"

"Hm," the man paused, rolling a hunk of noodles before continuing, "Like I said a minute ago, I've had my share of financial trouble…" A slab of noodle smacked against the frying pan for an intensified sizzle. "I used to live in Olivine City. I had my very own boat, a beauty she was, and I'd go out to sea and fish up the biggest catches you'd ever see, then sell 'em at the local market there. Made a right fine living, too." The noodles flipped over in the pan as the large man sighed. "But… one year, the fish just weren't biting, leaving me with only a few wigglers to sell. That was a rough year, but I managed. Thing was, the next year wasn't any better. Things just started to change in those waters, I don't know what it was exactly, but as I passed the days, sitting there on the deck of my boat with the sea washing by… I could feel it; I could just sense the change coming over those waters, like a creeping ghost or somethin'… Then one day, she took my vessel from me."

"The sea took it?"

"Nah, it was the wife. The sea was certainly a cruel mistress, especially in those days, but my wife had it beaten any day of the week. Filed for a divorce, she did, and took my ship from me. Probably thought that I loved it more than her, seein' how I spent most of my time with it, so takin' it from me was probably the sweetest kind of revenge for her…"

Cole only quirked an estranged eyebrow at the man's story.

"Ah but, that's a tale for another day; a much longer, duller, and outright stormy day. To sum it all up for ya, I didn't have enough money to by myself a new boat, so I eventually ended up here in Goldenrod trying to make ends meet in this restaurant." He spun back around to slap a heaping bowlful of cooked noodles down in front of Cole's hungered eyes. "Eat up, son."

Hm… Cole thought for a moment as he glanced around at the empty shop, Doesn't seem like you're raking in profits from this place… He blinked the thought away to smile at the cheerful man. "Looks great. Here's your money, pops." His hand slid exact change across the countertop.

"Whoa, now. Call me Shap." He swiped up the money and walked it over to the cash register a few paces left to deposit it.

"Alright, Shap. You can call me Cole." Shoveling the stringy meal into his face, he nodded in appreciation of the flavor.

"But what brings a kid like you to Goldenrod City, all on your own, no less?" Shap asked as he began counting up the cash in the register.

Cole paused in mid-bite, then forced the massive glob in his mouth down with a strangling gulp before attempting to answer the man's question, bringing a touch of moisture to his eyes from the strain. "I aim to become a powerful pokemon trainer," he explained with a melancholy smile.

"Oh, really? That's quite the dream you've got there," Shap replied without taking his eyes from the money in his hands, "How's your progress?"

"Eh… not so great, I suppose…"

"Is that so…?"

-Tuesday 20:01 GMT // 8:01 PM-
A gentle breeze brushed a few leaves against Cole's face as he waited, hunched down in a small bush. He'd spent a great deal of time at the restaurant chatting with Shap about the circumstances that had befallen him, and now only a few morsels of light still hung around the enormous park as the sun still proclaimed its fallen presence behind the distant mountains, creating a strange sort of twilight. With a condensed pokeball rolling on his palm, he sighed. Gah… this wait is killing me… what's it been? Two hours, now? Disparity climbed into his thoughts. What am I doing here? Even if I did come across a suitable pokemon, I don't even have a way to weaken it enough to capture it! His lips pushed up slightly as he evaluated the thought.

A sudden rustle in the tall grass across from him turned his eyes towards a lone Sunkern, bouncing its way through what must've been a wall of green for it.

Well… he settled, I guess it's better than nothing… His arm reared back and chunked the pokeball straight at the tiny leaf pokemon, but the Sunkern suddenly twisted around to stare off into another direction, alerted by something else. And when the red and white ball rustled the grass behind the creature, it yipped with a high-pitched, "Kern!" and darted away.

He leapt out of the bushes in disgust. "Son of a-!" But another abrupt rustling noise broke off the last word, and Cole ducked right back down into the same shrub, digging into his bag for another pokeball. The sound jumped closer, garnering beads of sweat on his forehead as his heart started pumping faster from the anticipation. I may only get one shot…

A flash of green suddenly barreled into him, shoving him out of the bush to roll up against the foot of a sturdy pine tree. The sting of pine needles sticking into his back made him squirm out of his position, only to find his pant leg snagged on something inside an overgrown plant. He tugged at it with his leg, but it didn't budge. He curled around to blindly inspect the captured leg with his hands, finding a hard, flat surface cutting into the denim cloth. …That could've been my flesh, said a thought with widening eyes. Is that a pokemon?

The shag greenery twitched, and Cole felt a quick jerk against his pants; and without any further warning, the bush leapt off the ground to be shredded to pieces by a scythed blade. Falling leaves littered the air as the creature dicing them finally became apparent. A bladed forearm led into an emerald-colored exoskeleton, beaten and wearied with scratch marks and burns. The normally stiff double-paired insect wings jutting out of its back with a line of green bone across the top were now slumped and drooping with fatigue. Its bruised torso led down to a pair of trembling legs, hardly able to keep the Scyther on its feet, and its vagrant, almost hollowed eyes bore half-drawn lids as the creature teetered on the brink of collapse. In its frantic struggle, Scyther tore the caught scythe-arm out of Cole's pant leg, taking an admirable chunk of cloth along with it.

Cole could only stare in shock as he watched the insect pokemon stumbled out of the grass, seeming set on getting away from something. Is it afraid of me? What the hell happened to it? A heavy thud invited Scyther to the ground, but it still struggled desperately to steady itself, dulled cries of, "Ssscciiieee," and "Thheerrr," rising out of its mouth. Relentless confusion gripped Cole's thoughts as he tried to piece together the scenario that had fallen into his lap, but another noise from further into the recreational area disrupted any progress he might have made.

"Where'd that little green bastard go?" an angry voice inquired into the growing night.

Peeking over the line of hedges that Scyther had nearly annihilated, Cole saw a couple of figures, silhouetted against the approaching darkness. They're trying to capture it?

"It got away? You're hopeless!" a deeper voice protested. "Find it before you lose it completely!"

"Hey, get off my back. The little buggers are known for their speed. I told you to keep an eye on it!"

"You were the one battling it! You're supposed to keep an eyes on your enemy, you moron!"

"Shut up! It's dark out here…"

Cole squinted, trying to paint a better picture for himself as he still heard the wounded Scyther struggling against gravity. Well, if they were the ones who fought it in battle… then maybe I should just let them capture it… Then the park lights finally switched on, illuminating the area in full. Wha?!

"Come on, the boss told us to gather up as many pokemon from this park as we could." Even with the extra light, the man's face was still hardly discernable at that distance from Cole. However, the flat black jumpsuit and flaming red sash running across his chest gave more than enough information for Cole to make his decision.

The tiny pokeball in his hands suddenly bulged to full size, and without even thinking, he spun around to thrust it towards the giant green bug pokemon. The ball bounced once on the ground before tapping against Scyther's right leg; an eruption of crimson light burst out of the sphere to engulf Scyther's body within the confines of its inner walls.

"What was that?" asked one of the far-off voices.

"What was what?"

"I thought I just heard something from over there…"

The pokeball snapped shut, but the light on its front side still blinked with an unsettling red. There's no time! he concluded to himself urgently. He could see one of the black figures starting to move in his direction. Even if I do get the capture, it's too weak to fight against whatever those guys throw at me! I've gotta make a run for it! His legs burst away from his lookout position, kicking up shredded leaf in their wake as Cole sprinted for the pokeball still quivering against the nightly earth. His hands scooped it up as it continued to tremble within his grasp, but he wasn't about to let it go, and his legs only kept pumping his body towards Goldenrod's most urbanized area. If I can just get to a place where there are more people… The day's fatigue reared up on him, and he felt his vision blur in and out of focus as his feet pounded against the ground with increasing intensity. Grass and brush receded into a clearing, and when Cole glanced back, a sudden burst of panic drove his pace even higher. One of the black-clad men had seen him, and was now only a few strides behind, chasing him with menacing energy.

"Get back here, kid! I only wanna ask you a couple questions!" a rusted voice shouted.

Cole didn't bother replying, only focused on running as fast as his legs would allow. Heavy shadows streamed by his vision without stopping; tall grass appeared under his feet again, but it only turned his strides into leaps. An aching strain burrowed into his lower chest, but he only kept pushing his muscles harder as the enormous trees lining the park gave way to the enormous buildings lining the street. Grass turned to dirt, dirt turned to gravel, gravel turned to concrete; streetlights, stray windows, manholes, bus stops, benches; they all passed him by, but still no people appeared. He wanted to look back and check if the man was still chasing him, but he couldn't bring himself to turn around, and the blood pounding through the veins in his ears made it difficult to hear anything other than his own heartbeat. He tried to yell something out, cry out for help, but his voice broke off as the words approached his lips, choking breath out of his lungs. Sweat streaming off his cheeks like tears, his eyes turned down to see the his hands trembling violently, but he wasn't sure if it was simply his own nerves or the blinking red pokeball. And then the most relieving thing he could possibly imagine filled his vision, slowing all the rushing objects around him to a momentary crawl as he realized exactly what it was: the Goldenrod City Pokemon Center.

An immense, neon pokeball lit up the entire street, reflecting off the mirrored windows that covered several of the nearby structures. Its soothing light bathed Cole's face in a comforting grasp as he let his body move autonomously towards the sliding glass doors awaiting only a few dozen meters ahead.

But then, his murky brown eyes caught glimpse of a black streak striding behind him in those same reflecting mirrors. Like some kind of counter-existence of the salvation lying ahead of him, Cole could see a black phantom following his own mirrored body, and a surge of fear suddenly told him how terrifying the sight was. A last flare of effort burned out of the pores in his flesh; the welcoming doors hardly even had enough time to open before he slipped through to stumble into the open lobby, bringing a slew of chaotic gasps and panicking breaths with him to break whatever silence might have made itself too comfortable there.

Tiled floor greeted the force of his arms as they made contact, smacking his body against hard, yet somehow forgiving ground. Panting for his life, Cole caught eye of the brightly red-haired Nurse Joy, and, to his utmost relief, the uniformly clad Officer Jenny, both approaching with surprise and concern embedded in their faces.

"My goodness!" one of them said indistinguishably to Cole's ears. "What in the world happened!?"

Resting his eyes behind their sleeves and his body against the floor, he attempted a few words between his narrowly controlled breathing. "A… a man… f-f-follow-ing… out-out-side…!"

"Calm down," said a soothing voice, most likely the policewoman, "You're safe here, so try and calm down…"

Cole turned his head to rest flat against the chilled floor, and when he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the pokeball for the Scyther that he had carried all the way here. It had finally stopped shaking.