Chapter 2 - The Start of Something New
Jerry walked briskly down the sidewalk, his hands still shaking with anger from what had occurred only moments ago. The Machamp couldn't remember the last time he had been so angry, or even when he had attacked another Pokemon. His hand was still cold from having sucker punched his former friend, but that hardly bothered him. All he was worried about now was finding Kevin before the latter got into trouble.
But worry was quickly overtaking anger as time passed and he still had yet to see any sign of the boy anywhere. He had thought that Kevin wouldn't have gone far, but then, he hadn't paid much attention to which way the boy had went when he ran out of the store; Jerry kicked himself for having let his anger distract him. He reached the intersection at the end of the block, looking down all four streets for a sign of Kevin, but there was none. The empty streets only served to heighten Machamp's concern, and he quickly looked around for anyone who could have seen the young human. A Pidgeot nestled atop a street light was the only other Pokemon he could see. It was preening itself, so Jerry walked until he was standing under it and cleared his throat.
"Hey!" he called out, catching the bird pokemon's attention, it's fierce glare staring down at the Machamp. "Have you seen a human kid go by at all?"
For a moment, the Pidgeot simply stared down at the Machamp, it's angry expression making the latter think that he was probably wasting his time. But then, a gentle motherly voice came from the bird, taking Jerry by surprise.
"Yes, I have seen him." she said. Jerry's heart leapt.
"Did you see where he went?" he asked.
"Well, yes, but-" the Pidgeot said, pausing to eye Jerry warily.
"What?" the Machamp asked.
"If you don't mind my asking, why are you looking for him?" she asked. Seeing the rather puzzled look on Jerry's face in response to her question, she continued. "I'm only asking because I've heard of what some pokemon think of humans in this part of town. This isn't really the safest place for him if you know what I mean."
Jerry suddenly felt nothing but dread, and he mentally kicked himself again. This part of town was rather isolated from humans most of the time, and if the Seviper from earlier and even his ex-friend could attest, prejudice both hidden and clear did seem to run rampant. "No, no, I understand. I just-I want to find him before he gets into trouble, that's all." Jerry explained. The Pidgeot continued to stared at him, still unconvinced.
"Look, I'm not one of those Pokemon alright? Kid is only here because I brought him in the first place." Jerry said, inwardly regretting his decision. "Now are you gonna tell me where he went or not?"
The Pidgeot eyed Jerry for another moment. Then she pointed a wing down the street. "He went that way." she said. "I would help you, but-"
"Who are you talking to mom?" a smaller voice said, and a young Pidgey peeked out from underneath the Pidgeot's wing.
"Just speaking to a fellow parent." the Pidgeot answered warmly. She turned back towards Jerry, but the Machamp had already left down the street, leaving her to wish him luck.
...
Jerry was thankful that the Pidgeot had at least pointed him in the right direction, but it still didn't help the fact that despite the mostly empty streets, there was no sign of the boy anywhere. Jerry had already run quite a few blocks down, and had no clue if Kevin might have gone down a different direction some time before. He stopped running, panting in exhaustion and wiping the sweat from his brow. He hadn't thought that he had been this-
"Out of shape?" a voice said from behind Jerry. The Machamp jumped in surprise, then let out a grunt of annoyance; he wasn't in the mood to be dealing with this.
"Listen buddy, I don't need your-" he said, turning around to see who had spoken, but then he stopped when he laid eyes on a strangely familiar face. A human kid stood there, his blond mid-length hair brushed neatly over his soft blue eyes. The kid had a welcoming smile, although his eyes were studying the Machamp closely. He wore a white jacket with pink sleeves, which had a couple front pockets that he held his hands inside. Along with his blue jeans and white sneakers, the kid looked fairly well presented.
"Wait a sec...you're that smart ass from the bus." Jerry said, finally recognizing him.
The kid's eyes widened. "Oh yeah, you're that bus driver from earlier. How's it going?" he asked rather casually.
Jerry eyed the kid suspiciously, as there was something different about him this time around. He couldn't be certain, but the kid looked a little bit older, and even seemed taller from when they had last met. It was like the kid had had a growth spurt of five years.
Jerry rubbed his eyes, then scowled. "What do you think you're doing here? This place is dangerous, and I have to find this other kid before he gets into trouble." he said, going back to looking around for Kevin.
The teen frowned. "Well, I did just see a kid being dragged by a group of Pokemon a few minutes ago." he said.
Jerry froze, then turned and focused his widened eyes on the human. "What do you mean dragged? And where?!" The Machamp reached his two main hands on the teen's shoulders and gripped them hard, desperation clearly evident.
The teen grimaced, glancing at the muscular arms that were holding him. "I'll tell you where if you'd like, but first, I'm gonna need to ask a favor."
"Fine! Whatever! Just tell me where he is!" Jerry exclaimed in frustration, giving the teen a violent shake.
All of a sudden, the kid recovered and set a piercing glare on the Machamp. He reached up and threw Jerry's hands off of him with surprising strength, even causing the larger Pokemon to stumble a little.
"Don't. Ever. Put your hands on me. Again." the kid said coolly, brushing his shoulders.
Jerry stared at the young human, shocked that the kid had managed to throw him off so easily. But in any case, he figured that it had been rather rude of him to grab the smaller human like that, so he quickly recovered.
"Sorry." Jerry said, rubbing the back of his head uneasily.
The teen smiled. "Now, as for the other kid, I saw him heading this way when a group of Pokemon suddenly grabbed him and took him down that alley over there." he said, nodding his head over towards said alley, which lay between two buildings further down the street.
"What?!" Jerry exclaimed. "Why?"
The teen dropped his smile and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think? There's not very many people around here, but I'm pretty sure the Pokemon who took Kevin were just looking to show him a good time, you know?"
Jerry growled in frustration. "You've got to be kidding me...and you didn't help him?!" he nearly yelled.
"Oh man, you're right!" the kid said with dripping sarcasm. "I should have gone with them, that way they could've beat the crap out of me as well. I wasn't thinking." He rolled his eyes and gave Jerry a deadpanned look, meeting the Machamp's angry expression. But the Pokemon wasn't angry at the kid...
"How many were there?" Jerry asked, already starting to feel adrenaline pump through him as he clenched his hands into fists.
"About 4 or 5 of them." the kid said bluntly. "Didn't really bother to see what kind they were, I didn't have time to use my Pokédex."
Jerry paused for a moment at the latter's words. Pokédex's were a collector's item nowadays, at least in this city, and he was pretty sure that it was illegal for humans to own them. "How did you..." Jerry began, but then he stopped himself, remembering that Kevin was currently in trouble. "...never mind."
"Well, are you gonna just stand here all day?" the kid asked. "I think he might need help pretty soon."
Jerry nodded, then turned and began walking quickly towards the alley.
"You're welcome." the kid said behind him. One of Jerry's back hands raised up in acknowledgment. The human smirked.
...
Jerry paused for a moment at the entrance to the alley. There was no human or Pokemon to be seen, but it appeared to split off at the end. He walked through slowly, doing his best to avoid any of the trash and puddles of water that lay scattered around the alleyway. He exclaimed when he accidentally stepped on a broken glass bottle, then kicked it aside in anger, where it shattered against the wall and spread even more shards of glass across the floor in front of him. He sighed in resignation, and walked across the glass, ignoring what little pain he felt. For a moment, the Machamp wished he wore shoes as he inspected his foot for injury at the end of it. Then, all of a sudden, a small cry of pain echoed from the walls. "Yeah, hit him again!" a voice said soon after.
Jerry gasped and took off towards the source of the sounds. He slipping on a bit of water in his haste, but caught himself and continued down the length of the passage, rounding the corner. What he saw made him stop in his tracks.
A Gengar, a Scyther, a Makuhita, and a Breloom were standing over Kevin, who was hunched over on his knees, his eyes shut tight and tears streaming down his cheeks. All four pokemon looked up at Jerry, with varying reactions. The Gengar's wide grin faltered a bit when it noticed the Machamp, but it quickly recovered and went back to smiling devilishly. A far cry from how the rest of the Pokemon reacted.
"Buzz off!" The Scyther warned, raising an arm blade threateningly. "This is none of your business, big guy."
"Yeah!" The Makuhita said, although he backed away a bit to be behind the green insect.
"Guys, maybe we should go." the Breloom whispered, clearly looking intimidated at the sight of the Machamp.
"You guys, relax." the Gengar finally said, making the other three turn to look at him. Instantly, Jerry knew that he was the ringleader of this little group. "So, big guy, what're you here for?" he asked, that grin of his looking dangerous. The other three turned back towards the Machamp, waiting for an answer.
Jerry forced himself to remain calm, even though every single part of him wanted nothing more than to choke the life out of every single one of these animals (although that would be impossible for the Gengar, who technically wasn't alive and didn't need to breathe). He looked down at Kevin, who had his hands clutched around his stomach in pain. Still, he wanted to avoid starting a fight...at least, until Kevin was safely out of harm's way.
"I heard a noise back here, thought I'd come check it out." Jerry said, taking a step towards them. Kevin's head whipped up at the familiar voice, and he gasped in surprise. Jerry hoped the boy would remain quiet for what he was planning. "What are you four doing here? Who's the kid?" Jerry said, his front arms crossing across his chest. The Scyther opened his mouth to answer, clearly intending to tell the Machamp to leave again, but the Gengar raised a hand to quiet him, and floated down towards Kevin, who backed away in fear from the ghost Pokemon until his back was against the wall.
"Nothing much. Just found this human here wandering around, thought we'd take him over here and...talk." the Gengar said, giggling at his last word as he stroked the boy's chin, who tried to bat it away, but his arm phased through the ghost. The Scyther and the Makuhita looked at each other with relieved expression's, glad that the Machamp hadn't immediately come to the kid's defense. The Breloom on the other hand, looked over at Kevin with a sympathetic expression, looking slightly guilty.
Jerry took another step forward. "Talk about what?" he asked.
"Oh, you know, just stupid stuff like whether or not a human is as...durable as us Pokemon." the Gengar said. Then his tongue suddenly stretched out and licked across Kevin's face, causing the human to cry out and shiver at the sudden chill that went through him. The Gengar chuckled and rubbed his stomach dramatically, savoring the taste of the human's soul while the Scyther and Makuhita gave each other knowing looks. Kevin looked back at Jerry, mouthing out 'Help me.'
Jerry weighed his odds. That Scyther looked like it would be the most dangerous out of the group, with the portly Makuhita being a close second. The Gengar was a ghost type, but they were more well known for their pranks and mischievousness rather than their fighting ability. Still, he couldn't rule out that monster's tongue, which he had heard many frightening stories about as a child. As for the Breloom...well, for some reason the Machamp felt like he wouldn't be a problem. But he needed to get closer to them before he made any sort of move.
"Don't mean to intrude and all..." Jerry lied, "...but you mind if I...'talk' with him?" Jerry said, taking another step forward and trying to look as threatening as possible. Kevin's hopeful expression crumbled into one of fear. The Gengar, on the other hand, was absolutely delighted.
"Heck yeah! Go ahead, we have room for one more." he said, looking around at the rest of the group. The Scyther and Makuhita nodded vigorously, while the Breloom crossed his arms and let out a sigh.
"You alright Loomy?" Gengar said, as he pulled Kevin up to his feet by his hair; Jerry bristled with contained rage. "You've been rather quiet since we got here."
"I'm just...can we get this over with already? I have better things to do than bully a kid around." the Breloom said. The Scyther and Makuhita looked at Breloom in surprise, then looked back at Gengar nervously. The ghost, who had been licking Kevin's face again, paused mid-lick. "Auh yu kihhing meh?" he said, before closing his mouth and dragging Kevin over to the grass Pokemon. "Here we are with a human, and you wanna just let him go?"
"That's n-not what I s-said..." Breloom stuttered, a sweat drop going down his face.
"I didn't think so." Gengar said. Jerry moved a few more steps towards the group. He was only a few feet away...then he stopped as the Gengar shoved Kevin in front of Breloom. "Here, hit him."
"W-what?" the grass-type asked.
"You heard me." the ghost replied.
Breloom gulped, then raised a stubby paw. He eyed Kevin's scared face, mirroring his own. He looked over at Jerry, who shook his head and silently punched a fist into his hand while looking at the other three Pokemon. Breloom eyes widened as he got the message, and looked back at Gengar with a serious expression.
"I'm not hitting him." the Breloom stated, lowering his paw.
"Come again?" the Gengar said, raising an eyebrow as his smile faltered yet again. Kevin appeared slightly grateful, while the Scyther and Makuhita hardly dared to breathe.
"You heard me." Breloom responded, mocking the Gengar's voice. Both the Scyther and Makuhita gasped, while Jerry moved behind them. He was right where he wanted to be, now he just needed to get Kevin away from that ghost.
Gengar's smile had completely disappeared. He let go of Kevin and flew down in front of Breloom, who yelped as the ghost picked him up and slammed him against the wall. "You a sympathizer now?!" Gengar boomed, his wide red eyes focused on the now scared Breloom. But the grass-type didn't answer, and earned another slam against the wall for it. "Well, are you?!" the Gengar boomed again.
"N-no..." Breloom whimpered.
"Good." Gengar said smoothly.
Jerry locked eyes with Kevin, who was picking himself up off the ground, and winked. Kevin was confused at first, but then he realized what the Machamp meant, and began running down the alley. The other 4 Pokemon all turned to face him.
"HEY! Get back here, we're not done with you!" Gengar yelled, letting the Breloom drop to the floor.
"Yeah, you are." Jerry said. Then he grabbed the Scyther and Makuhita by their skulls, ignoring their cries of protest, and threw them across the alley. Both of them landed with a crash against the opposite wall.
"What the-?" the Gengar said, turning just in time to receive a punch to the face. A loud splat sounded out as his body impacted against the wall, spreading like silly putty across it.
"Hey, leave my friends alone!" the Breloom suddenly cried. Jerry gave him a look of disbelief, but then he suddenly felt sharp something cut across his back. He cried out in pain and whipped around, laying eyes on the Scyther, which was smiling and raising one of its arm scythes for another attack. Jerry was surprised that the bug had managed to recover as quickly as it did, but he didn't have much time to ponder this as the Scyther charged forward and swung its scythe at the Machamp. Jerry sidestepped the swing, but then the Scyther quickly caught itself and brought the scythe back towards him. Jerry barely saw it in time, and stepped back, feeling the razor just barely miss his face, the tip of it scratching across his cheek.
Jerry growled and ran towards the Scyther, grabbing his scythe arms with his back hands and pushing him up against the wall. His other two front hands became fists, then began alternately punching the insect, which struggled to break free of the Machamp's hold. Jerry's grip was firm, however, and after knocking the air out of his opponent with a punch to the gut, he grabbed the Scyther and prepared to throw him again, lifting him above his head...before dropping him as the Makuhita tackled him with all its might.
Jerry was forced a few steps back, but managed to keep his footing. He stared down at the Makuhita, which clung to his chest and smiled nervously back at him. The Machamp grabbed the smaller Pokemon by the small knot on its head, and punched a fist into its stomach, but his hold prevented it from flying off. It swung back towards Jerry, who punched it again, this time letting go of it. The Makuhita flew across the alleyway, crying out the whole way before landing in a trash can.
It was at that moment that the Scyther picked itself up off the ground, although it appeared to be a little woozy. Shaking its head, the insect scowled and it's wings buzzed, lifting itself up off the ground before zooming towards Jerry, slicing it's blades frantically in front of itself. The Machamp backed away quickly, trying to avoid the Scyther's attack, but he could only move so fast, and those blades were getting closer. In desperation, Jerry lunged forward, one of his hands reaching out and grabbing the Scyther by the neck. He ignored the cutting blade, and with a angry cry, he turned and slammed the bug into the wall, knocking it unconscious before letting the bug crumple to the ground in a heap.
"Scyther!" Breloom suddenly yelled, rushing over to said pokemon's side. He looked up at Jerry, who was busy inspecting the few streaks of red that now adorned his blue body. "You killed him!"
Jerry rolled his eyes. "Relax, he's not dead, just unconscious. And if he's gonna be waving those blades at me, he was asking to get his ass kicked."
"Indeed." a voice said, and Jerry turned around to see the Gengar smirking at him, still stuck to the wall. A hand formed out of the flat purple substance and peeled the ghost from the wall, whipping it back into form. "That was impressive. Can't wait for round two." he said, his hands behind his head as he hovered in midair.
Jerry was confused at the Gengar's words, when suddenly a flash of light from behind him illuminated the alley. He turned around just in time to see the Makuhita finish evolving into its much larger and muscular form; a Hariyama. For a moment, it just stood there, examining its newfound body with childlike glee, before looking up at Jerry with a dangerous expression.
"Crap." Jerry muttered to himself, watching as the Hariyama ran towards him, picking up momentum and speed while raising a palm to attack. He braced himself with all four of his hands stretched out in front of him, before what felt like a ton of rock hard muscle slammed into him. He skidded backwards, his heels digging into the pavement, burning with friction. Grabbing the Hariyama's hand with his two left hands, he pulled it past him and slammed his other two fists into its face. However, in his hurry to counter, he had completely ignored the Hariyama's other hand, which simultaneously struck with an open palm into his chest.
Both Pokemon stumbled back from one another. The Hariyama's rubbed a hand down its aching face, glaring at the Machamp, while the latter thumped his chest and cracked his knuckles,
"Yeah, Maku-I mean Hariyama! Kick his ass!" the Gengar yelled behind Jerry, dancing in midair with two pompoms under a banner that read 'Go Hariyama!'.
"Be careful." Breloom called out, although whether it was to Machamp or his friend, no one could tell. Jerry nodded anyways, then sprinted towards his opponent, who did the same. All of Jerry's hands were clenched into fists as he ran towards the Hariyama, and the other broke into a shoulder dash. The distance between the two decreased quickly, and with a hard clash, Jerry suddenly found himself being carried over the Hariyama's shoulder, before having the air knocked out of him when the Sumo Pokemon slammed him into the wall. Before he had a chance to recover, the Hariyama began wailing on Jerry repeatedly. The Machamp brought his hands up to defend himself, using two arms each to block the larger pokemon's blows. Every hit was like a boulder impacting against his arms, but Jerry held fast.
The suddenly, the Hariyama grabbed one of Jerry's arms and pulled hard. The Machamp was forced to move forward, or risk getting his arm pulled out of its socket. He was rewarded with a direct blow to his chest with the Hariyama's open palm. Jerry gritted his teeth in pain, and looked up in anger at the Hariyama, whose eyes widened as Jerry swung a fist towards it. It dodged the attack, letting go of the blue pokemon in the process, who backed away a few feet, holding his stomach as he caught his breath.
"Come on Hariyama, get in there!" the Gengar yelled, throwing down the score cards he had raised when his friend had scored a direct hit in Jerry. "What are you, a Breloom?!"
"Hey!" Breloom cried out, who had been dragging the unconscious Scyther to a safer distance while the fight went on.
Jerry took a breath and stood up straight, feeling a little winded. The Hariyama looked just as uncomfortable as him, the way it was panting. The Machamp hadn't fought in quite a long time, and the Hariyama was still inexperienced despite it's larger form.
Suddenly, a wet, chilling sensation went up Jerry's back. He cried out and swiped behind him, his fist going through the Gengar, which had its tongue out, having licked his back. Jerry could already feel his muscles numbing, and he desperately shook himself, trying to keep himself from becoming paralyzed.
"He's all yours, Hariyama! Don't say I never do anything for you!" the Gengar laughed. The former nodded, and Jerry watched nervously as it charged at him. He fought to keep his arms up, preparing for a beating...then a flash of red light filled the alley, and the Hariyama was gone. A Poke ball fell to the floor and rolled in front of the Machamp, who looked down at it in surprise. The ball shook a little, the button blinking a few times before a loud click sounded out through the alley, echoing off the walls.
"Where the hell did that come from?" the Gengar said, his smile gone and sounding genuinely scared. Jerry was about ready to ask himself that very question, until he heard a sniffling sound behind him. Breloom, Gengar, and Jerry all turned around to lay eyes on Kevin, who was shaking nervously and staring at the Poke ball he had thrown.
"Well, I'm outta here!" Gengar said, phasing through the alley wall. Breloom looked back and forth between Jerry, Kevin and the Poke ball, but said nothing.
"Kevin..." Jerry said. The boy looked up at him, as though he was surprised to see him there. "...did you do that?"
Kevin hesitated, then squeaked out, "Yes."
For a moment, nothing happened. Then Jerry approached Kevin and knelt down in front of him. "Listen, we gotta get out of here, or else you're gonna be in serious trouble." he said, grabbing Kevin by the hand. The boy tripped over his own feet in the Pokemon's rush to get him out of there, but Jerry simply picked up the young lightweight human and ran off down the alley with the latter in his arms.
The Breloom stood up, picked up the Poke ball, stared at it for a minute...then tossed it over his shoulder into the trash can. "With friends like these..." he muttered to himself, leaving the unconscious Scyther, the Poke ball, and the events that had occurred in the alley behind him as he headed home.
...
Between searching for Kevin, the fight in the alley, and running back to his car with the human in his arms, Jerry had never felt so tired in his life. It seemed like every muscle in his body was sore, and his lungs burned inside his chest. He wiped the sweat from his brow, taking a deep breath to calm himself before going back to running down the street. He saw the Pidgeot again with her child, who visibly perked up when he ran below the streetlight they were perched on. He gave her a small wave of acknowledgment, but otherwise did nothing else as he rushed to his car.
As for Kevin, he had been silent ever since they had left the alley, just curled up bridal style in the Machamp's strong arms. Even when Jerry opened his car door and placed him in the backseat, he had yet to say a word.
Jerry closed the door, then rushed to the driver's seat, turning on the car and speeding out of the lot.
"Hey Jerry?" he heard Kevin say behind him. Jerry closed his eyes for a moment, trying to pretend he hadn't heard the kid. He really wasn't in the mood to talk.
"Jerry?" Kevin asked again a moment later.
The Machamp let out a small sigh of resignation as he looked up into his rear-view mirror to meet the kid's eyes. "What is it sport?"
"I just wanted to say I'm sorry." Kevin said, looking down at his lap guiltily.
Jerry took a breath; he had thought that something like this would come up. "You don't have to be sorry for anything, Kevin. When I took you off that bus, you became my responsibility, so anything that happened to you after that is my fault." he said. "If anything, I should be the one that's apologizing here, not you."
Kevin shuffled his feet a bit. "I guess." he said, before going quiet again. For a while, Jerry just focused on getting out of the city, taking care to avoid as much traffic as possible. While he wanted to get Kevin back home as quickly as possible, he also didn't want to catch unwanted attention. Side streets were smaller, and-
Suddenly, a siren sounded off behind him. Jerry's looked behind him and saw a dark blue and white car with flashing lights...the last thing Jerry wanted to see.
"Put your head down, Kevin!" Jerry said frantically. Kevin did so, but the car continued to follow Jerry. Jerry held his breath and pulled over...and then the police car drove right by him, speeding off somewhere else.
Jerry let out the breath he had been holding, and leaned back in his chair, letting go of his steering wheel, which now had finger marks pressing into it from how hard he had gripped it. He ran his front hands down his face, his back hands gripping his headrest.
"That was close." Kevin said, sitting back up in his seat. "Yeah." Jerry said. It was all he could think to say. He took a deep breath before starting his car up again, his heart still beating hard in his chest.
...
"Thanks for helping me back there." Kevin said after they had finally driven out of the city.
"You're wel-what the hell?" Jerry said, suddenly exclaiming loudly as he rounded the corner.
"What? What is it?" Kevin said. Then he saw the smoke, along with a few water Pokemon shooting water at the burning building it was coming from, and his jaw dropped. Jerry slowed down, staring wide-eyed at the building that he had dropped all those kids off earlier...the same one that Kevin would have been in had he not taken him...
Jerry sped off down the road, questions swirling in his thoughts. What could have done that? How had the entire building gone up in flames? Who would do such a thing? And most importantly, the one that haunted Jerry most of all, why?
...
It was barely noon when Jerry pulled up in front of Kevin's house, but to the Machamp, it felt like an entire day had already passed. Considering that this morning, he had only been a bus driver taking a few kids to get their jobs assigned to them, it had been a busier day than usual. He looked around at the run-down suburb, with dying grass on the lawns, and plenty of pot holes in the street.
"Kevin." Jerry said.
"Yeah?"
"I'd prefer it if you not mention what happened in the alley. I don't need your parents getting overly worried about you."
"It's just my mom."
"I'm sorry?" Jerry asked, confused at this.
"My mom...you had said 'parents', and it's just her and I." Kevin said, a little embarrassed now that he had even corrected the Machamp, while the latter felt a pang of sympathy go through him for the boy. "Don't worry, I won't tell her."
Jerry nodded, then got out of his car and went around, opening Kevin's door. They both walked up to Kevin's house, Jerry taking a breath as he followed behind Kevin. He was nervous at having to meet an adult human mother, who he had no idea of how she would react to him, a Pokemon, taking care of her son. He could only hope it would go smoothly.
Then, to his surprise, the door to the house opened, and a lanky woman with messy brown hair came running out across the lawn, bending down and wrapping her arms around Kevin. Kevin was just as surprised as Jerry, but he nonetheless returned the hug, happy to see her.
"Oh Kevin, you're safe." she said. "Are you alright? You're not hurt are you?"
"Uh...no." Kevin said, sorta confused at this question. "I'm fine."
The woman opened her mouth to say something, but then laid eyes on Jerry, and she froze, apparently having not noticed him until just then.
"Mom, it's alright, he's a friend." Kevin quickly explained. "He gave me a ride here."
"What? Why? They didn't send you all by yourself after all that, did they? Because so help me..." she said, growing increasingly agitated.
"Lady, it's alright." Jerry said. "The bus broke down, and Kevin here needed a ride home. I'm actually the driver."
"Oh...ok then. Was that damaged in the explosion too?" she said, brushing her unkempt hair back with a hand.
"No, it just...wait, did you say explosion?" Jerry said, doing a double take. Kevin did as well.
"Didn't you see? It's all over the news. It's all I can think about." she said. "Someone blew up the recruitment building."
Both Kevin and Jerry's jaws dropped, then they looked at each other, remembering when they had passed by the building only moments ago.
...
"You can see the flames behind me being put out by local authorities." the Pokemon reporter said on a old-fashioned TV. "The recruitment center was attacked by an as yet unidentified human, and many Pokemon of the local Ministry were injured in the explosion, with one in critical condition. Thankfully, none of human children have been reported to have been harmed."
"Oh thank Arceus." Kevin's mother said, clutching her son a little harder in her arms. She sat holding him on the small couch in the living room while Kevin himself stayed quiet, looking almost traumatized by the report. Jerry stood inside the kitchen, shaking his head at he was hearing from the TV. Then he looked back around at the house he had been invited into, quietly feeling sorry for the two occupants. Even his small apartment was larger than the house, and much better taken care of. The temperature inside was colder than the outside, and Jerry wondered how the woman could bear to wear the clothes she had. Even Kevin's clothes seemed much better cared for than the torn jeans and simple t-shirt she wore. It was almost like she treated her son's clothes with better care than her own. Then again, considering the poor state the house was in, with its torn wallpaper and rather dim lighting, perhaps she could only do so much to improve what was an overall depressing place to live in...at least in Jerry's opinion.
As soon as the news report was finished, Kevin's mom got up from the couch and switched off the television.
"Alright Kevin, head to your room." she said, and Jerry frowned, noticing on the old-fashioned hand clock hanging on the wall that it was only three o' clock. He wondered why the woman was sending her child to bed so early when suddenly it occurred to him that he probably wanted to speak with him...alone.
Jerry watched as Kevin got up and walked towards the hallway in the corner of the living room. He shot a grateful smile towards Jerry before heading into his room, closing the door. Kevin's mom turned to the Machamp and walked towards him, arms crossed and eyes facing towards the floor. Her pursed lips and slight shaking gave away her nervousness, but eventually, she took a breath and spoke.
"Thank you." she said. There was a pause as before Jerry realized she was waiting for him to respond.
"Oh, um, no need to thank me...er..." he mumbled, trying to find the right words to say. He shook his head to clear his thoughts,, then continued. "You're very much welcome, Mrs...Mrs..."
"Amanda." Kevin's mom interrupted. "It's Amanda."
"Well...Amanda. I'm just glad your son is safe now. At least he won't have to worry about his future job for now." Jerry said, attempting to lighten the mood. He kicked himself as Amanda's shoulder's slumped visibly, and he tried to recover.
"I think he's a fine kid." Jerry said, reaching a hand up to place on her shoulder. When the woman flinched at his action, Jerry stopped and brought it back down, only feeling more embarrassed.
"I...I guess I'll just see myself out then." Jerry said. Amanda nodded, looking a little ashamed of herself for reacting the way she had to his attempt to comfort her, but Jerry understood. Of course she would be nervous around Pokemon since the Revolution; from what Kevin had told him, she had lost a husband to him. At that thought, Jerry glanced down at her hands, but didn't see a ring anywhere. He looked back up at her, nodded, then headed towards the door, Amanda standing there with a relieved, yet sad expression.
For the both of them, they figured it could have gone worse.
...
Jerry opened his car door and sat inside, letting out a breath and wiping a hand down his face as he leaned back into the cushion. It had been a rough morning, and he was exhausted, as well as feeling sick to his stomach over the poor living conditions Kevin and his mother had to deal with. It wasn't until he had already strapped in and started his car to get away from it all that he noticed it; a piece of paper laying in the seat next to him. It looked like...a human child's report?
Jerry picked up the paper and held it out in front of him. It was Kevin's report, the one he had lost on the bus. But how had it gotten here? Then he noticed some black ink seeping through the paper and turned it around, seeing some writing in black marker.
"Great fight! You were trained well. Wish more of them were like you. Take care, only getting worse for awhile from here on out." it read. "Wish me luck - Daniel."
Jerry stared at a the note in disbelief, then turned to look back towards Kevin's house. He read the words again, then shook his head in confusion. He looked down at the report, smiling when he saw that Kevin's overall grades were above average across the board. It actually reminded him a lot of...someone else...
The Machamp's face fell, and he brought up a hand to wipe away the tears that he hadn't noticed had started running down his face. Sighing, he brought his head down and rested it on the steering wheel, eyes closed and fists clenched tight. For several moments, he did nothing except to simply lay there and think to himself about everything that had occurred today. Despite a few rough patches, such as Vanillish and that gang of street Pokemon, his time with Kevin had been the most exciting thing to happen to him in the past seven years, going from job to job, eventually ending up transporting human kids to be judged by these arbitrary grades. No matter how offended he may have felt when Kevin had accidentally insulted Nido, Jerry knew that the Nidoking wasn't as great as others made him out to be.
His mind made up, Jerry picked himself up off the steering wheel with a look of determination set on his face. He turned and opened the compartment of his car, searching and for a moment before finding it. The Machamp smiled, looking down at the old headband he used to wear as a Machoke when he still had a trainer. It was a simple black headband, a little too small for him now, but he got around this by wrapping it around his bicep. Making sure that it fit snugly, Jerry then grabbed Kevin's report, smoothed it out, and unbuckled himself from his seat.
He suddenly stopped, taking a deep breath and exhaling quickly.
"Might as well do this now." he said to himself. With that, Jerry quickly got out of his car, slammed the door shut, and walked briskly up to the door, never noticing that there was a figure in the backseat watching him intently, and grinning widely as the Machamp knocked on the door. And as the figure nodded to itself in approval, it noticed a certain boy poking his head out of the house's curtains, watching the Machamp with the excitement only an 11-year-old could feel.
Disclaimer: This is a sequel to A New Era, a fantastic story written by Organ Man. Permission was given by the author to write this. Reviews are welcome and appreciated.