P3 Not The Expected Welcome
It was the hope of a warm place to sleep that kept the two walking. They were exhausted, walking through the forest. The trees were slowly getting smaller, a sign that they were nearing the edge of the woods.
"Oh my God, Crystal." Marina looked up at him, eyes narrowed in sudden tension. She followed his pointed finger to a large scorch mark. It was concentrated around a clump of of blackened something or other. Gold frowned and ran to it, kneeling down with a skid. He sighed a sigh of relief, leaning back on his heads and tilted his hat up with one hand so he could scratch his head.
"...?" Crystal came forward, kneeling beside him and inspecting the blackened clump. It was the scorched body of a Golbat. She hadn't been able to recognize it because its wings had been burnt off.
"It isn't one of ours... I don't think I know anybody that uses a Golbat." Gold stood up, bouncing on the balls of his heels to do so, and slapped Crystal on the back, "A'ight! Let's keep truckin'!" His enthusiasm hid his anxiety, as his eyes swept around, taking in the damaged trees and ground. Obviously a struggle. An everyday, wild Golbat didn't need that much heat to take it down. Crystal was sweeping the area too, when she pushed herself up with her arm, and then fell back down with a hiss. Gold turned immediately at her plight, and knelt down, "Crys?"
"S'no problem..." Crystal said and then hissed in annoyance as Gold jerked down her jacket. He stared at the skin of her bared left arm. What wasn't pus filled boils was purple, and what wasn't purple was a creeping red. Gold stared at the flesh, and realized by what she'd been hit by.
"That guy's Wheezing..." Gold said and trailed off. Crystal nodded once, and then pulled up her jacket gingerly. Gold stared at her again, then stood up and wrapped an arm around her, helping her up. He knew why she didn't tell him. She didn't want him to worry, and didn't want it to be a problem that caused them to slow down. She ignored it, so so did he.
"We gotta hurry. Elm might need help." With a shared look of camaraderie, they took off at a steady jog. He didn't say that she might need help too, but he was sure thinking it.
Crystal and Gold ran straight through the gatehouse, slamming doors open. There was a startled screech, and Gold yelled in surprise as he trampled over Elm who was kneeling down and picking something up, and wound up flinging himself over him to keep from stepping on him, and fell face down on the ground, slamming his already bloodied hands into some rocks. Call groaned in pain as he rolled over to see Elm trembling and standing up, eyes wide in shock. Crystal was leaning against the door, somewhat amused.
"Good to see you're alive, Elm." Crystal greeted. Elm smiled at her, his eyes brightening like she was good news. Gold grunted at the lack of concern, and stood up, dusting himself off.
"Yeah, good news." Gold huffed, crossing his arms and putting them over his head.
"Is everyone okay?" Crystal stared at Elm. Elm's face, which had brightened considerably, fell once again.
"No, no, everyone's not okay." Elm stared at them, and then looked behind them, realizing that Kotone wasn't there. His face paled, "L-let's go inside..." He ushered them inside a house that wasn't his. The owner was more than likely never coming back anyways.
"She's gone? Taken?" Elm looked in surprise at Gold and Crystal, even though he already knew she was gone by her absence, switching between the two of them. Gold nodded grimly. Crystal went over and collapsed onto a mat on the floor, exhausted. They'd trekked for a solid two sleepless days, through two fierce battles to get here. Gold was too wired, and crossed his arms, standing against the wall. He'd hit his second wind and adrenaline There was a heavy silence, thoughts of Kotone's fate occupying them. Elm sighed heavily, "Then her fate is as Vincent's." Gold looked at him.
"As Vincent's...?" Gold asked.
"Vincent is dead." Elm sat heavily, weighted down in grief for his son.
"Elm, I'm so sorry." Crystal sat up, eyes dark with sadness for this Professor who had been her friend for a long time.
"There's nothing that can be done." Elm smiled weakly, but tears made his eyes watery. It was too soon.
"How?" Gold piped up, his fists clenching.
"We were... well, I, Vincent, Kurt and Maisy, we were all scavenging-"
Elm's Memory:
"Maisy, the Pecha Berrys are-"
"-on the right, I know Grandpa, I know." Maisy skipped ahead of the small group, already on her way to the patch that hid the Pecha Berries. Despite Vincent being bigger and older, he was trailing behind her and listening to her instructions. Kurt chuckled behind her, chomping on the stem to his pipe.
"I bet she's going to get a mouth on her, Kurt. You better watch out. She already knows everything." Elm teased his friend. When offered the pipe, Elm hesitated for only a second before taking it. It wasn't as if he normally smoked, and now was as good a time as any to relax some rules.
"I know. They just grow up so fast." Kurt quietly muttered, "She already knows where all the White Apricorns grow, and she's learned the Red, Green and Blue. She'll be able to find Black soon. And just to show me how much she doesn't need me, she got Vincent to show her the berries."
"Oh, no, Kurt, she needs you."
"No she doesn't." Kurt smiled affectionately at Maisy, who was pulling apart briars with Vincent, trying to get at the food within, "She's a smart cookie." Kurt huffed, suppressing a mingled feeling of regret and pride at her growing up. Elm nudged his pal as they handed the pipe back and forth, Elm doing most of the chattering, Kurt just grunted to show he was listening. Kurt paused, listening through the chattering of the other three, "Quiet." Elm stopped in mid sentence, holding his breath, but Maisy and Vincent kept chattering, oblivious, "Quiet you two!" Kurt snapped. Maisy stopped, turning her now widened eyes to her Grandpa.
"Vincent!" Maisy snatched Vincent by his hand, tightening her grip as they both fell silent.
"Doesn't it seem quiet, friend?" Kurt listened intently, his hand sliding behind him to his Pokeball. Elm frowned deeply, squeezing his hands. Everyone in their group tensed when uniformed people, mostly men, came filing out of the forest.
"Finally, we made it through that damned forest!" One man near the front was grinning at Kurt and Elm, his eyes darting to the children who quickly ran behind them. No longer were Maisy and Vincent knowledgeable and bright. Right now they were nothing but scared children.
"Slowpoke!" Kurt heard the snap of a Pokeball as Maisy released her Pokemon. Two black clothed grunts with those big red R's plastered on their chests, guffawed at her.
"Aw, how cute, a little Slowpoke! I thought we'd killed all of them!"
"Naw, I guess not, but look! It's tail is gone! We did get to it!" The two laughed as their leader smirked at the group before him.
"Yeah, so, give us what we want and maybe your Slowpoke will stay alive, along with you. Capeesh?" Kurt crossed his arms, a scowl on his face even as six more grunts filed up beside the other three, huffing from the long hike. When they saw people, a dozen Golbats were released, along with a small group of Raticate and Ekans.
Kurt threw his Pokeball suddenly, and all eyes went to it. It hit the ground, but there was nothing, no light, no rattle, no Pokemon. Instead, his Noctowl swooped in from behind where it had been gliding and circling and attacked the Rocket group battering several with its wings and beak and talons, throwing Golbats violently out of the air. When they tried to regroup, Noctowl's eyes flashed in a Psychic attack, dealing with the rest.
"Its a sneak attack!" The leader snarled, releasing his Arbok and having it whirl on the Noctowl. Noctowl was busy tearing the snakes apart with talons when the Arbok chomped it from behind, crumpling its wing. The Arbok was hit by a piece of ground ripped up by a Rock Throw from Kurt's Machop, which had actually been in its Pokeball. The leader snarled at him, and Kurt only smiled grimly.
"It takes more than numbers to win a battle." As Kurt was fighting, Elm was busy grabbing the children, but Maisy slipped through his fingers, her Slowpoke waddling after her.
"WATER GUN!" Maisy screeched in terror as a Raticate came at her. Her Slowpoke released its attack, but her Pokemon was weak. It's water was barely a stream in the air. The Raticate leapt through the water and straight at her, biting into her arm. Vincent yelled in horror as the huge rat started to drag her into the big mess of a fight, and went after her. It wasn't long before she was dragged away into the bushes screeching. Her Slowpoke moaned after her, frantic but too slow to follow. Instead it shot useless shots of water at the flying bats, missing most shots.
"You're pathetic, old man!" A Rocket screeched as Kurt grunted when his Machop was thrown into him, making him fall to the ground. The Grunt came forward, snatching Vincent, who was fighting with his Bayleef. A flurry of Wing Attacks and the creature was on its knees. Like its master, Bayleef wasn't much of a prime fighter. Vincent was dragged forward, held up on his tiptoes by his arm. Kurt wheezed as he looked up at the group, which had been diminished by his Psychics and Rock Throws, but still wasn't beaten. Elm hurried forward, pulling Kurt up to his feet.
"Vincent! Vincent!" Elm cried out, shaking and clutching Kurt's arm. Kurt was trying to clear a path to the bush where Maisy had disappeared but when he saw the man grabbing Vincent, he quickly started on the man's Golbat. Sadly, Kurt's Pokemon was battered back again, and Machop went down on a knee, gasping for air.
"Now, ya see, Elm, you ran from us! You don't run from Team Rocket, you don't run from Giovanni." The Grunt grinned as he lifted Vincent onto his feet, higher, "We only wanted some of your papers, and to prick your BRAIN a little!"
"Please don't-" Elm whimpered, breath catching in his throat. It hurt to see Vincent strung up between these men, obviously so much bigger than him.
"And now you gotta pay the price!" The Grunt held Vincent up by his neck and snapped his fingers. His Arbok's jaws snapped onto the back of Vincent's neck and ripped him from the Grunt's hand. Vincent gagged and let out a choking noise as the Arbok used Thrash and started slamming him side to side into the ground, biting into his neck and breaking it before throwing him to the side and hissing. The Grunt stared at their faces with a grin widening his face. He really liked this new power he'd obtained in the ranks of team rocket. No more being a stupid salesman. He could make people flinch in fear as he walked past. He didn't have to beg for their money.
Elm's eyes unfocused in shock as he watched Vincent's life, his promise at a life and future leak out with his blood onto the ground. He started to shake, all his muscles clenching and flashing with cold flashes of dread and terror. Elm tensed as the Grunts came closer, one grabbing his arm. He snarled and tried to shake them off, but the Grunt just grinned and held on tightly.
"Time's up old man-" He cut off as there was a rustle, and they all saw a man at the edge of some bushes, his leg guards easily letting him walk through the thorns, his body and clothes covered in black.
"Sunny Day, Fire Blast!" A bright, bright fake sun lit up the surrounding area. Everyone flinched, covering their eyes or squinting blindly, and then the grunts were overcome by fire. There was screeching as the man came walking out slowly behind his Houndoom who was also advancing slowly, and blasting the enemies with a continuous stream of fire. Their screeches had quickly evaporated into nothing as they were obliterated into mounds of charcoal.
"Moby!" Elm sniffled and came forward to the charcoal man. His Farfetch'd, who had used Sunny Day, was hopping up to them and clattering it's beak. Kurt came forward and started talking after it became apparent that Elm was in no frame of mind to talk. Elm was staring at Vincent's body, who happened to now be partially abolished by fire. He was whining and sobbing gently. Kurt put his arm around his friend, knowing he would need support, and sure enough Elm turned and put an arm around him, staring miserably at Vincent's body. There would be no bringing him back, his body was melded to the ground.
"We have to go, Maisy is still out there." Kurt said and let go of Elm, hobbling forward. No matter in how good of a shape he thought he was in, these times were trying, he was tired, and he needed to get to Maisy before he crumpled, "Your little pup has sure gotten big and strong." Kurt said casually, trying to keep the spirit calm, and glanced at the Houndoom who stared back haughtily.
"Yes, well. He's always been very strong. Strong to make the hottest fire. I just…. took away his Everstone." Moby said and stared sideways his dog as they walked before rubbing its head affectionately. Elm did not converse, just stayed silent and stared at his feet, alternating between tears and dry eyes. Kurt went silent, as did Moby, and they continued on, trying to look for Kurt's grandbaby.
"And we didn't find anything, nothing of hers at least. All we found were some remnants of ice. Probably an ice Pokemon. Kurt is sleeping, and Moby went off to… to obliterate evidence that could lead to us." There was silence as they took in the fact that Vincent's body was part of the evidence. As Elm finished his tale, they were all silent. Maisy was gone too, her fate unknown, and Vincent was dead.
"I can't deal with this." Elm plopped his face into his hands.
"Don't say that, Elm. We got this. We got this." Gold went over to Elm, wrapping his arm around the Professor's shoulders.
"How can you say that? They're the ones that got this. We're all hiding like trapped animals. For months! And because I didn't give them my research, they killed Vinny. They killed him! Team Rocket is winning!" Elm slumped against the table he was sitting at, his arms wrapped around his head as he sobbed, "It's all over the news. Giovanni let the radio and tv stations stay open. He makes tallies of every city that he has destroyed! We had to watch as one by one, as Kanto was taken! Pewter, Cerulean, Pallet, Viridian… all of them were destroyed one by one! And all the rest! The only thing left standing is the Indigo Plateau, and they aren't letting anyone in! The Elite Four have abandoned us! No one knows where all the Gym Leaders are… Giovanni is a Gym Leader himself, and… and he took all of their communications away…. And my poor Vinny…. Death has started for Johto!"
"But if you'd given in, they would have killed him anyways, or worse, kept him and tortured him like the Pokemon they keep." Crystal moved over beside, patting his shoulder, "You know they would have. His death was quick."
"Its us that have to suffer." Elm sobbed, his head shaking as he cried against the table, "We have to live in this nightmare. We're expected to live on!" Elm sobbed. He turned and wrapped his arms around Crystal. He did not see the look of pain on her face, but Gold did. Elm was squeezing her wounds. When Gold moved forward, somewhat irrationally angry thinking of throwing Elm off, Crystal glared at him. And if she hadn't wanted to alert Elm, she would have snarled. Gold stopped in his tracks, and Crystal bent over and let Elm squeeze some pain out of her. She comforted him as he sobbed.
Later, Elm was downstairs and treating the wounds of what was left of the trainers' Pokemon. They needed to be fit for their next mission. Gold and Crystal were settled upstairs on a single bed. Crystal's jacket was off and she was laying face down on the bed and Gold was pouring antibiotics over her wounds and lancing her boils. She didn't make a peep, but when she sat up with her wounds bandaged, her face was shiny with sweat and had become red.
It honestly felt like the whole world was crumbling. From the way Giovanni was broadcasting the big red R so blatantly on national television, it was a takeover. He was on region number two, and why would he stop at the rest? What was the most horrifying was that most didn't even know his face, only a few had actually seen his face, and most of those people were missing in action. No one knew when Rocket was coming for them until the R was already in their face.
Gold and Crystal sat silently together and stared out the window at the stars, feeling their losses.
