Me: Okay, first let me apologize for waiting so long again, but once more, I just had to upload on this date!
Gardevoir: *from the other room* Would you go to sleep already?!
Me: *rolls eyes* I've been patiently awaiting the stroke of midnight while Miss Grumps here keeps screaming at me.
Gardevoir: You know, there's this new thing called sleep. You should try it!
Me: *sigh* Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way. Only my story's plot and OC Amber!
Chapter Seven: Red
"What did I tell you? What did I tell you?!"
Blue was pacing around the Pokemon Center lobby as everyone else sat on the couches and waited for the final announcements from Nurse Joy. As soon as she'd heard about what happened earlier this morning, there hadn't been two seconds of silence before she was standing beside Yellow's bed. The girl had been exactly as she was last night—or earlier this morning I guess—but once we were let out of our rooms, the real fit had begun.
"I told you it was a bad idea for us to leave!" She yelled at Green who simply shook his head and continued reading his newspaper. Seeing this, she stomped over and ripped it out of his hands. He looked ahead as if it were still there, and she growled in frustration, throwing it back into his lap and sitting beside him on the couch with her arms crossed.
Picking up his rumpled paper, he flattened it out and sighed. "You need to relax; she's right there in front of you. Nothing happened to her thanks to Amber."
On another couch next to White was Yellow with a new wrap around her head along with one of her hands. I sat by Black on the last sofa with my right arm in a sling while Silver was perched impassively on an arm chair. Amber had taken Mom back home earlier and was now standing at the window looking outside with a bandage coiled around his left calf and several others on his face and everywhere else. Blue was the only one talking (or rather grumbling) as the rest of us awaited Nurse Joy. We'd heard the story from Yellow and Amber a while ago, but I was still brooding about it. Whoever this Melany chick was, she was seriously in for it if she ever showed her face again.
I was pulled out of my thoughts as a familiar head of pink pigtails entered the room with a clipboard and pen. We turned to her as she smiled and said, "Well, you're all looking at least a little better. Black, you don't have anything to be worried about—just some minor burns and bruises that should clear up in no time. The same details apply to you White, but your burns were a bit more serious. I don't want you doing anything that may disturb them for at least a week." She looked down at the board. "Amber, you have some deep gashes I want you to keep an eye on. Don't go getting them infected."
Flipping to another page, she looked to me. "Red, you sustained some major bruising on your abdomen and a dislocated right arm. Again some other miniscule cuts and whatnot, but you should refrain from using your arm until it heals some more, perhaps four days before you can take it out of your sling. As for you," she said to Yellow. "You are definitely confined to a bed for the next couple of days at least. We still aren't sure why you were unconscious for so long then able to get up as easily as you did." We all smirked as Nurse Joy continued. Apparently, she was out of the loop on Yellow's powers. "Nevertheless, you are still prone to migraines and nausea so I'm ordering you to rest while your head recovers." She frowned slightly as she finished, "I'm still reluctant to let you out, but as long as you stay off your injuries and let yourselves heal, I'll comply this time."
Nurse Joy gave out some prescription slips with our medicines and reluctantly let us leave the Pokemon Center. Right as the doors slid shut behind us, Blue came to a halt, causing the rest of us to stop since she was at the head of the pack.
Turning around, she declared, "Alright, obviously I was right when I said Yellow shouldn't be left alone."
"But—"Amber started before Blue interrupted him.
"So I'm going to watch after her until she gets better. I don't want anyone coming by her house during that time; that way, there's less chance of something bad happening."
"Blue. Who put you in charge of Yellow?" Green stared her down. "Besides, don't you think that's a bit much?"
"No!"
"You should at least let Red check on her once in a while."
I flushed bright pink at that and tried to hide my face as Black and White eyed me curiously. My head still turned away, I walked over to Yellow who was politely trying to put in a word. It wasn't possible for her feeble voice to break through though as the two continued to argue, Green with his cool logic and Blue with her angry protests.
She had one more go at it before sighing and slumping her shoulders. "Don't I get a say in this? I am the person in pain after all."
"How are you doing by the way?" I asked. I hadn't had a chance to talk to her since the commercial shooting, and I was worried about her.
"It doesn't hurt most of the time," she said, slightly banging her forehead with a fist. "I do get some pretty bad headaches, however. Like a bunch of Excadrill boring at my mind."
I turned away. I couldn't help but feel guilty about her wound. If I hadn't parted ways with her in the forest, she might not be standing here with a big white bandage and a painful concussion. "Yellow, I'm sorry."
"For what?" She glanced up at me confused. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"Yes I did. I left you by yourself, and because of that, you got hurt."
"Red, it's not your fault." She shook her head as she murmured incredulously, "What is it with you two? Think that everything happens because of you."
"What?"
She face jolted up suddenly like she hadn't realized she had just said that aloud. "Huh? Oh, nothing. So how's your arm?"
"It's been better," I told her, swinging it in its little holder. "Nah, it's not that bad, really. Just burns a little. Definitely going to hold back my battling, though." She chuckled lightly at that. Looking back to the quarrelling brunettes, I saw Green's eye twitch as Blue walked around him, hands in the air as she kept telling why she thought everyone should stay away for a while. I pointed at them, saying, "I hate to break it to you, but I think Blue's going to win this one."
She watched too as Green kept trying to talk, and Blue kept cutting him off. Yellow sighed, putting her hands in her pockets and tossing something around. After a couple seconds, she quickly looked back at the two before pulling me away from the group a little. "Red, there's something I need you to do for me." She reached back into her pocket and took out whatever it was she had been toying with. Still leaving it clenched in her small hand, she whispered, "I found this after the attack this morning. I didn't show it to anyone yet because I don't want everyone to freak out in case it turns out that it's not worth getting upset over."
She made sure everyone else was distracted before unfurling her fingers. I looked at her in confusion when I saw the little black pendent necklace lying in her hand. She silently answered by flipping it over, and finally I understood what she had been worried about—the big red TR said it all.
"Yellow, is that what I think it is?"
"Like I said, I'm not sure. And if Blue gets her way, I'll never have a moment alone to look at it," Yellow said quietly. "That's why I want you to take it; do you think you could try to find out if there's something special about it? Something that would prove it is in fact from…them."
Yellow and I jerked around suddenly at the sound of a low growl. Everyone paused and looked at Green. Even Blue stopped her relentless arguing to stare at him. After a moment of silence, he let out a tense breath, released a tight fist, and announced tautly, "Fine."
It seemed as if she was back to her old cheery self as she gave a squeal of delight and hugged him tight. "Thank you, Greeny!" He only proceeded to say, "Pesky Girl" before she let go and made a beeline for Yellow who started panicking. She looked to me for help as Blue grabbed her arm and merrily stated, "Time to go!"
"Blue, wait!" Yellow cried out as said girl started dragging her away. I couldn't think of anything better so I reached out and pulled Yellow into my arm, tearing her away from Blue's firm grasp. She froze, shocked that she was suddenly crushed against me.
"Hurry," I whispered. "Put in the sling." She came back to her senses then, face blushing as she discreetly tried to give me the necklace. Once it was safely in the crook of my elbow, I hugged her tighter and said, "Get well quick so I can see you, okay?"
Yellow pulled away with wide eyes. Before she could say anything, Blue had her arm again and was towing her away. "See you guys later!" She shouted over her shoulder as the two headed off to Yellow's house. I stared after them as they disappeared into the forest before turning back to the others. Green was still shaking his head beside Amber as Silver unexpectedly turned to leave.
"Where are you going?" I called out to him.
He simply waved a hand slightly over his shoulder as he pulled out a Pokeball and released his Murkrow, grabbing the Bird-Pokemon's foot and flying off. It wasn't until I brought my attention back to the others that I noticed White's ecstatic expression.
"What?" I queried warily.
"Why didn't you tell me you and Yellow were dating?!" She practically shrieked. "I mean, I had my suspicions and all since the night of the Reunion, but now I see that it's quite obvious!"
"Huh?" I replied before I realized what she was asking me and flushed deep red. "Oh! N-no! That's not it at all!"
"Oooh! This is so exciting! Now, it'll have to be something simple; I can already tell Yellow's not a fancy girl," White starting saying to herself. "Most likely nature-themed, probably right here in the forest if I can do that. At least a two-layered cake, special lilies imported from Hoenn, and…oh! Definitely a floral styled gown in a sweet cream shade!"
My crimson eyes went wide as saucers. Was she…? Was she planning a…?
After a few more seconds of White's rambling, Black's hand slapped over her mouth. "You've got to stop doing that." He glanced at me apologetically as he said, "Sorry. She tends to jump the gun a little if you know what I mean." I just stood there dumbfounded as he took away his hand and looked her sternly in the eye. "White, get it in your head. Red and Yellow aren't dating. Understand?"
She stared at him confused.
"They're not a couple."
Her face showed no change.
Black sighed and face-palmed. "Senior Red + Senior Yellow = Just friends. Comprende?"
The puzzled look left her eyes, and she turned her head away and crossed her burn-covered arms. "You're just in denial. Both of you." She stalked off, heading into the denser part of Viridian City where I guessed there were residing at during their stay in Kanto.
Black exhaled slightly again before turning to me. "Sometimes math is the only way to get something across to her. She's familiar with it because of all that financial stuff she has to do, you know? Well, I suppose I better get going." He ran after White, calling out her name and leaving me with Green and Amber. The brunette had stopped his head shaking and instead was smirking at me.
"Green, don't even."
He simply grinned a little more and said, "Well, I'm off. You know where to find me." With a nod of his head, he left me and my brother standing there in the noonday sun. Amber was looking at me like the others had, and frankly, it was starting to annoy me.
"Come on; not you, too," I said rolling my eyes.
"Nah," he laughed. His face went serious again as he asked, "You two are close though aren't you?"
I didn't have to reply. He could see my answer by the pink tone in my cheeks.
"Thought so," he murmured.
Trying to change the subject, I said brightly, "So what do you plan on doing today? We could go do something if you want. I hear there's—"
"Actually, I have something I need to get done." He grabbed a Pokeball. "Sorry. I know we haven't exactly spent a lot of time together since I've gotten back, but I have to take care of this today. I'll catch you later." With a smile on his face, a burst of light shone before fading into his Salamence. "Time to go, Baga," he told his Pokemon as he began to mount him. It was faint, but I swear I heard a note of despair mixed deep in his voice. I focused on Amber again when Baga began beating his wings, causing me to cover my face against the wind. Once it had died down, I craned my neck upwards to see the two circling the sky before heading to the west.
I scoffed to the ground as I released my own flying Pokemon and began heading home, the cold pendent growing warm against my skin. Why was it that everyone thought we were dating? Well, everyone besides Yellow and me. I smirked to myself as the roof of my house came into view. The real question was how could I change that?
"Gah! Pika, shock it again!"
The little electric mouse charged up its cheeks before sending another bolt from its tail towards the TR necklace lying on the grass in my backyard. The electricity hit the dark stone before bouncing right off it and at me like it had a hundred other times today. And for the hundred and first time it coursed over my skin and shocked the life out of me. I fell to the ground twitching, my hair singed and somehow darker than its normal shade of ebony. Once again, Pika was at my side seeing if I was okay, but I just waved him away with fingertips that sung with a million sparks.
It was the same as it had been when I'd started at noon except for the fact that now my Pokemon and I were tired out, and the pendent showed absolutely no sign of wear. When I'd gotten home earlier and finally taken a good look at it, I'd noticed a small imprinted line that ran around the whole thing, giving the impression that it was some kind of locket. Of course, the first thing I'd done was try to pry it open with my hands, but seeing as how I only had one usable arm, that didn't turn out too well. So, I'd let each of my Pokemon have a go at it. The weird thing was that all the moves they used simply reflected off it like a bullet on a metal wall. That definitely proved it wasn't your average piece of jewelry like Yellow had been thinking, but I was still persistent to open it and find out what was inside.
I sat up slowly, the current of electricity gradually leaving me except for the odd crackle of static on my vest. As I got to my feet again, I picked up the stubborn pendent and stared at it. To be honest, I really had no idea why I thought having Pika shock it would have any effect on its lock. I guess after failing for the past few hours, I was willing to try anything.
"Whoa. Are you okay?"
I spun around, immediately hiding the necklace behind my back. Yellow didn't want anyone to know about it yet, and I was going to abide by her wish. Surprisingly, the person standing at the edge of my fence was Green with his Scizor leaning against it beside him. He was dressed in a different attire of long black shorts and a gray T-shirt, and I could clearly see the drops of sweat rolling down the side of his face.
"I'm fine. What's up with you?"
"Training," he replied. "You do realize that your attacks are visible even from all the way in Viridian. What are you doing?"
"Ehehe," I chuckled anxiously. "Nothing."
"Hm, well the last time I checked, nothing did not involve sky rocketing Thunderbolts and Flamethrowers, Red. What are you up to?"
"N-nothing, really," I attempted to reassure him. He could sense the nervousness in my voice and jumped over the fence, walking up to me with Scizor right behind him.
"Yeah, okay." He stared me in the eye again before telling Scizor, "You did a great job today. Go take a break." The bug Pokemon nodded its head before jumping up the side of my house and disappearing over the roof. "Now, tell me what's going on."
"Seriously," I said doing my best to sound honest. I never was that good at lying. "I was just…training, too. Yeah."
"Uh-huh. Great spot you picked. Though I wouldn't have thought your backyard would be the best place."
"Yeah, well, it-it's close to home in case anything happens." I couldn't stop myself from rubbing the back of my neck. It didn't go unnoticed by Green either as he stepped forward a little more.
"Red, there's something you're not telling me." His eyes shifted slightly to the left. "And I'm going to guess it has something to do with the necklace you were holding behind your back."
Were? I brought my free hand in front of me to find it empty. Spinning around, I didn't see anything. When I turned back to Green, Scizor was standing next to him with the pendent dangling from his claw. It was faced the other way so they hadn't seen the logo imprinted on it yet.
My smile vanished. "Give it back."
Instead of doing so, he took it from his Pokemon, gently rubbing the thread between his fingers. "I don't see what's so—" His eyes hardened slightly as he flipped the pendent and saw the red letters. "What is this?"
"Just a piece of jewelry I was holding onto," I tried.
It failed. "No it's not. Red, what is it?"
I sighed hugely. There was no point in hiding it anymore; he would find out some other way if I didn't tell him. "I don't know. Yellow found it this morning when she got attacked and asked me to look at it. I think it opens up, and I've been trying to unlock it all day, but no matter what moves I use, it stays secure. Look, it doesn't even have a scratch on it!"
He observed it closer and found it shiny and smooth as if new. "Do you think it's from Team Rocket?"
"Seems like it doesn't it?" I clenched my teeth as a last aftershock ran through my system, and my legs faltered slightly. Green detected this, too, and started helping me back towards my house. Pika had been watching quietly this whole time and got up to follow us as we passed through the back sliding door while Scizor stayed outside in the yard. The sandy-haired boy set me down in a chair at the kitchen island and placed the necklace beside me as he searched through my cupboards. Pulling out a box of green tea, he opened it and started making the drink.
As he poured some hot water and Pika jumped onto another chair, I said firmly, "You can't tell anyone about this; Yellow doesn't want everyone to freak out. You're not even supposed to know about it."
"I get it," he answered, finishing the tea. Handing me a cup, he leaned against the countertop across from me and sipped his beverage. Wordlessly, he exited the kitchen, his athletic shoes squeaking gently against the hardwood floors.
I drank a little of my own, scalding my tongue on the hot liquid. Trying to bring the burning sensation down, I called out, "So what are you going to do?"
He came back a few minutes later with a little bottle that rattled as he walked. "Help of course. If your theory about it being a locket is true, then there has to be a way to pry it open. And if its security is as advanced as you described, you're going to need some technological help."
"Cool. When do we start?"
He looked at me sternly. "I am going to begin by taking it to the lab. Grandpa's gone to work with another professor named Juniper in Unova so it's vacant except for the assistants. I can use his computers and such to find a solution. You are going to take these ibuprofen and go to bed. You just got out of the hospital, and already you've managed to deal yourself even more damage."
"I feel—"
"No, Red. You may think you're okay, but you're not. And if you don't slow down and let yourself heal, you're going to hurt yourself even more. Besides, what good are you to Yellow if you can't even walk?"
I shut my mouth at that, and Green nodded. "That's what I thought. Now take these with your tea and turn in. You can come by tomorrow when you're feeling better." He picked up the bottle, shaking out two pills and setting them next to my hand. He looked to Pika and said, "Make sure he gets some rest."
Pika gave him a salute, and Green just shook his head again before setting down his tea and picking up the necklace. "See you." He gave me a pat on the shoulder (thankfully the left one) before going back out to where Scizor was waiting and heading over to Professor Oak's lab.
Looking at the painkillers, I breathed out slowly before swallowing them with my now cooler tea. They left a bitter taste in the back of my mouth as they trailed down my throat. I grumbled lightly, "I'm feeling just fine." I hated not being able to do anything; it was one of the worst things ever. A sudden jolt through my injured arm caused me to whip around. I tried to find whatever it was that had hit me, but there was only Pika standing with his tail poised. "What was that for?"
"Pika! Pikachu!"
"I am too alright!"
He whacked me again with his bolt tail. "Chu! Pikapi!"
I clutched my throbbing arm. "Okay, okay! So maybe I'm not in the best condition."
He rolled his eyes at me and started shoving at my leg to get me moving. "Yeah, yeah," I said, grabbing the pill bottle and aiming for the stairs. He stayed right by my side and made sure I didn't fall along the way. When I finally put the pills on the nightstand and plopped down on my big comfy bed with Pika, I realized that Green was right. My arm was starting to simmer from banging it around all day, and my stomach wasn't doing too well, either.
That didn't stop me from worrying about Yellow, though. Is she alright? Is her head still troubling her? Did she remember to change her bandage? Or did Blue already change it fifteen times just today? Is—
My eyes starting drooping on me, and I forced them back open in surprise. Okay, yes I was pretty exhausted after all that had happened today, and my wounds were starting to take their toll on me, but I don't remember being that tired a second ago. I sluggishly shifted around my Pokemon and reached a hand out to the pill bottle. Bringing it up to my closing eyes, I leered at it as I read the label's name.
Lunesta.
Darn it, Green! I wasn't conscious enough anymore to plot revenge so I just set the bottle back down and gave into the medication. Pika sensed that I was finally out and curled into my arms, calmly drifting off and joining me in a chorus of snores.
I barged into the lab early the next afternoon, frowning as I walked past the assistants to find the one I was intent on destroying. Or at least damaging a little. He wasn't in any of the front rooms so I headed towards the back where the professor's office was. Opening the door, I set my eyes on him sitting behind the desk shuffling through some scattered papers. I stared at him for a moment before slamming the door shut behind me, snatching his attention from the documents.
He saw the grimace on my face, and the corners of his mouth lifted ever so slightly. "Have a nice nap?"
I couldn't help it; I exploded. "You gave me sleeping pills?!"
"You wouldn't have gotten any shut-eye if I hadn't," Green simply replied, going back to his papers.
I opened my mouth to argue but knew he was right. I would have fretted about Yellow and the others all night. Instead, I settled for crossing my arms and leaning against the door. "So how was your day?" I asked sarcastically.
"Very good, actually. I think I may have discovered a way to unlock the pendent."
That was enough to perk me up. As he got up and strode towards another door across the room, I followed him and strode towards another door across the room, i through it and stepped into a giant area full of various computers and advanced machines. I gave a low whistle. It was like technology on a whole other level. Green stopped beside a table set in the midst of the room. Walking up beside him, I saw that the necklace was strapped down to the steel frame, the metal clips that held it on a person's neck attached to multiple cables that trailed off to a contraption sitting on another table.
"Why so many cords and whatnot?" I asked.
"Look at the ends." He pointed to the small clips. "What do you think looks different about them from a normal necklace?"
I leaned in closer. Studying it, I saw that there was nothing connecting the thick woven strands to the clips. It was as if they were sunken into the white thread. "There's no link," I said incredulously.
"Precisely. Now look at where it joins with the pendent."
It was the same. The thread didn't run through the stone and out the other side, rather both ends seemed like an extension from the pendent itself. "Fancy handcrafting?" I suggested with a shrug.
"I had another idea." Green went over to what appeared to be the main computer. The monitor was seven feet long with its separate operating parts towering over us beside it. Sitting in a chair at the keyboard, he started clicking away, bringing up all sorts of graphs, charts, and pictures that were completely foreign to my eyes. There was one I recognized that he enlarged for me to see. Within seconds, the TR necklace took up the entire screen.
"The way there's no break when the thread, stone, and metal meet is quite strange. And when I took a metal detector to the thread, it came up positive," Green explained.
I looked at him funny. "Where'd you get a metal detector?"
"Not the point," he snipped sharply. "What I'm trying to say is, I think the clips are connected by metal all the way to the inside of the pendent."
"So?" I didn't understand what he was getting at. "How's that supposed to help us?"
"Simple. Since we can't open it from the outside, we're going to use this new knowledge to unlock it from the inside."
"Huh?"
Green face-palmed. "From what you said, it sounds like it has some kind of electronic security. It that's the case, we can probably override the system with enough voltage."
"Oh!" I'm pretty sure I sounded like an idiot right there. Taking Pika's Pokeball, I released him and said, "Will this be enough?"
Green scrutinized him for a moment before nodding his head. "Should be."
I turned to Pika and asked brightly, "So how about it? Wanna try to break it open?"
"Pi! Pika!" He said determinedly. Guess I wasn't the only one frustrated by it yesterday.
"Right! Let's get started!"
Fifteen minutes later, the Pikachu was hooked up to the generator I had seen on the other table, and Green gave him the signal to go. Taking a moment to charge up, Pika sent a large continuous blast through the plugs attached to his cheeks. The crackling energy could be seen flowing through the wires as it traveled across the room to the clips of the necklace. I watched in amazement as Green's testimony rang true. The sparks didn't stop at the ends but flowed through the thread and into the stone pendent. I was staring at the light show so I didn't hear Green shouting to stop until he was right up in my face, shutting off the generator with rushed hands.
"Why'd you stop?" I asked confused.
"Because! Do you want to fry it?!"
"Again, huh?"
The brunette looked ready to choke me from frustration. "If too much force is put into it at once, there's a good chance that whatever is inside will get destroyed. So, we have to take it slowly unless we want charred stone."
My mouth dropped open into an O as he clicked the generator on and went back to the computer to watch the coming electricity levels. Pika, obviously getting the message from Green, started with less power this time. A significantly smaller current sparked from his cherry red cheek spots, and the necklace was engulfed in flickers of yellow once more. He tried to control the amount of energy he was discharging, straining to hold back from sending more; he wasn't used to releasing such feeble shocks, especially for so long.
And as it turned out, he did sit on that table for a long time. I stood there beside him, watching as he grew weaker with each passing minute. Then, about an hour and half later, we finally got some action, althouth it might not have been the kind we were hoping for. I was cheering Pika on, telling him it wouldn't be long now, when all of a sudden the pendent started glowing bright red. We thought it was going to unlock and pop open, but instead it crackled with stored up energy. There was no time to take cover as an enormous electrical surge burst from the necklace and raced at the generator, coursing through the machine and into the outlet in the wall it was plugged into. Within seconds, the entire lab blacked out.
There were a few seconds of silence before I heard shuffling and sensed Green in front of me. I rubbed the back of my neck nervously and chuckled, "Well, it can't get any worse, right?" A stray light bulb overhead shorted out and broke just then, the tiny shattered fragments of glass showering down on the short-tempered boy. I gulped and took a step back. "I-I'll go find that power box."
"You do that." Green watched with an agitated expression beside Pika as I scampered out of the room. He stood there tapping his toe in the darkness as he waited for the lights to come back on. When they finally did, he let out a deep breath and looked at the fried generator. He sighed again.
"This is going to be harder than I thought."
Me: Haha! I'm sorry! I just had to include Lunesta somewhere. It would have been Cymbalta for my buddy Max but Red's not depressed.
Gardevoir: Are you still talking to yourself out there? Go to bed! Before I come out there and drag you to it myself!
Me: Excuse me? To myself? I doubt that. I'm sure somebody out there's listening.
Gardevoir: Yeah, it's me! Now I'm warning you! Go to sleep!
Me: Yeah, yeah. She's such a downer! So anyway, Happy Birthday, Red! This chapter's just for you!
Gardevoir: That's it! *opens door and grabs arms*
Me: Let me go!
Gardevoir: *drags upstairs forcefully* I warned you! *throws in room* Good night!
Me: *huff* Reviews guys! Do it for Red!
