Wow, what a day it's been. Through it all, I was able to write and post this chapter, which I hope you will like.
Also, if you want to contact me on Discord, the code is SnowLucario #5443. You can talk to me on there, and I'm pretty active on the site. Look forward to seeing you there!
Enjoy!
ASH'S POV
After taking a deep breath, I turned around and sheepishly walked inside. I wasn't looking forward to what was coming; it was going to be ugly, and it was going to get ugly fast.
"Mom?" I called. She was still in the living room, exactly where she had been when I had gone to answer the door.
"Yes?" she replied. She was sitting next to Serena, both of them staring intently at me. My heart was thumping so powerfully that I really did think that my rib cage was a goner.
"They want me to go to the police station with one of the reporters" I replied. "And they want Serena to come with me, since she also turned into a Lucario. And you too, Mom".
That wasn't entirely true; I had been the one to ask if they could come with me, just because I felt that I needed to have someone with me for emotional support.
I had expected Serena and/or my mother to lash out at that. Surely, they would argue, I didn't have the right to force them to come with me. Nobody was in the mood to be interrogated by the cops, myself included.
However, Serena said, "I guess I'll do it. Is avoiding this as bad as resisting arrest?"
"I don't know, to be honest" I replied. "I guess...maybe. But I'm not entirely sure".
"They'll take us there, I presume?" my mother asked us.
I shrugged. "I would think that they would do that. If they didn't, that would be rather rude of them".
"All right" she replied.
The three of us walked out the front door so that we could go to the station with Lisa. Truth be told, I was quite nervous for this part; I was worried about the questions I was going to be asked. I'd never been questioned by the police before, and I was going to have to start now.
The crowd of reporters had dissipated somewhat, but Lisa was still standing there. Now that I could look at her more closely, I saw that she did resemble what one might expect a police officer to look like. I didn't know why; I just got that vibe from her.
"Okay" she said, as soon as the three of us were facing her. "I am very sorry to tell you guys this, but I am going to handcuff all of you".
"Why?" I asked, against my own better judgment. Generally, I felt that it was a bad idea to question police practices when you were in the presence of a cop.
"It's just protocol" Lisa said sternly. "We do that to everybody, regardless of whether or not they are criminal suspects. It's what we do".
I wasn't sure if I liked that practice, but, as stated above, I wasn't in a position to question it.
As soon as we were all cuffed, which felt highly uncomfortable, we sat in the back of the police car that had pulled up to our house. My heart was in my throat, and I felt as though I was about to throw up.
Lisa drove us to the station, during which time none of us spoke. There really wasn't that much to say.
The whole time, I was looking outside the window, dreading the moment when we would pass by the school that Serena and myself attended. When that happened, it was going to be incredibly awkward and difficult to handle. I didn't want them to know what had happened.
And then I realized something else: It was out of my control. They probably already did.
It was true. I didn't see any reason why they wouldn't show it at school. Generally, in history class, current events were discussed, or at least given some level of lip service. Me turning into a Lucario would absolutely qualify, and would probably be headline news in the paper tomorrow.
I wanted to facepaw, but then I remembered that I had been handcuffed, which would make it pretty hard to do so. I settled for looking downward at my wide blue hips in defeat. I'd wanted to keep as low a profile as possible, and I had completely blown it.
We arrived at the police station, and Lisa had us step out of the car before leading us inside. My mother, Serena, and myself all followed her into the building and up the stairs to where, I assumed, she would speak to us.
She led us into a room with four armchairs next to a fireplace. Since it was such a hot day, there was no fire budning there, which was just fine with me. In what was essentially a blue fursuit, I was plenty warm already.
We sat down in the armchairs, and the conversation immediately started.
"Can you please explain what is happening, Lisa?" my mother asked the police officer.
"Well, you already know at least some of it...what's your name, again?"
"Delia" my mother replied. "But you didn't answer my question. Why are we here? Ash didn't break any laws, did he?"
"No, he did not, at least, not that I am aware of" Lisa replied. "But we can still be very helpful to him and Serena".
I nodded, and so did the two females sitting near me. "What can you help us with?" I asked her.
"Well", Lisa replied, "I first need to remind both of you what is at stake here. Have you ever heard of Team Rocket?"
"Yes" all of us responded in unison.
"I think that all of you know just how brutal they can be. It's been reported, for instance, that they have kidnapped and experimented on humans, in order to…".
In order to turn them into Pokemon?, I wondered. That was a chilling thought indeed.
"Yes, in order to turn them into Pokemon. Or, at least, give them Pokemon-like characteristics. It is not known how many they have experimented on, but...there is some evidence that they may not be content to only experiment on the Pokemon they have captured".
"Do you have any estimates?" Serena replied. "If we were experimented on them while we were unconscious…".
"Yeah, I'm not entirely sure on that" Lisa said. "What I can say is that there have been a good number of disappearances from all around Kanto over the last year. I'm sure that you have heard about some of them on the news".
I sure had. These disappearances were typically on the front page of the newspaper. Even though I, like most members of my generation, typically checked the Internet for my news, I was still aware of them.
I remembered their names. Martha McHenry, Evan Fairfield, Claire Morrisey...the list went on and on. After a while, one had a hard time even remembering those names.
When I had read those stories, I hadn't given them much thought. Yeah, they were tragic and terrifying to think about, but they hadn't happened anywhere close to where I lived. I was unlikely to be captured as well. That reasoning might be selfish, but that was really the way I thought about it.
"It's quite possible that these people were captured by Team Rocket and taken to their jail cells. They're good at preventing escape; by all accounts, you should not have been able to escape".
It was then that I realized something more.
If I hadn't been meant to escape, that meant that Team Rocket was most likely still going after me. Why would they give up, when I had the potential to expose their entire operation?
I wasn't safe now. I wasn't ever going to be safe, unless Team Rocket and all of their cronies were brought to justice.
"But you did nonetheless" said Lisa. "That brings me to an offer that I have for both you and Serena. It's one that I, personally, would advise both of you to take".
"What is that offer?" my mother asked. As far as I could tell, ever since we had entered this room with the armchairs, this was the first word she had spoken.
"There is an option for 24/7 protection for Ash and Serena. They would be taken to a secure location, where they would be safe from harm. And there, they would be able to live in peace, without worrying about Team Rocket capturing them".
I looked over at Serena, who appeared to be very concerned. I looked down at the floor, thinking about my options.
On one hand, I could refuse to take this protection, potentially leaving myself as a sitting duck. I could still go to school, still hang out with what friends I did have, and, in effect, still live my life.
However, I would constantly be living in a state of fear, wondering if Team Rocket was going to get me. And it would only be a matter of time, but I wouldn't know when it was coming. A true sitting duck.
Or I could take this protection and move to this secure location...but how secure would this location be? Lisa seemed to be offering total certainty, which seemed fishy to me. Nothing was going to be one hundred percent safe; as far as I was concerned, when you were an eighteen-year-old human-turned-Lucario, the world was a very dangerous place.
That wasn't even to mention the fact that this location was most likely very far from where I currently lived. I was going to have to move a long way away from here in order to go into hiding, and I wasn't sure that I wanted to do that.
"What are the details of this place?" my mother asked. "They would be completely safe there, you say?"
Lisa nodded. "Nothing would happen to them. They'd be completely free from harm. One way or another, something has to be done, I would say. None of us want them to be captured".
"You're certainly right about that" I said.
I tried not to think of what Team Rocket might do to me if I was caught by them once again. Of course, however, when one is trying not to think of something, they typically end up stuck on the idea of that very thing that they were trying to avoid thinking about.
"It's just an option" Lisa said. "If you're feeling pretty scared about getting captured, I would recommend that. It's really the only way we could guarantee your safety, but it would come at the expense of some of your freedoms".
"Like what?" Serena asked.
"Well, this location is in Sinnoh" the police officer replied. "Were you to take me up on my offer, both of you would have to switch schools for your senior year. I understand that that might be an inconvenience for both of you".
To say that was an inconvenience would be an understatement, but I kept my mouth shut. I had a feeling that Lisa still had more to say, and that it would be rude to interrupt her.
"Also, it would just be pretty complicated; you'd have to leave your parents. Ash, where is your father, and Serena, where are your parents?"
I didn't like to think about, or talk about, my father. He'd left the family when I was really little, and it had always been a sore subject for both myself and my mother. That wasn't going to change any time soon.
"He left me when Ash was two" said my mother. "And Serena's parents aren't here right now; they're still at their house, and they probably have no idea".
"Really?" Lisa asked Serena. "Your parents have no idea that you're a Lucario?"
"We didn't bother to head there" she told the cop. "You see, my father is a gun owner, and we didn't want to take the risk. We hoped that he wouldn't be trigger-happy, but that might have been too much to ask for".
"I sure hope he wouldn't have shot a random Lucario who came by. Did you agree on any security questions or anything like that?"
Serena looked slightly confused, and then Lisa explained. "Those are questions that you agree on in advance, in order to detect if others are masquerading as your family".
"I see" the female Lucario replied.
"In any case", said Lisa, "it's important for the two of you to make a decision. The protection will be available at any time, and then you'd be taken straight up to Sinnoh. You can continue your lives here for now, but, the second you feel you need the protection, just call me up".
"Why can't we just stay here?" I asked my mother.
"Well, I really don't see a problem with that" she replied. "I'm assuming that you want to keep attending your school, don't you?"
I nodded. "I do. Don't you, Serena?"
"Yeah" Serena said. "I would rather keep going to school here than move somewhere up north. It's like my parents once told me, our lives are here".
"Okay" Lisa said. "But, if there are any incidents that occur, and we manage to get you back, you will both be placed in protective custody immediately. It will be for your own safety, and you will not be released until it is deemed safe".
That was a chilling thought. I tried not to think of what it would be like to be imprisoned somewhere for your own safety. That could indeed become my reality soon enough, and I definitely wasn't looking forward to it.
"I would advise both of you, in the meantime, to not take any unnecessary risks. Don't go anywhere that isn't going to be crowded".
"Why does it have to be crowded?" I asked. "That makes no sense. Shouldn't we try to attract as little attention as possible".
"I would prefer", Lisa replied, "that you two left your homes as little as possible. However, if you must leave, make sure you are in places with lots of witnesses around. That way, they're a lot less likely to try and take you. They don't want to be seen".
"I see" Serena replied, scratching her chin. I, meanwhile, was staring daggers at Lisa.
"Can we go now?" I asked the cop. It wasn't as though I had anything against her, but I somehow felt that this was an awkward conversation. It was then that I realized why I had immediately known that she was a police officer.
It hadn't been her outfit. It had been the way that, when she looked at you, she made you feel guilty, as though you had done something wrong. Even if you hadn't.
Okay, if you put it that way, maybe I did have something against her. It's kind of rude to constantly look at a person and purposely try to make them feel that way. As for her protection...I really hoped I didn't need it. Because, if I did take it…
No. That's not an option. You will not need the protection.
What if I have to, though?
As we were handcuffed once more and taken out of the building to head back to the police car, I kept thinking about that.
No matter what, I would not let myself get scared. I would not let myself worry about something over which I most likely had no control. That's advice that many people give, but few ever take.
As soon as we got back to my house, I turned on the TV and headed on over to the Vulpix News channel. That was the most popular station in the Kanto region, and thus the one that the most people would likely be watching right about now.
I wanted to know what they were saying about me.
After reaching that channel, I saw what they were talking about. The headline read, "Teen Boy Transforms Into A Lucario - What Happened?"
One of the news anchors, whom I recognized as the reporter from earlier, was saying, "I actually met Ash Ketchum at his house today. He answered a few questions for me this morning".
"I see" a female reporter replied. "Can you tell me some of what he said?"
I was hoping that this man was going to take the high ground and refuse to do so. It just didn't seem right, since I had never given him permission to say everything that I had said to him.
Clearly, however, it didn't matter to this guy.
"Yeah. He said that he'd been riding his bike. He doesn't remember falling off, but he does remember waking up in a prison cell underneath Grandmaster Cakeshop in downtown Pallet Town".
"I see. Why was there a prison cell beneath a bakery in Pallet Town?"
There you go!, I thought. Finally. She's asking the real questions, the ones we badly need answers to.
"Well, that's one we're still trying to figure out, Sheila" the male anchor said. "Rest assured, whenever we figure out what is going on there, releasing that information is going to be our very first priority. However, right now, we're just not there yet. Give us a little more time".
"I see. Does the young man have any idea about how he transformed?"
I didn't know why, but, at the time, I felt very uncomfortable hearing her ask him this question.
"He doesn't know that, Sheila. He says that he just woke up as a Lucario. That ought to be a pretty frightening experience, I should think - certainly not one I'd want to go through!"
"Indeed" replied Sheila. "Well, that about wraps it up for this segment. In other news - ".
I turned off the TV, not intent on hearing about the "other news". Truth be told, I didn't really care about any other news. Ever since transforming into a Lucario, I had become numb to the rest of the world, besides the news media. They were always going to bug me. They were going to hound me, follow me to the ends of the Earth, unless and until I managed to turn back into a human. And maybe not even then.
I pictured never becoming a human again. It sure wasn't easy; I was so used to being a human, and had spent so little time in my Lucario form. But, from what I had experienced so far, I really didn't like this new body.
My life really sucks right now, I thought. And, as long as I remain a Lucario, my life is going to just keep on sucking.
I tried to look ahead, to see the light at the end of the tunnel, as it were. I tried. And tried. And tried.
But I just couldn't.
Answer: I'm from New England, that region of the United States in the northeastern corner. I really don't like this country, but that's another story.
Question: What is your favorite color?
