Chapter Ten: The Enthusiast
Location: Mahogany Town, Johto
December 7th, 2099, 7 AM
After an almost endless flight, Wes' Pidgeot, carrying Wes, Kris and Shane on its back, finally landed in front of Palmer's hideout in Mahogany Town. The streets were still empty at this hour, though the lazy townspeople probably didn't wake up until at noon and even then they preferred to stay inside and grumble about 'foreigners and out-of-towners'.
As soon as Pidgeot landed and the trio hopped off its back, the mighty bird collapsed on the ground, its eyes closed and its wings limp. Understandably enough, too, having carried the trio all the way from Kanto.
Wes recalled Pidgeot. Shane shivered a bit, as even though Kris had given him her jacket, he was still freezing due to his lack of shoes. He hoped Palmer had some second-hand clothes in store when he would get there. Shane casually took a few steps towards Palmer's hideout, alerting Kris.
"Hey, wait a minute, I thought you couldn't use your legs!" she said.
"Oh, yeah, I, uh…" Shane looked at his feet for a moment and tried to come up with something convincing. "Uh… IT'S A MIRACLE!"
Kris sighed, while Wes cracked his knuckles like he was about to hit Shane again, though he also didn't want to give a bad impression to Kris, who started fiddling with her C-Gear.
"Browsing some news sites," she explained. "Planet PokéWatch should have something about… ah, here we go! 'A cathedral-sized building inexplicably collapsed in the middle of the forest slightly northwest from Saffron City'… whew, that's a relief! 'Unfortunately, a part of the rail bridge was destroyed, so the Magnet Train is out of commission for at least two weeks.'…whoops. Oh well, can't break an egg without making a few omelettes first… or something."
"Does it say anything about any Team Plasma or Team Rocket dudes or dudettes?" Wes asked.
"Hmm… nah," Kris said, sighed and turned the C-Gear back to standby mode so it only displayed the time. "Though I really hope that none of them made it out and that Domino died an agonizing death in flames… well, one can only wish."
Kris saw Wes frowning and gazing Shane suspiciously, but decided to ignore this. Together, the trio, with Shrew sitting on Shane's shoulders, stepped inside Palmer's place.
The hideout was looking much better than before. As Kris, Wes and Shane stepped into the basement, they saw Fernando dusting the place, wearing a pink apron for some reason. Palmer was sitting behind his desk, once again looking at some files, while Leaf and Silver sat next to each other at the other side of the desk. Kris noticed that although they weren't talking, they were holding hands. Leaf quickly let go of Silver when she noticed the others entering the room and scratched her nose instead.
"Kris!" Leaf exclaimed. "Thank Arceus you're okay! And Shane! Good to see you!"
Palmer raised his head to look at the trio as they entered. He circled around his desk and walked up to Shane to shake his hand. Next to Shane, Palmer looked like a giant, and Shane was visibly intimidated by him, though he still responded to the handshake.
"Good to have another Operative here," Palmer said, though it sounded forced and he didn't smile as he said it. "I have to be honest with you: recruiting you wasn't exactly in the, well… plan, so to speak, but we're happy to have everyone we can."
"Thanks, I guess," Shane mumbled. "Uh… who's 'we'?"
"Didn't you tell him along the way?" Palmer asked Kris.
"I did, but he has a really short attention span," Kris responded and quickly changed the subject: "So, not part of the 'plan', eh? According to Fernando here, we shouldn't have gone there in the first place. Apparently it would have been betterif we'd just left Shane here to be tortured by those sick freaks! What is going on here?"
Palmer looked at Kris straight in the eyes for a moment. Then, unflinchingly, he walked back behind his desk and sat down. Kris, Wes and Shane followed him so Palmer could hand Kris a piece of paper.
"Your last teammate," Palmer explained. "Once you've gone to meet him, I'll explain everything. I promise."
Kris tried to fight back the urge to do a sarcastic eye roll. For now, it looks like I have to deal with him. Kris looked at the paper Palmer gave her.
"Eusine?" she asked as she read the file.
"Correct," Palmer said. "Eusine is an expert on legendary Pokémon. He studied them in some library in Holon, had a special class about them at the Ranger School in Almia and has been meditating with the monks of the Wise Trio. His C-Gear is full of data on legendaries, and I think he knows how the plates of origin actually work. No need to go to the edge of the world for this one - he's very close by, at the Lake of Rage, north from here."
Shane, who had gone somewhere during Palmer's speech, suddenly appeared back into the room, having procured a pair of shoes as well as a used sweater that he had inside out, though Shane seemed to be oblivious about it.
Silver, who hadn't said a word during the briefing, grunted in his chair and held his ribs. He was wearing his usual outfit now: he was wearing a black shirt with red stripes on it, along with black gloves. For some reason, he wore his gloves constantly, even indoors. Leaf looked at him, still probably concerned about his condition.
"What did they do to you?" Leaf asked as Silver tried to put on a casually stoic face.
"I'll… tell you later," Silver muttered in response. He then looked at Palmer from under his brows, with visible contempt, just like Wes had done. "Now, boss-man, I don't think I'm ready just yet… better send someone else to meet this Eugene."
"Eusine," Palmer corrected. "I'm not sure about the pronunciation myself, though. In any case, he's a Pokémon bounty hunter nowadays."
"I've been meaning to ask," Kris said as she turned to Wes. "What in the name of the Distortion World is a 'Pokémon bounty hunter'? Enlighten me."
"Well, it's rather simple," Wes said as he folded his arms and leaned to the wall behind him casually. "We hunt things. For a bounty, which is usually money, in my case. That's where bounty huntercomes from. Want me to explain again?"
Shane laughed uncomfortably loudly, prompting everyone to look at him as he slapped Kris on the shoulder. "Hah! He beat you in your game, Kris! Burn!"
"All right," Palmer said calmly as she saw Kris opening her mouth in protest. Palmer then raised his hand to prevent more bickering. "Anyway, yes, there are two schools of thought. One is a man who captures humans, usually criminals, using Pokémon, like Wes here. The others, like this Eusine, capture Pokémon, but not in the way trainers do it, but usually with electrified nets or something. You see, when a trainer uses a Poké Ball on a Pokémon, they become 'marked'. You need to release them or trade them if you want to give them away. Of course, if you want to give a Pokémon to someone, you could just release them, but many people believe that Poké Balls act as 'power restraints', and that a Pokémon caught with a Poké Ball is weakened somehow and won't become stronger until its trained. There might be some truth to it…"
"Of course!" Leaf said as she gasped dramatically, then started to passionately ramble on: "After all, the Poké Ball was invented by that bastard Professor Kaminko, who is known to be racist towards all Pokémon. And who perfected the design and mass-produced them? Silph Co.! A corporation owned by the Committee, who also have similar 'humans ftw!'-sentiments. Damn those elitist assholes!"
Silver responded to Leaf's outburst pretty calmly: "I love it when you're all passionate and foul-mouthed. It's hot…"
"Shut up, Silver!" Leaf retorted, but smiled a bit as she said it. "I'm just saying-"
"You're right, Dr. Greene," Palmer said 'politely', though it sounded condescending to the others. "That's why I want the Committee stopped. But we'll talk about this later. Silver cannot go, so you're to stay here with him, right?" Palmer asked Leaf.
"Of course!" Leaf said perkily. "Uh… not that I want to, but he might still be hurt, so I thought I… well, you know, I'm not a medical doctor or anything, but I do know something about… err, where was I again?"
"And I have to continue cooking!" Fernando yelled from the kitchen. "Today we're having brain-pies and Ekans ears!"
"So it'll just be me and Krissy again," Wes said. "Wouldn't want it any other way!"
"And Shane!" Kris reminded, before turning to Shane. "That is… if you want to go. Here's a hint: the right answer is 'yes'!"
"Meh, sure I'll go, got nothing else to do," Shane said and shrugged - the sweater was too large for Shane, so the sleeves were hanging much lower than his hands. "I am a bit hungry, though," Shane added and rubbed his stomach. "All those torturisms left me a bit… esurient."
"How did you know a word like that?" Kris wondered.
But Shane didn't get to answer the question. A round, pink Pokémon that was only three feet tall, waddled towards him. It was a Chansey, smiling as it was about to given an egg to Shane. But Shane reacted predictably, shrieking like a little girl and grabbing onto Wes, who was the standing the closest.
"AAAHH!" Shane screamed. "IT'S A DEMON! IT… oh, it's a Chansey…"
Wes pushed Shane away from him and dusted himself off while Shane reacted with confusion to the egg the Chansey was offering. At first, he just stared at it, then finally took it and put it in his mouth. His suspicion quickly went away as he chewed on it, suddenly looking relaxed and content.
"Man… this tastes great…" he mumbled, his mouth full of the egg. "I'm not hungry anymore! Thankies, Chansey!"
"Oh yeah, this Chansey followed me all the way here from the hospital!" Fernando explained from the kitchen, barely audible over the sound of cooking. "One of those Rocket Grunts managed to wound me a bit and this pink thing kept pestering with some egg. Despite my repeated attempts to escape, it managed to track me down every time. So, I decided to keep it, even though I haven't even caught it or anything…"
"A Chansey could be useful," Palmer commented thoughtfully, his brows knitted as he stared at the Chansey. "They're extremely resistant to many conventional attacks, like electric-, fire- or ice-type moves, and they can also act as field medics… one of you should use a Poké Ball to tag it."
"Good idea," Kris said. "Wes, gimme one of your balls. And no giggling at that comment!"
Wes laughed anyway as he threw a Poké Ball at Kris. The ball was still in its smaller form, but Kris pushed a button on the side, enlarging it to the size of a baseball. But instead of throwing it at the Chansey, he passed it to Shane, who recoiled in confusion.
"M-me?" Shane squealed. "But I already have Shrew!" he protested as he put the little yellow armadillo/mole-thing on the floor. "I don't usually battle or anything…"
"Exactly," Kris said. "Me and Wes will do the fighting! I don't want you getting into any dangerous situations, cause you can be a little, err… well, you can be a sort of a support guy! A medic! Not that I doubt your fighting prowess, but err… you know what I mean!"
"What she's saying is," Wes said as he placed his hand on Shane's shoulder in an almost big-brotherly manner, "that we could use someone to patch us warriors up during the heat of the battle. Remember Shane: medics are the most reliable and the most important people on the battlefield. We need ya for this! A'ight?"
Kris sighed and smiled at the two. Slowly but surely, Wes seemed to be more and more able to get along with Shane, despite his early grumbling. Shane nodded at Wes, took the Poké Ball that Kris gave him and threw it at the Chansey.
Chansey didn't resist as the Poké Ball hit. It converted Chansey into a red beam of energy and sucked it inside. The lid of the Poké Ball closed as the thing dropped on the ground. It didn't even wiggle on the ground like it usually did, and the red light in the center wasn't on. Chansey certainly didn't seem to mind its new ownership… maybe it was unhappy at the hospital?
As Shane picked Chansey's Poké Ball up and stared at with awe, probably deep in his own thoughts (or lack thereof) at the moment. Meanwhile, Palmer continued his lecture:
"So, this Eusine fellow," he said, starting to walk around the room. "I have no pictures… not even a last name. But you'll definitely know him when you see him. From what I've gathered, he's an… eccentric fellow. The weirdest thing, though, is that he doesn't even attempt to hide the fact that he's stinking rich! And I'm talking about 'rich enough to eat solid gold Feebas for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day'-rich."
"That can't be good for his digestion," Kris muttered.
"Apparently," Palmer continued, "Eusine was born in Celadon City to some rich family, probably the owners of the Pokémon Mansion. He inherited a humongous fortune, which he now uses to go across the country in search of legendary Pokémon."
"Oh, cool!" Shane exclaimed, having been snapped out of his daydreaming. "Have I already told you that I have 'legendary Pokémon' trading cards? I'm sure of some of them were fake, though. I've never heard of a 'MewThree' for example, but-"
"Also," Palmer said, interrupting Shane's nonsense, "he makes a lot of donations to charities and different organizations, and in return is allowed to go basically wherever he wants. What I want to know is… if he's stinking rich, why bother to be a bounty hunter? I mean, most of them are just poor, uneducated yokels like Wes here."
"Can't argue with that," Wes said.
"We'll figure that out later," Kris said firmly, ready to go away now so she could get it over with. "So we're just supposed to meet this Eusine and ask him to join us and stuff?"
"Well, like Leaf, I'm sure he wants something done first," Palmer said. "But you're a good negotiator, right?"
Shane snorted. "Sure she is…" he laughed.
"I've got all I need for negotiation right here," Kris said, tapping Croc's Poké Ball on her belt. "Should it come down to it, Eusine gets a choice between joining us or getting castrated by a Feraligatr!"
"Damn, Kris!" Wes exclaimed appreciatively as he, Kris and Shane turned tail and started to walk upstairs, to the surface. "I knew joining this group was a good call!"
~o~O~o~
Location: Lake of Rage, Johto
Approx. forty-five minutes later…
The Lake of Rage, also known as the Gyarados Lake, was said to be a water-filled crater created by rampaging Gyarados eons ago. Surrounded by labyrinthine forests and a few old, wooden houses with over-enthusiastic fishermen living in them. The gray sky reflected off the lake's surface, and though it wasn't frozen, Kris was certain that going for a swim in December was not a good idea. The surface of the water remained unbroken and smooth, as not even a single Magikarp decided to plop on the surface. How disappointing…
Kris took a deep breath as she arrived to the lake, Wes and Shane right behind her and Shrew walking behind Shane. The air was cold, but fresh and clean, a welcome change to the urban environments.
"Well, then," Kris said and clapped her hands together, turning to face Wes and Shane and trying to sound as convincing as she could, though she felt that she really needed some coffee to get her going after the last trip. "I guess we should start looking for Eusine. Any suggestions?"
"Is that him?" Shane asked and pointed at something behind Kris.
Kris sighed, but nonetheless turned around to look at the terribly fascinating and shiny thing Shane had most likely spotted.
However, she almost fell down in shock when she saw a man standing on a rock a few yards away from the shore. He wasn't there just before… the man, Eusine, had brown, slick-back hair and he was wearing a fancy purple suit and a white cape, causing him to look like a magician, complete with white gloves and a red bowtie. Either that or he thought of himself as some superhero. I wonder if he likes comics as well, Kris thought. 'Dialgaman vs. Palkiaman', 'The Adventures Of The Incontinent Snorlax', 'Latias' Journey', all those…
"Eusine!" Kris yelled as she, Shane and Wes rapidly approached the lake's shore. "Hey! You! Are you Eusine?"
Eusine turned on his rock very dramatically, the wind fluttering his cape behind him. He really loved his theatrics, apparently. Even moreso than that Fernando…
"Hasty as your assumption may be, you would be correct, m'lady!" Eusine proclaimed.
Oh, Suicune save me, it's one of those guys again…
"Has Palmer told you about our arrangement?" Kris inquired. "You wanting to join our group to bring down the Committee and save the world from something or other, maybe? Or not, I dunno."
"I do have a recollection of engaging this Mr. Palmer in a conversation a while ago, indeed!" Eusine said pretentiously. "However, I have conditions that need to be met before we set forth on this worthy adventure!"
I shoulda known…"Name them!" Kris yelled as she folded her arms. "I have no time for more pointless crap!"
Eusine responded by leaping from his rock, towards shore. Though he managed to get on dry land without falling into the water, he tripped on his cape when he landed, falling face down on the ground.
Not wanting anyone to help him (though no one even made a gesture to do so), Eusine quickly picked himself up, dusted his suit and adjusted his bowtie. He still remained close to the shore, staying away from Kris, Wes and Shane.
"I have dedicated my life to the search of the legendary Pokémon we untrained human minds refer to as 'Suicune'," Eusine explained. "I admire its every feature: its grace, the way it purifies water with a touch of its paw, its speed as it races across regions, oceans, even countries! I pray to one day discover the legendary Pokémon and claim it as mine!"
"Nerd!" Shane mocked.
Kris stomped on Shane's foot, causing him to howl in pain. Kris ignored it, as he was more fascinated by Eusine's remark. A pompous jerk of a guy, sure, but did he know something about Suicune? Where it could be at the moment?
"Uh, yeah, well I agree you about Suicune," Kris said. She couldn't help but to sigh as she started thinking about the legendary Suicune and all those things that Eusine mentioned and more… ahem! Anyway. "So… have you tracked it down?"
"Almost certainly!" Eusine said. "The elusive beast is somewhere around this lake! Why do you think I chose this location as the site of our little palaver?"
"I recognize some of the words," Shane said, "but are you sure you're not just making stuff up as you go along?"
"He totally is, dummy," Wes said, slapping the back of Shane's head for no apparent reason. "Watch yerself 'round these upper-class dudes, Shane!"
"Yeah, he looks totally dangerous," Shane said sarcastically and laughed. "Oh no, he's going to kill me with his overgeled hair!"
Eusine seemed to scratch his head and adjust his hair after that comment, feeling a bit self-conscious. Kris tried to take the subject away from fancy words and hair gel:
"So, uh… can you lead us to it?" Kris asked nervously while kicking the ground and looking away from Eusine. "I won't guarantee that we'll help you catch it, but… 'twould be nice to see it, is all… you know?"
Eusine didn't answer the question yet. He rubbed his chin and looked at Kris, then glanced at both Wes and Shane. He then turned his back to Kris dramatically and started pacing back and forth.
"So," he said while walking, "before I join this little group of yours… I've heard that you met the doctor, Leaf Greene, in Saffron yesterday."
"That was yesterday?" Wes wondered. "Feels more like a week, if not two…"
"Yeah, we did meet her," Kris said, her nervousness increasing, turning to suspicion and paranoia. "Why do you ask?"
"She probably had a C-Gear with her, no?" Eusine asked curiously. "One of these, I mean?" he added, lifting his sleeve a bit to show that he had a C-Gear on his wrist too.
"How did you-" Kris quickly swallowed the end of the sentence before she gave anything away - this was getting too suspicious. "Uh, I mean, again, why do you ask?"
"I know that Leaf's C-Gear has a lot of important data on it," Eusine announced. "I know quite a lot more than you think! I happen to be aware of things that would drive all of you to the brink of madness!"
"You walked past that brink a long time ago…" Wes grumbled, scowling at Eusine. He was beginning to suspect something too, though Shane was just staring obliviously.
"Is that so?" Eusine said and smiled smugly. "Well, if you don't wish to talk about Dr. Greene's data, that's fine… but I know things about you three as well. I know that you'll never help me capture the amazing Suicune…"
Eusine looked at the lake, and pointed at the opposite shore, where there didn't seem to be anything but more trees.
"The beast that I seek lies there!" Eusine yelled. "I can't allow you stop me… and some people made a better deal!"
Kris head rustling from the bushes nearby, but didn't have time to ready her Pokétch, as heavily armored soldiers started to pop from everywhere: from the bushes, from behind rocks, from behind the Fishing Guru's house, even emerging from the lake in scuba gear. They all electric-type Pokémon with them: Magnemite, Magneton, Electrike, Manectric… all ready to fry Kris, Wes, Shane and Shrew with electricity.
"Holon Security Forces," Wes grumbled. "Right arm of the Committee… we walked into a trap!"
Kris, Wes and Shane moved closer to each other, so they were now back to back. Wes was ready to grab a Poké Ball on his belt, Kris set her Pokétch to Ice Beam while Shane just looked around in panic, Shrew shivering at his feet.
"I cannot allow you to interfere with my Suicune hunt!" Eusine said with enough zeal to sound like a villain from a Saturday morning cartoon. "These fellows agreed to help me get Suicune all to myself… in exchange for your lives, of course. No hard feelings!"
And with that, Eusine turned tail and started running towards the forest, most likely in attempt to circle around the lake to get to the other side. The HSF soldiers' Pokémon started sparkling threateningly.
"Get down!" Kris screamed.
"THUNDERBOLT!" yelled all the HSF soldiers, there being about twelve of them.
She quickly threw herself on the ground, pulling Shane and Wes with her. The electric attacks of the Pokémon missed, instead hitting each other and bouncing off from the ground. However, Shrew just stood still, the electric attacks harmlessly bouncing off its body. The Sandshrew seemed to be paralyzed by fear, not realizing that the attacks couldn't hurt it.
"Yes!" Kris yelled triumphantly as Shrew just absorbed the attacks, much to the HSF troops' confusion. "Shane, do you know what to do?"
"I'm not much of a battler, but me and Shrew have come up with something!" Shane yelled back. "Shrew, Defense Curl!"
Sandshrew curled itself into a ball, the smooth surface of its body suddenly looking much shinier.
"Now, Rollout!" Shane ordered.
Still curled in a ball, Shrew started rolling at an incredible speed towards an Electrike charging at it. With the lethality comparable to Samus Aran, Shrew quickly dispatched the Electrike with a single hit, then started rolling towards the other Pokémon. Quickly, it managed to knock out another Electrike and a Magneton, then rolled away before it could be hit with any other attacks.
"Elemental resistance," Kris remarked as she, Wes and Shane got up. "Ain't it a bitch?"
Kris quickly summoned Croc from its Poké Ball, while Wes decided to go with his Ninetales.
"Nice strategy, Shane," Wes complimented as Shrew still rolled amidst the electric-types and the HSF soldiers, indiscriminately hitting the both and drawing the soldiers' attention as they attempted to stab it with electric knives. "Now use that Chansey you got!"
"Right," Shane agreed.
Shane released the cheerful pink Pokémon from its Poké Ball. While Croc and Ninetales still hadn't recovered from their last sorties, Chansey's over-excited happiness looked rather awkward.
"I know, I know, I gotta heal them," Shane said, proud that he actually knew what to do for once. "Now, Chansey use… use… err… yes, assuming that I wouldn't know what move to use... what should I do?"
"Softboiled!" Wes growled.
"Yes, that!" Shane said. "I knew that. Chansey! Use Softboiled!"
Chansey nodded to Shane, then stood still and spread its arms. As Shrew kept the HSF soldiers distracted, two glowing eggs suddenly appeared from Chansey's pouch. They hovered across the air and exploded above the Feraligatr and the Ninetales. Glowing bits rained on the two Pokémon, healing them in the process as they quickly looked more vibrant and energetic.
A Manetric leapt towards Ninetales, but Ninetales swiftly retaliated with Quick Attack, simultaneously dodging the Manetric's assault and retaliating.
"My Feraligatr doesn't have much going against these electric-types," Kris said to Wes as quickly as possible. "I'm going after Eusine! Take care of things here for me, right?"
"You got it!" Wes grinned.
Surprisingly, Wes didn't limit himself to just attacking with his Pokémon. He let out some kind of battle roar and charged towards a HSF soldier, tackling him to the ground, while Ninetales used Flamethrower against a Magneton that was about to attack.
Kris and Croc started to run after Eusine, towards the lush, green forest path on the east side of the lake. A large HSF soldier suddenly appeared in front of Kris, trying to block her path, but Kris quickly retaliated by launching an Ice Beam from her Pokétch. The soldier froze, and Croc pushed him down for good measure as the two ran towards the forest.
As Kris and Croc ran, the sounds of the battle were quickly left behind them. She was now trudging along the damp and narrow forest path, insects all around her thanks to the vicinity of the lake. Caterpie and Weedle watching from the ground, Yanma flying by, Metapod and Kakuna hanging from the tree branches. The soil was wet, so Eusine's footprints were clearly visible.
Suddenly, however, the footprints simply stopped, as if Eusine had vanished in the air. Kris and Croc stopped as well. They had left the path and were now in a clearing, not quite on the other side of the lake, but far enough so that they couldn't hear any noise from Wes and Shane's battle against the Security Force soldiers.
"Where could he have gone…" Kris muttered to herself.
She didn't say it to Croc, but to herself. She was nervous, sweating, jumpy. Why does this always happen?Kris brandished her Pokétch, ready to fire at the slightest noise.
"In here!"
Kris quickly turned to the direction of the noise. She had a split-second to dodge as Eusine tried to jump on her from a tree.
As Kris rolled out of the way, Eusine crashed into the ground instead, but once again picked himself up and dusted himself off. As Eusine snapped his fingers, a Poké Ball somehow appeared into his hand.
"Electrode, go!" he yelled.
A large, spherical Pokémon appeared in front of Kris. Electrode was like an upside down Poké Ball, only much larger, its height being about 3'11''. It constantly had a mischievous grin on its face, too, exposing its "teeth", or whatever the Electrode equivalent was.
"Electro Ball!" Eusine ordered.
"Croc, evasive action!" Kris shouted, unable to think of any countermoves.
But Electrode was simply too fast for the lumbering Feraligatr, and the yellow orb of electricity exploded right in Croc's face. The Feraligatr fell down, but quickly got up again, still ready to fight.
Croc's been through a lot, he can take it, Kris thought to calm herself down. Eusine is just a clown… Croc can take it… He has to take it…
Eusine waved at Kris infuriatingly before escaping to the forest again, leaving the Electrode to fight for itself. Without its masters orders, its moves became less coordinated, so it attempted to strike Croc with a Rollout, which Croc countered with a Slash, sending the Electrode backwards.
"I have to get Eusine before he gets to Suicune!" Kris told Croc. "Can you handle this?"
Croc simply nodded and assumed a combat stance, roaring at the Electrode while Kris ran after Eusine, following the footsteps on the muddy ground.
Kris soon left the clearing, and started to follow another, even narrower path, running past the trees, bushes and thickets, cutting through everything in her path. Finally, she appeared to another clearing, this one being at the exact opposite of the lake. It was impossible to see what was on the other side - hopefully Wes and Shane had dealt with the soldiers already. Well, Wes might have, but…
However, Eusine was there, his arms crossed and his cape dramatically fluttering in the wind.
"Not one step further," Eusine said coldly as Kris was about to approach him. "Suicune is somewhere in this area. My men have surrounded the Lake of Rage. It's going to be mine!"
"Look, that kind of obsession can't be healthy!" Kris said. "Read a good book once in a while, work on your people skills… just stop trying to catch that thing. It's impossible. Even with the Committee's support," Kris added slyly, wanting to get info out of Eusine - whose side was he on?
Eusine just scoffed arrogantly and took another Poké Ball from his pocket.
Oh crap…
"You didn't actually think that was my only Pokémon?" Eusine taunted.
"Well, I… no?"
Eusine threw the Poké Ball right at Kris' feet. An Alakazam came out of the ball, readying the two spoons it held in its hands. Kris took a few steps back, stumbled on a rock and fell on her back, desperately retreating from the psychic Pokémon.
"Alakazam, Psychic!" Eusine ordered.
Kris had no Pokémon left on her. She tried to use her Pokétch, but Alakazam was freakishly fast: its eyes glowed blue and a strange aura surrounded its entire body.
As soon as the attack hit Kris, she felt unimaginable pain in her head, as if someone was trying to crush her head in a vice. The blue aura surrounded her too, and she soon felt getting lifted on her feet forcefully, by Alakazam's psychic powers alone. The attack raised her high in the air while Kris felt that entire body was squeezed like a tube of toothpaste. Her eyes were closed and she was grinding her teeth together, desperately trying to move even a finger, but it was in vain. Alakazam was just too powerful for her…
Somewhere in the distance, she heard Eusine's voice: "We have no time for this! Finish her off already!"
Kris forced her eyelids open, seeing Alakazam preparing its spoons for another attack.
Well, this is it. Great life I had and all that. Well, not really, but, uh… could have been worse, or something?
The pain stopped.
Kris was able to move again, opening her eyes and seeing the aura around her gone. She had fallen on the ground and saw something blue and shiny tackling Eusine's Alakazam to the ground.
"Jesus!" Eusine exclaimed at the sight of the blue Pokémon.
"Nope," said a feminine voice somewhere. "Just Suicune."
Yellow emerged from the forest, not accompanied by her Lucario this time. Eusine ignored her however, as his eyes became fixed on Suicune. He stared at the Pokémon he spent his life trying to capture with almost terrifying lust. Kris got on her feet, just in time to see Eusine snapping out of his temporary trance and getting a Poké Ball ready.
"Finally!" he exclaimed. "I knew it! I knew I could capture it! Today, the hunt finally ends! Alakazam, use Psychic!"
Alakazam's eyes glowed again, but Suicune was quick to retaliate. Though Kris didn't recognize it, she figured Suicune was using Mirror Coat, as it released a blue, spherical energy shield around its body, deflecting Alakazam's Psychic, causing the attack to hit the Alakazam instead. Then, Suicune let out a powerful, innard-tingling roar which was almost enough to freeze Kris' blood. The roar caused Alakazam to return itself to Eusine's Poké Ball.
Eusine could only watch in amazement as Alakazam's Poké Ball wouldn't open no matter how hard he tried. "What the-?"
Cursing under his breath, Eusine desperately threw the empty Poké Ball towards Suicune, but Suicune easily deflected it off as well. Eusine clenched his fists.
"Why?" he wailed. "I've been waiting this for so long! I can't fail now!"
"You need to let go, Eusine," Yellow said calmly as she took a few steps in Eusine's direction. "You have to realize that you can't obsess over something like this. I respect that you gave yourself a purpose, but… you need to realize what else makes life worth living. Suicune is a living, sapient being, just like you are, and you need to respect its will."
"What are you talking about!" Eusine spat at Yellow.
Eusine looked terrible: sweaty, unfocused, his normally slick hair all messed up. But his face was the worst: he looked like a man who was completely lost in his mind, with nothing to live for anymore, with all the life sucked out of him. He couldn't even scream or cry or rage at the world. He just collapsed on his knees, staring at Suicune longingly, while Suicune didn't even pay him any attention.
Kris quickly turned when she heard footsteps behind her, but fortunately, it was just Wes and Shane, followed by Croc, Shrew and Shane's new Chansey. Both Wes and Shane's clothes were badly singed, but they seemed to be perfectly fine otherwise. Wes was aiming his revolver at Eusine - fake or real, it did look impressive when he pointed it at another person like that.
"Damn it!" Eusine yelled. "Alakazam, go!"
But even though Eusine threw his Alakazam's Poké Ball on the ground, the Pokémon itself still refused to come out.
"Take it easy, dude," Shane said as casually as ever. "We don't wanna hurt your Pokémon!"
"Yeah, but we wouldn't mind hurting you, scumbag!" Wes snarled as he grabbed Eusine by his collar and threw him on the ground. "Did the Committee send you here? Believe me, I know how to get answers from you!"
"You don't need to!" Eusine whined. "I'll talk!"
"…really?" Wes said, sounding slightly disappointed. "But you gotta understand… I haven't been able to interrogate anyone lately. Everyone seems to spill the beans pretty easily around here. Just let me pop your kidney or something… aw, come on, you don't need both of them?"
"You can do that?" Shane asked, sounding both intrigued and frightened.
"Well, it ain't gonna be pretty, but…"
"No need for violence," Yellow said serenely. She turned to Kris and smiled, though it seemed almost painful for her. Yellow was more pale and thin than the last time Kris saw her, and her clothes were all covered in leaves and dirt. "I'm glad you were able to rescue your friend, Kris. Looks like you've gotten the band back together, huh?"
Kris just nodded absent-mindedly, having heard only about half of what Yellow had said. Something something something, cryptic remark, blah blah blah. That old chestnut. She stared at Suicune instead. She certainly understood what Eusine saw in the creature: Kris hadn't noticed before, but while it deflected Alakazam's attack, Suicune was standing on water, somehow managing to walk on the surface of the lake. It still looked as calm and graceful as ever, the purple mane floating behind it even though it wasn't even very windy. As the mane glowed in the sunlight, Kris thought she saw many other colors, blue, green and red on it, like it was the Aurora Borealis…
Kris shook her head. What am I doing? If I ever become as fixated as that Eusine guy, I want someone to shoot me in the head…
"Uh huh, yeah, sure, that's great," Kris said to Yellow and pretended that she had listened to her. "So, uh, what brings you here?"
"We were trying to slip into Mahogany Town unnoticed," Yellow said. "We had to tell you and the group something before you headed off to that mission Palmer keeps talking about. We didn't exactly know that those HSF troops were here… but I don't think the Committee was planning on ambushing us, or you, for that matter. Eusine must have been acting on his own…"
Kris and Yellow watched as Wes forced Eusine on his feet. Despite Eusine's previous actions, Kris almost felt sorry for him now, watching as he pathetically gave one last, longing look to Suicune, his ultimate goal slipping away from him once again.
"He won't be joining your group now," Yellow said, "but I don't think it matters if you let him go. He's no one important, and they don't care about him."
"Can't we at least have him arrested?" Shane asked. "I mean, if we tell about his crimes to the International Police, surely them, the government and the Pokémon League will do everything they can to protect us!"
Kris couldn't think of anything non-sarcastic to say, so she didn't say anything. Wes was trying to stifle his laughter, having to turn away from Shane and pretend that he was coughing. But Yellow just smiled at him.
"Why can't everyone be more like you, Shane," Yellow said quietly.
Shane didn't understand what was going on, so he just shrugged, probably starting to think about something else now. After Wes had gotten over his fit of laughter, he once again assumed his "big-brotherly" role and put his hands on Shane's shoulders.
"Heh… no, uh this Yellow person is right," Wes said and tried not to break down laughing. "We, uh, can't resort to violence and all that. Hahah! Er-hem, we got to be above that and all… just don't say anything like that again, Shane, I almost suffocated!" Wes glanced at Kris as he spoke to Shane, probably trying to get a reaction out of her. "We need to, uh, be responsible and do good things and all that jazz."
"Wes, will you stop doing that!" Shane said and pushed his hand away. "You're really creeping me out with all that. Next thing I know you'll be grabbing my crotch and slapping my ass!"
"Hey, I was just trying to… shut up, Shane!"
Kris rolled her eyes and turned away from Wes and Shane's pointless bickering. She looked at Suicune again, though the Pokémon didn't seem to care about anything that was going on around it - it had completely distanced itself from the world.
"I'm pretty jealous at you, Yellow," Kris sighed. "You can talk to Pokémon. Must be nice to get away from the inane nonsense of people and talk to someone who actually has something meaningful to say…"
Yellow seemed to understand what was on Kris' mind.
"If you want to communicate with it, then go on ahead," Yellow said, smiling as cheerfully as always. "You know there are things that can be expressed even without words. And similarly, there are things words simply can't express… I honestly don't know what your fascination with Suicune is, but anything that helps people and Pokémon understand each other better is fine good in my book."
"Yeah," Kris said uncertainly. "But what if it…"
"It's not violent, that's for sure," Yellow assured. "One of the most zen-like creatures I ever saw, and I hang out with a Lucario that meditates ten hours a day. Those murders all those years ago weren't committed by Suicune… it was framed."
"I know that!" Kris said. "That's not what I meant. I was just wondering… what if it doesn't like me?"
"Only one way to find out," Yellow said ambiguously.
Kris gulped, nodded at Yellow and took a few steps in Suicune's direction. Why do my legs feel like jell-o now?Kris stepped to the water's edge, and Suicune sensed her approach. The moment Suicune took a few steps towards Kris, she started shaking, wondering what she should say or do.
"Uh… hi!" Kris said to the Suicune nervously, her voice more high-pitched than usual.
Ok, not a good start… okay, get a grip, Kris, say something REALLY interesting…well, at least semi-interesting… quasi-interesting?
"Suicune, I - ARGH!"
The scream she made wasn't part of the plan. Kris felt another nauseating headache spike hitting her all of the sudden, but it was different from Alakazam's Psychic attack. It only affected her head, but the pain was so unbearable it blocked out all other sensations. Kris collapsed on the ground right next to the Suicune, which retreated hastily, afraid of how Kris started convulsing on the ground, holding her head and screaming.
She couldn't struggle against it. Something in her head told her she had to give in to the pain… give in to… the pain…
The Lake of Rage was suddenly gone. When Kris opened her eyes, she didn't seem to be anywhere. There was nothing but a black void around her, though she could still see herself as clearly as in broad daylight. But the pain in her head wouldn't go away.
She felt as if something or someone was talking in her head. Many voices, very powerful ones, that echoed in her skull and felt like they were turning her brains into a slushie.
The voices spoke to her:
"We apologize for this, Agent Five, but there was no other way to contact you."
"Did you really think we would just give experimental brain chip technology just so you could use Pokémon attacks? From the very beginning, the purpose of your implants were supposed to control and regulate your thoughts."
"However, direct mind manipulation doesn't work as well as we had predicted. For now, all we can do is contact you."
"We wish to express our heartfelt apologies in behalf our agent… our soon-to-be ex-agent, Eusine. It was not our intention to meddle in your, well… affairs. Rest assured, Eusine was acting alone."
"But the technology he was carrying allowed us to directly reach the chip in your brain. It may feel inconvenient, perhaps, but we need to monitor our… investments."
"For now, carry on as intended. We're certain that all will be explained to you by Mr. Palmer, though we wonder if you can handle the truth, Five. "
"And remember: if we want to contact you, we will. That is all."
"This meeting is adjourned."
Kris took a deep breath and quickly opened her eyes. The pain was gone, the voices were silent and she was face down on the ground at the Lake of Rage once again. Suicune and Yellow were gone, while Wes and Shane were still bickering in the distance. Wes still holding the helpless Eusine in a chokehold, though he didn't even make a move to get away.
Shane was the first to notice Kris waking up, so he quickly rushed to her aid.
"Kris, are you-"
Wes also did the same, pushing Shane away as he grabbed Kris' hands and pulled her up on her feet.
"Here, let me help you," Wes said. "By the way, you got some dust on your shirt, mind if I-"
"Yes, I mind," Kris said, hands on her forehead even though there was no pain anymore. "Would it be too much to ask what happened?"
"Suicune was startled by your sudden freakout," Shane explained, "and it ran off to the forest. Yellow followed it, and we realized that you had passed out. We were just arguing over the best way to give you PCP… or RCR… or whatever it was, then, all of the sudden, you were awake. And then there was this conversation, but I don't know what happened after that…"
The only thing Kris cared about at the moment was the fact that Suicune had gone. Why did that have to happen now? She was so close to coming to understand the thing… maybe. Or that's what she told herself, anyway. But she certainly wasn't in the mood to talk about what happened to Wes or Shane... not now when she was still on the verge of throwing up, even without the headache. Two mind-attacks in one day couldn't be healthy...
"I'll tell you later," Kris muttered, feeling that she would punch someone in her frustration. "Come on, forget about Eusine and let's get back to the hideout."
"Uh, I snatched this from him," Wes said and showed that he was holding Eusine's C-Gear. "Want me to-?"
"Yeah, you can carry it," Kris said despondently. "Whatever. Let's go."
Kris stomped away, Croc following behind her nervously. Wes and Shane exchanged puzzled looks, but followed Kris anyway, with Shrew trying to keep up with everyone with its stubby legs.
"That Yellow girl sure was nice, though," Shane said cheerfully, not realizing he was getting on Kris' nerves. "Real pretty thing, too."
"I thought you were, you know, not into women," Wes grinned. "Or wait… you were one of those guys who're into both jazz and tango?"
"Hey!" Shane protested. "I can be politically incorrect too! You're from Orre, right? How's your sister doing? When're y'all gunna have them kids?"
"Shane, I'm this close to punching you again!" Wes threatened, though Shane didn't care.
"Hey, guys," Shane said, laughing to himself while he spoke. "How's this one: what do Orreans call a guy who can screw in a light bulb?"
"What?"
"A Ph. D!"
*smack*
"Ow!"
This went on throughout the whole trip through Route 43 and to Mahogany Town. Longest forty-five minutes in Kris' life.
A/N: The Document Manager is angry at me for some reason, so I had to copypaste this chapter here. Should be mostly clean of errors, but you never know when those typos creep up on you. I hope y'all like it. According to my plan, the next two chapters will be slightly less action-based and have more dialogue, character development, plot development and stuff, especially the very next one. Speaking of which...
Coming up next: Chapter Eleven - 'Live Worth Living'. Our group, which currently includes Kris, Wes, Leaf, Silver, Fernando and Shane, are sent on their big mission. They are told what to do and spend their last night on land, discussing their pasts and wondering what the future will bring... et cetera.