Chapter Eleven - The Storm, Part 2 of 2
Pokemon Center basement, hours before the storm
Daniel was the last to put away Pita's pokéball, his capture styler, and his emergency 'Gear into a black rubber container with a white-board cover. Pita was now riding and straining his shoulder, unable to sit in her pokéball in case it suddenly overridden and damaged her from the oncoming storm. The two were in the tenth underground level of the pokémon center where the safes were for trainers' portable devices. Everyone was given a container to leave their stuff in, although some people had maybe two or three boxes instead of one to contain all their items. Daniel wrote his name in Expo marker on the box, and then added it to the pile where all of his campers' things were.
In emergencies like this, it was easy to see everyone's personalities—and how sneaky they were with carrying extra cargo.
In addition to the five pokéballs, 'Gear, chargers, and sustenance pack preservers sitting inside James's box, he also had a digital camera, e-reader, pokéball polisher, and a translating collar. Lexi had two very tiny iPods hidden underneath her chargers and pokéballs. Even Serena had brought an extra tablet to upload her camera pictures on.
He shook his head. When was it these days that mp3 and solar charger's were a survival necessity? He and Pita climbed the steps up to the lobby of the pokémon center, where as the elevator was turned off for storm reasons. When he reached the main area he found chaos, although it was expected with this generation of electronic-embedded teens.
The lobby was filled, every inch and corner with people and pokémon alike, all who were complaining that music was not blaring through their ears and they couldn't talk to people five towns over. The attendants of the 'Center were wrapping TV's and computers and other electronics in rubber tape, making the entire place look like it was a hurricane shelter.
"What are we gonna do now?" James whined. He was seated at the couches, having snagged a seat before the wave of other tenants washed in. He happily shared the seat with Lexi, who found it a little awkward to be squeezed into the seat with him. Serena was leaning against the wall and observing the world outside the window, looking for magnetic clouds. Ashka was next to her and just staring out the window too, waiting for Gerard.
"I don't know. Can't really play games without a mouse or touch pad." Lexi muttered as she absently petted her baby Deino. The baby reptile was very interested in chewing on James's shirt, and he didn't look like he minded one bit.
"There are plenty of things we can do." Daniel intervened into their conversation and sat on the low coffee table between the couches. "We can hunt...read...use our imaginations..."
Ashka scoffed at all of his options. "Imagination? What do we do that?"
Daniel looked back at her, grinning like he could see right through her. "Oh come on, I'm sure you guys have pretended to be princes or princesses once in your childhood. When you don't have an iPad to think for you, you make up your own games."
"Only street rats and poor kids do that." Lexi whined. "I'm not saying I'm rich or anything...but it's pretty hard NOT to find a free TV somewhere."
"You can program the robots to show old movies if you know the code." Serena added. The ghostly grin on her face implied that she had experience in this area.
"You want to know what kids did back then, a millennium ago when they didn't have computers to always think for them?" Daniel said, pushing Pita off his lap when she tried to climb aboard, "They played games that they made up. You know an old one? Hide and seek."
"...You want us to play...Hide and seek?" Ashka clarified with eyebrows raised in horror.
"This game sounds complicated..." James muttered as he rubbed his chin.
"What's more to the objective of this game, other than seeking?" Lexi asked.
It was too hard for Daniel not to laugh. "Not everything has to be complicated. Basically, we all try and hide, and whoever is last to be found wins. Usually those are the creative people who fit themselves under the sink."
"Not interested." Ashka said.
"Anything else?" Serena asked. She was now around her pokémon, interested in picking off the stray crumbs she found in their coats.
"Plenty," Daniel grinned. "But most of the games I'm thinking of can only be played in the dark. We can probably do that when the lights cut off."
"Shouldn't be long before that..." Lexi muttered. "When did they say the storm would reach us? Tonight at 6?"
"Yep, cause its over Verdanturf right now." James said. "So Mr. Daniel, what else did kids in the millennium before us do?"
Daniel paused for a moment and stared at Pita, wondering what they could do for the next few hours before the sun started going down. He was starting to miss when there were holographic games to play, like holographic monopoly. "I've got an idea..." He muttered. When he thought about it, he couldn't stop grinning. "But we're going to get dirty if we play it..."
Coming back from the festivities of ice cream pilfering in the cafeteria, Lexi was now strolling back to the lobby to ask for a manual key to her rented room since all the sensor locks were being shut down and wrapped. She was just going to sit in the room with her pokémon until Daniel came up with something else to do. She certainly didn't want her pokémon just sitting around the pokémon center to be nabbed.
"Hey, do you guys have some extra tape I could borrow? For some reason we're all out and the store is completely empty. We have all these TV's and robots we have to wrap up..."
She found Theo, the gym leader, talking to one of the front desk ladies.
It felt weird seeing him again. I guess she just assumed that he stayed in the gym 24/7.
"Hi Lexi!" Theo noticed her as he received the extra packets of rubber tape.
"You...you remember me?"
"Course I do!" He grinned. She didn't think he would, since he had so many challengers a day. Trying to put names to faces could be difficult. "You and Ashka were the toughest chicks I've faced all day! Plus...It's hard to forget a pretty face."" He ducked his head to hide his blush.
She blushed bashfully. How old was he, twenty? This felt a little molester-ish. "So umm...do you need help over at the gym? I'm kinda bored here, nothing to do...with the storm and all..."
"You want to help? Sweet!" Theo grinned and brought his head back up. "We have this whole hall of portraits that I need to hurry and tape up with rubber plastic bags before the storm comes. Would you like to assist?"
"Sure!" Lexi nodded enthusiastically. Every gym had a hall of portraits of past gym leaders, and she had always wanted to see the ones in Hoenn. In Unova, she'd been through the bug-type gym in Castelia and looked through all the pictures and holographic albums. Her favorite was Burgh with the clown-striped pants. Why did people a millennium ago wear such weird, ugly, and out-of-style clothes?
After dropping off her pokémon in her room and giving Daniel a heads up to her whereabouts, Lexi followed Theo to the pokémon gym. The walk was awkward and just a bit different because the moving sidewalks had been turned off and were covered and there was an obvious absence of robots and floating ads. The streetlights did not project pop up ads for de-aging skin cream anymore!
The two entered the Gym a few minutes later. The flat screens embedded into the walls were being taped down and the emergency lights were on. Lexi could only imagine how worst it would get when the power was really out. Theo led her into a room behind the receptionist desk and down a long, winding hallway that seemed like it went around the entire stadium and back. It ended at two steel doors that only opened on voice command.
"Not everyone gets to see these except the Gym leaders." Theo admits as the doors opened elevator-style.
"...Why?" Lexi asked. That wasn't the routine in her hometown.
"A lot of these pictures were done old school...on paper and stuff...Officials are afraid that the only record of our Gym leaders will be ruined." He said. The hallway was dark and Lexi was hesitant to step in. Would Theo lock her inside if she went? Maybe that was just that little voice inside of her talking.
"But you're a Gym leader." Lexi said, as if the title actually meant something more. "You can change the rules."
"Too much paperwork, too much voting, too much being shot down by the governor. I'm not that keen on politics, but that's what the job is besides battling. It's not as easy as handing out badges anymore." Theo said, and clapped for the lights to turn on. The way he spoke, it sounded like the job was turning out to be a burden. It was like there was more to the job than he was led on to before he was appointed. "Careful with the frames in the 2000's."
The whole room was lit brilliantly. Frames followed by frames lined the wall in three rows. The parts where the frames hung could move by touch just like a roulette wheel. Pictures of women and men, old and young, black and white, all photographed. Some of the most recent ones dating to almost three hundred years ago had video photos, meaning that a little video would play of the person in the frame. The next three hundred years of leaders had photos that, when you changed the angle of viewing, they moved too like baseball cards. Then, almost down the line of 600 years, the portraits were just plain. They didn't move, they didn't talk.
2383-2390, Hilliard Brown, Gym Leader. Specialty: Combusken.
2380-2383, Jamie Brown, Gym Leader. Specialty: Blaziken.
Further down the line, the photographs were still in color but not as vivid or crisp, and the hairstyles were even more uglier and old. Their clothes, so fascinating and bland, nothing like the present.
2110-2150, Rose Grubbs, Gym Leader. Specialty: Magmar.
2080-2110, Jacob Fidel, Gym Leader. Specialty: Rapidash.
So many years have passed, and it was a wonder to see how the world has changed. Every person took a picture with the same statue that stood in the center of town, one aged over thousands of years. In present times, it was weathered pretty bad and the town was thinking of renewing it. But if they did that, the memories would be lost. And the photo that Lexi was staring at now, the statue looked as good as new.
2001-2020, Flannery Asuna, Gym Leader. Specialty: Torkoal.
"When the end of Gym leader's term ends, does it mean they retired or that they died?" Lexi inquired curiously as Theo began sporadically wrapping the electronic frames and unplugging them.
He looked up in thought as he tied up the bag and taped it shut. "Hmm...I believe it's how long they served. Some retired, some quit, some passed the Gym down to their kids. Who knows."
Lexi shrugged and continued to look through the photos. Many of the people were so beautiful, and it felt weird to think of them as that when they're hundreds of years old. It was like calling her wrinkly mother pretty. Well, maybe it depended on how you saw people.
The lights started blinking.
"Crap, the lights are going out! Help me unplug the video frames! Those are the only ones we need to worry about!" Theo cried out. He started moving the top shelf of frames and unplugged all of the video frames. Lexi skidded down the corridor and hurriedly unplugged the frames. They dimmed from the lack of power, leaving only the default picture.
A thunderous roar echoed from the outside walls. This only made the two work faster, bundling frames into bags and taping them shut. Lexi was getting a bad feeling in her gut. And as she was expecting...everything shut down.
Without the familiar whirr of technology, everything felt empty. Silent.
"It's here." She whispered.
Lucas Taylor My 'gear and I will rough through this storm together.
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Irene Connor TURN IT OFF
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Lucas Taylor ...WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!
The entire town was covered in an eerie green glow that, if you'd been watching too many old ghost movies, could've been identified as being haunted. The dark clouds above were black as night, or more accurately, smog. Green electricity sparked around it, and so the streets of the town were completely deserted.
As the blanket of clouds past, streetlight bulbs shattered, one by one.
The covered moving sidewalks, every few feet something would blow and smoke would rise from an overloaded circuit.
Daniel was watching from the lobby of the pokémon center. It was dark, silent, and just a little cold. All of his campers were in the underground rooms playing regular old board games with other tenants of the 'Center. Every now and then a nurse or other employee would be running around with blankets, but it seemed a little extreme since it was summer and eighty degrees outside.
Outside, someone was running their way.
He'd better hurry before he catches something. Daniel thought as another loud thunder echoed throughout the walls of the 'center from outside. In almost an instant, what looked like drizzle started raining like elephants and hovercrafts. Because the doors weren't automatic anymore, the person ended up running right into the glass.
Daniel manually opened the door for the fellow ranger. At least, that's what he assumed with the uniform and badges.
"I'm looking for Daniel Bay, pokémon ranger!" The guy huffed as he shut the door from the rain. He looked like he just sat in a shower even though the rain only started a few seconds ago.
"Speaking to him." Daniel said, patting the guy's back comfortingly. "What'cha need?"
"Lavaridge station needs your help!" The guy said, quickly recovering. The motivated look in his eye gave Daniel the creeps. He continued, saying, "We need you to report to the station immediately!"
"It's torrenting out there." Daniel protested. "Besides, what can I do without my styler?" Pita, who was hanging around their feet area, nodded in agreement.
"It's urgent! Here, we'll take the underground route!" The ranger beckoned for Daniel and his Panpour to follow to the open back door behind the receptionists desk. They climbed down the basement stairwell, down the network of tunnels and rooms, and even past James and his Luxray on the way. Somehow he tagged along and started following. They reached the bottom level of the basement, level 20, where all the underground burrows were.
It was, of course, dark down here. James's Luxray then became very useful because it could shoot light beams out of its eyes, and it led the way. The tunnels were very wide, wide enough to hide most of the city. They past hundreds of people who just stared at them as if they were nuts for coming down here, even though they were down their themselves.
"So how come we're not allowed underground unless it's for emergencies?" James asked as they reached the ranger station basements. Daniel was now wishing they had an elevator as they began climbing steps.
"It's for emergencies only." Daniel said blankly.
"It also floods with lava sometimes." The other ranger admitted. James looked disturbed.
After a very, very long climb, they reached the ground level. The ranger opened the door for them, leading them into the lobby. Daniel looked outside, finding it still very wet and dark outside. A group of local rangers were clustered together beside the window and were staring albeit rudely at him.
"Is that him?"
"Yeah, I think that's him"
"Well we needed a Neanderthal to go out there"
"Yeah he'll have fun out there."
Daniel resisted laughing at them and passed by, quietly muttering, "A little louder guys, I don't think the sewage rats heard you..wait, you can hear just fine."
Daniel entered the head ranger's office as the other ranger had told him to go while they were climbing the stairwell. The head ranger was a woman, looking very experienced and tough shelled. The name on her entirely rubber-taped desk said "Rori".
"Daniel Bay!" Rori said, coming around to shake hands with him. "I finally get to meet you! Hey!"
"Hey..." He replied, barely giving much to the hand shake. "Is this important? I have kids—err—teenagers I need to supervise, since I'm part of this trek program..."
"It'll be quick!" She promised. "I need you to do a side job in this storm."
"...You're insane." He whispered. Wait, he wanted to take that back. She might tell his supervisor and get him demoted again.
"What's insane is that no one is willing to go out there except you!" She said loudly. Her voice was making him wince. "There's a whole flock of Skarmory outside of town going ballistic! Wreaking havoc! If they get into town, they could cause serious damage! I need you to go out there!"
"You have better men then me around here." He muttered.
"I'm giving you a chance to improve your rank, ranger! You should be taking the challenge!" She said. "Here, I'll give you rope! And a whistle! Nifty little thing really, you just blow into it and it makes sound..—ooh! Much like that! Hehe, fun! Yes! Now go out there, tame those Skarmory." She tossed him rolled up rope, a thin pennywhistle, and then shoved him out of the room and locked the door.
...That should've gone down more professionally. Daniel thought as he stared at the whistle banging against his neck. James, his Luxray, and Pita were staring at him across the room.
"So, what are we doing?" James asked.
"...Apparently, Skarmory wrangling." Daniel said, worriedly looking out to the storm. They'd be fine, without any gadgets. But that was the problem. Was there really more than one way to calm a pokémon without a capture styler?
Without a radar to locate the troubling pokémon, Daniel and his 'team' had to trust their instincts and follow the instructions given by Rori to find them. According to an underground radar reading that they were risking on relying on due to the storm, the Skarmory were just outside of the east gate. After that they would have to follow the sounds of wild bird caws.
The two and pokémon gathered under the canopy of a huge tree once they reached the gates of town. With all the downpour coming down it was impossible to see, unless you had goggles of some kind. Every few seconds the sky would flash white as if God himself was taking photos of everyone. Green lightning was cracking onto the city streets, but the two were already far enough from that madness not to get caught in it.
Now that Daniel was focusing, he found it hard not to notice the intense fighting sounds that were coming from behind them. Indeed, it sounded like angry Skarmory chirps, except chirping implied a small bird and Skarmories were nowhere near small. They were probably just as tall as him!
Daniel and James rotated to the other side of the tree. A few trees over there was a cliff (with railings), and they could make out the flutter of shiny silver wings and the sound of metal clanking against each other.
Last time I tried to save the day, Gerard was almost mauled by an ape. Daniel strategized in his head. But James won't stay in one spot and I might need his Luxray. Dammit, this is why I need Megan nearby..
"What's the plan?" James asked, hiding behind a tree closer to the cliff.
Daniel tried to recall Pita's moves. She knew Scald, Low Kick, Crunch, and Brine. If she tried to fight the flock at once, she would be pecked to death. If she tried to fight just one at a time, others would join in and peck her to death some more. All of his options were narrow and risky. And once the heart of the storm reached them, the magnetic fields would be at their peak, and the metal pokémon would just become more and more dangerous. It was a term that he had heard his father read in a medical journal;
Shadow pokémon.
In history, shadow pokémon were engineered in Orre and sold from there, much like illegal substances would be—on the black market. These pokémon were cold hearted, relentless machines that probably wouldn't react to what capture stylers use to tame pokémon. But Daniel wasn't working with shadow pokémon—just mentally ill ones. He wasn't sure which was worst.
"James, what are your Luxray's moves?" He asked quickly.
"Umm..." James paused, needing to think about it. "Renper's moves are...Discharge, umm...Crunch, Roar...oh yeah, and Charge Beam."
Charge Beam—yeah, that could work! Daniel beamed with the breakthrough. That move would go straight through the rain so we don't have to worry about it going out of control!—I hope.
"I'll cause a distraction, and then when they're not looking start zapping the birds with Charge Beam." Daniel said, hurrying out of the area with Pita. They slid down the hill, out of sight, and hid behind a part of the land that just hung over like a statuesque ocean wave. James and his Luxray hid behind the rail and peered over the top at the birds; they were clawing and scratching at each other, ripping feathers and metal scales. It was bloodshed in midair and nowhere near pretty.
Daniel readied the thick pokémon-designed rope that automatically hooked around like a snake would by clipping all of them to his belt loops. All were easily accessible, easy enough to whip out in case he was held by the throat. He whispered to Pita, "Now Pita, use Scald!" Pita looked back with a pout, but so she wouldn't disappoint her master she lunged into the scene. She was now in the midst of the birds but none were paying attention.
"POUUUUR!" Hot water spouted from the top of Pita's head, slamming directly into the flock of angry birds. The four of the six Skarmory turned away and analyzed Pita for a second. The biggest Skarmory cried out in anger, and then, threw a white orb that grabbed winds and rain at the blue monkey.
"Pita dodge!" Daniel cried, running out from his hiding place. Pita jumped out of the way but the spot that she escaped nearly exploded, lifting up dirt and grass. The Skarmory's swooped down and pecked at her madly. "James, now!" Daniel yelled. The remaining two Skarmories started coming at him with wings glimmering silver—
"Renper use Charge Beam!" A bright yellow beam consumed the two Skarmory, and watching them get hit from behind so close was so sickening to Daniel. As the birds fell he snapped the rope over each, securing them tightly. He quickly left them for Pita who was trying to defend herself with Low Kick. Daniel pushed through the Skarmory, trying to reach Pita, but they formed an unbreakable wall and one even pecked his shoulder. He frowned and ran up the hill, back to where James was.
James stared at Daniel as if he was nuts as he climbed over the railing. "Mr. Daniel, what are you doing!"
"Saving Pita!" Daniel yelled. He took one big gulp, then jumped off the cliff! He landed on a Skarmory and wrestled its neck as it turned its head and tried to nip at him. He dodged the metal beak and held onto its metal neck for his life. Pita had enough of the Skarmories, of the rain, of everything! She spat a boiling hot scald in the face of the Skarmory Daniel was riding.
"Skar!" The metal bird screeched.
"Yow! You hit me Pita!" Daniel seethed as he fanned his burnt hand.
"Renper use Charge Beam again!" James called as the Skarmories began to encircle Daniel. The Skarmories dodged the yellow beam that ripped past them. Daniel blew on his hand again and took rope from his belt loop, and snapped it around the Skarmory, locking in its wings!
Daniel's eyes widened. Oh crap.
He and Skarmory landed on the ground, the impact throwing Daniel off its back. He coughed and rubbed at the scratches, using the rain to watch off the dirt. There were still so many insane birds left, and he was already out of steam. He kept patting his pocket for his capture styler, but it obviously wasn't there.
"The Skarmories are getting out!" James cried, pointing at the birds tied already. One of the Skarmories wings started to shine, and then, clink! the metal ropes broke apart, and the Skarmory was free. Daniel cursed and retrieved another rope but the one Skarmory that had escaped was smart, and snatched all the rope on Daniel's belt,
And swallowed it.
"Oh come on!" Daniel groaned and ran up the hill again, Pita following. "James, make that thing use Discharge and save our skins!"
"Pokémon are not things!" James yelled angrily. It was his one pet peeve, and he was livid that even a pokémon ranger would disrespect them like that!
"Just go it already!"
"Fine! Renper get down there and use Discharge!" James said. The Luxray dashed down the hill and roared at the Skarmory. They all stopped their fighting with each other, narrowed their eyes at it, and soared over it. Luxray's eyes darkened and it crouched...
"LUX!" Lightning exploded like gunpowder and struck through the metal Skarmories. They fell like stones when the attack faded away.
Daniel sighed and gave Pita a head pat. She smiled in return. "Survived this one Pita..." He whispered.
"...It's not over..." James said in disbelief. Daniel's head flashed to the ground below where the birds formed a ring of corpses around Luxray. And one by one, they shook back to life, eyes snapping open. They all rose at once, screeching their names so loud that the rain looked like it was moving from the sound waves.
Daniel slid back down the hill and fought through the Skarmories to protect James's pokémon. "Back bird, back!" He yelled, but they continued to peck his arms and head. It was like being stabbed by the sharp edge of a butter knife, and he kept taking it like a shield.
"Mr. Daniel, look!" James pointed upwards, but it was dark out and the magnetic clouds were overhead and he couldn't see a thing. From whatever light was left, he saw a figure, a thin figure with thin fray hairs blowing in the breeze. The figure's utility belt had two neon glow sticks on the sides.
...Megan? The blood loss from all the pecking must've gotten Daniel hallucinating. He was starting to see Megan again, but he knew she was nowhere near him.
The figure jumped onto the ground and the next second it was behind Daniel, and he had to blink. It took the a neon rod, slapped it across the birds faces, and tossed it over their heads. They followed it in fascination, and the person took another item out of their utility belt. In one fast motion there was a blinking light, and then it turned into a disk, and it flew out of the figure's hand and toward the Skarmories.
It turned into a net and fell on top of the birds. It automatically staked into the ground so they were unable to escape, and when they tried to bite their way out, they were unable. The wire was pokémon proof.
"...Amazing." Daniel muttered.
The figure turned around, facing him. The neon rod remaining on its belt illuminated the space between them.
It was a woman. Blonde hair, dark acrylic green eyes. Even though she wasn't touched at all by the Skarmories, she was still dotted with bruises and scrapes. He recognized her uniform as a freelance Hoenn ranger. He wore the exact same uniform when he was a freelancer.
She took another thing from her belt and gave it to him. It was a roll up bandage.
"...Thanks." He said.
"No problem." She answered softly. She looked back to the birds who had stopped struggling. They were all very fascinated with the neon rod that lured them in. It glowed a pretty pink color.
"I'm Daniel Bay." He said.
She nodded. "My name is Ross." The way she spoke, he knew she had an accent. He just couldn't figure out where from. "Here, take this too..." She took another thing off the loop of her belt and opened it.
An umbrella.
As he stared as she placed it in his fist and showed him the proper way to hold it up.
"I will take care of the Skarmory." She whispered. Daniel held up the umbrella, just watching in confusion. She didn't use a capture styler. She didn't use anything electronic, or it would've blown a fuse in this storm. And how was she so fast? Did she run track? She was definitely younger than him, he could tell. Even though she saved him with stealth and quick thinking, he saw the fear in her eyes. She didn't have as much experience as he did.
But she still had the job done faster.
"Mr. Daniel, who was that?" James called, still in the same place. His Luxray was back with him now.
"Just ask—" Daniel pointed to an empty spot. What? Where did she go? She left already with the Skarmory, no noise or struggle. The rain was becoming lighter to the point of drizzling and Daniel closed the umbrella. He stared at it.
Yes, all that was real. He had a souvenir to prove it.
"Look at it, it's all gone." Lexi said sorrowfully from the dark pokémon center lobby, standing near Ashka who was at the couches. James was with Daniel, Gerard was missing, and God knows where Serena scurried off to. "Ashka, look at it all. The streetlights exploded, the sidewalks are smoking, and that vending machine is leaking sustenance packs! Ugh!"
"Eh." Ashka shrugged and stared at the coffee table in front of her where the e-magazines usually were. Instead, a few candles were lit. She didn't even know these things still existed.
"Eh?" Lexi repeated in disgust. "You have no feelings about everything being ruined? Everything! Gone!"
"You're being dramatic." Ashka replied calmly. "You don't need moving sidewalks or sustenance pack vending machines...You've got the legs God gave you, and you've got trees too, with real food. And if I recall, those don't short circuit from a little storm."
Lexi looked down in shame. Ashka was right, she knew it. She felt embarrassed to be so attached to necessities that could be easily compromised. The front doors beside her burst open. Serena ran in completely drenched, head to toe, with even her leather pouch-shirt dripping. She smelled familiarly of wet dog.
"Oh God, Serena where've you been? Taking a shower in the rain?" Lexi said, staring at the puddle Serena was creating.
"No...I was uh, looking for Gerard." Serena muttered, pushing the wet hair out of her face.
Ashka snapped her head around. "Why the hell would you do that?"
"Oh quit being an obsessive cow Ashka." Lexi muttered.
"I care about him too, Ashka." Serena said, ignoring Lexi's comment. "Sure, not in the romantic sense that you think I'm talking about. I care because I wanted to help you. It's obvious no one else wants to look for him." She shot a look at her and Lexi. Both looked to the floor, feeling a bit guilty.
Ashka sighed, her thoughts storming around. "Ugh, I don't know...I wanted to look for him, but we had a fight...I thought he didn't want to be found. That's why he's hiding."
"I would too." Lexi muttered. Serena shot her a look, implying that it wasn't the time for comments right now.
"We're back! Back!" A voice yelled from the basement stairwell. James and his Luxray emerged from the door behind the receptionist desk, slightly wet and dripping. "Oh em GEE! That was so exhilarating! You guys shoulda been there! The Skarmories were all WE BAD MAMMA JAMMAS and Daniel was like TAKE THIS BISH and I was like RENPER USE CHARGE BEAM! YEAH!"
"...James, what are you rambling about now?" Lexi said, rubbing her temples from trying to decode all that.
"...I don't remember." James muttered, putting a finger on his chin. "Man, that chick who saved our butts should've saved me a Skarmory. I wanted one."
"Wait, where's Mr. Daniel?" Serena asked, noticing the absence of their guardian.
"He had to go back to the ranger station to tell them what happened to the Skarmory." James said. "...Hey, who are those insane people walking in the rain?"
Everyone looked over to the window-walls. Outside two people were walking...
"...Is that Gerard?" Lexi said, turning her head.
Ashka's eyes lit up and she stood from the arm chair. "That's him! Gerard!"
Serena and James held open the doors for the two figures entering the 'center. Even without the candles, Ashka knew it was him, from his still-slicked up spikes to the drenched blue sweater he was ringing out.
"Gerard!" Ashka exclaimed, louder than everyone else who had chorused with her. She ran up to him and gave him a big squeeze, ignoring the fact that he was as soaking wet as Serena. Everyone was crowding around him, asking him where he's been and why he left. The lady who had distanced herself just smiled at their touching reunion.
"Where've you been huh?" James asked, clapping a hand on Gerard's shoulder when Ashka pulled away from him.
"Yeah! You're an idiot Gerard. Stop standing in the storms to prove you're strong." Ashka teased, lightly pushing his shoulder.
Gerard gave them all blank stares. He didn't respond; he just accepted it.
"...Anything wrong?" Ashka asked, noticing his silence.
"Who's the lady?" Lexi muttered.
"Hello." The woman said, stepping back up. The teens stepped back when they saw her. "I am Ross...a freelance ranger. I found your friend outside of Lavaridge. I came to drop him off."
Ashka winced at her accent. Orre accents were just so annoying and click-y. "During the storm?"
"...Err, things have come up. I had to return him at once." Ross gave them a respectful bow. "I must go now. Goodbye." She left swiftly, like she didn't want to be around them because it was too painful. Or maybe she felt that she didn't belong.
"Gerard, what happened?" Ashka asked.
Gerard looked up. He looked around. "...Gerard." He said the name. It felt strange on his tongue. "...Is that what I'm to be called? Gerard? The nice lady called me that too."
Almost everyone froze in disbelief.
"Someone hit their head on the way back..." James muttered. Serena quickly slapped him.
"You were aided?" Rori clarified.
"Yeah. By Ross. She's a freelance ranger." Daniel said with a nod.
He had returned to the pokémon station, and unexpectedly Rori was waiting right at the door with her foot tapping. He thought he was in trouble. Why else would she have been waiting there?
Rori was now trying to remember the freelance rangers that were stationed nearby.
"Hmm...Oh yeah, Ross. She really quiet. Has a bad back-story. I'll thank her later." She nodded to herself. "Now, the real news...you're familiar with the ranger Rodolfo?"
Daniel sighed at the name. "Yeah, I am..." Unfortunately...
"He got himself an FUI lately." She said, shaking her head at the misfortune. "Lately as in thirty minutes ago. Can you believe him? Flying under the influence, with KIDS IN THE CRAFT, during a storm!" Her voice was getting louder and louder. "He makes me so angry that I'd fire him!"
"Did you?" Daniel asked a bit too eagerly. Did she catch that? Or maybe he should be more worried that Rodolfo was caught flying a hovercraft in the middle of a magnetic storm, which could potentially damage the car mid-flight, drunk? And let's not forget that he had his campers in the car too.
"Can't, he's not in my division." Rori grumbled. "I can only suspend him. Which is what I did, in everything. He can't drive, he can't hold a pokémon, he can't hold a styler, and he definitely cannot continue herding those miscreants around Hoenn."
That meant that the kids were going home. "That's too bad for them." Daniel said sympathetically, caring more about the teens than Rodolfo. "I wish I could help."
"That's the go-getter attitude I'm looking for!" Rori exclaimed. "You can help. So when Rodolfo was arrested and his teens were brought here, the head of the agency you two work at called. He said, "Rori, split those kids onto other teams!"! And you know what, Daniel, you are perfect material!"
"...For which one?" Daniel said, regretting talking a few sentences before. He was hoping he didn't get one of the excited, annoying, or flirty ones. That sums up just all of them.
"All of them!" She grinned and opened the door to her office, where all four of Rodolfo's kids were sitting. They all looked up and stared at him, all expressions different but pretty much equal. One, horrified, one, excited, one, blank, and one, accepting.
Daniel closed his eyes for a second and tried to calm the storm more violent than the one outside.
...This will not go well.
So I stayed up to finish this...you're welcome :P It was just...CLAWING AT ME! This was the most...actiony-drama-filled chapter I think has ever happened. Thank you for reviewing, and staying with me so far! It's only going to get worst from here...
Thoughts? Tell me! :P
P.S. Sorry for the late update...All errors will be fixed by tomorrow.
