Chapter 14: Pursuit/Lesson Learned
Peppy: This one's not very good actually. I usually hope to get reviews but I wouldn't blame you if you don't feel this is worthy of one. The next few are going to be absolute crackers though. And they will be up very, very soon.
Pandabot: Yeah this is probably the worst chapter. And we had no motivation to write it. And it's so schizophrenic. It's just been a nightmare to write really but I finally found a way to do my angsty Silver stuff so maybe we can actually get going with this thing again. Sorry for the wait for such a sub-par chapter but it'll be worth it in the end
A heavy thud, the flash of red lights in his eyes. Heavy breathing, the sound of a desperate struggle. The floorboards groaned under the weight of the aggressors.
Silver fell to the floor with a cry, his red hair slicked across his face, mirroring the blood leaking from his panting mouth. He coughed and tried to stand, the impact of a sturdy boot knocking him to the dirty wooden floor.
"Stay down, boy" snarled Jericho, his boot planted firmly on the teen's chest. He forced him to watch helplessly as the pink demon, the relentless Clefable, beat his poor Sneasel into submission. The feral grin of satisfaction as the ice-type fell to the floor, a puppet without it's strings, a trembling mess.
At a nod from his master, the Clefable lifted the pokemon by the throat, restricting his breathing to a mere gasp. Silver's eyes widened and he attempted to push the boot from his chest, only for the offending footwear to press authoritively on his own neck.
"You failed me, Silver."
The tone of Jericho's voice, in contrast to the deadly situation, was oddly bored; almost as though he was performing a particularly tedious job. Silver attempted an answer, spluttering past the pressing boot, his eyes still locked on his beaten Sneasel. The boot pressed a little harder,
"I'm sorry, did you want to 'explain', Silver?" Utter disdain filled Jericho's voice as his gaze switched from Sneasel to the boy, a sneer crawling across his features. Silver pushed weakly against the boot, desperately trying to breathe.
Jericho sighed heavily and finally relented, nodding to Clefable as he did so; the thud of Sneasel landing was echoed by a sudden gasp of air from Silver. The man walked away from Silver, approaching the tapestry hung over the door in the ruined dance hall.
"I suppose it was a bit harsh...asking you to face her so soon" he mused, staring up at the illegible tapestry, deep in thought. Silver, determined to look strong, pushed himself shakily to his feet, answering in a scratchy voice,
"What was that thing?"
Jericho made no sound as his Clefable joined him, standing just behind his left shoulder. The silence stretched on. Silver trod silently over to his beaten Sneasel and knelt next to him, studying his injuries with practiced eyes; a small bag thudded next to the pair, making Silver jump.
"That will wake him. I want him up for what I am about to say."
Silver pulled the bag over and peered inside; a strong scent attacked his senses. He blinked the tears away from his eyes. Holding the bag under Sneasel's nose produced almost the same result, the dark and ice hybrid snapping back into conciousness. A dark voice brought both of their attention over to the door,
"What that thing was is none of your concern, boy. I was merely hoping to save myself the effort by sending you."
Silver got to his feet again, Sneasel now in his arms; it was times like these that he wished he had a pokeball for the dark-type. Jericho continued, almost seeming to speak to the tapestry hung high above,
"...The theatre has always fascinated me, you know. The hero on his difficult quest, hampered by the evil that opposes him. The lessons we learn, the time we spend, the story that unwinds; they all entrance me."
Silver stood uneasily behind the tall man as he spoke aloud, musing his thoughts.
"And always there, a constant of a good story, are the partners that help the hero through his quest. I thought perhaps that you were one of those, boy; a partner to help me through my own show. But now I know." He turned from the tapestry and frowned at the boy,
"I want you to go to Olivine City. There, wait until the world goes mad and bring the demon down."
Silver, glad to finally have an excuse to leave (regardless of how cryptic his task was) quickly strode from the dance hall, cradling his injured pokemon. Jericho turned back to the tapestry, eyes alighting at the top, where he knew his target had once been stitched,
"Soon, my friends"
Treecko landed easily on the next branch, glancing back to the following, exhausted humans as they struggled through the stagnant swamp below. Why they had not joined him in the trees was beyond the pokemon but he was bound to the largest human, the one with the hand covers, by his mother's decision. Who was he to question them?
The forest felt like home as he felt the rough bark beneath his feet, smelling the clean breeze rustling the leaves. He leapt ahead again as the group of humans reached him, the smallest human speaking as he rubbed his eyes, his head cover bobbing awkwardly.
"How do we even know that we can trust this thing?" the human snapped angrily. The tallest human threw his hands up in exasperation, drawing a calming hand from their companion,
"Alex, did you miss the fact that Celebi asked us to raise him? That's a pretty big deal!"
The Treecko watched the group, carefully listening to their conversation now that he knew they were talking about him. The first human scoffed aggressively,
"And why exactly did Celebi do that? Where the hell has she been all these years?"
Treecko's eyes narrowed at the human's accusation, an almost silent growl twisting his face into a snarl; How dare you. The taller human snapped back an answer, the argument quickly escalating into the pair shouting at each other; centered around the Treecko who stood poised in the trees.
The wind gusted, momentarily drowning out the human's voices as he listened to it; a skill his mother had taught him. He frowned at the unfamiliar scents and sounds on the wind. The wind died down and the Treecko realised the forest had become silent; as it was only when the sounds were gone that one realised that the forest was never silent. He leapt to the ground, landing lightly on a log before the arguing humans and snapping a command for quiet.
"Treecko!"
The humans immediately stopped and looked at him in confusion; a rustle split the silence. The group froze as a human stepped into sight, his scent suddenly familiar; alongside the glowing green eyes. Mother?
The three humans watched cautiously as the human dressed in black (the black only broken by a shape-word on the chest in red) stumbled stiffly into the swamp. He stood for a second, wobbling slightly, then, like the puppet he once found in the forest, he dropped to the ground limply, sinking slowly into the swamp.
The angry, small human with the grey head cover yelled an unfamiliar word (Row-Ket?) and the humans began to run away from the human. The wind carried a voice after the group as Treecko leapt back into the trees, chasing the stumbling humans.
Team Rocket has entered the forest. Run.
The dirtied teen stumbled through the night, trailed by a stoic Croconaw carrying the limp body of his only friend in the world. A cough caused a hot flare in his chest, the bruised ribs crying out in pain; he ignored it, a snarl locked fiercely on his face. A metaphor to his mood, the stark grey clouds finally gave in the struggle, allowing the rain to pour on the group below.
It was in this downpour that Silver and his pokemon companions entered the Ecruteak City Pokemon Center, drawing a horrified gasp from Nurse Joy as she beheld the injured Sneasel in the Croconaw's arms. She snapped an order to a nearby Chansey and turned a furious gaze on the red-headed teen; her gaze froze as she saw the bruises and blood on his face, the bruising already turning an ugly purple.
Silver looked into her deep green eyes, suddenly exhausted. She approached and spoke, but at that moment his eyes unfocussed and he fell to the ground in a heap. Nurse Joy rushed to him as her Chansey whisked the injured Sneasel away into an operating theatre; a flash of light and an Arbok slithered behind the rushing pokemon, slipping into the medical room silently.
At a soft, hesitant look from Nurse Joy, Croconaw bent and lifted his master from the floor of the Center, following the kindly woman to a set of narrow stairs hidden next to the counter. As suddenly as the quiet had been broken, it descended again, only the sound of the rain and the faint buzzing of computer equipment filling the silence.
The gasping trio emerged from Ilex Forest, the brown sludge of the swamp clinging to their legs and shoes. Alex immediately began to dig into his pack, turning away from his companions; Lyra bent over, hands on her knees, panting heavily.
"You think we lost them?" she asked in between gasps of air. She waited for JT to answer for a long moment, finally straightening up irritably.
Oh. Wow, she thought as her eyes fell on the rolling hills of Route 34. The sun was shining, lighting the green hills perfectly; off to the left was a series of hills that gave way to gravelly scoria. A winding road cut through the countryside, heading north; it was an odd juxstaposition to the dank depths of Ilex. Treecko stood seperate from the group, his eyes closed, basking in the sunlight. Alex's voice interrupted their quiet study with a sharp tone,
"Come in, Homefront. This is Alex, come in."
A long pause ensued, followed by a burst of radio chatter, inaudible to the awkwardly standing pair but apparently decipherable to the focussed boy.
"Understood. What about the wheels?" Alex tilted his headand stared at the ground beneath his feet, missing the raised eyebrows between JT and Lyra. Another burst of chatter and Alex nodded, his nod weirdly similar to Blue's.
"Roger that. Alex out."
He slipped the comm device into his pack and withdrew another pokeball from its depths. JT siezed the opportunity to speak,
"What was that all abou-"
"RRRROOOOOWWWWWW!"
JT stumbled back over his words. Alex's Fearow rose in a rustling storm before the trio, shrilly announcing its freedom. Alex hooked a leg into its plumage.
"Are you going somewhere?" gasped Lyra. The blond-haired boy turned to her.
"I'm afraid that's the life of Blue and his boys, Lyra. I won't say it hasn't been needlessly uneventful however." JT and Lyra slipped each other a sheepish look.
"The surrounding hills are full of caves. You two are to make your way to some shelter where you will wait. Someone will come for you. Good luck."
JT and Lyra were brimming with questions but in a flourish Alex had whipped his pokemon's broad wings to a patter. Lyra rushed and tugged at his trouser leg.
"How long will we be waiting for? Who's coming for us? What if the Rockets get us first?"
Alex answered shortly, "I don't know, I don't know, and don't worry." He glanced down and grimaced a comforting smile for Lyra as JT joined her side. A second later, he and his Fearow had kicked off into the low lying clouds, leaving the stalwart pair staring after him.
The light pattering of rain on the roof of the center was the only discernable sound, his brain too used to the buzz of computers to take any notice. The red light over the medical center glowed softly, lighting his face as he sat despondantly on a bench near the door.
Another disappointment, another person he couldn't trust. A cycle of self-hatred and fear circled his thoughts as he silently watched the door; he was just able to make out moving shapes beyond the frosted glass. Silver supposed he should be used to it by now, used to the feeling when someone turned on him, but this time was so abrupt, so violent. He sneered to himself,
Of course you can't trust him. He's a mercenary. True but Jericho had been one of the few to ever show the teen any kindness, such as it was. He shook his head,
And look where that got you. He let his head thunk back against the wall, the red hair falling away from his face, exposing the healing bruises; it turned out that Nurse Joy knew a thing or two about humans too.
I have to go. Jericho would likely kill him if he didn't go to Olivine City and do what he had been ordered to do - whatever that turned out to be. He had always been cryptic but this last instruction was ridiculous.
Maybe Jericho was going mad?
He supposed it was irrelevant if he was or not; to ignore Jericho was suicide right now. The light above the medical center flickered, drawing his attention back to the room.
Sneasel. The dark type had never taken a beating like that before, never been so helpless, so unable to defend himself. Silver had never been so scared for him, forced to watch as that thing unleashed on him. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes,
Never again. He heard thumping footsteps and the sound of a door opening quietly. He cracked open an eye to see his Croconaw lumbering towards him, leaving its station near the door to the pokecenter; his Arbok slithered quietly from the medical center, apparently chased out by Nurse Joy or her Chansey.
He closed his eyes again as Croconaw lowered its weight onto the bench beside him, his scaly side touching his shoulder gently. Arbok slithered around, wrapping its body around Croconaw and laying his head on Silver's lap gently, hissing quietly. The hissing stopped as a gloved hand dropped gently onto the back of the serpent's head.
Never again.