"I said I'm sorry!"
"I don't wanna hear it." I reply spitefully. I was mad, understandably so, justifiably so.
"It was an accident! An honest mistake!"
"You tore my intestines apart!" I attempt to spin my wheelchair around and fail miserably. So I simply crane my head as far back as I can so that I could look him in the eye, and shoot him an eyeful of daggers.
My victory night in the hotel turned into a trip to the emergency room when I went catatonic after Kyle was through with me. The nerves in my waist were ripped apart and my tail bone had broke. If I lived in anywhere aside from the IN, I would've died. I would've been like that pornstar who died because she fucked a horse. Not an okay at all way to die.
Apparently, Kyle were one of those trainers who took an... ahem, penis enlargement program, for the goal of capturing some of the larger moemon.
...It certainly cheered me up when I found out Kyle wasn't large from natural means, but I was still a fair bit upset.
"I have to wear a diaper because of you! You put me in a coma for weeks-"
"-A week, just one."
" I don't care. The doctors had to reconnect my nerves one by one! I could've been disabled from the legs down! Do you, pray tell Kyle, have ever heard of that magical thing called lube? You do know humans aren't quite as flexible as moemon right?"
"...You're fine aren't you?"
His blatant disregard for my well-being, how easily he just shrugs it off... It disturbs me so.
I sigh. I just can't win can I?
"And don't tell me you didn't enjoy it. Because you so did."
...
"I actually have to congratulate you. Even most masochists wouldn't have gone as far as you did."
...
"You're like, a super masochist."
...
"You should be proud Therian!"
...I decide that I've heard enough and roll myself away.
xxx
I release my team back the second we go past the Oreburgh Gate. The second my team were out, Rocky goes to wheel me away from Kyle, whereas Slick glares daggers at him.
As fond as the two of them were to causing me physical, mental, and emotional pain, they draw the line at making me comatose. When all is said and done, I'm still their trainer y'know.
Speaking of my team, I had to spend a month in the hospital because of Kyle glare. And in that time, Rocky learned to wheel me around without smashing into walls, while Slick worked on healing his broken ribs from Roark's fight.
The doctors said my legs will fully heal by next week. I can already walk now, but they said I should take it easy until next week. My... ass is also fine, but they say I have to wear an adult diaper for an indefinite amount of time. You can imagine I wasn't happy about that.
...But the doctors said they made my... anal tract more... flexible. To avoid anymore situations like these. Apparently, a shockingly high number of trainers also share what I experienced (though I was one of those few whose cause was a human). A-And that I'm free to engage in... my interests when I'm good enough to take off the diapers. A-And that lumineon are known for their length.
...I have mixed feelings about that.
Anyway, back to the story. Now that we- I have Oreburgh's badge (Kyle said he fought Roark while I was in a coma and lost hard. He says he'd rather try his luck at some other gym than try again), the next closest town with a gym is Canalave. But to get there, we would have to double back to Jubilife, and then take a boat to Canalave. So that was the plan.
As expected, the road from Oreburgh to Jubilife was uneventful. After having fought a freaking onix, the occasional small shinx or bidoof were jokes. We weren't attacked by anymore luxio, they were quite rare afterall. We did spot a luxray in the distance once though, but he was more keen on hunting on fatter prey than humans and didn't find us worth the trouble.
...Thank god. I don't think we'd be able to fight off a freakin' luxray!
As expected, it was nigh impossible to reach Jubilife in a day. Two at least, three if you take it slow. So we had to break camp sometime after nightfall. Still, my team wouldn't let me get withing three meters to Kyle. I tried to stretch my legs a bit in the tent, they felt stiff, but they didn't hurt or anything.
A little bit later, I figured it was a good enough time as any to cook dinner. So with the help- who am I kidding? I still had to set everything up myself. The stoves, pots, boards, tables...
To the disagreement of my team, I let Kyle come over to my side of the camp to eat. I was still mad, but I'd feel guilty if I didn't do this.
"...I still can't believe you bring all this stuff." He says, pausing to eat a very simple stew I made. "What kind of trainer are you?"
"A civilized one who would isn't too keen on living off of beef jerky." The very idea made me feel nauseous. Dry foods and military surplus rations all the time? No thanks.
"...You could always live off the land you know."
"True, but I'll still need all this equipment to cook the things 'land' provides for me."
Kyle shakes his head in disapproval, "This just seems... wrong." He says.
"Your opinion doesn't matter." I reply firmly.
While I de-materialize some more foodstuffs to return to my hammersack, I note their expiration dates. Edibles stored inside can still go bad, especially the stuff that need to stay cold. I'm still so glad I got mine for free, ones as good as this one must cost a sizable fortune.
Just as I was just about to stuff a half-finished chocolate bar into my gauntlet, Kyle's meowth girl latches herself onto my arm and purrs affectionately whilst keeping her eyes trained on the sugary treat.
...I forget whether or not meowth can digest chocolate, so I don't take any chances and beam the chocolate away without anymore negotiation.
At that act, Kyle's meowth shoots me a shocked, hurt look. One that far, far surpasses Rocky's best attempt by a light-year worth of distance. A look that would give even the puss in boots a run for his money,
"...M-Maybe just a bite-"
"NO! Bad Snowy! Bad!" Kyle appears abruptly to wrestle the feline away from me. "Don't let her eat chocolate Therian, she'll vomit it back out all over your favorite sneakers!"
...That sounds like the voice of experience. But that's not what really caught my attention,
"You named her Snowy?" I ask skeptically. Flare was a perfectly good name, albeit a bit feminine for a flaming monkey, but Snowy?
"Yup! Because her fur is white as a blanket of fresh snow!"
...
...
...
Urge to snark... Rising...
xxx
Back in Jubilife.
The plan is to hitch a boat ride to Canalave. And to do that, we obviously have to stop by the docks at the beach just west to the town.
But on our way there, we were stopped by a smallish crowd gathered around a short stage where a group of white clothed people were standing on. A bit closer and I could tell that most of them wore the same clothes, all white shirts that go all the way down tot the knees with no ornaments aside from a single button on the chest. One of the white-clad guys were already on a podium making some kind of speech.
"...We of the MVM aim to bring peace to Sinnoh! To return the people back to the path of righteousness!" The guy says. Apparently, me and Kyle had missed a part of their speech. I didn't particularly care to listen though, neither did Kyle. Rocky though, stopped wheeling me for a second to listen, I doubt she really understood what the guy was talking about, she probably just stopped to marvel at how loud the dude's voice was.
...Explaining to her what a speaker is sounds like a pain.
"We should keep going," I urge her with a nudge.
"...Yeah, I agree." Kyle adds, putting a hand over Rocky's back and pushing her forward. She wasn't too fond of Kyle touching her apparently, seeing as she slaps his hand away immediately.
..Before proceeding to kick him in the shin.
Kyle's pained roar was loud enough to turn the heads of most of the crowd. Even getting the speech giver to pause in surprise.
...Everyone's stare made me feel quite uncomfortable. More than quite really.
I may have pissed my pants a little.
While I froze up under the eyes of all the people, Kyle was too busy holding his terribly injured shin to notice all the eyes. But then the crowd finally (not fast enough) lose interest in our little debacle and turn their attention back to the speech giver.
"...L-Let's just go already." I plead.
And we finally move past the mass of people. But before we leave the area completely, a girl manning a stand hands me a brochure. I figured it would've been rude to tell her no, so I take it.
While we were on our way to the docks again, I skimmed the brochure.
It was about that group giving the speech. The 'MVM' group, an abbreviation for the Moral Values Movement. The name of the group itself sounded dubious at best, but I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and kept reading.
MVM was an ideals party aiming to 'inject morality into the people', or so their tagline says. They claim to say that the IN has 'tread upon a path that deviates from righteousness'. They talk a lot about how 'corrupted' the IN was, giving examples of how the public was making a 'perverse mockery of mother nature' by the mass-production of anti-aging drugs, or how society was becoming too reliant on 'hedonism, consumerism, and heretic arts', whatever the hell that means.
It all read like a load of conservative bullshit to me. I was just about to crumple the thing right before I saw that they had a section on moemon as well.
...This ought to be a doozy.
And a doozy it was. For the 'Morals Bullshit Movement' felt that moemon were foul demons that had somehow originated from freakin' hell to bring about humanity to their damnation. And that was just their opening line!
They also went to go on how barbaric moemon battles were, how we were all mad because we were committing bestiality with moemon, how they were gonna bring about the apocalypse, and yada yada yada.
Some of the topics they talk about were pretty sensible to a point, but their reasoning and logic on how they analyzed said topics were flaky at best.
I couldn't handle reading it anymore before I decide to rip the brochure apart.
"What a load of conservative bull." I say, letting the shredded remains of the brochure to be picked up by the wind.
"It can't be helped." Kyle interjects out of nowhere, "The IN is a country founded only a hundred years ago, and claimed unofficially by some one guy. Next thing you know, they discover moemon, this guy starts making money, immigrants start rolling in, and before you know it, the IN would evolve into one of the capitals of the world in under fifty years. Kinda like the moemon that live here, change happens fast in the IN.
"And change is hard. Harder for some more than others, some people can't even keep up with the change. They get frustrated, they get lost, and they act out. That's why groups like the MVM exist."
I stop to take in all of Kyle's words on the matter. It took me by surprise how insightful he is all of a sudden, so much more than just his typical bumbling self. But as reluctant as I was to admit it, what he said was on the spot.
"...You're actually pretty smart." I comment.
To which Kyle responds by laughing heartily. "I really am aren't I?"
...His over saturating sense of self confidence still pisses me off though.
xxx
By the time we finally get to the harbor, the place was surprisingly packed. The docks themselves were pretty empty, but the inside of the ticket booking office was stuffed.
"Ex..cuse me! Disabled boy coming through!" I say, forcing my way through a crowd.
...What? I'm in a wheelchair, are you saying I can't use that to my advantage?
My chairbound self managed to cut a few people in line by using their pity against them. But some of the more stubborn people refused to let poor helpless me cut in line.
Selfish bastards.
I couldn't trust Rocky to maneuver me through such a thick crowd, so I let Kyle take the reins. And with just the two of us, we wait in line.
...
And we wait.
...
And we wait some more.
...
Until finally!
"...What? What do you mean 'you're all booked out'?!" I asked with my voice climbing high in outrage. The pump of raging adrenaline helps keep my stuttering in line though, but I was too angry to notice that slight silver lining.
"I'm very sorry young man, but all boats have been booked for the next few weeks."
"Why the hell is that?!"
"I reckon it has something to do with the closing of Iron Island or the new ocean theme park in Canalave. Either way, a lot of people will be using our ships."
I facepalm. Like, seriously? What were the chances of two major events like that happening at the same time?!
"I suggest you either try a different boating company, or rent a private boat. But good luck on either venture, you'll certainly need it." She says with a devious smile. I reckon she's been having to deal with a lot of people bitching about this situation, and decided to take her frustrations out on little old me. That or she's just a bitter person.
"...When is the closes date for a free booking." I ask. Calmly...
"That would be three weeks from now."
"THREE WEEKS?!"
"Why of course! Didn't you watch the news? The new theme park lets you play with wailords!" She says, so much sarcasm just oozing out of her protein chute.
"WHY YOU LITTLE-"
"We understand miss, it couldn't be helped afterall." Kyle says softly, after having interrupted me by wrapping his very strong hand on my mouth.
"HMPPPRRRFF!" I say, trying to pry his hand off but failing miserably. Even though I was using both hands.
"I was just so excited for the trip..." He says sounding oh-so-fucking SAD. "Please understand miss, my little brother here recently found out that..." He trails off to whisper into something into the lady's ear that makes her eyes go wide with shock.
"R-Really? The poor thing." She says
"He... He isn't handling it very well. It's just, he wanted to go to the new theme park, before..." He trails off dramatically, and I was starting to see where he was going with this. So I stop my struggling and decide to play along.
Kyle shoots me a wink before taking his hand off my mouth. Alright take a deep breath...
"...I-I'm sorry about yelling... It's just I... I..."
Quick! Think of something sad. Think of something really sad. Just think of-
...
"I... sniff."
"Don't cry Sammy." Kyle says sympathetically. "We'll have better luck somewhere else." He affectionately tussles my hair. "...I'm sure of it." He says with faux optimism.
...
"W-Wait!" The lady interjects.
Kyle turns both of us around to face the ticket booth lady. "...Yes?" He asks.
"There is something... Our company owns a ferry, a rather impressive one usually used for long cruises. We're renting it out on account of the huge customer influx, but we charge a hefty sum for it. I didn't tell you guys since you probably can't pay for it, but if I throw in my friends and family discount for you guys..."
"Thank you miss!" Kyle cheers happily, "Sammy, thank the nice lady."
"Sniff... T-Thank you miss."
"Oh please, it's the least I can do."
xxx
We keep our facade all the way until we finally leave the building.
And then we burst out laughing. Well, kinda. Though my laugh was more hollow than anything.
Even with a fifty percent discount... The cost of those tickets...
This cruise ship better be fucking worth it,
"Oh my god! I can't believe that worked!"
"Yes. Yes it did, didn't it?" It was pretty awesome I suppose. Pretty quick thinking on Kyle's part,
"Man Kyle... You're on some kinda genius roll today." I stop right as I realize what I had just said. "Who are you and what have you done to Kyle?"
"Hah! You think I was great? You were pretty rockin' too Therian!"
"Nah... She probably bought the whole thing because she thought you were cute." I say dismissively. A bit pessimistic at the end...
"Oh come on, you were amazing back there! When you cried? Just whoa man!"
...
"I guess..."
I tried my best to hide how my voice faltered when he talked about how I cried, but he must've noticed. It was hard to miss.
"Dude? What's wrong?" He asks worriedly.
"Nothing..."
I didn't feel like talking about it. The part where I cried... I did that by recalling an old memory of mine.
...One I wish I hadn't dug up.
I...
...
"...The ferry leaves tonight right? I'm going training at the park till then."
I roll my wheelchair ahead without him. I barely had sufficient upper arm strength to push myself, but I just... I need to go. Just be alone for a while.
...This cruise better be damn worth it.
xxx
A/N: Super short chapter in which we learn absolutely nothing worth of note. NOTHING AT ALL!