Chapter 20 - Escape
The trainer was tied tightly to a chair, his Rattata watching him from the sidelines. All the rest of his Pokéballs had been taken from him, even though they were empty. His PokéGear was sitting on the table before him, his captor flipping through his phone's address book.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me which of these people are trainers?" Tom asked, barely looking at the list as he scrolled through.
"They're all trainers, of course," he said. "We get together for battles and stuff."
"Not that kind of trainer," Tom sighed with annoyance, "the kind that belongs to a certain group. Trainers Excel. They all have the same pin as you, so it should be easy to tell." He showed the trainer the little silver pin and spun it through his fingers.
"I won't tell you anything," the trainer huffed. He wasn't going to give into intimidation. Besides, he figured that a little kid wouldn't be able to reach his level. All he had to do was wait until his captor got bored and left, then he'd get his Rattata to gnaw through the ropes.
"He's planning to escape," a voice piped up from behind.
The trainer's heart skipped a beat and he twisted around wildly, trying to see who spoke.
Latios took a few steps out from behind the chair and smiled viciously at the trainer.
"Latios, don't scare the kid," Tom said.
"LATIOS?" the trainer called out in surprise. He had heard that Latias was walking around in the form of a young girl, but Latios too?
If only he could escape, then he could take the news to the higher ups and maybe get a reward.
"Look, we'll give you the benefit from doubt," Tom told the trainer, "if you could just tell us the names of some other members of Trainers Excel or even the names of the founders or whoever you answer too, that would good too."
"Yeah, no. Not happening," the trainer responded. He was growing more and more certain that this kid was stupid. It wasn't like he was going to tell them everything just because he had been captured. They had been warned about this; that there would be people jealous of what they were going to achieve and people jealous of the power they had been chosen to wield. They'd tell lies and try to stop them, all because they couldn't attain the same level of power.
"I don't think he's going to tell us anything," Latios said to Tom.
"Yeah," Tom sighed, "I guess we have no choice but to call everyone up and challenge them all to battles. Then, we battle them and see which ones have the trainer pin."
"No offence, but that's a stupid plan," Latios commented.
"It's all we have," Tom shrugged, heading towards the door with the PokéGear in hand.
Latios followed him, giving the trainer one last glance before closing the door behind him.
Finally, the chance he had been waiting for!
The trainer looked around the room. There was only a desk, the chair he was sitting on and a window he could just see behind him. The only door seemed to be the one which Tom and Latios had left through, the one just before him.
"Come on, Rattata," he whispered to his Pokémon, "just gnaw the ropes and we'll be out of here."
The Rattata stayed put. It had been given lots of treats by the nice boy and wasn't really in the mood to do anything while its stomach was full.
"Come on, I'll give you some of those treats you like so much," the trainer tried again.
The Rattata just yawned and lay down to rest.
"You stupid damn Pokémon, I'm your trainer you should obey me, stupid," he mumbled quickly under his breath in annoyance.
He pulled and tugged at his ropes as much as he could without injuring himself, hoping that he could free himself. But, he was tied up too tightly.
"Rattata," he whined.
The Pokémon glanced over at him. Success! He had its attention.
"Please?" he begged. "Please cut the ropes."
The Rattata stretched up and waddled over. Since its trainer had asked nicely, it figured it couldn't hurt.
The trainer waited patiently as the Rattata slowly gnawed through the ropes.
Even though it only took a few moments before he was free, it felt like ages. Each second that ticked by was a second when his captors could return.
"Finally!" he cheered quietly, standing up. Finally, he understood why the higher ups insisted that they have Rattata as one of their Pokémon. He grabbed his Pokémon balls and snatched his pika-bot from the corner.
Returning his Rattata to its Pokéball, the trainer headed over to the window and opened it. While he hoped that he was only on the first or ground floor of the building, he didn't really think he would be. His heart leapt in joy to see that he was in the residential backstreets of Goldenrod where the buildings didn't reach more than two stories in height. So, it was a simple matter to climb out the window and dash down the street to freedom.
Alphonse watched as the trainer climbed out the window, let out a little whoop and dashed down the street. As he also expected, Tom and Latios (in Pokémon form this time) stealthily flew after him.
After they had caught the trainer, Tom had released some kind of gas which clouded up the underground and allowed him to escape unseen with Latios. While Latios couldn't be sensed by Alphonse and Tom had one of those charms which hid him from telepathic powers, the trainer hadn't. Alphonse had linked his senses to the trainer and followed them into this area. Using his powers, he could listen in on the conversations that the trainer could hear without getting near the small house they were using.
[So, they're going to follow the trainer to his bosses?] Shiver questioned as she dived down to him.
Alphonse jumped a little as the Pokémon landed on his head. He had been so engrossed in watching Tom and the trainer that he hadn't even noticed Shiver's approach.
[Did I just surprise you?] Shiver questioned smugly.
[Yes,] Alphonse responded as there was no point in lying to the Pokémon, [did you find them?]
He had sent Shiver out to see if she could find out where Zeannah and Lilly had gone. Her return pretty much told him that she hadn't found them.
[Wherever they are, they're not in Goldenrod,] Shiver informed him.
Alphonse sighed. He hadn't been to Goldenrod before or the surrounding area so he had no idea where they could be.
[Where's a place outside of Goldenrod where trainers like to hang out?] he questioned telepathically, but mostly to himself.
[Well, there's quite a few places,] came the reply. It wasn't Shiver who had spoken; this voice was male and harsh, like a long-time smoker.
Alphonse knew instantly who the voice was but was confused by the fact that Shiver appeared to have heard it too. Before now, none of the three had ever bothered to make themselves heard by anyone other than him.
[Who is that?] Shiver questioned, throwing out her wings and angling her body to look intimidating.
There was a deep chuckle as the Pokémon emerged from between two buildings. It was shaped like a large dog, with a cloud-like mane floating along its back. Its body was yellow, its tail was blue and it had two large teeth growing down from its upper jaw.
[Raikou,] Shiver squeaked, shrinking back.
The Pokémon, Raikou, let out a chuckle, its body vibrating along with the sound.
[Why are you here?] Alphonse questioned. He was a little taken aback that Raikou had chosen to reveal itself, instead of just instructing from the shadows.
[I thought it would be nice to reveal myself to your Pokémon,] Raikou responded.
[Consider yourself revealed then,] Alphonse responded harshly. [Now, why are you really here?]
Raikou let out a little growl which was equivalent to a sigh.
[You lost her again,] he stated, sounding annoyed.
Alphonse nodded. He had to be careful about how he responded now. Raikou would blast them with lightning if he was annoyed with them; of course knowing that Alphonse would be able to protect them. And he was the one who would do what he thought right, even if it meant he had to do something others thought wrong.
[Alphonse, you need to take this seriously,] he responded. [I don't care if you leave us afterwards; just do this one last thing.]
[What?] Shiver questioned.
Alphonse ground his teeth. He should have known that they would find out eventually.
[I haven't told the others,] Raikou informed him. [It's your choice and, truthfully, I don't really think we should interact with you either.]
[Wait, what's this about leaving? Leaving what?] Shiver squawked, flapping her dark wings for attention.
Raikou turned his gaze to the little Pokémon.
[Similar circumstances do not make similar beings,] he commented, [Alphonse is human and we, we are not.] He turned to Alphonse and added, [you know this, don't you?]
"Of course," Alphonse said. His eyes stung a little as he spoke but he was determined not to cry. Nor would he allow a tremble to enter his calm sounding voice. "But, you know that's not why I'm doing this. Ow!"
Shiver clamped onto Alphonse's ear.
[Tell. Me. What is GOING ON?] she ordered, jumping over and ducking under Alphonse's attempts to swat her off.
[Go on, tell the nice Pokémon,] Raikou chuckled.
[Once the Trainers Excel are disbanded and Latias is safe, I'm going to release you and Kadabra and I'm going to go somewhere far away, somewhere without Pokémon,] he replied, pain making his statement sharp.
Instantly, Shiver let go. She didn't make a noise after the revelation sunk in.
[That does sound like it's for the best,] Raikou commented.
Shiver glared at the Pokémon and without making any kind of noise, telepathic or otherwise, she flew off.
Alphonse placed a hand on his, now bleeding, ear.
"Ow," he commented blandly.
[Well, what did you expect?] Raikou asked.
"I didn't think I'd bleed."
[Humans, and some Pokémon, bleed,] Raikou commented, [it is the way things are.]
"You didn't need to tell her."
[I did. Because you wouldn't. Now, your reasons for this are all selfish, correct? Unlike me, you're not thinking about how Entei and Suicune will be safer or how you won't have to injure Pokémon in battles. And you're not thinking about minimising the effect you have on Pokémon either.]
"You noticed that too?" Alphonse asked. He pulled his hand away from his ear, since the cut had healed.
[Answer the question,] Raikou said, [your reasons are selfish, correct?]
Alphonse nodded.
"Does it matter?" he asked. "You said it yourself, it's better if I'm not around. My reasons may be selfish, but they're better for everyone."
[Not necessarily,] Raikou commented mysteriously.
"What do you mean?" Alphonse questioned.
[Later. You have bigger concerns right now. Like, how Latias will react if Shiver tells her about your plan?]
What felt like a blast of cold air hit Alphonse. He hadn't thought about that and he didn't want to. He could already image her heartbroken face. Or if she didn't seem to care? That hurt him just thinking about it.
[You should talk to Shiver,] Raikou suggested. [Oh, and after you patch things up, maybe try looking north for the other girls?]
Alphonse nodded and dashed off. His senses already had locked on to Shiver. All their time together made it easy for him to pick her up out of a crowd.
Shiver flew as fast as she could. She had spent her whole life with Alphonse and did care for any other kind of life; least of all one where she was a wild Pokémon. She loved having Alphonse as her trainer and couldn't understand why he wouldn't bring her with him. She felt betrayed and even that wasn't enough to make her feel like leaving him.
Spotting a splash of natural colour, she flew down and perched next to some flowers. They were tulips and wouldn't grow any tasty berries, but they were pretty.
"Oh, hello," a voice called from behind her, "where'd you come from?"
She jumped around to face the voice. A young woman stood there with a green bandanna tied across her head and a watering can in her hand.
"We don't normally get Murkrow in this city; do you belong to a trainer?"
Shiver nodded her head. Tears started to splash down her face as she added, 'for now' in her head.
"Was your trainer mean to you?" the woman demanded to know.
Shiver shook her head.
"Clever thing, aren't you?" she commented, placing her hand before Shiver. "Care to come inside?"
Shiver jumped onto the outstretched hand and took a look around. She hadn't noticed before but, it seemed like she was outside a flower shop, instead of being in someone's flower garden. She watched at the woman watered the flowers she had been standing near before walking inside.
Disclaimer: Pokémon towns and characters property of Pokémon company + Game Freak (I think). At the very least they don't belong to me. Any resemblance to existing people (living or dead) and events is a coincidence.