This will be a shorter chapter than usual. Enjoy!
Chapter twenty-five: A Pleasant Breeze
The sound of a jeep can be heard at the edge of the infamous Viridian forest. It's almost within the outskirts of Viridian city. It is just before dawn: still dark but with some colors of red, orange, and light blue over the horizon. Very few birds are chirping in the surroundings as well as several crickets, and they soon become more noticeable after the jeep comes to a complete stop and shuts off. One human, Km, driving the machinery looks to her right.
"Okay kid…get off. This is as far as I'll take you. You've got several miles to walk before you get into the city."
The child, Rigel, looks at the adult with surprise, "What? There's no way we're walking in this darkness and I'm not letting you guys go off easy…after everything you did to Orion and me!"
"Get off!" Km shouts.
"No!"
"I won't say it again, punk!" Km takes out a pistol from her holster and points it at the young teen. Orion and I, Lucas of course, try to intervene but both humans continue with their arguing.
"You won't try to shoot me! My Pikachu will-"
"Kid…if I shoot you right now, you won't be able to say shit for the next twelve hours…and a Team Rocket patrol will find you…now get off!" She shoots her gun toward Rigel and us but it misses since it was more of a warning shot.
Orion begins charging electricity in retaliation but Rigel stops him after looking at Cy, who is still unconscious from the tranquilizer, "Alright, alright!" Rigel steps out of the jeep just after I climb on his shoulder. Orion steps out as well, but is almost thrown out because Km suddenly pressed on the accelerator and swerved into another road nearby. The jeep then disappears in the darkness and the sound it makes eventually fades away too, replaced once again by the sound of crickets and birds from inside the forest.
"You'll pay! Sooner or later!" Rigel shouts angrily toward the dark road. He sighs, "Don't worry guys…we'll get them next time…" He takes off his bag and checks for supplies, "It's good that she got us out of there…but her and that grunt were the cause of all of this…" He finds nothing inside the bag.
Rigel stands up and looks at me and then down to Orion, "Well guys…at least we're near the city." He and Orion begin walking down the hilly road leading to Viridian City while I hang onto Rigel.
At first, there's silence from all of us, but I break the silence by saying, "We're…finally outside the facility…" I say.
Orion and Rigel look at me. Rigel simply looks away since he can't understand me but Orion responds, "These two weeks have been the most intense for me."
"And me." I retort.
Silence fills the air before Orion speaks again, "I didn't think I would ever get out and see Rigel again…until I became partners with you. We did a lot because we worked together. We overcame so many obstacles and we managed to escape…twice!"
I look down at him again, "Yea, but Team Rocket may still be at large, even if their 'research' base and Outpost have been destroyed."
"Yea I guess so..." Orion retorts before it gets silent again.
"So…what are you guys talking about?" Rigel asks, but of course we can't answer due to the obvious language barrier between us.
Rigel looks at me, "Must be cool to talk to Orion. I mean…you do understand him after all?"
I nod.
It gets quiet again and a few minutes go by; we are then greeted by a welcoming sign. Orion gets my attention and points to it.
"Lucas, that says…City…right?" Orion asks.
"Yup." I answer.
"And the other one…I forgot." He asks.
I say, "Viri-"
"We're finally here, Viridian City!" Rigel interrupts, shouting with joy, as Orion smiles.
"Oh…that's right! Viridian City!" Orion says in response.
"It's about time we left the forest. It's good to be back!" Rigel jumps in the air with joy. Orion does the same and jumps in the air happily. I decide to smile as well after seeing the two express great feelings of relief.
"It's good to see buildings! Especially ones that aren't filled with plants."
My thoughts exactly.
"Let's not waste any time, we'll need to head over to the Pokémon Center to get you guys fixed up."
"Let's go!" Orion shouts with happiness. He runs ahead of Rigel and gets on the nearest sidewalk. The human trainer follows the Pikachu, "Alright Orion…you can lead the way!" He laughs, "I hope you know where it is!"
I take a deep breath and exhale: after two weeks in a huge forest, I'm finally back in the urban world. I can finally put everything that has happened to me to rest…for now.
…
After crossing through several streets, stores, and police Needlebots, we reach what appears to be the Pokémon Center: which is located in the heart of the city. We cross through an empty bicycle lane, which is surrounded by tall buildings on both sides, leading toward the Pokémon hospital.
Orion and I smile happily, looking left and right, at some of the things we're both glad to see again: glimpses of urban landscape.
Reaching the end of the bicycle lane, I suddenly gasp in horror at what I see: half of the Pokémon Center has been destroyed.
"What happened here!?" I shout.
Orion looks at me, as he walks, and says, "There was an incident here a few weeks ago…the last time we were near here, people said Team Rocket tried to take all of the Pokémon in there."
I look back toward the building to see that it's currently being rebuilt. We take a stairway to get to the main entrance. Above us, the letter P, in red, can be barely seen on the roof.
"I wonder if it's open…" Rigel says to us.
We make it to the front door, which moves to the side as we walk towards it and we enter inside the Pokémon Center, "Thank goodness." Rigel says.
Inside the building, it is bright from the numerous lamps that are suspended on the ceiling on one side and lamps on the ceiling themselves on the other side. Most of the green tiles on the floor are cracked or currently being fixed. Blue tarps cover several gaping holes that now appear on the walls while white tarps have been suspended on one part of the ceiling, to prevent rain water from getting in. Around us are several Pokémon trainers, some are sitting on the floor, some are sitting on chairs, and some are leaning against the wall.
Rigel and Orion head to the center of the lobby to speak to a woman at the reception desk. She has pink hair and appears to be the only person working at the moment.
"Hello! Welcome to the Viridian Pokémon Center! I apologize for the construction going on and-" She stops midsentence after she sees me and Orion.
"…it's fine." Rigel breaks the silence while he takes out a Poké ball and aims it at Orion. He then calls the Pikachu into the ball and gives it to the woman.
"A Pikachu." She says softly while holding the Poké ball, "I haven't seen one of them since…"
"Is there a problem?" Rigel asks as he takes out two more Poké balls and hands them to her, "That should be it."
The woman closes her eyes and shakes her hands in distress, "Oh no! No problem at all! We'll just be sure not to put him anywhere near a Koffing…it's for safety reasons." She takes the other balls and places all three on a tray on the counter of the reception desk.
"Um…alright." I say softly.
Rigel then looks at me, "Oh wait! Lucas." He grabs me and I begin to thrash about violently, "No wait! Not another Poké ball! Please!" I shout.
"This Pikachu doesn't belong to a trainer." He says as I continue my attempts to break free.
"Not to worry." She responds, "Poor thing is shy of Poké balls, and that is understandable." She begins typing into a computer, "I need a stretcher for a small Pokémon." She talks into a microphone that is placed next to the monitor.
In less than a few seconds, a door to our right opens and two Chansey's come out, both bringing in a stretcher bed. They stop next to the reception desk and the woman gestures Rigel to hand me over to her which gets me to squirm around even more.
"I'll take him to Intensive Care and see what we can do to help him." She places me on the stretcher as I try to escape.
"Please calm down, you'll be fine." She says as she and the two other Pokémon take me to another area of the hospital. Rigel stays behind and decides to sit on a chair near the entrance to wait.
I am placed inside a room. There was a heart monitor displayed to my left. The woman, or nurse, then places soft pads, on cables, all over my body. She then connected the cables into an electrocardiograph. After that's done, she turns on both machines and examines my vital signs. As she does, I can see a full-body mirror facing my direction. This is the first time I can see my reflection since being in the TR base: numerous bruises cover my entire body, which are being treated by the nurse, as well as several bandages. Thus, I begin to calm down considerably, yet I continue to resist, since the last thing I need is someone to stab a needle into my neck again. But then, she takes out a clipboard and starts writing down on it, "You appear to be healthier than most of my patients, please get me a potion, 200mg." She directs one of the Chansey's.
…
Some time passes by before the doors to the right of Rigel open again. As soon as they do, Rigel stands up and runs to the stretcher, where I am on.
"Is he alright?" Rigel asks the nurse.
"Better than before. The potion should help him recover. He will need plenty of rest, however."
"Good, thanks for helping him."
"Our pleasure!" The nurse smiles before she picks me up and hands me over to Rigel; I immediately migrate to his shoulder. A Chansey then arrives with the tray holding Rigel's Pokémon. The nurse takes the tray and gives them to Rigel.
"Your Pokémon are fighting fit!" The nurse says.
"Thanks!" The young trainer shouts before heading towards the exit. I look to my left and I can see several phone/Pc outlets all lined up against the wall. Two things form in my mind: my family and Jennifer.
I grab Rigel's shirt and I point to the outlets. The human looks at them, "You want to call somebody?"
I nod.
"Alright then." He takes me to one of the computers and he sets me down on the desk. He takes the phone and holds it in front of me, so I can dial the necessary numbers. I do so…and I wait while Rigel holds the phone next to me.
"Do you-"
Click
Hello…you have reached the Bright's…we're unable to come to the phone right now…leave us a message and we will gladly return the call as soon as we can!
After hearing the sound of my mother over the phone's speakers I grab the large phone and say, "Mom! It's me, Lucas! I'm sorry I haven't called in a long time but I've been in this place-"
"Lucas…" Rigel interrupts me as I look up to him, "…whoever you want to talk to…they won't understand you."
I look down at the ground in sadness, "How did I forget…what am I going to do…"
Silence takes over for a few moments before Rigel asks, "Would you like me to leave a message?"
I think about it: if I do manage to tell Rigel what to say to my folks, they'll think he's crazy or he's the culprit…I'd rather try to tell them myself…in person. I shake my head to him.
"Alright." He places the phone back on the wall, "Let me guess…that was a relative?" He asks before I nod in response.
"Look Lucas…I don't know how we're going to fix this, but I swear that we'll find a way to turn you back into a human." He gestures me to jump on his shoulder, which I do. Rigel walks away and heads once again to the exit.
We leave the building and we are greeted by the sun, which is hovering just over the city's skyscrapers. Rigel takes out a Poké ball and withdraws Orion, who then stretches his arms, "Wow! I feel good as new!" He says to us.
"Same thing." I add, "Thank goodness they didn't put me inside a Poké ball." I say to myself.
"Well guys, it's time we get to my house." Rigel says before turning to me, "It shouldn't be too far away."
We start walking down the staircase to go back to the bicycle lane.
"Yea…I miss home." Orion adds as he jumps down every step.
"Home…" I say to myself
My parents…even if I convince them that I'm their son, how will they react when they see me? The first thing I was going to do when I got to Kanto was to visit my parents in Pallet…but obviously that all changed. What must they be thinking right now? They must be worried sick for me…and Jen…Jennifer…I didn't keep my promise…
We've finally left the forest; just like we had wanted to, but now what was I going to do? Does this mean that I'm going to stay as a Pikachu for the rest of my life? Rigel said earlier that he was going to help me, but how can he help me?
Then I remember…Bill? Is that his name? Maybe he can help us.
Suddenly, a small gust of wind hits us. It's a pleasant breeze that makes the fur on my body move around gently. Strangely, it is able to calm me down because I feel peace…relief…as if a new adventure has begun for me.
I'll somehow fix all of this: I just can't lose hope. I'm finally out of the forest, out of Team Rocket's grasp. This may not be appropriate, but I guess I'll stick with Rigel for now. It can't be any worse than being locked in a cage. We walk through the city in hopes that the worst is now behind us.
End of Vol. I