Todd K woke up sooner than we expected. The hobos, including Johnny and I—also practically a hobo—were deeply involved in a serious game of tug-of-war with some of the leftover rope, when he started screaming and twisting around on the ground very violently. He was furious. He immediately understood what was happening. At first our attempts to communicate with him failed miserably, and if we tried to get a little too close to him, to try and reason with him better, he would in turn try to bite our faces off while twisting and twirling around on the ground like a bug. I'll admit, at that point he looked like he belonged in the most feral and primitive kind of nature. At the same time, he was probably the smartest man I'd ever met.
"Let me go!" he growled furiously. He had completely lost his robotic voice. "You can't do this to me!"
"If that were the case, then we wouldn't have been able to do it, and yet, there you are," Johnny said, making Todd K even more furious.
"Please, don't do this to me. You don't understand! If you did, you would be helping me instead!"
"The world can't just start over like you want it to mate."
"I don't want it to start over, I want to return it to its natural state, where we can be free. Where we can once again know what real power is. Where we can once again be in control."
"That's what I'm saying, you don't get a do-over. Nobody does. Everything just keeps going, and it will do so until it ends or something else happens."
"It's just like golf. Golf is the perfect metaphor for life," a hobo added, out of nowhere.
"And, you are?" Johnny asked.
"Hey, how's it going, I'm Jon. Do you golf? I do, I love it. Seriously, it's the perfect metaphor for life. When you hit the ball and it ends on a sand trap, you don't get to start over, you don't get another ball. No, you have to go get your ball and get it out of there yourself. Seriously, you gotta try it. I love golf, I play all the time. I mean, I caddy sometimes, for rich white guys, for twenty bucks an hour."
"Well that's very cool Jon, but right now we have more important matters to attend to."
"Golf is a metaphor for life."
"Shut up Jon."
"If society hadn't been created none of this would've happened," Todd K said, once again with his robotic voice. "We wouldn't be in this horrible situation right now."
"If we hadn't been born none of this would've happened either, but sadly we came into existence, and apparently we must destroy ourselves for it… You can't change the world mate, nobody can."
There was a pause, where everybody there could feel how sad we had gotten because of what Johnny had said.
"Maybe that's true," I said. "Maybe none of us can change the world, and humans, and pokemon too, will always be complicated creatures who do good and bad things and make mistakes and hide things from each other. But at least, something I can do, is, to not let the world ruin me. And believe me, it has tried. I've been beaten down by people, by pokemon, by people dressed as pokemon; by a slightly drunk, tall and definitely attractive woman, by my own angry friend, who definitely had a reason to beat me up, and by a gang, that not only beat me up, but also peed on me. I have seen disturbing things that made me very sad, and I do wish I was still a kid so I could easily ignore this. But guess what, I'm not a kid anymore, and that's a good thing, because now, at the very least I understand, that no matter what happens to me, no matter how many awful things I see on the subway or at the movie theater, I will never give up. I will not let them ruin me."
When I finished speaking all of the hobos started clapping. First Cleaved Joe started with a slow, ceremonious clap that was seconded by Jon, and it all crescendoed into a full on celebratory fit.
"And you know what!" I continued. I had to raise my voice to cope with the clapping. "I agree with a lot of what you say. But hurting innocents is never the way. You can't bend the world to your will Todd."
There was another pause. "...Not with that attitude," Todd K said.
"Well I tried. And I even meant what I said. What do we do now?"
"We continue with my plan," Johnny said. Then he walked up to Todd K, who resumed twirling around violently. It was too much, he even managed to take down Johnny by tackling his crutches away, and the two struggled on the ground for a bit before we separated them.
"See," Johnny said on the ground. "It doesn't matter how much you want to separate yourself from society, or how much you wish to be absolutely, completely independent, and self-reliant, completely in control. It is simply impossible."
And then he opened his hand, and showed us Todd K's very old and wrinkled trainer card.
We all gasped.
"Does anybody have a phone?" Johnny asked.
"No."
"Dude, there's only hobos here."
"I have a phone!" one of the hobos said.
"No!" Todd K shouted very loud. "Whatever you do, don't use a phone!" he pleaded angrily.
"Would you prefer it if we sent a smoke signal?"
"Of course!"
"It's not practical," Johnny said. Then Severed Jaime, the phone's owner, produced an old, giant cellphone which he then handed to Johnny. "Just be careful, there's a chance it might explode," he said. "And try not to take too long. I'm serious, it's for your own good."
"Thank you, I hope his mother hasn't changed her number in forty five years..." Johnny dialed the number on the card and then put the phone by his ear. "Yes... Mrs K? I'm so sorry to bother you tonight but I have your son Todd with me. He got himself involved in a rather dangerous situation and I'm going to need you to come pick him up… Yes, yes… Oh, no, don't worry, he's fine. Yes, everything's fine now. We managed to stop him before any serious tragedy could develop… No, oh no, don't say that, this is definitely not your fault… Oh come on, don't be so hard on yourself. I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong. That's just how sons are. Yes, of course, he'll be waiting for you with his friends under the bridge on the upper west side. Cheerio." He hung up. "And that's how you deal with dangerous individuals who seek to destroy society—ideally."
Todd K stopped moving entirely. The hobos even untied him and sat him with his back resting on a pillar. He closed his eyes and lowered his head, thoroughly defeated.
I went up to him and knelt down right in front of him.
"I'm sorry Todd. I really care a lot about what you told me. I really care a lot about you. And I think you are right about some things, but I just can't let you hurt yourself like this. I just can't."
"Don't waste your life," he whispered slowly with his eyes closed.
"What?" I said. And then he raised his head and looked at me.
"Don't waste your life," he said more clearly, with his robotic voice.
Maybe you can't change the world. But you can try and punch it in the face.
I, for some reason, felt like I could leave, like I could see my mom and I could let her see me again—I knew what she would say—but, here's the thing: I just couldn't leave things as they were in Castelia. I just couldn't. Instead, I, along with the Chespin I had befriended, walked all the way back to the park in the middle of the night.
It was as dark as it could be outside, the moon was completely hidden by clouds. And it was also very cold. Most of the kids were still under the effects of the spore, in fact, all of them but one, were asleep when we got there. They were dispersed neatly all over the grass, and right in the middle of the park their prisoners were also asleep. They had Iris, Officer Jenny, Nurse Joy, and the owner of the store, each of them tied from a hand to the lamppost right at the center. At least the rope was long enough in order for them to be rather comfortable, and so they were also sleeping rather comfortably on the ground.
I just walked right to the center of the park, with my pokemon behind me. I walked casually, as if I weren't putting myself in a lot of danger simply by being near there, all the while I felt a heavy stare directed right at me. I searched for the pair of eyes which I knew were staring at me from somewhere around in the darkness, among the trees, and the tents and the lamppost, and the public bathrooms. And I found the angry eyes, as I walked. It was Jerry, locking eyes with me. Him, from outside the big tent, standing with his arms crossed, I, just walking casually. I knew he didn't have to stand still, as he was, and he didn't have to wait for anything. He could've just ended me right there, one way or another. And he knew that I didn't care.
I guess my presence had an effect on the place, or maybe it was the tangible intensity of our stare down, but regardless of what it was, pretty much right after I settled myself right at the center of the park, all of the kids began to wake up. First they started mumbling unintelligibly, and only faintly; that's how I knew they were regaining consciousness. Then they started getting up in a pretty synchronized way, some of them rubbing their heads, others wiping the drool off of their mouths, but all of them got up as Jerry continued wishing me dead with his eyes. The mass confusion only lasted a few seconds, and soon they were all alert and suspecting of their environment, which just didn't feel the same way as before. I too could notice that very well. They looked around, noticed what was missing, or rather, who was missing, and then continued searching for some sort of clue; looked at Jerry, and then, one by one, they locked their eyes at me. But they all kept silent, and so did I. I wasn't afraid, I didn't care about whether it had been a stupid decision to just walk in there or not, because I knew it was the right one. I was in full control of the situation, and the kids knew it.
"Where's Todd K?" Jebithan asked me directly.
"He's gone. He's fine, he'll be fine, but he's gone. And this is over."
"For you it is," a random kid said. And then some of the rest congratulated him for that nice comeback.
"Shut up!" Jerry said to them, "this is serious, there's no time for jokes."
"Dude, Jerry, take a chill pill bro."
"You're seriously telling me to relax? Todd K is gone for two seconds and you start behaving like this. Unacceptable. Ash, first you'll take us to Todd K, and then—and then, we'll have to kill you."
"Listen to yourself Jerry," I calmly said, "you don't know what that means."
"Try me."
"Do it then, kill me."
"What?" he said, hesitantly. And none of them moved. Instead, I'm pretty sure I could see how their faces changed, and then they were much less sure of what they were doing.
"Do it," I said decisively. "I know what you will do. You're trainers, all of you."
"And you're not, not anymore, Ass."
"But you are, and you're talking about death. It just doesn't make sense, not for you. Look at how far gone you are. You're not savages, you're not murderers. You know, because you've been taught, maybe not that well, but you've been taught."
"We know something has to be done," Archie said. "We had a good plan. We still do."
"Destroy pokemon centers, pokemarts and gyms?" I continued. "You want to go against those who have helped you during your journey—against, perhaps, the only ones who have ever cared for you. You want to destroy them using the strength that they helped you obtain. I know you want to help, but this isn't the way. Don't harm those who want to help you. Don't harm innocents at all. Don't go against the nurses, the professors or the gym leaders, they only want to see you become great. They do everything they can to help you, they do so much for you, they have food for you, don't harm them. I know the system that we have isn't perfect, but to completely destroy it isn't the way to fix it. And you know I'm right, because I'm right, and you know it."
"No. To destroy it completely, is in fact the right thing to do in order to fix it," Jerry said coldly. "It's the only way to make everything right."
"Why do you assume that you can make things absolutely right? Why do you assume that things can be absolutely good? Perfect? Nothing will ever be perfectly good, whatever that is, and regardless, you just can't start it all over; just like with golf."
"What? Anyway… Regardless of all that, you don't have the right to stop us. You can't just appear out of nowhere, cheat like a coward, take our boss away, and expect to change our minds with a nice speech. Moreover, you can't expect to leave here in one piece."
"Yes I do, and I will leave here in one piece," I said. "And yes, I am stupid enough to walk in here like this, but I am also very brave, and certain that I am right. Case and point, even after what I've done tonight, none of you have laid a finger on me or on my Chespin, because, maybe, you can sense that I am right."
"Why did you even come here? Did you think we'd make you our new leader? You know what, you're right. We know we are stupid kids, of course we don't know everything, but you're at least just as stupid as us, perhaps even more stupid."
"So what are you saying? Are you the leader now, Jerry?"
There was a pause. "Yes I am," Jerry said.
"Well, we haven't discussed that," another kid said.
"I'm probably the strongest one here, and we need to take charge if we want to continue with the plan."
"I agree that we need to do something, but now I'm not so sure if I want to continue with the current plan or not, after what Ash said," Jebithan said.
"How dare you Jebithan? Is it really that easy for you to betray Todd K? You're crazy."
"Tamed people need to depict the enemy of society as crazy, to delegitimize valid complaints against society. And by the way, in this case by society I mean this group."
"I can't believe you! You even dare to use our own words against us?"
"Words don't belong to you Jerry. Words don't belong to anyone."
"You know what I mean! Anyway! We'll do what I say, I'm the interim leader until we get Todd K back, and believe me, we will get him back. I say we carry on with his plan as it is. Or is anyone willing to challenge my leadership?"
"I am," I exclaimed. Afterwards all the kids laughed at me. Even Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny and the owner of the store, all of whom I realized were awake by then, laughed at me openly. Iris was also awake, but she didn't laugh at me.
"That was funny, but as I said, there's no time for jokes, so shut up, Ass."
"I am challenging you to a match. You cannot refuse."
"Ah, is that so? Do you fancy yourself a trainer all of the sudden?"
"I have always been a trainer. I have been a trainer for far longer than you have kid."
"You're a kid, you're an old ass kid. And I told you to shut up."
"He's challenged you to a match Jerry," Archie said, "you can't refuse."
"You too Archie? Are you serious?"
"Of course I am. We all are."
"Ah! You know what, I'll humor you Ass. Let's get this done quickly, I'll use this as an opportunity to show everyone why they shouldn't doubt my authority—my interim authority—which will become permanent in case we don't find Todd K—but we'll find him—I assume," Jerry said. And then he began marching towards me holding his chin way high up, and inflating his chest a bit too much, all the while moving his fists forward and backwards very decisively. He tried so hard that he didn't seem threatening at all, because of how funny he looked, walking like that. But I knew better than to underestimate him. I'd have never underestimated any of them. It would've been a far more stupid mistake than walking in there like that.
The kids made a path for Jerry as he walked up to me. I also began walking towards him, and the kids arranged themselves to leave us a good space to battle it out. I made my chespin step forward, he did so firmly and filled with determination—as much determination as could fit within his tiny green body. Afterwards Jerry let out a small chuckle whilst holding a cocky smirk on his face, but right after having made that gesture he realized something, he looked like the hateful idiot who always ends up losing, and so he changed his whole posture. He separated his legs a bit more and raised his right fist in front of his head.
"You'll pay for what you did to our mentor! Ash," Jerry said. And he said it with a clearly intended heroic inflection.
"Is he trying to sound more like a good guy?" One of the kids whispered rather loudly. He obviously wanted everyone to hear.
"No," Jerry replied, "I mean, I don't have to, because we are the good guys."
"You can't just change gears all of the sudden Jerry, not after everything you've said and done," a random kid said. "Honestly, and I mean no offense by this, but you don't fit the hero type to me, you know, with the name calling and the forceful way you tell people to shut up or else they'll get violence."
"Yeah, I kind of want Ash to win now," said another kid.
"Right? He only has a chespin, which he clearly just found. He'll go down after one hit, but man, he's the underdog here for sure."
"No! He's not the underdog, I am," Jerry said, with a more desperate tone. "He's a lot older and has more experience. Hey! What's happening to you, why did you seem to have a change of heart all of the sudden?"
"I don't know. I mean we are kids. And, I guess, if you think about it, it's pretty heroic to recognize your limits and your faults, and we are pretty gullible, because we are kids, and, more than that, I think it's pretty heroic to be open to hearing you're wrong about something… Maybe Ash is right, we shouldn't destroy pokemon centers."
Jerry didn't seem to react to what the kid had said. He just got more serious and then stared at me.
"Well, if Ash is right, then he should be able to defeat me to prove it, shouldn't he?"
"Yeah," the same kid said. "I guess so."
Everyone else seemed to agree, and after this Jerry nodded silently and took out a pokeball. He kissed it and then threw it towards the impromptu battlefield. A gabite came out.
"Of course you have a gabite you loser," I said, instantly tired.
"It's the best, why shouldn't you choose the best?"
"I'll show you," I replied.
We proceeded to walk in circles for a bit, keeping the same distance from one another, delineating the battlefield with our steps, all the way until we reached what we sensed was the perfect position.
"Very well then, gabite, use flamethrower," Jerry said calmly.
"Oh no! He knows how to use flamethrower?" I asked, surprised and suddenly startled.
"Yes, and Earthquake, and Dragon Claw, and Stone Edge."
"Wait!" I cried out. And then I ran to Chespin and placed myself firmly in front of him, with my arms wide open, facing Jerry and his gabite which already some embers pouring out of its mouth.
"Do you give up?"
"No."
"You just did."
"No, I'll never give up, I'll never stop. Continue your attack."
"Come on, Ash, you're embarrassing yourself."
"I don't care, I won't let the fire reach Chespin."
"You can't just walk into the battlefield during a battle, it's against the rules. You've already lost."
"Is that so, show me then. Were is it written?"
"I don't think it has to be written, since it's expected that no one would be stupid enough to try."
"Well I am."
"Of course you are."
"And yet, the battle continues, and I won't move. Go on, tell your pokemon to attack. Think of this as one of my unortodhox tactics."
"You're crazy."
"Oh, you don't say."
"Gabite…"
"Ash!" Archie shouted. "He's going to burn you, get out of the way. The battle won't be stopped just because you're trying to save your pokemon. Either give up or get out of the way."
"No. I never have, and I sure won't start today. On my first day as a Pokemon Trainer I got slashed and battered many times, by many pokemon, and I even got electrocuted by my own pokemon, a few times that day actually, each harder and more painful than the last. And no matter what happens, whether you strike me or not, I know that I will get back up again. I will always get back up again, even if it takes me some time to get up. And tonight, tonight I won't let you take me down, no matter how many of your shamelessly opportunistic tactics you throw at me. So come on, throw whatever you have at me! It doesn't matter, because I swear I'll stay standing."
Jerry looked at me stone-faced for a few seconds. "Who do you think you are? What gives you the right to do this, you idiot? You'll get a good burn for your insolence."
"Won't be my first, won't be my last, and no matter what I won't move. Call me an idiot once more, I dare you. Say I'm weak one more time. I'll stay here regardless."
"Dude, Jerry, you can't seriously still be thinking about torching Ash, right?" Archie said.
"What! Why not? He's cheating, he's a cheating coward!"
"He's a brave cheating coward, and what he said was awesome, and if you torch him you'll ruin everything he said."
"…Although," a kid from the crowd started talking, "if he torches Ash a few times, and then he falls down, but then he gets back up, and then Jerry dastardly torches him again and Ash falls down again, and this time the fire also reaches Chespin and he falls down too, but then Ash gets back up again and then Jerry starts doubting a lot, because he should, I mean at this point he'd be cruelly burning a person to death, and so then Ash wins by staying standing like he said he would, and then we take him to the hospital and stop with our plan like he wanted us to, because he managed to convince us at the expense of his well-being. That sounds cool too, I mean, we'd go with it, if that happened."
Then, after this stupid kid said this, some of the rest audibly agreed with him, and started saying it would be awesome if that happened.
"No, no, I like what Archie said better," I said, a bit scared.
"But you would get up again right? Like you said you would."
"Of course, I meant everything I said, but, maybe it's just for me but for me, I would prefer it if I didn't have to get torched and calcined in order to convince you all. Do I really have to go through that?"
All of the kids lowered their heads and started silently pondering about it.
"I guess not," one kid mercifully—although quite casually—said.
"Okay great," I said as I let out a relieving sigh.
"Wait, no. It's not for you to decide."
"Yes it is," I said. "Because I've won."
"No you haven't!" Jerry said very desperately. He put his open hands over his face very fast and it made a clapping sound, and then he rubbed his face a few times, with a rather exasperated motion. "You haven't won you cheater, why do you think you can always get your way?"
"Because I am ready to suffer, not for me, but for you. To save you, to help you. And you have to accept that there will be times where there's nothing you can do. You can't solve everything."
At this point it was obvious Jerry really wanted to say something, but at the same time he just couldn't. He had his hands made into fists, and his teeth were showing; he was probably grinding them from the anger he obviously felt.
"Look, I think I know how you feel," I said more calmly. "I wanted to save the world, I wanted to change things, to make them better. But there's no way that's ever going to happen. The world will never change, evil will never go away. Things will never go back to the way I want them to be. And what's worse, you can't change it, but it can change you, and it's so easy for it to ruin you. You have very little to defend yourself with. That's why I stopped, I just couldn't go on the way I wanted to. It was impossible. That's why you made yourselves a group, and why you got yourselves a group of pokemon to protect yourselves. Because on your own, you're just weak. Together you are strong, right? Everyone says so, but when you're on your own… then it's obvious, that no one really has any power, none whatsoever. But, but, what I wanted to prove, what I needed to prove; what I proved, is that you can survive on your own. You can stop them from destroying you, all on your own. That's it, it's possible. On your own, you do have some power, you have the power to survive. But it's so much more difficult, it's painful, and unpleasant. And I've done it, and now I'm done. Now I don't need a group to feel powerful, unlike you. I don't need to shout at the world, telling them that I am strong. I don't need anyone to hear me, I don't need anyone to remind me that I am strong. I don't need to change anyone. And they can't change me. Here's the thing, even though evil will never go away, even though we will all die, even though we can't seem to agree on what is better for us, for everyone, and even though we don't have to do anything about it, we also don't have to stop. We can help, we can dare to try and be right, to try and be good. We can hit back at those who instead of trying just want to hurt others. We don't have to stand still."
It was the middle of the night, and for some reason I felt free to leave. I felt like I could see my mom again, and like I could let her see me again without issue. But, here's the thing, I just couldn't leave things as they were. I just couldn't.
"And do you really want to save the world? You may not be able to change it, to make everything be the way you want it to be, the way you think is right, but you don't have to stop. No one has to stop. It's up to you. And I don't know about you, but I won't stop, not anymore. In fact, right now I'm going to go and show some people what I think is right. I know what I'm going to do, and where I'm going to go, and if you want to come with me you can. I'll take you there. What do you say?"
All the kids started clapping and cheering. Chespin and I went to the middle of the park and the rest started lining up behind me. I went for the hostages, untied Iris, Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, and even the owner of the store.
"You're free to go wherever you want, I guess," I said. "I have something else that I need to do. What will you do Iris?"
"I'm coming with you," she said.
I nodded decisively. Then I looked at Joy and Jenny, both were looking at me weird.
"Where are you taking them?" Officer Jenny said.
"To a hotel downtown."
"Why? What are you planning to do with them Ash?"
"Don't worry, you'll learn about it soon enough I assume."
"You know I can't let you do that, you can try and stop me if you wish, I will try and stop you."
"I won't try. Like you could ever stop us," I said to her, and she didn't say anything back.
Maybe you can't change the world, but you can try and punch it in the face. Just once, before it destroys you.
I let them all go, and Officer Jenny just stood there, quietly pondering about how to deal with the situation. She truly looked powerless. There were just too many savvy kid trainers; Todd K is a very smart man. He got the best of the best.
"Have a nice night," I said to the three adults. Iris had already gathered with the group. She had Jerry on a headlock, and was berating him, probably for ganging up on her and capturing her and tying her up. She wouldn't forget about that, never, but at least Jerry would have a chance to make up for some of it during our next mission, which was about to start.
"Let's go!" I said loudly to the group, then started walking with Chespin alongside me.
"Please be careful," Nurse Joy said while standing next to Officer Jenny.
"Don't worry," I said, "We'll be very careful."
We crossed the bridge, the ground trembled considerably. There were too many of us, and in this case that was useful, if nothing else. Because I knew that if nobody, nobody had agreed to come with me to resolve my personal matter, on a hotel downtown, I would've gone there by myself anyway. I'm sure of it. I'm also sure we looked awesome, walking through the empty streets of Castelia in the dark of night. It probably looked more like a parade than anything else, because there were just too many of us.
On our way downtown I managed to take a look down at the riverside below the bridge. Only Cleaved Joe, Severed Jaime and Jon the hobo were still there, looking up at us with their eyes full of incredulity. No one else was there anymore, just the three of them.
Before we reached the hotel though, I took a quick detour into a dark alleyway, a very specific one located in the upper west side. We rested there for a bit, it was midnight or a bit past midnight, and although the kids were young and full of energy, they were still kids, and so they were prone to get tired. Nevertheless, I knew we had to be quick, so I had to act quickly to convince the rest of the starter pokemon in the alleyway to fight with us.
Chespin and I walked in, leaving all the kids a good, safe distance behind us. I explained to them what I wanted to do, I told them that for one night they would be able to get back at those who had made them shiver and shriek of fear and resentment within a dark alleyway, those who forced them to stay always alert and ready to defend themselves. And each and everyone of them agreed. So when we continued walking downtown, the starter pokemon had joined us, and it was me at the front, now not only with Chespin, but with Torchic and Piplup also there, right behind me.
We got there, and placed ourselves neatly and quietly across the street. From there I could see very well the open doors of the hotel, the dimly lit lobby, and the creepy guy with the bandana and the psychedelic vest and the lips perpetually pursed and the painted-on mole, sitting behind the counter, calmly wondering what seemed to be going on outside. He had no idea. Some hobos and random passersby had gathered some distance away from us, obviously curious about our intentions. Luckily the kids were very smart, and they were quick and eager to tell onlookers to get out of the way if they didn't want to get hurt.
After they moved out of the way there was a quiet moment, which somehow felt very peaceful. I could almost taste the soothing tranquility of a random night in the city, free from the danger lurking behind every shadow. I could've done it alone, none of them could hurt me, no one could. I could let them all go, I could watch them grow away from me, everyone except that guy in front o me, right about then. I took a deep breath, then I started walking with my three new companions right behind me, and the rest of the kids walked behind me. Suddenly I heard a shout from my left. I turned, the kids moved out of the way so I could see where the noise had come from, and to my surprise, which came rather slowly, as the kids, one by one, cleared my field of vision, I found the gang, slowly and cautiously walking towards me. It was a gang, at least. I'm not sure if it was the one that attacked me on the alleyway, I'm not sure if it was the one that tried to attack me before Bisharp intervened, but it was most certainly the one I saw at the nightclub, which was the same one I saw across the street when I was saying my goodbyes to Archie and his friends, next to the pokemon center. They were moving towards us with a commanding air, they wanted us, or at least me, to be afraid of them, but it just wasn't working. And I'm pretty sure that if I had been alone, I wouldn't have been afraid of them either, although there's no way to find out if that's true, because there were just too many of us, we had near absolute power over them and, I'll admit, that felt wickedly great. And so it's easy for me to say that I wouldn't have been afraid of them either way. Instead, they were obviously scared of us, and so they moved very carefully, and spoke rather hesitantly and not loud enough.
"You should've left town," one of them said, probably the leader of that group. He was just as scared as the rest.
"I don't think so," I replied, "I have some pending matters that I need to resolve, which involve you."
"Us? Why?"
"You don't remember, what you did? That's fine. I don't need you to remember any other night, but this one."
The creepy guy inside the hotel tried to lock the front door, but some kids wisely stopped him and broke through. I hesitated about which matter to deal with first.
"Don't worry Ash, we'll deal with these guys," Iris said. "You focus on the hotel."
"I'll stay too, let's teach these guys a lesson," Jerry added.
I thought about about it for a second. I realized I couldn't deal with everybody, and I wasn't doing it for the vicious satisfaction. I really wasn't. I wanted them to get what I knew they deserved, I wanted to see their faces. But if I really cared about it, if I wasn't doing it just to satisfy my own sense of justice, but to satisfy the sense of justice itself, I'd at least leave them under very capable hands. "…Fine. Be careful though, Iris and Jerry. Those guys don't play fair so you'll have to neutralize them, render them temporarily nonoperational, if you will."
Both Jerry and Iris nodded, and then they focused on the gang along with a few other kids, a good number of them. I knew that mentioning the fact that the gang didn't play fair would irk them enough to seek justice their way, and so they did, they surrounded them, and I'll admit my eyes lingered on their scared faces, which towered over their multiple young opponents, for more than they should have. I couldn't help but enjoy the retribution, just a little bit.
I still had a bunch of kids to storm the hotel with. We ran inside and gathered in the lobby, they all called their pokemon out, predominantly tepigs, among other starters. Meanwhile the creepy guy ran upstairs, although it didn't matter; I knew he was trapped. Soon after two giant men came downstairs, they were visibly enraged and ready to fight, however they didn't expect to find us in there, and they were quickly chased outside. That made me very angry. I jumped behind the counter and started breaking every bottle I could find, however I stopped doing that when the kids complained about the smell. Then a third man with a lot of tattoos all over his body and very long hair walked downstairs screaming and swinging a wooden bat. He didn't manage to hit anybody but he also didn't stop. He just kept screaming and growling at us as he kept audibly cutting the wind with the bat. His eyes were wide open and the veins on his tattooed neck looked like they were about to explode. He kept swinging the bat around but kept missing, and had to be hit with a water gun which took his bat away. However he didn't stop, and instead he started swinging his arms around pretty much uncontrollably, as he kept screaming. Three different pokemon tackled him, one after the other, but he didn't move one inch, even though the attacks visibly hit him hard. Then another tepig tried to tackle him too, but he managed to hold on to him with both of his hands as the pokemon hit his belly. He raised Tepig up and started squeezing him and the two continuously screamed. At that point their harrowing voices were the only sounds that could be heard. From either side of him a snivy and a skiddo used vine whip to grab on to his arms, and they separated them from the tepig and to the sides. The man kept screaming as the tepig's trainer ordered his pokemon to strike again, on the knees. Tepid positioned himself and made the crazy man kneel down with the tackle. Then the kids tried to reason with him but it was of no use whatsoever, and so, with a few more pokemon restraining him, they tied him up and covered his mouth, and we left him recoiling on the ground.
I told the kids more dangerous things awaited them upstairs. However, I also told them that some of the people there would be unarmed, and probably naked, so they should stay very alert. We found the laundry room on the ground floor. There was a pale girl, whose arms were also covered in tattoos, playing with her phone while sitting on a stool. She just raised her hands and let us proceed. I told the kids to grab a bunch of towels and use them cover every naked person they found, just then we headed upstairs. They started bursting every door open and taking everyone they found in there outside. They neutralized, with some tackles, everyone who got angry and tried to attack. There were more than a few of those, all of them men. I told Archie to notify me when the hotel had been fully cleared out, and then I went at a quicker pace looking for the creepy guy by myself.
I went around with Chespin, Piplup and Torchic, bursting every door open, barging in every room we found. Some were occupied, some of them weren't.
Inside one of them, on the penultimate floor, I found a young, thin guy on his knees, with his hands raised. He was saying he just wanted a place to stay with his eyes closed. I told him to calm down, and that I was sorry for the trouble I'd caused him. I thought that maybe I'd find more people like him, like me. Because a few nights before that I had stayed there myself, for the same reason as him. But I only found him. I helped him gather his things, he didn't have much stuff. We put all of it in my satchel, and once we were done I gave it to him, and told him to go downstairs quickly, and to say that Ash had sent him if he ran into trouble. And finally I told him to go to the pokemon center and ask for a piece of cake and for a place to stay for the rest of the night. He looked at me very honestly, very honestly scared, and then nodded. I said I was sorry again, and he said thank you very effusively. Before he left though, I took my huntail silly straw out of the satchel, and put it in my jacket. He was the only one I found like that, and I looked everywhere.
I finally found the creepy guy inside a room on the last floor. When I burst the door open a girl came out running and screaming. Inside, there were five guys including him, the other four were half-naked. The creepy guy was holding a knife, luckily I was in the zone. I reacted immediately and went for him. He moved to strike me but didn't, he barely moved his arm, so I got to him and grabbed his arm with both of my hands. I placed myself in front of him, with my back to him, and started struggling, meanwhile with his free hand he grabbed my shoulder and gripped it really hard, then he moved on to my neck, and he gripped it too. That's when I hit him on the rib with my elbow, and then I managed to take his knife away, although I did cut my hand. I threw it out of the room, but then he grabbed me and pushed me down. He was much more heavy than me, and was quite strong. I told my pokemon not too interfere. Meanwhile I don't know what the other guys were doing, they were probably just standing there half-naked, all the while the creepy guy got on top of me and started punching me so hard I had to cover myself in fetal position. Then he got up and started kicking me really hard, and there I was, getting beat up again, harder than ever before. But I wasn't going to give up. As he was kicking my legs I uncovered my face, and started screaming. I screamed as loud as I could right at him, staring at him with my eyes wide open. He kicked me a few times after that, but then he stopped. I kept screaming. He stopped and started walking out of the room. I tried to move very softly and realized I was injured again, but I didn't care, so I waited for the right moment and then got up very quickly and suddenly and hit him on the side of the head as hard as I could. He fell down and then I got on top of him, and started choking him.
"Rotten Slippy!" I shouted. Then the other four guys finally reacted and grabbed me from behind, and immobilized me, although they didn't hit me.
The creepy guy, Rotten Slippy, I assume, got on his knees, grabbed his throat with both of his hands, and started coughing, and did so for quite a while. He actually stopped being enraged for a little bit, and by then he just seemed desperate for air. It was the fact that he had a knife, and he didn't care about it; I was just so angry at him, but at the same time I was glad he was still breathing.
I tried to move but the half-naked guys didn't let me. They held me very tight, they were also quite strong.
"Alright, I'm cool, I'm cool," I said. And then they released me and I stretched my shoulders. Then I took a beat, while the creepy guy was still coughing on the ground. "I lied!" I shouted, and then elbowed someone behind me, right on the jaw, and punched another one in the face. They grabbed me again, knocked me down and beat me up. That last time was the worst beating I'd ever gotten that week, and there were more than a few to choose from. The half-naked men were quick to get angry.
After they were done they left me down on the ground. However, I wasn't done with them. I tried to get up, and didn't manage to do it. They laughed. It didn't matter. I tried to get up a second time, and I managed to do it.
"How stupid are you?" one of them said. "Seriously, you're an idiot. Stay down."
"The stupid thing would be to give up," I said.
"Oh, we beg to differ."
"Of course you beg to differ, you've already given up. You don't know any better."
"Ash!" Archie's voice resounded all through the place. "All the citizens have been safely removed and covered, the threats have been neutralized, and all the floors but one have been cleared!"
"Good!" I shouted, it hurt. "Tell everyone to get out! Gather everyone outside, find a safe place and wait for me!"
"Understood!"
"What are you doing?" Someone said to me, in clear disbelief.
"I must seem very strange to you. You simply can't understand. You must've given up a long time ago. Don't believe me? You'll see."
"What are you gonna do? What is going on outside!"
"I'm going to use my pokemon to even the odds," I said. Everyone in there laughed.
"Those tiny creatures? I'll eat them tomorrow, seriously I will. Promise."
"Of course you say that, you monsters. Torchic, use ember," I said. Everyone laughed again. But Torchic obeyed me, and shot a mildly powerful flame at the wall. "Use it again," I said. "And again, and again, and again, and again. Until this whole place is covered in flames."
It took no time at all, it surprised even me how quickly the fire spread over the place. Although it shouldn't have surprised me, come to think of it, that place was all dry and rotten already. The half-naked men ran away like the cowards they were. The creepy guy was about to do the same, but I grabbed him by the back of his collar and pulled him towards me. I ripped his creepy shirt.
"See, this is what I wanted, this is all I wanted from you and your gang. Now it is a fair fight," I said.
"You're crazy," he said, and then he tried to move, but didn't know what to do. I moved in front of him and punched him in the jaw. He in turn threw a punch at me but I evaded him, and then punched him in the tummy. He grabbed it with his hands and knelt down. We both started sweating profusely, the room had gotten really hot. The walls were on fire and it was spreading all over the place, filling it with smoke in the process.
"Do you admit defeat?" I said. And he said yes. But a few seconds later he attempted an uppercut at my jaw. I evaded it.
"What have you done? You've ruined my business!" he said filled with rage.
"It was already ruined, just like you,"I said, as I stared at him from above. He was breathing heavily, also staring at me, with eyes consumed by wrath.
"You thought I had forgotten, didn't you? No, I never forget, you owed me a fair fight. This is it," I said, and then I punched him in the face before he could do it. He was still very angry, he tried to tackle me but I got out of the way, and he headed for a wall and then his clothes caught on fire. Piplup put him out, and then he just kept his eyes and his mouth wide open and stopped moving at all.
I walked up to him and pointed at him, and then I said, I said. "Don't, send gangs, to fight your battles for you. Don't use a knife, when your opponent doesn't have one. Fight your own battles, and be fair. Okay. We can go."
Then I grabbed him and dragged him out of there with me. Chespin climbed on my head, Torchic on my shoulder, and I held Piplup on my free hand. She paved a way for us, and quickly we managed to reach the lobby, as the fire kept spreading on the hotel.
Coughing, I walked outside the hotel with my pokemon and the creepy guy, as red and blue lights flashed intermittently.
"The place is all clear!" a kid shouted.
Soon after Officer Jenny's voice resounded through a megaphone.
"Ash Ketchum! You're in a lot of trouble," she said. However, she was rather far from me, rather far from the hotel in general. And that was because the kids had gathered all around me, all around the hotel, and they didn't let anyone pass, not even the firemen already there.
"Is anyone hurt?" I asked, slowly.
"Yes," Iris answered.
"Oh no… Who?"
"You Ash. And some other people who tried to hurt us. They tried, they got what was coming to them. You should've let us accompany you. We would've helped you."
"I'm sure you would've, as I'm sure I would've stayed standing either way."
"Dissolve at this instant and go home kids!" Officer Jenny said. She was telling them to go home, because she couldn't prosecute them, because they were kids, and there were too many of them.
"No!" Jerry out of all people shouted. "Shut up, or, our war will continue, with you!"
"Which war are you talking about Jerry?"
"Shut up Chenford! Jeez! I hate you right now."
Some of the kids grabbed Rotten Slippy and took him away from our group, I don't know what happened with him. Then, instead of putting the fire out, the kids finished torching the hotel down, to the horror of every adult there. I wasn't an adult yet, at least not technically, I was on the verge of becoming an adult though, technically. However, at the very least they didn't let the fire spread to the rest of the buildings with the help of their starters. Those were all good kids, or at least they meant well. And also, they didn't let anybody who didn't want to hurt them, get hurt. They started moving as a unit through the street, taking me along, and nobody dared to mess with them, nobody knew what to do about them. They felt utterly powerless against them. I'm sure even more kid trainers had joined us by that point, and more and more kept joining as we walked along, all moved by their sense of justice, I assume.
"What do you think you're doing kids?" Officer Jenny said, stoically, but full of impotence, once we passed by her.
"We did what you should've done a long time ago," Jebithan said to her. And then she became completely silent. And after a little bit everyone around, a lot of people, started clapping, and continued clapping very loud. Even some officers clapped. I managed to notice Roxie was there, she was clapping too, for some reason, along with everyone else, and Bianca was there too. She tried to reach us, and the kids let her through thanks to Iris.
She went over to me and stroked my cheek. And even though I was hurt, it felt very nice. I'm pretty resilient, have I mentioned that? "Ash! What happened?" she said, but she didn't wait for my answer. "Where are you taking him?"
"I don't know, to a pokemon center, maybe," Archie said.
"I don't know if that's the best idea," I said. I didn't feel very conscious, and was getting worse by the second, at least in what I could tell, because nothing really hurt. "I'd like to go into a pokemon center again, but I'm okay if we don't go there, seriously. I do love those places. I really do."
"Don't worry Ash, we'll take you anywhere you want," Archie said. "Thanks to you, now we know exactly what to do."
"What do you mean?" Bianca asked.
"With Ash's guidance we have discovered who our real enemy us. And now we know how we must act in general, and against it."
I could notice how Bianca opened her eyes wide and then looked at me incredulously. I guess that's when she realized that had been my idea. She stopped walking along with us and was soon left behind, staring at me. And it felt awful.
"We're losing him!" someone said.
"No, no, I just want to sleep a little bit," I said. And it was the truth, I really just wanted to sleep, I needed it, in fact.
"No! We can't let him go to sleep or he'll… he'll… die!"
"I won't die, that's not a thing, I'm just tired. I'm really tired."
"We need someone to help him."
"I know, what about Burgh?"
"I don't think he will care for us, someone else."
"Let's just keep walking, we'll find something soon enough," someone finalized. And the last thing I remember was us walking towards the hobo camp under the bridge. And then I went to sleep.