Chapter 28: Don't Stop Me Now!

April 16th, Saturday 1:34 pm

Slowking continued his monologue about auras and emotion and a lot of blather that I only barely made out. His talking was intercut with the occasional kick or curse that either Kid or Billy sent his way. It was quite the distraction, and if the ropes had been any looser, Slowking might have proved to be enough of a diversion to allow all of us to escape.

But, alas, bad luck stood proudly by my side. Stupid bad luck . . .

As the Team Rocket people continued studying the struggling Ethan, I risked a whisper to my bond buddy. "We need to get out of here."

The girl, Claudia, nodded solemnly. "Um, yeah. That's . . . the point. I-I think . . ."

"You only think that's the point?" I said dubiously. I searched for Sam, and finding his gaze upon me, silently sent a hopeful look his way. Smart, serious Sam would have a plan . . . or simply extra Pokémon.

Quickly and subtly, Sam nodded his head before gesturing to the pockets of his jacket. Just barely, I could make out the red outline of a Pokéball or two. Dusty, Blossom, and Delano. They weren't perfect, but they would make do as a cavalry. Hopefully.

The real question was how to get them out of their Pokéballs. The answer came to me quickly, but it only served to raise another question. Ethan would only serve as a distraction for so long.

Silently, I looked at Sam and hoped that he would get my ragtag plan. He nodded to me, but whether that was in response to something else or not . . .

"We'll take him with us," Billy said, flicking her violet spikes over her shoulder. "The nerds can have a more thorough study there." She glanced a beeping, flashing device, and sighed. "Let's hurry it up. Oakley's getting pissed."

A pair of grunts grabbed ahold of Ethan, one taking his shoulders while the other took his feet. Meanwhile, Kid continued smacking Slowking upside the head for no discernible reason.

"Would you leave that poor pink thing alone already?" Mrs. Wilson suddenly said, her tone irritable. "What did he ever do to you, young lady?"

Sharply, Kid kicked Slowking out of the way and glared at her. "Lady? Did you just call me a lady?"

Billy yanked Kid by the arm. "Easy, Kid. Easy."

"Like hell!"

'Oh great,' I thought, hopelessly.

A shot like explosives rang out, and my ears dulled with the noise. Stomach clenched, I looked past the angry Kid and the annoyed Billy to the scientist girl, Janet. She stood behind them, a gun in her hand and pointed straight up at the ceiling. Her expression was both calm and eerily apathetic.

Emotionlessly, she said, "That's enough."

None of her colleagues raised an objection, and Kid even calmed down.

I gulped, and I could hear others doing the same. Was she going to use that gun on us?

"I'm out of bullets now. That's sad," Janet said, peering over her glasses and staring down at the mouth of her weapon. "We need to dispose of our witnesses though, and tearing them apart limb by limb is bound to be messy. I do not abide messes, you know."

Kid and a grunt ducked behind Billy who calmly said, "We know, Jan. We know." Chuckling nervously, the violet-haired teen clapped her hands together. "Say, but you're not serious, right? We don't kill people now!"

Janet shrugged, and tossed the gun from hand to hand. "Oakley didn't mention that rule. Is it an official one?" She stopped and pointed the gun directly at Billy's chest. "I don't think it is."

Nerves vanished, Billy snapped, "Don't point that thing at me!"

"It's out of bullets. I told you."

Out of nowhere, the Granbull boy began crying. "I don't wanna die! I'm just a kid! D-don't kill me!" Tears streamed down his cheeks, and he was trembling uncontrollably. "I-I've got a life and family a-and st-stuff!"

I bit my lip, pangs of sympathy felt for the boy. I only wished that I could cry, but now wasn't the time. But, what exactly was it the time for then?

"St-stuff?" Kid mocked, poking out from behind Billy. "How long you gonna st-stutter, boy? Huh?"

"You leave him alone!" the Grovyle girl, Cathy, snapped angrily. She was tied to the Granbull boy, and she wiggled so that he was faced away from the Rocket people. She glared at Kid head-on with narrowed brown eyes. "You should feel really pathetic, picking on a ten-year old. You're like fifty!"

Silently, I admired her guts.

"Fifty?" Kid screeched, and attempted to dash at Cathy. Billy grabbed her by the arm to keep her back. "You take that back, you-"

Another gunshot, and all eyes landed on Janet. Without care, she shrugged. "There was one more bullet, wasted on shutting Kid up once again." Nonchalantly, she trained the gun upon Kid. "Maybe I should use whatever's left to just off you for good. How does that sound?"

'She's crazy!' I thought, eyes wide. 'Like, really crazy! The real Johto Psycho!' Remembering the old nickname we had thrown around during our journey, I laughed. Loudly and hysterically. Dumb move on my part. Seriously.

Janet stepped toward me, gun in hand. "What is so funny?"

"Janet," Billy began, but the scientist paid her no heed.

Next to me, Claudia was silent. I followed her example, but it did little to settle my nerves. My shoulders shook even harder than Granbull boy's.

"Did I make a joke? Did you comprehend my words as a joke?" Janet said. "A very funny joke?"

Numbly, I shook my head. My eyes were on her gun.

"Then what was it then?"

Cathy snorted from where she was tied. "What is wrong with you people? Hoenn doesn't have this many problems!"

"Is that a part of the joke?" Janet wanted to know.

Throat caught, I noticed Sam shaking and wiggling in an attempt to get his Pokéballs free. His mother was frowning and helping him along, struggling quietly against her own bonds.

'Good to know that I'm being a good distraction, Samuel,' I thought angrily. If we made it out of this alive, I was going to hit him. Hard.

Swallowing down my fears, I readied myself and began to be a more proper distraction. Shaking and writhing, I struggled to get to my feet, pulling up Claudia with me.

"I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die!" I howled endlessly, teetering and tottering as I attempted to keep balance. "Don't let me die!"

My foot slipped seemingly against nothing, and I fell sideways into the jukebox station set up in the corner of the lobby. It flared on upon my collapse, and with my head aching, I barely registered the song that began playing.

Tonight I'm gonna have myself a real good time

I feel alive

Recognizing the song, I groaned. Things couldn't possibly get any better now, could they?

Somehow, Claudia pulled us both up. "Sorry," she whispered, though it wasn't as if the fall had been on her.

And the world it's turning inside out, yeah!
I'm floating around in ecstasy

"I hate this song!" Kid declared.

Billy wrinkled her nose, but simply said, "It's not too bad."

"I don't care for it," Janet said with a shrug.

"It's groovy," a grunt said.

So don't stop me now don't stop me
'Cause I'm having a good time having a good time

"It's all wrong! It's all wrong!" Ethan cried, thrashing.

"Johto sucks!" Cathy yelled. As much as I loved my region, I had to agree.

"Where is Officer Jenny?" Mrs. Wilson asked, continuing to pull at her bonds.

"I want to go home!" Granbull boy hollered.

I'm a shooting star leaping through the skies
Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity

"I'm terribly sorry about this . . ." Claudia whispered.

"This room is full of conflicting auras," Slowking said.

"This is madness . . ." I mumbled.

I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva
I'm gonna go go go
There's no stopping me

"Delano, use Lick!" Sam called.

There was a click, and from his Pokéball, Delano appeared in all his ghostly glory. Immediately, he let loose his long, wiggling tongue upon a grunt and Kid.

"Eww!" Kid shrieked as she fell onto the floor.

More clicks, and Blossom came free with Razor Leaf going. Dusty appeared out of her Pokéball, only to sluggishly fall asleep, oblivious to the action about her.

"Chika!" Blossom cried, sending a slew of leaves at a grunt.

The said grunt gasped and dropped his bag of stolen Pokéballs. Out of the burlap sack, Pokéballs rolled free, and clicks sounded as the held Pokémon got themselves loose and ready.

I cheered silently at Sam's success. Almost home free!

Hopefully . . .

I'm burning through the sky, yeah!
Two hundred degrees
That's why they call me Mister Fahrenheit
I'm trav'ling at the speed of light
I wanna make a supersonic man out of you

"Grovyle, get me out of these bonds!" Cathy cried, taking no breaks. "Plusle, Minun; use Shock Wave now!"

Zubat fell from the air, and ties were cut loose.

I scrambled to grab Brick's Pokéball, and I quickly returned my quivering Machop to it. Staying out of the storm of attacks, I stuffed his Pokéball securely into my pocket. He would be safer there, along with Spykes. There was a bigger question though; how were Levina, Zorro, and Sir Edwin doing?

Don't stop me now
I'm having such a good time
I'm having a ball
Don't stop me now
If you wanna have a good time
Just give me a call

Audibly, I prayed as I crouched beside the booming jukebox. "Oh, Ho-oh, watch over my Pokémon and keep them safe. Amen."

The fighting was intense and wild, but I was hopeful.

Sam was commanding Fisher and Delano against the remaining Zubat while Cathy and her Grovyle battled Billy and her Swinub. Granbull boy was piggyback-riding a grunt and beating him over the head with his fists while his Granbull chomped on the grunt's leg.

Writhing and still struggling against his bonds, Ethan lay on the tiled floor, his captors defeated. Slowking stood calmly behind a sofa, occasionally saying things inaudibly to no one in particular. Meanwhile, Mrs. Wilson appeared to be scolding the paralyzed Kid.

Janet, looking bored, left the Pokémon Center. Just like that. I hoped that Officer Jenny would be close by to nab her, considering her assurance with guns and casual way of pointing them at people!

Don't stop me now ('cause I'm having a good time)
Don't stop me now (yes I'm having a good time)
I don't want to stop at all... yeah!

Farfetch'd girl stood behind a nearby plant, quivering and quiet. Her Farfetch'd was screaming at her and motioning towards the ongoing battle.

"Far!" it cried, tossing its stick from wing to wing.

"We wouldn't do too well, I don't think . . ." the girl, Claudia, said nervously. "We would, uh, fail. We always do . . ."

"Fetch!" her Pokémon hit her upside the head with its stick before dashing into battle.

I simply shook my head. Her relationship with her temperamental duck was reminiscent of my own bout with Zorro. But, at the very least, he had never tried to cut me with his blades.

My mind on my Scyther, I glared at the floor. He had to be okay. Zorro, Levina, and Sir Edwin.


POV Switch~ Fisher

Use Water Gun, he says. Of course, I respond.

Duty and honor. They are very important things. Very important qualities. Without them, you do not live and you do not breathe! I told Yoko this once, and he only nodded his heads blindly. He did not listen, I don't think.

My tails wagged behind me as Water Gun flew at full force. I took down a Zubat, and a surge of pleasure whittled through me. I didn't dance for joy, as Tsu or Levina would. It is not honorable to dance when you are in battle. Not honorable at all.

I allow myself a small smile as I dash across the tiled floors. Silently, I curse my lack of arms, but only briefly. The boy, my trainer, he promised to help me evolve so that I would get arms. I trust the boy, the master. Sir, I call him. Sam, the others say. That is not honorable. Not honorable at all!

I find another opponent. It is another Zubat, who flies above me. Its flying is erratic and dizzy, and I realize quickly that it has been struck with Confuse Ray.

Delano's, most likely. He is a sneaky indiivudal, that Ghastly. I fear that we do not get along well, for he fights dishonorably, while I do not.

"Use Water Gun!" Sir calls to me.

For once, I refuse an order. I do not battle dishonorably. Only the foolish Marill and snickering Oddish of my old home would do such things with their Growl and Poison Powder moves. Such dishonor!

I am glad to be away from all of that, and I like Sir very much. I like Yoko enough too, as he fights reasonably with honor at times. Blossom, though dishonorable in her brattiness and whining, is not dishonorable when battling. Dusty is okay, but she sleeps too much. Vigilance! You cannot have vigilance with sleep! I told her this, but she only responded by falling asleep. Sleeping is not honorable. And, Delano is not honorable.

It is not honorable to attack someone when they are already down, so I did not fire Water Gun. I simply stood my ground and waited for the Confuse Ray's effect to wither away. It did not, and Yoko quickly appeared and delivered Fury Attack.

"Not honorable!" I cry as the Zubat faints.

Yoko only sighed. "Don't be ridiculous," one head says while the other grabs me by my tail and quickly darts from a Raticate's Hyper Fang.

Once again, I grow angry at my lack of arms. I could fight more honorably with arms! Honor and vigilance and duty!

Finally, Yoko sets me back upon my waddling feet. I looked for a new opponent, and found one. A Rattata. But, it's small and feeble and clearly confused.

I frown at it. It would not be honorable to fight it.

"Water Gun, Fisher!" Sir calls to me.

Does he not know that I have more moves under my belt? And, it is not honorable to hit someone whilst they are delirious and down! Not honorable at all!

"Bubble?" Sir says, staring at me with puzzlement.

Sir is a nice boy and trainer, but he never appears to understand my need to remain honorable. He is blind. That is not dishonorable, nor honorable. It is confusing.

"Hypnosis?" Sir tries again.

I shake my head. That would be most dishonorable, to put an opponent to sleep before knocking it out. Most dishonorable indeed! I did so a few times in the past, but not again! No dishonor from this Poliwag!

But, if I were to be dishonorable, I would get more experience and evolve faster. I would get arms and be honorable! But, the past dishonor would cancel out the honor, now, wouldn't it? It goes against my very nature! No dishonor for me! No!

Suddenly, the Rattata becomes fast and agile. It darts past me and to my trainer.

Fool! It was faking! The fool is me!

But no! I waddle with all my might, and with force, slap this foul beast with my tail. Double Slap it is! For my honor and for Sir!

"Dishonor, you fool!" I slap once. "Dishonor!" I slap twice. Thrice. Four times! Honor for everyone!

The Rattata faints, btu I continue. It tried to fool me with dishonor, and I combated it with honor! Pure honor!

"Honor!" I holler.

Delano pauses in his Lick of a Zubat to ogle me. I will get him later, but in an honorable fashion.

"Honor!" I continue my cries and slaps.

A squawking Farfetch'd stops beating a Raticate to stare at me. "Damn weirdo!"

I ignore such mocking. I will have honor! "Honor!"

Blossom stares at me around Sir's legs. "You're kinda weird, Fishy. Isn't he kinda weird, Boss?"

Sir grabs me from atop the Rattata, and I go limp in his grasp. He has seen how honorable I am, surely. Honor and duty! Important! Vigilance! Important!

"Honor and duty!" I cry as Sir holds me close. "Vigilance!"

"You need to calm down a bit there, Fisher," Sir tells me, patting my head. "I know you want arms, but it takes patience." To the others, he calls, "Delano, continue with Lick and Confuse Ray! Yoko, Fury Attack! Mom, stop straightening my shirt and Blossom, Razor Leaf! Dusty . . . keep sleeping."

He has no honor, this boy. Or very little.

But, alas, he is correct. It is arms that I want.

I will get arms. But, with honor and duty!

Constant dutiful, honorable vigilance!

Glass breaks and a pair of large Pokémon clamber into this healing center. A Venasaur and a Pidgeotto. The enemy humans are scrambling now, and I do not know why.

All I know is that it is dishonorable to leave a fight. Dishonorable!


POV Switch~ Levina

The bug wasn't so bad after all. It's an odd thought to consider, but it's a thought nonetheless. I think I always knew that he had a good side. Zorro was never mean to Spykes; I would've given him hell if he had been. He was always nice to the kid, and considerate.

He even gave a bit of advice to Brick, which I appreciate. My new team member could use a few boosts of confidence, that's for certain.

If anything, Zorro does not like Sir Edwin. I have no problems with this.

"We must fly, fools! Pichu Girl sent me to retrieve you!" the Hoothoot cried, grabbing at my arms with his claws.

I batted him away angrily. I needed complete concentration if I was going to perform Swift well and knock an enemy Fearow out of the sky.

It's almost natural that I not get along with Sir Edwin. He's a Flying-type after all, a definite disadvantage against my Electric-type. I've never gotten along with types that I had an advantage over.

The only exceptions were Tsu and Yoko, who I saw as friends. Fisher wasn't an exception. I tried playing nice with the Poliwag, honest, but his talks of honor and righteousness were always obnoxious. He once haughtily informed me that I could never have honor because my electric attacks had a 15 % chance of causing paralysis for my opponent.

"30 % actually," I had corrected with a sly, friendly smile. He had huffed indignantly, and waddled away. We had never gotten along since. It was just as well. Anymore talk of honor, and I planned on doing something dishonorable to him, ethics be damned!

Now, Sir Edwin continued pulling at me. I considered shocking the feathers off him, but resisted the urge; Gwen was much too fond of him, and Spykes and Bricks seemed to like him well enough. He'd be joining our team eventually, a thought that did not bring me pleasure.

"Hey, Bug! Miss me!" Out of the storm of attacks and yelling appeared a tall human boy with wavy golden-brown hair and a familiar look to him. Gwen's older brother. The resemblance was noticeable.

A Magmar stood by his side, occasionally leaving to shoot Flamethrower at the airborne enemies. Returning from one such excursion, he eyed Zorro warily. "You again."

Zorro used Quick Attack upon an enemy before growling in the human brother's direction. "Invade my space, and I'll stab you."

The older brother was obviously not very smart as he continued chatting nonchalantly to Zorro whilst the Bug-type finished off a Raticate. "How's the squirt treating ya?"

In an instant, Zorro had the human on the grass with a blade to his neck. "You should be worried about how I'm going to treat you!"

I sighed, and shooed Sir Edwin away. Goodness. I see why Gwen always complains. What a life, I'll tell ya.

"Get off my trainer or I will burn you to a crisp," the Magmar boomed.

Help my comrade or leave to do better things? Decisions, decisions, decisions.

I turned away and hurried off to shock a few enemy Pidgeotto out of the sky. Yeah. Zorro could handle himself.

"Pichu Girl wants us!" Sir Edwin insisted, grabbing at my shoulder once more.

"Pichu Girl has a name," I told him, slapping him away as I unleashed Shock Wave upon the enemy Flying-types. I smirked confidently. It was certainly nice to have learned a new move. It would win plenty of battles, and it was already! Gwen would be proud.

The Shock Wave didn't take out the trio entirely, though it certainly weakened them. A handful of ally Pokémon arrived; a Charizard, a Poliwrath, and a Honchkrow. The two winged Pokémon took to the sky while the Water-type volleyed moves from the ground.

I watched with slight irritation. Not only had they taken my prey, but they were disadvantaged against me too! One-upped by a Flying-type, a Water-type, and a secondary flyer.

"Pichu Girl needs us," Sir Edwin repeated, landing upon my shoulder.

I shook him off, but he persistently remained there. "You're annoying."

"And you are obnoxious," he said, ruffling his feathers.

Stupid bird.

Momentarily giving up on ridding myself of him, I peered around the ensuing battles to the healing center. Commotion was rising within it, and a pair of helicopters hovered above the red-and-white building.

My jaw set angrily, I began my way toward the building. Gwen, Spykes, Bricks, and the others were in there. I couldn't let them get hurt.

"Zorro, let's go!" I called before breaking into run.

Sir Edwin continued clinging to my shoulder. Suddenly, he flew off and into my face. "You don't expect to win on your own, now, do you, Electric Kid?"

"Outta my way!" I swiped at him, but the damn bird ducked. If he didn't knock it off . . .

Up ahead, a few trainers were finally taking notice of what was occurring inside the center. One trainer—a familiar-looking human boy with spiky hair—commanded a Fearow to enter the room while his companion—a drowsy-looking human girl—ordered a massive Grass-type.

Dashing around the irritating Flying-type, I continued dashing. Officer Jenny and her Arcanine outran me, as did a few other trainers, Gwen's annoying brother included.

"I'm not winning on my own!" I told Sir Edwin as he flew beside me. I was not particularly pleased with this realization. I might not be the strongest, but surely I'm capable of taking on a few lowly Pokémon on my own to save my trainer and friends. Right?


Shameless Shaun of the Dead reference. Also, reference to Mad-Eye Moody from Harry Potter. Constant vigilance, anyone?

I'm not entirely pleased with this chapter. It felt very jumpy and stilted to write, and I'm going to partly blame that on my two year hiatus regarding this story. I intend to put efforts to make sure that the next chapter doesn't feel as jumpy and clogged as this one.

For this chapter, we had two POV switches: the continuation of Levina's and one for Fisher.

Fisher, Sam's Poliwag, has probably been the most ignored Pokemon up until now. Just about every other Pokemon-even Mallory's Ledyba-had some form of characterization or personality. Poor Fisher was left to be more of a prop than character.

Hopefully, his obsession with honor proved to be a start to him becoming a real character of this story. I went a little overboard with him, I fear. He ended up being really hammy and a little too zealous in his morals, but I think it works. It was definitely fun to write, though the shift into present-tense was different and odd for me. And, Fisher will be receiving future POVs, if only so that he can get some character development. And get his arms once he evolves into a Poliwhirl ;)

And, Levina. I intended for her to come across as rather cocky and overconfident. She's arguably the sanest of Gwen's Pokemon, and she knows it. This could add to anyone's ego. She is mature, but I still think that her mind is similar to that of an adolescent human. She's probably teenaged in Elekid years, and hopefully that translated well in the writing.

At any rate, the next chapter will conclude the Get-Aaron-Back-To-Goldenrod-And-Deal-With-Ethan-And-Rockets-And-Plot Arc. And, yes, that is a legitimate name for an arc :P

Trivia Question: What song was the jukebox playing? And, please refrain from putting the lyrics into Google Search, people! We can't have cheating!

Hint: If you've seen Shaun of the Dead, it's likely that you know the song.

Anyway, please leave a review if you're able. And, thank you for the continued support and readership!