"…"
-Cleartape, Perpetual Set.
Sandgem Town's hospital was small. Even with rapid transportation to another hospital, there was only so much they could do.
Lawrence grimaced as he stood outside in the waiting room. Charlene didn;t have any family herself. No one would really know what happened to her. The hospital staff had pronounced her dead at least.
The Pokemon Center did recognize him as a Rec Center worker, and inquired about it. It was easy to pass himself off as her employer – because it was technically true. She had given him some info on her Pokemon. A Pichu, it was called. They were in the process of finding another Trainer for it; he'd immediately responded that any one of the employees would be glad to take it in. The info sheet detailed the route
Now here he was, with the Pichu sitting on a table and looking scared of all hell. Electrical powers or not, it was still prey. He'd have to watch his actions around it. Getting shocked was the last thing he wanted right now.
Especially when it killed a human that easily.
Sure, humans of Reality B always came back to life when they died. He had no doubt that she would be good as new, sporting a hole in her memories.
Anything could be affected. Teaching Henry how to eat and drink again… it was one hell of a sight feeding a grown man, but still, it was needed. They would have lost an experienced member otherwise.
Some of the Trainers they had recruited had come in, along with Dawn and Rowan. It was pretty awkward, telling them that someone had died. Most of them had never seen death before, while the Receivers saw it on an almost weekly basis.
The Trainers probably wouldn't completely understand, so he decided to give a short to-the-point explanation. Besides, the Gateway was already finished; leaving as soon as they'd prepared was of importance.
Charlene was drowning. Light came up from the surface, but it was so far, and her limbs felt so heavy.
All at once, she was awake. There were people beside her, as well as an oversized yellow rodent, cheeks crackling with static. It tried to nuzzle her, but someone pushed it away. She tried to raise her hand, but it only folded on itself.
"Get me some water." Her lips felt cracked and dry. A small bottle was pressed to her lips.
"Drink slowly," someone ordered. Who was it? She struggled to place names to the blurry faces around her. "Lawrence? Andrew? Henry? Nigel? Any of you there?"
"Yah, it's Nigel." The man grinned. He was clean-shaven and dressed in out-of-place camo-style clothing. "Sorry bud. Thought you'd never revive. Tell ya what, your heart stopped. Never took someone this long to come back before. Must've been the electricity of this little guy here," he said, motioning to the rodent. "That Pichu yours? When did you catch him?"
Her mind felt empty. "I… Well, I dunno."
The Pichu came up to her and kissed her on the forehead. She would have recoiled if alone. Nigel simply laughed. "Aw, he's affectionate like that. Don't worry about him too much."
"So, where am I?"
"You're at the Rec Center. The docs and nurses at the hospital thought you were dead, that's how bad it was. Rest for a few days. We'll be taking this Pichu back to where you caught him. See if it answers some stuff that's bothering us all lately."
Caught? What was Nigel talking about? She racked her mind and came up empty. Frustrated, she let sleep embrace her once more.
Andrew looked through the door at Charlene's form on the bed. She was at least still alive. What really caught his attention though was the partially-metaled plastic armor beside the bed.
That woman had actually confronted her Pokemon, a Pokemon that likely had every reason to hate her, and survived? Lawrence had told everyone that signed up that the original Receivers were far more fragile. It was madness. How could someone be more fragile depending on the world they came from? After seeing Charlene, that made even less sense.
She had clearly been aware of the dangers of Pokemon on her kind, with her plastic armor and rubber gear. It still wasn't enough to save her. Was she really that dumb to try and do something you could not withstand or handle physically?
If he had ordered her to release to Pichu immediately, or ordered her to go back, she wouldn't be in this mess. She really was dumb enough to think that bullets would work against a Pokemon; Lawrence had said that they could not determine how effective kinetic weapons would fare in the new world. The proof was being struck with Marill's tail; Andrew would have felt nothing from that, while Charlene was left with a permanent limp.
The Receivers were insane. They had come to a world far more dangerous than their own, all in the name of seeking help, instead creating more problems for themselves and its native inhabitants. If nothing else, he thought, at least they were – he struggled to come with an adequate descriptor. Tenacious? They had survived the almost complete destruction of their world with far less than Andrew's world ever had.
He probably would give them some points for that.
Lawrence, Henry and Andrew watched the Pichu bound over to its family – a Parichusu and a Raichu. "Well, guys. This is it. See you, Pichu."
"No, wait," Andrew said. "Charlene, step up."
"Pichu, I really apologize for grabbing you like that," Charlene began. "I'd really wanted a Pokemon for myself, and that's why I came here."
The Raichu huffed and moved one arm as if to say, "Go on."
"She held up the flaregun. "I'd tried to shoot at your kid with this… it's just as well that it missed. Then I threw a Pokeball." Sparks flew from the Raichu's cheeks, but she continued. "Andrew was absolutely livid. Said that Pichu would try to to kill me when I was asleep. That's why I wore these gloves, boots and armor around them."
"Turns out, I was right. Well, she's not dead, so there's credit for that," Andrew took a deep breath. "Seriously, she was prepared for the possibility. Tried to protect herself and secured a weapon to fight back."
'I'd planned to release your child alone and speak with them. So much for that. That's when they shocked and nearly killed me. Andrew here got me to bring your child back. Said it'll be worse if I waited any longer. I'd really wanted a Pokemon of my own though."
"If she really wants a Pokemon of her own, we could always have you come with us. You'll at least be able to keep an eye on your offspring." Lawrence stepped forward and tapped Charlene on the shoulder. The Receiver leader had already caught himself a Wingull a year after arrival. It was late, but still, it was something. "Charlene, we can always catch something else. That book we've got? It has some tips for choosing your first Pokemon. I've gone through it, so how about a Wooper or something similar?"
"It'd have to be either Water or Electric type, and I'll have to be able to get along with it. Marill hasn't completely forgiven me and let's say that I'm not taking the chance of death with these guys."
"Got it. Andrew will catch a Wooper for you. You'll only have half a year to train it, though, so you better get your skates on!"
"That book your Rec Center got? Don't rely on it, whatever you do. Get some proper training in at the Sandgem Town Arena." Andrew said, turning away. The two Receivers began to follow him.
"We'll go with you," Lawrence said. "Wingull hasn't been fighting lately. I've let him stretch his wings in the Rec Center courtyard regularly, though."
"Good to hear. I'm not too well-versed in Water types myself, but I'd recommend at least bathing your new Wooper each day. That'll keep its skin moist."
Charlene smiled. "Thanks for the tip Andrew. Come round to the Rec Center once you're done, OK?"
The next few months were spent training. Charlene soon realized the value of Mud Shot on camera and motors, which was to jam them up. A pistol was the absolute go-to method for her. Dividing her time between work on the Gateway, training and supply stock-take for the eventual return was difficult, but she tried anyway.
The completed gateway stood in the heart of the Rec Center. Cecily stood in front of it, just staring into its swirling center. She would finally be going home.
A home ravaged by reality failure and dimensional damage, by an enemy once thought unbeatable back then.
This time, two worlds would bring the fight to the Threat.
One of the hardest chapters for me to write. Let's just say that forgetting a plot point and not being able to get back to Reality B was one of the major plot points. Now, it's mostly action and scavenging from here on out in terms of story. This will make writing easier - I'm more familiar with Receiver 2.