Welcome to Fish Out Of Water! Its working title was "Last Gasp", but I decided this was a better title.
This story is not a direct sequel to Werewolves of Sinnoh, though there will be references to it. As much as I'd appreciate it if you read that story as well, you do not need to in order to understand and (hopefully) enjoy this one. Since I'm snowed in today, figured it was a good time to post the first chapter.
Updates will, for the most part, be every few days. How many days, exactly, will depend on a number of factors, not least how quickly I am writing.
I hope you guys will leave feedback, because I'd love to know what I'm doing well and what I could improve on. With that, let's get this show on the road!
DARIUS ASHLAND, 18
The first thing I remember from that day is the overpowering stench in the air.
It was much like that smell that comes when one is cooking hamburgers on the grill; given Hoenn's favorable climate for grilling, this was a common scent where I grew up. But today wasn't that sort of day, and the stench was far too strong.
Why does it smell so much like smoke?, I wondered, rolling over in bed. I always felt lethargic in the mornings, and today was no exception.
The lethargy, however, was quickly replaced with panic. I realized that there might be a fire somewhere in the house; but if that were the case, why weren't the fire alarms all blaring at their maximum volume?
I quickly sat up and then sprang out of bed. Although I'd need to hear my brother if he called for me, I covered my ears so that the seemingly inevitable fire alarms wouldn't burst my eardrums. Even now, I was bracing myself for the pain that would follow such an event.
I ran downstairs, not caring that I was still in my pajamas. Nobody would judge me for that.
After about fifteen seconds, it became clear that the fire alarms weren't going to blare. And I'd just replaced the batteries on all ten of those babies, so there was no way I'd miss any fires that happened to be blazing.
"Xander!" I yelled, uncovering my ears so that I'd be able to hear my brother. Even if he wasn't hurt, I still wanted reassurance that my brother was okay. He was all I had now, after all.
When I didn't hear anyone respond, I started to panic. Had Xander passed out from smoke inhalation?
So I made my way up to his room, taking the steps two at a time. I might not have been the most nimble person, but I was highly motivated, and that's what mattered more.
I banged on the door. "Xander! Wake up!"
For a few horrifying seconds, nothing happened. Then, in a rather gruff tone, came the voice of my thirteen-year-old brother.
"I'm up! What's wrong, Darius?"
Uh, it's all around you! Can't you smell it? The very air is against us!
Of course, being that he was five years younger than me, Xander could be rather naive at times. He was far too innocent to be going through this, and the last thing I wanted was to scare him. But sometimes, the last thing you want to do is the first thing you need to do.
"I don't know," I admitted, opening the door to find my disheveled-looking younger brother. His black hair stuck almost directly upward, a product of having hurriedly gotten out of bed. "But it's bad; the air smells like smoke, as I'm sure you can tell."
"Fire?" Xander asked timidly, his eyes widening with fear.
"No, it's not fire" I responded, trying to sound as confident as I could. "If it were a fire, all the alarms in this house would be on full blast. That's not happening."
Just then, my phone vibrated in my pocket; out of my usual instinct, I'd grabbed it as I'd jumped out of bed. When I looked at it, I saw that there was indeed an emergency alert from the local authorities.
The warning read as follows:
ATTENTION TO METRO OLDALE: THE ACTIVE VOLCANO MT. KORU IS DISPLAYING A HIGH RISK OF ERUPTION. ANYONE WHO CAN EVACUATE IS ADVISED TO DO SO AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
"What is it?" Xander asked me.
My heart froze as I looked into my kid brother's eyes. He was my brother, yes, but he was more than that too; ever since my parents had both departed this planet, he had been my only family.
"The government wants us to evacuate," I told him simply. "They're worried the volcano is going to erupt, and we have to be as far away from the city as possible."
Belatedly, I realized just how much pandemonium was about to ensue, if it hadn't already. Hundreds of thousands of people would be on the freeway, trying to put as much distance between themselves and Mt. Koru as they could. It would be the grandmother of all traffic jams.
That's not to say I couldn't have driven us to a safe zone, but where exactly was a safe zone? Nothing like this had happened in my lifetime.
Xander appeared distraught. "We're going to evacuate, aren't we?"
I nodded. "Eventually. First, though, I want to see if the other townspeople are taking it seriously. Then, we'll get out of here."
There was a pause between us, one significantly longer than usual. Xander eventually asked me, "Where are we going to go?"
"I don't know. That's another reason we should talk to the police. They'll know where it's safe for us to escape to. Their Water types will be busy combating the volcanic ash and fighting fires."
As soon as I'd finished that last sentence, I knew it was the wrong thing to say. I hated to admit it, but if Mt. Koru truly did erupt, no amount of Water moves would be able to quench the flames. It would be a disaster of epic proportions, the kind that would be written about in a religious holy book far into the future.
Still, it seemed as though I'd placated Xander's worries, at least for the time being. By no means was he completely calm, but he evidently knew that it was no use arguing with me.
As I retrieved my car keys from the bin in the mudroom, I thought about how ironic it was that I insisted upon checking to see if the town was okay. Most of the time, I would be too frightened to do so.
The ensuing internal dialogue made me feel like I was at war with myself.
It's almost like I want to prove to myself that I'm braver than I thought. But now's not the time to go around trying to be brave, is it?
But that's not the only reason you're talking to the police! You also have to make sure you know WHERE to evacuate, so that you can take Xander there to safety. It's fully justified.
I noticed that we had N95 masks in my cubby. I didn't know when or why my parents had acquired them, and I'd never know now, but they would come in useful today to ensure that we didn't breathe in too much smoke.
"Xander, put one of these on," I told my brother. "We don't need to die from smoke inhalation."
Again, that was the wrong choice of word. Xander began flapping his arms rapidly, which is what he often did when he was nervous or scared.
"Am I g-going to die?" he asked me frantically, stuttering when he fully realized the implications of what I'd just said.
"We're all going to die one day. Nobody lives forever."
Xander glared at me, looking frightened. "I mean now, because of the volcano. Am I going to die today?"
"NO!" I bellowed. I wrapped my brother in an Ursaring hug, determined to undo the damage my previous words had caused. "Xander, listen to me: You are not going to die today. Neither will I. We'll be there for each other, come hell or high water."
After I'd helped Xander strap on his N95 mask (which he needed help with, since he'd never done it before), we went outside to my car. And it was then that I realized that hell was an appropriate description of the landscape.
The sun had just come up, which was normally a beautiful sight in Hoenn. However, said sun was almost entirely obscured by the immense amount of smoke in the air.
There could certainly be smog in Oldale Town sometimes, but I couldn't remember there ever being so much that it appeared to be night when it was actually day. Just yesterday, the sky had been perfectly clear, but that wasn't the case anymore.
"Get in the car, Xander," I beckoned. "And I'm gonna drop the hammer, because we gotta catch some speed!"
My attempt at levity backfired. Xander simply rolled his eyes as he climbed into the passenger seat. I took the wheel, turned on the car's engine, and heard said engine sputter.
"What's wrong with it?" Xander asked. "Did you try the wrong gear or something?"
I frowned. "This car isn't a stick shift. I think it's the smoke, it has to be. The car could burst into flames if it actually ran, so that's why it isn't going to."
I'll never forget the look in my younger brother's eyes upon hearing that. He was despondent; all the hope he'd been holding in had left him.
"So we'll have to run, then?" he replied, sounding as though he might burst into tears at any moment.
"That is exactly what we have to do," I said. "I don't like it either, but the town center's only half a mile away."
As it turned out, the word "only" was used quite loosely there. Half a mile might not sound like a very long jog, and it usually isn't for most people, but when the air is thick with volcanic smog, it's hard to stop your chest from hurting. Even taking a deep breath is next to impossible, because you're scared that your lungs will fill with smoke.
It didn't take long before I knew Xander was starting to flag. He was lagging behind me by about ten yards.
"Stop for a minute?" he panted. Although I had to deny his request, I could tell he was exhausted. It broke my heart to say what needed to be said.
I shook my head vigorously. "We can't stop, Xander. We need to get out of here."
Even saying a few simple words took the air out of my lungs. My legs felt like jelly halfway to the town center, and I liked to think I was in pretty good shape. Apparently not.
"But I can't…run…anymore" Xander replied weakly.
"Then walk. Walking is better than not moving at all. Now, let's not speak any more unless we have to."
As we got closer and closer to the center of town, the panic in the air increased markedly. Although it wasn't tangible, it was almost as thick as the smoke that threatened to choke out the city.
Downtown, or at least, what passed for "downtown" here, consisted of a small line of businesses along one end of the street. The other end held a view of Mt. Koru, located a seemingly-impressive distance away; in reality, it was only ten miles from town.
Back when my parents were still alive, I'd heard them talk about how, while they liked living in Metro Oldale, they had to admit that its geography was terrible. I'd nodded along and agreed with them, but until now, I'd never fully appreciated just how terrible it was.
Right now, I wanted to punch whoever decided to build a city near a volcano right between the eyes. It was clear to me that it had been such a boneheaded decision, one that was going to get a lot of people and Pokemon killed. And I saw its consequences firsthand.
One of the buildings was a local deli, one that had helped to keep Xander and myself fed during the first few weeks of not having parents. The owner had been so kind in helping us get back on our feet, and what was his reward?
To have his business burned to the ground, naturally!
Somehow, the smoke had set the deli on fire; it was roasting rather like a marshmallow. I wondered if this was the universe's idea of a sick joke, to make fun of a popular pastime people had around a campfire by turning it on its head, in a way.
Anyway, as I processed this scene, a police officer walked up to my brother and I. He looked at us as though we'd just done something horrible, and for a moment, I wondered if we were going to be arrested.
"What are you boys doing here? It's too dangerous!"
"We were hoping", I replied somewhat grouchily, wheezing with every word, "that you people could help us escape to a safe zone! That is your job, no?"
The police officer smiled, and I saw Xander look at him expectantly. But it didn't take me long to realize the truth.
While the cop was smiling, his eyes told a different story. They betrayed great pain, more emotional than physical (although, make no mistake, it hurt to take deep breaths here!)
"I'm afraid I can't," the cop said simply. "The evacuation buses have already left, and besides, boy, you look old enough to drive."
"I am" I responded. "But…".
"The car broke down" Xander told the police officer, finishing my sentence. "But we need to escape! Could you please lend us a hand?"
The cop shook his head. "Guys, I'm really sorry to tell you this, but it's every man for himself. You should have woken up earlier."
He didn't say this in a taunting tone; rather, it sounded more like he was accepting that this was the natural order of things, even if he didn't like it. But it still sounded pretty callous to me.
Had I been a braver person, I might have stood up to the cop. I might have demanded that he do his job and find a way to get us out of here safely. I might have even used a few choice words to his face.
But I didn't.
I'm ashamed to admit what happened next, but I held Xander tightly in another hug. And this is what I said.
"Whatever happens to us today, brotherhood comes first. We are brothers, first and foremost, until the universe says we're not anymore. But that'll never happen, because familial bonds cannot be broken."
I was wheezing a bit as I uttered those words, but it wasn't just from the smoke. Tears from my eyes were starting to stain the front of my N95 mask.
The cop didn't seem amused, not that my intention had been to amuse him. If anything, he sounded as though he were going to make fun of us for my little monolog.
But that's not what he did.
Instead, he simply announced, "If you want to get out of here, stop looking for a handout! The strong will survive and the weak will perish; if you want to get out of here alive, just figure out a way to start your car, and if you can't, it's your own damn fault!"
My rage was boiling to the surface more forcefully than it had before; were I a volcano, I would have been on the edge of eruption.
Here this man was a civil servant, someone employed by the city to protect the people, and he was just neglecting his duty like that. How disgusting!
Man, fuck the police, I thought to myself.
Xander was clearly despondent; he looked betrayed, which is exactly how I felt. The cop who had been so callous with us walked casually to his cruiser, which, as Murphy's Law dictates, had to work perfectly. He got the gold mine, and we got the shaft.
Once the police officer had driven away, Xander, who'd been standing still ever since I'd hugged him, began to cry.
"Mom! Dad! Please help!"
It was a rather childish call for help, and it took me by surprise. Xander was more than old enough to understand that our parents were dead, that they were never coming back, and that pleading for them to arrive on the scene and rescue us was a fool's errand. Of course, I didn't have the heart to admit this.
We considered running, or at least I did. But it was clear that we wouldn't be able to run very far, and besides, my navigation skills weren't the best. Where would we even escape to, if not a designated safe zone?
As we saw the few people and Pokemon still outdoors re-enter their homes, and watched the neighborhood deli burn to a crisp, I didn't think things could get any worse.
They did.
Just when I thought things had reached rock bottom, and that we could only go up from here, the ground began to shake.