Here's the longest chapter of Fish Out Of Water so far. It's probably also my favorite one as of right now.
I'd like to thank everyone for getting me to 15 follows. I look forward to continuing to tell this story, as well as seeing more people give feedback to both this and Werewolves of Sinnoh. With that out of the way, here's the chapter.
Current music: I Get Weak - Belinda Carlisle
DARIUS ASHLAND, 18
Not for the first time, I found myself wanting to believe that this was only a dream, that I'd wake up eventually and realize that these horrific events had only been a figment of my imagination. And when that happened, I'd be safely in my own bed to find out that Mt. Koru never erupted.
Unfortunately, every time I pinched my arm, I achieved nothing but slight pain. It became increasingly clear that there would be no reprieve from my harsh new reality, because whether I liked it or not, it was reality.
The three of us waited several hours for the power to come back on, but that didn't happen. It got darker and darker outside, meaning it was darker and darker inside as well. Pretty soon, we were unable to even read without flashlights.
Eventually, Christian's parents came home from the field hospital. Since I hadn't seen him in several days without his PPE on, I almost didn't recognize Mr. Forest.
"Good evening" Mr. Forest said as he entered the kitchen, where Christian and I were currently reading novels by flashlight. (Dalgona had been put back in her Pokeball.)
I looked up from my book, narrowing my eyes at Christian's father. "It's not really a good evening, but okay."
"It's a figure of speech, Darius" Mrs. Forest muttered. "There's no need to be so dismissive."
It was then that I knew this indeterminate period without power would be extremely difficult. Not just because of the inherent challenges of a blackout, but also because we'd be seeing a lot of each other, with nothing else to do.
Christian cleared his throat. "So what about the hospital? How are things going there?"
Mr. Forest grimaced. "Not well. Ever since the power went out - well, first of all, when the lights of the convention center shut off, all hell broke loose. You see, regular hospitals have generators to keep all their machines working when something like that happens, but the field hospital didn't have such capabilities."
His wife seemed on the edge of tears; indeed, within seconds, she'd probably be well over the edge. It was clearly very hard for her to speak about this.
"So what happened, exactly?" I asked. This was a big mistake.
That's what set Mrs. Forest off. She began to sob, loudly and abundantly. There was plenty of sorrow in her face, but there was also anger as well.
"Please calm down, Brenda. It happens" Christian's father told his wife. But behind his spectacles, I could see Mr. Forest's eyes. They were not happy.
Dread rose within me; my throat felt hot, and my eyes stung. I was starting to sense what Mr. Forest was saying, and it wasn't good.
"When the power went out, some of the machines stopped working. The IV pumps went haywire, for instance, and the oxygen machines shut off. Those patients who could be moved were loaded back into ambulances, to be taken to other hospitals. Who knows if they'll get there in time."
There was silence in the room for quite some time after that. None of us wanted to acknowledge that many patients had likely lost their lives thanks to the blackout, and that's not even counting the ones who were hurt in the explosion.
"Wait a minute" I said, breaking the silence. "What about that explosion? Do you think that's what knocked the power out?"
Mr. Forest shrugged. "It could be. But we can't worry about the cause right now; we have to manage the best we can, because that's what you do in a disaster. How are you adjusting to being a Buizel, by the way?"
I couldn't help but chuckle, despite how inappropriate it was to do so at that moment. In the midst of the last few hectic days, I'd almost forgotten about my transformation, even though I'd been living it every hour.
"It's…well, it's different from what I'm used to, Mr. Forest. Being a Pokemon is certainly awkward; it's like I'm in a fatsuit. But that's enough about me."
"How widespread is the blackout, Dad?" Christian asked.
By now, Mrs. Forest had retreated upstairs, presumably to her bedroom. Her husband ran a hand through his thinning white-blonde hair, frowning greatly.
"It's pretty severe, Christian. I drove home as fast as I safely could, but I didn't see a single building that still had its lights on. It seems as though the whole city is in the dark."
"What happens now?" I blurted out. "Do we just wait for the power to get back on? My phone's battery is at zero, and Christian's really got to conserve his battery until that happens."
Mr. Forest gave me a disapproving look before replying.
"Quite frankly, I don't think we have any other option. We'll have to hope aid comes from other regions, or else this city is in deep trouble. Of course, we're in deep trouble anyway, but it could get so much worse."
"Is the field hospital going to close if the power's out?" Christian asked his father.
Mr. Forest didn't directly answer that question. Instead, he said the following: "We'll do the best we can. We're going to save as many lives as possible, because that's the oath we take as doctors."
The mood in the room was pretty grim after that; of course, it had been plenty grim before, but everything felt even more bleak with the knowledge that the field hospitals were out of power as well.
Soon afterwards, I headed up to bed. Once I was under the covers, I curled up in the fetal position and tried not to cry.
I wasn't successful.
I wept for Xander, my poor kid brother. Even if his death had been quick, it had been absolutely brutal, and it had robbed us of many, many years together.
Although, to be fair, it's an open question how much longer I'll survive as a fish out of water. How much longer I'll manage to live in such a dangerous world.
I wept for all the innocent men, women, and Pokemon who'd lost their lives in the series of tragedies that had occurred since Six Twelve. I wept for the doctors and nurses who'd spent the last several days staying up to watch over them, to make sure nobody died when they turned their head away.
Most of all, I wept for the people left behind in all this chaos. I knew a thing or two about loss myself, but it hadn't been on the same scale as the collective trauma the Oldale Region would be going through. This was a different type of loss.
And it would be our job to build our new lives in this brave new world.
Life without power was something I hadn't experienced in a long time. When it's been so long since the last time you've had something challenging in your life, it's easy enough to forget just what you went through.
First of all, we couldn't open the refrigerator, which the Forest family thankfully kept well-stocked just in case of an emergency like this. Food would spoil quickly in the hot Hoenn summer.
Dripping with sweat in my new fur coat, I laid around on the couch, trying not to mark it up too much. This was easier said than done, however; fortunately, it seemed that the cushions were fairly absorbent. What I wouldn't give for some air conditioning right about now.
Without power, I obviously couldn't play video games with Christian, so instead we sat there and talked. This didn't occupy us for very long, however, because after we'd speculated all we could about the cause of the outage, there wasn't much else to discuss.
Another use of my time that would have been productive would be to practice fighting as a Buizel, but it was so hot, and there were so few ways to cool myself down, that this would be a terrible idea. The sprinkler also didn't work, so there was no way to take part in that old childhood pastime.
Christian's parents continued to work long hours at the field hospital, so they weren't available to talk to. I was still wary around Dalgona, so I tried to steer clear of her. As for my best friend himself, there were only so many things we could talk about before we started arguing about something trivial. In the end, I started avoiding him too.
For all intents and purposes, I was now alone. And, as you can imagine, being alone, especially when there's nothing with which to occupy your mind, is extremely hard.
I found Christian's bookshelf and took a title that sounded interesting from it. It was called Werewolves of Sinnoh, and somehow, it felt important.
A book about werewolves isn't going to help me get through this ordeal, I thought. That's utterly ridiculous.
Still, if nothing else, it was a time killer, and as I sat up in the guest room, I had nothing but time. So I read the book, finishing it in two days.
Two days passed, then three, and I was slowly starting to lose my sanity. How long, I wondered, before my mind completely disconnected from reality? How long could someone survive without electricity?
People lived for most of history without it, you might tell me. And sure, that's true, but it's one thing to never know it even exists, and quite another to have it and then lose it.
By the end of the fourth day, I found myself praying to Arceus for power. It was a bit low to ask Him for help when I'd never believed it would work, but I was quite desperate for anything.
On the bright side, the sky was starting to clear up. The air no longer smelled so intensely of smoke; perhaps that's a sign that the volcano was finished erupting. Air quality would return to normal; the countless lives that had been lost, as well as the lives of those who'd known them, would not.
Despite the clearer skies, no solution to the blackout seemed to be forthcoming. Christian's parents weren't subscribed to the Oldale Times, and we obviously couldn't read news online, so we had no way of knowing if a breakthrough had been reached. All we had was each other, and we didn't even have each other all day.
A whole week passed like this, though it was easy to lose track of just how many days it had been. When you're as bored as I was, the days often blend together, but there's a vague awareness that time is going by.
I became so desperate for any excitement, any relief from the agony of ennui, that I started hoping for anything to occur. Even if it made my predicament worse, the fact that it would be something different would seem to be worth it.
As I would later find out, it's important to be careful what you wish for.
NO POV
In the middle of the darkest night in years, one might think that there was no activity in Oldale Town. One might expect relative peace and quiet; that is, except for the occasional siren.
Although admissions of new patients to the field hospitals were starting to decline, the doctors still found themselves working very long shifts just to keep the civilians alive. The lack of electricity at the venues only exacerbated matters further.
It had been almost two weeks since Six Twelve, and the people of the Oldale Region would have loved to use that time to heal from the eruption; that is, as much as one can heal from such a calamity. Of course, Murphy's Law had to step in and deny them that respite from disaster.
Tonight, a female Vulpix News reporter in her early thirties stood on an esplanade overlooking the harbor. Palm trees, along with lampposts, lined the walkway; normally the lamps would be on at some setting, but not tonight. Any electricity that could be mustered - car batteries, extra generators, you name it, had to go to the services that were truly essential.
"We stand here in solidarity with all our essential workers who are laying everything on the line to keep the Oldale Region safe" the reporter spoke into her microphone. "First responders, you are the backbone of this city, of any city, and we salute you."
After the reporter took a bow, she continued talking. "I'm Rachel Chunks, and I'm right here in Seaside Park, where something seems to be brewing. I'll admit that I'm a bit scared to check it out, though - it looks pretty intense."
Rachel leaned into her phone in order to hear what her supervisors had to say. They didn't agree.
"What's that? You say I should do it? Then fine, I will; after all, a reporter is supposed to have courage in any situation, so that's what I'll do. And after all, I am an essential worker, because the people of Oldale need to stay informed."
Telling herself that repeatedly, Rachel made her way into the nearby urban park. Most nights, even as late as midnight, there would be a few people milling around, enjoying the sea breeze or the view of the dark ocean. But again, this wasn't one of those nights.
In the midst of the park, there was a group of Fire type Pokemon. There were Combusken, a Torchic, a Flareon, and several other species. Rachel counted at least twenty, and they were all converging on a certain fountain in the park; the one with the statue of Oldale Town's patron saint, Drake.
For a few seconds, Rachel questioned the wisdom of reporting the news, even if nobody directly affected would be able to hear it. But then she remembered that it was also important to make people from other regions aware of Oldale's nightmare, so she cleared her throat and began to speak.
"It appears that a crowd of Fire types has descended upon this park, but what could they want at this late hour? Nothing good happens after midnight!"
Rachel turned to face the park once more, where a group of Water types, including Vaporeon, Oshawott, Squirtle, Poliwag, Psyduck, etc., were approaching the Fire types. The group was roughly the same size as the Fire crowd, and all twenty-something of them grinned determinedly.
They meant business.
"I don't know what's about to happen; I can't pretend to know that. But it doesn't look like it'll be pretty."
All of a sudden, one of the Combuskens' eyes lit up with a certain venom that couldn't be seen as anything other than extreme anger. The Combusken didn't say a word, but he didn't have to; his message was clear enough.
The Water types glared at the Fire types in return. Rachel couldn't fathom what had gotten the two groups to despise each other so much, so quickly, but it had to have been something pretty extraordinary.
Then again, something "pretty extraordinary" had happened just last week.
For one terrifying minute, nothing happened. Both groups stared each other down as though they were about to spring forward and attack the other. But that didn't happen, and as the seconds ticked by, the reporter found it more and more possible to pretend that it wouldn't happen.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, an Ember was launched from one of the Fire types. It was impossible for Rachel to tell who'd made the first move; the scene was one of total confusion as well as horror, because before long, the whole crowd was battling one another.
"Ladies and gentlemen", Rachel all but yelled into her microphone, "it would appear that we have a brawl on our hands! And this isn't a normal, friendly Pokemon battle either; it seems that they are trying to maim or kill one another!"
Even as she exclaimed those words, Rachel could practically hear her audience shouting something like, Do something about it! But then she remembered that she had no audience right now, at least no local one, for Oldale Town was in a deep power crisis.
"Excuse me, everybody, but I'm going to try and talk sense into this mob."
Rachel knew that what she planned on doing was highly dangerous; there was every chance that she'd get caught in the crossfire. However, she also knew that such an all-out brawl, with high risk of serious injury, was about the dumbest thing one could do when the hospitals were all full. She couldn't just stand there and do nothing.
"Everybody, cut it out!" she shouted as loudly as she could, but her plea fell on deaf ears. Indeed, in the midst of this chaos, nobody seemed to hear her; all of the Pokemon duking it out in that park were making too much noise.
Seeing that going in would be suicide, Rachel instead began walking down the esplanade in the opposite direction. As she did so, she looked directly at the cameraman, knowing that if even one person could benefit from knowing the news, then it was well worth talking about it.
"As you've seen, there appears to be a war between Fire and Water types in that park behind me" Rachel announced grimly. "Precisely what is going on, your guess is as good as mine. It is our hope that over the next few days, we'll gain a better idea of what both sides are fighting over."
Rachel's desires had shifted; before, she'd been desperate to make herself heard over the fighting between the two factions. Now, she wanted to get away from the situation more than anything. She wouldn't feel safe anywhere near this park for a long time, not after what she'd just seen.
"This is Rachel Chunks of Vulpix News, signing off."
Immediately after the cameraman cut off the recording, the reporter found the nearby Vulpix News van and climbed inside, gasping for breath. Her face was sweating, and the air felt quite chilly even though the Oldale Region was in the midst of a heat wave.
"What's wrong, Rachel?" one of the other reporters asked her, a man named Chalmer whom she'd barely gotten to know.
Panting, Rachel gave her answer. "It seems like all the city's Water types, and all the city's Fire types, can't stand each other for whatever reason. We've got to get to the bottom of this, Chalmer, or else even more damage will be done to the city that we love."
"What do you mean, for whatever reason?" Chalmer retorted. "You're a reporter, Rachel! Your job is to figure out the reason!"
"I know, it's just…it was much too dangerous to go in there. It would have been tantamount to suicide; there's no way that at least one of their attacks wouldn't have hit me. Did you see the two warring mobs?"
When Chalmer didn't reply, Rachel continued. "Exactly! You didn't see them, so you've got no way to know just how risky the inside scoop would be. You weren't there; I was."
The rest of the ride back to the Vulpix News studio, located far enough away from the city that it still had power, passed in near-total silence. Neither reporter was willing to speak to the other, for fear that it would devolve into a shouting match.
DARIUS ASHLAND, 18
By the end of the first week without power, I was getting pretty frustrated by the lack of anything to do. Even lying around in bed lost its appeal when the sheets were drenched in sweat within minutes.
The heat wave continued relentlessly. June 24, or at least, the day I thought was the 24th, felt hotter than any other day that year so far. And then the following day, the twenty-fifth, shattered that record.
Something as simple as walking up stairs left me winded. Hell, even standing up from a seated position made the blood rush away from my head and my vision darken. At a certain point, I decided it was best to do as little as possible; since I didn't want to sweat right through the bedsheets, I just laid on the floor and read books to pass the time.
Christian and Dalgona had returned to volunteering at the field hospital. There might not have been any power there, but just like Mr. and Mrs. Forest had said, the hospital was doing the best they could. That was all anyone could ask for at this point.
It might have been the last day of June, or the first of July, when the next big event occurred.
On this day, the other four inhabitants of the Forest residence were off at the convention center. I, meanwhile, sat alone in the living room after having worked up the strength and desire to head down there. It was nice to have a change of scenery, even if it really wasn't that different from the guest room.
Anyway, I was semi-engrossed in a book when the doorbell rang.
Who could that be?, I wondered. As far as I could remember, there hadn't been anyone at the Forest family's door in the last two weeks. For better or worse, nobody seemed interested, and who could blame them? The other people in the Oldale Region had bigger Magikarp to fry, such as making sure they could survive without power.
Remembering that I was alone, I gingerly got up off the chair after the doorbell rang again. And I made my way to the door, where I saw a mailman holding a small package.
"Not to sound rude", I said to the mailman, "but what are you doing here?"
The man frowned, readjusting the strap of his mailbag on his shoulder. "I could ask the same of you, Buizel. Our records never said anything about a Buizel living at this residence."
Oh great, this is gonna be awkward.
How could I explain that I'd become a Buizel from some mysterious cause after the volcano had blown its top? How could I explain that I'd lost my home, as well as my only family, in the disaster, and had moved in with my best friend?
Fortunately, the mailman didn't ask me for any of those answers. Instead, he sighed.
"Never mind. Anyway, the mail still has to be delivered, even in these extraordinary circumstances. I have something for Darius Ashland."
I frowned. "That's me. You just said there were no records of a Buizel living here."
The mailman looked extremely confused at this.
"Hmmm. Well, I can't say that I know what's going on. Perhaps the higher-ups knew that Darius Ashland was at this house, but not that he'd become a Pokemon. That you had become a Pokemon, of course."
Another thing that raised some question marks: The postal worker didn't seem to be floored by my transformation. It hadn't been known to have happened in the past, and such an event would be Nexus-shattering now. So why didn't he appear stunned? Where were his wide eyes?
"In any case", the postal worker continued, holding a package the size of a deck of playing cards to me, "this is for you. I know it's not much, but the package was sent with a 'High Importance' sticker on it, so it's gotta be something. Have a nice day."
"You too" I replied once I'd grabbed the package. "And stay safe."
"I will."
With that, the mailman returned to his vehicle and began driving off to hit some more houses. Meanwhile, I stared at the tiny manila envelope in my paw.
I held it loosely in said paw, like a hot potato I was desperate to let go of. And I re-entered the house, debating whether or not I should open it.
If it's a bomb or something else, it would be a lot bigger. Also, a bomb would have gone off by now, wouldn't it have? The mailman was carrying it. I don't know much about explosives, though, so maybe not.
My heart raced as though I were running a 100-meter dash. My palms were very sweaty, as though they were near the surface of the sun. When I opened the package, it felt like I'd know all the secrets of the universe that philosophers ponder. That was the emotional weight of the package to me, that it was Pandora's Box.
Taking a deep breath, I once more considered the question of whether I should open the manila envelope. It shouldn't have been such a difficult question, of course; I had nothing better to do, and how could something so small be that dangerous?
In the end, I decided to bite the bullet and see what I'd been sent. However, having paws rather than hands made using my fine motor skills a challenge; indeed, the word "challenge" isn't quite strong enough, and "nightmare" would probably be far more accurate.
Twice I dropped the envelope before I was able to open it; my claws were shaking. But once I managed to make a tear in the manila, I was able to open it some more.
When the object was free of the envelope, I finally got to see what it was. And let me tell you, it was not what I had expected.
It was a simple business card, light blue in color, with an address and such on it that you'd find on any business card. However, there were words on both sides of the card, and, out of morbid curiosity, I checked the backside first.
If you've received this card, you are cordially invited to join the Water clan. In order to join, you must enter the manhole at the given intersection and speak the pass phrase. The phrase is "I truly believe Butterfree are just dead relatives saying hi."
I snorted at the given phrase; it seemed pretty ridiculous to me. It was the first time I'd laughed in who knew how many days, so I took a moment to appreciate it.
But then…business. It was time to get down to business.
First off, why the hell would they tell me what the phrase was before I arrived at their headquarters, or wherever they gathered? Why would they do that when there was every possibility the card might fall into the wrong hands?
More than that, who were the Water clan? Even more importantly, why did they want me to join? And how had they convinced the post office to deliver me the business card?
So many questions, so little time. Not only was I literally in the dark regarding the power outage, but I was figuratively in the dark as well, thanks to the lack of information I had regarding this Water clan.
I still had a couple hours, most likely, before Christian and Dalgona returned from their shift. It would be a few hours after that before his parents came home, absolutely exhausted and burnt out from treating patients. Even so, I decided right away that I wouldn't share this card with anyone. I was going to make my own decision about what to do with it.
If I showed the card to Christian, he'd most likely beg me not to go. He'd shower me with warnings about how idiotic it was to split up in the midst of all this, and he'd have a point.
As crazy as this may sound, however, I was considering it. The address, after all, was right there. It was much like an addictive food that you know isn't good for you, but you can't stop eating.
But maybe this is exactly what I need. I've wanted a reprieve for two weeks, and now I've gotten it. Am I going to throw this opportunity away?
Please forgive me for mentioning Werewolves of Sinnoh in this story. The reason I chose my own story to mention is because I didn't have the permission of any other authors, and I didn't feel like asking for it.