Return: Zoe's Story, by Morbane: A Pokémon Tale
Chapter 3
She shuffled her feet a little, shook her shoulders, and returned her gaze to me.
"When we evolve, Ben releases us."
I was confused.
Few Pokémon wanted to stay with their trainers for their entire life. What was wrong with release?
"Blazebrand, is that so bad? Would you rather be with Ben until either you or he dies?"
"It's not a choice. He trains us until we evolve, then he releases us into the nearest Pokémon area. We," she shrugged, "we don't see him again."
"But... that's awful! That's not release! That's abandonment!"
"SHUT UP!" Blazebrand screamed at me. She reared up to her full height over me, smoking all over with fury. I had made a big mistake in 'attacking' her trainer. "Never say that again! Ben would never abandon us! You don't understand at all! Just listen to what I'm trying to tell you!"
I stayed quite still where I was, dipped my head in apology, and kept my eyes on her. She returned to all fours, glaring at me, and breathing smoke through her teeth.
"Don't judge so quickly," said Grit, coming up beside her. He started to say something else but was interrupted by Joel -
"He doesn't do it because he's tired of us or anything. That's why it's so bad. He thinks it's the duty of a trainer to return us to the wild when we're powerful enough."
"Ben thinks he's doing the right thing." Grit told me.
"He catches us when we're lonely and weak and then - he turns us into powerful Pokémon that can do anything, and puts us back in the wild." Blazebrand said forlornly.
"He thinks that we belong there - that we're happier there - but he doesn't give us a choice!" Joel continued, ignoring Blazebrand's hurt look at this new criticism of Ben. "If he had any perception at all he'd realise that we want to stay with him! If he'd give us a choice we'd never go!"
"We want to fight for him," said Grit, "but we don't want the experience that battle gives us; it accumulates and then we'll evolve and we'll leave him. But he doesn't understand that when we refuse to battle for him, we're actually showing loyalty."
"Loyalty not just in wanting to follow him," Joel said heatedly, "but in the fact that we question him. Loyalty is not just blind obedience. It's helping the one you're loyal to, figure out if he is really what he wants to be. And Ben is a bad trainer in that way - because he doesn't question himself. Otherwise..." he trailed off wistfully.
Blazebrand screamed a challenge at Joel's apparent subordination, and literally blazed with her fires. Joel glared at her and began forming an Ember attack in his mouth.
Luckily, being a water Pokémon, I was able to cool them down very quickly with bubbles.
"Ben and Bramble are coming back!" Grit warned. "Their feet are coming this way." Of course, being attuned to the Earth, the Sandshrew would feel the vibrations coming through the ground.
"I'll help you if I can," I told them quickly, now able to hear the sound of Ben's footfalls myself. And that was the conclusion of our talk, as Ben and Bramble came running.
Now that we were back on the main trails, the route was wide enough that Blazebrand could come out instead of me and use her light to guide Ben. So I didn't get out of 'my' Pokéball until the middle of next morning, when we came out on the side of the Rock Tunnel.
I knew it was mid-morning before I was released; that's a knack that most Pokémon have. If they're kept for too long in a Pokéball, though, it gets harder and harder to tell time.
It was especially for me this time because I had set myself to sleep for eight hours exactly, and I could count back from that.
Pokémon have so many abilities and powers, sometimes I wonder why we follow humans.
But only humans can teach us science, languages, culture... feed us popcorn... show us music... teach us about ourselves.
(Pokégods, how I missed Raoul...)
... And the others. I went through their names, slowly, considering them. Taz. The Zubat we'd caught in the Caves of Relation, then level 12 and very sure of himself. He dive-bombed Raoul trying to impress some girl Zubat, but she ran away. So when we'd defeated him, we had to cure him not only of battle-injuries but also of heartbreak over 'her betrayal'. THAT took some doing…
Kyle: simply my best friend. We were caught in the same river; first Sylvie and Kyle bumped into each other among some reeds, and Kyle challenged her; then Raoul slipped as he tried to ford the stream, a few days later and a lot farther down, and nearly fell on me. My trainer obviously learned a few lessons in river-crossing that week. And we had so many things in common, a Psyduck and a Slowpoke...
Sylvie was Raoul's first Pokémon; he chose her for his starter, but when I met them she'd already evolved, into Ivysaur. She was so patient, and she had such a sense of humour. Sometimes she was just like a mother to Taz and Ingot... but Pokégods, she could be evil when she was mad...
Jag, the Pidgeot; well, he was a Pidgeotto when I joined the group; apparently, he was Raoul's first capture, and had just evolved. He evolved into Pidgeot so fast I thought he must have set a speed record. Now, he was a good fighter. Really good… And if Sylvie was a mother, Jag was like a big brother…
Ingot... the last addition to our team; an Onix from the Victory Path caves. Kind of impulsive, but he was one of those rare Pokémon who actually tries to be caught by a trainer, and he and Raoul got along well. It took a while for the rest of us to make friends with him, though. He never said very much at a time, but he was very steady in battle...
I missed them, especially walking along with this unhappy team.
Finally leaving the caves, we set out down the side of the mountain to Lavender. The town was visible from a distance - the Ghost Tower certainly stuck out - and even the weather was nice.
Ben was happy to walk along at a speed that even the Bulbasaur could keep up with (occasionally Javelin rode on Blazebrand, keeping well away from her mane). From the attitudes of the Pokémon around me, this was something they liked to do - just walk, all together - and even Blazebrand relaxed a bit.
Joel walked alongside me and explained a bit more. Ben always had at least 5 Pokémon, but he never kept more than six. So when he released one Pokémon, he would always catch another before he released a Pokémon again.
That was why they seemed to be blaming some of this mess on me. Bad enough that I had been captured, but that I had basically forced my way onto the team - that was unacceptable. My presence meant that Ben had a full team, and as soon as any of the others evolved, they would probably be released.
For Joel, it was slightly different, because he wouldn't evolve into Arcanine on his own, but he explained that he would be evolved at L.50, when he learned Flamethrower.
"But what about Extreme Speed?" I asked, naming the move that he would learn at L.50 if he had already evolved into Arcanine.
"He got someone to help translate for him, and I told him I would rather learn Agility and Flamethrower than Extreme Speed. Besides," he paused, and I was on the point of prompting him, when he continued, "besides, that meant I would be released after Level 50, not at Level 34."
Oh.
"Hey, just a minute," I said, picking up something in what he'd just said, "he needed a translator? Can't he understand Pokémon speech?"
"Not usually. Some basic concepts, like food, and fear, and danger. But… generally, no."
Oh.
Joel told me everyone's levels; Javelin was at L.18, Bramble was at L.13, Grit was at L.18, Blazebrand was at L.34, and Joel himself was at L.39.
"So… Javelin will probably be released next," I said quietly, "then Grit… then Blazebrand."
"You say it so lightly," said Joel angrily.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"It seems that the only way I can help, is to evolve." I said later, after a pause of thought.
"Is that all you can do?" Joel burst out, and leapt ahead of me, leaving me to walk silently with Bramble.
By the time I'd reached the Pokémon centre I still hadn't thought of any other solution. In a mood of silence, we ate lunch and were rejuvenated. We were left at the Pokémon centre while Ben went shopping, and in our Pokéballs we slept that night.
Next morning, I made sure to check the newspapers for news about the Team Rocket Celadon heist. I had to go through a few back issues to get the full news that I wanted, but it was easy enough. I knew the correct human-Pokémon signs to use, and the Nurse Joy helped me, obviously thinking that my trainer had sent me for them.
Unfortunately, it seemed as if the heist had been largely successful. Only the Pokémon of my truck, and one other, had been recovered. How had we done it? I guess we had been lucky. We hadn't been secured very well in the truck; Vanessa and Ross had been unable to get our Pokéballs, and the other Rocketeers had managed to get the Pokéballs of the Pokémon they stole, which had made it more easy for them.
The only Rocketeers arrested were those of the other truck. They had little information.
There were plenty of editorials and sideline articles about the event. I read them all. People were pretty shocked that it had happened at all – it was a symbol of the growing power of Team Rocket. According to all the security experts, it shouldn't have happened. They couldn't explain it at all.
I found a good article about the fate of the other Pokémon in my truck. Apparently, a police squad had tracked the truck out to the desert a day after the event. The truck's wreckage must have been plainly visible, and from there, rescue teams had recovered most of the Pokémon. Only a few were still missing.
The names of every missing Pokémon, plus short descriptions and personal messages from each trainer, were featured in the previous day's paper. I found my own name and description, (in Raoul's writing style - homesick, homesick), and cut it out of the paper very carefully.
I had in my possession a strip of paper that could return me to Raoul. If I presented it to Ben, he wouldn't need to understand Pokémon speech to realise that I was the Pokémon described in print. He already had a few suspicions about my past, didn't he?
But - I'm still not sure why - I hesitated.
All my problems would be solved. But the ones I'd caused wouldn't be.
"Is that all?" Joel had said. Was that all I could do? Just abandon this group? Without even trying to help them, to enlighten Ben? That was unfair.
And Joel's challenge rose up before me like a wall between Raoul and I. I would return. But I had a Pokémon journey to undertake first.
Hiding the strip of paper in a miniscule, near-invisible waterproof pouch in my ear (usually used to hold berries; I'd eaten the last one after escaping Team Rocket), I walked back to my team.
It cost me a lot.
I made one concession to Raoul, though. I stole a little square piece of sticky notepaper and a pen, clumsily drew a special symbol on it, and pinned it to the Pokémon Centre billboard. That was my version of "Zoe was here". Raoul had taught it to us.
Thank you, everyone, for support, and just for reading this (and my other fics!).
Rika and Lightning-Strike: Thanks for your enthusiastic reviews!! I hope I've answered your questions. And I'm trying to work out chapter 4 at the moment – so if you have any suggestions, PLEASE tell me. Why not email me? (That applies to anyone, basically)
Also, to Rika: I tried to look you up in the Authors directory, but there are just too many Rikas! Which one are you?
MadFearow: Thanks. I'm really glad you like my fic.
Deena: Well, you write well too… and here's the next chapter; if I'm lucky, you'll still want more.
eek: Aww, thanks. Reviews like this make my day. I'm sorry I took so long with this chapter.
Farla: Thank you. Well… now that you've read the chapter, hope you liked it. BTW, I want Zoe to be an example of a well trained Pokémon – a Pokémon whose trainer understands her needs, and serves her as much as she serves him. Although I'm writing a more in-depth fic about the right way to train later.
Miss Black Dragon: Yes, I guess I was trying to cram a lot of info in. By the fourth chapter, the pace will be a bit better, I think.
Siya, ppl!
~Morbane