Pokémon - The Journey Begins

Chapter 25: Dark Images of Paranoia



Matt pulled the sheets all the way up to his neck and let out a big sigh of relief. He already was capable of competing in the Pokémon League, with the hidden badges, but felt that the other Indigo Badges were just as good enough to obtain, not to mention Lizzie herself needs one more badge in order to compete. He looked around in the room of the Pokémon Center; Lizzie and Jordan seemed to be fast asleep, but Matt was constantly in thought. Arrmun had promised that there are to be no more attacks from Team Rocket but, how could he trust him? Arrmun left Team Rocket so, wouldn't others start to chase him as well?

Matt had difficulty getting to sleep, which disturbed him, because nothing should be wrong. He was always in thought. Always thinking about Lizzie, his Squirtle, Jordan, and just about Pokémon training in general.

After two hours, Matt finally managed to fall asleep. He only managed to have nightmares. Some of them shorter than others, but most of them were about Pokémon. Terrible, clear images appeared into his head about Pokémon being personal slaves. Human slaves. If one was seen in the wild, a human would come up and swipe it from its natural habitat.

Matt suddenly began seeing even more images. Pokémon becoming whipped, crying in pain. He saw several images of Pokémon, lying on hard concrete, with several cuts and bruises, lying in its own blood, and being left for dead

Matt shot up as a cold sweat dripped on his face. He buried his face in his hands. When he removed them, he could see that they were shaking. Of what? The body only shakes when it is cold or...when it is scared. His hands were warm; why is he scared? There shouldn't be anything to be afraid of, not according to Matt anyway.

Why was he afraid? Matt closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Then suddenly, he remembered those frightening images which occured. All of them. He looked at his Squirtle, who was sleeping on the foot of the bed. "Zenigame..." he whispered, "do you think yourself as a slave, and of me your abuser?" He buried his face in his hands and breathed heavily. "I never thought of Pokémon training just like chaining up people and forcing them to work."

"You're talking too loudly; you should be asleep," Lizzie mumbled, while waking up. "Matt, what's wrong?"

"Do you have any idea who we are, Lizzie?"

"What?"

"Look at it this way; we've captured Pokémon from their normal, wild habitat, and force them to fight, whenever we call upon them," Matt explained.

"So?"

"So, we're basically just taking them, and using them for our own greedy desires. Why did I even become a Pokémon trainer in the first place? I never even thought of it as some kind of torture."

"Is it torture?" Lizzie began, grabbing Matt's attention. "Pokémon fight because they want us to be proud of them. They fight for us, not for themselves. They look up to us."

"Yeah, right. 'Do this, do that, jump out of the way'. It seems that we're only using them to fulfill our dreams; it's almost as if we're using them to do our dirty work. It sounds far too similar like Team Rocket"

"Matt, listen to me. You are a responsible trainer--"

"I am? Then explain all of these hardships I've been coming across lately? I've been leading us into trouble! Can you remember the amount of times you've had to get me under control because of my ridiculous inability to maintian my emotions?"

"Well, you'll just have to work on it then. But don't do it for me, do it for yourself. Because you can even hurt yourself if you do something rash." Lizzie then lay herself down and closed her eyes.

"That doesn't explain what I'm getting at--"

"Matt, look at it this way," Lizzie began with her eyes closed. "Pokémon don't fight because we tell them to. Fighting is in their blood, their spirit. If a Pokémon is chosen to battle, it's honoured. It doesn't become afraid to battle, depending on the trainer. You are a very good trainer. Zenigame loves fighting for you, he really does..." Lizzie then dozed off.

Matt sighed, suddenly realizing what Lizzie had said. "Yeah. Thanks again, Lizzie. If I've never met you, who knows what kind of problems that I would have." He yawned, lay back down and closed his eyes. "But there are some very cruel Pokémon trainers out there...."

* * *

"Are we ready?" Jordan asked. "It'll take at least half an hour to get to the port, and the next ferry could be leaving in forty-five minutes. That's the last one today."

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Matt scrambled to put on his jacket and his backpack. He then looked out the window and groaned. "Are you kidding me?! It's raining!"

"Great, we'll get there sooner then!" Jordan replied, laughing. Matt and Lizzie looked at him strangely. "Well, we'll have to run, won't we?"

"Well, who says we have to go to Cinnibar Island today?" Lizzie asked. "I mean, we've been together, how long, at least a month and a half, right? The Indigo tournemt doesn't start until much, much later. Why don't we just take the day off?"

"Sure, let's help out with the Pokémon Center. We need to do something to keep us busy," Matt replied.

"Uh...I was actually thinking of relaxing, but you can go and help if you want."

"Yeah, relaxing actually sounds like a better idea," Matt replied, yawning.

Jordan looked at Matt. "You look really tired, did you get any sleep at all last night, Matt?"

Matt shook his head. "I kept waking up. I had these weird nightmares. And everytime I woke up, it took me about an hour to finally get back to sleep."

"Something's wrong," Jordan commented.

"Pardon me?" Matt asked.

"If you didn't manage to get any sleep, then something's bothering you. I've heard of restless nights, but you seem really tense right now."

Matt smiled. "Thanks, but I'm all right. Maybe I'll just nap a little bit this afternoon."

Lizzie looked through her backpack. "We're out of Greatballs; should we pick some up a little bit later on?"

Jordan nodded. "It's a good idea. The prices seemed to have dropped since they're surprisingly popular. We should pick up a few more."

Matt yawned again. "Geez...my mind's clouded up, I can't seem to pay attention. What are we going to do later?"

"Wow, Matt, I think you should lie down some more. You really need some sleep," Lizzie replied.

Matt nodded slowly. "All right. Sorry about this..."

"Hey, it happens to all of us, don't worry," Jordan replied, patting Matt on the back. "If it stops raining, and if you're up by then, we'll be heading out around noon."

Matt nodded. "All right."

"See you later," Lizzie replied, as she exited the bedroom. Jordan also left the room, closing the door gently behind him. Matt placed himself down on the bed and sighed. Almost instantly, he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

After about three hours, Matt had awakened. It seemed brighter outside, and the rain had stopped. He stretched and rolled out of the bed, onto his feet. He then clutched his head with his hands. "What is wrong with me?" he asked himself. "I keep thinking too much, and I keep doing stupid things" He pictured Lizzie in his mind and pictured his kiss to her. "Why did I even think of doing that? I made a complete idiot of myself. I'm surprised I can keep a straight face everytime I talk to her from now on."

Lizzie opened the door and saw Matt holding his head. "Oh, you are up. Are you okay?"

Matt, slightly startled, quickly jolted his head towards Lizzie. "Oh, yeah, I'm okay."

"Oh come on, you can tell me..." She sat down beside him. "What's wrong?"

"I just have a lot on my mind..."

"And that's why you need to share it. If you don't vent your feelings, it'll cause stress. Now tell me, what's wrong?"

"It'll cause stress for maybe you, but I don't need to vent myself in order to feel better." He looked at her. "Why are you still around me?"

"We already discussed this last night."

"No, seriously!" Matt jumped up to his and looked at Lizzie. "I can't believe how stupid I've been! Time after time after time. We've been stalked, trapped at gunpoint, captured and thrown into prison. Do I seem like a responsible trainer to you?!"

"That's enough..." Lizzie muttered. "Now you're starting to whine."

"Oh? Then why did you ask me to say anything in the first place?"

"You're letting it bother you, that's all. I'm just trying to help."

"Of course they're bothering me! These thoughts are going to haunt me for as long as I live!"

"Matt, stop it. You're really worrying myself and Jordan. You're letting these thoughts get to you too much. It's starting to affect your personality. If you don't stop this now, you're going to feel miserable for the rest of your life. Do you want this to happen?"

"No..." Matt muttered. "I just want everything to go away."

"What?"

"Excuse me, I need to be alone..." Matt grabbed his backpack and Pokéballs.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving; I'm really not in the mood for arguing right now."

"No, you're not!"

"Look, I just need some time on my own!"

"What is with you? Why are you trying to do things on your own?" Lizzie stood up. "We can help you, you know. There's no need to think that you're being a bother to us, because you're not! You're not endangering us, and you're not slowing us down."

"Leave him alone," Jordan added, suddenly walking in. "Lizzie; Matt definately has a lot on hid mind right now, and he feels he needs some open space. He's feeling an awful lot of pressure lately, and is feeling rather uncomfortable right now."

"I'm going to the port," Matt walked to the front desk.

"Well, we'll go with you then," Lizzie said.

"Lizzie, didn't you just hear what I said?"

"Yes, we should go to the port, and once we get on the ship, we'll let Matt on his own, and do something by himself. Is that all right?"

Matt picked up Squirtle. "Fine with me."

* * *

"Wow...such a large room!" Lizzie looked around in the brightly coloured bedroom in which the group was staying. The wall was decorated with some oil pantings; some plants rested in the corner of the room. There was one bed close to the entrance to the restroom, and a bunk bed right by the small, circular window. Next to that was a small acquarium, filled with some small fish. "Ooh, bunk beds! I get the top bunk!" Lizzie quickly pulled herself on top of the matress.

"You know, there's a ladder on the side of the bed," Matt pointed.

"Was it there? I didn't notice."

Squirtle climbed on top of the bottom bunk and stared at the small fish swimming around carelessly.

"Well, we're off. We'll see you at dinner, all right?" Jordan said.

Matt looked at Jordan. "Dinner? That's not for another four hours!"

"Good, then you should feel better by the time we get back!"

"I don't want to do anything..." Matt sat on top of the bed looked at the aquarium along with Squirtle.

"Oh, go and do something fun! Be like you were when we first met, all right? Like you said, Team Rocket's gone!" Lizzie jumped off the bed, and left the room with Jordan.

Matt walked up and closed the door. He then let out a deep sigh.

"Squirtle?" Squirtle asked, looking at Matt.

"Well, pal, it looks like it's just us for a while. You don't mind, do you?"

Squirtle shook his head.

"Good..." He looked at the aquarium. "Beautiful, isn't it? Crystal clear water, colourful rocks at the bottom, rainbow fish swimming about...the sea is a wonderful place."

Squirtle looked at Matt, giving him complete attention.

"Water is so clensing and pure...it cleans itself always..."

"Squirtle!" Squirtle ran to Matt's backpack, and unzipped it.

"Hey! You snoop!" Matt saw Squirtle pull out a pair of his swimming trunks. "That's right! I had packed a pair just in case, though I didn't think I would actually be using htem!" He took the bright orange pair. "This ferry has a pool, too, doesn't it? It's huge. Pardon me a moment." He dashed into the bathroom and shut the door. He removed his clothing, and made a large pile on the floor before putting on his swimming trunks. He looked at himself in the mirror and gave himself a sour look. "Yeesh, I'm losing weight again...well, I'll won't be able to say that at dinner, won't I?"

He exited the bathroom and placed all of his clothing on the lonely bed right next to it.

"Okay, first we have to go down to the lobby and pick up a towel or so. Let's go!"

Matt allowed Squirtle to ride on his shoulder as he picked up some towels from the main deck and followed directions towards the swimming pool. He was amazed at the size of it, when the ferry itself didn't seem to be so large. It was noisy, and crowded, mostly with younger kids. Splashing by performing cannon balls, screaming, and just having fun in general.

"Sir..." a formally dressed man walked up to Matt and Squirtle.

"Yes?"

"The sea water is salty, so when you're done, I recommend you use the shower room in the right," he pointed.

Matt looked towards the pool, and back at the man. "You mean this pool is full of sea water?"

"Yes, and it is chlorinated slightly, so if you wish to look underwater, I suggest a pair of goggles; the salt or the chlorine isn't very good for your eyes."

Matt smiled. "Thank you, I'll take up on that offer." Matt took a bright blue pair. He found a spot by the shallow end and decided to lay down his towel near there. He then looked at the sky. "It's so nice out. And that breeze feels so good. I hope I don't get sunburned, I forgot my sunscreen. Oh well..." Matt walked into an empty spot in the deep in and jumped right into the water.

Squirtle leaped in soon after.

Matt surfaced and pushed his hair back. "Wow...I feel refreshed..." Matt took in some more air and completely dunked himself once again underwater. He had seen his Squirtle swimming around at the bottom, along with some other water Pokémon.

Matt then dove a few more times, swimming with his Squirtle, before surfacing once again. Squirtle playfully blew some water in his face, so Matt, up to the challenge began splashing him in return. He even decided to have a race with his Squirtle to see who was faster. Naturally, since Squirtle was indeed more vertatile in water, won everytime. Matt didn't care though. He was laughing, and smiling, and for the first time in ages was having a good time.

After a while, he swam to the shallow end and decided to sit down, trying to keep as far away as he could from the children playing and splashing in the water. The water, even though he was sitting managed to barely cover his chest, so he felt that sitting there wasn't such a bad idea. Matt looked around for a whirlpool in which he could relax, but couldn't find one. So, he just decided to sit and relax in the shallow part of the pool.

Matt nearly dozed off a few times, since the water against his body created a soothing feeling on his skin. He paid no attention to the noise from the other passengers; his mind seemed to clear up as he relaxed. Maybe a little too much. He then began to lean and relax a little bit more, before suddenly he shot up, as soon as his chin touched the water. He then looked around for a lifeguard.

"Excuse me?" Matt asked a lifeguard who walked by. "Could you tell me what time it is, please?"

The young, blonde lifeguard looked at her watch. "It's 5:30."

Matt nodded. "Okay, thank you."

"No problem." The lifeguard walked on by.

"Geez, was I in the pool for two hours, already? Perhaps I should find Zenigame and go and do something else before dinner." He looked around. "Shoot, I can't remember the last time I saw him. He was underwater in the deep end, I think." Matt then looked around, and noticed much less people in the water than before.

Matt put his goggles back over his eyes, took a deep breath and placed himself underwater once more as he swam to the deep end. He resurfaced, took another deep breath and dove underwater. He noticed many other water Pokémon, most of which he hadn't yet seen, but couldn't manage to find his Squirtle.

He surfaced and climbed out of the pool. He then rubbed his arms, which felt dry and very itchy. "I've been in there far too long. I better rinse this stuff off..."

After taking a quick rinse in the shower in the locker room, Matt walked back outside to the pool area and looked in the water.

"Is something wrong?" the lifeguard he met from earlier asked.

"I brought a Squirtle with me...but, I don't know where he is!"

"Oh, I think I saw one heading for the main hall. A tall man and a teenage girl picked him off and ran off that way about ten minutes ago," the lifeguard pointed.

"Thank you!" Matt grabbed his towel back from where he left it, surprised to find that it was still very dry, and ran off to where the lifeguard was pointing.

"Hey--HEY!" the lifeguard yelled.

Matt stopped and turned around. "What?"

"NO running on the deck!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Matt decided to speed-walk instead, walking through the long hall. At the end of the it, there was a door with a large sign which said 'Keep Out'. "What the...this sign wasn't here earlier..." Matt twisted the door and pulled it open. What he saw were several water Pokémon in cages, along with his Squirtle.

"Squirtle!" Matt's Pokémon yelled.

"Zenigame?!" Matt ran towards him. "Who put you in here?" Matt heard some silent laughter in the background and then turned to face two figures which he thought he would never see again. "No...no, it can't be."

"Oh? But why can it not?" Zach snickered.

"But...he promised..." Matt muttered.

"Cloë, don't you have something to say? It has been a long while since we've seen the little rat." Zach ran his hands through his hair. "Surely you'd like to say something."

"No, I have nothing to say. Nothing at all," Cloë bitterly replied, not facing either Zach or Matt.

"I thought you two were in jail!" Matt exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"What a silly question," Cloë replied. "Look around you. Cages, full of Pokémon. Pokémon which we've stolen. And after being trapped in that ridiculous prison cell without parol for so long, it actually feels good."

"But...Arrmun told me that Team Rocket wouldn't bother us anymore..." Matt muttered.

"Arrmun? Oh right, I remember HIM..." Zach scoffed. "Possibly one of the most vulgar members of Team Rocket you would EVER find. He was always so rude, and he just wasn't very nice to his other fellow members."

"Just because we were better dressed, and maintained," Cloë replied. "He thinks he's all that and more."

"But I found out this morning that he left Team Rocket. Which was fortunate, because for the past month, we've been trying to get out with this," Zach held out a small spoon. "Which I felt was disgusting, because it destroyed my best pair of gloves; now look at me! I totally look disorganized, while Cloë is wearing her gloves, and I'm wearing nothing on my hands. It's degradeable!"

"You guys are pathetic, you've just spoiled a perfectly good day."

"Well, too bad your Pokémon aren't with you to assist you, so we'll just take you too!" Zach stepped back, and nudged at Cloë. "Go on, he's all yours."

"What?! We didn't agree to this!" Cloë pulled Zach ahead of her, and pushed him in front of Matt. "You're the one who wants to get even with him!"

"Me? You certainly aren't expecting ME to fight him, now are you?" Zach complained, constantly staring at Cloë. Matt, annoyed, pulled Zach towards him, and punched him right in the nose. Zach let out a squeal, then collapsed to the ground, with his nose bleeding a little bit.

"I'll kill that cretin once I see him," Matt muttered, picturing Arrmun in his head. He carefully stepped over Zach and approached Cloë at a rapid pace.

"Now, now now...young man, it's impolite to hit a lady. Particularly a lady as gorgeous and beautiful as I."

"I'll keep that in mind when I see one."

"Oh thank you thank--what?"

Matt walked in front of Cloë, and pounded his fist into the wall, cornering her. "Let all of these Pokémon go."

"Get back. I'm warning you, get back. You've never heard me scream, have you? You should be aware that my screaming can knock one out for a very long time!"

"Oh, are you afraid? Okay, let's see if--UGH!" Matt was interrupted as he looked around him. His entire body was covered by thick, green vines. "What is this?! You sneaky son of a--"

"Excuse me?" Zach interrupted. "It is very impolite to talk that way to your elders. Not to mention the damage you put on my beautiful face. You will pay for that greatly. Venusaur! Take him out back; we'll deal with him later."

"I don't think so..." a voice called behind Zach

"You!" Zach gasped, backing away towards the cages.

"Jordan!" Matt exlaimed, now with a broad smile across his face.

"I saw you two board this ship just before we did, and I also saw you taking the Pokémon silently one by one," Jordan explained. Suddenly, several security guards entered the room.

"Oh, bloody hell," Zach muttered.

"Put the Venusaur away..." Jordan commanded.

"Oh? You think we're finished?" Zach grabbed a smoke bomb from his pocket. "You want us to leave? Fine!"

"No you don't!" Matt squirmed, trying to break free.

Jordon leaped forward to grab the smoke bomb from Zach's hand, but Cloë shifted sideways from the corner of the room and knocked Jordan into the wall with an elbow. "Don't think this'll be as easy as the last time we met."

Jordan cursed under his breath and pushed himself off of the wall. The instant he did that, the smoke bomb was thrown. Several voices of the security guards could be heard, such as several threats to fire the weapons they were holding.

Matt felt the vines around his body loosen as he quickly turned around and watched a vine from Venusaur being drawn back to underneath its large flower on its back. Matt could only see a little bit of it, but enough as he could see the Venusaur being called back. He saw the beam from the Pokéball appear in the direction in which he was running, so he continued on rushing.

Matt continued walking, having a difficult time seeing where exactly he was going. He noticed some of the smoke clearing, however.

"Matt, are you there? Where are you?" Jordan cried. His voice seemed to be on the other side of the room.

"I'm over here at the other end!" Matt yelled. "I'm going to continue following them!"

"You don't have any Pokémon to protect yourself with!"

"It's all right! My fists are strong enough!" Matt continued walking in the direction desired. The smoke cleared up a little bit more, as Matt heard a door closing ahead. He followed until he saw it, and walked through it. As he looked, he noticed Cloe and Zach running away with several caged water Pokémon in a large cart. "Hey!" he shouted, and began chasing them.

Cloe turned around. "That pest! How did he find us?!"

"Never mind, keep running!" Zach replied, as he turned a corner.

Matt approached the corner several seconds later and quicly made a sharp turn. As he continued running, he found himself looking at a hall which lead both ways. He looked in both directions. "Damn it! Which way did they go?!"

Matt decided to make up his mind quickly and decided to take a left. While reaching the other corner, he turned, and saw a dead end. He instantly turned around and headed towards the opposite direciton. Finding a set of stairs, he quickly ran down them, but was surprised to what he saw at the bottom. He saw Team Rocket lying on the ground, bruised and groaning in pain. As he looked around, he saw Lizzie. "Hey, what happened?"

"I took care of them!" Lizzie smiled.

"What did you do?" He looked at the fallen duo and scattered cages.

"Well, I saw your Pokéballs lying around, and when I heard Jordan talking about Team Rocket stealing Pokémon from the pool, I took your Bulbasaur," Lizzie explained.

"How did you get it to listen to you?" Matt asked. "And why didn't you use one of your own?"

"I don't know. I guess it's because I'm cute." She giggled.

Matt chuckled, then ran his hands through his dampened hair and released a sigh of slight disappointment. "It's too bad...I managed to see through their smoke bomb, I was hoping that I could catch them."

"What? Is there a problem with my being the hero for once?" Lizzie asked. "You and Jordan always get the spotlight!"

Matt smiled. "I don't find a problem with that at all."

"Well, how are you feeling?"

"Much better and relaxed."

"Really? It looks like something's been eating at your skin!"

Matt looked at his bare chest and blushed. He had forgotten that he had been wearing just his swimming trunks. Upon his noticing, he felt a slight chill and noticed that his skin everywhere was breaking. "Yeah, I've been swimming in salt water for nearly two hours. So, where's my Squirtle?"

"Here, let me free him," Lizzie opened the cage and took out a fatigued Squirtle. "This seems to be the only one, so I'm guessing it's Zenigame."

"Poor guy. Oh well, at least we both got to relax." Matt took him from Lizzie's hands. "He seems to be all right. Let's find Jordan and have some dinner. I haven't had lunch."

"Yes you have! You ate a bowl of soup!"

"I did? Wasn't that yesterday?"

"No, it was before we left! Don't you remember?"

Matt let out a nervous smile. "I guess that swim must have completely soothed my memory down..."

"Well, at least it keeps a lot of things off your mind; you do sound a lot better."

Matt thought about what Lizzie said, and realized it was true. His temper, his frustration, his recent dreams, almost everything which occured. He refused to allow the sad, depressing feelings bother him anymore. No, Matt feels rejuvinated, almost as if he had witnessed a second birth.

"So, want to get dressed so we can finally have dinner?"

"Please, I'm really hungry. Oh, and we can even watch the sunset afterwards."

"Ooh, aren't you romantic?"

"Huh? Oh, you thought the two of us alone!"

"Yeah, I know. I was only kidding."

"Were you?" Matt smiled nervously. "Let's go, I'm hungry!"



TO BE CONTINUED.