It's been a pretty hectic time for me due to exams, but since they're finished I can go back to writing again, yay! Enjoy the next chapter!
The heavy rumbling in the nearby street woke Michelle. Wriggling out of her emergency blanket, she tried to investigate. Outside, the streets were lifeless and dark against the night sky. Her flashlight lit up a small area of the staff room as she swept it around.
"Turn that off. We're trying to sleep over here."
Victini was still asleep. Its sensitive ears meant it should have been the first to wake, not her. She clicked the flashlight off and moved towards where the sound came from.
"Michelle! What exactly made you want to walk in the dark alone, armed with only a flashlight? I'll get Todd up."
Todd's groaning was easily heard."Something out there?" he asked.
"Yeah, sounded like an earthquake. We can't all fit under the table. Todd, get two people with you and tell them to shelter under the reception desk. Here. Use these earplugs. If you're really concerned we'll take a walk around the grounds tomorrow and see whatever stands out."
Victini's ears twitched. "I cannot hear it now. Whatever's there, it's gone."
The next day saw Michelle and Todd checking the street. The asphalt,once mostly intact, was replaced with a cracked, wide trench almost the width of the road.
"We still have another emergency cabinet's worth of supplies to go through, and that has more emergency rations and jerrycans of water," Todd stated. "Victini? Any ideas on what might have caused this?"
"Have we even used the water purification tablets in the first cabinet yet?" Michelle glanced up at the sky: no aerial threats were here. That was good. "We'll fill up the empty water jugs with the toilet water - then use the tablets to make them safe. I mean, we could light a fire -" Victini blew a small jet of flame, making the two humans jump away with a yelp - "Stop that!"
Victini's giggling started to grate on Todd's nerves. "Have you forgotten how to use your powers?"
"No, I haven't! You probably should've asked if I forgot how to use my powers appropriately."
"Let's just get back and get all the jerrycans filled. We could use the toilet water-"
Todd just stared, mortified, while Victini let loose a string of telepathic expletives.
"We don;t get much rain. Fine. Todd, go drag one of the jerrycans onto the roof. I'll go get the other ones filled with toilet water."
She checked her belt, which was devoid of everything except her flashlight. The armory was locked up and walkie-talkies were useless in this situation. With a quick sigh, she moved downstairs.
Victini buried its face into Todd's shirt, attempting to hide from the soldier speaking to them.
"Aww, look at that little guy," he said, scratching Victini's back. Does he have a name? I'm sure that's a Pokemon, given we saw some on our way in."
"Victini!" it replied.
"Yes, that is correct,' Todd replied. "Found him wandering around scared and confused. We haven't been responding to any call-outs since the shelter-in-place order." He gave Victini a gentle scratch between the ears. "Staff Sargent Jackson, is it? I read the tag on your uniform."
"He's not very enthusiastic about meeting new people, is he? Like a dog that just knows something's up."
"I might have died wandering your world all alone. Given my abilities that is debatable."
Jackson started for a moment, cursing under his breath. "Shit! Who said that?"
"My name is Victini. Pleased to meet you."
"Alright, Victini," Jackson said. "Address me as 'sir' or 'Jackson' from now on. Is that clear?"
"Yes!"
"I think you meant to say, "Yes, Sir! Jackson chuckled as Victini responded. "Heh. That was fun. Still," he continued, extending a hand, "I'm honored to meet a Pokemon in the flesh."
"Have you heard anything about the outside world?" Todd asked while Jackson led the staff to a waiting transport. "Oh - do I need to leave Victini here? He's probably not that good around new people..."
"Not much, buddy. Last I heard NOAA was attempting to check the skies and seas for signs of hostile Pokemon. Haven't found anything so far. As for Victini - well, the emergency shelter has a place specifically set up for Pokemon. He'll need to be in a cage for the duration of the trip."
"Wait. you mean they have battleships and fighter jets checking the skies?" He turned to re-enter the center. "Wait a moment. I need to get a cage out."
"I've only heard what trickles down from the news and higher-ups. But, from what I've heard and seen that is quite correct. In fact a few Pidgeot sightings have been reported in San Francisco - most have found them due to their unnatural size and elemental powers - they ripped a grizzly bear to shreds too!" Jackson turned to VIctini. "Victini - since you can do telepathy, are you able to help translate for the other Pokemon at the emergency shelter?"
"I will glady do so, sir," Vctini flicked a wing-like tail in affirmation. "Wait, other Pokemon?"
"Yes, there are other animal control centers in this city. We send our staff to other centers on rotation every few weeks." Todd paused. "To actually answer your question... well, the emergency services have also managed to capture Pokemon. They've been sending them to makeshift pens consisting of old buildings."
"This is the largest size cage I could find." Everyone turned towards Todd, who was now holding it up for inspection. He unlocked it and set it on the ground. "Right, into the cage you go."
"You can't be serious."
"Sorry, buddy. Rules are rules. Staff Sargent's orders - and mind that we'll be on the road for... about a half hour at most."
Jackson started the transport, chuckling as he did so.. "The scientists and vets here are all over the Pokemon. I can't blame them, being on the forefront of an existence-altering event myself. I don't think you've met Tovar. He's the Corporal with the rifle in the passenger seat."
Tovar gave them a silent thumbs-up as they took their seats. "Hey, look. They got a Pokemon with them. Thought they'd have sent everything they got over by now."
Michelle pulled out the hand-crank radio, twiddling the dial. "What will it be? Music, or news?"
"How 'bout a talk show?" Tovar replied. ""News is way too depressing right now. Put up some relaxing music for the road."
"Where are we gonna go?" Todd asked. He opened Victini's bag - a five-liter backpack stacked with the same supplies as everyone else's, with the notable exception of extra museli bars and dried fruit in place of canned goods.
"We'll give everyone residence at an emergency shelter. Won't be much, but better than staying in a half-ruined building. You did pack emergency supplies, right?"
"We did." Michelle opened her pack. "They are enough for a few days at most."
The transport passed a damaged FEMA supply truck, with some Pokemon nibbling at the immobilized vehicle. "Ignore them," Jackson said. "These things, 'Aron' I think they're called according to Bulbapedia... they're probably full after eating that much metal. Lord knows what sort of damage the truck sustained - a complete write-off from the looks of it."
"It's a shame these supplies will go to waste," Todd added.
"Hang on. I think I got a station," Michelle stated. The crackling of static died down, replaced by an emergency broadcast message.
"...a National Guard Unit will be arriving to take you to an evacuation shelter . Stay away from doors and window. Do not leave your shelters until the all-clear has been given. Small-scale fires and earthquakess caused by Pokemon have already been reported in Los Angeles. The death toll is unknown but experts estimate hundreds are dead or injured. Air evacuations have now commenced in the state of California. If air evacuation is not possible for your area, remain in the emergency shelter, and wait for an evacuation transport..."
The emergency message continued playing on loop. "...take this situation seriously, as it may be your last mistake, otherwise..." A thump issued from the radio receiver before a voice said, "What is that fox doing? Oh God, it set fire to the transmitter! Someone get an extinguisher!" The rest of the message was replaced by screams and a series of beeps.
"Jeez, turn the radio to anything else," Tovar replied. He took the radio from her and twirled the dial. "You want to talk about Pokemon - well, Jackson's rifle got a chunk taken out of it. That was an Aron - must've been hungry as hell to go after a soldier's rifle! Have you seen the damage tunneling Pokemon can do? Your street wasn't the worst of it!" Tovar exclaimed. "Damn, that trench on your street was pretty shallow. One residential street was completely busted up and we had to take the back entrance."
"He meant pools of raw sewage bubbling onto the road. We also saw sludge Pokemon there too... I'll never get the smell out of my nostrils. It was a really good thing we opted for the stealthy approach there."
"Couldn't you just have shot them?" Michelle asked.
"We could. Didn't wanna risk it. If you want to know where the sludge Pokemon are, a haz-mat unit was deployed to destroy them just now," Jackson said. He stared ahead, eyes focused on the road. "Man, I didn't need to shoot anything today. Let's hope it stays that way!"
"What creature is that?" Tovar asked. "He looks like a fennec fox and rabbit had a baby!"
"What's a fennec fox? Or a rabbit?"
"Did we even tell him about the animals of Earth? Someone should have! We had four days to do so!" Todd shouted. "Alright..."
"How does any creature live without connection to elemental powers? Let alone an entire world?"
Tovar sighed. "Look, buddy. I cannot answer that question without taking an entire day."
"If any of you are wondering if we're there: shouldn't take more than a few minutes," Jackson replied. "We've been rounding up people like you - vets, zookeepers, and animal control officers. All the Pokemon coming through need competent people to care for them."
"We were with Victini for only three days. What about all the other people?" Michelle asked.
"Same as you. Only a few days worth of experience, at best. But all of these people - and you - have some modicum of training in handling animals. You can apply some of your training to these Pokemon - see what works and what doesn't."
"How are we gonna keep ourselves safe, huh? Anything that can breath fire or shoot lightning is not anything I want to be around!" Todd exclaimed, running a hand nervously through his hair.
"That's rich, coming from an animal control officer," Tovar replied. Noticing Todd's glare, he continued, "What, you don't want to work on magical creatures? Many would jump at that chance - I would!"
"One of my partners got fucked up by a psychic attack," Todd replied. "He could have died - in fact his serve convulsions lead me to believe that. Pretty sure he got a concussion too."
"Do we get a choice in the matter?" Michelle asked. She received no reply. "Guess that's it for us, then."
The silence blanketed them as the shelter came into view. Once a high-school campus, soldiers now patrolled the perimeter, rifles slung over their soldiers. One of them waved their vehicle through, and Michelle looked around.
The gymnasium was huge, easily the size of two moderately-sized suburban houses in size, divided by a heavy tarp curtain. It no doubt would have held rowdy teenagers before the Shift. As the group were led inside, inside, she noted that the equipment was pushed aside to make room for row upon row of fold-up camping cots, with footlockers for storing possessions.
She and Todd emptied the contents of their backpacks into their footlockers.
If there was one thing Todd hated more than anything, it was writing reports after a case. These often resulted in him pulling all-nighters. Getting shakes from caffeine meant decaf was his only option. Typing up the report, he half-listened to the scientists in the meeting room a few doors down.
"-we haven't got the new thermometers yet. Anything done on Fire-Types and Ice-Types will have to be postponed."
"The communication project with the Psychic-types has been going well."
The science department classrooms were almost always used for both theoretical and practical work. Much of the boxes of chemicals and racks of assorted equipment were no doubt locked up in one of the many storage rooms around the school block.
One of the scientists, Dr. Werini, passed a stack of papers to him. "Here, get these reports categorized will you? You're also helping with Pokemon care once you're done - the vet team needs your help."
Todd nodded. "What's going to happen after all this is over?"
Werini shrugged. "Once this shelter gets dismantled, I'll wager the students will resume taking classes here after everything's been cleaned." He turned and left, saying, "Victini and a few other Pokemon are getting their medical tests done today. Drop by after we're done if you want to know what my team got."
"I'll be fine, Doc, but thanks for the offer."
Todd rummaged through the box of equipment for Pokemon care. Much of it was standard veterinary and grooming equipment - hair brushes for animals, thermometers, bags of pet feed - with another box holding pet medicines originally meant for the animals of Earth. Inside this box was a leaflet covered with scribbled notes and calculations regarding medicine dosages.
He watched a zookeeper and a veterinarian as they clean up and carefully groom the Pokemon currently brought in. They'd be transported to the zoo in Salt Lake city, to be tagged and microchipped.
Outside, soldiers with M4A1 rifles kept careful watch on the proceedings through a chain-link barrier. The Pokemon holding area was just an enclosed school field - but at least it was something. The basketball court had a temporary shelter was erected, under which tables and chairs were set up. Under it, two soldiers alternated between sipping coffee and scribbling down any new Pokemon admitted to the containment area.
it would be his shift soon.
Taking a deep breath, he approached the soldiers and identified himself.
This chapter is the longest I've written so far. See you until the next chapter!