Chapter 2 - Cleansed

It was a dream. That was what had happened. The girl and her Linoone and that Abra, in my room: It had all been a dream. I smiled, my eyes remaining firmly closed and let myself drift into the covers of my bed, as a warm breeze blew over me.

Warm breeze. That wasn't right. I always had my windows shut, these days.

"Oh, real smart, Abra," came an all to familiar voice, "Transporting the bed as well! How am I gonna carry the bed around and hide it? -- Don't fall asleep, oh you plonker of an Abra!"

Not a dream then, I thought.

I looked up and saw a clear blue sky. My eyes flicked around me (I had long since given up trying to turn my neck) and judging by the trees all around me, I guessed I was in a forest clearing. The sound of nature was all around me, and in particular, I could hear running water, somewhere to the right of me. The bed was slightly lopsided, implying it was on a slope.

"Ahh! You're awake!" said the girl, cheerily, "I guess not moving all day make's you really tired, huh?" I frowned.

"Sorry, that was crude of me," she said, blushing slightly. Then her face brightened again, "We haven't properly introduced each other, have we!"

She curtseyed, while at the same time skilfully warped Abra back into her poké ball. "Kate," she smiled, holding out her hand, realised I couldn't it, and disguised it by patting my hair. "Err, sorry, 'bout that," she grinned sheepishly.

"It's okay," I said, but I didn't smile, instead, I started to interrogate her. "What's going on? Why have you taken me here? Where is here? Who were you speaking to earlier? Why were in my bedroom earlier?" The questions rushed out of my mouth in quick succession.

"Well, let's start with 'Where is here?', shall we?" But Kate, instead of answering my question, whipped out an odd machine. Seeing, I was looking baffled, she mumbled: "Pokémon Encyclopaedia."

Two minutes passed as Kate pressed random buttons and holographic images appeared in mini above the screen. I frowned; I wanted answers sometime soon. "Finally!" she cried, then continued "We appear to be in, ah, yes, that could propose a problem…"

"What?" I asked her. She ignored me, but muttered to herself "Yeah, better play it safe. Don't want to be seen by a ranger or a warden. They'll think we're trespassing, or worse poaching!"

"Where are we?" I asked her again, slightly angry, that she was ignoring me like this.

"What? Oh…" She looked mildly surprised I was there, "We're in Fuchsia City's Safari Zone. Which is not good because --"

She was interrupted by a massive gun shot piercing the surroundings. Kate groaned. "Well that's gonna attract every single goddamn ranger and warden in the world. God, I hate poachers! -- Y'know, I think me and the gang should --"

But she stopped speaking abruptly, and I knew why. The very earth was rumbling; there was no mistaking it. What on earth could it be? The rumbling only seemed to get more and more violent. I could feel the very bed I was on shaking. Was it my imagination, or was there a dust cloud forming in the distance?"

"Run!" screeched Kate, horrified and started to sprint in the other direction before jerking herself back, realising of my, somewhat more horrific predicament. Her Linoone had taken to quiver in a nearby tree. She ran over to me and shoved my arm over her neck and hauled me out of my bed. My eyes were permanently glued on the dust cloud on the horizon. Except, of course, it wasn't a dust cloud it was a stampede of animals. I could make out individual Rhyhorns, Donphans and other such pokémon.

While I, even if I hadn't been paralysed, would have been paralysed in fear, Kate bravely whirled me and herself around and staggered us into the wooded area.

It was at this point when the true disaster happened.

The bed, possibly because of the tremors, slipped out from underneath itself and started tumbling down the wooded embankment, straight at Kate and I. It hit Kate and she flew forwards, crashing into a tree. I, however, with the bed building up momentum behind me, and of course my inability to move, could do nothing but tumble downwards. I was briefly aware of the first of the stampede crashing around me… Yet they all seemed to be determined to stop… --

Suddenly, I felt like my heart and stomach had shot into my mouth. I was aware of having nothing but air beneath me. I barely had time to realise what was going on -- the embankment must have come out over a cliff -- before I plunged into deep, cold water.

Gasping for air, I tried to kick my legs up.

And realised I could.

Looking down, (I could look down!), I saw my legs moving about quite easily, and I was controlling them. I tried to move my arms, and found, like my legs, I could, quite easily.

But the current was still strong enough to keep me from surfacing. Becoming increasingly desperate for air, I tried to reach up, but couldn't. I panicked. I was not going to die, straight after recovering from paralysis!

Then a thought crossed my mind. Maybe I was already dead. Perhaps this was just a path to heaven or hell, or wherever I might be heading. Perhaps I should just let this river do whatever it wanted to me.

"NO!" I shouted at myself, though only precious bubbles rushed past my face. I'm not dead! I'm going to live! I will live! And with newfound desperation, I started to swim with all my strength upwards. But then I found myself look consciousness. I felt my eyes roll into the back of my head. Then I hit something hard.

It was just about what was needed for me to black out.

But, before I did, a smile appeared on my face. My paralysis was gone, once and for all. I would not die, a paralysed person, as I was so sure I would. My mind flitted briefly on my parents who I realised would be so worried about me. It didn't matter. Finally, after three years, my curse had left me. This river, or the fall, or Kate or whoever or whatever it had been had truly and utterly cleansed me.

It was at that thought, that I truly passed out.