Chapter Four:
Under Pressure
Disclaimer: I do not own the series Pokémon. Like, at all. It and all its respectable characters are © to Game Freak and Satoshi Tajiri. However, all writing contents and semi-plots here are © to me; unless it is stated otherwise. All shows/ books/ video games/ songs that are mentioned in this chapter are all © to their respective owners, I do not own them.
Notes: Apologies for the extremely late chapter. School work took a higher priority on my to-do list. I also wanted to take more time to edit this chapter, as some parts I wasn't entirely satisfied with. Incidentally, I also got a new computer, and spent a good while transferring files to a more centralized home computer, as opposed to continuing operating solely my laptop.
Lastly, welcome to my new readers! I hope you've been enjoying yourselves so far. Let me know your thoughts in the review section! I'd love to hear from y'all, new and old readers alike!
"Bones doesn't feel pressure to act or do or say anything that she doesn't want to, and no one, noone, can make her. That's what makes her Bones."
-Agent Seeley Booth, "Bones"
Shay threw herself into work.
It was quite a feat, considering she hated cleaning with a passion. But the administrative work, the organization and the filing and the sorting…she was actually kind of good at it. It was almost soothing, the monotony of that particular side of her job. Cross-referencing by subject, date, and file typing kept her busy for a number of hours, so much so, she often lost track of time. She occasionally chatted with Jacob and Meryl, whenever they caught a break in their own work. She was allowed to continue having access to the lab pokémon: Treecko, Torchic, and Mudkip.
That alone left her with mixed feelings. A part of her deep down knew she should feel excitement every time she was given even moment alone with them. All of them were rather loyal to their art designs back home, although they were less…cartoony. Realism took over from there.
For example, the entire body of Treecko was covered in tiny scales, just like a gecko's, and while his tail did curl, it was less exaggerated than what she recalled from the game art. Shay also learned the hard way that his mouth was lined with tiny sharp teeth. She was thankful his kind weren't venomous, although that didn't stop her from being thorough in cleaning the wound on her hand and changing the bandage every day. He still had the large yellow eyes, however, and they stared at everything. Always staring.
It was funny to watch him lick it, right out of the blue, though. It broke the illusion of seriousness that he seemed to constantly exude.
Torchic was nothing but an orange-and-yellow feather duster, straight up. She constantly preened and fussed over her feathers, especially her small wings. Shay often heard her chirp on how she couldn't wait for them to grow out when she evolved, hopefully someday soon. The crest on her head wasn't as exaggerated, either, and each feather was more distinguishable, even at a glance. They almost reminded her of an umbrella cockatoo, or maybe even a cockatiel, given the Torchic's diminutive size.
Mudkip was another story altogether. The orange external gills on the side of his face were more detailed, with tiny fronds tipping each prong, and it was more muted in colour as well. His skin, however, was as smooth as his game art had suggested, and despite his eyes being black as coal, there was life and giddiness dancing in their depths. He, thankfully, had no sharp little teeth lining the gums in his mouth, but he wasn't opposed to playfully nipping Shay's hands. She didn't begrudge him for it, although she kept a wary eye on Torchic's beak and Treecko's jaws.
She grew up learning that anything with a mouth can, and probably will, bite.
Shay, however, was poignant in ignoring their chirrups of inquiries, feigning ignorance to their words. They somehow knew she could understand them. She knew that they knew. She ignored them all the same. It made things easier in the end. If she didn't want people knowing her origins, she also didn't want them to know that she can apparently understand pokémon when no one else around her could.
Somehow, it made her feel she'd be more of a target if others knew.
Eventually, the lab pokémon learned to not make inquiries directed at her, but they always cast her a knowing look whenever they caught her eye.
She still had mixed feelings on the matter of being able to understand something other than a human. It was nearly impossible to do so at Norman's home, with his team. She's already made the mistake of acknowledging them, but they too seemed to understand her anxiety around them and Norman all at the same time. They seemed to understand she preferred to say nothing in his presence, but was more inclined to reply in private.
This discomfort soon corrected itself when he finally returned to Petalburg City, to resume his work as both a community and gym leader. He promised he would attempt to come back at least over the weekends, to check in on how things were going, to restock the house with food and any other needed supplies, and to give Shay some company. Shay was silently hoping he'd stay away and possibly forget about her. Even though it was a weight off her chest that he knows her true otherworldly origins, it didn't make it any less awkward. She felt exposed under his gaze, as though he were silently judging her.
Rationally, she knew he wasn't. He seemed open-minded and not very judgmental at all in regards to her. The irrational side of her didn't seem to give two fucks and still beat at the proverbial horse that this was what he was thinking, in spite of her rational side trying to override this train of thought.
Before Norman left after her first week, he offered to leave Bandit with her, to let her have some amount of company in lieu of his absence. Reflex made her reject the offer as politely as possible, even when a small part of her had been tempted to accept. After he left, she regretted acting on such a kneejerk reaction.
At the end of the day, she fleetingly wished she had some form of friend with her, human or otherwise, but in the end, she managed to find comfort in her own way. At nights, when she was back in Norman's house, she tried to watch as much television as she could stomach. The alien programs eventually wore on her, a constant reminder that she wasn't a resident of this world. She would retreat upstairs, boot up her laptop and find relief in familiar shows and films she had on file.
Nearly two months passed since her arrival, with a routine ingraining itself in Shay's schedule. She'd wake up and get ready, go to work at Professor Birch's lab, take off when she was released from work, and come back to Norman's house to eat dinner. She'd watch pokémon world television in the evening, but eventually she'd get sick of it all and retreat upstairs to watch her world's programs on her computer until she went to bed. On occasion, when she wanted to break that routine up, she would read books she borrowed from Professor Birch's lab to learn what she could about the world or pokémon, or she would draw in her sketch book.
Rinse, lather, repeat.
In the two months she's worked at the lab, her routine remained stagnant with the individuals who frequented it: Professor Birch, Jacob Twiss, and Meryl Tanner. In all honesty, it wasn't that dissimilar to her routine back home.
Brendan Birch was sorely lacking in presence, just as he had warned her when they first met. It was nearly two months to the day before she saw hide or hair of Brendan again. The day he came back was the day he suggested they all go out after work for drinks and dinner. Jacob and Meryl readily accepted the offer with eager enthusiasm to have a break in their routine. Shay was reluctant, and it took all three to finally wear her down and cajole her into going with them.
They ended up taking Jacob's car to Petalburg, and over the hour, there was karaoke via the radio (Shay quietly sat and listened), conversations about the upcoming summit that Professor Birch was gearing up for (she sat and listened quietly to this as well), and then the conversation took a turn towards an unexpected subject: Sinnoh.
Shay straightened in her seat, perking attentively as Brendan dove into what kind of possibilities there could be in studying the Creation Trio, although he added that he hoped that they wouldn't drive one another outside of Sinnoh's borders. Things have grown quiet over in the other region further down south of Hoenn, almost to the point where news broadcasts out there have all but stopped. Even the Hoenn newsfeeds have practically stopped reporting on the matter, strangely enough.
"I mean, don't get me wrong," he backpedaled, "I feel terrible for the Sinnohans, I really do. And I also hope that they're able to get all the legendary pokémon back to where they belong. I just…ahhh. I don't know, it'd just be so cool to be able to see them up close, ya know?"
There wasn't much left said in reference to the troubles the Creation Trio were enacting, and Shay slumped in her seat and went back to staring outside, disappointed. It took a poke to the shoulder to draw her out of her thoughts and she jumped, halfway reaching for the offending appendage to smack at it, eyes wide and wild. Brendan, from the front seat, grinned, his hand quickly retracting back.
"Whoa, she's alive! Hey, Shay, can you tell us what it's like to live in Kanto?"
She blinked at him, drawing a blank at first before she recalled she had given Kanto as a throwaway line to her "backstory" to everyone else present. Meryl, sitting beside her, was smiling expectantly. She and Jacob have asked her on occasion in the last two months as well, and she always managed to skirt the issue or excuse herself from the conversation as politely as she could. Here and now, she wasn't able to simply escape from the conversation via work.
"Um…there's…not much to say."
"Aw, don't be like that! C'mon, Shay, you been with us for a few months now and we don't know all that much about you!" Jacob wheedled, with Meryl mirroring his comments.
"Again, not much to say. I'm at a crossroads in life right now."
"What kind of crossroads, though," Meryl pressed good-naturedly. "You never really specified. Is it a midlife crisis, in-between jobs, what?"
Before Shay had to answer, Jacob chided Meryl, and the other woman mumbled an apology. Shay offered Meryl a smile.
"It's fine. I'm not all…together in my life right now and I just needed to get away."
"You could have fooled Meryl and me; you seem to be on top of everything!" Jacob laughed. Brendan cast a curious look over his shoulder at Shay.
"Really, now? She's doing that good?"
Shay didn't miss the sly glimpse Brendan sent her way, the beginnings of a grin tugging at the corner of his lips. Shay diverted her gaze away, discomfort making her guts squirm.
"Good enough that we haven't had to run around screaming about some file we misplaced and are desperate to find," Jacob allowed. "It's nice to actually have someone able to get to it because we're too busy or just plain can't."
"And with the summit coming up, I can only imagine," Brendan said sympathetically. "I know Dad's been riding me for more information to add to his reports, but there's only so far I can go, ya know?"
"Why don't you try to challenge the region's gyms, then? You could get access to otherwise out-of-the-way places and see pokémon that aren't seen all that often except by trainers on their challenge tour." Meryl suggested offhandedly. The conversation began anew in earnest between the other three in the vehicle, and Shay once more fell to the role of quiet listener. While the topic was interesting, she didn't have much else to contribute and was glad that the focus had shifted away from her.
What would I have said if they kept pressing? Christ, it's been so long since I played in any of the other games. What events happened? Let's see…the magnet train between Kanto and Johto is up, that's for sure. The Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town was converted to a radio tower if I'm not mistaken. Shit. Did the volcano on Cinnabar erupt and bury the island yet?
She couldn't afford to be caught off guard like that again. Like a deer caught in the beams of a car's headlights, she just about nearly froze and panicked. Her heart was still thumping away like a timpani drum, loud as thunder in her ears. She wouldn't have been surprised if the others could hear it, if it were any louder.
She'd need to have at least a more basic outline of events that have happened in Kanto now that she was stuck with the backstory. Two months she's squandered, and failed to learn more about the other region. She'd have to get access to the internet here and look up some of these things when she could. Perhaps when she got back to the lab tomorrow, she'd do some research when no one was looking…
The restaurant they chose for their night out was a gourmet burger joint coupled with a bar. To Shay, it reminded her of a Red Robin, but this place didn't have a cartoony red bird for its logo. This place was quaintly called Pikipek Tiki Hut, with the titular pokémon as its proud mascot.
As soon as they stepped through the threshold, the design struck her boldly as "island nation couture". Shay amended her parallel upon seeing the interior design: this place reminded her of the burger joint Islands more than it did Red Robin. Just as she was thinking this, the other three were remarking on the Alolan architectural signatures of the restaurant design, ignoring the size of the crowd waiting in the lobby. All waiting benches were filled and it was standing room only. Above in the rafters, the chirrups of bird cries drew Shay's attention and she saw familiar profiles of the restaurant's titular pokémon mascot: several Pikipek were socializing above the crowd, chattering with one another as they watched the people below them.
"This is one of just three Pikipek Tiki Hut restaurants in Hoenn! They just opened it up and it's been a big hit! I've been dying to come out here and try some of their food ever since it opened up," Meryl exclaimed excitedly, peering over the rim of her frameless glasses. They all had to raise their voices to be heard over the crowd's thrall.
"Ya don't say? I just hope you're not really dying, that'd be a real shame," Brendan drawled back with a lazy grin painted on his face. He and Jacob shared a laugh. Meryl glanced at Shay and rolled her eyes.
"Boys. So immature, am I right?"
"Damn straight. My mama always said, "boys are stupid" and she ain't wrong," Shay said with a grin. This remark earned indignant cries from Jacob and Brendan. This only made Shay grin wider, and Meryl cackled.
"Wise words to remember! I like your mother already!"
They sluiced the rest of the way through the crowd to get to the podium, and the hostess waved them over.
"How many in your party?" she said to them over the din.
"I called earlier this afternoon to get a table? Should be under 'Twiss'," Jacob replied. The hostess paused, looked over her ledger, then nodded and grabbed a few menus, signaling for them to follow her.
The tables were packed and teeming with all manner of life, human and pokémon alike. Shay nearly tripped over a Seviper draped in the middle of the walkway between tables. It whirled in an instant and flashed its fangs at her, screeching for her to watch where she was going. It just as quickly withdrew, dipping its head in submission when its trainer chided the reptile and apologized on its behalf to her. She waved it off, offering a thin smile to the trainer. A Makuhita came waddling between the lanes, overburdened trays of steaming, delicious food in its hands and it even donned an apron with the restaurant's logo emblazoned on the front. The Makuhita deftly sidestepping between tables and around patrons with surprising grace in its squat little form. It drew Shay's attention like flies to honey as she watched and she stopped dead in her tracks to stare brazenly. It was almost like watching a dancer, with the way the Makuhita navigated around the tables, pokémon and people alike. Brendan had to bring her back down to earth again and she was back to following until they hit a corner booth near the back.
They settled in and their server was there nearly as soon as the hostess took her leave, beaming at them as he asked if they would like to order drinks, so on and so forth. It was the usual one-two punch as far as restaurant etiquette went. Shay wasn't sure if she was expecting something dazzlingly different from where she came from or not. As soon as they all unanimously decided on water for the time being, the conversation that had died down in the car picked back up like it hadn't lost a beat.
"Have you talked to your father about taking up the League Challenge at all, Brendan? I mean, I've seen you use the lab pokémon on occasion, and you've got the right instincts to becoming a full-fledged trainer. You went to the trainer school in Rustboro, you've had extra tutelage under your dad's watchful eye. I could see you taking on Steven one day!"
Meryl was smiling in earnest at Brendan and reached across the table to squeeze the young man's hand. Jacob snorted, breaking up the tender moment within a heartbeat. Meryl quickly snatched back her hand, her cheeks colouring pink and bright. Jacob continued unhindered.
"Next thing you know, you'll be telling him to become the Champion across all the regions, Meryl! The World Champ supreme!"
"Hey, one thing at a time," Meryl smirked, jabbing her elbow in Jacob's side playfully. Shay snorted back a laugh, trying to hide her smile, but failed tremendously.
"What, you think it's funny too?" Meryl simpered at her and Shay shook her head, waving her hands in mock surrender.
"No, no. He should do what he wants to do." She took pause to glance curiously over at the young man. "What exactly do you want to do, Brendan?"
Brendan shrugged back in response as he drummed his fingers on the table. He distracted himself by scanning through the menu, or perhaps it was an excuse to prolong in answering. They took this as a cue to do the same. Shay stared at the names of specialty dishes and felt her head spiraling and the words were going along with it, like she was reading another language. The pokémon-themed dishes didn't help but she managed to bluster on through and finally settle on something. She was mindful to remember her funds were limited, and she couldn't afford to overspend. After a round of agreement on what they all wanted, Brendan sighed, snapping his menu shut and laying it back on the table.
He glanced at the others in the booth along with him, drumming his fingers along the tabletop, nervousness thrumming through his body like an electric current.
"Honestly, I don't really know what I'd like to do. I mean, I like doing field research for my dad, but Meryl brings up a good point. I'd be able to have access in places further out that only certified trainers or regional professors can get to. You don't exactly see aromatherapy specialists climbing the mountainous trails of Route 119 just to get to a Tropius, and breeders tend to stick close to home where it's safe. Definitely can't see one rolling around in the deserts looking for Trapinch or a Cacnea. Why bother when you can get a trainer to do the dirty work? I mean, it'd be an amazing opportunity to get out there. Not just for research, but…I'd like to travel. I kind of want to get out there just to get away and see things for myself."
"Then go! I've been telling you this for almost a couple of years now, haven't I?"
Brendan's lips quirked into another smile as he regarded Meryl. "I guess…I guess I'm at a bit of a crossroads myself, like Shay. Stuck on what to do and where to go."
"Oh my god, then stop complaining about it and just do it, Brendan! You've been whining about it enough!" Jacob laughed, earning a pout from Brendan.
"I haven't been whining, Jacob. I've just been…weighing my options."
"You're not going to get much else done if you don't make a choice," Shay added.
"Says the woman at her own set of crossroads!" Jacob said with a guffaw. "Maybe you should get on out there yourself if you really wanting a change of scenery from Kanto. Hoenn's pretty far removed from Kanto as can be!"
The waiter came back, bearing their glasses of ice water, and after relaying their food orders, the table was cleared of their menus. Shay felt her mouth taste bitter and dry as ashes as Jacob's words rattled around in her skull while the conversation continued to drift around. Challenging the Champion was a set of words that continued to echo about her skull like a scream in a cave, the words bouncing off the wall, lingering beyond the life of the origin's voice.
It sounded suspiciously like the beginnings of a player character from the Pokémon games of Ruby and Sapphire. Or perhaps the updated versions of the games, but either way, it was familiar enough to her that it raised more than a few red flags. She wasn't entirely sure yet, but either way, it was dangerous territory to be edging into. Shay felt her stomach twisting into knots when she thought of it. If Brendan hasn't gone off like in the games, if Norman's wife and child had died before even making it to Hoenn…then what else has changed? What else has deviated from the storyline, forever changing the course of history in this world?
The lizard part of her brain told her she was better off staying where it was safe, where she had security, to wait things out and not think too much on it. The more restless side of her brain told her to fuck that noise. She had joined the Marine Corps in an effort to challenge herself, to get out there, to test herself. She didn't make it through all the trials and tribulations that came with earning that title by playing it safe.
If she had done that, she would have gone to community college like most of everyone else who had graduated in her senior year of high school almost eight years ago. The idea of living out what had once only been a video game to her actually sounded kind of…thrilling. Exciting. Challenging. Tempting beyond words.
She shouldn't be allowing herself to rot by sitting around, filing paperwork and puttering in a lab all day for god knew how long. Why was she allowing herself to remain stagnant in such a role…?
"What exactly entails to becoming a trainer who can take on the League Challenge?" She queried suddenly, earning her a few baffled expressions in response.
"Um…well, I dunno about how things are done in Kanto, but here in Hoenn, you just need a license. You can get that at the Academy up in Rustboro City after a few years of studying there. The legal age for trainers to start out is eighteen, but there's not an age cap on who can take the Challenge, so the sky's the limit for just about anyone after that age. I think Drake, one of the League members, he's up there in his sixties. So, there's that."
"That…sounds about right. Similar to Kanto," Shay mumbled noncommittally.
The rest of dinner passed in a blur, as everyone's attention was quickly captured by the big screen television sets mounted on the wall coming to life with pokémon battles. Shay munched away on a chili burger with thick steak fries, falling into the same mute bystander role as everyone else, many of whom remained captivated by the pokémon battle currently ongoing. A Hydreigon was duking it against a Haxorus with all its might, blasting bolts of Dragon Pulse attacks, while the Haxorus tried blitzing closer to lay a devastating Dragon Claw attack on its opponent.
The only reason she knew all these attacks was because the announcer was relaying these attacks in play-by-plays, which brought a small smile to Shay's face. It was just like in basketball or football, a panel of emcees and guest panelists were essentially giving their viewers a play-by-play of what was going on with the players, the coach, the benched team members...
That was something she could relate to. Growing up watching the Lakers in her home, and then later participating in Fantasy Football events at work weren't too far off from what she was watching now. It was still strange to equate human sports to pokémon battles, live and in the flesh or on television in this matter, but she was adjusting. It created a heart-fluttering excitement inside of her, as she constantly had to remind herself that she was living through something that someone else from her home universe would kill for.
And thankfully I'm well away out of their warpath, she thought glibly and with another smile. It fell away quickly at the unbidden thought that followed up. So why am I not out there, gettin' some? Roaming around with my own team, causing a ruckus, going after the Champion of this region?
Wasn't that how the games went? The player started off as a nobody and become a nightmarish someone for everyone who got in their way, including the team villains, League members, and Champion alike?
But this isn't a game, is it? And yet…what are the chances, I was playing Alpha Sapphire the last night I spent home, and I end up in Hoenn?
It was a repeating contemplation she kept revisiting, time and time again. It was something she'd never get the answers to, no matter how hard she thought on it. She could only come to her own assumptions...even if she also knew that it'd drive her up the fucking wall. Even when those same thoughts had come to her in the past, she tried to brush them aside, to tell herself that it wasn't meant to be, that someone else was meant to come along and do something. Who did she think she was, believing that she could simply slide into the player character's place, anyways. That role belonged to Norman's late daughter. Not to her. With every passing day, however, it was becoming harder to push those thoughts aside. If she sat on her ass and waited for someone else to do something, then it might be too late to get her back home in the end.
So, what am I still doing, debating this shit, she suddenly thought, stopping mid-chew. She hadn't really considered the idea of striking out on her own as a trainer, despite the excitement she always got when she played her games. Especially the new ones. There was always that electrifying moment when she sat there, rushing through dialogue and cutscenes in order to get to the part where she could pick her starter, and start her gaming adventure, grinding it out to level her team up and challenge everyone in her path…
But now this is real, it's all real. Why shouldn't I take advantage of that…?
A eureka moment struck her moments later. She should talk to Professor Birch on the matter, see what she'd need to do to become a trainer. Perhaps there were sped-up courses she could take. The sooner she took them, the better. And then…and then she could become a trainer, travel, have battles…become the Champion. Travel to Sinnoh. Find the Creation Trio and wrangle them into submission, send everyone back home and bring home everyone that went missing.
Hopefully pokémon don't die horribly in battles like in Nuzlocke stories and they just faint like in the games, she added as an afterthought with a mild grimace. Remembering her place, she schooled her face into neutrality before it quickly morphed into anticipation when the Haxorus landed a critical hit on the Hydreigon, knocking it down, heavy and hard. The referee on the field was moving in, the announcer babbling away excitedly. The Hydreigon was laboriously pulling itself to its feet, its trainer yelling encouragement from her side of the battlefield. The crowd in the stadium were a mixed result of jeers and cheers. The restaurant, on the other hand, were jeering.
This puzzled Shay, as she stared at the various faces of the patrons as they booed and hissed at the camera as it focused on the Hydreigon.
"Why don't we like the Hydreigon, again?"
"What, you don't know?" Jacob cast her an incredulous look.
Shay shook her head and shrugged her shoulders.
"The Hydreigon is a bit of an abomination of an evolution. Not a lot of people like it, because it's…well, it starts out cute as a Deino, and then it evolves into a Zweilous. At that point, half its brain gets split, in an effort to compensate for the growth of its second head. After that, it's…nightmarish, to say the least. Severe mood swings, loss of control on the trainer's part, evolutionary hazards, things like that." Jacob started off, a grimace pulling at his features. "When it finally hits the last stage, a third head sprouts, but all the brain power reverts back to the central head, and the other two are just mindless appendages that have two goals in mind: eat and destroy, at the whims and will of the brain and head at the center. They're notoriously difficult to control at that late stage because of this. Many inexperienced and even experienced trainers have suffered an injury of some sort attempting to train and control a Hydreigon. Those that do have a semblance of control…they don't exactly have the best intentions in mind for those that end up in their warpaths." Jacob wrinkled his nose and he shuddered visibly. "At least Haxorus is able to be trained without the mental issues plaguing them. It's actually kind of sad, on the Hydreigon's part, I mean. It's not their fault they fell into bottom of the barrel when it comes to that kind of evolutionary line. It just seems cruel to keep them around at this point, wild or otherwise."
Shay had nothing to say on the matter, considering she couldn't recall any game data entries, since she's had never had the experience in training one, in-game. Either way, it sounded kind of horrible to hear. The implications that Jacob offered, one of wiping out a singular species of pokémon, was also shocking to say the least. And judging from the looks on most of the patrons in the restaurant, she was certain they would agree on the matter.
Things are different here, she reminded herself. What I think I know doesn't apply completely and utterly to what's established here.
So, she sat there, somewhat disturbed with the information Jacob provided, and for the rest of evening, they sat and munched away on their food, watching the battles unfold on the television. Her three companions got riled up over who they were rooting for, and lost track of time as the hours wore on. Shay ended up ordering a fruity alcoholic drink that tasted not that dissimilar to a Bahama Mama. By the time they were all ready to go, Shay, predictably, had leftovers by the end of things, while everyone else ate a majority of their food. Her family always said her eyes were bigger than her stomach.
Probably why I always teetered with the BCP program back home…
At least she didn't have to worry about getting up early and working out. She didn't have to worry about someone with more rockers on their collars giving her a stern look, saying she needed to "bulk up". Not here. Here, she could at the very least enjoy the leisure downtime she had a sudden excess of.
The drive back was quieter than the drive in. Conversation was minimal as they drove in the dark back to Littleroot. Judging by the atmosphere in the car, Shay assumed everyone was simply too tired and full from dinner to keep up a conversation. When she glanced over at Meryl sitting beside her, the other woman was already snoozing away, her head resting against the door. Brendan's head lolled against his chest and in between the quiet lulls between songs from the radio, she could hear the young man snoring, ever so quietly.
Shay, in the meantime, turned over the conversation she wanted to have with Professor Birch in her head, tweaking this sentence or that word, attempting to sculpt it so that it worked out in her favour by the end. She hoped it ended in her favour, at least. She'd have no idea how he'd react. She had a slightly better read on him than she did of Norman, so she had that working in her favour. Hopefully.
Shay finally concluded that the most she could do was meet up with Professor Birch, get through her spiel tomorrow, and hope for the best.
She woke up jittery and full of nervous energy. She had barely been able to sleep thanks to the decision she had committed herself to. She didn't even bother eating breakfast, she could only find her stomach was fit for her usual round of coffee. After that, she had no reason to stay indoors and made her way to the pokémon lab. She was early, she found out, and not even Jacob or Meryl had come in to open the doors. Their schedules varied on whether or not they pulled all-nighters and stayed at the lab, or if they went home to sleep and rest up for the next day. It was obvious based on last night's dinner out that it was the latter rather than the former. Professor Birch was always in and out as well, so it was hard to keep track of his comings and goings. He was, however, here some mornings often enough to open the doors, if Jacob and Meryl weren't here already.
So, she sat outside, waiting with a book in hand, although she could barely process the words on the pages. She found herself reading the same paragraph three or four times over before she gave up and began pacing around instead, occasionally sipping from her collapsible thermos.
Jacob pulled up in his car ten minutes later, with Meryl riding in the passenger seat. They offered their good morning salutations to Shay and noted how early she was. Shay merely shrugged, trying not to appear excitable. Not yet.
"I didn't take quite as long getting ready," she simply offered, which was a half-truth.
"It's strange, usually Professor Birch is here first before us, to open the doors and get some supplies before heading into the field. Or to compile his data." Meryl noted as she pulled a set of keys from her bag. She unlocked the door as Jacob came jogging up the path to the door, greeting Shay a second time. She nodded back and followed Meryl inside, tucking her book into her armpit as she went. The lab was cooler inside, and Shay shivered in response. She immediately took another sip of her coffee, relishing the taste of it on her tongue.
"Yeah, that's true…unless he stayed out all night again. What a bum," Jacob groused back, running a hand through his black hair. "You know what that means, right?"
Meryl grumbled as they came to a halt. Shay did the same, sidestepping Jacob so she didn't run into him. She took another sip of coffee.
"What exactly does him staying in the field mean, again?" Shay drawled to the other two. Meryl glanced at her.
"Oh, right. You don't know, do you?" At Shay's shake of the head, Meryl continued. "Whenever Professor Birch does this, one of us has to go find him and drag him back to the lab. Just long enough to resupply or get some sleep on a real mattress or get some food and take a shower. Whichever he feels drawn to first. We usually try to limit his supplies on purpose so that he doesn't go too far from the lab, since he has to equalize his time here and out in the field." Meryl explained with a sigh. "That usually means going outside town, and that's where the wild pokémon are. We like our controlled lab-settings, thank you, and keeping our distance from being on the receiving end of a pokémon's attack."
"Why don't you take one of the lab pokémon, then?"
"I suck at battling, and so does Jacob." Meryl said flatly, earning her a disgruntled noise from Jacob.
"I don't suck at battling, I just don't like to do it…"
"Oh, please. He sucks at it, don't let him tell you otherwise, sweetie. And besides, we can't use the lab pokémon when Professor Birch goes on his overnight research benders."
"Oh." A beat passed before the implications hit Shay fully. "Ohhh. He takes them with him?"
"For protection, sure. He brings them back, heals them up, gets them fed, all of that. But still, we worry for the little guys. They're meant for novice trainers starting out their journey. Like, for example, what Brendan should be doing. He's wasting his full potential on small-fry assignments for his father, no offense to the professor. I just think his skills in both battle and field research could be combined beautifully."
"You ever seen Brendan battle?" Shay asked, incredulous.
"Oh, sure, plenty of times. But like I said, he wastes his potential."
"Brendan's choosing to do so, by the way, so don't feel too bad for him." Jacob added, wagging a finger behind Meryl.
Shay mulled on all of this information, slowly turning it over and then filing it away for later scrutiny.
"That brings us to the dilemma of who's going to go get him," Jacob started again, checking his watch with a long-suffering sigh. "If he stayed up all night, he's probably conked out right about now, so it's gonna take a while—"
"I'll do it."
Jacob and Meryl stared at Shay, not quite comprehending her words at first. She repeated herself and they turned to look at one another. Slow smiles spread across their faces. On any other given occasion, Shay would have thought herself having been bamboozled into volunteering, but this was not one of those times. This was actually quite perfect. She could talk to Professor Birch alone, without eavesdroppers listening in on her conversation. A conversation that wasn't meant for those not in the know about her current situation should hear.
Before she knew it, she was given directions to the area Professor Birch had last staked a claim for his field research, and off she went. Not even a quarter of the way there, she finished off her coffee. There was a coffee shop just on the edge of town, however, close enough to where she needed to go to find Professor Birch, and she swung by there, the Bagon Bean Shop, with a cartoonish Bagon as its logo, hugging a large coffee bean in its little stubby limbs. There was a moderately long line inside the shop, but the orders were brewed up quickly and efficiently.
Norman has made it a habit to leave Shay with some money before he returned to the Petalburg gym after his every visit. It was almost like having an allowance all over again. However, Shay has remained rather frugal with her funds, knowing she had limitations to her choice of shopping. Coffee, however, was a "treat yo' self" moment of weakness she couldn't resist. Within a few minutes, she was out with her thermos filled up once more and piping hot. The faint scent of caramel and strong espresso wafted from it, giving Shay tingles of anticipation all along her spine and the back of her neck.
The edge of Littleroot was in sight when she rounded the corner of the last residential neighborhood. The forest lay ahead on either side of the road out of Littleroot, its plaintive trees scattered at the edges, and clumping together further on in. She could see between the trunks, the blue-green shadows mixing with early golden sunlight. Light and shadow played with one another, wavering, undulating, like she was gazing into an aquarium rather than a forest. It created a serene little scene to look at, with the occasional flying-type pokémon dipping in and out of sight, too quick to identify. The road out of Littleroot was empty of any foot traffic. She was the only one out there. It was strangely soothing to watch.
She stopped at the threshold of the road leading out of town, right on the border of the small forest, staring down the path until it disappeared around a bend further on down. She swept her gaze back and forth to check the trees on either side of the road. She lingered only a little longer, then pushed forward down the road.
Let's see…Jacob and Meryl said that he's just a little ways down the road and just within sight of it inside the forest…but how far is 'a little ways'? A quarter of a mile? A whole mile? Shit. I should've asked. Maybe I'll see his camp just fine from the road, like they said. Guess I'll just have to keep going.
Luckily enough, she didn't have far to go before she heard the yelling, intermingling with the mixed chorus of howls and barks. It sent a jolt down her spine and she stopped dead in her tracks, straining to hear where it was coming from. She saw the movement long before she pinpointed where the noise was coming from. Something large and humanoid was streaking through the trees, heading straight for the road, running as though something was chasing them.
Even from a distance, Shay could recognize Professor Birch. It wasn't until he was out in the clear that his pursuers were revealed, pouring from the underbrush like ants from the woodwork was a pack of Poochyena.
They snapped at Professor Birch's heels, baying like bloodhounds on the trail of a most wanted prize, their little legs rapidly propelling them after the sturdy man. He nearly tripped over one of the Poochyena in his attempts to get away, and with his arms pinwheeling, he dropped something. The pack had no interest in the object, and continued chasing after him. None of them seemed to notice her as she shuffled closer and Shay saw what it was that the professor had dropped; it was his satchel. It tumbled over itself once and laid still where it landed, undisturbed, as the chase continued.
She watched this all unfold, as though it were going on in slow motion, and for a moment, she had a funny little thought skitter across her head: twenty seconds of courage. That's all it takes. Twenty seconds to do something courageous. And stupid. I should probably do that right now, huh?
Shay darted forward, giving chase after the pack and Professor Birch. The professor glanced over his shoulder, perhaps to scope out how close the Poochyena were to nipping at his heels, when he spotted Shay making a beeline for him. He waved wildly at her and shouted, "My bag! The lab pokémon are in my bag!"
She nearly toppled over in her attempts to stop. Shay's eyes darted between the pack and the professor, to the satchel lying prone on the ground. She juked to the side, diving for the bag while her thermos went tumbling out of her hand, forgotten, and it popped open, spilling its contents all over the ground. She wrestled the bag open and stared at a mess of notes stuffed to the brim inside but buried beneath loose sheets and journals—there they were, three pristine pokéballs, their gleaming red-and-white casings ripe for the picking. Emblems of a green leaf, a yellow flame, and a blue water droplet were impressed upon the surface of each. She dove a hand downwards for the yellow flame, eyes tearing away to assess what was going on, trying to ignore the war drum beating of her heart, the racing of her pulse and the roar of blood rushing along in her ears. Professor Birch was being backed into the trunk of an especially large and impressive tree further down the road. The Poochyena were closing in and ready to leap.
"C'mon Torchic!" She shouted, letting the pokéball fly into the air. A rush of excitement surged through her when the words tore from her throat. As the energy shot out of the split pokéball and the radiating light coalesced into a form, her excitement turned into withering bafflement.
"Mudkip?!"
Oh, no. I must have grabbed the wrong one! She had thought she'd grabbed Torchic's pokéball!
The blue-hued pokémon shook himself, waiting for his next orders. His little tailfin quivered in anticipation, his back curved into an arch as he spotted the pack closing in in Professor Birch.
"Hurry it up, I don't think I have all day!" Professor Birch yelled, his voice an octave higher than usual. Shay faltered, halfway reaching back for the satchel, before she shook herself. Whatever, let's just get this done!
"Okay, Mudkip, tackle attack!"
The Mudkip ran forward and leapt, hurling himself into the pack. Several of the Poochyena went flying, while the others jumped out of the way. Mudkip jumped back to his feet, his tailfin waggling excitedly.
"Water gun attack! Blow them away!"
The Mudkip reacted almost instantly, a gush of water spewing out of his open mouth and sprayed any pack members who strayed too close. They turned tail and ran in fright and shock, yowling the entire time. The others who lingered weren't long in following their packmates and quickly retreated on speedy little legs, disappearing back into the forest's underbrush.
Mudkip huffed, slowly lifting himself from his battle stance and when he was sure no other attacks were to come, he came trotting back over to Shay. He gazed up at her, head tilting curiously to the side and for a moment…it almost seemed like a brief haze of sadness welled up in the Mudkip's eyes. The moment passed, however, when Birch came limping over, looking incredibly relieved. Mudkip twirled on his paws to regard the stout man, tailfin waggling once more.
"Holy shit, you came in the nick of time. Poochyena usually don't attack people when they're alone, but in a pack, they get pretty bold. Thanks a lot, Shay," he panted as he grinned widely at her. "You sure handled yourself pretty well back there. Have you ever battled before?"
Shay stared at him, the shock and adrenaline of the battle still coursing through her. Now that it passed, her hands were shaking, and it was difficult to make them stop. She hid them in her jacket pockets instead and shook her head.
"Not really, but I've kind of always wanted to," she answered vaguely, avoiding his excited gaze. She glanced at the Mudkip again, but his back was turned to her, his focus solely on Birch. He bent over to scoop up Mudkip, who was wriggling in excitement.
"Did I do good? Did I, did I?!" He pawed at Birch's face, and the man laughed. Shay doubted he understood the Mudkip's words, but he understood the pokémon's excited intent.
"Easy, little guy, I get you had a good time! You did a great job!" Professor Birch turned his attention back on Shay, offering her a wide grin. "As did you. You really saved my ass back there."
"Why didn't you just…battle them yourself? You had three pokémon on hand."
Birch's smile turned nervous and embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head with his free hand. "To be honest, I'm no Samuel Oak when it comes to pokémon; I'm a decent battler, sure, when I have to be, but…I don't quite think in those terms when it comes to fight or flight. I'm more of an observer than I am a fighter."
"Seriously?" She deadpanned, which only earned her another series of nervous laughs.
"Yeah, seriously. Norman was always better than me at battling and on-hands experience, but I was always better than him when it came to pokémon knowledge and aptitude tests. It's why he ended up a gym leader, and why I ended up a professor of the Hoenn region!"
"You knew Norman since you were kids?" Shay remarked in astonishment. Birch nodded, reaching to pat Mudkip gently on the back out of habit.
"Yep, since we were little toddlers, actually. He left in his early twenties to go exploring Kanto and Johto, and that's…that's where he met his late wife, actually…" Birch's cheery demeanor went down several notches and he sighed heavily, shoulders slumping.
"Anyway…I think that it's time we head on back, before those Poochyena regroup and think about coming back around with more pack members. Oh, shit—my gear—" He started off back toward where he had fled the forest from, but the moment he winced and cursed after putting his full weight on his injured leg, Shay waved him off.
"I'll grab it."
Birch hesitated, a protest on his lips, before he stopped himself and exhaled loudly through his nostrils.
"Don't worry about cleaning up, it's already all packed up. Here, Mudkip, go with her, just in case."
The Mudkip dithered in Birch's arm, but eventually gathered himself and jumped to the ground, trotting after Shay. She glanced at the little pokémon at her side, noting how he wouldn't even look at her. He took off ahead of her, rushing into the underbrush, and she had to jog after him.
"Hey, wait up!"
He didn't answer or slow down, he simply kept on going, until they reached the campsite not far from the road. Mudkip settled atop a log seat set by a pile of ashes and half-burnt tinder, the fire having long since been put out. He sprayed the top of it all, as though for good measure.
"Hey, you gotta wait up, you can't just go off like that."
"You're not my trainer."
Shay was taken aback by the stinging comment, but she refused to let it get to it. She had tougher skin than that.
"Well, apparently neither is Professor Birch, but I doubt he'd want something bad to happen to you, all the same." She said breezily back. The Mudkip seemed to consider this while looking sullenly into the wet ashes. Shay sighed, turning her attention to scanning the campsite and locating the camping pack Birch had left behind. It was large and cumbersome, even for just a one-night stay in the woods. She managed to get it up onto her back after a minute of fiddling around and hunched over, pulling at the straps to tighten them up.
"Hey," she called to Mudkip. He looked up at her, still wearing that sullen expression on his little face. "For what it's worth, you did a really great job about there. I'm proud of you, just like the professor is."
She gave him a genuine smile, and the Mudkip stared, flabbergasted with his mouth popping open. He leapt off the log and came trotting over to her side. He appeared happier than moments before when he looked up at her.
"C'mon, let's go. The professor is waiting."
Shay collapsed on her bed, her shoulders and hips still aching, even after the entire day had passed. Birch's pack had been heavy, but she had insisted on carrying it, since the man had sprained his ankle in his short chase with the Poochyena pack. He had fretted over her carrying it, but she waved his concerns away vehemently, stubbornly shouldering the thing and carrying on.
He continued to fret the entire way back to Littleroot, and only fell quiet as they trekked their way through town back to the lab. When they reached the front walkway, he had asked her, "You've done this before, haven't you?"
Shay allowed a faint smirk to cross her lips.
"More or less, yeah. It takes me awhile, but I can hike with the best of them."
He didn't say much after that. As soon as they were through the doors, he asked her to drop the pack by his office door, returned Mudkip back to his pokéball, and then told her to take the rest of the day off. It was Friday, and when she pointed that out, he simply added on the weekend for good measure, and told her he'd see her on Monday. When she protested, he held up a hand and she fell silent.
"You did me a great favour, coming out there and helping me out. If it had been Jacob or Meryl…they probably wouldn't have fared as well. They're decent, but they tend to freeze up half the time."
"This…this wasn't the first time this has happened?"
Birch laughed and shook his head. "God, no. It's happened a few times, if I'm being honest. But this was one of the worse-off encounters I've had in a long time. Last time this happened, a trainer from Johto accidentally mistook me for a pokémon and had their Totodile try to take a chunk out of my ass."
He laughed like crazy at that, and showed her the scar on his left calf, where the pokémon had bitten him. She noted a collection of other scars but refrained from asking about them. Apparently, he was no stranger to getting hurt. It didn't make her feel any better. After that, he had dismissed her once more and refused to hear a word from her about the matter.
"Go relax. You earned it, for coming to get my sorry ass, and for carrying my pack like that," he had added dismissively, and that was the last of it. She was turned out at the door, left with the rest of her day. She ended up moseying back to Norman's place, cleaned up her poor thermos, and returned to the Bagon Coffee Bean for another drink. She spent the rest of the morning there, reading from the book she'd left at the lab before she went to fetch Birch.
This time she managed to make it through a couple of chapters. When her attention began to stray, she left the coffee shop and wandered Littleroot, ending up at a small local restaurant, mostly watching people and pokémon alike as she nibbled at her food. She attempted to take a crack at the book again, although the words ended up swimming around on the page. She gave that effort up and watched the world pass her by without really realizing it until it was beginning to grow dark. She headed back to Norman's place, heated up some leftovers and retreated to the couch to watch a little television. This time around, she sampled some of the aquatic exploration documentaries that spanned several oceanic regions.
The narrator speculated heavily on the existence of a pod of Lugia living amongst the Whirl Islands in Johto, but ultimately, there was a typical no-show of anything concrete. It was like those shows back home speculating monster and ghost hunters, leaning heavily on local legends as possible fact, focusing greatly on civilian recordings or photographs that are found to be fake and doctored, and ultimately, no shows of the episode or show's leading monster.
It was essentially Ancient Aliens, but without the aliens.
"But," the narrator continued, his voice rather soothing and sonorous as he spoke, "there is rumour of a trainer who may have captured one of these 'guardians of the sea', although we haven't been able to track this mysterious person down quite yet nor confirm if these rumours to be true. Lugia are incredibly rare and keeping tabs on the full extent of their populations and migratory patterns are difficult."
"Of-fucking-course you haven't." Shay snorted, her disappointment souring her expectations of the rest of the show. She had been hopeful to see a living Lugia. Instead, she got ancient drawings and artist renderings of the creature. She eventually changed the channel to the local news channel. The news anchors were in the middle of a puff piece regarding the rising popularity of pokémon contests in Hoenn, and at the moment, a rather fashionably dressed Pikachu was slaying in the Novice Cute Contest it was entered in over at Slateport. She switched it to another channel and she paused herself from flipping it once more as she squinted at the television screen.
As she set the remote down, she started getting into the film. It had only just started. And the more she watched…the more familiar it became. A bunch of kids and their pokémon finding a treasure map in an attic, the threat of their neighborhood being demolished to serve as a luxury golf course, a race to an old pirate ship using the map while avoiding shady criminals and death traps in the seaside caverns beneath the town…
Halfway through, she leapt to her feet and screeched at the top of her lungs, "IT'S THE FUCKING GOONIES WITH POKÉMON!"
The rest was history. She ended up enjoying the movie a little bit more with that meaningful, if rather small, connection she had just made in that moment alone. It was about as fun as The Goonies she knew originally was, except of course, this one had pokémon in the mix. And their mascot was a Zigzagoon. It made her somewhat miss Bandit's company.
When the film ended, she went upstairs to her room and collapsed onto the bed, finally feeling the ache of her shoulders and her hips especially. She hadn't carried Birch's pack for long, but it was reminiscent to the hikes she's had to endure in the past with all her military gear. She held onto those aches, those pains, held onto the familiarity it brought to her. When she found motivation to get back up again, she headed for the shower, lingering until the hot water turned to ice against her back. When she was changed, Shay took her dirty laundry down the hall to the alcove where the washing machine lay hidden behind a sliding door. Her left hip gave a painful twinge in protest as she straightened herself out. It lingered for much longer than the rest of her aches and she hissed, holding her breath, waiting for it to pass before she dared to move again.
"Chriiiiiiist on a fucking crutch," she moaned as she tested her weight on her leg, limping toward her bedroom. "Two fucking surgeries on you, and you're still fucking me over like this? That's unsat, you stupid hip. I should've had you replaced."
She ended up limping for the rest of the night, muttering curses at her hip, curses at Professor Birch for effectively sending her away for the rest of the weekend, and mostly at herself for forgetting to talk to the man about how she could become a trainer.
Extra Notes: Can you imagine The Goonies with pokémon? I think it'd be amazing. On another note, having surgery on my hip, twice in as little as three years apart from another, truly sucks. Pile on top of that with some degenerative arthritis, it really is only a matter of time before I might have to have it replaced.
Some more Marine terms! Or in this case, just one, with a bit of discourse attached to it.
Unsat: Short of "unsatisfactory". Sometimes we Marines tend to shorten words. It can either have the most meaning in the world or none at all as to why that is, and good luck figuring out which.
BCP: Body Composition Program. It's redundant we call it the BCP program (since the P represents 'program') but I digress. In a few words, it's meant for Marines who are over their acceptable weight and height standards, or alternatively, those who are under it. The former are more often encountered than the latter. I was the latter. My height standard (59 inches) required I stay in a weight standard from 94 pounds minimum and 124 pounds being my maximum before I was considered "out of regulation". I more than often weighed in at about 86 pounds, which dropped me out of regulations, and actually put me in with BCP Marines. This meant I had to "bulk up" to gain weight. The problem with "bulking up" is that the program doesn't necessarily tackle the necessary approaches to help people who lose weight faster than they gain it, to well…keep the weight on.
For Marines over their max weight for their height standard were expected to lose weight because they are considered "fat bodies". This aspect of the program was covered in more extensive detail and was more or less tailored to this aspect than for those who were considered "underweight". Here's the discourse on that matter.
The problem with that mindset is, the Marine Corps uses the taping measurement standard. I won't get into that, other than it's the cheapest and most inaccurate standard of measurement and I say this because there were Marines who were extremely fit and all their weight was muscle, not fat. But because when they weighed in and were over their set standard, on paper this made them seem as though they were "overweight". This meant they had to lose weight, somehow, and they were forced to exercise…even though by the Marine Corps mindset, they needed to lose weight (remember, kiddos…muscle is heavier than fat!). The redundancy of this mindset has really fucked some Marines over, and I have seen it done to them, as I worked on and off in the training section from time to time, so I grew somewhat intimate in familiarity with the orders regarding this stuff.
There have also been multiple reports of Marines across the Corps who were extremely fit, passed all their fitness and combat tests with perfect scores, and were still considered "fat bodies" despite their muscled and fit physiques, and they also fit their uniforms accordingly without looking slobby (this is a secondary condition that is needed to be considered: does the Marine also look good in their uniform?). It's an incredibly touchy, up-hill battle of a subject for those people on that end of the spectrum. It doesn't help that the height and weight standard are completely outdated, especially with the way we measure it.
For me and my skinny ass…I have an incredibly fast metabolism that processes food more quickly than others (which I absolutely hate, don't be fooled by my rail thin weight), so I always fell below the acceptable weight standard for my height, and was put in with BCP Marines, despite the fact that I passed all my fitness and combat tests in the first-class standard, every time without ever bordering second class or worse. The leaders were only covering their asses, and I can respect and understand that, but it didn't mean I accepted their bullshit reasons. Then again, most of them didn't either. It was just a matter of following regulation, and some of my superiors were rigid in following the rules and wouldn't bend for anyone. They were more worried about their own image and how their juniors would reflect on them.
The Marine Corps is difficult in recognizing fluctuating dimorphism when it comes to the height and weight standards and of differing body types, and making exceptions for those who clearly don't conform to the "absolute standard" in spite of their perfect fitness is a pain in the ass. All in all, it's an entire subject that I've heard many a Marine bitch about.
