Hospital Hospitality
The mini-blueberry muffins were the only edible thing in the hospital cafeteria according to Johnny. He could usually eat several in one sitting, but today he struggled to take a bite of even one. He had the better part of his Sunday at the police station being questioned about the events of Saturday. Having an unexpected week off from school would have normally made Johnny leap for joy, but the circumstances of the sudden free time only made him feel worse. Plugging in his earphones, Johnny ignored the plate of muffins in front of him and replayed the news clip on his phone.
"Saffron Trainer's School will remain closed throughout the week after several of its students were attacked at a house party by the Kanto Pokémon Federation. Reports indicate that this attack was led by former student, Craig Kelton, who was arrested and transported to a nearby hospital to treat the injuries that he sustained during the attack. Several of the students at the party were also transported to the hospital to treat their injuries. Both daughters of mayoral candidate, Carl McKinley, are among the injured and reports say-"
Johnny stopped the clip. It was bad enough that he had received explicit details from Nat and Xander about the federation attack. He had been responsible for letting Craig get away before the party and for refusing to attend the party because of his heated argument with Tyler. The only bright spot was that the students had won. Johnny remembered reading the comments from the videos that some of the students had recorded at the party and uploaded online.
Man that was insane!
I saw Wullinger siccing his Glalie on Drake!
Ngl, seeing Relena smash that flowerpot over that KPF douchebag's head was kinda hot…
Xander is a BEAST!
He was irritated, but not surprised that no one in the comments seemed to be taking the federation's attack on the students seriously. If Johnny had not been so connected to the people impacted by the attack, he might have felt the same way. As far as he was concerned, it was his actions that led to everything going to hell. The videos going viral did nothing to help matters and the one with the most views sent a shiver down Johnny's spine. Seeing Mike Snowe covered in blood and stomping the living daylights out of Craig like a maniac was the last thing he had expected. To hear that he did this in addition to tackling Craig through a glass window seconds earlier, evolving his Wartortle into Blastoise at the beginning of fight, and most importantly, killing a federation member only an hour beforehand, made Johnny thankful that he himself had mostly backed off the bullying over the years.
"One day that kid's going to snap and kick the shit out of you…" Johnny remembered warning Craig after he shoved Mike into the soda machine in the school hallways for the umpteenth time.
"Yeah, like that'll ever happen," Craig had replied with a snicker. "The day Mascot Boy beats me in anything is the day I give up on all hope in the universe…"
Judging by Craig's disturbing breakdown that happened once the police showed up and stopped the fight, Johnny figured that the day where his former best friend gave up on the universe had finally arrived. He had only watched that part of the video once. Craig's breakdown was horrifying enough but seeing the way the police apprehended him made Johnny tense in anger. Telling himself that Craig brought it on himself for being a criminal was the only way to block it out of his mind.
Forcing himself to eat at least one of the muffins, Johnny stood up from his seat and made his way to the waiting room. His mother told him earlier that the third- and fourth-year students and some of the faculty from his school had finally been put on the approved list to visit the injured students. Being the son of a surgeon and a pilot had desensitized Johnny to most of the goings-on in the hospital and to life in general, but this was the first time that he found himself hesitating. Taking a deep breath, he stepped onto the elevator and pressed the button for the fourth floor. For a moment he was relieved that no one had gotten on with him, but that moment quickly ended when the door to the elevator suddenly opened and another person stepped inside.
"I'll just…catch the next one…" Tyler said awkwardly and took a step back.
"Man," Johnny replied with an annoyed sigh. "Stop being a drama queen and get on the damn elevator."
Tyler reluctantly stepped on and Johnny made sure the door closed as quick as possible as to avoid any more unwanted guests. As the elevator started moving towards the fourth floor, the two boys avoided eye contact, with Johnny pretending to be on his phone despite having no signal and Tyler staring at the ceiling. Johnny knew that he had to swallow his pride and break the silence.
"Look, Tyler," he started. "About Saturday night…you were right, man. I let Craig go when we had him, and it turned out to be the worst decision imaginable. He was my best friend, and I don't know, I guess I couldn't go through with turning him in. I'm sorry, man. Everyone at the party had to pay the consequences for my screwup."
"I could've gone to the party even after our argument," Tyler admitted. "I'm the one who should be apologizing to you and to everyone else. Craig was your friend for a long time, I should've understood that the situation was more complicated than how it was looking."
"Yeah, well, you're my friend now too," Johnny told him. "I definitely owe you a bigger apology for leaving you at Ferrothorn Felicity's house. Did she…"
He stopped himself once he saw how quickly Tyler averted his gaze. Johnny's eyes widened and he instantly knew. People were way too easy to read, and it annoyed him to no end. He simply stared at his friend in silence, clearly demanding a full report.
"Listen, Johnny," Tyler started explaining. "Felicity and I started talking after you left. It was just- "
"Save it," Johnny interrupted. "Let's just cut to the chase. Did she kiss you? Or did you kiss her?"
"Both…?" Tyler answered. "I think? But that's all that happened. I don't know, it's just that I never even saw Felicity that way…at least until that night at the gala. Once I heard her sing, it was like she was a different person."
Johnny sighed and nodded his head.
"I understand, man. Listen, I totally get it, she captivated you. It happens to the best of us…even me. I've never told anyone this, not even Craig, but there was one time back when we were first years…" Johnny paused and gritted his teeth. "Me and Craig had gone to a contest to mess with some of the coordinators there, you know cause some trouble. We were about to be kicked out when Felicity came on the stage. She looked amazing and then her performance, it made me forget everything bad about her. I spent that whole night thinking about her…until I saw her at school the next day and she opened her mouth. Long story short, Amelie is good for you while Felicity, well she just looks good and that's about it."
Johnny wanted to vomit. It pained him to admit that Felicity Cole of all people had once made him feel weak in the knees. He looked at Tyler's face, but could not tell if he was amused or puzzled by the story. It did not matter to Johnny because he did not care if Tyler took his advice at all. He did not care for Felicity in the slightest and while he was on friendly terms with Amelie, Johnny mainly cared about her because Tyler and Jennifer cared about her. Still, Amelie was much more pleasant to be around and as far as he knew, Felicity was only interested in Tyler to either get back at Craig, torment Amelie, or both. For the most part, he believed that there was no way that Felicity was genuinely interested in Tyler. Despite that thought, Johnny had to admit to himself that Tyler and Felicity did have a lot in common. He, Amelie, and a lot of their friends came from rather well-off families, but Tyler and Felicity came from old money. Johnny lived in a big house, but Tyler and Felicity lived in mansions. Johnny often ate at expensive restaurants with his parents, but Tyler and Felicity's families had their own private world-renowned chefs. He then thought that maybe they saw something in one another that no one else could. Nonetheless, the right choice was obvious to anyone with a half-working brain.
They had been talking long enough that they did not realize that they had reached their destination until after a nurse in a rush shooed them out the elevator. Johnny came to the hospital primarily to see Drake, but since Tyler was with him, he figured that it might be best for his friend, if they went to see Amelie first. He struggled to remember the room number until he saw the hulking security guard standing in front of Room 404 with his equally massive Machamp standing near him.
"That's close enough," the guard told the pair. "Names?"
"Johnny Hawkins and Tyler West," Johnny answered irritably. "Do we need to spell them out for you too, meathead?"
The guard ignored Johnny's rudeness and punched their names in on the digital list that he held.
"They're clear, Machamp," the guard told the four-armed Pokémon.
Machamp nodded and opened the door for the two teenagers after knocking first. Johnny could sense that Tyler was a bit hesitant, likely afraid of what he was going to see. Another benefit to having a surgeon as a mother was that Johnny could handle viewing any kind of physical trauma no matter how gruesome. He doubted that Amelie would look too bad and was proven correct when they spotted her sitting up on the hospital bed staring out the window.
"Hey, Amelie!" Johnny called out. "The steroid security guard cleared us to come in."
Amelie turned to face them and gave a slight smile. Johnny felt a surge of anger when he saw the state that she was in. She had a large bandage over the medical dressing on her right shoulder and her left leg had been placed in a cast. Seeing Amelie McKinley in this condition did not sit right with him. To him, she had always been the person to stop the fight, not be directly involved in it. He knew that there was a strong chance that this outcome would have been avoided had he and Tyler turned Craig in when they had the chance.
"Hey, guys," she greeted. "Thanks for coming. It's good to see some fresh faces after days of police questioning."
"Tell me about it," Johnny agreed, noting that there was something a bit different about the way she was speaking. "I mean, you know, we weren't being questioned while in a hospital bed, so you definitely had it twenty times worse. What's the damage anyway?"
"My shoulder's pretty bruised," Amelie mumbled. "My leg got the worst of it. It'll be at least six weeks before I'm out of this cast."
"We should've been there," Johnny told her. "None of this would've happened if it weren't for us."
"We let an argument keep us from going to the party," Tyler added. "We're sorry…"
That part was true enough. Apologizing was hard and it would be easier and more helpful if Tyler was the one to apologize on behalf of them. Still, Johnny figured that he should help his friend out a bit more.
"And…" he suddenly said. "That's why Tyler said that it was important that we see you first. So, I'm going to let you two catch up while I use your bathroom. Hospital breakfasts are bad for the digestive system…"
Johnny scampered into the restroom and shut the door. He almost felt guilty about pressing his ear against the door but rationalized that it was important to listen just in case Tyler said or did something stupid. Johnny wanted to laugh at himself for being intimidated by him in the past. After spending so much time with Tyler, Johnny realized that being a good trainer did not necessarily mean that a person was good at everything – or anything – else.
"I suppose it's been a while since we've talked for longer than three seconds," Johnny heard Tyler's voice say. "Listen, I never actually told Johnny that we were coming to see you first. But my plan was always to visit you before I even ran into Johnny."
Johnny shook his head. People were so ungrateful.
"I appreciate you for coming," Amelie's voice replied. "I-I just want to know and please be honest with me, that's all I ask. Why have you been avoiding me these last couple of months?"
"I didn't know what to say to you," Tyler admitted. "After the principal told me that he was going to tell my father about the fight with Craig, my mind was all over the place. I just didn't feel like talking."
"Honestly, the way you snapped at me did sting," Amelie said. "But…I would've gotten over it. Avoiding me for all this time definitely hurt a lot more."
"I apologize," Tyler said sincerely. "I think I spent so much time imagining how you would react to me that I-"
"Forgot to remember that you can't predict how a person is going to react because everyone's different?" Amelie interrupted with a laugh. "In any case, I accept your apology. After Saturday, I think it would be pretty ignorant of me to hold a grudge. Maybe we can use this time to catch up?"
Johnny saw Tyler reflexively shift his gaze the moment the word 'ignorant' escaped from Amelie's lips. He knew what Tyler was about to do and he had to stop him.
"Amelie…" Tyler started. "I need to tell you that-"
"He wanted to ask you!" Johnny cut him off, bursting out of the bathroom and elbowing his friend in the ribs. "He wanted to ask you if you still like him."
"Well, I…uh…" Amelie stammered, her face turning a deeper shade of red than her hair. "Wow…I-I…you're really p-putting me on the spot, Johnny."
That answered that question. Tyler himself seemed puzzled by Johnny's actions, but it did not matter. Johnny knew that his friend needed to work on his social skills and until Tyler improved, Johnny would have to bail him out.
"We need to go see Drake!" Johnny said shoving Tyler out of the room. "Tyler's going to call you later and you two can go from there."
They were out of the room before Amelie could even say goodbye. Johnny made sure that the two of them were as far as they could be away from the room before he finally released Tyler from his grip.
"What was that about?" he asked, genuinely confused.
"Because!" Johnny replied resisting the urge to facepalm. "You were about to tell her about the kiss. How do you think Amelie will feel knowing that while she was fighting for her life on Saturday night, you were busy making out with Felicity Cole of all people? And it was because of something we could have prevented. On top of that, she's crippled and her sister just killed someone. The girl has a ton of shit on her plate right now."
"I…I have to tell her…" Tyler said.
"Right now?" Johnny questioned. "You don't think she's been through enough? Honestly, man, you don't really have to tell her anything. Last time I checked, she's not your girlfriend. Listen, if you feel like you absolutely have to tell her then at least wait until the right time."
Tyler stared at him, clearly deep in thought as his phone went off. Johnny sighed in annoyance and wondered at what point in his life did he end up trying to salvage the romantic entanglements of Tyler West. It only got worse when Johnny snatched the phone and read the text that Tyler had received from Felicity.
Call me when you have some free time.
He shoved the phone back into Tyler's hands. At this point, Johnny was convinced that Arceus himself was playing a cruel joke on him. Tyler looked as he was about to ask his friend for advice on to what action to take next, but Johnny shot him a glare that made him decide otherwise.
"Let's go see Drake before I strangle you…" Johnny said with an exasperated sigh.
Lyndon's bedroom was typical for a boy his age. There were clothes and other miscellaneous items scattered over his floor and he was often in such a rush that he did not have the time to organize. The only thing he kept neat, and tidy were the three shelves that he built against his wall.
He had been offered his older brother's room after he moved out. However, Lyndon found himself content with the room he had grown up in, especially since he would have to rebuild the shelves if he had taken Frank's old room. To his parents, the shelves were just full of random junk that their son had acquired, and Lyndon did not try to shift their opinion. What mattered was that he knew what that 'junk' represented.
Each item on the three shelves were from the many adventures that Lyndon had gone on with Amelie. He lined them up in the order they were obtained, and it was obvious that the earlier items were in desperate need of a good dusting off. The very oldest thing was the Pikachu plush with one of the ears half-missing. He and Amelie were only eight years old when they helped a crying four-year-old girl get the plush out of a tree.
"I think I can get it," Lyndon remembered Amelie saying. "My little sister is always doing flips and climbing trees and she taught me."
Lyndon had to get on all fours so that Amelie could climb on his back. It was a bit of a struggle but with the extra boost given to her, Amelie was able to climb up the tree and retrieve the plush. She tossed it down to Lyndon who handed it to the little girl. Before the girl could say thank you, Amelie lost her grip and fell off the tree. Unfortunately for Lyndon, she fell right on top of him, and the two friends found themselves on the ground, covered in dirt and leaves. Amelie apologized and the two of them immediately broke out into laughter. They had always been able to laugh through the pain. The little girl's family moved away a few months later. Lyndon bought the plush at their yard sale, after seeing that the little girl had already moved on to a brand new Eevee plush and had more or less tossed the Pikachu plush aside.
Their adventures truly did have humble beginnings. These days, Lyndon sometimes wished things were as easy as getting a toy out of a tree. He scanned the other items on the shelves, observing the empty can of hair gel from the first protest that he and Amelie attended. The protesters were against illegal testing of human products on Pokémon. At the time, Lyndon did not even know what they were protesting but thought it would be fun to yell and march around with a sign. Amelie though, clearly understood what was going on and marched to the front of the crowd and spoken into the megaphone. Even at ten, she commanded attention.
"You're hurting those poor Pokémon!" she said. "That's not right!"
There were a lot more items on the shelves. The broken poké ball, the pink ribbon, the Braviary wing, along with the rest of the items all had stories behind them. However, the one that Lyndon found himself currently focusing on was the lock. It was the lock from the cage where he and Amelie had freed the Tauros that had been rounded up by the poachers in the Safari Zone. Since the poachers had been apprehended soon after, most of the attention from that incident had been on Lyndon accidentally starting a stampede and Amelie having to help stop it. It was something that the two of them had laughed about for so long, but now they were both looking at it in a different light.
Lyndon managed to get a hold of himself after remembering that he had an order to pick up before going to the hospital. Fortunately, his parents had allowed him to borrow one of their cars to make things easier and safer. He had been promised his own car at the end of the semester on the grounds that he kept his grades up, but that was the furthest thing from his mind at this point.
The sweets from Always Alcremie rivaled those from Slurpuff's Sunday Sundae and Lyndon hoped the desserts would cheer Amelie up. After picking up his order, he made his way to the hospital. Having a father as a doctor did nothing to help Lyndon work through his discomfort with hospitals. Johnny was another person who had a parent as a doctor, but there was no way that Lyndon would ever feel comfortable talking to him about it. He wanted to make his way to Amelie's room as quickly as possible.
"Got you and Machamp some cookies from Always Alcremie," Lyndon told the guard and handed him one of the two bags that he was carrying.
"Thanks, Tower," the guard said as he and his Pokémon began chowing down on the delicious sweets.
"Ams!" Lyndon called out as he barged in the room. "I got your favorite! Vegan fro-yo! Or to be more specific, dairy-free vegan vanilla flavored frozen yogurt. Man, that's a mouthful. Speaking of mouthfuls, I want you to eat this yogurt before it melts. No ifs, ands, or buts."
She thanked him in a soft voice as he handed her a plastic spoon out of the bag and took a seat on the couch. He knew that Amelie had been trying to put on a smile for her other visitors, but he saw through the façade the first time he entered. She was upset and he did not blame her for it. He found it difficult to stay calm himself and resisted the urge to go out into the street and hunt down Mona Barlowe. They ate their dessert in silence for a bit, but Lyndon decided that maybe talking to things may help his friend out.
"How's Elyse doing?" he asked.
"The doctor said that she has a concussion," Amelie explained. "But other than that, she's going to be okay, at least physically…I haven't been able to really talk to her though, the police just gave her phone back today. They said that the Zeb, um, thing is a clear-cut case of self-defense so that's some good news. Everything I've heard has been secondhand from my parents and the police though."
Lyndon nodded and took a spoonful of yogurt into his mouth.
"Any news on Craig?"
"Laila told me that he might have cracked ribs from where Nidoking's tail hit him," Amelie replied. "And some cuts and bruises from his fight with Mike, but last I heard, they're planning on transferring him to that juvenile detention center on Route 11."
"He's never exactly been the best guy around," Lyndon admitted. "But…I never thought…"
"I know…" Amelie finished with a sigh.
Lyndon figured that talking about Craig was not the best idea right now, at least not under these circumstances. Despite his personality and the way he went about things, Craig had always been on their side when the chips were down. Amelie, more than anyone, had always seen the good in him. To see him siding with people who meant them harm was a hard pill to swallow. Amelie was probably more disappointed than anything else.
"Any visitors?" Lyndon asked trying to change the subject. "Besides me, Jennifer, and Laila?"
"Kat, Xander, and Nat came by," Amelie answered. "Johnny and Tyler just left."
"Tyler?" Lyndon questioned. "I thought you two weren't exactly on speaking terms."
"It's a bit more complicated than that," Amelie said with a sigh. "I…I think I'm still into him but today, it was like we were on a different wavelength. Like something was off?"
"Probably because you two haven't talked in a while," Lyndon suggested. "Plus, with everything that's going on right now, the communication is bound to be a bit off. Things will work out and if not, there's plenty of Magikarp in the sea for you."
"Yeah…" Amelie replied. "Yeah…I guess you're right. C-can I ask you something?"
"Shoot," Lyndon said with a nod finishing the last of his frozen yogurt.
"We've been all over helping people and Pokémon for so many years now. Do you ever have any regrets? Not about helping, but some of the situations we get ourselves into and how they might come back to bite us?"
Lyndon thought about the adventures the two of them had gone on throughout the years. There were some that he had fond memories of and others that had been painful, humiliating, or dangerous. However, he certainly did not regret them because they made him the person he was today. Deep down he knew that Amelie felt the same way, but this was the first time someone with an actual vendetta confronted them directly.
"Ams," Lyndon started. "It's totally fine to be afraid of Mona Barlowe. She terrifies me. One thing I've learned from everything we've done is that you can be afraid and still be willing to risk everything to help others. Barlowe is evil and yeah, she put you here in the hospital, but she's just one person. There are a lot more people like us than people like her. At the end of the day, we're only sixteen. We can only do so much, at least for now."
"I get what you're saying," Amelie said. "She crashed the party with the federation and would've came after us regardless because we were protecting Elyse. Honestly, I am scared of Mona. More than that though, what she said to me about Elyse and Mike owing the federation a friend's life. Now, I'm afraid for everyone else…"
Lyndon wished her could say something, but he had nothing to calm her worries. It was one thing to be afraid for their own safety but worrying about everyone else was another thing entirely. He wanted to stay upbeat but ignoring reality would not help anyone. Lyndon felt his phone going off in his pocket and figured it was a good time to leave and let Amelie get some rest.
"I'm going to get out of here and let you get some sleep," he told her, dumping the empty cups of frozen yogurt in the trash can. "I know I mess things up sometimes when we travel, but you made the right choice the first day we started doing this. The only reason you should call your judgement into question is your decision to bring me along for the ride."
They both laughed. Lyndon knew that taking himself too seriously was the path to misery. He saw what it did to other boys his age like Johnny, Tyler, or Nat.
"Trust me," Amelie said with a smile. "Bringing you along with me is one thing I will never regret."
Lyndon gave her a nod and a toothy grin before exiting the room. He was satisfied that he had managed to cheer her up, if only for a moment. Remembering to check his phone, Lyndon was surprised to see that he had received a text message from Anika Heartlily of all people. Reading over it, he was thankful that she sent well wishes to him regarding the party attack. On the other hand, he knew that if she was texting him then that meant he had to face something he had been putting off for a while.
Elyse was on the ground gasping for air. The metal pipe had hit her in the stomach with such force that it hurt to even breathe. Her head was throbbing and the blood leaking from it had dripped into her eye. Through her blurred vision, she saw her attacker making his way towards her, the metal pipe clutched tightly in his hand. She panicked and tried to crawl away, but to no avail. He was going to beat her to death with the pipe. Suddenly, Mike was holding on to the attacker's leg from the ground, preventing him from going towards Elyse. The attacker turned his attention to Mike, pulling him up to his knees from behind and pressing the pipe against his neck. The sound of Mike being gasping for air immediately made Elyse forget about her own pain. Then, she saw it. Against the dumpster just inches from her grasp, lied the forgotten switchblade. Without thinking, she scampered over to the knife and grabbed it. Mike's gasps for air were weakening and, in that moment, Elyse forgot everything. With a scream, she charged at the attacker from behind…
The white room of the hospital brought Elyse back to reality. She had been replaying the incident in her head over and over. It was difficult not to blame the law enforcement. Even though she knew that they were trying to make sure that killing Zeb was in self-defense, being asked to repeat the incident for days on end had made it impossible to think about anything else. It did not help that the only familiar faces that she had been able to interact with for the last several days were her parents. Her phone had been confiscated by the police and they refused to let her contact Mike until the investigation was completed. Worse of all, Amelie was in the very same hospital healing from her own injuries, but Elyse was confined to her own hospital room and was unable to see her. The only saving grace was that she had her Pokémon to keep her company whenever her parents had to leave.
"You're cleared for more visitors," the doctor had informed her. "But let them know that the police will be searching them upon arrival."
No one had visited yet, but at least her phone had been returned. She had at least fifty unread text messages and countless social media pings. Ignoring it all, she searched for a game to play that would help her ignore the dull throb in her skull. The bandage on her forehead was just another reminder of what a nightmare the last few days had been.
"I think it's important to address how this will impact McKinley's mayoral run. If he can't protect his own children from the Kanto Pokémon Federation, then how will he be able to protect the city from them?"
Elyse frowned at the journalists on the television and quickly reached for the remote. The whole thing had started because she was out putting flyers up for her father's campaign. The cruel irony that her aid was the reason that the campaign was in trouble had her fighting tears. The guilt only increased when Elyse found out that Amelie ended up with worse injuries than her own. She did not even want to think about the mental anguish that her poor mother was almost certainly going through because of everything that had happened. The entire fiasco had been a major loss for the McKinley family and as far as Elyse was concerned, it had all started with her.
"Even if you hadn't been out," her father had told her. "Someone else would have been targeted and they might not have been as lucky as you. This is not your fault. Don't worry about me or the campaign. Right now, I want you to focus on recovering."
Being alone only made Elyse's thinking worse. Fortunately, her mother had only gone home to get her a change of clothes and would return shortly. When Elyse suddenly heard the knock on the door, she discovered that she would not have to wait for her mother to return to have company. Pressing the button on the remote by her bed, the locks on the door unfastened and Loki walked in. She saw the look on his face and realized that she forgot to inform him about the pat down.
"Those guards outside owe me dinner and a movie with all the grabbing they were doing," he joked.
"Sorry about that, Loki," Elyse replied. "Is there anyone else with you so I can let them know?"
"Lilly and Nadine are coming in soon," Loki answered.
She grabbed her phone and notified Nadine and Lilly that they would be searched by the guards when they arrived. Before Elyse could continue her conversation with Loki, he was handing her a fairly generic looking get-well card. She knew that he had just bought it at the gift shop when he arrived, most likely after spending twenty or so minutes flirting with any nurses in his vicinity. Yet, she was strangely fine with that only because it was Loki.
"Thanks, Loki," Elyse said as she opened the card and read it. "Congratulations…on your new baby boy…"
She tried to stifle a laugh but could not help but snicker. She had been utterly miserable for days and in less than a minute, Loki had brought in the laughter.
"I made you smile!" he taunted in a sing-song voice.
"Well played," she said with a sigh. "Glad to see you're okay. The police showed me the videos of the party fight and…"
"Yeah," Loki finished with a frown. "People were recording Drake being drowned by that psycho but wouldn't help him until Jennifer and a few others came along. And Mike…"
Elyse had seen the video of Mike and Craig courtesy of the police and was disturbed, but not surprised. After everything that she and Mike had gone through that day, she felt that she might have done the same exact thing had she been in his position.
"How's he doing?" she asked.
"Dunno," Loki answered with a shrug. "Haven't seen him yet, but-"
"Elyse! Ohmygod! Ohmygod! I was so worried about you! Glad you're okay! You look good! And don't even worry, girl, you're still cute enough to pull off the bandaged look!"
It was a miracle that Nadine did not run out of breath as she entered the room. Lilly rolled her eyes in annoyance as she strolled in behind her. It did not bother Elyse though. She realized that she had not spent much time with them this year and even under these circumstances, it was good to be reunited with them.
"Sorry it took so long," Lilly apologized. "Nadine wanted us to check on Drake first even though he only has a broken arm and they're about to release him soon anyway."
"He saved my ass at the party," Nadine countered. "I can't thank my sort-of boyfriend?"
"You can after you check on your best friend," Lilly shot back.
"I see you two are getting along as always," Elyse interjected. "But I'm glad you two came by. I really appreciate it. Lilly, I-"
"You were right about Craig," Lilly told her. "I'm sorry about what I said to you that day. I thought he was deeper than what he seemed like. Turns out he was much worse. I'm glad Mike finally beat him. It sucks that he's getting most of the dirt right now."
"Huh?" Elyse said puzzled. "What does that mean?"
"That's what I was about to say before Motormouth Mills barged in," Loki spoke up. "That video of him going nuts on Craig went viral. The federation crashed his party on his birthday where his Wartortle evolved into Blastoise and because your injuries from Zeb were worse-"
"And because he's the guy," Lilly added. "The story is that the local school mascot saved the damsel-in-distress mayoral candidate's daughter from a violent attack by a gang member. And then said gang member's gang is beaten by the same mascot hours later. That's how everyone at our school and the news are putting it anyway."
If she would have only recently met Mike, Elyse would have been shocked. Knowing him as well as she did though, Elyse was not surprised that Mike was the one person who could accidentally get labeled a hero after a catastrophe. For a moment, she wondered if she should be irritated by the narrative that was forming. After all, she was the one who had actually killed someone. However, it was not as if the narrative was false. Mike had saved her from getting her skull caved in by Zeb and she returned the favor by saving Mike when he was being strangled. They had protected each other, but her injuries had prevented her from helping out much once the federation invaded the party. After thinking about it more, Elyse started to realize that this situation was not in Mike's favor despite how it appeared.
"This paints a huge target on his back," she blurted out. "Think about it, Craig led the federation into the party to get me and Mike. Then, the students beat the federation. More importantly, Mike beat Craig. So, it looks like they've taken two losses to a school mascot. Call me crazy, but I think most gangs would consider that a huge blow to their reputation. Plus, the federation's going to be gunning for Mike because he'll be easier to get to than me."
Elyse's father had already hired full-time security for she and Amelie in addition to the security that had been staffed by the city. Mike's family probably would not get as much support on that end. While they could hire their own security, Elyse knew that the city would most likely focus their resources on helping her family. Judging by the looks on their faces, her three friends seemed to understand what she was getting at.
"So, what's he gonna do?" Loki asked.
"I don't know…" Elyse said blankly.
There was no way she could help him with everything that she had going on. The best way to help Mike and everyone else would be to help her family and herself first.
"Mom and Dad have a point…"
Mike sat in his hospital bed silently, pretending to ignore the words of his older sister. Julie, for her part took, it in stride and stretched out on the nearby couch. He wished she would have gone with their parents to pick up Tori from the babysitter, if only so he did not have to think about the family conversations they had been having over the past few days.
"For the thousandth time, I can't do it," Mike finally said when he could not deal with the silence any longer. "I have a girlfriend, I have friends, and-"
"And right now, they're all in danger," Julie interrupted.
"Yeah, but what Mom and Dad are suggesting won't help!" Mike yelled.
"Listen up, Mike," Julie started as she stood up. "You're not a little boy anymore. It's time to grow up. Look at the state you're in! You finally got a taste of how insane the world can be and on your birthday of all days. You should know now that it doesn't matter how many Pokémon battles you win, how many fights you win, you can be dead in an instant. You told us you wanted to get stronger so that this never happens again, right? What really counts as strength though? What do you think true strength is?"
"Are we gonna talk about how you totally got that last sentence out of your Philosophy 101 book?" Mike remarked with a grin.
"Deflection won't help you," Julie replied.
"And that's from Psychology 101…" Mike taunted.
"I can show you what I learned in Kicking Annoying Little Brother's Ass 101," Julie threatened. "I passed that class with flying colors."
"Relax, I'm only joking."
"Don't you think the time for jokes have kind of passed?" Julie asked with a level of concern in her voice that caught Mike off guard. "Listen, your friends will be in here soon, so I'll let you have some alone time with them. Hopefully, you'll think about what Mom and Dad told you. This is serious, so please take it seriously."
Julie closed the door behind her, leaving Mike alone with his thoughts. He wondered why his family was treating him as if he had a choice in the manner. His parents had told him that no matter what he decided, at the end of the day, they were going to do what they thought was best for him. It was really more about accepting their decision instead of making his own. Yet, the reality was that he was the one who put them in this position in the first place.
He took a deep breath and glanced down at the bandages on his arm and then at the other bandages on various parts of his body. He did not know which injuries were from his fight which injuries were from Zeb and which ones were from Craig. "The birthday from hell" was the nickname that he had given for that day. Never in a million years could he have imagined that things would turn out the way that they did. He had been forbidden from contacting Elyse and had been so busy with police questioning, hospital procedures, and family conversations that he had not had time to contact his friends.
"You should've just called us right after it happened," the detective had told him during the police interview. "Or at the very least, gone to the police station."
In hindsight, going to Relena's house immediately after killing Zeb was one of the stupidest decisions he had ever made. The only thing it did was lead the federation directly to his friends. At the time though, it was the only thing he could think of. The only good thing from the days he spent talking to the police was the fact that they acknowledged that killing Zeb was clearly self-defense. They had been more focused on the device on the glove that they had confiscated from Craig.
Craig. Thinking about him would have made Mike angry only a few days ago, but now he was far too mentally exhausted to even consider it. He tried to think about his Pokémon. The only one that he had kept by his side for an extended period of time was Electabuzz. Tangela was still too new to the team, Crobat would have been uncomfortable in the hospital room, and Mike was slightly terrified of Blastoise. He had made some leeway on finding common ground with Wartortle, but Blastoise was an entirely different game.
After a few more moments of sitting in silence, Mike had started dozing off. He figured that it would be a good idea to let Electabuzz out of his ball again after a quick nap. Mike slouched down in the hospital bed, but only managed to get about seven minutes of sleep before the knock on the door woke him from his slumber. He pressed the button on the nearby remote and the door swung open.
Mike went from half-asleep to fully awake when he saw Relena standing at the door decked out in new clothes and newly highlighted hair that looked like she had just returned from the salon. Her hands were full of bags from Cinccino City, one of the most expensive clothing stores that he knew of, and it even looked like she had put makeup on.
"Sorry it took so long for me to get here, babe," Relena said as she kicked the door closed behind her and struggled to put the bags on the couch. "Had to make some stops. Been a busy morning. Yesterday was even crazier, I bought so much stuff."
"I can see," Mike replied. "Wow, Rel, you look amazing!"
Her new boots made her legs look longer than they already were her expensive blue shirt matched perfectly with her eyes. Mike struggled to even focus; he was so taken aback by the fact that she somehow managed to look even more attractive than she already did.
"Thanks," she said with a smile and took a seat on the foot of the bed. He could even smell her new perfume and wondered just how much money she had spent over the past few days. "I'm just so glad I finally get to see you again after all the craziness of this weekend. I tried to come up here like three times, but the stupid cops wouldn't let me. Sorry about all the texts. I didn't know they had taken your phone until later."
"Yeah, I just got it back today," Mike explained, though he had not bothered to check any of the hundreds of messages that he probably had from everyone he knew. "I'm the one who should be apologizing, babe. My parents told me that they're going to pay for all the damages to your backyard. How did your parents take it when they got home?"
"Mom bitched at me and blamed me for the entire thing," Relena answered with an eyeroll. "Yeah, I didn't tell her that I was throwing a party, but it's not like I knew the federation would show up. She's still on my case about the damages so I'm spending as little time in the house as possible. Daddy was pretty mad about the wrecked pool house, but he laughed when he saw the video of me smashing Mom's flowerpot over that guy's head. And…he thought you were kind of badass after he saw the video of you putting Craig in his place."
Mike knew that his girlfriend's father had never exactly considered him the toughest guy around and could not help but be pleased at the shift in perception. He imagined that from the outside looking in, a lot of people likely thought the same as Relena's father. However, Mike knew that his victory over Craig had been mostly luck. Had his ribs not been damaged during Blastoise's short-lived battle with Nidoking, Craig would have won. He also found himself cringing at the idea that the video of him attacking an already downed Craig was being spread like wildfire. The police had shown him the video from a cell phone that they confiscated, and Mike found himself unable to recognize the bloodied lunatic kicking, stomping, and screaming at his opponent. He wanted to get stronger to protect himself and others from harm not to torture people who could not fight back.
"I went too far…" Mike said solemnly. "Craig was already done for after we went through the window."
"So what?" Relena told him. "He deserved it for bringing those psychos to your party. It just sucks that he's the only big name from that group to get caught. They all should've gotten what he got. Holt broke Drake's arm and tried to murder him. And Ellie…"
"What about Ellie?" Mike asked after Relena trailed off and stopped talking.
He knew about Drake from the police but had not heard anything about Ellie and assumed that she must have avoided getting any injuries. Relena hesitated and rubbed her hands on the sides of her head. She took a deep breath and turned to face Mike again.
"Don't tell anyone else what I'm about to tell you," Relena said in a voice so low it sounded like a whisper. "But that creep Gino Dunlap tried to get a little too handsy with her. Nat and Kat stopped it before it went too far. The last two people you'd expect, right? Anyway, the next time I see him, I'm going to have Ninetales set him on fire, and we'll see if he learns to keep his gross hands to himself."
Usually, Mike doubted the legitimacy of Relena's more extreme threats due to how rarely they were actually carried out, but he could not blame her if she decided to go through with it this time. He felt his own anger boiling over and struggled not to shake in rage. Ellie was his oldest friend, the first one that Mike had ever met. Before their Pokémon and before Drake, Relena, Loki, and Elyse, it was just the two of them. He had been so consumed by his hatred of Craig during the party invasion that he had nearly forgotten that his friends were also at the mercy at the federation. Worse, he was the one who had put them in the position by leading the federation to the party. He looked at the bandage on his arm and frowned.
"This is never going to happen again," Mike said aloud. "I have to get stronger."
Julie's words were sinking in deep now that he had direct confirmation on the detrimental impact that his actions had on his friends. He had to show strength in more ways than just training his body and his Pokémon. The strength to make and accept difficult decisions had to be what she was getting at. At least that's how Mike interpreted it.
"We all have your back," Relena replied and moved up to give him a quick peck on the lips. "Especially me."
"Wow, new lip gloss too," Mike noted with a goofy smile as he tasted strawberries. "Did you hit the lottery, babe?"
"No," Relena answered. "But I hit mom's credit card. Speaking of which, I need to get to that Pokémon grooming appointment that I set up for Ninetales. Can I leave this stuff here until tomorrow? I can find a way to sneak it in then."
"Uh, sure," Mike said with a bit of confusion in his voice. "They're keeping me for a couple more days anyway. Relena, there's something I-"
The alarm on her phone went off and Relena stood up from the bed. Mike assumed the alarm was to remind her about the grooming appointment for Ninetales, but there was something a bit odd about the way that Relena was acting. It was difficult to discern entirely, but it was noticeable.
"Gotta go, Mike Snowe!" she rhymed in a sing-song voice. "I'll be back first thing in the morning to check on you!"
Relena gave him another quick kiss and hurried out of the room. Mike knew that his mind was playing tricks on him because he was almost certain that he saw her pulling out car keys as she exited the room. He quickly dismissed the idea as impossible. Relena's fifteenth birthday was still a couple of months away and as a result, she did not even have a learner's permit, much less a driver's license. His mind shifted to the news that he had wanted to tell her. He was nervous at how she was going to take it but owed it to Relena to tell her to her face instead of over the phone.
"Alright," he uttered after another twenty or so minutes of silence, putting as much effort to reach over to the nearby poké balls as possible. "Keep me company, Electabuzz…"
The electric Pokémon emerged just in time for Mike to hear another knock at the door. He unlocked the doors through the remote and found himself staring in bewilderment as Ace Torres entered the room.
"I…guess I'm the last person you expected to see," he said bluntly.
"Not the last," Mike retorted. "Maybe third or fourth-to-last."
Truth be told, he had not thought about Ace in months, a sharp contrast in how the year had started. With all the drama that had been going on in and outside school, Mike had been entirely too preoccupied with other aspects of his life to worry about Ace Torres of all people. Craig actively went out of his way to make Mike's life a living hell while Ace was just a guy who did not like him. After everything he had gone through, Mike would choose dealing with Ace over dealing with Craig any day.
"Good to know you haven't lost your wonderful sense of humor," Ace remarked with an exasperated sigh.
"Gotta laugh through the pain," Mike told him. "Anyway, no offense, but why are you here?"
"Look, man," Ace began. "I'm not here to start anything. I just wanted to tell you that I thought what happened at your party was sickening. We don't have to like each other, that's fine, but I feel like I owe you some respect if nothing else."
"Thanks," Mike said with a nod.
"And if it makes you feel better," Ace continued. "Everyone from our school is talking about you. I know how much you like being the center of attention. When we go back next week-"
"I'm not going back…" Mike interrupted suddenly. "Not for a while at least. I'm leaving Saffron…"
He could not believe that out of everyone, the first person that he told was Ace Torres. After talking with his parents and the police, everyone was in consensus that the safest thing for Mike to do would be to leave Saffron City while the police department looked into the federation. Elyse would have enough protection, but since Mike was the one on camera scoring a victory over a federation member, the police believed that he would be the bigger target.
Mike had fought against it as much as he could despite his parents telling him that he had little choice in the manner. He knew they were right from the start, but desperately hoped that there was another course of action that they could take. He was still sure that there was at least one, but at the moment, he could not think of any. Leaving Relena as well as his friends was the most difficult thing he could imagine. Worse, leaving Elyse to basically clean up the mess felt more like cowardice even if the police said it was smarter if the two of them were kept apart. Ultimately though, if his presence was a safety risk for his family, friends, and school, then he accepted that he had to remove himself from the equation. In a week, Mike Snowe would be leaving Saffron City.
A/N: So, this one took a little longer because of the sheer length, but hopefully it was a reasonable amount of time. We're definitely approaching the end, with just TWO more chapters until the next story, so stay tuned.
The P.O.V. characters for this chapter were: Johnny Hawkins, Lyndon Tower, Elyse McKinley, and Mike Snowe
As always, feel free to discuss on the forums or PM me.
Until next time!