" That's it!" Phillip nearly screamed as he finally removed the branches from his jeans. " I'm not flying from here on out."
"Trust me; it gets far easier from here on," Gabriel announced.
That's not the point. Phillip thought with a huff. How many trees and bushes did I crash into? 20?
" Don't exaggerate. You only hit 13."
Point taken. I'm not flying again, at least not here.
For the last week, Phillip was practicing flying. Unfortunately, this led to more than enough crashes into natural obstacles. Today had an exceptionally low rate of crashes, but still was enough to push him over the edge.
" You said that the last few days," Gabriel said through a sigh. " You're just going start doing it again in one hour's time."
Screw you and the horse you rode in on. Phillip cut the connection at this and walked down the barren road of dirt in front of him.
He stopped midway when he came across a large rock at the side of the road. There was a Charmander laying down at the top of it, looking lonely. However, it also looked determined and hopeful all at the same time.
Phillip kept his eyes on the Charmander as he whispered to himself. " I could leave it here and let Ash get it, or I could take it against it's will and heal it up." While musing over these options, Phillip felt three presences appear not too far behind him.
I guess that settles it. Phillip then walked farther down the path to a wooden made Pokemon Center.
Phillip laid down the Poke Balls onto the tray the nurse gave him. " Thank you."
Nurse Joy closed her eyes and smiled at him, saying, " You're welcome." She opened her eyes and took the tray into the back to help the Pokemon relieve any stress brought upon by the journey.
Phillip turned away from the counter to look outside. It was now raining and any trainer within a few yards radius was rushing in for the night.
This included Ash and his friends, which left Phillip slightly uneasy. It came back to his mind why Team Rocket was appearing everywhere Ash went, the little stalkers. This meant Team Rocket was close by the door step and if he had one more run in with those oafs, he swore to God that he was going to-
" Not to interrupt your train of malicious thought," Gabriel said, cutting off any visual of the gory scene that was about to play out, " but I think that you may want to go back to the Charmander after this."
Phillip turned his eyes at Ash and company to find that the Charmander he left on the rock so that the group in front of him would take it instead, was nowhere to be found.
Whelp, time to get wet for something. Phillip groaned before shrugging. At least it's for something. Phillip took five steps from the counter before poked on the shoulder.
Nurse Joy had just came out with a large tray of soup for everyone who had to stop their travels because of the rain. The sight was rather appetizing for him, seeing as he can't cook without proper utensils and couldn't hunt worth anything. However, Phillip steeled his resolve and tried walking past Joy.
" Where are you going?" Joy asked him.
Phillip walked towards the door as he responded. " There's something I need to do." She reacted by stepping in front of him.
" Not until you have eaten."
" You know, she does have a point. No one is helpful when they're at their weakest." Gabriel told him.
Phillip groaned mentally. That Charmander is about to die out there unless I so something. So both of you can take your opinions and shove straight up your-
Nurse Joy must have seen he was in deep thought, and did her best effort to bring him back to earth: she took her tray of soup and waved it right under his nose. His nose took the scent and gobbled it up. The scent was sweet and that grabbed at Phillip's attention immediately. Phillip was concentrating to pull down the urges when it happened. He was pulled into his mind-scape within a second, surrounded by the two massive dragons of Lightning and Black.
Phillip swirled around to try and find Gabriel, but couldn't. " Where's Gab?"
Black gave him the best answer possible. " Guess."
"... GABRIEL!"
_Time Change_
Phillip scraped at the flooring of the space. Time may shift to be faster or slower in the mind, given the desires of the body, but it still felt like an eternity before anything interesting happened.
Gabriel appeared from the foggy smoke on the left side of the room, patting his stomach. " It's interesting tasting food from another taste buds." He was pushed out of the way by a twitchy Phillip, who then returned to the body that was rightfully his.
Gabriel turned to the other guests in the room. " What?"
_Mind-Scape: Exit_
Phillip breathed deeply as his mind regained control. One of these days I'm going to find a way to keep you all in there so I can live my life.
" You may have not felt the effects, or you were just ignoring it, but you were extremely close to fainting from lack of food."
I only missed 10 days of food. A human can go a month without it. Melanie, while grand at making food with Pokemon, was accustomed to the Pokemon returning the favor, but only bringing her enough food for one. Brock had brought an offer to feed them all, but Phillip was too stubborn to take an offer when others would need it more.
People would say, " never look a gift horse in the mouth." Phillip would reply with, " Trojan Horse."
" Yes: NORMAL people last that long. You, on the other hand, are not normal in any sense of the word. You have the metabolism of a hundred men, meaning you're not going as far as the others."
Phillip just looked down at his half-empty bowl of soup, showing at Gabriel is completely merciless, and had his head crash against the table next to it as his stomach growled.
Gabriel had picked a table in the far back, isolating him from others, but not enough to avoid hearing the conversations they were having. Picking up the spoon and his head back on his shoulders, he began eating away as the others spoke to each other's content.
Phillip heard Brock wondering whether or not someone had picked the Charmander. Ash believed the Charmander wouldn't stay out for the rain, and Brock agreed, saying that the trainer would have picked it up by now.
Speaking of which...
If he doesn't stop talking, I swear I'm going to go over there and kick him into the rain!
" Happy thoughts, Phillip. Happy thoughts."
However, nothing was working. A man with blue hair was jabbering on how "cool" his collection is. He, himself, looked "cool" himself, if you want to put it that way. He wore a red neckerchief, pink button up, and a brown vest. Along with all this was black pants and a belt with a holster on the side.
How did Phillip know this when he was on the other side of the room and the man was sitting on a sofa? Phillip had recently developed X-Ray vision. And the smug bastard across the room was wearing brown boots, in case someone was wondering.
The man was finally getting out off the topic of his collection and now began talking about a Charmander he found weak to his friends. Phillip's fingers increased the pressure on the spoon he was holding as the man told about how he left the Charmander in the woods on top of a rock. He promised the Charmander he would return for it but, if the man begin here was any indication, he never kept that promise.
Phillip spun around, spoon still in hand, and aimed the weapon at the window right across from the man. At the same time, Brock stood up and began walking to the poor bastard.
Within the second of Brock being five steps away, Phillip flung spoon at the window. No one noticed anything until the window shattered within milliseconds of the toss. Everyone's attention removed themselves from their conversation partner(s) and panicked from a bit more than a second.
That was all Phillip needed.
As the window broke, Phillip charged the man, rendering him unconscious with one punch. He was back in his seat before the panic started and smiled at the flabbergasted looks the friends had.
" Everyone, calm down!" Nurse Joy's voice echoed through the hospital. Everyone did so, as an unhappy Nurse Joy could lead to some... unwanted difficulties with the healing process. The echo, however, brought more chaos as it woke the man from the unexpected nap.
" Oi! Who the hell had the guts to hit me?!" the man all but yelled.
" Please, sir." Nurse Joy said, calmly. " Nobody here saw anything. If you would please sit down and calm down, we'll figure out what happened."
The man did anything but that. " Do you mean to tell me you run this joint, but you don't what goes on here?! Bloody help you are!"
" I'MMA PLANT ME A DUMBASS TREE!"
" What the-" The man only had a second to turn around and get punched in the stomach. Phillip carried the man through the front door and smashed him against the cliff just outside of it. Turning to face the side of the route leading to Vermillion City, Phillip brought his fist down into the road, sending the man into the Earth's crust. Only a small crater was formed, but it still helped Phillip lose the overwhelming anger he had before.
" That was completely unnecessary!" Phillip turned to see Nurse Joy running up to him with a fierce look about her. " It was under control."
" He insulted you, one way or another. I will not let that pass." Phillip stated, calmly.
Nurse Joy didn't calmed down at this. "If you think this was a good choice in actions, then you'll pay the consequences!"
Phillip shrugged. " Fair enough." Nurse Joy promptly walked into the Pokemon Center for something, leaving the two in the rain. Phillip looked down at the victim and grabbed the man's fallen goggles, something he missed in the description before. It's lens were tinted black and had a silver frame. Phillip tossed them onto the man's stomach, causing him to whimper in pain.
Nurse Joy came back with a receipt for the broken window, road, body, and the man's cost of rest and food. Phillip just grabbed his wallet and walked inside. Once at the counter, Phillip dumped the contents of the wallet onto it. Everyone gaped as the counter was now covered in PokeDollars.
Phillip walked past the group and told Joy, " Keep the change." Phillip then dragged the man to his friends, who were calling him Damian and how he could have beat Phillip if it wasn't a surprise attack.
Phillip tested their theory with a twitch. They flinched, causing Phillip to smirk.
After all was said and done, Phillip aligned himself with the path. He was about to race back to Charmander and bring it here to heal. Ash and friends wanted to come, but Phillip told them that he would leave them in the dust the first second and be back before they started. They protested, but Phillip got what he wanted after three chops to neck. He left them in the care of Joy, who was against the act but allowed him leave. She gave him a rain coat, despite him having a jacket of his own, saying that the raincoat was better than the jacket. Either way, the jacket was blue, so he didn't complain much.
The instant he took off, he was there. Once there, however, he found the Charmander being pelted with attacks from the sharp beaks and claws of three Spearows. Phillip sent out Pidgeotto, who sent the Pokemon flying with a small Gust.
Phillip pulled off his coat quickly and draped it around Charmander. Phillip then stuffed the tail close to the body and picked up Charmander before waiting to take off. He was sure he had the coat secured corrected so no air would hit the flame, but was distant enough that the coat didn't catch fire.
A lightning bolt lite up the sky and, as it settled, Phillip walked into the Pokemon Center, casting the coat aside. He handed Charmander to Nurse Joy, who carried it to Emergency Care, and he went over to place the coat on the rack as needed. Phillip wasn't as worried as the others about Charmander's condition, something that caught him by surprise. He was always a caring person, especially to animals, even though he has a weird way of showing it.
With Charmander being nursed to a healthy status, there wasn't much to do. So, after some words with the group about his actions, Phillip went off to bed. He laid down on circle couch in the middle of the lobby and closed his eyes. Luckily, sleep came far easier than the other nights.
_Mind-scape_
Phillip groaned as he looked around him. " I sleep in my body, I'm awake in my mind. Why can't I be sleeping in both?" Then he began to hear things.
" The numbness is coming back."
" Really? I had it under control for a good couple decades now. Why must it return?"
" No one can have complete control in that amount of time. Everything leaks out eventually."
" Not when I'm around, it doesn't. Now help me fix this leak."
Phillip groaned once more. Gabriel and Black were talking about something, but Phillip really wasn't interested in finding out what exactly.
Lightning spoke next. " I'd hate in interrupt, but when the body sleeps, the mind is awake."
" Get him out of here, then."
Phillip felt himself being pushed out of the darkness.
_Mind-Scape: Exit_
" Wake up, everybody!"
A resounding thud forced Phillip to open his eyes. He turned to find out that Misty and Ash slept on the other side of the couch, both only recently woken up by the call. Phillip also figured out that Ash was the reason he was up, seeing Ash, head first, on the floor. Ash and Misty looked up to Brock, who had made the call and is now panting, and asked what was wrong. He gave them shocking news.
" It's Charmander! Charmander has disappeared from the ER!"
They all scampered to the ER, including Phillip, to see a window wide open and Nurse Joy staring at them with worry. Brock was all for going after it again, but Misty brought sound logic to play, basically saying the stubborn Pokemon was too loyal to it's previous owner. Nurse Joy agreed with this.
Phillip sighed. " Well, I guess the best thing to do is just finish the path. No use trying anything else to Charmander."
" But-"
Phillip turned to Brock. " I know you want to help the guy-to get it to see a better path. But stubbornness is stubbornness, and the Pokemon has it in spades. All we can do now is wait until it realizes that path." Brock was silent for a second before nodding.
After a couple minutes of packing, everyone was ready to leave the center. In reality, they were already packed up. All they had to do was gather everything up. The only reason it took a couple minutes was because Brock wanted to do a ration check.
Once on the road, however, Brock fell back into the slumps. " I thought Charmander Understood we cared about it." Ash told him that while Charmander knew about the care they gave it, Charmander was still loyal to Damian. Misty then patted him on the back and told him Route 24 was close and more Pokemon would be there.
Phillip, next to Ash by this pointed, turned to Ash and said, " You know I'm going to leave you guys again, right?"
" How come?!"
" No reason whatsoever." From there on, the group walked in silence.
After a few minutes of the silent walking, Ash stopped immediately. " You feel something?"
Brock stopped right beside him. " I did."
Phillip felt the tremble a few second later. He didn't like the feeling he was getting, but it didn't last long.
As soon as Misty stepped into the same area as the boys were, the ground beneath them gave way. Phillip, being the most agile of the group, leaped out of harm's way as soon as he saw the ground shift a centimeter. The others landed at the bottom of a hole deep enough to keep the group from reaching it individually. This left two beings out of the confinements: Phillip and Pikachu, who was leading them.
However that changes when Phillip turned to see two people and one Pokemon clothed in hazard suits that blocked everything off except for the upper head and black gloves, all appearing to be made of rubber.
The Pokemon spoke first. " I can't believe they fell for it!" Phillip remembered that voice and groaned.
" You know, I was hoping I wouldn't have to meet you guys again."
Jessie, hidden behind the red-tinted lens, laughed. " You'll never see the end of us. Unless, of course, you hand over the Pikachu."
Phillip shrugged. " Not my call. Besides that, you have no respect from me, so I'll never comply with your demands."
" Enough talk!" Meowth squealed. " Just nab that Pikachu!" James complied by pulling out a bazooka and pointing it at Pikachu.
Phillip moved the quickest. Summoning his own Pikachu, he told it to use dig to grab the others out. The next second was used to bring out Charmeleon.
James pulled the trigger and a large red balloon came out of the end. It then floated over to Pikachu at slow speeds, but faster than anyone else would have excepted. Charmeleon just turned it into a puddle with an Ember.
Phillip smirked from the astounded looks from Team Rocket. " Rubber can't conduct electricity, but it can still melt."
" Charmander!"
Phillip looked over to see, low and behold, Charmander. It seemed slightly agitated and ready to fight.
Phillip grinned at it and pointed over to Team Rocket. Charmander shot one Flamethrower at them and they ran for the hills with melted suits stuck to them.
All of them turned around to find Ash, Misty, and Brock finally out of the hole, thanks to Phillip's Pikachu. Brock thanked Charmander for the help, and Ash asked it if it would like to come with them on their trip, seeing as Damian had already left.
However, speak of the devil and he shall appear. " Hey, Charmander. Been lookin' all over for ya."
Phillip pointed over to Damian. " Idiot's back!"
" What chu just call me?!" Damian all but yelled.
Brock gave Damian the " evil glare". " What do you want, Damian?" There was venom at the name of the man.
Damian collected himself and smirked. " I came back for Charmander, just like I promised." All but Phillip gasped. Damian kept his smug grin as he said, " So, let's go."
Charmander looked at all sides before opting to look down. Brock tried stopping it by telling it that Damian abandoned it before, and could do the same again. Damian told them he was the one who caught it, but Ash reminded him that he bragged about abandoning it. Damian just showed his happiness of the decision, telling how Charmander was toughened up by it.
" Besides, what's wrong with dumping off a weak Pokemon?" Damian asked. Phillip walked forward 5 paces and Damian step back the same amount.
Despite this, Damian kept ranting. " I wasn't gonna come back for it. But now that I've seen what it can do, I'm real glad I ran into you guys. Best thing is, I didn't have to raise it meself." Everyone gave him a verbal flick off, leaving Phillip to do it nonverbally. Damian, having enough of all of this, threw out Charmander's Poke Ball for it's return.
With flick of his wrist, Phillip swung his blade to cut the Pokeball in half. More "swish"s of the sword caused the Poke Ball's to be turned into shreds that scattered with the wind.
Phillip pointed the curved tip of the sword at Damian. " Want to try that again?"
Damian threw his first tantrum. " I'm going to crush you every Pokemon I've got!" Unfortunately for him, Charmander breathed a Flamethrower at him, turning him crispy. Pikachu joined the fun and shocked him.
By the time the attacks were done, he was golden brown. Damian ran away crying for his mother.
Once all was said and done, a praise given here and there, Brock had allowed Ash to have Charmander, even though he was the one that saved it. Brock countered by telling Ash that he was the one who kept the fire lit. Charmander was caught and the four left without notice of Phillip's disappearance.
He was too far after the Charmander's capture that there was no way to catch up.
That's a wrap!
Leave constructive criticism as it will be greatly appreciated.
Let the rants begin!
… I'm sorry I haven't been able to keep everything going on one day, but it's keeping things you want to do and need to do in order.
