Ch 13: Rest Stop

It would be nice to say that staying at the Celmont Motel was a luxurious experience compared to all the shitty days of going without showers and scrounging through Pokemon waste in the Gord. It would be nice to say that, but alas, one day of peace and calm in my shitstorm of a life is apparently too much to ask.

It all began when I, along with 10 - sorry - 9 other passengers were ordered to follow the bus driver like sheep as he barked orders at us to abandon the totaled bus and walk the short distance to the Celmont Motel. Along the way, he informed us that the gracious discount offered to us by Greyhoundoom Bus Services was a mere 20% off the 100 dollar a night stay. While I had enough cash from winning so often to not be bothered by it, all of the other passengers were outraged. Several of them were accusing this whole situation of being some kind of scam in order to get people to pay for a night here, which seemed way too elaborate to me, and the bus driver felt the same way.

The driver eventually buffed the discount up to 50% and claimed he had simply mispoke, but he had fallen out of favor with the riders who all were in varying degrees of upset or traumatized. Almost all of them had at least some blood over their clothes from the Unfezant flock attacking, and many bore fresh, deep scars in their faces. Many of them didn't have enough funds to even pay for half the night, and it was a sad display watching grown adults crying and sobbing while covered in blood because they couldn't afford an unexpected stop at this out-of-the-way motel.

I took it upon myself to pay for everyone's room for just that night. I did it while they were all screaming and demanding the bus driver pay for their room, and when I returned with the good news, the bus riders as well as the driver exploded in hugs and hand shakes and thank yous and well wishes that, to be quite honest, felt really good and made the huge drop in my funds seem worth it for that feeling alone.

It felt like the driver had tried to use everyone's discount as a way to get his room for free, but I had taken care of it and his motives were soon forgotten by the riders. The driver also explained that a second bus would be returning to get us in three nights, which was the next scheduled bus to pass by the area, which sucked. I had the funds for it, but the others did not, and I couldn't afford to pay for everyone's stay another two nights, but I figured I wouldn't stress over that until the time came, as that wasn't really my problem.

While the crowd I came in with were very appreciative of me, the guests staying in the room besides mine could not be more obnoxious.

At first, everything had been very nice. I had arrived in my room and tossed my jacket in a ugly pink chair in the corner that looked like something my grandma would keep in her attic. There was two neatly folded beds with one nightstand in between that had a reading lamp set on top, already turned on. Across the room was a cheap, small television propped on top of a large wood dresser. It wasn't much, but it beat sleeping in the woods.

The news was never high on my watch list, even in the time I've been a trainer, but most of the channels weren't working or were in another language, so I settled for the Ilragorn Daily Channel and let the two newscasters talk while I emptied the contents of my backpack all onto my bed.

Three hundred and seventy two dollars, and six cents. A Pokedex. 3 filled pokeballs, and two empty ones, still waiting to be used. I was just very particular about which Pokemon I caught. Then it dawned on me that I hadn't even tried to catch anything since getting Kabutops, and it's a known fact that to sign up for the Ilragorn League, a trainer is required to have six pokemon represent himself. I really needed to work on adding another member to the team soon. The best ways to strengthen your pokemon are from fighting gym leaders, and I really needed to make sure that every single member of my final team could hold their own if it came down to it. I had learned long ago that to be a trainer, I just had to accept that I would be wearing the same clothes, the same socks, the same pair of underwear for sometimes weeks at a time, and that was ok. All of this struggling was going to payoff in the end when I could finally move back into my room.

"That's right, Jessica, let's hope those baby Mankeys found their way home," the newscaster, a well-dressed man in a dark suit summed up as he transitioned. "On our next story tonight, are these criminal organizations getting out of control? How effective is police control against these criminals and what are they doing about it? To answer those questions we have Police Chief Rex of Wintervale City here. Chief Rex, thank you for joining us, good evening."

"Good evening to you, Jason. And to you as well, Jessica." The camera had panned out to reveal a rugged, weathered looking officer who looked like he could barely protect a daycare, let alone an island. He had a bushy moustache, the beginnings of a beer belly poking over the desk, and a tired look in his eyes.

I fondled the pokeball that contained Drapion, recalling how I had yelled at him at the lake to leave the team, but he had chosen to return to the pokeball despite my yelling. Just a stupid, ugly Pokemon. Don't over think it, Adam. Nothing but a tool to get me back home, and that's it.

"So, Chief Rex," Jason started, his eyes casting downward to his notes. "Your department has come under a lot of heat lately for this unprecedented number of attacks from these illegal trainer organizations, most notably in your district."

"Well, I guess that depends on what you consider a lot of heat," Chief Rex smiled lightly. "I think you're overexaggerating just how upset the people of Wintervale are with me. We've received a handful of complaints, yes, but I don't think that in any way diminishes the hard work my men and our Pokemon give out every day to protect this island. Also, you say organizations? With an S?"

"That's correct, I said illegal trainer-" Jason started, but was cut off.

"Already your information isn't very reliable, because our sources have made it clear that there is only one organization involved in all these seemingly random attacks of violence all over the island. Yes, all over the island these attacks are happening, not just Wintervale, and if I may, I find it insulting that I, along with my entire department, am being used as a scapegoat to take all the blame when I can assure you - I am not the problem here." Chief Rex explained himself rationally and calmly, but the newscasters were hungry to get some type of reaction out of him.

"So you're saying your department is aware of which organization is behind all this," Jessica stated more than asked.

Chief Rex rolled his eyes. "Of course we do. It's Anonymous. All the security footage we manage to get of these guys in action always shows that they wear black. That's the trademark garb of Team Anonymous members, has been since I was just a patrolman in Peltagrow 30 years ago and they're still running around causing problems today."

"So, help me here, Chief," Jason fiddled with his earpiece momentarily, probably being prompted to ask something. "What is it that needs to change in order to take these guys down, in your honest opinion?"

This was a difficult question, and Chief Rex took a few long moments to consider before responding.

"Well, in my honest opinion...more funding! Ilragorn's got a lot of problems, and the number one being we just don't have enough police officers, and especially ones that can also handle Pokemon battling. Legal battling in general is just falling to the wayside here as every year we have less and less gyms to test these young kids to push them into the League. Then the gym leaders have to overcompensate having less gyms by having stronger Pokemon in general and it just discourages new trainers to try and get into battling when for their first official gym battle their starter pokemon are torn apart by fully evolved, well-trained Pokemon. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

We have some great police officers on our force. But not every single of them is a Pokemon trainer. But it's getting harder and harder every year to convince pokemon trainers to go into law enforcement, and to be quite honest, these police officers are police officers. They are not gym leaders, they are not Ava, they are not trainers who go around spending years training their teams and perfecting their movesets. These are regular guys with guns and a couple of Arcanines and Houndooms and Blastoises, and I hate to say it but Team Anonymous has recruited some very powerful Pokemon trainers. Some of them have access to Mega Pokemon, which is especially a rarity on this island, and they can be a force to be reckoned with."

Jason and Jessica closed the segment by thanking Chief Rex for his time before segueing into the story: how a wild Raticate got into a family home and severely injured the young daughter.

It was at this moment things began to get progressively worse: the guests in the room next door must have entered their room at exactly that moment. I heard the loud slam of a door as the guests entered their room, and it sounded like two males. Their voices were hard to decipher through the thin walls of the motel, but it was clear they were arguing about something. One of them was speaking noticeably slower than the other, and I swear I could hear them slurring a few words, as if he had been out drinking.

I tried not to eavesdrop, so I raised the volume on the television to drown them out despite me losing interest in the segments, and then rewarded myself with a hot shower. It felt good to rub the dirt and sweat off from the previous few nights, and I was able to briefly escape the pair next door's loud fighting in the confines of the shower curtain.

Once back out into my hotel room, after taking a lengthy shower and putting on my ratty jeans and beat up old white t-shirt which felt ironic for some reason, the fighting between the two guys had escalated moreso. A few words were coming through even though I was actively trying not to listen, and some of the words sounded like "cheater", "lucky", "no skill", and "rematch". Mostly the words the slurring guy kept repeating for emphasis.

After what must have been at least two hours, right around the time I would start getting ready for bed because it was nighttime now, I returned to my room. I had thought it would be a smart idea to go into Celmont Town at the very least so that I could buy some new clothes and discard my old ones. These were the unspoken lifestyle purchases that all pokemon trainers had to go through; buying a fresh pair of underwear and socks at every town you stop in. I had found a small mom and pop clothing store where the owners bragged that the fabric was stitched by an experienced Ariados that the family has owned for years. The material all felt rich and comfortable and it took another 80 dollars off of me, but it was worth it.

When I returned from my shopping spree, the arguing had somehow reached its peak. The giveaway was that instead of just hearing shouting, there were now noticeable loud thuds, as if one of them was being tossed around the room like a ragdoll, and the unmistakable noise of glass shattering, which I would hazard a guess was their television being knocked off its dresser.

"Dude, you're drunk, you can't even battle! We're in a motel room! Stop!"

THUD

"I'mma keel youu, youuu bastert!" This was the slurring one, who still somehow had not sobered up after all this time.

It was with yet another distinct sound of more glass shattering that I assumed to be one of the windows in their room, my patience with them had finally ceased.

"Would you guys shut the fuck up!?" I hollered as the two of them were shouting more nonsense at each other. The moment I spoke up, complete silence. It was almost a little off-putting, how quickly it shifted from annoyance to the noise to being slightly worried over the abrupt quiet.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, talking to us like that!?" The sober one called from behind the wall.

And with that burst of frustration at them, my day got even more frustrating as a wild-eyed Pangoro proceeded to punch a hole from the motel room next door, his black panda fists easily piercing the thin plaster separating our rooms and then shove his big bear body through that hole, tearing through the open wall and creating quite the entrance as the hideous wallpaper and broken plaster tumbled to the carpet floor. The Pangoro was now standing upright in my room, giving me the stink-eye, and with a now gaping hole leading from my room to the two guys, who both appeared to be right around my age.

"You want trouble, bro?" The sober one asked me, stepping into my room as well, joining the bear. He was wearing a baseball cap backwards and had an air of grime to him, like he had gotten his hands dirty more than once in his life.

"I'm trying to sleep and you guys have been at it for 3 hours. Do you want trouble, bro?" I returned at him, not backing down, but taking several steps toward him, my hand in my pockets, both of them wrapped around different pokeballs. One was Kabutops, the other was Drapion. I wasn't concerned by this kid.

The drunk one then stumbled into my room as well, even though the room already felt crowded with just me in it. He looked similar to the boy in the cap, just smaller. A younger brother or cousin, maybe. "Ey, Jacob? Dis guy wan' twubble?" He was hunched forward, hands on his knees and looking close to vomiting his brains out. He was no threat.

The boy in the cap apparently named Jacob surveyed me with a sharp eye, looking me up and down. It felt like he was analyzing my calm reaction to his dramatic entrance and assessed that I just might be able to back up my word if it came down to it.

"You're a trainer," Jacob's mood had completely changed. He was smiling a little, and seemed overjoyed now instead of trying to intimidate me.

"Yeah."

"That's awesome," replied Jacob. "I never get to face new trainers."

"Chu get ta faee meeee!" the drunk one interrupted.

"Shut up, Mikey," Jacob rolled his eyes. "He just takes my Pokemon and pretends they're his."

"That's interesting," I said in a droll voice, my eyes darting to the big hole in the wall and wondering who was going to pay for that.

"You got any badges?" Jacob wondered, his eyes surveying my backpack since my shirt had no lapel. Standard procedure for badge placement on all trainers is either on the jacket lapel, or on the backpack/purse strap. My normal badge was visible, reflecting the light from the ceiling, as if it was answering Jacob itself. "You do. You must have some solid Pokemon."

"They don't lose much," I answer, still keeping my guard up against these two kids and their Pangoro that still did not turn its angry gaze away from me.

"How about a 3v3? Let's bet 100 bucks. I could use a bonus this week." Jacob said.

Even though Jacob and Mikey were annoying little pieces of shit, this would probably be some easy money and a good excuse to train up my team. I didn't imagine Jacob was very experienced, as he seemed too impressed by just 1 badge.

"Alright," I answered. "I'll meet you out in the parking lot in 10 minutes."