CHAPTER 7

The Caper City nurse applied the last bandage to my hand. I tapped my bandaged fingers against one another. None of my joints hurt, but I felt more like I was holding a Styrofoam ball rather than clasping my fingers together. Fortunately, the metaphorical ball didn't have imaginary spikes. Nothing hurt, externally. "Thank you for the bandaging, Nurse Gina," I told her.

"Again, it's Joanna, and nothin' to it." She adjusted the nursing cap on top of her bowl-cut hair. "Does anything still hurt? I believe I bandaged everything." Nurse Joanna stepped away and beckoned from me to her left. "Let me know if anything hurts right away."

I stood up and took a few steps. "Ooh." I finally gave in and clutched my back.

"Ah!" Nurse Joanna ran towards me with shaking arms. "Is your back still not okay? I thought we treated that!"

I stopped her with a waving arm and semi-confident smile. "No, it's nothing major. I'll get over it soon."

"Don't strain yourself." Having grabbed reading glasses from a nearby bureau, Nurse Joanna put them on and perused a binder with lots of translucent pages. "So, about when you came in before-"

"I'm sorry." I bowed towards her. "Rgh," I reacted. The pain in my back convinced me to straighten it. To substitute, I only lowered my head. "You were giving me advice, and I left with such rude words."

"Sigh." Nurse Joanna peered out from her medical binder. "No, I'm the one who should apologize. A scared child came to me for help and I gave her a 'kay thanks bye' treatment, rather than helping to coax her fear." She signed. "Jokes or not, I went over the line. Doesn't matter whether or when I knew about your circumstances. I don't know the north nor your parents."

I walked backwards and intentionally fell butt-first onto the makeshift bed Nurse Joanna had been treating me on. "Whatever," I responded with a hung head. "I just want to go home and forget this horrible day."

"Actually, on the subject…" Nurse Joanna closed the binder and held it between her right arm and right side. "I can't legally discharge a minor unless they're with a parent or legal guardian."

"What?" My jaw lowered. "But my-"

"Past the tunnel," she interrupted. "I know. You told me during your treatment. But there's no exceptions. We can't dismiss children on their own."

"Go figure," I replied. "So, what can I do? Stay here forever? Or should I have not come here in the first place? Shouldn't a hospital help an injured child?" The thick brown bandages on my right palm contacted the bright-blue Band-Aids on my fingers as I tried to clench my fist. "I won't regret these injuries."

"Don't fret about it," Joanna reassured me. "We're only waiting for your guardian to arrive. He'll say more positive words than I could, and with more meaning than I could convey."

"My guardian?" I echoed. I glanced left. "Did you find a way to contact Mom? Or even Dad? But I thought this place only had a ninja-exclusive phone!"

"It's pronounced Naljo. But more importantly, it's his guardian." She removed a pen from the binder's interior and pointed at the cabinet where she retrieved her glasses. On top of it was my broken backpack, and above that was a pokeball. I grabbed it and looked underneath. Sure enough, Sir Tyrant's stats appeared. "I just needed to take the pokeball so I could heal the guy," Joanna continued. "Had some pretty bad burns and seriously low health points. That fight you two got involved in must have been something fierce."

"Mm-hm," I nodded after putting Sir Tyrant into my backpack. I stared at the broken straps. Even if my back was in peak condition, this broken piece of leather won't function as a backpack again. "Wait, I thought I was Sir Tyrant's guardian. Isn't he my pokemon?" I cringed internally. What right do I have to claim ownership of something I never should've owned, allowed to get hurt, and almost gave away?

Joanna shook her head. "Not officially. That Larvitar's official property of Professor Ilk. He just lent it to you."

"Brrrr!" rang something in Joanna's direction. She reached into the pocket of her scrubs and pulled out a phone. "Hello?" she responded. "Ah. I see. I'll let her know right away. Thank you!" She hung up, placed the phone back into her pocket, and turned to face me with a much kinder smile. "Professor Ilk just arrived."

"He did?" I jumped out of the makeshift bed. My excitement overrode the light pain in my back when my feet hit the ground. "All right! Oh, but only Sir Tyrant can leave, right?"

"I was getting to that, if you wouldn't interrupt me," Joanna growled. My eyes widened as I stepped back, unknowingly raising my arms. Nurse Joanna noticed my concern and blinked off her angst. "Sorry, again. Constant nursing wears out my social skills. No, Joanna, stop excusing your shortcomings to children." She grasped her head in her left palm, shook it a little, then faced me again. "Point is, he counts as your guardian since you're an acquaintance of his pet. It's a bit of an oversimplification, but the real explanation's super technical. Either way, ready to see Professor Ilk again?"

"You bet!" I stashed Tyrant's pokeball into my pocket. Despite my tone, I walked briskly to the door, porting the 'backpack' on its only functioning strap. While Joanna grasped my back with her free arm, the lack of anything heavy in my broken container made Joanna's support unnecessary. "Thinking about it," I brought up, "why were you talking like I didn't have a way home before? Why even bring up the idea if it doesn't apply to me?"

"Oh." She stopped suddenly, grabbing my arm. Her expression looked stern. "You probably won't be bailed out next time."

"Huh?"

Her gaze stayed on mine. "You still being in Naljo means the call you wanted to make to your mother didn't go through, right? I doubt Professor Ilk can support a kid and simultaneously make a profit, especially with his unpopular field of research. Unlike him, most people you'll run into probably won't give charity to foreigners, even kids your age."

"Wait." I held up one finger with my arm not supporting a backpack. "Are you telling me I'll have to fend for myself? What about a home? Food? Professor Ilk wouldn't just abandon me!"

She shook her head. "Without a parent, the odds point to you fending for yourself, at least for a little while. I hope your mother picks you up soon, before Professor Ilk runs out of food. Poor guy works all hours of the night on archaic historical research and makes peanuts."

"Oh." I held my left hand to my throat. "Ugh."

Joanna moved her hand from my side to my long unkempt hair. "I'm not saying this to blame you," Joanna reassured me. "I just want you to be aware. Being an adult, or just independent, means preparing yourself for tough unavoidable choices."

"Choices," I repeated. "Unavoidable choices."

"Heh." Joanna continued to make the hair between my pigtails all frizzy. "Don't worry. I wouldn't be telling you any of this if I didn't think you could handle it."

"Thanks," I muttered.

Our walk contained thirty seconds of silence until she opened the door and I gazed into the Pokemon Center's waiting room. Sitting down on the cushions near the Center's entrance, to my delight, was Professor Ilk. I limped towards him as Joanna returned to her station. To my right was a line of trainers, all showing signs of impatience for their pokemon's restoration. Ilk and I beamed upon recognizing one another. "Thank god you're alright!" he exclaimed. "Oh." His expression worsened when he saw the multitude of bandages on my arms.

"Thank god you're here!" I exclaimed. His body relaxed as I hugged him, unintentionally crinkling his scientist's coat "I thought I'd never see you again! I'm sorry I didn't call you."

"I'm sorry I sent you." He went back to smiling, though face also expressed telltale signs on worry. "I really thought Darren was just ignoring his phone. I should've had you stay with me." He sighed while rustling his hand through his own disheveled hair. "If I'd just started the research a few minutes earlier, I could've stopped you."

"What do you mean?" I separated myself from Ilk.

"Darren's name was on one of the-" After interrupting himself, he glanced around the room. "Would you be alright continuing this conversation at my lab?"

"Just one sec." I walked around the line of trainers until I reached the counter. My head barely exceeded the counter separating the customers from the healing the machine. I knocked on the counter, and immediately recalled my ailing arm. Joanna glanced at me, then continued operating the machine for the trainers. "Nurse Joanna? Heeeeyyy!"

"Sorry, Brenda. Can't talk now. You're no longer my patient. Gotta wait on a lot of customers. Thank, sir." The healing machine dinged. Joanna unattached four pokeballs from the top and handed them to the brat wearing a protruding straw hat and holding a net taller than him. Looking at him, his height advantage over me likely came from that hat. "Your pokemon are fully healed," Joanna said while bowing and clasping her hands. "We hope to see you again. Next in line?"

The next person, a tall handsome boy with red long-sleeved clothing and slick hair, handed six pokeballs over. Nurse Joanna grabbed them, not giving me a second glance. A poster behind her stood out, in how the pictured nurse was drawn as an evil-looking zombie. 'Treat all patients with care', it read below her. The next line was 'Reduce outbreak'. My understanding of Naljo treatment facilities ran further away. Yet it didn't detract from my initial goal.

"I just wanted to say bye is all," I said. "And that you're an awesome nurse. I hope…no, I really hope to see you again."

Joanna placed the pokeballs into their individual slots on the machine. Soon after, she made a quick turn, gave me a smile and wave, then returned to her job.

I walked back to Ilk with uneven steps. "I'm ready now," I told him gleefully.

He held the door open, then gestured out the door. "After you, milady."

The two of us walked on the snowy path to his office. "Can I ask you something?" I brought up.

"You can ask, but I might not be able to answer properly," he replied. "Not without a doctorate in teacher." half-jokingly. I grunted along his sudden laughter.

"Why are pokemon and people treated in the same location?" I gestured between my hand and my pocket, where Sir Tyrant rested inside his pokeball. "Aren't there differences between treating people and creatures that can create rock slides and fire from thin air?"

"You really don't know much about Naljo," he replied. "You may need a tour to familiarize yourself." My body froze for a second as I recalled Joanna's warning. Regardless, I kept walking while Ilk spoke. "Pokemon do most of the work people used to do, even construction. Facilities were crafted to better serve pokemon than people, as they expose themselves to danger and disease more often. Humans are a secondary concern. Doesn't mean no treatment, just less."

"But isn't that dangerous?" I asked. "There's tons of ways people can get injured! What if a group of people suffer from a serious disease? Will they fit?"

"The centers exist to help those people," Ilk replied. "Pokemon are admitted more often than people, so their areas get more funding. Statistics collected by Gym Leaders all over Naljo back it up. Large-scale infections are once in a century events, at best, and the last one wasn't even in Naljo."

"I see." I didn't see, but this discussion wouldn't change regulations. The idea of exercise professionals leading health care reform made some sense, on the surface. Please don't suffer any serious injuries in this crazy region, I begged myself. "Speaking of tasks, how do people get pokemon to do all these tasks, like fighting and healing? Wouldn't some of them refuse to work?"

"Pokeballs, obviously." He pointed at my backpack. "If you capture a pokemon, the pokeball becomes its home. As you've experienced, the person holding it can control how long the pokemon is in and out of containment."

"So just anyone can get pokeballs?" I asked. "I thought they were exclusive items. Only famous trainers in tournaments got them, for competitive sport."

"They aren't exclusive." He pointed past his lab. "There's a store past my lab on the right where you can buy as many as you want. It also sells other supplies, like items used to restore health or cure poison."

"We can what?" I exclaimed. "Can anyone capture pokemon with just some money?"

"Do they not sell pokeballs where you live?" Ilk asked.

"Of course not! Any pokemon-infested area is fenced out, and opening the fence requires a permit! If I had these pokespheres, asking Mom for independence would've been way easier!"

"Huh," he replied as we stopped in front of his lab. "Your hometown sounds behind the times. That's compared to Naljo, who's usually two steps behind the world in regards to technology."

"You're telling me." I smirked.

"A slow printer works just as well as a fast one and costs less! Ah." Covering his mouth with two fingers, Ilk reached his other hand into his lab coat pocket and pulled out a set of keys. Seeing him switch from defensive to professional surprised me. Becoming an adult gives you the power to change your emotions at a heartbeat, apparently. He put his hand on the door handle. Rather than inserting a key into the obvious slot, he instead pushed the handle down until it rotated 90 degrees.

"Is it a trick lock?" I asked.

"The door's unlocked," Ilk said. "Don't worry, it's not a thief. I only gave my key to only one other person." He opened the door. "I'll go see what our visitor wants. You can hang out by the bookshelves." We headed inside. "Please don't interrupt us. This figure doesn't show up for trivial matters."

Ilk dropped the keys into his pocket and ran towards his room. I watched him for a few seconds before sitting down, as he suggested. I glanced at the bookshelf. None of the titles seemed like books I'd read, but one title caught my attention. "Varaneous: The Walking Firestorm," I read aloud. Ilk and his brother, Darren, mentioned that pokemon at one point. Never caught what it was. Didn't see it in the stack of paper Ilk printed. I checked inside my backpack to find only illegible scraps. I tossed them into a nearby trash can.

When I walked back, I reached for the cover of this book. Learning more about mythology might help me understand Naljo better. Wait, what if Mom called when Ilk left to pick me up? I need to check the answering machine!

I briskly walked, as running or power-walking wasn't an option in my current state, toward where I heard Ilk and some guy talking. "You mean the video was linked to the message?" Ilk asked.

"Apparently," responded a tall bald man in a black suit with lots of buttons. "The sender seemed pretty excited about whatever's on it. He even wrote 'watch it' in big special font letters in the P.S. area. If we're lucky, analyzing the footage will give us a clue as to where the patrollers' base of operations is."

"That would help immensely." Ilk pointed to his computer. "The flashdrive Brenda brought contained several possible locations. Unfortunately, they're all public facilities. Even if your attack's a success and we lock them up, your actions would sink the police's reputation even further. We'll need concrete evidence for a successful ambush and a supportive public response."

"Mind if I load the video up?" The bald man sat down in front of Ilk's computer. "I checked the file using the mainframe of our office in Phalecia Town. There's no viruses, but also no reliable ISBN. They used a public computer in Laurel City with a temporary account. We couldn't track their location"

"Load the video, Chief Rodriguez." Ilk booted up his computer. "Crafty patrollers. Let's at least hope that this video gives us a definite clue to the group's directive."

Rodriguez pointed to me, and I froze. "Is that Brenda? The one who gave you the flashdrive?"

"Oh?" He turned his head to me and sighed. "Yes, that's her. Do you need something, Brenda?"

"No, I…" I scratched my neck. Guess this really was grown-up talk I shouldn't have gotten involved with. "I just wanted to check the voicemail."

"There was only one message, and it was Chief Rodriguez, telling me he'd be here. I only missed it because I was picking you up." Ilk stood up and gestured to the computer. "All yours, by the way, chief. Brenda, please wait in the other room. We have very serious business here."

"Let her stay, Ilk." The man headed towards his briefcase, pulled out a police cap, and put on his head. "You're the girl from the non-wildlife preserve, right? I'm the cop you encountered. Great to see you made it out safely."

"Safely." Simultaneously confused and reassured, I slowly walked towards this Rodriguez person while tapping my fingers against one another.

"You're right. Safe is subjective. I'm sorry for the scary situation you had to go through." Chief Rodriguez sighed through his teeth. "The Rock Slide attack was a gamble. Without it, he would've captured both of us, or worse if their MO does turn out to be total malarky. This isn't an excuse for myself, but his pokemon were much stronger than mine. I wouldn't have been able to fend him off much longer."

His Lairon really did cause the cascading rocks, I realized. "So, you're a policeman, and a chief? How? Aren't those separate positions?"

Chief Rod-something assumed a fighting stance with fists parallel to his face. "I don't see higher positions as an excuse to avoid danger." He shadow-boxed the air. "Doing both roles, I can control the justice I administer and see its effects first-hand. Chief Arthur Rodriguez, by the way." He bowed while holding the hat, then put it back into his briefcase. "Plus, it's nice conversing with policemen not in my department. Arceus knows I crave casual conversation when I'm away from the other stiffs only concerned about finances." Many preferred to call the pokemon god by name. I wasn't among them. Arceus didn't have any stories I cared much for.

My religious beliefs aside, I found myself taken aback by his strong yet estranged sense of responsibility. What a freeform, and possibly irresponsible, chief, I almost said aloud. "Thanks for saving me back there."

"Think nothing of it. I'm just sorry I didn't bring my full team when I first saw him. Never expected I'd find the leader travel on such a vulnerable route." He walked to Ilk. "I'm going to play the video. Mind getting up?"

Ilk stood up and gestured to the seat. "All yours. I'll find another seat"

"Do you want me to leave?" I asked.

"No, no," Mr. Rodriguez said as his head faced me. "You were attacked as well. It's important you stay informed. I won't force you to stay, though."

"I do want to stay." I walked forward and tossed my backpack onto the floor. I sat on it cross-legged. "Let me know when it's ready."

"I'll make us some tea while the video buffers." Ilk headed over to the room he got the drinks from earlier today. "We'll likely need our wits for whatever's about to play." He closed the door and gathered drinks for us, presumably.