Aftermath

Jet woke up to his heart beating extra fast. For the second time in his life, he had woken up in a hospital and had no idea how he got there. The last thing he could really remember was drowning, but couldn't remember for the life of him why he was drowning.

He looked around the room and saw no one. He tried to sit up but couldn't muster the energy. Deciding it best to wait for his friends to come get him, he closed his eyes to go back to sleep. Then, suddenly, he remembered he had been in a party for the SS Anne. He opened his eyes in panic as he wondered just why had he been drowning; had he been thrown overboard?

A doctor came in the room and smiled down at him, "Ah, you're awake! Excellent!"

Jet tried to speak but his words came out soft and slow, "Where.. am.. I? How did I get... here?"

A nurse walked in the room as well. The doctor asked, "You don't remember? Not that surprising, I suppose. It must have been very traumatic for you."

"What?" Jet asked.

A Hispanic looking man with a suit and a trench coat stormed in and told the doctor in a loud voice, "I'm not waiting anymore! He's awake, and I need to question him now!"

Jet was really confused, "What's goi-"

"You can't question him, he's too weak! And he doesn't remember what happened!"

"Oh bullshit!" exclaimed the man in the trench coat, "How could he not remember surfing on the back of a giant Gyarados to Vermilion after the explosion?"

Jet sat up with great difficulty, "Ah, shit! What happened? How did I get here? The last thing I remember.. was a party on the SS Anne! I was having dinner with Bill Brooke and Lance Delahov!"

The man in the trench coat looked down at Jet with a frown, then turned to the doctor and said, calmly, "I have a few quick questions for him, and then I'll let him rest."

The doctor looked unsure, so Jet said, "I'll talk to him, doctor. But can I get some water, please? My throat."

The man in the coat waited patiently as the nurse gave Jet some water and left the room with the doctor. Once the door was shut, the man pulled up a chair, sat down, and pulled out a badge, "Jethro Brown, my name is Special Agent James Morales, I'm with the DCI and am currently investigating the recent activity of the criminal cell known in this region as Team Rocket. I have a few questions for you, and I'll be out of your hair. Do you remember anything thing that happened after your dinner? Anything at all?"

Jet thought hard, his heart beating fast, Just what the hell happened?

He suddenly remembered a bunch of bright lights and loud bangs. "I remember running in the rain from some bright lights, and I remember drowning. That's it sir. Do you know what happened to me?"

Morales shifted in his seat and said, "Last night, during the party aboard the SS Anne, Team Rocket staged a robbery. A few of the passengers on board started to fight back, which resulted in a large-scale Pokémon Battle in which the ship began to sink. Our interview with Mr. Delohov revealed that you, Mr. Brown, were battling alongside of him until the ship sank. At which point your Gyarados saved you from drowning and took you back to Vermilion, while a group of other Gyarados attacked the remaining survivors from the sinking."

"What?" Jet felt his heart burn and his insides go numb, "I'm the only survivor?"

Morales looked alarmed and said, "Oh no, I didn't mean to scare you like that! Mostly everyone was injured but about sixty people survived the attacks. If I read Mr. Delohov's statement correctly, the people you were with survived as well."

Jet calmed down and said, "Thank god, where are they?"

"Fuchsia City, that's where most of the survivors were taken. It was the closest port to where the ship sank. Which begs the question, how did you end up in Vermilion?"

Jet shrugged, "I don't know, Hydra doesn't know these waters. Wait, Hydra! Where are my Pokémon? Are they safe?"

Morales cleared his throat and said, "You had four Pokémon on you when you washed up on shore. They are all currently at the Vermillion City Pokémon Center, waiting for you to pick them up." Jet let out a sigh of relief, and Morales continued, "They were going to shoot your Gyarados, but you woke up and recalled her. You also gave them your license number so they wouldn't confiscate your Pokémon, you don't remember any of that?"

Jet shook his head. Morales leaned a little closer and asked, "What about the incident at Mt. Moon, do you remember that? Or what about the Viridian Forest? Why is it wherever you go, people end up dead?"

Jet was taken aback, "You're not seriously suggesting that was my fault, are you? Do you know how fucked up you sound?"

Morales reached in his jacket and said, "I'm not sure why these things keep happening around you, but I think it's more than a tragic coincidence." He pulled out his card and handed it to Jet, "If you remember anything else about the attacks, then give me a call. I'll be watching you, Jethro Brown."

Morales left the room leaving Jet with a large headache. He had been right; everywhere Jet goes people tend to die. Was it him? Had he inadvertently caused these disasters? How was it that he was still alive after all the shit he's been through the last few months?

What would his father say if he knew all the dangerous shit Jet has been through? He didn't think Jet would last more than twelve hours. His mom would probably be speeding down a freeway to pick her boy up. And what of his friends?

Jet began to feel nauseated as he wondered whether or not they made it to Fuchsia City in one piece. He laid back down and shut his eyes tightly, trying to remember what happened the previous night. There was a party, then bright lights, then heavy rain, then drowning. The more Jet thought and tried to make sense of everything, the more tired he got until he was passed out.

The nurse came in the room sometime later to check Jet's vitals. Apparently he was showing early signs of hypothermia when they found him. He was given an ice heal on the way to the hospital. Since then he's been sleep until his little interrogation with Special Agent Morales.

Later that day, Jet received a call from the Fuchsia City Pokémon Center.

"H-hello?" Jet asked feebly.

"Jethro! Are you alright, mate? What the hell were you thinking? Lance told us about what you did! Do you realize you almost died?"

It was Bill. Jet said, "Slow down! Are you with the others? Are Amy and Brian ok?"

"We're here Jet!" came Amy's voice, "You're on speaker. Bill is right! Do you know how long we thought you were dead? Why did you go all the way back to Vermillion? What the fuck?"

"Jet!" Brian spoke this time, "I'm sorry for everything man! Oh my god I'm such an idiot! I thought you died and my last words to you were-"

"Did everyone think I was dead?" Jet asked weakly.

"I didn't," came Lance's voice, "You're a tough kid. I never fought alongside a trainer your age with your skill. I'd be very surprise to learn if you died that night."

"Listen, mate," Bill interjected, "No one's denying you've got balls, but you can't very well jump into an ocean at subzero temperatures from the back of a fucking dragon, alright? You could've been killed! If it weren't for your Gyarados, you would've been killed! You need to be more careful!"

"We're coming down there," Gary said, "Amy and I, we're coming to Vermillion. I got my car still down there and all my stuff."

"After that we're going to stay with my dad for a while," Amy said, "Everything has been just way too crazy. Too many near deaths. I need to get away for a while. You should go back home too, Jet."

Jet coughed and said, "I'm not going home. Not yet."

Brian laughed and said, "I knew you'd say that! I'm going to keep going too! But listen, I need you to send me my stuff when you get out the hospital, ok? I'm staying out here and checking out the Safari Zone."

Jet coughed and said, "Yeah, whatever. Look, they told me that my phone got destroyed in the chaos so I need you guys to contact me over Facebook for now, ok? I got to hang up, and get some sleep, glad you guys are alright."

"Yeah, of course," said a reluctant Amy, "Get some sleep. We'll see you in a couple of days."

"I look forward to the day we meet again, Mr. Brown," said Lance, "I will be watching your career with great interest."

"I still can't believe we were fighting together," said Jet, "I don't remember any of that by the way."

"Well you fought bravely," Lance assured him, "As well as skillfully."

It did not take long for Jet to go back to sleep. His body still ached, his head still throbbed. At the very least, however, Jet found peace of mind knowing that his friends had survived.

Author's Notes:

I took a very long break from writing. It wasn't intentional, it just sort of happened. Besides, I'd rather write when the story comes to me naturally and put out quality work than force myself to write when I'm really not feeling it.

It's not that I didn't know what was going to happen next, I just needed a little break. When writing a story that is as long as this one, sometimes you just need to put the pen down for a while. As you probably guessed, Jet is going to go for his Thunder Badge next, and will be getting a couple of new additions to his team. One of which was highly requested so I'm bringing them out sooner rather than later.

I'm not sure how often the updates will come. I'm trying to wean my way back into writing. This chapter was actually mostly written weeks ago and just ended up being shorter than I planned. Honestly, this is probably the shortest chapter I have written for this story. I definitely plan on making the new chapters much longer, so don't think this is how the story is going to be from now on. I just read through the chapter and it really didn't need anything else.

But anyway, I know during my break a lot of new readers put this under their story alerts and left reviews. Thank you for reading and I'm glad you enjoy the story. Hopefully you will enjoy the future chapters. For my old readers, thank you for sticking with the story, and I hope I won't disappoint!

Coming soon: Chapter 44 - LT. Surge