May 25, 2008. Route 207 near Oreburgh City; 2:15 PM
"Here's the last one," Paul grumbled as he gave his Torterra the last bit of food he had. "You're just going to have to wait until we get to Oreburgh City to eat."
His Torterra replied by pouting; then, he pulled an envelope out of Paul's back pocket.
"Give me that," Paul growled, snatching it from his Pokémon's mouth. It was an invitation, from Ash Ketchum of all people!
He could care less about Ash Ketchum, let alone care about a wedding.
"Why would he invite me?" he muttered, kicking a stone out of his way. "Terra!" the continent Pokémon replied, jumping side to side, as if it were dancing.
Paul rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay," he replied dryly, shoving the invitation in his back pocket. He had no intentions of going to this wedding. It didn't even say who Ash was marrying. He figured it was probably to that troublesome girl.
She annoyed the hell out of him. He thought was obvious that he wanted to be left alone. Everyone would oblige to that except for her. Dawn had even emailed him a few times, but he hadn't had a chance to read them because he was too busy.
She drove him nuts.
Whatever. It wasn't his problem.
Paul was heading towards Oreburgh City to have dinner with his brother Reggie after he finished his work in the mines. There had been a time where Paul lost much of his respect for his older brother, but he realized that having his brother as a breeder could be used to his advantage.
Also, Reggie really wasn't that bad. Paul had found Reggie's extensive research of raising Pokémon intriguing. Reggie just worked in the mines to bring in some extra cash to help fund his research. Paul actually enjoyed his visits with his brother (although he would never admit it), as they didn't happen as often as they'd both like. He was busy training, and Reggie was working in the mines or in his home.
Paul could finally see the mines in the distance. Torterra jumped up and down, the force causing the ground to shake a bit. Paul shook his head. "Cool it, Torterra, or I'll tell Reggie to keep that delicious PokeBlock away from you."
Torterra pouted, jutting out its lower lip. Paul rolled his eyes.
"Torterra, I just don't want another earthquake," he grumbled as he rubbed his Pokémon's side comfortingly. Paul began walking again, eager to see his brother.
"Terra!" the Pokémon called again, only this time, his tone was different.
"Torterra, I thought I said-"
There was no time to react. Paul stood in awe as a BOOM shook the entire forest, knocking the purple-haired trainer into his nearly 700 pound Pokémon.
Paul groaned as he rubbed his head from the impact with the giant Pokémon. Damn, that shell was hard…
His eyes widened as he saw his destination was lit by flames.
May 25, 2008. Jubilife City. 2:45 PM.
"What?! How?" Cynthia shouted into the phone. "How did this happen? Are there any people inside? What went wrong?"
"I'm not sure," Roark retorted, running a hand through his reddish hair. "All I know is that a portion of the mine collapsed. I think there was an explosion. Some of the workers got out, but the groups that got cut off were in the most populated sectors."
Cynthia took a shaky breath in. She didn't want to think about what had happened to those people. She could only pray that they were okay. "Were any regulations broken? I thought you were up to code," she accused.
"We ARE Cynthia," Roark sighed. "You KNOW how strict our regulations are and how we look out for safety first."
"Do you have any exact numbers?"
"I don't know" Roark repeated, his frustration finally showing coming through his voice. "I'll check out the roster for today's work schedule. We'll have to stop the power outflow; I know Oreburgh is powered completely by the mine. How long can Jubilife City go without our power?"
"A week? Maybe 10 days?" Cynthia replied. "We'll have to hold a press conference. The sooner the people know, the sooner we can start conserving power."
"We'll have to evacuate Oreburgh City," Roark mused. "I have no idea what this explosion released into the air, and I don't people to find out the hard way."
Cynthia mumbled a "Mhmm" as she grabbed a pencil and began to scribble some notes on to a napkin. "How soon can you get here?" she asked, tapping her pencil on the table.
"As much as I'd love to come, these people's safety comes first," Roark replied. "I need to find the source of the collapse and try to get everyone out."
Cynthia sighed. "Fine. So let's get this straight," she said, looking down at the list she had made. "Oreburgh Mine collapsed around 2:30 PM. Oreburgh's got to be evacuated; we'll open up shelters at the schools and the Pokémon Centers in Jubilife City, and I'll call some of the surrounding towns and try to get some help."
Cynthia picked up her pencil and added "Call Pokémon centers and schools" to her list.
She continued. "Possible explosion, but not sure what happened. Power must be conserved. We can keep radio broadcasts going. I'll check with the Devon Corporation and see if they can help out in getting the signal out."
"Steven" she added to the list.
"Isn't the Devon Corporation in Hoenn? What good does that do us here?" Roark nearly growled.
"Don't worry Roark, I've got connections," the Champion replied hastily.
"If you say so," he sighed. "There's going to be a lot of backlash. Prepare for the worst, Cynthia. I know you've worked hard to establish your position with the people. They trust you, but don't forget that their families are trapped. I've gotta go. Good luck."
And with a click, the call ended.
Cynthia took a deep breath as she set her phone down. She grabbed the list. There was so much for her to do…
The first thing she did was pull up Steven Stone's number.
"C'mon, pick up," she muttered, tapping her pencil impatiently.
"Cynthia?" a confused Steven replied as he looked at the time. She usually didn't call him until later in the evening.
"Steven," Cynthia stammered, "Hi. Oreburgh Mine's had an explosion so there's a partial collapse, and we need to evacuate Oreburgh and find somewhere for the people to stay and I need to hold a press conference and-"
"Breathe, Cyn," the former Champion interrupted. "Did you call your Elite Four?"
Cynthia took the advised breath. "Lucian took the rest of the elite four on a 'Zen-searching' vacation, and they've all turned their phones off for the week." she grumbled, clearly frustrated with the poor timing of the trip.
"Okay. What do you need to do?" Steven asked.
"Oh, I couldn't-"
"Cyn, tell me what I can help with," he sighed, grabbing a piece of paper and a pen.
"Well, I need to contact the schools and Pokémon Center so we can open them up for shelters." Her eyes drifted down her list. "Actually, I was wondering if you could help me with getting some battery operated radios and broadcasts coming through the city? We've got to shut down the mines, meaning no power for probably 10ish days." She bit her lip, hoping that this one thing would pull through…
"No problem," Steven said as he held his phone up with his shoulder while jotting down some information. "I'll call the Pokétch Company and get everything rolling; I'll also ask my assistant to call the schools and centers in the area."
Cynthia smiled. "You are the best," she sighed in relief.
"I know." Steven replied nonchalantly. "Now, I've got some calls to make, and you've got to organize a press conference, so I think I'm going to let you go."
"Thank you so much, Steven. I don't know what I'd do without you," she mused as she crossed a few things off of her list.
"No problem. Once I've got everything figured out on my end, I'm going to hop on the first flight out," he mumbled as he signaled his assistant to come over.
"Okay," she replied, forcing herself to regain her focus. Normally Cynthia would object to his sudden desire to come visit her, but she really needed the help. "Thank you again, Steven. Good luck."
"Keep the luck. You're going to need it."
Dawn hummed as she listened to Ellen on her TV as she packed. She grabbed her favorite dress from her closet and began to fold it before a sudden change in programming caught her attention.
"-Breaking news live from Oreburgh City, this is Reporter Kinsey here to bring you the latest on the Oreburgh Mine collapse." She perked in alarm as she rounded the couch and sat, leaning forward. She heard a knock on the door which she presumed was Zoey. "It's open!" Dawn shouted as she kept her eyes glued to the television screen.
"You know, you really shouldn't keep your door-" Zoey began before Dawn shushed her, gesturing for the redhead to sit next to her.
"What…" Zoey mumbled as an aerial view of the Oreburgh Mine showed multiple points of collapse. The "cleanest mine in Sinnoh" looked like a dump, smoke pouring from the breaches with firefighters and water Pokémon surrounding it.
"And now we turn to Sinnoh's Champion Cynthia Mahler for a press conference."
The blonde champion made her way to the front of the press conference. "I am here on behalf of Roark's mining agency to issue a state of emergency for the Oreburgh City area. Today we are hard at work to get these people and their Pokémon home to their families. It appears as if there was an explosion that triggered this disaster, but we don't have all the facts. We still have contact with some sectors of the mine, and those sectors are fine."
This statement was followed by an uncomfortable silence from the audience. There was no doubt that they were wondering about the other sectors…
The young champion swallowed her nerves, continuing.
"For the safety of the workers and their Pokémon, we are cutting off power from the company." A few members of the audience grumbled uncomfortably. "With the amount of power we currently use, we can last 10 days here in Jubilife City. Oreburgh City runs completely off of the mine, so their power will need to be completely cut off." There was a collective gasp from the audience before the outrage began.
"We need your cooperation to make this work." the champion helplessly yelled into the microphone, calming the disarray a bit. "Please refrain from the mine site, as dangerous chemicals may have been released into the air. Oreburgh City residents are to evacuate due to air quality concerns. We have shelters opening here in Jubilife City at the schools and Pokémon Center. Surrounding towns have also opened their doors to help. Please shut off all of your power except for essentials, like refrigerators and freezers via your power boxes before you leave.
"Jubilife City Residents: If you all use minimal amounts of power, we can last nearly twice as long," the Champion voiced to the disarray. "With the help of the Devon Corporation and Pokétch Company, we are going to keep a running radio broadcast and keep you up to date. Battery-operated radios are being shipped to your local Pokémon Centers and will be in this evening. We will be keeping a running broadcast on AM 1500."
"What about my brother? Is he alright?" an upset female shouted from the audience. "Do we know who's trapped yet?"
The champion shook her head. "Roark and a group of devoted workers are working on finding that out. We'll let you know as soon as we know; he's doing all he can do."
"All he can do isn't enough! We could have friends trapped!"
"I can assure you, miss, we are doing all we can."
"I thought we had Team Galactic under control!" another angry speculator shouter. Cynthia took a deep breath. "We do not have enough information about the event to even start pointing fingers. There has been no evidence of negligence via Team Galactic, but we cannot rule out anything at this point. All I can ask for is you open your hometown to your neighbors. With everybody's help, we can make this as smooth of a transition as possible. Thank you."
Cynthia exited the stage, knowing that there were many questions, but she knew her first priority needed to be getting these people home safe.
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