Chapter 19: Disaster
Leo Hanson grimaced in studying the electrical flow diagrams: power was not only reaching the main power coils, but was indeed increasing. Yet a different screen showed the secondary control coils still off-line. What kind of activation was this? Without the secondary coils, a defined portal couldn't be formed…
"That isn't normal, is it?"
His counterpart's shout got their attention, and looking at the gate below…
"Dimensional disturbance already forming…" Sally mumbled.
"That's no mere portal," he furthered in alarm, noticing the cloud brightening and almost forming a sphere.
Letting out a hurried sigh, the Professor rapidly typed another command into the computer, getting back a negative beep. After moving to another, more serious looking console that appeared to do with power sources, "The generators aren't responding either, they're looked at full output. I can't shut anything down; the controls are locked out!"
"Main coil power at one-hundred three percent," Sally said, reading from the flow diagram and sounding more alarmed now.
Leo tried to think: why couldn't they shut it down? What was all this power going to do? "Professor, is there a program running?"
The white-haired sixty-some year old man stared off into the distance for a moment before moving to a third console. After a few commands into the computer, Leo saw the implications in the results without needing any interpretation.
"Leo, that cloud is getting brighter," Blaze said from the windows, drawing the rest of the Pokémon there to have a look themselves.
As his human self's face started draining of color, Leo decided he better get his blue body to the third console with Sally. A lot of technology was still eluding his understanding, and although he could read the words and numbers as being something designed to be increasing, he just couldn't quite interpret the implication. "What's does this mean?"
"It's been programmed to go into overload," the Professor returned, still typing but apparently not getting the desired response. "Damn! And we're locked out from the these systems too."
"What are these?" Sally asked, pointing to a peculiar set of numbers at the bottom.
"I think…coordinates. Oh damn, those control coils are going to kick in at some point!"
"In an overload condition? That won't form just a mere portal!"
"I know, Sally!" The Professor gave another attempt on the keyboard before slamming his fist on it. "This has to be Kol's doing! Some emergency program or something he didn't tell me anything about!" More quietly: "So this is was the 'last resort' option he was working on."
"What are they talking about?" Blaze asked, his expression mirroring that of the other Pokémon. Leo thought quickly as to how best to explain it given his own limited understanding: "I think if there is too much dimensional disruption energy, and suddenly the control frequency is switched on…" What would happen anyway? "…it'd be bad." If anything, the looks from both Sally and his human self said he was understating it.
Overhead, a red light started flashing as some computerized voice gave an urgent warning about the overload condition.
"It's what we took pains to try and prevent on our gate," his human self said. "Too much power is very bad. Maybe we can damage the gate still…"
"The doors down there are sealed," the Professor replied. "I can see the lock light from here," pointing through the windows. "Three inch thick steel, no Pokémon can get through that. Same with the walls and the windows."
"Then where are the generators?"
"They're geothermal; in a solid concrete bunker with restricted access; you won't be able to reach them either. Cables are buried and reinforced."
"This place is like a God-damned vault!" Sally exclaimed throwing her hands up.
"After what happened at the old site, Kol wanted this place built solid, he said."
Obviously, turning off the power would be the best solution, but if they couldn't get at the source… "How does the power get from the generators to the gate?" Leo asked.
"Or where are the breakers," his human self added, suddenly sounding hopeful.
The Professor grimaced as he suddenly fixated at the screen showing the program continuing to run.
"Professor?"
"They…ah, building and gate power are mostly separate. The gate's breakers are in the room just past the gate room. Uh…all of you should go with him. He might need help…there's a lot of breakers."
"How much time do we have?" Sally asked.
A grimace spread across the old human's face. "Twelve minutes, it's counting down. You better hurry."
Leo Hanson didn't need to be told twice. With everyone else save for the Professor following, he raced out of the room, down the hall and the stairs (barely noticing Kol and his companions were gone) while the Professor's voice came over the building's intercom, ordering an evacuation. Hopefully it would prove unnecessary after they cut all the power…
Reaching the door well past the gate room's, he punched the door control, his heart skipping a beat when nothing happened!
Sally tried too, getting the same result. "Maybe we can…"
Pounding the door proved it was (very) solid steel and leaving little doubt any of the Pokémon could anything against it.
Sally keep at the door control to no avail, eventually backing up and pulling him with her. "Alright everyone, attack this door and the wall with everything you got!"
Holding some hope, he watched with a detached fascination as the Pokémon worked together in attacking the bulkhead with electric, fire, water and leaf-blade attacks. Still, the door came through without some much as a scorch mark!
Sally sighed, bowing her head.
Hitting the door with the pad of his fist in frustration, he tried to think in the face of time running out. "So if we can't disrupt the power…"
"What were those coordinates to?" the swampert asked.
"I think we can assume Kol programmed it," Sally replied. "His world?"
"Which maybe means he set them to make sure some of his people could get through even if he wasn't here to make a controlled portal," Leo concluded.
Shaking her head and gesturing down to the gate room doors, "But to do it this way…"
"What's going to happen?" his counterpart practically shouted, the other Pokémon giving questioning yips and shouts.
With the time foremost in his mind, he hurriedly explained: "This is all theoretical, but if you have too large a dimensional disturbance on when the control coils are switched on, whatever coordinates they're set for, the matter from that focus point could be transferred here…instantly."
"If the power coils don't explode first from the overload and create a dimensional tear, whatever exists here will be displaced, violently!" Sally added.
"The more power that is going through those coils when that happens, the bigger the area that'll be displaced," Leo continued, hoping to God the theories about that were wrong. "We definitely don't want to be here when that happens!" He was pretty certain the Pokémon understood that, judging from their immediate nervous and scared reactions.
"How big an area?"
He grimaced at his counterpart's question. Would it affect just the island, or much more? "Hell if I know." Were there even equations for that?
"Leo, if we can't shut this off, then maybe we could change the coordinates?"
Facing Sally: "The Professor said we were locked out of the system."
"But with our gate, there was that initial system used for fine tuning frequency calibrations. It's supposed to be deactivated after everything was set, but it's a completely separate system. If they modeled this gate on ours, and it sort of looks like they did, and the system wasn't deactivated yet or it can be turned back on…"
Could they be that lucky? But that wouldn't stop the displacement from happening, only change what was going to do the displacing. It might foil Kol's plans though…and save the planet if the area displaced wasn't too large…
Still, changing the coordinates wasn't likely a matter of just seconds, and it's system was probably protected like the others, though maybe not to the same degree, being something designed to be a one-time use. But if the Professor could get access quickly enough, then it probably wouldn't take more than a few minutes to mess up the calibrations…though those few minutes could be crucial for getting enough distance away.
Grimly, he realized the choice that had to be made.
Even though the Professor might be the best choice, after everything he'd been through he deserved to get out alive…and if Kol's plan did end up succeeding, the information he had would be invaluable.
Strangely, he felt himself starting to smile. There really didn't need to be two Leo's around anyway…
Acting quickly before he could change his mind: "Sally, Leo, Blaze, everyone else, get to the dock, meet up with Harry and get out of here! I'll send the Professor out shortly." Starting down the hall, "Now hurry!"
"What are you going to do?" Sally asked, grabbing his arm.
"I'm going to mess up those calibrations!" Feeling a sharp pain in the bottom of his stomach from the reality of what had to be done, he pulled out of her grasp and ran down the hall before anyone could mount further argument. Pausing before the stairwell as his counterpart shouted something: "Take care of Sally for me."
Racing up the stairs, he prayed there was still enough time for them to get out before either the secondary coils kicked in, or the primaries blew and created a dimensional tear. He was going to miss everyone…especially Sally.
Damn that Kol.
Leo knew at once what his human self was doing. Even if he managed to change the coordinates, the displacement was still going to happen. He would be…
"What?" Sally returned, but the human already disappeared into the stairwell.
Blaze leapt in front, staring back and forth. "He's… going to sacrifice himself, isn't he?"
"Not if I can help it." Running for the stairwell, he heard everyone else following, making him both happy and sad. There was no sense for everyone to die here. Of course, somebody was probably going to have to stay behind, unless changing the coordinates was a very quick matter. A gut feeling told him it likely wasn't.
Arriving back in the second-floor hall expecting to have to charge into the control room, he instead found his human self pounding on it's door. Noticing everyone, he suddenly looked frustrated. "I said get out of here! None of you can do anything here!"
Leo ignored him, instead hurrying beside him and seeing through the door's small window the Professor quickly working at one of the consoles. He paused as the light streaming in through the windows briefly intensified, casting shadows on the rear wall. "I'm not going to leave you here."
"Neither am I!"
Blaze's words brought comfort as the Professor hit some other button and his voice came over the intercom once again: "Everyone is to evacuate this island immediately! Get as far away as you can! Ten minutes to secondary activation!"
"Like it or not, we're going to stay and do what we can," Sally said, with the other Pokémon looking just as determined.
Snaking his head and neck between Leo and the door to take a quick look, "Apparently in another timeline, I was willing to die to save the world," Grovyle said. "Perhaps it's just in my character."
The Professor was immediately at the door, though. "All of you, get out of here now!" his muffled voice yelled through the door. "The only thing I can do now is alter the calibration and change the coordinates to at least stop Kol's people from getting here. There's nothing any of you can do!"
So, the Professor was already one step ahead of them…
"You knew the breaker room was secure, didn't you?" his human self accused.
"I needed to get you out of here to stop you from being foolish. Go and live. It's been a honor working with you…all of you."
Grovyle tapped at the glass, his grimace saying as much that it would be too thick to get through.
Leo watched his human self pound on the door again with a growing desire to do the same. "Damn it, John! Unlock this door and let me help! Your knowledge of Kol's plans is too valuable to let you stay here and…"
"And that same knowledge is what will give me a better chance of stopping him here and now, Leo!" the Professor returned, already returning to one of the consoles.
Leo wanted to argue, but knew the professor had a point. From the lack of response from his human self, he knew he realized it too.
The old, grey-haired Professor typed something before giving a long glance through the window. "Leo, part of this is my fault. I helped make this happen and I have to do what I can to prevent the worst of it. I've lived my life, but you have most of yours yet. Now go! You've got less than nine minutes. You have to go now!"
Grovyle grasped his human self's arm and started tugging.
Leo Hanson resisted his partner, caught between wanting to help and doing as the Professor ordered. Then a hand on his other arm…
"It's time to go," Sally whispered.
"Ree ree," Celebi added in a sad-sounding tone.
Taking a last look through the window, he finally let Grovyle tug him into running for the stairwell, Sally absorbing Elekid, Wartortle, Pikachu and Electabuzz back in their Pokéballs on the way.
One last warning from the Professor came over the intercom to abandon the island, but the halls were already empty. After racing outside and seeing the long dock down below, he saw where the dozens of Derganio people already went: a large boat was just pulling away with a loud multi-engine roar even as Harry was seconds from pulling his own boat up.
With heart now pounding, Leo swore he could feel precious seconds ticking away as they ran flat-out down the walkway to the boat. With a held hand and a jump, he helped Sally across just as Blaze and Grovyle leapt across the narrow gap, causing the boat to sway.
"What's going on?" Chris asked, bracing himself against the railing while pointing to the larger receding boat. "Are they supposed to be getting away?"
"We've got less than eight minutes to get twenty miles from here or we're all dead!" Leo yelled, heart pounding.
"The gate's going into overload!" Sally shouted, already pushing Harry back into the pilot house, Grovyle opening the door. "Full throttle Harry!"
One or the other statement got the old sailor to the controls in no time and in only seconds, the boat's engines were revving louder than he ever heard them as the craft lurched around in a tight circle and out into the ocean, nearly capsizing in the process. Leo hoped his twenty-mile guess was enough. It could just as well be a hundred miles they needed, and he strongly suspected the Professor's statement of nine minutes was also a guess. Glancing at his watch anyway: seven minutes…
Struggling to join Sally at the rear railing over the heavily vibrating and jerking deck, he stared back at the island through the engine exhaust.
With the three Pokémon's help and the railing, Chris also made his way back to the railing. "What's going to happen?"
"The gate's going into overload!" Sally tried explaining over the roar of the engines. "In a few minutes, the control coils are going to activate and form a dimensional rift, displacing a whole lot of space!"
The trainer stared back blankly.
"The island and an unknown amount of distance around it is going to explode," Leo summed up. That was, if everyone's theories were correct, but if Kol had planned all this, he surely had a high degree of confidence about it. Not to mention Sally had a slightly better handle on the theories than he did.
Six minutes…and the island was still far too large behind them.
Maybe he should explain everything to Chris, like what could happen if the Professor didn't get the coordinates changed in time? He quickly decided against it; best not to burden him with that…until he was sure they were going to live. Besides, he really didn't want such a complicated explanation interrupted by the explosion, smiling grimly at actually thinking such a worry. Especially when at least one person wasn't going to make it out alive.
Damn the Professor. Why did he have to go and pull this stunt anyway? The man had suffered too much already, and had a wife to boot…
An outstretched blue arm was pointing to the island. "Look!"
At first he didn't know what to look at, but then he noticed it: the facility complex looked wavy, like seeing something distant with heavy heat waves distorting the view. Over the ensuing seconds, the area under effect seemed to be growing. "What is that?" glancing to Sally.
She was staring, unmoving as much as the jerking boat allowed. "Maybe some kind of dimensional instability…" Then slamming a fist on the railing: "Leo, remember those schematic diagrams we saw? Those coils were way overbuilt compared to what we used. This gate was designed for this right from the start!"
He gritted his teeth at not just the thought of the entire project team being used by Kol, but that he might still accomplish his goal despite their best efforts. The more overbuild the coils were, the more power they could handle, which meant a much larger dimensional field…
It was a feeling in his gut: they needed more, far more distance, and the island behind them just wasn't receding fast enough! Running and stumbling to the pilot house: "We got to go faster!"
"She don't go any faster!" the old man screamed back, showing both throttle sticks as far forward as they would go. "This ain't no speed boat Goddamn it!"
Damn the technology! Helped save the world in one timeline, only to end up destroying it in the new one! Returning to the rear railing, he watched with a growing sense helplessness as the distortion field appeared to grow until it was nearly enveloping the entire island…and now moving rapidly toward them. Did it mark the limit of where the displacement would happen, or just the core of it? If it got too much larger… He started feeling like a trapped animal and if the boat wasn't lurching to and fro, he'd be maddeningly pacing.
His counterpart already was.
But he steeled himself; whether they made it out alive or not didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. What appeared once the displacement happened, did.
Leo was glad his human self wasn't given the opportunity to sacrifice himself. Maybe it was just a little selfish - it meant the Professor was staying behind instead…but not the Professor he knew.
There wasn't as much comfort in that fact as he would of liked, though. Except for the last three years, John was the Professor he knew. He was also his friend. The first two times he and Blaze saved the world, they managed to escape without anyone losing their lives. This time it was going to be different.
It wasn't fair!
Despite the boat feeling like it was giving every last bit of strength it had in speeding from the island, the place still looked uncomfortably close behind them with the distortion wall seemingly growing closer every second. His human self glanced for what seemed the hundred time at his watch, both his and Sally's faces becoming tight and grim.
"We aren't going to make it, are we?" Grovyle asked, a forlorn look about his eyes as he was keeping a tight grip on the railing, staring back at the island.
He didn't know and said as much, putting as much hope into the words as he could. But from every scrape of knowledge he could remember and piece together, he could only feel pessimistic about their chances. Perhaps…there would be more deaths than just the Professor's, yet.
Blaze's long red and yellow mane was giving him trouble, the strong breeze from the boat's fast movement through the water making it fly in his face constantly. Grabbing and holding it back with a hand, "Maybe we just need to have faith we'll make it," he said, barely audible over the engines. "But if we don't, Leo, I…want you to know I'm happy to be with you in the end…"
He faced his partner and dearest friend…and returned his smile. "I feel that way too." Although he wished Blaze wasn't there… He would sacrifice everything without a second thought to spare his friend.
"It's glowing!" Celebi shouted, pointing as she clung to Grovyle's shoulder.
The facility, just visible as a dot at their distance, was indeed starting to glow and rapidly getting brighter. He quickly shielded his eyes and turned away just before the light became unbearable.
"This is it!" his human self shouted as he cringed low against the railing with Sally.
A flash brighter than the sun cast the most intense shadows he ever saw of themselves against the boat, fading just as quickly. Then, everything looked suddenly very dark as a deep, tortured rumbling felt like it was traveling through everything. Looking back after the light died, the distant facility was already disappearing into a wall of rock and dust as the very material of the island went blasting upward in an ever widening circle, traveling at great speed high into the sky. Within seconds, the island became completely consumed in the blast wall and the ocean around began suffering the same fate, with a virtual wall of water shooting upward and heading at them at high speed.
He barely noticed Blaze gripping his arm to the point of pain as the massive wall grew perilously close…then weaken…and finally fade.
Yet the sky was growing darker as the already airborne dust, rock and water continued spreading out, turning noon-time sky into something unnaturally dark and ominous, yet not hiding the large tsunami-like waves now heading for them.
"Brace everyone!" Sally shouted as the wave front reached them, lurching the boat first up, then back down in a stomach-dropping fall. Leo almost lost his grip on the railing, grabbing Sally at the last instance as she lost hers in the face of some of the wave crashing down on the deck. Celebi continued to hang onto to Grovyle, who in turn firmly had Chris in his arms as they came to rest against the railing on the other side of the deck. Just as the last of the waves passed, small splashes started around them with small gravel-like stuff hitting the deck.
"Leo!" Blaze almost croaked out, looking and pointing nearly straight overhead.
Gasping, it was as scary a scene as any he'd seen in his life: the sky was now a nearly black boiling mass, as first small, then larger rocks starting appearing out of the massive dust clouds to crash into the ocean all around, some whistling, others glowing red, and most creating huge temporary craters in the ocean.
Celebi shot into the pilot house, where she leaned out the window of the door, pointing up and screaming as Harry heaved the wheel around, sending the boat sharply to one side. Within seconds, one boulder nearly landed on the deck, hitting the water mere feet to the side, the concussion of the near hit nearly shaking the boat to pieces with a humongous impact.
Was there also a loud crack…?
The perilous ride continued for what seemed eternity, each of them screaming at one point or another on near hits. Finally the falling debris seemed to be getting smaller, the impacts against the ocean less frequent, only to be replaced by thickening and choking dust!
And all at once, with a great deal of sputtering and coughing, the boat's engines quit!
"We're low in the water!" Grovyle shouted from his side, looking over the railing.
He almost didn't have to point it out as within seconds it was apparent the boat was tilting quickly to the rear, water soon pouring onto the rear part of the deck.
"We're sinking!" Harry shouted, rushing out of the pilot house, only to have to grab onto the door handle to keep himself from sliding down the deck. "Life preservers, on the side!"
Leo climbed hand-over-hand up the railing, everyone doing to same on both sides, quickly reaching the one remaining preserver. "There's only one!" he shouted, handing it down the line past Blaze and to Sally.
"Only one over here," his human self returned from the other side.
Scurrying past him as the water reached the pilot house, Blaze reached the railing at the very front of the boat, but it only bought him a few seconds as the entire deck disappeared beneath the waves. Not long after, the solidness of it gave way and he found himself floating and struggling to reach his drowning partner through the ever thickening dust cloud. Blaze was not able to swim…
"Easy! I got you!" Leo yelled with a cough as Blaze continued flailing wildly in the water, sending it flying in all directions before he wrapped an arm around his neck like an iron vine. "Climb on top me!" If he didn't, his friend was surely going to choke him to death! Lowering himself in the water the little he could made it easier for the infernape to get to his side and soon, his partner was sitting on top of him. One life saved…
It was a struggle to see through the dark grey dust, it being as dark as deep twilight, but tracing the sounds, he found first Sally, then Grovyle, Chris, Harry and his human self, Sally and Chris being in the only life preservers. At some point, he heard Celebi above him and after a look over his back, saw Blaze cradling her in his arms, her face and body black from the thick dust.
"Get her in the water to wash it off."
His friend let her go and the small light-green fairy-like Pokémon moved around them in circles before popping her head back up.
"Better!" she said in her high-pitched, though weary sounding voice. Given how Blaze soon slid down his back to rest against his rear fin and plop his head on top of his, his partner was even more exhausted. Fire types and water just didn't mix real well.
But they were alive…at least for the moment.
"Try and stay calm," Leo Hanson said loud enough to be heard by everyone. "Keep your breathing shallow and breathe as little of this dust as possible."
From an old geology class, he remembered volcanic dust could be like small shards of glass. Whether this dust was similar he didn't know, but it certainly couldn't be good for them. He also knew trying to keep their breathing shallow was easier said then done. It required a certain amount of energy to stay above water, at least for him, meaning he had to breathe a little harder than he would at complete rest. At least Sally, Chris, Blaze, Celebi and his counterpart could take his advise. His own green partner and Harry though…
Reaching down, he stripped off his shoes to make moving his legs back and forth just a little easier.
"How you people all doing?" the old bearded man finally asked after another moment, coughing afterward.
"Think anyone's going to find us?" Chris asked, finishing with his own lingering cough.
"Only your daughter knows we even went to the island," Sally added.
Harry moved closer to her and gripping her preserver, seemed to switch something small on. "Emergency transponder in this one."
But right away, Leo saw the slight frown over his beard. "What?" he pressed.
The old sailor seemed to make a point of wiping some of the thick caking dust off his face. "Don't know if the signal will get through all this dust. Or through the lightening up there."
Just as he said it, what seemed like a large bolt flashed overhead, it's light greatly muted through the dust, but the crack and rumble having so such problem.
Blaze seemed to moan, saying something in Poke speak.
"Is he alright?" Leo asked.
"He doesn't like water outside of a bathtub," his counterpart replied. "He's a fire type. The longer we stay here, the weaker he's going to get."
The infernape seemed to protest.
"We all will," Chris replied. "But unless someone has an idea…"
But fire type Pokémon suffered the worse in water, Leo knew. It was certainly that way when he had a torchic many years ago.
Sally reached down, lifting a Pokéball out of the water and Wartortle soon appearing. The turtle-like Pokémon looked around, wild eyed and seemingly bewildered.
"Wartortle?"
"The island exploded and the boat sank," Chris told him bluntly. "Please help Leo and Harry to stay afloat."
"War…war…wartortle…rrrr!"
In an almost panic, the blue Pokémon swam first to Harry, allowing the old man to grab hold, before coming over to him, squealing something to the other Pokémon in the process. Both Grovyle and his counterpart replied with muted snickers and Leo waited for the translation that didn't come without some prodding.
"He says when we battle, we really don't hold anything back," the swampert replied.
Leo found himself unable a resist a wry smile, while Harry shook his head with a frown.
Coughing at every other word, "You know…next time you people decide…to build one of those dimensional…thingy's, let me know…so I can…stay the heck away from it! Gonna be fun explaining this to…the insurance company." The old man finished in a fit of angry coughing.
Assuming they were going to make it back alive. By Harry's reasoning, they could be floating for a long time.
With some urging, he got Wartortle to move him closer to Sally.
The sky had been pitch black for a long time. Night time, Leo guessed, having completely lost track of time otherwise. He'd hoped the dust in the air would've settled enough for the stars or at least some moonlight to be visible, but it was still utterly black, though he thought there might have been just a hint of light where the moon could've been.
Despite being able to float on water, he was approaching exhaustion with it still taking some effort to stay up under Blaze's weight. Further, Grovyle had been hanging on for a while, having spent most his strength as well. At least the green Pokémon was able to mostly float on his own, unlike poor Blaze. Still, what he wouldn't have given for an oran berry; unfortunately they left the satchels back in the control room which was now blasted into tiny fragments. Finally, he had to just let himself sink a little and breath with his gills, hoping Blaze could tolerate a little more water.
Everyone else seemed to be asleep including Blaze, his haired chin resting firmly between his fins, arms wrapped around his neck and wet mane hanging down one side, floating on the water. Closing his eyes which were otherwise useless, he felt his partner's slow breathing and heard the slight whistling through his nostrils that was practically in his ears. His friend wouldn't admit it, but his strength was ebbing quicker than everyone else's. The silly infernape…did he think his partner wouldn't notice?
Not that he could do anything about it.
Save for the gentle sound of small waves lapping up against them, it was completely still. He struggled to stay awake and afloat for the sake of his passengers, but how long could he keep it up? So tired…and he swore his lungs were full of dust, just like his mouth. His gills would help for a while, but eventually he was going to need the greater oxygen his lungs provided given he still had to paddle slightly.
He had to stay awake, keep everyone above water…
Turning his mind to something else: was this was the real disaster then? Or did they actually stop a worse one? For the moment, there was no way to know if the Professor succeeded in changing the coordinates. Yet what were the coordinates Kol had set anyway - part of his own world? With Dialga, Palkia and the Professor now all gone, it would be truly unfair if they hadn't succeeded in preventing what Dialga had foreseen and feared.
Professor John Werner. He was gone in both timelines now…
With a start, he realized his legs were about to cramp and in keeping them from doing so, just about allowed himself to go fully under with Blaze! In desperation he felt forward, finding one of the two life preservers. Gently laying his head down on it to gain a slight amount of buoyancy, he hoped it's minor weight wouldn't take Sally down, judging in the darkness from the breathing that it was her inside of it. He found the sound…reassuring, comforting. Slowly, imperceptibly, the quiet sounds faded around him as he thought back through his still fragmented human memories, finding one of him and her snuggled together in some other time…
…except, he didn't remember being cradled so…
Opening his eyes on a bright grey sky, he found a large blue face staring down at him.
"You are alive!" Lonny said brightly.
At once, he felt disorientated. Lonny was carrying him up the ramp of a large boat while around him, Sally and Chris were being pulled from the water by other humans and Harry, his human self, Wartortle, Grovyle and Blaze were already being carried up the ramp ahead of him by a team of machoke. Waiting at the top, Christina was standing with more humans in blue uniforms as Celebi floated above. The conversation one of the uniformed humans was having with a monotone voice over a handheld radio seemed to confirm the boat was a rescue vessel that had found who they were looking for.
"Christina told the police everything that happened," Lonny continued. "And when they picked up your emergency signal, they came out here right away. Oh, and that explosion seemed to get everyone's attention too. We saw cloud from the city."
Leo started to say how glad he was to see them but ended up coughing instead, the dust constricting his throat suddenly and making even breathing difficult. But the most important thing for him was seeing Blaze sitting up on his own after being set down.
Lonny started pounding his back. "Don't worry, the doctors will make that better…honey."
"Authorities are still saying they don't know what caused the massive explosion on Fore-Nine island yesterday, now estimated by seismic stations to have been equivalent to a one-megaton nuclear warhead, although rumors are swirling it had something to do with a clandestine project being run by the island's owner, Derganio Corporation.
"Adding to the mystery are reconnaissance photos taken by a Coast Guard plane just a couple hours ago, showing the island looking very different from satellite photos from before the explosion. According to an off-the-record comment by one of the pilots, the island is actually much larger now. Also, intercepted radio transmissions from a team presently at the site appear to be detailing completely different vegetation from what should be there with no evidence of an explosion other then from settling atmospheric dust. Truly, a strange event. This is reporter Jenny Monroe, and I'll continue working to keep you updated on this continuing breaking story."
The image of the young woman reporter at the busy Cape Kippel docks faded out on the screen, to be replaced by the normal view of the newscasters at the news desk where they continued discussing the event.
Leo Hanson breathed a tentative sigh of relief. "Well, maybe if they haven't found any humans there by now, it means none of Kol's kind were on that piece of transported land."
"Then…maybe the Professor succeeded," Sally said hesitantly.
He sure hoped so; he would like nothing better then to think of the Professor having saved the world. Sooner or later, he knew he would have to tell someone the complete story.
Leaning back into his pillows, he glanced the opposite way and down the line of other beds. They were a sight: Chris, Grovyle, Wartortle, Blaze and his swampert counterpart all being treated for severe dust inhalation, though Chris had the additional "privilege" of his wounded leg. Since they were all going to be needing treatment for a few days, the hospital was gracious enough to put everyone in the same room, even though the human hospital didn't normally deal with Pokémon. Fortunately one of the nurses from the Pokécenter volunteered to make twice daily visits and the local chanseys on staff also helped. Celebi though, was at the Pokécenter where she could be kept under better security. The fewer who knew where she was or even existed, the better.
After a sigh: "So, isn't this fun?" indicating all of them and getting the deserved stares from six pairs of human and Pokémon eyes.
"Define 'fun'," Chris replied, motioning to his wrapped leg.
"We really have nothing better to do now anyway," the swampert commented, eliciting his own rebuke from his infernape partner.
Wartortle shifted himself to lie flatter on his bed, partly withdrawing his head into his shell. "Wartortle…" which sounded a lot like weary agreement. Or was it that he was bored?
Grovyle merely closed his eyes as Sally surprisingly smiled slightly. "Oh I don't know, I can think of worse places to be."
Facing her, he noted a peculiar look in her eyes as she looked steadily at him.
Suddenly, he could think of a lot worse places to be as well…
"So Leo," Chris said from the other side of him.
Turning around, he found the trainer looking toward his counterpart, however.
"You said you would explain later how you Pokémon tell males and females apart when they otherwise look identical," Chris continued. "It's now 'later'."
"What's this?" Leo asked, noticing Sally also looking past him to the trainer.
"Oh, when Blaze was at the Pokécenter a few days ago, I asked Leo that question," Chris explained, facing them. "He promised to explain later."
"Now this sounds like an interesting topic," Sally said with a grin, sitting up.
"I didn't promise!" the swampert exclaimed.
He swore there was embarrassment in on his counterpart's face. Too bad his face was blue, he thought almost wickedly.
Thank goodness his face was blue!
Considering everything that had happened, he'd really hoped Chris would've forgotten about that. Not only had he not apparently, now Sally and his human self were present, adding to his growing embarrassment. "It's…complicated," he replied, hoping to dissuade the blonde-haired human from pursuing the topic.
"We seem to have plenty of time," Chris pointed out, gesturing around them to the white and sterile-looking room.
"Indeed," his human self added with a smirk.
In the bed next to his, Blaze merely closed his eyes, smiling, though his face started getting redder as he starting sinking lower beneath the sheet.
Well, either he could refuse to answer, or just simply swallow his embarrassment and explain. He started deciding toward the first option…
"Oh come on, this would add so much to our understanding of Pokémon," Sally pleaded, her own pretty smile gradually turning to a grin. "Please? You're the only one who can tell us."
No doubt, they were enjoying this! Turning away for a moment, he found the humans still all looking expectantly at him when he faced them again. Obviously, they weren't about to let the topic go. In desperation, he shot Wartortle a glance.
The blue turtle-like Pokémon widened his eyes before pulling his head further into his shell.
"Just talk to them like a swampert to a newly-hatched mudkip," Grovyle suggested, not even opening his eyes as he laid unmoving, arms folded across his chest.
As if he'd ever done that before! After swallowing hard: "Well, uh...it varies, a little, depending on species, but without smell or obvious physical differences, there are generally…three ways." How he wanted to say only two!
Continuing: "There's manner…" And, he supposed from what he'd observed and remembered of humans, the same was true of them. "…and then there's color. Females normally don't look quite as vibrant…" Just in saying it he realized something: humans couldn't perceive quite the color range that Pokémon could! Certainly, he didn't remember from his days as a human Grovyle appearing quite in the deep, shining shade of green as he did now. He explained that, to which the humans appeared genuinely surprised.
"So, what's the third?" Sally asked.
Grimacing, "The third way…is…uh…well, you generally have to…uh…look carefully where…uh…"
At once, he was thankful for the sudden appearance of the human figure appearing in the doorway. Bearing the more obvious physical traits of human females, she was holding a large vase of flowers.
"Well, hello everyone!" Christina greeted, the other humans returning it.
At first he was never so glad to see anyone, then in the next second took it all back, his heart sinking on seeing a second larger figure appear…one that was blue and white skinned. And being in a hospital bed, there was no place for him to escape to! Not that he wasn't appreciative for her help when they were being transported back to Cape Kippel. And it was hard not to like her bright, smiling face as she was now looking at him.
"Well, I came by to see Dad and thought I would stop by and see you all," Christina explained as she came in, setting the vase on one of the tables. "So how is everyone doing?"
"They say it's going to be a few days before all the dust is out of our lungs," Sally replied.
"They have us scheduled to start some breathing therapy tomorrow," Chris furthered.
"Yeah, that's what they told Dad."
Laying on his stomach with his head at the foot of the bed, Leo watched Lonny with a certain dread as she came across the room to stand by it. Within seconds, she had her own head on the bed, next to his. "And how's my sweetie doing?" asking in her slightly deeper voice.
Many different ways to answer that question instantly sprang to mind, all of them meaning "not interested" in one form or another with varying levels of politeness. Deciding to stick with something simple yet truthful: "Tired," being careful to keep it from sounding like he didn't want her there. He really didn't want to hurt her feelings or anything.
What he expected was something like a 'poor thing' type of response. Instead, he felt two large three-fingered hands on his head, running along his fins slowly, back and forth, gently massaging the part where they connected to his skull… He couldn't stop the quiet moan of relaxation from escaping, his initial reaction to protest quickly evaporating as his body started going limp.
"Lonny will take care of you," the female swampert said softly in leaning closer.
Moving his head just slightly, he glanced out of the corner of his eye. Blaze was wearing an interesting smirk while the other Pokémon were choosing to ignore them suddenly.
"…but finally the Police got tired of asking me the same question over and over," he heard Christina continue from across the room. "I think they'd be coming here next, so be prepared," she finished with a laugh, getting moans from the other humans.
He was suddenly more glad than he could remember in being a Pokémon. It meant he wasn't expected to talk. Except…he had been talking on the boat on the way back… Great. But maybe it wasn't too late to play dumb.
"My dad told everything that happened on the way to the island," Christina went on, "but tell me what happened on the island. I really want to know."
Sally and his human self exchanged glances before the later spoke: "Well, remember this man I told you about, Professor Werner?"
Leo listened quietly to his human self recap yesterday's events and of the Professor's heroic deed as Lonny continued her massage, working her way over his head and eventually down his shoulders and back to his rear fin. To both, he couldn't protest; Lonny's attentions felt really good and his other self was telling the story of what the Professor had done exactly as he would have. At some point, he closed his eyes, only to open them on the face of his partner.
"Had a good nap?" Blaze asked.
Quickly looking around, he found both Christina and Lonny gone.
"She left a while ago. Guess that massage was pretty good, ha ha! I sure wouldn't mind having one like that."
Again, if it wasn't for his blue skin, he'd be sporting red as the implication in his friend's tone was obvious. Deciding to return it: "Then maybe we need to find you some pretty female infernape soon. You aren't getting any younger, you know." The sudden snickering was coming from Wartortle, he noted.
Blaze blushed, his red face getting noticeably more so, but his smile faded after a moment. "Leo, if we can't get back to our world, what are we going to do here now?"
It was something that hadn't crossed his mind since they were heading to the island, and he couldn't help a look to Sally and his human self. They were talking quietly about…things. Chris was asleep. "Maybe Chris would like to use us in battles still," he suggested tentatively even as something else came to mind.
Blaze gave the short blonde-haired human a seemingly considering stare, before facing back and forming a frown. "You sound like you don't want to?"
Not so much that he didn't want to… Giving a shrug and a sigh from his prone position, "I don't know; was just thinking if it wouldn't be more fun to be a trainer…again." And the more he thought about it, the more the idea held appeal.
The infernape at first cocked his head, then let out a surprised-sounding laugh with arms folded across his chest and a whip of his red tail. "Ha ha! And I suppose you expect me to be your first Pokémon, then!"