Chapter 2: Hard earned Cash
"Ugh, we've been walking for hours, and we haven't seen a single city since Veilstone." Raiden complained. It was true though, it had been five hours since we had left the Pokémon centre and we hadn't stopped once. There were nothing but trees for as far as the eye could see.
"I think we might be lost."
"We aren't lost, Maverick." I replied.
"Hey look, it's that trainer with the Pikachu again!" Raiden exclaimed, gesturing with a paw. I looked up, he was right. The trainer in question was propped up against a tree, her Pikachu at her feet. We had tried to challenge her earlier but she refused on account of my newly acquired dragonite.
"Are you guys lost or something?" She quipped as we passed. I ignored the remark but I noticed Raiden nodding at her and rolling his eyes at me. Traitor.
We walked for another hundred meters or so before we entered a small grassy clearing. I decided enough was enough; "Okay guys, stop here a second. I could do with a break." Raiden promptly collapsed onto his side and Maverick sat down, crossing his legs. I sat down with them; passing around a canteen of water and some berries.
"Hey, I've always wanted to know; what's it like inside a pokeball?" I asked. "It depends on where the Pokémon feels the most comfortable." Raiden replied. "For me, it's your apartment in Veilstone." He continued. "What about you Mav?" He asked, turning to the orange dragon.
"Oh, uh, it's my old trainer's farm." He answered, staring up at the evening sky. I saw a thought flash in his eyes and he looked back down at me, his expression serious and cold. "Can I share something with you? It's pretty important." I was taken aback by this. "Yeah sure, mate. We are a team now; you should not have to carry your burdens by yourself." He seemed to appreciate this as his expression lightened slightly, before returning. "My old trainer was murdered." That was a kicker. Me and Raiden sat there in stunned silence, mouths agape. Maverick just stared at the ground, hugging his knees. Eventually I managed to speak up; "By who?" I asked, voice wavering.
"The Rockets." He replied, gaze not moving from the spot on the ground.
"But the Rockets are just petty thieves aren't they?" I was majorly confused by these events. The Rockets were known the world over for their insanely long winded plans to capture powerful Pokémon – and failing miserably.
"Those days are over." Raiden corrected. "Their leader, Giovanni has overhauled the whole organisation. Getting rid of the old members and recruiting mercenaries." He continued.
I cocked an eyebrow at him. "How do you know all this?" He gave me a quizzical look. "Hey, I watch the news, you play videogames." He had me there. "Heh, yeah. I do." I admitted.
"And my trainer vowed to close down on the organisation if he ever became champion." Maverick added. Drawing our attention. "So they made sure he never would." I could see the tears forming in the corners of his eyes and I put my hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "They got the rest of the team, too." He bit back a sob. "I was the only one who survived. My trainer, he released me and told me to get as far away as possible. And I did." He looked up once more, wiping the tears away.
"Raidens right, they are becoming a military superpower. And god knows they are planning something." The dragonite said.
I thought about this new information; "Military superpower? Like the"-
"Like the Russians?" Came a distinctly Russian voice.
We all turned to face the newcomer. He was male, probably in his late twenties or early thirties, jet black hair and slight stubble. The most noticeable thing about him though was the camouflage gear he was wearing with the ranger emblem emblazoned on the shoulder, as well as the large nidoqueen looming over his shoulder.
He shuffled his feet in the grass awkwardly. "Eh, sorry, I was just on patrol and I heard you guys talking, I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't check everything was okay."
"No, that's fine. I can appreciate that." Maverick replied. I had noticed he hadn't taken his eyes off of the nidoqueen since its arrival. That will be something to tease him about later.
The Ranger noticed his gaze hand gestured to the large blue Pokémon. "Sorry, where are my manners? This is Galina. She doesn't speak English yet though. I am Boris Vetrov, or officer Vetrov. Whichever you prefer." He said with a laugh. His nidoqueen tapped him on the shoulder. "Ты закончила изводить эти люди? Мы увидим их снова так или иначе.." She said, in what I thought was a criticizing manner.
"У нас еще есть три часа нашего сдвиг влево, вы хотите, чтобы бродить вокруг станции до тех пор?" Boris replied. I wasn't sure I liked not knowing what they were saying. Galina nodded and the Ranger turned back to us. "It was a brief visit but I have to bid you farewell. We will see each other again." He stated before turning and heading off back into the treeline, Galina leading the way.
Raiden was the first one to comment; "That was… Unusual." I nodded. "No kidding." I agreed.
We sat in silence for several minutes, staring in the direction the duo left. Eventually, I spoke up again; "Maverick, you can fly, right?"
"Yes, of course." He answered, flexing his wings. "How fast can you go?" I asked, leaning forward. He thought for a moment before replying; "Fast enough to break the sound barrier. I can outrun an F22 raptor quite easily." He said with pride evident on his face. "It's starting to get dark, could you scout around a bit, see if you can spot a town nearby?" I asked. "Yeah, I can do that." He replied before effortlessly taking to the skies and speeding off.
The sun was beginning to disappear over the horizon, giving the clouds a pinkish glow and casting ever longer shadows over the plain. I stared off into the sky, my luxray doing the same as he sat by my side. "I gotta say, Jack. This is nice, out here, with good company. It really makes you feel like you are part of something." Raiden stated, gaze unmoving. "I hear you. It's great, ain't it?" I replied.
"Look, I know I give you a hard time sometimes, but you know I don't mean it, right?" He said after a while. I ruffled the fur on his head. "Don't ever change, Raiden." I stated, getting a smile from him.
"What do you think of Maverick?" I asked. "He seems like a nice guy, happy for someone with a past like his." He stated. "He's still lost, you know. He hasn't found his place in the team yet." Raiden continued. "Yeah, we can help him with that. That's why I sent him out just now. He needs to find something he can do for this team, something no one else can."
Eventually, Maverick returned; with a stack of wood in his arms. "The nearest town is Solaceon, but it's at least a three hour walk from here; so I thought we could camp here for the night." He stated, dropping the pile of logs. "Thanks Mav." I said, but he dismissed it with a wave of a clawed paw. "It's no problem, really. Besides you did save me earlier."
"Maverick, you didn't choose me as your trainer just because of that did you?" I asked in as stern a tone as I could muster. "You don't owe me anything, you know."
"No! It's not that!" He was sounding flustered, looking at me with pleading eyes. "I want to be on this team, with you and Raiden." He paused for a moment. "I just felt it was time to move on. Time to realise that Keith isn't coming back, and when I saw you defend a Pokémon you didn't even know I just knew I couldn't let the opportunity pass." He stared at the ground, looking too sad for me to bear. There was something about a sad dragonite that I just couldn't handle.
"Mav, I'm sorry. That wasn't fair of me." I said, holding out a hand. "Are we good?" He took my hand in his paw and shook. "We're good" he said.
We were all sat in silence again, Maverick having lit the fire with a flamethrower attack. The sun had completely set by then. Pink clouds yielding to the dark blanket of night, being pierced only by the masses of shimmering white stars.
"What's in the bag, Mav?" Raiden asked the dragonite, spying him rummaging around in his backpack. "Oh, just some of my things; mainly photos n' stuff." He spotted something. "I have this, though." He said, producing an acoustic guitar from the large rucksack. "Keith taught me how to play." He stated, giving the instrument a strum. "Well go on then." The luxray goaded. "Give us a song!" "Well, there is this one song I know." The dragonite said before starting to play. His claws well suited for plucking the strings. After a short intro; he started to sing.
"I hear the train a comin'
It's rollin' 'round the bend,
And I ain't seen the sunshine,
Since, I don't know when,
I'm stuck in Folsom Prison,
And time keeps draggin' on,
But that train keeps a-rollin',
On down to San Antone.
When I was just a baby,
My Mama told me, 'Son,
Always be a good boy,
Don't ever play with guns,'
But I shot a man in Reno,
Just to watch him die,
When I hear that whistle blowin',
I hang my head and cry.
I bet there's rich folks eatin',
In a fancy dining car,
They're probably drinkin' coffee,
And smokin' big cigars,
But I know I had it comin',
I know I can't be free,
But those people keep a-movin',
And that's what tortures me.
Well, if they freed me from this prison,
If that railroad train was mine,
I bet I'd move out over a little,
Farther down the line,
Far from Folsom Prison,
That's where I want to stay,
And I'd let that lonesome whistle,
Blow my Blues away."
He finished with a few more strums. "That was great Mav!" Raiden exclaimed. I nodded in agreement. "That was Folsom Prison Blues, wasn't it?" I asked, rising an eyebrow "Yeah, Keith really liked this sort of music, so I picked it up from him." Maverick replied, placing the guitar back in its bag.
We talked for what must have been several more hours before the day's events took its toll on our tired bodies; and one by one we drifted off to sleep.
Soon, the only noise for miles around was the crackling embers of the campfire.