Blanche and Candela stood side by side, gazing in awe at the ruined lab. The floor-to-ceiling windows had been shattered, and the shards of glass sprawled across the tile and glinted with each flash of lightning. Blanche was reminded of constellations, a beautiful chaos with subtle patterns to trace. Chunks of plaster dropped from above and cracked on the floor. Some of the machines had been knocked over and lay in pieces over top of each other. Paperwork was glued to the ground with rainwater, or else tumbled across the lab with each burst of wind that came through the broken windows. Though the generator still functioned downstairs, the upstairs electrical had been obliterated by the elements, and an unsettling darkness encased the lab.
Blanche couldn't help but think of a graveyard.
Candela took a few cautious steps away from the entrance to the basement before calling out her ponyta. "Watch your step, Flicker," she told the pokémon.
The ponyta – Flicker – ducked his head obediently and picked a careful path through the rubble. The howling wind carried a mist inside that made the fire pokémon recoil, but without his light, Blanche knew they couldn't cross the area safely. Slow and steady, the group made their way to the front door, which had been blasted from its hinges and hung to the side at an odd angle.
Outside, the world was a wasteland. The town was just as dark as the lab. Tattered flags whipped in the wind above the businesses. Plastic bags and newspapers rolled through the streets, occasionally spinning up into miniature twisters, then dying down and being whisked into the currents of runoff that flowed down the streets in rivers. Signs, shopping carts, potted plants, anything that hadn't been nailed down before the storm were strewn across the sidewalks and clumped in parks and gardens.
Even the small hospital on the opposite side of town lay dark. Fortunately, it was never really a bustling place, but from where Blanche stood, it looked utterly deserted.
"They don't have the advantage of the high ground like we do," Blanche said, pointing toward the hospital. "There generators must have flooded. There's nowhere for all this water to go."
"This is a disaster," Candela said hoarsely. Flicker nibbled at her hand, looking for reassurance. She stroked his bright mane, the flames licking harmlessly through her fingers, but couldn't tear her eyes away from the devastated town below them.
Blanche checked their communicator, but there was still no signal. The singular tower that carried the signal must have been destroyed, too. Why had the professor wanted his lab in such a Podunk town? They jammed the communicator back in their coat and sighed through their nose.
"He doesn't have time to wait for the storm to pass. If the weather system is as large as they reported earlier, we might not see sunlight for the next few days," Blanche said. "Our communicators are useless while the tower is down and the power is out at the hospital."
Candela, who prided herself on her fearlessness, looked at Blanche with wide, terrified eyes. "What do we do? Go get a doctor and bring them back?"
Lightning split the sky, followed seconds later by thunder.
"We can't put someone else in danger. Or take a doctor away from helping whatever patients are already at the hospital. It could be chaos over there if they don't have a pokémon power source keeping the machines running," Blanche reasoned. Surely, they had an electric pokémon rig to run just the essential life-saving machines during blackouts. Even so, Blanche couldn't justify pulling a doctor away from an emergency and forcing them into inclement weather to help Spark. With the amount of blood he'd already lost, he might not have time for that anyway.
"We'll take Spark to them, then," Candela said, reaching the same conclusion.
"No," said Blanche.
"No?" Candela echoed, incredulous.
"Professor Willow's anxiety over the storm is preventing him from thinking clearly. Coupled with the massive damage his lab has taken, he's in no state of mind to venture into this weather. He'd just be someone else to take care of," Blanche said.
Candela spread her arms as she became more exasperated with Blanche. "OK, so, I'll go then."
Blanche crossed their arms. "No. The professor needs you with him. More than that, the pokémon need you. You've been keeping them calm and safe from the storm so far. Without you, they could panic."
Blanche recalled the petrified vulpix Candela had protected earlier. Without her there, the vulpix might have darted into the storm, just like the meowth Spark had rescued. Candela had taken the time to transport the pokéballs to safety, and had made sure to comfort any pokémon in distress.
"Professor Willow and the pokémon all need your compassion right now," Blanche said. "Spark needs my logic. I'll take him there alone."
Candela searched Blanche's face, and they knew she was trying to gauge their seriousness. Flicker shook his head in agitation, and Candela reflexively steadying him by placing her arm across his withers. He leaned his head against her chest. Blanche could actually see the realization enter Candela's head as her face loosened and shoulders relaxed.
Candela met Blanche's eyes. "Blanche…"
Blanche looked aside so they wouldn't have to acknowledge the worry in Candela's face. "I have a plan."
§
In the basement, Willow had finished binding Spark's wound with the towels and lengths of stretchy bandaging tape Candela had recovered from the main floor. Spark lay on his front on a makeshift sleeping pad formed of blankets and piles of old t-shirts from the event Willow had thrown for the facility's grand opening. Willow held one of the shirts in his hands, tenderly running his thumbs over the stitching, admiring the art of his laboratory that decorated the front.
Candela knelt beside him. "Professor, I'm so sorry…"
Willow smiled and folded the shirt. His eyes were rimmed with red, but he looked more together than Blanche had expected, considering much of his life's work had just been demolished. "These things happen. I'm only glad we were all downstairs for it. It's only a building and some equipment. I'm sure there are some very confused trainers trying to transfer pidgeys to our tag-and-release database, though."
Candela grinned and chucked him lightly on the shoulder. "They were going to burn out that system anyway. How's Spark?"
Willow sighed. "Hard to tell. His breathing is more regular, but he's out cold. It's strange seeing him so… quiet."
Blanche nodded. "It's for the best. The less he moves around, the better his chances are while I'm transporting him to the hospital."
Willow stood and brushed the dust from his pants. "You can't be serious…"
"There's no other choice," Blanche stated. "I'll use my venusaur to cross the town. If he stays here, he's as good as dead."
"They know what they're doing, Professor," Candela said, and Blanche was surprised by the warm sensation in their chest that flared when Candela backed them up. "We need to be here for the pokémon, and Blanche needs to be there for Spark."
Willow planted his fists on his hips and looked from Candela to Blanche. The stress of the day was etched into his face, and his eyes were dull and tired. He had no option but to agree with their plan. Time was running out, and he had no better arguments than Candela had made.
"Blanche, are you sure? Are you ready to do this?" he asked. "From the reports I can still hear on the radio, we're not out of the woods yet. It's dangerous out there."
Spark coughed and moaned quietly from his pallet. Blanche had been hoping he'd stay totally out for their journey. The suffering they'd seen on his face earlier had made their stomach churn.
"It must be done. I'm ready," said Blanche resolutely. "Candela?"
Candela called for Brutus, and the machoke appeared from his pokéball and obligingly lifted Spark from the floor upon Candela's request. Candela and Brutus moved for the stairs, but Blanche lingered to get a read on Willow.
In that moment, he seemed so old. An invisible force weighed on the professor's shoulders that Blanche couldn't hope to understand. They comprehended the extent of the loss to the lab, but they knew it was different for Willow. He'd called it his "baby," and Blanche had giggled at the thought. But now Blanche could see the heartache hanging like a dark shroud around him, and the sting of the loss set it more than it had before.
A page of their life had been torn from its place and cast into the eternally hungry mouth of the storm.
"Spark is going to be OK," Blanche told him. "We're all going to be OK. We can go on from here."
Willow smiled at them, but it was a weary smile, a facsimile of his usual wry grin. "Be safe, then. And be wise."
Blanche straightened their posture. "Of course."
"And be kind."
Blanche wasn't sure what to make of that one. "Professor?"
"Blanche! Hurry up! I though you said there was no time to lose!" Candela called.
With one last questioning glance at Professor Willow, Blanche headed for the stormy world above.
§
"OK, OK, but are you really sure you can do this?"
Blanche clenched their fist at Candela's question. "My venusaur is resolute in all conditions. If we follow the path I've planned, we'll reach the hospital before dark."
"Hard to get darker than this," Candela noted, pointing at the ominous clouds above them.
"When night falls, it will be," Blanche said.
They stood under the lab's marquee, braced against the wet wind that swiped at them. Blanche's venusaur squatted low to the ground while Blanche hopped into place behind the pokémon's head, next to Spark, who was held in place by the venusaur's vines. The venusaur wasn't fast, but he was sturdy and focused. Slow, certain steps would be the key to traversing the flooding streets.
"Then you'd better get moving," Candela said. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she tried to conserve the heat that the rain threatened to steal from her.
Blanche nodded their head once in affirmation. Next to them, Spark winced and shivered, but didn't wake up. His lips had turned completely blue. Time weighed heavy in Blanche's mind. They nudged the venusaur forward, into the rain, and the pokémon obeyed without hesitation.
"Don't let him die!" Candela continued.
Blanche resisted the urge to roll their eyes. "That's the idea, yes."
"And you better not die either!"
Blanche waved at Candela over their shoulder, tired of the obvious advice. If Candela shouted anything else, Blanche couldn't hear it. Though the massive petals of their venusaur protected Spark and themself from the elements, the sound of the wind and rain was deafening. The cold weight of fear settled in Blanche's stomach, but they didn't dare turn back.
The only option Blanche could permit was to keep moving forward, into the looming maw of the storm.