"So, what now? Do we just leave it here or should we try to get it back to Petalburg?"
"It'll be fine. This is how battles go with wild Pokémon. Just leave it and let's go."
"But we just beat it until it fainted! How can you just say it'll be fine?"
Daren laughed silently at Sam and Naomi's fight. Sam still hadn't grasped the concept of a wild Pokémon fight and was confused on why they would just leave an injured Pokémon in the wilderness.
"Sam, this is how a fight works in the wild," Naomi said, grabbing Sam by his shoulders, "you have to understand that after a fight, the Pokémon that lost will be okay."
"Are you sure?" Sam asked after a pause. Naomi nodded and Sam sighed, "Fine. Let's get going then."
The group left the fainted Pokémon on the side of the road. They had departed from Petalburg and had been walking for an hour when a wild Pokémon jumped out from the tall grass. It challenged them to a fight, which Pyro agreed to happily. The Charmander hung back with Marla, examining his claws for random pieces of dirt or blood.
"Don't go thinking you're so great now," Marla teased, "You've only won one battle against a fresh Pokémon."
"No, I beat a Poochyena before I faced you," Pyro said in retaliation to the Marshtomp's taunting, "and I knocked out the last one in one shot. Are you trying to tell me that counts for nothing?"
"I am, because that wild one was really weak," Marla said, grinning at Pyro's look of hate, "Quite honestly, if you hadn't knocked it out on one shot, I would feel embarrassed for you."
Pyro gave her a weak push in his response. Marla giggled a little, aggravating him further. She was screwing with him and the Charmander couldn't do anything about it because she could probably kick his ass. He looked at Sam, who was walking by himself in the middle of the group.
Sam wasn't paying attention to anything. He was lost in his own, depressing thoughts and was completely oblivious to anything around him. He wanted to get to Kanto to be done with this job but at the same time he wanted to help Pyro evolve. That was the only reason why he was allowing him to fight. Those battles were slowing them down for his goal but helping Pyro to his.
Up ahead, Daren and Naomi were having a hushed conversation. Their low voices were unheard by Sam but Pyro was keeping an ear on them.
"Is Sam always so glum?" Naomi asked Daren. The blond boy looked back at Sam, whose eyes were locked to the ground.
"I don't know," Daren said with a shrug, "I've barely known him longer than you have. Now, this is just a guess, but I think the concussion may have changed how he acts. Is that possible?"
"Unfortunately, yes, it does happen," Naomi turned away from Sam and placed her attention to the road ahead. She searched for spot where the road would bend to the right, "I'm not going to bore you with science behind it but when the brain is damaged it leaves behind some changes. Sometimes, everything about them will be altered and there is no definite way of knowing if they will ever be back to normal."
"Just so you know, I don't mean to sound like a jerk but I'm getting tired of Sam. He seems like he doesn't care about anything but I've seen enough to know that isn't true. The kid ran into a fight to protect the Charmander that he seems to hate. It's like he has two personalities; the bitter one that we're seeing now and the caring one that's hidden."
"I know what you're saying. If I were travelling alone with him, I'd get sick of him too."
Laughter could be heard coming from ahead. Naomi knew that a small beach was hidden behind a thin stretch of trees to the left. She assumed that's where the excitement was coming from. As they drew closer, she noticed that the laughter sounded more like taunts. What they were saying wasn't clear yet but the Pokémon were clearly affected.
Marla and Pyro were talking rapidly to each other. The humans in front couldn't understand a word they were saying. Before either of them could react, the two Pokémon ran off. Daren called for Marla to come back but she didn't acknowledge him. He reached for his Pokéball but was stopped when Sam grabbed his arm.
"What're you doing?" Daren demanded from the scarred boy, "I need to return my Pokémon and so should you."
"Something's going down from where those noises are coming from," Sam told him, "we should keep our Pokémon out for this because I don't think what's happening is good."
He then proceeded to pursue the Pokémon, leaving Daren and Naomi stunned. Naomi was the first to react and began to run after Sam, yanking Daren's arm to get him to follow. The voices became clearer and they could make out the voices of humans along with the slow and dumb sounds of Magikarp. It sounded like another day at the beach to Naomi and Daren. People were laughing and having fun while the occasional Magikarp flops uselessly on the sand.
However, unlike Sam, they could not hear what was actually happening. He didn't know why, but he could hear the Magikarp's voices better than the ones belonging to the humans. He didn't know much about Pokémon but he was sure of one thing; Pokémon don't normally cry out for help.
He saw their Pokémon turn onto a narrow path, which lead into the forest to the left. His feet pounded on the hard dirt, releasing small clouds of dust behind him. The forest ended onto a beach and Sam nearly tripped over Pyro because they had stopped when the tree line came to an end. His scars twisted painfully as his face contorted in rage at the sight before him. Daren and Naomi joined him soon after and were equally revolted.
"Oh, dude, that is messed up!" Daren exclaimed. Messed up was putting it lightly. A gang of humans were tormenting a group of defenceless Magikarp. You could tell they were a gang because they were all dressed in red hoodies with the same black logo on the front. They were stomping on the weak creatures, punching them and one was even using a stick to pound one. Sam stepped forward, planning on beating every single one of them, but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"You can't help them," Naomi said in a soft voice, "I know you want to, but not in this state."
"So what do we do then?" Sam demanded, his voice filling with emotion, "we just sit here and watch those creatures get pounded? Better yet, how about we just walk away like this never happened?"
"She's saying you can't fight," Daren said, "but that doesn't mean our Pokémon can't."
Naomi saw the same hate burning in Daren's eyes that she saw in Sam's. Pyro and Marla were growling, waiting for their trainers' commands to fight. The two boys walked up to the gang.
"Who the hell do you think you are, treating Pokémon like that?" Sam yelled out in anger. The hooded figures stopped their thrashing of the Magikarp and turned towards them.
"We are Team Magma," one of them said, stepping out to the front. Sam assumed he was the leader of this group, "we strive to expand the earth's landmass. These pathetic Pokémon show how useless the beings of the water are, proving that they don't deserve to exist."
"People like you don't deserve to exist," Daren snapped and called out his other two Pokémon, "All Pokémon have the right to life and one group doesn't get to decide that for the rest of us."
"Poor, misguided child," the leader said. His tone alone made Sam want to punch him, "do you not understand that all important life lives on land? Humans need land or else we'd all die. Team Magma is doing humanity a favour."
"Guess what? We don't care," Sam told them. He looked at Daren, then to Pyro, "You ready?"
"Just give the word," the Charmander growled. Sam nodded to Daren to signal the attack. At once, the four Pokémon lunged at Team Magma, bowling them over. Sam wished he could join the fight but his friends were right. With the concussion, the risk of getting hurt further was really high. Their Pokémon seemed to be doing well enough without his help anyways.
Pyro was slashing like a mad man, leaving long, shallow cuts where ever his claws fell. Callum was battling two of the Pokémon the gang members managed to send out. They didn't stand a chance and the Mightyena quickly found a new opponent after savaging the previous two. Marla and Draco were working as a team, blasting away the members with their Water Gun and Dragon Breath attacks. A faint glow seemed to be surrounding the Marshtomp's body. Sam thought it was the sun reflecting off the water and found the sight to be hypnotising. The illusion was broken when a fist slammed into his gut.
"Stupid kid! You never interfere with Team Magma's work," the leader growled. Sam sank to his knees in pain and Daren rushed to his defence. He jumped on the leader's back but the larger man shrugged him off. He went to kick Sam in the face but the boy rolled out of the way, the foot missing his face by mere centimetres.
Sam got up and saw that the leader was now standing over Daren, preparing to stomp down on his the boy's face. Sam knew he would never make it in time but he ran at their assailant in hopes of tackling the man. He didn't need to do anything in the end because a powerful jet of water sent the man flying.
"What did you say again, that water Pokémon were inferior?" Marla roared as she rushed to her trainer's defence. Sam understood what the glowing was about. Marla had evolved from a Marshtomp into a Swampert in mid-battle. She blasted the leader again as he tried to get up, "try to get up again. I dare you."
The leader looked around and saw that they were losing, "Let's leave this pesky children, team, and get out of here," he ordered his gang. Team Magma called their battered Pokémon back and ran away, trying not to look like they were retreating. Sam wasn't watching the gang retreat. Instead, his attention was focussed on Daren, who had Marla in a tight embrace.
"I knew you were close to evolving!" Daren exclaimed. His smile was so wide it threatened to extend past his face, "All that work paid off!"
"I like that I evolved too, but it won't matter if you suffocate me," Marla managed in a breathless voice. Daren's hug was squeezing the air out of her. Daren got the message and let go of the Swampert. After being released, she sauntered over to Pyro and gave him a punch on the shoulder, "still think you can beat me now, cinder tail?"
Pyro scowled, "you just wait 'til I'm a Charmeleon, swamp breath, and then we'll see who's laughing."
Daren's other Pokémon went over to congratulate Marla. Sam didn't stay to watch and joined Naomi, who was trying to help all the injured Magikarp. She had an Abra with her, a Pokémon Sam didn't know she had. He crouched next to her.
"Are they all right?" he asked as she inspected one that was three feet long.
"From what I've seen, none have life threatening injuries," Naomi said, not taking her eyes off the Magikarp, "a few bruises but since they don't have bones there's not much to worry about."
Sam nodded and looked up at the sound of pained breathing, "you haven't checked all of them yet, have you?" he asked her. She shook her head and Sam stood up to find the source. He noticed a really small one which was barely a foot in length. It was whimpering, struggling feebly on the wet sand.
"Ow, my eyes, they hurt so much," it groaned in a really fast, male voice, "please make the pain go away. Please please please, they hurt so much!"
"Don't worry, I'm here to help," Sam said in a soothing voice, "do you think you can open your eyes so I can see what's wrong?"
With pained sobs, the Magikarp opened an eye. Sam's lungs seized at the sight of the injury, refusing to let any air in or out.
"Naomi, get over here now," Sam choked out when his breath returned, "and bring some potions."
"What's wrong?" she asked and crouched next to Sam. She asked the water Pokémon to open his eye again and the nurse-in-training recoiled at the sight, "Oh my... what happened to it?
Sam honestly didn't know. It would take one sick human being to inflict this injury upon a living creature. Blood streamed from the Magikarp's face, pouring out of his punctured eyes. Both of them had been stabbed by something sharp and the sight of the wound wanted to make Sam throw up.
"Get a hyper potion from my bag," Naomi ordered and Sam reached for her bag. A yellow bottle hovered next to him and floated into her hand. Sam looked up to see the Abra using its psychic powers to manipulate the object, "thanks Animus. Sam, I need you to hold it still while I apply the potion. Magikarp, I need you to hold your eyes open. This will hurt but it will feel better after, I promise."
The Magikarp whimpered an okay and Sam held his small body tight. It seemed that keeping his eyes open was extremely painful for him and when Naomi applied the potion, he writhed in agony. Even though it seemed to hurt him horribly, the Magikarp pulled through the ordeal. The potion worked fast, closing the wounds at a steady pace.
"Thank you so much, it feels so much better! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" he squealed in his rapid speech. He wriggled in delight and Sam cracked a smile at the Magikarp's joy. He turned to see the rest of his companions placing the other Magikarp back into the water. Sam did the same and once it was in the ocean, it swam happily. He zigzagged in the water before rejoining his group. Sam watched them for a minute before Daren nudged him with an elbow.
"Do you want to stay for a bit longer or should we continue?" he asked Sam. Sam took one last look at the Magikarp before heading towards the path. According to Naomi, it would lead them straight to Petalburg Woods along the seashore. The Pokémon were in the lead, still marvelling over Marla's new size.
"Do you think it'll heal?" Sam asked Naomi, careful of his use of pronouns.
"I can't be sure with eye injuries," Naomi said with a depressed sigh, "the cuts were deep so it may never regain its eyesight completely."
Sam was saddened slightly by this news. He had helped someone to the best of his abilities and yet it still may have not been enough. Pyro slowed down a little so he could walk next to Sam. His trainer surprised him by scratching his head affectionately.
"You did good out there," Sam said and looked down at the Charmander with a grin. Pyro knew that with those scars it hurt to smile that widely. Daren was right about Sam; he really did have two sides to him.
They hadn't walked more than five minutes when Sam heard a yell from behind them. His other human partners didn't notice it but he stopped.
"Hey, wait!" it shouted, its voice incredibly enthusiastic, "wait, just wait a moment! Oh, good you stopped, so watch out!"
The voice belonged to the small Magikarp who jumped out of the water and right into Sam's arms. The weight of the Pokémon knocked him back a step.
"Yes! Perfect landing!" he exclaimed, eyes shut in happiness, "I totally just guessed were you were, I swear."
"What do you mean you just guessed where I was?" Sam asked him. The rest of the group had stopped and turned back towards Sam.
"I can't see," the Magikarp said in a bright voice. He opened his eyes and Sam saw that the irises had turned into a milky blue colour. It was obvious that he was blind.
"Is this Team Magma's fault?" Sam demanded, his anger rising from the sight.
"What? No, I've always been blind," he said, still oddly happy despite all he had been through, "never been able to see since the day I was born."
"So, when you got stabbed in your eyes, that didn't do anything?"
"You mean other than hurt a lot? No, not at all," the Magikarp chuckled a little and Sam was going to ask another question before Daren interrupted.
"What are you doing, Sam?" he said. The tone of his voice was clearly a demand. Sam's eyes widened when he realized his mistake.
"I... I, um... I don't- I don't know what you're, um, talking about," he stammered out, scratching the back of his head.
"Smooth," Pyro said from the corner of his mouth.
"You are talking to a Magikarp," Daren stated flatly before his voice turned angry, "no one can understand what Pokémon say, let alone a freaking Magikarp!"
"I wasn't actually talking to it," Sam replied, trying to make Daren's argument sound ridiculous, "and what do you mean no one can understand Pokémon? It seems like you and your partners understand each other just fine."
"I can read their moods to see how they are feeling but I can't actually understand the words that they are saying," Daren said, his anger barely concealed behind his words, "you talk to your Pokémon like its nothing, you tell me my Pokémon's names and now you having a conversation with a Magikarp, a species that is known for how stupid they are. Sam, you literally can't read a Magikarp's emotions because their tone and their faces barely change."
"Well, my name's Tide in case you're wondering," the Magikarp said. Sam nearly missed what Tide said because he spoke so fast.
"I'm sorry, but am I missing something here?" Naomi asked hesitantly, her arm slightly raised like she was asking a question in class.
"In case you're wondering, Sam told me my Pokémon's names after barely a day of travelling with us," Daren said with a sigh of exasperation, "that is something I haven't managed to do in two years of travel and he managed it in less than a day. He pinned it on understanding Pokémon well but he told me that he didn't even like Pokémon. Pyro was given to him against his will as protection."
"Sam, he's right," Naomi said, her arms crossed across her chest. Her face wasn't angry, but concerned, "what aren't you telling us?"
Sam bit his lip, unsure on what to do. He looked down to Pyro, who shrugged as if to say 'it's up to you'.
"I didn't get you in trouble, did I?" Tide asked. His voice seemed sad but Sam couldn't read his face. Magikarp really didn't show their emotions. He sighed and shook his head.
"If I tell you my secret, you have to promise not tell anyone else," Sam told them. They both agreed to his one requirement. He didn't know if was relieved his secret would be safe or worried about how they would react but he told them the truth either way.
"Bullshit," Daren muttered, "that's impossible. Humans can't talk to Pokémon."
"I'm siding with Daren on this one," Naomi said, "even if you can talk to Pokémon, why are you doing a delivery job? You could become an amazing Pokémon researcher instead. Being able to communicate with them would advance that field so much."
"I know, I know," Sam groaned, having going through these arguments so many times with himself in his head, "that's the truth though. I didn't tell anybody because I don't want to be famous. If people knew about this gift, I'd be requested for non-stop. Who knows, maybe someone would try to kidnap me to learn my secrets. I'm not ready for that life."
"That's a stupid reason," Daren said, shaking his head, "but I guess it's sort of reasonable. I mean, Team Rocket has done some messed up things in the past. From what you told me, they did beat you near death for a package. I wouldn't put it past them to kidnap a kid who could talk to Pokémon and do experiments on him."
"At least you understand, Daren. Do you see why I choose this route, Naomi?" the girl looked uncomfortable, like she didn't know what to say.
"Yeah, I guess I understand," she mumbled but it was loud enough for everyone to hear, "it would be easier to train your Pokémon if you actually knew what they were saying."
"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to ask you something," Tide said from Sam's arms, "I know this is kinda random and I totally understand if you don't accept but I was wondering if I could join your team. One of the others in my group said that injuries heal when you evolve so it got me thinking that if I evolved into a Gyarados my eyes might heal and I could see again. I've been waiting for years for it to happen, but I think I need battle experience because it clearly hasn't happened yet. So what do you say? Can I join?"
Sam blinked a few times, trying to process Tide's request. It was really sudden and he didn't know how to respond to it.
"What did it say?" Daren asked, showing genuine interest.
"Um, he asked to join us so he could evolve and cure his blindness," Sam said, summarizing Tide's request. Daren made an indistinct noise in his throat and Naomi bit her lip.
"Sam, I need to talk to you before you decide," Naomi said. Sam walked over with Tide still in his hands before she stopped him, "no, just you and me."
Sam handed the Magikarp off to Daren and his Pokémon and walked with Naomi to the edge of the forest.
"What's up? Why do we need to talk?" Sam asked, confused by her behavior. She turned to him, her face grim.
"How long has he been blind?" she asked and Sam told her, "Well that's a problem. He's never seen a fight before. Plus, he's over five years old, which is old for his kind."
"How can you tell how old he is? And why does that even matter?"
"You can tell how old a Magikarp is by counting the number of notches on the fins on their sides, one notch for every year. His age matters because once they hit three years their chances of evolving fall drastically. Add the fact that he's never seen a fight before and the chances fall even further."
"What are you saying?" Sam asked quietly, fearing that he already knew the answer. Naomi looked at her feet before responding.
"The odds are stacked against him," she said quietly and then looked Sam directly in his eyes, "with his blindness and age, the chances of him evolving are next to zero."
Sam didn't know what to do. He stared back at their group. Marla was holding Tide in the air and tickling him under the fins. The Magikarp was laughing hysterically, squirming to get out of the Swampert's grasp. He seemed so happy. How would he respond if he were told that his dream could never come true?
"I'm sorry Sam, but you had to hear that," Naomi whispered beside him. Sam leaned against a tree behind him, sliding down to the ground. He tore his eyes off the happy scene in from of him and focussed on the dirt road. The young nurse sat beside him.
"You want to know a funny thing about chances," Sam said that so quietly that Naomi barely heard it, "three weeks ago, my parents were told that their son barely had a chance of ever coming out of a coma. They were told it would be nothing short of miracle if he ever recovered," he paused and looked at Naomi with somber eyes, "yet here I am, talking to you, even though the chances said I would never recover. So let me ask you this. If I can get a miracle, why can't Tide?"
Naomi said nothing as Sam stood up. He looked back briefly to see that her eyes shone with tears. He turned away and walked over to Daren.
"You make up your mind yet?" he asked as Sam approached, switching his attention from the Pokémon to the human. He didn't know why but he felt like Sam had betrayed him. Maybe he thought that they were friends, so the fact that Sam had been keeping a secret hurt him. Then again, he had only known the kid for a few days. It's unreasonable that he should know everything about him.
"Yeah, and I need to ask you a question," Sam said, "Can I borrow I Pokéball?"
Daren smiled a bit before handing him a shrunken ball from his pocket, "I hope you know what you're doing."
"I don't," Sam said with a grin and took the ball from Daren's hand and pocketed it, "but that's the fun of it."
Marla was still tickling Tide but stopped when Sam approached. She turned the Magikarp so he could face the human.
"Can I join?" Tide asked, his voice filled with joy at the possibility. Sam walked over to Marla and took to Magikarp from her webbed hands. He held him at arm's length.
"Tide... welcome to the team!"