Chapter Four:
News

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon in any way, shape, or form. The only "ownership" I can claim are the personalities and my interpretation of howPokémonlook in a more realistic light, but other than that...yeah, I don't own anything on them. XD I do, however, own my original characters and writings, unless otherwise stated. In an exceptional case, a few special OCs belong to their respective owners, I'm merely borrowing them for the story that's to unfold. I'll point them out when their time to show up comes. :3

Note: Thank you the Anon who reviewed! I'm glad you're liking the story so far!:D I also wish to thank Doomedsoul74. I hope that more people get a look at this as well, although there's no guarantee, sadly enough. But, in the meantime, hopefully, I'll continue to live up to expectations of others like you who drop on by and read!

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"So, do you want the good news first or the bad news?"
"Is the order at all relevant?"
"You know, people like to get the bad news first so the conversation ends in happiness."
-Booth and Dr. Brennan, "Bones"

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She woke with a start, her heart thundering away in her chest and a cold sweat drenching her. Her limbs were shaking as she sat up while trying to steady her erratic, panicky breaths. It took a minute or two to focus as she stared around the darkened room. A hand flew to grip the side of her head, to run through her sweat-covered hair. Already, whatever it was that had awoken her was gone. It was the same as every night. She knew she had nightmares, of something dark and unnatural and terrifying; she felt that panic and fear every time she woke up, but upon waking…nothing. No trace of what it was, no memory stuck. Nothing was remembered, except that lingering terror that made her gut clench and twist in the pit of her abdomen, and the continuous feeling of unrest.

Swinging her legs over the pullout couch, she tottered toward the bathroom, not bothering to turn on the lights and started up the shower. She stripped clumsily, her hands shaking like leaves in the wind. Finally, she pulled herself into the steady stream of water, tense muscles slowly easing and relaxing as the heat applied itself. She checked her waterproof watch on her wrist and grimaced. Four-thirty in the morning…no way she was getting back to sleep now. She quickly washed up, wondering why she had even bothered with nightly showers when she did the same in the morning after her night terrors woke her. Soon, she felt the shakes and uneasy feeling leave her, and she felt somewhat normal by the time she finished in the shower.

By five, she was dressed and clean, and went to the little kitchenette to eat something, anything, to ease her still roiling stomach. She found some bagels and a tub of cream cheese as a result of her searching. She eased into the makeshift breakfast, not really feeling the urge to cook. By five-thirty, she finished and brewed some coffee and filled a mug for herself. Then she turned to the morning ritual of preparing the pokémon's food bowls.

When six came rolling on by, she was finished filling the bowls and a third of the way with distributing the food to the wary creatures. Phillip made his way into the lab not long after, stretching and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Morning," he greeted with a yawn.

"There's a fresh pot of coffee waiting," she replied, giving a curt nod in return toward the kitchen. His face lit up and he made a beeline for the room with a hurried 'oh thank Arceus'. Her ears gave the faintest twitch under her hat at that, and a question bubbled up at the name 'Arceus', although she squirreled it away for later conversation. Another pokémon name, she was sure, but she didn't recognize it. Then again, there were many she didn't recognize. She refocused on the task of doling out the morning food to the pokémon. Professor Elm came hurrying into the lab just as she finished the last of the feedings and was gathering up a few empty bowls.

He was in a hurry, she noted off the bat, anxious and excited and agitated in his movements. Lupin paused to watch his excitement with curiosity plainly painting her face, although the professor didn't seem to notice. Phillip came out of the kitchen bearing two mugs while sipping from one. He came to stand beside Lupin, who was drinking from her own mug that she had brought out with her.

"Is…he okay?"

"He gets like this sometimes. Especially close to presentations."

"Presentations?" She queried back, looking puzzled. Phillip made a soft noise at the back of his throat.

"Ohhh, that's right. You don't know—sorry," he said before clearing his throat. "Professor Elm travels all over to present his research findings every couple of months to different regions, alongside other head researchers and professors. Seminars and conferences, mostly. There's going to be one in Kanto in about a week, so he's been preparing everything since the last one, including new discoveries to his studies. He'll be leaving for Goldenrod tomorrow morning. He'll only be gone for a week, mind you, it's a small conference, so you don't have to worry too much."

"And you?"

"Oh, I sometimes go, when it's necessary. But that usually means finding somebody else to look after the lab and the pokémon, so I don't usually go. Most labs can afford two assistances, but Professor Elm has only had me for the last few years. Hasn't really petitioned to get another assistant. Well, up until you came along of course." He grinned, took another drink and added, "But I'm staying this trip, so you don't have to worry about being here alone. You don't know how to run all the machinery and equipment here in the lab, and I have to be here to monitor them. For example, we have several medical panels that take several days to run for results, and somebody needs to be here when they finish up. We're running several as of right now, otherwise I would have gone if nothing of high importance was pending results."

He shrugged, as though that was the best explanation he could offer. Lupin quirked her lips, but didn't press for further details. So the professor was leaving. That crossed off one less thing to worry about. She still felt a kind of skittishness about Phillip remaining around, however, if…well…

Her thoughts came to a halt when the professor came hurrying over, as though suddenly attuned to Lupin and Phillip's existence in the lab. The first thing Phillip did was offer the mug of coffee, and the professor nabbed it without a word and took a long draft. He drained nearly half of it before sighing in relief.

"Oh, thank you. I needed that. Now. On to business. Phillip, I'll be taking a few of the pokémon with me," he nodded to the taller man. Phillip twitched, suddenly alert to the notion.

"Not the starters, I hope?"

"No, no. I know it's nearing that season again, although this year seems to be very slim pickings. Not many trainers leaving for their journey and needing our starters, I'm afraid. The pokémon might be waiting a little longer than usual, but I'll leave them here, just in case we get an unexpected caller."

Then the professor looked to Lupin. "As for you…I actually have a request for you, if you're up to it, that is."

This piqued Lupin's interest, as well as Phillip's. Catching the other man's inquiring gaze, Professor Elm smiled. "It's Mr. Pokémon again. He's found another intriguing item."

Lupin, understandably, didn't quite comprehend, although from the resigned sigh from Phillip, he did.

"Another 'rare' oddity, I presume?"

"Actually, yes. It's a pokémon egg this time, though," the professor nodded, then glanced back at Lupin and her disquieted gaze and explained, "Mr. Pokémon is merely a nickname our associate's gained over the last several years. His real name's Graham Wardson, but everyone calls him by Mr. Pokémon because, well…he has his eccentricities."

He motioned for the two to follow him to an open workstation across the way from the nursery where the starter pokémon were ambling about in. The other pokémon were in their rooms as well, until afternoon playtime. The only one out and about was Phillip's Meowth, who was rarely seen, except around mealtimes. She didn't care much for playing, so it seemed to Lupin.

Professor Elm booted up the computer and after a few minutes of awkwardly waiting for the system to warm up, he pulled up his email inbox. The most recent email was selected and a quick selection of the attached files showed pictures of an egg, just as he'd said. Lupin stared and Phillip made a surprised noise.

"Is that a Togepi egg? How in the hell did he get his hands on that? They're incredibly rare, especially the eggs!"

"That's what I need found out. I need you here at the lab while I'm gone, Phillip, so perhaps if Lupin is up for the task, she could travel to Mr. Pokémon's home and retrieve it."

"That's nearly a week's travel there and another back again, Professor Elm," Phillip said with a hint of reservation in his tone. Lupin ignored it, intent on the photograph on the screen. She leaned forward a little more, to study it. The photograph was a little grainy on the details, but it was clear enough to be identified as an egg, and it was a strange looking one at that. It was largish, a clean and pristine white, with intermittent triangular designs in bright blue and red spotting the eggshell.

"What's a Togepi?" She raised her voice above the two's fervent whispering. The back and forth stopped behind her and she straightened, looking between the two men. Professor Elm cleared his throat.

"Togepi are incredibly rare pokémon. Researchers are rarely afforded the chance to study one up close. We have no clue where they breed or live, only that on very rare occasions, an egg appears, usually among breeders or daycare centers. And this is an equally rare chance to study one. Not many trainers have them to begin with, and are rather protective of them."

Lupin nodded a bit, understanding. Rare pokémon. Got it. She could tell by the tone of his voice and the sudden waft of hormones that he was simple awash in giddiness at the prospect of seeing one. Excited for science, apparently.

She motioned toward the computer screen. "And you wanted me to just…go to this guy's house and pick up the egg?"

"Well…that's the thing. It's almost a week there, and then almost a week back. He lives a ways away. Not—not like in Olivine or Cianwood, no. It's past the next town, Cherrygrove City, but well before Violet City or the Dark Cave. There's a road you can follow pretty much all the way there, so it'd be hard to get lost." He smiled, as though that did sound easy enough. Lupin frowned, a little unnerved, although she tried to keep it off her face. She drummed her fingers against the desk as she leaned on it. Phillip took her extended silence as way of an answer and turned to the professor.

"If you can wait until you get back from your conference, I can go. You shouldn't be sending her out, she—"

"Hey. I'm right here," she interrupted, shooting the other man a peeved look. She hated it when either of them did that. Treating her like she was delicate or wasn't in the same room as them when they talked about her. Phillip closed his mouth with an audible clack of his teeth, looking appropriately abashed at being chastised by the small woman. She sighed, lips pursed. She wanted to know what was going to happen a few nights from now, and she couldn't do that here, not with the professor or Phillip around. If she changed…if there was a risk of being seen…

She finally gave a jerking nod.

"I'll go. I've been feeling cooped up lately. I think maybe…getting out would be good for me, ya know?"

A pensive, thoughtful look crossed Professor Elm's visage for a moment, while Phillip looked uncertainly onward at the young woman. She shot him another warning look. She was an amnesiac, not an invalid. She nearly opened her mouth to say as such, to remind him that she wasn't a helpless child, but the professor cut in quickly before the words could form on her tongue.

"Great! Now, I know I have an extra satchel around here somewhere, you could borrow that—and I can have any supplies you'll need for the trip charged to the lab, just go out in town and get it, you'll be all right. As for a pokémon, I suppose I could lend you one of the starters. Let them get a chance to see a little more of the world—"

Lupin cut him off abruptly with a wave of her hands.

"Whoa, whoa. Hold it. I don't need a pokémon. I can get along fine without one."

The chipper and beaming expression the professor had been exuding crumpled in on itself, replaced by perplexity and worry.

"You found me alone. It probably was for a reason."

"Your team could've been separated from you…" The argument was already down before it could achieve lift. Phillip fell silent at another steely gaze sent his way.

"No records of me. Remember? No team, no identity. And not everyone travels with pokémon. You told me that, professor. I can manage."

"But do you even know how to survive in the wild if you got lost?"

"Boil water, don't burn green stuff, don't eat weird plants, use the sun as a pinpoint for location. Using a map helps too." It was all off the top of her head, but she felt a familiarity with the prospect of camping in the woods. Besides, she had more power to her senses, more range and strength to rely on. She doubted she could get lost that easily.

"I'm an amnesiac, not an invalid," she finally stated, the words suddenly booming back to the forefront of her mind. "I can handle myself. You said it yourself, there's a road that I can follow. I doubt wild pokémon jump on the main path looking for a fight."

"You'd be surprised," Phillip muttered, although from the look on his face, he could already see nothing he had to say would affect her decision. The professor reflected this, but he looked…worried. More so than she would have liked.

"If you think you can handle it…I mean, you did come tumbling out of the mountains, and if you're right about it, you came out alone. And that's pretty rough territory. I don't understand why you'd want to do it by yourself, but you must have had your reasons, and…you must've been good enough to avoid being attacked by wild pokémon in that mountain range without pokémon of your own. They're very powerful, so it is rather impressive…"

It probably helps not being a human, Lupin thought impassively, only giving him a quiet nod. But it did add another question to the growing list: why would she be roaming the mountains alone? Another question she had no answers to. She sighed, downing the last of her coffee, then started for the kitchen.

"I'll go to the store now, if that's all right. I'd like to make use of all the daylight I have and get some headway."

"Of course. I'll have to find that satchel, but it'll be waiting for you when you get back."

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It was midmorning by the time Lupin returned, laden with supplies she had charged to the lab's tab—although she kept things on the simple side and didn't go for the most expensive items. If she left the lab for a more permanent extended period of time, she could upgrade later on. Phillip was attending to the pokémon while the professor was compiling all his research for travel when she got back. She eyed the various creatures that skittered about the main floor of the lab, but some stopped to stare beadily at her. She froze at their stares, a brief falter in her steps, before skirting around them. She felt their eyes on her as she moved to a more secluded section of the lab, placing her gear on an empty work table.

Phillip paused in his activities, giving her a faint nod, then motioned to the professor's office.

"He's found the satchel. Pretty sturdy looking thing. Might want to start packing if you want to get out of here by noon." He hesitated, then added, "You don't have to go."

"I want to go. I'll be fine."

From the tension in his frame, the knitting of his brow, and the way he pursed his lips, she could tell he didn't quite believe that. On a certain level, she could understand. She wasn't exactly the average person. She didn't know who she was, or where she'd come from, and it might have affected her judgment to a point. What she might have been confident and well learned in, she might not have that in her current state.

But to have doubt lingering in the air was like allowing poison to remain. It left a bad taste in the back of her mouth. She felt a small amount of guilt for worrying the two, but at the same time, she didn't want to be babied and fussed over. She wasn't a child, far from it. From the dog tags and her birth date coinciding with the current one, she was in her early thirties. She could hardly call herself defenseless. Maybe she was a little clueless on some of the inner workings with the world at the moment, to be honest, but not completely and utterly incompetent. She could figure things out.

She offered a meek smile, trying to look reassuring and she waved a hand at him, as though to dispel those doubts and worries. Phillip paused as he stooped toward the ground, Chikorita tumbling toward him, although the little creature kept a leery eye on Lupin."If I run into trouble, I'm sure I can smoke signal you guys. Trust me. I think a few days out and about would benefit me more than staying cooped up or wandering around town. Besides…that guy at the Pokémart keeps hitting on me. I dunno if he's joking or being serious anymore."

Recognition lit up in Phillip's eyes as he straightened, cradling the little Chikorita in his arms. She nuzzled against him, somewhat content. "What, Gabe? He's harmless. He does the same to me when I make pickups or orders."

"Oh. I…was honestly not expecting that." She blinked, a little taken aback, but she calmed. Okay, she could roll with that. Phillip laughed, patted Chikorita gently on the head and set her back down to let her go traipsing off after Cyndaquil and Totodile. A Granbull, Pidgeotto, and Sentret trio watched from nearby, calm and relaxed. Phillip's Meowth, Jewel, soon joined the three, quiet and slinky, eyes half-closed in a lazy manner.

"Yeah, Gabe's quite a character, but he's pretty harmless. He flirts with any new face that comes his way, but he generally doesn't make any real moves on anyone who doesn't reciprocate. Says it 'goes against his code' or something of the sort. You're not the first, you won't be the last," Phillip explained, coming over to eye the parcels that Lupin had slowly been unpacking as they spoke.

He sifted through one or two items, but largely remained quiet about her choices. He did pause at a book she had picked up while at the store, and a thin, wry smile lifted his lips up.

"You say you don't have any interests in taking any pokémon with you, but you snagged a book about them."

"I'd rather have an idea of what's out there. Better to know what you're facing than running around blindly. I'm not completely inept." She responded, turning to start toward the professor's office. She could hear him rummaging about, making a commotion, and she hoped the satchel didn't get reburied. "I'll finish packing and clean up a little in the room I was using before going."

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She left a little later then she would have liked, but it didn't deter her from putting as much distance between her and New Bark Town. It was bright and balmy, the temperature comfortable, as it had been for the last few weeks. She'd bought a map to study the routes to find Mr. Pokémon's home, and Professor Elm had been right: the trails were pretty straightforward. It would be difficult to lose her way between here and there. She practically didn't need a map.

Hefting the pack more securely onto her shoulders, she kept a steady pace down the road. In New Bark Town, it was small but modernized in the barest of senses. The townspeople didn't want to dull the sense of traditional travel with too many cars or other motorized vehicles. People walked nearly everywhere, with few exceptions. Pokémon seemed to be the favored source of transportation if speed was needed, such as those that can utilize Teleport or Fly, or Surf for those encountering bodies of water too big to cross without aide. And then there were those pokémon large enough that humans could ride upon their backside, which helped ease some traveling burdens….

Or at least, that's what Lupin had read in one of the books she had found lying around the lab.

Her shoulders only ached in the slightest when she finally stopped to pitch for camp later that evening. Digging up a fire pit, collecting firewood, and unpacking a few pieces of her gear took less than an hour. From the smell of things, there was another camp not too far from her, perhaps a mile up the road, the fire already crackling away. Faintly, she could hear voices, just barely, woven together with the settling daytime noises and the awakening nocturnal sounds.

Other trainers, her mind automatically supplied before belated, she added, but I'm not a trainer, just a traveler.

She got her own campfire going, and stalled in setting up the rest of her gear to enjoy the smoky scent for a few minutes. With a sigh, she finally resigned herself to pulling out a quickie meal she could warm up over the fire.

When it grew dark, she shed her jacket and tipped her hat off, allowing her ears and tail to stretch as she ate. The chirruping of daily birds all but ceased as the sun had gone down and when the darkness settled, the realm of nocturnal creatures began to spring to life in earnest. Insects chirruped and buzzed. The occasional hoot of an owl echoed faintly. Her ears gave a languid twitch every once in a while at the noises, finding them somewhat comforting compared to the constant humming of all the machinery that littered the lab. She wouldn't go so far as to call it familiar in the sense of recognition, but it was reassuring at the very least. Everything she had done had been automatic, without thought, and her body seemed to know more of what to do than her own headspace did. Skills she doesn't remember learning coming to life as her hands worked made her wonder just what kind of life she led. It wasn't the first time and she knew it wouldn't be the last, either

She poked at the fire after she was done, occasionally diverting embers here or a branch there to evenly distribute things and keep it going. She checked her watch, gave her surroundings a scan before tossing her stick into the fire. Time to turn in, she reasoned, if she wanted an early start.

Gathering her unused gear, she started tucking them away into her bag, but paused when she spotted something…out of place. Something she was sure she hadn't put in. Reaching in, she wrapped her hand around it, felt the smoothness of its rounded shell and lifted. Her hand barely pulled it beyond the lip of the pack before recognition sprung on her and a split second later, the smooth pokéball she had in her hand split open.

A startled snarl-gasp strangled itself in her throat, lodged and unmoving as light bounced away from the core of the split device and landed squarely in front of her. Already she could feel her blood boiling as the silhouette took form and solidified.

Blue scales and crimson ridge plates gleamed in the firelight, with yellow-red eyes reflecting briefly, turning white-green. Then the head turned and a crooked smile eased itself on Totodile's face and her tail bristled at the croaky, rattling laugh he gave off.

"'Bout time you let me out. I was starting to get bored sitting in that thing."

He gave a sniff, words failing to come to mind as Lupin stared, both dumbly and angrily at the reptilian pokémon. He ambled past her toward the fire and plopped in front of it, looking as comfy as can be.

"You wouldn't happen to have any pokémon chow, would you? I haven't eaten since this afternoon."

Lupin scowled, finally mustering up something somewhat intelligible.

"You…sneaky little bastard. No, I do not have any pokémon chow because I didn't plan on bringing any pokémon! How in the hell did you even get in there?"

"Phillip and the professor. They didn't want you travelling alone, despite your protests. You know, you're being very stupid about not wanting some protection. Don't you remember what I told you about the poison bug-types that roam these forests?" He glanced at her with half-lidded eyes, snorting. "How is it you survived this long without being killed by wandering alone in the wilderness without any pokémon? Stupid."

"Well, I apparently survived long enough and I don't need the opinion of some bratty gator that isn't even a year old on my life choices." Lupin narrowed her eyes, realizing this was getting her nowhere. She remembered she could end it by sending the pokémon back and lifted the pokéball still clutched in her hand. Totodile was immediately on the alert, his body tense as he arched his back and reared up to his hind legs. A hiss emanated from his slightly open maw. She snarled back.

"Stop that! I'm taking you back to the professor right now, so help me!"

"You can't! It's nighttime, you don't know what's out there and—"

Lupin cut him short. Screw being polite, she thought. He's been a pain in my ass since day one.

"I can see quite well in the dark, thanks. Pretty damn sure I'll be fine."

"So you're going to waste your time hiking back to the professor's lab, in the middle of the night, just to drop me off?" He sounded rather peeved and disappointed, chastising even, as though he was noticing something she wasn't. And it irked her that he spoke as though he knew more. "He's only going to insist you take me if you do that. You might as well not waste your time. He's not asking you to keep me, he's asking me to keep you safe until you return from your errand. That pokémon egg is valuable, he said."

Her tail bristled again, but she finally realized his point. Despite her protests earlier that morning, both the professor and Phillip had gone against her wishes and stuffed the little monster into her pack. They'd deliberately tagged him along as a stowaway for her trip. They wouldn't take him back, not until she returned with the egg. She scowled, dropping her hand with the pokéball still grasped in it and the urge to smash it was tempting. Pokemon freed from their pokéballs were considered wild, weren't they? Trainer-less and free to roam, and she tensed, coiled to break it on the ground. Then the urge passed and she let her arm hang by her side before tossing it listlessly back into her pack.

"Fine. You win for now. Don't fuck with my fire, I want it going for as long as possible."

"I wouldn't dream of putting out this heat source, unless it became necessary. It's chilly out, in case you hadn't noticed."

She hadn't, in fact. She felt fine, warm and cozy and the air didn't feel that cold to her. It was still as balmy as it was during the daylight hours, in fact. But from the close vicinity the water pokémon had placed himself in accordance with the fire, she figured it must've been a huge difference being cold-blooded. She chose not to answer, and instead turned toward her sleeping bag and after a second thought, dragged the satchel over closer to use a pillow. She paused long enough to drag out some food and tore open the packaging, setting it out. "Here. Eat some of this."

Totodile made no moves, eyeing her with half-lidded eyes, nostrils flaring then settling. She felt a little unnerved at the penetrating, unblinking gaze that held hers. She looked away, busying herself with her sleeping bag.

"You look different."

The observation was a simple one, but the admission surprised her nonetheless. She paused, glancing back at the pokémon.

"Yes, well…that's not necessarily a good thing. That's why I wear the coat and hat," she said as her ears gave a faint twitch. Kicking her legs into the sleeping bag, she had to keep her tail's fur from bunching and pinching in the confined space before settling. There was a moment of silence between them as she rolled over on her side, facing away from the fire.

She heard the scuffle of his tail dragging along on the ground, shuffling closer toward the food she'd offered moments before. Then, "It looks better."

Lupin was rather unsure of how to approach that, so she instead, she said nothing. What else could she say to a little reptile that would otherwise insult her? She just didn't have it in her to argue and instead closed her eyes, not exactly looking forward to sleep but unwilling to pass it up. She'd need the energy for tomorrow, after all.

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