Riley.
Two Mornings Later.
"Young man, we do not allow smoking in here. Especially around these children!"
Lee sat with a startled, deer-in-the-headlights look for a moment. The unlit cigarette dangling between his teeth fell in his lap, thumb poised on his lighter to light it.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," He apologized sincerely. "I'll take it outside." He stood up and stepped outside.
We had made it back to the milk cafe where I had washed the Stunky stink off of me; not bad timing for five days, Lee had said. Left fifteen days for us to arrive in Celestic Town.
Mark snorted as Lee left. "He's really gonna smoke, in that rain." He was surfing the internet on Lee's laptop, and hadn't made a sound in over an hour.
The old woman who ran the place went happily back to sweeping. I sipped at my glass of milk, listening to the patter of rain against the roof.
"What are you looking up, Mark?" Dee, sitting next to me, demanded.
His green eyes scanned the dimly glowing screen, barely listening to her.
"That group Lee's been howling about lately," He answered with a bored tone. "Team Galactic."
Just hearing the name made me a little angry. I wasn't one to hold a grudge, but goddamn, I hated Team Galactic.
"Why are you even bothering?" Astro pestered. He sat in Amber's lap, on my other side.
"I thought you didn't like how badly he wants to take them down," Amber added.
Mark waited before answering. He leaned his head against his hand, his fingers tangled in his rusty-orange hair.
"Last time a team caught Lee's attention, I had to save the world," He told us in the same bored tone. "I'm a bit out of practice in the vigilante business, so I want to know what we're up against."
They had mentioned that a lot of times, but neither Mark or Lee would explain how they "saved the world". All Mark would say was that Lee had been in poor health and suffered from a small heat stroke.
Lee stayed outside a long time; longer than it would take to smoke a cigarette, especially in the rain. Mark's eyes occasionally flitted nervously to the door, but rarely left the laptop screen.
"What...have you found about Team Galactic?" I asked.
"Oh, not much. Just some bratty kids complaining on their Tumblr blogs that they had to defeat some Galactic grunts. They aren't particularly strong, are they?"
"Not really," I answered. "The two I've battled had spines like paper."
"My Magby came from one of them," Amber added. "He left her behind on purpose after Riley beat him, and I just couldn't leave her."
"Might as well have taken her in. She was probably stolen." How could Mark talk about things like stolen pokemon with such a straight face? Just how sick could a guy be?
I would have asked another question, like how he knew that, but Mark didn't look in the mood for conversation. He hummed a tune under his breath.
"Riley, go and get Lee for me," He eventually requested. "He's already got the constitution of a daffodil, he'll catch pnuemonia if he stays outside."
The way he worded it felt eerie to me, but I dismissed it. I slid out my chair and stood up, half-jogging to the door. I left the case with my egg on the table.
When I put my hand on the doorknob, Lee came crashing through the door, soaked with rain. The door slammed me into the wall, bruising my shoulder.
"Son of a bitch-!" I seethed. I turned to yell at Lee, but he ran straight to Mark.
Lee looked a mess. He was panting like a marathon runner, his wet black hair flopping around wildly.
"Mark, we have a problem!" Lee shrieked. He slipped on his leather jacket, which he'd left on the back of his chair. "Just north-in the mountains! Team Galactic has Surge's kid, and he's protecting some others backed against a cliff! I would've done something, but the only pokemon I could've used was Strawberry, and he would've killed the three of 'em!"
Mark closed the laptop. "Surge's kid?" He repeated. He got up and headed to the door with Lee. "Hold on, kids, we'll be back." I saw him take a pokeball from his pocket.
The way Lee was panicking, you'd think he'd seen a murder. Of course, it only took a second to realize exactly who was cornered.
Dee stood up and stormed off behind them.
"Are you talking about Volkner Surge?!" She demanded.
She followed them out into the rain and, after I gathered my egg, of course Amber and I followed. Shift trotted at Lee's side.
"Don't be stupid, of course I am. Get back inside, kids, me and Mark can handle it!"
"That's my sister he's protecting, you retards! Hell no, I won't go back inside! You can kiss my skinny white ass!"
As Dee thundered on, a bolt of lightning struck a spot just a bit north, followed by deafening thunder.
"That's not from the storm!" Even with my ears ringing from the thunder, I could hear Lee and Mark shout at the same time.
Lee broke out in a run, and we had no choice but to follow.
Volkner.
"Goddammit-Flint, Tess, stay behind me!"
I returned my Luxio to his pokeball, my mind racing for a way out.
Three Team Galactic grunts stood in front of me, each with a Golbat to battle with, having defeated Luxio quickly with Sludge Bomb attacks after his Thunder attack missed.
They had chased up up the mountain range, until there was nowhere left to run besides open air. I stood in front of Flint and Tess, none of us with a pokemon in fighting condition, rain battering my face and interrupting my thought process.
"Nowhere left to run, Blondie!" One of the grunts, the apparent leader, cackled. "Hand over your wimpy pokemon, and we won't tip you over!"
A chill ran up my spine at the thought. Tess, behind me, yelped. Flint was trying to calm her down; she was nearly in tears.
"It's okay, Tessie; Volkner will get us out. He...he's good under pressure. Shh. We'll be fine."
This has nothing to do with them, I thought bitterly. These sorry SOBs recognized me, not them. My friends are gonna die...because of me...
"Over my dead body!" I held my arms out in front of them, standing my ground. "Our pokemon are our friends, you can't have them! I won't let you!"
The leader snickered. "Brave words for a dead kid." She turned to her other grunts. "Alright, guys, attack! Use Air Slash!"
The wings of the three Golbats glowed blue. I turned my head, glancing at Flint and Tess behind me. Tess was in Flint's arm's, covering her head and screaming, and he stared at the bat-like pokemon in terrified awe.
Oh, Jesus...I screwed you over, guys...I'm sorry...
"Gardevoir! Use Teleport, and bring those kids to us!"
I snapped my head forward at the new voice. Green flashed before my eyes, and for a moment, the ground left from under my feet. I thought I'd died.
When the ground returned, I fell backwards on my ass. I heard Flint and Tess grunt as we returned.
"You brats...!" Team Galactic's voice sounded far away.
I rubbed my head, feeling more than a little sick. What had just happened...?
Then other voices joined in
"Astro, use Hidden Power!" Amber.
"Snorunt! Powder Snow!" Dee.
"Use Rock Tomb, Aron!" Riley.
"Shift, Dark Pulse!" Lee.
"Gardevoir, decimate them with Psyshock!" I didn't recognize Gardevoir's trainer's voice.
The wooziness finally faded, and I opened my eyes. I was sitting on the grass, Gardevoir in front of me, Flint and Tess sitting beside me. Riley, Amber, Dee, Mark, and Lee all had their pokemon pelt the Golbats with attacks.
Riley had his hands clenched into fists, the knuckles white as snow. Was he angry?
The attacks scattered the grunts and drove them off, leaving the eight of us in the rain. I was still processing what had happened.
Finally, Mark turned to the three of us. "Sorry about that, kids," He apologized. "A pokemon teleporting with a human can be a pretty trippy experience."
He held his hand out, so I grabbed it, and he pulled me up. Dee shoved Flint to the ground when him and Tess got up.
"Tessie!" She squeaked, hugging her tightly. "Are you okay? Did those assholes hurt you, Tess? I'll kill 'em, I really will!"
Tess sniffled, her face in Dee's shoulder. "I'm f-fine, Dee," She answered. "I was just...scared."
It was really touching, how Dee had no concern for anyone but her sister. I wiped rainwater off of my face, brushing against a cut on my cheek from an earlier Air Slash attack. It stung, bad.
"We gotta get out of this rain," Riley complained, pulling his jacket hood over his head.
Lee grunted in response. The five of them, save Amber and Lee, returned their pokemon.
A hand patted my hair. "Surge, you guys come with us," Mark's voice rumbled. "Get dry and outta this rain. I'll take care of that cut on your face."
I swatted him away, shaking my head. "It's nothing serious. I'll live." After needing to get rescued, my ego didn't need me getting treated like a child.