Disclaimer: Of all the franchises in all the world… you had to go and own this one, didn't you Nintendo?
Chapter 11: The World Does Not, In Fact, End With You
Vanna
You have to understand. I never saw this coming. The Bertrand I know… my Bertrand… would never do this. What could I have possibly done?
I'll admit that, at first, I became friends with Bertrand by convenience. The man was a mechanical genius, and would often fix things around the gym for nothing more than a wink and a smile. But… after a while… the smiles became genuine, and often times I would invite him to come over just to talk, often saying there was a light bulb in need of changing that was just out of reach. He was an interesting man, for all his strange obsessions, and listening to him spin crackpot theories about secret societies or recite, from memory, the mechanical workings of a Pokéball was… fun.
Looking back, I suppose I should have been a little more sincere in telling him so. When he first got sick, he joked that if he couldn't fix things for me anymore, then there wasn't any point in staying friends. I laughed and smiled. I didn't realize… I couldn't have realized that he was somewhat serious, could I?
Not that it matters now. The missile works, of course, it was Bertrand that built it. I can already feel the heat; see the red flare bursting from the capsule. I always thought, like a lot of people, that Death would just come for me one day. I didn't realize he could act through someone I cared about.
The explosion went off, unleashing a concussive sound wave that made my ears ring in pain. I closed my eyes, waiting for the heat and shrapnel to wash over me.
Nothing. Was death really his painless? I opened my eyes, and was shocked to see a bright, translucent blue wall where non had been before. I glanced around quickly and some none other than the Meditite, his head held low, shaking visibly.
"I'm sorry," he said quickly, letting the Barrier down. "If I'd gotten here just a minute sooner, I could've saved him too."
My confusion lasted only a second. Gasping, I quickly looking back, seeing that the Meditite had only had time to encase the room… not the missile itself. Bertrand lay on the ground, shrapnel everywhere. I couldn't help but cry.
"That won't do anything," Axel said quickly, crossing the room as if nothing had happened. "We need to get him to a hospital, fast. Do you have any flying Pokémon?"
Nodding, I let out my Xatu… but before I could say a thing, Axel was already telling it exactly what to do, lifting Bertrand's wounded body onto it's back and telling it to hurry. …She obeyed instantly. As she flew away, I heard a moan coming from Bertie's throat and couldn't help but cry again… this time from relief.
The next time I was really conscious of my surroundings was in the hospital waiting room. Everything up until then is a blur, worried thoughts mixed with hazy images from the gym, telling everyone what had happened; from the front desk, seeing where they had taken Bertrand and how he was doing; and from the room itself, it's pale blue walls and grey and red-flecked carpet.
I would have just stared at the carpet until news came, had the Cyndaquil not walked up to me and looked in my eyes, inquisitively. My eyes widened, and I looked up, surprised (though I shouldn't have been) to see Axel, Amber, and their Pokémon all sitting there too, waiting.
"You're... still here?" I managed.
"Of course!" Axel said immediately.
"It's not like we have much else to do..." said Amber, attempting to undercut Axel's enthusiasm.
"Who else is going to comfort Gardevoir, if not me?" Medici chimed in, winking at her. Gardevoir, naturally, retreated even further behind my legs. A chuckle surfaced. What right did these people have to be so darn nice?
I looked at Axel, and could instantly tell (mostly from his complete failure at keeping a straight face) that he wanted to say something. I pretty much knew what the question was going to be, but I still asked, with an ever-so-slightly dainty voice: "what's wrong, Axel? You look like you want to say something."
"I'm not sure if it's really appropriate to talk about now," Axel replied.
"That's never stopped you before," Amber commented.
"Good point," Axel nodded, giving Amber cause to face palm. "Anyways... back there, Bertrand said that your name was 'Vanna', right?"
"Yes," I responded hesitantly. "What of it?"
"That's also... the gym leader's name in Woodale, if I'm remember correctly," he said, checking with Amber, who nodded. "Is that just coincidence, or...?"
"Well... no," I said, blushing. "I am the gym leader here. It's just..." Now how was I going to answer this question again? "You seemed like such a nice guy when I first met you... I figured if you knew I was the gym leader here, you'd form an opinion of me before you really got to know you."
... Is what I'd have said to anyone else. Is what I had, in fact, said to all other people (well... except one). But, try as I might, I couldn't bring myself to toy with Axel... both because of what had just happened and also because... well, I just didn't want to.
"It's just... to be honest... it's easier to convince someone to do something for you if they don't see you as any sort of competition. Add in a particularly feminine sounding name and... yeah." I paused. "Your judgments here are accurate, and not what I want to here right now," I said, pointing at Amber. "Sorry."
"Oh, it's ok, I forgive you," Axel said quickly.
"I... I haven't even..." I stuttered, taken aback. "I was apologizing to her for asking her not to talk, not... I mean I was going to, but I hadn't..."
"Pro tip," Amber said, leaning over and patting my shoulder gently. "Just go with it. The effort it takes to explain it to him isn't worth it."
"Exactly." Axel agreed with a nod. "And besides, I have to be nice to you, don't I?" He stated with a smile. "I haven't gotten your badge yet!"
I honestly felt like hugging him. Well, all right, I felt like doing quite a bit more but... oh yeah! This was about the time that the nurse came in!
When the woman clad in pink called out Bertrand's name, all of us instantly forgot our conversation and bolted up to her, barraging her with questions.
"He's in critical condition, but he's stable for now," she said with a comforting smile. "The Xatu that brought him was yours, right?" she asked, gesturing towards me. "That was a huge part of saving him. Had he gotten here any later, we probably couldn't have done anything for him."
"I... well, it was my Xatu." I nodded. "But... it was really Axel who thought to send him so quickly..."
"Really?" the nurse said, turning to Axel. "Acting that calmly under pressure... that's actually quite impressive, you know?"
"Oh... it was nothing really," Axel said, turning red. "I mean, had to deal with a thing or two like this for work before, so it's really just second nature by now."
"Really?" the nurse said, leaning in closer. "That's so interesting! What sort of work was that, exactly?"
As Axel began to explain his past life experiences as a... grocer? How does this have anything do do with... well, whatever. As he began to chat up the nurse, I felt a tug on my arm, and looked down to see Medici, clearly uneasy.
"Hey..." he said hesitantly. "Um... I know we just met and all, but... is there any chance I can crash at your place tonight?"
I blinked in surprise, but felt I owed him at least a "why do you ask?"
"Well, it's just... I know Amber will say no, and if this conversation ends the way I think it's going to end..." he paused. "It'll be the Pokéball for all of us. And they're... not entirely soundproof."
I looked from Medici, to the nurse who clearly should have been attending to other patients at this point, and back to Medici again. "Just don't try anything funny with Gardevoir, ok?" I warned.
"Scouts honor," he said, with a salute of thanks.
Author's Note:
A pervert you say? I'm offended by the accuracy of your accusation, good sir or madam!
Since it's actually a common theme at this point, I feel I might as well address it. It's Axel. It doesn't have anything to do with the gender as a whole, or about regional difference or any other explanation you can come up with. It's Axel. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then don't worry! YOU ARE ALREADY WINNING, GOOD SIR OR MADAM. YOU GET DORITOS.
I realize this chapter is short, considering how long it took to get out, but I can explain. The shortness is because of how little there was to actually wrap up in this plot thread, and the long-ness was figuring out which character was best suited to tell it! All you helpful people from the comments who said the constant swapping of perspectives could get very tricky and I should be super careful: YES. YOU ALSO GET DORITOS.
Incidentally, this chapter was not brought to you by Doritos! Why would you even think that?
Viva la feminism?
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