Chapter 4 - Emergency Room
"Not now!" Surge growled, angry that the battle was not over. He knew his pokémon was at a disadvantage, so the longer this went on, the worse their prospects were. "Trooper, use Iron Tail again!" the private commanded, hating that he could not use electric attacks.
"Surge, I'm serious, we have to stop," Celeste insisted as raichu landed another attack. The golem, though visibly worn out, was still standing.
The rock pokémon was preparing to launch one more Rock Throw and raichu's tail was glowing, signalling the imminence of another move on its side as well.
This would be it, Celeste thought.
"Chop ma machop!" the fighting type cried in distress.
Celeste needed to stop them, and she needed to do it fast. Reaching into her pocket, she clenched Aria's pokeball. Powder was out. Did she really want to send Aria into this madness?
You need to have faith in your pokémon, the young trainer remembered.
"Aria quickly, use Swift to stop golem and Trooper," the girl yelled, throwing her eevee's pokeball.
Aria did not even wait for the red light to disappear before she was launching her star-shaped rays into the battlefield. Although not effective, the attack gave pause to both battling pokémon.
"What do you think you are doing?" Surge snapped. He didn't want to give the golem a chance to recover and lunch another super-effective move on his raichu.
"I was wrong, Surge! These pokémon, they need help."
The girl walked over to the machop and kneeled in front of it.
"Look, it is carrying berries and potions," she started, lightly touching the pokémon's arm. "My bags were full of healing items and food, too. If that is what they are after…"
"C-chop…"
"What is this about?" asked Surge, still angrily eyeing the golem.
"Come on. You saw it outside too. All those abandoned structures, only a powerful gust away from a serious accident…"
Surge narrowed his eyes at Celeste's implication, but decide to say nothing and let the girl continue.
"Except a serious accident happened, didn't it, machop?"
Both wild pokémon kept silent.
"I'm sorry we were so quick to judge," the girl said, "but we want to help."
"Gol…"
With that exchange, the megaton pokémon walked towards a pile boxes on the corner of the shed. It carefully removed one out of the way, revealing a small geodude. A very injured small geodude. Its rocky skin cracked and its eyes closed. When they got close, Celeste could hear the pokémon groaning in pain.
Machop tried offering the injured pokémon a berry, but it didn't even take notice. The once fearsome golem could only stare sorrowfully at the scene in front of it.
"We need to take it to the pokémon centre," Celeste said in a serious tone.
Private Surge giving her a negative with his head whispered, "It is too injured…" and after glancing at the rock type again, he continued. "I'm sorry… But I don't think we should move it. I don't…" the man paused, unsure of what words to use. "It will be better if it is somewhere familiar, with friends by its side…"
"Then we call nurse Joy here," the girl insisted, but Surge was still giving a negative with his head. "We can't just do nothing," Celeste concluded while closing her eyes to hold back her tears.
Surge placed a hand on the girl's shoulder, not sure what to say.
"No," Celeste snapped, shaking the soldier away. She could not accept leaving a pokémon to just… NO. Celeste would not even entertain the thought.
She paced around the shed for a minute until she found something useful.
"Here," Celeste said, finding a large cloth and throwing it at Surge's face, "stretch this." She ordered while reaching out for a few metal rods and a rope she saw on a shelf.
Surge did not comment on what the younger trainer was doing. In fact, he told his raichu to help. Being busy would be good for her. Being busy was better than facing the grim reality ahead.
—*—*—
"It's a stretcher," Celeste said, pointing at her work. Surge was impressed with how it turned out, given the limited materials and time Celeste had taken. Yet, this could have been the best stretcher in the world, and the private would still argue it was better to let the geodude pass peacefully at home.
Celeste would take none of it, though. This was too important. She wouldn't watch another pointless… No. She could mope later. Now was the time for action.
"We can take geodude to the pokémon centre now. We will just have to be careful," the girl said, looking at golem and machop. "It might be too late, but it might not. In either case, I'm sure the nurse there will do everything she can to help your friend. It's your call…"
The two pokémon did not hesitate, and, much to Surge's distress, they were soon lifting the injured geodude into Celeste's makeshift stretcher. Not even a minute later, the private saw himself helping the group carry the rock pokémon to its treatment.
—*—*—
It was a tense wait. Even the hopeless Surge stayed around, nervously pacing at the pokémon centre's lobby.
Aria and Powder, who had long since recovered, were curled in Celeste's lap. But, shockingly, the two wild pokémon sought comfort with the trainer as well. The machop came first. It was unsure if it was a good idea to sit beside her. However, soon enough, it felt comfortable to rest its head on the girl's waist. Not long after, taking a cue from its friend, the golem sat at Celeste's feet, curling into a ball.
Like that, the hours passed slowly.
At some point, Surge left and came back with pancakes and a chansey also took the time to check up on all the pokémon that had been battling before. Celeste was not sure exactly when she dozed off, but she dreamt of the geodude.
In her dreams, the pokémon looked strong. The two of them would fight battles together, nothing ever managing to hurt them.
"If you become a powerful trainer, you can protect your pokémon, Cee," the geodude told her. Celeste chuckled. He had a funny voice. "If you are strong, and if your pokémon are strong, you can protect everyone."
Celeste smiled at the idea. She was going to have the strongest team ever and she would help all the pointless pain go away.
Suddenly, the battlefield they were on turned into a flower field. The geodude looked completely out of place, but he didn't seem to care, as he was joyfully dancing and bouncing around. Celeste went after him. She also wanted to dance and bounce.
That was what life was about, right? Dancing and playing with your friends.
"Strong trainers can make all their dreams come true, you know?" said the geodude, almost musically. "You have to promise me, Cee, once you figure out what matters, you will not let go."
Celeste kept dancing in the meadow.
"Promise me that even if things get grim, you will not give up on your dream. You will not give up on your friends'."
The trainer chuckled, "I won't give up."
The flower field was so beautiful and that made her feel as if things could never go wrong.
"Flowers have thorns, Celeste," the geodude was suddenly serious. His cracks showing.
Celeste tried to open her mouth to talk, but it was her eyes that opened instead, with Aria tackling her stomach.
"Aria!" Celeste complained. She wanted to keep talking to the geodude…
"It will pull through," Surge interrupted, somewhat sombrely.
"Wait. Seriously?" the girl said, excited. "I knew he would survive! I just…" she looked around. Was there something wrong? "What did I miss?"
Nurse Joy patted the golem's head and took a deep breath.
"The geodude you brought in… its condition was critical. I…" the nurse started, looking at the chansey beside her for support. "I was worried that was nothing we could do, but that is a very tough pokémon," she said with a small smile. "It held on bravely. It was no small miracle when we finally stabilised its condition."
"So, is he all right?" Celeste asked carefully.
"It has a long road ahead," the nurse answered. "It won't be able to battle, and it is unlikely it will ever evolve," she continued, trying to reassure the golem and machop. "Still, I am hopeful that it will eventually regain some of its motor abilities…"
"He… He can't move?"
"Its abilities to do so are impaired," the nurse said, adjusting her apron. "It will be hard for it to walk for a while, and a full recovery is unlikely… That geodude… It will always be somewhat fragile. And I would advise against releasing it back into the wild… but, as I said, if proper care is taken—"
"I'm ready to help!" Celeste cut in without even thinking. However, before she said anything else, Surge placed a hand on her shoulders.
"Do you ever think anything through?"
"I'm sure my team is on the same page about helping our new friends!" Celeste said, with both hers and the wild pokémon rallying behind her. "There is nothing to think through."
Surge smiled for the first time in hours. How did this rookie connected to such a strong wild golem? His gut feeling was right. The girl had potential. Yet, if she stayed in Vermilion, even as his student, she wouldn't move forward… The girl needed to face reality and find strength on her own.
"Sorry to break it to you, rookie, but there are proper trainers and doctors in this city," the private said. His smile growing as he watched Celeste pouting in protest. "And what geodude needs is professional help."
Crying, pouting and jumping into danger without giving a damn. Celeste would have an interesting journey ahead of her, to say the least.
"I think the gym trainers here can help this pokémon. They are strong, you know?" Surge said, giving a nod to the nurse. "I can talk to them. Even though they are electric-type specialists, I'm sure they are better equipped to help pokémon than a rookie who started training yesterday."
Surge was way too aggravating, Celeste thought, opening her mouth to complain. However, the blonde interrupted her again.
"If you want to help, go on this journey you have been talking about."
"What does this have to do with anything?" Celeste muttered. Half remembering her promise to the dream geodude.
"You are a weakling, rookie," Surge said. "And honestly, as a trainer, you are as lost as a magikarp in the desert."
The soldier grinned at Celeste.
"To help these or any other pokémon, you need to go out there and get stronger and smarter."
"I am smart," Celeste complained.
"Whatever you say. Still, I suggest graduating from a rookie before offering a life of service," Surge snorted. He was trying to get the girl worked up. It was too easy and far too rewarding.
"So, what do you suggest I do? Join the army?"
"Why not go a little more traditional?" Surge asked, with an even smugger grin. "Take on the Kanto gyms."
"What?"
"You want to be a strong trainer, don't you? Then train up. Take on the strongest in Kanto and gather the badges to show," the man said. "Maybe with that, one day you could be strong enough for that brave geodude."
"Fine," Celeste groaned.
"Fine?"
"Yeah, I can take any stupid gym. There is one here, right? I'll go challenge it right now."
Celeste started walking towards the door.
"Sorry, rookie, but it's closed for the week," Surge added hurriedly. "Besides, you need to actually train before you fight the gyms."
"Please. Closed for the week? I can take some lazy gym leader, for sure."
"You talk too much," Surge said, crossing his arms. "Look, the gym leader here is tough. I guarantee that against a trainer like you, he would not hold it back in the slightest. Do you want to go there just to make a fool of yourself? Imagine how embarrassing, getting knocked out in a hit and leaving the gym crying."
"Bullshit."
"Language!" nurse Joy cut in. "Look, Celeste… didn't you promise you were going to visit professor Oak before anything else? Why don't you start there instead of getting sidetracked?"
Celeste choked. She had completely forgotten about professor Oak.
"The professor can tell you more about the gym challenge and Indigo conference if that is what you want to pursue," Joy continued. "He can teach you a lot about pokémon."
The nurse walked towards a map hanging on the wall, gesturing for Celeste to follow her.
"From Pallet town," she said, pointing at the map, "The closest gym would be Viridian city. I don't know a lot about that one. But if you keep going north, just past Viridian forest, there is Pewter city. My sister lives there, and she tells me Flint, the Pewter gym leader, is much more… agreeable," she finished eyeing Surge.
"But—" Celeste tried to complain.
"Don't start. I'll make sure both the gym leader and trainers here help the geodude… I'm sure its friends will help too," Joy said nodding at the golem and machop. "Surge is right when he says you should focus on your journey…."
And just like that, there was no arguing. Celeste was still worried about the geodude. But she needed to leave for Pallet town the following morning. Either that or wait another week, which Surge was completely against. Indeed, the private would constantly repeat, "I will be the one leaving Vermillion if I have to deal with your craziness for another week."
—*—*—
"Are you sure I don't need this climbing gear, Surge?" Celeste asked, wondering why she let Surge help with her packing. The boat for Pallet town would leave soon, and she was going to be late. She didn't need the soldier judging her.
"I told you to travel light," the private sighed. "If you find yourself somewhere you need this climbing gear, you are in the wrong place."
"Better be safe than sorry." Celeste tried.
"I meant you would be in Sinnoh, rookie. We don't have that many mountains here."
The brunette growled as she threw her climbing equipment into a pile of 'things Surge thinks are useless'.
"Why are you even here? Don't you have to go fight a war or something?" Celeste grumbled through gritted teeth.
"I told you I'm invested in your journey," Surge said, relishing in Celeste's frustration. "This is useless too," he added, throwing a cooktop away. "You like to waste money, huh?"
"I need to cook. How can I do that without the cooktop? "
"Do you also need me to teach you to light a fire?"
Celeste growled again, "I hate you."
Surge laughed.
"No need to. We are done," the man said, looking at the now empty bag they recovered from the shed. "Besides, I let you keep lots of useless things."
Celeste kept growling at the man, who, with a grin, continued talking, "Don't worry. I'll get a good deal on all this stuff for you. And if you are a complete failure, well… at least you will have money to afford a ticket back to Galar."
"Who said I'm from Galar?" she muttered.
"Your accent, rookie."
"Whatever," she tried adding monotonously, "There is something else…"
"You are going to be late for your boat, you know?"
Celeste huffed, putting on her backpack.
"Here," the trainer said, giving the man a small paper bag. "These are rice cakes. Fresh from this morning."
"Thanks," Surge blinked. "I'm more of a pancake guy, but I suppose these are good, too."
"It's for machop and the others. I think he really liked those," Celeste said, somewhat embarrassed. Should she have got pancakes too? For Trooper, not Surge, of course.
"You know, you still have time. You can give it to them yourself. And also say hi to geodude."
"They need rest. I don't want to bother them. Plus, I am late," Celeste lied. She wasn't sure she could move on with her journey if she saw the pokémon. "I'll be back soon enough, anyway. And I'll have a bunch of badges to prove I'm strong," she concluded with a half smile. "Will you tell them that for me?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Thanks," Celeste said as she stuck her hand in her pocket to make sure her two pokeball in were safely tucked in.
She took a deep breath and gave herself a look over in the mirror. Black high-waist pants and black boots, a blue short-sleeved cropped hoodie and a fluffy light blue vest. She tucked some loose strands of her dark brown hair behind her ear and looked at the splint in her hand. Nurse Joy had told her she would have to use it for a month but should stop by pokémon centres to do regular checkups in the meantime.
Another look in the mirror to better adjust her vest and Celeste decided she liked her new clothes. Surge, of course, had insisted they were not practical. But it didn't matter. It was not like she was going to get fashion advice from a man ready to camouflage on a bush in the park.
"Take care of our geodude," Celeste said, with watery eyes.
Surge smiled at the girl. She was really something else.
"Don't be sappy, rookie, or I won't give you your gift."
"Gift?"
"Yep," the private said while fishing for something in his pocket. "Here you go."
With a massive grin, Surge produced a small bag. He carefully opened it and placed the gift in Celeste's good hand. It was a thunder stone.
"A thunder stone?"
"For your eevee," he explained. "She is a wonderful pokémon. But if you want her to become stronger, a jolteon is the way to go."
"I…"
"Don't know how to thank me?"
"I need to talk to her about that…"
"You are the trainer, you know?" Surge sighed. Couldn't this girl ever act normal? "You can do whatever you want with it. If you decide against getting an amazing jolteon, you can always get some good cash with these stones."
"I… thanks, Surge," Celeste said, abruptly launching herself into what turned out to be a very awkward hug. Surge wasn't such a bad person after all. "Thanks for everything."
And just like that, thinking of the endless possibilities ahead, Celeste boarded the boat to Pallet town.
The girl smiled. She made it to day three.
Note: Let's pray my advisor never finds out I'm making fan fiction and not actual papers, ok? I seriously didn't know this was such fun though.
Last chapter Celeste met the very annoying private Surge. Now, this weirdo is sneakingly suggesting she tries to fight gyms? Why would he do that? *Mystery*. Anyway, our girl made it through another day of her adventure, and now she is off to Pallet. Adventure awaits.
Note 2: For people who didn't notice, this is set is the sort of in the anime, sort of in game cannon, but mostly my head-cannon. That means I take from both. And it's set in the 'not so distant' past. In this case, Lt. Surge is about 17/18 and by the time Ash comes he is 30ish.
