Chapter 11 - We Rescue Ourselves
Like most crucial moments in life, this one also happened fast. In all honesty, Celeste wasn't even surprised when her brain decided it was a good idea to jump in the water.
As soon as the coldness and wetness hit her, she screamed. Not because her newest plan was to make herself the target, but because she remembered how afraid she was of the ocean.
The gyarados looked at her. Its scaly, wet skin shimmered with the golden energy gathering around the pokémon's oversized mouth, and the stench of burned fish filled the air. Celeste knew this would be a direct hit, and there was nothing she or her pokémon could do.
Her body felt limp. She was vaguely aware of the sounds circling her. No doubt the pokémon and human in the lifeboat were trying to figure out some way to rescue Celeste. The trainer, however, could do nothing but look at the brightening light from the Hyper Beam with some morbid fascination. She had never seen anything like it.
How could something be so beautiful and terrifying at the same time?
As the gyarados unleashed its power, Celeste was pulled underwater. It wasn't so bad, she decided. The hydro pump had felt a million times worse. That can't be right? Can it?
In her direction, she saw the Hyper Beam moving, almost in slow-motion. It was something else that was pulling her down.
Looking down, Celeste saw another light. Another Hyper Beam? That one seemed different, though. It was warmer and greener. As it approached, she felt safe. Whatever this green light was, it had more power and beauty than anything any gyarados could possibly do.
Involuntarily, the girl closed her eyes when the light became too much. She felt strange. Even though she was underwater, Celeste could smell fresh rain falling on the rich soil of a lush forest.
"You made me a promise, Celeste," a little silvery voice said. There was annoyance in the sound, yet it sounded pleasant. "Why do you have to insist on trying to kill yourself before you deliver it?"
—*—*—
GYAAAAARRR
The gravity seemed better, Celeste thought, still avoiding to open her eyes.
Wait, 'gyaaar'? That can't be right.
"Wh—" the trainer tried saying, but immediately brought her hand to her mouth. Shit.
Opening her eyes to figure out what the hell had happened this time, she noticed the surrounding nothingness. Well, not nothingness. There was something. There was water.
How did she get underwater? Was there even water in the distortion world?
Celeste relaxed a bit when she looked again. No Giratina in sight. Not running from a giant monster was good for her peace of mind, she decided. Perhaps she could think of a proper plan now. Not that she needed to think. The plan was actually pretty obvious.
Step one, get out of the water. Step two find—shit, is that a gyarados?
That ever familiar tinge of panic started to build on the pit of her stomach. But it was fine, Celeste could deal with a gyarados. She had battled gyarados many times before. Everything was fine. Better to deal with a gyarados than Giratina, for sure.
The trainer reached for her pokéballs. However, she soon realised they weren't in the pocket of her coat… She wasn't wearing a coat. But she had a belt with a pouch? She wasn't wearing that earlier. Again, reaching for the pouch, she hoped it wouldn't also be… empty? Shit.
She needed to swim away before the gyarados got to her. It was a miracle it still hadn't.
No, not a miracle…
Celeste recognised its stance. It was recharging, probably from using a Hyper Beam. This gyarados knew Hyper Beam. That was better than whatever move Giratina knows, for sure. Better, but still very, very bad.
Luckily, she wasn't too far from the surface. As her head emerged, she hoped to see her friend. Between the two of them, there would be some pokémon to deal with the gyarados, surely.
The trainer looked at her surroundings while catching her breath. She was in the middle of the ocean. How did she even get here? Did she fall from one of those mirrors in the distortion world? Was that even a possibility?
Celeste really needed to find her pokéballs.
She looked around once more and saw a lifeboat that seemed vaguely familiar to her. Not that there is great variety in lifeboat design. Brushing the thought away, the trainer hurriedly swam in its direction, glad the gyarados still hadn't resurfaced.
"Celeste!" a familiar voice yelled. Familiar, yet not the one she was expecting.
"Huh? D-Dede?"
As her best friend pulled her into the boat, her little eevee let out an exasperated cry. Aria didn't waste time to tackle her trainer's leg. The message was clear: Celeste had been stupid and irresponsible. Again.
"Aria, now is not…" Celeste started saying, but the sight of her pokémon gave her pause.
The trainer was happy to see Aria, of course. Her trusted partner always brought her peace and confidence to deal with whatever she got into. But Aria hadn't been an eevee for ages. She glanced over to the side of the lifeboat and finally noticed the other pokémon around. Everything was wrong about that.
Celeste gritted her teeth. That little green—
GYYYYYYAAAAAR
"Patrick use Disable," the experienced trainer commanded. She stared defiantly at the gyarados that had resurfaced. No doubt the brute would try another Hyper Beam, so better not give it the chance.
For a moment, nothing happened. Celeste bit her lips. Patrick already knew Disable, right? She didn't have another plan for the Hyper Beam.
"Poke!"
It had taken a minute, but Pat came through. His eyes glowed with a pale blue hue, and a wave of psychic energy enveloped the monstrosity in front of them.
The pupils on the gyarados' eyes shrunk and his crown sunk into what Celeste assumed was a frown. The atrocious pokémon was trying to use another Hyper Beam. It would not be able to, but its confusion could be useful. Celeste could use the opening to attack. This was her chance.
Her team stood diligently in front of her. Aria was always ready for a battle, and so was Powder. Could any of them fight a gyarados at this stage in their lives, though?
"Good job, Pat," the trainer said in an encouraging tone. She glanced at her shadow. The pokémon in her team might not be capable of fighting a gyarados… But if Shy was already around…
It was too soon. She needed to try something else. Gesturing once more to her slowpoke, the trainer commanded, "Now buddy, follow up with Yawn."
"Slow." The slowpoke acted faster this time. He promptly opened his mouth, letting out a loud yawn that materialised as white bubbles.
Unfortunately, the move resulted in an unexpected side effect. Just as the bubbles burst in the gyarados' face, it snapped out of its daze.
GYYYYYAAAARAAA
No longer trying to use a Hyper Beam, the gyarados roared ferociously.
"Its windy," Delia said, crouching down for stability. She was looking at the sky, perhaps in search of stormy clouds. Yet Celeste knew there wouldn't be any. The air currents were forming around the gyarados and not the sky.
"It's using Hurricane."
Both girls were frozen in place for a moment. In a boat, in the middle of the ocean, Hurricane would be as bad as a Hyper Beam. Celeste knew she needed only to buy time, not actually win the battle. The yawn would soon be in effect, and the gyarados would fall asleep. She needed something to work with.
A sand attack? It could buy them some time, if their opponent became distracted or annoyed… If only there was any sand… Aria was still too young to know anything else…
"Powder," Celeste called, as she slapped her own cheeks. She needed to focus and work with what she had. "Freeze-dry!"
"Pix?" Powder blinked at her trainer in confusion.
"Come on, girl, I know you can do it," Celeste pleaded. "Freeze the water."
The vulpix, still unsure of what to do, opened her mouth and let out a faint gust of cold air that was quickly blown away by the speeding winds. That wasn't freeze-dry, that was barely Powder Snow. Powder was still too inexperienced.
"Protect!" Celeste snapped. "Dede, Shelly knows it, right?"
"… Dede?"
"Just tell me, does Shelly know Protect?" Celeste asked with urgency in her voice. It was barely possible to stand, such was the strength of the hurricane.
"Y-yeah," Delia answered, bracing herself.
"Good, let her out," the trainer said while grabbing her three pokéball. "The sea will still be rocky, but if we shield ourselves with Protect, we won't be blown away from the boat. That is how we buy time until it falls asleep."
That was not Celeste's best plan, but it would have to do for now. As Delia let her shellder out, she returned her three protesting pokémon. Well, two protesting pokémon and Patrick. But she was sure he would have joined in if she waited a little more.
"Shelly… use protect," Delia commanded, somewhat unsure, as Celeste hurried to her friend's side.
The winds kept getting stronger and their boat was dangerously bouncing around the ever bigger waves. But the girls, taking shelter by Shelly, held on.
For a moment, it seemed that they wouldn't make it. It seemed the gyarados wouldn't fall asleep.
But then it stopped.
The gyarados ahead was yawning and blinking, its eyelids getting heavier by the second.
Celeste chuckled. Somehow they made it. They defeated a gyarados with four inexperienced pokémon… Well, sort of…
With another slap on her cheeks, the trainer tried to refocus. They still needed to find a way out before the gyarados woke up or anything else showed up. As Celeste noticed the makeshift parasail hanging from the lifeboat was destroyed, an old memory from the time she first met Pat came rushing back. That was a long time ago, and still…
"De—" the trainer started, but before she could even call her best friend out, she smelled that familiar fragrancy. Petrichor, the smell of fresh rain falling on the dry forest soil.
Of course.
It did not surprise Celeste when the green light enveloped her again. However, it was when she closed her eyes that she had realised she had one certainty. She was pissed as hell.
—*—*—
"What do you mean you don't want me to help you anymore?" the small silvery voice said. After a pause and a cutesy laugh, they continued, "You get into a lot of unnecessary trouble. I need to make sure you find me."
"That is up to me, don't you think?"
"There is nothing set in stone…" the voice insisted. "I can't guarantee—"
"You wanted my help. So I do it my way, whatever the outcome."
The creature huffed. "I suppose you also want to go back to the monster?"
"I never wanted to get there in the first place… Can't you talk to Giratina?"
"Talk to Giratina?" the creature snorted. "You humans are funny. And weird."
—*—*—
What a weird dream, Celeste thought as she stirred around, searching for a pillow. Wait… she didn't have a pillow… Wasn't she supposed to be underwater?
The trainer forced her eyes open. It was still too bright, however, this time, it was the sunlight that blinded her. Before she could see anything, she heard the waves and felt the warm sand beneath her.
Another beach.
"Cee?" a familiar voice said as the girl adjusted her eyes to the light. They were at a small beach, circled by large rocks and caves. This time, however, their surroundings didn't seem as pristine.
Celeste reached out for an empty plastic bottle that was half buried in the sand. Normally, the girl would never pick random pieces of trash on the floor like that, but it was their first sign of civilisation in days.
"De-Delia?" Celeste answered to the girl who was holding her shellder. Her friend looked scared… But probably, so did she. "Wait, where are my pokémon?"
With her heart sinking, Celeste saw their lifeboat, their home for the past days, smashed against a palm tree. It had been completely destroyed. Weren't her pokémon in there?
Automatically, she moved her hand to her pouch. As her fingers brushed against the warm pokéballs and cold premier ball, Celeste calmed down. She could tell her pokémon were okay just by touch.
"How are you?" Delia asked as she extended her hand to help Celeste stand.
"Confused I suppose. What happened?"
"I don't know. After you defeated the gyarados, this big wave came, next thing I know, we were waking up here." Delia turned to the remains of their boat. "But you saw it's ruined, right?"
Celeste sighed and showed the water bottle to Delia, who refused to touch it. She smiled at her friend. It was nice that one of them wanted to maintain her standards.
"WAIT. Did you just say I beat a gyarados?"
"You put it to sleep." Delia frowned at her friend. She was acting weird from the moment she left the water earlier. "Using protect was a great idea too."
"I… Did? It was..? What?"
"Did you hit your head or something?"
Celeste ran her fingers through her hair. "M-maybe? Last thing I remember is jumping into the sea…"
Delia ran to her friend with a concerned look and started examining Cee's head. "Tell me if anything hurts. Maybe you should sit down."
The Pallet girl pressed Celeste's shoulders and forced her down.
"HEY. Can you stop that?" Celeste complained.
"Oh my." A woman's voice interrupted the two girls, who turned around immediately. That was the first time in days they heard anyone else, but also, that voice was familiar.
By a rock, in what both teenagers assumed was the path to the beach, the speaker stood. Her pink hair was tied into pigtails, and she was wearing a white hat with a cross, as well as a short pink dress covered by an apron.
They would be happy to see anyone wearing those clothes. They would be happy to see anyone. But it was the familiarity of the face that finally gave them both some peace.
"What in the world happened here?" nurse Joy asked.
Celeste couldn't hold it in anymore. Between being lost, attacked and whatever weirdness happened today, she felt overwhelmed. All she could do was cry while Delia remained frozen by her side.
The nurse studied the girls. Their clothes were ragged and their skins burned by the sun. And the crying girl had scratches and scrapes all around her body.
Joy walked to Celeste and put a hand on her head. "I think I should take you both to the pokémon centre."
Delia's eyes glimmered. Some food, a shower, a phone. That was all she needed to be back to her usual self. She would get back to her usual immaculate state and… Well, the adventure was over, so it was only logical she and Shelly went back to Pallet town. And Celeste too, of course. The professor was waiting for them both.
"So…" Celeste started to talk as she wiped her tears. "How close are we to Pallet Town?"
"Pallet town?"
The girls exchanged worried glances.
"It's a small town close to Viridian city," Delia explained. Pallet Town wasn't well known, but Viridian was one of Kanto's bigger cities.
"Viridian? Isn't that in Kanto?" The nurse tilted her head. "I'm so sorry, but I'm afraid you are on One Island of the Sevii archipelago."
A/N:
* Yay the girls are finally back into some sort of civilisation! Pity its not where they thought they would be. Are the Seagallop ferries even running?
* I was very hesitant about how this chapter would go, but I actually think it turned out good. Anyway, I'm excited about the next few ones! Some new characters will show up very soon, both OCs and familiar characters.
* NEXT CHAPTER: The One and Only Ice Boutique
