Pokemon (Detective Pikachu)

A Legendary Search

6. Café Carnage

The next few days passed without incident. Tim was grateful for it. For one, he didn't want any more attention- after the show about the incident with Mightyena at the park aired, Tim had once again found himself much more popular than he wanted. With the new incident putting him back in the news, excitement people had at seeing him, and the whispers that erupted when he passed, roared back to life after having been finally dying down after the carnival.

Pikachu had, of course, insisted they watch the show. The channel on the TV had long since been pretty much permanently set to GNN. Tim was still uncomfortable, seeing himself on TV, but the end of the show did manage to make him smile- they had concluded with the way Mightyena had thanked him and Pikachu.

The lack of incidents also gave the bruise on his back a chance to heal. He checked on it each day, though tried not to do it too often, to find that it still looked as painful as it felt. Slowly, though, it began to fade. The edges had turned an unpleasant greenish colour that morning when he checked on it before going to the Hi Hat Café. The stools at the bar, at least, had no back, so he didn't need to lean forward to avoid aggravating it, meaning he could avoid anyone suspecting it was there. He and Pikachu were halfway through their usual breakfast when Meiko and Emilia walked in.

It wasn't a scenario that had never happened before; if the two, or even just one of the two, were in the area during the time Tim was usually at the café, they would come in and have breakfast there themselves, talking with each other over coffee and whatever else they had decided to get that day. Sometimes, the news they had to share was of an interesting happening; sometimes, it was just casual talk. Either way, Tim enjoyed it. Not only did it help keep his mind off other things, he was just plain happy to have their company.

What he wasn't quite so fond of was some of the comments Pikachu made. He seemed determined to proclaim that Tim and Emilia should go dating. Tim had told him several times once the two had left that he needed to stop trying to look for something that wasn't there; everything they had gone through had made them good friends. But no matter how Tim told him he was reading too much into it, Pikachu only laughed.

When Tim saw them come in, he hissed at Pikachu, "Not a word about it this time, got it?"

Pikachu snickered. "Oh, come on-"

"Knock. It. Off."

"Hey, Tim!" Meiko slid on one side of him and Pikachu, and Emilia sat on the stool on the other side. "You run into anything new and exciting?"

Tim shook his head, both as a negative and at Meiko's constant search for action. "No, thankfully."

Emilia smiled. "Quiet is good sometimes."

Meiko shook her head. "Not in our business! It's the exciting scoops that get the ratings! I mean, ok, better quiet then to start having R incidents again, but cases like the one at the park? Huge hit. Ratings were through the roof! We need more excitement!"

Tim refrained from rolling his eyes at her antics. "Do you really want something right now? It looks like, for once, you don't even have your camera." He pointed out.

Meiko and Emilia both laughed while Pablo, bringing their orders, grinned. "You have a point." Meiko told him. "But, I could run out and get it still. It's in my car. I never leave it too far away- who knows what might happen!"

Emilia shook her head, smiling. "It's true. No matter where we go… that camera is never too far."

Pikachu laughed. "Having some excitement in your life is good sometimes, but Meiko is the only person I know who never seems to want to take a break from it!"

Tim smiled and finished his coffee. "It's impressive how you never seem to need to slow down, but there is such a thing as too much excitement, you know?"

Meiko gave an amused scoff and opened her mouth to retort when a huge crash sounded from outside, immediately followed by a car alarm.

Everyone in the café started, whirling around to look at the direction it came from.

"What was that?" Tim said, sliding off his seat.

"Whatever it was, it didn't sound good." Pikachu said, standing on his.

"I don't know." Meiko spoke at the same time as Pikachu. Her cheerful expression was gone, and she now looked a little concerned and apprehensive.

"I hope no one was hurt." Emilia was a half a beat behind the other two in her reply.

Around the café, other people were muttering. But all of the muttering was drowned out after only a few seconds by screaming outside. People raced by the windows, panic and fear in their expressions, clearly fleeing from something.

"Dang, I should have brought my camera in here!" Meiko cried. Emilia put a hand on Tim's arm, pulling slightly.

"Maybe we should get out of here, too? Or… see what's going on?"

Several other people clearly had the same thought and were heading towards the door.

"Tim, stop them!" Pikachu cried. "That crash was close- whatever those people are running from, it's right by the café! They might be walking right into it!"

"Stop!" Tim cried. "We don't know what caused that! It might be right outside-"

The rest of the warning Tim was translating for Pikachu was lost in a second crash as the wall next to the door caved in, struck by tremendous force. Windows shattered, sending glass into the people closest to it. Bricks went flying, one unlucky person getting struck in the head. Dust from the smashed bricks momentarily masked exactly what it was, but a massive shadowy figure appeared in the hole, giving an unearthly growl.

Tim seized Meiko by an arm and backed up toward Emilia, dragging the former with him. Extending his other arm, he put it in front of Emilia and kept backing up, keeping her behind him.

A large blue tail with red spikes on it flailed out of the dust, upending a table and smashing a chair. The imposing figure that the tail belonged to emerged from the dust, roaring, and Tim saw that it was a Feraligatr.

Reaching the end of the bar, he pulled both Emilia and Meiko around to the other side of it and pulled them down behind it. Pablo, already behind it, had ducked as well. Tim crawled around him so he could look out from the edge of the counter.

Feraligatr raged, swinging its arms and tail, kicking things in its way. It focused on a table about ten feet away and let loose a shot of water that destroyed not only the table, but a section of the wall behind it.

"Oh, man.." Pablo whispered, horrified, and Tim was pretty sure the destruction of the café was not the only reason.

"Run!" Tim yelled at the couple of people still standing in the area, frozen in shock and fear. "Go now, hurry!"

They seemed to snap out of it and bolted. Feraligatr's head swiveled towards them and it opened its powerful jaws.

"No!" Tim cried. He grabbed the closest thing to his hand- a fallen mug that had somehow stayed intact upon impact with the ground- and stood up to throw it.

"Tim, what are you doing? Stop, it might hurt you!" Emilia cried.

For a moment, it felt like he was facing the Glalie in Litwick cave again. His aim was good; the mug struck the Feraligatr's head, then fell to the ground, shattering when it hit this time.

Feraligatr's red eyes slid over to Tim, and his heart skipped a beat. He wasn't sure what colour a Feraligatr's eyes were supposed to be, but having the area that normally would be white on a person turned red couldn't be right, could it?

He nearly ducked behind the bar again when he realized that since it had seen him, it would come for him… and that would put Pablo, Meiko, and Emilia in danger. Pikachu, too, and Ludicolo, who had joined them back there after Tim had pulled the two girls behind it.

Tim leapt out instead, Feraligatr's jet of water narrowly missing him to punch another hole in the building, this time through a window. Glass exploded, mainly outward from the force. Tim ducked behind a table, tipping it on its side while he did.

"Nice one, Tim! Careful now!" Pikachu called. Feraligatr roared, and Tim heard it stomping towards him. Peering out from behind the table, Tim rapidly glanced around, looking for another place to go.

"Tim, look- it's forehead!" Pikachu called, and Tim refocused on the Feraligatr's forehead.

"Huh? What's that?" he muttered to himself.

Grey straps wound around the Pokemon's head to hold an orange-red round stone in the middle of its forehead.

No, wait… had the stone just turned green?

Tim had no time to think about it; the Feraligatr was on top of him. Tim rolled back as it smacked the table Tim was behind, and the table flew apart with a crash. Seeing an opening, Tim took the only chance he had and dove between its legs, rolling out of the way and scrambling to his feet.

The Feraligatr turned just in time for Tim to see the green stone turn back to an orangish- red.

What was that? Looking at it vividly reminded Tim of a vial of R.

But the R was all supposed to be gone… right? Mewtwo himself had destroyed the last of its own cells that had been used in the making of R.

Either way, Tim realized, it might be worth it to try to get that stone off of Feraligatr's head. It was the only thing he could see right now that might give them a fighting chance of getting out of the now-demolished café.

But, how would he get at it? Tim wasn't sure simply trying to jump onto Feraligatr was going to work, but he wasn't sure there was another option. Leaping out of the way again as Feraligatr shot more water at him, he was steeling himself to try it when something caught his eye.

The bright red emergency kit, marked with its white plus, lay next to an overturned table. He remembered talking to Pablo about it, only a few days ago, though it seemed like a year just now. The kit had been knocked off its wall, of course, the spot where it hung reduced to rubble, but somehow the kit itself had escaped without a scratch.

He remembered commenting to Pablo that only trained professionals should use the defibrillator that was inside, and Pablo replying that he'd seen it used to recharge an electric Pokemon. If it could do that, maybe, just maybe, he could use it to give himself a chance here, though never had he imagined it would be put to this sort of use.

The thoughts all went through him in a split second. In the next split second, Tim had made his decision.

He stood, keeping his legs slightly bent, and shifted from side to side, almost in the sort of way a person would do when teasing a young child while chasing them, as though he just played a game of chasing them around the table. This, of course, was no game, but it had the effect Tim wanted; instead of using another Water Gun or Hydro Pump, the Feraligatr roared and began stomping towards Tim.

He ignored it when Emilia and Meiko called out to him to ask him what he was doing, and just hoped that their yelling wouldn't redirect the furious Pokemon's attention off of him and onto them.

Tim ran back and forth a little, trying to keep its attention on him as a moving target to chase down. He needed to get close to it at the right time, and since he also needed a moment to get ready, that meant he needed it to come to him.

When Tim knew it was focused on him and would head towards him without losing interest, he dove toward the table and ducked behind it, pulling the kit with him. Opening it, the defibrillator was at least easy to find, being the largest thing in there. Figuring it out was slightly more difficult, but not by a lot- it was placed here, after all, for someone to grab and use in an emergency, and they would need to learn it fast. Tim could see a small instruction booklet, but ignored it; all he needed was to set the shock as high as possible and get it to activate, and he didn't have time to read it anyway.

The buttons were all clearly labeled for use- obviously the people making them had realized that untrained personnel might be the ones grabbing them, though even in this situation Tim still thought the idea of that was extremely risky. He turned up the shock and got it ready. The buttons to give the shock were on the paddles themselves, so he waited, his heart in his throat, as the stomping came closer. Every instinct he had screamed at him to run, but even if he managed it, his friends would all still be in danger. He couldn't let anything happen, not to them. He couldn't lose anyone else. Not Pikachu, who was his partner, not Pablo, who always had a kind word to say, not Meiko, always jumping to his immediate defense and never doubting his thinking, and especially not Emilia, who trusted him always.

When he heard a footfall reverberate just on the other side of the table, he tensed, and with a roar the Feraligatr hauled the table Tim was behind out of the way, easily lifting it over his head. The moment that the table was high enough that Tim could get under it, he did so, launching himself up while holding the paddles out. When they made contact, he activated them, and the Feraligatr convulsed with the shock, dropping the table. The table flew apart with a crash, one of the legs flying up and striking Tim on the back where he was already bruised. He couldn't stop the yell of pain that came out, nor could he keep holding the paddles of the defibrillator. Released, the shock stopped and the paddles crashed to the ground.

The Feraligatr, though, its typing weak to electric shocks, still reeled; the time the paddles clattered to earth was about the time Tim was able to make himself move again, so he lurched forward, jumping, and snatched at the bands of course material holding the stone to the large Pokemon's forehead. His hands slid off, unable to find purchase with the straps so tight; his heartbeat pounding in his ears, Tim made another grab at it, desperate to get it off before the shock wore off. His left hand simply slid again; his right hand caught it, his fingers curling around the band, scratching the Feraligatr's neck in the process. Tim pulled, jumping again at the same time, to pull himself high enough to see where it was fastened.

At the back, three fasteners- the clip type with plastic prongs that went into a plastic holder- were visible. His arm burned, but Tim held on with his right hand and used his left to reach for the fasteners. He was very aware of the massive Pokemon underneath him, warmer than he would have expected from a water type, starting to recover; he could also hear Emilia and Meiko's frantic calls and Pikachu's cries of encouragement.

His hands shook, making it hard to hold on and unbuckle the fasteners. Still, it was Tim's only chance, or at least the only one he could see, to stop the Feraligatr from hurting anyone else. He grimly hung on as the Feraligatr began trying to shake him off. He got one, two unclasped and was reaching for the third before the Feraligatr's massive hands grabbed at him, yanking. Tim seized the third buckle and held it so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

He wasn't sure if he actually managed to press the sides to release the prongs or if the strap or buckle simply just snapped, but either way there was a popping sound while the Feraligatr was pulling Tim off of itself, and the straps, stone still attached, flew out of Tim's hand from the force. The massive blue Pokemon froze for a moment, then dropped Tim, following the boy to the ground a moment later. Tim hit the ground hard, but managed to roll away as the Feraligatr collapsed. Panting, Tim eyed the Pokemon; it appeared to be unconscious. He hoped it wasn't badly hurt, but he was relieved to have gotten it to stop.

"Tim! Are you alright?" Emilia's frantic voice called out, and he looked at the counter where he had left her and his other friends. She was no longer behind the counter, having come out to run toward him. Meiko had stood from behind the bar, but cautiously eyed the unconscious Pokemon before deciding it was safe to come out and join them.

Tim pushed himself up. "I'm fine. It's alright now, I think."

Emilia got to him as he straightened up and grabbed his arm.

"Why do you always have to be so reckless? You really had me scared!" She cried. Tim thought privately that she should have been more worried for herself, but only said,

"I'm sorry…"

The situation felt a little familiar. Hadn't she said something similar- not exact, but close enough- after they had caught Keith on the SS Prime Treasure? His reply had been an apology at that time, too. Part of a smile made its way onto Tim's face at the thought. He didn't want her worried, but her concern touched him more than he could say. He would be embarrassed to even try.

"I'm alright, Emilia. Really."

Looking around, Tim saw that there was unbelievable damage. It was a wonder the agency above the Café was still being held up over them, the walls were so damaged.

"We should get out of here. And see if there are any other people here who might need help getting out. It could be dangerous to stay."

"You're right." Meiko had finally joined them. "The café owner is calling the emergency line, though I wouldn't be surprised if they are already on their way. This kind of noise must have been hard to not get noticed. I would think help should be here soon."

"Mr. Baker and Amanda should be here any second, too. They're often opening around the time Pikachu and I finish in here, though I suppose they won't be opening today. Actually, I'm surprised they aren't here now."

"We are. Tim, what happened here? Are any of you hurt?"

Amanda's voice took all three of them by surprise; they whirled around to see her climbing over debris near what used to be the door as Mr. Baker followed.

"Hold on. The explanation can wait a few minutes. Anyone who's in here needs to come out, now. We'll have to help anyone who can't get out themselves. This building isn't safe. Come on, everyone, let's go." Mr. Baker said, raising his voice a little. The people who'd still been in the café had started getting up and moving towards the nearest hole in the wall already; at his words, they sped up their pace. "If anyone needs help, let me know. We need to get everyone out."

"Derrick was hit by a brick." A man said, moving a table; below it was the man who had been unfortunate enough for one of the bricks tumbling out of the wall to hit him in the head. "He's out of it. I'm not even sure if he's okay." The man's voice shook.

"I, I can't walk." Panted another voice, a woman. She lay on the ground, but had lifted her torso using her arms. "I think my leg is broken."

"Emilia, Meiko, can you go and help her?" Tim asked his friends, gesturing at the woman. "I'll help him."

"You got it!" Meiko was off, jumping over and around debris.

"Of course." Emilia was slower to move, being more careful about where she stepped, but still hurried after Meiko. Tim started towards where the man knelt next to his friend. As he went, it occurred to him suddenly that he hadn't seen Pikachu, and panic rose in his chest for a moment. No sooner did it start, however, then he heard Pikachu yell,

"Tim! Tim, I got it!"

Looking towards the sound, he saw Pikachu heading towards him as fast as his small legs could carry him. In his hands, he held the straps and stone that Tim had gotten off of Feraligatr. It still changed colour between red-orange and green.

Tim breathed a quiet sigh of relief before nodding at Pikachu and going back to helping the unconscious man. His friend was trying to rouse him, with no success, so Tim offered to help carry him out.

The other man agreed, seeing that his friend was not going to wake up soon enough to walk out on his own. Tim was worried about moving people who were hurt- he knew it was not always a good idea- but if they left them in here to wait for paramedics and ambulances, and the building collapsed before they got there, then he was pretty sure that would be worse.

Tim and the other man were as careful as they could about lifting him, Mr. Baker joining their effort and sliding a table under him to use as a makeshift backboard, thought it wasn't really long enough. Still, they did the best they could, and though it was difficult, they slowly lifted the injured man over fallen wood and stone and destroyed tables and chairs to get him out of the building to a safe distance away before setting him down. Emilia and Meiko lifted the woman from either side and helped her out, the woman unable to use her broken left leg. Amanda began quickly searching for others, leaving when she found no one.

By the time they were outside, the ambulances had arrived, and they helped the unconscious man and injured woman into them. The fire department and police showed up while they did so. Leaping out of the first car was Inspector Holiday.

Tim sighed. This was entirely not how he'd wanted to spend the day. How was it that he kept running into these kinds of incidents?