Chapter 46: Hostile Feelings

The rain pelted down against me, my fur having long since been drenched. Above, the sky was as black as a void, completely empty of all light. All around, my vision was obscured with how heavy it poured. I could barely make out the figures of Laura, Ted, and my master nearby. And to top it all off, the wind was strong enough to the point where it pushed us around. If it were any stronger, we might have all been sent flying away. And to think, this had started not too long ago.

I thought back two days prior as lightning streaked across the sky to when we left the town the Drowzy, I mean D.Z., was captured. The sky had been as clear as day what with the sun shining brightly and not a single cloud in the sky. Hmm. Now that I thought about it that should have been a little more concerning given the fact that a raging storm like this came through that town. And as I was thinking about it, the more something began to click in my mind. Why was this storm here? How was it possible we caught up to it within the three days that it passed through the town? There has to be a connection. What that connection was, I couldn't place a paw upon. Of course, there was the possibility that I may have been overthinking it, causing me to worry for nothing and-

I was brought out of my thoughts suddenly as I felt a paw grab hold of me from behind, prompting me to look back. "Careful bro," Ted said, his form barely being seeable. "Don't allow for the wind to separate us." I looked up past him, barely able to see the silhouette forms of our trainers. I had been so lost in thought that I was unaware I was being pushed away from the group.

"Thanks," I said to him as we made our way back to them.

"I hate to say it" I heard Laura say. "But maybe we should turn back."

"I don't think it'll be that easy," my master said. "With the wind as strong as it is, there's no telling if we'll ever get out."

"You mean we're stuck out here?" Laura asked, the sound of fear beginning to take control.

"Not if we don't try," my master replied. "We're bound to find a way out one way or another."

"But what if we can't?" Laura asked. "What if we never find our way out? I don't want to die out here soaking wet!"

"That's not going to happen," my master said, his silhouette form turning to her. "We will get through this storm no matter what."

Laura was silent as the two stared at each other, at least until it was broken by Ted who said, "I see a light." I looked back to him before following to where his claw was pointing towards to see that a bright shining light was drawing towards us.

"Aw crap!" I cried. "This can't be the end! I had so much life to live! Darn you Grandmother Zanna! I always knew you'd be the death of me!"

"Relax, Zack," Ted said. "They're just a pair of headlights belonging to a vehicle of sorts."

"Thank goodness!" Laura said with relief as the vehicle pulled up. "We're saved!"

The vehicle itself was completely different to that of the vehicle belonging to the goons in white as I looked it over. It was definitely bigger and looked almost like a box, but appeared round. A door on the side slid opened, revealing two people inside, their gender unknown for the moment. "Get in!" one of them said in a masculine voice.

"With pleasure" my master said as we quickly clambered inside. The door was slid shut behind us as we settled in as the vehicle began to move. This was pretty exciting! This was my first time riding in a vehicle. I shimmied off all the excess water that was dripping from me, resulting in the droplets flying everywhere.

"Ugh!" Laura said in disgust. "Zack! Don't get us any more soaked than we already are!"

"Oops! My bad!" I said as an odd, musty smell wafted into my nostrils. It was a smell I was with familiar with many times before: the after rain. Though in this case, being stuck in a small, contained vehicle, the smell lingered about in the air with no wind to clear the stench.

"What the heck are you kids doing this far out in this storm?" asked one of the guys as I got a good look at them, a third up front doing the driving.

"More importantly, how did you manage to sneak past the barricade?" the second guy asked.

"Barricade?" my master questioned. "We didn't see any barricade. Why would there be a barricade?"

"Have you not heard the news?" the first guy asked. "Vermillion City is closed. We have barricade forces outside the city's perimeter to prevent any passersby from entering."

"No one's allowed to leave either," the second guy added in. "At least for the time being."

"Well we don't really carry a portable radio with us," Laura told them. "So we're kind of in the dark about what's going on."

"Vermillion City has been surrounded by this torrential downpour with the city being in the very center of it," the second guy explained. "The eye of this storm is directly above it. Not a single drop of rain has fallen."

"That's not the worst of it though," the first guy said. "Ever since this storm showed up, Vermillion City has had a nonstop onslaught of lightning striking down. House fires have started because of it and some of the citizens came dangerously close to being struck."

"That's horrible!" Laura said, horrified.

"How long has this storm been going on for?" my master questioned.

"For about three day now," the first guy replied, receiving a look of shock from all of us. "Three days ago?" Laura said. "That's not long after a storm like this had passed through a town we were staying at. But how would we catch up to it after three days?"

"I think the more important question to ask is why it's been lingering around Vermillion the last three days," the first guy said.

"You don't think it's some kind of bizarre weather phenomenon, do you?" my master questioned.

"That's what's trying to be determined as of late," the second guy told us. "It just seems odd that a storm like this would appear out of the blue and linger about for so long."

"It's odd, isn't it?" Ted suddenly spoke, catching my attention.

"What is?" I asked.

"The fact that fate seems to be on our side so strongly," was his answer. "We bypass the barricades that prevent people from entering the city, get caught in a rainstorm, and get picked up to be taken to Vermillion City. Surely there's a reason why."

"Wait! We're being taken to Vermillion? How do you know?" Ted merely pointed, prompting me to look and being almost blinded by rays of sunlight streaming in through the front window.

"We'll be pulling up to the Pokemon Center in a bit," the driver said back to us. "I'll get you as close to the entrance as possible. After that, it's a mad dash for you both and your pokemon."

"How exciting!" Ted said, a gleam of excitement shining in his eyes. "What thrills of mysteries lie in this city, I wonder."

"I'm sure we'll find out soon enough," I said as the vehicle began to slow to a stop.

"We really appreciate you piking us up and bringing us here," Laura said as she and my master readied themselves for a full on sprint. "Hopefully you won't find anybody else in this mess."

"Anybody with enough common sense wouldn't dare to come as far as you two did," the guy near the door said. I really didn't care at this point which guy was which. "Though in your cases, it seems as though it's more luck than bravery."

"All right!" the driver yelled back. "Ya'll get a move on now! Stay safe."

"You too," my master said as the door was slid open. We all clambered out and ran for the building we were close by. A sudden bolt of lightning striking the ground several feet away caused my attention to be diverted long enough for me to run smack straight into something hard.

"Ow!" I mentally thought, staggering back some as I rubbed the spot where the pain was throbbing from.

"I guess you don't have much luck with doors," Ted said as he helped guide me in the right direction. "I do have to question though how you run straight into a pair of sliding doors."

"Doors hate me," I replied. "And I hate doors!"

Ted could only chuckle as Laura breathed easy. "Thank goodness!" she said. "We made it."

"Did you see that bolt of lightning though?" my master asked her. "Crazy right?"

"I'd rather not think about it," Laura said as a familiar looking nurse came walking over towards us. As she spoke to our trainers, I let my eyes wander, noting numerous amounts of people either wandering around or sitting in various places. Groups of small children ran around playing with one another, noticing a few others staying close to their parents, yet watching on in interest.

"It's quite a somber mood, isn't it?" Ted asked, having appeared beside me. Again with that guy! How does he do it? "You may not be able to see it, but you can feel it. They're scared. All they know is that this storm has been going on longer than it should be. And they know it. Fear is the number one emotion that hinders a person and holds back things about them they don't even know." He fell silent for a bit, leaving an unsettling feeling inside of me. "The same goes for us too. There will always be an obstacle too great for us to overcome, but standing together as one, or using the support of our friends and what we've learned will help us move forward, meeting said obstacle head-on. Only then will we learn something new about ourselves."

I stared wide-eyed at Ted, unsure of what he was talking about. I wasn't entirely sure what to say. Was I sure this was still Ted? There aren't different versions of him, are there? He looked up at me, causing me to flinch slightly. "Sorry about that, Zack," he said. "The atmosphere dampened my mood a little. I'm all right though." He smiled.

"Um… ok," I said. "I just didn't expect that bit from you."

"Understandable," he said as my master came walking up to me.

"All right, boy," he said. "I'm going to return you to your ball for a bit so you can rest up. The wind and rain must have exhausted you."

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever," I said as I yawned, realizing just how tired I was. Darn him for saying anything at all.

"I know you don't like your ball, but it's a rule here at the Center," my master said. "You'll be in and out in no time. I guarantee it."

I simply rolled my eyes as my trainer called me back in, seeing Ted wave good-bye to me as he did before I found myself back in the area I was caught in. I sighed. I suppose I would just have to make the best of things while I was in here. Walking over to the fake lake, I took a few gulps of water, not realizing how dehydrated I was with all that wind and rain. Not to mention exhausted. It must have been a result of the humidity.

As I drank from the lake, I began to wonder how the food and water within were able to sustain my hunger. That was yet another thing to talk to Ted and Charcoal about. How many did that make now? Regardless of that, once I had quenched my thirst, I headed inside the small cavern and lied down to nap.

I awoke to a tingling feeling spreading throughout my body some time later. I recalled that the feeling was a result of any and all injuries being healed. In this case, however, my body felt well-rested, like all the exhaustion had disappeared, which it did. I got up and stretched before walking back out. The sky was still set upon the day setting. It didn't concern me though. What concerned me was how long it was going to be before I was brought out again. I was quite famished. Luckily, I didn't have long to wait before I found myself out of my ball and back within the Healing Center as I have now just come to call it and into the face of the most terrifying thing of anyone's nightmares.

"Hi!"

I shot up into the air, somehow abling to land in my master's arms as the pink terror that was Skitty walked off laughing.

"Wow Zack!" my master said as he placed me down, having to rub a shoulder afterwards. "I didn't think you'd be that heavy."

"I never thought I'd see anyone jump that high," Laura said.

"I never thought I'd feel this well-rested again," Ted said, standing next to Laura.

"If anyone makes a comment on not believing butter is not butter, I swear…" said the familiar orange scaled lizard that was Charcoal.

"Yo Charc," I said as I went over to him in a single bound. "How're your shoulders?"

"They flare up every now and then," he said to me. "Other than that though, the anti-biotics helped immensely."

"Great!" I said happily. "You missed quite a bit while you were recovering."

"I'm sure I have," he said. "Mind catching me up to speed?"

"Well to start, we've made it into Vermillion," I began.

"I could tell."

"Yes, but how we got here involves a trek through the most dangerous storm that currently surrounds the city with an onslaught of lightning that threatens the very city itself."

"Really now?"

"Yes really. Not to mention that- Hey!" I turned, catching sight of D.Z. making a break for the door. Luckily, Ted was quick to the draw as usual and blocked his escape.

"Get out of my way, you freaking bear!" he growled.

"And just where do you think you plan on going, bro?" he asked.

"That's none of your damn business!" D.Z. growled again.

"If you're trying to make a break for your home, I'm sorry to say that we're no longer anywhere near it."

"The hell are you talking about?" D.Z. demanded.

"What he means is that that town you've been stealing from is three days from where we are now,' I interjected. "And even if we weren't, you'd have an empty home to return to. The townspeople found where you lived and retrieved everything you've stolen from there."

"How dare you!" he seethed once the look of shock was gone. "Both of you! It's not enough to force me to suffer through an entire night's storm! You have to take me from my home and take my stuff too?"

"It wasn't yours to begin with!" I argued with him. "You have no consideration for the sake of others. You're both ignorant and selfish!"

"And you're a demanding, uncaring jackass who has no regards about how I feel!" he argued back, pointing at Ted. "The same goes for him!"

"Really?" I questioned. "So what you're saying is that what Ted did for you was nothing more than trying to make your life miserable?"

"Are you deaf? My life was perfect until you showed up. Do you like bullying others for the sake of being a bully?"

"Enough!" Charcoal said, attempting to break up the argument. "I don't exactly know what happened but-"

"Stuff it, fire hazard!" D.Z. yelled at him. "This doesn't concern you!"

"Well hello to you too," Charcoal snarked. "Zack, a word?" I huffed, following Charcoal across the building to the other side so as to get me away from whatever that thing was; if it could even be called that. "So, mind filling me in? How did fatty McLoudmouth come to join our team?"

I began to recount the events that had transpired while he was resting, Charcoal remaining silent as he listened to everything that had happened. It wasn't until I had finished that I noticed that his attention had shifted. "Charcoal"" I said, trying to attain his focus. "Charcoal!"

"Hmm?" he questioned, snapping his gaze back to me. "What?"

"Weren't you listening?" I asked him

"Sorry," he said. "I got distracted."

"By what?" I asked as I turned to see what had distracted him. I couldn't be too sure what he saw. It could have been the group of kids who were running around playing some made-up game. Or it could have been the couple who were smooching up a storm. Why he would be watching them was beyond me. But of course, there was the old man sitting alone away from everybody else he could have been watching. Even now the old man was acting rather suspicious, keeping his head low and looking around the building like he was looking for somebody he lost. I'd have to keep an eye on him. Crazy old man!

Then there was a girl who was slouched over drawing something on a piece of paper and two men leaning against the back wall with a crate in-between them. So in conclusion, there were a number of people Charcoal could have been paying attention to. The chances of me guessing who he was watching was pretty slim, though I still betted on the old man. "So that's pretty much the gist of it," I said, turning back to face Charcoal.

"Why bother keeping him then?" he asked. "He doesn't seem like he's willing to change his attitude any time soon. Laura really picked a tough, yet infuriating one."

"Well it was either that or let him suffer under excruciating experiments."

"That might have helped teach him a lesson," Charcoal said. "Speaking of which, this organization you spoke of, you're certain that they only gave us a strike and not two?"

"I made sure Skitty didn't do anything to land us another," I said.

"Hopefully you didn't either."

"Excuse me?" I questioned as I furrowed my brow. "Do you honestly not think I'm capable of being responsible? That I'd give in to my wilder instincts and cause the team to be disbanded? I mean, yeah, I may not always seem like I make the wisest of decisions, but I would never be that stupid."

Charcoal's expression changed to one of a perplexed look as he said, "I never implied that-"

"That what?" I questioned, cutting him off. "That I would go as far as endangering everyone's safety because of a misunderstanding? I mean yeah, I was going to throw a Shadow Ball at those D.C.A. goons as a warning without thinking they'd use that to their advantage, but if it meant losing my friends, I'd choose to not do anything at all. I just can't believe how little you think of me!"

"Zack, I-" he began, a rather odd expression upon his face as I huffed, cutting him off once more.

"Whatever," I said as I turned ad stormed off, heading back towards the other side, noticing that Ted and D.Z. were no longer standing by the doorway. As I looked around, I managed to spot Ted who was currently sitting by himself, his eyes closed and a paw lightly touching his chest. I spotted D.Z. moments later sitting in front of a window, his arms crossed and possibly wearing the biggest scowl I could imagine him having as another rumble of thunder boomed throughout.

I wasn't sure what happened, but I could tell that neither of them was in a pleasant mood. Well, D.Z. is one thing, being that he had only been on the team for three days. With things the way they were currently, I supposed the only thing I could do for now was go and keep watch on that creepy, old man on the off chance that he-

My thoughts were interrupted suddenly as my nose was smacked into the ground by an insane pink cat who's thoughts were unknown to me by a loud, resounding…

Whap!