Chapter 21
Even fifteen minutes early for your battle, you aren't the first to arrive.
"Oh! Hi there. Umm, you're Nathaniel, right?" She's so surprised she jumps, which startles you in turn. You weren't even trying to be quiet.
Crooked bleachers overlook a lush, well-watered patch of grass that sparkles dewy in the morning sunlight, untouched, just waiting to get torn apart by your battle. The actual stadiums are reserved for matches with highlight players, and it's no surprise there's no one here to watch an early-morning match between a couple unknowns. Not that you intend to remain unknown for long.
"Yes. I am the great Nathaniel Morgan."
"Oh. Umm... Then I'm the awesome Allie Wilson, I guess!" She laughs and punches the air.
You don't know what she finds funny, and it must show on your face. The awesome Allie Wilson glances around as though hoping to find someone else to talk to. "So, uh, I guess the ref isn't here yet."
"Yes."
There doesn't seem to be anything else to say. Your opponent crosses her arms and shivers. She's wearing short sleeves, and the morning breeze still has night's cold cutting edge. You look out over the broad expanse of the Plateau, which is dotted with small arenas, but can't see any other battles going on. Nine is probably the earliest time slot.
Your daydreaming is interrupted by a heavyset young woman in the League's red and black, arms cradling a jumble of referee's flags. "Good morning. Nathaniel Morgan, right? Allie Wilson? Good, good. Thank you for being here on time. If you could just get your dexes out, link up to my tablet here... Thank you. Now, shall we get started, or do you need a refresher on the rules?"
"Oh. I'm sorry, I'm..." The awesome Allie Wilson half-raises her hand like she's in a movie about high school and wants to ask a question.
"Two on two, singles, no battle items. You may switch freely, but any pokémon that leaves the field without being recalled is disqualified. There is a time limit of one hour for this match. At the end of that time, the trainer with the most pokémon remaining is considered the winner. In the event of a tie, the winner will be at the judge's discretion. Anything else?"
The awesome Allie Wilson picks at her arm while she listens, then stammers, "Umm, n-no, thanks."
"Wonderful. Allie, you're red corner. Nathaniel, you're blue."
The awesome Allie Wilson starts forward, then blushes and hurries off towards the far side of the field when you start moving in the same direction. You don't know how she managed to mess that one up; the trainers' boxes are marked out in their corresponding colors. If she's flustered enough to make a mistake like that, this battle's going to be even easier than you expected.
"Okay," the referee says, tapping away at her tablet. The field's energy shield goes up, invisible but humming faintly. "Let's get started," the referee goes on. "Pokéballs ready. On my mark..."
"Let's go, Vileplume!"
"Go, Raticate!"
Vileplume appears near the center of the field with a trilling cry. She lifts a heavy petal out of her face and stares around the arena, squeaking in delight when she spots the referee. Raticate hangs back, hunched up on his hind legs and twisting his foreclaws together while he sizes up his opponent.
"Raticate versus Vileplume," the referee says. "The first round will... begin!"
"Stun spore, Vileplume! Slow it down."
"Quick attack, Raticate. Get out of there."
Raticate looks at you over his shoulder, and you hold your breath, not sure what you'll do if he ignores you. But then he's gone in a flash of motion, well ahead of the wave of golden powder drifting from Vileplume's flower. The grass-type's wide-eyed look is gone, replaced by a small, confident smile.
Raticate must realize what's going on before you do, because he comes out of his quick attack in a skid even as you're starting to say, "Back off! Don't get close!"
The stun spore wasn't aimed at him. It fountains up and drifts down in a curtain around Vileplume, surrounding her completely. Most of Raticate's attacks aren't going to work. If he gets in close, he's going to be paralyzed.
Fortunately, he knows some distance attacks, so you aren't fucked over just because the awesome Allie Wilson put her pokémon out of reach. You sigh. "Swift, Raticate."
The normal-type drops to all fours and gives himself a shake, releasing sparks of normal-type energy that swirl for a moment before shooting forward in a swarm. They pierce straight through the haze of powder and pummel Vileplume within. She winces but doesn't stop pumping spores into the air.
"Keep it up, Raticate," you say. You wonder how long the vileplume'll be able to keep her stun spore going. It protects her from most of Raticate's moves, but as long as he can just stand there and swift, he'll be fine.
By now Vileplume's surrounded by a golden ring of paralytic dust. She grimaces as another volley of swift stars hits home, but she's not looking worried. "Okay, Vileplume. I think that's good. Give us a petal dance."
"Swift. Keep going," you say. What's she up to?
The stun spore cuts out, a few last spores filtering to the ground as Vileplume spins one way and then the other, humming to herself. A faint breeze teases powder back into the air, and multicolored petals spray from the center of Vileplume's flower, drifting and floating on waves of grass-type energy.
Raticate breaks off his swift and flees ahead of the unfolding attack, but the boundaries of the arena hold him back. You lose sight of him as a storm of petals presses against the energy barrier, filling the whole arena to a point high above your head. When it finally clears, the vileplume is still in the middle, wobbling as she spins and croaking out the last few words of a tuneless song. Raticate lies curled in a ball at the very edge of the arena, practically on top of your feet.
"Raticate!" The vileplume stuffs a berry into her mouth, one you couldn't see earlier, concealed under the heavy flaps of her petals. "Raticate, come on!" Vileplume won't be vulnerable for long.
Raticate uncurls, but his movements are slow and jerky. Morning sunlight sparkles off something golden in Raticate's fur. He's covered in tiny flower petals, and more of them litter the ground all around--along with small drifts of stun spore. You clench your fists, biting back a growl. So that was the plan all along.
"Great work, Vileplume! Hit him with a sludge bomb!"
You grit your teeth. "Get out of there, Raticate. Dodge it with feint attack."
Raticate grumbles something you don't catch and throws himself sideways, trying to roll into his own shadow as the bomb hits, spraying toxic goop in all directions. Raticate reappears by Vileplume's side, ramming into her headfirst. He follows on with a powerful bite as she stumbles, ripping one of her petals near in half. Even moving as slowly as he is, he still outpaces the grass-type, who's weighed down by her heavy flower.
As the rat latches onto Vileplume's side with another bite, her trainer hisses, "Oh, crap. Knock him out, Vileplume. Sleep powder!"
"Quick attack, Raticate! Get out of there!" You only hope he's still fast enough.
Maybe he would be, but he doesn't even try. "Raticate! Hey!" you yell as he clamps down even harder on Vileplume's side. The grass-type squeals, but the pain isn't enough to stop her, and green powder puffs into the air from the center of her flower.
Raticate braces his paws and twists his whole body around, tipping Vileplume back, back. At some point gravity takes over and she keeps tipping, letting out a piping trill of fear. The weight of the flower drags her completely upside-down, her tiny legs pinwheeling uselessly in the air.
Raticate staggers away from her, weaving drunkenly with eyes half-closed. He must have gotten some of the sleep powder in his system, and the paralysis is still sending him into fits of full-body twitching.
"No, Raticate! Turn around! Get her!" But no, of course he slumps over on his side instead. You holler at him to wake up while the awesome Allie Wilson yells at Vileplume to calm down, with about equal results.
"Solar beam, Vileplume. Come on, you know how this works."
Vileplume stops struggling and rests for a moment, panting. A look of deep concentration settles over her face, and her flower starts glowing a bright yellow-green as she draws in power.
"Come on, Raticate. She's doing something. Come on!"
The rat raises his head and turns dull eyes on you. His movements are slow and listless, like he's been drugged. "Get the vileplume. No, behind you. Look!"
A faint humming fills the air, and golden light seeps from under Vileplume's petals as she charges. Raticate drags himself around to face her just in time for the attack to go off.
You squint and throw a hand in front of your eyes as a fat column of energy shoots from the center of Vileplume's flower, propelling her into the air. The solar beam flies wild, ripping across the barrier on the awesome Allie Wilson's side of the field and dissipating in empty air. The vileplume turns a complete flip in midair and lands in a crouch. She straightens up slowly, a grim look on her face as she turns to face Raticate. "Okay, Vileplume, now use giga drain," her trainer says, sounding relieved.
Of course. You had her, you had her, but Raticate let the opportunity slip away. And now he's just standing there while green light seeps into the air around Vileplume. "Come on, Raticate! Knock her down! Use double-edge."
Vileplume raises her stubby arms, and now green light surrounds Raticate, too. He stumbles forward a couple steps, grinding his teeth.
"Keep it up, Vileplume!" the awesome Allie Wilson says, and you lean forward, staring at Raticate with all your might, willing him to move. Vileplume stands up straighter, her mangled petal regenerating as Raticate's energy flows into her. Raticate staggers on, sickly-looking in the pulsing green light of Vileplume's attack. He moves in uncertain, lurching rushes, and if he doesn't pick up the pace he's never going to make it, come on, come on--you jump backward as the tip of your nose brushes up against the energy barrier and goes instantly numb.
Raticate breaks into a hitching, stumbling run. He blunders into Vileplume, and the green light vanishes as she staggers, flailing her stubby arms--she's afraid of flipping over again, you realize. Raticate grabs her, kicking and scratching as he tries to pull her down.
Vileplume's shrill cries of distress drown out her trainer's orders, and she pummels Raticate with her fists, too shaken to put together a special attack. Raticate goes limp as paralysis grips him, then breaks out of it a second later with a wild thrash, gouging Vileplume's side with his claws completely by accident, as far as you can tell. The two of them wobble around in an unsteady waltz, periodically rattled by Raticate's paralyzed spasms, until the sheer weight of the normal-type drags Vileplume to the ground. The referee watches them roll around until it's just Raticate growling to himself, chewing one of Vileplume's petals.
"Vileplume's down," she says only a second before the awesome Allie Wilson calls the grass-type back. Your opponent bites her lip, then throws out another pokéball. A raichu takes shape, and Raticate turns creakily to face him, panting and twitching all the way.
"Oh, guess you fought Vileplume, huh?" the electric-type says, swishing his tail in a casual rodent greeting. He wears a bright yellow strip of cloth around his forehead, its tails trailing down his back--a muscle band, you think. You can't make out what Raticate says back, if he manages anything at all.
"Blue corner switches?" the referee asks.
If you're lucky, Raticate might get an attack in. Might. No point saving him for later. "No switch."
The referee nods and gives her flags a disinterested flick. "Begin."
"Raticate, get in there with a quick attack."
"Just thunderbolt him, Raichu."
There's nothing quick about Raticate's attack. He starts another halting run, and Raichu sidles away, his cheeks sparking. "That looks uncomfortable," he says. "I'll make this quick, okay?"
The lightning bolt knocks Raticate off his feet, and the referee doesn't bother waiting for the smoke to clear before she makes the call.
Raichu turns around and gives his trainer a thumbs-up with a thumbless paw, cheekily twitching his ears. The awesome Allie Wilson giggles, and you smirk. How tragic that you're going to ruin their fun.
"Graveler, get out there!"
"All right," the referee says as the rock-type takes shape. "Last pokémon on the field. The final round will now begin!"
It'll be a fast one, too. "Earthquake, Graveler!"
"You know what to do, Raichu!"
Graveler brings a foot down hard, cracks radiating in all directions as the earth begins to shake. The raichu makes a flying leap and lands on the only stable place in the arena: square on top of Graveler herself. Sunlight flashes off metal as Raichu brings his tail around and smashes it down just above the rock-type's eyes.
"Nice try, but--ah! I don't think so!" Raichu grabs his tail at the base of its lightning-bolt tip and uses it to push Graveler's reaching hand away. She closes her fingers around the blade, which still glints metallic-sharp. Raichu drags his tail sideways, and Graveler lets go with a growl as it cuts into her palm. She makes another grab, but Raichu dodges and somersaults back to the ground, landing behind his opponent.
"Use cut!" Raichu's trainer yells, and he's already laying into Graveler's back. His steel-edged tail carves deep furrows in her craggy skin, sending scales flying in all directions. Graveler reaches blindly with all four arms, stomping in a slow circle, but Raichu rolls to stay behind her, slipping under her hands.
"Earthquake again," you say. Graveler's foot comes down, and Raichu jumps up. "Now grab him!"
"My, my. A little frustrated, are we?" Raichu asks. Graveler's fists crash into an invisible barrier as she tries to grab him, and Raichu's content to wait behind the protect shield until the earthquake's rumbles die away. Then he kicks off in another powerful leap, landing several yards from Graveler with tail-blade raised in one paw. His claw glows a moment, and it lets out a bright metallic ringing as he runs it across the blade's dull, chipped edge, leaving it gleaming sharp once more.
"Rollout, then," you growl. Graveler only has to hit once. Once, and then the raichu won't be so fast. If he takes an earthquake straight on, the match'll be over.
"Stay away, Raichu."
"On it!"
Graveler tucks in her limbs and rolls straight at him, but Raichu dodges easily. Graveler keeps going, circling the edge of the arena. She swerves towards Raichu once, twice, and then a third time, faster with every attack. Raichu keeps on dodging, leaping aside with ease even when Graveler's rolling so fast you feel like you'll get a crick in your neck trying to follow her movement. Finally Raichu pauses, tensing as Graveler speeds his way. This time when he jumps it's to land on top of her yet again. Your heart leaps as he stumbles, but he catches himself and starts jogging along, keeping pace with Graveler's roll so he stays on top while she pinballs around the arena.
"Okay, okay, Raichu," his trainer says. She laughs as he lets out a cheery squeak and waves to her. "Now isn't the time to be showing off like that. Come on, be serious."
You grind your teeth so hard it hurts. "Stop rolling, Graveler. Stop. I said stop!"
Instead she veers straight into the energy barrier. The impact makes Raichu drop to all fours, and then Graveler knocks his legs out from under him with another quick change of direction. He's spun down under Graveler's body and flung out behind her a second later, covered in bleeding scrapes.
Graveler extends her arms and legs, which dig deep furrows in the dirt, killing her momentum. Raichu stirs, his face set in a grimace of pain as he draws in splayed limbs. Then Graveler grabs his tail.
Raichu shrieks, and you're blinded by a brilliant flare of electricity. When your vision clears, Graveler's spinning Raichu over her head like a lariat. She slams him into the dirt, whips him up into the air, then brings him crashing down again.
"Brick break, Raichu, brick break!" his trainer yells. The electric-type struggles at the end of his tether, kicking Graveler's arm with enough force to crack her stony shell and start his own paws bleeding.
Graveler drops him, then slams a boulder on top of his tail-blade before he can crawl away. "Finish it with earthquake," you say, like she honestly needs telling.
Raichu tugs on his tail, then waggles the blade with his paw, trying to lever the rock off. Graveler watches, ignoring you when sheer irritation makes you repeat your order. What's she waiting for?
Raichu plants his feet wide, getting both paws under the boulder's edge. Muscles stand out under his fur as he starts to lift. He's strong. He's way too strong. And Graveler lets him heave the boulder up over his head, tail whipping free as he lets out a battle cry, before she stomps her foot again.
The earthquake knocks Raichu to the ground, then bounces the dropped boulder back on top of him. He struggles at first, squirming out from under the boulder and trying to brace himself against the shaking. But the attack goes on and on, pounding the arena with waves of seismic energy, and in the end Raichu lies still and lets it jounce him around with impunity.
Graveler stands with one foot upraised as Raichu rises to four paws, random sparks popping from his cheeks. He rests there with head bowed, breathing noisily. Graveler makes a warning rumble, raising her foot higher. Raichu shakily lifts a paw and says, "Okay, yeah, I give."
The referee calls, "Raichu is unable to battle. Nathaniel Morgan is the winner of this match."
"Good job, Raichu. You did great," the awesome Allie Wilson says. You recall Graveler just in time for the ref to start in on more instructions.
"Okay, Nathaniel, you're moving on. You'll get information on your next match this evening at six. Allie, you're going to the losers' bracket, same deal. Thanks for a clean match, you two." She barely sticks around long enough to hear the awesome Allie Wilson's stammered thanks before cutting across the open plateau towards the grand stadium.
You're about to do the same when your opponent says, "Good match."
"Was it?"
She looks at you like you said something funny. "Umm, yeah. Your graveler, uh, she's strong, and all your pokémon are pretty smart. They almost seem like they don't need a trainer."
"It would be smarter to actually follow my commands. And I do not see what them being strong has to do with the battle being good. Your pokémon are not that great. Mine should have had no problem with your team, but in the end the only reason we won is because your Raichu got cocky. I did not think it was a good battle at all."
"Oh," the awesome Allie Wilson says. "O-okay."
You leave her staring at the ground, shoulders hunched and mouth set and frowning. You don't understand. All you did was point out the obvious. Why did she even bring it up if she didn't want to talk about it?
Humans. It's a wonder pokémon put up with them at all. You wander off towards the Pokémon Center, letting the climbing sun warm you and burn away the tension left over from your match. Forget the awesome Allie Wilson. Forget TGNM. Let them think what they're going to think. All that matters is you're in the tournament for real now. You're going to make it to the top, one way or another.
The human's asleep when you come in. He's off in his own room now, and the breathing tube is gone. You stare at the monitors watching over him for a few seconds, but the wiggly lines are as meaningless as ever. At least he must be getting better, or they wouldn't have sent him out here.
"Wake up," you say, and when that doesn't work, you pound your fist on the bed's railing. "Wake up!"
TGNM grimaces and opens his eyes to slits, which widen with surprise when they finally focus on you. "Wha... the fuck?"
"Good. You are awake. Finally. Are you ready to discuss the League tournament? You have already managed to miss some of it."
The terror fades from TGNM's face. "Oh. It's you." He lies with brow furrowed in thought, staring at the ceiling as you go on.
"Of course it is me. Who else would it be? Now, the first match was yesterday. I won. I have today off, but tomorrow--"
You step back as TGNM suddenly tries to sit up. He only makes it a couple inches off his pillow, clawing at the bed's railing for support. "Where the fuck are my pokémon?"
"I have them with me. You can see them later. So--"
"No! No 'later!' Now!" He takes a huge, gulping breath. "Now, motherfucker!"
"In a minute. First I wanted to tell you--"
"Fuck... fuck that!" TGNM gasps. "Fuck you!"
You frown down at him. He's trembling, dripping with sweat like he's just run five miles, and trying to burn a pair of holes in you with his eyes. "Calm down and listen to me for a minute. You owe me. I saved your life. Again."
"Fuck..." But he can't keep himself upright any longer and falls back panting on the bed, his eyes squeezed shut like he's in pain.
"Are you ready to listen now?"
He has to take a moment to get his breath back, and even then the words come out thin between gasps for air. "You got... You got some fucking nerve, showing up here."
"I do? Why? There is nothing for me to be afraid of. You are clearly incapable of harming me right now."
"That... that so? How about you come... how about... come a little closer, asshole?" He grabs for the railing again, but his hand's shaking and his fingers slip right off it. "Come a little closer, see what I'm, I'm 'clearly'..."
"Remember, if we win the tournament, you can have your steelix back. All I'm asking--"
"No! I'm so fucking done with your--"
"Would you calm down already? Your pokémon are fine. I just want to talk."
TGNM manages to catch hold of the railing and tries to sit up again, face contorted with effort. "Give... me..." he says, but the rest blurs into an incoherent growl as he shivers in place, straining but failing to rise further.
He keeps struggling, though, every muscle standing out taut along his emaciated frame. If you let this go on much longer, he's probably going to have a heart attack or something, and then you'll be back at square one. You unclip the pokéballs from your belt. "Fine. You can see them if you want. But we will talk later."
He might not even hear you, his gaze fixed on the pokéballs as he lets himself fall back against the pillow. The tension vanishes from his face when the pokémon appear, replaced by a huge grin.
Mightyena rears up to put her paws on the bed. "Nate! You're awake!"
"Hey, Pooch. What's... what's up? Whoah, stay... stay down, now. I don't wanna get, don't wanna get crushed, here. Just stay down. Okay."
She stays down but strains forward as far as she can, bouncing on her back paws and stretching her neck out to try and reach her trainer with her tongue. Graveler grunts and takes a step back as Mightyena's tail smacks her in the face, and Raticate darts around her to hop up onto the foot of the bed. He creeps along the far railing, watching Mightyena licking at TGNM's hand while the human tries to pet her head despite her wriggling. "Ugh, you two are disgusting. Just look at yourselves."
"What was that, Raticate?" TGNM asks. He rubs around the base of Mightyena's jaw, and she pants with excitement and slobbers all over the sheets. "Not feeling left out, are you? C'mere."
He makes a clumsy lunge and manages to pull the normal-type into a one-armed hug. "Hey! Hey!" Raticate says, but he doesn't resist. Instead he rests his chin on TGNM's chest while the human scratches the bald patch behind his ear. "Oh, fine. Be that way, you weirdo."
"All right down there, Graveler?" TGNM asks, craning his neck up to see over the edge of the bed. Graveler raises a fist, and TGNM leaves off playing with Mightyena's ears long enough to give it a light bump. Graveler rumbles something indistinct and settles down with her back to her trainer, watching you from the shadow of the bed.
"So what's up with you guys?" TGNM asks, lying back with eyes half-closed as he strokes Raticate's fur. "The freak hasn't been giving you too much trouble, has it?"
"I treated them perfectly well," you say before they can answer. "Which did not stop your Mightyena from attacking me for no reason."
"That so?" There's the hint of a smile on TGNM's face, and he flicks the tip of Mightyena's ear when she growls at you.
"Yeah. She's almost as suicidal as you sometimes, you know that?" Raticate says.
"Yes. And Raticate and Graveler were sloppy and disobedient in our tournament match. You obviously have no idea how to teach proper discipline."
"And you obviously ain't got no idea how to not be a fucking gigantic shithead," TGNM says serenely. His pokémon glare at you. "So you already did your first match, huh? The fuck happened with that?"
You stare right back at Mightyena, daring her to do something about it. "We won, obviously."
"Hey, nice. So you guys've been kicking ass while I've been stuck in bed all day, huh?"
"Hell yes we did. Listen, there was this vileplume, right?" Raticate says, and before you can stop him he's off on a blow-by-blow description of his battle. TGNM ignores your attempts to get things back on track, paying close attention to his pokémon's story even though he can't understand a word.
When Raticate finally wraps things up, TGNM smiles and says, "So basically you were a complete badass, am I right?"
"Well, I did better than benchwarmer over there," the normal-type says, shoving his head under TGNM's hand so the human will scratch between his ears. Mightyena whines, and TGNM reaches down to pet her, too.
"He was not a badass. I already told you your pokémon are sloppy. We would not have won at all if we had not gotten lucky. Your raticate managed to get paralyzed and almost put to sleep, and then Graveler--"
"Wait, paralyzed?" TGNM grins down at Raticate. "Somebody paralyzed you?"
"I know, right?" the normal-type snickers.
"Yes. And then your graveler nearly lost to a raichu."
A subterranean rumble emanates from beneath TGNM's bed, but he pays it no mind, a slow smirk spreading across his face. "Oh my God, you've got no fucking clue, do you? You're over there all sad because Raticate got paralyzed, like boo hoo, you complete moron."
You don't know what he's talking about, so you just frown at him and hope he'll think you're offended he would even suggest you don't know what's going on.
"Oh my God you really don't know. Oh my God, that's amazing." TGNM tries to laugh, but it comes out as a strangled hacking noise that makes Mightyena's ears go back against her skull. Raticate scoots away from him, whiskers quivering in alarm. TGNM himself presses a hand against his chest, coughing and swearing below his breath. "Oh fuck," he wheezes. "You've got to stop doing this to me, Freak. If you're going to destroy my goddamn ribcage, you can't follow it up by doing hilariously stupid shit, okay? Ow. Fuck."
"Perhaps if you learned to control yourself, you wouldn't keep hurting yourself by laughing."
"Nah." He's almost successful at a dismissive wave. "After all the shit you put me through, I should at least get a laugh out of it, even if it hurts like a bitch. Anyway. Raticate"--he gently nudges the normal-type back to the center of his chest--"has the 'guts' ability. Please tell me I don't have to explain what the fuck that means."
"I know what it means," you snap, feeling the blood rush to your face. "I just did not remember that was his ability. I am used to fighting with my raticate. She has the 'run away' ability."
"Oh, one of them scaredy rats, huh?" TGNM sneers, Raticate mirroring his expression.
"She is not 'scaredy.' And your raticate is the most cowardly I have ever met. You should have seen him run away when all I did was look at him."
Raticate bristles and bunches up like he wants to jump at you, but TGNM just says, "Freak, anybody with half a goddamned brain runs the second they see you coming. Ain't nobody wants to put up with your bullshit. Now what was that about some pikachu or something? Raticate beat the dumb vileplume, and what else?"
"It was a raichu. But he did not fight like a normal raichu. He used his tail like a sword. Graveler had trouble hitting him."
TGNM smooths the fur down Raticate's spine as he stares into the distance. "It used its tail like a sword, you said?"
"Yes. And physical attacks outside of that."
"Huh. I think I know that guy. So you were fighting a kid?"
"Yes. Not too young. About thirteen, I think. Why?"
"Uh-huh, uh-huh," TGNM mutters to himself. "Wilson, I'll bet. At least the raichu's probably hers. Must be her kid in the tournament."
"What, you know her?"
"Not personal like," TGNM says, exasperated. "But from battling, sure. She's not a big-timer, does some smaller tournaments here and there. She's more in the contest circuit, really. That's why she's got the raichu with the flashy battle style, you know? For the show. Anyhow," he finishes, looking uncomfortable under your stare, "her daughter's probably doing the whole training thing now, right? So she can borrow mommy's pokémon. You're lucky you were facing the kid, is all I'm saying."
"How did you know all of that?" you ask, half suspicious and half fascinated.
"Uh, I pay attention? This ain't exactly rocket science, Freak."
"Of course not. It does not even have anything to do with Team Rocket." Raticate snickers for some reason. "Regardless, if you think you could do so much better, you can prove it when you start doing battles yourself."
"Oh, fuck's sake. Back to that shit again? Look, we ain't even got enough mons to play with. My three are great, but you need six. Or can't you count either, dumbfuck?"
"I will battle for you as well. That makes four, even though I am very strong and I should count for at least two." You notice TGNM opening his mouth to make some comment and hurry to add, "Then there is Absol."
"What, the fucking amazing disappearing Absol? That one? You think she'll even show up to fight?"
She'll come around. "Of course she will. Absol has not been with me because I have been moving around too much for her to keep up. But we will be at the Plateau for a while, so it will be no problem for her to help us battle."
"Okay, fine. Five fucking pokémon. Still don't mean a goddamn thing. You're gonna need six, and where are you gonna get the last one? You can't get a wildy trained up halfway decent in time for the tournament, and what else you got? Steal something? Hate to break it to ya, but stolen shit's usually pretty pissed about the whole thing. Send it out to battle and it'll probably go after you, get me?"
"You would know how to deal with that, would you not? I imagine you have had considerable experience using stolen pokémon." You give the three in front of you a significant look.
"Oh, fuck you. My pokémon ain't all stolen."
"Just half of them," Mightyena says with a brief wag.
"Like you even count," Raticate grumbles. "You stole him, more like."
"Well, I wasn't the one who got in trouble for it."
Mightyena gives TGNM a quick swipe with her tongue, and he absently scratches under her chin while he scowls at you. "Look, I don't actually give a fuck how many pokémon you got, I can't be your fucking trainer because I'm in the goddamn hospital being practically fucking dead, get me?"
"I will heal you."
"Ain't your fucked-up healing voodoo what put me in here in the first place? You can go fuck yourself with your healing."
"No, I cannot. And it only went bad because you were too tired to heal properly. If the doctors treat you well, you should be strong enough for it to work before long." Of course, TGNM has always been pathetically weak, so you might be wrong. But just this once, let him actually be good for something. "Besides, if something goes wrong, you are already in a hospital. You will be fine."
"Oh, that's real fucking reassuring. Why the fuck don't people sign up for your healing services all the time, Freak? They're just such a sick deal."
"Good. You can rest here until--"
"No, shut the fuck up. I ain't doing it. And none of these guys is, either." He wraps his arms around Raticate, and all three pokémon make noises of assent.
"You are not? And how do you expect to get your steelix back, then?"
"Thanks for your fucking concern, but I'll figure that out for myself."
"Will you? I suppose you will have a lot of time for thinking. The doctors told me you will be here for a month at least. What do you expect to do when you cannot even get out of bed? In a month, what do you think will have happened to your pokémon?"
TGNM's expression darkens. "Look, I said I'll fucking handle it, okay? Piss off."
"I already told you Mewtwo is the only one who knows where your steelix is. You will need to ask him where to look, because if I cannot figure it out, I doubt you will be able to either. To do that we will need to get him back from the Champion. The easiest way to do that is to win the tournament."
TGNM makes a grunting noise that turns into another cough. You press on. "If you agree to help, then even if we do not win, you will be healed and free to go looking for your steelix as soon as the tournament is over. If you refuse, you will be stuck here for a long time. You are much better off if you take the offer."
"Or how about this one? You heal me without trying to drag me into your fucking stupid plot. Then I can find Steelix for myself, and you never have to see me again."
"Without your pokémon, I would need to find five more to battle with. I do not think even I would be able to pull that off. So I need you to agree. If you do, we both benefit. If you do not, you get nothing. It is your choice."
"Yeah, always the most lovely fucking choices," TGNM mutters.
He frowns at the bedspread and strokes Raticate's shoulder, offering no resistance when the normal-type seizes his hand. Raticate sniffs at the oxygen monitor clipped to one finger and says, "The heck is this thing?"
"Look, I just kind of need to think about this, okay?" TGNM says.
"Oh, come on, Nate," Mightyena says. "You're not seriously considering this, are you?"
TGNM ignores the nudge she gives him, looking at nothing in particular as he says, "And I mean, I'm not the only one who has to agree to this, and I don't, I just--look, you mind?"
"Do I mind what?"
"It means go away, dumbass. Get lost."
"Why would I get lost? I know how to get around the hospital just fine."
TGNM makes an exasperated noise at the back of his throat. "Leave. Leave. I want you to leave so we can talk. In private. That means without you," he adds when you don't immediately wander off.
"I am not going to leave you alone. I do not want you thinking something up while I am gone."
"Look," TGNM says, "if you are even the tiniest bit serious about all this League shit, you gotta realize you can't be watching me all the time. Like, this is two fucking weeks we're talking, here. Ain't gonna happen. So you'd damn well better get used to me having some alone time, got it?"
"Is that it, then? You agree? If you will help me out at the Plateau, then I will leave. If we are going to work together, then I suppose we will have to... trust each other, to some extent."
TGNM lets out a nasty, strangled snort of laughter. "Fuck that. I know you're gonna try to fuck me over every chance you get. I just gotta be ready for it, that's all. And I ain't agreeing to nothing. Right now what we're gonna do is discuss this whole League shindig, and when you get back you'll get your answer. But if you won't let us talk, then I can tell you right now the answer is a huge fucking "No" with a heaping side order of go fuck yourself with a rake. So it's your choice, Freak. Get lost or get fucked, hear?"
You aren't thrilled about leaving him unsupervised, but he's right. If you can't agree to this much, there's no way you'll be able to work together at Indigo. And you'll be ready if he tries something, too. "Fine. I will take a walk. You have ten minutes."
"Whatever. Piss off already."
You piss off. There's nowhere to go, really, and you set out with vague thoughts of the hospital gift shop. What kinds of things do they even sell there? Spare organs? That would be so gross.
You're wondering whether they might have some of the cool saw things surgeons use when you spot a vending machine against the far wall. And yes, it does have Sour Gummy Squirtles. The hospital really isn't such a bad place after all.
But when you dig in your pocket for change your fingers brush up against something smooth and hard-edged nestled amidst the coins. You pull it out and find a sapphire almost the size of a golf ball in your palm.
It's cool to the touch. Cold, even, like an ice cube. It feels like it's leeching all the warmth out of your body, leaving you cold and hollow as realization settles in. You never put this in your pocket. It's not yours. But you saw one like it not too long ago.
You stuff the gem back in your pocket and stand for a moment, staring at the vending machine. To your disgust, you're not in the mood to buy anything anymore.
It's not fair. You ball your hand into a fist and run your thumb across your index finger. After everything else Team Rocket's done, making it so you can't even enjoy some candy in peace is just too much.
It only takes a minute to reach the alleyway you teleported into earlier. It's quiet here, empty except for the dumpster and a few empty crates stacked against one wall. You take the stone out again and watch it sparkle in the sun for a moment, drag your fingernail across it with a faint squeak. You do it again, harder, pumping energy into your nail until it glows brighter than the stone itself. You don't actually need to break the gem; a good scratch should do.
Eskar would never let you get that far, though. You look up at the sound of her shriek, a noise like metal scraping over glass, just in time to get a good view of the sableye plummeting from her perch on the wall behind you. She lands on your arm light as a breath, insubstantial as smoke, but her claws and the cold of her body sink into you nonetheless. "Give it," she gasps, breathless and hissing. "Give it give it give give give..."
You snap your arm out sideways in an instinctive move to shake her off, but all she does is drive her claws deeper, staring at the sparkle of blue in your hand like nothing else matters. She inches forward, leaving a trail of painful stab wounds in her wake, and reaches for it with one hand, then recoils as flames roar out between your fingers. You smirk as she lets out a crackling jabber of distress, but a second later she reaches straight into the fire, clawing at the gem. The alley fills with a sour ashy smell as her arm chars to black, but this only inspires her to shove her whole face into the flames and commence chewing off your index finger.
You yell and bang your arm against the wall, but Eskar's body passes clean through the bricks, and trying to tear her off with your fingers is like trying to grab hold of a fog bank. The only parts of her that stay solid are the ones she's using to rip you apart. You take a steadying breath and hold your arm out in front of you, squinting at the industriously-chewing sableye while pink energy gathers around your free hand.
When the moonblast dissipates, Eskar is nowhere to be seen. You twist around, taking in the alley from top to bottom, but there's no sign of her save a couple bloody footprints to your right.
Your racing heartbeat marks out long seconds where nothing moves. Finally you open the hand holding the gem, wincing as you pry apart cramped and shredded fingers. The blue stone winks innocently up from your palm. How are you going to get rid of this thing? She can see through it, no matter where she is. She can know where you--
Claws dig into the back of your calf, and the moment you spend cringing in pain is all Eskar needs. She climbs up your side, out along your arm, and grabs the stone from your unresisting fingers. "Hey!"
The ghost drops to the ground, chuckling. The laughter doesn't stop even when you fry her with a shock wave. Eskar darts under the dumpster and reemerges a second later, climbing up the wall behind it. She's got both eyes in her face now, the left one still slick with your blood. You fire a water gun after her, hoping to knock her from the bricks, but she scuttles out of the way, up and up and over the edge of the roof. Her laughter hangs in the air behind her.
"That's right!" you yell after her. "And you better stay away! If I catch you watching me again, I'll break your eye and beat you up so bad you won't be able to go crawling back to Team Rocket!"
You wait longer this time, long enough that your heartbeat slows completely and the wounds on your hand start to sting. It only takes a second to fix them, but then you have to stand there and wash all the blood off, too. No way you can go back to the hospital looking like you were in a fight. The doctors there just can't seem to mind their own business.
"Whatever. We're in, I guess. We'll fight in your fucking tournament." TGNM lets out another one of those congested laughs, and Raticate, tucked into a sleepy curl next to him, shudders and opens bleary eyes. "Damn, your expression. What's the matter, Freak? You said it yourself, right? It's just such a motherfucking awesome deal. I'd have to be a goddamn idiot to say no."
You realize your mouth's hanging open and snap it closed, scowling at TGNM. He's snickering like it's hilarious you're surprised. But of course you're surprised. Since when has he ever made the reasonable choice? He kept complaining that he didn't want to do it, and his pokémon didn't either, but put all of them together and suddenly they're in?
There's something not right here. You never really thought you'd get him to say yes, not without using force. It's more than that, though. The way TGNM and his pokémon act together... It's not what you expected. He must be up to something already.
No good worrying about it now. You'll have plenty of time to figure out how to keep him in line. For now you haul your train of thought back on track and manage to say, "Good. We will go, then. The first match is tomorrow, and we have training to do." There's a faint growl from the foot of the bed. Mightyena's lying under it, head on paws.
TGNM gives no sign that he heard her. "Yeah. You'd damn well better get training, 'cause if you fuck this one up I swear to God I'll take it outta your fucking hide." Raticate stretches, scrunching up his body and sticking his forepaws way out in front. TGNM pokes at the normal-type's toes and says, "You guys get it done, all right? Make it happen out there."
"Yeah, sure, leave us to do the hard work while you lie around all day," Raticate grumbles. "Don't go anywhere, asshole." The normal-type washes his face with his paws, then twists around to fuss with a cowlick on his side.
"Aww, is somebody grumpy he didn't get to finish his nap?" TGNM asks, mussing up the fur Raticate just smoothed over.
"Oh, nice," the normal-type says, turning his back on the grinning human. "You know what? Forget about it. I don't gotta put up with this kind of crap. You smell all weird anyway." Raticate heaves himself over the railing and lands heavily on the floor.
"Bye, Graveler," TGNM says as the rock-type rolls forward to join her teammate. She grunts in acknowledgement, nothing more. Mightyena doesn't move, but you can tell she's watching you out of the corner of her eye.
You recall the three of them in a flash of red energy, and TGNM says, "Make no mistake, Freak, if you even think about hurting one single fucking hair on any of them, I will know, and I will fucking come for you. Got it? I don't care if I gotta die and come back as a fucking gengar to do it, I will fuck you up. I will make your life such hell you will wish Mewtwo would use your brains for a fucking art project. Do you understand me?"
"Yes. You do not need to worry. I will take good care of them. I am not the Team Rocket member here, after all."
"No, but you are the one who had to beg him for help like a fucking pansy," TGNM says, lying back and closing his eyes.
It's almost a relief to feel irritation simmering in your chest. "The way I remember it, I was not the one doing the begging."
"Fuck you!" TGNM starts back up, his face twisting into an ugly scowl. "You want to... to make something of it, asshole? I'll show you fucking begging, you, you piece of shit. Come--come on! Come the fuck on!"
You look at him, quaking with anger in a hospital bed, his monitors blaring warnings, and think, again, that you don't understand humans at all. This one especially. "You are in no position to be making threats. You should be resting so you can get out of here as soon as possible."
"Fuck that! Fuck... fuck resting shit, maybe all I need to get better is... is the right fucking motivation! S-say that, that shit... Say it again, you bastard!"
You wish he could rage himself better, you really do. He would probably already be well if he could. "I will not. You are in bad enough shape already. I do not want to risk you being unable to participate in the tournament."
TGNM's panting for breath, but his lips quirk up into one of his obnoxious smirks nonetheless. "Oh, I, I get it. First I wasn't dead enough for you, and now I'm... now I'm not fucking alive enough, that it? Damn, you gotta be pissed."
He can't even imagine. "I am leaving. Try not to die."
"Sure, asshole," TGNM says, but at least he slumps back against his pillow. "You better believe I ain't... I ain't going nowhere until I get the chance to strangle you. Don't fuck up tomorrow."
"Of course I will not." And you won't, either. You pause a minute to see if he wants to make an argument of it, but he's turned his head away, eyes closed and breathing fast and shallow. It's probably for the best. You don't have time to get into a fight about it, and he'll see for himself tomorrow anyway. Like the raticate said, he might get to lie around all day, but you still have work to do.