CHAPTER 32

“Mars! Get in here now!” Charon yelled. “Grunts, kill her!”

Three red flashes appeared next to Cynthia, forming into a Lucario, a Milotic, and a Roserade. Milotic coiled around its trainer protectively, and Lucario seemed to be analyzing the room with a look of pure rage. Roserade shook its arms, releasing a minor amount of spores, and got into a fighting pose.

A dozen attacks flew toward Cynthia before hitting a see-through green barrier. Milotic’s eyes were shining, apparently having used some sort of protective move.

“Lucario, Garchomp, take care of the Pokemon. Roserade, put these criminals to sleep,” Cynthia said, never losing her smile.

Lucario nodded and instantly blurred before ramming a glowing palm into the nearest Zangoose, while Garchomp clawed into a Glameow, sending it flying and bleeding against the wall. They were knocking every Pokemon unconscious, and all it took was a single move. The fight was a massacre. They were too fast for eyes to track or attacks to hit, too powerful to stand back up after getting hit by them. Roserade spun around, almost as if it was dancing, carefully avoiding every attack thrown at it before shoving its bouquets into the grunts’ faces. They promptly fell to the ground, unconscious. Meanwhile, Milotic kept wrapping loosely around its trainer, protecting her from any attack coming her way. All of this while Cynthia stood there, unwavering and smiling like this was just another day for her. She wasn’t the Champion for nothing. It was a magnificent display of skill and strength that only the best could hope to even come close to.

One of the grunts grabbed Cecilia and ordered his Honedge to stick its blade to her throat. Cecilia whimpered and struggled, trying to escape his grasp, but to no avail.

“Stop it! If you move, the girl dies! And we wouldn’t want that, would we? She’s too important—”

“Extreme Speed,” Cynthia ordered.

Even faster than before, Lucario disappeared as if it had teleported, knocking the Honedge away with its fists wreathed in a shadowy aura. The Honedge fell to the ground, and its trainer screamed before being put to sleep by Roserade. Garchomp finally finished taking care of the last stragglers, announcing his victory with a roar that shook the entire room. All while this was happening, Charon just watched in horror.

“What’s with all the commotion— What the hell happened here?!” Mars said as she walked into the room. “Oh, Arceus, is that Cynthia? For real? I’m your biggest fan—”

Lucario blurred again but stopped right before reaching Mars as Dusknoir materialized in front of her. I shivered as the ghost loomed above us, fading the world itself. For the first time, Cynthia lost her smile.

“Dusknoir?” She said. “How peculiar. Garchomp, kill it.”

Garchomp strode forward, hitting its claws against its chest before dashing forward with darkness festering in its mouth. It bit into the Dusknoir’s arm, and the ghost’s mouth opened, revealing it to actually be on its abdomen. It let out an otherworldly noise that simply couldn’t be described. It was like listening to a thousand voices at once, all whispering in our ears at the same time, in different languages, at different pitches, causing all of us to get a splitting headache. I put my hands over my ears, hoping everything would be over soon.

“Dusky! No!”

Dusknoir solidified, coming into reality for a few seconds as ice surrounded its fist. It punched Garchomp in the chest, and then in the head, but the dragon simply didn’t let go, shaking its mouth, dissolving more and more of the ghost’s body.

“Lucario, Roserade, restrain those two,” Cynthia said, pointing at the Galactic leaders.

“Mars, we have to teleport out! I have the data—” Charon yelled before Hypno pushed Lucario back merely inches from his face with its psychic powers.

Mars ran toward Charon, being closely chased by Roserade. Hypno’s pendulum began to shake.

“Dusky! Get out of here and find us later!” Mars yelled. “Bye Cynthia—”

And just like that, they were gone, having abandoned all of the galactic members left asleep. Garchomp kept fighting Dusknoir, hitting it with its claw glowing bright with blue draconic energy. Roserade sent out a stream of pink petals toward the ghost, and Milotic screamed out a powerful jet of water. The attacks clearly hurt Dusknoir, but they also passed through him, destroying more of the power plant. Dusknoir kept screaming in a thousand different voices, and soon enough, it slowly disappeared, fizzling out as if it had never been there as the world returned to normal.

“Teleportation, hm? A shame,” Cynthia said, looking around. She grabbed a walkie-talkie and brought it next to her mouth. “Coast is clear, you can come in.”

Within the next few minutes, dozens of trainers all dressed in orange-brown uniforms streamed into the room, recovering the unconscious grunts or taking care of the hostages. One of them came to me and attempted to speak to me, but I didn’t even have the energy to respond. We were given blankets, water, and food if we wanted while they assessed the damage done to the power plant and investigated the remaining rooms. Cynthia, meanwhile, recalled all of her Pokemon except Garchomp, who stood tall next to her.

After ten minutes or so, we were taken back outside. Barely more than two hours had passed since I had been kidnapped, but it felt like a lifetime. I couldn’t imagine what it was like for the others who had been there longer than me. The entrance to the plant was full of police officers creating a perimeter around the facility, media reporters and their bright, flashing cameras, and just curious civilians who had probably heard of the situation. I was put on a bus with a few other people, and we were driven to the Floaroma Pokemon Center. Denzel was there waiting, and he looked like he was being eaten from the inside out until he saw me. He tried to approach me, but he was pushed away by the police and doctors.

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“I’ll… I’ll come visit you,” He said with his shoulders slumped. I didn’t answer.

I was placed in one of the human rooms, and one of the doctors came in to do a check-up on me. He asked me questions, but his voice seemed distant. Like a dream. Except for the cut on my cheek, I was alright, so he cleaned the wound with warm water, disinfected it, and then placed a large bandage on it. He then asked if I wanted anything else before leaving. I don’t know how much time passed until a few officers came into my room. They were nice enough, smiling and making small talk before getting to the meat of the conversation. They were trying to get me to answer questions. Questions about Team Galactic…

Team Galactic…

I had difficulty breathing, so they eased off the questioning for now and left. I felt like garbage. I had listened in, trying to gather information exactly for this moment. It was all I was able to do, and yet… and yet I just couldn’t speak. Time was a blur, and the next time I glanced outside, the sun was setting. One of the doctors came in with a plate of food and water, along with Nurse Joy with two Pokeballs. I shook my head. Just thinking about food right now was making me nauseous, and the smell…

My Pokeballs were placed on my bed before they left, taking the food back, but leaving a glass of water. My eyes glazed over the Pokeballs before I realized that there were only two. Where was Elekid? I bit my lip, but no tears came out. He’d be back… they’d bring him back to me. I held my two Pokeballs and hovered a finger over the release button, but my arms slumped. I couldn’t bear to let them see me like this. I placed them on the bedside table and lay down on the bed, watching nothing in particular. The wall, the ceiling, did it matter?

Hours later, someone else came into the room. It was night time now, and it had been for quite some time. I turned and saw Denzel sit next to me. He hung his head.

“Grace, I’m so sorry. I… I should have been there, I shouldn’t have left,” He sobbed. “I should have protected you.”

I opened my mouth.

Say something, I thought. Anything.

No sound came out.

“It’s alright if you don’t want to speak. I’ll just stay here, alright? I sneaked in some food if you want. Some fries? I guess they’re cold by now. I have a milkshake too, if you want. Don’t force yourself, though,” He said. His sentences were always interrupted by sniffles and sobs.

“It’s a no, huh? Well, that’s ok,” He said, glancing at my Pokeballs. “Oh, don’t worry about Elekid, the League trainers are just trying to sort through the huge pile of Pokeballs to see who owns what. He’ll be back eventually when they get to you.”

I nodded, breathing out a sigh of relief. Denzel’s face lit up a little at the slight movement.

“Oh, and— and I bet he’ll be happy to see you again! I’m sure he’ll be worried sick when he learns what happened. I don’t know him very much, but I know he liked you already… and… and…” Denzel trailed off, before clasping his hands together. He paused for a few minutes before continuing. “They have policemen and league officials all over Floaroma now. These people— Team Galactic— they’re all everyone’s talking about now. They’re calling them the worst criminal organization since Team Rocket. Luckily no one died at the power plant, thank the Legendaries,” He sighed. “I also called your dad about what happened. Sorry,” He added when he saw me flinch. “I had to tell him… he asked me to take care of you when we left, and I failed him. It wouldn’t be right to keep it a secret. He’s worried sick about you, uh, you should call him when you feel better. I already told him you were alright, don’t worry.”

Silence claimed the room once more for another ten minutes. Denzel fidgeted nervously, desperately trying to find something to talk about.

“I can help you take that therapy appointment again, since… y’know…” He said. “It’ll obviously be a great start for your recovery. And take as much time as you want, alright? I don’t mind staying here for a few months if you want. I’ll stick around. I’ll visit you every day and… read you stories? Talk to you about what’s going on outside? I don’t know. Just know that I’ll be there, alright? There’s always next year, and we can travel together again,” Denzel said.

But your dream, I thought. I coughed, choking on the words before slamming my fist against my bed.

“Your… your dream. Don’t hold yourself back because of me,” I whispered.

Denzel’s eyes widened. “I’m staying because I want to, not because I feel obligated to. I’m still young, my dream can wait. Let’s get you back on your feet, ok?”

“Okay…” I cried. Tears streamed down my face as I sobbed quietly for what seemed like an eternity. Could I push myself forward? Was I strong enough to keep going?

I’ll have my eye on you from now on. Forever.

That was what Mars had said to me, and I was inclined to believe her. She was completely deranged, and a feeling in my gut told me that I’d see her again if I kept traveling. I could hang up my coat, go back to Jubilife and stay inside. She wouldn’t find me there, would she?

Would she?

“I guess you don’t want to see your Pokemon yet. Eevee’s still in bad shape, so I don’t have him, but, uh, want to see Budew? Believe it or not, she was worried about you, even though she tried her best to hide it. Hell, even Feebas seemed off, but I can’t release him here.”

“Budew… worried about me?” I muttered.

“She did, I swear. She kept glancing at the television in the lobby downstairs when we learned that you were one of… one of the hostages,” Denzel said. I could tell he was tip-toeing around me, trying to say the right words. He released the small plant-like Pokemon on his lap, and she looked at me in what I could only describe as a combination of relief and surprise. That was only for a split second, though, and she quickly returned to her default scowl.

“Thank you, Budew. For worrying about me, I never thought you would,” I slowly said.

In the next hour, I slowly regained my confidence in speaking. Tomorrow I’d have to find the police again since I had information they wanted, but I was terrified of sleeping tonight. What nightmares would come to haunt me now? I could tell Denzel was tired, he was slowly drifting off to sleep in his chair. The nurses had told him he could sleep in here as an exception because of what happened to me, but I felt terrible he would have to sleep upright in a chair. Budew was standing on the ground, already sleeping. She was next to the window in the exact position she would need to be in to catch sunlight when the sun rose.

Suddenly I heard a soft knock on the door. I flinched and recoiled before remembering that I was in a Pokemon Center. I was safe. I was safe.

“C—come in,” I said.

Cynthia opened the door with two policemen and stared at me with a smile.

“Grace Pastel, may I borrow a few minutes of your time?”