Fur was everywhere. A tangled ball of blind rage thrashed in the shallows of the river, limbs flying, screeches ringing through the air, an occasional unconscious Mankey getting tossed from the midst of the ball.
The noise was all encompassing. The tumult raised by the rampaging troupe could likely be heard for miles and miles. The destruction it caused was otherworldly.
Trees were felled in the course of the fight, the ground torn up, rocks, dirt, and mud everywhere. Water from the river drenched the surrounding forest as the troupe fought amongst itself. Cashe watched the brawl carefully, keeping an eye on the tumbling pack, but beside him, Emilia was frozen.
Her hands were clenched into fists beneath her chest, her knuckles white as they sunk into the soft mud of the ground. Her eyes were wide, her face pale, and she did not move, not even so much as to twitch.
The fight finally ended, almost a full hour later, with the last two Mankey throwing half-hearted shrieks of rage and exhausted fists at each other. Finally, the last of the troupe was exhausted, only a single remaining Mankey on its feet. It stumbled, weary, tail dragging along the ground, as it tried to make its way to a tree, tripping over its fallen brethren where they lay in the mud.
“That’s the Mankey I want,” Cashe said, speaking the first words either of them had uttered since the start of the brawl.
Emilia’s only response was a wide eyed stare.
Cashe shrugged it off, standing up and scrambling down the cliff. The remaining Mankey noticed him coming and made an attempt at scaring him off, raising its arms and bearing its teeth, trying its best to look as large and dangerous as possible.
Unfortunately for Mankey, its effort was severely undercut by its tiny size and total exhaustion, and it could barely get its hands over its head, let alone mount a significant defense. Cashe picked his way across the broken Mankey nest, stopping some three meters away from the final exhausted Mankey.
“Hi,” Cashe said, giving the Mankey a lame little wave. He had no idea how he was going to do this.
Mankey narrowed its gaze at him.
“I’m a pokemon trainer. That means I take pokemon and make them stronger. I want you to come with me.”
“Man-key, mane,” Mankey managed to steady itself on its shaking legs and placed its hands on its round body like a human placing their hands on their hips. It was a complete mess, with missing fur, blood leaking slowly down its arms from numerous scrapes, and one foot twisted at an uncomfortable angle. Cashe wanted to wince just looking at it, but stopped himself. A strong presence was likely better here.
“Yes, I know you are the strongest here,” Cashe said, hoping he had correctly intuited Mankey’s message, “But I can make you stronger still.”
“Key!” Mankey slammed the ground with its fists, some vestige of strength returning to its limbs as its anger reignited. It did not like the insinuation that it was not the strongest.
Cashe took a step back, resting a hand on Bulbasaur’s pokeball. Mankey was working itself up, twitching with anger despite its exhaustion, “You’re not the strongest pokemon I’ve ever seen, you’re not even close,” Cashe said, keeping a careful eye on the little ball of rage, “But if you come with me, you can be.”
“MANKEY!”
“Fine, you want me to prove it? Bulbasaur, go.” Cashe tossed Bulbasaur’s pokeball forward. The stout little pokemon formed in a wash of light and hopped into action in an instant, “Bulbasaur, Sleep Powder.”
Bulbasaur was still a bit slow with the move, but it hardly mattered for the panting Mankey. Mankey tried to dodge the attack, but stumbled over its own feet and into the cloud of spores expelled from Bulbasaur’s bulb. Already overcome with exhaustion, the pig monkey pokemon quickly slipped into sleep.
“Good job, buddy,” Cashe said to Bulbasaur. He tossed a pokeball at Mankey. The ball bounced off, doing nothing. He frowned.
“I knew that always looked way too convenient.”
***
The trip back to the route proper and the rest of the afternoon passed in silence. Cashe had made exactly two attempts at conversation with Emilia since capturing Mankey. The first had resulted in a firm, ‘leave me alone' stare. The second had been resolutely ignored.
Cashe was able to take the hint, Emilia didn’t want to speak but he was unsure as to why. Nothing particularly eventful had happened, besides the Mankey brawl, but the entire thing had gone off without a hitch.
But Emilia’s surliness only grew worse as the day continued. She refused to acknowledge his presence, even letting him stumble into a thicket of Oddish, something she had warned him of every time they came across the pokemon before.
Now, they were setting up camp. It was Cashe’s turn to cook for the evening and he was standing over the fire. Emilia was sitting on a rock across the fire from him, elbows on her knees, head bowed. Cashe finished cooking the meal, a soup, and handed her a bowl. She took it wordlessly, not even glancing at him.
Cashe sat by his own tent, across the fire and ate his dinner. It wasn’t great, but there was only so much he could do with vegetables and a few spices. Emilia finished her bowl and placed it at her feet.
“Seconds?” Cashe said, hoping for conversation.
“Cashe,” she said. Her voice was quiet and grave, “What were you thinking today?”
“What do you mean?” Cashe looked up from his soup. Emilia was a mess. Like Cashe, she had not washed the mud off her clothes and her hair was a tangled disaster. Leaves and twigs were stuck to various parts of her body and her eyes held a deep weariness.
“What were you thinking when you agitated a troupe of Mankey into a rage? You could have got us killed.”
“We were fine,” Cashe said with a shrug, “I doubt it was that dangerous.”
“We almost died, Cashe!”
Cashe jumped at Emilia’s sudden shout. She was on her feet, a haunted look on her face.
“But we didn’t,” Cashe said, “We were fin-”
“WE were not fine! YOU acted like you didn’t care whether WE lived or died. I was scared for my life! I thought we were going to die, Cashe!” She kicked her bowl, sending it flying at Cashe’s face. It hit.
“What the hell?” Cashe yelled, standing as well, “What was that for?”
“What was that for? You put our lives in danger for no reason! What was that for?”
“Our lives weren’t in danger,” Cashe said, “The Mankey didn’t even know we were there.”
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“They didn’t need to know! Their brawl flattened trees, Cashe! What do you think would have happened if they saw us? Did you think a twenty foot ledge would stop them? We spent all day avoiding Oddish and Bellsprout because they might kill us by accident and then you go and provoke the most dangerous pokemon on this damn route!" The anger went out of her, her words turning desperate and thick with emotion, "What were you thinking? Why did you do that?” Emilia collapsed to her knees, weeping.
Cashe stared at Emilia. The confident young woman who could conquer anything was sobbing on the ground in front of him. On her belt, her pokeballs shook and Charmander and Omanyte emerged. Omanyte wrapped her tentacles around one of Emilia’s arms. Emilia pulled Omanyte into her lap, hugging her like a rocky comfort pillow as she cried. Charmander tugged at the sleeve of her shirt, mewling gently until Emilia engulfed him in the hug as well.
After a long while, Emilia began to calm down, her sobs receding into slow, shuddering breath.
“I’m sorry,” Cashe said, sinking back to the ground. He bit his lip, “I think I’m having trouble seeing this world as real.”
Emilia’s breathing stilled as he spoke, but she did not respond. At least she was listening.
“I don’t see pokemon, I didn’t-” Cashe shook his head. That wasn’t right, “I am having trouble seeing pokemon as anything but pets. Pets with superpowers, but still pets.”
“So pokemon are just play things where you come from?” Emilia said, her voice scathing.
“Yes.” Cashe leaned back and stared up into the sky. There were no stars out, the night brought only clouds. “They’re cute creatures for children to play with. Nothing more.”
"Well that’s not how it works here!” Emilia growled, “You have to take pokemon training seriously, Cashe, it’s not a game! There’s a reason people go to school for this!”
Right. It wasn’t a game. Of course.
“I know,” Cashe said, “I get it. Or I think I’m beginning to.” Cashe met Emilia’s eyes, “I’m sorry. I really am. I didn’t mean to scare you, I wasn’t trying to put us in danger. This world, it’s so surreal to me.” Cashe took a breath, “It’s easy to forget there are consequences here, just like back home.”
Emilia took his apology graciously, nodding slowly and letting the last of her tension drain from her body.
“What was it like?” Emilia said, looking back across the fire at him. Her eyes were strained and red and she clutched her pokemon close to her chest. She wasn’t crying any longer, and her voice was no longer scathing. It held only curiosity.
Cashe closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He remembered his friends, the city he grew up in, his family, his beautiful wife. He remembered his job, the politics, sports he loved and those that bored him, the mountains and the oceans, books he read, pets he had, deaths, births, the good, the bad. Everything.
He had not tried to remember since he arrive in this place. Not since the first night. It hurt too much, the pain of bereavement. It still hurt now, but Emilia deserved an answer, at least.
“I don’t know if I can describe it well,” Cashe said, “Everything I think to say feels inadequate and shallow. It was my home. It was a world full of wonders and flaws, but it was my home. I was happy there.”
“Was it different?”
Cashe gave and exhausted snort, “God, yes.” Cashe sighed and scratched at Bulbasaur in his lap.
He blinked.
When did he get there? The little guy had burst from his ball at some point and wrapped him with his vines in a tight hug. Bulbasaur nuzzled at his hand as he scratched, making happy gurgling sounds and tightening his grip with his vines.
“Can you,” Emilia swallowed nervously, “Can you tell me about it? You had a wife, right? Can you tell me about her?”
“I have a wife,” Cashe corrected quietly and Emilia’s eyes flashed with emotion. Sadness and guilt? Cashe couldn’t tell for sure.
“What’s she like?”
“A lot like you, actually,” Cashe sighed, “And completely different.”
Cashe paused, but Emilia was silent, giving him the time to continue on his own.
“She wouldn’t let me pick my clothes when we went shopping together either,” Cashe finally said, “It’s funny, I miss her everyday. I miss her smile, her warmth. I miss the way I felt when I was around her. She seemed like the only person in the world who really got me, you know?” Cashe smiled, “I miss everything about her, but it’s the little things that really get to me.”
“That’s why you came out of the changing room looking like you got punched in the gut by a Machamp.” Emilia said, nodding in understanding.
“I’m so scared I will never see her again,” Cashe whispered, looking down at Bulbasaur. Tears dropped from his eyes and onto the small pokemon’s green skin. The little guy licked his hand, offering comfort as he could. “Sometimes, for a moment or two, I forget that she’s not here with me. Something amazing happens, and it distracts me. Those moments are the worst. For that second, I’m back home. For that moment, I have something exciting to share with her. But when I try to…”
Cashe wiped the tears from his eyes.
“She’s not there. And I forgot. I forgot her.”
Emilia stood up, pokemon still in her arms and walked around the fire. She sat beside him, and took his hand in hers.
“It’s okay to forget and it’s okay to be happy,” she said, “She wouldn’t blame you.”
“I know,” Cashe whispered. He squeezed her hand, “I know.”
Above, the skies opened up and it began to rain.
***
“I still don’t get why we’re going to Viridian first,” Daryl said, frowning at the city below him as Corviknight brought the taxi out of the sky, “Mrs Oak said they were heading for Vermillion and the True Rookie Tournament, we should go directly there and wait for them.
Connie shook her head and smiled like a great master amused at a promising student’s ignorance, “Sweet, innocent child,” she said.
“I’m pretty sure I’m older than you,” Daryl grumbled. The statement was especially galling coming from her in her current state. She was wrapped in at least five layers of thick blankets like a Kakuna, the outermost layer being bright pink and covered in cartoon Cutiefly.
Connie inched her way across the taxi cabin, moving like a giant Caterpie. Or Wurmple. She was definitely a bug pokemon, at any rate. She settled into the seat beside Daryl and nudged his shoulder with her head in a poor imitation of a comforting pat.
“Trainers change plans on a whim all the time, my young apprentice,” she giggled, “Chances are if we head to Vermillion, they never show up at all. What if they accidentally battled a trainer that had beaten a League trainer?”
“That wouldn’t stop them from being True Rookies,” Daryl said, “And even if they did, we know they haven’t. We checked their profile before we left Pallet Town.”
“A lot can happen in one day, my ignorant, young apprentice.” Connie said seriously.
“Fine. So what are we doing in Viridian then? I doubt they would ever start their journey here, Viridian has one of the hardest gyms in Kanto, right? Even for Third Circuit trainers like them.”
“And you,” Connie pointed out.
“For the last time, I’m not a real trainer. I just wanted the backpack.”
“Tell that to Mr Metapod, you big bully.”
“Well, he shouldn’t have called me old,” Daryl muttered. He wasn’t old. He had just turned thirty five.
“Emilia has family in Viridian,” Connie said, answering Daryl’s previous question, “She likely stopped by. Hopefully we can figure out where she and Mr Cashe went from there.”
“She does? That’s helpful. Who is the family?”
“A sister,” Connie smiled sweetly, “I’ve already got a meeting scheduled.”
“That’s good,” Daryl said. He was happy to visit a sister who had moved to the city. He wasn’t comfortable around all these famous people. That was probably why he was so relieved when Blue hadn’t been present at their meeting in Pallet Town.
“It is good,” Connie nodded happily.
Daryl narrowed his eyes, “Why do you look so pleased with yourself?”
“I do? No I don’t.”
“Yes, you do, you-” Daryl was interrupted by the ringing of a pokegear. The ringtone was set to a popular song from a Kalos boyband. “That’s definitely not mine.”
“No,” Connie frowned, “It’s mine.”
“Well, where is it, I’ll get it for you,” Daryl glanced at his boss. His boss wrapped in blankets so tight that she couldn't move. She wouldn’t be able to talk on it properly, let alone answer it, wrapped up like that. He would need to hold it to her head for her.
“About that,” Connie gave an embarrassed smile and wiggled her arms the few inches she could.
“It’s in the cocoon?” Daryl said.
Connie flushed and nodded, “I don’t think I can get out, either.
Daryl sighed. Giratina had cursed him. He knew it. “Hold on, I’ll help.”
“Hurry, please,” Connie said as the pokegear continued to ring, “That’s the song I use for the emergency line.”
“That’s the song for the emergency line?”
“Don’t yell, it’s a good song!”
Daryl sighed again as he pulled the blankets off his boss. Sometimes it felt like he was trapped in a ridiculous, cartoon world.
*****