Chapter Text
The following day I was released from the hospital, but the time up until that point was plenty eventful.
It was almost noon when I finally got discharged – before they were comfortable letting me go, they ran some more tests on me, gave me a CT scan, and made sure that I was able to do things like walk, eat, and go to the bathroom independently.
It was somewhat annoying how concerned they were that there might be something wrong with me they were missing, despite my repeated insistence that I felt fine apart from being rather sore. I could understand their desire to be overly cautious though, considering all the possible complications that could arise from a powerful psychic attacking a person's brain, so I did my best to be as cooperative and patient as possible.
When I was eventually released, I realized just how sore I was as the painkillers began wearing off. It wasn't enough for them to prescribe anything, and they recommended that I simply take it easy and procure some over-the-counter pain medicine until I was fully recovered.
I didn't ultimately end up doing either of those things.
They also told me to keep a close eye on things, and that if I noticed anything out of the ordinary I needed to come back to get it checked out immediately. They even elicited Owen's help, telling him to keep close tabs on me for the next couple of days.
Samantha never ended up visiting, mostly at my insistence. Shereallywanted to, but I managed to talk her out of it after considerable effort. It's not that I wouldn't have appreciated her visit, I just didn't think it was a good idea in general. Owen seemed to be picking up on a lot of clues that were making it difficult for Samantha's true identity to remain a secret, and if I'm being honest I couldn't bear the thought of reuniting with Samantha and Stella without Apollo able to be there.
She'd left me a series of voicemails and text messages while I was indisposed, and they rangedwildlyin tone. It started with checking if I'd gotten caught up in the attack on the Lavaridge Pokécenter that she'd seen on the news, then morphed into concern for my well-being, followed by anger that I'd gotten involved, and finally her giving me words of encouragement for a speedy recovery with a plea that I call when I can.
I'd been slightly apprehensive about how that call might go, but she ended up being nothing but sweet and gentle, fretting over my well-being and not once scolding me or calling me an idiot. Not only had she completely gotten over any aggravation she'd felt at me for getting involved, but she felt guilty that she hadn't asked her parents if I could join her during the lockdown. I kindly pointed out that I would have declined that offer anyway, not only because of Owen but also because there was simply no predicting that the Rockets were going to be making the major moves they had.
She still tried to talk me into joining her in Rustboro, even going so far as to invite Owen and reveal who she was to him. But I was adamantly against that idea, not only because I wanted Apollo with me when we reunited, but because I didn't want to be responsible for yetanotherperson knowing who Sammy was. I already felt rather responsible for Preston connecting the dots, and even if I trusted Owen it felt completely unnecessary. Being something of a fanboy around big names, I also didn't want Owen to treat her any differently if they ever met up again, something I knew Samantha was particularly sensitive to.
Although admittedly, it would have been rather amusing to see the look on his face if he got the chance to meet Roxanne or Steven Stone, who seemed to be one of his biggest idols.
All that aside, Ireallycouldn't see myself spending lockdown in what I could only assume was a massive multi-million credit mansion on a private estate. She probably had butlers, maids, private chefs who cooked gourmet meals, and so many rooms that I'd struggle to even find the bathroom in a pinch. IknewI'd find it terribly uncomfortable – I'd second guess my eating mannerisms and which utensil I should be using, wonder which couch pillows I could actually lean against versus which were only for show, and evenifI could get comfortable I'd surely catch myself doing something dumb like accidentally kicking my feet up onto a coffee table made of some sort of exotic Alolan wood.
That's only a small sample of thecountlessthings I knew would make me hate being stuck there for the duration of the lockdown. I could probably manage it for an evening dinner or something, even if I found it uncomfortable and found myself overthinking every little thing to the point of near insanity, but to spend who knows how long there and feel like I couldn't leave…?
Nah. Thanks, but no thanks.
Samantha wasn't the only one who had blown up my phone either. I was shocked to find a number of emails and private messages from people who I had never even met before, which initially confused me.Mostof them were exceedingly kind – crediting me for being the reason their companion hadn't been stolen, praising me for what they saw as admirable heroism and bravery, wishing me a speedy recovery, and even a couple of people sharing what they had experienced at other Pokécenters that were targeted, just looking to vent to somebody who could somewhat relate to what they had gone through, I guess.
There were also a few that were a lotlesskind, blaming me for not doing enough to save their partner from being stolen, questioning how a trainer with four badges couldn't take on 'low-level thugs', things of that nature. I tried not to let them get to me though, since I knew that I'd done everything I could, even if it was true that it hadn't been enough to save the day. I told myself that these were people who had just lost family members of their own and had nobody to blame but a faceless organization or me. I was a convenient target for their anger, and I couldn't exactly fault them for finding an outlet for their frustrations even if it felt unfair.
I didn't respond to any, not even the nice ones, because I was deeply confused at how any of this had even happened. It was true that there were a fair number of people in the Pokécenter at the time, and the Rocketshadsaid my first and last name when figuring out how they recognized me, but it still didn't explain why I was also getting messages from people who weren't even in Lavaridge. Two of those retelling their own Pokécenter attack had come from Fortree and Oldale, and another message had ended with 'wishing you the best fromFuschia'.
Fuschia city,in Kanto. Somehow, people not only around Hoenn knew I was involved in what had happened, but from around theworld. There were even multiple messages that appeared to be from reporters, sending me a list of questions they wanted written answers to, asking for my side of the story, or requesting that we set up a time for a phone or video conference so they could interview me.
It took some online sleuthing to figure out what was happening, but I eventually located the answer thanks to a hint from one of the messages that mentioned they 'saw the video'. It was easy enough to find from there – I just searched 'Team Rocket Lavaridge video', and it popped right up.
Not that I could actually watch it on my cheap, ancient technology flip phone, but all I needed to see was the thumbnail and the number of views for things to make sense. Hundreds of thousands of people had seen what transpired in the lobby of the Pokécenter thanks to somebody discretely recording the encounter on their smartphone, and from there all it would take was people piecing together that the boy they'd seen run to the back was likely the same individual that the news was reporting had been hospitalized as a result of the attack.
It was also possible that the news had published my name now that I was legally an adult, or that somebody in that Pokécenter had dropped my name in the comments or an interview, but I didn't care to investigate things further. All I could say for certain was that it made meextremelyuncomfortable.
This was all done from my hospital bed, since I had a lot of downtime and could only do so much research and planning around the future training of my team. A realization I had recently started to come to was that trying to intricately plan one's future was a fool's errand. It was better to set overall goals and objectives, make consistent progress towards them, and remain flexible for when things inevitably took a random turn you couldn't have anticipated. I'd brushed up on my familiarity with my team's species – particularly Kirlia, Crawdaunt, and Trapinch, since I'd never actually spent any time researching any of them specifically, and spent some time combing through threads where trainers shared their experiences with training each of the species, which gave me some great ideas.
It really shouldn't have taken me getting hospitalized to finally get around to doing this since it was long overdue, but I'd been busy. Still, it was nice to finally get it out of the way, as I'd been starting to run out of ideas for what I should have some of my team work on next.
I alsobrieflylooked into news regarding Pokérus and the regional lockdown, but couldn't stomach reading about it. It was frankly depressing, and I found myself constantly reminded of my talk with Walker, which led me into even more unpleasant memories. The only thing that I was able to gather during my quick peek into the topic was that people werenothappy – both the citizens of Hoenn and those beyond. People were harshly criticizing the League's handling of things, claiming that they'd essentially handed over what was apparentlythousandsof Pokémon to Team Rocket by their poor planning and inadequate security, and that livelihoods were at risk due to the many industries affected by the lockdown restrictions.
Oh, and a few cases of Pokérus had begun popping up in other regions, and they were pointing the finger at Hoenn. The situation was no longer only a public health issue and an economic disaster, but also a political firestorm. I even saw one headline questioning if tensions caused by Pokérus would be what caused the next great war, a truly terrifying prospect.
Needless to say, that's where I decided to cut myself off from the news. I was already struggling to keep myself in a positive headspace, and as much as I wanted to know what was going on in the region, there was simply no way I could bear to keep up with things without slipping into depression and being constantly reminded of my team or what had happened to me.
I also made it a point to add both Samantha and Owen to my emergency contacts. I wasn't able to do anything regarding who would get my team in case something happened to me, but a little research on the topic had revealed I didn't need anything as fancy as a notarized will – I could simply talk to Nurse Joy and register them as custodial guardians.
Owen had come to keep me company after his morning exercise and training, which I was very appreciative of. While the doctor was awaiting my test results to make the final determination on whether I was to be cleared for discharge, I finally asked Owen about how his team was doing and told him about most of my team having been quarantined, and he confirmed my suspicion that he'd also been infected during his match with Flannery.
Only Bronson though, that he knew of. We suspected that Roxy and Bruno were infected too, but obviously there was no way of confirming that. Omar and Misha were both fine, as they hadn't battled and somehow hadn't picked up the virus from those who had, so he was incredibly grateful to have two of his team members back, making me slightly jealous that I'd only be able to pick up Trapinch upon being released.
He also revealed that he had also become the target of public interest, claiming that he felt like a local celebrity when walking through Lavaridge. He confessed that he had been hiding from the attention while hanging out in the lobby of the hospital for the past couple of days, finding himself uncomfortable with being called a hero for being responsible for Fifi being apprehended and allowing people to escape the sieged Pokécenter.
He had apparently agreed to call intoHoenn Todaythe morning after the incident, thinking they just wanted to do a fluff piece on him and having not yet come to the conclusion that he didn't like being in the public's eye in this context. He now regretted having accepted that interview, explaining that halfway through they started asking him about his thoughts on the lockdown and its restrictions, the League's handling of things, if Champion Tucker was suited to lead the region out of this crisis, if he blamed Kanto for allowing Team Rocket to flourish and spread to other regions, and a variety of other topics he ultimately found himself uncomfortable with and did his best to sidestep.
In his own words, the media was out for blood, and even normally light-hearted programs likeHoenn Todaywere trying to get their jabs in. He didn't want to be anyone's pawn or poster child, and I found myself in full agreement.
While he vented about his mixed feelings on the newfound attention and we waited to see if I was going to be discharged, a nurse came in and informed me that there were two visitors here to see me. There had been a couple of instances where she'd come in to tell me this, and I hadn't known any of the people's names so I'd turned them away. However this time I accepted without hesitation, because Flannery and Vito were the ones wanting to see me.
When they were let into the room, I couldn't help but notice that both of them weren't exactly in the best shape themselves. Vito's arm was in a sling, Flannery looked like she was favoring one leg, and both had a few bandages visible. They appeared to be largely alright though, if the huge grins they gave upon their arrival were any indicator.
"Well, if it isn't our two young heroes. I'm glad you're here too Owen, I've been meaning to talk to you," Flannery said upon noticing Owen, who looked like he had been about to excuse himself and visibly flinched at the word 'hero'.
"Pleasedon't say that. It really doesn't feel appropriate, given how many Pokémon were stolen," I said with mild annoyance, both for myself and on Owen's behalf given what we'd just discussed.
"Ohplease. It could have been alotworse, and you two are the only reason it wasn't. You should be proud of yourselves. I can't exactly condone what you did, because it wascolossallyreckless, but on behalf of the Pokémon League and Lavaridge's residents, I thank you both."
"You're here on business then, representing the League?" I asked.
"In some capacity. I mostly just wanted to see for myself that you were alright, and topersonallythank you two for what you did. You too Owen – I'm sorry I haven't been able to speak to you until now, but I'm sure you can imagine that things have been rather hectic. I swear, I've been in enough conference calls the past few days to drive a normal person to the brink of insanity. Being able to catch up with Vito here has been helping to keep me somewhat sane though, even if it's difficult to line up our breaks."
Vito rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin as she playfully nudged him, and I couldn't help but wonder if there was somethingmoregoing on there, but decided not to dwell on the possibility too much.
"It's fine, I'm sure you've been really busy. Times like these are when gym leaders are needed most," Owen remarked to Flannery before turning to Vito. "I'm surprised you haven't been given a reprieve though. You were already back to work when I talked to you yesterday, too."
"They offered to give me a couple of days off, but we're stretched thin as it is," Vito said with a shrug. "I've been on reserve for quite some time. They pay me nicely to be ready for situations like this, and I've been pretty bored these past few months. No better time to earn my keep than during something like this, and I'm not about to slack off when my region needs me the most."
"I heard your Dodrio died. I'm really sorry to hear that," I said sincerely, regretting bringing it up as I saw the pain in his eyes before he pushed it away with a sad smile.
"It hurts, for sure. He's been with me for a long time so I'm pretty torn up about it, but at the same time… I'm also happy for him. He would have wanted to go out in a blaze of glory like he did, not peacefully from old age. He was a fighter, through and through, and he died with honor doing what he loved. Besides, life must go on, and keeping myself busy has helped take my mind off it. Considering what happened, things could have been a lot worse. Flannery really saved my hide back there, if she didn't have Charlie I doubt I would have stood a chance."
"Shut it," Flannery scolded. "We've talked about this. You know you're the one who savedmyass. If I'd had more of my team I would have wiped the floor with those thugs, but even Charlie wouldn't have stood a chance given how outnumbered we were.Maybewe could have taken the first Rocket, but that chick and the guy with the Claydol would have steamrolled us."
"Swan and Dorian," I supplied. "By the way Vito, that Future Sight your Alakazam used was terrifying. Italmostgot through Claydol's defenses, it made it all the way down to the last layer of Protect."
Vito grimaced, "If Alakazam wasn't so worn out from teleporting people around all day, I'd like to think we could have taken that Claydol. Honestly though, we're pretty fortunate that it didn't participate in the battle very long and that some backup arrived, or things might have gone very differently. I just wish we could have stopped them from making off with so many Pokémon. I was really the only one who could have done it, but things were so messy out front that–"
"You boys need to stop with all the what-ifs," Flannery cut in, looking annoyed. "Ifanyoneshould be blaming themselves for not being able to do more, it's me. I'm the damngym leader, it's myjobto protect my city from this exact sort of thing. Yet you don't see me sulking and whining. We all did our best, that's all we can hope to do. Besides, I have it on good authority that the League has no intention of allowing Team Rocket to smuggle all the stolen Pokémon out of the region."
"You're saying there's a chance we'll get our Pokémon back…?" Owen said cautiously, as if he was reluctant to believe he might truly be reunited with Bruno and Roxy someday.
"I wouldn't get your heart set on it, but there is a chance. Team Rocket is likely looking to smuggle the Pokémon out of Hoenn back to Kanto, and both regions are onextremelyhigh alert. Between the lockdown and the task force being assembled to go after them, I can only imagine they're being stashed somewhere in the region until things cool down and they can be transported. There's a chance they get recovered when the League starts knocking down doors and sniffing out their hideouts, but only time will tell."
"Task force?" I asked, eliciting a nod from Flannery.
"I don't know too much about it, only that there's a group ofverycapable people looking to root Team Rocket out. Champion Tucker and the Elite Four are all part of it, if that gives you any indicator of how seriously they're taking this. Kanto has always been chasing Team Rocket with varying degrees of success, but I've heard they're re-doubling their efforts. It makes sense though, considering they're almost surely next on the chopping block."
I caught myself before I asked what would happen if theydidn'trecover the Pokémon, not wanting to linger on the topic with Owen present, who seemed to be grappling with whether he should hold onto the belief that he would see his stolen team members again or try to move on.
Besides, I already had a pretty good idea of what their fates would be if they weren't recovered. Some would be distributed to members of Team Rocket, many would be sold on the black market, and a select few were likely to become test and research subjects. Team Rocket wasn't simply 'a group of thugs' – they were an organized syndicate with a wide network and multiple fronts of operation. Although they were known to strong-arm and steal from random citizens to big names like Silph and Devon, they also performed their own independent research, both with technology and Pokemon.
There were even rumors that some evolutions had been discovered by Team Rocket, and I'd heard of a theory that they were the ones who had originally developed the method for using Ditto cells to aid in the recovery of other species of Pokémon.
I was pretty sure that was nothing more than a conspiracy theory, but it reinforced my suspicions that some of the stolen Pokémon would be used as test subjects by Team Rocket's researchers – a thought that made me sick to my stomach.
"sh*t," Flannery suddenly cursed, putting an end to the brief silence that had filled the room. Apparently, I hadn't been the only one lost in thought, because Owen flinched at the sound of her voice like he'd just been splashed in the face with cold water.
"Sorry, I probably shouldn't be giving false hope like that just when you've started to come to terms with what happened," Flannery said regretfully to Owen, who looked internally conflicted.
She cleared her throat and straightened her posture. "Anyways, Ididcome here for a reason," Flannery continued, clearly trying to move on from the topic.
"Otherthan to thank you and check on you," Vito added, which Flannery nodded in agreement to.
"I'll start with you Owen," she said, drawing him out of his tumultuous thoughts. "I'm sure Officer Jenny already mentioned this to you, but you'll be rewarded for the Rocket you were responsible for bringing into League custody. Though she's only a grunt, from what we gather she seems to be a team leader of sorts, so we're hopeful we'll be able to get some useful information out of her. Unfortunately, she wasn't exactly one of the more prolific Rockets and the League didn't have a bounty on her specifically, but they always offer a flat bounty of five thousand for anybody whose information or actions lead to the capture of a Rocket. Lucky for you, Vito and I managed to 'persuade'the League into doubling it due to theuniquecirc*mstances. You should find it transferred into your account by the end of the day."
I thought Owen might try to decline it for a moment, but he likely realized it wasn't something worth arguing about and eventually nodded, muttering his thanks. Considering I had gotten forty-thousand for Keegan, I found his reward almost comically low given how important incapacitating Fiona had been. If he hadn't done that, it seemed likely that there would have been more people hurt in the lobby besides the man who had his face slashed with a knife, and I wouldn't have been able to go into the back room to prevent more Pokémon from being stolen.
I decided not to voice any of these thoughts though, since I was far from an expert in how bounties worked. Keegan had been preying on newer trainers and was even responsible for deaths, and if the basic bounty for getting a Rocket behind bars was five thousand credits, getting double that seemed to be reasonable given the circ*mstances.
"Additionally," Flannery continued as she reached into her pocket, "As the Lavaridge gym leader, I hereby award you the Heat Badge."
Owen's eyes went wide, and he stared at the badge that rested in the palm of Flannery's outstretched hand. After a moment of consideration though, he shook his head.
"I didn't earn that. I lost, fair and square. I wouldn't feel good about accepting that," he said flatly.
Flannery made a 'tsk' sound in annoyance as she walked over to Owen and grabbed his wrist, prying his hand open before forcefully curling his fingers around the badge.
"Don't be stubborn, just take it. You and I both know you have what it takes to earn this badge. As an aspiring gym leader yourself, surely you're aware that beating a gym leader isn't theonlyway a trainer can be bestowed a badge. It's fairly rare, but we'll sometimes award them even if the trainer loses, and there's a little-known exception that allows us to give them out on the basis of merit even without a gym battle having ever taken place. Ithoughtabout giving it to you after our gym battle, but I wanted to see if you'd persevere and come back with your head held high. After what you did at the Pokécenter, I don't need to wait around for our rematch after the gyms are reopened to know you're worthy of having my badge. I can't give you the cash prize that usually comes with winning a badge though, I'm sure you understand."
"I hate this," Owen said quietly, a slight tremble in his voice as he stared down at the badge. He looked up after a moment of silence, and I couldn't help but note the mixture of pain and anger in his eyes.
"Ihatethis," Owen repeated louder with more resolve. "I had two team members stolen from me and couldn't do anything worthwhile to stop it, yet I'm being held up as some sort ofhero. I get praised and rewarded for failing to save my team, and for running to get help while Daniel ends up hospitalized. Now it feels like I'm getting this badge out of pity, and I can't even share it with Bronson because he's been quarantined. I promised him we'd toppleeverygym, together…"
Flannery sighed, suddenly lookingverytired. "I can guess that I'm the reason your partner is in quarantine, and I'm… I don't even have words to describe how sorry I am."
She cast me an apprehensive, questioning look, and I only nodded to her unspoken question. She visibly winced, and nodded in acceptance as the gravity of it set in. "To both of you. I didn't… I didn't think Pokérus had reached our little remote mountain town, and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary with the gym's Pokémon. But we can't beat ourselves up about it, there's no way we could have known and the tests weren't even out so there's nothing any of us could have done. But for what it's worth, I amdeeplysorry."
She gave Owen a serious look, "That said, don't youdaresay you didn't do enough when you put your life on the line for your team's sake, and don't think for a moment you aren't worthy of this badge. Gym leaders don't hand out pity badges, and you of all people should know this. We hand out badges based on merit, and you've displayed yours both on and off the battlefield. That badge is rightfully yours, and I'm not accepting it back."
Owen didn't seem convinced, and stared down at the badge with a deep frown.
Thankfully, he was sitting in the chair beside my bed, so I was able to reach over and grab his shoulder to shake it reassuringly.
"Take it. She's right, you deserve that. Besides, I'm sure Flannery wouldn't be opposed to a rematch someday if you're set on beating her properly."
She grinned, "Damn straight! You'll never see me turn my nose up at a good battle. If you ever think you could put up a good fight I'd welcomebothof you to challenge my true team someday… "
She trailed off and suddenly looked terribly sad, and I suddenly realized that she likely had some of her team stolen by Team Rocket. I couldn't help but wonder how many and which ones, but decided it was rude to ask.
She cleared her throat and quickly pushed those feelings aside, reaching into her other pocket.
"As far as I'm concerned, your reward and badge areowedto you, but I still feelpersonallyindebted to you for what you did for Lavaridge. I considered calling in a favor to get you in contact with someone who could get you a rathervaluablefire-type Pokémon that I think would beuniquelyfitting for a Hoenn trainer aspiring to specialize in fighting-types, but given the circ*mstances I don't think that's possible, let alone appropriate. For now, you can have this, and let me know if you're ever in the market to add a fire-type to your team, once things calm down of course."
She handed him what I instantly recognized to be a Technical Machine, and Owen cast her a questioning look.
"It's Fire Punch," she explained, "That's not a single-use TM either, I've gotten a few of these reusable ones as a gift from Steven over the years on my birthday, back when he was Champion. I don't use them much these days – I can easily afford the single-use versions if I really need to, but my team can usually help newer gym Pokémon learn the moves without them."
Owen's eyes widened and he looked down at the TM with reverence, his inner fanboy showing up to instantly wipe away all the sourness he'd been feeling. "Steven Stonegave you this? And it'sreusable? Are you sure I can have this? It'sinsanelyvaluable."
She shrugged, "If anyone can put it to good use, it's you. The elemental punches are crucial for any would-be fighting specialist, so make sure you compliment it with Ice Punch and Thunder Punch. I'm sure you know this, but fighting and ground are tied for first in having the highest number of type advantages over the other types, being super effective against five different types. But what you mightnotknow is that fire and ice are tied for second, with four types they have an advantage over. If multiple members of your team learn the elemental punches, you'll be set to deal withmostopponents, assuming you can land your hits."
"I always knew fighting-types were the best, but now I can prove it with facts! Thanks for the advice, I'll be sure to get the other elemental punches – I've been thinking it's time to start looking into getting some TMs, and Fire Punch was definitely on that list. I really appreciate this Flannery," Owen beamed.
"I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but fighting-types tend to struggle against ranged opponents," she reminded him. "Hopefully you're thinking of ways to combat that, especially considering the eastern gyms. You'll have it harder than most against the water, psychic, and flying gyms in particular, but I have faith you'll manage as long as you put in the effort and use your head."
Owen nodded in agreement and began examining the TM as she turned to me. "As for you, Daniel… Unfortunately you didn't directly aid in the capture of a Rocket, so there's no cash reward coming your way. I'll admit, I struggled to come up with something I could give you as a token of my thanks, given your team. I briefly considered a Fire Stone, but I wouldn't want to pressure you or your Eevee into a decision, and the ones I have aren't exactly high quality anyway. They're perfectly suitable for companions or gym Pokémon, but not ideal for someone looking to conquer the circuit. I may not have a TM that'squiteas fitting for you as the one I instantly thought of for Owen, but I think you'll be able to come up with a use for it given the unusual creativity you showed in our battle."
She handed me a TM as well, and it was easy to see that it was in the same style as Owen's and the Protect TM that Samantha had let me borrow, meaning it was also reusable.
"It's Sunny Day. I considered Flamethrower, but it'll likely be quite a while until your Trapinch evolves into a Flygon, and you could just get a single-use TM when that happens. Don't quote me on this, but Ithinkyour Ralts, Trapinch, and Eevee should all be able to learn this. You'll have to get creative to make it useful unless you plan on teaching them other fire-type moves, but it still has its uses even without those, and I'm sure you'll find a use for it given what I've seen of your battle style."
I nodded and thanked her, deciding against needlessly informing her that Apollo had evolved as I stashed the TM in the backpack beside my bed that Owen had graciously brought for me.
"I also have some news from Nurse Joy. First of all, she wished she could come by to personally thank you for what you did, but as I'm sure you can imagine she's been quite busy. Stop by the Pokécenter when you get a chance, she'd love to see you're doing alright. She wanted to do something for you, but Nurse Joys don't get paid quite as well as you might expect, and the only thing she could think of was to remove a negative note you had on your trainer account. Apparently you got kicked out of another Pokécenter at some point or something, and when you're staying in a Pokécenter they are supposed to keep a close eye on you?"
I grimaced, slightly nodding in acknowledgment. She raised a brow in interest but decided to continue without asking, "Anyways, she remembered seeing it and decided to remove it from your record after getting approval from the original Nurse Joy who issued the note. It's not much, but it's the only thing she could think of. So I'm happy to say you are no longer labeled as a potential troublemaker, at least not officially."
Fair, and greatly appreciated. It was a source of embarrassment when I'd checked into my room with Owen, and I was happy not to have that follow me and feel like I was on the verge of getting banned from Pokécenters for the rest of my career as a trainer.
"It's not all good news though. Nurse Joy had to vacate your room when she learned you were in the hospital, to make room for the influx of people needing a place to sleep. Occupants have been doubled up, and some are even sleeping in the recreation room. There's also a small encampment on the outskirts of town, for the few who have camping gear."
I glanced at Owen, who nodded in confirmation. "I gave up my room and have been at the encampment. They've got a Ranger watching over everyone, and it's more spacious. The Pokécenter has been overcrowded and under repair, and I get more attention there than anywhere else so I've been avoiding it."
"Was the Pokécenter not ruined?" I asked curiously. "I seem to vaguely recall a certain Charizard busting in, and I'm sure other damage happened after I lost consciousness."
She grinned but shrugged, "It's not as bad as you'd think. Pokécenters are more durable than you'd expect, and they're designed to be easily repaired. There was no structural damage, and they're already working on it. It would already be done by now if they weren't severely limited by the restrictions on multiple Pokémon working in an area. They've got a Machoke and a good handful of people working on it, so it's probably almost as good as new."
I sighed in relief, but my attention was grabbed as Vito cleared his throat.
"With all that out of the way, would you mind telling me whyWarren Thatcherhas been here guarding you? The station leader was more than happy to let him take over guarding the hospital when he got the order to stand down from the higher-ups, but he didn't exactly get a straight answer on why he was even here in the first place. His curiosity has been getting the better of him, and I'll admit that I'm intrigued as well. As far as I know, Warren doesn't do anything unless it paysextremelywell, and I don't get the impression you come from money like that."
I internally groaned as Flannery snorted. "He's an orphan, Vito. Use your head. It's obviously a favor from someone with some serious pull. Warren is no joke – he beat my true team years ago, and I get the sense he hasn't been slacking off since then."
I felt extremely uncomfortable and put on the spot as every eye in the room bore down on me with intense scrutiny and curiosity. Though I was limited in excuses, something Flannery had said came to mind, so I decided to run with it.
"Didn't you mention there was a special task force going after Team Rocket? If he's as strong as you say, it sounds like he could be part of that, and since they know that I'm someone the Rockets want to get ahold of…" I trailed off, knowing that wasn't the case but feeling confident it was enough to put the issue to rest.
Everyone seemed to catch on and accepted it as the most likely explanation, even though I knew the odds of Rockets going out of their way to find me were slim at best since I was apparently 'low priority'. Thankfully, that small detail wasn't brought up, and wouldn't have been enough to completely discard the theory anyway. Vito remarked that the League must be paying himhandsomelyfor his assistance, and might not have many good leads on Team Rocket if they were having members of their task force playing guard duty in the hopes of grabbing a Rocket, but it didn't seem to be so far-fetched that it wasn't believable.
Speaking of Warren, I realized then that I'd almost surely have to get in touch with Samantha to get him off my back, since I doubted that he would consider his job done just because I was out of the hospital.
All matters seemingly settled, Vito and Flannery soon left after a few more pleasantries, and not long after they were gone the doctor showed up with the good news that I was officially cleared for release.
"This is weird," I muttered to Owen, who only nodded in agreement.
Owen hadn't been wrong – we were definitely something of local celebrities. Even taking the short walk to the Pokécenter was enough to draw stares as people recognized us, and the attention was uncomfortable to say the least. Some I remembered as being in the Pokécenter when the Rockets had attacked, but many had surely just seen the video or heard about us through the grapevine.
It wasn't all positive reactions either. I caught a couple of people borderline glaring, likely either because their companion hadn't been saved or because they were worried that my presence might attract more trouble from the Rockets.
To be fair, none of those unhappy to see us approached or said anything outright. Those who did were extremely grateful for what we'd done, appreciative that we'd managed to prevent their beloved partner from being stolen. Even so, I feltextremelyuncomfortable, and even though I'd have expected someone with Owen's disposition to eat that kind of attention up, he was uncharacteristically reserved and dismissive. It was clear to me that he didn't want to be praised or thanked, not only because he wished he could have done more, but because he seemed to view it as something that anybody would do.
That was something I'd tried not to think about too much but found myself truly unsettled by. Perhaps it was unfair for me to think this way, considering I was a capable battler and had my team with me, but I found myselfdisappointedthat more people hadn't tried to help. I knew that fear and self-preservation were primal things, and fully believed in the idea of people reverting to flight or fight in a dangerous situation, but I found it to be revolting that more people hadn't done everything in their power to stop the theft of their team.
Sure, Owen was a bigger guy who knew how to fight, but he chose to act even without his team. I was fully convinced I would have done whatever I could to help as well, even if I hadn't had my team with me. My team was everything to me, and I'd die trying to save them without a second of hesitation.
Perhaps others simply didn't have as close of a bond as Owen and I did with our teams. Or, perhaps, I was being unfair and presumptuous. After all, I'm sure everyonethinksthey would be the one to act in a situation like that, no matter the odds, but how many could actuallydoit when the time came?
The events at the Pokécenter hadexponentiallyraised the already high levels of respect I held for Owen. From the moment the Rockets had stepped foot in the Pokécenter, it wasn't a matter ofifhe would act, butwhen. If my team had already been in the back room, or if Owen hadn't made the first move and been there to back me up, would Ireallyhave tried to act?
I was all but convinced that I would have, but it's impossible to say for sure since that's not how things panned out. Besides, I doubted that few people in that Pokécenter had as little to lose as me. I had nobody in the worldbutmy team, and I might add on Samantha and Owen if I was feeling charitable. So perhaps it was wrong for me to feel so jaded that so many people could stand by and watch their companions being stolen, even going so far as to run away while it was happening. They had other reasons to live, and other people they cared about getting home to – even Owen had family who he loved and would mourn him if something happened, yet he still cared about his team enough to act.
In my book, that was just another point for Owen. Yet I couldn't help but secretly harbor some resentment and animosity for the people I recognized on the street,especiallythose who had the nerve to pin blame on us for not doing enough to save their beloved companions.
Owen and I might not have 'done enough' in the grand scheme of things, but we'd done the best we could at the time, and what hadtheydone? Sure, a couple had attempted to initiate a Pokémon battle, a few had helped Owen subdue Fionaafterhe tackled her, and some had attempted to guard the door after the lobby had been taken back, but it was all meager at best, and many hadn't doneanything. How could people just stand there while their Pokémon were stolen, let alonerunthe opposite direction?
I didn't know if there was something wrong with me for feeling this way, or if everybody else was the problem. I knew one thing was sure though – I didn't want to be in Lavaridge anymore, and I suspected that Owen felt the same way, yet we were stuck there for the duration of the lockdown thanks to the travel restrictions.
Or at least, that's what I thought. Little did I know, we'd be halfway across the region by nightfall.
