Snow's Journey - Chapter 3
#3 of Snow's Journey
Author's Notes - I don't own Pokemon, Game Freak, or anything else copyrighted in my stories. Charecters (other than obvious ones) are my own, please ask before using them for any reason. As always, Thanks to NightWolf020 for the help.
Chapter 3 - Meetings
Morning is always the best time of the day where you can sit quietly and figure out what lies ahead of you. Looking down at my leg all wrapped up and my memory cleared away at just what had happened the past two days, I knew it was going to be a long one. Professor Oak and Jan should be coming to talk to me today to find out what happened, I thought to myself while sipping the coffee Nurse Joy had brought me. You know, for being a pokemon nurse, she is quite nice to people. After the whole incident earlier, she simply smiled and said it was alright. She said she knew what it was like to have gone through so much with a Pokemon and the fear that came with losing it. In her line of work, it doesn't surprise me really. I'm sure she's had to deal with people like me all the time after they got beaten up by the Gym Leader, or worse from something wild.
A soft knock came at the door "May I come in?", a quiet voice asked.
"Sure, come in", I replied. Nurse Joy came in through the door, holding a large tray of food and setting it on my small table. A bowl of berries, a pair of milk cartons, and a rather nice-sized sandwich laid atop the tray, looking more delicious than any Five-Star restaurant could ever hope to present. Come to think of it, I hadn't had anything to eat or drink the past few days. Heh, I bet it's safe to assume I drank enough water from that trip down the river to sustain me for at least a week, I thought to myself, chuckling softly. The thought made me pause a moment, wondering about the condition of the Umbreon.
"Nurse Joy?", I asked with slight hesitation. "How is that Umbreon doing?"
"She'll be fine for the most part. Exhaustion was the most serious of her problems. She should be awake in a few hours. I'll bring her around to you," she said, before giving me a serious look. "The next time your Pokemon are in such bad shape you need to be more responsible and return her to her Pokeball. It would've saved you and your Umbreon a lot of trouble in the first place"
"Um... that Umbreon isn't mine. It, quite literally, ran into me when I was out hiking. I don't know who's it was, but it was being chased and it just escalated from there." A pin could've be heard it was so quiet, the look on her face was of shock and anger. "She's wild?!" she yelled at me. "Of all the irresponsible, half-" What came next was a cross between shock and anger with a touch of sympathy. Yelling about how I could bring a dangerous and wild Pokemon into the Pokecenter. As if I had much of a choice. Thankfully though, Professor Oak walked in and was able to calm her down before coming over to me.
He sat down on the end of the bed and looked over to me. "It's good to see you alive and well, Tray. After I got to your home and saw you passed out on the couch with that Umbreon, I must've broken half a dozen laws getting over here," he laughed, before regaining a serious composure. "What happened to you anyway?" I looked at him and Nurse Joy and explained what had happened between my birthday and today, doing my best to talk in between stuffing my face full of the food. If I was going to explain everything, I'm doing it at my pace and while killing my hunger. After about an hour, I finished my story and my food, I nearly laughed as I looked at Professor Oak's and Nurse Joy's faces.
I just couldn't just let her get killed by whatever was chasing her. It's not like I went out looking to save anyone." I stated, almost as if I regretted it. Why did I go out of my way to save it? I could've easily ran away and avoided this whole mess. The thought lingered my mind for awhile, but in the end, I really couldn't just ignore it and let it drown. The guilt alone would've haunted me. "I just picked it up and swam really. I didn't think too hard about the consequences and if any of you were in my position at the time, you would've done the same thing" Knowing I was right, they dropped the subject, taking in what I had said to heart.
"How is she doing anyway?" I asked Nurse Joy.
"Oh! Let me go check up on her right now" she said, leaving the room and leaving Professor Oak and I alone to chat.
"Oh I nearly forgot" Oak said, reaching into his lab coat. He pulled out a Pokedex and a few Pokeballs, laying them down on the table next to me. "Now, I know you've never wanted to be a trainer, but you're going to have to decide what you're going to do with that Umbreon. I knew it was wild from the way both of you looked when I found you two on the couch. You'll have to decide if you're going to keep it or let it go, and you can't do that without any Pokeballs. The Pokedex has many features from information, to maps, to Pokemon status. It also has your personal and medical information on it for when you need it
He had a point, I needed to figure out what to do with her. She's still going to be too weak to survive on her own for awhile. On the other hand, I don't like the idea of forcing it to stay with me either. I find the whole "Trainer" thing to be pointless, forcing them to fight each other for the glory of their masters, and I highly doubt that Umbreon was running away from a simple fight. I just picked up a ball, letting it expand in my hand and looked at the brightly polished sphere. What should I do?
The sound of breaking glass and yelling broke me of my concentration. Professor Oak got up first and ran towards the door, looking down the hall at where the noise was coming from. I tried to get up but forgot my leg was bandaged up, and nearly fell off the bed. Could really use that stick right now, I thought of the irony. More yelling and things crashing around could be heard down the hallway as whatever was causing the ruckus was really going at it. An army of Chanseys rushed down the hallway toward the fighting. "Professor Oak! What's going on?" I shouted, trying to get my voice over the yelling and fighting going on down the hallway.
"Stay right there young man, I think your Umbreon just woke up." he shouted at me, pointing a finger at the bed. "This could be dangerous, and you're in no condition to be running around!"
If that noise is coming from that Umbreon, I need to go help her. At the same time though, there's no way she's going to remember me, she was unconscious the entire time I was with her. There's got to be some way to get her to calm down though, there has to be. An explosion rocked the building, sending a plume of dust down the hallway in into my room. Ok, NOW this is getting out of hand. "This is serious, I'm going to lend a hand" Professor Oak said, leaving the room and heading down the hallway. I need to help. This is my fault.
As I got out of bed, Chanseys ran in the opposite direction that they charged into. Before I knew it, a horde of Umbreons ran past the door, followed by Nurse Joy yelling at the top of her lungs, "Seal the building! She used Double Team, find the real one!" This was my chance to go and find her and try to calm her down some way. I snuck to the door and saw the hallway was mostly empty, the Chancey must've been busy with trying to get rid of those fake Umbreon. Not to mention keeping the other patients and trainers out of harms way, causing even more problems than a rogue, wild Umbreon.
If I was a scared Umbreon, just woke up somewhere I don't know, around people I don't know, used a defensive ability to try and hide... where would I go? I looked back in the direction that everyone had run from, towards the back of the Pokecenter. I would hide somewhere dark. Like a storage closet. Holding onto the wall with my right hand, I worked my way down, checking any empty rooms along the way. Somewhere dark. Somewhere quiet and away from people...
There. A back room for linen storage. Plenty of spaces to hide in, under, or around. I limped over to the door and went to open it. To my surprise, I still had one of the Pokeballs Professor Oak gave me. I really should set this down somewhere, having a wild Umbreon think I'm trying to catch it wouldn't help me gain her trust. Walking into the room, I noticed it wasn't very large, much longer than it was wider. Probably don't want to scare it by sneaking up on her, I should try and coax it out of hiding more than force her out. Setting down the Pokeball on the counter to my right and making sure to close the door behind me, I started walking down the last aisle on my right.
"I know you can hear me here. I'm just trying to help. You're hurt and I just want to make sure you're alright." I said out loud, trying my best not to give her a reason to kill me. "I know you're scared and don't know where you are. I'm the one who brought you here, that's why I want to make sure you're okay"
I know she's here, I can almost feel as if she's got her eyes on me, just out of sight. The pain in my leg is getting worse, I need to sit down before I rip my leg open again. Looking around, I can see a rather large blanket on the shelf in front of me, about five feet away at the end of the aisle, perfect for resting on. I stuck out my hand towards the blanket, reaching for it to lay down on. As soon as my hand brushed the fabric, a large ball of darkness exploded out from underneath it at my chest, launching me across the room and slamming me into the wall on the other side of the room. If my leg wasn't hurting before, it definitely is now. She could've easily killed me, but didn't. I tried to get up, but quickly found something was pinning me down, keeping me on the the ground. I opened my eyes and found the Umbreon standing on top of me, a fire burning in her blue eyes.
"Move and you die, Human." Wait, what? Did she just speak to me? No, I couldn't have imagined it, she looks dead serious. I did as she said, and just laid there waiting for what she would say next.
"You said you brought me here. Explain yourself" she said in a demanding tone. Despite how tough she was trying to act, I could still see fear in her eyes.
"Well, the short version of it would be: you ran into me, knocked yourself out, sent down a river that nearly drowned us, and almost killed by an Ekans trying to come back through the forest", I said, still trying to take in that she was speaking to me. She looked like she didn't want to believe me, but still did. "Are you alright?"
She jumped a little when I asked the question, giving me a sneer. "I am the one asking the questions here, not you!" She made an attempt to push me back into the wall, but yelped in pain, grimacing at her paw.
"Look, I could've let you drown to death when you ran into me and saved myself all the trouble and stress of trying to get you here in the first place. I was slammed into rocks, had my leg torn up by a Goldeen I think, and attacked by an Ekans that wanted to eat you. The least you could do is have a little gratitude." I said, scolding her. She may have the upper hand, and hell, can even talk, but she owes me at least a little respect for saving her.
My words made her deflate almost immediately. Her ears dropped back against her head and the weight pinning me to the ground disappeared as she got off, looking away as she sat down in front of me. I sat up, rubbing at the spot where her paws had dug into my chest. I could see she was clearly shaken and afraid, her commanding demeanor all but gone, replaced by a creature lost in her own mind. I was right to scold her, but I still felt bad. After all, I still have no idea where she came from. "I'm such an ass," I said with a heavy sigh. This might be a bad idea, but I don't think there's any thing I can say to get through to her. My mind made up, I reached over and picked up the Umbreon, hugging her close to me as I leaned against the wall.
Her reaction was a mix between shock and confusion, resisting my attempts. "I'm sorry for yelling at you," my words stopping her dead in her tracks "I know you're scared, but I'm not going to hurt you and you need to trust me." She relaxed a little in my arms, seeming to understand I was telling her the truth. "We're in a Pokemon center in Pewter City, I brought you here because you needed help and Nurse Joy is the only person around that knows how to treat Pokemon."
"Tray, where are you?" someone called from the hallway. It was probably Professor Oak looking for me. I should tell them where we are but, I didn't want to scare the Umbreon off without telling her who they are first.
"Professor Oak and Nurse joy are looking for us. They're good people that you can trust, okay? Professor Oak is my friend and he's the one who took us here to get treated. Nurse Joy is, well, the nurse. She's been taking care of our injuries since we came here. You're still too hurt to leave and you need to tell me what happened to you. I'm going to call out to them and we'll talk more tomorrow when you're better alright?" with a small nod from the Umbreon, I called out to Oak and Joy, letting them know where we are.
Professor Oak came in first. "Oh thank Acreus you're alright. And I see you've found the Umbreon!" he said with a sigh "She sure did give us quite a chase with that Double Team" Nurse joy came in shortly after that.
"I have half a mind to call up Officer Jenny and have you arrested for bringing a wild and dangerous pokemon into my Pokecenter. The damage to the critical care room will take weeks to repair and...
"She was scared, Nurse Joy and I'm sorry. Would you have rather I let her drown instead?" I said with a scowl. "She'll be alright now, she just needed to be calmed down and informed of what had happened. Please, give her a chance"
Though I could tell she still wasn't happy about what had happened, she accepted it, leaving the room without further comment and I could already tell I was in for an earful later. Professor Oak just shrugged at me, probably knowing exactly what I was thinking. He helped me up to my feet, and with the Umbreon still in my arms, we headed back to my room to rest.