A Friend's Wish Chapter 2
I wonder how does life operate on. By chance, fate or some person from the other side playing, like I'm a character in a video game. But I am grateful for what happened that day.
_ This is the last of the 4 openings for us in the nearing future. Spring was Rangers, Summer was Breeders and Autumn for Farmers. Finally it is time for the last position: Scientists. Winter is the time of the year that they will introduce their new facilities and specializations specifically for pokemon and human convenience. Gadgets, Ranger equipment, pokemon research and finally Medicine where in my mom specialized at._
Little did I know that one fateful day, I found (one of) my life-long partner(s).
Normal POV
There is a tram going in between two mountains and in between them was a dome and it's interior is as if winter did not arrive. "Wow. This is where they make our gear huh?" Gero who is in his Ranger gear speculated. "Don't like the cold huh?" Gero as he looks at his left side "Easy for you to say! I HATE it if it's too cold. Winter makes the forest look bland." the green haired boy with a winter outfit replied. "Don't you think that these even look like they are suitable for the weather?" he pointed towards Gero's shorts.
"Ok Hal, you have known me for 9 years already. You know that I LOVE these things. And most of all I love the cold and snow." Gero with a smile. "And besides this jacket is more than enough to get warm in this temperature. A pokemon ranger's jacket is not to be taken lightly." Gero replied.
"As far as I'm concerned I am going to Unova as a trainer." Hal replied as he keeps on chugging down hot drinks. "and be a Pokemon Champion". I looked at the front window and I saw us going down towards the landing pad. "We arrived at Arius Main Laboratory, Please go out in an orderly fashion and don't forget your valuables!" A bearded conductor in a blue uniform called out as he went closer to Gero and Hal.
Gero's POV
"Hey you two ought'a get a move on now or you'll miss out". "Alright Sir Batirio!" and we waved at the smiling conductor as the tram moves away from the pad. "May I have your attention please!" the group turned around to see one of my mother's assistants. Her name is Selina Covicnt, she wears a pair of pink eyeglasses and a lab coat that has a few burns here and there at the bottom part, she is of 5'8 average build. But her most prominent feature is her 3 neatly kept pink ponytails that reaches her waist. "I am your guide for today, I am Selina Covicnt. You may address me as Lina, 'cuz Covicnt is a ridiculous thing to pronounce."
Everyone replied with a gentle laugh that soon subsided after she called out all of us to assemble in a line according to first name. "Now then, ready?" "YEAH!!" "Ok! Now time to start the tour." The two doors opened as we went inside the dome. To everyone's besides me and Lina's curiosity that the interior of the dome is warm. "Wow! Why is it warm Ms. Lina?" Hal curiously asked the assistant. "The dome is equipped with state of the art biosphere control system. The weather may be winter out but here it's spring." as she was replying Hal started to shed off his winter gear. As he was about to pull out his pants he tripped on the floor.
*RIP* as he tripped on the floor only to find out that his only pair of pants ripped at the rear end showing us his pokeball dotted underwear. Everyone got that look on their faces when that happened, and it is a face I am too familiar with. Slowly but surely I heard giggling from the group as I help him up. "Come on Hal. I'll patch that up with a bit of help. Miss Lina? May we visit the biome now? I want to ask help from a Sewaddle." "Sure. That was the next stop anyway. Come along now." she replied as she motioned the group to come with her.
"Hey, everyone's got an embarrassing moment every once in a while. At least nobody saw your butt." I whispered. He was giggling and we do the buddy-buddy walk, remembering a time in my childhood that I will never forget.
FLASHBACK
The sky was blue, the sun is shining, sand's white and the water was clear when we came to the beach. There are 8 people in our group. Me and Hal's 'rents and siblings came along with us. Our parents were busy setting up the towels and umbrellas as my older brother started to flirt with Hal's sister. Since there is nothing for the two of us to do we decided to do things. And an idea popped into my mind. "Hey let's go have a race. Whoever reaches that peak over there is the winner." As I pointed towards the cliff. (Now if I think about it. It turns out to be Dragonite's Cliff.)
"You're on!" Hal said pulling his short green hair back to fix it. "On 3,2,1" preparing myself as the time to run approaches "GO!!" and we started to run. I was ahead of him by 2 feet until.. a certain "crab" accidentally grabbed a part of my swimming shorts. And that moment made me trip face first into the hot sand. "OWW!!" I said to myself as I stood up only to realize something. "Oh NO!!!" I screamed in my head as I found out that my shorts were pulled down. I immediately pulled it back up. "I hope nobody saw this."
I turned around. Only to be stand corrected. Everyone is doing the face. I can only blush as I heard giggling from my best friend. "Why! Arceus! WHY!!!!" I thought to myself as I ran towards the cliff at speeds that I thought that only pokemon can run, redder than a cheri berry if face planting in scalding sand made my face red enough.
END OF FLASHBACK
As we approached the glass doors that slid open the moment Lina swiped in her ID, everyone was awed by a certain ranger that noticed me right away as we walked towards him. "SIR!?! What are you doing here?" the ranger moved towards me with a salute. "Hey, don't do that. I am not even a ranger. I'm just his son no need for formalities, Sir Paw. Gero is fine." as I wave my hands sideways to show that it is not needed, while smiling. He gives out a sigh of relief as he relaxed. "Sorry. It's just that I am used to addressing people who are above me this way." "WAIT!!?! So he is the reason why you took styler practice seriously!" as Lina waves her finger around me. "Thank you!! You have no idea on how long it took me to persuade him to practice daily. Not only did you make him humble but also turned him from a lazy snob to a man that I can be proud to call my boyfriend!"
"EH!!!?!?!!" Everybody in my group screamed as she attached herself to him, hugging his arm while rubbing her cheeks against his arm. "Ouch, that hurts deary." Paw replied with a sad puppy face as she looked him in the eye "You know that was true. And besides you know that I did not mean to hurt you, my Honeybear.". For some reason I found that, the way they went from panic mode to lovey dovey mildly amuse me. "KAWAII!!" these are the only words that apparently can come out of my group's mouths, is it me or is that blood coming out of their noses. "Er.. Anyway do you happen to have a Sewaddle on you, I need it for my friend's clothing problem." me as I am trying to clear the air. "Umm let's see... Yup I have one." He replied to me with a goofy smile as dear..I mean Lina still hugging her bear's arm. "Ok, can you ask it to repair some damaged clothing?" "Sure! Sewaddle can you fix this guy's pants." Paw as he pointed toward Hal's ripped pants.
A few seconds later. "Wadle, Wa (All done!)" as the tailor fixed up my best friend's pants. "Wow they look like as if they were never damaged. Thanks Sewaddle!" Paw praising the little tailor. "Release" the ranger commanded and all of the pokemon he recently captured went in different directions. "Now that was over with, shall we continue the tour?" the assistant asked. We gave our signal to continue as I heard a piece of conversation between the two. "Honeybear, see ya in a bit. Love ya." "I love you too my dear." and I looked away as I knew what was coming. "OK! Next stop is the Health Lab and Clinic" as she pointed towards the room with Chanseys and Clefairys. "Hi Mam. How is the clinic?" as I looked around to see my mom in her usual work clothes.
"Fine. Oh hi everyone I am Mirai Asato. I am the head of this clinic facility." My mom as she smiles at everyone. My mom is slightly smaller than her assistant, wearing the usual lab coat. She has mid-length black hair with brown eyes to match. "Out of curiosity, what is your job in this clinic?" one of my peers with a blue hat asked. "I am in charge of making new and better medicine for both pokemon and human consumption. Look this way please." as she directed us to a lab filled with tubes and computers showing dna strands of both human and pokemon. And apparently the only pokemon in the room is a Metagross who handles all of the calculations needed.
"In here we test combinations of chemicals and berries to make medicine for any situation. Our main goal is to be able to make medicine that could, not just make pokemon be healthy but also you can be too." as she presents a translucent blue diamond-shaped crystal. "This is an item that we are currently making. It is called Bluetinite, a medicine that will not just make the consumer recover fully but it relieves all kinds of ailments." Sounds of amusement surround the lab. "Enough of that, now shall we continue?" turning our attention to Lina
After the tour...
Me and Hal made our way to Dragonite's Cliff until... "h-help... p-please..." I heard a faint call for help. "Hold it! Listen!" Hal complying to stay silent. "help a-anybody?". I heard it once more and this time it was weaker. "Come on! Someone needs help." I ran towards the muffled sound and to be shocked to what we found as we hastily dig our way in the snow. "A Dratini! And it's wounded!" all I saw is a snapping trap attached to the pokemon, scattering it's blood. "We better find a way to get it to the center!" Hal thought trying to split it apart. "Wait! You can't get it out alone! At the count of three you open it and I take him out ok?" I proposed.
"1,2,3!"
I pulled out the dragon as fast as I could.*SNAP* "Hal! Are you alright?!" I quickly turned to him. "Yeah, let's get him to the center!" Hal replied as I put my jacket around the injured dratini. "Gero, What are you thinking! You're gonna get hypothermia if you do that!" Hal quickly took off his coat and placed it on top of me "Thanks. Better run to the center now!". "Arceus please make this little guy live. Please!" I pleaded as we dashed towards the medical facility hugging the dratini tight. "HELP!! A POKEMON IS INJURED!! HELP!!" we finally made it to the center. "Quick! Come with me!" a doctor gave me a gesture meaning to come with him. "Where did you find him?"
Dratini POV
I struggle to look at what is hugging me. I feel a heartbeat. A very fast one as I see my conscience fade in and out. Flashing images of my life that has happened to me. "I am going away... I am dying..." I thought to myself seeing nothing but fading lights. "DON'T GIVE UP PLEASE!! YOU HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!!" I heard a shout as clear as day, and suddenly I felt like I have to fight. "I..I...I DON'T WANT MY LIFE TO END LIKE THIS!!!" I shouted as these images stopped, and suddenly I saw nothing but black. And *THUMP* I opened up my eyes.
As I look around my surroundings I see a human. A human with wild black hair and wearing a white shirt that is tainted with splotches of red. I looked over myself. My tail is mostly covered in bandages and it slightly aches while I move it, "Did this guy save me?" I thought to myself as the person in front of me spoke "no... don't die yet.. please..." he spoke as I see a little teardrop falling to his cheek. As I move around a makeshift cradle out of the red jacket, I slowly crept to his ear. "Thank you." I said before sliding back at the warm cradle thanking the one responsible of our meeting, before I put myself back to sleep.
A few hours later...
I woke up once more and checked my surroundings. I finally got a good look around the entire room, most of it is white like snow but most of all I saw myself on top of a bed. And finally I saw my savior, He is fit for his age, black hair, fair and quite charming, more of a masculine face with a feminine touch. *Yawn* "Oh morning Dratini..." He said to me as he opened his eyes. And those eyes are the most beautiful eyes I saw in my entire life. If you look into them you can see a gentle, loving and passionate soul. "Good morning! How are you feeling?" I replied.
"I'm fine, more of a serous note. How are you?" the human replied. "I'm fine. My tail feels better now." "Good, so how.." before he got to finished a pink pokemon that looks like an egg with legs walked in. "Oh time for your check-up, Dratini." the human lifted me up and placed himself next to me in the bed. "OK Dratini say, AH!" I complied and a weird thing that looked like a white stick is stuck for my mouth to hold. *BEEP* and the nurse pulled it out of my mouth. "You are better now. But please don't move about too much. OK?" "OK." as the pokemon takes her leave.
"You heard her, No moving, got it?" "Ok" until I realized. "....can you understand me?" I asked the human as he smiled. "Sort of." and I put on a face that says "I've been duped". Surprised? Naturally, Disappointed in myself? Yes, as I cursed myself. "Don't worry buddy. I will take care of you until you are fit for release. My name is Gero." as he hands out his hand towards me. "Dratini" and I do the same but with my now bandaged tail.
"Hey wanna see something?" Gero faced towards me, "Yup" I replied as he started to take a black box from the table and started pressing certain areas into it aiming right at a bigger box. "What is that?" I asked "It is called a "TV". It shows what happens around the world..." as he started to press a single button "...and here is what I want to show you.". As I looked at the "TV" I see a two pokemon I never seen before and behind those two pokemon are two trainers. As I continue to observe what was happening I saw a lot about humans than what I have seen before.
"Alakazam use Psychic" and I started to see the other pokemon floating about in the air. "You are now my toy. Now let's dance" Alakazam said as the other pokemon move around helplessly as he gets hit on every corner of the stage. And finally, I saw the other pokemon got knocked out. "Sandshrew is not able to battle the winner is Nix from Everser Town" I heard cheering as I see a slender human being with white hair and black eyes along with his white clothes shows a dissatisfied look despite the fact that he won.
As I look unto his eyes I see nothing but emptiness, that glare alone already sent me chills to my spine. "Dratini?" I snapped back to reality as Gero calls for me. "What do you think?" Gero asked my opinion about it. "Awesome! What was that!?" I told him only to realize that I would like to do that one day.
"It's called a "Pokemon Battle". Where pokemon and humans get to battle each other to see who can get to the top. I always wanted to be one of these guys." "Why?" I asked, "'Cuz I wanted to travel the world and meet people. Make friends and beat rivals. But too bad I can't do that here." Gero replied with a sigh staring at a red and white ball that I saw on the TV.
"I don't know why do they even look at it as a bad thing. But.." as he plays with the ball. "I am going out on a journey by autumn, Along with my friend." and I saw the door opening, only to see another boy that has green hair.
"Hi buddy! Remember me?" He asked. He is as tall as Gero but his hair is... odd, it is green and it sweeps more to the right, looking like waves. I feel like I know this person. "Umm.. Kinda" as I duck my head down, disappointed that I forgot. "It's all right, I am Hal" giving me a smile, reaching his hand to me. "Nice to meet you." and we did a hand/tail?-shake.
"Hal is the one that helped me pull you out. And he risked his hands just to save you." Gero pointing out at him putting his hand on Hal's shoulder. "Enough of that, how is he?" Hal asked referring to me with a smile. "Awesome, he is healing faster thanks to the Bluetinite my mom gave him. She is surprised that it worked perfectly."
"That's great!" and then I head 3 knocks on the door. "Gero, may I come in?" "Sure, mom." Gero reached out for the door to let a woman that is slightly shorter than him approach me. "Hi I am Gero's mom, I wanted to ask. How are you feeling?" asked the woman. "Ok." I replied with an energetic nod. As are eyes met, I noticed they are similar to Gero's, filled with love.
"It seems that we can use it for patients now. Thank you for your cooperation, get well soon!" as she smoothly touch my head. "Welcome!" and I gave her a small hug before she got up. "Gero. Hal. I am so proud of you. Thank you." as the two boys say their good byes to the kind woman. "Well gotta go now, see ya!" as Hal follows the woman waving at us good bye.
"Umm.. Gero" I bumped into Gero to get his attention. "What is it buddy?" he asked, giving me a smile. "Can I stay with you?" I asked. "Why? Aren't you supposed to be with your parents?" he asked me. And I can only see him concerned. "They were taken away... by other humans." I started to cry. "They said to go away as far as possible. And I ended up getting lost, roaming around for a long time. Until one day I got trapped. It has been 2 days that I have been in the same spot you found me." and after I am done telling him what happened to my parents, he came closer and hugged me. Making me sob at his shirt.
"Shhhh...There,there..." as he tries to calm me down, patting my back which somehow feels nice and comforting. "I will never go away.." as he lifts me up. "p-promise?" as I try to calm down sniffling. "Promise." and I immediately found myself wrapped around his neck. "Thank you..." as he pats my head. "Your welcome again, my friend."
Then in that moment I decided "I wanna go with your journey. Please?" as I begin to regain my composure. "Are you sure?" he asked. "We made a promise remember, and I wanna fight for you. After all I owe you that much, right?" as I stared at him with determination. "You don't owe me anything, but I am glad that you will be with me on my journey." and I saw Gero with excitement on his face.
"Then if you want to travel with me then I need to name you." "Why" as I tilted my head. "Because we are family aren't we?" he replied as I paused at that word. "Family..." and that word alone made me feel warm inside. "How about...Aruzelf? It means "Brave"." he proposed. "Aruzelf? Why? All I did is run away." I replied. "If you are running away does that mean you are a coward? No. Because you decided it yourself. If you were a coward then you could have been captured or you could have even died. But instead you decided to try and live, facing things head on. We were surprised that you can even survived 2 days bleeding in that spot."
"Is that enough to convince you now?" Gero asked. "I guess so, looking forward to be with you Gero" as I go closer to the ball. "Me too, Aru" and he pressed the ball on my head, turning me red as I went inside the ball. "Come on out, Aru" as he tossed the ball to the ground, and only to be surprised that I got out. "What was that?" I asked pointing at the ball. "It's called a poke-ball. It makes you fit in it for easier transportation, and it can help you in a few ways." he replied. "But I rather use it when it's necessary. I prefer to have someone to sleep with. Want to cuddle?" "Yeah!" as I wrap around his neck.
"Mom! I caught my first pokemon!" and after a few twist and turns we arrived at our new home. As we made our way upstairs I saw a picture of a man that looks like Gero. "Who is he?" I asked as I saw a bitter look on his face. Which I thought I never see, "My dad." and we made our way to Gero's room. I see a bed that is quite messy, but what is the opposite is his desk that is neatly arranged. And finally a window by the right side of the bed, giving us a great view of the shoreline. "The sunrise is gonna look great tomorrow. Wanna see it?" as he noticed me staring at the window. "Yeah" as we set ourselves up. The bed smells nice, it smells exactly like Gero.
"Good night." "Good night" I replied back as he turned off the lights.