Deviation Actions
Literature Text
Saffron City Pokémon Center, June 20. Twenty minutes after “Developments”
“ALLISON! You’re finally back!” a much-recovered Allen squealed, flying joyful loop-de-loops. He’d been recuperating in Saffron ever since Derpy’s psychic overload way back in Round Two. “I missed you so much! You have to tell me everything about your adventures—where you visited, who you fought, what we’re doing here in the first place…” He stopped mid-loop to hug my face. “THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!”
The funny thing about a Zubat hugging your face is that it doesn’t impede your ability to grin like an Aipom. “I missed you too, buddy. Now please let go of my face so I can talk properly.” He hovered patiently in front of me while I sat in one of the armchairs. “Do you want me to start from when I dropped you off here? You were KO’d, so you probably don’t remember that.”
“Please,” Allen squeaked. He swooped gently downward, landed in my lap, and pushed himself up so he could look me in the eyes.
“It was hard for me to watch you from outside the ICU,” I began. “You looked so small and fragile, like you really might die. Derpy’s sorry too, by the way. After I talked with Zenna (Derpy’s trainer) a little more, I visited Sabrina like Professor Oak told us to. She said she got a visit from Mew back in January, who told her the rules of the tournament…”
Over the next hour or maybe two, I explained the whole crazy saga for his and my team’s benefit (with occasional input from Five), covering how that conversation restored patches of our memories and Sabrina’s advice to take a break in Fuchsia City. I tried to gloss over the battle with Kami for Tobias’ sake; he didn’t like being reminded of it even though he won. Allen smiled as I revealed how we’d gotten our memories completely restored by chatting with Five, who it turned out had trusted Ayumu and Arjuna enough to help him pilot the TARDIS. Then there was the whole postponed-masquerade-ball snafu and the Tough Contest battle against Nikky. Man, that chick was weird…but very talented. Finally, there was the dramatic tale of Jennifer taking on a Vileplume with three moves that could easily kill her (and unfortunately, did). Jaws dropped, (manly) tears were shed, and heart-wrenching feels were felt.
“And that’s what happened,” I finished. “But there’s something I don’t quite get, Doctor. I was supposed to have six opponents in this phase, and I’ve only fought five people. What round did I miss (if we can even call them rounds)?”
Five looked a bit concerned. “You missed a round? Hm…ah, there’s a simple explanation for once. In Round Three, Mufasa was supposed to fight a girl named Sapia and her Lapras, Aspi. I suppose Miss Sabrina had never heard of her or forgot to tell you or something.”
Mufasa’s left eye twitched. “Or something? I miss my best chance to fight a tough Kanto Pokémon against which I have an advantage and you just brush it off with an ‘or something’? What is wrong with you? I went along with this only ‘cause I thought I’d get to battle somebody!” He crouched back on his hind legs and pawed the air threateningly. Five backed up a few steps, raising his hands in a peaceful gesture. “You mess with Allison or me one more damn time and I tackle you and your stupid celery pin into the floor. I don’t care that you’re bigger than me, I’m still a hunter.”
“What did I tell you about threatening people you don’t know?” I chided. Involuntarily, my eyes went to Five’s lapels. He did have a piece of celery stuck to his left one; I hadn’t noticed it before. “Er…Doctor…?”
He rolled his eyes with a knowing smile. “The celery turns purple in the presence of certain gases I’m allergic to. It works, trust me.”
“I have so far, you know. And your first guess was right; Sabrina hadn’t heard of Sapia before, so she couldn’t pinpoint her location.”
“…don’t Gym Leaders here have tracking devices or something?”
“No, that’d be creepy,” Mufasa hissed, annoyed with everything. “Allison told me Sabrina can sense when people make decisions, but only if they’re people she knows. Plus she has, quote, ‘telekinesis and limited telepathy with her Alakazam,’ unquote. Basically, she’s psychic.”
“Huh,” Five remarked. “I didn’t expect such things were possible. But I of all people should know better than to say that, and besides, perhaps this universe has a little magic in it.”
Arjuna exhaled sharply. “Tauros-crap. I lived because my opponent took pity on me! That’s not magic, that’s just embarrassing!”
Ayumu nodded. “I don’t care that Nikky got the Tough Ribbon, I can still fight! And if the tournament won’t let me, then I vote for going somewhere or somewhen that will!”
“Arjuna and I told you before we even met this guy that we thought this was too suspicious,” Allen reminded me. “Please, can we just go home now?”
I didn’t know how to answer. I wanted to make more sense of why I was here, yes…but was it worth risking my team’s lives? And how much would another death screw up my timeline?
“…not yet,” I said quietly. “I know you guys want to, and I kind of do too. But I have a feeling I should be learning more about my situation and maybe how the tournament works. I can’t have been the only one who got pulled out of her time to do this, can I?”
“Probably not, but how do you intend to learn who else has?” Five asked. “Somehow I don’t think these other trainers will take kindly to a girl they don’t know asking if they’re from the future or past.”
He had me there, in true Doctor fashion. I didn’t know anybody else in this besides Arcadia, and her through “secondhand memories.” And even if I did find someone from another time (and who was comfortable telling me about it), he or she could very well not remember arriving in Kanto in the first place. (Though if my case were any indication, they’d have some clues by this point, surely.) “Uh…”
Ayumu’s face suddenly lit up, and she began rummaging through my bag. “Hey, how about this?” she asked excitedly, emerging with a familiar white-and-gold invitation. “They said on TV the masquerade ball thing got moved to tonight. Everyone who didn’t drop out’s gonna be there, including the admins. You’re sure to get some useful information out of that! As well as a cool dress.”
“…Yes, that’s it! Ayumu, you’re a genius!” I cheered, hugging her. “OK, team, it’s settled! We’re going to go to a ball and play secret agent!”
Five smiled warmly. “It’s good to see you happy again.” Then he started glowing slightly gold, and his smile faded.
Arjuna turned an alarmed face to him. “Doctor? Doctor, why are you glowing?”
“…Remember how I said I wasn’t sure how I was in this era with my powers and TARDIS? Let’s say I’ve just found that my borrowed time has run out.” The glow intensified even as he spoke.
“But…but I barely knew you,” I said. I didn’t honestly expect that to work, seeing as how I’m neither Amy Pond nor another Time Lord, but it had to be said. As well as the follow-up question, “Am I ever going to see you again, do you think?”
Five was starting to fade away now. “I don’t quite know. I’d like to improve my track record with visiting old friends/companions.” He extended a slightly transparent hand, which I shook. It felt warm and solid even though I was watching him disappear. “To quote you, ‘I hope we meet again in less unreal circumstances.’ Good luck, Allison. Don’t ever give up, no matter how bad things look. The minute you give up is the minute you lose control of your situation. You and your Pokémon have too much potential to just give up.”
A few tears welled up in my eyes, making Five appear even more blurry. “Doctor…I…” I choked up for a moment. “I’m sorry for what I said about you in Celadon. None of it’s true. I’ll keep going as long as I can, and I’ll make you proud of me, Doctor! That’s a promise!”
He smiled that fatherly smile again, and vanished in a flurry of gold light. I sat in the armchair mechanically stroking Allen’s back for a while. I felt directionless even though I had agreed on a plan literally two minutes prior.
“Um…do you still wanna go to the ball?” Ayumu asked.
“…yeah. Come on, team. We’re gonna go get a Buizel dress.”
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