FSE

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Chapter Text

I woke up gradually to the sound of a soft hum unlike anything I had ever heard before. As I became more aware I realized I could still hear rain, but it was muffled, and I felt dry, as if I was hidden safely inside of a cave or underneath an overhang that blocked out the rain. I was laying on a soft but firm surface, and something fluffy was wrapped comfortably around me. I was warm, but not uncomfortably so, and it was a nice way to wake up after the past several rain-soaked mornings. I opened my eyes to look around, but that did little to help my confusion.

The beautiful meadow I had fallen asleep in was gone. Now I was in a well-lit room, wrapped in cloth on top of a flat surface. I knew immediately that this was a human place, but I had no idea what it was for, or why I had been brought here. The light tasted... funny. It was definitely light, but different somehow from actual, natural sunlight. It came from something red above me, a large hot sphere hanging from the ceiling. My leaves were sticking out above the cloth, and I spread them out to absorb more of the light in an effort to understand what was wrong with it, but I still couldn't really understand the difference.

The room around me was dry, and while the cloth around me was nice it was uncomfortably confining, so I wiggled out from under it. There were no windows in the room though the walls were a pleasant shade of yellow. Wood squares lined the walls, and odd machines lined the counters, their odd green displays gleaming ominously. I hopped to one side of the table to look down at the ground. The surface I was on looked rather high, and while I wasn't sure I wanted to be on the table, I was pretty sure I didn't want to jump that far, either. I didn't see anything else interesting on that side of the room, so I walked over to the other side of the table. This side of the room looked more promising - there was a chair that I could easily reach, and beyond it an open door led to a hallway.

There was nothing else in the room, and while I was grateful to have light again it still tasted weird, so I hopped down to the chair, then to the floor. I leaned out the door to peek into the hallway. To one side the hallway ended at a blank wall, but it stretched off in the other direction. I waddled down it slowly, then paused and leaned up against the wall when I heard voices coming from behind a bend in the hall.

"You're a Growlithe; you don't see anything wrong with this?"

"I'm not responsible for what every other Growlithe out there does. If she wants to keep running back and forth between the farm and the old well, I can't stop her."

"But come on, that's so unrealistic. If she really cared about him she would stop him from going out there in the first place! I mean, seriously; who lets a kid run around a dangerous well like that? And not just one time, but for three episodes in a row?"

"What do you want her to do? Build a rail around it or something?"

"Knock him down when he starts going that way in the first place? That kid is obviously not smart enough to be trusted with fetching water yet!"

The voices didn't seem to be coming closer, so I waddled closer to the bend and peeked past the bend. There was a 'television' on one wall - a glowing machine that had black and white images flickering across it - along with a set of couches and a chair. At first glance I thought the chair was empty- it was turned away from me, and there obviously wasn't a person in it- but when I looked again I noticed a black tail hanging off the side. I leaned forward but couldn't make out any more, beyond a yellow ring near the end of the tail. "Hello? Is someone there?"

The tail twitched, then withdrew back behind the chair; a second later a nightmarish form rose into view, leaning against the back of the chair and smiling at me. "Oh good, you're awake! Good morning! You were asleep for a long time; we were starting to get worried, but the nurse said nothing seemed wrong. How are you feeling?"

"I... um... who are you? What are you? And where am I?" I was confused, and squinted at the creature before me. It was a scary looking creature with shiny black fur, ominous yellow ring patterns, and blood red eyes that seemed to glare outwards from the pitch blackness that was the rest of his body... but despite his ominous appearance he seemed very friendly, at least at the moment, his tail waving behind him. My question seemed to surprise him and he leaned back a little, his rate of speech slowing down a little and giving me time to absorb his words.

"Oh- I'm sorry; you're probably very confused right now. My name is Opal; I'm Sara's Pokemon, an Umbreon. You're inside a PokeCenter; it's where humans bring Pokemon to help them get better. Sara found you in the woods... or... you found her? Either way you didn't seem very healthy and you wouldn't wake up, so Sara brought you here for some help. How are you feeling now?" The odd Pokemon - Opal - seemed concerned, and tilted his head to look at both sides of me.

I felt a little nervous under the scrutiny, but I thought about it before answering him. "I feel... much better, actually. Rested."

Opal seemed relieved at that news. "Oh, good! We were really worried... I'm glad to hear you're okay." He wagged his tail a little, a short back and forth that I don't think he even knew he was doing, before hopping down onto the floor. "Sara and the nurse wanted to know when you woke up - would you be up to seeing some more visitors? Sara has been looking forward to meeting you."

"Who's Sara?" The Umbreon had mentioned that name a few times now, and each time the yellow rings in his fur had glowed a little brighter. I wondered if he knew he was doing that, but I decided not to ask just yet.

"Oh - she's my trainer! It was her Pokeball you jumped into earlier, and when she saw how weak you were she brought you here. She's a really nice person; she's been looking forward to meet you. When you were awake, I mean." As all the other times, his rings glowed a little more, and he looked towards the door as he spoke.

I realized that I wasn't going to get any answers from the Umbreon - he was just going to keep trying to talk me into meeting Sara - and I couldn't think of any reason not to meet her, especially if she had taken me out of that endless storming, so I stood up a little straighter and nodded. "Okay... I'd be glad to meet her."

The Umbreon seemed happy to hear that, wagging his tail as he headed to the door. "That's great! I'll go get her for you; she's cancelling the rooms at the hotel since we'll be staying here with you, so I'll be just a minute!"

I watched as he headed away from me... and then jerked in surprise as he just vanished into the shadow cast by the couch. I blinked, waddling further into the room to get a closer look, but the Umbreon was as gone as if he'd never been there at all.

"Yeah, he does that. Some Dark-type ability; I don't think you ever get used to it." I jerked at the new voice and looked towards the sound. An orange-furred Pokemon was stretched out on the carpet and facing the wall, but he had lifted his head to glance back at me. "He's just going to get Sara and the nurse though; he'll be back before long."

"Oh..." I took a step back from the Pokemon - a Growlithe, I thought - and back towards the hallway. "Um... who are you?"

"I'm Kenth. John's Pokemon. He's traveling with Sara; they're here to challenge the gym in this town."

"Gym? What's that?"

"It's a place where trainers and Pokemon can get stronger. They learn things and challenge the leader of the gym, and when they've gotten strong enough they win and get a badge. John already has a badge." Kenth puffed a little at that in pride, though some of it faded after. "Sara has one too, so you're in good hands."

I wondered what that meant... but before I could ask, I felt a sudden uneasiness, like somebody was watching me. I started to turn to look behind me...

"Okay, Sara's on her way! The nurse can't come right now but will stop by later; she just said for you to take it easy until she has a chance to check up on you. We can watch some television if you'd like; is there anything you want to watch?" The Umbreon had returned and was right behind me - lurking in the shadow cast by the couch - but seemed completely unconcerned at just appearing out of nowhere. He hopped up on the couch and pawed at a thin black box that was laying there, pushing some of the buttons on it.

"See? Told you. He does that, and it weirds me out every time." Kenth glanced at Opal pointedly, then lowered his head and looked back at the television. "Hey! I was watching that!"

"Spoilers, it ends the same way the three other episodes did. It's the same exact thing; there's got to be something else on to watch."

The two Pokemon began bickering back and forth at each other, and I pulled back a little... but it actually made me feel a little better, somehow. The two seemed to have a familiar friendship more than any actual frustration, and it helped me feel somehow welcome. They weren't putting on a show or trying to impress me; they were just being themselves even though I was there.

A bell jingled and the sound of rain grew louder, then softer a few leaf shakes later. I heard a squelching sound mixed with footsteps, then a voice called out from down the hallway. "Opal?"

The Umbreon perked up and turned away from Kenth. "In here!"

The squelching footsteps drew closer until a human leaned around the corner. She was wearing a heavy raincoat and hat that made it hard to see many of her features, but even soaked by the rain she had a brilliant smile. "Hello there Cherubi! My name is Sara. You're looking much better than when we brought you here; how are you feeling?"

I shifted a little nervously, leaning back to look up at the face way above me... but she shook out her raincoat and knelt down on the floor, sitting on her legs and giving me a gentle wave. It made it a lot easier to talk to her, and some of the nervousness at meeting Opal's friend faded. "I'm a little hungry, but I feel okay. Much better than when I was out in that rain."

Sara's expression grew a little confused at my words. She looked past me and I heard Opal hop down from the couch to sit beside me. "Humans have trouble understanding Pokemon they don't know very well; I'll pass on what you say to her." The Umbreon grinned a little and looked to Sara. "She's hungry, but doing better than before. She didn't like being out in the rain."

That wasn't quite what I had said... but it was close enough. Sara nodded and started digging through a purse she had sat down beside her. "That's to be expected; you were asleep for a long time. The nurse said the extra light would help you, but that you would need something solid to help with your berry growing back. And I'd be hungry after all that rain and cold too. I think... here we go!" Sara brought her hand out of the purse and held it out to me, revealing three Oran berries held there.

They weren't that big as far as Oran berries went, and they looked a little over-ripe... but right then they looked like the most delicious meal I had ever seen. My stomach rumbled loudly just from looking at them.

I felt horrified at the sound, but Sara just giggled. "Go on, eat up!" She sat the berries down in front of me, and I leaned forward to start nibbling at the first one.

The berries turned out to taste overly ripe, like I had guessed, and I had definitely eaten better ones in the past... but as hungry as I felt, I could hardly imagine anything tasting better right then.

The three berries were gone in no time, and I leaned back to look up at Sara again. "Thank you!"

Sara's smile grew brighter, and she replied without needing Opal to translate. "You're welcome!"

I wasn't sure what to say after that, and a bit of an awkward silence grew... but Sara spoke back up first. "So... I'm sure you'd like to get back to your home, but I was wondering if I could ask you a favor first? I'd be glad to take you back where I found you, but... well, I'm a Pokemon trainer, and part of what we do is compete in matches at Pokemon Gyms. There's one in this city I want to challenge, but he won't let anyone compete unless they have two Pokemon. It's something to do with the matches this gym specializes in, with battling as a team instead of just one at a time. And the only Pokemon I have is Opal, and..."

Sara paused as the bell chimed again and the sound of rain grew louder. There was a stomping sound and then some more squelching footsteps, then another person stomped into the room. Kenth gave a bark of greeting, but the newcomer just glared at Sara. "Are you still wasting time talking? You caught the thing and it's healed up now; just grab it and let's go, the gym is going to close at this rate!"

Sara sighed and gave me an apologetic look before she turned to look at the newcomer. "If they close, we'll go tomorrow; we've already been through this. We didn't even know she'd be awake today, and I'm going to do this right, John."

"Ugh. Stuck in this empty rained in town another day. You've already caught the only wild Pokemon here, other than those sick looking Feebas hiding at the bottom of the river. Just challenge the gym so we can go already." The trainer - John? - brushed passed Sara and crossed to the chair Kenth was in. He collapsed into it without even bothering to shake off first, and the water clinging to him soon began to soak into the chair.

Sara sighed and looked back at me. "Sorry... that's the favor I wanted to ask though. Will you help me challenge the gym? Opal will do all the work, and I promise you won't get hurt; Opal is really good at protecting other Pokemon. And then after that we can take you back to your home if you want?"

Sara looked down at me so hopefully that I couldn't even imagine saying no. She had already helped me - who knows what would have happened if I had been stuck out in that cold rain any longer, not to mention the berries she had given me.

I opened my mouth to answer, but then remembered Opal would have to translate. It seemed cruel to keep her in suspense any longer than I had to so I nodded as I spoke, and tried to sound as cheerful as I could. "Of course!"

---

Sara took me back into the Pokeball after that. I was confused at first, and a little scared, but it was actually nice. The room just dissolved into a pink glow, only to be replaced a few seconds later by the beautiful meadow I had seen before. I had begun to think it had just been a dream, but it felt so alive, filled with so many different colored flowers and healthy plants.

I wasn't there very long before it dissolved into a pink glow, and this time the world reformed as a much larger room with a smooth cold floor. The distant sound of rain was still audible, and the room was cooler, but otherwise it felt like the other place. What had Opal called it? The PokeCenter? Opal was just a few paces to my side and looked excited, focused on the other end of the room and looking like he was getting prepared for something. That must mean this was the gym, the place Sara had talked about.

"Okay Opal, you got this!"

The Umbreon jumped two paces forward and nodded, barking out a sharp "Yeah!" of excitement. I looked back at Sara nervously, not sure if I should follow or stay there. "Um..."

"Oh! You've got this too, um, Cherubi! It'll be fine!" Sara clapped her hands together and nodded, smiling back at me.

I turned back to the other side of the gym and looked past Opal. A man was standing on the other side of the open area, and he lifted two PokeBalls in his hand. A pink light shown out from them and landed on the ground before him, forming into two small shapes. They solidified and the light faded after growing a little larger than me, but they didn't grow as large as Opal, and a lot of their mass actually seemed to be fur. They were mostly white, but the one on Opal's side had a few blue markings, while the one closer to me had red markings.

The two Pokemon glanced back and forth between us, then chittered to each other and the man behind them. "That Grass-type looks terrified of that Dark-type," the redder one commented. "They can't have battled together much, if at all."

The blue one nodded and glanced back behind them. "Distract and pick away at the other?"

The man nodded to the two Pokemon, then glanced at Opal. "Umbreons are tough nuts to crack. P, go for the Cherubi first, Emmie, you're on distract and support duty." The man looked up at Sara and nodded again before speaking louder. "Ready?"

Sara's voice seemed a little uncertain, but she answered with a shaky "Uh-huh!". The man nodded one more time, then spoke to the two Pokemon. "Quick attack!"

"Block it! Then Payback!" Sara's voice came from behind me at the same time the opponents moved. They both darted forwards, the blue one towards me and the red one towards Opal. I flinched and hopped backwards in concern, suddenly worried.

The red Pokemon suddenly slid past Opal, not bothering to try and hit the Umbreon, but the blue one kept coming at me. A reddish glow began to surround it, and I heard Sara mutter "Helping Hand" under her breath as the blue Pokemon suddenly sped even faster towards me. I tried to hop backwards again but misjudged in my panic, and instead of landing behind me I fell on my back. I closed my eyes as I waited for the Pokemon to slam into me...

Instead of an impact and pain there was just a distant thump sound and a triumphant 'Gotcha!' from Opal. I heard another whoosh sound like something passing through empty air, then a growl of frustration from Opal.

I opened one eye, then opened both and rolled to get back up.

The two opposing Pokemon were standing back on the opposite side of the field and panting slightly. The red one was favoring one side and shaking his paw, but the blue looked fine. Opal was glaring at the red one and flexing his own paw. "Sneaky... that red one came back out of nowhere and threw off my attack." He half-glanced back at me, keeping the other two Pokemon in view. "You okay?"

I nodded, and he turned back to the other Pokemon, shifting to stand between them and me.

The man grinned and shook his head. "Ignore the Cherubi; just take down the Umbreon. Sparks!"

Sara shouted out behind us. "Faint Attack!"

The room suddenly seemed to grow a little dimmer and I felt... something. Like a sad feeling, or some vague guilt and unease. It seemed to tug towards the Umbreon... then it faded a bit, and I saw Opal look back towards Sara in confusion. "Which one?"

Sara started to answer but hesitated... and while she was thinking, the opposing Pokemon struck. Electricity crackled through the air between them, dancing from one to the other - leaping out from a tail, absorbing into an ear, reemerging from a paw, crackling louder each time... and then the electricity flew through the air in a sharp bang, dashing from the blue Pokemon to hit Opal. The force of the spark flung the Umbreon backwards, off his feet and towards the wall behind us... then a second spark followed, leaping from the red Pokemon to chase after him.

I was still turning back to see what had happened to Opal when I heard the electricity land and the Umbreon cry out. I flinched at the sounds, suddenly worried for him.

The Umbreon had landed a few paces before the far wall, but not many. I don't know if he had landed on his feet - my impression of Opal let me clearly imagine him landing after the first attack, heavily winded but still determined, maybe glaring back at the two chipmunks and preparing for his own attack...

But even if that had been the case, the second attack had been too much even for him. He was sprawled on the ground, eyes barely staying open, and faint puffs of smoke drifted up from the ground around him. An acrid scent hung in the air, like the way lightning strikes would sometimes smell but without the scent of rain and wet grass to go with it.

I gulped, not even wanting to think about what those powerful attacks could do to me.

I caught sight of Sara looking at the Umbreon, mouth hanging open in surprise and worry for her Pokemon... then I turned back to the opponents.

Sara had told me I wouldn't have to fight, wouldn't have to do anything but be there so her Umbreon could be in the challenge... but it looked like that wouldn't be the case. I thought of some way I could fight the opposing team, but my few skills seemed sorely lacking. Scattering leaves and using them to cut branches was one thing, but against these two...

"Quick Attack." The two words came from the man behind the two chipmunks, and they began to crouch down in preparation to dash at me. I slunk lower, preparing for the hits sure to come...

"STOP!" The shout came from right behind me, along with the sound of Sara dashing in front of me to stand between the two electric types and me. "I yield! You win; I withdraw."

Sara was blocking my view of the reddish Pokemon, but I saw the man raise his hand and the blue Pokemon relaxed. "Stop? You still have another Pokemon; you don't want to keep trying? It hasn't even been hit; she's still in perfect shape."

Sara's head shook back and forth. "That would be pointless. Both of your Pokemon are fine, too; it would just be cruel to make her fight them. A-and..." Sara's voice suddenly sounded uncertain, even embarrassed, as if she was worried about what the other trainer would say. "I promised her she wouldn't have to fight, and that Opal would keep her safe."

"I see." The other trainer just smiled wryly. "So you didn't actually have a second Pokemon to fight with; you used this one to get in and thought... Opal, was it? Would be enough?"

Sara nodded and looked to the side, her face coming into my view and looking redder than normal from embarrassment. "Yes."

"Well. That's the type we expect from a new trainer. But it's obvious how you earned that Heart Badge; you clearly care deeply about your Pokemon. Very well." There was a pair of clicks, followed by whooshing sounds, and the blue-white Pokemon vanished. "You clearly weren't ready for a double battle... but your Umbreon is actually pretty good at working with another Pokemon. Maybe not that Cherubi, but I can tell he's practiced with somebody." The other trainer turned around and started walking, then paused. "We have a lot going on with all this rain and the flooding so I'm busy, but if you come by Thursday I should be able to spare some time to teach you how to get your Umbreon and Cherubi working together better."

Sara looked back towards him in excitement, then her shoulders sagged a little. "Oh... I'd like that, really, but... I told Cherubi I'd take her back to her home in the forest after this. I didn't really catch her, you see; she was just cold and hungry, so..." Sara trailed off and fidgeted with the Pokeball in her hand.

"Ah. Yeah, there are probably a lot of Pokemon like that right now, with this weather. We used to have a lot of Hoppips around, but I haven't seen them at all these past few days. With the sun blocked out it's been really hard on the Grass-types particularly." He sighed, then shook his head. "That Cherubi is probably better off with you, honestly. We're trying to find the Pokemon causing this, but until then... it's really not safe out there for anybody that's not a Water-type."

I dropped my leaves a little at that. I suddenly remembered my home how I had left it: cold, wet, and dead. Not bright and alive like I remembered. It would still be that way when I got back. This time with Sara had brought a lot of my strength back, but once I was back there...

"Wait. You think a Pokemon is doing this?"

Sara's question caused the leader to pause and nod his head. "Almost certainly. There haven't been any weather patterns that would have caused this much rain, and the weather was crazy before the rain started. Snow, then sandstorms, back and forth. I don't have any explanation for it other than Pokemon, and strong ones at that. One of them started a snowstorm; another kicked up a sandstorm. Those two fought back and forth over the weather for a bit, and then this third one pulled all the moisture down into this rain. Might have just been annoyed at the snow and sand, might have been self defense. Either way, we have to find them and get them to stop. If we don't then this whole area's going to end up flooded, with all the plants dead and the Pokemon moved on. Twin Lakes will just be a wasteland after that."

I drooped my leaves even further as I imagined the once beautiful hills and streams of my home flooded and left desolate. I didn't want that for me, or for...

Well. For nobody, really. The Hoppips had left to find a brighter home; this wasn't where they lived anymore. And John had said nothing else was around other than a few Feebas hiding in the bottom of the lake, so even they wouldn't know what would become of the land.

I frowned at that. No... there was still Kirii. If the Feebas were still there, then the Milotic would be too. Or be coming back. She had said she was going to try and help, back when the weather had first gotten harsh. Maybe she would find something, and then with her help I could work on restoring the land. Maybe the Hoppips would even come back...

Maybe.

Sara turned towards me with the Pokeball in her hand, expression deflated. "Sorry, Cherubi. I'm going to get Opal back to the PokeCenter to rest up for tonight. We'll get you home tomorrow, though."

I was still half-nodding in distracted thought when the world grew pink and dissolved, leaving me alone in the pretty garden once again.