Cherubi's Story - Chapter Four
#16 of Sara's Story
I woke up at some point in the night - or at least, I thought it was night. It was dark in the small room because Sara had turned the light off before she had gone to bed, but that didn't necessarily mean it was still night. The sound of rain was still the same, and I knew from experience that would make it look pitch black even in the middle of the day. So I guess I woke up at some point when Sara was still asleep.
She had brought me out of the Pokeball when we got back to the Pokecenter, saying she didn't want me cramped up in it when there was so much room out here... but the room was pretty empty. Sara was asleep in the bed that took up most of the room, and Opal had curled up in the small chair beside the bed after Sara had put a dark blanket over it. The only other furnishing in the room was a large stand with another of those glowing screens on it. The screen was dark and quiet, and since it only took up most of the stand I had settled down on the flat surface and drifted off to sleep.
I wasn't surprised to be awake now, before everybody else. I had been sleeping a lot lately and not doing much - the rain had made that practically impossible. That along with the berries earlier meant I had some energy to burn.
I waited a few leaf shakes for my eyes to adjust, then hopped down from the stand. I started to move towards the far side of the room, but stopped when a dim yellow glow grew from the chair.
Opal hopped silently down from the chair and crossed over to me. I started to apologize for waking him, but he interrupted me with a soft 'Shh' and glanced back towards the bed where Sara still slept. He padded quietly over to the door, then jumped up and pulled down on a handle about halfway up. He landed just as quietly and stopped the motion of the door, which had started to swing open. A bit of light shone in from the hallway, but not enough to disturb the sleeping trainer, and Opal motioned me through with a jerk of his head.
I slipped out into the hallway and started to turn to look back at Opal, but the door pressed gently closed behind me. I drooped my leaves, worried I had upset him... but then his voice spoke up from behind me. "Sorry about that... I haven't figured out how to pull those doors shut yet. My paws get caught in the doorway, so I have to push them closed and then come outside. This way Sara can keep sleeping without us waking her up."
He turned to walk down the hallway, and I hopped to follow after him. "I'm sorry I woke you up..."
"You didn't! I don't get much sleep during the night; I just have too much energy. I get most of the sleep I need from a few naps during the day."
"Oh... it is night, then? How can you tell?" I asked the question as we came back into the lounge - that was the 'proper' name for the room I had met Opal and Kenth in, at least according to Opal.
"Oh, you mean with all the rain? That does make it hard, but there are other ways. People have neat things called 'clocks' that keep track of time, and those will tell you what time of day it is even if you can't see the sky. I can also tell where the moon is in the sky, even when I can't see it; it's an Umbreon ability. I can get a pretty good idea of if it's night or not from that sense." The Umbreon paused to stretch in the middle of the room, reaching as far as he could with his paws before shaking back and forth.
That sounded like a neat ability to have, and I thought about how useful that would be. A lot of times I had ended up asking Kirii to overwater some of the plants near my home because I had been wrong about the time, and the sun hadn't dried up nearly as much of the water as I had expected. That left the poor plant stuck in drenched soil all night, which only got worse as dew collected and fell to the soil. Too much of that would cause fungus or other icky things to grow in among the roots. In fact, the only thing worse than too much water was...
"Oh no!" I gasped as I realized I had looked away from the Umbreon and finally noticed a plant sitting on a small table of to a side of the room. It must have been there all this time, but I was only just now noticing it.
"What is it? What's wrong?" Opal had jerked out of his stretch to stand back on all fours and scan the room, but I barely noticed.
"This plant! It's dying; it looks so thirsty!" I hopped towards it, crossing the room in three quick motions. I stared up at it and tried to think how to get up on the table with the plant, but it was just too high up for me. "When was the last time it got water? Can we get some for it now?" I looked upwards and thought about the rain outside. "Can we make that wall move? There's plenty of rain out there; it'll just take a few minutes?"
I turned back to look towards Opal and found him watching me with an expression somewhere between worry and amusement. "No, that 'wall' up there doesn't move. But we can get some water and bring it to the plant. Follow me!"
The Umbreon turned and started down the hallway. I followed after him as he led to another room. This one was smaller and had a lot of things along the walls, with only a few tables and chairs scattered around the inside of the room. Opal went to one of the walls and hopped up on a protrusion from the wall, something flat on the top like the tables but closed in underneath. He leaned up and tugged at a small door, opening it before leaning into the opening in the wall. He dropped back down a few leaf shakes later with a cup held in his mouth, then started walking along the protrusion. It was hard to see what he was doing from on the ground, but I thought I heard the sound of rain get suddenly much louder, then quiet again. The Umbreon hopped down in front of me with a grin, head turned sideways to keep the cup steady... which was now mostly filled with water. "Here!"
I hopped in place happily. "That's neat! I usually ask Kirii... erm, a water-type I know; she's good at moving water around. But this is almost as good; that plant is going to love this!"
Opal just grinned wider around the handle in his mouth and started walking back towards the lobby, going slower this time so as to not spill any water. We made it back to the lobby and Opal carefully placed the cup on the table with the plant, making sure not to spill any water, then climbed up on the table. He picked the cup back up in his mouth to bring it even with the pot the plant was in... then dumped it all quickly into the dirt surrounding the plant.
I cringed a little inside, imagining how the quick flow of water would miss most of the roots as it streamed through the dry soil filled with cracks. Opal seemed to just be proud of himself though, and didn't seem to notice my chagrin. "There we go! Now it has plenty of water."
A stifled yawn from the hallway interrupted us, and we turned to find Sara standing there. She was using a brush to comb her hair, but seemed strangely awake as she watched us.
"Sara! I'm sorry, did we wake you?" Opal hopped down from the table to stand by Sara, then let out a happy sound as she reached down with her free hand to scratch his ear.
"No, no; my alarm just went off and I saw you were gone. What are you up to out here? Watering plants?"
The Umbreon nodded enthusiastically and looked back towards me. "Yep! Cherubi noticed it was dry, so we gave it some."
Sara paused her brushing and walked over to the table. "Oh... yeah, with all this rain the nurse probably forgot that the plants inside weren't getting any water. Did you get the others already, or just this one?"
I perked up at the mention of more dried out plants. "Others?"
Sara smiled and picked up the cup. "Come on, we'll check on them together."
Things went much faster with Sara's help. She started by dumping the water straight into the dry soil, like Opal had done, but I managed to tell her - through Opal - to pour it in slower, and give the soil a chance to moisten a bit so it could hold onto the water better. She was able to carry the cup even better than Opal could, and she actually carried two of the cups with her. The PokeCenter was even bigger than I had first thought - aside from the room I had first woken up in, there were two other similar rooms Sara called 'Critical Care' rooms. We didn't go into those rooms, but Sara pointed out a small fern at the end of the hallway. There were three other 'bedrooms' like the one Sara had slept in, with a pair of flowering plants in the hallway - we had to go back for more water, and Sara had to stop Opal from trying to get another cup to carry too - but the doors to those rooms were closed and Sara wouldn't open them, saying there were people sleeping in them. The last room was a large room with several beds spaced throughout and separated by rails. Curtains hung from the rails, and some were pulled around the bed to block it from view, but most were left open. Sara explained this was the general care ward for Pokemon that weren't badly injured and just needed a little rest and some minor attention. There were several plants in this room, from flowers to a small shrub to even a type of vine that climbed up one of the walls near a desk. It took a few trips, but we managed to get all of the plants watered, and we headed back to the lobby.
Kenth was there when we got back, looking alert and energetic. His trainer was also there, though he looked exactly the opposite. He made an odd huff of a sound and glared at Sara as she rounded the corner. Sara just grinned at him. "Good morning, sleepy head! Couldn't sleep?"
He just glared back at her harder. "Not with the alarm going off."
Sara grimaced and looked towards the wall behind her. "Oh, it's already 8? Wow, that hour flew by quick." She looked down at me with a frown, then back at John. "Do you want to sleep in more? Or wake up a little?"
The other trainer shook his head and got to his feet. "The sooner we get started, the sooner we can find a town with a gym we can beat. Or other Pokemon. I still can't believe you; the first new Pokemon either of us get, and you're going to just release it."
Sara shot an annoyed glare back at John. "We've been through this. I promised, and I plan to keep my promises." She looked back to me and began rummaging in her bag. "Ready, Cherubi? I'll take you back to your home now."
I sat back and thought, feeling suddenly unsure. My home... without any Hoppips, with all the plants dead... but... maybe Kirii was still there... and... I could try and fix it still. Find who was causing the rain and stop them. Then the land could recover...
I wanted to stay with Sara and Opal more, especially instead of going back to that cold, bleak place that was now my home. But I couldn't leave it trapped like that.
I nodded and waddled closer to Sara.
The trainer frowned for a brief instant, as if sad, but it vanished just as quickly. "Great! You're pretty light, so I'll carry you on my shoulder until we get to where we found you, and then you can show us the way to your home. And you..." She turned to Opal and pulled a ball from the bag, pointing it towards the Umbreon. "...have been out in the rain more than enough. Back in the Pokeball; I'll let you out when we get there and you can say goodbye." The Umbreon looked relieved for a moment... then there was a 'whoosh' sound from the Pokeball, and Opal faded in a pink light.
Kenth looked up at John and whined questioningly... but John just looked back at him with an annoyed expression. "What? It's rain; it's not going to hurt you. Come on, let's go."
Kenth huffed out an annoyed 'fine' but followed as John led the way outside, pulling something out of his own bag that he held over his head. It expanded and diverted the rain around him... though I couldn't help but notice it wasn't big enough to shield Kenth too. Sara scooped me up and brought out a similar one, protecting us both, and then we started out into the rain.
"Okay, this is where we found you." Sara stopped walking suddenly and looked around. "Do you know where to go from here?"
I looked around again... but nothing looked familiar. Or rather, everything looked just like it had for the past few 'hours' - a word John used to constantly tell Sara we had been walking for, usually right before he suggested once again that they just leave me there - but the flooded, dead landscape looked like nothing I remembered.
Or did it? That tree... it looked dead now, and had a bad case of rot going on, but if it had still been alive, then its branches would have looked like that one tree I had planted a shrub of Pinap berries under. And that meant...
"That way!" Sara didn't understand me, so I hopped down to the ground, landing with a soft 'whoof' sound in the mud. It was hard to move through the rain and mud, but I managed with a series of jumps. I heard John and Sara arguing behind me - John wanting to just go, Sara saying it would just be a little bit longer - but they followed after. I moved past the rotted tree, then up the small slope... then I stopped and stared in shock.
I had definitely been wrong - the tree wasn't the one I had thought, and this hill hadn't led where I had expected. But I definitely knew where I was now. The shore of the river I had come to know so well was before me, overrun with all the water, and...
And Kirii lay stretched out on one of the rocks in the river, looking exhausted, with deep gashes in the scales on her side.
"Kirii!!" I rushed towards the river, jumping forward as fast and as far as I could. Which... wasn't very fast, or far, with how muddy the ground was, but I made it to the water eventually. "Kirii, are you okay?" I shouted over the heavy rain, hoping the Milotic wasn't... No. I stopped myself from finishing that thought.
The Milotic opened one of her eyes slowly, as if the effort was too much for her. She stared at me for a long moment before suddenly brightening. "Cherubi! You're... oh, good, you're alive. I thought... when I got back I couldn't find you, and all the Hoppips are gone, and I thought... but you're okay... good..." She closed her eye again, but this time she seemed more at peace.
The rain seemed to grow stronger, but I could still hear a pair of gasps behind me. Sara and John - they must have come over the hill too and seen the injured Pokemon. They ran forward too, but Kirii heard them and opened her eye again.
This time her eye opened immediately, but instead of looking relieved or happy, she focused on the two trainers and looked angry. She rose up and hissed in annoyance. "Who are they? What are they doing here?"
"Kirii, it's okay! They... Sara found me, and helped me. With all the rain... she helped me get better. They won't hurt you - they can help you."
"I don't need any help!!" The Milotic screeched back at me, her tail slashing at the water by the rock. "I'm the one who's supposed to help! I'm the one who's supposed to take care of you, and the Hoppips, and the Feebas! My children... my family..." She wavered, fins drooping. "I wasn't strong enough, and now..."
She trailed off and stared at the water between us. The rain sent thousands of ripples through the river, the normally calm water rushing past us. The falling water was the only sound for a long moment... then a 'whoosh' sound broke the silence, and Opal was suddenly beside me. I heard Sara's voice through the rain, almost a whisper. "Opal, what are they saying?"
I looked to Opal - who was immediately soaked by the heavy rainfall - then back to Kirii. "Wasn't strong enough for what? What did you do, Kirii?"
The Milotic just kept staring at the water. "I went to save everybody. The hail... the sand... it was killing them. Making the water too cold, choking the streams with soot. Even you... the Hoppips couldn't take much of that; you saw how bad Twirls looked even with my help. So I went... I went to find the Pokemon that were causing it, to get them to stop..."
"Did you find them? Where are they, we can go with you this time! We can make the rain stop!" I looked back at Opal in excitement as he repeated the words to Sara.
Kirii just shook her head and laughed, a rueful sound. "No, Cherubi! Don't you get it? I couldn't find them! Another Pokemon got to me first, a... some dark type, or ice type; it was both. It was guarding them. I couldn't get to them! They're still out there somewhere, and as soon as I stop, it'll just... it'll just start all over again, and then..."
I felt a sudden chill beyond the one the rain was causing. I followed the Milotic's gaze to the river, only then realizing what was wrong with it. "Kirii... Kirii, where are the Feebas? The trainers... they said the only Feebas still here were sick looking, and at the bottom, but now the river is empty... what happened to them?"
"I did the only thing I could do for them." There was a sadness in Kirii's voice, and she choked on the last word. She was quiet for a moment, then spoke up again. "I made a way for them to get away from the danger. Out of this lake, to the other one, the one far enough away to be safe from the hail and sand."
"But not out of the rain." I looked around me one more time - the rotting tree in the distance, the mud all around, the dead, flooded plant life scattered wherever the water had carried them when their roots failed. Up at the sky, a dark sheet of angry clouds and falling rain. Down at the river, filled to overflowing and rushing along... in the wrong direction. "Because..." I looked back to the Milotic, the sudden understanding leaving me horrified. "Because you are the one causing the rain."
I heard Opal's voice trail off midsentence. The Umbreon's yellow glow grew brighter, creeping into the water as he suddenly refocused on the Milotic.
Kirii's voice stayed soft, barely audible over the rain. "I'm so sorry, Cherubi... I didn't mean for it to do all this. I just... I had to stop the hail... the sand... and get the Feebas away if I couldn't. They couldn't stay in the lake here, not in a constant sandstorm, or frozen over by hail. And the streams were just too shallow for them to reach the other lake. They would have been stranded here, choked or frozen..."
I just stared back at my friend. I didn't even know what to say.
"They're safe now. I told them to go before I left, and they were all gone when I got back. I... I saved them. I wasn't strong enough to stop the other Pokemon. But I saved them."
"You... everything's dead, Kirii!" I shouted over the rain again, looking back at the Milotic. "Our home is ruined! The Hoppips are gone, all the trees are ruined, all the berries we planted... nothing was saved, you destroyed everything!"
"It was going to die anyways! The sandstorm stopped but the hail is still going! This rain is nothing compared to what endless snow and hail would have done! At least this way the Hoppips got away, and the Feebas got out, and you..." Kirii gasped and wavered, falling back down to the rock.
My anger smothered under the rain and the sudden concern for Kirii. Even if she had... even if she had destroyed everything, she was still my friend. Still the Milotic who had helped me plant all those shrubs, healed my injuries, played with the Hoppips. She had rolled as she fell, and I saw even more gashes along her long body. Water was clinging to them, glowing softly in what I recognized to be her healing Aqua Ring, but it was still obviously causing her pain. "Kirii... Kirii, stop this. You said it yourself, they're all safe now. Stop this and come with me, come with Sara; she can help you..."
"I don't need HELP!" The Milotic shouted again, rearing back up. "I need to be stronger! That's the only problem here - if I was stronger, I could have stopped them!"
"Then come with me." The voice came from behind me and I flinched at the sound. I had forgotten Kenth was even there. "My trainer will make you stronger."
Kirii rose again, looking past me to the Growlithe. "You? Please... a trainer with an Umbreon won't make anyone stronger. I know that type! Wishy-washy, too concerned with feelings and comfort; that's how you get an Umbreon. I need to be tougher, not coddled!"
"Opal is Sara's Pokemon. John doesn't have an Umbreon. I doubt he ever could, if that's what it takes to get one. You'll get much tougher with him."
Kirii's eyes narrowed as she focused fully on the Growlithe. She was ignoring myself and Opal entirely now, concerned only with the fire puppy. "Why should I believe that?"
Kenth barked out a short laugh. "I'm here, aren't I? A fire type, standing out here in the rain, not even under an umbrella? Trust me. John will make you tougher."
Lightning flashed, illuminating the sudden intensity in Kirii's eyes. "Prove it!" Her shout was the only warning before her tail slammed into the water, slapping it and sending a wave towards us.
I started to shriek in fear at the attack... but Opal was suddenly in front of me, shielding me from the water. The wave broke over him and left me untouched... but there was nothing protecting Kenth. The wave was directed straight at him and hit him right in the face. It pushed him back in the mud, the fire puppy sliding backwards... and then stopping.
The Growlithe growled, excitement clear in his eyes even despite the attack he had just suffered. His tail wagged behind him in excitement, even drenched by all the water. He glanced over his shoulder, which confused me at first... then John yelled out over the rain. "Flame Wheel!"
Kenth scratched at the mud with his forepaw, and fire erupted around his paw. A sizzling noise filled the air as rain struck the fire, but it just spread over him. As it passed over his body his fur was left dry, only to be drenched by the rain again, and the wave of fire moved relentlessly to his tail. The Growlithe spun in place, the mud squishing under his paws, wheeling around to swing his tail towards the river... and the fire leapt from him, hurled into the air back at the Milotic.
The fire sizzled as it shot through the air and slammed into Kirii's scales, being extinguished almost as soon as it hit... but I could tell it still hurt her. Tendrils of smoke drifted up into the air with a hissing sound, but Kirii's hiss was louder. She gathered herself up on the rock, rising to her full height and towering over us all... and then she spun in place. Droplets of rain flew everywhere as the air swirled inside her coils, rotating faster and faster with the serpent's motion... then she unraveled, stretching out on the far side of the rock.
The twister of wind crossed the river in the blink of an eye and slammed into Kenth. The Growlithe slid more but stayed standing on his feet. The wind dispersed around him, sending the rain flying but causing no other damage.
"Ember!" The shout came from behind the Growlithe, who jumped back forward and spat out three quick bursts of flame. Two of the flames sizzled out in the rain, but the third lasted long enough to slap the Milotic's ear fin. Kirii winced, and this time it looked like the fire had hurt her more; the scales around where the ember had hit glowing an angry reddish color.
The Milotic screeched at the top of her lungs, gathering herself for one more attack. I could tell from her movements that she was growing tired - the strain of the constant rain, the gashes left by the earlier fight, and now the fire attacks, even weakened by the rain, were all adding up. I knew her well enough that she was near her limit.
But not there yet.
She dove into the river, sending water splashing up onto the rock. I could barely see her glittering scales streaking through the water before she was at the shore, shooting into the air and bringing a torrent of water with her. The deluge slammed into Kenth, driving him back even further... and slamming him into the mud. The Growlithe lay prone, legs sprawled out from the sheer force of the attack.
The Milotic had reached her limit. She wavered once on the muddy shore, wobbling before the prone Growlithe with a triumphant grin... then she fell, sinking into the mud beside him. "Not... so tough... after all."
Kenth glared at her for a moment... then slowly climbed back to his feet. His tail wagged slowly behind him as he watched the Milotic's smile fade, then return. "Fine. I'll give your trainer a chance, Growlithe."
The Growlithe glanced over his shoulder to John and barked a quick word. "Ball."
A Pokeball flew through the air and landed right on Kirii's head. She glowed, a bright pink aura surrounding her... and then she vanished. The ball dropped into the mud and a light on it glowed. A chime filled the air, then a second... then the light dimmed as a third chime rang out.
I stared at the ball for a long moment, just trying to absorb all that had happened. For the first time in as long as I could seem to remember, the rain finally, finally slowed...
...then stopped...
...then a deafening roaring filled the air, and a hard chunk of ice slammed into me as a storm of hail rushed in to replace the rain.