Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Fear the Quintet ❯ The Lack of Revelation ( Chapter 13 )

In which my knee hurts.

*

“He probably just went out for a cigarette,” Matt was saying. Kitty only half heard him. Her hands were in her hair, balled into fists, and the rest of the boys were looking at her worriedly.

“He didn't smoke,” Charlie said, his hand on Kitty's arm. She wondered if he knew it was there. Noted usage of past tense. She concentrated on her feet.

“Oh. He gave up?”

“He's never smoked.”

“Course,” Matt said, looking around. They were in the hotel's restaurant for breakfast. Kitty was the only one not eating.

“Was he acting weird at all yesterday?” Charlie asked. She looked him in the eyes and gritted her teeth.

I really want to spend more time with you.

Was that unusual? She didn't reply.

“Did anything out of the ordinary happen yesterday?” he pressed. “Anything that could've made him leave?”

Water dripped off his hair and down her cheek, cold and like a tear.

Kitty screwed her eyes shut and then, embarrassingly, felt herself start to cry. It bubbled up out of her and she couldn't stop it. She was shaking with sobs and she couldn't stop. Charlie tightened his grip on her arm and all of the boys looked at her in terror. She was Kitty… they hadn't ever seen her cry.

“I have to go,” she said, her voice thick and shaking. “I… I have to go.” She stumbled out of her chair and walked quickly out of the door, wiping away her tears with a thumb. It seemed that every time she wiped them away, it was wet again. “What's wrong with me?” she whispered.

“Vee!” She turned around. Rocky was galloping after her, his bushy tail bobbing in the air.

“Hey,” she said, hugging herself so tightly that she thought she might snap in two. He leapt into the air, and she unclenched herself just in time to catch him. He rested his paws on her chest and licked her cheek softly. She sat down, legs unnaturally splayed, and started to cry again, big gasping sobs.

She saw Sandie waddling up to her as well. She stopped, a paw hovering over the ground, sneezed, shook herself and carried on walking, her bell tinkling happily.

“Why would he leave?” Kitty asked the two Eevee. Rocky licked Sandie's ear gently and it flicked up and down distractedly. “I mean, what did I do?”

“You didn't do anything.”

Kitty looked up. Matthew. He sat down next to her. She rubbed her eye and attempted a smile. “You don't know that.”

“I know that you didn't do anything that could make him leave.”

Anger was boiling up inside her now. “How do you know?” She clenched her fist. “You don't know him.”

“I know him better than anyone else here,” Matt said, then added, “apart from you.”

“Because you played some video games with him back home?” It was hard to sound accusing with mascara smudged down your face, but she managed it.

“Look, I know you're mad, but you have to remember that it's not my fault.” He paused to touch the bow on Sandie's ear. “It's also not yours.”

“So what do you think happened?”

“I think he's either been feeling stuff since we got here and it finally got too much for him… or he didn't actually want to leave at all.”

“That's what I've been thinking.” Charlie's voice. He came and sat down, sprawling his legs out in front of him. “I just don't think he would've left like that out of his own will.”

“I keep thinking I'm going to see him coming round the corner with a bottle of milk or something,” Kitty said.

“It's been almost a full day, Kit-“

“I know,” she snapped.

Matthew smiled. “Maybe he just got lost.”

“You can call people on their trainer card things,” Kitty said, picking up a stick and starting to dig around in the dirt with it. “He would have called us.”

“Or if he was feeling particularly computerish, he could have tracked us.”

“So he's gone,” Kitty said. Her voice was unnaturally loud. The wind blew, and the leaves above that gave them shade rustled; the branches shook, and the piercing cry of some kind of bird-type called out.

“Scott's gone,” Charlie said, as if he couldn't quite believe it. There was a long, yawning silence.

“Yeah,” Matthew said, and then everything was quiet.

*

“Tackle it,” Kitty shouted. Rocky; exhausted, bleeding and panting so hard that his breath rattled, galloped over and slammed, once again, his full weight into the tree. His muscles were aching and his ears drooped. A single apple fell and landed nearby. This was his reward. He dragged himself to it and ate it, and Kitty dropped to her knees and watched.

Sandie sat in the shade, her bell ringing slightly when the wind blew, but the noise was absorbed quickly into the forest.

It had been two days since Scott had left her, and she thought that she was dealing with it pretty well. Rocky was far stronger than any of her team-mates' pokemon, and although it hurt him now, he was grateful for the strength.

“Kitty?” It was one of the boys. She sighed to herself. They had decided that she wasn't coping well enough, and had been constantly looking for ways to make her feel better. None of them worked. She didn't answer.

Matt appeared in the clearing that she had been training in. His eyes lingered on Rocky's battered form, but he said nothing, and instead turned to her.

“Kitty, Adam's about to battle Sandie,” he told her.

She looked confused. “The Eevee?”

He looked more confused. “No, the Gym Leader.”

“Oh,” she said. “Tell him good luck.”

“You're coming,” he said. It almost sounded like a question, and bordered on aggressive.

“I don't want to.”

“But you love Gym battles,” he said, throwing his arms out. “You can't let that stupid prick ruin everything for you because he chickened out.”

“Chickened out of what?” Kitty's fingernails were digging into the palms of her hands and she didn't realise.

“Out of this whole thing… out of defeating those pokemon and saving our world from that thing.”

“He's not a coward,” Kitty said. Her eyes were glittering. Matthew looked pained.

“Yes, he is,” he said, “because no matter why he left, he didn't have the courage to tell you in person.”

“Stop,” Kitty said, her eyes pooling up. “Stop talking about him.”

Matt shook his head slowly, his jaw clenching. The next words were quiet, angry.

“He was never good enough for you.”

There was a beat. Even the forest around them stopped moving. There was no noise at all, for just a second. Kitty took a breath.

“Let's just go watch the battle, Matt,” she said, and followed him out of the clearing.

*

The Water Gym was very pretty. It was a shade of blue so light that it gave the whole room the impression of being underwater. The rippling of the pool in the middle reflected on the walls and the ceiling all around. Kitty struggled to remember to breathe.

Two floating platforms at either end were the only things for pokemon to stand on. Anything weak to water would have a huge amount of trouble here.

Adam stood, looking nervous but defiant on one side of the pool. He was clutching a pokeball and staring directly into the other trainer's eyes.

Sandie was beautiful. She had long curly golden hair and wide green eyes. Her pale skin glowed against the electric blue material that was wrapped around her. She looked like a mermaid, which was probably the point. When she spoke, her voice echoed around the hall.

“I came here with nothing,” she was saying. Her voice was deadpan, but musical at the same time. “I wanted to be a fashion designer, but all I had was this.” She held up a blue pokeball and twisted it around in her long pale fingers. “So to raise money for myself, I would challenge people to defeat me.” She smiled. “When I won my thirtieth match in a row, I realised that this was much more fun, and applied to be a Gym Leader instead.”

“Ok,” Adam said uncertainly.

“Do you honestly think you can beat me in my own Gym?” She tilted her head.

“Yeah,” Adam said, but he didn't look at all sure.

“Fine. Show me what you've got.” She threw out one of her pokeballs. “Go on, Horsea!”

“Easy,” Adam said, “Start it off, Oddish!”

The two pokemon appeared on the battlefield: Horsea in the clear blue water and Oddish on the platform.

“Horsea, Water Gun.” Straight in with the attacks.

“Oddish, use Absorb.”

A jet of water splattered on the Oddish and blew it onto its backside. It looked very sad for a moment, but then got up and used Absorb. Horsea just shook it off like it was nothing, and then went for a Bubble. Oddish was shaking now.

“Acid, Oddish.”

A stream of purple goo flew over to Horsea.

“Underwater, quick!” The Horsea dived to the bottom of the pool, and the goo stayed floating like oil on the top.

“Dammit,” Adam hissed. “Sweet Scent.”

“Smokescreen.”

“Acid!”

“Dive down again!”

This time, the Horsea stayed at the top, ignoring its trainer's orders, and was splattered with poison. The scent of the Oddish was too delicious - it couldn't be away from it for too long. This meant that the Smokescreen was useless.

“Ok, Absorb.”

“Water Gun.”

The water hit before Oddish had a chance, and the poor little thing dropped to the floor, and started to roll off. Adam recalled it before it fell into the water.

“Alright, go on, Budew.”

“A Budew!” Sandie laughed. Horsea chirruped, then winced at the poison.

“We'll see who's laughing,” Adam muttered. “Growth.”

The teeny Budew grew a little.

“Aww,” Sandie said. “Focus Energy.”

“Absorb.”

“Water Gun.”

The attacks hit at the same time, which meant that part of what Budew absorbed was water. It didn't do much, but the Horsea looked a little worse for wear, especially when the poison drained away even more of its energy.

“Absorb one more time,” Adam said, noticing the Horsea's pain.

“Bubble it.”

It looked like a critical hit. Budew fainted. Then Horsea flinched and gargled, and fainted too. Kitty winced.

“I'm not worried,” Sandie said. “Go, Goldeen.”

“Me neither,” Adam lied. “Go, Slasher.”

The two pokemon glared at each other.

“Peck!”

“Quick Attack.”

Scyther was impressive. It shot at full speed towards the fish and slammed into it. The Goldeen disappeared under the water for a bit, but then resurfaced, shot out and landed a super-effective Peck. Slasher blocked the attack partially with its scythes.

“Another Peck.”

“False Swipe.”

The Goldeen shot out of the water once again, and this time when it neared, Scyther switched from defensive to offensive, and slashed Goldeen in the stomach. It flopped to the platform floor and thrashed about until it landed back in the water.

“Good job,” Adam said, “Pursuit.” Scyther launched itself towards the fish.

“Supersonic.”

Scyther veered suddenly and crashed into the water. Sandie, Goldeen and Adam all peered into the water to see Scyther writhing about at the bottom: confused and scared.

“Return it or it'll drown,” Sandie said.

“I can't,” Adam said, “it's my last one.”

“You have to.” Sandie said. “It won't just faint if it drowns, it'll…”

Adam growled and returned Slasher. “Fine. I forfeit. You win.” And he walked out. The rest of them followed behind him.

“Hey, don't worry about it,” Fred said. “It was a hard match.”

“And she had the pool.”

“And your pokemon aren't very strong,” Kitty joined in. They all looked at her. “Don't expect me to be very comforting right now,” she said.

“You just need a killer Grass move like Giga Drain or Energy Ball, and you can take them all out.”

“Yeah, Absorb's kind of crappy,” Kitty said. They looked at her again. “It is!”

“Thanks guys, but I think Fred should take it.”

“You sure, man?”

“Yes,” Adam said. “My pokemon just aren't ready yet.”

“Alright,” Fred said.

“It counts as a new challenge, so you can do it right now,” Kitty said. “Instead of waiting a whole day.”

“That's true.” Fred took the Pichu off his head and it `pi'd happily. “You want to battle?”

“Pichu pichu pichu,” it said, doing a little Pichu dance in Fred's hands.

“Fine,” Fred said. “Let's go back in.”

“You have to wait a full day,” Sandie said as they came back in.

“I want to challenge you,” Fred said.

“Oh, ok. Even after you saw what I did to your friend?”

“Yup.”

“He looks scared,” Adam whispered to Kitty. She snorted. Fred looked totally poker-faced, as usual.

“Alright. Go on, Horsea.” The Horsea appeared in the water again.

“Sparky, go,” Fred said. The Pichu leapt on the platform and flexed its teeny Pichu muscles.

“Cute,” Sandie said, which made Sparky a little mad. It bounced about on the platform, trying to look scary and failing. “Bubble.”

“Clever,” Kitty said.

“How?” Charlie asked grumpily. He had been looking distinctly grumpy since they had entered the Gym, shooting comments such as `that's a stupid move to have' or `it's so badly trained'. Kitty decided that he was just jealous and ignored him.

“If she had used Water Gun, any electric attack would've travelled back and shocked it from the inside,” Kitty explained. “I think.”

“Thundershock,” Fred said. It was still the only offensive attack he had on his team. This was bad. It zapped Horsea, though, and it lay frazzled on the surface of the water.

“Hmm,” Sandie said, returning it. Adam frowned. “Go on, Goldeen.”

The Goldeen appeared in the water, just like before.

“Thundershock,” Fred said.

“Dodge and Supersonic,” Sandie said.

“Thundershock,” Fred said again. There wasn't much else he could do. Sparky escaped the Supersonic and shot electricity at the Goldeen again.

“Dodge it.” It didn't. It was consumed with electricity, but it didn't quite faint. “Now dive deep.”

“Idiot,” Kitty muttered.

“Charm,” Fred said.

“Idiot!” Kitty cried.

“Jump out and Horn Attack!”

“Thundershock now.”

“Oh, ok,” Kitty said.

As the Goldeen shot out of the water, a huge splash of water shot out with it. This, the fish pokemon, and the entire pool crackled and steamed with violent electricity, and the Goldeen slowly drifted to the top of the pool, and then was recalled to its ball.

“Your winning streak is over,” Sandie smirked, sending out her third pokemon.

“I don't think so,” Fred said simply.

“We'll see,” Sandie said, and the orange light formed into a solid shape, which smiled widely up at Fred.

“Woopa,” it said.

“Crap,” Fred said.

*

Light trickled in through the trees. The second day without Scott was almost over. Kitty sat on the floor and looked at nothing. The roots of the huge tree in front of her were gnarled and ravaged by time and weather.

“What's the point?” she whispered. Her voice was lost against the rustling of the leaves.

“Aren't you hungry?”

It was Matt again. One minute he hadn't been there, and then he had. Time and relativity were not important to her anymore.

“No,” she said, surprised that she could find her voice.

He took a step forward; leaves crunched behind her.

“Let me get you something to eat.”

“I don't want anything.”

He knelt down and put a hand on her shoulder, though surely he wasn't close enough just a second ago.

“Yeah you do.”

She didn't reply. What did he want her to say?

“How long have you been going out with him?”

She didn't want to think about it. But then again, she really did. Masochistic. “Almost a year.”

“How long have you been in love with him?” Once again the wind filled the silence, throwing her hair into the air and starting a twister with the dead leaves.

“Almost four years.”

“And…” He sat down and looked at her sideways, but she didn't look back. “How long have you known me?”

“My whole life, Matt.”

“Don't you think,” he started to say, but then he stopped and took a deep breath. “Don't you think you could find someone better?”

“I suppose I have to now,” she said dully.

“I got you a present,” he said, after a while. “I had to beat a few trainers to afford it, but I think it'll cheer you up.”

“What is it?” She was only half-listening now. It felt like her heartbeat was slowing down, like in a few minutes it would just stop altogether.

“Take it.”

She felt something cold and heavy rest in her lap and she looked down in alarm.

“Matt, this is an egg,” she said.

“I know.”

“What's in it?”

“You'll have to hatch it and see.”

She traced a finger over the smooth pale pink shell. “Thank you,” she said softly. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, then stood up.

“Want to get something to eat now?”

“Not for me, but I need to feed them,” Kitty said, gesturing to the two Eevee, who had found a sunbeam to lie in together.

“Come on, then,” Matt said, offering a hand to help her up. She stood up by herself and brushed her clothes down.

“Why are you being so nice to me?” Kitty asked him. “There must be some kind of ulterior motive.”

He looked at her weirdly, then looked at his shoes instead. “There's something I've wanted to tell you for a long time,” he said after a while.

“What is it?” Kitty asked, hugging the egg close. “Do you know where Scott went?”

“What? No, it's just…” He looked at her closely. The sadness pooling in her eyes, threatening to spill over the lids. “It's nothing.”

“I'm sorry,” Kitty said suddenly. He frowned at her. “I forgot that… you must be just as upset as I am.”

“Yeah,” Matt said. “Yeah, that's it.” He swallowed. “No, that's not it.”

“No?”

“No. Kitty, he's a prick. He left us.”

“What if he was… taken, or something?”

“Was there any sign of a struggle? He had time to leave you a stupid note, for God's sake. He freaked out and left, and we'll never find out why.” He spat on the floor next to him, and Kitty brought her shoulders up a little closer.

“Ok,” she said. What else was there to say?

He relaxed and let out a breath that he hadn't known he was holding in. “I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you.”

“I'm fine.”

“Ok.”

They walked in silence. The two Eevee stayed equally silent, their ears lowered so that they almost scraped the floor. Empathic creatures that they were, they had sensed that moods were low, and they didn't like it.

*

The restaurant was busy, but the noise was just a meaningless drone; simple to drown out with thought. Though a situation where it was the other way round would be preferable.

“Did you explain to the receptionist?”

“Yeah, she said it was fine if we stayed for a couple more days.” Worried eyes flicked across Kitty, but then she came to life and looked puzzled.

“We're staying here?”

“Um,” Charlie said, “yeah. Don't you want to?”

Her eyes glazed over a little, but her voice was firm, as if it came from somewhere else, and not her. “No.”

“But what if…”

“I don't want to stay here.”

“But he could…”

“We're leaving tomorrow morning,” Kitty snapped, but her voice cracked towards the end and gave her away. There was a pause.

“If you're sure.”

“I am.”

“The Gym?”

“We'll find a different one.”

“Ok, then.”

Then there was a voice, unsure and soft-spoken. Elliot raised his head and cleared his throat. The others looked at him expectantly. “I believe in him,” he said.

“You what?”

“I can't…” He took a deep breath. “I can't believe you're all so willing to believe that he's a bad person, after all this time.” He looked around accusingly, though it didn't really work coming from his wide grey eyes. “You accepted him so readily after Kitty brought him in, but… it was meaningless, wasn't it?”

“What are you talking about?” Kitty asked him.

“Why have you all forgotten Scott? He's only been gone a few days,” Elliot urged, fidgeting under the table. He didn't really like to speak in front of groups. Even his closest friends.

“We haven't forgotten him,” Matthew said. “We just…”

“What if he's in trouble? A dead man can do no wrong, but one who runs will never be redeemed.”

“I never understand what you say, Smelliot,” Matt said simply.

“He's right,” Saxen said softly. His dark eyes scanned the circular table, drawing in every other pair and then releasing them. “Schrödinger's cat.”

“And I understand you even less.”

“To us, Scott is both alive and dead. A traitor and a hero. We don't know what he's done, so he's done everything, and yet nothing. It's a famous paradox, and you really should read more often. Look it up.”

“Shut up.”

“I get it,” Kitty said. “But why are you saying this?”

“Kitty, do you really want to leave? We'll have little to no chance of ever seeing him again if we go.” Elliot paused, wondering if his point was well made enough. “Ever.”

Kitty sat there. Schrödinger's cat. The cat in the box that nobody can see. The cat that could be alive or dead, and so is alive and dead. Both and yet neither at the same time. It seemed like a far too intellectual way to describe what was happening, but that was Saxen for you. All eyes were on her. She had to make the decision. Thunder rumbled in the distance. A storm was coming.

“We're leaving first thing tomorrow,” she said finally. “So pack your stuff up tonight, ok?”

*

The room was as dark as the world outside. Lightning flashed, and the heavens opened. Rain slashed down in sheets and hammered onto the top of the room. Paint was peeling on the walls, curly and neutrally coloured. He ran his fingers along the cobbled wall and felt the pain of the scratches seconds after it had happened. It distracted from the throbbing as he watched the weather ravage the world outside his prison.

Pathetic fallacy, he thought.

His breath came in rags and strained against his ribs in a way he was sure it hadn't before. Manicured fingers trailed up his chest and stroked his cheek, then a tongue; soft and warm and wet, traced its way up the curve of his neck. He gritted his teeth and his jaw muscle twitched. The tongue made its way around the edge, and then the inside, of his ear.

“Tell me,” she whispered.

He ignored her. The thunder and lightning crashed at exactly the same time. They were at the heart of the storm, and her hand was making its way down to his groin.

“There are more important things,” he shouted, jerking uncontrollably.

She laughed; high and tinny, just as thunder growled again overhead. Her face was highlighted by the lightning for just a split second. “You're delirious, baby,” she said. “Is it out of love?”

“They're out there,” he said, “don't get them,” he pleaded, “leave her,” he begged.

She laughed. This time it was low in her throat, and her hands began their journey downwards again.

“We're going to play a game,” she said, “and this time…” She popped open the button of his jeans and licked a clean line on his soft bottom lip. “This time we're going to play by my rules.”

“Indigo,” was all Scott said. “But no violet.” He looked at her with pain in his eyes. “I remember, a black poodle followed me home from school that day.” He put a hand on her face, willing her to see what he saw. “Why didn't she come home that night?”

Thunder crashed again, and lightning slashed a jagged fissure across the sky.

“Shut up,” she giggled. “You're being weird. Have some water… I guess I gave you too much of the stuff.”

“It was just like this.” Scott looked back at the sky. “It was a pathetic fallacy, just like this.” He put his hands on his head and rocked. “She never came home that night.”

“Baby? I want you to say normal things now. I gave you more stuff than I should have.”

“I would never stand on my baby to avoid the pain,” Scott screamed suddenly. She jumped back a little. “Does that make me a bad son?” He stood up carefully, swaying on his feet. His full height was terrifying from the floor, especially for such a small woman. Lightning illuminated his lopsided silhouette. “Mum?” he said.

“I'm not your mother.”

“That's what they all say!” he roared. She skittered backwards a little. “Fuck you. I'm not telling you anything. You're nothing without your pathetic fallacies. You're not scary. You don't even look out for me.” He drew himself, if possible, up so that he was even taller. “Listen to me, for once in your… haha!” He paused to laugh, then his face darkened and thunder rumbled behind him. “I'm not telling you anything.”