Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ The Forgotten Son ❯ Teeter-Totter ( Chapter 4 )

It could be said that the single smile from Woop in one of the little group's toughest moments was all that it took to turn things around for them. The next day a trainer came by who dropped off a handful of pokemon, yielding an excellent salary upon his return at the end of the day. Finally, there was enough money to eat again. Who needed battling, right?

 

Everybody returned from their breakfast the next day chipperly, making their way down the route with a demeanor that would have been confusing to anyone who had seen Luke at all for the last five years or so. He seemed almost genuinely happy for once. Seriously.

 

And so that's how it was, as Luke and his pokemon paraded down South. And yet, they soon bumped into a shady man in a trench coat, his dark demeanor interrupting Luke's march of happiness. Naturally, Luke tried to get through.

 

“Um, excuse me sir, would you let me through?”

 

“In a bit, kid. First, I've got to ask you something- have you ever sucked on a delicious slowpoke tail?”

 

“Sucked on a what?”

 

The man rapidly pulled out from his coat a long pink tail, with a white tip. There was no body attached to the tail.

 

“A slowpoke tail, kid.”

 

“Wha- where did you get that tail? Is that from a pokemon?”

 

“Yup, from slowpoke. Their tail secretes a salty, tasty liquid which attracts shell pokemon to its tail, as well as making a great snack for humans.”

 

“You cut off a poor defenseless pokemon's tail to sell?”

 

“Listen kid, that ain't important, the point is do you want-“

 

“Who ARE you to do something like that?!”

 

The man sighed, shaking his head and looking down. “Kid, that's really not important. Now, do you want- “

 

“I said…” Luke growled, stepping forward, “Who ARE you? Are you working for someone?!”

 

“Kid, if it'll shut you up…”

 

The man reached into his trench coat, pulling it up to reveal a black uniform with a red `R' underneath the coat. “I work for Team Rocket, okay? Now, do you want-”

 

In the middle of that man's sentence, Luke's veil of happiness was torn apart and shattered. Dozens of terrible memories flooded into Luke's mind, and all in an instant he was cast into a pit of despair- and anger.

 

“Woop, use water gun!!” Luke yelled, his voice hoarse, angry and ugly.

 

The little blue pokemon hesitated, but another yell from Luke sounded in its ears; “I said DO IT, Woop!!”

 

Giving a bit of a whimper, the water pokemon opened its mouth, water jetting out and smacking into the man's chest, knocking him over. The action of its attack was rather sudden, surprising the man whom it hit.

 

“Wh- What the hell?” The man cried, crawling backward as Luke stepped forward, his eyes cold and furious as they looked at the man in black.

 

To Luke, that member of Team Rocket represented everything he hated in his life- the mistreatment of pokemon, his cruel and greedy father and his long gone brother. As he looked at him, Luke felt possessed by his own hatred of this man- emitting a bloodthirsty aura which caused the Team Rocket guy to scream loudly and run away, looking back in hopes that he wouldn't be attacked again.

 

Luke blinked and suddenly realized what he was doing. With a light gasp he looked at Woop and the rocket with a sad, apologetic look.

 

What had he just done…?

 

His breathe became slowly and uneasy as he found that he, if only for a moment, forced his commands onto Woop, even though he saw that it didn't want to hurt another person. He used his pokemon for his own selfish wants, something which Team Rocket did… something which his father did…

 

…His father! Luke's eyes widened as he remembered that his father was one of the closest followers of Giovanni when he last heard of his father, when he was ten. If Team Rocket was coming back, then Luke was almost certain that his father had come back with them…

 

And then, Luke suddenly felt an undying need to know where his father was. He couldn't what exactly was driving him, whether it was out of hatred or fear, but whatever it was he had to know.

 

“Follow me!” He called to his pokemon, before rocketing forward after the shady man in the trench coat. His pokemon, bewildered by his mood swings and bizarre last few exchanges, were too lost in confusion to even give a thought to anything other than the command just given to them; thus, they all almost mindlessly ran forward, alongside Luke.

 

The rocket man, still running, turned for the last time to make sure that the kid was out of sight- but to his horror, he was being chased. With a loud yell of terror, he quickened his pace, doing everything in his power to escape that demonic, angsty, murderous teenager kid.

 

Mom was right; he should have taken the stupid job at the ice cream parlor…

 

* * *

 

The rocket man led Luke all the way down south, all the way to a dark, almost foreboding cave at the far south end of the route. By now the trench coat man was almost certain Luke had given up, but to his horror, Luke was still after him, his eyes determined.

 

Left with no choice, the trench coat man leapt into the cave.

 

Luke soon arrived, panting and wheezing at the cave entrance.

 

“Dang… he got away…”

 

Luke turned around and plopped onto the ground, his back against the cave wall.

 

“I guess I'll never know if my dad is back, and where he is… It'd upsetting, but…”

 

He turned to face his pokemon, expecting an approving set of looks at his decision to discontinue the chase.

 

Instead, he was met with a set of sullen looks.

 

“-W-what's wrong, guys?!”

 

Luke's previously smooth and assertive tone was now plagued with uncertainty and anxiety; he, as always had an undying will to keep his pokemon pleased, especially after the recent upset.

 

Kenshin stepped up, and began making the odd sounds native to only a treecko, in an attempt to communicate. It made gestures with its hands and arms, as it continued through the odd collection of sounds. When it eventually finished, Luke's other pokemon gave it an approving nod, showing they agreed.

 

Unfortunately, Luke had no idea what in hell his little green lizard pokemon was trying to communicate. However, from the simple tone of voice Luke couldn't help but feel that Kenshin and the others wanted to see him pursue his wants, and that by doing so he'd be taking steps toward self-improvement.

 

He also couldn't help but feel that Kenshin looked at him with feelings of Luke being a weak and defenseless person who couldn't stand up for anything. The very thought that he was looked down upon by his pokemon like this was- well, it was quite insulting.

 

“Are you saying- you want me to go?” he said, standing up.

 

They all nodded in agreement. Luke took a step back, then whirled around to face the cave entrance. He sighed. Now that he actually had to go through with it, he was a little nervous to do it. For the last five years he had been living away from adventure and conflict- but now that he began battling, it seemed these conflicts had been forced upon him.

 

But then his drive re-sparked; he remembered why he was chasing this man before, and suddenly the question was back in his mind; where was his father now? The question seemed almost to take shape in Luke, screaming the question and craving to receive an answer.

 

He. Had. To. Know.

 

And he dashed forward again, zooming through the cave entrance and into the damp, rocky floor of the cavern. The inside was dimly lit and had many, many loose rocks here and there which served to obstruct Luke's advancement in every way, but he was able to find his way through fairly well and actually came out the other end faster than the man he was pursuing had been able to, almost catching up to him.

 

As he finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel, Luke slid out of the cave to come into the light of dusk. The sun was starting to set low, peeking above the trees and shedding some light into the field. Luke looked around wildly, fearing that he had lost the man in black- but thanks to some luck he caught the man dashing towards a large well, climbing onto the side and leaping into it. As the man left his view, Luke suddenly re-lost his drive, the energy fading from him body.

 

Luke stood silently in place, giving sigh of weakness and regret- he regretted traveling so far from home, he suddenly regretted coming so far to find out where his father was- he regretted ever battling, because he almost sure that if he had never introduced himself to the idea of his pokemon causing harm, he never would have acted so violently and he never would have come this far.

 

His mind was now like a teeter-totter, sliding back and forth between two distinct sides, maybe even personalities of Luke. His contact with the people of his nightmares and his introduction to the world of pokemon battling had begun to awaken the part of him that had come from his father, the part of him that at all costs Luke never wanted to be, or ever meet. This was the part of him he had locked away within himself five years ago, but recently it had been finding a way out, a way back into Luke's mind, where it belonged.

 

His eyes flared with the fire of determination again very suddenly, and he marched forward, his expression stern and serious. He had shifted back into his other persona, gaining the drive he needed to make those brave steps forward and on top of the well.

 

With a deep breathe he stepped off the edge of the well and dropped down into the seemingly endless darkness…