TYRE! SHIT IS GOING DOWN IN MASTAM! POWER IS FAILING ALL OVER THE CITY! I GOTTA GET DOWN TO THE POKEMON CENTER BEFORE ALL THE POKEMON ON LIFE-SUPPORT DIE!
Chinchou, now's your time to shine!
Shine bright, my moist little friend! We have lives to save! Hop up into my arm!
We need to be quick, Chinchou! The more time we waste, the greater the peril!
FEAR NOT, PEOPLE OF KAHU! I BRING ELECTRICITY--!
I...I see now that you have a back-up generator operating.
Well...I can still help!
Kevin. the PC is on the fritz because of the power? Plug it into my fish!
Chinchou, keep the current flowing. The power keeps flicking in and out.
ARTURO: What's going on with the lights?
TOM: It's fucking Mastam--!
JESS: Great, my phone's got no signal!
TOM: It's fucking MASTAM!
ARTURO: Why are you yelling?!
TOM: It's not just here in the center! The entire town is fluxing in power. Mastam's been hit. We're at DEFCON 4 people! We need to get out there!
JESS: Well, I don't want to split up. Not with the phones out.
ARTURO: We're going to need water and goggles--
TOM: I've got a Lapras!
JESS: Then we need leave. Now.
TOM: Uhh...it's 10:00 PM. I think Tyre said something about Crobat coming out at night in the desert. I know I said we need to get out there...but this sounds more like a tomorrow problem--Kevin, are you still using the computer?
TOM: But it's plugged into my fish...wait...did you hit the power button?
KEVIN: Ah. There we go.
TYRE: Is everyone alright in here?!
TOM: Tyre!
ARTURO: Listen Tyre, we need outdoors supplies...maybe a transport, like a boat or--
TOM: I got a Lapras!
ARTURO: We know! Stop yelling about the damn Lapras!
TOM: He's useful!
ARTURO: In the desert?! HOW?
TOM: Look! We can get a bunch of Pokemon who know Dig and...you know...surf on the sand?
TYRE: Are you folks heading out to the Bed of Jirachi?
TOM: We are not going ruin-hunting in the middle of a power crisis! Another gym leader is probably in danger!
TOM: Yeah, like the--wait, the what?
JESS: The...the Zapdos? The one that was living in the Kanto Power Plant after it got shut down?
TOM: ...the--?
JESS: Hold on. You...nobody told you?
TOM: ...no? They were just calling folks up, dismissing people because of a dangerous anomaly--are you telling me that...that was all because of a single Pokemon?!
JESS: Why didn't anyone tell you it was because of a Pokemon?
TOM: I don't know! Maybe they thought if the workers knew it was just a Pokemon, they might try to get it under control. I mean, if this thing is dangerous--
JESS: "Dangerous"?! Yes, it's dangerous! I'm surprised they didn't have the gym leader deal with it!
TOM: Misty has no jurisdiction over the outlying routes of Cerulean City. Besides, she's a Water-type trainer; if she had any sense in her head, she knew to stay clear of the Power Plant.
TOM: Jess. You tell me absolutely everything you know about this Zapdos incident.
JESS: I still don't understand how you didn't hear about it! It was all over the news...
TOM: When I lost my job, we sold the television to give ourselves a little bit of a cushion for when the bills started coming in. All we had was the phone, but nobody was calling me about any Zapdos--wait! I know where I've heard that name before!
TOM: When I saw Lindsay last, she had an egg with her, and I checked my Pokedex to see what it might be inside the egg. That's where I saw Zapdos!
TOM: Here it is! "Zapdos: the Thunderbird Pokemon. The only one in existence, it is legendary for...destroying the Power Plant in Kanto"?!
JESS: See? It's even in the Pokedex!
TOM: Jess, I've never even held a Pokedex until this week. Even when I was training Elekid, all I had was his Great Ball with me.
JESS: Tom, I...I don't know what to say--
TOM: After they shut down the plant, I lost my main source of income. I was working in the stock room of the Poke-Mart for pittance and was riding around as a bike messenger on my off hours. I was running myself ragged while my wife was home with our infant son. I barely ever saw them and we lived in the same house. She was still getting maternity pay from the Cerulean Cable Club where she worked coordinating trainer battles, but the debt just kept growing and growing. Then, one day, she left. She just left; she didn't say where she was going or what she was going to do...but I don't think she wanted me to know. I didn't get a chance to defend myself or even say goodbye; she just left a note saying she needed to start over, that she was tired of waiting for me to "get my shit together", and that she was taking our son with her.
JESS: Tom--
TOM: If this thing is in Cythos, if we find Zapdos...it's mine. Okay?
JESS: Tom, we--
TOM: This thing stole my life from me, and I'm going the one who's going to bring it down--
JESS: We have no idea if Zapdos is here! We're out of contact with the other regions.
TOM: I...I just need a moment. Nurse Joy, please heal my Elekid.
JESS: Okay. I've got your back, Tom. I'm sorry I brought all that up. I didn't know--
TOM: It's fine.
In case the Pokemon Center needs any Pokemon-power to supplement the generators, I better get Joltik, Jolteon, Pachirisu, and Emolga out from the PC. If anyone needs me or my Pokemon, I'll be in bed. I don't know if I'll be asleep...but that's where I'll be.
All these years...it was a Pokemon. One Pokemon.
How many other lives has this thing destroyed?
How many families has it torn apart?
...how many people have died because of this...this "legendary" bird?
One thing is clear now: I need to find this Zapdos. If it takes me to the ends of the earth, I will hunt it down. I will find it, I will fight it, and I am going to catch it. I swear by all that is holy, if it takes until my very last breath, I vow to take far more than its life...
...I will take its freedom.
No comments:
Post a Comment