Chapitre 9: Chapter Six: Oranguru’s Place
I trudge towards the Ferry docks, my body sore from riding the Tauros yesterday. This was a fabulous trip, I'm glad I came here for Grubbin.
I walk onto the Ferry and am instantly met by a spray of warm, salty air. I settle myself onto a bench and close my eyes, letting the sun melt over my skin.
My team is complete, with two Pokémon needing heavily trained. They need to evolve. When I go to challenge Giovanni I'm not holding anything back. My eyes darken for a moment, scuffing the deck with my shoe sullenly.
What if I can't beat him though? I would be imprisoned again, this time with zero hope of escape. I think about just living life as I am now and shake the idea away. I want to be free to live my life. I can't do that if I'm wanted by Team Rocket. I need to clear my name to open a path to my future.
Eventually the Ferry docks and I offload myself; I plan on training with Goomy and Grubbin as soon as I arrive at the hut.
I decide to take a different path this time, I need to familiarize myself with each way to get back to the hut. I slip into the jungle, following a winding rock path.
The humidity feels like it might break at any moment, I trudge forwards, through the undergrowth. This certainly is a path less traveled, it almost seems like a Pokémon foot path.
A rumble vibrates over the trees and I curse under my breath, rain is coming. Hurrying I jump over a log and try to catch my bearings. This part of the jungle seems unfamiliar and I no longer have a path underfoot.
"What the fuck!" I mutter, "I guess I'll just head back up and take the usual path."
I start off through the thick trees, shoving vines and bushes aside. I make my way up a hillside and suddenly feel the ground underneath give way.
A moment of plunging terror as I slip and slide down the face of the hill, snagging on rocks and stumps the whole way down. I hit the bottom with a thud and stand, dizzy and sore. Looking up at where I had fallen from I realized there was no way back up, without a lot of grueling work.
"You've got to be kidding me," I say and as if on cue rain breaks from the sky and begins pelting through my clothes. It's a cold rain too! "Gah!" I snarl, rushing to find cover.
Ducking underneath a Pinap tree, I curse myself for being so stupid. The tree barely provides any cover, I'm soaked and getting even more so.
"Guru?" A white, furry face peers out at me through the drumming rain.
"Hi," I wave weakly at the Pokémon. "I'm sorry if I disturbed you, I just…"
"Guguru," an Oranguru! I realize as it steps out further into the pounding rain. "Guuruuu," now waving its hand in a beckon.
"You're asking me to come with you?" Was this normal? I hadn't had a lot of wild Pokémon encounters. I was well versed on Pokémon knowledge but lacked field experience.
"Ruuu!" He wiggles his giant purple body in agreement.
"Oh, okay…" I stammer, skeptical that this was an average encounter.
Through the dense undergrowth we trudge, rain was freezing me to my bones at this point. I needed to find shelter. Why would I follow this Pokémon? It probably doesn't even care about getting soaked.
In front of me through the whirring droplets I spot a round tree hut. A flickering light glows from within the doorway and I hear something reminiscent of laughter. A chill goes down my spine and suddenly I feel very stupid for having trusted this Pokémon and getting myself more lost.
"Nice hut, I'll be going now!" I turn swiftly on my heel and try to walk away.
"Ruuuguru," a massive hand clasps my shoulder and spins me around. Reflex makes me reach for a Pokéball; Oranguru grabs my wrist, lurching my body forwards.
"What the…. Oh fuck no!" I shriek as I'm tossed over the beast's shoulder, memories of Charizard and my encounter plagued me. I kicked my legs, trying desperately to reach any of my Pokémon. "Please!" I cry.
With that Oranguru releases me and I slip to the hard ground of the hut in terror.
"Free! Breefree!" I blink up at a giant pink pair of compound eyes. "Breeefree!" Tiny particles of dust sway down, sticking to my wet skin. A Butterfree! I'd never seen one in person before. Giovanni deemed them "weak and unworthy." I admire it in awe.
"Guru?" I had forgotten my fear from moments before and remembered where I was.
I gaze around the interior of the hut in shock, I don't think humans live here. The walls are decorated with paw prints of Pokémon, vines and less than five human handprints.
What appears to be a bar sprawls in the corner, behind it stands Oranguru. It's holding a ragged piece of cloth, which it offers to me. I take it gratefully and dry myself as best I can with it.
Oranguru motions for me to sit in front of the bar, where a crude bench made from a tree trunk was. I lower myself carefully down and look up at the hulking creature. It's back is turned to me now as it busies itself. At least I'm out of the rain now, though a chill still ached through me.
Turning around with half of a coconut in its hand Oranguru offered me the contents. Hesitantly I look down at the steaming concoction, it smells sweet and of Kanto. I blow into it and take a sip, spicy citrus delights my tastebuds and I drink greedily now.
Oranguru watches me silently during this time, it's brow furrowed into a hard line.
As I look down into my cup I realize something is dripping into it, I guess I can't expect a perfect roof to be topping a Pokémon's house. That's when I realize the dripping is coming from me, they're my tears.
Why am I crying? I gasp and look up to see Oranguru, it's face almost touching mine. It also has tears in it's eyes.
"It's funny," I say. "For some reason I just want to tell you everything."
"Guru," a large finger brushes away a trickling tear.
"When I first arrived at the Team Rocket base i was 5 years old. A lot of my memories are hazy from then; I do remember being in despair when I realized my bedroom was a dungeon." Taking a long swig from the cup I look out into the storm.
"Guru," a comforting pat.
"The next five years of my life were spent endlessly battling. From the time I woke up until I went to sleep, my Pokémon and myself pushed to our limits." I broke into more tears.
"At ten years old, when other kids just begin their journey I was essentially a monster. I never tasted fresh air, never got to play, all I did was battle and learn about Pokémon."
Another drink of the steaming liquid, "I'm sorry I shouldn't bother you like this."
"Guru ru," Oranguru motions around itself, then to me, finally to itself. "Ru guru ru," it clasps its fur speckled hand over mine, then gently places it over it's heart.
My eyes well up and I sob harder than I have in a very long time. My chest feels like it's splintering and my sides start to heave. "Fuck!" I yell, startling some of the Pokémon huddling away from the torrent. "I'm sorry," I sniff. I hate feeling vulnerable like this, even if I'm just in the company of Pokémon.
"Years 10-13 Giovanni began to train my body to outlast physical burdens. He would have Grunts tie me to chairs for days on end without food. If I didn't win by enough when I battled, I would be lashed." At this I stood up and revealed massive scars down my legs, hidden by leggings.
"Guru orang!" This time anger clouded the Pokémon's face as it took in the deep scars. It looked away, thoughtful, a shadow casted over it's mouth.
"One day while I was being lashed my mind broke, my body had done so long ago. Why was this okay? Why would this make me want to join or inherit Team Rocket? This place was fucking awful. My dad was a tyrant."
"Bree free," Butterfly floated over and landed on my hat, clutching the brim to stay balanced. Rubbing me affectionately with it's stumpy arms.
"The day that I escaped from him, from them all, was a really terrible day. Giovanni had taken me to the Viridian Gym, my first time out of the Team Rocket base in almost 13 years." Queasiness crept over me and I pushed the liquid away from myself.
"I was almost excited to go, to see where trainers put their hearts on the line and battle for a badge. We arrived in the gym and Giovanni asked me to face off towards him, I obliged." Without thinking I open up a Pokéball and release Arrow for extra comfort.
"Arrow is my top partner. I found the Old Amber on a trip with mom. He was my first Pokémon. My oldest friend." Arrow sighed, stretching his mighty wings out and laying down on the floor. Oranguru serves him a steaming bowl and he drinks deeply.
"I thought we were going to have a Pokémon battle, finally I could show him what I was made of! But instead he released a Charizard, which he had recently obtained through illegitimate means." My chest seizes up and I put my hand against it, taking a deep breath.
'What do you think of the Team Rocket legacy?' Giovani shouted at me, He grinned evilly through the licking flames that spewed from Charizard's open mouth.
'Fuck you, and your legacy!' Suddenly I was filled with an unusual amount of courage. I could feel it coursing through me and a voice in my head whispered, 'escape.' I frantically looked around the Gym, a single way in and out." My face was growing hot and I wipe it with the tattered bit of cloth Oranguru had given me earlier.
"So quickly, it was like a dream Charizard was upon me, I could feel the immense heat that radiated from it's body. Like lighting it struck out with its long muscular tail, knocking me off my feet. It came down with it's tail again and again, sending ripples through the Gym.
Charizard pressed down on my chest; the pressure increased and I felt one of my ribs crack. This was it, I was going to die here.
'Enough,' Giovanni commanded.
Charizard released me from the crush of it's intense weight.
'Do you still refuse to take your rightful place as a member of Team Rocket?'
'I will never fucking join you!' I remember saying." I'm met by silence, "that's when I made my escape to Alola."
Oranguru moves from around the bar and opens its wide fuzzy arms, embracing me in a hug. "Guru ruru," it says and points outside.
The rain has stopped, leaving the jungle steaming and dripping in its wake. Oranguru points straight out in front of us, revealing the roof to my hut. From the height of the tree I could see much further now.
"Thank you so much," I say, turning to the Oranguru. "Maybe next time you can visit me." I retract Arrow and climb down the ladder, into the misty jungle.
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
Shatterstream
Shatterstream Sorry this took so long! Between work and trying to make the chapters longer it’s taking me more time than I envisioned to finish chapters!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone