Chapitre 19: Chapter Sixteen: Silver and Masaru’s eyes
I look over at Masaru as Jun commands Aerodactyl to use Rock Slide. His eyes widen and I steady the shock in my heart.
"Shit!" Masaru exclaims, pulling Walrein back into his Pokéball while I retract Gengar quickly.
"What are you doing, Jun?" I shout as the room begins to shake apart around us. "Fuck, what is she doing?" I'm pissed but there's nothing I can do besides duck for cover under the doorframe.
"Jun, please stop!" Masaru shouts uselessly while I drag him with me. His arms flailing like a rag doll in what would have been a comical fashion under different circumstances.
"We've got to take cover!" I yell. "We can't make it to her with these stones raining down on us!" Crashing bits of rubble shower down, onto our heads.
"She's going to kill us! What's going on?" Masaru howls.
Annoyed I draw in a calming breath and survey the situation. Aerodactyl has released one helluva Rock Slide in a confined area. A bold and stupid fucking move.
"Jun! Jun you have to listen to me!" I can't even see what's going on amidst the pouring debris.
I summon Weavile and he starts hacking at the rocks, trying to break them up so we can get through the doorway.
I hear Jun yelling, I can't hear what she's saying. It's scaring me. I don't want to lose her. I don't know what's happening.
Masaru calls out Houndoom, who begins blasting the rocks with fire while Weavile pounds away. Finally I can half see the scene playing out in front of me.
"Shit," I mutter while Masaru pushes against me nervously trying to see what I'm looking at.
"Oh holy fucking shit…" he trails off and we look at each other briefly.
Jun was beating the shit out of Giovanna while Aerodactyl snarls and snaps it's massive jaws.
"Jun! Can you hear me? Please!" I'm frantic while Weavile and Houndoom attempt to clear the path for us.
"Do you hear that?" Masaru's voice is filled with panic and I freeze, listening.
"Grrrunnn," it sounds so familiar….
"Shit! Jun move! Get out of there!" Masaru is screaming, his voice cracking with fear.
My eyes fall on what's causing the rise in him and I feel my blood turn to ice. A Charizard is staggering towards Jun and her captives. Flames licking from its mouth as it grunts and shifts its ragged wings.
"How do you not see that? Get the fuck out of there!" I look over at Masaru desperately.
"Houndoom use Dark Pulse!" Masaru cries, his voice trembling as he watches the move launch and not make the distance. "She's too far! They're too far!" He's yelling.
I'm panting, tears forming in my eyes as I watch helplessly. I call out Gyarados and demand for him to use Crunch as soon as he's materialized. I command him to use it over and over again.
Rocks break away finally and I'm tripping and racing towards her.
It's too late. I watch as Charizard's tail collides with Jun's delicate body, sending her sprawling across the room.
A wet thump follows up the strike and I watch, mortified as her head bounces off the floor.
I hear Masaru gasp and my mouth goes dry as her crumpled body lays unmoving. "Aerodactyl is losing it's shit! Watch out!" He yelps.
"Fuck," I choke. Jun is standing now, mangled hand clasping her rib cage while she staggers in a dizzy circle. Blood drips from an open wound on her head and I feel my hands go numb.
She's coughing, wiping blood from her half-open lips, eyes blinking rapidly. She staggers again and begins to tip backwards.
I catch her before she hits the ground, her lips are trembling as she tries to focus on my face. Her mangled hand raising up and groping at nothing.
Masaru is behind me commanding Aerodactyl, Houndoom, Gyarados and Weavile to attack Charizard. Overkill at it's finest.
Cleyera crouches over an unconscious Giovanni screaming for him to get up.
I hold what appears to be my dying sister.
"Get down here now!" I'm not sure if Masaru is screaming this at me or someone else. "Hurry the fuck up! I don't care!" He's yelling.
Charizard has fallen. Aerodactyl rushes to our side and bows down, mouth quivering as it looks upon Jun.
A small shrieking whimper escapes his mouth and he looks around desperately.
Masaru is yelling again. This time I think it must be at Giovanni and Cleyera. "Stay on the fucking ground or I swear I'll fucking kill you."
Cleyera's evil cackle follows that statement and I hear him command Houndoom to use Smog. A high pitched humanoid shriek follows his command and silence falls upon the room.
I'm quivering as I try to staunch the flow of blood from Jun's head. Her eyes flutter open and shut and I beg her to keep them open.
Her black hair is matted with blood, pale face growing even paler. A faint stream of red dribbles from her mouth, staining my hands.
"Help me!" I find myself yelling out. "Someone please fucking help…" I'm crying now, face pressed into my sister's limp body.
"Out of the way!" A woman's voice commands.
I look up and see Mira standing next to me, one of the rebels.
"Come out and hurry!" She tosses up three Pokéballs and reveals Audino, Chansey and Wigglytuff. "Heal her now!" Mira seems terrified, eyes dancing with fear.
"Please, Mira…." Masaru is dragging me away to give Mira space to work.
"Silver I hear sirens! Jun needs a hospital. I don't know what to do!" Masaru is trying to snap me back to reality, it's not working.
So many emotions are washing over me that I'm drowning, unsure of which one to move into the forefront.
"If you hear sirens, ambulances will also be coming," clearing my head I meet Masaru's gaze steadily. "I'm too afraid to move Jun, I think she's bleeding internally." I glance over at the pulsing pink aura surrounding Jun and Mira.
"Someone needs to flag the medics to come down here," I'm looking over at where Houndoom is keeping Giovanni and Cleyera pinned to the floor. Giovanni has sat up and is surveying the situation.
"Don't worry I'll stay with her. I'll stay with her and I'll call you, everything is going to be fine." Masaru clasps my hand in one of his and pulls me close. An old fire burns in his eyes and I smile.
"I trust you." I know that if the police see me I'll be immediately arrested, which won't help anyone. I had done a lot of things I wasn't proud of in my younger years for Giovanni.
The law doesn't forget.
I cast one more painful glance at Jun's limp form before I run full force towards the large image of Giovanni. Squeezing myself back into the tight tunnel I pull the picture loosely to cover the escape.
I watch as Silver dashes out of the deteriorating room with a wrenched heart. Steadying my breath I yell at Mira that I'll be back and dash towards the ruined door.
Once inside the basement I'm greeted with scorched walls, some splattered with blood. Doors hang open on cells.
Ignoring the rest of what's around me I make my way up the large staircase. Almost losing my footing in a puddle of sticky blood.
Once in the main area I survey the room and see that none of the rebels remain. Any Grunts who opposed us who were left lay collapsed on the ground.
Burned hair and flesh enters my nose and I gag as I step over a scorched Team Rocket body.
Red and blue lights pulse outside and I stagger through the rubbish to make my way to the main door.
At last I feel the handle under my palm and wrench the door open, cool early morning air washing over me.
"Put your hands up!" Officer Jenny screams, aiming a gun at my face with Arcanine bristling beside her.
I look down at what I'm wearing and silently curse myself. The Team Rocket Uniform….
"Please! Please help! We need a medic inside I have a friend, she's dying! She's in the basement. I'm part of the rebel army who took this building down!" I put my hands above my head and fall to my knees.
Officer Jenny is silent, I don't look up to see what she's doing. I just pray she doesn't shoot me.
I hear a walkie talkie crackle and then her voice saying, "I need a medic evac team to the basement quickly."
Relief floods me and I press my forehead against the ground in a deep bow of respect. "Thank you," I whisper almost inaudibly.
An hour later and I'm sitting in a hospital lobby tapping my finger against a small glass table. Magazines, some of them older than me, sit unopened under a dusty lamp.
I pull out my phone and send Silver a quick text, asking him where he's at and informing him of my location.
I put the phone back in my pocket and wipe my filthy hands against filthier clothes. An old, well dressed woman is glaring at me from across the room. An indignant Furfrou sitting with it's nose in the air next to her.
It stinks in here. Like bitter sanitizing spray and death.
My phone buzzes and I'm relieved when Silver responds that he's at the Inn in Pewter. He's also demanding to know about Jun.
I'm not sure how to respond. Nobody had come out to talk to me since we arrived here around forty minutes ago.
Quickly I type back that they're looking her over and I'll let him know when I see what's up. Satisfied I put my phone away again.
I feel guilty that I'm here instead of Silver but with hospital security he really couldn't risk it…
Four more grueling hours go by and the wait is literally killing me. My fingers are killing me from the tapping and I want to give Silver an update.
I tap my finger harder and more quickly on the table. A nervous habit I've never been unable to kick.
Groaning I stand up and begin to pace around the room, eliciting poisonous glares from the nicely dressed woman.
I pace towards the front counter where a friendly looking woman stands. I approach and give her a sheepish wave.
"Can I help you, sir?" She trills.
"Yes. I just, my friend is back there. I don't know if she's alright. After we got here, well I've just been waiting…" I glance down at my hands nervously.
"You want me to check her status?" Her voice is almost robotic.
"Yes that would be great. She's admitted under the name Jun, I didn't know her last name." I begin tapping my finger on the counter, which the woman raises an eyebrow at.
"Be right back," she offers before turning on her heel and walking through a swinging door.
Impatiently I wait there, threatening to tap a hole straight through the counter. I smell like dust and blood, for once I really really want a shower.
"Sir?" A different woman approaches the counter from the swinging door.
"I've been helped already ma'am," I crane my neck at the swinging door.
"Yes, I know. I think you should come with me, sir." I feel my veins turn to ice and feel my brain start to buzz. Wordlessly I follow the woman through a different set of doors and down a long hallway.
I can hear faint beeping in other rooms, a few muffled conversations and somewhere someone weeping. I feel the hair on my arms raise up and push forwards behind the nurse quietly.
Stopping outside of a door she turns abruptly to face me. "What's your relation to the patient?" She clicks open a pen while I hesitate.
"Cousins, she's my first cousin." The woman eyes me suspiciously before scratching something on her clipboard.
"Be aware that when you first see her it might be a shock to you. Honestly I'm not sure how she's still alive." As the woman talks it feels like my ears have filled with something. Her voice sounds so far away…
"Sir?" She's glaring at me over her half-moon glasses. "Did you hear what I said?"
"Uh?" I stammer.
"She's in a medically induced coma, she won't be able to talk to you." I feel faint and quickly sit down in a chair positioned outside the room.
"With modern medicine mixed with the help of Pokémon, her physical injuries will heal somewhat quickly." Sympathetically the woman pats my arm and forces a smile.
"How long will she be in a coma for?" I manage to wheeze out.
The woman flips through a bunch of pages, eyes scanning quickly before she answers. "Looks like it's gonna be about three days."
I pull out my phone and stare blankly at the screen, not knowing how to tell Silver. I'll call him, after I look in on Jun.
Trembling, I open the door and can only hear the faint beeping of machines. I take a deep breath and walk across the room towards the bed where Jun lays. I find the courage to look down at her and feel myself grow dizzy when I do.
Tubes and small electric stickers are placed everywhere. The right side of her face is bruised to the point where she doesn't look like herself. Both of her wrists and hands are in casts and there's a bald spot where they had to stitch her skull.
I sink to my knees, laying my head on her bed I start to sob. Beep beep. Beep beep. This is the sound of her breath now, as the machines whir and keep her attached to this earth.
"I'm so fucking sorry," I whisper with my face buried in the thin hospital blanket.
I sit like this for awhile before I straighten back up, surveying the table next to her bed. Her Pokéball belt was laying there.
I stand up and finger each ball until I find the one I believe Aerodactyl to be in. Clicking the button, a red beam of light blasts out and reveals the great beast.
I stroke his powerful neck and he allows me to press my face into him for comfort. Letting out a grumbling whimper he lays on the floor beside her bed.
I exit the room and head into a small nook a little ways down the hall. From there I unlock my phone and make the dreaded call to Silver.
He instantly answers.
He's devastated and also pleads with me to stay at the hospital tonight. I oblige. We hang up shortly after for his privacy while he processes the information.
It's already going on midnight and I let out a yawn, stopping to look at myself in a hallway mirror.
I look like shit. Dark circles have formed under my eyes, my cheeks are covered in scrapes and my constantly unmanageable hair is full of blood and dust.
On my way back by the counter I ask the woman there if there's somewhere I can shower in the hospital.
"Yes. There's a map right out of the lobby and to the left. There's also guest sleeping down around the same area." She punches a hole onto a card that's labeled G54.
"What's this?" I ask, confused.
"Oh that's for your guest sleeping and to access the showers!" Smiling she waves me away, towards the map.
I squint at it and groan when I see it's across the hospital and on the eighth and final floor. Jun's room is on the floor level.
I enter the elevator and punch eighth floor into the panel. My stomach lurches as it starts off, I fucking hate elevators.
Eight floors is quite a ways up to go and my knuckles are white from clenching the elevator bar. Jolting to a stop, the doors screech open and I hurry out.
Fuck.
Now i trek down the hallway towards the large shower area. I push my card into the matching shower stall and step under the blast of hot water.
My body melts and I bury my face in my hands while I douse. Scrubbing my skin hard enough to leave it red and almost raw.
I just want to fucking scream. Giovanni and Cleyera are in custody right now and Jun is….
I feel like we failed. Silver had to bail and Jun wasn't supposed to get hurt, especially not this bad.
She had made some stupid, anger driven decisions but didn't deserve this. I bang my closed fist against the wall of the shower and shut it off.
I stumble down the hall and look until I find G54. Clumsily I insert the card into the tiny reader and a small door pops open. Inside is a small bed with a toilet and sink. Nothing else aside from a clock nailed to the wall.
I'd slept in worse.
Three more days drag by. I don't leave the hospital and spend a lot of time in Jun's room. Silver video calls on the second day, even though I told him he shouldn't.
Endless hours spent tapping and pacing in her room.
I talked out loud at first. That made me feel crazy. So instead I read out loud.
Professor Oak's book of Pokémon Poetry. Embarrassing, but a childhood favorite that I'd never let go of. My copy was worn from being opened countless times.
At last the third day arrives, I rub between by eyes as I'm back in the lobby. Waiting again as doctors work over her.
I've notified Silver, he's chomping at the bit I'm sure. I'm not able to determine when they'll release Jun.
Silver was still staying at the Inn, too tormented to go back to Lavender Town.
"Masaru?" A nurse comes out and I swallow hard before I stand up. "Come back with me," she beckons with an airy hand.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone