Chapter 30: Resurrection
Paul
What if I was wrong? What if this was a trick? What if I was getting my hopes up? I kept asking myself as I ran, pushing past low hanging tree limbs, almost tripping on roots. I kept being optimistic just to be let down. What if I was wrong?
I stopped suddenly, remembering the last time I'd let head games get to me.
Ecruteak. It better not be another waste of time. The first three gyms in this region were pathetic. I thought to myself as I walked north. I would make it to Ecruteak City in about an hour and head to the gym, which I'd researched thoroughly. Ghost types. Not the easiest type to handle for beginners.
But I wasn't a beginner.
It was still early in the morning. I'd made good time, not that I had anything to slow me down. Traveling alone was the easiest way to travel. I didn't see how people could form groups and go together. It wasn't even worth having people to crush in training battles prior to gym matches like this one.
I rolled my eyes and continued forward along Route thirty-seven. A disturbance in the bushes to my left caught my attention. I stopped walking and looked at the rustling leaves, wondering what kind of Pokemon it might be, guessing it'd be a Bug type. That's all there ever seemed to be in Johto around this area and I was tired of it.
The bushes continued moving and it sounded bigger than the normal Bug type. Possibly a Scyther. Possibly worth catching.
I took out Grotle's Poke Ball, ready for battle.
A figure emerged from the foliage. I stopped breathing. I couldn't move.
I don't know how much time passed before I was able to speak, almost not daring to, "Uncle Ben?"
My uncle smiled at me before turning around, strolling casually through the trees. He seemed to slip through them with ease.
"Wait- come back!" I yelled urgently. He was dead. I was told he'd died. I'd watched him being lowered into the ground- or did I? Was it just an empty casket? Had I been lied to? "Uncle Ben!"
I ran after him as fast I could. My eyes widened as I searched for him frantically, trying to find him, "Uncle Ben!"
I hear footsteps to my left. My head bolted up as I rushed to the spot where I'd heard the noise. I caught a glimpse of his hand, the hand I'd seen holding pencils so many times. A hand that had held me. A hand that made sure I never fell.
The hand disappeared behind more foliage.
"Why are you running from me? Answer me!" I demanded. My heart pounded against my chest. Was it him? Why would he leave me? Why had he left? He'd lied...
I ran faster, finally gaining ground. He seemed to be walking leisurely, and yet I couldn't catch him.
I'm not giving up. I refuse to let you leave me. I thought furiously, my arms pumping at my side. I'd never run with this much urgency before.
Instantly, he was right in front of me, faster than humanly possible. I skidded to a halt, forcing myself to not run into him. His eyes looked into mine, sympathetic. Who did he think he was, showing sympathy to me, when it was him who'd caused me pain? Who was he to show up all of a sudden, when I'd been forced to fend for myself with him gone? What did he mean to me, to look at me like that, like I'd just forgive him for abandoning me when he was all I'd had? He couldn't honestly believe I was happy to see him. That I could forgive him for these years of suffering alone.
And yet his eyes kept looking at me as he smiled that sad smile, as if it would fix everything. And, despite everything I'd said, I couldn't be mean. I couldn't be cruel. Not to him.
I took a hesitant step forward, feeling like an absolute, emotional idiot as I reached towards him. My fingers shook.
Was he truly alive?
My fingers continued forward. His eyes never left me, but I could only focus on my movement, as if my concentration could keep everything from falling apart. It had to be him. I couldn't handle it not being him.
Out of desperation, my fingers moved the last inches towards my uncle, brushing against him, then through him. I didn't feel anything. Not warmth, not a smooth texture from his clothes. Just air. He faded, showing the forest behind him.
My hand stayed outstretched. It felt like his eyes were still on me, even though they hadn't touched me in years.
A Stantler walked out from among the bushes, staring at me. I refused to look at it. I couldn't think. If I moved, I would break down. I wouldn't be able to handle it.
The Pokemon walked closer peacefully, not seeming to mind that I was there.
My mind recited the Pokedex entry softly, Stantler, the Big Horn Pokemon. Its large curved horns subtly bend the air around them, which creates a mysterious warp in reality.
My arm was getting tired of being held up. The soreness was the only reminder that I was still alive. Breathing felt as automatic as if I were a machine, obeying repetitive requests on command. The irritation of my arm, the lack of cloth touching my fingers, was the only thing that made me remember that I was alive, and to remind me that my uncle wasn't.
My fingers curled into a fist as I lowered my arm. The Stantler walked nearer. I didn't have any words. I didn't know if it had been an accident. I didn't know if it had been on purpose. I just knew it was the Stantler's fault and that was all that I needed.
I walked over to the Stantler. Before his eyes could register how it felt about my nearness, I raised my arm and smacked it in the face as hard as I could. It let out a scream, which I hardly registered as my body filled with pain. I yelled, dropping to the ground, curling up in a ball. It felt like I was on fire. And then I saw fire. It was all over me, crawling up my flesh, dancing on my skin, growing and burning white hot, searing into every part of my being.
I continued yelling, rolling in the dirt, trying to extinguish the flames. In seconds, the pain left. I couldn't see fire anymore. I refused to move, but heard galloping hooves moving quickly away from me. I curled up into a tighter ball, placing my forehead against my knees.
I refuse to think it. I thought to myself, I can't think about it.
I saw my uncle's eyes in my mind again and I felt how much I loved him. My throat constricted as tears unwillingly leaked out of my eyes. Blocking the thoughts, the feelings, became impossible despite my attempt at numbness. I lay there and let the salty water stream down my face, thinking about how my gym battle would go well, that Ghost type tricks were things only fools allowed themselves to be deceived by, and that Ghost types must be sore losers, the most undesirable infestations, to think that they should have a second chance at living. They were just frauds, frauds that weren't worth anyone's attention or, more importantly, their loyalty and attachment. Not when they broke the rules of mortality and others had no such ability.
I looked around the forest, still breathing heavily as I wondered if I was chasing ghosts yet again. I knew my uncle was dead. I accepted that.
But there was still a chance...
I weighed my options. I could give up, maybe never know. Or I could keep going and find out for certain if he was here or not.
It surprisingly didn't take much thought as I started forward in the direction Electivire had indicated yet again. I didn't know how long I walked. I just knew I didn't dare say his name out loud. I was still moving forward, but I refused to give myself that much hope, that I might get a call back.
I realized I was hungry and that the sun was starting to set. I also realized I was lost, which wasn't a problem considering I had Honchkrow. He could direct me how to get back to the church. I also wondered if Demi was out looking for me. Probably Roric as well, egged on by his sister.
I sighed and sat down, needing a break.
My breathing slowed and I decided to think more deeply about Electivire, remembering the good times. How we'd play in uncle's yard as he made dinner and I'd pretend be a Pokemon Trainer. He'd let me help with his moves. The times he'd Pignite back me around as I screamed and laughed, almost tumbling off his shoulders. The night we'd had a whipped cream fight and teamed up on Uncle Ben.
Every moment was so full of laughter, of happiness.
I hugged my legs, resting my forehead on my knees as I murmured, "Electivire."
Heavy footsteps made me look up as I saw a giant yellow Pokemon stop to my left, pausing as if listening to something. His fur was different. Less kept, a bit paler from old age. He was breathing heavily, exhausted.
I stood up slowly, gripping the tree nearest me as if to make sure I wasn't dreaming. It could be a hallucination. I could be seeing things.
"Electivire." I repeated, this time stronger.
His eyes found mine. His eyes that seemed so like my uncle's. They were full of love.
It didn't matter that I hadn't seen him in years, that I felt horrible about abandoning him, that he had every reason to hate me with every fiber of his being. He looked at me like he wouldn't have wanted to see anyone else in the world standing in front of him. Like he would have kept searching the rest of his life for me if he had to.
I could see my uncle in him.
We both hurried towards each other. I hesitated slightly, feeling like a hug was too much to ask for, feeling a bit stupid to even want one, but he picked me up and squeezed me to his chest, almost so hard I couldn't breathe.
"I thought I'd never see you again." I felt my eyes burn as I let my face bury itself in his fur.
His squeeze comforted me as he let out a low growl.
"I'm so sorry." Yet again, with the apologies. I let out a short laugh at myself, at the whole situation, not even caring that I sounded crazy, "I shouldn't have left you. I should have let you stay with me."
He kept hugging me and I knew he wasn't upset, even though he had every right to be.
"I missed you." I said truthfully, "It's been really hard."
I couldn't go on after that. My throat was blocked by a lump. But we didn't need words after that. He just held me. In the back of my brain, I thought it probably looked like I was an infant being cradled by a parent, but it didn't matter. I was finally somewhere safe, familiar. The place inside me I thought had died was still as alive as ever.
"He's here too, isn't he?"
I felt him nod as his arms wrapped around me more securely. He let out a little howl-like cry.
"It still hurts me too." I admitted.
We stayed embraced, not wanting to pull away, as the sun set.
"Paul! Paaaaaul!" I heard what seemed like hours later.
I groggily lifted my head, realizing it was resting in long yellow fur. I let my fingers run through it as the events from the previous day came back to me. My uncle's Electivire. He was here.
I looked up to find Electivire still asleep, wondering how I'd slept through his snores. We'd both been too emotionally drained to head back. Plus he was older now. I didn't want to push him. Not when he'd seemed as keen to look for me yesterday as I had for him.
"Paaaaul!" I recognized the voice as Demi's.
"Electivire." I lifted my head off his arm and pushed at his chest, "Time to wake up."
His lip twitched before he went back to being still.
"Electivire." I rolled my eyes, "Come on."
"Paaaaaul!"
I'm here. I sent out mentally, tired of hearing my name.
Within a minute, Demi was scrambling through the bushes, finding me and Electivire still on the ground as I continued to prod him.
"There you are! We thought something-" Demi's eyes landed on Electivire, "Oh."
I looked at her face as she realized how important this was. And I also understood, "Did you know this was my uncle's Electivire the whole time?"
She shook her head, "I didn't figure out anything till you said that satchel belonged to your uncle."
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked quietly. I wasn't upset, but still.
"Would you really have believed me?" She whispered, looking at the floor, "Besides, you were yelling at me and told me not to talk to you. Then you came back yesterday and that's when I found out how it was even possible for Robert to have Electivire. I didn't know Robert had been friends with your uncle."
My mind was whirring, "It's complicated."
"That's God for you."
I glanced at Demi, who had her innocent smile on her face.
"It could be coincidence." I said.
She scoffed and stomped her foot, "Oh please. It's not and you know it. The odds of this happening are like a bazillion to one."
I shrugged. Electivire groaned and let out a cough before sitting up, peering at me with a smile.
"Morning." I smiled.
I'm all for Demi's suggestion, kiddo.
I jumped, my eyes flying open as I realized Demi had let me hear Electivire's thoughts. He even spoke like Uncle Ben.
"You need to warn me next time." I said, staring at Electivire, "So... I guess this makes it easier to communicate."
Electivire rolled his eyes, We don't need words. We were doing just fine last night.
My cheeks burned a little as I remembered how emotionally vulnerable that had been. Demi giggled and Electivire let out a huff, Oh, so you got all self-conscious on me?
"A lot has happened since the last time we saw each other." I retorted.
Right. Puberty.
Demi started laughing while I just stood there stiffly.
Say, do you have a girlfriend?
"That's your first question?"
"Yeah he does!"
Wow. He let out a grinning growl, Never thought I'd see the day. If Ben was here now...
"Actually that's what I'd rather talk about." I stated, wanting to get Dawn out of the conversation before she even came up.
Electivire's eyes flickered with hurt before he nodded, I guess talking can be useful.
I opened my mouth, but two very loud rumbles began initiating at the same time, catching me off guard. Demi giggled, "I guess you two are hungry."
"Maybe we should go eat first..."
Electivire grinned, I won't say no to food.
My heart felt a lot lighter as I walked side by side with him, careful to go slow in his older age. His body was different, but his heart and mind were the same as ever. I made sure to brush against him, the probability of this all being a dream or illusion shrinking every time I felt his fur.
We emerged from the trees a couple hours later, Electivire huffing a bit from exhaustion, Demi still skipping ahead of us cheerfully, looking back expectantly, a triumphant smile on her face, before turning and marching ahead.
"Paul!"
The second I stepped out from the shade of the forest, I saw Dawn running towards me, her mouth upturned and her blue eyes glittering. My feet only took a few steps towards her before she rammed into me, forcing her arms around my neck. Caught in surprise, I held her, pulling her closer and hoping I wouldn't fall over as our weight swung precariously.
So this is the girlfriend? I heard, half smug and half joyful.
Dawn jumped and pulled away, her eyes landing on Electivire, "...Was that him?"
Sure was, chickadee.
She still looked confused, but then Electivire messed up my hair, causing my to make a face, "We still need to discuss ground rules on my hair."
I've always messed with your hair! He exclaimed, acting offended, but his grin suggested it was more playful.
"You're... his uncle's Electivire?" Dawn asked slowly.
You've heard about me? Electivire looked at her intently.
"And you're here." Her face slowly lit up.
"Of course he is. God worked it all out, you know." Demi chimed in, sounding a bit impatient at our progress.
"No way."
"Way." Demi said.
Dawn looked at me for confirmation, which I wasn't wanting to answer with a solid yes or a shrug, "I can't deny this is all highly unlikely."
Electivire snorted. Demi rolled her eyes.
Dawn looked back at me, her eyes filling with tears. My eyebrows turned down in puzzlement before she burst out, "This is crazy amazing!"
She exclaimed, "Can you believe what God just did!? Making us come here and then meeting Demi and Roric and getting you to open up about your uncle so when you started feeling better, you would be ready to meet your old friend!"
I didn't think I'd ever heard her so happy before and wasn't sure what to do, which seemed like an appropriate response because Demi was too busy cheering, "That's right, that's right!" whenever there was an empty moment in Dawn's shouts.
With every celebratory sentence, I felt a pang of doubt run through me. No. This is coincidence. High winds, rockslides, meeting people- even seeming ghosts of my past. Really, wouldn't it have been more likely that I would have met them sometime in the past decade or so?
Demi stood on her tiptoes, crossing her arms, cheeks puffed out, "He's not believing!"
Dawn's face whipped around to see mine, "What?"
I had to force myself not to cringe a bit, "It's very hard to believe."
"How?" Demi demanded.
"These could all be coincidences." I retorted.
"Oh yeah?"
"You're losing your touch on argument." I said coolly.
"Don't argue with her, Paul." Dawn said tiredly, seeming a bit hurt that I didn't believe it was all God.
"You can't say these are coincidences!" Demi gestured to Electivire.
I began thinking over how it did seem so well timed and grimaced, but smoothed it out, "Fine. If one more of these so-called coincidences happen, I will take back my claim that these are all coincidences."
"Really?" Demi's eyes were pessimistic for once.
"Really." I assured.
"Are you two fighting?"
We looked up as Roric and Robert joined our group, Roric giving Demi a critical frown.
"Well he says these are all coincidences." Demi instantly threw me under the bus. I sent her a frown of my own.
"He can believe what he wants." Roric stated, looking curiously at me. I felt a bit more at ease with him there, though less so as I remembered Robert. I still wasn't sure how to act around him.
Right then, my stomach rumbled. I couldn't even remember the last time I'd had food.
Demi cut off her giggle and Dawn hid her smile.
"I suppose it's time for lunch." Robert said. I didn't look at him as he gestured for everyone to follow him back to the church, "I'll make us something."
Good. I'm starving. Electivire gave me a quick smirk, Some pizza doesn't sound bad, does it kiddo?
I smiled as I started walking, knowing he was thinking of all the times we made pizza together.
Demi started walking confidently next to me.
"What's up with you?" I asked suspiciously.
"Well, God doesn't tell people to put Him to the test, but I've got a feeling you're not going to believe in coincidences much longer." She said simply before running past Robert to beat us all.
I sighed. Roric slowed down to walk next to my deserted side, "She's right, you know."
I didn't want to say anything offensive and instead let out a small grunt. Robert looked back at me, but seemed just as hesitant to talk to me as I did.
Dawn put her other hand on my elbow, instantly lowering my stress and giving me a sense of peace despite the confusion. I continued toward the church, the normal dread or anxiety not nearly as bad as last time as my hungry body sought nourishment. I really did hope it would be pizza.
So many "coincidences". You have no idea how much fun this was to write. How do you guys like Ben's Electivire? I'd love to meet him. And hearing what Pokemon have to say is great, isn't it?
Pokemon Question of the Day: (I feel like I've already asked this one) If you could talk to any of one your Pokemon, and only one, which one would it be and why?
Keep on keeping on.
-Flips