Starlight Aurate
Ad Jesum per Mariam | pfp by kintsugi
- Location
- Route 123
- Partners
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Happy Blitz (or post-Blitz at this point lol) and happy Catnip! Thanks for the review! I know this is WAY different from your tastes haha so I especially appreciate the time you take to read and leave me your thoughts.
Learning how to make my prose sound more connected and, well, make more sense is something I definitely need to grow in. I appreciate it!
Thanks so much! Yeah, there definitely isn't much evident conflict aside from the fact it's a canon villain team, so readers will know that something is up. I appreciate your thoughts and pointing this stuff out! :)
All RIGHT! It's been *checks post* 11 months since I last posted a chapter. I actually have several chapters that are ready to be posted--I can only blame myself for procrastinating and not wanting to post anything until it's all perfect. But! That'll never happen, so I figured now is as good of a time as any to get posting again.
As always, I appreciate ALL critique, including one-liners and thoughts about the overall story, scenes and characters. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 20
The door creaked as Derek swung it open. At the sound, Mightyena lifted his head and growled—but the sight of Derek and the scent of food calmed him down. The beast wagged his tail happily, with his ears flat against his head and tongue lolling, before nosing Derek’s pockets.
“I don’t have anything for you,” he snapped.
Derek placed the plate on Tate’s lap. The boy sat with his back propped against the wall; once the food was on his lap, he looked at it, his eyes a little hazy as he wordlessly picked up a piece of bread and slowly chewed it. Bags hung beneath his dark eyes, and he stared straight ahead. The boy hadn’t bathed in the three days since Team Magma had captured him—and Derek could smell it. Unease churned in Derek’s stomach, and he bent down to be at eye-level with the child.
“Are you doing all right?” he asked gently. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
Tate was about to take another bite of bread, then lowered it shakily as his eyes roved around in worry.
“I—I can feel him sometimes… He’s so angry. He’s always so angry. But mostly he’s sad—sad and r-really scared…” He started to quiver slightly. “But usually there’s—there’s nothing. I—I can’t feel anything, I don’t—don’t know where anyone is. My parents, my sister, m—my Pokemon…” He looked at the Mightyena standing near him. “I see this, but—but I can’t feel it. It—it’s like there’s nothing there.” His eyes turned to Derek. “And I f—feel you, but only now. When the door closes, you’re g—gone…”
Pity welled up in Derek. He looked at Mightyena, who still wagged his tail happily. The Dark-type wasn’t even doing anything, yet his mere presence was taxing Tate of his mental energy.
Derek looked back at the boy, his heart twisting with guilt.
“Is there anything I can get you?”
The boy sat still for a minute, staring forward before his lips started to quiver and tears welled up in his eyes. “My f—family… My P—Pokemon…”
Derek grimaced as he looked helplessly at the child. Reluctantly, he stood up, gazing at the boy staring wordlessly on the floor. He was at a loss of what to do. He wanted to stay with the boy and comfort him, or at least leave one of his Pokemon so Tate could have some friendly company, but he had already spent too much time in there. If he left a Pokemon and Maxie or Tabitha was the next person to come in, he would be in deep trouble.
With a heavy heart, he left, closing the door behind him as he weaved his way around the crates and ascended the stairs, his mind going a mile a minute. He couldn’t do nothing; he had to get the child out of there.
But he couldn’t. If he got the boy out, then Jirachi would be free as well, and Derek was sure that Team Magma would be Jirachi’s first target. They would be done for, and Team Aqua would be free to do as they pleased.
And all for what?
Derek reached the medical room. Shutting the door behind him, he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall behind him.
Team Aqua intended to flood the world; he knew that. Team Magma was hoping to dry up oceans and make the earth a more habitable place for people and Pokemon—these were basic facts that Derek had known since the day he joined Team Magma. His desire to make the world a better place for others is what led him to join them. Team Magma’s vision was enough to take hold of Derek’s mind, weary from years of medical school and clinical work, watching patient after patient die at the hands of the doctors he shadowed as they failed to save their lives.
The faces of those patients—covered with bandages from severe beatings, their throats swollen with cancerous tumors, their cheeks blotchy from bruises and broken blood vessels, their eyes peering hazily as the life drained out of them—never left Derek’s mind, and kept frequenting his nightmares. Every day, he dreaded getting out of bed, he hated putting on his scrubs, and his heart welled up with anxiety as he followed different doctors to hopelessly visit the patients who had no hope of living.
He had been walking been walking through the narrow streets of Lilcyove City—it was his first rotation for clinicals after finishing the academic part of medical school. His family had visited the Hoenn region for vacation as a child, and when he was placed their for rotations, he was thrilled at the opportunity to revisit the places he had met Claydol and Breloom.
But it was another brutal day at the hospital—he had only been there for six weeks, and it felt like there were people passing away almost every day. His prior rotation, in Cianwood, had been worse—he saw people succumb to all sorts of injuries before the life faded from them, and he had to accompany the doctors and nurses to break the news to hysterical family members.
In Lilycove, he was at the pediatric oncology unit—and so far, it was hardly any better. Every time he saw small children, no hair and no eyebrows, lying motionlessly in bed with respirators and feeding tubes hooked up to them, his stomach twisted into knots. There was a small boy—only eight years old—who had officially been diagnosed with Hodgekin’s Lymphoma. It should have been manaegeable, the cancer should have been treatable—but every day, his condition was worsening, and Derek’s supervisor had discussed the fact that they would have to tell the boy’s parents that his chances of surviving were growing slimmer.
The tall buildings of Lilycove only allowed narrow slivers of sunlight to penetrate the alley. Golbat sat on Derek’s shoulder, his calm, silent presence bringing Derek comfort. People bustled by as they ran errands—several Pokemon, including some Marshtomp, Surskit, and Shroomish skittered by, while others such a Jigglypuff and a few Swablu bounced in the air above. Derek’s eyes roved around aimlessly, looking at the variety of posters plastered to the alley walls.
So, you wanna be a master of Pokemon? The Hoenn League is now accepting all challengers!
Now hiring! Electricians for Mauville’s new power plant.
Think your Pokemon is the coolest? Compete now Lilycove’s Pokemon Contest Hall!
Make a change, save a life! Keep our planet healthy Greenscape.
The final poster showed a teenager sitting on a green field, laughing, while a Vulpix, a Pikachu, and a Snubbull cuddled on his lap. Derek stopped in his tracks, his eyes fixated on the first phrase.
Make a change, save a life!
His stomach churned with nausea and pain. That was the whole point, wasn’t it? He wanted to be a doctor because he wanted to save lives—he wanted to make a change in this world. But the only changes he had made so far were saying goodbye to those leaving it.
“You interested in Greenscape?”
Derek looked over his shoulder to see a woman with long, dark hair standing behind him. A Growlithe tugged at her leash as she pulled in every direction, constantly barking. The woman smiled softly, and her dark eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Is it a job?” Derek asked slowly.
“Kinda, yeah! It pays your bills and keeps you employed—but it’s also so much more. I think of it as more of a lifestyle! We’re all about the well-being of people and Pokemon, and so little Sandy here—” she tugged at her Growlithe’s leash— “is part of it as much as I am!”
“I—uh… I’m actually in med school right now, see?”
The woman’s eyes widened with awe. “Wow! So you’re gonna be a medical doctor? Taking care of the sick and saving peoples’ lives, and all that?”
Derek’s stomach twisted again—at the mention of “saving lives,” his heart raced uncontrollably. Desperate, he tried to get off the topic.
“What is Greenscape? What do you do?”
“Well, Sandy and I are involved in the Pokemon Protection Program! We go around inner cities like this and find lost and abandoned Pokemon, nurture them back to health, and try to make them fit for a life in the wild again. If they can’t go back to the wild, we find homes for them! And since you seem to get along great with your Golbat there, I bet you’d be a natural at it!” She flashed Golbat a smile. “What’s his name?”
“Ah, I just call him ‘Golbat.’”
“No name? Well, that’s fine too! Anyway, if you want to check us out, we’re having an interest meeting on Thursday at 8 PM!”
“Oh, well, I’m—I’m really busy…”
It was only partly true; while he did work 12-hour shifts, Thursdays were his day off. He normally dedicated them to playing with his Pokemon to try and abate the pain of the workweek.
“That’s lame! Well, if you change your mind, here’s our card!” She handed him a small business card showcasing a green meadow canopied by a rainbow. A phone number and office location were on it.
“These interest meetings are no commitment, just to see how you feel about it. I hope you come by! What’s your name?”
“Oh—I’m Derek.”
“Nice to meet you! I’m Leilani. I think Sandy wants to go, now.”
Sandy, for once, had stopped barking—only to take the leash in her jaws and tug against it, futilely trying to pull her trainer down the alleyway.
“Nice to meet you, Leilani and Sandy!”
“Thanks! I’ll see you and Golbat at 8 on Thursday!” she called as she followed Sandy down the alley.
Derek shook his head, returning to the present—at the time, he had no idea that Greenscape was a publicity front for Team Magma. He was surprised at how interested they were in his experience in working in medicine, and offered to give him a full time position that paid very well—much better than his rotations did.
They forbade him from telling anyone that he was working with them, but the order was unnecessary. He could never bring himself to tell an of his family members, friends, or old classmates that he dropped out of his rotations to treat injured Pokemon instead. For the first several weeks, it was hard to believe that he had actually made the decision—but there such a deep relief in it. He no longer woke up in the mornings with his heart flooding with dread, he no longer tossed and turned at night, anxiety and nerousness preventing him from sleeping. Instead, when he walked out the door, he was excited. Sure, he admitted—treating Pokemon wounds and nursing injured Pokemon back to health didn’t sound as glamorous as revitalizing patients with terminal illnesses. But everything he had gone through in medical school all seemed to be a lie. By caring for Pokemon, he was actually saving lives.
Not only did he enjoy working with Greenscape, but his Pokmeon did, too. They no longer waited at home for him to finish at work—but they could work with him! He taught Claydol how to use all sorts of medical and surgical tools while Golbat would keep track of records and Breloom provided morale and emotional comfort to the Pokemon in their care.
When his supervisors at Greenscape introduced him to their overarching goals—the first time Derek heard the name ‘Team Magma’—and offered him a position to work with them, he was all too ready to accept. His Pokemon were largely indifferent—ultimately, they wanted what Derek wanted—but happily followed his decision to become an official Team Magma member and to swear a secret loyalty to them.
After working with Greenscape and learning of their goals to better Pokemon livelihood and enact environmental justice, he was confident that Team Magma would provide a better future for everyone.
Or so he had been told. And while he could justify their feud with Team Aqua, he could see no good reason for torturing their team members. The thought of Maressa being interrogated still made his blood boil. And even though it was to keep Jirachi under control, Derek could not stomach the reality that a child was locked in a dark room for days at a time with little to eat or drink.
And these weren’t the only instances—though Maressa and Tate were the only ones Derek had personally interacted with, Tabitha had told him that other Team Aqua members and a scientist had been captured before.
What happened to them?
He sighed. He had originally hoped that, once the seas were dried up and Team Magma’s goal was accomplished, he could go back to residency, and begin life as a doctor. But with each passing day, he grew to understand Maressa’s point of view more.
Was it really worth being a member of Team Magma? He hoped freeing Maressa would have been the last of it; that he would never have to betray Team Magma again and could return comfortably to his life as a team medic. But he realized that he couldn’t—he couldn’t even promise himself that this would be the last time he would betray them. No, if Team Magma kidnapped anymore civilians or innocents, he would do everything in his power to stop them.
He had to set Tate free.
He just had to figure out how to accomplish it. If Jirachi was to destroy Team Magma, then so be it. Taking out his Pokeballs, he smiled as Golbat, Breloom and Claydol stood before him.
“I need your help to figure out a plan to release Tate,” he told them.
Golbat skeptically raised an eyebrow. Releasing another prisoner? Whose side was Derek on?
“Whose side are you on?” Derek snapped. “I know this is betrayal. But I need to figure out a way to get Tate out of a tiny little room guarded by a Mightyena without anyone finding out or knowing that we were responsible.”
Breloom scratched his head, screwing up his face in concentration. Claydol closed about half of his eyes and rumbled deeply. Golbat cast his eyes down and said no more.
“Oh, come on,” Derek said. “We have to think of something. We got Maressa out of here—”
His voice caught in his throat as he remembered hearing the report that Maressa had fallen overboard.
Shaking his head, he continued.
“I have no idea what the guard looks like at night, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they added more people or Pokemon, so I’d rather not poke around and try it then.” He thought out loud, hoping to make some sense of the situation and see a way out. “Which means it would be best to try it during the day. And I need to do it when Tabitha is busy—he’s always busy, but I’d need him far away—fat chance of that happening. And I need to not be discovered—the problem is that few people know about Tate being here, and they know that I regularly see him, so I’d be at the top of their suspect list.” He glanced up at his Pokemon and saw them all staring blankly at them.
“So? Got any ideas?”
Claydol rumbled. Derek had himself stuck in a corner.
Breloom chirruped. He could knock out Tabitha and whoever was guarding Tate, and Derek’s path would be clear!
“Breloom, they’ll know it was you and that would defeat the purpose!”
Golbat let out a few squeaks. There were hundreds of Golbat on the team—if he went, it wasn’t likely that anyone would know he belonged to Derek. He could scout out the situation and night and let Derek know if he saw anything important.
Derek paused. It was actually a decent idea.
“You’ll risk getting caught?”
Golbat rolled his eyes. He wasn’t going to “get caught;” Golbat were always hanging around. He would be nothing out of the ordinary. But even with the minimal risk, he was willing to do whatever Derek needed.
Smiling, Derek said, “As condescending as ever. Thanks, Golbat.”
++++++++++++++++++
Late morning of the following day, Derek held a tray of food as he opened the door to reveal the dark, unlit staircase. Golbat flew down from his perch on the ceiling, quietly communicating everything that happened the previous night.
Golbat spent the night hanging from the ceiling in the room leading to where Tate was contained. Everything was as Derek described it—the room was filled with crates, with no one and nothing else.
A few hours in, the door leading outside opened. Two people and a few Houndoom walked in, down the stairs and into Tate’s room. They didn’t come out.
Golbat stayed the entire night, silently watching and waiting, but nothing further happened. Derek nodded.
“Thanks. Take some rest,” he said gently, and returned Golbat to his Pokeball. Placing the Pokeball in his pocket, he descended the stairs, heart pounding nervously as he pushed the door open.
No one was inside.
The tray clattered to the floor as Derek sprinted out and back up the stairs. How? Why? Did someone else take Tate and escape? He was the one who was supposed to do that—since when did anyone else free prisoners?
He stopped outside Tabitha’s office and was about to open the door but paused. If Tate was being freed, should he bring it to Tabitha’s attention? He dismissed the thought—they took him several hours ago. They must have been noticed by now.
Derek opened the door to see Tabitha sitting at his desk, leaning back in his chair and staring off, his eyes glazed over. The commander blinked several times when Derek thrust the door open but showed no other sign of being startled. Tabitha’s eyes narrowed as Derek entered, panting.
“I’ve specifically told you to knock before,” he said coldly.
Ignoring his commander’s comment, Derek panted, “The kid—gone—”
Tabitha merely nodded. “Don’t worry about it. Sorry, I was supposed to tell you earlier that you don’t need to feed him anymore, but I got distracted.”
Derek straightened up, and after gasping for a moment, asked, “What? Why?”
Shaking his head, Tabitha answered, “Maxie wanted the kid moved so he’s in the same base as him now.”
“Why wouldn’t Maxie just come here?”
“He thinks the area is too dangerous. To be fair, we are right by the waterway just east of Mauville—it’s crowded, and any waterway that’s used by people so much is likely to contain civilian Team Aqua members.”
“Oh.” Derek turned to leave. “Sorry about that.”
“You’re fine. Sorry I forgot to tell you earlier and caused the panic.”
Derek’s mind buzzed as he slowly walked back to the medical room. Now everything was all the more difficult. He wished he had asked Tabitha where, exactly, Maxie was. Team Magma had nearly a dozen bases around Hoenn—not many large ones, but it had several small outposts and look-out areas. But asking Tabitha such a question would have made him more obvious.
As he stepped back inside the medical room, he released his Pokemon from their Pokeballs. Golbat grumbled angrily and glared at him—he had just fallen asleep and wasn’t happy about being woken up. After a quick apology, Derek gave his Pokemon the rundown and asked if they had ideas.
Claydol immediately spoke up—he could teleport himself and Golbat to the different bases and look for Maxie until they found him.
“It’s too dangerous,” Derek said. “Golbat may be able to blend in, but you are obvious.”
Claydol protested—he wasn’t actually out of the ordinary. Other Team Magma members had Claydol, and some had Baltoy as well. Especially if Claydol went to the bases near the desert—where his kind was found in the wild—he wouldn’t be noticeable at all.
After considering his Pokemon’s words for a moment, Derek grimaced. “I don’t know, it still seems too risky.”
Exasperated, Breloom spoke. He was tired of all this talking; Claydol and Golbat would be fine if they went to other Team Magma bases. As far as everyone knew, Derek was still a Team Magma member! And members’ Pokemon were walking around bases all the time. If someone did recognize them as Derek’s Pokemon, what was the worst that would happen?
Breloom’s eyes shone as he looked up at Derek eagerly; Golbat and Claydol both glared in annoyance. Still unsettled, Derek asked, “Are you sure you’re willing to do this?”
Golbat and Claydol looked at each other—at least, Derek assumed so, as Claydol’s eyes were looking in all directions. They both nodded, Golbat stretched out a wing, and as soon as it made contact with the Ground-type, the two vanished.
Derek’s heart skipped a beat as the two disappeared, but there was nothing he could do about it now. Heaving a sigh, he turned to Breloom and saw that the Grass-type looked upset.
“What’s up with you?”
The Pokemon swished his tail slowly. He felt left out—Golbat was able to keep watch, and now he was exploring bases with Claydol to find out where Tate was kept. It was as if he, Breloom, had no purpose in all this.
Derek laughed. “You know that’s not true. You were the one who told me all about seeing Tate and Jirachi! You’ve been so helpful in medicine and caring for patients with me, and you’ve been great in battles. From what I heard, you beat Maressa’s Seaking—come to think of it, you’re one of the main reasons she came here, and what got all of this started…”
He trailed off, thinking of the golden-haired woman lying on the bed right next to the door, and of the conversations they had. His mind shifted to hearing that she had fallen in the water when trying to escape—his blood turned to ice and guilt clenched his heart. He stood there for a moment, letting his feelings of helplessness overcome him—and within a few moments, they passed. Closing his eyes, he pushed the thoughts away. He knew he couldn’t fix the past, but it was difficult to not dwell on it.
Opening his eyes, he saw Breloom looking up at him curiously. Smiling, Derek reached down and patted the mushroom-domed head.
“You’ve done a lot,” he affirmed. “Besides, it’s nice to have you here for company while we wait for those two.”
Derek sat down on a bed, and Breloom hopped up and snuggled up next to him. Stroking Breloom, Derek tried to keep away the antsiness. After perhaps 30 minutes, the two Pokemon reappeared in the room, Claydol looking annoyed and Golbat looking smug.
Golbat let out a few quick squeaks. Maxie was in the underground base in Mt. Chimney—apparently the team was working on some sort of excavation project. Some Poochyena told them that the storage unit on the lowest level was off-units for all team members unless told otherwise; it was most likely that Tate was down there. Golbat checked and saw two team members standing guard at the entrance to the storage unit and a few video cameras in the hallway leading to it.
The Poison-type went on: he could use haze to fog up the video camera and guard room. Then he and Claydol could take out the guards, get into Tate’s room, and set the boy free.
Derek stared in astonishment. “You found all that out? Those Poochyena—they just told you? And those team members didn’t stop you? And this plan—are you sure?”
Clenching his eyes in frustration, Golbat squeaked angrily. Pokemon on the team were always gossiping and spreading news, and they roamed the bases all the time. It wasn’t anything worth raising suspicion about. How many times would they have to tell him?
Derek nodded. “You’re right, sorry about that.” It wasn’t that he forgot the Pokemon were free-willed, he just didn’t think about it. Maybe none of the other team members thought about it either, and so no one suspected any Pokemon of treason.
The thought struck Derek for a moment; for a team that claimed to be so Pokemon-oriented, the members often forgot about them.
He snapped up as Claydol rumbled. They wouldn’t really need Derek.
The medic shook his head. “You did forget one thing: I bet that some Dark-types are guarding Tate; probably those Houndoom from this morning. And besides, I’m the one who decided this. I won’t have you guys do it all for me. I’ll go with, just give me a moment to change. Breloom, I’m going to need your help in a second.”
Derek went to his bedroom and pulled a Team Magma uniform out of his closet. As a medic, he normally just wore scrubs or a lab coat, but he was issued an official uniform when he first joined the team. Along with the grey pants and red hoodie, the uniform came with a pair of large red glasses that covered the upper half of his face and provided night vision—he wasn’t sure they would help in smog, though. After Derek put on the uniform and stowed the glasses in his pants pocket, he walked out to his Pokemon.
“Breloom, I need you to use Spore so I can collect a lot of it in my gloves.”
Jumping up with a delighted cry, Breloom concentrated and shook his tail lightly so a cloud of green spores emanated from it. Derek took hold of the end of Breloom’s tail, rubbing the spores into the thick grey fabric. Once Breloom ceased, Derek stood up, rubbing his hands together.
“I’m ready. Just remind me to not rub my face.”
Derek said goodbye to a very put-out Breloom, placed a hand on Claydol and vanished.
A split second later, he reappeared in a familiar hallway made of carved-out rock. He was stationed at this base for a few short weeks when Team Magma was first settling there, fighting off several travelers and trainers. Many of his teammates’ Pokemon were injured from the fighting, and so he was needed to care for the wounded until they dug farther in and could hide more easily.
Derek followed his Pokemon down the earthen hallway, sweat breaking out on his face almost immediately. His heart thumped madly in his chest, and he was constantly on the verge of calling it quits and heading back. He also wasn’t accustomed to wearing the standard uniform and how much thicker and warmer it was than his scrubs. The air within the base was stifling; even though Team Magma’s base only just penetrated the surface, the volcano heat made the tunnels several degrees warmer than outside. As Derek turned many corners, he saw pools of bubbling lava at the bottom of pits and crevices.
They met nobody in the halls, fortunately—with Derek’s paranoia, he bet he had a guilty look on his face and doubted he would be able to calmly answer any questions.
As they reached a descending staircase, Golbat bade them to stop. He turned his scarlet eyes on his companions and squeaked. Once he fogged up the cameras, they would hardly have any time to get everything done before guards noticed and detained them, so they would have to move quickly. Claydol groaned in affirmation, and Derek swallowed uneasily and nodded.
Taking a deep breath, Derek tried to calm his racing heart. Every cell in his body screamed to turn around, to give up and to go back—
So he forced himself to keep still while he watched Golbat belch out a stream of thick, black smoke, flapping his wings to direct it down the stairs. Claydol flew down the stairwell, and, putting on his glasses, Derek followed. His heart beat furiously and adrenaline coursed through his veins. He could see nothing, and so kept on hand on the wall to guide him as he jogged down the stairs and through the smoke.
CRASH!
Some people in front of him were shouting—the wall beside him vanished. He heard banging and crashing—he kept moving forward, bumping into crates and what felt like large machinery. Something large pressed against his back—he realized it was Claydol, guiding him forward. Stretching out his arms, he let Claydol push him until he hit a wall. Claydol’s weight vanished, and Derek moved along the wall until he felt a doorframe. He found the door handle and jiggled it—it was locked.
Frustrated, Derek jiggled the handle harder and kicked the door. The crashing and banging behind him had ceased, but the smog was as dense as ever. He heard a faint squeaking and a groan and had just enough sense to duck as Claydol hurtled over him and into the door, breaking it off its hinges.
Derek ran inside, and Golbat glided in after him. He was just able to make out two Houndoom, their blood-red eyes filled with rage, before the room filled with thick black smoke. Something large rammed into Derek and knocked him into the ground—stabbing pain seared through his shoulders as he felt something sink a pair of massive jaws into the thick fabric of his hoodie and jerk its head side-to-side.
“AH!”
Fear and panic flooded Derek’s senses as he registered the weight of Houndoom pressing into his chest and the and trying to rip up his shoulder. Derek immediately gripped the Houndoom’s snout, trying to pry its jaws open while pressing his gloves against the beast’s nose. In a moment, the jerking ceased, and Derek felt its jaws relax and the fullness of its weight slump on top of him.
Pushing the Houndoom off, Derek stood up. The smog was beginning to clear—Golbat squeaked loudly and angrily while deep, earthen rumbles reverberated from Claydol. There was a loud thump! and as the air cleared, Derek saw Claydol pinning an unconscious Houndoom into the ground—which, in turn, pinned down Golbat, whose wings were flapping frantically.
“Claydol, get off! You’re crushing Golbat!”
Claydol rose into the air without a word. Derek rolled the unconscious Houndoom over and saw Golbat with his fangs stuck in the Houndoom’s hide. Derek recalled Golbat into his Pokeball and turned to see Tate huddled in a corner on the floor, his white face echoing the shock and fear Derek felt in his heart.
“We gotta go,” Derek said as he heard shouts and footfalls behind him. Taking hold of the boy’s arm, he put another hand on Claydol and the trio left the base.
Derek stumbled slightly as he blinked in the sunlight that filtered through tree branches. Looking up, he saw that they stood in the middle of an evergreen forest. Shrubs dotted the landscape and the soil had a sandy quality to it. The air smelled of a mix of evergreen trees, comingling with the sweet scent of sap. The songs of bird-Pokemon filtered through the air as avians of different shapes and colors glided above. Derek took a deep breath, inhaling the dry, earthy taste of pine. How long had it been since he tasted fresh air?
Turning back to his companions, he asked them both, “Are you all right?”
Claydol rumbled—he had a nasty bite mark on his arm, but otherwise was mostly all right. Tate didn’t reply. His eyes darted about him, his head turning on a swivel, still in silent shock.
Placing a gentle hand on the boy’s shoulder, Derek bent down.
“Hey, are you okay?”
The boy finally turned his large dark eyes on Derek, and as he did so, the medic felt a peculiar, unfamiliar presence in his mind. Derek smiled as he realized that Tate was able to use his psychic powers again.
“Seems like you’re adjusting back to normal, huh?” Turning to Claydol, he seriously asked, “Where are we? You and I really need to get back—all of the bases will be in uproar, and I can’t be found dressed like this out in the open.”
Claydol groaned: they were in a forest just northwest of Mauville City. It was close to the desert on Route 111 were Claydol primarily lived as a Baltoy. He had ventured out into this forest occasionally.
“Huh, interesting. Anyway, Tate, can you find your way back to the city? You just need to head southeast, so in that”— he pointed with his finger—“general direction. I can’t go with you, you need to go on your own. Think you’ll be okay?”
The boy blinked several times and nodded.
“Okay, good. And you can’t let anyone know that a Team Magma member helped you. Understand?”
“Okay.”
“Can you repeat it for me?”
“I won’t tell anyone that Team Magma let me go.”
“And how did you escape?”
“Umm…”
The boy stared blankly in the distance. Derek sighed—he needed to leave, but he needed Tate to cover up for him.
“Jirachi teleported you out, okay?”
“Okay.”
“And no one from Team Magma helped you, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Can you tell me that?”
“Jirachi got me out of there.”
“And?!”
“And you didn’t help me.”
“Good, now put them together.”
“Jirachi got me out of there, and nobody else helped me.”
Derek grimaced. It wasn’t good; it was sure to raise suspicion. But he would be in a world of trouble if he didn’t return to Team Magma immediately.
“Take care of yourself—I’m sure whoever sees you will recognize you and get you home. Good luck,” he told Tate, and putting his hand on Claydol, saw the boy’s frightened, confused face disappear to be replaced by Breloom’s surprised, overjoyed one.
The Grass-type pounced on Derek, hugging him so hard he thought his ribs might break.
“Let go, let go!” he said, but still smiled at his Pokemon as he wrenched his arms off him. “How were things here?”
Breloom chirruped—nothing had happened as far as he could tell. How was their mission?
Sitting down on the bed, Derek turned his mind back to the events that just occurred, and his heart began pounding hard again. He breathed deeply as he closed his eyes and nodded.
“I think it all went okay. Golbat might be a bit hurt and Claydol has a nasty bite mark, but otherwise, I think we’re fine.”
He sat there for a moment while Breloom launched into how worried he had been—but he still had total confidence in their abilities! It’s not that he didn’t think the others were incapable without him—but he was so worried!
Half-listening, Derek closed his eyes and took several deep breaths. As he sat there, the shock of what just happened hit him.
He had betrayed Team Magma again.
He released Tate, which released Jirachi—a feeling of overwhelming terror took hold of him, and his heart started beating furiously in a panic once more. He hugged himself, his shoulder hurting.
Looking down, he saw several trails of blood soaking his Team Magma hoodie, turning the fabric into a deep red. In the excitement of releasing Tate from base, he had been too overwhelmed to notice the bite marks that Houndoom had left. As the excitement passed, he felt the pain from them for the first time.
Removing his hood and tank top, he examined the wounds and, with his Pokemon’s help, had them bandaged. They weren’t too serious—but they hurt.
Once his bandages were set in place and the flow of blood stopped, he re-dressed into his scrubs, his mind turning over what had just happened and what was about to happen.
He felt bad for leaving Tate, but escorting the boy to a city wouldn’t have done much help—and it would put his Pokemon in danger. No, especially after seeing Maressa and her situation, he didn’t want his Pokemon in any peril, and he didn’t want to be separated from them. The boy was going to be fine.
Derek desperately pushed away the thought of being found out—considering those consequences was gut-wrenching.
And then there was the fact that Team Magma no longer had any control over Jirachi—Derek was willing to bet that the small creature would come after them with a vengeance. He had never seen or experienced the Pokemon’s power and wasn’t too keen on doing so.
But there was nothing to do about it now, he told himself as he inspected Claydol’s wound.
Tomorrow would come, and he would have to face whatever it brought.
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