Blue's Adventures CH. 1

So there I was, once again, getting chased by the seniors.  Well, the other seniors, anyways.  I had no idea why they kept coming after me, after all, I wasn't an underclassman or anything.  I don't know what they had against me, but I always wound up running from them.  Some of my friends told me to stand up to them instead of running for once.  Really?  Me, being short and scrawny, stand up for myself?  All it got me was a harsher beating than I usually got.  Lost my lunch money, too, as was typical.

I knew there was going to be an ambush on the usual route I took to run from them, which was a little indirect, but it got me back home in one piece.  The alternative wasn't much better, there was only one way around it, really, cutting through a field of tall grass.  Tall grass, no big deal, right?  Except for the fact that it's where wild pokémon lurked.  That's just one of the consequences for living in the suburbs.  Blue skies, fresh air, wild pokémon.

I only had a few seconds to weigh my options, so I opted for the slim chance that the tall grass might make them think twice about continuing to follow me.  I ran into the tall grass, against common sense and all better judgment.  I ran as fast as I could through the grass, which was taller than I was.  I could hear my pursuers still behind me.  The tall grass had only stalled them for a moment.

I ran across a lake in the field, which I had no idea was there before.  I wasn't going any further though, as my legs gave out from under me and I tripped and fell on the rocks, cutting myself in a few places and tumbling to a halt.  I pulled myself up a little, panting and sweating, the dirt sticking to my sweat and clothes.  I got myself up on all fours, trying to regain a little strength.  I head a splash, but I was still seeing blurry.  I had fallen pretty good.  My pursuers caught up with me in a few moments, and I groaned as my vision sharpened a little and I realized they were right there.

“So you really thought that tall grass was going to stop us, huh?”  That was Terry's voice, the leader of the four.  “Slow and steady wins the race, stupid.”

Nobody could deliver a kick quite like Terry could.  It s always bad news.  It didn't matter where he got you, it was going to hut for at least a couple of days.  I was in the process of lifting myself up, but a swift kick to the ribs ended that attempt and landed me back on the ground, curled up in a ball of pain when I landed.  I found out later that I had three broken ribs.

The other three hooted and hollered and laughed as I laid there in fetal position, arms gripping my side, my teeth clenched in pain.  Terry loomed over me.  I couldn't see him, but I could ear him, I could feel his malevolence, I knew he was there.  “You know what, Blue?  You make a better punching and kicking bag than the ones in the gym.”  This time, the kick went to the exposed back side of my thighs.  “You show me just what happens when I kick you!”  I yelped in pain, my body no longer sure which way to curl up from the pain.  I was crying, tears flowing freely from my eye because of the pain.  I just wanted it to stop, I'd never been beaten up this bad before.

Terry crouched by my head.  He spoke in a diplomatically soft tone.  “You know, Blue, if you let me just get one kick in, I'll stop.  Hell, I won't even take your lunch money.  How's that sound to you?  We got a deal?”  He patted me on the shoulder and I nodded.  Sure the next kick would hurt like the dickens, but it would be over and he would leave me my money.  I nodded weakly, bracing myself for a kick to anywhere.  Terry stood up and delivered a hard kick to my gut, which rolled me over, nearly making me puke.  All four of them were laughing and pointing, none of which helped the pain go away.  Everything hurt so badly.

They let me be long enough to come back around from the pain, just enough to let me see clearly and think with some kind of coherence.  I could see them giving each other high fives and mocking me and my pained movements.  I opened my eyes a little more, and I could see Terry pointing to me.  “Take his money and have fun with him.”

My eyes went wide with surprise.  “You sai-” I tried to get in, but he cut me off.  “I said that I wouldn't do anything else to you.  I never said anything about the the others.  I whimpered quietly, watching him laugh as the others closed in on me.  I was propped up on an elbow, but that prop failed as I realized that I had just been betrayed.  The last thing I saw before I closed my eyes in anticipation was Terry giving me a smug smile.

I heard a thunderous plash behind me.

“BLASTOISE!”

All four of them yelled in surprise and scrambled to run away.  A couple of them fell, screaming in fear.  All I could do in my state was curl back up in a ball and prepare for the worst the blastoise had to offer.  Enraged pokémon didn't leave too many survivors when they felt their territory was being encroached.

“BLASTOISE!”

The cry resounded again, spurring the two that had fallen to even greater efforts to get back up and run away with their comrades.  I heard the pebbles on the beach clatter as they skittered off, back into the tall grass.  I heard the blastoise wade out of the lake and make its way over to me.  I was crying from a combination of fear, pain, and confusion.  Mostly the first two, though.  Though the last one was going to get worse really fast.

“Relax, mister, Dad scared 'em off, you're safe now.”  The voice sounded like a little girl, but what she said didn't add up.  In truth, it sounded almost exactly like my dead little sister used to sound.  I had no idea what was going on, and it took a minute for my crying to stop enough for me to focus back on reality.  Dad?  I thought pokémon only spoke in their natural calls.  Bewildered, I opened my eyes slowly, which focused on a squirtle who was standing in front of me. She was smiling, and reached out to pat my head to reassure me.

Completely baffled, I spoke, my voice hoarse and pained.  “Why can I understand you?” I said, struggling to breathe as little as possible.  The blastoise chanted and cooed in its call, none of which I could understand.  “And why can't I understand that?” I added, trying to figure it all out.

The squirtle giggled.  She really did sound almost exactly like my little sister did to me.  “That means we're supposed to be together!  Silly, you didn't know that?”  I shook my head.  I wasn't exactly a pokémon trainer and didn't have much of a clue other than they had something to do with pokéballs.  “I don't even know what that means.” I replied.

I carefully sat myself back up, my thighs and gut still stinging and aching.  The blastoise was making its noises again, having previously seated itself nearby, talking to the squirtle.  The young pokémon came over and sat beside me, the blastoise rising and wading back into the lake, vanishing below the surface.

“Daddy used to have a trainer.  He had a special bond with his trainer, and they could talk, just like we are now!”  She seemed genuinely enthusiastic and excited that she could talk with me, which was simultaneously comforting and confusing.  I winced as pain shot through my ribs and interrupted my thought process for a moment.  Once the pain subsided, I looked over to my new companion and asked weakly “So what, that makes me your trainer now?”  She nodded vigorously.

I sighed, wincing as I did, ruminating over this.  So now, because I have a special bond with a squirtle, I was a pokémon trainer.  Not the career path I had initially planned for myself, I was aiming for lawyer, but what was I going to say to her, no?  I couldn't have done that.  I looked back to my little companion and let out a pensive breath, shrugging slightly.  “I guess this means I'll have to use that pokéball I have after all, huh?”

She clapped excitedly.  “I get my own pokéball?  Yay!  Ooh, can I decorate it?  Pleeease?  The red and white thing is just not me.”  Even though it hurt, I had to chuckle a little bit.  “I suppose.  Sure, why not, it can't hurt, right?”  She clapped again excitedly, and I couldn't help but smile.

“You know, I always thought people fought and captured their pokemon, not ran into them and made friends, like this.”  I'll admit that at that point, while I was more concerned about my ribs, there was a nagging though in the back of my mind that I just might wind up with a pink and sparkly pokeball.  Not my thing, but hey, I told her she could.

She waved a hand... paw?  Whatever was on the end of a pokemon forelimb, hand works.  “Daddy says that happens a lot, but sometimes there's a special bond and it doesn't need to happen at all!”  She nodded, confirming herself, then continued with the same chipper tone.  “So what's my name gonna be, hm?” she asked energetically.  I raised an eyebrow.  “But you don't even know my name.” I replied.

“Well then tell me your name then tell me mine!  Daddy said that all the best trainers gave their pokemon names.”  So she rolled the proverbial ball into my court.  She sounded so much like my sister, even had the same perky and happy attitude, I thought it would be fitting if I gave her that name.  I sighed a little bit, even though it hurt to breathe much.

“Well, my name is Daniel, but all my friends call me Blue.”  I paused, and she smiled and nodded.  “And I suppose I'll call you Mesma.”  She got up and hugged my arm happily, quite excited about her new name.  “I like my name!” she exclaimed.  “Is it a special name?  Does it mean something important?”  I nodded.  “It was my sister's name.  She died a few years ago, and you kind of remind me of her.”

Mesma cooed.  “Aww, well you got me to hang out with now!”  I smiled, the pain from my ribs dulled by our conversation.  “Don't worry, daddy already said I could come with you.  Are we gonna go get my pokeball now?”  I let out a shallow sigh of relief and nodded.  That was nice to know, that I wasn't going to have to pit myself against that blastoise.  I also realized that I really needed to get home and get some medical attention.

“All right.  I need to get to a hospital anyways.  Terry did a number on my ribs, and my gut hurts.”  Mesma did her best to help me up, steadying my poor balance a couple of times.  I never knew that standing up could hurt so much.  My hamstrings throbbed, I could feel the bruises developing on the back of my legs.  My ribs stung and burned with every movement, and my guts ached.

It took me a minute, but I got back up.  I lead Mesma back through the tall grass the way that I came, albeit much slower than my initial run through the grass.  I could see a few pokemon crawling around in the tall grass, but none of them approached us.  I didn't know why they didn't, but I wasn't complaining.  One less thing for me to worry about.  Every step I took made my whole body hurt, but I had to get back out and get to at least home.

I parted the last of the tall grass and found Terry and the other three waiting for me.  They seemed like they were ready to lay another beating on me, but when Mesma came out from behind my legs, they froze.  She seemed to understand that they were more afraid of her than the other way around, and she shouted, sending the four of them scattering.  I looked down to her and she looked up to me, and we both laughed, granted I didn't laugh for quite as long.

The rest of the walk home was uneventful.  I think I ran across a couple of trainers; a couple of people gave me and Mesma a smile.

I opened the door and my mom turned to face me from the kitchen.  She shouted in surprise, seeing me all beaten up as I was.  “Daniel!  Oh my god, what happened to you?”  She walked over to me quickly, but before she could put her arms around me, I stopped her, raising my hand up a little bit.  I didn't want a hug with broken ribs.  “Easy mom, I think I have some broken ribs.”

She stopped and nodded, placing her hands on my shoulders.  “Baby, are you okay?  What happened?  Who did this to you?”  I winced, some of the pain starting to come back.  Mesma kept quiet, staying behind me so as not to startle my mom.  “It wasn't that Terry character again, was it?”

I felt my stomach cramp a little more than it already was.  I was hoping that she hadn't found about Terry, that it would just stay quiet and I wouldn't make a bigger enemy than I already had, but the jug was up, and I had to come clean.  “Yeah, mom, it was.”  I felt a little defeated, but in my mind I was wondering if it just might get Terry sent to another district.  “They got me good this time around.  I think I need to go to the hospital.”

My mother looked out the window and scowled, presumably at an imagined Terry.  She looked back to me with her usual comforting smile and finally let go of my shoulders.  “Daniel, how did you get away from those kids?  You had to have been outnumbered to get beaten up this bad.  What happened?”  She walked back over to what she was doing, wrapping it up so she could take me to the hospital.

I smiled, looking down to my new friend briefly.  “Mesma saved me, mom.”

I watched her drop the plates she was carrying and scramble to keep them from falling on the floor.  “W- what?  Mesma?”  I was still smiling as she turned to me slowly, her face a little pale.  I waved my new friend around to stand in front of me and introduced her.  “Mom, this is Mesma.  She convinced her dad, who's a blastoise, to scare the other kids off.  It turns out we've got a special bond, and since she reminded me of sis a lot, I decide to give her Mesma's name.”

My mother's first reaction to Mesma was fear, but when she saw that Mesma was docile and heard how she saved me, she seemed to calm down and warm up to the fact.  She put down the dishes and walked over, crouching to get as close to Mesma's height as she could.  “Well then, Mesma, I think you'll fit in just fine here.  Anyone who is willing to stick up for Daniel here deserves kindness in turn.”  My mom smiled up to me and stood, giving me a very soft pat on the shoulder.  “You take care of Mesma, Daniel.  This might be as close to another chance at a sister as you get.”

I smiled.  “Don't you worry, mom.  I'll take great care of Mesma.  Her dad was a trainer's pokémon, and she's taught me a lot about it already.  I know at least a little bit what I'm doing.”  I nodded, confirming that fact.  “But in all seriousness, I really think I need to get to the hospital soon, mom.”

My mother seemed to realize this all over again and hurried up her efforts.  “Mom, I'll be right back.  I'm going to get Mesma her pokéball.  The one Gramps gave me last year for Christmas.”  She nodded and shot me a brief glance.  “Be quick, I don't want you waiting longer than you have to.”

I looked down to Mesma, who seemed pretty excited to have her pokéball, and waved her along.  I brought her into my room and pulled the custom pokéball off the display that my grandfather gave me.  It was blue and white, unlike the typical red and white pokéballs that most everyone else had.  He had gotten it for me in the hope that I would get a pokémon for myself.  I kind of wished that he was still around to meet Mesma.

“Okay, Mesma, here's your pokéball.  You like it?”  I showed her the blue and white orb, and she seemed to be overjoyed.  “How did you know!?” she exclaimed, brilliantly excited about the color scheme.  “I was going to paint it blue, just like this, but you already have a blue pokéball!”  She handed it back to me and hugged my leg.  “Blue, you're the best!”  I patted her head as best I could with as little bending as possible.

I was going to ask how on earth the things worked, but it seemed that she already knew.  She tossed it up in the air over her head, pushing the button on it just before letting go.  It made an activation sound, then when it was just about to hit her on the head, it instead paused in midair and I watched Mesma turn to energy and go into the pokéball.  It shut itself, and when it landed, the button blinked red a few times, then green once.  It had successfully “captured” a pokémon, and that was the indication.

I looked up at the display, thought about it for a moment, then picked up the belt and put it on.  It had six pokéball holders, a typical adventuring party for a seasoned trainer.  Well, I had to start somewhere, right?  I picked up Mesma's pokéball and put it in the belt, feeling secure and reinforced somehow.  Maybe that was the feeling that trainers had that made them go and do the amazing things that they do.

My mom called out to me.  “Daniel!  Are you ready yet?”  I looked in the mirror for a brief moment and grinned at how awesome I thought I looked with my belt and pokéball.  “Coming, mom!” I called back, then doubled over as I walked back out of my room, my ribs reminding me that they were broken.

“It's nice to see you've finally found a use for that set your grandfather gave you, honey.” my mom said as I got into the car.  She closed the doors carefully and we made our way off to the hospital, taking the smoothest route possible.  Not that she didn't try, but it really hurt to even go on a car ride.  It was like I could feel every little imperfection in the asphalt road through the tires or something.

The wait at the ER was pretty quick.  When they saw how bad off I was, they got me into triage in no time flat, then I was wheeled away, off to be bombarded with all manner of x-rays and MRI equipment.  They must not have noticed my belt until I got to the x-ray room or something.  The nurse was nice enough though.

“Son, I can't have you wearing that for the x-ray.” he said kindly.  “I can hold onto it for you if you want, but x-rays will hurt and possibly kill most pokémon when they're in a pokéball.”  I raised my eyebrows in alarm and undid the belt, handing it to him.  He took it behind the wall shielding and hung it up where I could see it.  Once he had, he came back over and helped me out of my shoes.

“I saw you've only got one there.  Just starting out as a trainer?  Or do you breed?” he asked curiously.  I shrugged a bit, not really knowing much about the whole thing.  I'd never heard of breeding before.  “I guess you could say I'm a brand new trainer.  That's my first pokémon, I found her earlier this afternoon.”

The nurse paused, standing up up with a quizzical expression on his face.  “Found?  You know that stealing other peoples' pokémon is a crime, right?”  He didn't seem to believe me, but at the same time didn't want to be part of a theft.  I grinned and waved my hand.  “No, I didn't steal it.  I found Mesma while I was getting beaten up.  Or rather she found me.”

The nurse's face warmed instantly.  “I know the feeling, kiddo.”  He took my shoes and put them with my belt, then spoke into the microphone that was in the booth.  “All right, Daniel, just stand still for a moment, and you'll be all set.  We're going to take three shots, okay?”  I nodded and the machine whirred and hummed.  Three clicks and it was done, I had my x-rays taken of my chest.

“That was fast.” I commented.  The nurse nodded and brought me back out my things.  “It is pretty quick.  X-rays have come a long way from when I was a kid.”  He handed me my shoes first, then my belt.  I went to take it back, but he held on to it for a moment before letting go, as if to get my attention.  “Look, kid,” he started, “if you want some help getting started with training your pokémon, come find me.  I work second shift here, and my name is Nurse Robinson.”  I smiled and nodded, taking my belt and putting it back on.

“I know exactly what happened to you today, kiddo.  Not because I was there or I talked to your mom.  I was in the same position once, myself.  Jerry and I have been partners ever since then.”  I smiled, happy that I wasn't the only one who had ever been through that.  “Mesma and I are going to be best friends for a long time.”

I was wheeled out of the x-ray room by another nurse, and was brought to a full-body MRI scanner.  I had to keep Mesma out of it, since the magnetic field would ruin the pokéball, but it was going to be okay.  I found someone who was willing to teach me, and that was the most exciting part of the day.

It took about three more hours, during which I wound up in a big chest cast, before the doctor came out to my mom and I and sat down with us and told us just what was going on with me.

“Ma'am, Daniel, my name is doctor Korov.  I am the lead pediatrician for your son's case today.”  He put a few papers on the table we were at, which lit up so we could see the x-rays and whatnot.

“As you can see here, Daniel has three broken ribs.  He is lucky that his lungs weren't punctured, though some of the outer lining is cut.  His legs are badly bruised from behind, and he will need to undergo some physical therapy until the blood vessels repair themselves properly.”

I looked to my mom and smiled, and she patted me on the shoulder, then looked to the doctor.  “That's all that's wrong with him?  Wow, Daniel, you got lucky.”  The doctor sighed and pursed his lips briefly, which got my mom's attention really quick.

“Unfortunately, that was the good news.  The bad news is that your son's appendix is badly damages, and if we do not remove it, it may explode and kill him.  In addition, there are approximately five feet of small intestine and three feet of large intestine that were so badly damaged that they atrophied.  It wouldn't have made a difference if he had gotten here earlier, the tissue would have needed to have been removed anyways.”

I looked back up to my mom, who was pale.  I put my hand on Mesma's pokéball and felt a little bit reassured.  My mom stammered a little, then managed to get her sentence out.  “So my son needs surgery?  Is it risky?  What's going to happen to him?”  She was going to go on and on, I could tell, but the doctor put a hand up and she stopped.

“Ma'am, the procedures your son is going to undergo are all very well-practiced procedures, and the complication rates are two of the lowest of all surgeries.  Appendectomies happen much more often than you might think, especially in athletes and older people.  Removing segments of the intestines is a bit rarer, but the procedures are very well documented, supervised, and performed to the highest of standards.  I assure you, with my name and my career, your son is going to be in good hands with me.”

She seemed a bit relieved that I was actually going to be all right.  Honestly, so did I.  She paused for a minute, then asked “Is my insurance going to cover this?  I don't have a lot of coverage, and if he-”  Again the doctor mercifully cut her off before she could get on a ramble.

“Ma'am, the procedures are going to be completely covered by your insurance.  Your son might not know it, but he has already filed a report with the police, as we are required to do in all assault cases.  Given that the medical evidence is overwhelming here, I think you might actually make out I the positive here.  Money is going to be the last of your worries.”

That seemed to calm her again.  I looked up to her from my wheelchair and patted her hand.  “Mom, I'm going to be all right.  You'll see.”  I took off my belt and handed it up to her.  “Take good care of Mesma, okay?”  She nodded and looked to the doctor.  The doctor motioned to one of the nurses, who wheeled me away to get my anesthetics.

All I can say is that being doped for surgery gives you some pretty messed up dreams.

When I woke up, I wasn't in nearly as much pain, but I was also apparently on a morphine drip.  My mom was sitting beside me, and Mesma's pokéball was still in my belt, hanging right next to my head.  I groaned at the fact that I realized that I had a catheter in, and my mom woke up from her nap.

“Oh, honey, thank goodness you're up.” she said, groggily.  Apparently, Mesma wasn't in her pokéball, and I could hear her cheering.  “Yay!  Blue, you're awake!  We were worried about you.”  She trotted over to the side of my bed and I reached down weakly to pat her on the head.  “There was a chancey that explained everything to me, and I was worried, but I'm happy now!”  Yup, Mesma was the right name for her.

“Yes, I'm going to be fine, Mesma.  The drugs have me really exhausted though.  I don't know how much longer I'm going to be awake for.”  She nodded and hopped up on a chair beside me, opposite my mom.  I looked over to my mom and asked wearily “How long has Mesma been out of her pokéball, mom?”

She shrugged, thinking to herself at how long it had been.  “Quite a while, really.  Once they admitted you to the OR, I opened up her pokéball and tried t explain the situation to her, but I needed an interpreter.  Luckily there was a chancey wandering about who could read, and explained the situation to Mesma.”

I nodded and put my head back down.  “Mom, can you have them bring my school work here?  I want to be a trainer now, but I want to finish high school first.  I think that's what gramps was hoping for when he gave me the gift.”

My mom patted my hand, and the last thing I heard her say before I passed out was “You make me proud with your decisions, Daniel.  I'll make sure your schoolwork gets to you.”

And then I passed out.