Sandstorm: A Determined Journey
The ground shook, cracked, and fell from beneath our feet. Before I knew it I was falling, looking towards the ceiling. A dark, ominously powerful ball of energy flew past and crashed into the wall mere inches from where I was previously standing. The wall exploded sending my already free-falling body towards the ground floor with even more force. I hit the floor with astounding ferocity and blacked out from the crash.
I awoke with fire and smoke filling my lungs. I was being carried out by someone running with an extra hop in their step. I realized it was Brock who was carrying me. I started moving and he stopped to put me down. “Smart move having the floor cave in their kid. If you hadn’t of done something we’d have both been dead back there.” I stood up from where Brock had set me down. I was bleeding but nothing seemed broken. He stood saying, “I think we should get moving. The fire department will be here any moment now.”
I nodded and we started moving. I looked behind us and noticed how badly the building was damaged. Fire was erupting from the back side of the building and it seemed to have spread to the research department of the museum. Smoke was billowing out and it seemed as if there was no way we could have escaped that.
I looked into the exit in which we took. The fire was a bright red at first but suddenly started to change. The fire became black and seemed all the more ferocious. Within though, I saw the glow of a pair or red eyes staring back at me. I started to shake. These eyes seemed to pierce the very fabric of my soul. I silently whispered to myself, “Gengar, I will defeat you. Even if it becomes the end of me, I will be victorious.” I turned and Brock and I continued to a safe distance away from the building.
We arrived at a nearby house a block or two away and fell to the ground. By now we could hear the sirens and the fire fighters yelling. “Quickly, get ahold of the Squirtle Squad, this is going to be a long night!” I looked towards the sky and stared at the stars for a little while. After catching my breath I decided to finally break the silence.
“So Brock, since I saved your life and all, I automatically get the Boulder Badge right? I mean, if it wasn’t for me you would have been captured or worse; dead.” I sat up and looked at Brock smiling.
“Nice try kiddo, but no go. I would challenge you to a battle now but unfortunately I have no Pokemon I feel would be of your level. After seeing how you faced DataCore in there I don’t think it’d be fair for me to use this Geodude I just recently caught.”
I laughed and responded. “I wasn’t actually expecting a free badge. I’d feel bad if you gave me one when all the other trainers had to work for theirs. If you wouldn’t mind waiting a day or two so I can recuperate I would love to challenge you to a battle. I feel like I could face your Kabutops when it comes down to it and I am always looking to prove myself. So what do you say, battle in two days?”
Brock looked at me, stroking the little of a goatee that he had and finally said, “You know what, that sounds like a good idea. I think Kabutops might be a little strong for you still but you will have the type advantage with your Wooper so hopefully that makes it a bit more fair of a fight. I will expect you at the gym in two days at noon. There we can see who the better trainer truly is.” Brock stood up, grabbed my hand, and helped me up. “For now though, how about you head to the Pokecenter. You need to heal up and rest a little bit. I’m going to head back to the museum and see if I can help out at all. Have a wonderful evening and thank you for helping me out tonight Amber.”
Brock started walking back towards the museum. I decided he was right and called to Wooper. “Woopsy, you ready to get some sleep?” Wooper came running up from behind the building nodding his head. “Wooper woop, woop!” I started laughing to myself. “Let’s go buddy.”
As we started walking towards the Pokecenter I noticed Larvitar was nowhere to be seen. “Oh crap, Woopsy. Where’d Larvitar go? Did she get hurt? Did she make it out of the building?” As I kept rambling on I heard something behind me. I turned around and looked down. The ground gave way just enough so a little greenish-brown head poked out. “Larvitaaarrrr,” she yawned. I went over and picked her up. “I’m glad you are safe. Let’s go get some rest.”
We walked into the Pokecenter and I put them up to be healed. The nurse behind the counter gave me some problems because Larvitar wasn’t technically mine and it wasn’t in a Pokeball. After complaining for a while she finally took her and Wooper to be healed. While they were off I went over to the corner to check the computer. “I guess I can message mom and tell her I’m still alive,” I thought to myself. The computer turned on and a log in interface popped up. I slid my trainer’s card through the slot and my account appeared on the screen.
As I was sitting there a boy appeared at the counter. He talked to the nurse, handed her his Pokeballs, and stood there waiting for them to finish healing. I recognized him as one of the trainers that was at the stadium for the tournament. I was about to say something but the nurse returned quickly with his Pokeballs and he set out. Next to him were two firemen that were talking about whether or not DataCore was responsible for the fire. I chuckled to myself thinking, “If only you knew.”
After a while the nurse called my name and returned Woopsy and Larvitar to me. We were given a room and we decided it was time to call it a day. I planned to set out early the next morning towards Mt. Moon so I could train a bit with Wooper. I turned my Pokegear on and set an alarm for 6 A.M. I figured that would give me plenty of time to get ready and check out while still making it out before the rush of trainers started. I made a bed for Larvitar and plopped myself onto my own bed. I called out to Wooper who jumped up and snuggled up next to me. “I’m proud of you Woopsy. Thanks for everything tonight.” He inched closer to me and within seconds we were both dreaming.
