Post by Nadir on Jun 3, 2008 16:11:22 GMT 12
I'm hoping people can give me some opinions on this. It's a small part of chapter 3 from my fic (Until my Finest Hour).
This bit is with James/Erika/Meowth. After that, it goes...
->May -> Ash -> Closing stuff
I have someone I can send it to for spelling/grammar, but I'm wondering if people can tell me what they think with regards to the following:
1) Is it interesting or dry?
2) How is the pace?
3) How is the characterization?
4) Does it make sense?
and any other comments you might have. Thanks in advance. Here it is:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was past midnight when Erika, together with James, reached Fuschia city. The moment she was free from the confines of that cramped, stuffy beater of a car, she savored the cool night air. It was so fresh and liberating. Then there was the view.
From where Erika stood, Fuschia gradually slopped downhill. Homes and commercial buildings were lined neatly in rows all the way down until they reached the harbor. It was well lit, and in the distance she could see the vague shapes of incoming ships.
But do commercial vessels run this late?
As though reading her mind, James cleared his throat from behind. “Looks like you’ll have to wait until morning to leave. Why don’t you stay at Rocket H.Q for the night?”
Erika turned to face James, drawing back the hood of her over-sized coat. “I can’t help but think you timed our arrival to be this late.”
“What? Why would I do something like that?”
“So you can try to convince me to become a criminal again?” Erika offered, folding her arms. Her gaze wandered off to the forests westward. Koga’s gym was somewhere inside. Is he as troubled as I am right now? she thought idly.
“Hey, I’m just trying to be a gentleman here! You’re trying to keep a low profile, remember? You can’t just go to a hotel.”
Erika opened her mouth to argue, but she had to concede. The man had a point whether she liked it or not, so she closed her eyes and held her chin high.
“Very well. However—“
James looked past Erika, his eyes trailing low on the ground.
“You made it, Meowth.”
A Meowth walking on its hind legs sauntered over, picking at its whiskers with what looked to be a sense of self-satisfaction. “Course I made it, and with good info to boot,” he boasted. The feline cocked its head to the side and looked Erika from head to toe. “Who’s she?”
Erika shifted in her gigantic jacket. To hear a Pokemon speak plain English left her a little stunned, but she pulled back her hood and gave a slight bow all the same.
“This is Erika,” James whispered. His eyes darted left to right suspiciously. “Not here. Let’s talk about this ‘great info’ at our base.”
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Much to Erika’s dismay, the so-called ‘Rocket H.Q’ was nothing more than a run-down shack on the outskirts of the city. The windows were cracked, the electricity was cut, and the door looked ready to fall off its hinges. Were it not for the coat James had given her—something to keep her from being recognized—she would certainly be getting goosebumps.
One by one, candles were lit and scattered around the room on any surface that was flat and stable. It was hardly well-lit, but they’d be able to see one another at least.
James and Meowth looked to her expectantly when they sat at the table, even sliding out a chair for her. Erika accepted the invitation to humor them—but the thought of becoming a criminal was still not something she would entertain.
“So what’s this info?” James said. “And why isn’t Cassidy with you?”
“Nyeh, you aren’t gonna believe this, but…” Meowth abruptly stopped, glancing in Erika’s direction.
“Its fine, she won’t tell anyone. We can trust her.”
Erika lifted an eyebrow curiously.
Meowth went on.
“Okay, so we get to Cinnabar Island to find this Blaine guy. We couldn’t find him no where, I tell ya. But then I remembered that time the twerp battled him in that Volcano, so me and Cassidy go to check it out. We found him alright, but…”
“What?” James prompted.
“He was dead! Bam!” Meowth shouted.
Erika gave a start. A gym leader dead? Was it the same people that were after her?
“He’s lyin’ there on a rock, an’ his skins all red from the heat, but it wasn’t no accident. Someone put a bullet in his head! So right around then, we were figuring we outta high tail it, right? He can’t exactly become a Rocket anymore, only then things really turned crazy!”
By now Erika’s heart was pounding wildly in her chest, and from the look on James face, she wasn’t the only one.
“They musta came right around when we went in the Volcano, cuz when we came out they were everywhere: in the water, on the streets, above ground. We thought it was Origin Zero at first, but it turned out to be Johto. I never seen nothin’ like it. None of the Cinnabar ships were movin’ either. Cassidy says it was sabotage.”
“W-Wait!” Erika stammered, rising swiftly from her seat. “You’re saying Cinnabar has been overthrown? How can that be?”
James concurred. “I don’t understand. Even on the road, we picked up newspapers everyday to keep up. How is this not all over the news?”
Meowth shrugged. “Yeah, well, me an’ Cassidy talked about that on the way back—and let me tell you, if we didn’t have our Karp Sub hidden, we’d of never gotten off that island alive—but she thinks they’re using it as a…hmm, what did she call it? A launching ground?”
James furrowed his eyebrows. “A launching ground?”
“Yeppers. The news did mention Cinnabar. They said accordin’ to the city mayor, the Volcano erupted and it ain’t safe for no one to come to the island. Disaster relief is s’posed to be comin’ from the mainland, but their stretched thin, so it’ll be a few days.”
Erika slowly lowered herself into her chair. “But the volcano, that’s a lie, isn’t it?”
“Sure is. Cassidy says some more naval forces will come from Johto and mix with them guys already at Cinnabar. Once they’re ready, they’ll launch em’ from there and catch Kanto with their pants down, if ya get my drift.”
Silence settled for a time after. Erika felt numb. If she followed everything Meowth had been saying so far, then not only are the people of Cinnabar dead or prisoner, but another attack was to come. Where? Where will they attack?
There were so many possibilities.
“This is…too much,” Erika muttered weakly.
James suddenly rose from his seat, his face an expressionless mask. He crossed the room to an old chest and broke into a coughing fit when a cloud of dust rose from opening it. Erika only watched, eager to see what he was looking for. She hoped a solution, but nothing as small as the contents of a chest could stop something as big as an army.
“This,” he said finally, opening up a map. James set it on the table and began running his fingers along the edge until he touched Cinnabar.
“You plannin’ somethin’?” Meowth said.
James frowned and ran his finger east towards the Seafoam islands.
“These islands are usually covered in mist. It doesn’t spread out that far, but if Johto used Pokemon to create mist closer to shore, would anyone think it that strange?”
Meowth stroked his whiskers thoughtfully.
“So you think they’re comin’ to Fuschia?”
“Maybe, but they could have other things in mind.” James answered. He set his hand back on Cinnabar and moved it north-east, running it through the bridge between routes seventeen and eighteen until it reached Vermillion. “The bridge would be an obstacle for their larger vessels, but submarines and underwater Pokemon could slip through here. If they were fast enough, Vermillion wouldn’t know until the first hit came.”
James moved his hand back to its starter position. As he considered his third possibility, the hand ran to Pallet and he froze.
“Pallet, population zero. Not exactly prime target material,” Meowth quipped.
James jostled suddenly then went on until he touched Viridian. “The only way this could happen is if they traveled along the coast, going past Pallet. They’d be spotted quickly, and there’s already a big military presence in the area since it’s close to the border. It’ll be Fuschia or Vermillion—or both. They can’t keep this volcano ruse up for long either.”
Erika swallowed a lump in her throat. It was hard to stay composed.
“W-when…will they come?”
“Well, this was about a day or so ago, an’ it takes somethin’ like 6 hours to go from Cinnabar to here by sea, so, ehh—“
“It could be minutes away for all we know,” James said dejectedly. “Maybe they’ll wait until tomorrow. Maybe.”
Erika folded her hands gently into her lap. They were shaking. “What will you do, James?”
The man’s only response was a drawn out sigh.
Meowth snorted. “Ain’t it obvious? We run away so we can live to fight another day!”
And suddenly with the notion of retreat—of leaving countless people to die without even attempting to help—Erika’s calm shattered.
“No! I can’t accept that! I won’t! James!” she snapped, fixating her glare, “You’ve tried to convince me that yours is a group with morals working to protect Kanto. How can I believe that when you’ll let this happen?!”
James slammed his fist onto the table hard and rose, knocking his chair over behind him.
Meowth was quick to blow out the set of candles on the table before they finished tipping over.
“Let this happen? If I could stop it, I’d do it in a second! I told you we were a small group, didn’t I? So how would we stop such a large invasion? And what if it’s happening in two different places? Then what?!”
Erika took a deep breath in an effort to put a reign on her emotions. Now wasn’t the time for a shouting match. Her point had to be made, and made clearly.
“We could send word to Vermillion, and here in Fuschia, we could let the mayor know. He could evacuate people and call in the army. We could go to Koga for help. We can make a difference, if you’ll at least try.”
“Don’t be absurd,” James said. “Remember: the government of Kanto can’t be trusted. They have people from Origin Zero in their ranks. They wanted Pallet to be destroyed, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted this to happen too.”
“Yeah, didn’t you know? Oz got the wheels of this here war rollin’,” Meowth said pointedly.
Erika gave a start. “Excuse me? Wasn’t it Johto that struck first? James, why am I only hearing this now?” she looked up at James expectantly and he sighed.
“I wasn’t trying to hide it, but you looked like you didn’t believe me when I told you about the spies. I didn’t think you’d believe me on this. I still don’t, really…”
Meowth leaned forward in his chair, waving a hand dramatically.
“Let me set the stage: it’s a little over a year ago and things are peachy between Kanto and Johto. Our ‘friends’ to the west are gearing up for elections and a man from out of nowhere puts his name on the ballot as an independent. No one knows much of anythin’ about him, but apparently he was a consultant or somethin’ for the last president. Worked behind the scenes, or so it was said.”
“Boy did he become popular fast! The first time an independent had a legitimate chance of winnin’, ya know. But there was a nasty rumor too. Kanto picked up some information on this fella. Apparently he was also part of the most powerful criminal group in the region, a fierce rival of our old boss’s. He didn’t like Team Rocket or Kanto one bit. That was all run by Johto’s former government, but no one took them allegations seriously, ‘specially since we never said where the info came from.”
“Election day comes, and big surprise, this fella wins. A few weeks later, President Philmar is a hit, but he ain’t liked ‘round here. All these convenient studies keep on poppin’ up, sayin’ our meat has madtank or our products got lead. Suddenly a whole laundry list of products can’t cross the border!”
“That wasn’t all,” James added. “Funding was pulled from joint projects between Kanto and Johto. People were being murdered everyday—members of Team Rocket, but not the ones who wear the uniforms. The more…inconspicuous ones.”
“Like judges and cops,” Meowth nodded. “Info from the boss’ old computer said Johto Foreign Affairs was profiling all them people right before they bought the farm, and it looks like Kanto had the same info.”
From here, James continued the story. He was more soft-spoken and less flippant—Erika preferred hearing it from him.
“Every year, leaders from all over the world gather at the United Summit to discuss world issues. During the last summit, President Philmar was shot. When the assassin was caught, it was revealed that he apparently worked for Kanto Security Agency. It was all over the news. Right around then, our boss disappeared too.”
“I remember reading about this,” Erika said. She closed her eyes in thought. “Kanto was blamed, but denied any part in this. The next day, the presidential building was bombed. Everyone assumed Johto did it—that the vice-president-turned-president acted hastily.”
“Ha!” Meowth laughed. “Know what we think? The assassination of Philmar and the bombing the next day? Both Oz.”
Erika gasped. “You’re saying that Oz instigated this war by pinning acts of aggression on our governments?”
James’ expression turned grim. “They did more than just those two things. It was tit-for-tat after that, with one act after another. Oz only needed to do a few before both nations really were going at it. And then…Erika, do you remember what happened before war was officially declared?”
“I do,” Erika nodded slowly. “Kanto called a peace conference and Johto agreed, but before both sides sat down to talk, Pallet was…” she shook her head. “Did Oz destroy Pallet?”
Erika instantly thought of Ash. A mere few days had passed since then, but with all that had happened—all that was still happening—it really felt a lot longer. That young man, once so kind and innocent left to walk the streets with no home or family. What was he doing now? Was he okay?
James had grown silent again. He’d suffered too. Trying to save Pallet cost him someone dear. That’s when it occurred to Erika—maybe he was afraid of losing another. She looked to Meowth. He was just as silent.
“I think I understand,” Erika said slowly. “Origin Zero precipitated this war, and whether they were involved with Pallet or not, negotiations still broke down. I do not know why, but it seems they want this war to go on. If all of this is true, then we really can’t look outside the walls of Fuschia for help. But even still, I want you to understand me James. If this city really is slated for destruction, I can’t simply turn my back and run away. I’m going to stay here and do all that I can.”
James only stared back blankly. It was a full ten seconds later he finally moved, lowering his head into his sands and taking a long, drawn-out breath. He was fighting with himself over what to do, and when he spoke, his voice was full of mirth and resignation alike.
“This is insane. There are only three of us. Thirteen Pokemon total. With Team Rocket broken up, we can’t charge a giant Pokemon-shaped war machine on the company card anymore. Even if we got every able trainer in this city together, we’d still be outnumbered. This city isn’t equipped to repel an attack. Kanto’s military force is over-concentrated at the border. We don’t know exactly when they will come, we don’t know how many, and we don’t know what their strategy will be. Meowth, did I miss anything?”
Meowth shrugged. “Even if you did, those reasons alone make us screwed.”
“Then we’d better come up with one hell of a plan, and fast.”
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This bit is with James/Erika/Meowth. After that, it goes...
->May -> Ash -> Closing stuff
I have someone I can send it to for spelling/grammar, but I'm wondering if people can tell me what they think with regards to the following:
1) Is it interesting or dry?
2) How is the pace?
3) How is the characterization?
4) Does it make sense?
and any other comments you might have. Thanks in advance. Here it is:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was past midnight when Erika, together with James, reached Fuschia city. The moment she was free from the confines of that cramped, stuffy beater of a car, she savored the cool night air. It was so fresh and liberating. Then there was the view.
From where Erika stood, Fuschia gradually slopped downhill. Homes and commercial buildings were lined neatly in rows all the way down until they reached the harbor. It was well lit, and in the distance she could see the vague shapes of incoming ships.
But do commercial vessels run this late?
As though reading her mind, James cleared his throat from behind. “Looks like you’ll have to wait until morning to leave. Why don’t you stay at Rocket H.Q for the night?”
Erika turned to face James, drawing back the hood of her over-sized coat. “I can’t help but think you timed our arrival to be this late.”
“What? Why would I do something like that?”
“So you can try to convince me to become a criminal again?” Erika offered, folding her arms. Her gaze wandered off to the forests westward. Koga’s gym was somewhere inside. Is he as troubled as I am right now? she thought idly.
“Hey, I’m just trying to be a gentleman here! You’re trying to keep a low profile, remember? You can’t just go to a hotel.”
Erika opened her mouth to argue, but she had to concede. The man had a point whether she liked it or not, so she closed her eyes and held her chin high.
“Very well. However—“
James looked past Erika, his eyes trailing low on the ground.
“You made it, Meowth.”
A Meowth walking on its hind legs sauntered over, picking at its whiskers with what looked to be a sense of self-satisfaction. “Course I made it, and with good info to boot,” he boasted. The feline cocked its head to the side and looked Erika from head to toe. “Who’s she?”
Erika shifted in her gigantic jacket. To hear a Pokemon speak plain English left her a little stunned, but she pulled back her hood and gave a slight bow all the same.
“This is Erika,” James whispered. His eyes darted left to right suspiciously. “Not here. Let’s talk about this ‘great info’ at our base.”
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Much to Erika’s dismay, the so-called ‘Rocket H.Q’ was nothing more than a run-down shack on the outskirts of the city. The windows were cracked, the electricity was cut, and the door looked ready to fall off its hinges. Were it not for the coat James had given her—something to keep her from being recognized—she would certainly be getting goosebumps.
One by one, candles were lit and scattered around the room on any surface that was flat and stable. It was hardly well-lit, but they’d be able to see one another at least.
James and Meowth looked to her expectantly when they sat at the table, even sliding out a chair for her. Erika accepted the invitation to humor them—but the thought of becoming a criminal was still not something she would entertain.
“So what’s this info?” James said. “And why isn’t Cassidy with you?”
“Nyeh, you aren’t gonna believe this, but…” Meowth abruptly stopped, glancing in Erika’s direction.
“Its fine, she won’t tell anyone. We can trust her.”
Erika lifted an eyebrow curiously.
Meowth went on.
“Okay, so we get to Cinnabar Island to find this Blaine guy. We couldn’t find him no where, I tell ya. But then I remembered that time the twerp battled him in that Volcano, so me and Cassidy go to check it out. We found him alright, but…”
“What?” James prompted.
“He was dead! Bam!” Meowth shouted.
Erika gave a start. A gym leader dead? Was it the same people that were after her?
“He’s lyin’ there on a rock, an’ his skins all red from the heat, but it wasn’t no accident. Someone put a bullet in his head! So right around then, we were figuring we outta high tail it, right? He can’t exactly become a Rocket anymore, only then things really turned crazy!”
By now Erika’s heart was pounding wildly in her chest, and from the look on James face, she wasn’t the only one.
“They musta came right around when we went in the Volcano, cuz when we came out they were everywhere: in the water, on the streets, above ground. We thought it was Origin Zero at first, but it turned out to be Johto. I never seen nothin’ like it. None of the Cinnabar ships were movin’ either. Cassidy says it was sabotage.”
“W-Wait!” Erika stammered, rising swiftly from her seat. “You’re saying Cinnabar has been overthrown? How can that be?”
James concurred. “I don’t understand. Even on the road, we picked up newspapers everyday to keep up. How is this not all over the news?”
Meowth shrugged. “Yeah, well, me an’ Cassidy talked about that on the way back—and let me tell you, if we didn’t have our Karp Sub hidden, we’d of never gotten off that island alive—but she thinks they’re using it as a…hmm, what did she call it? A launching ground?”
James furrowed his eyebrows. “A launching ground?”
“Yeppers. The news did mention Cinnabar. They said accordin’ to the city mayor, the Volcano erupted and it ain’t safe for no one to come to the island. Disaster relief is s’posed to be comin’ from the mainland, but their stretched thin, so it’ll be a few days.”
Erika slowly lowered herself into her chair. “But the volcano, that’s a lie, isn’t it?”
“Sure is. Cassidy says some more naval forces will come from Johto and mix with them guys already at Cinnabar. Once they’re ready, they’ll launch em’ from there and catch Kanto with their pants down, if ya get my drift.”
Silence settled for a time after. Erika felt numb. If she followed everything Meowth had been saying so far, then not only are the people of Cinnabar dead or prisoner, but another attack was to come. Where? Where will they attack?
There were so many possibilities.
“This is…too much,” Erika muttered weakly.
James suddenly rose from his seat, his face an expressionless mask. He crossed the room to an old chest and broke into a coughing fit when a cloud of dust rose from opening it. Erika only watched, eager to see what he was looking for. She hoped a solution, but nothing as small as the contents of a chest could stop something as big as an army.
“This,” he said finally, opening up a map. James set it on the table and began running his fingers along the edge until he touched Cinnabar.
“You plannin’ somethin’?” Meowth said.
James frowned and ran his finger east towards the Seafoam islands.
“These islands are usually covered in mist. It doesn’t spread out that far, but if Johto used Pokemon to create mist closer to shore, would anyone think it that strange?”
Meowth stroked his whiskers thoughtfully.
“So you think they’re comin’ to Fuschia?”
“Maybe, but they could have other things in mind.” James answered. He set his hand back on Cinnabar and moved it north-east, running it through the bridge between routes seventeen and eighteen until it reached Vermillion. “The bridge would be an obstacle for their larger vessels, but submarines and underwater Pokemon could slip through here. If they were fast enough, Vermillion wouldn’t know until the first hit came.”
James moved his hand back to its starter position. As he considered his third possibility, the hand ran to Pallet and he froze.
“Pallet, population zero. Not exactly prime target material,” Meowth quipped.
James jostled suddenly then went on until he touched Viridian. “The only way this could happen is if they traveled along the coast, going past Pallet. They’d be spotted quickly, and there’s already a big military presence in the area since it’s close to the border. It’ll be Fuschia or Vermillion—or both. They can’t keep this volcano ruse up for long either.”
Erika swallowed a lump in her throat. It was hard to stay composed.
“W-when…will they come?”
“Well, this was about a day or so ago, an’ it takes somethin’ like 6 hours to go from Cinnabar to here by sea, so, ehh—“
“It could be minutes away for all we know,” James said dejectedly. “Maybe they’ll wait until tomorrow. Maybe.”
Erika folded her hands gently into her lap. They were shaking. “What will you do, James?”
The man’s only response was a drawn out sigh.
Meowth snorted. “Ain’t it obvious? We run away so we can live to fight another day!”
And suddenly with the notion of retreat—of leaving countless people to die without even attempting to help—Erika’s calm shattered.
“No! I can’t accept that! I won’t! James!” she snapped, fixating her glare, “You’ve tried to convince me that yours is a group with morals working to protect Kanto. How can I believe that when you’ll let this happen?!”
James slammed his fist onto the table hard and rose, knocking his chair over behind him.
Meowth was quick to blow out the set of candles on the table before they finished tipping over.
“Let this happen? If I could stop it, I’d do it in a second! I told you we were a small group, didn’t I? So how would we stop such a large invasion? And what if it’s happening in two different places? Then what?!”
Erika took a deep breath in an effort to put a reign on her emotions. Now wasn’t the time for a shouting match. Her point had to be made, and made clearly.
“We could send word to Vermillion, and here in Fuschia, we could let the mayor know. He could evacuate people and call in the army. We could go to Koga for help. We can make a difference, if you’ll at least try.”
“Don’t be absurd,” James said. “Remember: the government of Kanto can’t be trusted. They have people from Origin Zero in their ranks. They wanted Pallet to be destroyed, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they wanted this to happen too.”
“Yeah, didn’t you know? Oz got the wheels of this here war rollin’,” Meowth said pointedly.
Erika gave a start. “Excuse me? Wasn’t it Johto that struck first? James, why am I only hearing this now?” she looked up at James expectantly and he sighed.
“I wasn’t trying to hide it, but you looked like you didn’t believe me when I told you about the spies. I didn’t think you’d believe me on this. I still don’t, really…”
Meowth leaned forward in his chair, waving a hand dramatically.
“Let me set the stage: it’s a little over a year ago and things are peachy between Kanto and Johto. Our ‘friends’ to the west are gearing up for elections and a man from out of nowhere puts his name on the ballot as an independent. No one knows much of anythin’ about him, but apparently he was a consultant or somethin’ for the last president. Worked behind the scenes, or so it was said.”
“Boy did he become popular fast! The first time an independent had a legitimate chance of winnin’, ya know. But there was a nasty rumor too. Kanto picked up some information on this fella. Apparently he was also part of the most powerful criminal group in the region, a fierce rival of our old boss’s. He didn’t like Team Rocket or Kanto one bit. That was all run by Johto’s former government, but no one took them allegations seriously, ‘specially since we never said where the info came from.”
“Election day comes, and big surprise, this fella wins. A few weeks later, President Philmar is a hit, but he ain’t liked ‘round here. All these convenient studies keep on poppin’ up, sayin’ our meat has madtank or our products got lead. Suddenly a whole laundry list of products can’t cross the border!”
“That wasn’t all,” James added. “Funding was pulled from joint projects between Kanto and Johto. People were being murdered everyday—members of Team Rocket, but not the ones who wear the uniforms. The more…inconspicuous ones.”
“Like judges and cops,” Meowth nodded. “Info from the boss’ old computer said Johto Foreign Affairs was profiling all them people right before they bought the farm, and it looks like Kanto had the same info.”
From here, James continued the story. He was more soft-spoken and less flippant—Erika preferred hearing it from him.
“Every year, leaders from all over the world gather at the United Summit to discuss world issues. During the last summit, President Philmar was shot. When the assassin was caught, it was revealed that he apparently worked for Kanto Security Agency. It was all over the news. Right around then, our boss disappeared too.”
“I remember reading about this,” Erika said. She closed her eyes in thought. “Kanto was blamed, but denied any part in this. The next day, the presidential building was bombed. Everyone assumed Johto did it—that the vice-president-turned-president acted hastily.”
“Ha!” Meowth laughed. “Know what we think? The assassination of Philmar and the bombing the next day? Both Oz.”
Erika gasped. “You’re saying that Oz instigated this war by pinning acts of aggression on our governments?”
James’ expression turned grim. “They did more than just those two things. It was tit-for-tat after that, with one act after another. Oz only needed to do a few before both nations really were going at it. And then…Erika, do you remember what happened before war was officially declared?”
“I do,” Erika nodded slowly. “Kanto called a peace conference and Johto agreed, but before both sides sat down to talk, Pallet was…” she shook her head. “Did Oz destroy Pallet?”
Erika instantly thought of Ash. A mere few days had passed since then, but with all that had happened—all that was still happening—it really felt a lot longer. That young man, once so kind and innocent left to walk the streets with no home or family. What was he doing now? Was he okay?
James had grown silent again. He’d suffered too. Trying to save Pallet cost him someone dear. That’s when it occurred to Erika—maybe he was afraid of losing another. She looked to Meowth. He was just as silent.
“I think I understand,” Erika said slowly. “Origin Zero precipitated this war, and whether they were involved with Pallet or not, negotiations still broke down. I do not know why, but it seems they want this war to go on. If all of this is true, then we really can’t look outside the walls of Fuschia for help. But even still, I want you to understand me James. If this city really is slated for destruction, I can’t simply turn my back and run away. I’m going to stay here and do all that I can.”
James only stared back blankly. It was a full ten seconds later he finally moved, lowering his head into his sands and taking a long, drawn-out breath. He was fighting with himself over what to do, and when he spoke, his voice was full of mirth and resignation alike.
“This is insane. There are only three of us. Thirteen Pokemon total. With Team Rocket broken up, we can’t charge a giant Pokemon-shaped war machine on the company card anymore. Even if we got every able trainer in this city together, we’d still be outnumbered. This city isn’t equipped to repel an attack. Kanto’s military force is over-concentrated at the border. We don’t know exactly when they will come, we don’t know how many, and we don’t know what their strategy will be. Meowth, did I miss anything?”
Meowth shrugged. “Even if you did, those reasons alone make us screwed.”
“Then we’d better come up with one hell of a plan, and fast.”
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