Summer Reef [Pokemon Fanfiction]

Chapter 5 - Burgh's Advice (Part 1)

Point of View: Trainer

In the lobby of our apartment, workers were in the middle of replacing the carpet. I wondered why, it hadn't been replaced since we moved in. I said hi to the lady at the front desk, but she just gave me a scowl. Walking out from behind the desk, she handed me a bill. "This is for your Shelgon vandalizing the front office." I was astonished. Shelgon? Vandalizing?

"Are you sure that it was my Shelgon that did this?"

She replied tersely: "Yes, this was your Shelgon. We looked up all the Shelgons that reside here on our database, and every other one was accounted for. In their apartment. With their trainer. But not yours."

In disbelief, I accepted the bill, placing it in the hand that wasn't holding the Egg. Pikachu and I entered the elevator next to the front desk, wondering what we would find on the 56th floor.

When the elevator opened, we ran to our apartment, number 5606. It was the third one on the right, down the hallway to our left. We arrived at our door. Wait. What? It had a gigantic hole in it... and the hole was Shelgon-shaped. Leading from our door outward was a trail that looked similar to a tire mark. The place looked completely vandalized! I attempted to turn the doorknob of our front door, and it swung open without effort, even though I was sure I had locked it before I left.

Our apartment looked just as bad. In our main hallway, the coat rack had fallen to the ground, creating an avalanche of clothing that blocked us from continuing. Pikachu stumbled through the mess, and I gingerly stepped over it. "Shelgon? Shelgon, are you in here?" There was no reply. There was a faint buzz coming from the TV in the living room. I could practically hear the ka-ching! of our electric bill skyrocketing. Once Pikachu got through the mess and into the kitchen area, he said in awe:

"Pika...?!?" He sounded shocked, and I began to feel worried. I reassured myself with the fact that the kitchen couldn't possibly be worse than what I'd already seen. However, once I reached the kitchen, I realized that I couldn't have been more wrong.

It was a complete and total disaster. The barstools around the counter were all knocked over, and there were countless scratches and dents everywhere. The tile floor was cracked, the legs of the kitchen table were scratched, and the refrigerator door was even dented! In the living room, Pokemon toys were all over the ground, scattered as if a tornado had just passed. And standing right in the middle of all the mess, with scrapes all over his shell, was Shelgon. When he saw me, his face turned to panic. He tried to waddle away, but he only traveled a few feet by the time I had gathered my wits and was ready to totally scold him. I took a deep breath, and then said in a seething voice:

"Shelgon. I have absolutely no idea how this could have possibly happened, and I won't have any way to know because I can't speak Pokemon. But, considering the Shelgon-shaped hole in my door and your guilty face, I'm just going to assume that you had something to do with this." (If I could have seen myself now, I would've had smoke coming out of my ears.) I was about ready to flip out, but I contained myself. I didn't want my Pokemon to see me go ballistic on them.

"Now, even though it's very late out-" I glanced down at my watch. It was 7:43 pm, not that late, but I didn't correct myself for the sake of my intimidation. "-As I was saying, even though it's very late out, I'm going to take you over to Burgh's Gym. You can talk to him there, and maybe he'll be able to make some sense out of this mess. Now let's go." Looking at Shelgon, I continued:

"The only way we're going to be able to get you anywhere is in a taxi." Just great. Pokemon fees on taxis were high in Castelia City, and I already was struggling with money. I fished the crumpled bill out of my pocket, set it on the kitchen counter, grabbed my wallet, and we were off. As I was twisting the doorknob, I felt Pikachu's fur brush against my leg, producing static that shocked me a little bit. (I was used to it, I've had him since I was 13.) I glanced down at him, and he looked back up at me with a pair of black, little marble eyes.