A Natural Occurrence [Pokemon]

Chapter 5: Aftermath

Chapter 5: Aftermath

The town – and its surrounds – was a mess. And believe me; I’ve seen my fair share of messes.

It was almost as if the earth had been wiped clean. There was not a single standing structure left; whatever had been standing was now lying on the ground in several pieces, scattered around the area.

It was almost as if a bomb had been dropped on the place – and in hindsight, maybe I would have preferred a bomb to have been dropped on it. Then I wouldn’t have to look at the bodies.

As we strolled through the town – Spike stalking along beside me, Solace walking along behind with her head down – I had a number of mixed feelings. First, was the surprise of how much damage a single Pokémon could inflict. I would have been impressed, if I was into that kind of thing.

Second was emptiness. I saw the buildings I knew so well, the places I loved to visit, all broken and smashed into the ground. As we got closer to the centre of what had been the town I noticed the gym. Or what used to be the gym. The metal walls had been torn in half and were now resting on the ground around it. The statues that I had often admired out the front, however, were almost intact. The only thing missing were the heads, which I assumed made up part of the rubble I was walking on.

Third was . . . what came after. After that I almost longed for the emptiness I had felt previously.

We strolled through the square. The centre was completely bare of any form of wreckage. The edges, however, were lined with the bodies of the town’s inhabitants; the people I knew. Here was the man that lived across from me, his Plusle draped across him; there was the nurse what’s-her-name that always greeted me when I walked into the Pokémon Centre. Some of the people I didn’t even know; some of the Pokémon, I had only seen around town a few times. But all these people and creatures had one thing in common now:

They were dead. And I wasn’t.

Solace couldn’t bring herself to look at the destruction around her. Spike stared at it all with sorrow. As we continued on through the remains of my home town, I was glad my Pokémon were still alive. I was glad they were there with me. For they were the ones that helped me through what came next.

We made our way to the ruins of my house. I didn’t even know I was heading there until I noticed the familiar mailbox, now in splinters. Out in the street in front of it laid the body of my father. I could barely make him out underneath the Aggron that lay on top of him, crushing him.

I don’t remember moving. But next thing I knew, I was looking down at the body of my father. He stared up at the sky, his lifeless eyes glazed over. I don’t remember falling to my knees, but I must have. His still body came rushing up to me.

I sat there for . . . I don’t know how long. I knew my father had died trying to protect the town. And his Pokémon had died with him. He always wore a bandoleer across his chest which had his pokéballs clipped onto it, and I took it. I would wear it in his memory.

I stepped away from the body of my father, slinging his pokéball-bandoleer across my shoulder. I looked down at him one final time. If I cried, if I even felt tears, I don’t remember it. I think I was too dried up to cry at that point in time.

I strolled up the cracked path that used to lead to my house. My father had been out the front, protecting whoever was inside. I braced myself for what I thought I was about to see.

I could have spent years preparing for it, but I still would have been shattered by the sight of my mother, lying dead underneath the rubble that was our family’s home. I didn’t even walk over to her. I remember sinking to my knees straight away, that time. I sat and stared. For my father, I might have been too sad to cry; for my mother, I was too sad to be empty. The tears came gushing, I remember that clearly, and somehow I managed to crawl over to her.

Eventually, I felt Spike come up beside me and rest his head against my side. I reached down and draped my arms across him, crying the tears that no one was left alive to see.

After an eternity, my eyes seemed to dry up. I seemed to have used up all the tears I could give, but I still sat there. I sat there staring at the now-lifeless face of my mother. She still had her pendant draped around her neck, the pendant that she loved so much, the pendant that she fiddled with when she stressed, the pendant that she had worn whenever I saw her –

I slowly unfastened it from around her neck and pulled it off. I would wear this, as a tribute to her. It may be the only thing left that I could keep to remind me of her.

Spike nudged me. His eyes were still sorrowful, but now I saw pity in them. He motioned with his head. I stared at him blankly. Pity in his eyes was replaced with encouragement on his face, and he used his horn to point off into the distance.

I acknowledged him by standing up, but my knees buckled. I barely noticed. I knew when I landed on Spike, and then straightened myself up into a sitting position. He grunted, and started lumbering through the wreckage of the town.

I don’t remember the walk out of town, either. I have a vague recollection of Spike trudging along with me on his back. Solace strolled along beside us, relieved to be out of the town that held so much death.

I came to my senses for a few minutes when Spike came to a stop and I slipped off his back. The blow of my head against the ground snapped me out of my daze. I looked around. We were in a not-quite forest; it was a massive clump of trees, all right, but they were separated into groves a few metres apart. Spike had stopped in one such grove.

I looked back the way we had come. What remained of the town was a long way off. Spike had followed a trail of uprooted trees, scattered chunks of earth, and general destruction to this point.

I looked over at Spike. He was slumped against a tree, resting. He saw me looking and smiled. I looked around more, and saw Solace trailing along a few metres behind. She trudged towards us, and, once there, flopped down on the ground beside me.

This seemed like as good a place to rest as any. I didn’t know what I was going to do, anyway. And so I fell asleep, but I do not remember doing so.

                                                                                    ~   ~   ~   ~   ~

I woke up to Solace crying out. I instantly sprang onto my feet, ready for any attackers. But there was no one. Just Solace, standing in the middle of the grove, cringing.

Her horn was glowing blue.

I ran up to her and calmed her down. She flopped into my lap, still cringing. I stroked her fur until her horn stopped glowing.

I thought the disaster had already happened! The disaster Solace had come to warn us about had just happened the day before. What was going on?

Solace looked up at me, into my eyes. She let out another almost-purr, and I heard immense sorrow in this one. She closed her eyes and blew out a puff of air, stretching her body out along my lap.

“You can’t be sensing the disaster, can you?” I asked. “It happened yesterday.”

Solace nodded.

“You mean you can be sensing it?”

My Absol shook her head at that.

“Then what . . .” I trailed off, realizing what was happening. “Wait. No. This can’t be happening.”

Solace looked at me again and nodded slowly.

“You’re not sensing that disaster. You’re sensing a different one. A new disaster is coming.”

Solace nodded. I died inside.