The Long and Winding Road

The Long and Winding Road
By: BetterButterBuddha
Chapter 2: The First Day of the Rest of My Life



June 10th, 2000 A Hospital in Viridian City


“Vital signs seem normal. Heart rate is slow. His brain waves…They’re another story all together. Most coma victims, even in minor comas, only exhibit gamma waves. He’s all-alpha. I’d say he’ll be up again within----Something’s wrong. His heart rate is back up. His brain’s going beta. Wait…I think he’s waking up.”

“Mmphh… Huh? Wait, what are you doing? Hey! You’re a doctor! Where am I? Why does my head hurt so much?” I said. I didn’t quite know where I was. The only things I could see were that I was in a hospital room. There was a man in a laboratory coat who was trying to get me to tell him how many fingers he was holding up. Where was I?

“Vincent, relax,” he said. “You’ll only hurt yourself again. Coma victims need to relax. Your heart rate and brain waves are still very unstable, and if you get upset it could cause brain damage. Now, can you see me?” The man talking was in his early fifty’s, with a balding head of hair. His nametag said “Doctor McCarthy”.

“Yeah. I see you fine, Mr. McCarthy. What do you mean, ‘Coma Victims’? Did something happen to me? The last thing I remember was running to Blue’s gym because I was late to get my trainer’s license. I had stopped in the park to watch a battle, and when it was over, I realized that I was late. So I ran to the gym, and…Oh no.” That little fall I had wasn’t so little.

“You’ve probably got a minor headache,” he said, “I’ll give you some Acetaminophen.” I shot him a quizzical look. “Tylenol,” he replied.

“You’ve been out for quite some time. At first we thought that you had suffered a minor concussion, but after a few tests, we realized that this was a minor coma. You’re very lucky that that kid with the red cap and his friends brought you in. Here, I’ll page your mother. She’s been worried sick,” he said.

“Vincent, you seem to be alright. But I’m going to keep you overnight, just to monitor you. Coma victims don’t just wake up and resume their lives. But in the meantime, I’m going to perform some tests. Your short-term memory seems to be all right, but I’d like to see if you can still remember everything. You gave off some very bizarre brain waves when you were asleep. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?” he said. I was only too happy to oblige.

“Let’s see…My name is Vincent Castaneda. I’m sixteen years old, and I’ve lived in Viridian City my whole life. For the past six months, I’ve been training to be a pokemon trainer with the city’s gym leader, Blue. My mother’s name is Maria Castaneda.”

On cue, she burst through the door. “Doctor,” she said, “Will he be OK?” She looked very distressed. “He’s fine, Mrs. Castaneda. It was only a minor coma, like we suspected. I’ll have my nurses give you a full medical report. The good news is: You can expect him back at home within a day. The bad news is: He’s been having strange brain patterns while in his coma. I’m sure it’s not anything serious, but I’d like to check up on him every now and then. He’ll be OK,” he reassured my mom.

I felt a sleepy feeling come over me at that point. My eyelids became heavy. Sleep came upon me. What a headache.


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I spent the next day trying to get my life back in order. The doctor let me out the next day like he promised. Apparently my memory, problem solving abilities, and sense of self were all intact. So I was simply released. My mother was neurotic about seeing me again. “You should be more careful,” she said, repeatedly. She insisted that I stay home for the rest of the day.

Fate had other plans. I checked the messages that day. Blue sent me one. It said, “Vincent, I need to see you right now. We’ve missed the opportunity of a lifetime. Can’t talk now. Come as soon as possible.” Blue was never that rushed. Normally, he had complete sangfroid, but in that message he sounded as if he was expecting the apocalypse. I knew what I had to do.

My mother was disappointed when I told her that I needed to go out again, but she understood. “You’ve got your whole life ahead of you, and now that things are back to normal, I can see that you’re very devoted to pokemon. So I’ll leave you once again. But here’s some advice, honey. Pokemon are sentient creatures. They are capable of emotion and rational thought just as much as you or I. Be thoughtful of them. I love you, Vincent,” she said. “Goodbye.” And so began the first day of the rest of my life.


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Blue’s gym is the most noticeable building in all of Viridian City. It is about three stories high, and it takes up an entire city block. Three years ago, it was converted into the gym you can see today. The previous gym leader mysteriously disappeared. The only thing that we know about him is that he used mainly ground element pokemon. It houses a full size pokemon stadium, which is capable of seating 1000 people. And he runs it completely on his own.

“Good, you’re here,” he said. “You picked a hell of a time to go into a coma. Have you seen the news recently? No, of course not. You’ve been unconscious for the past ten days. Something exciting is happening. Here, I’ll show you.” With that, Blue picked up a remote control and turned the TV that the front desk of his gym had. Channel 19 was on. Channel 19 was a pokemon version of the discovery channel.

A man with an English accent came on screen. “For the past ten days, the pokemon world has been absolutely afire about the phenomenon. As some of you may know, the legendary bird, Lugia, is rumored to be the agent whom controls the world’s weather. Last year this theory was proven true by the exodus of the world’s pokemon to the orange islands. At that time, an as of yet unknown power drove out the three other legendary birds. They broke out into a power struggle, which threatened the world’s natural ecological processes. The three other legendary birds are Moltres, the bird of fire, Zapdos, the bird of thunder, and Articuno, the bird of ice. This topic has undergone much speculation, but the generally accepted theory is as such: When the three legendary birds started to fight, an unintentional reaction occurred. The three legendary birds are capable of attacks that are nearly unimaginable in power. As they were fighting, their three special attacks, flamethrower, ice beam, and thunderbolt frequently collided. They underwent a transformation at the intersection point. The Fire of Moltres, which is in reality charged with unknown nuclear power, collided with the immense anti-kinetic energy of Articuno’s ice beam. They cancelled each other out, the waste product being a mass of unstable elements, mostly in the group 17 column. Group 17 holds the most reactive elements in the world. When Zapdos’ thunderbolt came in touch with the mass of elements, it excited their electrons to an almost unheard of level. The resulting radiation blast was equal to the force of a solar flare. Lugia, the most powerful legendary bird, was fortunately able to put a stop to their rampage.”

“Scientists have been tracking Lugia’s patterns of movement via satellite ever since. Lugia appears to move with the flow of deep-sea currents, indeed, some even speculate that Lugia is the source of these currents. But the most recent chapter to this exciting saga in pokemon history occurred on June 1st, at about 9:30 am. At that time exactly, Lugia disappeared from satellite imaging. No trace of Lugia’s presence has shown up since. With Lugia’s recent disappearance, the pokemon world has been thrown into a state of utter peril. Search parties have formed with no successes. I’m Bill Cavey, with channel 19 news. Thank you.” Blue shut the TV off. “Let’s go outside, Vincent,” he said.

“Here’s the rest of the story. I have several…correspondents posted in the Orange Islands. Though you may not know it, I am the second most powerful trainer in the world. The first has gone into hiding, so I am forced to chair the Indigo League. This makes me responsible for almost everything pokemon. Lugia seems to have evaporated into thin air. Things won’t get hectic for at least some time because the public thinks the Lugia story is just a novelty item. However, this is not entirely true. I’m not alone in this theory, if you want the full story, contact my colleague, Professor Oak. He and I both think that Lugia is the single most biologically important entity in the sea. The legend of Lugia has existed for as long as anyone can remember. Lugia is the single source of weather in the world. It works like this: The world’s surface is composed of at least 73% ocean. Weather patterns are formed primarily by winds. Wind is a natural phenomenon that occurs because of a difference in thermal temperature. The sun rises during the day and heats up the atmosphere as well as everything it touches. The ocean is well warmed by this. This heat allows the ecosystem to flourish. But during the night, the land cools down quickly. The ocean, however, remains relatively warm. Wind forms mostly during this time. The single factor that determines the places where the oceans are warmest is the underwater currents that run throughout the earth. With Lugia’s absence, these currents have been thrown into chaos. I predict that we’ve got about a year to solve this before its effects start to make themselves known,” he said. I was completely intrigued during his monologue.

“That sounds very distressing Blue,” I replied, “but I don’t see why you wanted me. I’m hardly the world’s leading scientist. And I have absolutely no knowledge about legendary pokemon. Why do you need me so much?”

Blue smiled. “I can’t exactly leave this gym. With the recent events, people would get suspicious. I’ve got to pretend that nothing’s happening. But it won’t last forever. I need somebody to inform me, and to be honest, you’re the most intelligent, trustworthy person I know.” His smile widened. “You’re my best student,” he informed me.

“So, you want me to go to the Orange Islands?” I asked.

“Precisely. But if you go, you should do it now. Here’s my pokegear. All important numbers are on it, and it’s got a built in television. No cable. This is my pokedex. Take it, it’s a gym leaders, so it’s got some new features. I’ve already programmed it to your identity. These are your pokeballs. Bring your bookbag. And now for the most important part,” he said. His face lit up, as did mine. I was about to get my first pokemon!

“I’m sorry, Vincent, but I don’t have any pokemon for you. We just don’t carry them around with us. But I have complete confidence in you. Here’s something I’ve been saving for an occasion just like this,” he said. No pokemon for me. How did this help me?

He reached into his pocket. Out came a blue and purple pokeball. “This is a masterball. It’s been manufactured for approximately 3 years now, but only pokemon league officials are allowed to use them. This is for good reason. A masterball is capable of catching any pokemon without fail. So you see why they are such a controlled substance. I expect you to catch your own first pokemon. I’m sure you can do it, just remember my lessons,” he said. So I was getting a pokemon after all! And one of my own choice, too.

“I have only one question Blue,” I exclaimed. “How am I supposed to get there? I’m a terrible swimmer.”

He shot me a smile. “I’ve gotten you a ticket to the Orange Archipelago on the St. Augustine, an ocean liner for Pokemon trainers. I’ve got a ‘guide’ to take you to the Vermillion City port,” he said.

With that, he withdrew one of his pokeballs and enlarged it by pressing the button on the front. Then he opened the pokeball. I’ve always been fascinated by the mechanics of a pokeball. There is an interesting energy to matter transmuter device inside the pokeball. When he opened it up, a very unfocused laser shot out. It began to assemble and then became a pokemon. In this case, the pokemon was a Pidgeot.

“Be careful with him, Pidgeot. Pidgeot will take you to Vermillion Port, Vincent. From there, report to the St. Augustine immediately. Here’s your ticket. Goodbye, Vincent. Call me once you get to the boat,” he said.

I climbed on top of the bird pokemon. Its feathers were soft, but capable of holding my weight. I held on as tightly as possible. Pidgeot is capable of flying at speeds of Mach 2, and this one was at level 56. “Pidgeot will return to me as soon as it drops you off, Vincent. Good luck. You may be the best hope I’ve got!!!!!”

With that, Pidgeot flapped its wings. The Bird pokemon lifted up with little effort. We were flying, soaring high above all the city. I gripped Pidgeot’s wings tighter, and smiled as we flew into the winds of change.