Learning to Heal the Hurt - Book I: Fire Red

Chapter 3: Of Sticks, Stories and Healing

I jerked bolt upright, my clear blue eyes flying wide open.  I was cold, my body and clothes soaked with sweat.  The blankets that covered me were wet too.  That dream!  It was terrifying yet I had this feeling that it was somehow important.  It was trying to tell me something, I was sure of it, but what?  I had never had a dream, a nightmare really, that seemed so vivid; so real.  All my dreams were a series of pointless events that shifted and merged into each other throughout the night.  They never made sense like that, never.  What did it all mean?  And why the heck did I have blankets?  The last thing I remembered was collapsing, with my foot caught in roots, into a deep sleep after escaping the angry parent Ursaring’s wrath.  Unless I had missed something here I was pretty sure I hadn’t moved at all, but I had.

I glanced wearily around me, groaning as my sore muscles and bones protested.  I was in the center a large clearing surrounded by the forest I had recently been traveling through.  The clearing was filled with long wild grasses that swayed slowly in the soft, comfortable breeze, with artfully colored wild flowers dotting the landscape.  Around these flowers many bug pokemon, such as Yanma, Beautifly, and Butterfry flitted joyously, showing off their beautiful colors, vainly, to the world.  Rattata, Zigzagoon and Wurmple ran through the tall grasses, darting wildly to and fro.  Various bird Pokemon such as Pidgey, Spearrow, Taillow and occasionally their evolved forms called loudly to each other across the great expanse of field.  The sky was a shining sapphire blue, and it appeared to be early morning by the position of the sun shining brightly in the sky.  It was all very beautiful; except for the Pokemon of course.  I glanced down.  I was rapped in twisted, sweat soaked sheets, lying on the ground under a tree that I was pretty sure I had never seen before.

“Hey!  The One-Who-Sleeps-For-Two-Days-and-Nights had finally awoken!” A cheerful female voice greeted my ears.  I knew that voice very well, and its presence surprised me.

“Reenie?” I asked in surprise as I jerked my head around to stare at my best friend.  Reenie’s sparkling green eyes met mine as I looked at her, the glint of mischief that was always there as bright as ever.  Her mouse brown hair was pulled back in a quick ponytail and fastened with a hair tie at the nape of her neck.  Her dark green T-shirt and jean shorts rippled softly in the breeze.

“The one and only!” The 13-year old answered approaching me with a ready smile.  Reenie always smiled.

“I’m here too!” Another voice piped up as the owner came to stand beside Reenie.

“Deri!” I exclaimed, even more surprised to see my shy, quiet other best friend than I was to see the out going Reenie.  Deri smiled and shrugged.  Deri was definitely the brains of our trio, always able to figure things out that Reenie and I, with our more limited knowledge, couldn’t.

“Why are you guys here?” I asked incredulously.  “The last I heard you were traipsing around the country side, heading for Rustboro.”

“What happened to you?” Reenie returned, grinning.

I sighed.  “It’s kinda a long story,” I said doubtfully, not exactly thrilled at the prospect of having to relate my whole tale to them, and relive the pain I had felt.

“S’all right,” Deri intervened.  “We were just about to have breakfast anyway.  You can tell us then.”

“Oh, and don’t go back to sleep,” Reenie warned.

“Why?” I asked, confused.  Reenie was the kind of person who had the strangest ideas that just about nobody would think of.

“You’ve had too much of it.”  She grinned, a mischievous glint flooding her eyes.

“Too much of it…?” I mumbled, my half asleep mind stumbling to think. “Wait! How long was I asleep anyway?”

Reenie’s grin spread.  “You are Rip Van Winkle.  You slept for twenty years.”

“Twenty ye… Reenie!” I cried, eyes blazing.  “You’re teasing me!” I accused.

“Just ignore her,” Deri put in, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, “You slept for two days but even that is a lot.”

“Two days!” I cried, my eyes flying wide open.  “When did you guys find me anyway?”  If my calculations were correct I might have slept for more than two days.

“Um, two days ago,” Deri answered as Reenie burst forth in a fit of crazy giggles. 

I sighed, and shook my head. Of course they wouldn’t know what day I had left, or what day the Ursaring had chased me.  So, maybe it was only three days since I’d left Sandar in a hurry.  Two days.  That was a long time to sleep.  I hadn’t even known I could sleep for that long!  “I’ll get up.”  I said, directing my statement at Deri as Reenie was still giggling madly.

“I’ll get you some breakfast too and…um.” He shot a glance at the hysterical Reenie.

“Just try to get that giggling moron calmed down,” I said, a small smile escaping my lips.

Deri nodded, and quickly turned to grab Reenie on the arm.  He hauled the giggling girl up, and began to retreat back to the campfire, lecturing my friend as he went.

I groaned and rubbed my aching head, wincing as my hand came into contact with an open gash on my forehead; dried blood flaked off at my touch.  It was the out come of my run in with oak tree from…two, maybe three, days ago.  My head hurt, and it felt like a thousand drums were pounding unyieldingly in my brain.  I threw off the wet, freezing sheets and staggered to my feet, only to collapse again as my weight fell on my left leg.  It buckled instantly, searing pain shooting through it, as I fell hard on my rump.  I yelped and glared down at my leg.  My left ankle had swollen to almost double its size, and my knee was caked in dry blood.  I grimaced.  Man was it ugly, and gosh it hurt like hell!

I glanced around me for a stick or something to lean on, in hopes that I wouldn’t have to crawl over to Reenie and Deri looking like a helpless, sick dog!  Lucky for me there was a long, pole like stick off to my left.  It looked to be about five feet in height, and strong enough to support my weight.  I leaned forward, and reached out a hand to grab it, wincing yet again as some of my weight fell on my left leg.  My fingers were just short of my prize.

All of a sudden I felt tingling warmth, beginning at my pocket, and spreading up to meet my hand.   As soon as the warmth reached my fingers it began to glow in a bright fire red light.  The branch that my outstretched hand was almost touching began to twitch and jerk.  I stared in a shock and wonder as right before my eyes the branch flew up off the ground, and straight into my outstretched palm.  As soon as my fingers closed around the branch securely the red light engulfed the stick totally, almost blinding me with pure red brilliance.  I blinked and looked away; the light was too bright to look at.  As soon as I felt the warmth begin to die in my hand I cracked open my eyes, and turned my face back to stare at the smooth wooden pole that I now held in my trembling hand.

The branch bore little to no resemblance to what it had once been.  It was now a tall, smooth pole of white, bark-stripped wood; smooth, with no knot holes or cracks running along its surface.  It was capped with a large piece of white wood, about as large around as my fist.  I stared at it, trembling slightly.  What was going on here?  Things had just gotten weirder and weirder since I had found the Fire Red stone only a few days ago.  I shook my head, wet my parched lips with my even dryer tongue and stood up, leaning most of my weight on the stick.  Lucky for me it didn’t give way beneath my weight.

I nearly dropped it again in shock.  Things were just too weird.  The stick was humming with power; flashes of red lightning danced across its surface every couple of seconds.  I just stared at it, wide eyed.

“You coming or not, Talia?” Reenie called from over at the campfire, jerking me out of my gaping stare.

“I’m coming.”  I called back shakily, keeping a wary eye on the stick.  I hobbled over to the fire, and sat myself down, wincing slightly as I did so, brooding over the strange sight I had just witnessed.  Things were way, way too weird.

A sharp bark interrupted my reverie.  I froze, and slowly raised my gaze from where I was staring at the ground.  I could have sworn I had heard the bark of a Pokemon.  My eyes did a quick sweep of the area, and, sure enough, my eyes came to rest on a small, gray dog-like creature.  It stood about half a meter off the ground at the tips of its ears, and it sported sharp fangs in its small, pink mouth.  Even with those killers, it was still a baby, and couldn’t hurt me.  I felt the rage begin to boil up with inside me, as I glared at the tiny thing.  It had been smiling at me before, but, seeing my gaze, it began to whimper and cower toward Deri.  That’s when it hit me.  Deri was a Pokemon trainer now.  He trained those murderous creatures that killed my mother.  This Pokemon was his.

A sudden flash of bright, white light snapped me out of my glare.  The Poochyena was quickly engulfed in the flash, and disappeared in the next instant.  I glanced up sharply at Deri.  He was staring at me, a scared expression on his face.  He was gripping the Pokeball close to his chest, protectively.  Our eyes locked, and for a minute it was a battle of wills, me versus Deri.  Finally, unable to stand it, I looked away, and fell silent once more.

“Nice stick.” Deri commented sometime later, apparently over his initial scare. He was stirring something, stew I think, that hung in a pot over the fire, with a plastic ladle.  The aroma wafting from it was blessed.  “Where’d you get it?  It wasn’t with you when we brought you here.  It looks hand crafted.”

I sighed and glared crossly at the staff as it rested lightly at my side.  “I found it over by the tree I slept under.” I said truthfully. “I, uh…”

“Tal!” Deri cried, cutting me off in mid sentence.  His worried gaze rested on my left leg. “You absolutely cannot be running around on that!” Just like Deri; always the doctor.  I suppose it came from being a doctor’s son.

 “Well it kinda hurts.” I admitted, rubbing my leg, and wincing as a sharp pain shot through it.

Deri sighed. “Reenie!”

“Yah?”  The girl answered, her eyes still riveted on my hurt leg, wide with shock and pity.

“Get a bucket of water and boil it!” Deri ordered, reminding me of how thirsty I was which led me to thinking about how hungry I was, which led me to thinking about how tired I was: two days of sleep left me exhausted.

"While you’re at it, get me something to drink!”  I called after Reenie.  Just as I was about to order Deri to get me some food he cut me off.

“You.  Stay put.  No walking on that leg you understand?”  His tone was menacing as he pointed at me.  When Deri spoke like that there was no crossing him.

“But…” I complained, straightening abruptly.

“No buts.  We are going to fix that leg whether you like it or not.”  Deri had a look of determination on his face.  When Deri was determined to do something, he did it.  Nothing could stand in his path.

I had a vague memory of a cup of fresh water being lifted to me dry and parched lips, and a cool, refreshing liquid running down my throat some time later.  But I, even having just awoken from a two day sleep was tired, so tired it surprised me.  Only a few moments after the cup was taken from my lips I collapsed into a heap, asleep before my head hit the ground.

*  *  *

For the next three days our lives followed the same monotonous schedule, day in and day out.  I would sometimes stay awake the whole day, staring off into space, thinking, always thinking, about how I had become stuck here in this place, my leg too battered for me to walk; all because of Pokemon and their stupid, idiotic ways.  Sometimes I’d keep jumping in and out of sleep for a whole day and night.  Sometimes Reenie, Deri and I would talk for hours upon hours upon various subjects; but then sometimes we would just sit in silence for hours too.  Somehow I always managed to skirt around my friends’ questions about what had happened to me between the time they’d left me till now.  I didn’t ask them how they came to be here either for I was sure that that would eventually lead them to asking about my story which I wasn’t quite ready to tell.  Deri never let his Poochyena out in my sight again.  I could tell I’d scared him the first day I’d woken up.  I think they must have somehow gotten word from Mrs. Kemp, too, about my mother’s death.  At least they had the decency to not ask about it.  If they did I would definitely go off into another rage. 

All the while my leg continued to heal under Deri’s attentive care.  Deri said I’d always have a scar on my knee from where I’d struck the rock.  My head wound was healing too, leaving tender, pink scar tissue where the once open wound had been.  It had given me fierce headaches for the first day or so though.

For some strange reason the stick that had been created by something I totally didn’t understand, had been at my side day and night.  I had become strangely attached to it, and the Fire Red stone, gripping it frequently to feel the soothing buzz of power fizz through my body.  The Fire Red stone was useful to me too because whenever I was cold all I had to do was touch it, and it would instantly send comforting waves of warmth through my body.  What could I say to that?  I really liked it!

Sometimes Reenie and Deri would retreat across the camp and sit, talking animatedly in harsh whispers glancing over at me frequently.  I think they thought I didn’t see them, but I did.  Our lives went on like this for three days; eat, talk, sleep; eat, talk, sleep; eat, talk sleep…  By the fourth day my leg was almost fully healed.  I would be able to travel again, and continue my long journey for revenge.

I awoke, sometime early on the fourth day, to the soft pattering of a quiet rain splashing my face.  The droplets of water rocketed down from the sky to strike my skin and break, trailing down my dirty flesh to leave wet trickles in their wake.  I sat slowly up, shivering from the cold as a wave of freezing air washed over my very drenched self, and gazed sullenly around.  It was still daytime, judging from the amount of light in the air, but a thick, gray layer of clouds covered the once clear blue sky.  The field that had once been so full of life before was almost completely empty with only the wildflowers daring to show their faces and enthusiastically greet the rain. 

Everything else was gone from the field, turned a dull gray with the absence of light.  I was soaking wet, my dark hair turned almost black by the rain.  My clothes were full and unbearably heavy with the wet liquid of which I almost never wanted to see again.  It was the same liquid I had so desperately craved for only a few days previous.

The white bandage on my leg, Reenie and Deri had changed it daily to care for my knee and ankle, was full, turned a slight yellowish color from the water and dirt soaked into it.  My leg did feel extremely improved from the last time I’d seen it though.

I was still seated by the campfire, or what had once been the campfire (the rain had totally doused it).  My left hand automatically groped down to my side.  I was rewarded when my hand struck wood and a faint thrum of power buzzed through my head.  I had my stick.  That was a good thing.  I could also feel the familiar weight of the Fire Red stone resting securely in my pocket.  I hadn’t taken it out since I’d found it, evading the questions my friends would ask of it.  I had my stick and my stone but where were my friends?

I glanced quickly around.  Reenie and Deri usually stayed near me, situating their living quarters around the campfire.  I figured that since it was raining they had retreated to the safe, dry area beneath the large oak tree I had first woken under, inconsiderately leaving me out in the damp and cold.  My hunch proved true as my searching eyes came to rest on the two figures huddled under the nearby tree.

I sighed, untangling my legs from the wet, heavy blankets I’d been wrapped in and stood up, reaching back down to pull my stick up after me.  Expecting to feel the slick, wet surface of damp wood, I turned to stare sharply at the stick when I didn’t. The wood was dry, as dry as it always had been, the small droplets of water seeming to slide right off, as if it had a waxen surface, leaving no mark behind them.  This stick never ceased to amaze me.

Leaning heavily on my sick I turned towards the dry area under the tree where my friends stood waiting.  The dry earth seemed very inviting to my very much water logged self.

“Oh, hey Tal. You’re up.” Reenie commented as I dragged my very wet body over to and under the canopy of the large oak tree, sheltering me from the pouring rain steadily pattering down into the dry earth now turned into thick, dark mud.

“So considerate of you to leave me out in the rain.”  I remarked sarcastically, sighing as I slid down so I was seated firmly next to Reenie at the base of the oak.

“Sorry,” Deri shrugged, “We couldn’t move you, and especially not with your leg in the condition it was.”

“Some friends you are.” I muttered darkly under my breath, glaring out into the rain.  My hair hung heavily, framing my face and clinging to my damp skin.  It was very uncomfortable.  The three of us sat in an almost comfortable silence.

“What happened that brought you all the way out here Tal?” Reenie’s soft question broke the silence that had been stretching on and on.

A little suspicious, I glanced sharply over at her.  I was suspicious of my own friends.  I just couldn’t trust anybody anymore.  Reenie sat beside me; hands limp at her sides, green eyes intent on the wet world outside.  She looked innocent enough.

I don’t know what came over me then but in one urgent moment I began to tell them everything, from my mothers death to now, as we were sitting under the canopy of the large oak tree.  I told them of my rage towards Pokemon that had originated on the day exactly a week after my mother’s death, of the Ursaring escapade, everything, only omitting the part about the Fire Red stone and my staff.  I wasn’t quite sure why, but I had this feeling that if anyone found out about these things I was doomed.  It might have been the rain that made me talk, or the constant longing for sympathy that had been hidden deep inside me, only surfacing now, or maybe it was the anger and the hurt that had been bottled up inside me for days, I’ll never know.  And, well, it kind of felt good to talk, letting all my feelings of anger, grief, hurt and fear flow out with every word I speak.  My friends listened intently the whole time, never interrupting me to ask questions.  They knew just as well as I did that if I was interrupted I wouldn’t have the courage to go on.

When my tale was done silence reigned over my friends.  I stared numbly down as my hands, not daring to look up so see my friends’ reactions.

“I didn’t know…” Reenie’s soft voice broke the silence.  “I’m sorry Talia.  I should have been there for you.”

I glanced up at her words, my own blue eyes meeting her light green ones for an instant, so full of sadness at that moment, devoid of the usual spark of mischief that was usually there.  She would have been there for me?  If she had tried I would have pushed her away.

The silence stretched on for a long time.  Every tiny sound made in the forest I became acutely aware of.  The hundreds of bird Pokemon chirping, the wind rustling the trees, the rain pattering into the wet earth, my friend’s breathing, my heart beating!  It was so hard to keep myself sitting there.  I wanted to move; I wanted to get out of here!  I didn’t think Reenie and Deri were ready to leave yet, but I certainly was!  They wouldn’t let me do anything, my friends.  They wouldn’t let me walk when I wanted to.  I couldn’t eat when I wanted to because they had to ‘ration’ the food out.  I wanted to go, and continue my journey, not sit and waste away here, barely ten miles from home!

“I can’t stay here anymore,” I said tensely, standing up quickly with the help of my stick.

“What?” Reenie started, and stared up at me in confusion.

“I meant exactly what I said,” I said, “I just can’t stay here anymore.  I’m grateful to you guys for helping me and all, but I need to move on, and get my revenge.”

“But…Talia,” Reenie was stuttering.

“Talia, have you realized how stupid this quest of yours is?” Deri broke in, standing up to face me.  I felt my anger beginning to flare.  “Do you even know where you are going?”

I stared at him, feeling betrayed.  I couldn’t believe this, my own friends didn’t believe in me.  They didn’t believe in my quest.  Of course they wouldn’t, I told myself bitterly, they sympathized with those murderous creatures more than they did with me.

“What does it matter to you?” I hissed back at him, “This isn’t your quest, it’s mine.  You are only tagging along on this for who knows what reason!”

“Talia,” Deri’s anger was ignited.  I think I had first stirred it up when I’d almost gone berserk on his Pokemon the other day, “You are the most self-centered person I know!”

I glared at him, “I don’t care if I’m selfish.  You’re just a Pokemon Trainer wannabe!  Do you really think that wimp of a Poochyena you own would really help you become a Pokemon master?”

Now I had really made him mad, “You may insult me as much as you like, Talia O’Connel!” He shouted.  His face twisted in rage, “But never, ever, insult my Pokemon!”

“You know,” I spat into his face, “Just forget this.  I’m leaving!  What do I care about you guys anyway?  All you’ll do is slow me down, and hinder me.  I will not have it!  Just keep you big mouths shut, because I’m leaving!”  With that, I picked up my stick, turned, and fled into the forest.  To hell with my friends!  To hell with everything!  To hell with Pokemon!  I could get revenge by myself.  I did not need them.