*****

Pokémon, Asylum of the Damned

Chapter LIV

Saga XII- Exodus Saga

Chapter I- Loose Ends

****

"Well well, if it isn't Mister High and Mighty himself."

Tom sighed. "Look, Porygon, I'm really sorry."

Kangaskhan, leaning up against the wall of the Trainer hotel room all four 
of them were in, muttered bitterly. "He says as well you should be," Porygon 
Two snorted. Hitmonlee grumbled. "And he says you've got a lot of 
apologizing to do."

"A lot?" Tom grunted. "A little, yes. But a lot of apologizing?"

Kangaskhan snorted. "To us, and to Laura," said Porygon Two.

Tom breathed a heavy breath. "To you, I can understand, but not Laura."

"You've really hurt her, Tom," Porygon Two said angrily.

"Hurt?" Tom snorted. "I hurt her?"

"Yes, that's right. Someone give the boy the grand prize."

"Have you forgotten what she did to me- to us, in Mega City?"

"Mega City?" Poryon Two suddenly snorted in disgust. "Tom, that was nearly a 
year ago!"

"And I died nearly a year ago, too, Porygon," Tom retorted immediately. "She 
killed me, Porygon. She also killed Sabre, and she also would have killed 
Jason and Krystella if she'd have gotten the chance!"

"She brought you back to life, Tom," Porygon Two said calmly.

"She had to," Tom replied quickly.

"But you could have just killed her," Porygon Two said just as quick. "Oh 
wait, that's right, you got your skull bashed in by Larry a few weeks ago. 
Good thing Laura still had that spell Krystella cast on her, otherwise it'd 
be curtains for you again, Tom." Tom found no reply on his tongue. "Larry 
must've killed off a few of your brain cells when he beat you to a bloody 
pulp."

Tom groaned and bit his lip. "Okay, look, I'm sorry for being a jackass to 
you guys, okay?" Tom offered. Porygon Two, Kangakhan and Hitmonlee all 
glanced at each other.

"Lee," Hitmonlee muttered.

"Khan," Kangaskhan sighed.

"They forgive you, Tom," said Porygon Two, "And so do I. It's not every day 
a guy like you gets to be the adoring public's primadonna for a whole month 
and a half."

Tom smiled. "Thanks, guys."

*******

It was the same bar that was open to Pokemon Trainers in the League where 
Tom found Laura. She was slumped in a chair over a table, lazily stirring a 
martini. Her face was a mix of anger and sadness, and she never looked up at 
Tom when he approached. "What do you want?" She muttered as Tom put his hand 
on the back of the chair on the opposite side of the small table.

"This isn't easy for me," Tom breathed heavily, "But I want to say thank 
you."

Laura snorted. "Would it kill you to say sorry?" Just as Tom was about to 
reply, Laura cut in, "Oh wait, you'd know all about that, wouldn't you?"

"Look, Laura," Tom sighed, "I just wanted to thank you for," Tom paused, 
"bringing me back."

"And I'd like to thank you for being such an asshole about it," Laura 
muttered.

Tom rolled his eyes. "Okay, I'm sorry. Happy now?"

"No," Laura muttered, "But I'm feeling better."

Tom closed his eyes as he pulled out the chair and sat down at the table, 
facing Laura. "Alright, I admit I've been a bit of a jerk."

"Understatement of the year," Laura grumbled.

Tom took a deep breath. "You know I'm never going to fully forgive you, 
Laura," he said, "But I want you to know that I'm sorry for treating you 
like shit these last few months."

"I don't blame you," Laura muttered. "What I did to you in Mega City can 
never be forgiven."

Tom sighed. "But thanks anyway," Tom said, rising. "Thanks, Laura."

Laura followed Tom with her eyes as he walked out of the bar. When he had 
left and it was just her and the bartender in the lounge, she muttered under 
her breath, "Men..."

******

Tom felt lighter the next day without his long trench coat on. Walking with 
Porygon Two in the sun-filled meadow with his jeans and black tank-top, the 
trench coat was becoming nothing but a vague memory. "Gone back to the 
stripe, huh?" Porygon Two asked Tom.

Tom ruffled his spiked-up hair, now considerably longer than what it was 
since he left Tower City two weeks ago, bearing the wide blonde-dyed streak 
down the middle that he wore in Mega City. "Yeah? So?"

"Nothing really," Porygon Two hummed, "Maybe it just accents that Sentret 
muzzle on your chin."

Tom rubbed the sparse stubble on his chin. "It's not much of a beard yet," 
Tom muttered, "But some day, some day..."

"So, now what are we doing?"

Tom hummed and rubbed his chin. "Well, since the next Pokemon League doesn't 
start in six months," Tom mused, "I s'pose it wouldn't hurt to add some more 
Pokemon to the team."

Porygon Two sighed. "You never give up, do you?"

"What, should I?" Tom snorted.

"Humans," Porygon Two muttered.

"Pokemon."

****

"Sure you want to?"

"May as well."

Tom opened up the Pokeball and held it to the open beach, and in a flash, 
Mantine was floating gracefully upon the surf. Stepping into the shallow 
water that soaked just the ankles of his boots, Tom mounted on Mantine's 
back with Porygon Two following behind. Lifting his Pokemon friend up onto 
Mantine's back, Tom looked forward into the frothy seas ahead. "Mantine, 
roam around a bit," Tom said, "We're going to find some water Pokemon."

Mantine fluidly glided along the calm surface of the beach, further and 
further into the sea. Soon, there was not a trace of land in the horizon, 
nor was there any trace of wild water Pokemon. An hour drifted past the 
three with no sign of life on the ocean other than themselves, leaving them 
with just their thoughts. "See anything yet, Porygon?" Tom asked.

"Nope," replied Porygon Two.

"What about you, Mantine?" Tom asked.

Mantine sighed with disappointment, and then so did Tom. "Porygon, you're 
made of supercomputer code," Tom said, "don't you have some kind of info on 
what Pokemon swim here?"

"Hang on, I'll check," Porygon Two said as his eyes faded from their 
sockets. A moment later, Porygon's eyes returned. "Yeah, there should be 
tons of Goldeen and Remoraid here."

Tom looked over Mantine's wing and into the briny depths. "Doesn't look like 
tons to me," Tom said.

Suddenly, Mantine shivered, jittering her passengers. "What was that for?" 
Tom asked Mantine.

Mantine murmered a response, and Porygon Two translated, "She feels that 
something isn't right."

"No Pokemon in an area that's supposed to be full of them?" Tom said, "Yup, 
that's not right."

Porygon Two blinked. "You know, Tom," Said Porygon in a suddenly serious 
tone, "I have this old story programmed into my database."

"Oh?" Tom ventured, "Let's hear it."

"It says that a few decades ago, three of the legendary birds got into a 
quarrel with each other, and the balance of nature was thrown into chaos. 
Vicious storms brewed all over the world as they brawled, and every wild 
Pokemon flocked to the island on which they fought, and when the fight was 
over, the Pokemon returned to their everyday lives."

Tom thought over the story for awhile. "You suppose that's what's 
happening?"

"There's no vicious storm," Porygon Two pointed out.

"Or flocks of Pokemon speeding past us-"

A sudden blur that shot past Mantine in the water cut Tom off, splashing 
water on all three of them. "Mantine, follow it!" Tom ordered. With an 
incredible burst of speed, Mantine soared on the water's surface, quickly 
gaining upon the speeding blur. Making a sharp right turn, Mantine cut off 
the shooting Pokemon, halting it in its tracks. When the waving waters 
around them calmed, a stout fin poked above the surface, remaining 
motionless in front of them. Before Tom could give Mantine an order, a 
blueish-green blur shot from the water with the fin, bearing a set of 
flesh-tearing teeth with japing jaws at Tom. Barely managing to swerve 
himself out of the way, Tom only caught a glimpse of the speeding Pokemon, 
thinking it to be a mutated Seaking. The Pokemon sped off in the water 
behind him, racing to wherever it was going in a hurry. "Follow it!" Tom 
ordered Mantine.

But Mantine was ahead of Tom, already chasing after the Pokemon. Once the 
speeding Pokemon was in sight again, Tom dug out his Pokedex from his pocket 
and aimed it at thier quarry.

"Sharpedo, the Shark Pokemon," The Pokedex spat out. "A vicious predator of 
the seas that has an ultra-thick skin, keeping it safe from other predators. 
It is mainly seen in Houen."

"Houen?" Porygon Two snorted in confusion, "That's on the other side of the 
world!"

"He's on this side now, isn't he?" Tom asked. Steadying his knees, Tom stood 
up on Mantine's back, bracing against the rush of air blasting upon his body 
as Mantine chased after the Sharpedo. Detatching a Pokeball from his belt, 
Tom unleashed Parasect onto Mantine's shoulders. Even though they were 
racing at insanely high speeds, Parasect's six legs planted him firmly onto 
Mantine's back. "Mantine, race ahead of it!" Tom ordered.

With a burst of speed that nearly sent Tom and Porygon Two flying into the 
water, Mantine shot out of the water and into the air, floating gracefully 
above the racing Sharpedo. When they landed with a surprisingly smooth 
splash, they were just meters ahead of the Sharpedo. "Porygon, set your 
oxygen filters off!" Tom commanded. As soon as Porygon Two nodded, Tom 
turned to Parasect, held his breath and ordered, "Stun Spore!"

With a squeak, Parasect released a cloud of dust into the air, blowing it 
clear behind them and into the shooting Pokemon's path. The spray of water 
behind them abruptly disappeared as the cloud did, and Tom told Mantine to 
stop. Once they were finally back at a slow speed, Mantine turned around as 
Tom zapped Parasect back into his Pokeball. Circling around the Sharpedo, 
floating on his belly and stiffly twitching, Tom took a Pokeball from his 
belt and tossed it into the Sharpedo. The Pokemon was zapped inside the 
Pokeball, leaving the ball floating on the surface of the water. Reaching in 
the sea to pick it up, the ball instantly vanished from Tom's hand. "Hope 
the professor likes a vicious one like that," Tom said, sitting back down 
upon Mantine's back.

Just then, Porygon Two spoke up worriedly, "Tom, just how far out did we 
go?"

Tom's heart skipped a beat. "I'm not sure," Tom murmured.

Mantine suddenly chimed up cheerily. "Tom, there's land over there," said 
Porygon Two, looking to his left. "I think we should land there for now."

Tom, without a better plan in mind, steered Mantine towards the island.

-End.....?
*******