(no subject)
You've heard other stories about rescue teams before, I'm sure. You know how it goes. The first mission is a glorious success, the day is saved, and the team has won the respect and admiration of the town for their contributions to society. I'd grown up on stories like that; it only seemed natural that Team Silvertongues would start out just like that.
It was pretty naive of me to think that, wasn't it?
Really, I don't think you could describe any part of that mission as successful. Schist's Selfdestruct had caused the mine shaft to collapse, and I'd been caught in the blast. Enoki and Aycee had tried to dig me out, but the both of them were injured, and Kanei and Casey were even worse off than they were. In the end, they'd run back to town for help. It had taken the town hours to dig through the rubble. Really, I don't think they expected to find me alive. Every Pokemon that had been alive during the gold rush days knew how horrible a cave-in could be. If you weren't killed when it happened, you'd probably suffocate before help could arrive. Everyone knew I was frail to begin with, and if I'd been injured beforehand, well... I don't blame them for being less than optimistic. I wouldn't have expected to find me alive, either. Somehow, though, I was alive. Very much worse for wear, but alive.
Really, I think I missed the worst of it. From what I hear, it was pretty ugly stuff when I'd first arrived. A broken tailbone and ankle, missing teeth, head trauma, cracked claws, bruises everywhere, bald, burnt patches where the blast had scorched my fur right off. The claw that my mother had given me that night had managed to survive intact, even if the leather thong keeping it around my neck had been charred into oblivion. Apparently it had been embedded in the jewel on my chest. A few millimeters further in and it would have been embedded in an artery, too. I wasn't too sure if that was a sign that the claw was a good luck charm or not.
I wasn't the only one injured, not by a mile. Aycee and Enoki were lucky. Their injuries were minor enough that a handful of Oran berries and plenty of bandages were treatment enough. Apparently, they'd both had hypothermia; Enoki had little resistance to the cold, and Aycee had been hit with enough Water Pulses to freeze her fur, but neither of them were too critical by the time they'd reached town. Kanei and Casey had it much worse. I'm not sure how serious it was for them, since I was out of it for most of the time, but I'd overheard a few ugly phrases once I woke up. Broken ribs, punctured lungs, internal bleeding, concussions. We only had one doctor in Northvale: a stooped old Abomasnow who bordered on senile. He could have easily handled Aycee and Enoki if it had only been them, but with as many critical cases as this, he was overwhelmed. I'm told they had to have Blisseys come in from Frostview.
Let me tell you, no move in the known universe is half as miraculous as Softboiled. When I came to, most of the damage had been erased. All the cracks and breaks had been mended, save for the gem on my chest; that, they said, was going to have a missing shard until I evolved. My burns had been healed, even if the fur was taking its sweet time growing back, and even the empty gaps in my mouth had been filled. Aycee told me they'd had a Sharpedo donate teeth for me, but I knew she was joking. Ever since I woke up, she'd been cracking jokes left and right, avoiding my eyes and answering everything I said with watery smiles and vague comments about the fight.
"You've got Mewtwo's own luck, Thierry, y'know that? Never would have thought a... a pansy like you would have survived a fight like that. You look like death in a can."
I grinned and told her she should see the other guy, and her smile went stiff. She mumbled something about finding my parents for me and hurried out of the room. I thought it odd, but it was impossible to dwell on it once Mother had found me. She backhanded me silly with the blunt of her claws, alternating between sobbing about her precious little boy and shouting about her reckless idiot son. Father finally managed to pry her away with a firm hand to her shoulder, looked me in the eye, and spoke bluntly.
"Schist died. Some people believe you should be charged with manslaughter, but it was decided that it was a suicide. You won't be held accountable."
Dead. I hadn't even thought about Schist the whole time. The words numbed me.
Father wasn't done speaking. "They also dug Father Hough out of the rubble."
A wave of dread crashed down over me. Father Hough had been in the mine? I hadn't seen him. Maybe he'd been far enough away from Schist and me to...
"Thierry... he's dead."
It was pretty naive of me to think that, wasn't it?
Really, I don't think you could describe any part of that mission as successful. Schist's Selfdestruct had caused the mine shaft to collapse, and I'd been caught in the blast. Enoki and Aycee had tried to dig me out, but the both of them were injured, and Kanei and Casey were even worse off than they were. In the end, they'd run back to town for help. It had taken the town hours to dig through the rubble. Really, I don't think they expected to find me alive. Every Pokemon that had been alive during the gold rush days knew how horrible a cave-in could be. If you weren't killed when it happened, you'd probably suffocate before help could arrive. Everyone knew I was frail to begin with, and if I'd been injured beforehand, well... I don't blame them for being less than optimistic. I wouldn't have expected to find me alive, either. Somehow, though, I was alive. Very much worse for wear, but alive.
Really, I think I missed the worst of it. From what I hear, it was pretty ugly stuff when I'd first arrived. A broken tailbone and ankle, missing teeth, head trauma, cracked claws, bruises everywhere, bald, burnt patches where the blast had scorched my fur right off. The claw that my mother had given me that night had managed to survive intact, even if the leather thong keeping it around my neck had been charred into oblivion. Apparently it had been embedded in the jewel on my chest. A few millimeters further in and it would have been embedded in an artery, too. I wasn't too sure if that was a sign that the claw was a good luck charm or not.
I wasn't the only one injured, not by a mile. Aycee and Enoki were lucky. Their injuries were minor enough that a handful of Oran berries and plenty of bandages were treatment enough. Apparently, they'd both had hypothermia; Enoki had little resistance to the cold, and Aycee had been hit with enough Water Pulses to freeze her fur, but neither of them were too critical by the time they'd reached town. Kanei and Casey had it much worse. I'm not sure how serious it was for them, since I was out of it for most of the time, but I'd overheard a few ugly phrases once I woke up. Broken ribs, punctured lungs, internal bleeding, concussions. We only had one doctor in Northvale: a stooped old Abomasnow who bordered on senile. He could have easily handled Aycee and Enoki if it had only been them, but with as many critical cases as this, he was overwhelmed. I'm told they had to have Blisseys come in from Frostview.
Let me tell you, no move in the known universe is half as miraculous as Softboiled. When I came to, most of the damage had been erased. All the cracks and breaks had been mended, save for the gem on my chest; that, they said, was going to have a missing shard until I evolved. My burns had been healed, even if the fur was taking its sweet time growing back, and even the empty gaps in my mouth had been filled. Aycee told me they'd had a Sharpedo donate teeth for me, but I knew she was joking. Ever since I woke up, she'd been cracking jokes left and right, avoiding my eyes and answering everything I said with watery smiles and vague comments about the fight.
"You've got Mewtwo's own luck, Thierry, y'know that? Never would have thought a... a pansy like you would have survived a fight like that. You look like death in a can."
I grinned and told her she should see the other guy, and her smile went stiff. She mumbled something about finding my parents for me and hurried out of the room. I thought it odd, but it was impossible to dwell on it once Mother had found me. She backhanded me silly with the blunt of her claws, alternating between sobbing about her precious little boy and shouting about her reckless idiot son. Father finally managed to pry her away with a firm hand to her shoulder, looked me in the eye, and spoke bluntly.
"Schist died. Some people believe you should be charged with manslaughter, but it was decided that it was a suicide. You won't be held accountable."
Dead. I hadn't even thought about Schist the whole time. The words numbed me.
Father wasn't done speaking. "They also dug Father Hough out of the rubble."
A wave of dread crashed down over me. Father Hough had been in the mine? I hadn't seen him. Maybe he'd been far enough away from Schist and me to...
"Thierry... he's dead."