Uncontained

After my meltdown as over, I trekked again and sent out the creature in the pokeball Spirit gave me. It seemed as surprised to see me as I was surprised to see it.

It was a medium-sized Pokemon with rough, dry skin covered in hard plates. It had small, taloned fingers and big, dark eyes that glimmered in the lantern-light. It peeped in greeting. I pulled out my pokedex as it pulled on my clothes and probed my skin. According to the device, it was a male sandshrew. They lived in deserts and such.

"I'll call you Isaac," I said.

Isaac wandered around most of the time, but he stayed in the proximity. Czeslaw got tired of him fast and spiked him when Isaac touched his spines. I didn't know Czeslaw could manually extend his spines until then. Isaac squealed and held his bleeding paw for me to see. Florence hopped off my shoulder and comforted him. I sighed.

"Czeslaw's not the friendliest at first," I said. "You just have to get past the prickly exterior. Pardon my pun."

We walked onward.

I'd grown a strange numbness as if all the trauma I'd experienced just turned to morphine. I wondered what Malachi would think if I told him I had a gun to my head and Florence and I beat up some thugs. I was more worried about Spirit, though. I only hoped she'd known what she was doing. I'd have to find her in Cerulean if she went that way.

The trail grew rocky and steep. I climbed ladders and moved along narrow ledges. Isaac nearly tumbled down one because he was trying to peer down it. Light filtered in at the end of the tunnel like a new birth. I was so sweaty, my muscles aching so bad, my heart hurting, I nearly sprinted over there shrieking, "Come on, let's go!"

But I saw something and stopped.

There were Rockets conversing at the exit.

I felt two things. One: to race over there screaming and flinging fists, or two: to dive behind a boulder and eavesdrop. I decided the second was safer and dove behind the boulder. Issac didn't know what was happening and burbled, so I clamped my hand over his mouth. His snout was oddly soft compared to the rest of him.

"So the mission at Cerulean was successful?" This was a tall woman, and her platinum blonde hair was pinned up in a bun. A red "R" blazed across the front of her uniform, as did the man's in front of her.

"There are still some of us scattered around," the man said. His hair was jet-black and he had a thin mustache and goatee. "The police caused us some trouble."

"When will you be able to meet us here?"

"In a couple of days."

"The police must have caused more trouble than you expected, no?"

The man set his jaw. "The grunts here weren't well enough trained."

"Take that one up with the boss," the woman said with disdain. "Now let's go. There are others in the tunnel looking for fossils. We could use your help."

The Rockets moved. They started up the stone stairs leading up to my hiding spot.

I jammed myself into a crack by the boulders and squeezed Isaac against me. Florence buried herself into my shoulder and Czeslaw pressed himself into my side. The footsteps grew louder and I saw them pass. I held my breath...

... and let it out. The two Rockets passed by me without noticing me. I sweated profusely. I waited for a solid two minutes before Czeslaw gave me the okay to move. I booked it the hell outta there.

And as soon as we stepped into the light, Czeslaw evolved.