Chapter 4: Uprooted

Eight days on the boat, and we've almost arrived. Was it the S.S. Oceana or something? It's fairly big. Something big enough to cross half the world without refueling, at least. 

'Ugh, I still can't believe I just passed out.'

It had haunted me to the point of horrible embarrassment. My face flushed every time I was around Mom, and I couldn't speak without choking up. I couldn't tell if it was rage or embarrassment. Though I couldn't blame her- the whole debacle smelled like something Drayden cooked up. 

"Hah…"

The ocean breeze fluttered my hair. Loose curls like Dad's, but the deep brunette of my Mother's. I kept it short, unlike the both of them, since it got in the way. 

"Maybe I should grow it out?"

It wouldn't matter much anyway- I usually just roughly cut it since I was either too busy or exhausted to care much. I wouldn't be in much danger here either- my talks with the people on the ship let me know a bit about Avium, our destination, and specifically Gearen. The east part of it was residential, safe, and most of the strong pokemon were cleared out. 

'Though Mom seems to be planning to move us to Grand Dream City, which might change things.'

A city covered with a dome, where all pollution and weather were perfectly maintained. I had already found my citizen slip poking from one of the folders she had brought, and asked the people on board- they didn't know much, sadly. I didn't ask her because it seemed like she wanted it to be a surprise. Well, if she tried the same In Unova I would have just refused. 

She loved working in the Castelia in research with Professor Bianca, and despite our differences I never tried to tell her how bad the underside of Unova's society had become. Her innocence was something that kept me going, and it reminded me of most of the women's state of mind- blinded by the propaganda the government was spewing out. 

'An isolated city… hopefully I can still call over to the Sprouts with a local phone plan. I might have to get an actual job to afford an international one if it fails.'

Sprouts was stupid name, but I didn't come up with it at least. It was the label I was given before I formed an actual organization around me to resist, and we were then called 'the sprouts of dissent'. The younger guys liked it especially, so it stuck despite me and the veterans protesting. I themed the other groups around it, but it still bugged me…

Fwoooooo~

"Thinking out here again, Mykah?"

A lady in a blue dress walked up behind me, leaning over the railing on my right. I held back the shiver from not having noticed her approach, adjusting my bulky green scarf a bit tighter. 

"You seem to love~ the ocean breeze. Too bad you're gonna be stuck in a fish bowl in a few months, huh?"

"Heh, says the one who gets paid to poke a dead donphan."

"Gah! What an in-elegant way to speak of the art of music!"

"That's not a word, madame, but I hate to break it to your weak heart. Maybe you can slap around these wingull during the next banquet? It'd sound just as lovely."

"I- ahem- I ought to- Heh-"

I looked at her, the wavy brown hair blocking her face from view- I could guess at the shade her cheeks had gotten to though. We had talked a lot the past week. 

"Your laughter betrays you, my lady. Or should I say… Ms. Taxidermist."

"Hah! Snort- Hehehehehe~"

Her unladylike laugh brought a smile to my face. This was how people should be- not locked in careers to slave away for the country's sake. She swept back her hair, and I saw the flushed face I had expected- she loved laughing, and jokes got her way too easily. 

"Y-you've got me there, Mykah. Ahem. Anyway~ Whatcha thinking about?"

I looked away from the middle aged woman, holding out a hand. A wingull landed on my arm, and I scratched it under the beak. 

"Just friends back home. They relied too much on me… I'm not sure if I was right to be so involved now that I can't help them."

"Hmm… That's a new one. Usually the men I talk to have an issue with not being involved enough- er, I mean, women too. But, uh-"

"Don't worry, I don't care about the whole 'sex wars' going on back in Unova. I live out in the sticks anyway."

"Hah… Thank goodness. Thought I had 'ta watch my tongue- er-"

She slipped into a heavy country accent- something only the Unovan from the outskirts of the region had these days. 

"Or your accent, Melody. Didn't we talk about this yesterday during your break?"

I held the wingull over to her, and she carefully patted its head. It quickly leaned toward her, and she obliged by petting it more roughly. The cowgirl was becoming an avian specialist- the miltank she used to work with would be livid. 

"Squawk!"

"Alrighty then. I was saying- usually guys don't think about this stuff until it's too late. You're ahead of the curve on that one at least." 

I took a pack of oyster crackers from yesterday out of my pocket, handing it to her as the wingull melted into her petting. She really was good with animals, and definitely better than me even if I had called down the bird. It reminded me of when I met Victor- a sort of connection some people had with species of pokemon. The saplings were looking into it on my request, but hadn't turned up with anything. 

"But I think it'd do ya some good to just… let them have breathing room. Same thing with gals and livestock when they're in groups- sometimes they just need to be let alone to figure out things for themselves."

She took the wingull from me, and the bird just laid down in her arms without hesitation. I met her blue eyes as she smiled, cradling the small bird.

"We all need some rest from time to time, so they'll understand if you explain it to 'em. They might even grow up more because of it- even kids need time away from their parents to become adults, much less a dependency like what ya saying."

She picked up the bird by the scruff and- 

"The heck!?"

Tossed it out into the ocean. The world around me slowed, and I reached over the railing to stop it before it got too far- but it was out of reach. 

Plop-

It sank into the water, about ten yards from the ship. It didn't have the time to stretch its wings- I shot back up, glaring at her. 

"You just killed it! At least let it have a chance at-"

"Wiiiii!"

The wingull soared back up, a fish in its mouth. 

"Hehe~ This little one has a gift for ya!"

It plopped the slimy gray blob into my hands, but I tossed it back into the ocean before I could recognize it- not that I would, given how many water type species there were in the world. 

"Aww… Well, I think it sorta proves ma point. Let things take their course- you just might be holding back something incredible…ly slimy. Hehe~"

"Hahaha…"

I wiped my hands off on my jeans, laughing along.

"I guess you're right. Thanks, Melody."

"Don't mention it. I have ta- ahem- I have to get back to playing the grand piano in the lounge, but feel free to stop by when you have time. And… I hope you and Nancy can make up."

She walked away, not leaving me time to reply. 

"Hah…"

She probably knew more of what I was worried about than I did. Women could be terrifying. 

'I swear they're all half psychic or something.'

I looked at my phone. January eleventh, 12:19pm. Just a month after the ceasefire began in earnest, and most of that time was spent locked on this ship. It was lunchtime, so I moved to the banquet hall to get something light from the buffet before my workout. My hand brushed the medallion in my pocket, the familiar feeling soothing my troubled mind. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Frr-Frr-Frr

I wrapped my hands with the boxing wraps, fixing it to more of my style. Humans weren't made to fight, so reinforcing our body with tools was a must even in grappling. 

Traaa-

The velcro was pulled tight, and I wriggled my fingers to get the last adjustments fixed. 

"There."

Walking up to the punching bag, I had countless targets to imagine- but Drayden drilled something more important into me. 

"Fuuuuu…"

'Don't fight because you're angry, be angry because you have to fight.'

Bak-tak-bang!

Two jabs and a kick to where a head would be- good speed, but I needed a follow up.

Tap-fwoo-BANG!

I jumped up from the leg still standing, the world slowing around me as I did. I spun on the axis of the leg still by the bag, before extending my other leg and nailing the bag with my shin. My axis leg moved to the ground to catch me, and the bag moved away, swinging about three feet. I stepped back as the world sped back up to normal. 

"Haaaaa… Fuuuuu…"

I paced around the bag, my guard loose. The veterans mocked me sometimes for keeping my arms down, but my reaction speed made it not matter- what did matter was stamina. 

"Hup!"

My right arm shot forward, a clean jab but too light to matter much in a fight with a pokemon. 

BANG!

And that's why it was just a set up for a left hook. Not too hard, but placed where a human's temple would be. A lot of used pokemon were roughly the size of humans, at least the ones people let out indoors. 

"Haaaaa…"

I stepped back, wiping off my sweat from my forehead. Thirty seconds of my normal sparring, but I felt fine. 

'I guess it really was just something about the air in Unova…'

I remembered Nancy's words with me before I fainted. She had been concerned for my health, and wanted to leave Unova because of it. 

'I guess Unova did turn into a dumpster fire… Well, I was underwater most of the time so the smoke from the forests shouldn't have mattered.'

I sized up the still swinging punching bag, deciding to try something a bit different- I checke my wraps again, then thought of what happened to me when I was twelve- the dances I was forced to attend, the death, the feeling of despair when I was forced to live like an animal. The anger and adrenaline pushed me over the edge, and I began to feel light again as gravity's effect on me was slowed, just like everything else. 

I had forced my body into the same state as earlier. I moved without hesitation, smoothly stepping forward as the bag drifted in front of me. I moved as efficiently as possible to deliver a perfect right punch with all my strength to the chest area of the bag, putting every bit of my weight and muscle power into it. My adrenaline left right before I hit though, as forcing the state made it unstable because of the lack of crisis. 

Bang!

My fist continued almost perfectly, but I had twisted my wrist too much to the left at the last second, not accounting for the bag's swing. My pinky on my right hand felt off- I had definitely bruised it with the bad hook. 

"Hah… never fight angry. I need to find a better method… Something to keep in mind when I'm moving."

I took off the wraps and got ready to head out for bed. I had already worked out in the morning, and this was just supposed to be practicing some light tech before crashing. 

'...Light practice.'

It was already bruising- only a bit red, but it was swelling fairly quickly.

'It may be a fracture. Best to not tell Mom and get it checked out before we dock.'