Old Fanfiction Book Club: Rachel's Pokémon Journey, Part Six
Previously on Old Fanfiction Book Club: after eight chapters of absolutely no plot, Rachel suddenly develops a psychic connection with a Team Rocket member who can travel between universes, a concept that is dropped as quickly as it appears.
The original author's note for chapter eleven: WARNING: From this chapter onwards, viewpoints will be changing. I advise you read whose viewpoint it is to avoid becoming confused. This chapter introduces a completely random person called Monica -_-'
(Monica's View)
I wandered through the dark forest, holding Effie my Eevee in my arms and Hermla the Pikachu on my shoulders.
I don't really remember Monica's origin, but by process of elimination she must have been a character submitted on the Pokémorphs forums, like JB. Effie and Hermla definitely aren't names I'd have come up with myself, and it's too early for me to have started incorporating character submissions from fanfiction.net.
"Another TR member defeated, Hermla," I said happily.
I described Monica as 'a completely random person' in my author's note, but of course she's the mysterious girl who saved Rachel from the Arcanine in chapter ten.
"Pika!" shouted Hermla.
I was just walking. Until...
"There!"
"GET HER!"
I jumped in shock. Then, I felt hands grabbing me. I twisted around, and what I saw confirmed my fears- five people, black suits-
And a white R on each suit.
Team Rocket members!
A red R is more usual, I think. Occasionally the black uniform has been depicted with a yellow R. I have no idea where I got a white R from.
I began to yell for help. But a hand was clamped over my mouth.
"You won't scream if you know what's good for you!" one man hissed in my ear.
I didn't scream. Instead, I twisted.
And sank my teeth into the guys hand.
"GET OFF ME!" he yelled. Then he said a few more sharp words I really shouldn't repeat.
No swearing in my fic! Horrifying kidnapping scenes, naturally, but people don't curse.
I let go, much as I would have liked to stay just long enough to draw blood. Then, I tried to get away. But I was surrounded by furious members of Team Rocket, and there was no way out. The next thing I knew was that I was stuck in a bag, shoved in a van, and my Pokémon had been taken away from me!
I screamed and screamed, but I knew it wouldn't do the slightest bit of good.
Now I was really scared. I had been kidnapped!
Reading this as an adult, it's genuinely slightly terrifying. The particularly messed-up bits of my writing as a kid can probably be blamed on Animorphs. I once wrote an Animorphs-inspired piece of short fiction for my English homework, and my English teacher called up my parents to ask, 'Is Harriet... all right?'
Actually, come to think of it, this may be the influence of His Dark Materials again. I was definitely very struck by the scene in Northern Lights (The Golden Compass in the US) where Lyra is taken to be severed from Pantalaimon.
***
I don't know how long I was in that van. It seemed as if it lasted forever. But suddenly I felt rough hands on me.
"You. Outta here. Now." He yanked me up and dragged me through corridors for what seemed to be for miles and miles, holding another bag. I was very scared.
Christ, no kidding.
What did Team Rocket want with me, anyway?
I was held firmly in a powerful armlock. This guy was STRONG. There was no way I was getting out of that. The Rocket member who had me in his grip put his hand in the other bag, and pulled out Hermla.
I would have laughed. This guy was way, way, way underestimating my Pikachu. This was gonna hurt.
"CHAAAAAAAA!!!!!" screamed Hermla, twisting madly and Thunderbolting the TR member for all she was worth. I was really glad I was wearing my protective rubber breastplate underneath my sweatshirt.
Rachel's entire party should probably invest in those.
I thought it would just serve to seriously irritate him. I wasn't sure if that would be a good thing or a bad thing. He might get so angry he would attack me, or whatever.
I like the flippant 'or whatever'. 'Or some other horror. Whatever.'
But what happened next was definitely very, very good.
The electric attack finished. Suddenly, a look of horror passed over the man's face. He had been paralysed!
I wriggled free of his immobile arms, lifted my Pokémon gently out of the bag and slipped a keyring full of keys off his belt. It might come in handy. Then I tried to get out of the massive, mazelike building.
But where was 'out'? I had lost track of all the corridors we had gone through, all the doors we passed. Holding Effie to my chest with on hand and my Staryu's, Mitimen, Pokéball in the other, I came across a door.
For the most part I've been pretty solid on grammar, but 'my Staryu's, Mitimen, Pokéball' is a disaster. (I was wondering what was responsible for the blast of water that downed the Arcanine! I'm glad the mystery has been solved.)
"Please don't let it be full of TR agents."
I opened it cautiously, and peeped in.
It was sitting at the bottom of a large cage, crying.
It was a freak of nature. It was impossible. Something that should never be allowed to exist.
But it did.
Very Animorphs-style chapter ending here.
The original author's note for chapter twelve: ACK! Sorry for not updating yesterday!
I was gonna switch back to Rachel and leave the cliffhanger hanging there, but then I figured I’d get lynched.
I approached her- it- cautiously. As I drew closer, she glanced up.
“Who- who are you?” she whispered.
She sat inside the cage. Her skin was light blue. The antennae rising out of her dark brown hair were limp. Her wings were drooping.
Her wings.
I WAS A FURRY
SURPRISE!!
“Monica,” I whispered. “Who are you? Why-”
“My name is Vicky,” she said. “I was taking a walk with my Butterfree when Team Rocket caught me. They were talking about energy and stuff. Then they made me breathe in some gas or something. I think it knocked me out. When I came to, I was part Butterfree…” She was sobbing. “They took all my Pokémon away from me… and they put me in this cage… Sometimes they make me do tests and things… I don’t think I’ll ever get out! I want to go home!”
That's right: Team Rocket's plan for energy generation is to KIDNAP KIDS AND TURN THEM INTO FURRIES.
I think the phrase I knew at the time was 'anthros'. I used to spend time on the anthro gallery site VCL, looking at artwork of human/Pokémon hybrids. I thought they were extremely cool. The art I looked at was entirely innocent, or at least it appeared to be when I was a kid; I'm not sure I was even aware that there was a sexual side.
Anthropomorphic Pokémon are also sometimes referred to as 'Pokémorphs', so I'd guess I found out about them when I was trying to look up things related to the Pokémon/Animorphs crossover of the same name.
“Shh, shh,” I whispered. “You will get out. I’m letting you out.”
“Huh? Who- who’s there?”
I moved to the next cage. The person in there wasn’t crying, but looked incredibly depressed. Her skin was orange. Two curled ears rose out of her dark-gold hair. A tail with a lightning-bolt shape at the end rested beside her. “Hi. I’m Lyra. Or, I was. Now I’m part-Raichu Lyra, and I hate it here. We don’t even have any food!”
Lyra is, of course, named after the protagonist of the His Dark Materials series. Also, Team Rocket, if you want to keep conducting experiments on these kids, you should probably feed them.
“Don’t worry,” I whispered. “I’m letting you out.”
I tried one of the keys. It didn’t fit. Then the next. Neither did that.
I was getting frantic. If-
CLIK!
For some reason I find it hilarious that my sound effect for clicking is 'CLIK' rather than 'CLICK'. They sound the same!
I turned the third key. The lock clicked. The door swung open.
Lyra stepped out of her prison. Her eyes lit up.
“I’m out!”
Vicky heard. The news travelled quickly.
“Lyra’s out! A girl let her out!”
I moved to Vicky’s cage. I tried the same key again. It worked. I opened the cage. Vicky stumbled out, and her expression was of pure joy.
For a moment I was going to question the fact that the same key opens all the cages, but on reflection it makes sense; if someone has the authority to open one of the cages, they probably have the authority to open all of them.
I moved around the room, opening all the cages. A Kadabra boy. An orange boy with huge wings and a flaming tail. Pikachu triplets. An Ivysaur girl. A pale Electabuzz. A Pidgeot. Even a 15-year-old Seaking and Marril!
I don't know why I present the last two with 'even'. I suppose Marill (which I misspelt here) was a second-generation Pokémon and therefore unusual from my perspective, but why is Seaking noteworthy? Because Seaking would usually be found in the water? Or is the noteworthy thing that the Seaking hybrid is fifteen?
They all stumbled out of their cages. I was staring at Vicky’s wings. I suddenly had a thought.
“Vicky? Can- can you fly?”
She looked up. “I… don’t… know. Do you think…?”
“Try it,” I urged.
“Okay…” She stood up, flapped her wings…
And rose off the ground!
“I’m flying!” she cried, delighted. “I can fly!” She smiled for the first time since I saw her.
Then, a flash!
Will the Pidgeot was suddenly in the air alongside her. “Hey! I can do it, too!”
Another His Dark Materials name here.
“This- is- SO- cool!”
The Ivysaur girl shot out two vines and pulled Vicky down. “Look, we have to focus here! There’s still the question of us getting out!”
I like this practical Ivysaur girl and I'm sad that this is her only appearance in the entire fic.
This seemed to subdue Vicky a little. “We’ll have to get the Pokémon as well.”
There were muttered agreements.
“OK,” I managed a weak smile, then said to the Kadabra “Robert? There’s a Paralysed guard in this building. Can you get us to him?”
There was a pause. “Yeah.” He closed his eyes.
Strange swirling colours surrounded us as we were Teleported. Slowly, they faded away to show the back of a Paralysed guard.
Question: if Robert is capable of teleportation, why didn't he just teleport out of his cage?
“Ben? Amnesia, covering the past four hours. Can you do that?” The Slowpoke-boy nodded, and a haze appeared around the guard.
“Now, can you get us to the Pokémon, Robert?” The boy got a blank look, I suppose he was scanning the building. Then we were Teleported to a room full of cages with Pokémon in them. I tried key after key, until all the Pokémon were released. A whimpering Growlithe and a Raichu ran up to Lyra instantly. Finally, we were Teleported out of the building.
STOP TELEPORTING, YOU'RE JUST MAKING THE PLOT HOLE HARDER TO IGNORE
This whole section definitely feels very influenced by the institution in Northern Lights where children are separated from their daemons.
“Great work!” I praised them. But some still looked depressed.
“Do we have to stay part-Pokémon for ever?” asked Vicky.
“Cheer up!” I said. “Look at it this way- You’re still Vicky, but you can fly! You all have special power!”
Vicky smiled. “That’s right. How many 10-year-olds can fly?” She shot up into the air and laughed.
Oh, wow, this poor kid is ten.
I smiled. “That’s right.”
In the next instalment of Old Fanfiction Book Club: I attempt to go back to writing about a normal Pokémon journey, which is a bit disconcerting after all this ridiculous plot.
The original author's note for chapter eleven: WARNING: From this chapter onwards, viewpoints will be changing. I advise you read whose viewpoint it is to avoid becoming confused. This chapter introduces a completely random person called Monica -_-'
(Monica's View)
I wandered through the dark forest, holding Effie my Eevee in my arms and Hermla the Pikachu on my shoulders.
I don't really remember Monica's origin, but by process of elimination she must have been a character submitted on the Pokémorphs forums, like JB. Effie and Hermla definitely aren't names I'd have come up with myself, and it's too early for me to have started incorporating character submissions from fanfiction.net.
"Another TR member defeated, Hermla," I said happily.
I described Monica as 'a completely random person' in my author's note, but of course she's the mysterious girl who saved Rachel from the Arcanine in chapter ten.
"Pika!" shouted Hermla.
I was just walking. Until...
"There!"
"GET HER!"
I jumped in shock. Then, I felt hands grabbing me. I twisted around, and what I saw confirmed my fears- five people, black suits-
And a white R on each suit.
Team Rocket members!
A red R is more usual, I think. Occasionally the black uniform has been depicted with a yellow R. I have no idea where I got a white R from.
I began to yell for help. But a hand was clamped over my mouth.
"You won't scream if you know what's good for you!" one man hissed in my ear.
I didn't scream. Instead, I twisted.
And sank my teeth into the guys hand.
"GET OFF ME!" he yelled. Then he said a few more sharp words I really shouldn't repeat.
No swearing in my fic! Horrifying kidnapping scenes, naturally, but people don't curse.
I let go, much as I would have liked to stay just long enough to draw blood. Then, I tried to get away. But I was surrounded by furious members of Team Rocket, and there was no way out. The next thing I knew was that I was stuck in a bag, shoved in a van, and my Pokémon had been taken away from me!
I screamed and screamed, but I knew it wouldn't do the slightest bit of good.
Now I was really scared. I had been kidnapped!
Reading this as an adult, it's genuinely slightly terrifying. The particularly messed-up bits of my writing as a kid can probably be blamed on Animorphs. I once wrote an Animorphs-inspired piece of short fiction for my English homework, and my English teacher called up my parents to ask, 'Is Harriet... all right?'
Actually, come to think of it, this may be the influence of His Dark Materials again. I was definitely very struck by the scene in Northern Lights (The Golden Compass in the US) where Lyra is taken to be severed from Pantalaimon.
***
I don't know how long I was in that van. It seemed as if it lasted forever. But suddenly I felt rough hands on me.
"You. Outta here. Now." He yanked me up and dragged me through corridors for what seemed to be for miles and miles, holding another bag. I was very scared.
Christ, no kidding.
What did Team Rocket want with me, anyway?
I was held firmly in a powerful armlock. This guy was STRONG. There was no way I was getting out of that. The Rocket member who had me in his grip put his hand in the other bag, and pulled out Hermla.
I would have laughed. This guy was way, way, way underestimating my Pikachu. This was gonna hurt.
"CHAAAAAAAA!!!!!" screamed Hermla, twisting madly and Thunderbolting the TR member for all she was worth. I was really glad I was wearing my protective rubber breastplate underneath my sweatshirt.
Rachel's entire party should probably invest in those.
I thought it would just serve to seriously irritate him. I wasn't sure if that would be a good thing or a bad thing. He might get so angry he would attack me, or whatever.
I like the flippant 'or whatever'. 'Or some other horror. Whatever.'
But what happened next was definitely very, very good.
The electric attack finished. Suddenly, a look of horror passed over the man's face. He had been paralysed!
I wriggled free of his immobile arms, lifted my Pokémon gently out of the bag and slipped a keyring full of keys off his belt. It might come in handy. Then I tried to get out of the massive, mazelike building.
But where was 'out'? I had lost track of all the corridors we had gone through, all the doors we passed. Holding Effie to my chest with on hand and my Staryu's, Mitimen, Pokéball in the other, I came across a door.
For the most part I've been pretty solid on grammar, but 'my Staryu's, Mitimen, Pokéball' is a disaster. (I was wondering what was responsible for the blast of water that downed the Arcanine! I'm glad the mystery has been solved.)
"Please don't let it be full of TR agents."
I opened it cautiously, and peeped in.
It was sitting at the bottom of a large cage, crying.
It was a freak of nature. It was impossible. Something that should never be allowed to exist.
But it did.
Very Animorphs-style chapter ending here.
The original author's note for chapter twelve: ACK! Sorry for not updating yesterday!
I was gonna switch back to Rachel and leave the cliffhanger hanging there, but then I figured I’d get lynched.
I approached her- it- cautiously. As I drew closer, she glanced up.
“Who- who are you?” she whispered.
She sat inside the cage. Her skin was light blue. The antennae rising out of her dark brown hair were limp. Her wings were drooping.
Her wings.
I WAS A FURRY
SURPRISE!!
“Monica,” I whispered. “Who are you? Why-”
“My name is Vicky,” she said. “I was taking a walk with my Butterfree when Team Rocket caught me. They were talking about energy and stuff. Then they made me breathe in some gas or something. I think it knocked me out. When I came to, I was part Butterfree…” She was sobbing. “They took all my Pokémon away from me… and they put me in this cage… Sometimes they make me do tests and things… I don’t think I’ll ever get out! I want to go home!”
That's right: Team Rocket's plan for energy generation is to KIDNAP KIDS AND TURN THEM INTO FURRIES.
I think the phrase I knew at the time was 'anthros'. I used to spend time on the anthro gallery site VCL, looking at artwork of human/Pokémon hybrids. I thought they were extremely cool. The art I looked at was entirely innocent, or at least it appeared to be when I was a kid; I'm not sure I was even aware that there was a sexual side.
Anthropomorphic Pokémon are also sometimes referred to as 'Pokémorphs', so I'd guess I found out about them when I was trying to look up things related to the Pokémon/Animorphs crossover of the same name.
“Shh, shh,” I whispered. “You will get out. I’m letting you out.”
“Huh? Who- who’s there?”
I moved to the next cage. The person in there wasn’t crying, but looked incredibly depressed. Her skin was orange. Two curled ears rose out of her dark-gold hair. A tail with a lightning-bolt shape at the end rested beside her. “Hi. I’m Lyra. Or, I was. Now I’m part-Raichu Lyra, and I hate it here. We don’t even have any food!”
Lyra is, of course, named after the protagonist of the His Dark Materials series. Also, Team Rocket, if you want to keep conducting experiments on these kids, you should probably feed them.
“Don’t worry,” I whispered. “I’m letting you out.”
I tried one of the keys. It didn’t fit. Then the next. Neither did that.
I was getting frantic. If-
CLIK!
For some reason I find it hilarious that my sound effect for clicking is 'CLIK' rather than 'CLICK'. They sound the same!
I turned the third key. The lock clicked. The door swung open.
Lyra stepped out of her prison. Her eyes lit up.
“I’m out!”
Vicky heard. The news travelled quickly.
“Lyra’s out! A girl let her out!”
I moved to Vicky’s cage. I tried the same key again. It worked. I opened the cage. Vicky stumbled out, and her expression was of pure joy.
For a moment I was going to question the fact that the same key opens all the cages, but on reflection it makes sense; if someone has the authority to open one of the cages, they probably have the authority to open all of them.
I moved around the room, opening all the cages. A Kadabra boy. An orange boy with huge wings and a flaming tail. Pikachu triplets. An Ivysaur girl. A pale Electabuzz. A Pidgeot. Even a 15-year-old Seaking and Marril!
I don't know why I present the last two with 'even'. I suppose Marill (which I misspelt here) was a second-generation Pokémon and therefore unusual from my perspective, but why is Seaking noteworthy? Because Seaking would usually be found in the water? Or is the noteworthy thing that the Seaking hybrid is fifteen?
They all stumbled out of their cages. I was staring at Vicky’s wings. I suddenly had a thought.
“Vicky? Can- can you fly?”
She looked up. “I… don’t… know. Do you think…?”
“Try it,” I urged.
“Okay…” She stood up, flapped her wings…
And rose off the ground!
“I’m flying!” she cried, delighted. “I can fly!” She smiled for the first time since I saw her.
Then, a flash!
Will the Pidgeot was suddenly in the air alongside her. “Hey! I can do it, too!”
Another His Dark Materials name here.
“This- is- SO- cool!”
The Ivysaur girl shot out two vines and pulled Vicky down. “Look, we have to focus here! There’s still the question of us getting out!”
I like this practical Ivysaur girl and I'm sad that this is her only appearance in the entire fic.
This seemed to subdue Vicky a little. “We’ll have to get the Pokémon as well.”
There were muttered agreements.
“OK,” I managed a weak smile, then said to the Kadabra “Robert? There’s a Paralysed guard in this building. Can you get us to him?”
There was a pause. “Yeah.” He closed his eyes.
Strange swirling colours surrounded us as we were Teleported. Slowly, they faded away to show the back of a Paralysed guard.
Question: if Robert is capable of teleportation, why didn't he just teleport out of his cage?
“Ben? Amnesia, covering the past four hours. Can you do that?” The Slowpoke-boy nodded, and a haze appeared around the guard.
“Now, can you get us to the Pokémon, Robert?” The boy got a blank look, I suppose he was scanning the building. Then we were Teleported to a room full of cages with Pokémon in them. I tried key after key, until all the Pokémon were released. A whimpering Growlithe and a Raichu ran up to Lyra instantly. Finally, we were Teleported out of the building.
STOP TELEPORTING, YOU'RE JUST MAKING THE PLOT HOLE HARDER TO IGNORE
This whole section definitely feels very influenced by the institution in Northern Lights where children are separated from their daemons.
“Great work!” I praised them. But some still looked depressed.
“Do we have to stay part-Pokémon for ever?” asked Vicky.
“Cheer up!” I said. “Look at it this way- You’re still Vicky, but you can fly! You all have special power!”
Vicky smiled. “That’s right. How many 10-year-olds can fly?” She shot up into the air and laughed.
Oh, wow, this poor kid is ten.
I smiled. “That’s right.”
In the next instalment of Old Fanfiction Book Club: I attempt to go back to writing about a normal Pokémon journey, which is a bit disconcerting after all this ridiculous plot.