Chapter 20
The day flew by in a whirl.
It started before sunrise with the very unwelcome sounding of Comet’s alarm, which he canceled with a growl. He arched his back in a long stretch, bones creaking. Apparently falling asleep slumped over on the examination table is enough to make anyone stiff.
But stiffness or no, the day needed to begin. And begin it did, with the task of picking Spearow up from the Saffron City Clinic. He brought Abra with him, and it seemed like the little guy could sense what was happening. He was wide awake and fidgety, but he didn’t cry once and he kept looking up at Comet as if he wanted him to move faster.
To Comet’s surprise, Spearow hadn’t lost any of his youthful energy after the procedure. Besides some extra bandages and stitches in his head, he was very much the same as he always was. The two friends reunited gleefully and spent the rest of the morning snuggled up in a nap.
But the day’s tasks had only just begun for Comet. With Spearow came a hefty bill to pay. Then there was the fundraising gala on the SS Anne. And morning meds still needed to be passed.
“Bring it on, Giratina,” murmured Comet as he swallowed two ibuprofen with a mouthful of black coffee.
As much as he wanted to avoid it, Comet decided that the only correct course of action would be to start with the Persian. Because if that was gonna go south, everything else was gonna go down with it. Armed with the newly-purchased pilling device, he entered the nursery.
Persian lay sound asleep in his corner, his flank rising and falling with each soft breath.
Comet smiled. “Gotcha, Entei.”
Ever so carefully, Comet extended the pilling device to its longest setting and loaded the pill. He slowly lifted the Persian’s lip with the far end of the tube. Holding his breath, he pressed the tube between two fangs…
And the Persian’s eyes snapped open. With a yowl, he swatted his paw down hard on the pill gun, snapping it straight in half.
“Shit!” Comet spat, throwing the broken haft of the gun to the ground in frustration. “I don’t have time for this today…” Rubbing his temples, he looked around the nursery. “I know Bravewhisker said it’s not good for you to be restrained, but since you insist on being a royal prick, you’re not leaving me a whole lot of choice. Hey, Phoenixfall!”
The Gyarados in question languidly slithered out of her pool and approached them. “Can I be of assistance?”
Phoenixfall’s formidable shadow slowly enveloped Persian as she came nearer, and his confrontational demeanor slowly faded to pure awestruck fear.
Comet frowned up at Phoenixfall. She was big, sure, but far from intimidating. None of Waterfall’s natural fierceness was in her eyes, and she hardly ever stretched her jaws like the Gyarados in textbook pictures. But apparently she was still scary enough to get the job done.
“I’ve got this Persian here, Phoe, who doesn’t want to take his medicine and I thought maybe he just needs a little extra convincing.”
Phoenixfall inclined her head in a nod. “Then we shall discuss.”
“Uh…” said Comet, scratching the back of his head. “A discussion isn’t exactly what I had in mind. Moon’s Venusaur apparently did this thing where he was wrapped in vines...”
But Phoenixfall already had her head bent low so that she was eye to eye with the frightened feline. He stared back at her, eyes wide and hackles raised, but did not attempt to strike. Comet squinted at them, straining to listen. But it was much harder to tell what Pokemon were saying to each other. Pokemon talk much differently to humans than they do amongst themselves.
After a moment, Phoenixfall glanced at Comet. “Whatever happened to this Persian had a great effect on him. I can barely find his sentience. Conversation is impossible. He has become something nearly beyond feral. But I think I have him frightened enough that he will take his medicine.”
“Wow,” Comet whispered, “I had no idea it was that bad.” He extended one hand toward the Persian, but Phoenixfall cleared her throat.
“If I may suggest, I believe it would still be wise to utilize that long contraption.”
Comet sighed and returned to the examination room to put another pill gun order in the computer. Pulling out the delivery plate on the bottom of the monitor, he decided to take inventory in the cabinets while he waited for the device to materialize.
He picked up Bravewhisker’s bottle and grimaced. It was almost empty. “This is what I get for upping the dosage I guess,” Comet muttered, plugging that order into the computer as well. He winced when the price came up on the screen. Between this and the bill from the Saffron City Clinic, Comet wasn’t sure the grant from Misty was going to cover everything. He had to challenge the next gym. Today.
“Never thought I would see you this deep in thought. And with black hair, no less.”
Comet jumped at the voice and nearly dropped what was left of Bravewhisker’s medicine. “Moon! What are you doing up this early?”
She stretched her arms up in the air with a smile. “The isolation unit isn’t exactly the most comfortable place in the world for a human. Plus, I might as well get a head start on getting ready for this gala.”
“I can’t believe you stayed here overnight,” said Comet, rubbing his bandaged arm. “You didn’t have to do… any of this.”
Moon laughed, rifling through a large duffle bag she had placed on the floor. “Well, I could hardly let you bleed out, could I?”
Comet watched his friend pull items out of the bag- a pale blue dress, a pair of heels, a makeup bag...Meanwhile, Comet’s thoughts were a squirming tangle. Moon and Cadence had already rescued him from the Rockets in Cerulean, and now this. How was he ever going to repay them? How could they still want to do so much for him after all that’s happened? He wanted so badly to say thank you, but the words stuck fast in his throat, and he wasn’t sure why.
Something that felt like a big cloth suddenly covered his head, breaking him from his thoughts.
“You’ve gotta look presentable too, you know. Or you won’t get a cent out of these people. Oak figured you wouldn’t have anything formal to wear, so he told me to give this to you.”
Comet peeled the offending material off his face and nearly screamed at the sight of it.
It was a tuxedo.
“This is hell.”
“You’ll be fine.”
“I died and went to Kalosian hell.”
“Alright, that’s a little-”
“And everyone knows that’s the deepest level of hell, right next to the Pokestar Studios in Unova.”
“Okay, Comet,” said Moon, taking him firmly by both shoulders. “You and I have had this talk before. Sometimes we have to do things we don’t enjoy. I don’t like it either, but I have a mission to complete and you have a job to do.”
Comet spared her a withering look and tried to make his face look marginally less abysmal. But everyone on the whole ship was dressed like they shat gold. They all gathered in tight-knit little clusters, either whispering amongst themselves or laughing way too loudly.
But the worst part had to be the food. Waiters glided around the ballroom with round metal trays carrying a dozen small plates. Each little plate contained approximately one mouthful of the most unappealing looking...seafood? Vegetable? Slime? Comet couldn’t even identify the stuff.
But he stifled his complaints and stepped into the fray, Moon close by his side. “I really wish you had left your backpack at home,” she muttered.
“Oh, come on, it blends right in. It’s black, just like my monkey suit.”
Moon sighed. “I’m sticking with you just long enough to make sure you can act at least semi-human around these people and then after that I have to split up to do my own thing. You think you can handle that well enough?”
Comet muttered something unintelligible that sounded mostly like an agreement.
“...Good enough. Why don’t you start with that guy over there? He’s not talking to anyone yet.”
Forcing himself to approach the man in the powder blue Kalosian suit that probably cost more than everything Comet owned, Comet did his best to construct a winning smile. “Uh, hey!”
Moon nudged Comet sharply in the ribs and got a reproachful glare in return. The man in the blue suit sniffed disdainfully and replied, “...Hey.” The word sounded like something from a foreign language coming out of his mouth.
Comet cleared his throat and tried to start again. “My name is...um…” He glanced from the Kalosian to Moon and back. He was still supposed to be going by Peter Finnigan, but that name hadn’t come out of his mouth in so long. It was bad enough responding to it, let alone asking for people to use it.
But the Kalosian in blue spared him the trouble. “Which charity case are you?”
“Charity case?!” Comet exclaimed, voice heated.
Moon cut in quickly. “Wow! Okay! We have to go get ourselves something to eat.” She ushered him off to the other side of the ballroom. “So that was even more awful than I expected,” she hissed as soon as they were out of earshot.
“I am not a charity case.”
“Comet, everyone here is a charity case who isn’t a donor!” said Moon, gesturing widely to the surrounding people. “Listen to that woman there.”
At a nearby table, a modestly dressed woman addressed a table of Kalosians. Comet couldn’t quite catch what she was saying to them, but she was handing out flyers to everyone at the table. The title of the flyers read, ‘An End to Slowpoke Tail Poaching’.
Comet turned back to Moon and sighed. “I get it, but he didn’t have to word it like that….”
“I don’t think he meant any offense by it,” said Moon, putting a hand on Comet’s shoulder. “Just...try to swallow a little pride and think of how much better off these sick Pokemon will be if you do this for them.”
One of the Kalosian men at the table, dressed in a deep green suit, shook the Slowpoke advocate’s hand and then separated from the group. “I guess this is my chance,” Comet murmured.
“Good luck,” said Moon, “I’m gonna start scanning this crowd for Rockets. Remember to smile!”
So Comet upturned his lips, showed his teeth, and approached the Kalosian in green with a stiff, “Hello. My charity case is the Viridian City Clinic.”
The Kalosian shook his head with a grim expression. “Terrible thing that happened there. Just terrible.”
Comet was suddenly very grateful that he wasn’t going by his better-known name. “You can call me Peter,” he said. Better than saying ‘my name is’. Easier to choke out. They could call him Fantina for all he cared, it didn’t make it his name. “Rebuilding the clinic took a lot of time and money, and now there’s little funds to go around to care for the Pokemon who need our help.” Comet tried not to nod to himself. That sounded pretty damn professional, he thought.
But the Kalosian in green was nodding at him with a searching gaze. Comet cursed internally. No flyers or presentations to grab their interest. He never wanted to be a salesman, and now he was selling the lives he was responsible for…
That gave him an idea.
Removing his backpack- Moon would be cringing if she knew he was drawing attention to it but oh well- he pulled out a Poke Ball. “But don’t take my word for it,” he said, and released Kestrelsight.
She looked around with a coo, blinking her wide goggled eyes at the ballroom. Between her goggles, the bandaged wing, and her dazed demeanor, she did make for quite the pitiful sight.
And Greenie fell for it hook, line, and sinker. “Oh, the poor thing!” he cried, bending down to get a better look at her.
“Her trainer was killed by Team Rocket. She broke her wing trying to protect him.”
That drew more cries of dismay from Greenie, which in turn drew more stares from the nearby tables. “There’s many more like her at the clinic, and not enough money to care for them all. If Kessie here didn’t take her medicine, she would have nightmares every night.”
Soon a small crowd of colorful donors surrounded Comet and Kessie, taking turns to ‘tsk’ in sympathy for the poor little bird.
Relief flooded over Comet. Maybe he wouldn’t have to challenge the next gym after all. Evolving Spikepelt was just about the exact last thing he wanted to do, and Arceus knows none of the other teammates were a good matchup against Surge’s electric types. Even if only half of the gathered crowd donates, Comet was sure it would be enough for-
“It is decided,” declared Greenie, “The Viridian City Clinic will be added to our list of yearly rotating charity grants!”
The crowd of colorful Kalosians began to clap primly, smiling at each other. Comet and Kessie stared at the crowd with matching blank expressions. Yearly? Rotating? Greenie shook Comet’s hand heartily, drawing an absent-minded, “Thank you, sir,” from Comet. Yearly. Rotating. A waiter came by with more dubious-looking hors d'oeuvres, and the crowd turned their attention to him and then dissipated.
“What the fuck just happened?” Comet asked Kessie once they had all left. Kessie looked up at him and cooed.
Thankfully, it was easy to find Moon again, thanks to her height. She was pretending to admire the art hanging from the ballroom’s walls, but Comet knew she was really looking for any secret switches they might be hiding. Team Rocket had pulled that trick many times in the past.
“What the hell is a yearly rotating grant?” Comet asked.
Moon winced. “Ooh. I didn’t know they were doing it like that. I wonder how many other charities are in the...rotation.”
“So I didn’t get fuck all for this whole thing.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” said Moon consolingly, “It can only help the clinic long term.”
“Okay but that’s just the thing!” said Comet, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I don’t plan on doing this long term. As a matter of fact, now that I’ve accomplished my mission here, I might as well help you with yours.”
Moon sighed. “That’s not how this works, Comet.”
“Why not?!” he exclaimed, throwing out his hands, “I’m here, aren’t I? Do you really think Oak would have sent two members of the Kanto Bough here if he didn’t expect us to work together on this?”
“That’s where you’re not understanding,” said Moon quietly, “You’re not on the Kanto Bough anymore.”
“But I will be! Maybe…” his voice lost some heat with that last word. “When all this is over.”
“But we’re not talking about the future. We’re talking about now. And right now, I just can’t risk involving people who aren’t in the Bough. I miss the old days too, Comet, but I’m team leader. That means doing what’s best for the Bough whether I like it or not. Even if it’s hard.”
Trying to slow his rapidly increasing breathing speed, Comet focused on a spot on the wall just beyond where Moon was standing. “You don’t think I’m ever going to get back on the Bough, do you?”
Moon closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, she was meeting his gaze steadily. If he hadn’t known her so well, he might have missed the effort that took. “Are you ready for honesty?”
It was a question she had asked him before. As well as Comet knew Moon, Moon knew Comet. Sometimes he wasn’t ready for the truth, and he just wanted someone to vent to when he was in a bad mood. Then, the truth could come later when he was calm. He definitely was far from calm right now, but still he said, “Yes.”
Moon’s voice was calm and gentle. “I’m sorry, Comet. I really don’t foresee you returning to the Kanto Bough.”
Comet wanted to look anywhere but at Moon. His eyes scanned the crowd of Kalosians. A string quartet, sitting on a raised platform in one corner of the ballroom, had begun to play a slow, lilting waltz. Watching the donors dance in their colorful suits and gowns was like watching a kaleidoscope. But there was one woman, dressed in red, who caught Comet’s eye.
“Are you ready to talk about why?” said Moon, but Comet barely heard her. “If we do, we’ll have to talk about the incident with Mewtwo. And I don’t want to talk about that unless you’re truly ready for it.”
The woman in red twirled from one partner to the next without missing a beat. Some nearby dancers neglected their own partners to stare at her, resulting in more than a few stomped toes. She had roses in her hair, and her dress was a shade that perfectly matched the petals. This time, her gown was not at all out of place. She looked up from her current partner, and their eyes met. She smiled.
Cat.
“I have to go,” said Comet, and left Moon staring worriedly after him.
But it did get money. ...Yearly. ...Rotationally.
