Chapter 2: Twelve Years Ago

“Vlam, use your confuse ray on it!”

The small, red fox pokemon’s six tails stood erect from her hindquarters, and her amber eyes glowed with energy. The Machoke that had been charging her suddenly stumbled and fell over, its head cracking a rock on the field in two. The crowd assembled around the battle let out a cheer; the courageous Vulpix had clearly won their hearts by displaying her own against such a battle-proven foe. Tommy’s perpetual smile, well-groomed blonde hair, and positive mannerisms certainly didn’t hurt, either. At least not with the young ladies in attendance.

Sammy, from his seat in section P row 12, let out the loudest cheer of all. Tommy had done great so far in making it to the Johto Regional Quarterfinals of his first year in the World Pokemon League, but the competition this round had stiffened dramatically. Tommy and his opponent, a tall, pale man from Olivine with tattoos sleeving his arms, had been battling for twenty minutes already. Tommy’s Crobat, Magneton, and Pidgeotto had all already fallen, and the opponent–Sammy looked up at the scoreboard to recall that his name was Thurmond–still had this Machoke and something else unrevealed in play. Tommy was down to just Vlam in this four-on-four quaterfinal. Sammy’s excitement at Vlam’s grabbing the upper-hand temporarily made him forget the empty seat next to him; the seat he’d been expecting his dad to show up and claim for the last hour.

Back on the field, Vlam maintained her offensive while the fighting-type pokemon struggled to regain its bearings. She darted left and right, each movement inching her closer to her foe. Sammy recognized this instantly: it was Tommy’s way of maximizing Vlam’s foe’s confused state. The Machoke and its trainer had no idea from where she would be attacking. A double juke put her behind the Machoke, and she began covering herself in a ball of fire. Thurmond’s voice roared for Machoke to turn around, but the bewildered pokemon couldn’t understand its trainer’s command. Vlam’s flame wheel connected into the small of Machoke’s back. The crowd hailed strong approval, which incited Thurmond to yell back at them and shake an angry fist.

Sammy was so into the moment, he never paid any mind to the man who finally came down the aisle and took the seat next to him. Sammy’s senses were ensnared by the battle; Vlam was lining up her enemy for a flamethrower, and Machoke was certainly about to go down. 

“Samuel Stark?” the man next to Sammy said, oddly enough like it was a question. 

“It’s about time you got here, dad. You’ve been missing Tommy’s first ever quarterfinals. You’re lucky he didn’t realize you were late. Even luckier that I’m not going to break his heart and tell him.”

The man’s arm reached out to Sammy’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, son. I’m not your father.”

Sammy flinched at the words, and pulled his arm away. He was about to ask the man who he was and why he was in Sammy’s dad’s seat, but when Sammy saw him, he realized by the uniform that he was an officer. The man nodded as a greeting, took off his blue cap, and pulled out what looked to be a wallet. He flipped it open to reveal his badge. “I’m officer Trufant. I didn’t mean to startle you, Samuel.”

Sammy’s mind wandered; why was a cop here for him? He thought about this past year in eighth grade when he told Evelyn Simmons that he was going to steal her new gaming system so he’d have something to do over the summer. Did she take him seriously? Was he going to go to jail or something? He stole a glance to the field; Vlam had just knocked out Machoke and was waiting for Thurmond’s final pokemon. Tommy had no idea what was going on! Sammy might be in jail for days before anyone noticed he was missing!

“Son, can I talk to you for a moment? It would be better if we could speak privately.”

Sammy was numb. Without a word, he got up and followed the officer to the concession area. At least he wasn’t handcuffing him in front of the crowd…in front of Tommy. Sammy couldn’t help but think that if Tommy looked up into the crowd and saw his little brother getting arrested, he’d forfeit the quarterfinals to rush the stands and save him. It was better this way, Sammy thought. His older brother shouldn’t pay for Sammy’s dumb joke on a classmate.

”Why don‘t you take a seat on this bench?”

Sammy thought it odd that this cop wanted to arrest him while he was sitting down, but maybe it was harder to resist if you were sitting. He put himself down on the bench outside Taco Barn to which Officer Trufant had pointed. 

“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this, Samuel. Your father is in critical condition.”

“I know, but I didn’t actually–” Wait. What did he say? Sammy had already convinced himself this was about Evelyn. His brain needed a few extra seconds to absorb this information. “My dad?” he cried, shocking a family who was getting a snack nearby. “What does that mean?”

Officer Trufant rubbed his mouth with his hand. “He was pulling out of the hospital and was involved in an automobile collision with a tractor trailer. He was thrown…,” the officer stopped there and seemed to reconsider what he was about to say. “It just doesn’t look very good. You and your brother need to come with me to see him. We’ve arranged for an escort for the both of you, and several of my fellow officers are outside waiting for us.”

Sammy knew his father needed him, but what about Tommy? He didn’t even know yet, and he had worked and trained so hard to get where he is. But this cop made it sound like dad could be… (Sammy couldn’t bear to finish that thought, and his brain redirected) …like dad really needed to see them right away. The exclamation from the crowd out in the open-air stadium reminded Sammy that the battle was still going on. He felt a clock ticking inside of him as the officer looked at him expectantly. Dad had always said the road leaving work was awful; he talked constantly about wanting them to put a stop light there. Tommy was possibly just minutes away from the semi-finals. But how soon did they need to get to the hospital? A hundred bees swarmed inside his brain, and before he knew what he was doing, he was at the railing over the battlefield screaming his brother’s name.

—

En route to the hospital, Sammy apologized to Tommy for what felt like the thousandth time (he was losing count between his own sobs). Tommy had rushed from the competition at the sight of his brother yelling for him maniacally and took the disqualification loss in the regional quarterfinal round of his first year in the WPL. Tommy squeezed around his little brother’s shoulders one more time and gently shushed him. Since the day they caught Sammy’s first friend, Tommy had continued to grow, and his one-arm embrace engulfed the little brother who was clearly the runt of the family. Aside from the shushing and the sobbing and the squealing of the siren above them, the car was silent as they raced to the University of Goldenrod City Medical Center. Sammy and Tommy had both been to this hospital countless times–heck, their dad worked there, and it had long-since gotten to the point where Sammy forgot most people don’t usually want to go to hospitals. When the brothers were there, it was usually just a trip out there to pick something up at the office or to make arrangements with dad’s co-workers. Sammy tried to convince himself that this was all just a prank by dad and his buddies; that they were just messing around with his sons. His brain wasn’t buying it.

Being pushed through the hospital doors by the cops as they ordered patients waiting in the E.R. to clear the way was very surreal to Sammy. The cops told the attendant at the nurse’s station who the boys were, and even though Sammy understood the message of what he said, the words seemed to come out as a jumbled language he couldn’t decipher. They were ushered through more doors until they were in the middle of the emergency room. The officers spoke again with the information area of the E.R., but Sammy’s senses still felt disconnected; it wasn’t until he noticed the nurse at the information desk shake her head and he heard Tommy gasp that everything returned to focus.

“He didn’t make it, I’m sorry. He passed just a few minutes ago.”

Sammy’s initial thought–a thought he would regret countless times over the next several months–was that he cost his brother the tournament for nothing. It was immediately replaced with the realization that he and his brother were alone now. Mom died of cancer when Sammy was three, and now dad was gone, too. Tommy was all he had left.