Chapter 10
As Jon headed around the gym towards his friends, a girl passed, handing him a flyer to a Pokémon Ball being held that night at the town square. He wasn’t sure at first if she meant a Pokémon ball or a Poké ball, but she cleared it in his head as she continued to ramble on about the night’s festivities. She talked about how there would be free items and a chance to win prizes and show off Pokémon. There was to be food and Pokémon bands and all kinds of fun things to do. He thanked her for the flyer and caught up to his friends where he informed them that they were to proceed straight way to the gym, that they were passing to the front of the cue. The line moaned!
“The sooner they get through, the sooner next up is next,” Jon said. “When you’re finished, you’ll find me at the library.”
“Wait wait wait,” Mentos said. “You’re done?”
“Yep!” Jon said.
“Prove it,” Mentos said. “Show me the badge.”
“No,” Jon said.
“But I want to see it, too,” Reese said.
“I don’t want to be known by my badges,” Jon said. “I will be walking a different path.”
“But if you’ve earned, you should show it,” Mentos said.
“Knowledge for the love knowledge, skill for the love of skill,” Loxy said. “I wish to walk your path of confidence without arrogance, peace through humility, allowing love to be over all things.”
“Screw that,” Mentos said. “I am going to be the best trainer that ever was and people will remember me.”
Jon bowed. “I will support you in your path,” Jon said.
“See you at the library, looser,” Mentos said.
Loxy and Reese both touched Jon, then proceeded to the front of the line where the old man was coming out to collect them. Jon, meanwhile, found his way to the library, without the help of Siri. As he entered, he was blocked by a beautiful woman, wearing smart glasses, behind the front desk. Her hair was pinned into a bun and he wanted to undo it and watch it fall.
“May I help you?” she asked.
“Um, wow, you’re like the smartest, beautiful lady librarian I have ever seen,” Jon said.
“You seem surprised that intelligence and beauty and librarian might go together,” she said.
“I guess I thought it would be an older, wiser woman,” Jon said.
“Oh, well, I suppose the next time you see me I could be an older, wiser woman, or a younger, wiser woman,” she said. “Kind of depends on which section of the library I am in, and or, what I am reading. Some things can really age you, and then there are others that take you to the brink rebirth.”
“Oh, I want to read that one,” Jon said.
“All in good time,” she said. “May I see your card?”
“I don’t have one,” Jon said.
“How can you not have a library card?” she asked, shocked.
“Well, um, my family of origin doesn’t believe in education and reading in general, and well, I am kind of new here, and probably can’t qualify due to insufficient proof of residence.”
“What’s your name?” she asked.
“Jon Harister,” he said.
“And, are you actually standing before me in my library?” she asked.
“I believe so,” Jon admitted.
“You believe so? You doubt your presence here?” she asked.
“Well, I have still not ruled out the possibility that I am dreaming,” Jon said.
“Well, if you are dreaming that you’re here, then I will accept that as the same as being here, and so, here is a library card, for Jon Harister, issued by Marian,” she said, handing him a card.
“Wow,” Jon said, accepting and reading the card. “Lady Librarian…”
“Marian,” Marian corrected.
Jon met her eyes. “I so want to sing you a song,” Jon said.
“Not in the library,” Marian said.
“But I think I love you, madly, badly, Lady Librarian, Marian,” Jon said.
“I assure you, Sir, I have heard that one before, and have had my share of music men and Pokémon trainers. Oh, all the books that have come and gone past my shelves, and I have had several favorites, which I intend to revisit, on some cold, rainy day, in front of a warm fire, but my heart is not a book to be checked out, Sir,” Marian said. “And I am not looking to add a new chapter, or page, or paragraph, or even a nicely written phrase. I’m sure you would make a fine husband, but my first and last love is the library, to which I have dedicated my entire life.”
“So, hypothetically, not just me being doggedly persistent until I wear you thin and you surrender out of sheer exhaustion, if a fellow was interested and wanted to know you, how might he begin?”
Marian smiled. She motioned with her finger for Jon to follow her. It was seriously sexy gesture that was impossible not to obey. Her leading him was fairly seductive in and of itself, with a swinging of hips, and the shy leaning against the end of a shelf as she looked to see if he was still following, only to turn a way, raising leg as if dancing to a song, which actually had him believing she had changed her mind, taking him to an isolated part of the library where something dangerously sexy might occur. Once in the corner between a wall shelf and a running shelf, she drew intimately close, even touched the collar of his jacket, as if she might suddenly lean in and kiss him. This was it, he was certain as she smiled deeply into him and he inhaled, the keys tumbling against tumblers in the promise of unlocking something grand…
“This is 000001, of the Dewey Decimal System,” Marian said, a sensual whisper. “If you read everything between here and 99999.1, you will be very close to knowing the real me.”
“That could take decades!” Jon said, swallowing.
“Depends on how fast a reader you are, I guess. You might say, I am real page turner,” Marian said. She seemed suddenly younger. “No skimming, no browsing. I will be checking your library card, even checking it twice, and I will know if you read anything naughty or nice.”
“You’re rhyming,” Jon said.
“Yeah, we’re very close to the children’s section,” Marian said.
“I love Doctor Seuss,” Jon admitted.
“Me, too! I wouldn’t be surprised if some of his characters were Pokémon before there was even a Pokémon,” Marian said.
“Can you show me the biology sextion, I mean, section,” Jon said.
Marian patted his face, gently. “Oh, I am suddenly way too young to be in that section with you. Catch me when I am older. Forgive me, got to get back to the front desk. Explore, have fun, and don’t read anything I wouldn’t read.”
“What wouldn’t you read?” Jon asked.
“Great question. Ask me when I am older and I have a greater statistical pool from which to respond,” Marian said. She kissed him lightly and headed away.
As he wondered, he found a shelf that contained the most popular fiction presently, based on the number of times it was checked out. The titles he browsed included: ‘Papa was a Pokémon,’ Alyene Porter, ‘Pokémon Games,’ Tom Clancy. “Pokémon it Forward,’ by Catherine Hyde, “Pokémon Brief,” Jon Grisham, ‘Pokémon Cemetery,” Stephen King, “Peter Pokémon,’ J Barrie, ‘Pokémon Express,” Chris Van Allsburg, ‘The Pokémon Adventure,” Paul Gallico, “The Pokémonic Man,” Isaac Asimov, ‘Pokémon: a Romance,’ A S Byatt, ‘Pokémon from the Edge,’ Carrie Fisher, ‘The Pokémon Always Rings Twice,’ James Cain, and the remaining had several copies: ‘Pride and Pokémon,’ Jane Austen, ‘the Pokémon Bride,” William Goldman, ‘the Pokémon diaries,’ Meg Cabot, and ‘the Pokémon Masters’ Robert Heinlein. Jon nearly took the book by Larry Niven, ‘The Pokémon in God’s Eye.’
He wandered a little past the most popular reads, and found a book a book slightly out of alignment with the others, and as he pushed it in to be even, he read the title. ‘the many Earths, many Pokémon theory; living in a pixelated Universe comprised of a living, 8 dimensional quasi-crystal.’ He pulled the book back out and took it to a table and chairs. The inside of the books might as well have been Japanese, or Egyptian Hieroglyphics, because he couldn’t make out heads or tails. He was so baffled he returned to the cover to confirm he was seeing that in English. He returned to the inside of the book. The first page, which was the last page, because it was written by a Japanese author, had a picture of a Tetrahedron. He recognized one symbol, the signature for a Planck length. He didn’t know how he knew that and the more he stared at the book, the harder it became to see, because the math was giving him a headache. He had to look away from the book.
There was a young lady standing in his line a sight, just on the other side of the table he was occupying. She was perhaps still in her teens, but past 22 would be a stretch. She was the darkest person he ever recalled meeting, her hair braided into dreads, dreads of many colors, like snow cone advert. Her dress was a one piece, landing mid thighs, and it was mostly white. There were line that traced patterns on her dress, and the sleeves were pastel blue. She also wore tights, bluish green pastel, with tennis shoes. Beside her, and slightly behind, was a yellow Pokémon with a white fluffy neck, like a lion’s mane, and it was pointing at him; the hand with which it pointed held a pendulum.
“Are you sure?” she asked. The pendulum spun clockwise, providing her with a ‘yes’ response. She turned her eyes back to Jon. “My name is Aya. I am an Akan.”
“Is that a type of Pokémon?” Jon asked.
“Not an Ekans, an Akan,” Aya said.
“I am confused,” Jon said.
“Akan is the specific Earth culture I identify with,” Aya said.
“You’re from Earth?!” Jon asked, happy to meet fellow Earthling. “Nice to meet you.”
“I am not from Earth,” Aya said.
“I am confused again,” Jon said.
“My spirit guide is from Ghana, but I am from here,” Aya said. “They say if you spend enough time listening to your Spirit Guide, you begin to resemble them, but I have also heard that about spouses, pets, and Pokémon. I think I look like me, not my Spirit Guide, not my Pokémon.”
“Oh,” Jon said, not sure what to say. “What about spouses or pets?”
“I have neither,” Aya said. “I have spent the entirety of my life pursuing the mysteries of the Universe, and today it has led me to you. You will come with me, now.”
“Oh, that’s very kind of you, but I have a headache,” Jon said. “Probably this math book. I wasn’t really expecting math.”
“You will come with me, now, or else,” Aya said, giving a slight motion with her hand.
“What was that?” Jon asked. “Oh! Are you like a Jedi trying to do a mind trick on me?”
Four girls who had been secretly studying Jon in the back ground, put away the books they were pretending to hold, and closed the distance, forming a circle off Aya. The girls looked as if they might be in a Korean all girl band, only one of them was white, but all wore blue shirts, white tennis skirts, and sparkling, skin toned hose.
“Come along quietly,” Aya insisted. “Respect the library.”
Jon considered, biting his lower lip. “This is really weird. I don’t know why I am compelled to resist such a tempting offer, but I am actually going to decline going willingly.”
“Then you leave me no choice,” Aya said. “Hypno, take him down.”
“I don’t think so,” Jon said, pulling the ‘peace’ ball off his belt. “Gardevoir, I choose you.”
Gardevoir appeared, just as four other Pokémon appeared in the library. Librarian Marian began to protest, but the battle had already begun. Jon met his first Pikachu and a lightning strike took him and Gardevoir to their knees. Gardevoir struggled to take Jon’s arm, and teleported them both outside the circle, just to the other side of the shelf, where she passed out. He wanted to succumb to exhaustion, too, but he heard one of the girls yell, ‘he’s over there,’ and he got up to run, but not before calling Gardevoir back to her home ball. He turned towards the back exit and found it blocked by one of the opponents and her Pokémon. He turned to go the other way, but was slapped down by the hand on the end of a tail on a purplish monkey type Pokémon, which he would later be informed by Siri, that was Aipom.
As Jon started to get up, two of the girls in tennis skirts took his arms, applying a binding joint lock, which brought them in close to his body, taking him to his knees, but because he continued to resist, they stepped into him, using their legs. A third had an arm around his neck and she, too, wrapped her legs around him, adding her weight to his back so he couldn’t get up. Aya and Hypno approached.
“I am sorry,” Aya said. “I really don’t have time for civilities, but I can’t have you fighting us all the way back to base, either. Hypno, help him cooperate.”
Hypno approached, holding the pendulum forward. “Hypno’ it said, in a hypnotic voice. Jon tried to look away, but the fourth girl leaned into him and her friends, and put her hands on his cheek, and held his face looking forward, while each of her friends with an arm pried open an eye. In any other situation, he might have imagined enjoying this tangling of girls, but he found Hypno fairly disturbing. It reminded him of the ‘Goons,’ a tall, strong humanoid species that lived on Goon Island, from an episode of Popeye. You couldn’t help but stare at its bulbous nose, which meant, at this range of proximity, you were looking at the nose or the left eye or the right eye but never both eyes which in itself was kind of hypnotic, but with the swinging pendulum drawing you back, and its eyes flaring as the pendulum swung, Jon felt fear and had the urgency of wanting to wake from a nightmare.
Out of nowhere, Chester jumped up and nipped at the pendulum, causing Hypno to retreat.
“Unhand my friend, miscreants,” Jenny said.
Aya turned to Jenny. “Don’t interfere, Jenny,” Aya said. “The fate of the world may well rest on what happens here today.”
“You are always so dramatic, Aya,” Jenny said. “By now, the library is surrounded, and there is no escaping.”
Aya nodded to one of her colleagues, and she pulled an item out of her pack: the backpack-backup plan; it was half a circle which folded into a full circle. She placed it on the floor in front of Jon. She stepped onto the plate and disappeared, followed by her Pokémon. The other three let Jon out of his bind, recalled their Pokémon, and also stepped up onto the illuminated plate and disappeared. Hypno stepped up towards the plate, holding his hand out towards Jenny, as if creating an invisible barrier that she couldn’t penetrate.
“Jon, come with me. Your presence here endangers the world,” Aya said, offering a hand.
“You could have led with that,” Jon said.
“We don’t have time for this. Come with me if you wish to survive the storm,” Aya said.
“What storm?” Jon asked.
“They’re coming for you,” Aya warned him, retreating closer to the Teleporter pad.
“Who’s they?” Jon asked.
“All of them!” Aya said, stepping backwards onto the Teleporter. She disappeared in a flash of lights, much quicker than the transporter on Star Trek. The interesting part was it was like she was turned to into a mixture of sparks and streams of light, falling towards the pad, like numbers and letters and symbols raining in the Matrix, only they were not just green, but all the colors in the spectrum.
Hypno continued to point warningly at Jenny, stepped backwards into the pad. Jon was more focused on the operation of the pad this time, whereas previously he was too interested in looking at the abductors. The pad illuminated when Hypno was fully on it, and it disappeared so fast into the pad it was hard to say he saw anything other than streaks of light and particles and symbols raining, twirling, sparking, cyclonic downward drift. It was literally as if the physical matter were nothing more than inconsequential pixels that turned off under the influence of the pad.
Jenny approached the pad with tech of her own, but before she could trace where the pad had sent Aya and her crew, the device shut itself off. She frowned, but then focused on Jon.
“Teleporter tech is getting more and more sophisticated,” Jennifer said, looking him over
for injuries. “Are you okay?”
Jon stood up, nodding. “Thanks to you and Chester.”
Marian rushed over and hugged Jon. “I am glad you’re not hurt.”
“Because…”
“Because no one should be hurt while reading at the library,” Marian said. She turned to the mess. “Ah! This is going to take forever to clean up. Excuse me, but my work is never done.”
She kissed Jon and went to picking up books to shelve, dancing and singing her own little song.
“You want to come back to the station with me and make a report?” Jenny asked, collecting the Teleporter as evidence.
“I wouldn’t know what to report,” Jon said.
“That you were nearly abducted by group of strange women?” Jenny offered.
“Yeah, that seems totally unbelievable even to me,” Jon said.
“I was a witness,” Jenny said. “So was Marian.”
“To be honest, Jenny. I am a little embarrassed to say anything, much less make report,” Jon said.
“Why would you be embarrassed?” Jenny said. “You did nothing wrong.”
“Yeah, but, I kind of liked it, and I nearly leveled up,” Jon admitted.
“Oh,” Jenny said, not sure what to make of the statement. “Well, those things do happen, even when we don’t want them, too.”
“Really?” Jon asked.
“Oh, sure,” Jenny said. “It’s why abductions, and some types of physical aggression, can be so confusing to sort out. It’s called Stockholm syndrome; basically, you create an affinity for your abductors or a person who might harm you so that you can increase your chances of survival. Would you like to speak to a counselor?”
“Um, no,” Jon said. “I think I will just go wait for my friends by the gym.”
“You should at least stop and see the nurse,” Jenny said. “Come on. Chester and I will walk with you to the Pokémon center.”
Together, they headed towards the center. Chester led the way, but then decided he wanted to be held. Jon offered to hold the folded up Teleporter for Jenny so she could hold Chester, as she said she needed to keep it as evidence even though he wasn’t reporting a crime. Jon put it in his bag, and when he folded the flap over it and closed the bag, the shape of it seemed to disappear, as if his bag were now empty. He noticed another Jenny, waving at them. He observed a waitress serving customers outside and noted her beauty. It occurred to him that his Jenny didn’t have backup; she was bluffing! He felt as if he were in a Japanese Anime, where everybody was beautiful and bold. As they walked, Jon considered how strange he was. Was he drawn to Jenny, because he was with Jenny? He was absolutely certain he loved Loxy, but here he was with Jenny thinking only of Jenny. He grudgingly admitted that technically he was thinking of Loxy if he was thinking about why he was thinking of Jenny and not Loxy. And then he recalled, when he was with Marian he was thinking of Marian. Fortunately, Jenny wiped that song from his mind, or he might have been still humming it. He actually liked Aya, evenhad that strange sense he knew her from somewhere else, and her really liked her posse, which, again, got him thinking about how he resisted them, and wondering why. He focused on Jenny, who was gazing at him, as if trying to figure out what he was thinking. He would not resist Jenny. He would do as she directed, and he would tell her anything she wanted to know, like a huge, old flibbertigibbet. He suddenly felt paranoid, as if everyone was watching him the same way he watches everyone else. If he had looked closer, he would have noticed many of the Pokémon in the area were actually watching him. Occasionally, as they passed, one would follow for a pace before being called back by its trainer.
“Do you ever feel like you’re being watch?” Jon asked.
“It comes with the Uniform,” Jenny said.
“Jenny,” Jon said, leading with a serious tone. “Why do you suppose I didn’t want to go with Aya?”
“I don’t know,” Jenny said. “They didn’t seem all that nice.”
“They were a bit aggressive, but somehow, I don’t think that’s why,” Jon said. “Back home, getting beat up by girls who wanted my lunch money was the only affection I ever got. And I always went back for more. Knowing me, I can’t imagine me not just following them like a love sick Pokémon chasing Pokémon treats dipped in ketchup.”
“That’s really the kind of stuff you sort with a good counselor,” Jenny said.
“Maybe so,” Jon agreed.
“You ever had a counselor?” Jenny asked.
“No. I am afraid of people seeing me that clearly,” Jon said.
“Because?” Jenny said.
“I have a lot of shadows in me,” Jon admitted.
“You can’t have that much darkness without at least a candlelight’s worth of shining somewhere in you,” Jenny said.
Jon smiled. “Thank you for that. Anyway, probably best not to have a counselor. I would probably want to sleep with her, too.”
“Most people want to sleep with their counselors,” Jenny said.
“Really?” Jon asked.
“Oh, sure,” Jenny said. “We are drawn towards people we can be totally open and vulnerable with, especially when that person is nonjudgmental. I am confident that is why I am drawn to you.”
“You’re drawn to me?” Jon asked.
Jenny chuckled. “You seem surprised,” Jenny said, stopping him and touching his face kindly. “Jon, my friend. Those of us who work in law enforcement see some really awful stuff. Every day we put our lives on the line to keep the community safe. Consequently, relationships are difficult for us. We carry our own fears and concerns and biases and the Uniform shapes the way we see the world and sometimes this Uniform seems more real to me than I do to myself. I get lost in here sometimes. But, so far, every time I have been with you, even right now, I feel like I am more than just a caricature of law enforcement. I feel like you see me. I feel like I could tell you anything. I feel like I could just let my hair down and show you my bad side.” She had drawn very close to him.
“You have a bad side?” Jon asked, swallowing.
“Would you like me to show you?” Jenny asked.
Jon nodded. Jenny took him to a secluded little alcove, where she pushed the boundaries of public affection to the point that Jon leveled up. He woke with Jenny and Joy looking down on him, inside the Pokémon Center, on a medical table.
“Ahh, Jon, Jon, Jon,” Joy said.
“You should have told me you pass out on leveling up,” Jenny said. “I would have chosen a more secluded place, so we both could have time to recover together.”
“Um,” Jon began.
“Sometimes they’re speechless for a while after recovery,” Joy explained to Jenny. To Jon, she said: “I took liberty of restoring all your Pokémon while you were out. You should really bring them in for checkups more often.”
Loxy, Reese, and Mentos entered, out of breath. Mentos held up a hand full of balls.
“Quick, Nurse Joy, my Pokémon need you,” Mentos said. “Why are you on the table, Jon?”
“Oh, he’s just recovering,” Joy and Jenny said simultaneously, then they looked at each other, and giggled, covering their mouths.
“From the library?” Reese asked suspiciously, crossing her arms.
“Reading takes a lot of a person,” Jon said, a little defensive.
“And what exactly were you reading?” Loxy asked.
“Well, I did browse through some of the classics, but they really didn’t strike me as racy as I recall hearing,” Jon said.
“You mean like Chaucer, Rabelais, and Balzac?” Loxy asked.
“Oh, I love the Pokémon Tales by Chaucer,” Joy said.
“Oh, and I love Gargantua and Pokémon, by François Rabelais” Jenny said.
“Most of the books do seem to be about Pokémon,” Jon admitted.
“Are there any other kind of books?” Reese asked.
“Bring your Pokémon over here and let’s have a look,” Nurse Joy invited.
Mentos rushed to be first. Reese followed. Loxy lingered.
“You okay?” Loxy asked.
“Yeah,” Jon said. “Not sure about all of this passing out nonsense, but still, I have never been happier.”
Loxy touched his arm kindly. “We all have our Pokémon heels. We’ll get you a medical alert bracelet after we win the gym. It’s shouldn’t take us that much longer”
She kissed him and went to the Pokémon healing station. He watched her go, but became aware of Jenny staring at him.
“You have a good friend in her,” Jenny said. She hugged Jon. “Okay, I got to get back to work. I look forward to seeing you and Loxy at the Poké Ball tonight,” Jenny said.