From: Roberto Perez-Vila <RobfromVoid@prodigy.net> Subject: [PW!] The Long Day Comes to An End Date: Wednesday, May 19, 1999 1:48 PM Robert sits at a booth in the Viridian City Gym. His lips are pressed against a straw which leads down to an almost empty root beer float. Judging by the five empty glasses on the table, Robert has been drinking profusely. He has been doing so since the time he arrived, and over two hours have passed. He can't leave because the rainstorm continues to pour outside, but not as violently. The only waitress serving at the time walks over to Robert's table, "Will that be all, sir?" Robert shoves the unfinished root beer float aside! He is feeling very sick at this point, "Yeah." The waitress pulls out a notepad, tears a sheet of paper out, and drops it on Robert's table. Robert picks it up and notices the price: 178 coins. Robert groans and knocks his head against the table. "Whoa! Take it easy!" The waitress places her hands on Robert's face to keep him from hurting himself. Her fingernails are long and they dig into his cheeks. "What's the matter, kid?" "Everything!" Robert sighs, "My girlfriend left this morning, I had some bad times with a Ditto in Pallet, I couldn't get an Earth Badge, Team Rocket assaulted me, a crazed Ditto almost killed me, and I lost to my rival again!" "Oh." The waitress smiles, "I thought it was because you couldn't pay the bill." "I can't." Robert sadly adds to his list. The waitress grabs his wrist, and drags him away from the booth. Hours pass. Robert has finished peeling what seemed to be three thousand potatoes... At this point, he never wants to eat a french fry again in his life. He has also finished mopping all the floors. As his final obligated chore for the evening, he has to wash a stack of dishes that had accumulated since the night before. He scrubs them in the boiling hot water until his hands turn a disgusting hue of red... The worst part about the forced labor is that he has plenty of time to think about what Jeremy had told him, to the point where he begins to believe it. When all the plates are cleared, the waitress escorts him to the exit of the Diner, where she tosses him out into the cold wet windy night. The storm is still in full force. Thunderclap! The noise had been repeated so many times during the time that he was confined to the Diner's kitchen, that he even hears the sound when it isn't actually there. The only way he can tell the real thunderclaps apart from the fake ones is the visual lightning that forms when they aren't a figment of his imagination. Not that it matters much. The rain is falling on him with such force, that he is quite certain nature is going to kill him before the night is through. He seeks refuge in the only place where he can feel better... the local Pidgeot Express. It takes him a little over an hour to find the location in the dark in the middle of a thunderstorm, but he does find it. He trudges into the place, soaking wet, shivering, and crying like he's never cried before. His legs are tired from standing up for hours on end, and he is hungry due to a lack of nutritional food. He looks up at the place where Mithril-rama is supposed to arrive... The fated hallway that would bring this nightmarish day to a close... Her arrival would be the only thing to comfort him... Robert continues to stare at the hallway for an hour straight. Very few people emerge from within. Robert murmurs silently under his breath, "She will come... She'll be here... She will come... She'll be here..." The words tremble as the escape from his lips, since the cold air inside the waiting room doesn't mix well with his drenched clothing. They soon begin to crackle and fade, and Robert delves deep into his imagination... He sees Mithril-rama paired with other people much better than him. He pictures her matched up with all of his friends, and many of them seem very possible. Once the list of past friends from school is complete, he pictures her matched up with Jeremy... He sees them making out passionately, and Jeremy starts to remove her shirt, but the image suddenly breaks apart in his mind. He shakes his head and looks down at his watch. 9 PM. "She should've been here an hour ago. Jeremy is right. She met someone else. Someone better. That's why she's not here." Robert drops his face down into his hands, tears forming, "I'm so gullible... I believed all those things she said... No wonder she wanted to go to Saffron personally instead of just deliver the package... It was her chance to escape." Tears roll down Robert's cheeks ever so slowly, and though he doesn't wail, his voice breaks up as he talks to himself, "She's never coming back to me... I can't blame her. I'm stupid. I'm ugly. I'm not good at anything. She does deserve better..." Robert tugs at his hair, "Why did I think that anyone would love me?! None of the girls in Lavender ever spoke to me... They just laughed... Rilli must've felt sorry for me all this time we spent together... I should've known." Robert closes his eyes and hides his head under his arms, "She didn't love me... My parents didn't love me. Not even my Pokemon love me. No one will ever love me. I'm an ignorant idiot...so stupid that I can't even tell pity apart from true love... I should just end my worthless life so that no one else has to suffer because of me." He swallows and stays silent for a long while. When he finally pulls his head away from his hands, he expects to see Rilli there... No one is there. The entire Pidgeot Express is virtually empty. A few homeless Viridian City citizens are camping out the storm. Robert nods to himself. "It's what I have to do." He stands up and runs into the thunderstorm outside... -Robert