Chapter 3: On the Edge

Joe barged into the Gym, his shoulder striking the glass door before it could get out of his way. The assistant rose from her desk again, this time a little on edge. Reluctant to approach someone she now perceived as a threat.

"Where is Jasmine going?" Joe wasted no time.

"Um, sir?" The woman was taken aback by his aggressive action, unsure of what to say.

"She might be in trouble."

The Gym assistant continued to look at him. Scrutinising him to try and figure out why he was suddenly interested in Jasmine. Why he thought she was in danger. "I don't think th-"

Joe didn't have time for this. He hated to do it, but he was going to fake some emotion and be mean. He continued his approach until he was at the desk and the woman had backed away. She was nearly against the wall. Joe slammed his hands on the desk. Through gritted teeth, he cut the woman off and spoke in a lower tone than usual. "Tell me. Now."

He didn't want to scare her, but he wanted answers quickly. Better to frighten the woman and learn fast than to waste precious seconds explaining. Not everyone accepted 'gut feeling' as a reasonable answer for there being a problem. People forgot their origins. A gut feeling likely saved their ancestors many times. It was a useful instinct.

Of course, it wasn't perfect. Joe would love nothing more than to be wrong. Wherever Jasmine was, if he went there and saw she was fine, he'd walk away happy.

"T- The lighthouse…" There was fear in her eyes as she took a step back, her back colliding with the wall behind the desk. Then she realised she'd given Jasmine away. But Joe didn't see the panic on her face. He'd already moved on.

Joe turned for the exit and tossed the hiking bag on a black leather couch. It was useless to him right now. The couch, paired with a few chairs, surrounded a glass coffee table in the corner of the Gym's reception area. There was even a coffee machine on a nearby stand.

Once outside, Joe started running. The rain was really coming down now. Any harder and faster and it would feel like he was being poked by a thousand needles a second. Joe ignored the sensation and blinked rain out of his eyes as he eyed a sign. Poles on street corners told him where to go. Lighthouse to his right, just under two miles away. The direction Jasmine had run.

The big man sprinted past rows of buildings. Takeaway meals, clothing stores, offices, a pharmacy. He kept following signs and turning corners when ordered to. Lighthouse, under a mile away. There were no people out in this weather. Just the occasional car, wipers furiously sweeping back and forth to clear the windshield. He had the entire pathway to himself.

He went up and over a small hill within the city without slowing down. He felt fast. Maybe that was just the strong winds fooling him into thinking he was speedy, but he'd like to think otherwise. He already thought Jasmine was fast. How she should join a running sport. Maybe he should join her.

Joe arrived at a cliff within the city. Beneath him a port stretched out miles in every direction. Massive metal warehouses lined up one after another as steel containers were moved about by cranes. Joe looked left, water detaching from his hair. Nothing. He looked right. Bingo. He could make out a white and blue tower on a perilous cliff edge. No light coming from the highest floor. He's sure that's wrong. How were ship captains supposed to see without it?

Regardless, he approached the lighthouse. A mostly untouched area of the city. A lot of grass, no homes. He saw how the path was in a precarious location. It ran right along the cliff edge. Nothing but air and a one hundred foot drop to the left. The soil had been battered by torrential rain for centuries so there wasn't much left. Another decade and the stone path would be gone.

Some terraforming could fix this. A tall hill with a sharp incline was right of the path. Carve it up, make a new walkway. A less dangerous one.

While being struck endlessly by water, the storm still raging, Joe walked along the path, not wanting to rush and end up falling off the cliff's edge. If a strong wind hit him at just the wrong moment, he could see himself falling.

He walked along the stone path, grass growing between cracks, and saw missing chunks of dirt to his left. Getting a bad feeling, Joe moved as close to the edge as he could and peered over. He groaned. Below, on a ledge, was Jasmine. He estimated a thirty foot drop. Jasmine was moving, so she was at least conscious. The cliff face wasn't a flat surface. It was angled. Rather than fall, it was more like she slid down. The cliff itself must be at least one hundred feet tall, so she was closer to the top than the bottom at least. Got to look on the bright side.

Jasmine wasn't looking up so didn't know Joe had spotted her. She was probably tired of water getting in her eyes. Joe groaned again, but this time it was aimed at himself. For what he was about to do. He wondered how long it would take emergency services to arrive. Too long for his liking. Joe felt like he could help, so he would. He hopped onto the slope of the cliff and allowed himself to be taken by gravity. He led one foot in front of the other, leaning back and letting a hand scrape along the mud as if he were a surfer riding a wave. After seconds of descending, he hopped again, landing with both feet on the ledge.

He observed a startled Jasmine rush to look at the giant of a man that loomed over her. Her teeth were chattering from the cold and she used a palm to push herself away from Joe. Then she realised there wasn't much ground. She couldn't go far.

Now that he was closer, Joe could see Jasmine was sitting down, holding an ankle with one hand. He's not surprised she hurt her ankle. It was a rough ride coming down. If someone didn't descend a slope in a controlled manner, they would twist their foot. Especially if they were as slender as Jasmine.

"Y- You-"

"Yeah, yeah, the delivery guy. I'm just here to help. How's the leg?" Joe practically shouted as he knelt before her, one knee in the dirt, his other leg parallel to the ground and his arm resting on it. The rain was annoyingly loud. He more so read Jasmine's lips than heard her.

Jasmine looked down as a flash of lightning highlighted her for a split second. She startled, swivelling her head to see where the light came from. That explained how she ended up here. Scared by the storm, she misstepped. Landed on the weak soil and fell. The storm had already weakened the dirt so it's no surprise it buckled under her weight. Joe didn't know if she was lucky or unlucky. The ledge was lucky, but being down here in the first place was unlucky.

As much as he wanted to comfort Jasmine, Joe held back. He had the thought of putting a hand on her shoulder, but who knew how she'd react to being touched out of the blue. Joe just waited for her to remember he asked a question.

It took a bit of time but she eventually replied. Joe liked that she answered carefully. It was a breath of fresh air. No need to rush everything.

"My leg… I twisted my ankle." This time she gained a bit of confidence, or comfort, from someone being in the same situation as her, and spoke louder. Barely loud enough to be heard. Joe couldn't imagine Jasmine raising her voice and shouting. This was the best she could do.

"Figures. How bad is it? Can you walk?"

Jasmine shook her head in response and Joe accepted this. Then he noticed she was crying. It was mixing with the rain well, but the signs were there. The sporadic heaving of her shoulders was the biggest giveaway. Without it Joe may not have noticed.

"What about the rest of you? Did you hit your head? Any cuts bleeding too much?" He was sure she was in pain.

Jasmine shook her head again. Besides a few shallow cuts and the twisted ankle, she was fine. Good. The last thing Joe wanted was Jasmine fainting from blood loss. Then they'd really be in trouble.

Before he jumped down here, Joe had a rough idea of how to get her out of this mess. She just had to hold onto his back and he'd climb up. After a point the cliff had a sheer drop. He doubted he could safely climb down. He had to go up. Jasmine's goal was the lighthouse anyway, so win-win. They got off the ledge and Jasmine was close to her objective.

Then it hit him. Going up to the lighthouse. What for? To treat a Pokemon with medicine. He couldn't see the bottle. In all his years admiring women in sundresses, Joe had never seen one with pockets. Jasmine had been carrying the medicine. She must've dropped the bottle. It was probably at the bottom of the cliff, in a million pieces, the medicine washed away by the rain.

Whatever. He'd cross that bridge when he got to it. First was getting off this ledge. Joe figured that, if Jasmine had a way out of this mess, she would've done it already. There was no harm in double checking though. People in shock could often forget what they're capable of. What tools they had at their disposal. The right Pokemon in this situation could easily save them. "I don't suppose you have an easy way out of this, do you?"

Briefly, accidentally, Jasmine scowled at Joe's question before realising what she was doing. She looked at him with pleading eyes as she responded, sorry for the nasty look. She could think straight even in a situation like this. She knew what she needed to get off this ledge. Or more like her anxiety-riddled mind was constantly in overdrive so the thought about using Pokemon had crossed her mind. "My Pokemon… They're at the Gym. I didn't need them."

Pretty much what Joe expected. She didn't need a team for administering medicine.

Joe nodded. Out of options, he resorted to what he originally planned. It was time to climb. Still crouched, he spun on his feet and pointed at his back over his shoulder. "Well then, hop on."

Clearly reluctant, Jasmine held out for a solid minute before she finally pulled herself up by grabbing his blue shirt. Her other hand went on Joe's shoulder and she did in fact hop on. He didn't mean it literally, but given the size difference, it was necessary. She seemed barely over five-feet. Joe at least knew she was an adult, since Gym Leader was a profession. Children weren't allowed to work.

She put her arms around Joe's neck and Joe stood up. The only other man she'd interacted with was her father, so she quickly noticed the difference in build. She could feel Joe's muscles through his clothes. He felt strong. It further reassured her she was in good hands.

"Hold on tight, okay? I don't want you falling."

Jasmine obeyed, tightening her arms around Joe's neck. Was she trying to tickle him? Her grip was barely noticeable. Wanting to calm her and hoping a joke would do the trick, Joe pretended Jasmine had cut off his airway. He started gasping in an exaggerated manner, tapping her arm to loosen up a bit.

"Not that tight." He breathed heavily, but was unable to hide the smile in his voice as he panted. Faked being out of breath.

"S- Sorry…" Jasmine shrunk away, so Joe was unable to see her properly over his shoulder. She didn't appear to have picked up on his humour. Oh well. It was worth a shot.

"I get it, you're scared. But don't worry. I'll get you to your Pokemon in no time." Joe had a strong desire to act like a man in front of the pretty woman he was trying to help, and it wasn't bravado. If Joe was proud of one thing about himself, it would be his strength. He'd started going to a nearby fitness centre not long after moving to Olivine. He had maintained muscle for nearly four years at this point, but rarely had an opportunity to use it. It was time to show off.

He observed the cliff face, globs of mud sliding everywhere he looked. A moment later he spotted what he had seen when he looked down to the ledge. Roots. He traced them up the cliff and saw a path within his mind. There were plenty of roots. They weren't thin either. Some ancient tree must've called this land home at some point. He reached up and tugged on the nearest one. It didn't give. Not even a centimetre. Joe took this as a sign that all would be fine.

No better time than the present. Joe started climbing, making sure to test the roots before committing. After ten feet his hands were covered in mud. The flowing surface of the cliff face was making this harder than it had to be, making his grip slippery and hiding roots sometimes. But he was patient. Jasmine barely weighed anything. Joe was convinced she weighed less than the backpack of products he delivered to her Gym. That meant he had the strength and stamina to hold his ground until he was sure it was safe to move on. This was a marathon, not a sprint.

Ten minutes later, Joe was just a few more moves away from reaching the top of the cliff. Just a few more branches. He'd really slowed down in the second half. Joe felt fatigued now. He was breathing as heavily as he did after a workout. But he grit his teeth and fought through it. He didn't have much of a choice. He said he'd help. A man couldn't go back on his word.

Joe focused on the next root and reached up to grab it, but in his desire for this to be over, he forgot to test it first. He put all of his weight on it and he immediately felt himself falling back. He was certain Jasmine screamed as she felt it too, but he didn't hear her even though her mouth was close to his ear. He zoned everything out and turned to another root. He had to leap for it. He couldn't test if it would hold his weight. This was a really bad idea, but his only choice.

He did the only thing he could. He pushed into the muddy cliff face with his feet, his strong legs straining, and he jumped over to the root. He grabbed it and felt it give too, knocking him off balance. He pressed a knee against the mud. A split second later and the root stopped moving. Joe had been prepared to dig his hands into the mud in hopes of finding rocks to grab hold of, but the root went deep into the cliff. It was secure. They were safe.

A loud exhalation came from Joe. He didn't realise he had been holding his breath. After getting his breathing under control, Joe looked up. He was at the final stretch. Just a bit further. One more root and he could place his hand on a horizontal surface again, the path on the cliff edge. There wasn't a root in sight though. Should he risk it? He could leap again, this time straight up. That would put him within range of flat ground. Skip the root.

No, play it safe. Not worth the risk. Joe waited for a minute or two as his muscles continued their protest until mud slid to reveal another branch. He tested it and it seemed safe. He grabbed it and pulled himself up. He could tell he was within range of the surface now. He wasted no time. With one final push, his hand landed on a flat surface, the edge of the stone path under his palm. Joe heaved himself and Jasmine up, the job getting easier the more of him was on solid ground. First one hand. Then an arm. Then his other hand. Then finally he could push himself up until a knee was on stone. At that point it was over. Joe won. He successfully climbed up thirty feet of muddy cliff.

Joe remained on his knees, panting heavily. He just wanted to rest now. But his job wasn't over. The lighthouse was a short walk away. He was starting to feel inferior. Climbing this cliff had been quite a struggle. If this was all he could do, then what was he worth? He wasn't as capable as he wanted to be. He needed to be stronger for the future. He would hate to encounter a problem he couldn't solve.

There was a difference between gym tough and real tough. Joe was currently the former, but he should try to become the latter. He didn't know what that entailed. He'd have to look into it.

After catching his breath, he went to stand at the same time he felt Jasmine's grip loosen and her legs go from tucked into his sides to stretched out. She was thinking of disembarking. He stood tall and spoke. He had said he'd get Jasmine to her Pokemon. He wasn't going to back out now.

"What are you doing? You've got a bad leg, remember?" This got her to freeze. "Just direct me. I assume the Pokemon is in the lighthouse, but I don't know where." Joe spoke as he watched mud wash away from his hands and clothes. The benefits of rain, he supposed. Now instead of being dirty he was just wet.

Jasmine thought about it and tightened her grip on Joe again. She was secured to his back once more. "A- Amphy is at the top…"

Joe internally groaned. His intense workout wasn't over just yet. He pictured a mountain of stairs to climb. Well, it should be easier than rock climbing at least. He wrapped his arms around Jasmine's legs to support her. Standard piggyback. Didn't want her slipping off now. "Obviously. Where else would it be."