I Will Touch the Skies - A Pokemon Fanfiction (OC)

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 26

The next day, Denzel and I made our way north of town to the meadow, where hundreds of trainers were waiting, and more were on the way. Dozens of adults were helping with the event setup, checking in trainers, arranging food and drink, or setting up bleachers. There were six makeshift battlefields demarcated on the ground, with their edges marked by four poles, and some news crews were even interviewing a few trainers.

Denzel and I handed in our trainer IDs, and we were officially checked in. The way the tournament would work is that we would all draw numbers and be matched against random trainers until there were only sixteen trainers left. From there, the round of sixteen would take place tomorrow, and we'd go all the way up to finals. I felt butterflies in my stomach, excited at the opportunity to be experiencing this with so many trainers. I quickly went to draw my number, which ended up being 56. Denzel pulled number 92, meaning we wouldn't be fighting each other in the first round. The matches would start at the lowest number, so we decided to grab some water and go take a seat on the bleachers while waiting for our turn, but we were accosted by a green-haired lady with a microphone and a cameraman wearing an orange cap and a tank top.

"Excuse me, Ms. Pastel and Mr. Williams? As one of the few trainers in this tournament already in possession of a badge, how confident are you going into it? Do you have any advice for any trainers struggling out there?"

I drew a sharp breath and glanced at Denzel. Trainers around us began to stare, clearly surprised about what the lady had just said.

"Um, I don't—"

"We're good, thank you," Denzel said. "No interviews."

He pushed me along toward the bleachers.

The news reporter clicked her tongue, muttering something about children nowadays before going on the prowl for another unsuspecting interviewee.

"Denzel, you didn't have to do that," I told him. "I know you wanted to answer. Your dream—"

"Can wait. You were a nervous wreck as soon as you saw the camera. I would rather my friend be comfortable than go on some no-name television station. The big shots won't be covering the first day of the tournament. I'll be fine."

"Thanks," I just said before taking a sip of water.

As I sat, I couldn't help but notice Cecilia Obel and her group sitting a row in front of us, to our left. I kept staring at her until the first battles started. Maybe she would reveal her third Pokemon today? I released Elekid so he could watch. Luckily he didn't have any electricity stored in his fur this time, so he sat on my lap. He was observing the battles very attentively, foregoing his usual energetic behavior to focus on every move. Unfortunately, since there were six battles going on at once, we were only able to watch one at a time. Most Pokemon we saw were clearly low leveled and inexperienced. I couldn't help but micro-analyze the way each trainer fought, trying to find a weakness in case I ever came up against them. For example, an older-looking trainer kept making his Lotad use Ice Beam— a move the small Pokemon clearly didn't master and obviously learned via TM. Even if TMs taught your Pokemon a move, it was always barebones at first, and you needed to practice with it like any other move. Case in point, the poor Lotad was incapable of aiming the move and kept being flung back by its force. It was quickly taken out by the enemy Doduo.

Eventually, the first member of Cecilia's group had to battle. With a smug expression, Louis Bianchi flicked his blond hair back and stepped into the arena. With a coin flip, it was decided that his opponent would send his Pokemon out first. She sent out a Monferno and steadied herself. The fire type grunted and put his fists up.

"That's Maeve Chang. She's a frequent forum browser, we've interacted a few times online. I had no idea she was here," Denzel muttered to me.

Louis Bianchi grinned and sent out a Gible. Gasps ran through the crowd of trainers, although some already knew he had one— including me. He was arguably the most famous trainer in the Circuit right now, given his status as a billionaire heir and his extremely rare Pokemon. Dragon type trainers were always seen with envy or admiration, but owning a Gible went beyond that. That line was synonymous with Cynthia. Wherever she was seen, Garchomp quietly followed behind her.

"Think she stands a chance?" I asked.

"Well, she has the Coal badge like us, but against a dragon, it's hard to say," Denzel said.

The referee slashed his hand across the air and blew his whistle. The battle had begun.

Maeve immediately sprung to action. "Monferno, get in close, and then Mach Punch!"

"Destroy that runt, Gible!" Louis yelled.

Gible opened its mouth at an angle that shouldn't have been possible as blue and yellow flames accumulated in its mouth. Unfortunately, Monferno was already there and delivered a strong Mach Punch to its gut. Gible slid across the grass, releasing whatever attack that was. Monferno didn't have to be told to dodge, and he quickly sidestepped the flames.

"Grab it and bombard it with Ember!" She continued.

Monferno grunted and ran on all fours, approaching Gible at ridiculous speeds. He seized the Gible and put him in the air before bits of flames rushed out of its mouth. Gible screeched at the burns and started thrashing around.

"What are you doing?! Get him!" Louis screamed, stomping his foot against the ground. "Use your Sand Tomb!"

I felt sand and dirt gather around us, rushing toward the battle and surrounding the two Pokemon. It slowly spun around them, until it completely obscured them from view.

"Get back, Monferno!" Maeve ordered.

Monferno dropped the Gible, who lazily left the mini-sandstorm as if nothing had happened. The attack stuck to Monferno no matter where he ran, continuously wearing it down.

"Finally! Now finish it with your Dragon Rage," Louis said.

Gible spat out that same blue flame out of his mouth, and now that Monferno couldn't see, this first battle was a done deal. The fire type quickly went down, as Pokemon often did against dragon type attacks. Maeve shook her head and sent out her second Pokemon, a Staryu. The star-shaped Pokemon jumped and spun around, clearly excited to battle.

"Staryu, you're the last one! Hit 'em with a Psybeam!" Maeve said.

"Use the same tactic, Gible."

Gible grunted, and sand began to gather around Staryu as multicolored rings of energy hit its flank. The dragon cried out in pain, but he just wouldn't go down.

"Use Rapid Spin to disperse his attack! Then Psybeam again!"

Staryu began to float and rotated faster than the eye could see, and the sand slowly began to disappear. Gible opened its maw again and screamed out another Dragon Rage, which clipped one of Staryu's arms as it dodged. The star-shaped Pokemon sent out another Psybeam, which Gible didn't even bother to dodge.

"Take Down! Get in close and finish this!"

Gible turned and snapped at his trainer as blue flames wreathed in its mouth. Louis squealed and fell backward, shielding his face with his hands. Gible turned back and threw out the Dragon Rage he was building. Maeve had been too stunned by what had just happened to issue an order, but Staryu countered with a Water Gun, meeting the move head-on. The high-pressure jet of water wasn't enough to stop the flames, and Staryu went down after being hit a second time.

"You're pathetic. Only winning because your daddy gave you a Gible," The girl scoffed as she returned her Pokemon. "If you were anyone else I would have won."

She walked off toward Floaroma, presumingly back to the Pokemon Center. Louis yelled out some obscenities at her, asking if she knew who he was and that he'd have her disqualified from the Circuit, but she just flipped him off without even turning her head.

"Yikes," I said. "He's a terrible trainer."

"Yeah, he only won because of how good Gible was. That thing is a little juggernaut, I don't think I'd win against it," Denzel replied.

I watched Bianchi as he returned to his group with a scowl. "I think I could win, I said. No, I know I could."

"You have a plan?"

"I have a plan and a fairy type," I grinned. "But I can't be sure I'll be fighting him anyway, so it's just a backup. I've been making rudimentary plans for most of the trainers I've seen win."

"Scary…" Denzel whispered.

"I heard you!"

I hit his shoulder playfully, and he chuckled. "But anyway, this kind of tactic doesn't work for that long. The further along he gets, the less battles he'll win like this."

"I'm surprised it even worked against Roark," I said.

"I watched his battle, Gible just overwhelmed everything Roark threw at it. Dragon Rage is a move that bypasses a Pokemon's defenses, so no matter how bulky his rock types were, they always went down in two or three attacks."

I nodded as we watched the next battle, and then the next. Soon enough, it was my turn. I left Elekid with Denzel and they wished me good luck. I was fighting one of Obel's people— Pauline King was her name if I remembered correctly. We stood at opposite sides of the arena, and I picked tails, meaning I'd have to send our my Pokemon first. I was surprisingly not nervous like I had been at Roark's gym. I was still a tiny weeny bit nervous, but it was nowhere near debilitating. It was the kind of nervousness that kept you sharp and on your toes. I grabbed my first Pokeball and sent out Togetic. My opponent sent out a huge Charmeleon, meaning Extrasensory was out.

The referee blew his whistle.

"Keep your distance and Fairy Wind," I called out.

"Ember!"

Togetic playfully floated upward as a pink wind gathered around her, and then swung toward the Charmeleon. The flames flying toward her dissipated or strayed out of the way, and the wind hit the fire type at full speed. Pauline King flinched when it reached her, but it dissipated right before hitting her. Charmeleon screeched and laid flat against the ground to stop itself from flying off.

"Keep. It. Going," I slowly said.

Togetic spun around and chirped happily as storm-like winds kept battering the Charmeleon.

Pauline clicked her tongue and groaned. "This is unfair!" I could barely hear her with the wind. It seemed like the only long-distance move her Pokemon had was Ember, and it was clearly useless here. She tried everything she could, but eventually, the Charmeleon passed out and flew off before she recalled it in its Pokeball midair.

"You battle like a crook," Pauline said.

"Huh? I'm just using strategy…" I answered, embarrassed. "Sorry."

"Shut up!" She yelled, sending out a Gothita.

Perfect time to test out Ancient Power, I thought.

"Psybeam! Hit it out of the sky!"

"Shake her off with Extrasensory, then Ancient Power," I ordered.

The first multicolored psychic energy beam hit Togetic, but the second never did. Togetic's eyes turned blue as she kept making the Gothita do sudden movements, throwing off her aim. She flew downward, barely hovering above the ground. Chunks of rocks and earth were lifted off the ground and thrown toward the small Gothita. They weren't as large as Roark's Carbink's, but they would do the job. Gothita tried to dodge, but she was too small, and one of the rocks crushed her small body. Pauline quickly returned her.

I let out a sigh of relief. That had gone pretty well, but Togetic still needed to work on her mid-air dodging, and she was fooling around too much while battling, making unnecessary movements. I was all for her having fun, but it'd be good to shake off the habit now so that when I was in more important battles—

"You're a lowlife who can't fight fair and square. I know your name, I'll have my friends make your life a living hell," She whispered as she passed me.

I frowned. That was an extreme reaction to a loss in a battle, but I thought nothing of it. If anything happened, I would report it to League officials. Either way, Denzel congratulated me when I came back with a high five, and Elekid looked more excited than ever to battle.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 27

Denzel's battle went rather well, as he and Eevee made short work of a trainer's Krabby and Poocheyena with Bite and Quick Kick. Eevee was excellent, only getting hit twice by Krabby's Bubblebeam. Fighting Denzel would definitely be a hard battle. I would have the advantage due to my focus on long-distance battling and flight, but he was very good at conserving as much energy as he could and only spending it with quick bursts of Quick Attack. The battle would probably become a fight of attrition. If Eevee tired out first, I would win, but if my Pokemon did, the contrary would be true.

I was also quickly figuring out that this tournament wasn't only about your battle prowess as a trainer, but also about your battle management skills. What I meant by this was that there were no healing services given out after every battle, and the Pokemon Center was twenty minutes away by foot. That meant that if your Pokemon took too many hits, you'd be screwed for the next battle, and that could start a snowball effect where you ended up only having one Pokemon to battle, or even both of them being unable to.

In that regard, I had underestimated the power of flight in Pokemon. It was truly a great advantage to have, and it would eventually be a thwarted advantage as I got further into the Circuit and my opponents got more diverse, but as it stood now, in the middle of this tournament for beginners? I was possibly among the top contenders— ignoring a few prodigies, of course. It was finally time for Cecilia Obel to take the stage. Funnily enough, she was going against one of her friends.

"That's Justin Gardner. His father owns Pherzen, a pharmaceutical company that makes a lot of what Pokemon Centers use," Denzel said with admiration.

"I don't care about his dad, tell me about his skill as a trainer," I answered, rolling my eyes.

"Don't know much apart from the fact that he has a Sandile and a Growlithe. This should be interesting."

"Ele! Kid!" My Pokemon added.

I leaned against my fist and observed Cecilia. I thought our eyes met again, but that must have been my imagination. She sent out a Fletchling, finally revealing her third Pokemon. It was one of the more common birds in Kalos. There weren't too many in Sinnoh due to the cold climate, but some could still be found in the southern reaches of the region. I couldn't contain my smile, as the fact that a trainer clearly better than me was also using a flying Pokemon confirmed my thoughts about the tournament.

Or maybe it was a coincidence and I was in over my head.

The Gardner kid sent out his Growlithe and the battle began.

"Ember! Shoot it out of the sky!" He yelled out, pointing toward the bird.

Growlithe's mouth lit ablaze as huge globs of fire shot out toward the Fletchling. The bird effortlessly dodged with minimal movement before being recalled by its trainer.

"What?" I said, not hesitating to show Denzel my surprise.

"Hold on," He said.

Cecilia sent out her Deino, who turned toward her trainer and let out a low growl.

She clicked her tongue. "Be good, Deino. Dragon Breath, fifty percent."

The dragon roared in disapproval, but listened, as draconic energy built up in its mouth. It looked stronger than it had been during Roark's battle.

If that was only fifty percent, I can't imagine what it's like at full power.

"Growlithe, escape with Dig!" Justin panicked.

Deino roared out his Dragon Breath, but Growlithe was already underground. Denzel used the slight lull in the battle to tap my shoulder.

"Here's what I think happened. Growlithe can have the Flash Fire ability, meaning that all fire type moves against them only make them stronger," He explained.

"Ahh, that makes so much sense. And I'm guessing Fletchling's only long-distance moves were fire type, and a bird that frail would get beaten by Growlithe at close range. Plus, she lost the coin flip so she had to send out her Pokemon first."

"Correct."

Growlithe emerged right under Deino, hitting it right in the chin. The dragon seemed rather unphased, and brought its huge jaw around the fire type's neck, biting down hard. Growlithe whined and screamed as it squirmed on the ground, desperately trying to move out of Deino's grasp.

"Bad! Deino, bad!" Cecilia said, before clicking her tongue multiple times.

Deino let go of Growlithe's neck, and the poor Pokemon scrambled away. I bit the inside of my lip. This was less like a battle and more like a complete humiliation. Cecilia was just trying to keep her dragon on a leash, lest it killed somebody else's Pokemon.

"Good boy. Now Dragon Breath, sixty percent."

"Dig again, but don't attack him this time!" Justin snapped.

Sixty percent now? I thought. Just like with Roark, she's slowly going up.

Growlithe barely managed to dodge this time, since the attack was not only stronger than before but also faster.

"Get to the hole, Deino," Cecilia ordered.

Deino growled and ambled toward the hole Growlithe had dug, angrily snapping its mouth at any noise it heard.

"Dragon Breath into the hole, at seventy percent," She said.

Justin gasped. "Growlithe, get out of there!"

Deino hacked a few times as his throat glowed, and then expelled another Dragon Breath inside of Growlithe's tunnel. We heard a yelp deep from inside the hole, and Growlithe was thrown out through another exit created by Deino's attack, flying off for a few feet before hitting the ground. Justin sighed, and he recalled his Pokemon.

"I give. Your Deino is simply magnificent, Cece. You win," He said with a small bow.

"You did well, Justin. You would have bested me with Growlithe if I hadn't been able to switch out. You are improving at a great pace."

"You flatter me."

I raised my eyebrows. He seemingly didn't even care about his extremely embarrassing loss. Personally, I would have left running and never showed my face in Floaroma again, but then again, I was extremely self-conscious, which was something I needed to work on. I stared at Cecilia as she climbed back onto the bleachers, but my eyes slowly widened when I realized she wasn't going back to sit with her group.

She was coming straight for me.

"You, come with me," Cecilia said. She grabbed my wrist and pulled.

"Wh—wh—what? What do you want from me?!" I asked with a shaky voice.

"What the hell?! Leave her alone, what the fuck is your deal?" Denzel shot up. Even Elekid was yelling, and we were attracting a lot of attention.

"I need to speak with her. In private," She said.

"You need to fuck off, that's what you need to do!" Denzel raised his voice.

"You can tell me what you want here," I tried.

Cecilia looked at me as if she was analyzing my every move. Her group made their way to where we were sitting.

"Cece, my darling, is there a problem?" Louis Bianchi asked.

"I need to speak with this girl."

"That girl? The one who can't fight fair and square?" Pauline scoffed. "Bring me with you, I'd like to see what you're planning with her," She said, twirling her hair with a smirk.

"Do I need to call an organizer?" Denzel hissed.

"Watch your tone, you're talking to—"

"Stop harassing my friend!" I said. "Enough of this mean girl bullcrap." I eyed Cecilia. "I'll come with, as long as it's just you and not her," I finished, pointing at Pauline with a nod.

"Fine, follow me."

I recalled Elekid and mouthed a 'sorry' to Denzel as he was left all alone together with those rich snobs. Obviously, I was also with a rich snob, but his life would be harder than mine. She kept grabbing my wrist and pulling me toward one of the bathroom stalls.

"What do you want from me? Aren't we far enough?" I asked, looking back toward the tournament.

She didn't answer. A few gruesome images began to swim in my mind as I imagined myself eaten alive by a bloodthirsty Deino, but as soon as we reached one of the stalls, she pushed me in and slammed her hand against the wall next to my head. She was taller and stronger than me, so any hopes of escape were gone.

"Did he send you?" The dark-skinned girl yelled.

"Did what? Who are you even talking about?"

"Don't act dumb! My father! Did he send you?!" Cecilia hissed. All the refinement she had in her way of talking was gone now.

"Why would your dad send me? And to do what? I don't even know what you're talking about, you're making no sense!"

"Don't act dumb!" She yelled, slamming her hand right next to my ear again, making me flinch. "At first I thought you were just some nice girl when you helped me out in Oreburgh," Cecilia started. "But then you show up to Floaroma one day after us? And then you sign up for the same tournament, and you keep staring at me, Arceus!" She said with a dry, sarcastic laugh. "You couldn't be more obvious if you tried!"

"Okay, hold on just one second. You think I'm spying on you for your dad?" I scoffed.

"I know you are! I know he wants to control me and that he can't do it through my group, but Arceus, now this— this is going very far! Tell me one reason I shouldn't have Deino teach you a lesson right now?!"

My heart dropped. "Okay, first of all, the world doesn't revolve around you," I said, jamming my finger at her. "I wasn't spying on you, and everything was a coincidence. Second of all, if I die, my friend will know you're the culprit, so you'll be going to prison."

"D—die?" She deflated. "No, I was just thinking about scaring you a little…"

"Well pick your words better! Fuck, I just want to keep my head down and live my life as a trainer, is that too much to ask?! Let me out!"

"And the stares? You didn't deny looking at me!"

I paused as I was caught off guard "I… I was looking at you because you're Cecilia fucking Obel, alright?! One of the top trainers of the Circuit this year! I was just intrigued, and I wanted to know more about your battling, now let me go," I said, pushing against her.

She stepped to the side, crouching and putting her head in her hands.

"Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no!" She cried.

I stared at her in utter confusion for a few seconds before I sighed and opened the door.

"Please don't tell this to anyone! Please." Cecilia asked.

"Are you kidding me? You threatened me! And I have had enough of that for an entire lifetime."

"You can't say I threatened you… please. If it gets out and my dad finds out, I'll be screwed. Please."

"So what? He'll cancel your credit card for a month, no biggie. Just get your friends to help you," I spat. I was being vicious like Chase had been with her back in Oreburgh. I would most likely regret these words later, but right now I was pissed. I started walking out the door.

She grabbed my pant leg. "You don't understand, this— this isn't about money."

I stopped and looked at her for a second, and what I saw surprised me. I expected to see a capricious girl sad that her father would ground her and yell at her for a few minutes, but instead, I saw real fear. She was terrified, clasping her hair and muttering 'please' over and over. Thinking about it, her even thinking her father was spying on her was suspicious in the first place, and I began to worry something sinister was taking place. I looked back at the door and then at her before exhaling loudly.

Damn it. I'm too nice. I thought.

I crouched in front of her. "Correct me if I'm wrong here, but is your father… violent with you? Or threatening you in some other way?" I probed.

She shook her head. "I can't say. I can't say. If he finds out…" She shuddered.

"Okay, well I promise I won't tell anything, alright, just don't go around threatening people. Others might not be as understanding."

The girl nodded and sniffled. Her behavior was a far cry from the way she had been just a minute ago, and it had shattered the entire image I had of her. I had believed Cecilia Obel to be rich, infallible, and stoic, but as it turned out she was just…

She was just a girl. Like me.

"I'm leaving, alright? You should talk to someone about this… problem, whatever it is," I said, echoing what Denzel had told me. "Anyone. Your friends, or a therapist at the center."

Cecilia muttered something that I couldn't catch.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"Nothing."

"Take care," I said and left.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 28

Cecilia's entire group of friends scowled at me as I walked back, so I instinctively kept my head down and quickly made my way back to my seat. I had handled that confrontation very well, but I would be lying if I didn't admit it made my heart race. Denzel looked at me with a worried look in his eyes as I sat down.

"What happened? Did she fuck with you?" He asked.

I almost blurted out the truth before I paused, contemplating what to say. Denzel was my friend, and someone I absolutely trusted, but I had promised not to say anything. But at the same time, I didn't want to lie to him.

"No, it was fine. Just a misunderstanding," I said in half-truth. "She won't do it again."

"Good, because that was weird. And her buddies over there kept looking at me like I killed their entire family the whole time. Anyway, it's time to draw our next number soon, and then we can battle again," Denzel said, grinning.

"Sounds good. Right after two more sets of battles, right?"

"Yup. Hey, check this guy's Shroomish out, it's really good…"

We observed the rest of the battles, commenting on anything we found of note. Around five minutes later, Cecilia walked up to the stands, as if nothing had happened. She had her chin up, a refined air around her, and a smug smile. Gone were her tears and her hysterical behavior. She was now completely in control as if she had flipped a switch.

"Huh," I whispered to myself.

We went for two more rounds of battling, and both Denzel and I made quick work of our opponents. I sent out Togetic against a Ralts and a Combee, keeping them at a distance with Fairy Wind and dealing heavy damage with Ancient Power. The second battle, however, had been difficult. Togetic barely managed to take out a Staravia before I had to return her against a ruthless Pidgeotto. Frillish managed to take it on with a lot of maneuvering with Water Sport. The amount of leverage I was getting out of the move boggled my mind, as Frillish somehow managed to only be slightly slower than an actual flying type. By the end of the day, though, I had made it to the round of sixteen, and so had Denzel.

We were famished, so we decided to leave for the Pokemon Center, get some cafeteria food, and then decide on what to do. Denzel went back to the river on Route 205 to spend more time with Feebas, while I took Elekid to train near the meadow. I wasn't under any impression I'd be able to use him for the tournament, but it was good to get ahead of these things. Strangely enough, I was more nervous about my therapy session tomorrow than I was about the tournament because I knew these trainers in the round of sixteen would be no joke. They all had the Coal badge, and some had been on the Circuit before. The best I was hoping for was third place, but maybe if I got lucky with my opponents, second place would be within reach.

The next day, I woke up early and drenched in sweat as usual. With my head in my pillow, I groaned and hit my bed out of frustration, but ended up hitting the bed frame. I squealed in pain and cursed, clenching my hand as I stepped into the shower. It'd be a while until Denzel woke up, and he had his appointment anyway, so I ate breakfast with my team. Togetic seemed to get along well enough with Elekid, but Frillish didn't seem to like our new friend. He eyed him with suspicion, always with that creepy stare I knew so well. Oh well, he'd have to get used to it.

After an early morning run with Elekid and another shower— man, I was really taking advantage of the free water here— I waited for Denzel to finish his session in the lobby. I waved at him as he walked down to the lobby.

"How was it?" I asked anxiously. "What did she ask you?"

"We just… talked. About anything really, it was really nice. I even got to vent about my mom a little," He said, scratching his cheek. "You'll do fine, it's like a conversation with a friend."

I nodded. "If you say so."

"C'mon, don't you trust me?"

"I don't know, you did get me attacked by a gang of Budew that one time," I teased.

He put his hands in the air. "Come on, how many times are you going to bring that up?!" He said, eliciting a chuckle.

"Ready for the round of sixteen?" I asked as we left the Center.

"Ready as I'll ever be. I honestly hope I get that TM, but I doubt I can get first place."

"I'm more interested in the money, honestly. They wouldn't be giving out an actually good TM in a tournament for new trainers like us. It'll probably end up being as useful as Rock Polish— which is completely useless."

"Actually, if you had a rock type—"

"You know what I mean, Denzel," I said, rolling my eyes.

The tournament was more packed than it had been because Floaroma inhabitants were actually there to watch now that there were only sixteen of us left. There was only one battlefield left, and a podium had been set up to its left, where two men were fiddling with a microphone and testing their audio.

"Holy shit, commentators," Denzel choked.

"That's kind of annoying. I feel like they'll mess up my groove."

"No, it means that we're the real deal now! And I bet the news will film every match and put it on T.V. instead of just doing interviews. Crap, I think I need to go to the bathroom—"

"You won't make it back in time," I said, grabbing his hand. "Come on, I'm nervous too, but we have to face this head-on."

Multiple channels were currently filming in the area. One of them was talking to Louis and Cecilia, while others were focused on commenting about the tournament setup itself, the stakes, and its history, for example. They ran this tournament every single month except during summer, although the first two months of every Circuit were always the busiest. I paid them no mind. I appeared calm, but I knew that if one of them came up to me, I'd just stumble over my words and make a fool of myself. Instead, I immediately went to draw a ticket, and my eyes widened when I pulled number one.

I'd be the first. At least potions and one of the Nurse Joys were there this time, so we'd be able to heal our teams.

There was both bad news and good news. I had observed my opponent like a hawk yesterday, and I knew exactly what his Pokemon were and how he fought. The bad news was that he had both a Plusle and a Minun, meaning that I was most likely screwed. Excellent trainers knew how to work around the type advantage, but I doubted I knew enough to work past it. My mind raced as I attempted to find the best strategy to win, and suddenly as I walked onto the pitch—

"Ah. I got you," I muttered, holding back a grin.

"Ladies and gentlemen, trainers and civilians, welcome to the second day of the Floaroma tournament. We hold these every month, so make sure to come back! My name's Ricky, and I'll be your announcer today," The commentator said before coughing. "Sorry about that. On the left, we have Grace Pastel from Jubilife City, owner of the Coal Badge. On the right, we have Gavin Barnes— also from Jubilife and also owner of the Coal Badge! I'm excited to see what these two trainers have in store for us today. Do your best! After all, who knows who might catch the attention of a gym leader? Anyone could be watching!

I rolled my eyes and picked tails, winning the coin flip. Of course, it didn't matter. Gavin sent out his Plusle, I immediately sent out Frillish, and the referee declared the start of the match.

"Thundershock!" He yelled out.

"Okay, buddy! Get close! Water Sport to dodge!" I said, clenching my fists.

The thing about Plusle and Minun was that even though they packed a serious punch for their size, they were also extremely fragile. Unfortunately, we hadn't mastered Hex yet, and water moves wouldn't be very effective. We'd lose in a long-distance battle because electric attacks were simply faster than water and extremely hard to dodge, and that meant—

"...Frillish gets hit by a Thundershock! Will it go down?! Oh, ladies it gentlemen, it stopped itself from falling with Water Sport! What an innovative strategy from Grace Pastel, but will it be—"

Shut. Up. I thought, focusing entirely on the battle. Frillish was only seconds away from his opponent.

"Nuzzle when it touches you!"

There it is.

"Water Pulse," I said coldly.

Frillish used a jet of water to stop all of his momentum, splashing the Plusle in the process, who squealed in surprise. The electric Pokemon attempted to jump toward mine as electricity began to envelop its body, but multiple rings of water hit it point blank, sending it flying toward its trainer.

"Wrap around him and absorb!"

"Plusle, get it together! You need to Nuzzle!"

Frillish let out a gleeful cry before wrapping around Plusle. He absorbed his energy, rendering it weaker and weaker.

"Spark! Thundershock! Anything!" Gavin let out in a panicked scream.

Frillish lit up and spasmed as he was hit with multiple attacks, but he didn't let go. I winced as both Pokemon screamed in agony as they kept hitting each other, squirming on the ground. After a brutal twenty seconds, both went down, and we recalled them. The plan to hit the Plusle with our strongest attack to stagger it and then rush it with Absorb while it recovered had worked, but not as well as I had hoped.

"...what a ruthless showdown between the two and their Pokemon! We don't see many battles like this folks, but strap in, we're only halfway through!"

I exhaled and released Togetic, while Gavin let out his Minun. Plan B was a go, but it was less solid than my tactic with Frillish.

"Run up, and then Electro Ball!"

"Your turn, princess! Fairy Wind, and trip him up with Extrasensory!"

Wind began to coil around Togetic and then blew toward the running Minun, but it was fast. By the time Fairy Wind had made contact, it was already right under Togetic, even with Extrasensory.

It pushed through the damage and threw a ball of pure electric energy right at Togetic, who was hit and fell to the ground. My heart dropped.

"Nuzzle it!"

"Growl, then Ancient Power!"

Togetic screeched, scaring the Minun for a split second before it hit her with Nuzzle. Her body convulsed, and she struggled to move.

Paralysis, I thought. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

"Finish her off with Spark!"

I stomped my foot against the ground twice, and Togetic barely managed to get a Sweet Kiss out. Minun crashed into the ground and stopped his attack.

"Hit it with Ancient Power. Push through!" I yelled, biting my lip.

Large chunks of earth floated upward. Togetic dropped some along the way because of the Paralysis, but she managed to get a hit on Minun, who rolled away. It got up and stumbled around.

"Again," I said.

"Wake up!" My opponent begged.

Another Ancient Power hit the electric type, causing it to faint. I swallowed and released a breath it seemed I had been holding for the entire battle. That had been close, but I had won. Just barely. Togetic couldn't even stand when I recalled her. I was sure that with another few seconds, she would have fainted as well. The announcer cheered and yelled out platitudes, which did make me feel good about myself, but I couldn't be complacent. I was moving on to the quarter-finals, but this was just the beginning. I gave my Pokemon to Nurse Joy, hoping the little time she had would be enough to fix them up. They had almost never been this hurt, and I scared myself at how much I had enjoyed that battle. They followed me of their own volition, but my heart broke after every battle high, realizing how much they had suffered.

I shook my head. It was too late to turn back now. Next was Denzel's match against Louis Bianchi.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 29

"Good luck, dude," I told Denzel as he nervously left the stands.

"Thanks, I'll need it," He answered with a huff.

Louis Bianchi sported that same pompous smile as he always did, even as he lost the coin flip. The blond man sent out his Gible, who announced his presence with a juvenile roar. It seemed pitiful now, but even as the first stage in its evolution line, Gible were absolutely deadly. Denzel breathed through his teeth and sent Eevee. I believed he could win, but it wasn't looking good. Not only could he only use one Pokemon, but he'd have to win against a dragon type. I retreated deep into my mind right before the match started. What would I do if I was Denzel here? Eevee was faster, but could his attacks even hope to take the Gible down?

"Here is our second game ladies and gentlemen! On the left, we have Denzel Williams from Twinleaf town, owner of the Coal Badge. On the right, we have Louis Bianchi from Jubilife— also owner of the Coal Badge!" The commentator said. Murmurs and cheers ran through the stands when the name 'Bianchi' was spoken. "Yes, you heard that right, Bianchi! But on the battlefield, every trainer is equal! Here's to a good match!"

"I am not equal with this peasant from nowhere. I haven't forgotten how you spoke to my friends and my fiance. Time to show you who's—"

"Quick Attack!" Denzel yelled, interrupting Louis.

With a flash and a burst of speed, Eevee blurred toward Gible, who roared out a Dragon Rage in response. Eevee skirted to the left, barely avoiding the draconic flames, and ramming into his enemy. Gibble slid back across the grassy field with a grunt.

"And Eevee gets the first hit! But it doesn't look to have done much to that sturdy Gible!" The announcer exclaimed. "But will it be fast enough to respond?"

"Next time he does that, grab him," Louis said.

"Again!" My friend ordered. "Around him!"

With a bark, Eevee rushed forward, and just as he reached Gible, the dragon snapped his jaw shut. Eevee sidestepped and began to run around the dragon, who hissed in a fit of rage.

"I sure do hope Louis Bianchi has that dragon under control— but it looks like Eevee's running around him in circles! Gible still hasn't landed a hit yet, and it's looking like it might not be able to!"

"Dragon Rage to cut him off! It doesn't matter where you aim!"

"Get in now! Quick Kick!"

Gible screamed out another Dragon Rage, hoping to stop Eevee dead in his tracks, but he suddenly carried all of his momentum and hit the dragon hard with his hind legs, cracking some of its scales. Gible screamed in rage, and sand started to gather around the battlefield.

"Eevee, don't let him concentrate! Keep using Double Kick!" Denzel ordered urgently.

Eevee barked and kicked Gible in the chin, but the dragon slashed across his face. He retreated with a whimper as the Sand Tomb began surrounding him.

"And Gible has finally found a counter! Eevee seems helpless against that Sand Tomb, and it doesn't look like he'll be able to escape any time soon!"

"Good, good, now finish him off," Bianchi said with a grin.

Gible was obviously not bothering with anything his trainer said at this point. The dragon stomped his foot, and the Sand Tomb intensified, completely enveloping Eevee.

"Get out of it with Quick Attack!"

Eevee blurred through the sand and immediately rammed into the Gible, who stumbled back, and then Double Kicked it. Gible caught on this time and bit down on Eevee's back paw. Blood dripped down his fur as he squirmed, trying to get out of Gible's bite.

"Oh, Arceus! What a ruthless bite from that Gible! Eevee appears to be completely stuck, ladies and gentlemen, this could be it!"

"Kick it with your other foot! Don't panic!"

"Just Dragon Rage it, you stupid dragon! Finish this!" Louis hissed.

Blue flames began to grow in Gible's mouth, burning Eevee's hind leg before three kicks managed to get him out.

This is bad, I thought. Eevee's almost done.

Eevee's hind leg was completely screwed. Bleeding, singed, and the poor thing was limping, barely able to put any weight on it. I winced as Gible let out another Dragon Rage, which he dodged with a roll to the left. Any hopes of using Quick Attack were gone now, and the situation was grim.

"Just keep using Dragon Rage, one of them is bound to hit. Stay at a distance," Louis said.

"Dodge if you can! Get closer!"

"Dragon Rage! What a powerful move from an even more powerful Pokemon! Eevee dodges the first… he dodges the second… he— oh, he gets hit!"

Eevee cried out in pain as the Dragon Rage hit him, completely covering him in searing hot draconic flames. He collapsed onto the ground and fainted. The battle had ended. Denzel's head hung low as he returned his Eevee. Apart from a few cracks in his scales, Gible wasn't giving any signs that he had just been in battle. That thing was ridiculously tough, and even a bad trainer would be able to win with its help.

"Well? Send out your next Pokemon!" Louis smirked.

"Nah, I forfeit," Denzel sighed. "You win."

The audience clapped as he walked off the pitch, leaving a very confused announcer and a gloating Louis, and hurriedly came to me.

"You did great, that Gible is just something else—" I started.

"Hey, I'm going to run to the Pokemon Center. Eevee got really hurt… I pushed him too much. I don't think they have enough to help him here. Sorry I won't be able to watch your next match."

"Oh, don't worry about it," I answered. "Let me know if he's fine when you get any news."

"Alright," He said, running off.

I had honestly thought that Denzel would be more depressed about losing on television, but he had grown more than I thought. I could tell he was frustrated with himself, but he knew Eevee was the priority. Bianchi walked back up to the stands, and I could hear him gloat to his group about his victory. I clenched my fist, containing my anger. There was no need to be an asshole about a victory, and yet this man was just awful at sportsmanship. I almost hoped I'd be matched against him to beat his Gible into submission with my Fairy type, but he was on the opposite side of the bracket.

Speaking about the bracket, who will I have to fight next? I asked myself, looking at the giant screen. My jaw dropped.

I would have to fight either a trainer with no badges or Cecilia Obel. Needless to say, she was going to crush that trainer in a single minute, meaning our battle was almost guaranteed. I spent the next few battles strategizing. I knew she wouldn't use Deino against Togetic, because dragon moves simply left fairy types unaffected, and from what I saw, its only other long-distance attacking move was Incinerate. But she also had that Fletchling. Both of my Pokemon countered hers to some extent, so it all came down to getting favorable matchups. I could switch out, but then she would do the same, and then I would be fucked. So the battle entirely depended on who won the coin flip. If I won, I'd be able to send my Pokemon last, forcing her to switch, and then I would do the same and trap her in an unfavorable matchup. If she won, I would be forced into sending out Togetic first, because I was sure Frillish would lose against Deino.

The outcome of the battle depended solely on luck.

Soon enough, it was time for the quarter-finals. I picked up my Pokemon, who were almost completely healed from their previous battle, and I made my way onto the pitch. I took a breath, picked tails, and she picked heads.

The referee flipped the coin, and time slowed as it fell back into his hand. I adjusted my collar as he caught it and slowly lifted his hand up into the air, teasing the audience.

It was heads.

"Fuck," I whispered.

I grabbed my first Pokeball and sent out Togetic, and Cecilia released Fletchling— an unfavorable matchup not because of the type but because of the flying type's sheer speed and maneuverability in the air. Togetic wasn't fast at all relative to an actual bird, and she wouldn't be until I evolved her into Togekiss.

I wiped my hands on my pants and tuned out all the noise around me. The announcer, the audience, they were all gone. There was only Cecilia and me, ready to battle it out. The referee blew his whistle.

"Quick Attack to get close, then Acrobatics," Cecilia calmly said.

"Keep it away from you with Fairy Wind!" I ordered.

Fletchling shone and flew toward Togetic at breakneck speed. It was faster than Eevee, and it reached her before she even had time to gather her wind. Fletchling savaged her with its talons, nimbly moving around to avoid any retaliation.

"Extrasensory!" I ordered.

"Toge!"

The bird's wing jerked, causing it to tumble down for a few seconds before it stabilized itself. It kept trying to get up close to Togetic, but she kept using Extrasensory to stop it mid-flight. This tug of war, unfortunately, wasn't in my favor. Eventually, Togetic would slip up. I bit my lip. My only hope was to slow this thing down enough or catch it off guard to hit it with Sweet Kiss.

My worst fear came through as Fletchling pressed its wings flat against itself, dropping under Togetic and lifting itself up behind her.

"Ember," Cecilia said.

The bird opened its beak and let out dozen of small flames, hitting Togetic in the back. She retaliated with her psychic attack, slamming the bird down. Unfortunately, it wasn't powerful enough to get it on the ground, and it recovered easily.

"Fairy Wind before it gets back to you!"

Togetic gathered her wind faster this time and threw it against her opponent.

"Quick Attack upwards," Cecilia said.

"Follow!" I screamed.

The pink wind followed Fletchling, twisting and turning as it did.

"Ember again to throw off its concentration," She ordered.

"Drop down!"

Togetic levitated down as Fairy Wind rammed into the Fletchling, who had to stay still every time it used Ember. The small bird fell to the ground, and my eyes widened. This was an opportunity.

"Ancient Pow—"

"Up!"

Fletchling stood back up, and with a Quick Attack, it rammed into Togetic, who cried out in pain. The bird clawed and pecked at her, drawing blood as the two Pokemon fought themselves with no particular move.

"Don't forget to use Extrasensory!" I added.

Fletchling was fast and hitting my Pokemon more than she was hitting it, but Togetic was a sturdy, stubborn girl. The two Pokemon fought each other in a vicious melee, but I needed a little bit more. Fletchling was slowing down, little by little. Just a bit more, and I would be able to land Sweet Kiss…

Just a little bit more…

A little more…

Now!

I stomped my foot twice against the ground, and Togetic sent out a Sweet Kiss toward Fletchling—

"Now!" Cecilia shouted.

Fletchling dodged to the side and hit her with Acrobatics. Togetic slowly levitated down as the bird kept clawing at her, and she fell to the ground. Fletchling landed and stumbled a little, but it was fine.

How? I asked myself in disbelief with wide eyes. She knew about the signal.

"And Togetic goes down! What an amazing battle in the skies between two excellently trained flying types! Grace Pastel is down to one—"

Concentrate! I thought, clenching at the fabric of my shirt. It's not over yet.

"You did amazing, princess. I'm proud of you," I softly said, returning Togetic.

I released Frillish and immediately sprung to action.

"Bubblebeam!" I screamed.

Bubblebeam was a faster attack than Water Pulse, and thanks to Frillish's proficiency in the move, they dealt roughly the same amount of damage. The water type reared its head back and let out a stream of bubbles, but Cecelia returned her Fletchling right before they reached it. She grabbed another Pokeball and released Deino.

Why wouldn't she deal as much damage as she could before switching? I asked myself. Regardless, I had no time for these thoughts. The last phase of the battle was beginning.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 30

"Deino, it's time to behave," Cecilia calmly said.

Not wanting to let her speak with her Pokemon, I immediately barked out a command.

"Bubblebeam it as long as you can!"

Frillish reared his head back and released a stream of bubbles that exploded on contact. Deino let out a booming roar, spitting out a huge Dragon Breath in retaliation that missed by a large margin. I swallowed nervously. That would have taken out Frillish in one hit.

"Calm down. Do it again, this time at fifty percent," She ordered.

Deino stomped his foot and screamed, but listened, and a smaller, slower stream of draconic energy flowed toward Frillish, who dodged with Water Sport.

"Keep your distance, and keep attacking with Bubblebeam!" I yelled out.

Frillish flew even further up, and I had to cover my eyes to protect them from sunlight. The further Frillish was, the easier it'd be to avoid Deino's attacks. He spat out another Bubblebeam toward the dragon.

"Again, longer, sixty percent," Cecilia ordered.

Deino screamed out another Dragon Breath, exploding Frillish's bubbles midair. He barely managed to dodge. I clenched my fists. This wasn't working, and I don't know for how much longer I could keep this up. Cecilia was being surgical with her strikes, and they were slowly growing more powerful. At one hundred percent, I didn't think dodging would be possible. Frillish tried again, and this time the bubbles reached their target, but Deino seemed unscathed. Dragon pokemon were just too powerful. Too tough to faint to weak attacks like Bubblebeam.

"Get in close with Water Sport!" I yelled.

"Dragon Breath, seventy percent."

Frillish coiled around the draconic attack, only getting grazed by its edge. I winced, but kept going.

"Water Pulse point blank!"

A ball of water appeared in front of Frillish, elongated, and then formed into a ring before ramming into Deino. The dragon grunted and was knocked back a little before biting at Frillish, who barely avoided being trapped in its maw. I knew that if Bite ever hit Frillish, he was never escaping, and the battle would most likely be over.

"Go around and keep hitting it with Water Pulse!

"Take Down, then Bite!" Cecilia said.

Two Water Pulses hit Deino before Frillish had to retreat out of fear of being bit.

"Dragon Breath, seventy percent."

Frillish shook and squirmed as the Dragon Breath hit one of his tentacles. It was charred and had shrunk in size considerably. I cursed. The amount of damage here was considerable. What would happen to Frillish if his entire body was hit? My hand hovered over my Pokeball—

"Eighty percent."

The attack grazed Frillish and continued into the sky, parting a large cloud. I gulped, and my shoulders slumped. The fact that Deino was barely slowed after all those hits probably meant that even Togetic wouldn't have been able to take it down with Fairy Wind. Strategy hadn't mattered. The coin flip probably hadn't mattered. I would have lost no matter the circumstances.

And it stung.

"I forfeit," I said as I recalled Frillish.

The battle had shown how big the rift between the top trainers and me was, and I was nowhere near bridging that gap. As claps rang through the audience, the announcer celebrated Cecilia's victory, and I walked toward Nurse Joy, I couldn't help but listen to intrusive thoughts finding their way to the forefront of my mind.

She only won because she was gifted a dragon.

If I had only fought her Slowpoke and Fletchling, I could have won.

Maybe that Chase Karlson guy had been right—

"Ms. Pastel, your Pokemon, please?" Nurse Joy asked.

"Oh— right, sorry," I fumbled. "Here you go."

I left my Pokemon and returned to the stands. I was angry I had lost, but these thoughts would do nothing to help me improve. It was important to focus on what I could do from now on, and not just think about the 'what-ifs'. I walked back to the stands and opened my Poketch.

Denzel W.

Eevee is really hurt, they're saying he has to stay in for three days. I can't even see him, I feel like shit. I shouldn't have made him fight that hard.

Me

You're right in hindsight, but Eevee would have wanted to stay and fight.

Denzel W.

He would have, but it wasn't worth it. I failed as his trainer.

Me

You'll see when he wakes up that he'll tell you otherwise. Stay strong, I'll be back later.

Denzel W.

Ty for cheering me up. Isn't your match soon?

Me

I lost already. Cecilia was too strong, but I'm staying to watch.

Denzel W.

Bummer. Lots of catching up to do!

Me

Yeah! Ttyl

I smiled as I closed my Poketch. If Denzel was keeping his chin up after his loss, I would too. The next few matches were impressive, but nobody even came close to how powerful Louis and Cecilia's dragons were. Even their friends lost to them, and eventually, it was time for the finals. The battle I had been waiting for, dragon against dragon. I had a hunch Deino would win— it seemed to listen to its trainer more than Gible, and that Dragon Breath was more powerful than Dragon Rage, but I was still on the edge of my seat.

The commentator announced the contestants, and then the battle started. Cecilia had to send out her Pokemon first, and she sent out Deino while Louis sent out his Gible. The battle was going straight to the main event. Dragons were resistant against most types, but for some reason, they were the best at ripping each other apart. I leaned down and focused entirely on the battle, ignoring the annoying announcer.

"Let us have a fantastic battle, my love!" Louis said. "May the best dragon win!"

"Of course," Cecilia replied with a small curtsy.

Ugh, what year is this? I thought to myself. Why would she demean herself like this for him?

"Dragon Rage, my dear!" The boy yelled.

"Intercept with Dragon Breath, fifty percent," Cecilia said.

The two draconic attacks hit each other mid-air, but Dragon Rage overpowered the Deino's attack and flew toward it. It attempted to dodge, but it was slow, and the attack hit. Deino roared in pain— the first sign that it actually felt pain in the entire tournament.

"Great job! Trap it with Sand Tomb and then Dragon Rage a second time!" Louis said.

The Gible forwent that order and screamed out another Dragon Rage right away.

"Intercept at six— fifty percent again," Cecilia said.

I frowned as the same scenario played out again, with Gible's attack burning Deino. Gible ran forward, releasing another Dragon Rage, and then another, and another. Each time, Deino used half of its power and let itself get hit. My eyes widened when I realized what was happening. Cecilia Obel was throwing the battle.

Eventually, Deino screamed out a roar of frustration and began charging a fully-powered Dragon Breath at the Gible, but Cecilia returned it.

"Good job, Gible! Again, you prove yourself to be the superior dragon!" Louis said smugly. "That was a great effort, Cece. Perhaps We should train more once this event is over, now release your Fletchling and let's get this over with."

For a split second, I managed to catch Cecilia's expression changing from frustration into a beaming smile.

"Of course, Louis. Your training always does wonders for me and the others," She said. "But I don't think there is a need to continue this battle, you have clearly proved yourself to be the superior trainer. I hereby forfeit."

"Arceus, what's with the forfeits today? Well, with that somewhat underwhelming ending, Floaroma's monthly tournament has now ended. In first place, we have Louis Bianchi, who wins 10,000 Pokedollars and the secret TM… for Return! Second place and third place will of course also get their prize money…" The announcer started.

I couldn't help but feel bitter at the fact that the three people who would receive the money all traveling in the same group.

Whatever. Chin up, Grace, the world isn't fair, I thought.

Anyway, Cecilia had intentionally lost, and everybody seemingly knew, from the people in the audience to the announcer to the organizers. Only Louis and his clique seemed to be in their own little world. Cecilia was making her way to Nurse Joy, and I decided to take the initiative. I would ask her why she had lost on purpose. I exited the stands and made my way to her. I tapped her shoulder.

She turned toward me. "Oh, it's you again. What do you want?"

I was taken aback by those words. "What do you mean me again? You're the one who dragged me into the bathroom before… but anyway, I had a question for you. Is that ok?"

"Fine."

"Why did you throw the game?" I asked, tilting my head.

The girl's eyes bulged, and she looked at Nurse Joy, who was applying a potion to her barely conscious Deino. She then spun around and looked behind me before putting a finger over her mouth.

"Shhhh! Never say that again! I didn't throw the match, I lost. Deino was just too tired to use his Dragon Breath at full power."

I raised an eyebrow. "There you go, lying again. You could have won that battle! Your Deino is obviously better trained than that Gible. Are you losing because you're in love with him, and you don't want to hurt his feelings?" I asked bitterly.

Cecilia scowled. "You have no idea what you're talking about. Stop it. Don't get involved with me, you'll only come to regret it."

I contemplated leaving it there and just making my way back to the Pokemon Center, but I just couldn't. This girl had utterly dominated me during our battle, and now she does this? It felt insulting, to see someone who crushed you so utterly not even try to win it all. Like what she had done to me was just a way to pass the time. She clearly hadn't taken her battle seriously at all.

"I won't leave until you tell me," I said, crossing my arms.

"Or what? Going to blackmail me?" Cecilia said.

"No. I'll just follow you around and keep asking."

"What if I go back to my group? Then what?"

"Then they'll know you throw games because your boyfriend's ego is too big to take a loss," I said with a smile.

Deep in thought, Cecilia tapped her foot against the ground. After a few seconds, she clicked her tongue, groaned, and dragged me back to the toilets. I hadn't had years of arguments against my dad for nothing. She pushed me into one of the stalls, came in a locked the door.

"Why are you doing this to me? Do you want money?" She asked.

"No, I just want to know," I stared into her eyes. "Genuinely. It pisses me off that you fight normally against my Pokemon but just let Bianchi win."

Cecilia sighed. "I don't know why I'm going to tell you this, but you win. I can't ever win against him, you understand? I can't humiliate him, or… uh… how do I explain… I'll get in trouble with my family, there you go! Happy now?!" She said, throwing her hands up.

"Fine. Thank you for answering," I said. "I really thought it was about love," I said, feeling relief.

"I don't even— ugh, whatever. Is that it?"

"No, hold on! What's with the percentages? You always go up throughout the course of a battle. What does that even do?"

"Arceus, this girl," Cecilia sighed. "It's to train Deino's discipline. Dragons are very aggressive, and they hate being told what to do, so by restraining what he can do, I'm reminding him of who's in charge."

"Won't that make you lose battles?" I asked, before realizing that no, it would not. Deino was so strong she could afford to do this. "Nevermind, don't answer. Anyway, thank you for your time. I'll be going back now."

"Wait! I realized I never apologized for what I did to you yesterday. I shouldn't have threatened you, I'm sorry," Cecilia apologized.

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Thank you. I mean, it's fine, you were clearly worried about your dad, so I forgive you," I said.

Cecilia nodded. "Oh! And our battle… it was fun."

I smiled. "It really was… and also an eye-opening experience," I said.

When I opened the stall, a man and a woman in plain clothes were standing at the door with a Hypno. I flinched and stumbled back.

"Who the hell are you?!" Cecilia yelled out. "Were you listening in?!"

"Is that the Obel girl?" The woman asked, ignoring her.

"Yeah, there's no mistaking it."

"Who's the other one?"

"I don't know. One of her friends in high places? Let's take her too. Hypno."

I felt my heart beat against my ribcage as I glanced toward Cecilia. Her Pokemon were getting healed, but she still had Slowpoke, and I had Elekid with me. The Hypno approached us and climbed into the stall as its pendulum began to swing erratically.

I grabbed Elekid's ball. "Cecilia, release your—"

I was no longer in the bathroom. The floor was entirely white, and huge, humming machines hugged the walls of the room. Dozens of people in coats and normal clothes were sitting on the floor, trembling, crying, or begging. There was even a child hugging her dad in the corner of the room. Cecilia stood next to me, just as bewildered as I was.

And all around me, the same people that had threatened me so long ago stood in their uniforms, with their Pokemon out. They had taken us, and everyone in this room hostage.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 31 - Turning Point

Teleportation wasn't like they said it was in the movies. There was no distortion, no pain, no nausea, and no delay. One second you were somewhere, and the next, you were somewhere else before you could even blink.

"Your Pokeballs. Give them to us," A man said.

I was so confused by this point that I didn't even answer. I couldn't comprehend what had just happened to me. The uniformed man whistled, and a Mightyena lazily approached us, baring its teeth.

"I won't say it a second time," He continued with a sinister glare.

Even if I had wanted to fight, there were too many of them to take on. With a trembling hand, I handed over Elekid's Pokeball.

"And you?" He told Cecilia.

I glanced toward her, and she was completely still, with her hand hovering over her Pokeball. Multiple Pokemon inched their way toward her. A Muk lazily glided across the floor, emitting a nauseating smell, a Zangoose sharpened its claws and got in an attacking position, and a Raticate barred its huge teeth with a hiss. I discreetly pulled on Cecilia's skirt, hoping she'd get the message. I didn't want her to die.

"Don't hurt her, she's an Obel," The woman who had taken us here said as she put on her uniform. "She's more useful alive than dead."

"We should make an example out of her," Another member said. "Show the people what happens when they fight back."

"Shut the fuck up, you moron. Take her Pokeball yourself. She's a child, and you're a grown man," The woman said. "You," She told me. "Sit down, don't try anything, and you'll live."

I nodded and collapsed on the cold, hard floor. I was completely powerless. There was nothing I could do.

"Hypno, you can get back to Commander Charon, we have enough hostages and we found the Obel kid," The woman said.

Hypno lazily nodded and disappeared into thin air. One of the criminals grabbed Cecilia from behind, putting her in a chokehold while the girl grabbed her Pokeball and took it away somewhere. Would I ever see Elekid again? Feeling tears stream down my cheeks, I hugged my knees and buried my face in them, making as little noise as I could. I didn't want to attract attention. I didn't want to annoy them. I didn't want them to kill me. Cecilia sat down next to me and observed our kidnappers silently. Every time I looked at her, I couldn't tell what she was thinking. Was she as terrified as I was?

"Daddy, I want to go home!" The child in the corner of the room sobbed. She couldn't have been more than five. "I want to leave!"

"Shhh, we're leaving soon. Don't cry. Don't cry," Her father said, stroking her hair.

"Shut her up, or I will," A girl leaning against the wall said. She had a Hoothoot on her shoulder. "Now."

"I—I'm trying my best! Please, she's just a child," He shuddered, hugging his daughter tightly. "Shhh, quiet down, Hannah.

"Then maybe you should have raised your kid better," The woman said. "Hoothoot—"

"Hey guys!"

My head whirled to the voice. A short woman with red, spiky hair skipped into the room. Literally skipped. All of the kidnappers turned toward her and offered a military salute.

"Come on, relax! It's just little old Mars!" She laughed.

"Commander Mars! We have taken Cecilia Obel hostage. The plan can go as proceeded!" A grunt declared.

"Interesting! Which one is she?" Mars asked. When directed to Cecilia, she skipped toward us and crouched. "Ms. Obel! What a pleasure it is to meet you!" She said, in a clearly joking tone. She leaned in further, her face mere inches from Cecilia's but Cecilia didn't budge and stared the girl right in the eyes. "Hm, you're no fun… I love making people squirm. What about you?" Mars continued, turning toward me. I jumped a little and recoiled. "Wow, you're much better! I'd play with you for hours if I had the time… but alas, duty calls!"

The woman stood up.

"Listen up, grunts! "Charon is still busy in the control room, but he told me that he needed two more hours before we can vacate the power plant!"

So we were in Valley Windwork's power plant, I thought with a sigh of relief. There had always been the possibility that we had been taken to a secret base in an unknown location. But Charon… My mind flashed to that fateful day at Lake Verity. It was the second time I heard that name, so he was clearly someone important in the organization.

The grunts clapped and cheered. What were they even here for? I was too scared to try to find out. There was one thing I could possibly do. When I sat, I felt my Poketch in my back pocket, meaning that if I was discreet enough, I could send a message to Denzel so he could call for help. But how? These people and their Pokemon looked at us like hawks. No, it was too dangerous. The best I could do right now was not succumb to fear and gather as much information as possible by just listening in. As long as I was focused on something, I'd be fine. Something… something…

What if they killed us all before leaving?

I whimpered and hugged my knees tighter. Mars seemingly caught that and looked at me with a gleeful smile.

"You know what," She said. "Come with me."

"N—n—no, please… please," I cried.

Mars just laughed and forcefully pulled me up. Her partners looked at her uncomfortably before glancing away. The red-haired woman dragged me into another room full of chairs around a giant desk. It had seemingly been a meeting room. She pushed me into a chair, restrained me with some zip ties, and sat on the table, placing her feet on the armrests.

"What's your name, darling?"

"Please…"

She grabbed my face and pressed hard. I groaned in pain.

"Come on, tell me your name!" She laughed. "My name's Mars! Well, I wasn't born with the name, but I picked it myself when I joined Team Galactic. I think it's cool, personally. I really vibe with the space theme we have going on!" All while she was talking, she still had my face in her hand, twisting and turning my neck at every wild gesture.

Team Galactic, I thought. So that's what the G meant— I yelled out as she yanked my face to the left.

"Now, I shared something personal about myself, so come on! Don't let me carry the conversation alone here!"

"I'm G—Grace. Please don't hurt me, I won't make any more noise. Just… please take me back."

"But then all the fun's gone. Oh, by the way, don't tell Charon I was slacking, I'm supposed to be doing my job! He's always grumpy— probably because he's old. He's going to die in like— ten years. I'd be grumpy too in that case!" She rambled.

That was when I first realized that this girl was completely unhinged. She talked to me as if I was an acquaintance or a friend, but she kept hurting me. She looked like she was having fun doing all of this.

"Man, Floaroma's really a bummer. Flowers are nice and all, but I'd rather be with Cyrus…" Mars trailed off. There was a sense of admiration in her voice. "I miss him so much, but he's always working. I want to see him, I want to see him, I want to see him, I want to see him, I want to see him— Oh, my bad! I bug out like that sometimes when I think about him."

Cyrus. Another name I had heard at the Lake, I thought, before vaguely remembering his face. Thoughts were all I had. I was desperately trying not to break down.

"Now, enough about that! What should I do with you? I want to hear you scream— people screaming are just the best! Take off a fingernail or two, maybe?"

I sobbed.

"Ohh, you like that one? I personally think it's a little cliche, and I'd have to find pliers somewhere… we can find something better. What about a thousand little cuts all across your body?"

"Please…"

"Luckily, I always have a knife on me. A girl's gotta defend herself, y'know, and it's not like we can get guns anywhere other than Orre," Mars laughed. "I have to save my v-card for Cyrus. What if some creep tries to assault me?"

She grabbed a knife from somewhere inside of her uniform and threw it upward before catching it by the blade. I squirmed and pushed my face away, but she kept my head still and pressed the knife against my cheek. She pressed harder and harder—

"C—Commander Mars! A trainer has broken through the entrance!" A galactic grunt said, barging into the room.

Mars clicked her tongue. "I'm busy," She hissed, pressing the knife into my skin. Blood dripped down its edge. "It's just one trainer, just capture him, kill him, I don't care."

"He's currently taking us down with three Pokemon, ma'am!"

"Damn it… damn you!" She screeched, throwing the knife at him. The grunt barely dodged, yelped, and fell to the ground. "I guess that's what we get for putting the newbies by the entrance. You interrupted my fun, fine. Dusky, go take care of it."

I felt a sudden chill run down my spine as the temperature of the room dropped significantly. Smoke began to materialize out of nothing right behind Mars, slowly forming into a coherent shape. Color drained from the world itself, the white walls, the floor, and the blackboard turning into a sinister gray. A low ring could be heard, steadily getting louder and louder as my ears slowly filled up with pressure. The creature that formed behind her had a completely dark body, along with light gray extremities. A golden motif adorned its body, going around its abdomen, its arms, and its head, and a singular, shining red eye looked into mine. It was a Dusknoir— something I had only seen as an illustration, and Arceus, it looked different.

How was this possible? How did this woman find the secret to evolving a Dusclops? I could only stay frozen in fear as the smoke-like being exited the room and passed through a wall like it hadn't been there. The temperature and color returned to the world, and I started to breathe again.

Mars rolled her eyes. "Arceus, this job is such a drag. Now, where were we—"

"Mars. Hypno informed me that you released that monster into the world again. Recall it," Someone else said.

"Arceus, damn it, just let me have my fun!" She yelled.

I glanced toward the voice, and an old balding man with rose-tinted glasses that had dyed the rest of his hair purple slowly walked into the room. He walked with a pronounced limp, and Hypno followed closely behind.

"I won't repeat myself. Cyrus will be furious if he knows what you have done. That thing is not under your control. It will possibly kill every hostage we have to sustain itself."

"Shut up, Charon! Dusky isn't under my control because he's family! I just hate to keep him in his Pokeball, since he doesn't like it. Plus, that way, he's always next to me!" The woman whined.

"Let this child go. I've had enough of you fooling around. We are here for a reason and one reason only, do not derail the plan. I will deal with our unexpected guest myself," Charon declared, as he walked toward the hostage room.

Mars pouted. "You're no fun. If Cyrus wasn't our leader, I would have left already!"

"And we might be better off for it," Charon said.

"Juju would be depressed without me!" She yelled out. He didn't turn back.

Mars looked at me with sad eyes and untied me. "I'll take you back, but only because I don't want Cyrus to be mad at me. That'd be a total disaster! Don't worry though, we'll meet again. I'll have my eye on you from now on. Forever. Oh, I almost forgot!" She said, closing her eyes. She kept them closed for a few seconds, and then returned to her default, smiling face. "There you go! Dusky should be gone now."

She took me back to the hostage room, and I sat back down at my spot. I didn't have the energy for anything. I just stared blankly at the floor, hoping this would all be over soon. A few minutes later, I could hear yells outside of the room.

"...fuck off! You couldn't take me in a fair fight, so you had to gang up on me! Fucking losers, can't take down a single kid alone!"

Chase Karlson was pushed to the ground into the middle of the room, and with a groan, he rolled onto his back. He swore a couple of times before pushing himself against one of the many generators. His face was bleeding and swollen. I guessed that he was the one that had busted in. There was nothing any of us could do, and so for the next two hours, we sat in silence. My cheek was burning, and I wasn't sure I would even be able to function after this. I was just exhausted.

After what seemed like an eternity, Charon limped into the room once more.

"Attention! All of the relevant data has been collected. We can leave with Hypno—"

Suddenly, I heard a disturbance on the roof, and then a tear. Charon frowned, looking up, and his stern face turned to horror as a Garchomp burst through the ceiling, creating a mini earthquake as it landed on the floor. A tall, blonde woman in all black clothes slowly climbed off of its back and looked around with a calm smile.

Chase chuckled. "I called the police before breaking in here, but I never expected them to send the Arceus damned Champion. What now, you fucking Galactic goons?" He asked with a bloody grin.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 32

"Mars! Get in here now!" Charon yelled. "Grunts, kill her!"

Three red flashes appeared next to Cynthia, forming into a Lucario, a Milotic, and a Roserade. Milotic coiled around its trainer protectively, and Lucario seemed to be analyzing the room with a look of pure rage. A Roserade shook its arms, releasing a minor amount of spores, and got into a fighting pose.

A dozen attacks flew toward Cynthia before hitting a see-through green barrier. Milotic's eyes were shining, apparently having used some sort of protective move.

"Lucario, Garchomp, take care of the Pokemon. Roserade, put these criminals to sleep," Cynthia said, never losing her smile.

Lucario nodded and instantly blurred before ramming a glowing palm into the nearest Zangoose, while Garchomp clawed into a Glameow, sending it flying and bleeding against the wall. They were knocking every Pokemon unconscious, and all it took was a single move. The fight was a massacre. They were too fast for eyes to track or attacks to hit, too powerful to stand back up after getting hit by them. Roserade spun around, almost as if it was dancing, carefully avoiding every attack thrown at it before shoving its bouquets into the grunts' faces. They promptly fell to the ground, unconscious. Meanwhile, Milotic kept wrapping loosely around its trainer, protecting her from any attack coming her way. All of this while Cynthia stood there, unwavering and smiling like this was just another day for her. She wasn't the Champion for nothing. It was a magnificent display of skill and strength that only the best could hope to even come close to.

One of the grunts grabbed Cecilia and ordered his Honedge to stick its blade to her throat. Cecilia whimpered and struggled, trying to escape his grasp, but to no avail.

"Stop it! If you move, the girl dies! And we wouldn't want that, would we? She's too important—"

"Extreme Speed," Cynthia ordered.

Even faster than before, Lucario disappeared as if it had teleported, knocking the Honedge away with its fists wreathed in a shadowy aura. The Honedge fell to the ground, and its trainer screamed before being put to sleep by Roserade. Garchomp finally finished taking care of the last stragglers, announcing his victory with a roar that shook the entire room. All while this was happening, Charon just watched in horror.

"What's with all the commotion— What the hell happened here?!" Mars said as she walked into the room. "Oh, Arceus, is that Cynthia? For real? I'm your biggest fan—"

Lucario blurred again but stopped right before reaching Mars as Dusknoir materialized in front of her. I shivered as the ghost loomed above us, fading the world itself. For the first time, Cynthia lost her smile.

"Dusknoir?" She said. "How peculiar. Garchomp, kill it."

Garchomp strode forward, hitting its claws against its chest before dashing forward with darkness festering in its mouth. It bit into the Dusknoir's arm, and the ghost's mouth opened, revealing it to actually be on its abdomen. It let out an otherworldly noise that simply couldn't be described. It was like listening to a thousand voices at once, all whispering in our ears at the same time, in different languages, at different pitches, causing all of us to get a splitting headache. I put my hands over my ears, hoping everything would be over soon.

"Dusky! No!"

Dusknoir solidified, coming into reality for a few seconds as ice surrounded its fist. It punched Garchomp in the chest, and then in the head, but the dragon simply didn't let go, shaking its mouth, dissolving more and more of the ghost's body.

"Lucario, Roserade, restrain those two," Cynthia said, pointing at the Galactic leaders.

"Mars, we have to teleport out! I have the data—" Charon yelled before Hypno pushed Lucario back merely inches from his face with its psychic powers.

Mars ran toward Charon, being closely chased by Roserade. Hypno's pendulum began to shake.

"Dusky! Get out of here and find us later!" Mars yelled. "Bye Cynthia—"

And just like that, they were gone, having abandoned all of the galactic members left asleep. Garchomp kept fighting Dusknoir, hitting it with its claw glowing bright with blue draconic energy. Roserade sent out a stream of pink petals toward the ghost, and Milotic screamed out a powerful jet of water. The attacks clearly hurt Dusknoir, but they also passed through him, destroying more of the power plant. Dusknoir kept screaming in a thousand different voices, and soon enough, it slowly disappeared, fizzling out as if it had never been there as the world returned to normal.

"Teleportation, hm? A shame," Cynthia said, looking around. She grabbed a walkie-talkie and brought it next to her mouth. "Coast is clear, you can come in."

Within the next few minutes, dozens of trainers all dressed in orange-brown uniforms streamed into the room, recovering the unconscious grunts or taking care of the hostages. One of them came to me and attempted to speak to me, but I didn't even have to energy to respond. We were given blankets, water, and food if we wanted while they assessed the damage done to the power plant and investigated the remaining rooms. Cynthia, meanwhile, recalled all of her Pokemon except Garchomp, who stood tall next to her.

After ten minutes or so, we were taken back outside. Barely more than two hours had passed since I had been kidnapped, but it felt like a lifetime. I couldn't imagine what it was like for the others who had been there longer than me. The entrance to the plant was full of police officers creating a perimeter around the facility, media reporters and their bright, flashing cameras, and just curious civilians who had probably heard of the situation. I was put on a bus with a few other people, and we were driven to the Floaroma Pokemon Center. Denzel was there waiting, and he looked like he was being eaten from the inside out until he saw me. He tried to approach me, but he was pushed away by the police and doctors.

"I'll… I'll come visit you," He said with his shoulders slumped. I didn't answer.

I was placed in one of the human rooms, and one of the doctors came in to do a check-up on me. He asked me questions, but his voice seemed distant. Like a dream. Except for the cut on my cheek, I was alright, so he cleaned the wound with warm water, disinfected it, and then placed a large bandage on it. He then asked if I wanted anything else before leaving. I don't know how much time passed until a few officers came into my room. They were nice enough, smiling and making small talk before getting to the meat of the conversation. They were trying to get me to answer questions. Questions about Team Galactic…

Team Galactic…

I had difficulty breathing, so they eased off the questioning for now and left. I felt like garbage. I had listened in, trying to gather information exactly for this moment. It was all I was able to do, and yet… and yet I just couldn't speak. Time was a blur, and the next time I glanced outside, the sun was setting. One of the doctors came in with a plate of food and water, along with Nurse Joy with two Pokeballs. I shook my head. Just thinking about food right now was making me nauseous, and the smell…

My Pokeballs were placed on my bed before they left, taking the food back, but leaving a glass of water. My eyes glazed over the Pokeballs before I realized that there were only two. Where was Elekid? I bit my lip, but no tears came out. He'd be back… they'd bring him back to me. I held my two Pokeballs and hovered a finger over the release button, but my arms slumped. I couldn't bear to let them see me like this. I placed them on the bedside table and lay down on the bed, watching nothing in particular. The wall, the ceiling, did it matter?

Hours later, someone else came into the room. It was night time now, and it had been for quite some time. I turned and saw Denzel sit next to me. He hung his head.

"Grace, I'm so sorry. I… I should have been there, I shouldn't have left," He sobbed. "I should have protected you."

I opened my mouth.

Say something, I thought. Anything.

No sound came out.

"It's alright if you don't want to speak. I'll just stay here, alright? I sneaked in some food if you want. Some fries? I guess they're cold by now. I have a milkshake too, if you want. Don't force yourself, though," He said. His sentences were always interrupted by sniffles and sobs.

"It's a no, huh? Well, that's ok," He said, glancing at my Pokeballs. "Oh, don't worry about Elekid, the League trainers are just trying to sort through the huge pile of Pokeballs to see who owns what. He'll be back eventually when they get to you."

I nodded, breathing out a sigh of relief. Denzel's face lit up a little at the slight movement.

"Oh, and— and I bet he'll be happy to see you again! I'm sure he'll be worried sick when he learns what happened. I don't know him very much, but I know he liked you already… and… and…" Denzel trailed off, before clasping his hands together. He paused for a few minutes before continuing. "They have policemen and league officials all over Floaroma now. These people— Team Galactic— they're all everyone's talking about now. They're calling them the worst criminal organization since Team Rocket. Luckily no one died at the power plant, thank the Legendaries," He sighed. "I also called your dad about what happened. Sorry," He added when he saw me flinch. "I had to tell him… he asked me to take care of you when we left, and I failed him. It wouldn't be right to keep it a secret. He's worried sick about you, uh, you should call him when you feel better. I already told him you were alright, don't worry."

Silence claimed the room once more for another ten minutes. Denzel fidgeted nervously, desperately trying to find something to talk about.

"I can help you take that therapy appointment again, since… y'know…" He said. "It'll obviously be a great start for your recovery. And take as much time as you want, alright? I don't mind staying here for a few months if you want. I'll stick around. I'll visit you every day and… read you stories? Talk to you about what's going on outside? I don't know. Just know that I'll be there, alright? There's always next year, and we can travel together again," Denzel said.

But your dream, I thought. I coughed, choking on the words before slamming my fist against my bed.

"Your… your dream. Don't hold yourself back because of me," I whispered.

Denzel's eyes widened. "I'm staying because I want to, not because I feel obligated to. I'm still young, my dream can wait. Let's get you back on your feet, ok?"

"Okay…" I cried. Tears streamed down my face as I sobbed quietly for what seemed like an eternity. Could I push myself forward? Was I strong enough to keep going?

I'll have my eye on you from now on. Forever.

That was what Mars had said to me, and I was inclined to believe her. She was completely deranged, and a feeling in my gut told me that I'd see her again if I kept traveling. I could hang up my coat, go back to Jubilife and stay inside. She wouldn't find me there, would she?

Would she?

"I guess you don't want to see your Pokemon yet. Eevee's still in bad shape, so I don't have him, but, uh, want to see Budew? Believe it or not, she was worried about you, even though she tried her best to hide it. Hell, even Feebas seemed off, but I can't release him here."

"Budew… worried about me?" I muttered.

"She did, I swear. She kept glancing at the television in the lobby downstairs when we learned that you were one of… one of the hostages," Denzel said. I could tell he was tip-toeing around me, trying to say the right words. He released the small plant-like Pokemon on his lap, and she looked at me in what I could only describe as a combination of relief and surprise. That was only for a split second, though, and she quickly returned to her default scowl.

"Thank you, Budew. For worrying about me, I never thought you would," I slowly said.

In the next hour, I slowly regained my confidence in speaking. Tomorrow I'd have to find the police again since I had information they wanted, but I was terrified of sleeping tonight. What nightmares would come to haunt me now? I could tell Denzel was tired, he was slowly drifting off to sleep in his chair. The nurses had told him he could sleep in here as an exception because of what happened to me, but I felt terrible he would have to sleep upright in a chair. Budew was standing on the ground, already sleeping. She was next to the window in the exact position she would need to be in to catch sunlight when the sun rose.

Suddenly I heard a soft knock on the door. I flinched and recoiled before remembering that I was in a Pokemon Center. I was safe. I was safe.

"C—come in," I said.

Cynthia opened the door with two policemen and stared at me with a smile.

"Grace Pastel, may I borrow a few minutes of your time?"

 

[Soussouni1]

INTERLUDE - Cynthia's Burden (Part 1)

Earlier

League trainers swarmed around Cynthia, telling her about the state of the plant, the wounded, the amount of team Galactic grunts they had captured, and more. Hostages were being carried outside, and the galactic members were being arrested all around her. She answered mechanically, having already gone through the motions thousands of times throughout her career as Sinnoh's Champion. Right now, she was deep in thought.

A Dusknoir— the first Cynthia had ever seen. She lamented not having been able to kill it. Ghost types never stayed dead for long, but it would have taken weeks for it to rematerialize into the world. She would have much to talk about with Fantina. The Champion recalled all of her Pokemon except Garchomp and returned her attention to the situation at hand.

"Champion Cynthia, we have the plant's supervisor ready for you," One of the League trainers told her. It took a split second before Cynthia placed a name on her face.

"Excellent, Sonya. take me to him," She replied.

The League trainer blushed, seemingly surprised that the Champion had addressed her by name, but she led Cynthia to a conference room of some sort, with Garchomp following closely behind. Cynthia knew the plant supervisor, and they had spoken on numerous occasions whenever a problem about energy generation came up. He was a man in his late fifties on the heavier side, but he usually did good work. The League trainer bowed before quickly leaving the room.

"Karmine," She said, sitting down on one of the chairs. There was a little bit of blood on the floor. "It is unfortunate to meet under these circumstances, but I have a few questions for you."

Karmine looked like he had gone through hell. He was pale, his hands were visibly shaking, and he had clearly been crying.

"Cynthia," He looked at her. "Can't this wait? It hasn't even been twenty minutes."

"No."

The man was taken aback by her quick rebuttal, but he sighed and nodded. "Ask away."

"Thank you for understanding. First, when did team Galactic first get here?" She asked.

"It was this morning. That… that ghost suddenly appeared inside of the plant at around 9:00 am, and when we tried to run, they were already breaking in. They took us hostage, but throughout the day, they kept teleporting more and more trainers into the plant."

Cynthia nodded. That meant that Dusknoir had possibly been hiding inside of the plant for hours, or days before the attack. Had it been gathering information for its trainer? Learning the layout of the power plant, perhaps?

"Great," Cynthia smiled. "Now, originally, I believed this to be a terrorist attack to strike at Sinnoh's energy infrastructure. They could have plunged half the region into darkness. I heard something interesting, however. Something about some data they were stealing?"

Karmine swallowed and began to sweat. "I have no idea what they were talking about. Maybe data about our future plan for expanding the plant? Or maybe the amount of energy we produce and send to every city— it could mean anything, we have a lot of data."

Cynthia crossed her legs, and Garchomp began to loom over the sweating supervisor. "Come on, Karmine. We've known each other for what? Twenty years, now. I know you, and I know you're lying. Don't treat me like a fool. What is it?"

"Cynthia, I— I—"

"How's your family doing, Karmine? I hear Emily's doing very well at the University of Sunnyshore. She's trying to become a Pokeball engineer, correct?" Karmine nodded as sweat dripped down to his chin. "That's admirable. That's what I like about your family, Karmine. You always strive to improve Sinnoh through engineering. Now, since you aren't willing to tell me what happened, I might have to call for Lucian's personal Alakazam."

"Memory extraction is illegal," Karmine shuddered.

"Well, right now, you would be correct. I could make it legal by the end of the afternoon. I will have to anyway, because of all the criminals we just captured. Vernon is just a single call away, and the Directorate is furious, Karmine. This is the first criminal organization since the fall of team Rocket. People will die, and investors are going to be reconsidering where they spend their money until the region feels safe again. That's a loss for all of Sinnoh, isn't it?"

"I still don't understand what that has to do with me," Karmine said, adjusting his collar around his neck. Garchomp growled at him, causing him to squeal.

"Well, you could keep playing hardball, Karmine," Cynthia shrugged. "But come tonight, I'll have an Alakazam ready to extract everything you know. And trust me, it isn't pretty. The human brain is a fickle thing, Karmine. I wouldn't want you to forget about your family. Memories are quickly lost, and damage to the brain might be irreversible. A shame, really."

"Fine! Fine, I'll tell you. The power plant… we used to have a facility deep underground where we researched things…"

"Things, such as?" She pressed, still smiling.

"We were trying to find a way to bring teleportation to the mainstream. As it stands, only the best psychic types can use the move with people, and trying to teach them to use it almost always results in death or injury. Teleporting in the sky, or inside of a wall by accident—"

"I'm the Champion, Karmine. I don't need a lecture on Pokemon moves."

"Sorry," He sniffed. "We generate so much extra energy each year at the plant… we thought that we could use that energy to create and power a device for humans to teleport between locations. But a year ago, something went horribly, horribly wrong…" The supervisor trailed off.

"Keep going."

"We activated the teleportation machine, but it… it just went wrong, okay?! It was unexplainable! Our calculations were correct—"

"I don't care. What happened?"

"It tore a hole… a hole through reality. Six people were sucked inside of it, and they were never recovered— I just assume they died."

"How did no one hear about this?"

"We paid off their families. A million pokedollars for each death, and we also said they died due to an accident at the plant, but we didn't specify what it was. We destroyed everything afterward and sealed the room with cement."

Cynthia uncrossed and crossed her legs again. "But you kept the data. Interesting. I recall your job being generating electricity for the region, not messing with forces beyond your control."

"I'm an engineer, Cynthia, but I'm also a scientist. You knew this when you selected me. I wanted to use science for the good of Sinnoh."

"Perhaps, but you messed up. You and your colleagues are going to prison," Cynthia said before getting up and leaving.

She was still smiling.

Cynthia told her League trainers to take him and his colleagues to the police before she leaned against the wall and gathered her thoughts. Garchomp stood by her side, waiting, always vigilant. Team Galactic had stolen that data, so they probably wanted to master human teleportation—

Wait. What benefits would that bring? They already had a powerful Hypno that had mastered the technique, and teaching it to another psychic got exponentially easier if you already had a Pokemon that knew the move. That was why Lucian was able to churn out so many Kadabra that could teleport every year for the League to use. Then what was it that they wanted? Cynthia paused and tapped her chin.

Team Galactic wanted to trifle with reality itself.

This was going to be a long day.

Cynthia walked out of the power plant surrounded by her League trainers, and reporters immediately swarmed her to ask questions.

"Champion Cynthia, what can you tell us about team Galactic?! What do you know so far?"

"What measures will the League and the Directorate employ to make the region safe again?"

"Did you know about this organization before today? Do you know what they're after?"

"I have no comments to make at this time," She simply answered.

Garchomp roared, and they backed off immediately. Cynthia discreetly nodded to thank her friend. People often forgot that even though she was very well-trained, she was still a dragon. Frustrate her enough, and there was no telling what she would do.

Or at least that was what Cynthia wanted them to think. The honest truth was that Garchomp would never hurt anyone. She had had her since she was six, and she already knew she would only attack people if she commanded it. But it was nice to keep reporters off of her. A League trainer drove her back to her hotel, where she secluded herself in her room after recalling Garchomp and called Lucian. Fantina would have to wait.

And finally, she could lose the Arceus damned smile.

She sighed and sat on her bed before dialing Lucian's number.

"Cynthia, how did your little expedition go?" Lucian immediately asked.

That was Lucian. Always straight to business, something the Champion loved about him.

"It went better than I expected. I'm sure you've heard already, but there were no casualties, and we captured a decent amount of them. Unfortunately, I couldn't nab their leaders though. They had a Hypno that could teleport. One of them also had a Dusknoir."

"A Dusknoir, you say?!" Lucian asked in surprise. "And a teleporting Hypno, too. These are some awfully powerful trainers, then. I assume you need Alakazam from me?"

"Correct. Send him my way, then I'll call Vernon," Cynthia said. "I'm afraid this is bigger than we thought it would ever get. These aren't just people looking to make money."

"Very well. Call me again if anything comes up."

"Thank you, Lucian."

Cynthia hung up, and when she turned around, an Alakazam was standing in the corner of her room. The psychic type carried two metallic spoons and a giant scar across his gaping eye socket.

"Always quick on the uptake, aren't you?" Cynthia said.

You called for me, so I came. Where are the people I need to work on?

Alakazam were one of the few advanced Psychic types that could talk via telepathy. It had taken a long time and a lot of headaches to get used to, but after decades of working together, the communication was seamless.

"Hold on, I need to call Vernon. Need to change the rules first."

Humans and their childish rules, Alakazam said with a scoff. What a waste of my time.

Cynthia called Vernon, who had already called her around ten times. As soon as he picked up the phone, he was yelling.

"Cynthia, fucking finally! Arceus, can you tell me what the hell is going on? You're supposed to communicate with me about these things!" Vernon said. He was furious, as he often was.

Vernon was the current Prime Minister, and he had been since Cynthia had created his position. He had been an old trainer who attempted the Circuit a few times before retiring and getting into politics, and Cynthia had practically pushed him into the role because of the potential she saw in him. With her endorsement, he was elected by the Directorate by a wide margin.

"I was busy, Vernon. I will be for the next few days. I'll tell one of my trainers to catch you up to speed, but right now, I need you to call the Directorate into session."

"Why?"

"Because I need you to make memory extraction legal again— only for gym leaders, the elite four, and me of course."

"Excuse me?! We agreed a decade ago that forcefully extracting memories was a barbaric practice—"

"And it still is, but this is a matter of national security. There are forces at play here that you couldn't even begin to understand."

"So help me understand! The last I knew, this team Galactic wasn't a threat whatsoever, and now they're attacking our energy infrastructure and taking hostages! The media is going to be on our asses for this! I already have Harvey Bianchi calling, complaining that I even let his son be in the same city as these galactic crooks, and the Obels are threatening to pull their new investments!" Vernon yelled.

Cynthia pinched the bridge of her nose and watched as Alakazam rolled his eye.

"Vernon," She started. "We've worked together for over twenty years, have we not?" The man grunted. "Then it is simply a matter of trust. Get the Directorate together, tell them to vote on the law, and pass it."

"I'm going to have to negotiate with a lot of people…" He sighed.

"But you're good at your job. I trust that you will manage."

"Ok. Ok, fine. Just call me when you can. I don't want to hear it from some underpaid League trainer, I want to hear it from you."

"Sounds good. Thank you, Vernon," She said.

Pathetic. You are the strongest human on this Earth, why do you not take what is yours? The psychic type complained.

"I don't know about the strongest. There are other Champions," Cynthia playfully told Alakazam.

I am in no mood for jokes. Call Fantina with that primitive electric device humans are so fond of. I am curious to hear about this Dusknoir.

Cynthia was as well. She called Fantina, and the gym leader answered after three calls. No one in Sinnoh knew more about ghost types than Fantina, and few knew that she was the strongest gym leader whenever she decided to go all out. Hell, she most likely could have become a member of the elite four if she wanted— there was no doubt in Cynthia's mind that Fantina was more powerful than Aaron and Flint. Unfortunately, her passion lay in Pokemon contests, and battling was more of a side hustle for the old Kalosian woman. She was already trying to groom a replacement for her gym.

"Fantina, please answer the phone when I call," Cynthia sighed.

"Cynthia, my darling! I heard that you took down dozens of criminals by yourself! How grand! How magnificent!" Fantina said in a thick Kalosian accent. Even though she had lived in Sinnoh for decades, she still had never lost it.

"Correct. There's a lot of information going around, but right now, I called you because one of the team Galactic leaders has a Dusknoir."

"Are you certain?" Fantina said after a pause, immediately becoming more serious.

"Yes. I believed the knowledge to be lost to time, but someone actually found a way to evolve Dusclops. I was wondering if you had any information to give me?"

"Well, even I do not know much about Dusknoir— although I wish I did. From the stories of old I read, they are among the most powerful Pokemon to ever exist. Whenever they come out into the world, they affect reality itself, and they sustain themselves by eating human souls."

"Souls?"

"They have a mouth on their abdomen. When a human passes through it, their body is fine, but they become a shell. Their soul is trapped inside, to be forever tormented by the Dusknoir. If hell had a definition, I believe that fate to be it."

Cynthia recalled the screams when Dusknoir opened its mouth. Thousands upon thousands of souls yelled, begging to be killed so their suffering could end. It was chilling to think about.

"So there is no information on the evolution?"

"I'm afraid not. But the girl could also have befriended the Dusknoir itself after it evolved."

"I doubt that."

"Why, pray tell?"

"My gut."

Fantina paused before chuckling. "Your gut, as you call it, is not often wrong, so I'm inclined to believe you."

"Could the evolution maybe be like other rare ghost types?" Cynthia asked. "Tormenting someone for a certain amount of time, or taking a life in a certain way?"

"Well, that often is the case with ghosts. They are so beautiful, and yet so deadly."

The Champion nodded. "Well, thank you anyway. Let me know if you find out anything."

"Of course. I could try to contact Morty from Johto to see if he has any more information."

"You do that," Cynthia agreed. "Goodbye." The Champion hung up and stretched. "So?" She asked Alakazam. "Interested in this Dusknoir, still?"

I thirst for knowledge. I know more than your little human brain could ever imagine, and yet this still eludes me. I am frustrated.

"Well, let's have you take out your frustration on someone, shall we? Meet me at the police station."

Alakazam nodded and disappeared, and Cynthia exited her hotel. It took an hour and a half for Vernon to gather a simple majority to pass this new law. He called it the 'National Security Emergency Act'. She couldn't help but smile at Vernon's ruthlessness in the art of negotiations. An hour and a half to pass a once-in-a-generation law. Unfortunately, it seemed like he had used all of his political capital to ram the bill through. The other half of the Directorate was enraged at her and threatening to start a vote of no confidence to force Vernon to step down. The media and the public were even more so. They were calling it an encroachment on their liberty and freedom, and to be honest, they were right. Cynthia just couldn't be bothered to give a damn, she had a region to save.

 

[Soussouni1]

INTERLUDE - Cynthia's burden (Part 2)

Vernon had signed the law, and so it was time for interrogations. Two policemen were in the room with her, ready to take notes of everything the galactic grunts would say.

"Let's start this the easy way, shall we?" Cynthia said with a smile. Alakazam was right next to her, ready to use his abilities when needed. "What is your goal?"

"Go die in a ditch," The grunt said before spitting on her shoe. She smiled at him.

"Alakazam," She said in an icy tone.

Alakazam's eye flashed, and his spoons bent unnaturally, and the grunt started to squirm, then scream. The policemen winced and turned away, but Cynthia kept looking. Right into his eyes. With a smile. The torture kept going for around two minutes until the grunt was left on the ground with a nosebleed, passed out, drooling all over himself.

"Verdict?" The Champion asked.

He did not know much, but he knew the names of their leaders. Their organization is led by a man called Cyrus, but he doesn't know what he looks like. Under him, there are four commanders. Saturn, Jupiter, Charon, and Mars. The reason he didn't talk was because he seems to fear Mars more than you. They weren't told what the goal of their operation today was.

Cyrus, hm? Cynthia thought. That was a name those two trainers had told Roark.

"Of course, that would be too easy. What will happen to him?"

He will never speak again, and his intelligence has been reduced to one of a five-year-old.

"Should have talked," Cynthia said.

They continued like this, going room by room. Floaroma's police station was never meant to hold so many criminals, so sometimes they had to be packed tightly into rooms. A few of them had tried attacking her, but Alakazam stopped them in their tracks using Psychic. Out of the thirty-four people they had captured, eleven were crippled beyond function by the memory extraction process, and two had died. All of the grunt's Pokemon would have to be sent to the League to be rehabilitated. They had all been rather new to the organization, so Cynthia had only learned what the leaders looked like except for Cyrus after Alakazam perfectly drew their faces on a piece of paper by levitating a pencil. She had also learned that Dusknoir had been lurking in the plant for a week before team Galactic had moved in, observing the schedules to know when would be the best time to strike.

"Thank you, Alakazam. You can go back to Lucian,"

I hated every minute of it, He told her before teleporting.

Cynthia walked out of the police station and ignored the reporters swarming her once again. Now that she was done with interrogations, it was time to go see some of the trainers that had been held in the plant. There were three in particular that she wanted to see, so she quickly made her way to the Pokemon Center with the two police officers that had interrogated the galactic grunts with her. She ignored the stares and immediately asked for Chase Karlson's room.

The Champion knocked on his door.

"What's up? Who is it?" He said.

Cynthia came into the room with the police. "Chase Karlson, I presume? I have a few questions for you."

The young trainer's face was swollen and purple, but his eyes widened for a second before returning to a neutral expression.

"O—oh, yeah, no problem. Ask away."

Cynthia smiled. "I heard you took down a few of the team galactic grunts yourself. I am thankful, but you could have been hurt. What compelled you to go inside of the plant after you figured out something was wrong? Actually, how did you figure out something was wrong?"

"I was working out with my Pokemon next to the plant before my Riolu sensed that something was wrong using his aura. He usually knows better than I do, so I just immediately called the police."

"And why did you go inside?" Cynthia asked again.

"To test myself," He spat. "And I failed. How mediocre."

"You did more than most would have done, and for that, I wanted to thank you personally. Is there anything you heard that could help our investigation? Go over your experience inside of the plant, please."

Chase did, recalling every detail that happened while he was in the plant, which admittedly wasn't much since he got there late. Still, every piece of information would help solve the greater puzzle at play.

"Thank you very much, we'll be on our way now. I wish you a healthy recovery," Cynthia said.

"Wait," Chase called out. "I'm going to beat you this year. Just wait and see," He said with a confident grin.

"Hm? Interesting. And then what?" She asked.

"What?"

"You'll beat me, and then what? What will your goal be beyond that victory?"

Chase stammered a few words, but Cynthia ignored him and left. It wasn't the first time she had met trainers like him, and it wouldn't be the last. The best she could do right now was help him think. Cynthia smiled as she knocked on Cecilia Obel's door. She was swarmed by what Cynthia assumed were her friends. She recognized all of them— all heirs to rich businesses.

"Good evening. May I have a few minutes of your time, Ms. Obel? Alone?" Cynthia asked.

"Champion Cynthia! What an honor it is to finally meet you! My father has been trying to arrange a meeting between us," The oldest of them said. Cynthia recognized him as Louis Bianchi.

"Louis… not now," Pauline King said quietly.

Emilia Lussier clasped her hands. "Cece's in a really bad place right now, so please be careful with her," She said.

"Of course. You have my word."

Louis cleared his throat. "Cece is shaken from what happened to her, I believe it may be best for us to stay to support her—"

"Leave," Cynthia ordered.

They timidly nodded and exited the room. Cynthia sat next to Cecilia Obel, who straightened her back and fixed up her hair.

"None of that with me," Cynthia said. She had lived long enough to spot a girl faking her way through life from a mile away. "Be yourself."

"C—can I? Be myself, I mean."

"Of course," Cynthia said, before gesturing toward the two policemen, who then promptly left. This one was delicate and needed privacy. "I see you're shaken by what happened today. Do you need to vent? I'll listen before asking you my questions."

"Well, you're the Champion of the region, aren't you? How does it feel to be free?"

"Free? In what sense?"

"You can speak how you want, act how you want, go where you want! You can be free! There's no one breathing down your neck, judging every little move you make!" The child snarled.

If only she knew how wrong she was, Cynthia thought. She would entertain her idea for now.

"Well, you could do all of this. Just cut the cord, leave your family— I assume you're talking about your family here."

"It's not that simple," Cecilia sobbed. "You don't get it. No one gets it. You're all fake."

"Well, explain it to me, then," Cynthia tried. From that point on, she knew that her planned questions were a no-go. She had originally wanted to ask her to tell her dad not to pull back funding from Sinnoh, but Cynthia now knew that would be horribly out of line. She still wanted to help a girl in distress.

"My father called me earlier today. He told me, 'thank the Legendaries! You're alive!'" She said, imitating him with a gruff voice. "For a single second, I thought that he was actually worried about me. Can you believe that? For some reason, even though he has always treated me like a thing, I still unconsciously crave his approval. But all he actually cared about was me living until I'm eighteen so this deal between the Bianchis and the Obels can go through. To be honest, I didn't even care about being taken hostage. I was happy! Happy! That if something happened to me, father's deal would go up in flames! It's like two parts of me are playing tug of war! I… I can never be free."

Cynthia paused. "That was… that was a lot. There is no easy answer here."

"I knew it. Just go—"

"It'll take time and effort. Little by little, you'll have to free your mind from your father's clutches. But you'll also have to grow stronger. Strength is nice. It's humanity's simplest form of communication. 'I am stronger than you, and therefore I take what's mine.' Strengthen yourself enough until you don't have to take his orders."

"I already considered that, but… he'll just send people after me. Both him and the Bianchis."

"Well, if they attack you, you can report them, but honestly, I doubt that will do any good. They can line the pockets of any policeman or judge out there."

Cecilia's eyes widened.

"What? Surprised I can acknowledge Sinnoh's faults? I know it like the back of my hand. The region isn't perfect, but I've worked on it for more than twenty years. Slowly. Methodically. But slow and methodical work takes time. Grow stronger and send your father's agents packing. That is all I can give you."

The girl clenched her fists around her bedsheets. "Can I really?"

"You don't know until you try. I'll be observing you, Cecilia Obel. Win the Circuit, win the conference, beat the elite four, and then let us have a grand battle at the end of the year," Cynthia said. "I personally challenge you. Don't disappoint me."

Cynthia left the girl in her hospital room, and all of her friends barged back in, trying to know what had been said. The Champion didn't really know what had pushed her to say this. It had just felt right. Obviously, even if Cecilia did make it to her, she would crush her. She didn't expect any first-year trainer to actually win against the elite four. That hadn't been done since… well, since she herself did so. But sometimes, all someone needed to leave the dark place they were in was a little push.

Cynthia knocked on Grace Pastel's door. It took a few seconds for her to answer.

"C—come in," She said.

Cynthia came in with the two officers and was surprised to see Denzel Williams in the room too. That was perfect, though, since he had also been at Lake Verity that day.

"Grace Pastel, may I borrow a few minutes of your time?" Cynthia asked.

The girl nodded. It didn't take an expert to see that her time at the power plant had completely shaken her. She was pale, constantly shivering, and her voice was barely a whisper. Cynthia wondered if she would even be able to ask her anything, but she also couldn't help but feel terrible for this trainer. Children were a weak spot of hers… she had always wanted some, but there was never enough time. And no one could ever hold her attention for long anyway.

"Champion Cynthia," Denzel said. "In other circumstances, this would have been the most exciting day of my life, but I suppose it is nice to meet you. Need me to leave?"

"Don't!" Grace panicked. "Don't leave."

"No one needs to leave. In fact, do you want these two officers here to leave?"

Grace shook her head. "No… I know things. Things that will be useful for them."

"Very well. Are you alright with recounting what happened to you at the power plant? I was told by a few hostages that you were taken to another room."

The young trainer took a deep breath. "That girl… she calls herself Mars. Do— do you need me to describe her, or—"

"Don't worry about that. Just keep going," Cynthia said softly.

With much difficulty, Grace Pastel told her story. That she was cut with a knife and threatened by Mars, and that she witnessed the appearance of Dusknoir firsthand. She also had a few nuggets of new information, like the apparent rift between Mars and the other commander Charon, her infatuation with Cyrus, or that the red-haired woman could seemingly command her Dusknoir without words. She would have to send that information to Fantina later.

"You're doing very well, Grace. This information could save a lot of people," Cynthia said. "Now, let's get back to the month of August. I was told by Roark that you saw this individual called Cyrus. Could you and Denzel describe him for me?"

Grace nodded and told Cynthia about the blue-haired man with sunken eyes, sharp cheekbones, and no eyebrows. She couldn't remember the exact details, like height or eye color, but Denzel did, so he was a huge help.

Cynthia was about to leave, but she could tell that the girl had something to ask of her.

"Do you need anything else?" The Champion asked. "While I'm here?"

"How can I be as strong and fearless as you?" Grace asked with a sob. "I'm useless. I freeze when I'm scared and I couldn't even fight back. I can't do anything. I can't even sleep without getting terrible nightmares. I—I feel like I'm collapsing."

"You can never outgrow fear, Grace. You learn to deal with it. Think about it, after today, experiences that may have scared you before feel like a joke, don't they?" Cynthia asked. "Continue your journey on the League Circuit, and grow alongside your Pokemon. Learn to rely on them and others— they're smarter and more emotionally mature than you would think. Make connections and meet people. That's what it's all about, isn't it?"

"I want to. I want to keep going, but Mars… she said she would look for me. And if she finds me again, there's no telling what she'll do to me," Grace cried.

Cynthia's eyes widened slightly at that revelation. A thousand scenarios brewed in her brain about using Grace as bait before she slowed down and realized that was the pragmatic, and not the human thing to do.

"Grace, I promise you. I will scour all of Sinnoh to take down team Galactic if I have to. You won't have to deal with her. I will keep every trainer safe."

"I wish I could help, but I'm terrified. I'm just a kid… I just wanted to have fun on my journey and try to become the best, but I don't know if I have it in me," She muttered.

"You're still standing, aren't you?" Cynthia said.

Grace looked into her eyes for the first time.

"You're strong Grace, stronger than you give yourself credit for. There are others in much worse shape than you are, but you want to keep pushing. That's what differentiates great trainers from the rest. Even after all the madness, the danger, the death, you still want to do it."

"I do."

"Then take as long as you want to pick yourself up. And then keep going," Cynthia said. "That's all the advice I can offer."

Cynthia got up. "Oh, and Grace. I hope you won't mind, but I read your file. You have a Togetic, don't you?" The young trainer nodded. "Sleep with it close to you. It'll do wonders for your nightmares. Just be careful not to get hooked on it, I recommend doing it for a month at most. I suppose it'll be very useful for Eterna Forest if that's where you're going next. Good night."

——

Cynthia finally made it back to her hotel. Thankfully that had been the last time she would be going out tonight, so she made her way to the bathroom and washed off her makeup, revealing deep bags under her eyes, and the stress lines on her face. Age was getting to her fast, but what could she do but pretend to be perfect for the public? She was only human, but the people didn't see it that way. To them, she was their Champion. A woman without flaws. And she would keep acting that way. She touched her face, realizing that she was still smiling.

"You're alone, you don't have to smile," She told herself.

The woman sighed as she sat on her desk. It was time to call the kids.

Cynthia opened her laptop and began adding all of the young gym leaders to her call. This team Galactic was bigger than she could have ever imagined. They wanted to mess with reality, but what were the implications? Cynthia felt a flash of fear, remembering stories about team Magma and Aqua. The information wasn't known to the public— gym leaders included, who only knew of organizations with lesser goals, such as team Rocket, but Magma and Aqua had almost ended the world in a fit of folly, and right now, it looked like team Galactic was on the same path. And so, it was time to bring the kids up to speed. They all politely greeted her, except Candice, who was lagging horribly. Roark was sitting in front of the camera, waiting for her to speak. Maylene was hitting a punching bag in the background, but Cynthia assumed that she could hear her. Gardenia was singing as she spun around in her chair, and Volkner was barely awake.

"I suppose you've all heard about what happened today?" She started. Pandemonium erupted in the call, each gym leader trying to get their word in. "Quiet down! I've had a long day, so please. One at a time."

They all quieted down, probably taken aback by the amount of weakness Cynthia inflected in her tone.

"Roark, you first."

"I'm glad you kept your promise and dealt with the threat at hand, Cynthia. Please tell me if there's anything I can do?"

"Keep a teleporter in your gym at all times in case you need to be called up— that goes for all of you. Your League-mandated Kadabra don't know the move yet, so call Lucian and get them replaced," Cynthia said.

"Sounds good. Also, I want to know anything we have about them. Their goals, the number of people they have, and their leaders, if possible."

Cynthia explained everything she had found out today.

"Damn, what a drag," Volkner said. "I thought my tenure as gym leader would be chill, man… turns out I have to deal with terrorists."

"Anything productive to add, Volkner?" Cynthia asked.

"I can send a few of my people to replace the employees at Valley Windworks," He said with a sigh. "They're well versed in anything electrical, and I assume you don't want an energy crisis in your laundry list of fucked up shit to deal with."

"Thank you, that'll be a big help," She said.

"If they want to screw with reality, then there's no telling how many people they could end up killing. We need to be on top of this, now," Roark said. "Your new law today was a great step."

"Really, Roark? Really? You want to torture people and turn them into vegetables?!" Maylene yelled.

"Maylene, they're criminals—" Roark protested.

She cut him off. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but criminals have rights to a defense and a trial! And they got none of that!" She interrupted him, still kicking and punching the punching bag.

"It had to be done, Maylene. Don't let your sense of justice get in the way," Cynthia said.

"The only reason I joined this call was to know if you had really caused the law to pass," She said. "And now I know you did. I lost a lot of respect for you today, Cynthia."

Cynthia sighed. Maylene was the youngest gym leader, and more hot-headed than even Roark. She often let her ideals get in the way of efficiency, something Cynthia hoped she would learn to deal with as she aged.

"Calm down, Maymay. Screaming isn't helping," Gardenia said with her usual angelic voice. "Look at it from—"

"From her perspective, I know! I'm just pissed off because if we keep going down this path, we'll end up being just as bad as the bad guys!"

Maylene had a lot of respect for Gardenia, and they were very close. In fact, Cynthia was sure the two girls were practically sisters.

"That judgment is flawed, Maylene," Roark said. "We're doing this to help people. If they don't want their memories extracted, then they can just talk."

"And what if they lie? How can you be sure? Wouldn't you just have Alakazam do it anyways to be sure?"

"Alakazam can tell when people are lying," Volkner said tiredly. "Your point is null."

"Shut up, you lazy bum! you never visit me, but you keep being annoying! I hate you!" Maylene screamed.

"I have a city to run," Volkner said. "You barely do any of the work, you just battle people over and over."

"I want to help out more, but they keep saying I'm too young!"

"Let's stay on topic," Cynthia said. Dealing with all of these children at once was pure hell, even if she liked them. "Gardenia, anything else you want to say?"

"You know me, Cynth. I'm a pencil pusher, you tell me what to do, and I'll do it."

Ah, Gardenia. Always the reasonable one. "Good. And… uh, Candice?"

"Yeah— Trying— Fuck!"

"I thought we sent someone up to Snowpoint to fix the internet. What happened?"

Cynthia heard Candice hit her computer.

"Oh, wait! I'm getting four bars! I'm here! Can you hear me?"

"Yes," Cynthia said, rolling her eyes. "Hurry up before you lose connection again."

"Okay, so I had this really wild idea. What if the next time team Galactic showed themselves, we have Alakazam ready, and boom! He just scours one of their leader's memory right then and there while we protect him."

"That's what you've been trying to say this entire time? That was a given," Volkner yawned.

"It's a smart idea. You're just jealous 'cause you don't have my intellect."

"Candice, that was already in the cards. The problem is that if they have a Dusknoir and a Hypno that is capable of teleporting, there is no guarantee that the combined strength of Jupiter, Mars, Charon, Saturn, and Cyrus won't overpower you— older gym leaders and elite four included. As of now, I'd call their commander a threat to all of you— especially Mars. If you find them, do not engage and call me. I sent you all Alakazam's portraits."

"Sure!" Candice smiled.

"All of this fuss is unwarranted. As soon as you find their HQ, they'll be dealt with," Maylene said.

Cynthia shook her head. "I wouldn't be so sure, Maylene."

"But you're… you," Maylene said, having stopped her workout. "If you can't deal with them, no one can."

Cynthia could sense fear in her voice and in the gazes of all the others. It seemed that they were finally realizing the true threat that team Galactic posed.

"I'm not saying I can't, I'm saying that nothing is set in stone and that these people are an actual danger, and will be for the foreseeable future. I'm going to go to sleep. Stay alert, and do not under any circumstances speak to the media. We can't let anything else slip to the public, or there'll be a panic. Am I clear?"

They all acquiesced. Cynthia was satisfied as she hung up. The Champion was nice, but strict. She needed to whip all of the kids into shape really quickly, or there was no telling what would happen. She released her Togekiss, who chirped happily and snuggled next to her. It was a tight fit on the bed, but it would have to do.

She couldn't escape the nightmares without his help. The companions she had seen die, the people she had killed, her failures, her duties, they all came back to haunt her. Sleep was impossible without her Togekiss, and she hoped that Grace Pastel would not fall into the same trap.

Smile Cynthia, She thought. Everything is fine. Don't let them see your weakness.

Cynthia Collins was Sinnoh's Champion, but she was human too. She carried the entire region atop her shoulders, and her throne sat on a pile of lies.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 33

I sunk deeper into the soft couch and felt my body melt into the fluffy fabric. I stared at the piano in one of the corners of the room and raised an eyebrow. I really wanted to play a little before I left, but time always went by too fast. I had always wanted to try playing the instrument. I returned my attention to Nurse Joy, who sat with her legs crossed on a chair across from me.

"And these nightmares, you say they've finally disappeared?"

"Yeah, I've finally been getting full nights of sleep, and it's making a world's difference on my state of mind. I feel like the world is a little bit brighter," I told her.

"But you still haven't tried without your Togetic, have you? Have you considered doing so?"

I exhaled. "Right now, I just want to do what works. I think I'll be using Togetic for a while… I've gotten advice from someone."

"If you trust them, I suppose that's enough. I still recommend weaning off that way of sleeping. Now, since this is your last day, let's move on to your worries about Mars."

I felt my heartbeat quicken, and the wound on my face flare up. I couldn't help but imagine Mars pressing her knife against my cheek, moving my face around like I wasn't even human. Like I was a thing for her to play with.

"I can't help but be terrified," I said as I exhaled. "But someone helped me find my resolve. Someone I look up to, so I'm not going to hole up and hide forever."

"The same person that told you to sleep with your Togetic, I presume," She said perceptively, "I trust that the League will take care of her and the rest of her ilk before you have to see her again," Nurse Joy said.

"It's good to be vigilant. I don't want to be caught off-guard ever again."

I waited for Nurse Joy to respond, but an alarm rang on her phone.

"Oh my, has it been one hour already? What a shame. These seven sessions between us have been very productive, Grace. I recommend booking more whenever you get to Eterna city."

"But it won't be you," I lamented. "I don't know if I can talk to someone else and pretend she's you, Amanda."

Nurse Joy shook her head and smiled. "When I'm on the clock, I'm Nurse Joy, not Amanda. And don't worry, we can always arrange meetings via video chats, although I would say face-to-face meetings are more effective. You could always stay longer as I asked you to, many times."

"I can't stay here forever. I have to get stronger. I have a friend waiting on me, and being here forces me to think about the incident," I said. "I have to leave."

Nurse Joy stood up. "If that's what you think is right, I can't stop you. Stay safe in Eterna forest, Grace. Keep your wits about you."

"I will. Thank you for everything, I'll call when I get to Eterna city," I told her as I left.

It had been a week and a half since the attack on Valley Windworks, and I was slowly getting back on my feet. Honestly, it felt like what had transpired didn't even happen to me. It was like a dream, where I had been observing myself act until Cynthia came and spoke to me. Her words shook me— and they still did. I walked into the Pokemon Center's lobby and hugged Denzel.

"Congrats. You did it," He said.

"I can't believe it's over," I told him. "It seemed like an unsurmountable climb before, and now I'm done. It's a little scary."

"I know you'll manage. You're strong."

Denzel and I had grown much closer after the Galactic incident. I considered him to be my best friend now, or maybe a brother? It was hard to put a term on it. He had always been there for me, visiting every day and trying to keep my mind focused on positive things, or making me laugh. I honestly didn't think I could have made it without him.

"Ready for tomorrow?" He asked me as he let go.

"Yup. Just gotta buy a ton of antidotes and potions, right?" I asked him.

Denzel grinned. "Already did, they're all in my bag."

"Seriously? Man, you're the best."

"Duh. Although I hope it's enough, I spent almost all of our money on that and a few Pokeballs."

We made our way to my room, and I collapsed on my bed, while Denzel sat on its edge and released Eevee. The furry Pokemon barked happily and licked both of our faces before settling on my belly. He had been battered by that battle with Gible, and he had been seriously depressed about it for a while until Denzel finally convinced him that he had fought well. He was also now back at full strength and ready to go. We relaxed for a few hours— Denzel browsed the forums while I watched whatever was on television. We had learned to enjoy each other's company in silence too, and neither of us felt forced to try springing up a conversation when it wasn't necessary. I felt my Poketch vibrate in my pocket.

Probably dad or mom again, I thought.

Dad had called me multiple times every day since the kidnappings, and I had barely managed to convince him not to drop anything and book a flight to Floaroma. He had been worried sick about me the entire time, and he felt partly responsible for what happened to me because he was the one that pushed me into this journey. No matter what I told him, he still felt guilty, and it ate me up that he felt that way. Mom had called too, and surprisingly just as many times as dad. They had also been a part of my recovery, and I had never felt more grateful for my parents.

I grabbed my Poketch and felt a surge of panic when I saw the name. It was a message from Cecilia Obel.

"How in the world did she get my number?" I muttered.

"Who?" Denzel asked before slapping his forehead. "Wait, are you talking about the Obel girl? That was me."

"What?" I demanded.

"She confronted me outside of the Center yesterday and asked for your number. Strangely enough, she was alone, and she was nice this time, so I gave it to her. Should I not have? I figured it'd be nice for you to connect with someone who went through the same thing as you did."

I sighed. I hadn't seen Cecilia since the attack at the plant, and I honestly thought I wouldn't again. Hell, I kind of thought she had left Floaroma already, and for some reason, I felt sad about that.

"It's alright, thanks," I said as I opened my Poketch.

Cecilia O.

This is Grace Pastel, correct?

"She's asking if it's me," I told Denzel with a smile. "She doesn't even trust you enough to be sure you gave her the right number."

Denzel raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding me? I have that shit memorized."

You

It's me. What is it?

Cecilia O.

Meet me inside of room 17 right now.

You

Why? Do you need something?

Cecilia O.

I need to talk to you.

You

Are your friends going to be there? Because they're pricks.

Cecilia O.

No, it's just me for now. They are busy, so come quickly before they come back.

"She wants me to meet her in her room," I told Denzel.

"In her room? Are they all about to jump you, or something?"

"I'm going," I said as I gently pushed Eevee off of me.

"Huh?"

"See you later," I said, leaving my room. "Bye, Eevee."

"Vee!"

I made my way to the first floor and knocked gently on room 17's door. I was a little bit nervous, which surprised me. I hoped I didn't look silly. I placed my hand on my chest and took a deep breath as Cecilia told me to come in. She was ever so graceful, sitting on her bed with her legs crossed. I stood still for a few seconds, trying to figure out what to say.

"Come sit. I have a proposition for you," Cecilia said, patting a spot next to her on the bed.

"Good morning… wait, it's the afternoon now," I awkwardly said as I sat. "What do you want to ask me that you couldn't ask over text?"

"I want to form an alliance between our two groups to travel through Eterna forest," The girl said, going straight to the point.

"W—what? That honestly sounds like a terrible idea to me. We basically hate each other. Your friend— whatsherface…" I trailed off before remembering her name. "Pauline! She threatened to make my life, and I quote, 'a living hell'. This is not happening," I said. "Sorry for that outburst."

"Pauline said that?" She blinked. "How unlike her."

I scoffed. "I don't think you know her very well. She literally wanted to see you bully me when you dragged me off to the bathroom—" I started before terrible memories came flashing back. I took a few seconds to calm myself and swallowed. "Anyways, she isn't the only problem. They're all assholes."

"Is this about your… companion? I know Louis is not fond of him, but we can mend those bridges."

"Louis is the biggest ass of them all. Sorry, I know he's your boyfriend. What's the deal, anyway? You guys have two dragon types and a bunch of other powerful Pokemon, it's not like you can't get through it together."

Cecilia breathed in deeply. "The truth is, they're scared."

"Scared of the forest?" I asked, doubting her words.

Cecilia adjusted her sitting position. "Yes. They are terrified. Everything so far has been easy, and we stayed on the routes, but Eterna forest is when the real challenge begins. The plan was to leave two days ago, but they keep putting it off. You especially impressed them during our battle, so I believe that if we combine our forces, they'll be willing to take the plunge."

"Why didn't you call Denzel here? We travel together, I can't make a decision on my own," I said.

"But if you had to choose right now, what would you do?" Cecilia said, staring right into my eyes. I felt a surge of shyness and averted my gaze.

I bit the inside of my lip, thinking about what to do. The truth was that I had also been worried about Eterna forest, it was just I had been entirely focused on getting back on my feet. What were the pros on cons here? Okay, a big group meant higher chances of survival because of the amount of Pokemon everyone brought to the table, and we'd be able to watch each other's backs. But then again, if a big group was dysfunctional, it could be deadlier than traveling alone. But maybe…

"I would accept under a few conditions. One, I want you to show Denzel and I how you train. You specifically, because I know you're the best trainer in your clique. Second, I want access to your resources. All that money you'll use to buy the best potions, antidotes, and everything else? I want your group to lend those to us if we need them, we barely have enough for both of our teams as it is. Third, I want your pals on their best behavior, and I want that Pauline girl to apologize to me," I said. "And I want your boyfriend to apologize to Denzel."

I had blurted out that third part without thinking, but Pauline had really hit a nerve after our battle, even though I didn't exactly show it. At the time, I had simply taken her threat to heart and figured it would be best to keep my head down in case she sicked her family on me. But if I was to travel with her? I needed this.

"That is… a tough sell, but I believe I could make that work. Now, can you convince Denzel?"

"Probably. He likes me too much to say no," I smiled. "And if you fulfill all of my conditions, it probably won't take too much convincing."

"Thank you," Cecilia smiled. "Now I can finally make some damned progress."

I was surprised at the way she spoke. During all of this conversation, Cecilia had spoken in a prim and proper way, but she was apparently letting her mask slip again.

"So you aren't scared?"

"Not at all. I'm eager to get going. Someone recently lit my passion for Pokemon battling ablaze, and I want to get stronger as fast as possible."

"Wait, so you weren't passionate before?" I asked. "And you were still so good… man."

"I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it," Cecilia said as she brushed her hair behind her ear. "I have a promise to fulfill now, and I plan to make good on it."

"Who was it then?" I asked curiously. I wanted to know who had ignited Cecilia's passion for battling, potentially unleashing a monster.

"It's a secret," She said with a small laugh. "Now, on you go. My group will be coming back soon, and it would be easier to explain if you weren't in the room."

"Sounds good," I said. "See you later?"

"See you later."

I felt a grin creep up on my face as I left Cecilia's room, feeling butterflies in my stomach.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 34

"Hell no!" Denzel yelled, looking at me like I had just murdered someone in front of him. "There is no fucking way!"

"What? Come on!" I pleaded.

"Are you kidding me? Traveling with those arrogant assholes in the middle of a deadly forest? No!"

"But wait, you haven't even listened to the conditions I added yet—"

"Grace, I would honestly rather die than spend a minute that Louis Bianchi. Did you not hear the way he spoke before and after our battle? If I hadn't been so worried about Eevee, I would have made a scene."

"I know, but Cecilia said she could get them to behave normally. And apparently, they're impressed with us," I said.

"Impressed?"

"Yeah," I added. "Apparently, they liked the way we battle."

"They have a really funny way of showing that, then," Denzel said as he stopped pacing around the room.

"Think about it. We get to train with Cecilia! By the time we're out of Eterna, we might be close to her level."

My friend paused. "We get to train with her?"

"Yes! And just her, not her friends. Doesn't that sound awesome?!"

Denzel avoided my eyes. "That does sound good, but—"

"You haven't even heard the best part yet. Doesn't forcing the Louis Bianchi to apologize to you with his head hung low sound like the sweetest revenge?" I grinned.

I saw a glint in Denzel's eyes. "Okay, I'm in."

"What? But I haven't even told you about the potions and the antidotes yet."

"Wait, we're getting their stuff too? That's icing on the cake! You're like a master negotiator. If I didn't know any better, I'd think Cecilia's taken a liking to you."

My heart practically jumped out of my throat. "M—me? Shut up, you idiot! You don't know what you're talking about."

"Ouch. I didn't even say anything."

"Yeah, whatever. I'm going to the bathroom."

I opened the bathroom door and sat down on the toilet before sending Cecilia a text telling her that I had convinced Denzel. I made sure to add that the apologies were crucial and that we were eagerly expecting them. After calming myself down, I looked at myself in the mirror and groaned.

"Ugh, is that a new pimple? Crap."

I froze as my hand hovered over the door handle. I grabbed my wrist and shook it, forcing myself to push forward. Every time I stepped out of a bathroom now, I couldn't stop my thoughts from racing. I couldn't help but expect something terrible to happen to me on the other side of that door. Luckily, I was slowly getting better. When I walked out, I noticed Denzel quickly changing the channel from the news back to some random cartoon. I was thankful to him for trying to keep anything regarding team Galactic out of my reach, but it was obvious he wanted more information.

"I'm going to go out for a bit," I told him. "Training Elekid and stuff."

"Oh, alright. Remember, I'm one phone call away if anything goes wrong."

I smiled. "Thanks."

I walked out of the Center and made my way to the spot where I had first trained Elekid. Another way I had found to keep myself distracted was to focus entirely on training. And I would need it, especially with danger ramping up so quickly in the region. I was still scared, but Cynthia's words made me want to be able to fight back. If team Galactic ever came back, I at least wanted to take down a few grunts. Hell, Chase Karlson had dove into danger to do so.

I wonder what he's doing now? I thought.

Well apparently, I was a psychic, because Chase Karlson was currently in the distance doing sit-ups along with his Riolu. Meanwhile, Houndour was practicing using a move that looked like Fire Fang, and his Grubbin had apparently evolved into a Charjabug, who was scuttling on the ground surrounded by electricity. It looked like a tough training session, and even though I wanted to thank him for trying to break us out, I also didn't want to be anywhere near the aggressive trainer, but I felt obligated to at least thank him. I called out as I slowly jogged toward him.

"Hey! Chase!" I said.

"What?" He grunted. He glanced at me for a second before resuming his sit-ups. "You're that girl from the power plant. I argued with you in Oreburgh, right?" He asked. I was surprised he could speak so easily while working out.

"Yeah. I just wanted to thank you for busting into the plant—"

"Thank me? I failed. I lost, and I got captured, why would you thank me?" He said. I could feel anger rise within him as his tone got more aggressive. His Riolu stopped his exercise and barked at him. "Sorry…" He said, more subdued than I had ever heard him."

"You didn't let me finish, but yeah, I was about to get…" I swallowed. "Tortured. I know you didn't do it for me, but I still feel like I owe you."

"Whatever, I guess."

"Sorry for bothering you. Take care."

All in all that could have gone worse. I made my way to the meadow, then released my entire team, who greeted me in their respective way. Togetic floated up to me and nuzzled against my neck. Frillish bobbed his head toward me, and Elekid screamed as he flexed and spun his arms around. I had gotten him back at the start of the week after confirming that he was mine. To do this, the League made sure that the Pokemon knew you, but apparently, every Pokeball had a serial number that the League, stores, and manufacturers could use to keep track of them. I guessed this was why Pokemon trading always had to be tracked. Some trainers even kept stickers on their Pokeballs to differentiate them. Either way, this system made sure that there were very little errors whenever an accident happened where Pokeballs were lost or mixed up. I grinned and clapped my hands together.

"Alright, everybody! Time for more training! Togetic, I want you to keep working on Extrasensory. You used the move well during the tournament, but I want you to start being able to lift Pokemon soon, so wild Pokemon aren't off limits.."

"Prrrri!" Togetic chirped happily.

"Frillish, I want you to work on Hex if you find any wild Pokemon out here, but remember, no killing. If you can't find any, then keep working on Poison Sting like yesterday. It'll be a great surprise against the grass types of Eterna forest, or even Gardenia if I'm forced to use you. Plus, if we poison one of her Pokemon, Hex will deal double the damage. Keep Togetic close to you and take care of her, alright buddy? Meet me back here in two hours."

"Lish," He murmured as he lazily floated away with Togetic. She squealed happily and affectionately butted her head against him.

I crouched and looked at Elekid. "And you're with me, as usual. Let's keep working on your endurance."

Normally, I would never have trained on wild Pokemon that didn't attack me first, but after what happened to me, something clicked in my mind. I needed to get stronger faster to protect myself and my team if team Galactic was ever going to come knocking. I couldn't afford to pull any punches and hold back my team's progress. It hurt to think that Frillish or Togetic could potentially get a wild Pokemon killed by injuring them, but I couldn't afford to feel bad. I watched with my arms crossed as Elekid kept his Thundershock going for eighteen seconds.

"Kid!" He screamed, clearly frustrated. I could tell he desperately wanted to catch up to the others.

"You're doing great, hon," I comforted him. "That's a great amount of progress in less than two weeks."

"Elekid!"

"I'll use you in a real battle soon. Here, why don't we look for a wild Pokemon together."

Elekid flexed his arms, agreeing with me. There weren't that many wild Pokemon this far into the meadow, but we still managed to find a Buizel skulking around. It had probably come here from the river on nearby route 205.

"Are you ready?" I whispered to Elekid. He nodded. "Hit it with Thundershock, you've got the element of surprise."

Elekid made a noise akin to a scoff before loudly announcing himself to the Buizel. He spun his arms and grinned menacingly.

"Or not. You want to fight fair and square, hm?"

"Kid!"

Buizel squared itself up and let out a warning cry as its tails spun menacingly, but Elekid wasn't intimidated. He charged at the water type, who let out a high-pressure jet of water. Staying at a safe distance, I smiled as Elekid weaved to the right. He was quickly becoming my fastest Pokemon.

"Hit it with Thunder Punch!" I ordered.

Elekid spun both of his arms and gathered electricity into his fists before hitting Buizel with a quick succession of punches. The water type cried out in pain before trying to ram Elekid with its tails, but I could tell it was already almost out for the count. Elekid didn't even need my help. He held the Buizel and channeled a Thundershock directly into the wild Pokemon, who promptly fell to the ground as smoke emanated from its body. Elekid celebrated with a triumphant yell before making his way back toward me.

"You did great, but we did have the type advantage. Still, it looks like your electric type attacks are becoming really powerful."

I continued watching as Elekid trained. I had gotten him back one day after the attack, and I had used the opportunity to explain everything to my team. Frillish still hadn't recovered. I could tell that he felt like he failed me, no matter how many times I told him it wasn't his fault. Togetic had cried and had fully embraced her role as my sleep aid, which I was grateful for. Elekid also felt down, but his reaction was a little bit more peculiar. He stopped wanting to go to the Power Plant altogether.

Come to think of it, why had Elekid wanted to go to the Power Plant? It surely wasn't for energy, or he would have kept pestering me about it even now. Had he known something?

Something about what would happen?

No, that would be impossible.

But what if?

I called him over, and he panted as he trudged toward me.

"Good job," I started. "You deserve a little break. I have a question to ask you."

"Kid?" He said in a curious tone.

"Do you remember how you wanted to bring me to the Power Plant last week? And how just two days later, team Galactic attacked it? Did you know something?"

Elekid fidgeted around nervously, a far cry from his usual boisterous behavior.

"I'm not mad," I smiled. "Let's try going by process of elimination. Did you know team Galactic would attack soon?"

He shook his head.

I frowned. "Did you know something bad would happen soon?"

"Kid! Kid!" He nodded.

My eyes widened. "How? What gave it away?" I asked. Obviously, though, he struggled to explain. It was at times like these when I wish I could understand what my Pokemon said. I tried finding out what he knew for a few more minutes, but it was to no avail, so I sent him back to train. I needed to figure this out at some point, but right now, it was like I was speaking to a brick wall. Before finishing our training, I went on a run and practiced doing push-ups on the ground. I only managed to do six before I fell flat. Seeing Chase Karlson work out like that had kind of inspired me, but I was nowhere near his level yet. At the end of our training session, Togetic came back carrying an unconscious Pachirisu with Extrasensory, closely shadowed by Frilish.

I looked at the small electric type guiltily for a few seconds, before turning toward Togetic with a smile. She always liked to bring things she lifted with Extrasensory back to me as a 'reward'. "You did great, Princess. You didn't have to bring it back to me, though."

"Toge!"

"Well, you do you. Frillish, what's the progress on Hex?"

The ghost type eyed the Pachirisu for a few seconds, and then looked back at me. It took me a few moments to realize he was asking for permission to use the move.

I took a deep breath. "Go ahead."

Frillish's eye brightened as smoke began emanating from the Pachirisu's body. Even while unconscious, the small Pokemon began to convulse violently.

"That's enough," I said. "Good job, you two. You brought down an electric type together despite the type disadvantage."

Frillish nodded. I quickly grabbed a potion and used it on the little electric type. It was still unconscious, but at least it would wake up with no wounds. Plus, I was going to get access to a lot of them soon thanks to traveling with Cecilia's group, so I felt like I could use them more freely.

"Come to think of it, I have to tell you guys about our temporary new travel companions…"

I explained everything to my team. Frillish scowled and turned away from me, and Elekid crashed his fists together, creating a spark.

"You guys are even worse than Denzel," I sighed. "At least you're fine with it, princess," I said as I gently scratched her back.

"Togetic! Prrrri!"

"Well, let's get back then."

When I came back to my room, Denzel was gone. He had sent me a message telling me that he was off to spend some time with his team, but to call him if I needed him. I spent the rest of the day lazing around with my Pokemon. Elekid was slowly making Frillish warm up to him, even though he kept throwing water at him whenever he got too annoying. Whereas Frillish probably thought of Togetic as a little sister he needed to protect— which even though I never said anything about, I found very cute— he probably viewed Elekid as an annoying brat that was loud all the time. Ghost type Pokemon were immortal, so he was probably a jaded old man anyway. If I had to place Elekid's age… I'd probably say he was still a kid, no pun intended.

When it was time to go to sleep, Frillish floated protectively above my bed, since he didn't need to sleep. Elekid slept by leaning against a wall with his arms crossed— the little bugger spoke and yelled in his sleep, by the way— and Togetic snuggled under the covers with me. I felt happiness swell inside of me as I relaxed, slowly drifting off to sleep.

I would have gotten my eight hours, but I was woken up by a text from Cecilia at 5:33 am.

Cecilia O.

The deal went through. We will travel together in two days until we reach Eterna city. I am honoring my side of the bargain right away, meet me in the Pokemon Center lobby with your friend to start our training.

I fell out of my bed.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 35

It had taken almost ten minutes to wake Denzel up from his slumber. The man hated waking up early, and he kept asking me for 'five more minutes'. We quickly made our way to the Pokemon Center's lobby with our Pokeballs. I was shaking in anticipation. What secrets to Pokemon training did Cecilia hold? I was excited to find out. I wasn't used to seeing the lobby so empty. It was usually crammed with trainers at all times of the day, but so early in the morning, there were only a few people here. Cecilia was leaning against a wall with a hoodie and jogging pants. I frowned and then realized that Denzel was wearing warm clothing too. Meanwhile, I just had a t-shirt on and some jeans that I had hurriedly thrown on.

"Good morning," Cecilia told us. "I'm sorry we're doing this so early, but my team needs to wake up at six every day."

"No problem!" I smiled. "I'm just excited to see what you have in store for us."

"Mornin'" Denzel yawned.

"Sorry about him, he's not a morning person," I said.

Cecilia nodded, and we made our way to the outskirts of the city. I hugged myself as I felt a cold gust of wind. It was still dark out, and the temperature had dropped fast. It was still October, for Arceus' sake! Not wanting to waste time, I decided to tough the cold out and kept going, following closely behind Cecilia— but not too close. When we reached our destination, Cecilia opened her Poketch.

"Five-fifty-five," She muttered. "My team can wait. Let's start with the basics. Obviously, you two have won a badge, so I'll assume you at least know a little bit about what you're doing, but I still need to make sure. Explain to me how you train your teams."

Denzel and I looked at each other, wondering who should start. I nodded in his direction, telling him to go ahead.

"Well, I—" He was interrupted by his yawn. "I usually just have Eevee train his body and do his moves over and over so he can improve. The other members of my team… aren't that usable at the moment."

"And Grace?" Cecilia asked.

"I do the same with my team, but I sometimes send them off to do their own thing to build up their teamwork. I've also started seeking out wild Pokemon to practice on recently."

"You did?" Denzel asked in a surprised tone.

"Yup. Figured I needed to get past that block if I wanted to get stronger."

Cecilia crossed her arms. "Hm, that is an effective method, but it is as I feared. You're doing the basic minimum."

My shoulders slumped at the unexpected criticism.

"What do you mean?" Denzel asked.

"Well, what you're doing now is working because you're still early in the Circuit. It's worked for you so far, but your Pokemon lack one distinctive thing," She said, lifting up a finger. "And that is battling experience."

"What? We've battled plenty!" Denzel protested.

"Not enough. Pokemon thrive in battle, and the more fights they are in, the faster they'll improve. But that's not all. What about diet? Supplements? Bodily care? A regular schedule? All of these little things add up, but they do matter." She said, looking at us. "I can see the look on your faces. I realize you are… less fortunate than I am, so let's just stick to what you can do for now."

Cecilia looked at the time before releasing her Slowpoke, Deino, and Fletchling. I gasped when I saw Slowpoke's tail. A huge chunk of it was just missing.

"What the hell happened to your Slowpoke?" I asked worriedly.

"Deino bit it off during one of his fits," Cecilia said, waving her hand nonchalantly. "It's been slowly regrowing, and he felt no pain, so don't worry about it."

"Arceus…" I muttered.

Deino released a fierce roar. It was my first time seeing the dragon up close, and I instinctively backed up. Slowpoke stared off into the distance, and Fletchling perched on top of Cecilia's shoulders. The girl clicked her tongue at the Deino, whose head angrily whirled toward her. He screamed at her, sending drool all over her pants.

"Ugh… bad Deino! Bad!" She said, clicking her tongue and snapping her fingers multiple times. Deino finally relented and became quiet. "Good. Now, he's not used to you yet, so don't get too close. He bites."

"I figured," Denzel nervously said, eyeing the Slowpoke's missing tail.

"Now, trainers at lower levels can make do with battling whoever they find out in the wild, or in cities, but people like us? We crush anyone that we challenge, except once in a while. What I meant by battling experience was battles that actually challenge your Pokemon. When was the last time that happened aside from the tournament?" She asked.

My heart fluttered at the idea that she considered me a good trainer.

"Um… that would be Roark, I think," Denzel said.

"Exactly! Ages ago! Now, one of the best ways to challenge yourself is to make your team fight each other."

We looked at her like she was speaking gibberish. I had used Frillish's Bubblebeam to help Togetic improve her Fairy Wind when she was still a Togepi, but making them fight each other seemed…

"Isn't that kind of too much?" I asked.

"It's necessary. Now, since Deino's too strong, I usually have Fletchling and Slowpoke attack him together. Today, I'll be commanding them instead of Deino. Let me demonstrate."

We gave her team some space and observed carefully. I didn't want to miss anything she said or showed us.

"Deino, keep your Dragon Breaths at fifty percent, and no biting," Cecilia ordered. The dragon grunted, which was one of the few times I saw him listen to her without protest.

"Slowpoke, Water Pulse. Fletchling, keep your distance until Deino gets angry," Cecilia said.

Slowpoke immediately snapped out of its daze and spat out five consecutive rings of water that were bigger and faster than Frillish's, and every single one hit Deino. The Dragon hadn't even bothered to dodge, and simply started charging up a Dragon Breath.

"Get ready to intercept with Confusion," Cecilia said.

Deino released his Dragon Breath, but Slowpoke's eyes shone and the attack curved to the right before hitting the ground. It was the same trick she had done with Water Gun from her battle with Roark, except now she was using it on enemy attacks. Deino let out an enraged scream, seemingly angry that his attack had been dealt with so easily. He charged ahead, and Slowpoke kept hitting him with Water Pulse.

"Now, Fletchling."

The bird chirped and flew off of her shoulder, going so fast it was hard to keep track of.

"Ember behind him," She said.

Fletchling spat out dozens of little flames, hitting Deino's back. The dragon turned and let out another Dragon Breath, aiming at the flying type, but another Water Pulse interrupted his attack. The battle kept going like this for seven minutes, with Deino constantly having to juggle between two opponents and getting more and more irritated.

"Holy shit, how is it not going down?" Denzel asked.

"Well, dragon types are tougher than other types, but we've trained like this for months. Deino's scales have hardened due to all the beatings he took."

The dragon roared out an Incinerate at the Fletchling, lighting up the early morning sky. He was still standing, but he was noticeably slower and panting.

"Why doesn't he just rush the Slowpoke if he can ignore Fletchling's ember?" I asked.

Cecilia smiled. "Because he's stupid as a bag of rocks. You see, this training serves another hidden purpose. When I command, Deino, he wins, but when he acts out on his own, he loses. Why do you think that's important?"

I pondered her question for a second before figuring it out. "To show him that without you, he's weaker!"

"Exactly. He knows this, but I still have to remind him sometimes. Training a dragon type is a constant tug of war between their desire to become stronger and evolve into their final forms, and their hatred of being held on a leash. They like their independence and freedom, but you have to show them that they need you. Otherwise, you get… accidents."

"Accidents?" Denzel probed.

"You know my brother's the Champion of Unova, but what you probably don't know is that he was almost killed by his Hydreigon when it first evolved. It took his entire team at once to take that monster down, and he had to stay in the hospital for months after that battle," Cecilia said grimly. "He's been helping me train Deino so I won't repeat his mistakes."

Deino collapsed on the ground after Fletchling hit him with a powerful Peck.

"That's enough," Cecilia told her team. "You two did great today, you weren't hit even once."

Fletchling flew back to her shoulder and rubbed its head against hers, and Slowpoke returned to staring toward nothing in particular. She walked up in front of Deino and crouched, looking at its face. The dragon stood back up with much difficulty, but 'stared' right back at her with a low growl. Cecilia smiled and rubbed his cheek before recalling her team.

"I see the benefits of training like this," Denzel started. "But won't this create… animosity in the team? I already have a problem with my Budew…"

"It might. There are relationship dynamics to consider. For example, Pauline's Charmeleon gets so frustrated every time she loses to foes she sees as weaker than she is that training her is a… hassle. Louis' Gible hates the other members of his team and simply can't train without putting too much strength into his attacks. This means he only trains against my Deino, which is the only Pokemon it respects in our entire group," Cecilia said.

"But you let him win every time," I scoffed.

Cecilia eyed Denzel worriedly.

"Don't worry about him, he won't spill your secrets. I trust him one hundred percent," I told her.

She placed her hand over her heart. "I do let him win, but I have to keep going until I'm strong enough to fight back against anyone my father could send. So for now, I'll keep following my father's plan."

"Plan?" I asked.

She gasped and put her hand over her mouth.

"You don't have to tell us more if you don't want to," Denzel said. "Don't worry about it."

The girl composed herself and returned to her explanation. "It's fine. So yes, it might affect how your Pokemon view each other, but it also might not. Pokemon aren't as smart as humans, and some…" She trailed off, looking at Deino's ball. "Some aren't as smart as others, but you should give them more credit. They can tell the difference between training and a real fight."

"I see," I said.

"Now, release your Pokemon and start training!" She said with a smile.

——

Two hours later, my team was beat. It took a long time to explain to Frillish that this was just training, but he felt so bad about hitting Togetic that I could tell he held back in his attacks. Togetic, meanwhile, had been pretty doubtful, but she was now having the time of her life, even though she was bruised and battered. Elekid had fun, too, mostly training with Eevee because of Budew's aversion to doing anything Denzel told her. Strangely enough though, she ended up joining in once Elekid delivered a vicious Thunder Punch to Eevee's chin. She had been screeching furiously, reminding me of the time we'd first found her in that forest, and she made quick work of my tired Elekid. All in all, I felt like we were about to make a lot of progress.

I shivered as we walked back to the Pokemon Center to heal our teams.

"Why didn't you wear anything warm?" Denzel asked me.

"I didn't even think about it."

"I'm used to the cold. You can have my hoodie if you'd like," Cecilia said.

"R—really?" I stammered. "I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable…"

"Just take it," She sighed as she wrapped her hoodie around me.

"T—t—thank you," I stuttered— and it wasn't because of the cold. I was so incredibly nervous, and I was trying to find out why. "I'll make it up to you somehow!"

Holy shit, I thought. Am I crushing on this girl?

"Fuck," I whispered to myself

Really, Grace? The girl with the Arceus damned fiance?

Cecilia quickly left back to her room right after we gave our Pokemon back. She was going to meet her friends soon, and it was probably wise to stay separate so she could smooth things over before our travels. I walked into Denzel's room and sat on the floor.

"I thought I was going to die," I muttered to myself. "She even left me her hoodie."

"Okay, you obviously like her, and you're really obvious about it," Denzel said. "I would say I would try to be your wingman, but she's already dating someone else."

"How did you already figure it out when I just did?" I groaned.

"T—t—thank you," Denzel imitated me, his eyes fluttering. He laughed and opened a window.

"Ugh, stop being such a dick," I sighed, placing my face in my hands. "I really need her not to know."

"I honestly had my suspicions with how much you stared at her all the time, but I figured I must have been imagining things. Today settled it."

"Yeah… damn it."

"I don't want to rain on your parade, but she has a fiance. You should probably give up."

"Yeah, I figured. Like you said, she's dating someone else, and she's not into girls. Plus, I'd rather focus on training my team with her instead, anyway."

I did want to train my team with hers, but the words still felt like a lie.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 36

The day had finally come. We were finally going to leave Floaroma and make the long trek to Eterna Forest. I put on my sweater, tightened my shoelaces, and grabbed my backpack before leaving my Pokemon Center room. I glanced back at it one last time.

"It feels like I've stayed here a lifetime, but it hasn't even been three weeks," I said to myself.

I closed the door, but before leaving and handing the keys back to Nurse Joy, there was one last thing I wanted to do. I nervously stepped in front of room 224 before knocking softly. After a few seconds, I opened the door and saw Jacob staring at me. He was looking much better than he had before. Color had returned to his face, and he looked somewhat happier in general, although he was still confined to a hospital bed due to the Zubat's poison.

"Jacob," I said. "Sorry for never visiting you after last time. I assume you know… what happened?"

"Yeah, I know. It's all anyone can talk about these days," He sighed. "I heard you were in there with them."

"I was," I said, trying not to remember. "I'd rather not speak about it."

"Sorry."

Silence swallowed the room. It wasn't the gentle silence I felt when I was hanging out with Denzel, but an oppressive force that made me want to say something to keep the conversation going.

"I just wanted to see you one last time before I left. See how you were doing," I said.

"You're leaving?" Jacob said, his eyes widening.

"I mean, I can't stay here forever. I have to keep going if I want to get eight badges before the conference. Are you sad?" I asked.

"No… I mean, we barely know each other. Of course, I'll be forever grateful for you saving me and Wooper's life, but what I meant was… after everything that happened to you, you're still going to travel?" Jacob asked, tightening his fist.

"I want to," I simply said. "Being a trainer calls to me."

I could see Jacob's jaw tighten. "Then… then what the hell am I doing?"

"What?"

"Grace, you're what? A 5'5'' scrawny girl who looks like anything could break you— no offense."

I did take offense, but I let him keep going.

"Meanwhile, I'm here, constantly self-deprecating over what happened to me. I still can't even fathom going out there— and I hadn't even traveled that far! I was just a few hours away from home, and yet, when I imagine going in the wild again, I can't help but think I'll get my Pokemon killed again. I can't help but be scared, when I shouldn't be, because I want to be a trainer!" Jacob said, screaming the last few words.

"I… I don't know what to say to that."

"It's alright," He sighed, calming down. "I just need to do some thinking. Where I wanted to go with this rant was that I'm jealous of you. I'm jealous that you can keep going like nothing happened."

You know nothing about me, I thought. I almost collapsed in on myself.

"People are different. What happened to us was different," I started. "No one will have the same experience recovering from trauma. Just… take it easy, alright? Don't do something stupid."

"I know… I know I still have to recover. I can't even move my limbs properly yet. The doctors have to feed me and move them around to help my muscles not atrophy," Jacob said. "Hey, don't look at me with so much pity, please," I snapped out of it and looked at him normally. "I guess what I'm trying to say… in an incredibly convoluted way, is that I think you're inspiring me to keep being a trainer. Or at least try to. I still think this year's a bust, but maybe the next?"

I smiled. "You definitely can. And in less than two months, you'll be able to walk again, and maybe you can start training."

Jacob nodded. "So… I guess this is it, huh?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'm already late, I need to get to route 205."

"Alright. I'll be rooting for you, Grace Pastel!" He told me. "I finally figured out that you had one badge already."

"Watch me, Jacob. I'll win this whole thing," I said with determination.

——

Running was easier now, even with my backpack. Togetic flew close by, amazing me with her progress. She had come a long way since not even being able to float correctly in Oreburgh. The plan was for everyone to meet on the bridge that intersected Floaroma town, Valley Windworks, and route 205. I stopped when I found Denzel and Eevee waiting for me at the side of the river. Togetic greeted him by chirping happily and playing with his hair, before doing the same with Eevee's tail. Eevee protested at first before smiling and answering in kind.

"You were waiting for me?" I asked him.

"Yeah, man, I don't want to meet the snobs without you to back me up. It'd be five on one instead of five on two."

"Why are you counting Cecilia in the five? You already know she's nice," I said as we walked toward the bridge.

"That's fair, I was just being kind of a dick. Where were you, by the way?"

"Visiting Jacob," I said.

Denzel's face tightened. "Jacob… oh, shit, I forgot to say goodbye."

I looked back toward Floaroma. "Probably too late, now. I feel bad, but we don't want to be that tardy."

"It's alright, I have his number. I'll send him something while I still can."

We walked at a brisk pace, and fifteen minutes later, we finally reached the bridge. I was surprised to see that none of them had their Pokemon out. Louis stood with his arm around Cecilia, talking to her about who knows what. Pauline was twirling with her red hair as she stared at us, while Emilia and Justin just sat on the edge. I stopped Togetic from immediately going to greet our new temporary companions. As a Togepi, she had been shy around strangers until she got used to them, but now, she had become a social butterfly.

Cecilia's face brightened when she saw us, and she gathered her friends as we stepped onto the bridge.

"Hello," Denzel said awkwardly. "Nice to meet you, I guess?"

Louis nodded. "Before we begin, I believe we owe you an apology?"

"Uh, yeah? I didn't think you would already be doing it—"

All four of Cecilia's friends lined up and apologized to us for treating us poorly during the tournament. I stared at her, and she simply grinned. I honestly had expected much more pushback, or maybe a snarky, sarcastic apology from Pauline. Hell, she had even made Emilia and Justin apologize when they hadn't really done anything but glare at us.

"Apology accepted," I said.

Cecilia nodded. "Let's begin, then."

Route 205 started as a canyon between two small mountain ranges, but we would progressively be walking more and more uphill before reaching the plateau where Eterna Forest sat. Denzel had told me he expected us to take five to six days if he accounted for the incline. Maybe a week, if traveling in a group this big slowed us down. The start of the trek was somewhat uncomfortable. Denzel and I stayed to the side, following the others and talking between ourselves while they did the same. It was like we were two separate groups just going in the same direction. Honestly, a part of me was relieved, but I also wanted to…

Nevermind.

We met many trainers on the route, as it was the main area to train in before entering Eterna Forest. None of us accepted any challenges, mostly because they'd be a waste of time. Every time a trainer offered to battle, we'd ask how many badges they had, and the answer would always be zero, although I expected that to change once we got near Eterna Forest, although I doubted any trainer was crazy enough to actually battle inside of that hellhole. A few hours in, Pauline approached me.

I instinctively went into fight or flight mode, expecting her to say some mean remark out of earshot.

"You. Listen up."

I raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"I heard from Cece that you suffered horribly during the kidnappings," She started, as she watched the bandage on my cheek. "One of their leaders took you into a secluded room, did they not? So I figured it would be best to bury the hatchet, especially when we'll be going into Eterna Forest," Pauline said. I thought I noticed her tremble slightly after mentioning the forest. "Forget everything I said about making your life a living hell."

Hard to forget that, I thought, but I was pleasantly surprised at her maturity. The pleasant feeling was unfortunately overwritten by the mention of Mars, though, and I felt my breathing quicken. I stopped Denzel from saying anything.

"Of course, Pauline. Let's just all get along, yeah?" I said.

"Sure. Don't expect me to like you, though. You're still a nobody," She said, flicking her hair before returning back to her group.

"Arceus… bringing up what happened to you like that and then—" He started as soon as she was out of earshot.

"She was just trying to be nice, I think?" I interrupted. "She's kind of terrible at it, though, but at least I feel like we can work together now, maybe."

"Yeah…"

The only reason I could find for this abrupt change in behavior was the kidnappings, and she had said as much. Even though she was still a sore loser, maybe me going through the same thing as Cecilia made it easier for her to empathize with me.

"Can I change the subject?" Denzel asked.

I smiled. "Yeah."

"I could tell you were getting depressed. Anyway, my fourth team member should be along this route, although it should be easier to find the closer we get to Eterna Forest."

That piqued my interest. "Really? Tell me which Pokemon it is."

"But then it'll ruin the surprise!"

"Then why did you even tell me about it in the first place?" I groaned, playfully pushing him away. "Killjoy."

"Fine, fine… I want to catch a Buneary."

"Buneary? Those are super cute! I used to see a ton of 'em in Pokemon Contests on T.V. back in Jubilife."

"Yeah, but they're also really good battlers. Anyway, I hope I find it sooner rather than later," He said, looking around. "I don't think the group would be fine with me holding them up to find a Pokemon."

"Eh, we can make it work. Plus, I'll help you out, since you obviously need it."

He looked at me for a few seconds in silence.

"Wow, you didn't go for the five Budew joke this time."

"Yeah, that one was getting old. I need some new material."

The rest of the day was uneventful, but I used it to release my entire team as we walked. Elekid still wasn't that close with the others, so it'd be good for them to hang out. When the sun started to set, we settled at the bottom of a cliff. It was cold, even with my sweater, and we gathered around to plan for the night.

Louis clapped his hands. "Alright, everyone. That was an excellent first day on the road, and I hope we can keep this pace going until we reach the forest. Now, Pauline and Emilia are on tent duty, Justin, Denzel, and Grace can gather up some firewood— I assume you two have an axe?" He asked. We just nodded. I was weirded out that he had made himself the leader of the group, but I guessed that this was just how it was usually, so I didn't want to disturb what they had going on. "Good. Cecilia and I will scout ahead to make sure there aren't any dangerous Pokemon around."

I looked at Denzel, and we immediately understood what we were thinking. This guy was giving himself the easiest job and using the time to hang out with his girlfriend.

"Louis, surely that's a one man job. I could even send Fletchling to scout," Cecilia said. "I should probably help with the firewood."

Louis looked saddened for a second before agreeing. "Very well. I will scout ahead on my own. Is everyone alright with their tasks?"

We all agreed, and Cecilia, Denzel, Justin, and I made our way toward the nearest trees with our axes.

---

A/N:

Alright, the Floaroma arc's over. The next mini-arc (until Eterna forest) will be more of a setup arc (character development focused and a training arc as well) for what I have cooking for the forest arc. For the sake of clarity, I'll post the names and the Pokemon of the people in the rich clique here once, so it's easier to remember:

Emilia: Beldum, Aipom, Rockruff

Cecilia: Deino, Fletchling, Slowpoke

Justin: Growlithe, Sandile

Pauline: Charmeleon, Gothita

Louis: Gible, Prinplup

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 37

Even though I had had this axe for months, it was my first time actually using it for its intended purpose: cutting firewood. The activity was grueling and harder than I expected. First, I had to find the appropriate tree. A fallen one or a young, thin one always worked best, but sometimes I could also easily tear some branches off. Second, swinging an axe over and over was tiring.

"Prrrri!" Togetic cheered behind me as I brought down my axe toward another log.

"Thank you, princess," I said.

I was trying to make them around thirty centimeters long if possible since that was the optimal length, according to Justin. He was apparently used to camping outside, and would frequently do so with his father as a child, where he learned a lot about living in the wild. I was honestly surprised. I had thought that he had been a sheltered kid just like I was, but he was currently helping Denzel chop down a bigger tree.

"Need any help?" Cecilia asked after coming up to me.

I wiped sweat from my forehead and gathered all the wood I had cut. "If you could help me carry this back, I'd appreciate it. Is it enough?"

"That should be enough, yes. I already brought my share back, so I wanted to see if anyone needed my assistance."

"Thanks."

I left Denzel and Justin and got back to camp, where Pauline and Emilia were setting up a huge tent. It actually looked more like a miniature circus tent than a normal tent a young trainer should have. It looked like it could fit at least ten people. How did they even carry this thing? I turned and smiled before almost telling a joke.

That was close, I thought. I unconsciously mistook Cecilia for Denzel, since he was usually always next to me. A joke in bad taste now would just be rude, especially when everyone had just apologized earlier today.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Cecilia said, breaking the silence.

"No kidding. How can you even fold this into one of your bags?"

"Well, it has a few parts…"

Cecilia began explaining the intricacies of their huge tent as we dropped off the firewood. Togetic grabbed two pieces to play with using Extrasensory and brought them with her as she followed closely.

"I haven't forgotten our training, by the way," Cecilia said, sitting down on the ground.

I sat down next to her— not too close, of course. "I sure hoped so. It was a part of our deal. I want to get as strong as possible," I said, feeling determination swell inside of me.

She grinned. "Good. We can start after dinner, if Denzel is okay with it? We won't be able to do mock battles against each other in Eterna forest."

I nodded. "Yeah, that would be too risky. Let's do that then!"

We watched as Pauline and Emilia finished bringing up the tent. I felt somewhat bad for not offering help, but I was tired from all the wood cutting I had just done. Soon enough, Denzel and Justin came back with even more firewood— probably more than we needed for one night. I figured it was a good time to release the rest of my team, so I let out Frillish and Elekid. Frillish glared at Cecilia and floated up away from everyone no matter how many times I called him, and Elekid was just screaming and being hyper, as usual.

"He sure is a little ball of energy," Cecilia said, looking at him.

"Kid!" He answered back proudly.

"He might be too much, sometimes," I smiled.

"It is good that you're so close with your team. It will definitely help in the long run."

"I mean, they're my partners. We can't work together if we don't get along."

Cecilia sighed. "I'd like to get that through their thick skulls," She said, nodding toward her group. "Oh, Louis is back. He'll want to see me. See you later?"

"Yup. See you later."

The girl stood up and left, after which Denzel immediately slipped into her spot.

"Where have you been?" I asked.

"Talking with Justin," Denzel answered as Eevee climbed down his shoulder to cuddle next to me. I pet him behind his ear. "I also didn't want to interrupt."

"You would never be interrupting. Just join the conversation if you feel like it."

"That's not what I meant, Grace."

I eyed him annoyingly. "I told you I'm giving up. Even you said so, we were just passing the time."

"If you say so. Anyway, about Justin! He's actually kind of cool if you can get past the weird way he speaks."

"Really?" I asked. "Like how?"

"Eh, he's just a really nice guy, you'll have to speak with him to figure it out. You've been hanging out in your little corner, you should try to talk to people— well, maybe not Louis," He whispered.

"I will, I'm just not used to such a big group. If it was one new person, I'd be fine, but this is somewhat different than how I imagined it."

"We can speak to them as a group if you want. That way, you don't have to initiate alone."

"How about we do that tomorrow, then?"

"Gotcha. Holy shit, did you even see that tent, by the way?"

"Hard to miss it," I joked.

He laughed. "Do you think they have a maid in there?"

My eyes widened. "I was gonna make that joke!"

We fooled around for a few more minutes until it was time for dinner. We were all gathered around a fire Charmeleon had lit with his tail. Our Pokemon ate the usual— berries and food pellets, while the few Pokemon they released ate things I had never even considered before. Louis' Gible stood in a corner as he savaged some poor wild Pokemon's corpse, eating it raw, while the rest ate some kind of paste that their trainers had brought in a bag. I would have to ask Cecilia about it after our training. Meanwhile, we ate the food we had bought in Floaroma and heated with our portable oven.

Finally, it was time to train, and we walked around five minutes away from camp to not disturb the others. I decided to focus on Togetic and Elekid today since Frillish was brooding in the sky. He hadn't even come down to eat a berry. Being in such a big group had seemingly angered him greatly, and it would take some time for him to get back to his usual self. Today, I wanted Togetic to finally master Extrasensory, while for Elekid, I simply wanted him to keep working on all of his attacks. Cecilia released her Slowpoke, whose tail had regrown slightly since the last time we saw each other, and her Fletchling. Denzel was obviously going to train with Eevee, but he released Budew to watch.

"No Deino today?" He asked Cecilia.

"No, I don't want to risk any injuries that would force us to turn back," She answered. She seemed deep in thought for a few seconds before snapping her fingers. "Here's how it's going to go. Togetic is going to be working with Slowpoke, and Elekid is going to be working with Eevee again. Fletchling, you can watch and join in if one of our Pokemon gets too tired."

Fletchling sang happily and rubbed its head against hers.

"For Elekid and Eevee, we're going to be doing the same as last time, except that you're going to be directing them," She said, pointing at us. "Togetic should just try to lift Slowpoke with Extrasensory as much as she can. He's heavier than he looks, so if she can lift him, she'll be in good shape to fight most threats."

"Toge!" Togetic said happily before flying a few feet away. Slowpoke lazily followed behind her, and I could have sworn I heard him sigh.

"Have fun, princess!" I said to her.

Denzel and I positioned ourselves opposite of each other, and our Pokemon got ready to battle. Elekid punched the air with quick consecutive jabs while Eevee simply stood slanted forward, with its hind legs ready to give a powerful burst of speed. I eyed my friend and smiled nervously. It had been so long since we last battled, and even though this was just, training, it still had some weight to it. Cecilia just observed with Fletchling still on her shoulder, and soon enough, she started the battle.

"Quick Kick!" Denzel yelled out.

Eevee blurred forward with a quick burst of speed, but Elekid was also extremely fast. He stepped to the side, but Eevee just turned incredibly fast and kicked him in the back. Elekid roared before spinning his arms as a burst of electricity sparked all around him.

"Chill out, hon," I said. "Use Swift,"

Elekid calmed down, and stars materialized above him before barrelling toward Eevee, who had retreated back to Denzel.

"Dodge with Quick Attack!" He ordered.

I grinned. The stars followed Eevee around no matter how many times he zig-zagged, and it was only a matter of time until they hit. Right now, all he was doing was expending energy. I waited for a few more precious seconds, where Eevee dashed madly around the battlefield before extending my hand.

"Corner him with a short Thundershock."

Elekid spun his arms as electricity quickly shot out of his horns, blocking Eevee's path. The normal type struggled to stop, sliding across the grass before getting hit by Swift. Elekid stopped his attack right afterward.

"Get in, and Thunder Punch him as many times as you can," I said.

Elekid rushed forward, only slightly slower than Eevee, as electric energy surrounded his fists.

"Sand Attack, then Bite!" Denzel yelled.

Eevee flung dirt across Elekid's eyes, and he promptly fell to the ground. He started furiously rubbing his eyes, desperately trying to get his vision back to normal.

"Charge up! Don't let him touch you!"

Elekid ignored my order, still desperately trying to get the dirt out of his eyes. Eevee bit into his arm, and Elekid yelled before punching him in the head, forcing him to let go. The two Pokemon stared at each other, ready to go again.

I can't approach him with that Sand Attack, so better do something that worked, I thought to myself. "Swift again!"

Denzel let out a frustrated groan. "You have to take it, but get as close as you can!"

Elekid released another set of stars that homed in toward his opponent, while Eevee Quick Attacked forward, simply pushing through Swift's impact and ramming into Elekid. Elekid was grinning wildly as he released a point-blank Thundershock. Eevee yelped and retreated with smoking fur.

"That's enough," Cecilia said. "The first round is finished, let me go grab some potions."

"Wait, the first round?" I asked.

The girl smiled beautifully. "I did say I wanted to train as much as possible, didn't I? And we have enough to go around."

Elekid and Eevee did nothing but battle for the next three hours. The two Pokemon were obviously developing quite a friendly rivalry, and they were the two members of our teams that enjoyed battling the most. Toward the end, though, Elekid was clearly getting the advantage in most fights, and it wasn't because Eevee was weak. It was because I was starting to predict what Denzel and Eevee were going to do, and I was always able to respond accordingly. Plus, we had ranged attacks while Eevee did not, meaning he was forced to approach while I pestered him with Swift and Thundershock. The two Pokemon were exhausted. Potions only healed injuries, after all. Meanwhile, Togetic was lifting Slowpoke and making him do flips in the air as she joyfully chirped and clapped her tiny hands against herself. We couldn't help but laugh when we saw the oblivious Slowpoke just lying in the air, all limp and taking it with that signature blank stare.

After we returned our Pokemon to let them rest— except Togetic, of course— Cecilia wanted to tell us what she thought about the battles.

"To a degree, you two have the opposite problem. Let's start with Denzel. Here's the good, your Eevee is a machine, and it seemingly never goes down. It was moving around a lot more than Elekid, and still, it was less tired by the end. However, your attacks lack… variety? No, let's call it creativity. You do the same thing over and over and expect it to work. Why?"

Denzel scratched his head. "Well, I haven't really thought about it. Usually, Eevee just pushes through until it works, and we win."

"Not good. Find new ways to use your moves. Improvise, and surprise the enemy. Quick Attack into Double Kick works the first few times, but then the enemy learns. Always think about what the other trainer is going to do next. Which is something Grace is good at," She said. I resisted the urge to grin like an idiot. "Also, you need some variety in your team. Using only Eevee might have worked so far, but you need to either start using your Budew, or catch something new for the fight against Gardenia. Do you realize how dangerous it would have been to go into Eterna forest with only one usable Pokemon if you hadn't joined us?" She continued. Denzel nodded, but I knew he was probably angry at himself. "Now, Grace, you anticipate your enemy's movements, but that's not all. When something doesn't work, you try to change it. Keep doing that. Although… you seem to overcomplicate things sometimes. You don't need to use Swift into Thundershock all of the time. There were many times during the battle where you could have hit a simple, longer Thundershock and dealt more damage than by trapping Eevee using the two moves."

I thought back to the battle, trying to find the moments she was thinking about. "I see what you mean. I guess sometimes, a simpler move just works."

"Correct. For example, in Deino's case, a simple Dragon Breath is more powerful than setting up an elaborate trap with Incinerate to block their escape by burning the grass behind the enemy and then running up to use Bite or Take Down. There are undoubtedly moments where traps are useful in battle, but they have a time and place. Sometimes, simple is just better."

I nodded, absorbing all of the information she was telling me. Cecilia was a treasure trove full of battling advice, and I couldn't help but wonder where she had gotten all of that information. Her brother, maybe? He was the Champion, but it felt inappropriate to ask since I knew she had family problems. Either way, we were tired, and it was time to hit the sack. We made our way back to the camp, where the fire had been extinguished, and they were already sleeping inside of that huge tent. We entered the tent, and I hopped inside my sleeping bag while Togetic settled next to me, showering me with happiness. Tonight would be another full night of sleep, and I would need it, because tomorrow, I would have to socialize.

Oh, and I also needed to ask them about their Pokemon food, which I had somehow forgotten about.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 38

The problem with having a ridiculously huge tent was that it also took a long time to disassemble it. While Denzel, Justin, Emilia, and I took care of cleaning up camp, the rest of the group tirelessly worked on folding all of the tent parts back up. Denzel nodded to his right, toward Justin, which I immediately noticed and answered him by mouthing out 'later'. He apparently didn't care.

"So Justin, I don't believe you've talked to my friend Grace here yet?" He asked.

"I have not. Would you formally introduce us?" He answered.

"Uh, well, Grace, this is Justin Gardner, and Justin, this is Grace Pastel. She's a little shy, but don't hesitate to pester her a little if you want to know more about her."

I held back a sigh and met the teen's eyes. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise. And my friend Emilia here thinks the same," Justin said, nodding toward her. She huffed before introducing herself.

I tried my best to initiate a conversation about Pokemon battling, asking if they had any Pokemon we hadn't seen yet. Justin answered enthusiastically, showing us his team. I had only seen his Growlithe, but the boy released a Sandile, which I excitedly scanned with my Pokedex. Since they were from Unova, these were extremely rare in Sinnoh.

"My father had her imported from Unova," Justin explained, petting the Sandile's rough skin. "Their evolved forms are fearsome. I've even heard that they can learn dragon type moves."

"Awesome!" I smiled. Sandile didn't seem too interested though and looked like she just wanted to get back in her ball. "What about you, Emilia?" I tried. The girl wasn't keen on talking to us, but one judgemental look from Justin made her speak.

"You saw that I used a Rockruff and an Aipom during the tournament, but I also own a Beldum."

I gasped at the mention of Beldum. Metagross were among the most powerful Pokemon in the world, not only having psychic abilities rivaling Alakazam, but also being extremely physically lethal. Emilia didn't release it, though, which made me question if she had something to hide. She hadn't used a Pokemon as powerful as Beldum in the tournament, and even now, she wasn't showing it to us.

"You guys have such good Pokemon," Denzel said. I sensed a little bit of bitterness in his tone, but I didn't think the others caught it. "If you train them properly, I have no doubt that you'll make it to the conference."

"I sure hope so," Justin sighed. "I would bring shame upon the Gardners if I didn't."

I paused. "Is your family pressuring you into winning the conference?"

Justin laughed. "Me? Win? Of course not. They just want me to get in. The conference is the most watched event each year. Millions of eyes will be glued to their screens for the duration of the tournament. My family is sponsoring me, you see. That means I'm representing Pherzen and attracting potential customers."

I thought back to what Denzel had told me. Pherzen was the pharmaceutical company that supplied most Pokemon Centers with whatever high-tech devices they used to heal Pokemon, although they also had products intended for human use.

"You do enjoy battling, though, right?" I asked.

"I do. I think it is a fun activity, but it's not my passion. I'll only be doing this for two years. That is the deal I had with my father: two years in the conference, and then I'm free to return to Jubilife."

"Damn," Denzel said. "I was forced into not participating in the Circuit last year, and I was furious. I can't imagine what it's like being forced to risk your life by participating in it."

Justin sighed sadly. "It is what it is. Originally we were supposed to get a flight to skip Eterna Forest, but our families gathered together and came to the conclusion that their children being caught not going through the Circuit 'properly' would hurt the image of their companies."

"And so here we are," Emilia spat, kicking a can of food. "Stuck living like pea—" She stopped herself, eyeing us. "Like… like animals!"

"Calm yourself, Emi. You only have to do it for a year," Justin said.

"I hate it! I hate these Arceus damned routes! I want to get back to a city already! I want to be able to go to a bathroom!" She yelled.

"Did you have the same problem with your parents?" I asked.

"We all have it. And it doesn't bother Pauline, Louis, or Cece because they actually want to do this trainer thing, but us two? Justin says he likes it, but he's just trying to convince himself!" She said.

"Emi—" Justin tried.

She interrupted him. "And me? I absolutely despise it, but I wouldn't have cared if we could have actually stayed in cities! I hate living in the wild."

"Please forgive her, that tone is unbecoming of a young woman," Justin said.

I frowned. "What? What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"I mean that young women shouldn't speak like this—"

"Bullshit. Let her speak how she wants to speak. I don't care how it is at your house, or houses, or whatever, but I won't stand for it here," I fumed before storming off.

These people! They were nice enough, but every so often, something would slip, and it was like we were from completely different worlds. We finished clearing up camp, and the tent was finally folded back, and soon enough, we were ready to start traveling again. I looked up in the sky where Frillish still hovered. He had stayed there the entire night.

"Buddy! We're leaving!" I called out. He glared at me, reminding me of the days when I had just caught him. "Come on, Frillish, get down here!"

There was no reaction from him.

"Please?" I begged.

Frillish turned toward me again and reluctantly floated downward.

"Come on, I know you hate large groups, but you can't be acting like a child the entire time," I said, holding one of his tentacles. "Right now, it's alright because the Pokemon on this route are relatively weak and tend to stay away from us because of our numbers, but Eterna forest is going to be different. One thing goes wrong, and we could get seriously hurt or… or die."

"Fri…" He said, bowing his head.

"Thanks for apologizing," I said. "I'm sorry too. I should have told you about this beforehand. I just got so excited that I forgot. I'll make it up to you somehow."

The water type bobbed his head and rubbed me with his tentacles.

I chuckled. "Alright, alright! That tickles!"

I recalled Frillish to keep him away from the group. It had been my first time seeing him like this since I had just caught him, but I was glad I had at least learned something new about him. It was kind of confusing too, because he didn't seem to mind cities or towns, but the problem was when I actually traveled with others.

While we were on the road again, climbing the gentle incline that would lead us to Eterna forest. Denzel quietly approached me.

"Sorry about Justin," He apologized. "He didn't say anything about women when we talked yesterday."

"Not your fault, don't apologize. Next time, speak up with me instead, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Anyway, any progress on that Buneary?" I asked.

"Nope, but I haven't looked that hard yet. Today I want to actually start actively searching. Think I can ask Cecilia's Fletchling for help?"

"Cecilia's nice enough, so I think she'll say yes. I can also get Togetic to help you look."

Denzel thanked me and made his way toward Cecilia. I wondered what was determining what Pokemon Denzel chose. At first, I thought he was copying a part of Cynthia's team— a part because she had more than six Pokemon, while we trainers were forced into having a maximum of six of them on us at a time because the League didn't think we were capable of taking care of them adequately. The Champion didn't have that problem, and neither did the Elite Four or the Gym Leaders. Cynthia had ten Pokemon in total, and maybe even more that she hadn't shown yet.

Denzel could have evolved Eevee into Glaceon, and then had a Roserade and Milotic, but Buneary broke the streak of Pokemon they'd have in common, so clearly, he was after something else. I would need to ask him soon, but he was probably going to tease me again, dangling the information in front of me. Either way, this was making me think about a potential fourth member. It was common sense for trainers that the earlier in the Circuit you obtained six Pokemon, the better it was, because you would have more time to spend with them and train. But it also wasn't good to rush and capture the first Pokemon you saw on any route, there were a lot of factors to consider.

First, what types did I want? My mind immediately jumped to dragon after seeing how Deino and Gible performed, but I had to be realistic. If I considered the types I already had, I needed a fire type, a grass type, and the last could be anything to give the team a bit of variety, but if I could choose, I'd probably take a steel or a rock type. Something that could take a ton of hits.

Sinnoh was an extremely cold region, and winter was coming, so the fire type was out for now. We were going into Eterna forest soon, though, meaning that if I wanted a powerful grass type, the forest was the best area to get one. Plus, a grass type wouldn't help offensively in my fight against Gardenia, but it sure would help defensively, and it would also help immensely against Wake and Volkner. I smirked. That settled it then, I would try to catch whichever grass type caught my eye in Eterna forest.

Fletchling screeched as she began flying overhead, so I released Togetic and described to her what Buneary looked like. She flew off into the sky and began to search. As soon as Louis stopped sticking to Cecilia, I walked up to her, hoping to ask about what kind of food she fed her Pokemon. She was talking with Pauline, so I found it awkward to interrupt, but once she saw me, she called me over with a gentle smile.

"Grace," Pauline said dryly.

"Sorry," I said. "I had a question, I hope I'm not interrupting?"

"Oh, we were just talking about Pauline's mother and her new venture into the fashion world, so nothing too interesting," Cecilia waved her hand. "What is it?"

"I wouldn't call it uninteresting. More like mindless small talk," Pauline said.

"Isn't that what uninteresting means…?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I stopped when I saw her glare at me. "Anyway, remember how you talked to us about how diet affected your Pokemons' effectiveness in battle?" Cecilia nodded. "I was wondering what that paste you were feeding your teams was."

"You're not getting any—" Pauline started.

Cecilia interrupted her softly "Pauline, you promised to be nicer."

"Hmph. I'm going to discuss my mother's business with Emi."

Pauline stormed off, flaring up that temper I had learned to expect since that time at the tournament. I apologized to Cecilia for making her argue with her friend.

"Oh, don't worry about it too much," The girl said. "Pauline has always been like this except with Emilia. They've known each other since they were toddlers. Anyway, regarding our Pokemon food, it's made by a team of hired breeders and airlifted to us every time we get to a city."

My eyes almost fell out of their sockets. Airlifted? And it was all homemade? They didn't even buy it at some expensive store?

Cecilia continued. "It's a special mix that contains every vitamin a Pokemon needs to grow stronger— and all top quality, of course. This isn't known amongst most trainers, but vitamins not only keep your Pokemon more healthy, but they also give them a boost. One or two meals are negligible, but over multiple months? It'll stack up and result in your team being much more powerful than an average trainer's."

"Arceus…" I muttered. I couldn't help but feel jealous, even though much of that jealousy was overshadowed by the happiness I felt just speaking to Cecilia. "So if I save up enough money, I should feed my team vitamins?"

Her eyes widened. "You won't ask for some?"

"Nah," I said flatly. "I don't want to seem like I'm just milking you for money. I mean, you're already lending me and Denzel your potions, right?"

Cecilia grinned and bumped her shoulder against mine as we walked. I had to stop myself from shutting down. I knew I had no chance, but by the Legendaries, just talking to her still felt amazing.

The next two days were uneventful. We trained with Cecilia at night and kept traveling toward Eterna during the day at breakneck speed. I was slowly getting closer to Justin— we weren't close to being friends yet, but I'd say we were at least acquaintances. Emilia wouldn't talk to Denzel or me and instead preferred hanging out with Pauline and Cecilia. On the fourth day, Louis attempted to join us during our training session.

"May I join you three tonight? Gible has been restless these last few days, and I believe Deino needs a sparring partner," The blond man asked.

Cecilia smiled. "Of course. I was starting to worry that I was neglecting his growth. Could you wait until we're done, though? A fight between dragons requires my full attention, and I have to watch what Denzel and Grace are doing."

"I also have Prinplup to take care of," He said. I had known that Louis had a Prinplup from the forums, but I had yet to see it. "Surely he can join."

Cecilia paused, seemingly considering his offer. "You know what, it would be a good test. Why don't you and Grace do a mock battle?"

"Excellent! I have wanted to battle Grace since I saw her fight with your team at the tournament."

I grabbed Elekid's Pokeball before Cecilia shook her head. "The type advantage would make the battle too one-sided. Why don't you use Togetic for this fight?"

"Alright," I said nervously.

Louis released his Prinplup from a Luxury Ball. The Pokemon announced himself with a weird honk. That wasn't at all what I expected it to sound like. I grabbed Togetic's Pokeball and sent her out. She chirped and floated a few feet in front of me. Unlike my mock battles with Denzel, where I didn't care who won or lost, I couldn't help but be nervous about this one. I felt like I needed to prove myself to Cecilia by winning against her fiance.

You gave up on her already, I thought to myself. Stop these silly thoughts.

Either way, the battle was about to start, and since I hadn't expected it, I didn't know any of Prinplup's moves. I'd have to craft a strategy on the fly.

Which was probably why Cecilia made it happen in the first place.

---

A/N: So basically, you know how in Pokemon games, you can give vitamins to your Pokemon to give them more EVs? That's what Cecilia's group is doing, so their team's 'stats' are better than everyone else. Eventually, though, others will catch up, but it'll take a while.

Anyway, I made a while ago Discord that you can join to chat and get pinged when a chapter goes up!

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 39

There were a few things to consider before I could even think about winning this battle. Louis hadn't used Prinplup in Roark's gym, or the tournament, so there were no videos of footage of its moves. I was going in blind, so my first condition for victory was wasting time to learn how Prinplup fought. There were a few ways of doing that, but first, I needed to lay the first trap.

Louis extended his hand in a dramatic fashion. "Prinplup, Ice Beam!"

My eyes widened, but I didn't panic. "Fly up, princess."

Togetic floated upward, barely avoiding the blast of ice. It collided against the facade of the mountain we were next to and froze the jagged rocks. I hadn't considered Ice Beam, but Louis probably had his Prinplup completely decked out with TMs, which was strange because Gible only had moves it naturally learned.

"Again! Aim for her body!"

The Ice Beam clipped Togetic's side, and she cried out in pain. It seemed Louis was going to be using the move over and over, and he seemingly had the Prinplup under control, unlike his Gible, so I wasn't going to get any new information by waiting.

"Togetic, land!"

She looked at me confusedly, but one look into my eyes made her understand I was serious. Togetic landed, avoiding another Ice Beam, and clumsily stood on the soft grass.

"Get closer to her and keep Ice Beaming!"

The water type awkwardly ran toward Togetic. It wasn't very fast, which meant that I thankfully had ample time to react for the next step of the plan.

"Protect yourself with Ancient Power," I ordered.

Togetic's eyes lit up as she lifted a giant chunk of earth in front of herself, blocking two Ice Beams. I had made her land because it was simply faster and easier to form a barrier with Ancient Power so close to the ground.

"Just get around and Metal Claw!"

I wanted to smirk, but I hadn't won yet. I waited as long as I could, and when Prinplup was two steps away from Togetic until I slammed my foot twice against the ground. I was scared that because of the soft surface, Togetic wouldn't hear, but a pink heart escaped from her mouth, hitting her opponent. Prinplup staggered and began swaying around.

"Fly up and gather a Fairy Wind," I said.

Princess chirped and floated up as a pink gust gathered around her. Louis complained endlessly to his Prinplup, begging him to come back to his senses.

"Make it as powerful as possible, Togetic. You've got time," I told her.

After gathering up the wind for twenty seconds, I could barely see her in the middle of it all. She yelled out confidently, sending it all downward to slam against Prinplup. The water type collapsed under the weight of such a concentrated Fairy Wind, and when it cleared, he stood back up. My eyes widened. I had honestly expected that supercharged Fairy Wind to knock it out in one move, but Prinplup was still standing, albeit it was obvious that he was barely staying awa—

"Ice Beam!"

"Shit! Ancient—"

Togetic tried to dodge, but the ice hit her directly, and she fell to the ground. I had been thinking too much! Or at least I wasn't thinking fast enough.

"Quick, get to her and Metal Claw!" Louis yelled.

"Extrasensory!" I barked out. "Try to lift him up!"

Togetic was still on the ground, but Arceus bless her, she was still ready to fight. A strange force surrounded Prinplup, and he was slowly lifted up in the air. I stared at Togetic, and I could tell she was struggling too much to slam him against the ground, or the wall of the mountain.

"Just get your bearings back and let him go. Stay on the ground."

I concentrated, feeling the gears in my mind turn as the world slowed. The problem I had was that gathering up a Fairy Wind would always be slower than Prinplup's quick Ice Beams, and if princess was busy concentrating on using the move, she wouldn't be able to dodge. For all I disliked Louis, I had to admit he had trained his Prinplup exceptionally well, which was a heavy contrast with his Gible. I needed to somehow trap Prinplup into coming close to Togetic again, but now, Louis knew the signal, so it wouldn't work.

Think, think, think!

"Ice Beam, again!" Louis ordered.

"Ancient Power."

The Ice attack hit Togetic's barrier, and Prinplup began running around it, hoping to get a good angle to attack. As the scene unfolded, Cecilia's words resonated in my mind.

Sometimes, simple is just better, She had said.

"Raise more earth around you with Ancient Power!" I yelled out.

"Prrrri!"

Multiple rocks and chunks of dirt rose around Togetic, surrounding her completely.

"Now, attack!"

They all shot out toward Prinplup, who had to completely stop his attacks to concentrate on dodging one rock after the other. I watched in awe, as what was inevitably Togetic's strongest move hit Prinplup, knocking the water type out. I pumped my fist and squealed in joy. That had been so obvious, and yet in the heat of battle, I hadn't even thought about it at all.

"Damn it," He said, returning his Prinplup. I could see real disappointment in his eyes, the same kind Denzel and I had when we lost a battle. It seemed that he truly enjoyed battling and always strove to win. "That was… that was a good battle, I suppose."

"It was," I said, surprised at his calm reaction. People that had huge egos like Louis tended to blow up whenever they lost. "It went a little bit too far as well. Sorry for knocking out your Pokemon when you might need him in the wild."

"Well, nothing a little bit of rest and potions won't remedy, I suppose," He said. "Thank you for setting up that battle, Cece. It seems Prinplup still has much to learn."

Ah, there it was, I thought. Blaming his Pokemon instead of himself, that was the Louis I had expected to come out.

"Come find me whenever you're done so Gible can train with Deino," He said as he left. "I need to go heal Prinplup."

"Very well," Cecilia answered.

When Louis left, Denzel rushed to my side and high-fived me.

"You did so good! I'm jealous, I don't think I could have won against that Prinplup," He said. I couldn't help but smile at the praise. "As soon as I saw that Ice Beam, I thought it was over, but you managed to win anyway. It's kind of annoying, but that just means I have to train even harder. Right Eevee?"

"Eevee!" He barked.

"Thanks," I said. "But I think you could have won. Prinplup can't run really well, and Eevee's a fast little guy. You could have overwhelmed him with speed and close-range combat."

He looked at Eevee for a few seconds, thinking about what I had said. "You might be right. I was annoyed when Louis interrupted our training, but I actually want to battle him now. Well, as long as I don't have to battle that Gible again…"

Cecilia approached me with an amused look. "You did well, Grace. I wanted to see how you would respond to a sudden battle without the time to study your opponents, and you managed to pass, although there are many improvements you could make. For example, have you tried altering the path of a move with Extrasensory…" She started.

I swallowed and averted my eyes. I was so nervous, I could barely focus on what she was telling me. Was I blushing? Did I look weird? I was sweating so much, oh Arceus, what was I doing with my hands—

"Hey, Cecilia, Grace over here's been wondering if she could be your friend," Denzel said.

If looks could kill, he would have spontaneously combusted right then and there. He looked at me and shrugged, and I stepped on his foot. He rolled his eye and looked at Cecilia.

"Well," She started, hesitantly. "Sure, we get along. I suppose we can give it a try."

"Great!" Denzel said. "Now, let's get back to camp."

I wanted to drag him aside and yell at him. I was trying to get over Cecilia, not get closer! She was just my teacher, and when we were out of Eterna forest, we'd go our separate ways again! She hadn't even been that enthusiastic about being friends, which hurt a lot more than if she had just flat-out refused. It was like she was accepting out of pity. I stomped away furiously, and instead of getting into that giant tent, I decided to hang out with my team instead to calm down and clear my head. Togetic hovered closely with her head over my shoulder as I pet her head. Frillish was observing the surroundings, scaring away any wild Pokemon that got anywhere close to us. Elekid was training a few feet away, punching the air with Thunder Punch.

"Relax, buddy," I told Frillish. "You can chill out with us. Why don't you play with Togetic a little?" After so many days of intense training, I wanted to spend an hour or two just relaxing with my team, although I was under no illusion that I could convince Elekid to stop until he himself determined that he was done.

"Toge!" Togetic agreed.

Frillish rolled his eyes and came down. It was cute how he had designated himself as the group's protector, but being on edge twenty-four-seven wasn't healthy. I grabbed one of his tentacles and started dancing with him like he was a human. The look of disappointment he shot toward me made me burst out laughing, almost to the point of tears.

"You're… you're something else, Frillish. Come on, let's dance some more!"

He spat out water at me and turned away. I wiped it off and smiled. Togetic flew toward Frillish and snuggled her head against his, and even though he looked annoyed, he stayed still and was subject to her vicious cuddles. I walked toward Elekid, who screamed enthusiastically as he shot out a Thundershock at a tree.

"Hey, honey," I told Elekid. "Let's get you and Frillish on good terms, yeah?"

He crossed his arms and looked at Frillish with devilish eyes. I raised an eyebrow, wondering what prank would befall my poor water type. Elekid called out with a booming cry, and Frillish stared at him for a few seconds before ignoring him. Elekid called out again.

"Come on, buddy! He just wants to speak to you!" I lied. I knew he wanted to do something, I just didn't know what. Hopefully, the prank wouldn't anger Frillish too much. I could stop it, but a part of me wanted to see his reaction.

"Fri…" He said quietly as he flew down, followed by Togetic.

"Kid! Elekid!" Elekid screamed, extending his arm. Did he want to shock him? Frillish's red eyes narrowed, and he sprayed the electric type with water. Elekid simply laughed and retracted his hand.

Togetic smiled and tried touching Elekid's horns, but he nimbly dodged her advances. It looked like even to Elekid, hurting Togetic was off-limits. Frillish turned back and looked with interest as Elekid weaved and dodged Togetic as she tried flying into him. His head slumped as he approached Elekid once again with one of his tentacles extended. Togetic watched in awe, probably because she really wanted to know what would happen.

Had Frillish finally started respecting Elekid after seeing that he wasn't willing to hurt her with his antics? Now he was finally willing to entertain his pranks. My heart melted. He was so sweet!

Elekid sniggered and clumsily grabbed Frillish's tentacle with his three claws. Frillish jumped a little and sent out a slightly more powerful jet of water this time. Togetic laughed and clapped her hands, seemingly satisfied by the prank. We continued hanging out deep into the night. I would be tired tomorrow, and eventually, I would need to explain the dangers that were ahead of us, but right now?

All I could think about was how much I loved these three.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 40

On the afternoon of the seventh day, we were on the brink of reaching Eterna forest. It had taken longer than we wanted to because the closer we got, the more rough and uneven the terrain became. Over the course of the trip, I felt like my team had gotten much better, but I still wasn't sure if it'd be enough for our venture into the maws of the forest. Frillish had mastered Poison Sting, which was weak but had a chance to poison his foes which could be deadly with Hex. Elekid was finally at a level where I'd consider him equal to the rest of the team, and I was trying to make him inject electric energy into his Swift attack, but progress was slow. Togetic, unfortunately, had learned most of her powerful moves, but she still had incredible potential. Psychic energy was like a muscle, so she kept training and improving Extrasensory and Ancient Power as much as she could while making sure to keep Fairy Wind up to par.

Denzel felt frustrated with his progress, but right now, I'd say Eevee was improving faster than Elekid was. He was starting to win more and more of their battles, and Denzel had taken Cecilia's advice to heart since he was in the process of teaching Swift to Eevee, which would be a boon to their long-distance battling. Budew sometimes joined in training but listened to none of his commands, but Denzel was still incredibly happy with her. Meanwhile, Feebas could only come out when we were next to a pond or a river, which were sparse on this route. There was still no sign of any Buneary, but they lived in greater numbers in Eterna forest itself.

There was still awkwardness between Denzel, me, and Cecilia's group. Justin was still the one we spoke to the most often, but being with him was sometimes irritating since he seemingly was raised in another century. Emilia was starting to be terrified, and would rarely speak, while Pauline and Louis put all of their energy into training with Cecilia and us. Tensions were high, especially when we finally reached the outpost at the forest's entrance. There was a Ranger building, standing tall in its usual army green color palette, a Pokemon Center, albeit way smaller than the usual ones found in cities and towns. There were also a few buildings littered about, along with trainers walking about and filtering in and out of the Center.

The Center itself was bigger than it looked, but there was no specialized human wing. Nurse Joys took care of trainers and Pokemon here.

"Finally," Emilia sighed. "Let's get to the Center and rest."

We all agreed. We were all exhausted, even if some showed it more than others, and finally sleeping in a soft, warm bed would do wonders. We were all assigned to different rooms, and some were on different floors, but Cecilia's room was pretty close to mine.

"When should we meet again?" Denzel asked.

Louis tapped his chin. "How about one hour? Then we can grab lunch and talk strategy."

Emilia sniffled. "Could we stay here for a bit? Three days at least?" She begged.

"We'll see, Emi," Louis said. "For now, let us rest."

I glanced at Denzel, and we nodded at each other before making our way up the stairs. He entered my room and took off his shoes with a satisfied groan.

"Don't sit on my bed before you shower," I warned. "Which is what I'm going to do."

"Fine," He said. "I'm getting the jitters."

"We all are, but it's something every trainer has to go through. With our numbers and the amount of Pokemon we have, I'm sure we'll make it," I reassured him. We had all heard stories about the unfortunate souls that got lost in the forest, never to be seen again. I was terrified that it'd be one of us, but I had to push forward. "You should probably clean yourself up before we have to meet up, by the way."

"Yeah, yeah, just let me relax for a second," Denzel sighed. "Catch up with the forums and any news I might have missed on the way here."

I nodded and stepped into the bathroom. I took off the bandage on my cheek and winced slightly at the pain. I stared at the cut. It had healed slightly, and it had formed into a crust, but it still hurt when I touched it. I took a warm shower before filling up the bath with cold water for Frillish, who thanked me by nodding his head up and down excitedly before jumping into the bath. After taking a deep breath and forcing myself to open the door, Denzel was gone. After some thinking, I decided to put on a fresh change of clothes and get to the lobby early.

"Get him to one of the Nurses, now!" I heard someone say.

Heads turned toward the entrance as a trainer was brought in on a stretcher. Half of his body was completely purple, and he was foaming at the mouth. Sharp, purple darts were sticking out of his arm. He was quickly carried behind the counter. I stood there with a grim look, my eyes following the young trainer, wondering if that fate was what awaited us.

"Grace," I heard.

I turned and saw Pauline with her arms crossed, leaning against the wall. It took a few seconds for me to answer. I was still shaking from what I had seen. Would that trainer even live?

"P—Pauline, you're already here."

"I am observing. This is the third trainer that has been brought in by the rangers in thirty minutes. The first one was missing a hand, and the second was bleeding profusely from his gut."

I clenched my fist. "That's… that's horrible."

"It seems the rangers still patrol the forest's entrance to save straggling trainers, at the very least," She said. "But when we're deeper in, we'll be on our own."

I frowned. Pauline wasn't sounding like a scared person, as Emilia, or even Justin was sometimes. Hell, even I could tell Louis was getting more nervous the closer we got to Eterna forest. But her? I couldn't figure her out.

"What do you think?" I asked.

"About?"

"About what happened to them?"

"Why ask such a question?" Pauline said, rolling her eyes.

"Because I'm interested."

The redhead paused for a few seconds before answering. "Frankly, I don't care," She said dryly. "I'm more concerned about the people that matter to me than random trainers I don't know anything about."

"So seeing this doesn't phase you at all?" I asked, clenching my teeth.

"No. Well, it does, but only when I imagine it happening to me, or my friends. Is that so wrong?" She asked with a slight smile.

Around us, trainers were calming down and going back to their usual routine. Some people gossiped and tried to find out more information about predators that lurked in the forest. Some tried forming groups with others that looked like they knew what they were doing and that had been on the Circuit in previous years, while others just looked dejected, and were probably considering giving up.

"You have no empathy for others," I said. "I think that's wrong."

"Can we afford to care about every little thing?" Pauline asked me, twirling her hair. "There are thousands of events like these happening all over the world at all times. Do you grieve for each one?"

"No, but this is happening in front of your eyes," I said forcefully. "I think it's fucked not to even care."

"You talk a lot, for someone who— ah, Cece!" Pauline said, immediately softening her expression.

"Hello, girls. I see you're here early."

"There's just twenty minutes left. I was just passing the time with Grace, discussing moral quandaries. Did you speak to Louis?"

"Yes, he's just calling his father to let him know we're here," Cecilia said. "You should all do the same before we go. Call your parents."

"I will, after lunch. Speaking off, let's get seats together," She smiled.

I agreed, following the two girls toward the cafeteria. I was trying to find out what Pauline's deal was. With her friends, she behaved normally, but she seemed to completely disregard others. I supposed maybe we were just built differently, and there was nothing I could do about it. Hell, maybe I had been in the wrong, pushing my morality onto her. We sat at a large table and waited for the rest of the group. These weren't things to worry about right now. I needed to be completely focused on our task at hand: surviving the next leg of my journey.

"There they are," I heard Justin say.

Justin and Emilia sat at the table, and Denzel followed suit two minutes later. We all grabbed lunch and got to discussing a plan.

"First thing's first, how long will it take to make it through the forest," I started. "I feel like that's among the most important things to know."

"I've read online that it entirely depends. Some people take a week, others are stuck there for a month. There isn't an official path or direction to take, but there are checkpoints and markings that were set by rangers or previous trainers passing through."

"A month?" Emilia trembled. "A month?!"

"Calm down, Emi," Justin said, patting her back. Pauline grabbed her hand.

"What are these markings like? Do you know?" Cecilia asked.

"Yeah. Words, arrows, or warnings carved onto trees. Some of them tell us where to go, some warn about aggressive Pokemon being ahead, and stuff like that. They've been left there over generations, and most of them point toward the northeast."

"Great, so there's at least some kind of path to follow," I said.

"We'll have to sleep in shifts," Louis said. "I'll have a schedule ready for us whenever we leave. What are the Pokemon we have to watch out for?"

"I've heard many stories about Scyther lurking in the forest," Justin said.

"They are apex predators, and forests are where they thrive," Cecilia said with a slight smirk, which I found strange.

"There are Dustox there too," He said. "Their poison is lethal, but that's not all. There are Arbok, Beedrill colonies, Vileplume, Parasect, Ninjask, and hell, that's not even counting the ghosts. All of the worst Pokemon you can think of will be there, I can send you guys a list to study up."

"That would be wise," Louis said with a dark look. "Next up, we should find out what the best configuration is regarding our Pokemon."

"Configuration?" I asked.

"He means what Pokemon would be best to use," Pauline clarified, rolling her eyes at me.

"Thank you, Pauline. It would be wise not to have all of our Pokemon out at once. That would attract too many unwanted eyes and stalkers in the forest, and some of our Pokemon don't like each other very much. Plus, it would be better to keep some in their Pokeball in case others are irreparably wounded or need to rest. I believe our best option is to each have one Pokemon out at all times."

"I have Charmeleon," Pauline said.

"There are rules," Denzel interjected. "You can only use fire moves if you're one hundred percent sure you're about to die, and even after that, they expect you to stop its flames with water types. Don't forget the forest is also a protected natural park. The Rangers don't want anyone to start a forest fire."

"How aggravating," She quickly said. "Then I suppose Gothita will do. Charmeleon will light our fires at night."

"I'll just be using Eevee, I guess," Denzel said. "He's got a good sense of hearing."

"It… it pains me to say, but I have to use Prinplup. Gible will be useful in battle, but my starter tends to be more obedient."

"A water type?" I asked.

"Gible is without a doubt the strongest Pokemon here," He said. I ignored his boast. "But he knows this as well, so he is more resistant, but I'm afraid he might run off to fight something and bite off more than he can chew."

I nodded at this surprising moment of clarity. He must have been really nervous to admit such a thing, but I was happy everyone was doing their best to make it through.

"I'll use Growlithe," Justin said. We stared at him confusedly. "Don't look at me like I'm a pariah. Sandile is unfit for the forest's environment, and Growlithe has plenty of non-fire moves to use. Plus, his sense of smell is excellent."

"Very well," Cecilia said. "I'll use Deino."

That was simple enough, no justification was needed. I thought about it for a second. Frillish was out of the question for now. There were too many Pokemon with grass type moves to threaten him, and they wouldn't pull any punches. Wild Pokemon never held back in general, but here? I didn't want to risk it. Togetic could fly, but in the forest's environment, that might be a disadvantage. Pokemon could leap from trees and jump on her, and she wasn't nimble enough to dodge the kind of predators that would be coming. I couldn't help but imagine a terrifyingly fast Scyther just flying into her and cutting her apart before I even had the chance to recall her. That meant I'd have to use Elekid.

"I'll use Elekid," I said. I was unsure of my choice, and nervousness began to take hold of me. I was terrified I was going to make a mistake and lose someone, but no matter how much I thought about it, Elekid was the right choice.

"What about you, Emilia?" Louis asked.

"I—I don't know. I don't want to do this," The girl shook.

"It'll be okay, Emi," Justin reassured her.

"No! It won't!"

Justin looked at Louis and shook his head.

"Very well. Don't worry too much about it, Pauline. We'll figure something out. For the rest, we'll be using that set of Pokemon, but of course, we'll be able to swap them out whenever they get too tired, or wounded beyond what a potion can heal."

"When are we leaving?" I asked, wanting to rip the band-aid off. "I think we should take a day or two off," I continued, looking at Emilia.

"Yeah, I think so too," Denzel added. "I'll use the time to talk to trainers coming back from the forest to gather info and see if they have any useful tips."

"Alright. I assume that means no training tonight?" Cecilia said.

"Yeah, sorry. To be honest, I think Eevee deserves a break. The rest will do him good."

"Alright then, that's it for the strategy meeting," Louis said. "Let's eat."

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 41

After lunch, we decided to split up and go about our business. Pauline and Justin stayed in Emilia's room to comfort her. Denzel was going around and asking people for information and making connections. Louis and Cecilia had probably gone off somewhere to train their dragon types since they hadn't had as much time to do so since we joined the group because Cecilia's attention was focused on us. Or maybe they were just hanging out. That left little old me. What would I do?

I stepped out of the Center and explored the makeshift town that had been built at the forest's entrance. People that lived here were all employees associated with the League or the Rangers, and I assumed the personnel rotated every few weeks, or maybe months. I stepped toward the forest entrance and saw that Rangers were stopping trainers and asking for some kind of ticket. Wanting to know more, I stepped forward curiously.

"No entrance ticket, no entry!" One of the Rangers said.

The trainer scoffed. "What's this about a ticket? I just got here!"

"It's a new system we're trying out, and it's been approved by the League. You have to go through a four hour class in the Ranger building to have access to the forest."

"A class? I have a badge, I don't need any classes!"

"Trust me, kid, you'll need it. It teaches you everything you need to watch out for in the forest and how to fight back."

The girl groaned and left in the direction of the Ranger building. It was the first time I was hearing about this, and even Denzel supposedly didn't know about it, since he hadn't said anything. I entered the large, cube-like building. Ranger stations were set up like Pokemon Centers. They had a lobby the same size, with a receptionist and an employee-only zone further in the back. There was a line of trainers, who were no doubt here to sign up for this 'class'. I didn't want to sign up without informing everybody else, so I left. One thought was stuck in my mind, however. Even with this class, people were severely wounded. And where they were wounded, there were deaths.

When I got back to the Center, I found Denzel in the lobby, speaking to some guy that looked older than us. If I had to place his age, I'd say he was in his early twenties.

"... underestimate Morelull. If you're lucky, you won't be seeing any, but if provoked, they emit lights that make you fall asleep for hours. That's a death sentence in the forest. If you see one, turn away as fast as you can."

Denzel was typing away furiously in his Poketch, taking notes. "Damn, this place is designed to get you killed. What about Phantump and Trevenant? I've heard some other kid talking about seeing those during his first venture inside."

"Leave the Phantump," The man said in a grim voice. "And that trainer's full of shit. Probably he wanted to embellish his story. You won't be seeing Trevenant here."

"Sounds good— ah, Grace!" Denzel said when he saw me. "Come here."

I walked up to the two and introduced myself. The old trainer did the same.

"My name's Scott. I've been giving information to your friend here," He said. "It's my fifth go through the Circuit and my fourth time going through the forest."

I looked at Scott in awe. "Wow," I said. "Thanks a lot. Sorry for interrupting though,"

"No problem, we were almost done anyway," Scott said. "I enjoy giving advice to new trainers. I have to say, though, it pains me to see so much suffering. This year's the worst one so far. There weren't that many injured last time."

"That must be why the Rangers are forcing us to take a class," I said.

"A class?" Denzel asked.

"Yeah, it's a four hour course on Eterna forest. Personally, I find it a little redundant, but if it helps the new generation, I won't complain," Scott said as he got up. "It was nice to meet you, Denzel. You've got my number if you need any more info. I'll be hanging at the outpost for a little longer."

"Thanks," He said.

It wasn't often that we saw old trainers like Scott. Most people would have given up and returned to their normal lives by now, but it looked like he was still going strong. I was sure he was an extremely powerful trainer to have survived going through the forest so many times without a scratch or a scar. I told Denzel about how to sign up for the class and then left him to gather more information. I was sure it would be crucial for traversing the forest, so I didn't want to disturb him too much. I went back to my room to pick up Frillish, but when I stepped out, I heard a door slam. Cecilia stomped out of Louis' room, seemingly on the verge of tears. I felt my heart ache, and I followed her. The girl took refuge in her room, and I hesitated to knock. Would I be intruding? Was I doing this out of the goodness of my heart, or was I hoping for something else?

I was a terrible person.

I knocked anyway.

"Louis… not now, please," Cecilia sobbed. I flinched, not expecting her voice to be so close. She was right behind the door.

"Uh— it's not Louis, it's— it's Grace. Should I leave?"

"Oh," I heard. "Sorry."

After around thirty seconds, Cecilia opened the door and let me in. She looked fine, although her eyes were red. She was clearly trying to hide the fact that she had been crying.

"Sorry, I saw you cry when you came out of Louis' room, so I was wondering if I could help. We're friends, right?"

The girl nodded. "I wasn't crying," She lied. "But thank you anyway."

"What happened? If you don't mind me asking."

"It's just something stupid," She sniffled. "He's been talking to my best friend in Unova behind my back. It's… it's like I can't trust anyone here. I like my friends, of course, but I can't speak freely to them. I always have to watch what I say."

"Is it because of your dad?" I guessed.

"It's always because of my father. I'm scared that he's getting information about me through them, through no fault of their own. They don't know how bad he really is. With you, I can at least say something because you're just a normal girl," She said. "No offense."

I nodded. "But it's your best friend, right? Would she say stuff to your dad?"

"I don't know," She said, clenching her pants. "I wish I could be sure, but recently, I've started doubting her— anyway, I'm okay now, so it doesn't matter. Thank you for helping, Grace."

"No prob," I said, shuffling around. "How did you guys meet, anyway?"

"Me and Amy?"

I guessed that that was the name of her best friend.

"No, you and the rest of the group."

"Oh. Well, I knew Pauline from her mother's many business trips to Unova already, but the rest, I met recently when I first flew to Sinnoh. Our parents arranged our travels together."

I wanted to ask about Louis too, but I decided against it. One, it would just be rude to do it right after she argued with him. Two, I wanted to prove to myself that I was better than that. I didn't want to take advantage of the argument for…

What was I doing? She didn't even like girls.

I deflated. "Anyway, I also wanted to tell you about a class we have to take…"

I explained the situation to Cecilia, who seemed to be better now that we were focusing on something other than relationships. We hung out for a while, something I couldn't help but be happy about. I mostly asked her about how it was back in Unova. The region was a little bigger than Sinnoh was, and it was home to way more people. Cecilia told me about how she used to go to one of her family's beach houses in a city called Humilau with Amy every summer. I couldn't help but notice the sad twinge in her voice whenever she brought up her best friend, so I steered to conversation away, talking about how I first got Togetic and the antics she used to pull as a Togepi. That seemed to cheer her up.

Ultimately though, we couldn't stay inside all day. Cecilia went to pick up her friends in their room while I was in charge of letting Louis know about the course because Cecilia was still furious at him, although she asked me to hide that fact. When I knocked on his door to let him know, he just ignored me and asked me if I knew where his girlfriend was.

"I do know, but uh, she's picking up the others... Anyway, it doesn't matter, since we all have to go to sign up for the class."

"You have to help me talk to her. She misunderstood—"

"That's not my job," I said. Every time I talked, I felt more and more awful. I was letting my jealousy affect the way I spoke, and I knew I had to put these feelings behind me. "Talk to her yourself, man."

He sighed. "I suppose I'll have to. So we're meeting at the Ranger station?"

"Mhm."

Walking in silence with Louis felt awkward, but we just didn't have that much in common. At least with Cecilia, I could push through listening about her insane amount of beach houses because of my stupid crush, and we could bond over our Pokemon training, but I wasn't about to listen to Louis complain about whatever problems billionaires had. Even though Louis enjoyed battling, the passion Cecilia had for it simply wasn't there. He didn't put out even half of what she did.

Argh, I was just trying to find more reasons to dislike him, wasn't I?

Whatever. We all met at the station a few minutes later. Louis kept repeatedly apologizing until Cecilia reluctantly accepted it, and everyone else seemed fine. Even Emilia, although still clearly scared, appeared to have calmed down. Luckily we wouldn't have to wait, so we were placed in a makeshift classroom right away. There was the beginning of a powerpoint being projected onto the wall, and we all sat in plastic chairs facing the presentation. Our 'teacher' was a veteran ranger with a strange decoloration on his neck and half of his face, and his right eye was permanently stuck looking to the right.

"Listen up!" He yelled, slamming his fist against the wall. "My name is Anders Lackland, and unfortunately, I'm your professor for the day. This is the first class I'm giving, but before I begin, I know there are a lot of you in this class, and in the other classes that think that you're too good for this. That this isn't your first year going through this damned forest. But I want your undivided attention during these four hours. I've gone in Eterna forest more times than you sorry asses can count, and I will have information you've never heard before," He said. "Take this class seriously, and your odds of making it out will be pretty high if you have the appropriate team, which might not even be the case, considering how many of you worms there are this year."

I made myself small and just observed. He was being very aggressive, somewhat reminding me of a bootcamp instructor.

"See this?" He said, pointing at himself. "See this fucked up face? Got hit by Poison Sting six years ago. That's what can happen to you if you get hit by one of the wild Pokemon out here. But I'm one of the lucky ones. Most of the time, one hit is all it takes. One hit, and you're done. I personally don't know why there's been such an increase in trainers participating in the Circuit, but I do know one thing. You're all terrible! You keep coming back all injured, or dead, so we were forced by the League to implement these classes to stem the bleeding."

I inhaled sharply. Why hadn't I heard about the increase in casualties in the media? And if they were so large that the League had to step in, I could only imagine how many people had been lost. Was it just incompetence, or had there been a cover-up?

The instructor grinned, and the right side of his face stayed unresponsive, like it was permanently under anesthesia. "Introductions are over. You know the stakes, now all I can hope for is that you listen. I'm going to make you into motherfucking professionals."

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 42

"Let's get the big three out of the way first," Instructor Anders said. The powerpoint changed to pictures of three bug type Pokemon, two of which I was familiar with. "Scyther, Dustox, and Parasect."

Louis raised his hand excitedly.

"Why the hell are you raising your hand for? This isn't fucking elementary school. I do the talking, you shut up and watch," He snarled. Louis audibly gulped and pulled his hand down. "I don't care what kind of shitty Scyther, Dustox, or Parasect you've seen in the past, Pokemon in the forest are just better, and stronger. They're fighting in life-or-death situations their entire lives. Let's start with Scyther. They'll be on your ass before you can even get your Pokedex out, that's how fast they are. Luckily, you won't have to deal with any poison with them. The moves you have to watch out for are Fury Cutter, Slash, and X-Scissor for the really tough ones. The rest is usually just icing on the cake."

Instructor Anders explained to us what each move entailed, and the effect they'd have on us if they hit.

"You want a fast Pokemon out that can counter the thing before it gets to you— and it will aim for you. Eterna forest's wildlife is the most aggressive in all of Sinnoh, save for Mount Coronet and Victory Road," He said. "If you don't have a fast Pokemon or a Psychic type that can hold them in place, turn back and don't enter the forest. Next up, we have Dustox. Unlike their counterpart Beautifly, they are vicious. Approach one of their colonies, and you get a Poison Sting or a Poison Powder to the face. Luckily their other attacks aren't that threatening— relatively speaking. Just watch out for the poison. Never approach them, and watch your fucking step. If you step on one of their Wurmple, they'll kill you. Let me play their cry."

He pressed forward in the powerpoint, and we heard an eerie, high-pitched noise that I recognized from my one encounter with the Pokemon.

"Unlike Scyther, Dustox like to be loud and announce their presence to let other Pokemon know not to approach. Usually, they usually live in groups of two or three, but they've been observed to gather in numbers as high as ten. They protect a dozen or so Cascoon, and even more Wurmple. Their only natural predator in the forest is Scyther. Lastly, we have Parasect," He said, switching to another picture. The Pokemon's eyes were dull and lifeless, and it had a huge vibrant mushroom growing on its back. I had never seen it before today. "These fools started showing up here twenty years ago as an invasive species after some dumbass trainer brought in a couple of Paras, and we still struggle to cull their population. They're too big and bulky for Scyther to aim for, and they're resistant to most poisonous attacks Pokemon use to hunt around here."

He paused, grabbing a flask from his hip to drink.

"They'll throw anything at you. Spores to poison you, to make you sleep, to paralyze you, you name it. And while you're writhing on the ground, unable to move, or sleeping, they'll cut you up. Luckily for you, they're relatively slow. You can outrun them easily, so as long as you don't get caught by surprise, you should be okay. Now, I see a few of your eyes glinting. Do not try to catch one of these if you value your life. You're better off just getting out of the forest as soon as you can. Keep your head down, travel in groups, watch each other's backs, and you will make it through. Now let's move on to the less threatening Pokemon…"

Instructor Anders kept on going for four hours, teaching us about the most common wild Pokemon we could find, the ways to fight them most effectively, and how to respond to being hit by all kinds of attacks. For Poison Sting, for example, if you were hit on the arm or the leg, you needed to make a tourniquet— which he taught us how to do— around the poisoned area to prevent the poison from spreading too fast and get back to the Pokemon Center as fast as possible. He also went over the rules of the forest, asking us not to fight the endangered Pokemon like Beautifly or Gossifleur. We all absorbed the information rigorously, not letting one bit past us. Lastly, he told us what general direction we should head toward, along with the landmarks and tree markings to follow. The exit was apparently somewhere toward the northeast. By the end of the lesson, we got our tickets, and even though I was scared of what was to come, I also felt more confident than ever.

Some were not as ready to go as I was, however.

"I can't do this," Emilia said.

I had looked at the girl during class, and she was practically crying the whole way through. She was even more terrified than before, and honestly, who could blame her? The instructor had really beaten the notion that death or a life-changing injury was a real possibility in the forest. Even Louis and Justin seemed unsettled. Denzel looked nervous but excited. Cecilia had her usual poker face on, and Pauline was playing with her hair, like usual.

"We'll get through this, Emi," Pauline said. "It's what, only three Pokemon to watch out for? The rest are all small fries that our team can easily deal with."

"Hell, with our entire team, we might be able to defeat one of the big three he warned us about," Denzel said.

"Agreed," Cecilia said. "I must tell you now, I will catch a Scyther."

We all gasped. She hadn't even said she would try to catch a Scyther, she just said she would. The amount of confidence honestly baffled the mind.

Louis perked up. "Cece, about earlier—"

"Not now, Louis. Please."

"I wasn't cheating on you—"

We ignored him.

"That's something Anders explicitly told us not to do," Justin said worriedly. "Let's not be rash."

"I will do it with you, or alone. I have wanted one since I began this journey, and I won't let the opportunity slip by."

Seeing how resolute Cecilia was, we all just let the issue go. Maybe we'd be able to convince her to change her mind when we were in the forest. I used the opportunity to bring up my own ambitions for a new team member.

"I also want to catch a grass type in the forest, I guess," I muttered. "I don't know which one, though."

Cecilia's eyes shone. "Very good! Denzel, you and I can all cooperate and catch our new Pokemon soon."

We decided to get back to the Center. In two days, we would leave bright and early into the depths of Eterna forest. I decided that it was time to warn my team about the dangers ahead. They would be the ones protecting me, so it was only right to tell them ahead of time. I released the three in my room. I sat at the foot of my bed, and Togetic settled in between my legs. Frillish hovered calmly in front of me, and Elekid announced himself with a small cheer.

"Listen up, gang," I said, clapping my hands. "In two days, we're going into Eterna forest."

I paused, waiting for their reactions. They all looked at me confusedly.

"It's an extremely dangerous place. I won't lie to you, it'll be tough. Something bad might happen to me, or the rest of the group, but I'll try to catch you up to speed."

I used my notes and recounted everything the instructor had told me during his class, making sure everyone knew how to counter and fight the Pokemon we would encounter in the forest. Even Elekid was listening intently, not letting his attention split for one second, especially since I had told him that I would be using him the majority of the time. Frillish looked more anxious than I had ever seen him. His eyes were darting all over the place, and his tentacles were trembling slightly. Togetic looked worried and chirped sadly as she sunk her head into my chest.

"Toge…"

"I know, princess," I said, petting her. "It'll be fine."

"Fri!" Frillish said.

"I know you're angry at me, buddy. I'll still use you whenever I can, I just don't want to risk you getting hit by some dangerous grass type move."

The water type huffed silently and turned his head.

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me. I trust Elekid to protect me," I said with a slight smile.

"Elekid!" He screamed as he flexed his arms.

"Don't get too excited, hon. You've got the hardest job of the group."

"Kid! Kid!"

I laughed. "You can handle it, huh? How about one last day of training? You guys can have a rest day tomorrow."

Elekid clamored happily, Togetic chirped, and Frillish rolled his eyes. After thirty minutes or so, we stepped out of the Pokemon Center and walked toward a secluded area of the outpost where not many trainers were.

"You guys feeling like an Elekid versus Frillish match today?" I asked. They both nodded. "Alright. Togetic, you watch. I'll direct Frillish since Elekid has the type advantage."

Elekid got into position as Frillish lazily floated up. It was the second time Elekid was fighting on his own, and I had found that this way of training was also the perfect way to improve my team's battle instincts. Trainers didn't always have the time to yell out commands all the times. Sometimes, we froze during battle or even thought for too long, which was when our Pokemon had to take matters into their own hands and decide what moves to use for themselves.

I inhaled through my teeth. "Alrighty, let's go!"

Elekid slammed his fists together and let loose a Thundershock toward Frillish.

"Drop down and Water Sport," I ordered.

The water type dodged the electric attack and propelled himself forward as he spun.

"Don't get too close," I said. I knew Elekid would counter with Thunder Punch. He immediately stopped as the electric type's fist charged up. "Bubblebeam!"

Frillish spat out a stream of bubbles, hitting Elekid and kicking up dust from the ground. I heard Elekid yell out as a large number of stars came out of the smoke.

"Don't bother dodging, you can't avoid them," I said quickly. "Water Pulse!"

Elekid ran out of the smoke plume at terrifyingly fast speeds, dodging Water Pulse after Water Pulse before sending out another Thundershock. It hit Frillish, who fell to the ground after taking the super effective move right after Swift. Elekid let out a cackle as he rushed toward his opponent to deliver a Thunder Punch.

"Hex!" I yelled out. Elekid was impressing me, so it was time to take the gloves off.

Frillish's eyes lit up, and smoke began coming out of Elekid's body. He slipped and fell to the ground before writhing in pain. I winced, but I knew this would only make him tougher in the long term.

"Don't let him recover! Water Pulse!"

Frillish let out a smooth cry as he released another ring of water, this time hitting Elekid and sending him flying. He quickly got up and dusted himself off, eliciting a smile from me. Before all of our training through route 205, he would have gone down from those two moves, but he was still standing proud.

"Kid!" He yelled out, running toward Frillish once again, albeit slower. I frowned. If he got into Hex's range, we would just use the move again, and I knew he was smarter than that.

"He's preparing a trap," I told Frillish. "Batter him with more Water Pulses, then Hex as soon as he's in range. Let me think."

Frillish nodded and issued my orders immediately. I smiled as immensely powerful Water Pulses rushed toward Elekid. We had truly come a long way from when he first was beginning to use the move. Elekid formed another set of stars above him and then released a Thundershock immediately after. My eyes widened as electricity imbued itself into the stars. Swift sped up immensely, and each hit to Frillish was devastating.

Elekid had finally mastered our new move. An electric type Swift.

I snapped out of my stupor and saw Frillish was still floating, though barely.

"Rush forward and Hex!"

"Frillish!"

He sluggishly propelled himself with Water Sport again before using Hex, and Elekid finally went down as he convulsed and shook on the floor. Frillish stopped as soon as he saw that Elekid was unable to fight. I rushed toward Elekid and grabbed him.

"You did amazing," I told him. He smiled. "I couldn't have asked for a better fight. You did awesome too, Frillish. Sorry for being caught off-guard, I thought it'd still take a while for Elekid to master that move."

Frillish nodded and waved a tentacle absent-mindedly. Togetic clapped at the great fight she had just seen, crying out happily and flipping around in the air.

"Sorry, princess, it looks like no fight for you today," I apologized.

I placed all of them back in their balls and gave Frillish and Elekid to Nurse Joy. I wanted to do one last thing before finally resting before our trip through Eterna forest, and that was finally determining which grass type I was going to catch. Instructor Anders' lesson had shown me the most common ones I would find. Paras was out of the question. Apparently, the mushrooms on their body was a parasite, and it took control of their brain when they evolved, so their entire personality would be gone. I didn't want to have to go through that. Oddish or Shroomish were certainly in the cards, although I felt like they wouldn't serve the purpose I was looking for in the team. Oddish was a long-distance fighter that fought with spores and status effects. Shroomish was as well until it evolved and turned into a close-range fighter, but it was still weak defensively. I wanted something that could take hits. My entire team right now was made out of fragile Pokemon, although Togetic was the best one in that regard. What did that leave me with?

I flipped through my notes, looking for the perfect candidate. I smiled as my hand hovered over a name I hadn't considered yet.

Tangela.

The Pokemon was one of the bulkiest grass types, and it could fight at close range easily with its numerous vines. Exactly what I was looking for. I smiled as I closed my notes. I had made my choice. I was going to catch a Tangela no matter what.

The next two days went by quickly. I spent most of them resting or hanging out with Denzel, my team, and Cecilia, which was a pleasant and exciting development. Finally, though, we stood at the forest's entrance. The trees were tall and looming above us, forming an all-consuming dark entrance that was terrifying. Pokemon cries could be heard on the inside. I clenched my fist as I released Elekid, who stood next to me loyally. We all released our agreed-upon Pokemon, and Emilia finally released her Beldum. Its color was different than usual, however. It was completely white like marble, and its three claws were yellow like gold. The metallic alien-looking Pokemon hovered silently over her head, its singular eye looking at us one by one.

Hoping for the best, we stepped into the forest.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 43

Huge trees towered far above us, forming a canopy so dense that the sky was practically invisible, with only small slivers of sunlight bursting through the thick cover. The forest floor was soft, with a thick layer of leaves and whatever plant debris had fallen from above over the years. The occasional relative quiet of our steps was often broken by the snapping of a twig underfoot. The smell of the forest was so thick it was almost oppressive. The scent of nature and vegetation masked everything else and prickled the inside of my nose. I jumped as I felt a small branch touch my forearm, and I flapped the neck of my sweater, hoping to cool myself off. Even in the frigid cold of the forest, I was already sweating due to how nervous I was. Cries of different Pokemon could be heard all around us, and unlike in the previous routes, they weren't scared of making themselves known.

Emilia screeched as an Ariados lowered itself from a tree ahead. It quickly scuttled forward, chasing a Venonat that desperately tried to jump out of the way. My brain quickly recalled what Instructor Anders had told us about the two. Venonat were nocturnal, but due to the thick vegetation protecting them from sunlight, they were active throughout the day. They weren't generally a threat to trainers and mostly ate small bug types. Meanwhile, Ariados would usually never go after humans unless they were hungry enough, in which case they'd trap you in their web and drag you back to their nest. Not wanting to provoke the two, we stayed still and watched as the spider savagely bit into the Venonat before spinning it in its web and dragging it away.

I swallowed and watched my companions. We all nodded at each other and kept going. We had created a formation to maximize our chances. First was Justin in the front with his Growlithe. The fire type was the only one whose sense of smell would be able to find threats in the forest, so it was only natural that he would lead us. Next, we put Emilia and Cecilia on his flanks. Deino and Beldum were both incredibly bulky while also packing a punch, meaning that they were the perfect first line of defense to ward off an attack from the front. Behind them, we had me, Pauline, and Louis. Gothita, Elekid, and Prinplup were our long-range attackers, meant to support Beldum and Deino from the back without being at risk of suffering from a lethal attack. Finally, we had Denzel and Eevee in the rear. Whereas Growlithe could lead us with his sense of smell, Eevee's strength was his hearing, and he'd be able to warn us if anything was stalking us.

So much planning had gone into this, and yet we were still all terrified. Louis couldn't help but look behind his shoulder every five seconds, while Emilia kept muttering to herself that it would be okay over and over under the watchful eye of her Beldum. Denzel was distracting himself by petting Eevee and whispering something in his ear, but I knew he was scared because of a nervous tick he had where he clenched and unclenched his fists. Justin had protested many times to being put in the front due to being the obvious first target. The only ones who looked somewhat unfazed here were Cecilia and Pauline, but even I could tell they were anxious. And we hadn't even been in here for thirty minutes.

"Emi, please stop talking. You're driving me crazy," Louis said quietly.

We didn't want to make too much noise due to the amount of risk involved.

"It's going to be okay, it's going to be okay—"

"Please, Pauline, shut her up," He hissed through his teeth. Beldum's eye darted toward Louis and glowed slightly. He inhaled sharply and stopped talking.

Pauline broke formation slightly and offered Emilia a shoulder to cry on. Her quiet sobs turned into a cry, and the cry became louder and louder no matter what we tried to calm her down—

Growlithe started growling and barking loudly, and Eevee did the same, his ears twitching. We all stopped dead in our tracks and got ready for whatever was coming. My ears were ringing, and I was barely even breathing. It was like time had stopped completely. I braced myself as loud stomps rang through the forest, slowly getting louder. A huge Pinsir burst through the thick vegetation, but he stopped, apparently sizing us up. It probably hadn't expected such a huge group. According to Anders, they were rather rare because of their dislike for the cold, but they were incredibly dangerous. Just our luck. After a few seconds, Pinsir yelled out as its pincers slammed together, creating a terrifying sound that the Pokemon used to intimidate its enemies. It rushed forward.

Ignoring Emilia's screams, Cecilia gave the first order.

"Deino, don't hold back. Dragon Breath!"

Deino roared as his mouth lit ablaze with draconic energy. The Pinsir sidestepped and dodged as it continued its way toward us. Not stopping his attack, Deino simply kept going and turned his head, hitting the Pinsir who screeched out in pain. Beldum used the opportunity to ram into the bug type without any of his trainer's commands.

"Thundershock!" I ordered Elekid. He grunted and spun his arms, sending an arc of electricity toward Pinsir. The bug type convulsed for a few seconds before he screeched in rage and leaped at Deino, grabbing its neck with its pincers. It shook the dragon type wildly, and he attempted to fight back, but he couldn't get out of its grip. I couldn't use any of Elekid's attacks without hurting Deino now, so I could only watch.

"Get in close and Bite! Distract it!" Denzel yelled.

Eevee blurred as he ran toward the bug type, who was still relentlessly assaulting Deino.

"Gothita, stop him with Confusion."

Beldum let out a weird metallic, grinding sound and both he and Gothita's eyes turned pink as a psychic aura surrounded Pinsir, restraining him. Eevee used the opportunity to bite the bug type's arm, tearing a bit of its plated armor off. It let go of Deino, who rammed it with its head before sending it flying with another Dragon Breath. The dragon's scales around his neck were cracked and some were taken off completely, exposing its flesh. I ordered another Thundershock, and Elekid obliged immediately. Pinsir was never able to land another hit again. As soon as it got anywhere close, Beldum and Gothita would stop him with Confusion, and we kept battering it with our long-distance moves. After five minutes or so, it finally left, deciding not to bother.

I let that fact sink in for a moment. We had only won because we had annoyed it enough. It was still completely fine, although slower and clearly weakening by the minute. If it had wanted, it could have kept this up for at least another ten minutes. I swallowed. Our Pokemon all looked exhausted already and we weren't even one hour in. Only Beldum seemed fine, and Deino seemed enraged more than anything. Cecilia struggled to apply a potion to his neck.

"Damn it, Emilia!" Louis said in a ragged voice. "Control yourself!"

"Oh, please," Pauline rolled her eyes. "You were the only one who didn't do anything, Louis. You just watched from afar as we all risked our lives to take that Pinsir down. And we're lucky it decided to go after our Pokemon first and not us!"

"I was just surprised!" He said in a haughty tone. "Next time, Prinplup and I won't be caught off guard."

"Uhuh."

"Stop it. Now is not the time for petty disputes," Cecilia snapped. She stood up and put the potion back in her bag. "Sort this out when we're all outside safe and sound."

Denzel nodded. "She's right," He said. His voice was shaking slightly. "Let's just keep going."

"Sorry…" Emilia muttered under her breath.

As for me? I still felt the adrenaline pumping through my body, but as I slowly ran out, I felt my legs begin to shake. I could barely even walk straight. The inside of my clothes was completely soaked, and I was starting to get cold. That Pinsir had been more powerful than any other wild Pokemon I had ever seen, and we weren't even deep in the forest yet. I let out a shaky breath as I wondered what else was lurking in the shadows, waiting to attack.

——

Luckily for us, the remainder of the day had been relatively peaceful. Oh, we still got attacked seven times by wild Pokemon, but none were as threatening as that Pinsir had been. The most problematic one had been an aggressive Gloom whose territory we had apparently stepped into. It had let out a noxious smell from the gel-like substances it secreted from its mouth, but that was the least of our problems. Because of Gloom, both Deino and Eevee had been poisoned badly, and even with our antidotes, they would need to rest for an hour or two to get back to their full potential, which was why we decided to set up camp since it was getting dark anyway.

Setting up camp in a forest this dense was infuriatingly difficult. Obviously, the big tent was a no-go, but even with the smaller tents Cecilia's group had purchased at the outpost, we still needed to do a lot of work. First, we cleared the forest floor out of vegetation, evening the ground enough to put the tents on. Just clearing out around a seventy feet area took hours, and we had to do it with our hands. Luckily, Growlithe sped up the process, and Eevee started helping as soon as he recovered from his poisoning. Next, we had to collect firewood. We had no food to cook, but the warmth would be useful to soothe our minds and dry our clothes, and while Denzel, Louis, and Justin did that, we set up everybody's tents. They'd be able to fit two people each, meaning that some unfortunate soul would have to sleep on their own. I volunteered since I had to sleep with Togetic anyway. I wasn't about to summon the entire Arceus damned wildlife to our location by waking up screaming.

Anyway, we had to do all of that while being constantly under attack by anything that thought it could take us on. Ekans, Weepinbell, Venipede, anything desperate enough for food. We considered building some kind of wall using more wood, but that idea quickly died when we realized how much work it would take for what would amount to not that much protection. Pokemon would be able to either fly above it, or just burst through with a move. Finally though, we had our camp set up.

Pauline's Charmeleon quickly lit the fire with its tail before being recalled once again. We had Prinplup in case it spread by accident, and we needed to extinguish it quickly, and if that wasn't enough, I had Frillish and Cecilia had Slowpoke. We stayed silently by the fire. Some of us ate with our Pokemon, while others like Emilia and Louis were just staring in the distance, terrified that something would leap out of the shadows and attack us. The fire would do us good, yes, but it also made us extremely easy to spot, adding to the tension.

And tension, there was. Louis seemingly thought that this was an appropriate moment to try to rekindle his romance, while Pauline was getting more and more aggressive toward him.

"Shut the fuck up! I'm tired of you, Louis! I'm fucking tired of you!"

"Mind your own business."

"This is my business! You're letting your silly little lovesick heart in the driver's seat when it should be your fucking brain in there!"

"Pauline, please, your language—"

"Fuck off too! I'm going to sleep," Pauline hissed at Justin. "Wake me up when it's my turn to stand guard." Her tone turned soft when she turned toward Emilia. "Come on Emi, let's get you in bed."

The girl just nodded weakly and followed her friend.

"I ought to get to bed too, I suppose. Louis, my friend, remind me of the watch order again?"

Louis' head was pointed downward, and he didn't even bother to lift it as he spoke. "Cecilia and I were supposed to be the first watch—" He was interrupted by her sigh. "Then it's Denzel and Grace, then it was you and Pauline."

"Oh dear," Justin sighed. "Well, good night, everyone. May tomorrow be smoother than today."

We all bid him goodnight. Emilia wasn't going to stand watch because we considered her too unstable and scared to be reliable, so she'd get to sleep all night. Throughout the next few minutes, we trickled out of the camp. Denzel was first, joining Justin in their tent. I considered staying a little while longer, but I realized it was just my jealousy speaking, and that it was better if I was rested for when they'd wake me up. I released Togetic, who seemed eager to know how today had gone. I decided to release Frillish as well to update the entire team on what had gone on. We were partners, after all, so it wouldn't be fair to keep them in the dark.

Finally, I recalled Elekid and Frillish and fell asleep to Togetic's quiet chirps.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 44

Cecilia opened my tent two and a half hours later.

"Grace," She whispered. "It's your turn now."

I yawned and stretched, barely keeping my eyes open. Togetic was still asleep, so I discreetly recalled her so she could keep sleeping in her Pokeball. I took a deep breath and shook my head wildly to wake myself up before making my way outside. It was actually staggering how dark Eterna forest was at night. The fire was extinguished, so I could barely see anything due to the thick tree cover blocking the moonlight. We had purchased flashlights, but we were too scared to use them at night, just in case the bright light attracted some wild Pokemon we couldn't fight off if we kept it on too long. I felt at my hip and released Elekid.

"Hey, wanna spin your arms around for me for a sec?" I whispered. "Quietly, please."

Elekid grumbled at my specification, but he obliged and spun his arms, creating a light source. I knew how dangerous it was, though, so I just used it to find Denzel, after which I ordered him to stop. He was standing against a tree with Eevee at his feet. The Pokemon was lying down, but I could tell he was focused by the way his ears were pointed, listening for any danger. My friend yawned as he saw me, causing me to do the same.

"Damn you and your yawns," I said quietly. "How'd you sleep?"

"I couldn't even fall asleep. Too nervous. I just laid down in my sleeping tent and looked at the ceiling for almost three hours."

"You can sleep in my tent if you want," I said. "Togetic can—"

Eevee stood up, and our heads whirled to our left. I couldn't recognize which Pokemon cry that was, and neither could Denzel, so we just stayed perfectly still and silent, hoping it would pass without noticing our camp. Even at night, Pokemon were still active. The forest never slept, and we'd be foolish to let our guard down. Luckily for us, it passed, and nothing happened.

I finally took a breath I didn't know I had been holding. "This place is hell," I groaned.

"Tell me about it. That Pinsir was something else, and that Anders guy didn't even tell us that much about them. I just hope we don't get lost or stuck. The longer we stay here, the bigger chance there is of something going wrong."

I hoped to Arceus he hadn't just jinxed us.

The next two hours and a half went by agonizingly slowly, and we had to be constantly on edge. I never thought about how exhausting that was, and combined with the fact that I was already dead tired, I fell asleep immediately after getting back in my tent. Denzel joined me this time after waking up Justin and Pauline, and Togetic helped him relax and fall asleep. When I woke up again, it was morning. Cecilia had a really good internal clock and woke up at five-thirty on the dot every morning, so she was in charge of waking up everybody. Thank Arceus for her.

Nothing bad had happened at night. Apparently, Gothita and Growlithe had chased off a group of Caterpie looking to scavenge anything they could find in our camp, but they weren't that threatening. We all ate breakfast in relative silence, cleared our camp, and continued on our way. We were still walking north, waiting a few days before starting to turn east. We followed the same formation as before, hoping for the best. Pauline was sticking to Emilia more and more since she was the girl's biggest support. There was a bit of animosity toward her from Louis for having caused the Pinsir to find us yesterday, but Pauline shut down every complaint immediately.

Three hours later, we all paused as Growlithe let out a low growl. My heartbeat quickened as I looked down at Elekid, who stared up at me and nodded. We heard a small rustle beyond some bushes to our right. We were all in position. What horror would reveal itself this time? I wiped my hands against my pants and waited with bated breath—

A small, brown furry Pokemon slowly limped through the bushes. Its ears were rolled up, and one of them had a large gash that was bleeding massively. it was completely covered in spores.

"Neary…"

The Buneary collapsed as it reached us. After being taken out of his stupor, Denzel grabbed a Pokeball and approached—

"Wait!" Justin yelled, blocking him. "Growlithe still smells a threat."

We froze, as scuttling could slowly be heard in the distance, slowly getting louder, and louder. Suddenly, at least ten Paras burst through the vegetation and started attacking us.

Yes, us. And more were coming.

"Try not to breathe!" I yelled, before the last shred of order evaporated from the group, and the formation fell apart.

Emilia yelled and fell backward as a Paras jumped onto her leg and bit down hard. Beldum tried to wedge it off using Confusion, but the thing was completely latched on, and it began releasing spores. Cecilia ordered Deino to take care of anything that got close to him, and the dragon started roaring out Dragon Breaths, taking out each Paras in one hit, but they just kept coming. Elekid started by Thundershocking the ones he could aim at without hurting anyone else that was in the way, but soon, they were getting closer, and he switched to Thunder Punching. Seeing the writing on the wall, I swore and grabbed my axe.

"Use your axes as weapons!" I screamed.

I swatted a Paras away from me. Their shells were hard and probably too hard to break, but they were extremely protective of the parasite on their backs, so one hit to one of the two mushrooms hard enough, and they'd run. Denzel cut the Paras' mushroom on Emilia's leg, wounding the bug enough for it to let go, and Beldum threw him against a tree. Gothita was busy keeping every Paras off of Pauline, who was fighting to protect Emilia and Cecilia and covered in green blood. and Eevee was cracking their shells with Double Kicks, making them more vulnerable. Louis was crouched and trembling against a tree, and his Prinplup was using Ice Beam over and over again, freezing the Paras into submission.

I felt something crawl on my back, and I screeched.

"Grace!" Denzel yelled out.

Elekid panicked as I desperately tried to get the bug off my back. He was too short to Thunder Punch Paras, and he couldn't use Thundershock without hurting me. It bit into my back, and I collapsed, writhing in agony. Elekid Punched the bug twice, and Eevee rushed to my side, ramming into it, but it was ultimately Denzel who sliced one of the bug type's parasites, causing it to scuttle off as it screeched.

"I— I can't move," I told Denzel amidst the chaos. A Dragon Breath flew above us, hitting a Paras that was about to attack us mid-air.

"I'll protect you," He said. "Eevee, keep them off of me! You guys need to release everything you've got!" He yelled, before grabbing Budew's Pokeball. I looked into his eyes, and he seemingly understood me. "I need all the firepower I've got."

The group listened, and a flurry of red lit up and dark forest. Budew looked around confusedly before Denzel brought her up to speed.

"I'm sorry, I need you just this once, Budew. You need to keep the Paras off of us. Use Absorb, Bullet Seed, anything."

Budew stared at him for a few seconds before nodding and, started glowing and growing slightly in size before attacking the nearest Paras with Bullet Seed.

"My Pokeballs," I grunted. "Use my team."

Denzel kicked one of the Paras into Gible's huge Dragon Rage.

"Alright, but I'll stay here with them and you, alright?"

I offered a weak nod, and he released Frillish and Togetic, who kept battering our enemies with Water Pulse and Fairy Wind. Eventually, after five minutes of fighting off the horde, they were either dead, too injured to fight, or had escaped. I grunted in pain as I pushed myself against a tree. Despite having been bit once on my upper back, my entire back was hurting. Emilia couldn't walk without someone supporting her. Cecilia's right arm had been severely injured and bit multiple times by the same Paras, although she looked like she'd be able to keep going. Pauline, Denzel, and Louis were unscathed physically, but one of them hadn't even helped.

One of them hadn't even pulled out a weapon to fight and had instead hidden like a coward.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Denzel screamed, pushing Louis against a tree. His Pokemon didn't even defend him. Gible was just eating a Paras, while Prinplup was just looking around awkwardly.

"Keep your hands off me!" Louis said, trying to push my friend away. Even though Denzel was two years younger, he was still a big guy, and the situation devolved into a fight, which Justin stopped.

Denzel wiped his bloody nose. "You're a fucking wimp," He spat. "You could have gotten someone killed. Even Emilia fought! But you? You fucking hid."

"Don't you speak to me that way—"

"Shut the fuck up and listen for once in your Arceus damned life!" He interrupted. "Being scared is fine. We're all fucking scared! But as it stands, you're dead weight."

"Please," Louis scoffed, looking around to his friend for support. His face turned ugly when he realized none was coming. "Cece?" He tried.

The girl turned away and walked up to me before crouching and assessing the damage on my back.

"Pauline—"

"I'm busy, Louis," The girl said, tending to Emilia's wounded leg.

"Justin?"

The boy shook his head. "Not now, Louis."

Louis collapsed with his back against the tree and buried his face in his knees, not saying anything else.

"The bite is right next to your spine, but it looks like it's only surface damage," Cecilia told me. I breathed a sigh of relief. "It tore off a pretty big chunk of flesh, though."

"Damn it," I said.

I winced as I felt a wet towel touch the wound. Cecilia warned me before pouring alcohol to disinfect it. I thrashed around and swore after just a few drops, but I had to endure it.

"What about spores?" Justin asked. "Anyone feeling weak, stiff, or tired?"

"I think we're all okay. Paras' spores aren't as potent as Parasect's, so as long as we didn't breathe in too much, we should be fine," Pauline stated, applying a few potions to Charmeleon and Gothita.

"Let someone know if that starts to change," Cecilia told us as she wrapped a bandage around my back. I froze as her soft hands wrapped under my clothing. In any other circumstances, I would have been ecstatic. "There you go, Grace. Can you walk?"

"I think so, yeah. I was probably just in shock before," I said.

I got up and steadied myself against the tree trunk before taking a tentative step. I was thankfully fine if I ignored the searing pain in my back, although running would probably be out of the picture because the simple motion of my arms would transfer to my back and make the pain way worse. I stared at Emilia, who was sobbing silently as Pauline wrapped her own bandage around her leg.

"Should we stay here for a few hours? I don't think Emilia can walk," I asked.

Pauline looked at me, and for the first time, I saw no animosity. Just gratefulness.

"I think that would be wise," She said. "Emi needs a break."

"I'll keep watch," Denzel said. He thanked Budew before recalling her. "I need to do something first."

He slowly approached Buneary, who squirmed on the ground. It was terrified of him, but he just crouched and started applying potions on the area where it was wounded.

"Can one of you guys give me an Antidote?" He asked. Justin handed him the yellow bottle, and he applied the concoction on the Buneary's skin. The liquid would be absorbed and cure it of its poisoning. "I'll take care of you, alright?" He said softly before carrying it in his arms "This is Eevee," Denzel continued, pointing at his friend. "I won't make the same mistake twice. I'll nurse you back to health, and if you want to join me by the end, I'll take you in."

The normal type nodded weakly. He carried it a few dozen feet away and started to watch for any danger.

We slowly started setting up camp again in the same way as yesterday. We were all alternating our team members to let them rest after that tough battle. Instructor Anders had warned that Paras usually traveled in packs, but I wasn't expecting a horde. Luckily they hadn't been led by a Parasect, or we probably would have run away and gotten lost, or… died. It was only the second day, and Eterna forest was already taking its toll on us. Paras usually didn't attack humans unless they were desperate for food or commanded by a Parasect, and that group had been way too big. First the Pinsir, now this? Anders had said trainers going through the forest were unlikely to meet the bigger threats that he had shown us, so it looked like we were extremely unlucky. I hoped I would be able to withstand what was to come, but even more than that, I hoped that no one would just completely break down.

Beforehand, I would have said Emilia was the most likely candidate. The girl was wrapped around a blanket in between Justin and Pauline, who, even though appeared a little shaken, looked to be doing alright. Denzel was the one I was putting all my trust in. I knew in my heart that he wouldn't give up if I was still here. Cecilia seemed to be the most mentally strong of us all. With a bandage wrapped around her wounded arm, she was working hard to keep all of us positive, talking about anything that came to mind, or about what we'd do when we got out.

Louis, though? The man hadn't talked since the Paras attack, and while he was sulking in a corner, his fiance was taking charge and keeping the group together. Right now, what I feared the most was still the wild Pokemon lurking around every corner. Most were weak enough for Deino to beat in one hit, but the sheer amount of attacks were going to take a toll on us. And that toll was causing the tension to rise, slowly but surely.

I could tell something was brewing.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 45

"We need to do something about Louis," Pauline stated firmly.

Cecilia and I looked at her confusedly. It had been a few hours since we had settled down, and Louis had just kept sitting down and moping like a child. Pauline had gathered Cecilia and me to talk, and now she was saying this?

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Also, I don't even think I should even be here, I—" I winced and hissed through my teeth as I felt a wave of pain flare up. "I'm not even a part of your group."

"You're here even though I dislike you because you seem to know what the hell you're doing," She said. "And so does Cecilia. Your friend Denzel needs to cool off and is protecting his new Pokemon like a Kangashkan protects her young, so I didn't want to bother him."

"Alright, but what are you implying by doing something?" I asked her, frowning.

Pauline smirked and grabbed a strand of her hair. "Nothing as horrible as you're imagining. I just meant that we need to talk to him and set him straight. As mommy says, there's nothing a good yelling can't fix."

"I think that thinking is seriously flawed—"

Cecilia spoke up for the first time. "Forget it."

"Huh?" Pauline said, raising her tone and getting closer. She was so aggressive all of a sudden that I felt the instinctive need to make myself smaller. "Are you joking?"

"No. I won't take any action, and you shouldn't either. Louis will get better, just let him be," Cecilia said.

"He's going to get us killed!" Pauline yelled. "If anything happens to Emi, I'll make his life a living hell! Do you believe what you're saying, or are you too blinded by the fact that you're fucking a hot, rich, eighteen-year-old?"

I inhaled sharply, calming the rage I felt bubble up inside of me. I couldn't blow up, not now. I couldn't.

"Stop it…" The dark-skinned girl said weakly.

"Why? You're not coming to your senses, so I need to slap you a little bit with my words until you do!"

"Please—"

"Shut it!" I hissed. "Can't you see you're hurting her?! Let's… let's not fight, alright?" I said as my arms slumped. "Not now after that attack, and especially not here. We're all on edge."

"I know we're all on edge, I'm not dumb," Pauline said. "But we have a clear culprit who's not pulling his weight, and he needs a dressing down."

"I agree, but again, let's let him recover a little bit first, yeah?" I told her. "If we hit Louis when he's down—"

"Just stop!" Cecilia said. "Leave me out of this."

She stormed away, her voice shaking. I wanted to run after her, but it seemed foolish. What would I even say? Apologize? No. It would be best to apply my own advice and let her cool off, even if it hurt me to see her like this.

"Hmph! I thought she was better than this," Pauline said. "What do you say, then, Grace? Will you let your feelings blind you as well?"

I felt my heart jump out of my throat. Did she know?

"W—what?"

"As much as it pains me to say this, Cecilia sees you as a friend, but sometimes, even friends need to be argued with for the good of the group."

I sighed in relief. "I agree with you," I started, before raising my tone. "But that shit you said about Cecilia being too dumb to know something was wrong because she has… sex with him. That was too far! You're a terrible person, Pauline. I hope you know this."

"I thought we weren't supposed to argue in the forest," She smugly said. "Oh well, you're not the first one to tell me this, and you won't be the last." She finished as she lazily left.

I clicked my tongue. This girl's entire way of thinking got on my nerves, but I let it go and decided to take a break like everyone else. To distract myself from the pain in my back, I made my way to where Denzel was, and Frillish followed me since he was out while Elekid was resting. He was in a secluded part of the camp, away from everyone else, crouching next to Buneary. It was sleeping in such a serene and peaceful way, so I quietly tip-toed up to him. Eevee was standing near, listening for any threats and watching over the normal type. Surprisingly, Budew was also out of her ball, still with her usual angered expression, but softer than I had come to expect.

I crouched in turn next to my friend, who looked at me and smiled. We stayed quiet not to wake up Buneary, but one look at him was enough to understand quite a lot. I could see how much anger he still had left over from his fight with Louis, and that he was trying to calm himself down. I had seen him angry before, like when he was defending me during the tournament but not that angry, and it was honestly shocking. Denzel Williams was snarky, and big, but soft-spoken, so to see him start a physical fight like this?

Eterna forest took a toll on us all.

Buneary rustled, waking up slowly. It flinched when it saw Frillish and me, but Denzel reassured her and pet her soft head.

"Sorry," I told Buneary. "I didn't mean to wake you up. I'm Denzel's friend," I pointed at my Pokemon. "This is Frillish. He's one of my partners. Don't mind the creepy stare."

"Bun…"

I grabbed my Pokedex and scanned the little rabbit, hoping to learn more about her species.

Buneary, the Rabbit Pokemon. When it senses danger, it perks up its ears. On cold nights, it sleeps with its head tucked into its fur. Its ears are always rolled up. With enough training, they can be forcefully extended to shatter even a large boulder.

"She's still shaken, and scared of everything," Denzel said softly. "But at least she's healthy. I think that cut on her right ear will scar, though. Potions aren't that effective. If it had been a Full Restore…"

"That's League only," I told Denzel. "Don't beat yourself up. Even the others couldn't procure those, and they have all the money in the entire world."

"You're right," He said. "I just feel like I could be doing more, you know? I let you get wounded, and you could have inhaled too many spores, or been bitten somewhere worse. What do I get? I get nothing."

"Denzel—"

"Think about it," He interrupted. "Every time, you're the one that something happens to, and I'm always fine. The attack when I first caught Budew—"

The grass type screeched and turned away.

"I already forgave you for that—"

"Then there was you getting kidnapped by team Galactic, and again, I couldn't do a thing," Denzel said in a hurt tone.

"Denzel, you can't blame yourself for that—"

"How can't I? I wasn't there."

"You were taking care of Eevee!" I said, raising my voice.

"Taking care of him how, Grace? He was already with the Nurses. I couldn't do anything more, I could have come back!" He yelled. Eevee barked, and we paused and looked around the forest. Nothing was there. Denzel lowered his tone before continuing. "And now this? You get a fucking chunk of your back ripped out by a Paras, and again, I keep coming out of it fine. Why? Why?! You're my best friend! Do you know how worried I am about you? That you're just holding everything all in, and that one day, you're going to go back to how you were on that hospital bed?"

"I'm… this isn't the time, Denzel! I don't blame you for any of this!"

"That doesn't matter. I keep failing you, over and over. I need to be a better trainer, or one of these days, something—"

He stopped when we heard an argument back at the center of the camp. He took a breath, looking at me awkwardly.

"It'd be better if you went to check. I'm still pissed at Louis, and I feel like I'd only add to the tension," He said.

I sniffled and left, wiping my eyes on the way back. Frillish hovered quietly above my shoulder, offering me some comfort. I was glad he hadn't gotten angry at Denzel, at least. I wiped away more tears. Why did it hurt so much?

Ah.

It was our first argument. Our first actual argument. And the fact that it looked like there was no easy way to fix things was like pouring salt on the wound. I composed myself before stepping into camp and saw Pauline and Louis arguing. Emilia was crying again, this time on Justin's shoulder as he watched the clash with melancholy. Cecilia was nowhere to be seen.

"Grow a fucking pair, Louis! You appointed yourself leader at the start of this journey, then act like it!" Pauline hissed.

"Quiet, you! I've tolerated your foul mouth and temper for months, and I'm tired of it!"

"I never fucking liked you, Louis! And I bet nobody does, but we're all forced to suck up to you because of your shitty dad! Hell, I bet even Cece feels the same!"

I frowned. First, she said Cecilia was blinded by love, now this? Her words didn't make any sense, she just said anything to hurt as much as possible. Pauline used her words like a weapon.

The blond man froze for a second. "Lies."

"All I'm asking is for you to take a little bit of responsibility, Louis. Not even one Arceus damned apology out of your mouth!"

"That's funny, for you of all people to be talking about apologizing—"

"Alright then, you have no argument, so you bring it back to me, like usual."

I shook my head in disbelief. The entire group was collapsing before my very eyes, and it hadn't even been my or Denzel's fault. Their entire dynamic had been broken from the start. A facade. I started looking around for Cecilia. I feared the worst, but she was just sitting in her tent, shielding her ears, with her Fletchling worriedly looking at her. I stepped inside while Frillish stayed out, since I told him to monitor the situation outside and intervene if the fight got violent.

"Thank the Legendaries," I sighed. "I thought you ran off. Are you okay?"

She was just muttering something that I couldn't hear, rocking back and forth over and over. I leaned in further to listen in.

"Father, no, it wasn't me. It wasn't me. It wasn't me. I'll do what you want, I'll follow the deal. Pauline did it. She provoked him..."

"What the hell," I muttered. I stepped closer and grabbed her shoulders. "Cecilia?"

Cecilia kept rocking her body back and forth, continuously speaking to her father even though he wasn't there. There had to be some sort of abuse going on. I bit my lip, feeling pain in my heart. It hurt, seeing her like this.

"Cecilia! Your dad isn't there!" I said, shaking her. "You're with me. It's Grace."

The girl slowly looked up at me, and her thoughts seemed to clear, as her face turned from anguish to embarrassment.

"Grace… I'm sorry. I… my dad…"

"I understand," I just said. I could clearly see she didn't want to get into it. "Just know that I'm here, ok? Your friends and your Pokemon too. You're not alone."

"I don't know. Are they my friends?"

"I think so. I think they like you. Even Pauline, even though I don't like her. And hell, if they aren't, I'm still here. And I'll stay here. Just don't break on me, alright Cecilia?"

She nodded. "Call me Cece."

"Cece," I said softly.

"Sorry Fletchling," She said, gently petting the bird. "I must have worried you."

"The situation is really bad," I said. "Pauline and Louis are fighting. Emilia's a mess. Justin is fine, but he seems like he just doesn't want to deal with it, and I just had a fight with Denzel. You know them. I need you to help me fix things."

"I would, but I just can't," Cece sighed. "I can't bare to look at Louis right now."

I took a deep breath. "Alright."

"I'm sorry—"

"Don't apologize. Sort yourself out. I'll fix it," I said as I got up.

She just stared at me in bewilderment, but I just left her tent. I ran my hands through my hair, shook my head, and slapped my cheeks to focus.

Cece had traumatic issues with her father, and something else going on with Louis.

Justin wasn't motivated enough to do anything.

Emilia was two steps away from breaking down.

Pauline was a bitch to everyone that wasn't Emilia.

Louis was a coward who thought he could do nothing wrong.

And Denzel had some form of survivor's guilt developing because of me.


And it was up to me to fix it. All of it.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 46

I took a deep breath and looked at Frillish.

"Frillish, I'm recalling you," I said. "I might need Togetic for this, and you already hate the others enough. I don't want you to get mad and raise tensions."

I thought he would protest, but he just nodded. "Thank you, buddy," I smiled slightly. I recalled him and let out Togetic before bringing her up to speed. She was a last resort in case I needed to just attack everyone with her happiness. I didn't want to do it without their consent, but at this point, I was at the end of my rope.

The first priority was breaking up the argument between Louis and Pauline before they attracted some wild Pokemon, but how would I go about it? I needed to somehow let Louis down gently without offending Pauline too much. I stayed deep in thought as I made my way toward the center of the camp. The fight was still going on, and Louis had released his Gible while Pauline had released her Charmander. The fire type was growling protectively in front of her trainer, while Gible was probably just excited to fight anything. Not good.

"...dare you! I dare you to attack me, Louis, because it'll show how pathetic you are! You're willing to attack me, but when we ask for a little help against wild Pokemon, oh, suddenly, you're nowhere to be found!"

"You're wrong. This is just a precautionary measure against you and your deranged behavior!" Louis yelled.

I bit the inside of my lip as Togetic observed behind me with a sad chirp. If a fight erupted, the forest could light ablaze, and Pokemon could probably hear this for miles. I had no time to think, it was time for action. There was a chance— however slim, that they were so out of their mind that they'd attack Togetic, I was pretty confident Togetic would be able to take care of Gible thanks for her fairy type. Frillish could defeat Charmeleon and extinguish any fires.

"Guys," I said. They ignored me and continued to argue. "Guys!"

"Don't get involved!" Pauline yelled. "You were too scared to speak out, so now this is between me and—"

"Shut up," I said.

She could only offer me a bewildered look in response. She clearly wasn't used to being interrupted."Don't you—"

"Shut. Up," I said again. Togetic clenched at my shirt as she hid behind me. "You're going to get all of us killed. Stop yelling. Can you do that, at least?"

"She started it—" Louis said.

I raised my hand and glared at him. "Doesn't matter. The argument was going nowhere anyway. Louis, I need to speak to Pauline. Alone."

"What gives you the right—"

"I don't want to speak to you—"

"I don't care. Finish this argument after we get out of here! For the love of Arceus, I'm two fucking steps away from just taking Denzel and leaving you people!" I hissed, omitting Cecilia from that list. Although I doubted she'd go along with me anyway. "If this is how the group is going to be from now on, we'd have a better chance of surviving alone."

That seemed to have shut them up. I let out a satisfied sigh and continued.

"Recall your Gible, Louis," I said. The dragon type was snarling and looked like he was going to let out a Dragon Rage any minute. "Prinplup should be fine by now."

He recalled his Pokemon, clicked his tongue, and left, leaving me alone with Pauline. Charmeleon being out was fine because at least she seemed to have no problems listening to her trainer. The redhead in question glared at me with her arms crossed.

"So that's how it is then?" She said. "He gets off with no consequences?"

"Pauline. I agree with you in principle, like I said a thousand times before, but now is not the time."

"Whatever. You people are all the same. You think you know how to lead? I'd love to see you try," She said.

Pauline was about to storm off before I called out to her. She turned with an annoyed look.

I was tempted to let her go. I really was, but I couldn't. "Pauline," I started. "I actually need you here."

"Excuse me?"

"You're strange. You're the only one who seems not to be affected by almost dying to a horde of Paras. I think you're an asset."

"Don't call me an asset like I'm a thing."

"Sorry," I apologized. "I think we need to join forces to fix things, otherwise we're completely fucked, and I don't say this lightly. It's clear that we dislike each other, but in some fucked up way, I kind of respect you. Yeah, you're mean and completely unempathetic to anyone that isn't Emilia, but you've got a good head on top of your shoulders, and you're still standing," I said, echoing the words Cynthia had told me. "And so am I. We're both the only ones that are still thinking sensibly here. We need a temporary alliance to get the group back on track. Can I count on you?"

"Mere flattery won't get you anywhere—"

"Can I count on you?" I repeated. "Or do you want the group to collapse and something to happen to Emilia?" I was being manipulative, and I knew it, but I had no choice.

Pauline stared into my eyes, and I stared back, not breaking eye contact. We must have stayed completely still for at least thirty seconds. She blinked and rolled her eyes.

"What do you need me to do?" She asked.

I grinned. That was my first breakthrough.

—

Our first order of business was swinging by Justin and Emilia. The two were sitting on a half-rotten fallen log, and they both looked like they had seen better days. At least Emilia had stopped crying, although her leg was in terrible shape. Blood had already seeped through the bandage.

Pauline gasped and ran up to her friend. "Emi! Your leg! Why didn't you say anything?!"

She muttered something quietly that I couldn't catch, and Pauline seemingly couldn't either.

Her head turned toward Justin. "You didn't help her switch bandages?! What's wrong with you?!"

"Oh? I apologize," Justin said hollowly. "I must have missed it."

"You fucking nitwit—"

"Pauline, let's focus on Emilia for now, alright?" I interrupted before she could yell again. "I'll help you switch her bandages."

Pauline grabbed bandages from her bag and slowly unwrapped the old ones around her friend's legs. I grimaced at the state of her limb. It was swollen, emitting a foul smell, and the bites were full of pus.

"Shit, it's infected," I said.

"What do I do?" Pauline said, her voice trembling. "I was never good with this stuff. Cecilia was always helping us."

I started recalling instructor Anders' words. "We need to wash it with warm water— wait, don't touch it! Wash your hands first. Don't you have sanitizer?"

She nodded and cleaned her hands, and then handed me some. Emilia was turning her head away, trying not to look at the state of her leg while Pauline gently dabbed it with a warm cloth as I held the leg still. After a few minutes, we finally gave her new, fresh bandages, but we'd probably have to change them again soon enough. When we were done, Pauline pulled me to the side for a second.

"Should we turn back?" Pauline asked with a whisper.

"Hm?"

"What if it's not enough? Emi might need to get to a Center urgently."

"We can discuss it as a group after we finish bringing everybody back together," I said. "That's not a decision we can take on our own."

"But Emi—"

"I know," I said. Seeing her so hurt and worried was strange, and it was somehow making me feel bad. "We'll get her help. For now, let's stick with the plan. We need Justin on board."

She tapped her heel repeatedly against the ground. "Fine."

We approached Justin again. The thin boy was just… sitting there, staring at nothing, as if he had completely shut down, but he was still responsive and willing to speak, which was more than we could have asked for.

"Justin," Pauline said. "What's the problem?"

"There is no problem, Pauline," He said with a sad smile. "I just need time to… adjust to the reality that my father would send me to such a place willingly."

Pauline stared at me, and I nodded. "Come on, Justin! Get it together already, you already know our parents are different."

I would have liked a little more tact, but I hoped she knew what she was doing. She knew Justin much better than I, after all.

"So? Are you saying this is justified? A parent should unconditionally love their child, should they not?"

"Your father does love you."

"Would you send someone you loved here?"

"Justin, look at me!" Pauline said. The boy stared up at her with dead eyes. "Think about it. Your dad never leaves Jubilife or Sunnyshore, and he lives in the best hotels those cities can offer. Do you really think he knows anything about traveling? All he reads about this place is probably headlines once every few months."

"The headlines that say that some trainer died or was wounded beyond repair?" He laughed dryly.

"Yes," Pauline said. "Those headlines. But he probably thinks you can handle it because he got you the best Pokemon money can buy, and you're traveling with others who also have the best Pokemon money can buy. It's shitty, but that's life. There's a fundamental disconnect that can't be bridged because none of our parents have ever been trainers."

"My father… we'd go camping together. He knows—"

"Camping in some fucking bought-out land doesn't equate to… this!" Pauline yelled, gesturing all around her. "Now, you can call your father after we get out of here and tell him to fuck off because that's certainly what I'm going to do with mommy."

"Truly?"

"Yes! Now get it together. You're usually the sensible one. Let's get out of this damned forest."

Justin offered a slight smile. "Very well. I would have liked it if you could have said all of that without swearing."

"Fuck off."

I felt relief wash over me. That was the second one, but we weren't even halfway there yet.

"Thank you, Justin," I smiled. "Now I'm going to speak to Louis. Can I trust you guys to help Emilia?"

The girl hadn't said anything during Pauline's entire speech, but I would be useless here. I had only been with her for Justin in case Pauline needed backup, but now that two people would be able to help Emilia, I could finally go talk to Louis. We had decided that Pauline shouldn't be there for obvious reasons. The rift between them would need a lot more than words to be repaired.

"We know her the best," Justin said. "I believe we can help her. Right Emi?" He asked, putting his arm around her gently.

"Alright, great," I said. She was in good hands.

I left and walked around the camp, looking for Louis, still followed by Togetic. I was glad I hadn't had to use her powers on anyone yet. Having her at my back made me feel stronger, somehow. Like I was unstoppable, and I'd be able to get everyone back on their feet. I found Louis brooding with his Prinplup next to Cecilia's tent, seemingly rehearsing something he would say to her since he was speaking by himself.

"Hey," I said, making him jump. Prinplup honked at me, angrily moving his flippers.

"Grace? What is it? Has Pauline sent you to berate me some more?"

"What? No, I need to talk to you and set you straight. First, you fucked up."

"Hmph. There it is—"

"You fucked up twice. But you're human, so that's normal. People have lost faith in you, but you know what you should do?" He looked at me and shrugged. "Prove them wrong the next time."

I saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes. I knew Louis' biggest weakness was his incredible ego, but it could also be a strength. Feeding it here was also the key to our problems, even though it pained me greatly.

"Prove them wrong," I repeated. "Contribute next time we get attacked and make Pauline and Denzel eat their words. Impress… impress Cece."

"She already lets you call her Cece?" He asked.

"That's beside the point," I said. "You're our leader, so show us. And it's okay if it takes you a little bit of time to get to the action, just make sure to get there. Arceus knows what else we'll be meeting deeper in the forest."

Louis paused for a second before scratching his head. "Fine, if you need me so much, I suppose I can do what you're asking of me."

"Great! Thank you!" I smiled. "Um, were you about to go in Cece's tent?"

"Yes, to apologize—"

Cecilia's words rang in my mind. I can't bear to look at Louis right now, she had told me. I had to stop this.

"I think that's a bad idea."

"Why?"

"Let me talk to her for you. It'll be easier between girls."

After much convincing, Louis recited to me an apology he had made and asked me to tell it to Cecilia with the exact same intonations and words. It was something about not having cheated on her, and I was astonished he even thought that was her problem. How was he her fiance, and yet didn't know about her problems with her dad or her issues with her best friend? Either way, I lied, saying I would apologize for him, and entered her tent again when he finally left. I was glad to see that Cece was doing better.

"Hey," I softly said. "You okay?"

"I am. I have… recomposed myself, and I'll soon be ready to leave this tent. How goes the outside?" She asked as she fiddled nervously.

"It's going good. I've been going around, fixing things as best I can. Pauline's been a great help, and we're almost done, actually. If you're doing well, there's only… Denzel left."

I swallowed.

She nodded. "I can tell this troubles you. If you want, we can wait here until I'm ready to step out. I can help."

"No," I shook my head. "I have to do this alone. Thank you for asking, though, I really appreciate it."

We stared at each other for a few awkward seconds before I coughed.

"Well, I better get going then. See you later, Cece."

"See you later, Grace. Thank you for all the help. I'll be there soon."

I bent down and left her tent, and nervously trudged my way back to where I had fought Denzel. I felt a surge of nervousness swell within me. What was the best way to approach this? An apologetic approach? An aggressive one, maybe? Before I could come up with a plan, I was already there, and my friend called out to me.

"Grace," He said. He was still sitting by that same tree, still watching Buneary doze off with Eevee and Budew. "You're back."

"I am."

The words were short and felt stilted. Unnatural.

"I'm sorry—"

"I'm sorry—"

We had both tried apologizing at the same time, speaking over each other. We chuckled, and that seemed to have cut the tension at least in half.

"I'll go first," He said. "I'm sorry I blew up at you like that earlier. It wasn't like me. I just feel so… inadequate, you know? I feel like I don't deserve to be your friend sometimes because I'm not doing enough to help. But I should have articulated that better, and I shouldn't have yelled at you. It's not your fault."

"And I'm sorry too," I sniffled. "I'm sorry I just dismissed your worries like they were nothing. I shouldn't have. I didn't know you had all of these worries building up inside of you… and eventually, it's too much pressure, right? You've got to let it out. And you were already angry with Louis."

Eevee barked happily and climbed my shoulder, while Togetic chirped, floating up and down. Budew screeched, letting her scowl go soft for a second. I felt tears stream down my face, but they were happy tears. I choked up, approaching Denzel as he pulled me into a hug.

"Friends again?" He asked.

"Best friends, you idiot."

"Great, because I'd only let my best friend get her snot all over my clothes."

I laughed.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 47

It took a few minutes to recompose myself, but even then, I felt incredibly happy. I hadn't really had any close friends before starting on this journey. Oh, sure, there were school friends that I hung out with, but never outside of school, and they felt more like acquaintances. None of us had much in common, and we felt more like friends of convenience. Something that we forced upon each other to not be as lonely. It was the opposite with Denzel. He was someone I felt incredibly close with even though we had only known each other for a few months, because we were together every day.

And I couldn't stand the thought of not being on good terms with him.

"I probably need to apologize to Louis too," Denzel said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I was too aggressive. I shouldn't have started the fight."

I nodded. "You do that. I can watch Buneary for you if you want?"

"It's alright, I'll carry her," He said, lifting Buneary. She was startled for a second until she realized Denzel was picking her up. "I'll return you to your ball so you can rest, Eevee. Budew, you can come with."

I smiled at the grass type, who turned her body away from me. It looked like she had finally warmed up to Denzel enough to work with him.

"Alright, I'll go check on how Emilia's doing. I had Pauline and Justin comfort her," I said.

"Sounds good."

"Oh, and could you bring Louis back to where they are? We need a strategy meeting to figure out our next steps."

My friend nodded, and we separated shortly after. I walked through the thick woods and made my way to the same fallen log Justin and Emilia had been sitting on and saw the three of them talking. Pauline was gently rubbing the girl's back while she had her head on Justin's shoulder. I leaned against a tree and silently observed the scene. These three were incredibly close, which made me wonder what Cecilia and Louis' status in all of this was. The two were obviously nowhere as close to those three, although since Cece was from Unova, that probably made sense.

Although for Louis… I recalled one of Pauline's lines during their argument. She had said that they were all forced to stay with him because of his father. Had it been something she had said to wound Louis as much as possible, or was it the truth? Or maybe it was somewhere in between. I was starting to get a picture of their situation at home, at least. They all seemed to have issues with their parents. Trauma, crushing expectations, bad relationships…

I sighed and walked up to the trio.

"You're back," Pauline said sharply. "How'd it go with Louis?"

"You didn't see him?" I asked.

She nodded to my left, and I saw the man with his arms crossed looking at us. I felt bad at the fact that Denzel would probably look for him for longer than was needed. He could have just come with me.

"He's been there for a while," Justin said.

"I spoke with him, and it went well. Don't expect him to apologize, or anything, but I think he'll have no problems helping us when needed now."

Pauline rolled her eyes. "I wasn't expecting one of those."

"Cut him some slack," Emilia said quietly. "We're all on edge."

"Fine…" The redhead grumbled. "But I'm not apologizing either!"

"No one asked you to," Justin said.

We continued making small talk while we waited for Cecilia and Denzel. My friend eventually showed up, and we observed his talk with Louis. The apology was out of earshot, and I trusted him enough to know that he wouldn't screw it up and make the situation devolve into another argument. By the end of it, the two shook hands and nodded at each other, and they both walked toward us. Pauline clicked her tongue.

"Be nice," Emilia reprimanded. "I don't want us to fight anymore."

"Hey guys," I said. "Made up yet?"

"We have, and it feels damn good," Denzel smiled.

"That it does. It feels even better to see the group reunited once again," Louis said, eyeing Pauline carefully. There was obviously still tension there, but as long as they were civil with each other, it would be fine. "Should I go get Cece?"

"No," I blurted out. "She said she'd come out on her own."

"What if she feels hurt?" Louis asked. "She might need me."

"I trust her word."

The minutes passed slowly as we waited. I felt anxious, but at least Pauline and Louis were slowly getting back to talking again, however small and inconsequential the topic was. Denzel was still taking care of Buneary, while I tried getting to know Emilia better to distract her from the horrible state her leg was in. I had gotten off easy compared to her.

Around twenty minutes later, Cecilia finally reached us. She looked completely fine, and not like she had just had a mental crisis about her father and Louis, whatever it may have been about. I knew better, though, and I'd have to try to support her as best I could. Pauline was strong. Strong enough to help Justin and Emilia, but who did Cecilia have?

The answer looked to be no one.

"Cece! We were all so worried for you," Louis said, running up to her and grabbing her hands.

She offered him a smile. "I needed to compose myself, but I am fine now," Cece said. "But we have much to talk about, so let's save the pleasantries for later."

"We need to turn back and get Emi to a Center," Pauline said right away with fire in her eyes.

"If the majority decides, we will," Cece said.

"No point in delaying the vote. Who's for turning back?"

Pauline, Justin, and I raised our hands, and then looked at Emilia in confusion when they realized that she wasn't raising hers.

"Emi, why?!" Pauline yelled.

The girl sighed, placing her hands over her eyes. "If I leave now," She started. "I won't be able to go back."

Justin stammered. "Y—you will! And even then, if your leg—"

"I took my decision. I don't want to turn back."

Pauline glowered at the others who had voted no, grinding her teeth. I personally felt the need to not go back and get through this trial, but I couldn't do it in good conscience when Emilia's leg was like this.

"Can you even walk?" I asked her.

"I don't know, I haven't tried since earlier. It's not as painful, so maybe."

"Try," Cecilia said.

The girl slowly got up, supported by Pauline, and managed to take a few steps. She was limping, and she would be slow, but it looked like she would be able to keep going, so at least we wouldn't have to stay in the same spot while we waited for her to get better.

"That settles it then," Denzel said. "What else is there? Should we change our formation?"

"I think that would be wise," Cece quickly answered. "Emi needs to be in the middle so that she's less exposed to threats and has more time to react to anything jumping at her."

"Thank you, Cece," Emilia said. "Beldum can stick around with you."

The dark-skinned girl nodded. "Then we have the matter with Louis—"

"Already fixed," I interrupted. "He'll help out from now on. Right?" I looked at him.

"I will. My performance might have been… unsatisfactory thus far, but I will be at the top of my form from now on."

Cece nodded, eyeing me with a slight smile.

"Then I have a proposition. We rest here for the rest of the day, and then tomorrow, we start heading northeast again," She said.

"I'm only going along with this on one condition," Pauline muttered. "If Emi's leg gets worse throughout the day, we head back, no questions asked."

"I can go along with that," Denzel said.

"Very well," Cece also agreed. "Then the meeting is adjourned."

We all went back to our occupations. Denzel and Justin decided to watch the opposite ends of the camp with Eevee and Growlithe, while Pauline decided to watch over Emi while she slept in her tent. Louis evidently tried to speak to his fiance, but she seemingly always had an excuse to avoid him, and apparently, I was her latest excuse. We were in a secluded part of the camp, where Denzel had been before. Water slowly dripped from the foliage, which was so dense it covered the sky and stopped the rain from falling on us.

"So Castelia's even bigger than Jubilife?" I asked, feeling mindblown at the existence of such a city.

"Much larger— twice as large if I remember correctly. It is truly a magnificent sight, especially at night. I'd love to go back one day," She said, looking at the sky.

"I mean, a year's a long time, I guess, but after the Circuit's over, you can go back, right? At least during the summer."

Cece smiled sadly and looked to the side. "I wish it was that easy, but to be quite honest, there are also advantages to being in Sinnoh."

"Right? I mean, it's not as populated or as dense as the other regions, but it's got a charm of its own."

"I mostly meant avoiding my father."

I felt my stomach sink. I should have known that was what she was talking about. I was so stupid!

"Sorry," I said, suddenly finding the forest floor to be very appealing to look at. "I'm super oblivious sometimes."

"Don't worry, I was the one who steered the conversation toward such a dark topic. The truth was, I had an ulterior motive to bringing you here— beyond avoiding Louis, of course."

"What is it? I'll help you out with anything," I blurted out.

"How about just listening to a girl vent? It may seem strange to you, and I mean no offense, but since we come from different upbringings… I feel like I can tell you anything without having to worry if my words will make their way back to my father's ears."

I nodded. "I'll listen to you. We're friends, right?"

"Right. I suppose I should start by explaining what the problem was at the outpost. I mentioned that I worried that my father was spying on me through the others, right?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Well— actually, it might be better to start with Amy. Amy… Amy is my best friend from Unova. Or maybe she was my best friend. We grew up together, and we supported each other through our struggles with our parents, but since I left for Sinnoh, she's been different. Like she's a completely different person, and it's obvious that my father has her under his thumb. So I can't help but wonder if our friendship was ever real in the first place," Cecilia said sadly.

I didn't respond. I couldn't. I knew nothing about their relationship, so any advice I offered right now would just look like I was pitying her.

"And suddenly, I hear that she's been talking to Louis? That crushed me. Completely crushed me, and I know it's only a matter of time before she starts asking about me to the others."

"She knows all of them?" I asked.

"We all know each other, or at least our parents do. That's how it is at our level of wealth. We all attend the same parties, the same galas, the same business conventions… everyone is connected to each other."

"I still don't understand one thing," I tentatively said. "You say your dad is spying on you, and I believe it. But what does he want from you? You're passionate about Pokemon battling, and you actually want to become the Champion, so you're not like Justin and Emilia."

Cece exhaled and stared at me. "I need you to promise me one more time, Grace. Promise me that father didn't send you."

"I promise," I answered, looking into her light brown eyes. "I'm my own person. I have my own goals, and I know nothing about your dad."

How much had her father done to Cecilia for her to have such a huge amount of trust issues? I bit the inside of my lip, wondering about what kind of hell she had had to live under back home growing up. And for her only support, her best friend, turning out to be some spy? It was obvious why she was so unwell.

"I choose to trust you, then," She said. "I'm being forced to marry Louis against my will by our fathers."

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 48

It had been three days since the group almost fractured. Three days of tiresome traveling through this dense forest. Three days of relentless attacks by wild Pokemon, which grew more and more frequent as we reached the deepest parts of the forest. Every hour or two now, we were getting attacked by wild Pokemon. They were all relatively easy to deal with, but they were incredibly draining. Still, we held strong. Apart from a minor scratch Denzel suffered to his leg, tearing up his pants and breaking the skin, nothing had happened. Emilia's leg wasn't getting better, but it wasn't getting worse either. I hoped we had made the right decision not to turn back, but it was too late now.

We could only march forward.

In the end, everyone in the group decided to work with each other again to get out of the forest. Louis and Pauline still didn't talk, and a few arguments had almost started between them, but they always managed to control themselves. Louis had taken my advice to heart, and he was now helping during every battle, although he still hesitated sometimes. Denzel and I completely made up, and Emi… well, Emi was tired and in pain all the time. The bite on my back had gotten better, and I could run now, even though it still hurt like hell.

Every one of us was exhausted, mentally and physically. Being constantly on edge did that to a person, and none of us were able to sleep more than an hour at night because, again, we just kept getting attacked. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes, trying to keep myself awake. Even while walking, I was barely holding onto consciousness.

"Hold," Louis hissed, pointing at a tree to his left. "The wood here is marked."

I'm being forced to marry Louis against my will by our fathers, Cecilia had said.

The words echoed in my mind over and over, distracting me. Cece had explained that it wasn't Louis' fault. That even though he was in love with her, he had been forced to do this just as she had. Still, I was only human, and my innate jealousy of the man had turned into a deep dislike. I just couldn't help it. He could have done the right thing and worked with Cecilia to torpedo the deal, but—

He was in love with her, and she wasn't.

Denzel approached the tree and squinted. He had peacefully caught Buneary the day before. It had grown extremely attached to him and joined his team without a fuss. "Arceus, how old is this? Can anyone read this?" He asked, peering at the markings.

"The first part says… look out, I think," I said, carefully reading the writings.

"S… Scy… Scyther?" Denzel continued.

We all froze, and our Pokemon grew uneasy. The marking was saying 'Look out, Scyther territory ahead.' We all knew what that entailed.

"Can we go around?" Emilia asked with a shaky voice.

"Around how?" Louis asked. "We don't know how large this 'territory' is. For all we know, we could be walking 'around' it for days and getting lost."

Pauline crossed her arms. "We should at least consider it."

"Agreed," Justin nodded.

"I'm sorry, but I recall saying I would catch one of these," Cecilia smiled, softly touching the carving.

"Cece…" I slowly said. "I don't know about this. This is reckless."

The girl broke into a wicked grin. "It shall be a great battle, shall it not? If I can't do this, I won't be able to fulfill my promise."

Again, like when Cecilia had asked me to join her group, she brought up some kind of promise. I bit my lip. Thinking back on our situation, Cecilia had never really been affected by any of the attacks on a psychological level, even though she was as tired as everyone else. The attacks had started to get even on Pauline's nerves. And again, unlike everyone else, her problems in the forest had always been related to her family or her… engagement. In fact, from the way she looked now, it seemed that Cecilia was thriving. I wouldn't go as far to say that she was enjoying it, but she sure as hell was stronger than all of us, and without a doubt the bright light that had kept us going.

And I admired her so much for that. It was just a step too far this time.

"I will follow you wherever you go, Cece," Louis said firmly.

"I mean, I think this is a bad idea," Denzel added. "I don't know."

"Fine," She sighed. I relaxed for a second before she uttered the next part of her sentence. "Then I shall go on my own. Wait for me here."

The group erupted into protests. We must have spent at least twenty minutes debating fiercely in an attempt to convince Cecilia and Louis to take the long way around, even though it would probably extend our trek by multiple days. In the end, however, we just weren't willing to split the group up. That was bound to result in catastrophe, and at least together, maybe we'd be able to fight off a Scyther if it attacked. I wasn't about to let Cecilia die, nor Louis, no matter how much I disliked him.

"This is fucked," Pauline raged. "She's holding all of us hostage."

And I agreed with her. Cecilia seemed to have completely been consumed by this promise to whatever individual had talked to her. If I knew who it was, I'd let them know a thing or two about what her reckless promise had done to Cece, who seemed to put it above valuing her own life.

For hours, we advanced at a brisk pace— the fastest Emilia's leg allowed since we wanted to spend the least amount of time possible in Scyther's territory. Elekid followed by my side. He had grown extremely protective of me since I had been wounded by that Paras, and it pained me to see his playful side erode slightly. I hoped he didn't blame himself, and that he'd at least return to normal once we got out of Eterna forest.

If we ever got out.

I heard something snap to my right and jumped. The entire group immediately got into position, hiding behind each of their Pokemon as we grabbed our axes. Days of constant fighting had made the process automatic now. Freezing up meant injury, or worse.

Snap.

We heard the sound again, closer this time. And then over and over. The snapping of branches and crunching of leaves. A bead of sweat dripped down to my chin as I stood still. I adjusted the sweaty grip on my axe, clenching the handle as hard as I could to stop myself from shaking. We were waiting for whatever was coming. But the truth was that we all knew. A huge group had trespassed onto its territory, so it was bound to investigate. It was coming.

Scyther slowly emerged from the shadows. Its two blades looked deadly, like they could cut me in half like a knife slicing through butter. Its armor was hardened and scarred by years of living in Eterna forest. For a brief moment, it stared at us.

And then it attacked with a deafening screech.

The bug type fanned its wings and blurred forward, going straight for Deino, who roared a Dragon Breath at it. Scyther just flew above, using the trees as cover as it slowly and methodically made its way toward us.

"Elekid, you're up!" I quickly yelled.

He whirled his arms and began shooting out Thundershocks, each narrowly avoided as well. It was getting closer.

Emilia cried out and ordered her Beldum to use confusion, and Pauline quickly did the same with Gothita. The psychic energy restrained Scyther in the air, and I breathed out a sigh of relief as a Dragon Breath, a Thundershock, and an Ice Beam all hit our assailant.

Scyther simply brushed it off and broke out of the psychic restraint with a defiant screech. I swore as its sickle glowed and slashed across Deino's head. The dragon type roared and bit back, but Scyther was already gone, having moved on to attacking Prinplup. Our psychic types restrained him again, giving Louis and his Pokemon time to reposition themselves behind our most sturdy members, but Scyther quickly broke out and chased him. It seemed like Louis was his target.

"Grace, with me," Denzel screamed. "Swift!"

Eevee summoned a series of shining stars, which flew at high speeds toward Scyther. He was right. Scyther was too fast for normal attacks to hit. We needed to use Swift.

"E-Swift," I yelled out.

Elekid grunted, and electric stars barrelled toward Scyther. Justin tackled Louis just in time for him to avoid getting cut in half by the wild Pokemon, but Prinplup wasn't so lucky, and Scyther raked its blades across his back in the shape of an X. He retaliated quickly, sending out a stream of bubbles that hit the Scyther thanks to their close proximity, but shortly afterward, the bug type took to the air again, narrowly avoiding both of our Swifts before the stars turned abruptly and just kept going, but it was just too fast.

"Keep restraining it with the psychics so Swift can hit!" I yelled.

"What do you think we're trying to do, dumbass!" Pauline responded as Scyther froze in the air again.

It broke out in just a few seconds, keeping its focus on Prinplup. The water type was panting heavily and bleeding profusely from its back, but it was still standing. I considered telling everyone to just release our entire teams, but that was probably a bad idea. Unlike with the Paras, we'd need to keep track of every Pokemon to ensure they wouldn't get killed by the Scyther—

Prinplup took another hit to the chest, but not before delivering another crucial Ice Beam, freezing one of Scyther's wings. The bug type screamed in frustration as it desperately tried to free its wing, and that was enough time for our Swifts to hit.

"Another," I told Denzel.

He nodded, and both of our Pokemon sent out another set of homing stars. Louis recalled his collapsed Prinplup and released his Gible, whose eyes glinted as soon as he saw what we were facing. Scyther was unable to fly now, but that didn't mean it was slow. The wild Pokemon stared at Emilia's leg for a split second, and sensing weakness, it blurred forward. Pauline, Beldum, and Gothita stood in between them, and Scyther again was stopped by Confusion.

"Growlithe, now!"

The fire type barked, jumping out of the ground and hitting the Scyther with a combined Dig and Fire Fang. He shook his head violently, melting off some of Scyther's armored plating, and it screeched in agony as it violently kicked Growlithe against a tree. Its eyes turned bloodshot, and it sprinted toward Growlithe, who still hadn't gotten up. Justin recalled him just as it sliced across the tree in that same X shape that I now recognized as X-Scissor. The tree collapsed shortly after, just as our Swifts hit its back.

"It just got way stronger," Denzel yelled. "Watch out—"

Scyther was faster than before. Way faster, and it was almost impossible to track with the naked eye. Justin jumped behind another tree, which went down after one X-Scissor, and another set of Confusion restrained the bug type long enough for him to rerelease his fire type.

"Keep using Swift!" I told Elekid and Denzel as I grabbed a Pokeball. Now wasn't the time to freeze up.

A Dragon Rage clipped the Scyther's leg as it tore through trees like paper, and Dragon Breath followed closely behind. I released Togetic and immediately warned her.

"W—we're fighting a Scyther. Use Ancient Power to protect Justin!" I stammered.

She nodded, and her eyes shone as she tore huge pieces of the forest floor up with her psychic energy. Scyther's sharp blades met a chunk of earth instead of Justin's flesh, and it desperately tried to go around. Princess kept raising more stones and earth until they completely surrounded Justin and Growlithe like a protective shell. The bug type raged and kept hitting the barrier in frustration as more attacks hit it. It kept hitting, again and again, until it slowed, and then stopped completely. We paused our attacks and stared at it confusedly until we realized what had happened.

It had fallen unconscious while standing.

"Fuck," Pauline whispered. "Is everyone alright?!"

"What's going on?!" Justin yelled, his voice muffled by his shell. I ordered Togetic to pull down the barrier.

Cecilia sighed, grabbing an empty Pokeball and throwing it at the Scyther. A part of me almost expected it to wake up and break out of the ball, but after three shakes, nothing happened.

She had caught the damn thing, and we had all gotten out of it alive.

Emilia collapsed on the ground, breathing hard and erratically. Denzel's fists were clenched around his pants. I leaned against a tree, feeling the adrenaline drain from my body, and my legs began to turn weak. Pauline kept swearing and pacing around, and Justin just stared at the ground. The terrain around us was in complete disarray. Trees torn down and fallen to the ground, Plants soaked with Prinplup's blood, chunks of the ground missing and turned over.

Cecilia crouched and grabbed her Pokeball with a slight smile.

Personally, I wouldn't be smiling if I were her. How was she ever going to control this thing? It had taken all of us to take it down! She wasn't going to be able to even bring it out of its ball.

But at least we had survived. The fact that some trainers attempted to go through this forest with a small group, or even alone was complete madness to me. I shuddered to think what would have happened to Denzel and me if we had gone through Eterna forest on our own. We took a few minutes to gather our spirits before leaving again, but before that, I grabbed a small knife I carried and started carving a message against one of the few trees still standing around us.

'Scyther defeated and caught, October 23rd, 20XX.'

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 49

Another two days had passed since Cece had caught Scyther, and she had only tried letting the monster out of his ball once. He was still heavily wounded, so he was way easier to handle, but there was still no cooperation possible between them for the foreseeable future. Scyther was a ball of pure rage concentrated into a Pokemon, like Budew on steroids, but at least I managed to scan him with my Pokedex. According to Cecilia, the reason he had suddenly gotten way stronger during our battle was that he had the ability 'Swarm', which boosted his power when he was on the verge of defeat. What a terrifying ability that was.

The attacks had apparently peaked already during our time spent outside of Scyther's territory. Their frequency was lowering at a rapid pace, which meant that we were on the right track and had passed through the deepest parts of the forest. That kept our spirits up, but we were still tired, and I was still looking for a Tangela. Fighting for our lives so often had made me shift my priorities, but now that things were slowly becoming easier, I wanted to search harder, but leaving it to chance was leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

I stared at Justin, who was, as always, in front of the group with his Growlithe. Maybe…

No. Surely not.

But what if, right? I hurriedly walked up to him and called out his name.

"Justin, do you have a second?" I asked him.

"What is it?" He answered, not turning back. I paid it no mind. Our time in Eterna had made him become increasingly vigilant. He was always on the lookout for threats, even when we had Pokemon that could do the job.

"So your Growlithe," I started. "When he smells something, would you say he'd always remember it?"

Growlithe cried out in indignation, apparently angry that I was even questioning his sense of smell.

"You heard him," He said playfully. "Why?"

"Has he ever seen a Tangela before?" I asked, mentally crossing my fingers.

"Ah, you've decided on what grass type you want to catch?" Justin said. "You're in luck. It was months ago, but I fought a trainer with one at the start of our journey in one of Jubilife's arenas."

Growlithe nodded and exhaled loudly.

I broke into a smile. "Thank you, thank you! Can you lead us to one?" I asked the fire type.

Growlithe looked up at his trainer, who nodded, and then he barked in agreement. I couldn't contain my grin. The search had just gotten much easier. After informing the group about my new tactic, we continued for a few hours, and my heart trembled in anticipation. I was going to get a new member soon.

When the sun began to set, and the rays slipping through the foliage turned orange, Growlithe barked excitedly and veered toward the right with his nose stuck to the ground.

"This is it, I think," Justin said. "He's got a lead."

"Yes!" I squealed.

It took Growlithe a few minutes, but he eventually led us to a clearing in the forest. I gasped as I looked up at the beautiful, orange sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight. I felt emotions well up inside of me. It was my first time seeing the sky in… in more than a week.

"There's your Tangela," Justin said, pointing forward.

I wiped my eyes and squinted. It was seemingly asleep and soaking in the last remaining sunlight. Or at least it wasn't moving, and it was facing away from us. The entire group was about to send their Pokemon to attack, but I stopped them, saying to only intervene if it attacked me directly. Denzel protested, but I quickly convinced him by saying that Tangela wasn't a predator and wasn't likely to attack unless I provoked it, which wasn't how I wanted to catch the thing. I stared at Elekid, and we nodded at each other before carefully approaching the grass type. I circled around Tangela and showed myself.

"Hey," I said hesitantly.

The grass type opened its eyes and just stared at me with its big, googly eyes. When it saw Elekid, two vines sprung out of its body, and it whipped him away further into the clearing.

"Shit! Are you okay?!" I asked worriedly. My Pokemon got up immediately and shook off the attack, and defiantly shook his arms, generating electricity.

"Calm down," I told Elekid. "It's just scared, I think."

He listened and quieted down. Tangela didn't retract its vines, but it didn't attack further.

"Hey," I said again, before pointing at Elekid. "That's Elekid. He's one of my partners. We travel together and— ah!"

I yelled as Tangela used its vines to touch me, even going under my clothes.

"Stop it!" I yelled. The grass type didn't listen and kept touching my skin until it was satisfied. "Arceus… you can't just go around doing stuff like that."

It just stared at me with the same blank expression. This was probably one of its first times seeing a human, so maybe it got curious.

"Is this your spot?" I asked, looking around the clearing. "You've got a pretty sweet setup here. Easy to take in the sunlight. I'm surprised there aren't any other grass types here."

The Pokemon turned away and began touching Elekid now instead, who just laughed at the whole thing. Was it even listening to me? I slapped my forehead and grabbed an empty Pokeball.

"See this?" I said. "If you go in there, then we become partners. I tried telling you this earlier, but I'm traveling with others to try to become the strongest trainer. That means we train in battles and stuff, but we're also one big family."

The grass type placed a vine over the device and curiously felt at it. It flinched and retracted the appendage when it felt the metal, but it slowly brought it back and started caressing the ball and feeling its button and its crevices.

"I'm going to catch you, but if you want, you can break out, alright? You're not wounded or anything, so it should be pretty easy."

I was probably going to let it go if he didn't stay in the ball. We had Growlithe, who'd be able to find other Tangela with his sense of smell, so it wouldn't be a huge loss, even though I did kind of like how aloof this one was. I gently hit it with the ball, and he was absorbed into it. I stood back and watched as the Pokeball shook three times before letting out the familiar chime that indicated I had caught the grass type. I jumped up and down in excitement, celebrating before running back to the group. Cece was the first one to congratulate me.

"You did very well, Grace," She said. "Many trainers would have just attacked that Tangela to catch it."

"I don't really like doing that," I said. "Ever since Frillish and Denzel's Budew, I kind of vowed never to catch a Pokemon against its will again. It just feels icky."

She looked at me for a few seconds. "I can see what you mean, but alas, sometimes, if you want something, you need to take it."

Denzel walked up to me and offered a high-five, which I enthusiastically took, and I also thanked Justin and Growlithe for their huge help. Before long, we were back on the road. That night, I let Tangela out of its Pokeball in an isolated part of camp and scanned it with my Pokedex. He was a male.

Tangela, the vine Pokemon. Tangela's vines snap off easily if they are grabbed. This happens without pain, allowing it to make a quick getaway. The lost vines are replaced by newly grown vines the very next day.

Type: Grass

Moves: Vine Whip, Absorb, Mega Drain, Stun Spore, Bind, Poison Powder (click for more information)

Ability: Chlorophyll (click for more information)

"So your vines are like your hair?" I said. "I wonder what's under there," I smiled. He shook his entire body, making his vines move around as well. All I could see below the sea of vines was his bright, shiny eyes and some kind of darkened body. His feet were odd. They looked like shoes and felt like rubber to the touch. I tried softly pulling on one of his vines too, and saw that they seemingly extended forever. While I did this, Tangela returned the touching tenfold, feeling my clothes and my hair with multiple vines.

"Alright, alright, enough," I said. Tangela quietly retracted his vines. "You've already met Elekid," I said, pointing at my electric type.

"Kid!"

"Quiet down, hon. Oh right, I call him honey or hon too."

"Kid!" He said, a little bit quieter.

"That's better, I guess," I said with a smile. "He's pretty hyper, but he's also kind to everyone he meets. He'll be friends with anyone. Hell, he's already forgiven you for attacking him earlier, I bet."

"Ele!" He said, crossing his arms proudly.

"Yes, yes, I know, you're great," I told him.

I grabbed Togetic's ball and released her. I'd better keep Frillish for last since I already knew he was going to be grumpy about this. Togetic immediately noticed our new member and chirped at him happily. Tangela responded by grabbing her with his vines and feeling her soft fur, tickling her. She laughed and squirmed around, trying to escape.

"That's Togetic, or princess. She was my first Pokemon, and she's still a baby, so be gentle with her," I said. Tangela softened his grip on her, much to her chagrin. She escaped from his grasp and floated above me before grabbing my hair to protest.

"Alright, alright! You're a big girl now, I'm sorry," I laughed.

"Toge!"

"She loves playing around, so she's probably going to love you and, um, your vines," I said, before grabbing Frillish's ball.

I released him, and he looked at me happily before noticing Tangela standing behind all of us. His stare turned sinister, and that wasn't helped by the fact that Tangela immediately started extending his vines.

I immediately stood in between the two. "Hold on. Frillish is really sensitive about touching, so that's not going to work," I said. Tangela stared at me, his expression unchanging. "I know it must be weird for you since you really like it, but he's just not like that."

Frillish huffed, and I knew that if we weren't in a place as dangerous as Eterna forest, he would have left and flown into the sky to brood already.

"So, yeah, that's Frillish or buddy. He's a little bit grumpy, but he's a softie if you get past his rough exterior," I said, grabbing one of his tentacles. He whipped it out of my hand in protest. "Don't be such a child," I said, rolling my eyes. "I hope you won't do this every time we meet someone new."

Frillish looked at me and lowered his head. "Fri…"

"Aw, thanks for apologizing, bud. You'll be fine, just try to be a little bit less anti-social," I said before looking at Tangela. "There you have it, that's the entire family. Sorry to spring up all of that on you, but it's good if you get acquainted as early as possible."

He stared at me with that same unchanging expression. Hopefully, I'd be able to pick up some of his body language cues since they appeared to be much more subtle. This wasn't going to be like Elekid, who behaved similarly to humans. Hell, he wasn't even talking, which was something that could have helped.

"Everyone has a nickname," I said. "Do you want one?"

He didn't respond, but grabbed one of my hands with his vines and shook it as he blinked twice.

"That a yes?" I asked, before thinking. All of the other's nicknames had come out pretty spontaneously, so I didn't want to force anything.

"Tangela… hm… what's a good nickname for a Tangela…" I trailed off. "Tangela… angel… angel! What do you think about that?" I exclaimed, waiting for a reaction. There was none. "Well, you snooze, you lose. It's corny, but I like it. Welcome to the team, angel."

——

Another two days later, we were walking along an elevated portion of the forest. I had Togetic out with me after Elekid had taken a couple of nasty hits from a pair of Butterfree. It wasn't anything threatening, but he needed to rest. We were getting more optimistic by the day. Even Pauline was being nicer to me, and Emilia was happy again. Denzel and Justin had estimated that in another few hours, we would probably finally leave this hell hole. I couldn't wait to see the sun regularly again or to actually sleep in a bed in a heated room. The other side of the forest also had an outpost with rangers, a Center, and a few inhabitants, so it would be possible to rest there for a few days before setting off toward Eterna city proper, which would be another day away.

The good mood was shattered when we saw a Wurmple climbing a tree. Then two. Then three. We slowly stepped back, but a few Cascoon hissed behind us, their spikes dripping with poison. The Wurmple started to screech, and I feared they were calling out to the Dustox that cared for them. That fear was confirmed immediately when we heard the familiar, alien-like cry echoing in the woods. There were a lot of them coming.

"Fuck," I hissed. "Can we run?"

"They'll catch up," Denzel said. "I say we fight."

Cecilia shook her head, but Pauline was the one who talked.

"One Poison Sting could mean your death, and those aren't stoppable with our psychics," She explained. "Too many darts to keep track of at the same time. They aren't that good yet."

"Then what?!" Emilia cried. "Hurry up and decide!"

"We run," Cece said.

She didn't have to say it twice. We bolted away, watching our every step not to slip. Emilia wasn't going fast enough on her own, and Justin dragged her by the hand.

"Push through the pain, Emi!" He screamed.

Behind us, the screeches were getting closer. I looked back for a second and saw at least eight Dustox chasing us, their alien, compound eyes and the red markings on their wings shining in the dark. I screamed in terror as I saw poisoned darts hit the tree to my right, and I redoubled my efforts. All those runs I had gone on were paying off. I was faster than before, and I felt like I'd be able to keep this speed going for at least ten minutes.

"What in the world is that?!" Louis yelled.

I looked in the direction he was looking and saw a huge mansion just sitting in the middle of this Arceus damned forest behind a run-down fence.

"I don't care, just get in it! We can hold them out at the doors and the windows!" Pauline said.

Unable to stop his momentum, Louis slammed against the door. He desperately tried to open it, but it was locked.

"Move!" Denzel said, before kicking down the entire door. We hurried inside of the mansion.

"Stand behind anything!" Cecilia yelled. "Furniture, couches, it doesn't matter. We hold them here!"

I jumped behind a bar, and Togetic hovered slightly above it.

"Try to hit them with Fairy Wind or Extrasensory if they get close," I said before releasing Frillish. "Hey, we're under attack by Dustox. Hit 'em with all you've got."

A shower of Poison Sting flew through the door and the windows, breaking the glass. The first two Dustox flew inside the building and were immediately battered with every move we had. Togetic slammed another one against the floor, and Growlithe finished it off with Fire Fang. Gothita and Beldum were our best match against the poison types, and soon enough, the rest fled. Inside of a building where we had cover, they weren't as threatening.

"Holy shit," Pauline said, kicking one of the Dustox we had knocked unconscious away. "I fucking hate this forest."

"My leg…" Emilia groaned. She tried walking and whimpered. "I think I need to rest, I can't put any weight on it."

"Sorry," Justin apologized. "I pushed you too much, but there was no choice."

"That's fine," Louis said. "This place will work wonderfully as a shelter. I wonder who would build such a wonderful mansion inside of a forest as deadly as this one. And such marvelous architecture… it's a shame it's all run down."

He was right. The entire mansion looked like a dozen battles had gone on inside of it, and that was before we had come in. Furniture was littered about, there were holes in the walls, and a part of the ceiling had a gaping hole in it. After checking ourselves for any potential wounds that we hadn't noticed, we settled down and waited in the empty mansion for Emilia to recover.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 50

"This place gives me the creeps," Pauline said, hugging herself tightly. "Is it colder in here?"

"Don't be so paranoid," Louis answered, as he looked at a defunct painting of what looked to be the Prism Tower in Kalos. "We'll be out in a few hours."

It had been a few minutes since the fight with the Dustox, and Louis, Pauline, and I were exploring the foyer of the mansion. Looking past all the destruction, the room was absolutely massive and completely symmetrical. Two large sets of staircases opposite each other led to an upper floor, and past those stairs was another huge double door. We didn't want to go too far, however, so we decided against going past the foyer and into other rooms. Who knew what kind of wild Pokemon found refuge here?

"The man who owned this place had an excellent taste in art, I must say," Louis said, looking at a beautiful, unlit chandelier hanging overhead. "A shame what happened to the place. I wonder why it was abandoned."

"Well, maybe they realized that living here was suicidal, and they left," Pauline said. She was clearly more unsettled by the place than we were and was probably only with us to talk and think about something else. "Good decision if you ask me."

Louis traced his fingers across the dusty walls before wiping his hand on his pants. "Why take nothing, though? The number of things in this foyer alone must be worth millions, and that's not even counting the other rooms.

"Trying to carry all of that out of this forest might have been more trouble than they could afford," I muttered.

We finally reached the massive doors behind the stairs and stopped dead in our tracks.

"We should turn back," I said.

"You've been getting better at having good ideas," Pauline jabbed.

"Sheesh, thanks," I said irritatedly.

We turned away, but Elekid held my leg and began to stir. He was extremely agitated, yelling and pulling me toward the room.

I crouched and looked at him. "What is it? What's the problem?"

"Elekid!" He yelled with his face full of anguish.

I frowned. This was unlike him. Pauline and Louis were already leaving toward where the others were. The only time Elekid had ever been like this was… before the attack on the power plant in Floaroma, and he had explicitly told me that he had known there was a problem. I gulped as sweat began to accumulate on my palms.

"Kid! Kid!"

I took a breath. Team Galactic couldn't be there, it was impossible.

"A—are there bad guys in there?" I whispered with a shaky voice. "Like the ones you see on T.V. sometimes?"

He shook his head. I sighed in relief as the feeling of utter terror that had started enveloping me evaporated from my body.

"Ele!"

"Alright big guy, let's see what your problem is."

I sneaked up to the doors and slowly opened them, and a slew of Zubat flew out of the damp, dark room, causing me to scream.

"Fuck…" I sighed. In front of me stood a giant dining room with a table so long and so many fancy, cushioned chairs it was almost comical. Elekid strode into the room. "Wait up!" I told him after he reluctantly stopped.

Pauline and Louis rushed back toward me after hearing me scream, followed by the others— even Emilia.

"What's going on?" Denzel said, worryingly tapping my shoulder.

"Nothing… just some Zubat living in here, and some problem with Elekid. He's obsessed with this room."

Elekid carefully walked into the dining room, making sure not to make any noise. I carefully followed, wanting to see where he would bring us. He stopped when reaching one of the chairs at the edge of the table.

"What… what is it?" Cece asked.

"Alright, I think we need to leave, something— something is wrong." Pauline panicked.

"Fine," I said. I had wanted to find out more about what Elekid's problem was, but—

Suddenly, we heard a voice throughout the room, but it wasn't in a specific area. It was speaking to us from everywhere at once, and it was… it was undiscernible. It bordered on our language, but it was also impossible to understand, like a word on the tip of my tongue. Old lights, whether they were electric or candles, lit up all at once and started to flicker. The old cutlery and the plates on the table started to rattle and shake. I slowly edged back, bumping into Denzel and Cecilia, who were watching the spectacle with terrifying awe.

"Let's leave!" Emilia screamed.

That broke us out of our spell, and we rushed toward the doors, but they slammed shut right as we were about to exit. The voice was getting louder.

"Fuck!" Denzel swore. "Louis, help me pull!"

Louis nodded, and they each got on one side of the doors and pulled as hard as they could. They wouldn't budge. We were stuck in here.

"Beldum, ram into it!" Emilia screeched.

The steel type let out an alien-like grinding sound and flew at the door, but it wasn't breaking.

"What kind of fucked up shit is this?!" Pauline screamed. "I'm not about to die hours away from the Arceus damned exit!"

I turned back toward the dining room with trembling legs and watched as one of the lights stopped flickering, grew larger and larger, and began to take shape. But as it morphed into something else, it, along with the other lights, also became darker, more sinister, basking the room in a cold, purple light. I leaned against the wall and then collapsed, covering my ears as I could only watch helplessly. The light finally took form as the voice reached its crescendo. It was made out of different shades of ragged, purple cloth that became more transparent the longer I looked. Three shiny red gems adorned its 'clothing' shining bright along with its yellow and red eyes. Its head didn't end, instead forming into a witch's hat. The Pokemon floated up and stared at us.

I heard someone's Pokedex speak with a familiar robotic voice. Mismagius, the magic Pokemon. Its cries sound like incantations. Those hearing it are tormented by— by— by—

I heard Emilia yell as the Pokedex screen glitched out, flickering on and off for a few seconds before finally turning off.

"We have to fight," Denzel said, recalling Eevee and releasing Budew. "Normal type attacks won't work against this one,"

"What did you say?!" Justin yelled. The voice was too loud, he hadn't heard him.

"We fight!" Denzel yelled out, louder this time. "Budew, we're fighting a ghost. Bullet Seed it!"

A series of seeds flew toward the ghost type, who screeched out, either in pain or outrage. We all ordered our Pokemon to attack, but suddenly, the Mismagius disappeared into thin air, as if it had never been there. The voice— or the incantation, according to the Pokedex— was also gone, and the lights had gone back to normal.

I took a few breaths to calm myself, but I struggled to. Seeing this reminded me too much of Mars' Dusknoir, and I just couldn't keep myself from freaking out. Cecilia was also unusually shaken, but she helped me up and held my hand gently.

That's right, I thought. I have my friends with me this time.

"Let's not spend another second in here," Pauline said. "It can come back at any time."

We all agreed and hurried back to the entrance. Emilia would have to struggle, but we were only a few hours away, or maybe a day away at worse, so it hopefully wouldn't be too bad.

"Uh… what in the world?" Justin said.

"No… this can't be happening," Pauline cried out, bringing her hands to her face.

I frowned and walked in front of the group, and my eyes widened at what I saw. The windows and the exit door no longer led to Eterna forest. They instead led to another mansion, and then another, and another. It kept going… forever. The sight of it was utterly disturbing, forcing me to look away. It was like two mirrors facing each other, bouncing the light off of each other forever.

Louis ran to the kicked-in door and hesitantly walked through. I winced, expecting something to happen, but he was completely fine.

"We're stuck. That ghost fucked us," Denzel said in a defeated tone.

"When you say stuck, you don't mean forever, do you?" Justin cautioned.

"I don't know. We don't know anything," He replied.

"Why the fuck did you open that door," Pauline yelled, aggressively jamming her finger at me. I grimaced, expecting the dressing down of a lifetime, and I couldn't even blame her. It was my fault. I had been too focused on figuring out what was wrong with Elekid and underestimated the danger this mansion could have posed.

"Ugh," She groaned. "I don't even have the energy to be mad at you anymore, I'm just… I just want to get out. All this time, I've been strong. Strong like mommy would tell me to be, but I just can't. We were so close, Grace."

"I'm sorry," I said weakly, staring at the ground.

I felt an arm wrap around my shoulder. "We've all fucked up in different ways during our trip through the forest," Denzel said. "We'll make it out, I promise you."

Cecilia nodded. "I certainly am no better, making you lot fight a Scyther."

"It's kind of my fault, too," Emilia muttered. "I mean, my leg was the entire reason we had to rest here."

"No, don't blame yourself," I hurriedly said.

"And my performance during the first few days left a lot to be desired," Louis chimed in. "And you brought back the group together when we needed it the most. Let's let bygones be bygones and focus on getting out of here," He continued.

I wanted to cry. I had judged these people so harshly before, but now here they were, supporting me. I sniffled and wiped my eyes before standing straighter.

"Alright, let's make a plan."

The first thing we tried was breaking out through the side of the mansion. Beldum could easily ram through the half-rotten walls with Take Down. Unfortunately, we quickly learned that the 'mirroring' of the mansion not only applied to the doors and windows but to the walls as well. The hole in the roof seemed to still be there, but above it was what looked to be some kind of floor, meaning it also lead to another version of the mansion, but Cecilia sent her Fletchling to check it out anyway and confirmed it. Lastly, we considered digging our way out with Growlithe's Dig. Beldum again rammed through the floor, expecting to find dirt, but he opened a gaping hole that was at least a fifty feet drop, and we quickly realized that there was no getting out through conventional means. After hastily covering the hole with a wooden we tore off the floor, we went back to strategizing.

"If I had to guess," I said. "I'd say we have to defeat the ghost or kill it for it to release us. It'd only be dead for a few weeks, but that would be enough for us to escape."

"So we have to find it then," Cecilia said, before looking toward the entrance. "But it could be in… any of these mansions."

"It could be," I said grimly.

"Come on, that wouldn't make any sense," Denzel interjected. "It didn't attack us, it trapped us in here. A powerful ghost type like Mismagius could have done a number on us. I think this is a test of some sort."

"A test?" Emilia frowned. "When Justin scanned it with his Pokedex, we couldn't hear the full description, but I looked at the screen and read it. I— I didn't think it was important, but… it said it creates hallucinations because— because it loves to torment people."

"So this is just a hallucination, then?" Cece said. "Can we wake ourselves up somehow?"

"Wouldn't count on it, but it doesn't hurt to try anything," I said. "But if it's tormenting us, at least we can agree that it won't kill us like Denzel said. Still… there must be a way to beat it."

Pauline lifted her head. She was still in low spirits, but we all understood. She had stayed strong the entire time and was finally at her limit. "How about we start looking for that fucking ghost, then? Search this mansion first, and then the next."

"And then the next…" Justin sighed. "We'll starve. How much food do we have left?"

"Enough for a few weeks, but time could be meaningless in here," Cecilia said. "This is an illusion, and It's been… two hours since we've been trapped here, give or take. I feel the exact same as I was. I'd normally be getting hungry around this time, and as you know, I live a very scheduled life."

"That'd be great," Denzel said. "But we can't guarantee it until more time has passed."

Pauline frowned for a few seconds and then perked up. "Guys, think about it. There's no way there are actually an infinite amount of mansions, right? I mean, the amount of power that would require would be insane… like, only Legendaries from old stories you'd read could do something like that."

"I agree," Cece nodded. "But still, it probably could create enough to strand us in here for days or weeks."

"Then what?" Emilia asked with fear in her eyes.

"Grace and Pauline are right," Cece sighed. "We need to look for Mismagius, and then we need to defeat it in battle."

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 51

"Nothing in there?!" I yelled out.

"I'm afraid not, it's just another bedroom," Cecilia answered.

We split into groups to fasten the search. The mansion didn't really have a lot of depth to it, but it was very large, horizontally speaking. That meant that it would be better to split the group into two and reconvene in the foyer every time we were done searching. If a group found the ghost, we were supposed to not engage and run to get the others as fast as possible. It wasn't the best plan, but we needed to cover as much ground as possible.

"I think that's every room on this side," Denzel sighed. "Let's head back."

"What number does that make? Is that our fourth or our fifth?" I asked as we walked through the mansion's huge hallway.

"Fifth," Cece said. "How mind-numbingly boring."

I looked down at Elekid worryingly. I hadn't gotten mad at him, of course. It was my fault for not stopping him and opening that door, but I couldn't help but wonder. Why? Why had he freaked out like that? What was the common denominator between the power plant at Valley Windworks and this busted mansion? No matter how much I racked my brain over it, I just couldn't figure it out. Cece, Denzel, and I walked down the giant staircase into the foyer and saw that Justin, Pauline, Louis, and Emilia were already waiting for us. Emi wasn't a part of the search because of her wounded leg, so she just stayed in the lobby waiting for us every time we moved on to another mansion. She had protested, mostly because being alone terrified her, but she knew it was for the good of the group, and at least it didn't look like Mismagius had brought any wild Pokemon into this made-up world.

"Nothing?" Louis asked with a grimace.

"Nope," Denzel said. "Let's move on?"

I sighed. "Yeah, let's."

I bit my tongue. Were we just wasting time here? For all we knew, maybe Mismagius would simply leave us here forever. The good news was that Cecilia's theory appeared to be correct. We weren't getting tired, or hungry after hours of searching, so it appeared we could theoretically stay here forever. Unfortunately, we didn't know what that entailed for our real-world selves. Had we passed out in that dining room, or were we whisked away to Mismagius' world? So many questions with so few answers. I brought it up to the group since I felt like it was an important discussion to have before we split up again.

"I mean, I definitely think we were transported somewhere," Denzel said. "Our Pokeballs still work, right? And so do our Pokedexes, save for Justin's."

"If this was a dream of some sort, there was no way for Mismagius to know what the rest of our teams looked like, and yet they are still intact," Pauline added.

I nodded. That made sense, and I should have figured it out on my own, but right now, I just wasn't myself. The issue with Elekid, and the guilt over dragging everyone into this mess was eating me up inside.

"Alright, we take the right, you guys take the left again," Denzel said.

Think, Grace, think! I internally screamed. Elekid had dragged me to the Power Plant, but when he did, team Galactic hadn't been in the building yet. At first I thought he just wanted to steal some of their electricity, but then he told me that he knew something bad was there. Something bad…

"Elekid," I said, my eyes widening. "You also knew something bad was in the dining room before we went inside?" I asked him.

Denzel and Cece looked at me confusedly, but I raised my hand at them before they said anything.

"Kid…" He said timidly.

"I'm not mad, honey, but I need to know."

The electric type nodded.

"Alright. Does it have something to do with ghosts? Like, actual ghosts, not Pokemon like Frillish."

Elekid nodded again, more confidently this time. I exhaled in relief, jubilant I had finally figured it out. He must have… felt, or sensed the Dusknoir in the power plant at first, and then the Mismagius. But that still didn't answer the how. People often said that when ghosts were near, they sometimes felt wrong, like Pauline had before Mismagius attacked us, but Elekid's ability was something else.

"So if I understand this correctly, Elekid can find ghost types?" Cecilia asked.

"Ghosts, not ghost types. There's a difference," I said. I stared into Elekid's eyes. "Could you help us find the Mismagius again? You could tell Dusknoir was in the plant from pretty far back in Floaroma."

"Wait, it knew that Dusknoir was in the plant?!" Denzel asked incredulously.

I ignored him and kept looking into Elekid's eyes. He shook his head and sagged his arms. I frowned, trying to figure out what the issue was. Thinking back, he had only started feeling Mismagius when we started getting near the dining room door, which was a far cry from the range he had shown at Floaroma.

Cece caught on to what I was thinking. "Perhaps it has something to do with the ghost's power," She theorized. "That Mismagius may be capable of powerful illusions, but when we attacked it all at once, we did real damage. It's defeatable."

I hit my palm with a fist. "That's it!" I exclaimed. "But it still doesn't help us track the Arceus damned thing down that much. We still have to search."

"But at least we won't have to search the rooms anymore," Cece smiled.

"That's certainly an improvement. Some of these are way too big," Denzel said.

"Can you do that for me, Elekid? Try to feel the ghost through doors like you did last time?"

The electric type yelled out, finally regaining his usual energetic behavior. It wasn't much, but it was something.

——

Eight hours. Eight dull, mind-numbing hours had passed, and there was still no progress. We searched through twenty-two mansions, by our count. Our speed was greatly improved. Thanks to Elekid's help, by the time we were done searching our side of the mansion, the others still weren't even halfway done with their side, and we would always go and help out. Unfortunately, there was still no sign of Mismagius. We were starting to lose hope.

"What if it's in one of the ones toward the bottom? Or the top?" Pauline lamented. "How do we even get down there?"

We were currently taking a small break just to refresh our ideas and brainstorm another tactic, because this clearly still wasn't working.

"I could have Beldum drop you guys down with Confusion. Or bring you up," Pauline said in her usual quiet voice. "He can levitate with you, so you'll never be out of range."

Louis slouched into the defunct couch he sat on. "We can do that after we clear all the mansions on this floor, I suppose."

"This is going to take weeks," I sighed, looking toward the 'exit'. After a few seconds, I blinked and averted my eyes. Staring at what looked to be infinity gave me a headache. However, something on the ground caught my eye. I gasped when I saw a specific piece of wood we had placed hours ago to avoid falling to our deaths.

"Guys," I started. "Isn't that what we put to plug that hole Beldum made?" I said, pointing at the piece of wood.

Cece stared at it intently. "That… that is!"

Denzel rushed toward the wooden plank, removed it, and smiled. "Holy shit, I can't believe our luck. If you hadn't seen that, we would have kept going and searched the same thing over and over again. Wait, have we been going in loops this entire time and not noticing?"

"That's a possibility," Justin said, resting his head in the palm of his hand. "How about we test it out? I'll run through the mansions and count how many I go through before returning here again."

"Alright," I said. "But if you count above twenty-two, turn back. It could be some ghost fuckery again."

The teen nodded, got up, and ran toward the exit. We watched intently until eventually blurred and disappeared.

"That was five mansions," He said, panting.

We jumped, hearing his voice behind us.

"Arceus, can't you run a little less silently?" Denzel complained.

"Five?!" Pauline yelled. "We already looped for no reason, then!"

"If there are five mansions, then we should be able to see… ourselves by looking toward the exits, no?" I asked.

"Mismagius might be using its powers to trick us," Cece said.

"What's done is done," Louis said. "Is it safe to assume that there's five in all directions then? Up and down? Toward the sides as well?"

"It's not safe to assume anything," Cece shook her head, grabbing a Pokeball. "I'll send Fletchling." She released the flying type, who landed on her shoulder. "Darling, please fly up through the ceiling and keep going. If there are more than five instances of this mansion, come back down right away."

The bird chirped and blurred upward impressively fast, and vanished as it created a hole through the upper floor. After around two minutes, she flew through our floor with Quick Attack, landing on her owner's shoulder and singing in her ear happily.

"Five upward, then it must be five downward as well," She said. "Fletchling, please go check the sides too."

The fire type nodded and flew up the stairs toward one of two hallways. It took longer this time, but she looped back, and Cece recalled her.

"Five times five times five is…" I started, trying to do the math in my head. "Any of you guys got the calculator app on your Poketch?"

"It's one hundred and twenty-five," Emilia said. "That's such an easy calculation."

I shrunk down in embarrassment. "I've never been much of a math girl."

"But that means that there are one hundred and twenty-five mansions in total," Justin said. "We've already looked through all of them on this row."

"Then we keep going," Cece declared in a determined tone. "First, we check the rest of them on this floor, and then we'll do the same on other floors."

——

Being lifted by Confusion felt funny. That was the only world I could describe it with. I felt a thousand different palpitations on my skin as Beldum hovered in front of me with its shining eye. My body was completely stiff, and I couldn't move whatsoever. I was at the steel type's complete mercy, and that was certainly a sobering feeling. A few inches above the floor, it finally let me go, and I messed up the landing, falling to the side and onto my back. I cried out in pain.

"Fucking… fuck!" I hissed through my teeth. "Gotta stick the landing next time."

Denzel and Cecilia helped me up. I was the last one to go down, so we were finally all there, on another level of Mismagius' fucked up world. Another twenty-five mansions to look through. It would take time. It would take effort, but we would make it.

"Well, let's get looking," Denzel said, clapping his hands.

——

"Still nothing?" I asked Elekid. The electric type shook his head.

"Let's head to the next one, then," Justin said.

We were currently helping them search since we had finished looking through our side a while ago. We were currently on our fourth floor. Nobody knew how much time it had been anymore, but we were starting to consider the possibility that Mismagius was moving to avoid us.

We made our way back to the foyer, but right before we were about to head toward the entrance, Elekid's eyes widened. He started spinning his arms, making my hair stand up.

"Feel something?!" I asked urgently.

"Kid!"

"Holy shit, this might be it," Denzel said. "Get ready."

All of our Pokemon that knew long-range attacks got into position, and Growlithe and Eevee were still out in case they ever managed to Bite the Arceus damned thing. We hadn't come up with a plan of action aside from throwing everything we had at Mismagius, so we weren't going to hold anything back. We edged our way through the door and into the kitchen, where Mismagius stood completely still, hovering over the dinner table as if it had been waiting for us.

"Gothita, Psybeam! Charmeleon, Dragon Rage!" Pauline ordered, breaking the silence.

The attacks passed through the ghost type, but it screeched out in pain anyway, and it began its incantation again.

"It's trying to trap us again!" I yelled. "Elekid, Thundershock! Frillish, Hex! Togetic, Fairy Wind!"

Mismagius screamed as a dozen attacks kept passing through it. It was behaving strangely, not dodging or attacking back. The singing was getting louder. I covered my ears and kept ordering my Pokemon, but I wasn't sure if they were even hearing me. My jaw trembled as contemplated the fact that we might get transported deeper into another one of Mismagius' worlds. An illusion within an illusion.

A Dragon Rage from Gible hit the ghost, and it disintegrated into purple smoke. A deafening silence settled into the room, but a few seconds later, the world around us started to do the same. It was all coming apart.

"Did we do it?" I asked in a worried tone.

"Well, either we did it, or we're all about to disappear," Denzel said, laughing nervously. "I hope it's the former."

The world was unraveling, and soon, only darkness was left.

And then I blinked.

We were back in the dining room. The original one, where Mismagius had first trapped us, and it was still there. Everyone was in the same positions they had been, along with the Pokemon we had out when we first got transported. It was as if no time had passed at all.

"Magius!" The ghost type yelled a shadowy force began to swirl into a ball around its mouth.

"Deino!" Cecilia yelled.

The dragon type roared and let out a Dragon Breath, hitting the ball and causing it to explode into a thousand shadows.

"Elekid, hit it," I simply said as orders thundered around me.

He hollered in approval as his arms began to spin. Beldum let out a Flash Canon that completely ripped apart Mismagius' form, but it coalesced again, and the steel type's body started to smoke. I recognized Hex immediately. Mismagius darted left and right as it tried to avoid the numerous moves we threw at it, but it was too much. It couldn't focus on dodging and attacking at the same time. Cecilia released her Fletchling and ordered it to harass the ghost type with Peck and Ember.

"We've got it on the ropes! Can we run?!" I yelled out.

"Hell yes, we can!" Pauline answered.

Eevee used Quick Attack to jump on the table, and then at Mismagius before Biting at it, pulling out some of the cloth it used as its body. Gothita tried restraining the ghost type with Confusion, but psychic type attacks weren't great against ghosts, so its abilities were limited there. Mismagius screeched and sunk into the ground, its form becoming nothing but a shadow on it ground. In a flash, it was behind Gothita, and it hit it across the floor. The psychic type struggled to get up, but after a few seconds, it fainted.

"On the count of three, we all rush out!" Denzel said. "One, two—"

The door slammed again, and it was impenetrable. Mismagius was forcing us to stay here and fight.

"Arceus, damn it!" Denzel screamed, slamming the door with his fist.

Mismagius sniggered and it used Hex on Fletchling, who crashed onto the table. It grinned as it sunk into the shadows again and swatted the bird at the wall.

"Fletchling!" Cecilia cried. "Deino, go Bite!"

The dragon let out a gleeful roar as it rushed across the room, paying no mind to the table or the chairs. Mismagius shrieked as another Thundershock and Dragon Rage hit, and its form collapsed again. It took a few seconds for it to come back together, and it was still focused on Fletchling, but Deino was there. I could almost see the darkness fester in his mouth as he bit into Mismagius and shook his head, trying to dissolve it once more. Fletchling tried to fly away, but it was too weak. Cecilia grabbed her Pokeball to—

I covered my eyes as the bird started to shine. She was evolving. Mismagius screeched even louder, no doubt angry at the light, but it was busy getting completely destroyed by Cece's enraged Deino.

Fletchinder rose and struggled as she flew toward Cecilia. Her talons clawed into her trainer's shoulder, causing her to wince. Cece gently recalled her flying type and released her Slowpoke.

"Keep Water Pulsing when you have an opening," She ordered.

I snapped out of my daze and released Frillish as well. The water type was enraged as he flew toward Mismagius before hitting it with Hex. Deino let go right before another Flash Canon utterly dissolved the ghost once again. We waited… and waited, but it didn't reappear this time. The doors gently creaked behind us as they opened. We didn't need to speak another word.

We ran.

——

If someone had told me a day ago that I would have been glad to be back in Eterna forest, I would have called them insane. We were finally free, and according to the dates on our Poketches, no time had passed at all. In fact, it looked like not even one second had passed in the real world during our stay in Mismagius' world, as if the experience had been instant. We made sure to warn future trainers passing there about how dangerous this place was by carving a message into one of the nearby trees, and then onto the mansion's door for good measure. Who knew what kind of ghosts would move in now that Mismagius was gone for a few weeks?

Oh well, we had done all we could, and we would tell the Rangers about this mansion. I could only hope it would serve someone in the future.

I grinned as I saw the Eterna forest's exit in the distance. We had made it through more trials than most trainers would face in their careers. And we had gone so relatively unscathed. Everyone was alive. I stepped into the sunlight and exhaled shakily as tears welled up in my eyes. The Pokemon Center was right there. In the distance, I could see Mount Coronet, covered in snow and striking through the clouds. Emilia let out a small laugh mixed with a cry, and we all started giggling. We were free.

And damn, did it feel good.

 

[Soussouni1]

INTERLUDE - Goals

Chase couldn't stop himself from repeatedly tapping his foot against the ground as the ranger explained the ins and outs of Eterna forest. He groaned and pulled his cap over his eyes. When the teenager had arrived at the outpost, he had originally wanted to go straight into the forest after a one hour lunch break, but lo and behold, the rangers implemented a damn course, and now he was being treated like he was in kindergarten. Chase didn't need a damn class to make it through the damn forest, but he had no choice but to suffer through it to get that damn ticket.

Not that he was listening anyway. Right now, he was thinking about how he'd reorganize his workouts in the forest. It'd probably be smart to lower the intensity a little so he could save his energy in case anything happened. It was frustrating to think about, but Chase wasn't stupid. He knew how far his workouts pushed him and his team, and he wasn't about to make them take a risk if he didn't need to. Especially not Ri.

"I think you should listen, kid," Someone whispered next to him.

Chase considered getting up right then and there, but then he'd be kicked out, and he'd have to sit in a class all over again. He glanced at the clock above the projected screen. There was only one hour and twenty-two minutes left, and then he'd be out of here.

"Seriously," The man said again. "I'm saying this to help."

"What the fuck do you want?" Chase snapped, turning toward the man. A few heads turned toward him, but the Ranger hadn't heard. He looked to be in his early twenties and had a patchy beard.

The man sighed. "Look, I don't like it either," He muttered under his breath. "I've been through this forest four times, but you don't see me not paying attention. I've learned things I didn't even know before."

"You're talking to me, not paying attention," Chase replied. "I don't care about your story, fuck off."

That seemed to have convinced him to leave him alone. Chase smiled and retreated into his thoughts once more. The trainer was a bit tight on money, even after battling and crushing as many trainers as he could. He lamented missing that Floaroma tournament. That would have given him a big boost, but oh well, what was done was done. Chase had no doubt he'd be able to power through the forest with Riolu. Time passed slowly, but finally, the class was over.

"Time's up!" The ranger said. "I've got your tickets here, make sure to grab one before exiting the class." She continued.

Chase hopped out of his chair and grinned as he lazily picked up his ticket. He readjusted his cap and strode out of the Ranger building, going straight toward the entrance of the forest. Suddenly though, he felt a hand on his shoulder. His eyes bulged, and he immediately swatted it away before getting into a sparring position. Chase felt his throat clog up before realizing he wasn't home. There was no need to be on edge. This was a long way from the Iron Islands.

"I thought I told you to fuck off," Chase said before putting his hands in his pocket. The same man who had talked to him in class stared at him with a smile. Chase didn't like that smile. It exuded pity, and no one had the right to pity him. "Why're you looking at me like that? Think you're funny?"

The man raised his hands. "Listen, I just want to warn you. I've seen plenty of kids like you come and go, and it usually doesn't end well."

"I'm not a usual trainer," Chase said. "Don't you know who I am?"

Chase's popularity on the forums and throughout Sinnoh had exploded since he busted in the power plant at Valley Windworks and took on team Galactic. Hell, he'd even given some interviews a few times. He reckoned that he was more popular than Cecilia Obel now, although she had also gotten another bump due to her being one of the hostages.

"Chase Karlson, right?" He smiled. "I'm Scott Montante. Pleasure to meet you."

"Are we done? Do you want to battle or something? An autograph?" Chase asked.

"No, I just want to save you from killing yourself, kid," Scott said. "Why don't we head to the Center and talk? I got someone else waiting for me."

"No," Chase shook his head and started walking away.

"I've read about you, you know?" Scott said. "I've seen a video of your scuffle with Cecilia Obel in Oreburgh. Seemed like some shitty teen drama to me, but still. I've met a few kids from her group, and from what I've seen, they're doing much better than you."

Chase's eye twitched. "Easy to do good when her dad pays for everything," Chase confidently said. "I'm better than her. I've got more talent and dedication. Is she here right now?"

"Sure," Scott smiled. "Come with me to the Center, and I'll help you find her. You wanted to battle, right?"

"Well, if you put it that way, fine."

——

Chase watched as Scott sat next to a girl at one of the tables in the Pokemon Center's lobby. He frowned.

"Where's Obel? That's not her," He said.

"Obel?" The girl said. Chase could feel a certain amount of disdain from the way she spoke. "Why would you think I was her?" She turned to Scott.

"What have you been telling this guy?"

"Sorry kid, I tricked ya," Scott said. "Sit."

"What the hell—"

"Sit," Scott said more forcefully this time. Chase considered just storming out, but at this point, he was too interested in what this guy had to say. Maybe he still knew where Obel was. Chase dragged the chair and sat down. "Good!" Scott continued. "Now, let me introduce you kids. This is Maeve Chang," He said, pointing at the girl. "This is Chase Karlson."

"That's Chase Karlson?" She said. "You look different than in the pictures and videos."

"I think you've just got a fucked up sense of sight," Chase snarked. "You should get that checked out."

"Stop bickering," Scott groaned. "Now, you two got a lot in common. You both hate Obel. Well, in Maeve's case, she more specifically hates Louis Bianchi, but the principle still applies. And just like you, Chase, this girl was about to storm into the Arceus damned forest alone."

"So?" She said. "I'm kind of bad with people, so I just didn't want to bother. I thought I could handle it."

Chase felt the corner of his lips rise. He liked the confidence.

"No, you can't. Something's going on in the forest this year," Scott said grimly. "The Rangers theorize that there are too many trainers trying to get through, and that's making the wild Pokemon more agitated than usual. This is you guys' first year, so you wouldn't know, but I'd say that there are at least… thirty to forty percent more people than usual signing up for the Circuit."

"Why?" Maeve asked.

"I don't know, but either way, the forest is deadly, and I unfortunately don't want two dead kids on my conscience, so I want you to join up with me."

"Absolutely not," Chase said. "If you want to play guardian angel, you can pick up someone else and go in with them."

"I mean, I might be willing to accept that," Maeve replied after a few seconds. "But only if I get access to your items."

"Alright, Maeve, you're in," Scott smiled. "And Chase, you two are the only people I've come across that were thinking about going through Eterna alone. The only ones. The others are at least smart about forming a group, so I'm focusing on you."

Chase mused. "Find me Obel, and I'll consider it."

The man groaned. "She left yesterday. You arrived too late."

"Then I'm out—"

"Wait. I know my way through the forest. Like I've said, I've been through it four times. You didn't even listen to the course, do you know what way to head toward?" Scott asked.

"Pretty sure the Ranger said north."

"Northeast, you moron," Maeve said, waving her hand.

Chase was about to retort, but Scott interjected. "Look, what I'm saying is that if you want, I can lead you to the other end, and we'll probably be fast enough to meet her at the outpost on the other side of the forest. The advantage of being a group of three is that we'll be quick on our feet."

The teen thought about the man's offer. What was his goal? To be perfect. And to be perfect, he needed to become the Champion. Obel stood in the way of that. Sure, he had gained in popularity, and he had intensified his training since that… humiliating near loss to Roark, but he wanted to crush her. To prove that he was better once and for all.

You'll beat me, and then what? What will your goal be beyond that victory?

Cynthia's words cut through his train of thought, causing Chase to grind his teeth. In many showers or long nights, he had fantasized about what he would answer to that question if he was given to chance again, however unlikely that was. Meeting the Champion was unlikely, and even though he knew himself to be special, he was under no delusion that Cynthia paid any attention to him. Still, he had no answer to that question. But why did he even need one? Plenty of trainers were only driven by their goal to obtain the position of Champion, and he went a step beyond that.

He relaxed with a sigh. Perfection was the goal. He couldn't hold Riolu back.

"Alright. I'm in if we leave immediately."

Scott smiled. "Sounds good, let's get started!"

——

The forest was more oppressive than Chase had thought. Even after the first day, the constant attacks were one thing, but the darkness reminded him too much of the mines back home. He hated traveling through caves for that reason, and the forest was having a similar effect on him. Riolu placed a paw on his leg as they sat by the fire Maeve's Monferno had lit, and he looked at Chase with worry.

"I'm fine, Ri," Chase softly said. "Don't worry about me."

"Rio!"

Scott was lying on some tarp he had laid on the forest floor, and Maeve was sitting dangerously close to the fire. She hated the cold. Scott's Kricketune— who he called Lute— laid back against a tree as he finished playing another one of his songs. It was certainly a unique Pokemon to use, but the teen had to admit the music was soothing.

"Damn, I've never heard that one before. That was great, Lute. I know you like playing for an audience, but you shouldn't have hidden it from me."

"T—thanks, Lute," Maeve trembled. Her Monferno hugged her back and let his warmth spread to her. "Thank you, Monferno. Watch the tail, though."

Kricketune let out a smooth, beautiful cry that it combined with its violin bow-like arms to create a melody. Every Arceus damned noise that came out of that Pokemon's mouth was a blessing.

"Was Lute your first Pokemon?" Maeve asked. "You don't often see trainers use them."

"He was, and I'm damn proud of him," Scott smiled as his friend started playing another song. "He's taken me far, but I also have a Granbull, a Magneton, a Quagsire, and a Carkol."

Even Chase's eyes widened at that. Scott looked to be a hell of a trainer. It pissed him off.

"Come on, don't look at me like that," He said. "I've been at this for years. You'll catch up in no time," He said. "I'm not that great. The best I've reached was four badges, and that was last year."

Chase felt the urge to go out and train, but it wouldn't be wise in the forest. Plus, he was sure he would catch up soon enough. Like Scott had said, he had been at it for years.

"Any tips for new trainers like us?" Maeve asked.

"Well, I'm not great, but I'd say try to catch a team of six as soon as you can. I've been trying to look for my sixth member, but the amount of training I'd have to do to bring it up to par with the rest of the team seems exhausting. Maeve, you've got four Pokemon, you said?"

"Yeah. Monferno, Staryu, Staravia and Skorupi."

"Good. Well balanced, too," Scott nodded before chuckling. "You've got a thing for the letter S, though."

"You're like the fiftieth person to make that joke. Stop."

"Alright, alright, sorry," Scott said, waving his hand. "What about you, Chase?"

"Hmph. Riolu, Charjabug and Houndour."

"Great. You guys are on the right track. It's always good to have three members before the second gym."

"Why?" Maeve asked.

"Because after your first badge, every gym leader expects you to have at least three Pokemon. If you have less, tough luck. You're fighting a two versus three, or a one versus three."

"I could handle that with Ri," Chase grinned. "We've trained hard after Oreburgh. I think I'll wipe the floor with Gardenia."

The conversation continued for another hour, accompanied by the warm crackling of the fire and Lute's songs.

——

Chase, Scott, and Maeve were all crouched behind a fallen log, observing a Pinsir quietly feed on some Seedot that it had knocked off a tree with its powerful pincers. Chase almost shot up, starving at the opportunity to challenge himself by fighting the Pokemon, but Scott held him back by pulling on his shirt.

"What the he—"

Scott placed his hand over his mouth. Chase tried to punch and kick his way out, but even though he was slowly making progress, Scott was a twenty-one year old man. There was no getting out of this.

Riolu was looking, Chase thought as a pit full of dread formed in his stomach. A few minutes later, Pinsir left, and Scott finally let him go. Riolu was looking carefully with his arms crossed.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Chase yelled.

"Quiet, or it'll come back," Maeve hissed.

"You were stupid for trying to challenge a Pokemon way out of your league," Scott said. "That Pinsir's bad news. I thought it never came around here."

"I don't give a fuck," Chase said. "Never do that again."

Scott sighed. "Alright, I'm sorry. But hear me out. That Pinsir belonged to a trainer who died here— I don't remember his name. But he's wild again, and he's tough. I could probably take him on because he looked wounded, but I didn't want to risk it."

Chase wiped the dirt and leaves from his clothes. "Fine, but you do that again and I'm out," He said, clicking his tongue. He wanted to scream. To get in his face and fight, but Riolu was already disappointed as it was.

"So you've seen that Pinsir before?" Maeve asked. "If it belonged to someone, why is it dangerous? Shouldn't it be friendly?"

"Yes, but way deeper in the forest. I reckon it's the most powerful Pokemon in this Arceus damned forest. I wonder what kind of crazy motherfuckers fought him. I hope they didn't die," Scott sighed. "I'll have to tell the rangers about this when we get to the other side."

"Alright," Maeve breathed out. "Let's keep going."

——

Another two days had passed, and they were making good ground. Truth be told, Scott was right when he told Chase he knew what he was doing. He knew how to avoid the most dangerous Pokemon using prints, cries, and markings on trees. It was impressive, to say the least. Obviously though, Chase was catching on quickly, as always.

"See that on the ground?" Scott said before turning to the two teenagers. "Guess what Pokemon that is."

Chase crouched and observed the shape of the print. "That's a Shroomish," He said right away. "Those are perfect circles."

"Correct," Scott smiled. "Maeve, try to be faster next time."

"It was on the tip of the tongue," She complained. "Come on!"

Scott frowned before raising a finger. "Feel that temperature drop?" He asked.

Maeve held out her hands. "Yeah?"

"Ghost incoming," He warned.

They all got in position and got ready to fight. Chase quickly released Houndour, and Maeve released Staravia. Scott left his Kricketune out. A series of eerie screams resonated through the forest, and Scott relaxed.

"We're good," He said. "Stand down."

The two trainers acquiesced and watched as five Phantump floated through the forest as if they were being gently carried by the wind. Each one carried a unique mask made out of wood. Chase couldn't help but feel uneasy when staring into their red eyes. A few minutes later, they were gone without having attacked.

"Why aren't they aggressive?" Maeve asked. "Ghosts usually are."

"Not Phantump," Scott said with his eyes downcast. "They're… the spirit of kids that died in the forest. They never attack other trainers unless they're attacked first."

Chase scratched his neck uncomfortably. "Let's keep going. No time to waste."

The words felt hollow when they came out.

——

The very next day, a Pokemon caught Chase's eye. A Zangoose was dashing in between trees and clawing at them with a move that seemed to be Slash. It was doing so with a level of dexterity that rivaled Riolu's, and it kept alternating between running on all fours and on its hind legs. Scott wanted the group to avoid it, but Chase felt something inside of him. The same thing he had felt when he had caught Houndour and Charjabug. An unexplainable feeling that tugged at his heart, screaming at him, ordering him to catch the Pokemon in front of his eyes.

"Why is it taking so long," Maeve whispered.

"Zangoose's claws grow forever, so it often needs to use them on something before they get too long. I guess this one figured out a way to train while doing so. Talk about taking out two birds with one stone," Scott answered.

Chase smirked. Zangoose had the drive to be on his team. A dedication to the craft of training. "I'm catching it," He simply said. "Stand back."

"What?" Scott shook his head. "If you want to catch it, fine, but let us help you."

"Have some Arceus damned respect," Chase said. "I could never ambush this Zangoose. Ready Riolu?"

"Ri!"

He stepped out of his hiding spot and announced himself. "Zangoose!"

The normal type immediately stood on his hind legs and hissed as the hair on its back stood up.

"You are like me. You work to perfect yourself through training, slowly but surely," Chase smiled. Zangoose was still ready to fight, but it was listening. "Riolu and I challenge you to a fight. Both of us, so don't hesitate to come after me,"

"Are you crazy—" Scott yelled.

"Goose!"

"Ah, you'll have to excuse them. Those are my traveling companions. We're helping each other get through the forest, but they won't join the battle. If I win, I want you to join my team," Chase continued with a wild grin.

Zangoose hesitated, but it nodded after some deliberation.

"On the count of three," Chase started. "One, two, three,"

Zangoose rushed forward with a blur, but Chase could see it. Now it was about his body not falling behind. He ducked as Zangoose raked its claws where his neck had just been.

"Riolu, on me! Force Palm!" Chase ordered.

His Pokemon blurred with Quick Attack and jumped on Chase's back, using his trainer to propel himself to hit the Zangoose with Force Palm at incredible speeds. The normal type clawed back, but Riolu was already back at Chase's side.

Zangoose hissed and raked its claws together before dashing toward Chase once again. Riolu jumped and hit it away with Bone Rush, but Zangoose blocked with its arm and Slashed Riolu away. Chase scrambled and grabbed his backpack, moving it to the front to block the attack, but he was still knocked away by the sheer force. Riolu barked, and his palms glowed once more as he shone with Quick Attack.

The normal type hissed before clawing at Riolu, but he quickly stepped back with a feint and stepped in after Zangoose's Slash, hitting it right in the abdomen over and over.

"Wait!" Chase ordered. Riolu stopped his onslaught. "I'm giving you a chance to surrender and come with me."

Zangoose hissed and jumped at Riolu.

"Circle Throw!" Chase said.

The fighting type awkwardly pushed Zangoose's right leg away before grabbing its arm and lifting it over his body, and ramming its face straight into a tree.

"Force Palm," He calmly said.

Before Zangoose could even recover, he came under assault from Riolu's Force Palm. It was hit over and over, and it tried to claw back, but it was too weak now. Too slow.

Chase grabbed one of the Pokeballs that had fallen from his now torn-up backpack. "We defeated you," He told Zangoose. "It was a good fight. I… I tasted defeat back home, but I left and vowed never to lose again. Join me."

Zangoose let out a trembling nod. Chase touched it with his Pokeball and smiled.

——

Zangoose, the cat ferret Pokemon. Memories of battling its archrival Seviper are etched into every cell of Zangoose's body. This Pokémon adroitly dodges attacks with incredible agility. When it battles, it stands on its hind legs and attacks with its sharply clawed forelegs.

Moves: Quick Attack, Slash, Hone Claws, Fury Swipes, Scratch, Leer, Fury Cutter (click for more information)

Ability: Toxic Boost (click for more information)

Chase grinned. "You've got a lot of moves, and an outstanding ability," He said. He immediately started imagining scenarios where he poisoned his Zangoose with Houndoor's Smog before a big battle.

Zangoose hissed and bowed her head. It seemed like she had gained a great deal of respect for him thanks to their battle.

"She looks angry all the time," Maeve said as she nestled closer to the fire.

"I still can't believe you asked her to come after you," Scott said. "You've got a death wish."

"Why would I make my Pokemon fight if I never join in? That's how you gain their respect and show that you're worth a damn," Chase said.

"That's some unhealthy mindset," Scott said. "But congrats on the new member, I guess."

"I don't need congratulations. If I couldn't catch her, I don't deserve to be a trainer."

——

Another two days passed, and according to Scott, they were close to the exit. Even though the trip through Eterna forest had been relatively easy, Chase was glad it'd be over soon.

It was exhausting and reminiscent of home.

"Well, I think this is going to be my last time going through this damned forest," Scott chuckled as he lazily chewed on some canned beans.

"Why? You retiring after this year?" Maeve asked curiously.

"Yeah," He replied. "I'm going to try to become a Ranger."

Chase's eyes widened. "Why? Why settle for such a mediocre goal?" He asked dryly.

Scott frowned. "Don't call it mediocre. It's been my dream since I was a kid," He said, raising his tone slightly.

"Then why'd you try to Circuit so many times," Maeve asked. "If you don't mind me asking?"

"To get better as a trainer," Scott said. "It was never about becoming the Champion for me, I just wanted to get experience. I've always wanted to use my skills to help others, and I feel like I'm good enough to join next year."

"Wow…" Maeve said.

"I don't get it," Chase scoffed. "I really don't. I've seen you battle. You're good. Better than you act. You could easily get more than four badges if you pushed yourself harder. You could try to reach the top—"

"Stop it, Chase," He growled. "Stop. I know you've got issues, but don't project them onto me."

Chase shook his head and blinked. It was as if he had been slapped. "The fuck do you mean?"

"I said what I said," Scott added. "Good night."

He turned away from the teenager. Chase tapped his foot against the soft ground repeatedly. He didn't have issues. It wasn't his fault people seemed content with mediocrity in their lives. It just baffled him to see someone with the potential to reach the Conference just… give up. And for what? To become some shitty ranger?

"Well, this is awkward," Maeve said, clapping her hands. "I'm just going to sleep too. Nighty night."

Chase huffed. They were all blind. Every last one of them, and he would prove them all wrong. All of them.

——

When they reached the outpost on the other side of Eterna forest, the group immediately split. There weren't really any hard feelings. They knew that their group had been just a temporary arrangement. Scott got his wish and got them through the forest, and he left for the ranger building to warn them about the Pinsir. Maeve was more of a solitary trainer, as he was, and she quickly left for the Center, since she wanted to get to Eterna as fast as possible.

The sun felt gentle on his skin, unlike the harsh weather of the Iron Islands. Chase walked to a secluded area of the outpost and released his team. Charjabug screeched happily since he hadn't released it during the entirety of the forest trip except once to keep watch at night. Riolu, Zangoose, and Houndour were tired and had suffered some wounds due to fights with wild Pokemon.

Perfect.

"We're all tired right now," Chase grinned. "Let's work out and push ourselves to the limit."

He needed to catch up for all that slacking off he had done in Eterna forest first. Then, it was time to find Obel.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 52

I ran through the power plant as fast as I could. How had I even gotten here? My legs felt sluggish. Slow, and unresponsive, like I was wading through water, but I kept going. Every corner I turned, she was there, waiting with a gleeful smile.

Mars.

She was everywhere, her knife in hand and Dusknoir at her side. She slashed her blade at me, cutting across my face despite me not being near her. I screamed and felt at my face. The pain was unbearable. My hand was slick with warm blood. Mars lazily approached me, skipping across the floor like a little girl.

"I told you, didn't I? That I would find you again," She said, before laughing wildly.

I spoke, but no words came out of my mouth. She gripped her knife tighter and stabbed me, over and over and over and over and over—

I jolted awake with a shriek, clutching at my abdomen. Frillish was floating above, watching me with intense worry. I groaned and sat at the edge of the bed, wiping sweat off my body.

"Fuck… that was… Arceus."

The pain had felt so real. Even now, my body throbbed where I had been stabbed in the nightmare. It was our first night at the outpost's Pokemon Center, and I had decided enough was enough. Cynthia told me that I needed to not get too dependent on Togetic's power, and when the Champion gave you advice about something, you listened. That didn't mean that she wasn't sleeping with me, though.

"Prrri…" Togetic cried out with a sad look on her face. I grimaced. Seeing her sad was like someone was crushing my heart. Elekid got off from the wall he leaned on to sleep, and called out reassuringly, while Tangela looked up at me with his vast googly eyes.

"Sorry guys, I must have woken you all up," I said. "I… I need a shower."

I closed the bathroom door and stared at myself in the mirror, taking deep breaths to calm my beating heart. This was incredibly discouraging. It was as if I had made no progress at all, and I was back to step one, except the nightmares about Golbat were now replaced with Mars and Dusknoir. I shivered when the image of the ghost flashed in my mind.

"No point thinking about it, I'll just scare myself some more," I told myself, gripping the counter until my knuckles turned white. "Mars is gone… I'll never see her again. I'll never see her."

I swallowed.

"Let's shower."

I took a while to wash myself. The warmth of the water just felt too comforting on my skin after spending so long in Eterna forest. Getting out, I realized I had forgotten to grab a change of clothes. I groaned and placed a hand on my heart as I left the bathroom. Still needed to work on that. I felt the door hit something, after which I quickly heard Elekid bark out an order. When I opened the door again, my Pokemon were back in their original positions, acting as if nothing happened.

"Were you guys trying to spy on me?" I asked. Elekid laughed and let out a noise I had learned to recognize as no. Togetic hid behind Frillish, who turned awkwardly, avoiding my eyes. "Hey, angel," I smiled at Tangela. "Were they trying to spy on me?" I asked again.

The grass type extended his vines and touched my ankles. He was a bit odd, but then again, so was every member of my team, and I liked that about them. I still was nowhere near understanding how he communicated, though. He seemed to be non-verbal, instead preferring to use his vines to talk, or at least I had never heard him speak. Not a single sound.

"Thanks for worrying about me," I said softly to my team.

I grabbed a set of clothes and spent the rest of the early morning browsing the internet. There was a lot I had missed, and I desperately wanted to catch up on anything trainer related. Apparently, some people had four badges already, but they were all people that had been trainers for years, like Craig Goodwill, the guy with the Salamence I had seen on television the day dad talked to me about leaving for Littleroot. Experienced trainers like him already had their flying licenses, so they could just fly around on their Pokemon and zip through the region like it was nothing. The most badges first-year trainers like us had were two. I felt a pang of worry at the notion that I was falling behind before remembering that the vast majority of trainers still had zero badges. Plus, the Circuit wasn't a race. As long as I had the eight badges by the end, I'd be fine.

Apparently, my megathread had picked up a little bit of steam too. I really didn't like reading it because of the toxicity it tended to garner, but the most recent messages since it had come out that I was one of team Galactic's victims had been mostly supportive. Then, people discovered I was traveling with Cece and her group, which put even more attention on me. My performance at the Floaroma tournament was making rounds too. I blew a raspberry before turning my Poketch off. My name was starting to get big, and it'd get bigger if I kept doing good in the Circuit. People were starting to look me up and theorize about how an apparent nobody like me managed to be friends with billionaires.

How annoying.

Elekid touched my leg.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Kid!"

"Sorry, hon, no run today. My shoulder still hurts," I told him. He looked down sadly.

Elekid missed our runs, and I did too. The doctor I saw yesterday told me to take it easy and not move around too much though, because it caused too much friction on the wound. Cece's arm was in okay shape, and she would just have to keep an eye on it as the Paras' bites healed. Emilia's leg would be fine, but right now, she needed a lot of rest, painkillers, and antibiotics, which meant that we would stay here for a little bit.

"Well, I can't move too much, but there's no use staying in my room all day," I told my team. I fed all of them some berries I had bought the day before— except for Tangela.

"Alright, guys, I'll get you out of the ball later," I said as I recalled them. Soon enough, we'd have to start our regular training back, but they deserved a break after everything we had gone through. I stared at angel. "You're with me this morning," I told him. He tilted his body and stared. "Don't worry, I'm not making you fight yet or anything," I continued, trying to guess what he was thinking. "I just want to hang out, just you and me."

It was still early morning, meaning only Cece would be up. My heartbeat quickened when I thought of her. Would it be fine to just go find her? It was 6:23 am, so knowing her, she'd be training her team somewhere. I felt Tangela's vines caress my back as another one tapped the door handle.

"Oh, sorry," I said, snapping out of my crush-induced freeze. "Let's go."

Tangela followed me as I walked through the Center's empty halls. I was probably luckier than the average trainer when it came to building my team. Aside from Frillish, no one had given me any difficulties yet, and Elekid sought me out. I placed my hand over his ball. I still didn't know how he could sense ghosts so well, but I sure wanted to find out. I walked out of the Center and looked into Tangela's eyes. He squinted slightly and shook himself.

I tapped my chin, looking at the sky. It was an overcast morning, and the sun was just starting to rise, peaking over Mount Coronet to the east. "Are you sad that there's no sun?" I asked. The grass type blinked twice.

"Does that mean yes?" I asked again.

Tangela blinked twice. Again.

"I'm just going to assume that means yes, then."

I kept walking through the outpost, looking for nothing in particular, and certainly not for Cece. I totally didn't want to run into her or anything, but it wouldn't bother me if I did. I spent the next hour trying to learn Tangela's quirks. I had neglected him in the forest, and I wanted to remedy that. Right now, I was crouched, and he was feeling the individual creases in my palms.

"Angel, that tickles," I chuckled. The species was fascinating to me. He did everything through vines and touching and was engrossed with human skin. I had to stop him from touching others a few times on our walk.

"Hey, look, the sun is out," I told him as rays peeked through two huge clouds. The grass type shivered in excitement and closed his eyes as he soaked in the sun's energy. After he finished, he tapped my back softly to signal that he was done.

"Well, let's head back in then," I told him. No Cece this morning, huh? It would have been too convenient to get some time alone. "I need to eat breakfast and meet the others."

I recalled him and went to the Pokemon Center cafeteria. Denzel wasn't there— and he wouldn't be up for another few hours. He had earned his right to sleep in after having to wake up so early every morning in Eterna forest. Pauline was eating alone. I bit my tongue. On one hand, I wouldn't say I disliked her anymore. After our experience in the forest, I couldn't bring myself to. On the other hand… she was definitely still not my cup of tea.

"Ah," I let out, as she saw me. "Well, can't eat alone now, that'd be impolite."

I grabbed some sausages and hashbrowns and sat in front of her. She chewed on her food slowly as she stared into my eyes.

"Morning," I tried. "Sleep well?"

She swallowed her food. "Not really," She said, fiddling with her hair. "I was with Emi all night."

"That's sweet," I smiled. "So, I hope you don't mind if I ask this, but are you guys best friends?"

"Well, obviously," She rolled her eyes. "Emi's the person I care about the most. We've been together for a while," Pauline said as her face softened. "She was always so meek. I had to be there to protect her."

"I see…" I muttered. "Well, for what it's worth, I think you're doing a great job."

"No need to flatter me," She huffed.

"I'm just telling the truth. You've been great to her."

Pauline wiped her mouth with a napkin. "What's your angle?"

"There's no angle, I just want to try to get along," I sighed. She was more amenable in the forest, but it looked like getting back to safety had made her get back to her ruder self. "Wouldn't that be nice?"

"I recall you saying that you disliked me multiple times, Grace."

"I did at the time," I said, containing a groan. "I still think you could be nicer, but you're a nice gal. Just misunderstood."

"I didn't ask for your opinion of me," She said as she got up. "Enjoy your breakfast."

Yikes. Maybe I could bring myself to dislike her again. I was willing to try to get along, but eventually, I'd stop just taking the hits—

"Ahem," Pauline said behind me. I turned. "I forgot to thank you for helping us get through the forest, and also for being so good to Emi," She hesitated. I could tell she felt embarrassed doing this. "I— I won't forget it! Bye!" Pauline yelled, storming off.

Well, there was progress being made after all.

——

Even after finishing my meal, I waited to see if someone else would show up. Unfortunately, no one came, so I left. I considered just knocking on Cece's door, but I didn't want to come off as too stalker-ish.

"Arceus," I told myself.

Now that we were out of the forest and my priority was no longer survival, I couldn't help but get these thoughts about Cecilia, and they were irritating me to no end. I made my way to Denzel's room and knocked, but there was no answer. I slammed my fist against the door again and again until I heard some muffled complaints on the other side.

"What the hell is going on— Grace?" He said before yawning. "Whaddya want?"

"I'm lonely," I simply said. "Hang out with me."

"I was sleeping—"

I ducked under his arm and walked into his room. Eevee barked happily and climbed on my good shoulder. "Hey, little guy," I smiled, petting him.

"Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today or something?" My friend asked as he laid back down under the covers.

"Why?"

"You look irritated."

"It's annoying how perceptive you are," I said, pinching his leg through the covers. He yelped.

"Alright, you're not irritated, you're just angry," He said. "Spit it out, I don't want you to keep being annoying."

I pouted and brought my two fingers together in a threatening manner. Denzel lifted his legs away from me.

I let my arms fall to the bed. "I keep thinking about Cecilia, and it's making me angry," I said.

"Angry, why?"

"Because I can't stop," I said. "I can't help but be scared too. I mean, Eterna city's just two days away, right? Our agreement was to travel together until we reached the city, so what if… what if…"

"You're wondering if you'll still be friends after," Denzel said.

I nodded. "I can't help but think that every minute I don't spend with her is just precious time I'm wasting, y'know? I have until Emi gets better, then two days, then it's over."

"You can still hang out together in the city," Denzel said as he sat down next to me. "And hell, maybe we can travel together again to Hearthome. I wouldn't really mind, I've grown to like her group."

I shook my head. "I can't. People are talking shit about her online and spreading rumors because she's traveling with us. She already has so many haters… I don't want to bring her even more trouble."

He put his hand around my back and brought me close. "You really like her, huh?" Denzel said quietly. "I thought it was just a crush."

"I'm so stupid," I said, clenching his bedsheets. "I have no chance, and I still can't stop myself from imagining things."

Even though Cece didn't love Louis, at the end of the day, she was still going to be forced to marry him. I hoped that she'd escape somehow and find freedom from her father, but she looked like she was so utterly traumatized by him that I couldn't imagine her going against his will.

"You're not stupid," He said. "You can't control who you fall in love with, right?"

"Blergh," I said. "I just feel blergh today. And it started so well too. I was getting closer to Tangela."

"Here, how about this," My friend started. "Instead of worrying about stupid trolls online, you just do what you want and ask Cecilia to hang out with you in Eterna city? I'm sure she'd say yes."

"I dunno," I said. "Maybe."

"Well, now I know you're just scared of asking her out," He grinned.

I felt my face heat up, and I shot out of the bed. "What time is it?" I asked, changing the subject.

He grabbed his Poketch. "It's 8:24 am," He answered, thankfully dropping the subject. "Oh right, we were supposed to meet at nine in the lobby to plan the trek to the city, I almost forgot."

"Well, you should thank me for waking you up then," I playfully said. "Well? I'm waiting."

"Screw off," He laughed. "I'm going to step in the shower real quick. Mind keeping Eevee company? We can leave right after."

"Sure," I said. I released Togetic, who chirped happily at the sight of her furry friend. I sometimes had to remind myself that Eevee was the Pokemon she had known the longest.

Togetic pulled on Eevee's tail and laughed as the normal type escaped and ran away from her. I watched them play in silence with a smirk.

Anything to distract myself from our two group's impending split was a win in my book.