Pokémon Sweet Sacrifice

[Seren]

Chapter 21 – Homecoming​

“Surpriiiiise!”

Back now at her home in Crescent, Kimiko waited in the doorway, expecting her sister to charge out and greet her. Instead, she got silence. Given recent events, Kimiko began to worry, but it’s not like her sister wasn’t allowed to leave the house, too. It was a little more unusual for their aunt to leave the house, however, but with her stubborn streak, not unheard of, either. Maybe they’d gone out for food or something.

“Michelle? I’m home!” she called. Maybe her sister was asleep. Or just in the bathroom. Still, her anxiety was rising, and she hated how she had to remind herself to chill out. She took a deep breath to calm herself and turned to her boyfriend behind her.

“Don’t look at me, there’s no one living in my place,” he said. Not at all what she’d been considering, but it gave her his thoughts all the same. “Maybe she’s just out running errands or something. She’ll be home eventually.”

Kimiko supposed she could give it some time. After all, there were dozens of things her sister could be out doing. Not how she hoped her homecoming to play out, but at least she was home.

She lingered in the doorway for a few moments more, taking in the sights of her home, before Alex spoke and distracted her.

“I’m gonna take the team outside and get some air, maybe show them the town.” He left the suggestion hanging unspoken, but Kimiko didn’t feel up for it. They hadn’t needed to walk very far – Vivian had teleported the couple back to their home town – but Kimiko felt like she’d gotten enough air.

“Have fun,” she replied. “I think I’m gonna just lie down. All this recent drama has kinda worn me out.”

Alex stared, but Kimiko smiled at him, trying to ease the worry she saw in his eyes. The smile he returned was only half-hearted, but he didn’t argue, and with a nod, returned to the outdoors while Kimiko retreated upstairs to her bedroom.

She was surprised to find that her room was rather void of dust; Michelle must have been trying to keep it clean in her absence. Her thoughts still occupied by her sister’s whereabouts, Kimiko flopped down forwards on her fully-made bed, adjusting only slightly so her legs no longer hung off the side.

She’d finally made it. Every time she’d found a bed in a pokémon center after camping for even a few days, she was astounded by how much she missed the comfort of clean sheets and a proper pillow. But even those were nothing compared to the ones at home. At least for a short time, she had nothing left to worry about. No more camping. No more thieves, or gyms, or psychics.

No more ghosts.

Fantomé didn’t count, she reminded herself. Her haunter had been nothing but friendly since his capture, if a little insubordinate. In fact, she’d still have to deal with her entire team at some point, but now she had the time to do that without feeling rushed. Guilty though she felt about it, she knew Alex would wait with her for as long as she needed. In this moment, that was enough. For now, she’d just relax and enjoy not having anything to worry about for a while. For now, she was home.

So, now what?

---

Alex found he didn’t really have any desire to see his house after all. He pointed it out as he led his pokémon passed it, and when Thorn started heading in that direction, promised to take them inside at some point before they departed again. In fact, he and Kimiko would probably be staying there; sure, his girlfriend wanted to see her sister and her aunt but he’d assumed that, with no one currently living in his place, the privacy it offered would be preferred. His team would see it soon enough.

Koyomi felt pleased at the little fountain in the center of town – her emotional expression had intensified ever since being in the Xioria gym and hadn’t seemed to dull since then. Maybe the psychic terrain effect somehow helped her learn to control it better? Or maybe it was the teleport training opening her mind to her psychic abilities in general. Either way, Alex was starting to become accustomed to feeling Koyomi’s emotions rather than seeing them, as his staryu still often remained outwardly stoic.

Thorn, meanwhile, never left her trainer’s side. She was giddy as ever, though, and wanted to inspect everything. It helped that the sun was out today; the bayleef was always more energetic in the bright warmth. Even carrying Diamond on her back didn’t hamper her mood, helped by the fact that the ghost hadn’t said a word since being released.

In fact, Diamond was suspiciously quiet as the party continued along; Alex couldn’t even tell if the sableye was just bored or flat out ignoring him. He wasn’t misbehaving, which Alex now considered a distrustful activity – he’d have to work on that during this downtime they all had coming up. In fact, while the ghost didn’t seem keen on even looking in his trainer’s direction, he appeared to be listening quite intently when Alex pointed out something around town. His home, the path towards the ocean, the lab.

The lab…

Alex wondered what was going to happen to the place he used to work for and the pokémon kept there. Would they bring in another professor? Send all of the pokémon to another one and close it down? Wait and hope Spruce and his team would show up again?

As Alex was lost in his thoughts, Thorn seemed to recognize her old home. Alex called out to her as she trotted up to the door and lurched up to lean her weight on it, nearly dislodging Diamond in the process. He threw his arms around her neck with a hiss.

“Thorn, no. We can’t go in.” A loud barking could be heard from the other side of the door. Alex smiled at the memory of the protective houndoom that Spruce raised to guard the lab, and wondered if the new caretaker was having the same difficulty in corralling the dark-type. “We’ll go back home if you want, but I thought we should do some training first.”

Thorn dropped back to the ground, much to the relief of the sableye on her back, who righted himself in annoyance. Then the door behind the pokémon opened, and Thorn darted inside.

“Whoa there!” came a somewhat familiar voice, followed by a thud.

Alex sprang forwards to help the man stand, while calling to his pokémon. “Thorn, no! Come back here, please.” Then, to the man; “Sorry about her. I think she wanted to see her old home again.”

“No harm done,” said the man, clad in a white tuxedo and royal blue tie. “So, a trainer, are you?” he continued, eyeing Koyomi still hovering on the patio outside. “One of Spruce’s old rookies, I imagine?”

“Not exactly,” Alex said, and introduced himself. “My girlfriend and I used to be professor Spruce’s lab assistants. We’d only set out on our journey a few months ago and we came home for a visit. I got my bayleef here.”

“Devon Sinclair,” the blond man replied, and Alex remembered where he’d seen the man before; he was the host of Today’s Trainers on TV, where he’d seen Lillia battle that water-type trainer. When Alex re-focused his attention on the man, Devon’s expression had changed. He looked uncomfortable. “So, I… trust that you already know about the incident?”

“About the professor and his other assistants vanishing?” Alex replied. “Yeah, I heard it from Kirsten.”

“Is that a fact?” Devon replied thoughtfully. He scrutinized Alex for a moment, then made up his mind. “You said you used to work here, correct? Perhaps you might be able to assist me with a bit of a mystery.” He turned and beckoned Alex to follow.

Curious, Alex returned Koyomi to her pokéball. And then he realized with dread that neither Thorn nor Diamond had returned at his call. He followed Devon into the building; Devon led him down into the egg incubation room. Alex and Kimiko hadn’t worked in here very often, as professor Spruce usually tended to the newborns personally, so he wasn’t sure what Devon might want his help with, but he got his answer almost immediately.

In the corner of the room was a very large tree.

But the plant’s existence wasn’t even the interesting part. The tree glowed a hot bluish-white, as though teeming with energy. It was huge, its center trunk almost reaching the ceiling, and looked as though the roots had penetrated below the polished tile floor. Several of the upper branches did in fact creep through the roofing tiles, although everything remained perfectly flat, as though the tree were some sort of energy slipping through the cracks somehow.

A bayleef sat at the base of the tree, enchanted by the light. Bright as it was, it wasn’t difficult to look at. In fact, Thorn seemed unable to tear her gaze away. Diamond, meanwhile, cowered underneath her, only his head visible as he desperately tried to hide in her shadow, as though the light itself physically pained him. Still, though, even he seemed unable to tear his gaze from it.

How long has he been able to use shadow sneak? Alex wondered briefly.

“Impressive, isn’t it?” the elite four member asked. “It’s been getting brighter almost every day for quite some time now. Do you have any idea what this might be? A sort of pet project of the professor’s, maybe?”

Alex glanced at him briefly, shaking his head. “I’ve never seen it before. What is it?”

Ignoring his question, Devon instead asked another; “And Spruce never mentioned anything about this to you? Or anything unusual at all?” His tone was polite curiosity, but it was clear he’d been hoping Alex would have answers that he did not.

“Not directly,” Alex answered, thinking back. “The day we left on our journey, Luke – I mean, professor Hawkins – told us that professor Spruce was tending to a new pokémon he’d never seen before. Kimiko and I were confused, because we didn’t think we had any eggs in the lab of pokémon we’d never seen, obviously, but I mean… when professor Spruce is working on something, you just… don’t interrupt him. The newborns were his thing. On top of that, we were leaving for our journey after years of anticipation. So, we just… left. We never found out what it was.”

“I see,” Devon replied, again thoughtfully. “To be honest, we don’t really know what it is, either. The guard houndoom refuses to come in here, however, and my dragons are terrified of it. Please do not tell them I told you that.” He turned and winked at Alex and then returned his attention to the white glowing tree, and the sableye cowering beneath it. “It appears ghost types don’t like it, either. Or maybe it’s his dark-type half. Hmmm… Either way, you should probably recall them both.”

“Oh, right.” Alex thought he heard a squeal of protest from Thorn as she and Diamond were recalled to their balls, but he’d ask her about it later. With the pokémon gone, Alex and Devon stood in awkward silence, staring at the tree. Alex’s eyes were drawn upwards, to the roots embedded in the ceiling. The longer he stared at them, the clearer they looked. The light almost looked like it was flowing upwards, as though being absorbed from the ground – or somewhere else – and being drawn up into the highest branches.

A musical tone broke into the otherwise silent room, and Alex flinched. He didn’t see if Devon was startled too, because by the time he looked over, the man was looking into his palm and let out a resigned sigh.

“Please excuse me, I must take this. You are welcome to remain if you wish, but I ask that you please not touch anything. If you need to retrieve a pokémon, let me know.”

“Actually, I should be going,” Alex said, half turning back towards the tree. He caught himself and grimaced – there really was something captivating about it. Maybe Kimiko would remember something about their departure that he hadn’t.

---

Kimiko wasn’t at home when Alex returned. He scoured the house once over and was about to go check out his own home before he noticed the note left on the kitchen table. Apparently, she’d taken her team out for some air after all, out at the town’s fountain. With a sigh, Alex set out again.

He released Thorn as he walked, figuring she’d enjoy some more fresh air. She squealed in contentment as she followed her trainer through the small town, her previous enthrallment seemingly broken and forgotten. It didn’t take Alex long to reach the fountain in question; there was only one in the town, and he and Kimiko had passed by it countless times in their youth.

He found Kimiko there, as promised. She also had her team out with her, Fantomé buzzing around the fountain while Radar and Ariel swam around inside. Radar called out to Thorn as they approached, to which Thorn grinned and charged forwards. Kimiko looked up at them in response to her pokémon’s cry.

“Decided I needed some air, too,” she explained preemptively with a slight blush.

“How long have you been out here?” Alex asked, watching Thorn attempting to climb into the fountain with the water-types. Kimiko hadn’t been here earlier when he’d let Koyomi out for a swim. At the thought, he released Koyomi into the fountain again. She deserved some air too, although now the fountain was rather crowded.

“Not long,” his girlfriend replied, her attention wandering back to her team. “I called Lillia after you left, told her we were in town. I guess she’s not far off. She’s gonna fly by, she’s already on her way. Said she has an apology for us. Oh, and she has Michelle with her for some reason.”

Alex nodded at that. Strange, but he didn’t ask. “Apology for what?”

“The concert, I guess,” Kimiko answered. “Said she ‘felt guilty’.”

Alex nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets. “She’s finally starting to realize she needs to think before she acts, huh?”

“Oh, no,” Kimiko said, rolling her eyes. “She didn’t mean she was sorry for dragging us into it on short notice. She was sorry for screwing up her drum solo.”

“Naturally.”

Kimiko fell silent as she watched the pokémon, expression pensive. The fountain was deeper than it looked; there normally would have been plenty of room for the three water-types to swim laps, but with Thorn in up to her neck trying to walk along the bottom, it was difficult for any of them to swim passed her. Ariel in particular seemed rather irritated at this.

“I wanna go back to Petal Lake,” Kimiko said suddenly. Ariel stopped swimming and turned immediately to her trainer as though surprised by this.

Alex, likewise, glanced at her in confusion. “What for?”

The blonde watched her gorebyss for a while before responding. “Ariel hasn’t gotten to swim in a good-sized water source since she evolved. Bathtubs and fountains don’t really cut it. Thought maybe she’d appreciate exploring her home properly.”

The gorebyss in question tilted her head, as though she hadn’t considered the possibility before.

---

Lillia arrived late in the evening, flying into Crescent on the back of one of her charizard. Michelle was seated in front of her, holding on for dear life, but Lillia had a good grip on her, making sure she didn’t fall. Curiously, they weren’t alone; a second charizard followed them, and it too had a rider – a male that neither Alex nor Kimiko recognized. It also appeared to be carrying something in its arms. Furthermore, they also had another pokémon following them, some sort of… small, floating ball of electricity?

As soon as they touched down in Kimiko’s front yard, Michelle all but leapt off the charizard’s back. Kimiko was right there to catch her and pull her into a hug. “Where have you been?! We got home early this morning and were worried when you and auntie weren’t home.”

“Yeah, yeah, missed you too,” Michelle said, rolling her eyes, but she returned her sister’s hug regardless. “Lillia was teaching me to fly!”

“Oh, was she?” Kimiko asked, casting a glare at her friend. It was only half playful.

The fire-type trainer had also climbed down from her charizard and put her hands up in defense. “Hey, she asked me to! I was just visiting home.”

Lillia, now flanked by the two charizard, leaned closer and pulled Alex into a hug. She then gestured to one of the dragons.

“You remember my starter, Etna,” she said, gesturing to the charizard she’d flown in on. Etna nodded her head at the party in acknowledgement. The second charizard stepped forward as Lillia turned to her right to gesture at him. Now that he was close, Alex was able to see that he carried what appeared to be two pokémon eggs in his claws, held tightly to his chest. “And this is Ignatius!”

“He’s yours? Why are you raising two charizard?” Alex asked, looking around for the other rider. He spotted the man several yards away, observing from a polite distance. The other pokémon, now close enough to recognize as a rotom, hovered by his side.

“It’s a long story, actually! But don’t worry about that for now. Here, he’s got your presents!”

Ignatius stepped forward again, holding the eggs he carried out in front of him. Alex and Kimiko stared at them in confusion. When neither of them moved to collect one, Ignatius glanced at Lillia and let out a low rumble, to which Lillia replied; “That’s right. She gets the brown one.”

“Lillia, what is this?” Kimiko asked as Ignatius extended his arms out further. She gingerly gathered the brown egg designated hers from his claw, cradling it against her chest, terrified of dropping it. It was warm to the touch, and almost felt to be vibrating.

Alex, meanwhile, took the second egg, more orange in coloring compared to Kimiko’s brown one, with a similar fear of losing his grip on it.

“They’re pokémon eggs, of course!” Lillia explained, rather needlessly. “I had them bred just for you, in fact! They’re my own pokémon’s children, so I’m expecting you to take good care of them both!”

“You sure?” Alex asked, surprised at the news. “That must have cost a pretty penny. Breeding doesn’t come cheap these days.”

“Of course I’m sure! With all your lab experience, I don’t have any doubts you’ll both be able to handle these babies.”

“Spruce was the one who tended the newborns,” Kimiko reminded her.

“Details!” Lillia insisted. “Trust me, I trust you!”

“Well… okay then. Thanks, Lillia.” Kimiko carefully reached out an arm to hug her friend, taking care not to crush her new egg.

“Yeah, thanks, really,” Alex added, coddling his own egg. “What are they?”

“As if I’m gonna tell you that!” Lillia exclaimed. “That’s half the fun of hatching an egg, not knowing what they’re gonna be!”

“Fire-types, no doubt,” Kimiko laughed. Lillia only winked at her.

“You won’t have to wait long to find out!” Michelle piped in. “We spent a lot of time with them today, and they’re close to hatching!”

“I can tell,” Kimiko replied, her egg still struggling in her grasp.

“Where did you find a breeder?” Alex questioned.

Lillia’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh! I forgot!” She turned and waved at the man who had flown in with them, and he and his rotom began to approach. “This is Costas! He owed me a favor and got me in touch with someone.”

“Ah, your friend has told me much about you! Pleasure to meet you,” Costas said, bowing his head in greeting. He raised a hand to slide his glasses back up his nose. His rotom danced around his head, unable to remain still, and causing his short black hair to stand on end in some places. “Yes, Lillia was quite helpful. She assisted me in rescuing my cubone from a rather violent centiskorch. Thankfully, with her knowledge of fire-types, I managed to capture the beast. I offered her my assistance in thanks. I had not realized the eggs were meant as gifts! But no matter, I’m pleased I could be of service.”

“Well, thank you. Both of you.” Alex held out a hand, which Costas merely glanced at before tentatively shaking.

Lillia bounded up to them, bouncing on her heels. “Now that that’s out of the way… do you guys have plans the night after tomorrow?”

Alex and Kimiko exchanged a glance.

“We are not playing any more shows,” Kimiko cautioned.

“Be nice, Kimi!” Michelle groaned, smacking her sister’s arm.

“Not… exactly. We were going to head to Petal Lake at some point,” Alex said. “But we don’t really have any set time frame. We’re just looking for a little break in our training journey.”

“Ah, that is quite perfect,” Costas said. “Would you perhaps be interested in attending a ball?”

“A ball?” Alex asked warily.

“Oh, yes,” Costas replied. “A friend of mine is hosting a little party in Blossom Town in a few days. It’s quite exclusive, but you’re more than welcome to join us! Any friend of Ms. Mason is a friend of mine!”

“Dress fancy,” Lillia added before either of them could respond.

“I… don’t own any fancy clothes,” Alex replied. This really wasn’t something he was eager to get involved with. He didn’t really enjoy large crowds, but something about this felt off to him and he couldn’t quite explain why.

Kimiko, meanwhile, had perked up again at the mention of the event. “Fancy, you say? That sounds like the perfect break time activity to me! I haven’t been able to get dressed up in years! We can go shopping in Blossom after we stop by the lake.” She turned to Alex, grinning ear to ear. There was a sparkle in her eye that he hadn’t seen in a long time.

He couldn’t say no to that. “Alright, fine. I owe you, anyway.”

“Damn right you do.”

---

Ariel seemed to recognize her former home. She immediately took off without so much as look a look back towards her trainer, diving under the water and swimming out of sight. Kimiko lost track of her quickly, despite the water being as clear as it had been on their last visit here. Occasionally, there would be a splash somewhere in the distance and a flash of pink as Ariel came to the surface, but she never stayed for long. Still, so long as she continued showing herself, however briefly, Kimiko was comfortable enough letting Ariel have some freedom.

It was early in the morning; their group was the only one at the lake. Lillia flew them all over with the help of Etna and Ignatius, saving them the trouble of walking, although both charizard were less than pleased with the large number of riders and their flying was slowed as a result. The plan was to spend some time at the lake while Ariel got to swim around for a while, and then they’d let her decide if she wanted to stay here or continue traveling. Meanwhile, Alex would start training the baby torchic that had hatched from his egg yesterday. Once afternoon came, they would head out and go shopping for tomorrow’s party.

There was a splash by her feet and Kimiko looked down to see Radar testing the water. Apparently, it was too cold, because he pulled out his foot almost immediately, before tentatively dipping it in again. Beside him, Koyomi floated on her back on the surface. Kimiko wondered what the staryu was thinking. Just looking at the starfish gave her nothing, no clues to how she was feeling, whether she was even awake or not… How could Alex understand her? She could hardly understand her own pokémon, and they weren’t nearly as unreadable.

Somewhere behind her, she heard Alex and Lillia begin working with his new pokémon. Hatched only yesterday, Alex was eager to help the baby torchic get battle ready, and the baby pokémon seemed eager to do so. Apparently, Lillia made sure it had inherited some special technique. Lillia’s blaziken, Kilauea, was very protective of his child, but they worked together to try to teach the young pokémon to start breathing fire. Kimiko watched as the little pokémon managed to spew out a few small embers. They went directly up into some tree branches, but they must not have been very powerful. The tree hadn’t caught fire, although it did draw the attention of a wild heracross.

Another splash that caused Radar to squeal drew her attention back to the water. Ariel had returned from her exploration, far more quickly than Kimiko had expected. She peered at her trainer quietly, as though waiting for something. Kimiko tentatively held her hand out, unsure of what her fish wanted from her. Ariel swam over, bumped her head against Kimiko’s palm, and then turned and dived back underwater. Kimiko again lost sight of her as she swam away. Well, that was unusual…

“Baaay!” Thorn cried, causing her to jump. She hadn’t noticed the bayleef bound up to her. Alex had left her back in a group with Costas, his cubone, Michelle, Kimiko’s egg, and Vixen, Lillia’s ninetales, farther up on where the shore met the grass. Something had her riled up – why was she coming to Kimiko instead of her trainer?

“What’s up?” Kimiko asked.

“Bay baaaaaaaay,” Thorn replied, wrapping a vine around her wrist and practically pulling her back towards their picnic site. Radar looked up as they wandered off, but remained in the water.

Costas sat on a blanket feeding his cubone, while Vixen lay asleep, one tail curled around a sleeping Michelle, and another warming Kimiko’s egg. Costas looked up as Thorn dragged her over. “Ah, good! It appears your egg is about to hatch. I thought you might want to witness it.”

“Oh!” Kimiko gasped, kneeling down and gently prying the egg from Vixen’s clutches. It had developed some cracks, which were now glowing white with escaping energy. The motion roused Michelle, who quickly woke up upon realizing the egg was hatching; she missed the torchic hatching, and she didn’t want to miss another.

As the cracks grew and their glow intensified, the small party gathered around the egg. Kimiko found herself wondering what pokémon might soon be a member of her team. She didn’t think she’d ever given any indication that she cared about any fire pokémon in particular, as Lillia had indicated. She tried to think of all the fire pokémon Lillia owned. It probably wasn’t another torchic; it wouldn’t make much sense to give one to both her and Alex. She didn’t think a torkoal was likely either, though she couldn’t put a finger on why. Vulpix, maybe? Vixen hadn’t shown any particular special interest in the egg, however, other than keeping it warm when asked. Charmander, maybe? Lillia did have two charizard, and she’d given Alex a starter, after all.

It wouldn’t be long until she found out, as the white glow seeping from the cracks began to cover the entire egg. Kimiko nearly had to look away, covering her eyes as the egg’s light strengthened, similar to the light of evolution, and eventually the egg changed shape. Then the light faded, and Kimiko was left astounded at the pokémon now looking her in the eye.

“Oh my god, Lillia, you didn’t!”

When she got no response, she looked up to discover that neither Alex nor Lillia had joined the group. Confused, she turned back to their battle site, and froze in horror.

Somehow, Kilauea was out cold in the grass, Lillia frantically trying to wake him. Meanwhile, the large heracross had charged passed them, sprinting straight for Alex and the baby torchic in his arms. He turned and ran for it, having no other pokémon with him to send into battle; he’d left Diamond’s ball in his bag at the picnic site.

Kimiko gasped in panic and in one sudden, swift motion, she stood up and took off running at top speed, trying to channel her softball training, but she was quite far away. She wasn’t going to reach Alex in time… not that she had any idea what she was going to do when she got there. Her pokémon weren’t any more help right now, either. She could call out Fantomé, but even then, she wasn’t going to make it in time to stop the bug-type. She didn’t have time while running to dig in her bag for the ghost’s pokéball. Radar and Ariel were still off in the lake somewhere.

Instead, she screamed at the heracross, trying to distract him, which was all she could do; scream first in a frenzied rage, and then in alarm as the heracross caught up with his target. Alex half-turned at Kimiko’s warning as the bug lunged, his glowing green megahorn technique digging into Alex’s left arm and forcing them all to the ground.

The cry of pain he let loose was something Kimiko had never heard from her boyfriend in her entire life, and it terrified her. The bug didn’t seem to be finished, either. He stood up and let out a cry of his own, a challenge rather than from any kind of pain, and prepared another megahorn–

–and then suddenly lurched backwards, slamming harshly into a tree. Kimiko had no idea what just happened, but it didn’t matter; the only thing on her mind was Alex as she continued to charge towards him. He was still awake and cursing loudly in between his cries of agony, so at least he was alive – the attack had only pierced his arm, not his heart, but Kimiko couldn’t keep calm. The torchic had managed to worm his way out of his grip and had begun chirping in alarm, calling for help as his trainer writhed on the ground.

A panicked gasp escaped her when she finally reached him. Kimiko couldn’t tell how bad the damage was, but she knew it wasn’t good. Her heart thundered in her chest, beating faster by the second as she surveyed the damage. His arm was bleeding, because of course it was, but it looked worse than just a puncture wound. Broken? The heracross had hit him hard, and humans weren’t as durable as pokémon by any means. He was probably lucky the horn didn’t pierce clean through, or worse. He thrashed on the ground, his good arm wrapped around his chest as though he wanted to hold his injured arm but was afraid to touch it. Kimiko knelt down by his side, put a quivering hand in his hair, and tried her best to calm him down.

“Hey! Hey, shhhh, it’s okay, I’m here, I’m here! It’s okay now, you’re… you’re going to be fine, you’re… i-it’s not as bad as it looks…” Her voice shook as she spoke in between ragged breaths, only then realizing she’d been fighting back tears. Who the hell am I kidding? she thought. She was too frenzied to sound convincing even to herself.

And of course, saying he would he fine and doing something about it were two different things. She had to get him to a hospital somehow. There was no way she could lift him… Thorn, maybe? She looked around frantically, and the first thing she saw was the heracross held in place by a claydol’s telekinesis, and put down by a ninetales’ flamethrower.

“Alex needs help!” Kimiko shouted, her voice pitched high in alarm, trying to draw the attention of Costas and Lillia. The tears began to blur her vision, but still she could see the blood that had started to pool up underneath him.

“Oh no, oh gods…” she whispered, still stroking his hair. He’d mostly quieted down to groans of discomfort, but still seemed unable to lie still.

Subconsciously, Kimiko had been grateful that at least Alex was still alive, but suddenly wondered if she had been premature. She’d never seen this much blood before. Was this normal? Was he losing too much? If he was bleeding this badly, would applying pressure help or make it worse? She hesitated to try, in fear if injuring him further, but doing nothing was only making it harder to think as terror clouded her brain. Her breathing had become sharp, deep, and rapid, but Kimiko had no idea what to do. They had to get him to a hospital. She was no use here.

Thorn nearly knocked her over in her haste to check on her trainer, and suddenly Kimiko was again aware of the world around her. The bayleef had a similar look of fear on her face, quickly glancing between Kimiko and her trainer, neither of them sure what to do. Kimiko gave her a light pat on the head, hoping that would help to pacify the scared pokémon.

“Thorn’s here now, see, look, she… y-you’ll be okay, help is coming, we…”

Using her free hand, Kimiko rubbed the water from her eyes, improving her vision at least for the moment. But her heart broke when she looked back down and noticed the tears of pain streaking down Alex’s face, and her own crying resumed. She couldn’t remember the last time Alex had cried, at least in front of her… had he ever?

Then, out of nowhere, an idea cut through the haze of dread.

“Thorn, can you, um…” she hesitated, unsure if Thorn knew the move she was thinking of, but what could it hurt to try? “Do you know h-how to use sweet scent?’

She felt mere seconds of relief as the soothing smell wafted around the immediate area. She was thankful that Thorn did in fact know the move. Her heartbeat and breathing slowed slightly as she inhaled the calming scent. Below her, Alex’s face was still contorted in pain, but he had finally stopped tossing and turning, instead laying mostly still on his back, but Kimiko could see him trembling.

Thorn’s technique seemed to be helping not only Alex and herself, but the panicked torchic, too. Kimiko took an intentional, slow deep breath, her heart threatening to burst out of her chest. She had to keep it together. She had to.

But what should she do?

Then there was a hand on her shoulder, as Costas and Lillia rejoined them.

“Holy shit,” Lillia whispered. Kimiko’s dread spiked again and she choked out an involuntary sob; her friend probably hadn’t meant for her to hear the exclamation, but too late now.

Kimiko immediately began a plea for help, her words pouring out so fast they slurred together. “I think his arm’s broken, and he’s bleeding so much, but I don’t wanna make it worse, we have to–”

Costas held up a phone and spoke over her, his voice suddenly carrying an authority that startled her into silence. “Help is already on the way.”

 

[Seren]

Chapter 22 – Mansion in the Mountains​

Alex woke to a pressure on his stomach. He could tell just from smell alone that he must be in some sort of hospital; the place absolutely reeked of antiseptics. He hesitated to open his eyes, afraid of what he’d see. He was alive, at least, and sensed no danger, but he had numerous questions. How long had he been here? How badly was he injured? What happened to his pokémon? The baby torchic? He couldn’t remember anything after the heracross made contact, anything except the sharp pain that felt like it had shattered his arm and reverberated throughout the rest of his body.

But he couldn’t just lie like that forever. When he did finally open his eyes, three things simultaneously caught his attention and he had to struggle to sort them out, still waking up from the haze. Firstly, the room was dark; the only source of light came from a small window in the door, but even that illuminated enough to confirm he was in a hospital room. Curtains concealed the window on the opposite wall to his left.

Second, the pressure on his stomach was Kimiko’s head. She was slumped over in her chair beside his bed with her arms crossed in front of her, fast asleep. Alex pondered idly how she was allowed to stay; didn’t hospitals have specific visiting hours? Regardless, he was relieved to have some company upon waking, even if she herself was in slumber. If she was here, anyone else’s injuries must be minor, if any existed.

And third… both his left arm as well as his right ankle were in casts. He had known something was seriously wrong with his arm the moment that the heracross made contact; that was a pain he’d never before experienced. He’d never so much as broken a bone before. He couldn’t move that arm at all right now, although it did occasionally throb uncomfortably, so at least he could still feel it. He wasn’t sure he wanted to know just how serious an injury he’d endured.

He’d also been aware of pain in his foot, but he hadn’t realized that too had been cast-worthy; he’d just thought he twisted or sprained his ankle when he fell. The cast likely meant not walking for a while. He couldn’t go parading around the region on crutches, much less when his journey’s next destination took him through the forest full of unpredictable and dangerous ghosts. It would have been a struggle to convince Kimiko to head there on a good day. With him injured, the chances of her letting him travel anywhere were next to zero.

Well… Kimiko had wanted a break. Looked like she was about to get a lengthier one than Alex had planned. Could be worse, he figured. At least if he got restless, there were still options. Just because he couldn’t wander the region didn’t mean he couldn’t still practice battles in a park or something. He wouldn’t let this interfere with his team’s training. He couldn’t.

Having analyzed his situation, he was left to wonder once again… what the hell happened? Where were his pokémon? Particularly the baby torchic. Thorn and Koyomi could both handle themselves, if necessary, but the torchic was only just hatched… Alex didn’t seriously think Kimiko or Lillia would have left any of their pokémon behind. They were all probably safely back in their balls in his bag… wherever that was. He couldn’t see it in the room from his position, and he wouldn’t be able to relax until he knew they were safe and accounted for.

But what was their condition? Had any of them gotten hurt after he passed out? He’d kept Diamond in his ball during the picnic, but Thorn had been keeping Michelle company. And what about Michelle, for that matter? What about Kimiko’s team? What about Ariel? Radar and Koyomi had been relatively close by last time he’d glanced at the lake, but the gorebyss had been long since out of sight.

And what about the rest of them? Lillia’s blaziken had been caught off guard by the heracross’ strength and had been completely outclassed in fighting techniques, and she’d left Vixen and the rest of her team at their picnic site. He thought he’d seen a white light coming that direction, but he hadn’t had time to discover what that was – he certainly wasn’t going to be luring the enraged bug towards them. He figured at least they were all safe. If anything had happened to her sister or her pokémon, Kimiko would surely be taking care of them right now rather than sleeping by his side.

His answers would have to wait, however. He couldn’t move very much anyway with his leg propped up and his arm secured in front of him, despite being highly uncomfortable. On top of that, he didn’t want to risk waking his girlfriend. Between all the excitement behind them and the party coming up, she needed all the sleep she could get.

As it turned out, lying there was all he could do.

---

Kimiko hesitated as she looked around the selection of dresses in front of her, not really seeing them at all. Her mind was focused elsewhere.

Her boyfriend had had a million questions when he’d woken up that morning, and Kimiko did her best to fill him in with a short version of the story. Their savior turned out to be Costas and his claydol, who knocked the heracross away from Alex after the first attack. They kept it busy until Lillia and Vixen were able to catch up and take it down. Apparently, Costas had captured it afterwards, and had left it with Alex’s possessions.

“He said you should be the one to, uh… ‘decide its fate’,” Kimiko had told him, adding that she couldn’t help but feel somewhat unnerved at Costas’ choice of wording.

Michelle watched over Kimiko’s new hatchling – explaining the white light he saw – while Lillia rounded up all the pokémon, and Costas and Claydol summoned help. Alex himself was simply grateful no one else had been hurt; Costas and Vixen guarded Michelle until the rampaging bug-type was under control. Kilauea would be fine after a solid night’s rest as a pokémon center, though Lillia was sure he’d be broody for a while after losing to a bug-type. Alex’s baby torchic was fine as well, and was currently with said blaziken as he recovered down at the pokémon center.

With Alex needing time to heal, Kimiko was grateful she wouldn’t have to think about a trip through the forest for a while, but it also meant they couldn’t really enjoy their time off together, either. No dinner plans, no going out to a movie… Kimiko had made the mistake of making some offhand comment about being stuck at home for a while until he recovered, but Alex wasn’t fooled.

“And do what?” he’d said. “I’ll be bedridden for at least a couple days most likely. I appreciate the company, but you’ll be bored out of your mind trapped in here all day. I saw the way your eyes lit up when we got invited to that party. Go ahead and go. You know where to find me when you’re back.”

She’d only put up a halfhearted resistance after that. She didn’t want to argue. He had a bad habit of winning those arguments. And he was right, after all. She’d be bored in a hospital room. At least at home she could read or spend time with her sister or something. But she really did want to go, and sitting there watching him sleep wasn’t going to help him heal faster. He wasn’t pushing her away. He wanted her to have a good time for a change, that’s all, and she loved him for that. She wasn’t sure she’d have been able to be so charitable in his position.

And so, after leaving Alex at the hospital in Blossom with his blessing, Kimiko had taken Michelle and rejoined Lillia and Costas, the latter graciously offering to take the girls dress shopping for the evening’s party. His claydol had teleported the three of them to Neutron, where they stopped at the fanciest clothing shop Kimiko had ever seen.

Elec-Chic, founded by supermodel-slash-gym leader Elesa, sold a wide variety of items ranging from dresses and tuxedos, to swimwear, to makeup, to accessories, to stylish personalized pokéballs and other pokémon accessories, most of them of Elesa’s own lines in addition to a select few of her personal favorite brands.

Michelle had no desire to go to a ball herself but the lure of expensive makeup did catch her attention. She excused herself to go looking around on her own, leaving Kimiko, Lillia, Costas, and their pokémon the moment they’d entered the store.

Kimiko cradled her new baby eevee, Olivia, in her arms with the rest of her team safely in her bag, as she stared at the numerous displays. She stroked the eevee’s fur idly, not properly taking in the outfits in front of her with her mind still on her boyfriend.

“I dunno… it doesn’t feel right doing this without Alex,” Kimiko said, a distracted response to… whatever her friend had just asked of her.

“He’ll be fine,” Lillia insisted, her voice from behind a clothing rack pulling Kimiko back to the present. “Your lives don’t have to revolve around each other! He told you himself it was fine for you to have a good time without him! And hey, drinks optional this time, promise! You wanted to go, so let’s go!”

She knew that was true, but it didn’t mean she had to be happy about it. It felt wrong somehow that she had to leave him behind. “I know, but…” Kimiko trailed off.

“Ooh, how about this one!” Lillia interrupted. As usual, she wasn’t about to take ‘no’ for an answer. She held up a strapless, bubblegum pink dress, waving it at her friend. Olivia cooed and pawed in the direction of the cloth, and Kimiko had to pull her closer to keep the eevee from scratching a hole in it.

“It’s not awful, but…”

“Not awful?” Lillia exclaimed in exasperation. “You’ve always been a pink girl!”

“Yeah, but… I mean, I’ll be alone there, I don’t…” she felt a blush forming on her cheeks as she attempted to focus on the dress. It honestly was something she might have picked out for herself under different circumstances. “It’s so…”

“You can pull this off!” Lillia insisted. She turned to Costas. He was politely pretending to ignore them but listening intently, the cubone in his grasp obviously asleep. “Right? Look at her, it’s perfect!”

“Lillia, you’re missing my point,” Kimiko said with a sigh.

Costas chuckled, answering without bothering to look up. “I think your friend is concerned over attracting unwanted attention without her boyfriend around.”

Lillia groaned as Kimiko’s hesitation finally made sense. “That’s gonna be a problem with any dress we find here. But you can’t just wear something that doesn’t flatter your figure. You’re too hot.”

Kimiko felt her face heat up.

Oblivious, Lillia folded the pink dress in her arms and turned around, her eyes scanning the displays like a hungry sneasel stalking a pidgey. “I’ll hold on to this one in case we don’t find – oh, here, what about this?” She pulled a deep royal purple dress with a plunging neckline off another mannequin.

With a heavy sigh of resignation, Kimiko decided she’d better focus on the shopping, lest she give up her say in her outfit. Shifting the squirming Olivia in her arms, she frowned at the purple dress. “That… look how low it’s cut!”

“Still covers more than the pink one,” Lillia replied. “Come on, you’ll be fire! And I’ll be there, so just… stop worrying about getting hit on, alright? I’ll punch anyone who gets too close for comfort.”

The thought of Lillia being her bodyguard didn’t really make Kimiko feel any better, though she supposed it was better that she wasn’t going to actually be alone all night. They were both beautiful dresses, too… and really, when was she ever going to get a chance to wear something like that again? Maybe as a birthday present for Alex or something, but otherwise… “Mmm… how much are they?” she asked tentatively.

Before Lillia could inspect the price tags, Costas interrupted. “Don’t you worry about that. You’re both on my tab tonight.”

Kimiko gaped at him. “Wh… Oh, no, I couldn’t–”

“Sure, you can. I wouldn’t have brought you here if the prices were a concern.”

That only confirmed that the dresses were out of Kimiko’s budget. “Oh, really, no, you’ve already gotten us those eggs, and I…”

“Please, you’re both my personal guests.” There was that sudden commanding tone again. Kimiko resisted an urge to flinch away. “It’s only fair I make sure you’re sufficiently prepared! I won’t take no for an answer. You simply must choose whatever you desire.”

Well, what was she supposed to say to that? …Was he hitting on her? No, no… he said they were both on his tab, meaning he was also paying for whatever Lillia got. Just how much money did this guy have? “God, that’s… wow. Um, thank you, really…”

“I insist you don’t mention it!” Costas said with a grin and a nod as though the debate was settled. “Now, Ms. Mason, I believe we still need to find a dress for you, too…”

---

Kimiko left Elec-Chic with more than a sleeping Olivia in her arms. Costas had overloaded her shopping bag with items; not just the one dress, but both the strapless pink and the low-cut purple ones, two pairs of matching high heels (one for whichever dress she chose), a fancy brand-name purse, some perfume called Beautiful Joule, and more makeup than she’d worn in her entire life.

He’d even found a shiny lavender soothe bell and a matching bow for Olivia; evidently, guests were allowed one “cute and small” pokémon companion for the evening. Kimiko hadn’t planned on Olivia being her choice, but Costas insisted it would be a perfect bonding opportunity. Her baby eevee happily accepted both the soothe bell tied around her neck and the bow on her ear, and Kimiko found it difficult to refuse after that.

She still had her reservations about going to this party without her boyfriend, especially after seeing just how much money Costas dropped on both her and Lillia’s purchases, but she was committed at this point. He’d already spent the money. And she did want to go. Maybe she really needed to loosen up a little bit. An extravagant ball was everything she needed; the polar opposite to a haunted forest full of deadly ghosts. She’d end up having a good time with her old friend and her new pokémon, and she’d excitedly tell Alex all about it and how she wished he’d been there, and they’d both laugh at how ridiculous she’d been for resisting for so long.

So why did this still feel like such a bad idea?

Lillia ended up with a deep crimson dress, insisting on something that showed off her tattoo. Kimiko wasn’t sure how well that would go over with the ‘fancy party’ crowd; if their choice of apparel was any indication, the people they were going to be mingling with weren’t likely to see a tattoo as classy. Not that Lillia cared. She insisted on something besides high heels for her footwear, though. Dresses weren’t really her thing either, but she said she’d make do. Heels, however, were another matter. She ended up with a purse and some makeup of her own, too, though less than Kimiko, as some of her portion of Costas’ funds went into accessories for her pokémon team.

Apparently, she was bringing Vixen to the ball, per Costas’ suggestion; she wasn’t a small pokémon by any means, but apparently Lillia didn’t have anything else that fit the “cute and classy” requirement, so he once again claimed his influence would grant her a pass. Apparently ninetales were elegant enough to be welcomed. Vixen had stubbornly refused to put on any accessory Lillia picked out, however.

The trio hunted down Michelle before leaving. She’d been unable to pick between all the makeup options, but their host allowed her to pick out a light, magenta-colored blazer before they headed home. Costas departed after they exited the store and he returned the girls to Blossom, saying he needed to prepare the venue, with a promise that his claydol would arrive to collect them that evening. With time to kill, the girls decided to return to the hospital. Lillia wanted to check on her blaziken, while Kimiko figured she may as well let Alex pick a dress; he'd enjoy that, and she certainly wasn’t sure she’d be able to pick one on her own.

---

Wherever this ball was taking place, Kimiko had not expected a mansion in the middle of nowhere.

The sun was in the process of setting now, its soft orange glow illuminating the tall, lush green mountains that dominated the surrounding area. Lights in the distance to the west might possibly be a small town, but it was hard to tell this far away, the mansion sitting nearly at the base of the mountains.

Kimiko shivered when they arrived; she hadn’t anticipated the weather being this chilly despite the evening hour, as it was relatively warm in most parts of Vidiva this time of year. She wondered if perhaps the chill was related to the large cave entrance that could be seen off to the east, heading down underneath the mountain. Regardless, she was somewhat grateful Olivia was again in her arms. Alex had – somewhat predictably – favored the pink dress, and it did little to shield against the breeze. Olivia wasn’t very big, but her fur did help a bit. The little eevee was constantly squirming around, although that made her more difficult to keep a hold on.

Neither Lillia nor Vixen appeared bothered by the cold, oddly enough. Usually, the fire trainer was the first one to complain about a slight breeze, but right now her attention was squarely on the mansion. “Wow, would you look at the size of this place! Where do you think we even are?”

“I… don’t know,” Kimiko replied, and it was true. There were mountains near her hometown of Crescent, but they weren’t this green. And while she hadn’t been all the way west yet, she knew the mountains there were more… white and snowy. Given the wind and the chill, she wondered if maybe they weren’t even in Vidiva anymore. They could have been teleported to Unova for all she knew of mansions.

Said mansion was, of course, enormous, but that’s not what drew Kimiko’s attention as she surveyed the area. The most notable feature was the large, gold-plated water fountain in the center of the yard. A large statue of a milotic sat atop a tall pedestal, water spewing upwards out of the creature’s mouth and landing with a splash into the pool below. The fountain sat at the center of some sort of elaborate maze made out of hedges, though most of the bushes were roughly waist level and could easily be seen over. Purely a decoration then, Kimiko realized. Occasionally dotted throughout the maze were taller bushes, trimmed into the shapes of various pokémon.

A large iron gate stood wide open in front of them, welcoming guests and likely anyone else who wandered by. Kimiko couldn’t see any security guards, bouncers, or anything else to keep the uninvited from party crashing. Either Costas didn’t expect many stray people passing between the town and the cave, or he simply didn’t care who walked into his mansion unannounced.

Apparently, the party was in full swing already, the loud classical music drifting down to them from inside the building. Costas’ claydol floated through the gates wordlessly. Lillia and her ninetales followed it eagerly up the slightly inclined paved road towards the source of the muffled voices and music, with Kimiko trailing slightly behind, struggling to keep her friend in sight among all the other invited guests. Walking in heels was not something she’d done often, nor was it something she enjoyed. Lillia made a good call when she opted out of them. Thankfully, the path to the entrance did not take them through the maze, but straight ahead.

Olivia’s ears flattened as they approached and the sound of music and voices grew louder. Kimiko frowned down at her eevee. If she was bothered by the noise, that was going to be a problem… on the other hand, maybe she could use it as an excuse to leave early. She was still feeling anxious, though at this point it had become more annoying than anything. She was here now, and she wasn’t about to turn away at this point.

Lillia, Vixen, and Claydol had already gone inside by the time Kimiko made it to the entrance. She paused, looking upwards at the large building one more time, hesitating at the doorway. She couldn’t explain why, but the thought of going inside stirred a wave of nausea. She turned around to look back at the iron gates. They were still open, and people and their pokémon partners were still funneling in, heading up the path she’d just came from, already fraternizing with other newcomers.

“What’s wrong?” came Lillia’s voice. Startled, Kimiko spun back around on the spot to see her friend back in the doorway looking perplexed. “Not trying to back out, are ya?”

“N-no,” she replied, shoving down the anxiety in her gut. With the fuss she’d already made about being here, Lillia would only tell her she was imagining things, so she shrugged and followed Lillia inside. “Just… admiring the fountain.”

Claydol teleported away with a flash as soon as she reached them. When it didn’t reappear, Kimiko looked around for any sign of it or its trainer, but she saw neither.

What she did see was numerous other people in lavish outfits, most accompanied by a pokémon on their own. Many were engaged in conversation, chatting enthusiastically and nearly spilling their drinks all over each other. Two long tables had attracted a large gathering off to her left. Behind them, she spotted a staircase and what might possibly be the entrance to a hallway. Some kind of stage sat at the far end of the room straight ahead of her, currently empty save for a microphone on a stand. She also located the source of the classical music blasting through the windows – a live orchestra, performing from a different stage on the far-right side of the large room.

The mansion had looked massive from the outside, but it belied the sheer colossal size of the grand entranceway. There didn’t seem to be any other rooms that she could see, just the one gigantic one full of people. Numerous equally extravagant, gothic-style, sparking chandeliers hung from the ceiling directly above them, giving off rather subdued lighting. In fact, the mansion’s interior was far darker than outside, despite the setting sun. The chandeliers and several candles dotted around the room were the only sources of illumination. Still light enough to see by, for the most part, but it was still curious.

Overwhelmed by the whole experience, Kimiko was at a loss as far as how to proceed as she realized that, for some reason, she’d been expecting Costas there to greet them.

Unlikely, she told herself, taking in the large room and its occupants. He’s the host, he’s probably got a thousand other guests to be entertaining. So, then…

“Let’s find the buffet table, I’m starving,” Lillia said, as though reading her mind.

Kimiko followed behind Vixen feeling extremely out of place, any trace of the early afternoon’s excitement gone. There were so many people, and she just wasn’t sure what to do with herself. Olivia had taken to burying her head, trying to block out the sounds. Vixen, meanwhile, appeared calm for the most part, although she kept raising her head and looking sharply in one direction or another, as though she’d heard something that startled her. Between the music and the chatter, that wasn’t improbable.

Food was not difficult to find, as she and Lillia headed towards the two long buffet tables, however Kimiko didn’t recognize the vast majority of dishes. This didn’t stop Lillia, who wasted no time in grabbing a few plates and loading them up with items.

Two gray-haired, elderly women were already there, standing beside them, one with a cane and the other with a walker. They each had a pokémon on their shoulders – a snubbull on one, a glameow with the other – looking for their own food in between their conversation. One of them caught sight of Lillia, attempting to stealthily point and draw her companion’s attention. But both sent barely concealed looks of revulsion at Lillia as they observed her reaching for a fourth plate.

“How… kind of you, to collect food for your friend,” one of them said. Kimiko followed the woman’s gaze to Lillia’s arm – the one with her zombie ho-oh tattoo.

Lillia snapped her head towards the sound. “Huh? No, I’m not her nanny, this is for me,” she replied. “Little bit for my ninetales here, too.”

Kimiko decided that disgust was not a strong enough adjective for the expression the two old ladies made in response.

Lillia, whether indifferent or ignorant to their opinions, returned to her food-collecting when the old women went silent. Kimiko assumed the matter was over, until she overheard the second woman whisper to the other, “Who let these ruffian swinub in here?”

Kimiko frowned and started to reply, “The gate was wide open,” but Lillia spoke over her, her attention snapping back to the women. “Who you calling a ruffian, granny? We were invited!”

The woman with the glameow huffed and stuck up her nose, matching her pokémon’s expression perfectly. “I find it difficult to believe that someone with your… status was invited to this event.”

“And I find it hard to believe you haven’t started to rot!”

“Okay! Okay, I think that’s enough of that!” Kimiko exclaimed as both women gasped in revulsion. Still, she found the expressions of shock and disbelief on their faces was somewhat gratifying as she freed an arm from Olivia, looping it around Lillia instead and steering them both towards the seating tables.

It was difficult to corral her struggling friend with just one arm free, as Lillia seemed determined to start a melee. Vixen, thankfully, also caught her trainer with a few tails around her other arm, helping steer her away from the conversation. Lillia, deciding food was more important, managed to snag two of her plates before she was dragged away, but not without throwing a dirty glare over her shoulder at the old women.

“Who the hell do they think they are? If I see them again, I’m gonna kick their canes out from underneath them!”

“No, you won’t,” Kimiko replied with a roll of her eyes, then set about looking for a table with some empty chairs. “Sit down and eat, alright? Let’s try to enjoy the night, not fight with the rich people.”

“Fine! Fine, alright. You’re right, we’re here to have a good time… look, those tables over there have a bunch of ‘vees! Let’s sit there!”

She was pointing to a couple large round tables not far away, surrounded by several trainers of various ages, each with an eevee or evolution by their side. Reasonable, Kimiko figured. Maybe she could get pointers for taking care of Olivia. But with her lost in thought, Lillia was able to break away from her grasp as they approached and veered off directly towards a young woman with a panting flareon, jumping into conversation effortlessly and leaving Kimiko to manage on her own. So much for being a bodyguard, she groaned internally.

Leaving Lillia to her own devices, she looked around at the other trainers seated nearby. Not far away was a middle-aged man wearing a brown vest and derby hat, aimlessly poking at a salad in front of him while his attention was focused on a tablet beside the bowl. An espeon lay at his feet, half underneath his seat – that got her attention. Next to him, a chair sat unoccupied. As Kimiko headed up to him, Olivia perked up and looked around, perhaps sensing some of her kin. She pawed at the air towards the espeon as they got close, the soothe bell around her neck jingling lightly.

“Is this seat taken?” Kimiko asked.

The man jolted slightly as though surprised and looked up. He stared for a second and looked her over with his cold, blue eyes, finally settling on the eevee in her arms. He then sniffed at the air, taking a deep breath. “It is now,” he said with a gesture towards the chair. “Lovely choice, Elesa’s products are sublime.”

“O-oh, thank you. Your espeon is very pretty,” she said, sitting down and then introducing herself and her partner. She set Olivia on the table to stretch her arms a bit. Her curious eevee started walking towards the stranger’s salad, though, so Kimiko had to block her and pull her closer, setting a plate of her own down for her partner to inspect instead. While Olivia turned her attention towards Kimiko’s food, she began stroking the eevee’s fur. She was strangely reminded of Thorn, and wondered if this was how Alex felt when he used to carry her around, too.

“My name’s Cornelius. That is Edward. And of course he is, he’s mine, after all. No other espeon has as shiny a coat or as bright a jewel,” he said, as though nothing was more obvious. He then made an attempt to appear as though his attention shifted back to his tablet, his head bowed down, but he wasn’t as subtle as he thought when his eyes constantly darted back to her.

Kimiko pulled Olivia a little closer. “Uh… I was wondering, how did you get him to evolve? Olivia is trying to become an espeon, too.” She hadn’t exactly talked with Olivia about it yet, young as she was. But there was no harm in seeking advice. “And I’m looking for all the help I can get.”

“Hm?” Cornelius looked up again from his bowl, then down to his own espeon. Edward was curled around the bottom of his chair. He’d been very tame since they’d arrived; Kimiko would have thought he was asleep if not for his ears perking up when he heard his name. Cornelius returned his gaze to her as he answered. “An evolution from eevee to espeon requires a strong bond and a lot of sunlight. I can refer you to my personal contacts if you’d like,” he said, his tone making it clear he expected her to be impressed. He sat straighter upright, squaring his shoulders. “Newton’s the best in the services with a good price to boot. But be warned that it will not be a fast process.”

“W-well, yes,” Kimiko replied uncertainly. “Time is always a big factor in forming a bond, it’s not often that–” She cut herself off as his words sunk in. “Wait a sec, what do you mean by ‘services’?”

Cornelius regarded her with a confused expression. “An evolution service, of course. I have countless very influential contacts within a number of them, including ones specifically tailored towards bonded evolutions. They’ll spend their time with your pokémon for you until it evolves.”

Kimiko just stared at him, a sinking feeling in her gut. “Why would I want my pokémon to bond with someone else? Why would anyone want that?”

“That is some sort of joke, isn’t it?” Cornelius replied. “Because I am not certain I understand it.” When Kimiko simply tilted her head in confusion, he continued. “Time, dear child, time! It’s not like this species evolve with a sun stone or something easy, or I would have simply purchased one. Espeon requires natural sunlight. More importantly, I don’t have the time to sit around taking care of a child. Who does? I certainly don’t. I’m too busy managing the races. Thanks to the services, all I have to do now is make sure his coat is properly groomed. They do all of the hard work for you.”

‘Hard work’? Kimiko scowled at him, reminded for some reason of the two old women from earlier. She was unable to keep the bite out of her voice when she responded. “So… what you’re saying is, all you care about is how he looks. Like he’s some sort of… status symbol.”

“Of course not!” he snapped, looking affronted. “Edward is my best friend! Isn’t that right, Edward?” Again, the espeon’s ears perked up at the mention of his name, but quickly fell again and he readjusted the angle his head rested on his paws without looking up.

Cornelius looked back at Kimiko and nodded with a muffled “hmph”, as though that proved his point. She raised a brow at him, frowning. That did not look like the face of a happy pokémon to her, but Cornelius seemed to think there was nothing wrong with their arrangement. Suddenly, the entire atmosphere of the ball had shifted. She was still uneasy, but between the old women earlier and now this, she had an idea as to why.

She locked eyes with him and realized he was sitting there waiting for her to respond. Was he hoping she’d concede and revel in his genius or something? She sighed. She felt like she should have expected a reception like this, but had been hoping otherwise. It was going to be a very long night.

Still, she wasn’t going to drop to Lillia’s level and start a fight over it just yet. “That’s… not exactly what I’m looking for. Thanks anyway.”

She stood, ignoring her plate but scooping up Olivia on the way, who began gnawing on her dress. As she walked away, she heard Cornelius snort, “Yeah, bet you do have enough time to sit around and play, don’t you, honey?”

She stopped short and closed her eyes, fighting the urge to throw something at him. Let it go, she told herself, thinking of the two old women at the buffet. Not worth it. Don’t encourage him.

With a deep sigh, she made her way back towards where Lillia stood with the flareon trainer. She passed by another group of party-goers, each accompanied by a furfrou, their trims all styled differently. Hearing them was difficult with all of them talking over each other but from what she could gather, they seemed to be debating which style looked the best, and no one wanted to relent. Given the experience she just had, and hearing them arguing over looks did not improve her mood.

But as she passed the furfrou crowd and approached her friend, she could make out the sounds of what sounded like a similar argument.

“…telling you, lopunny really is the best parent for a superior offspring!”

“No, it’s not!” Lillia insisted with a stomp of her foot, causing both Vixen and the flareon to flinch. “Not for a battler! Houndoom provides more powerful fire!”

The young woman audibly gasped, affronted. “A houndoom! I would not have my dear flareon mate with something so brutish! Only a lopunny can produce offspring this fluffy!”

“And that’s exactly what you don’t want! Flareon fluff out their fur to cool down! With more fluff, they’re more prone to overheating!”

“Yes, and the more fur it has, the more heat is expelled, and the easier it is to cool down!”

Lillia crossed her arms. “What?? That’s not how it works at all! The fur traps heat! That’s why it has to fluff up to release it! Honestly, do you know anything about your own pokémon?”

The blonde woman glared in Kimiko’s direction as she stepped up beside Lillia, her eyes traveling down to Olivia and her lavender bow. “You! Certainly, you look like a woman of class and elegance. Surely you agree that a lopunny is the superior parent for a properly fluffy eevee offspring!”

“Oh, um…” Kimiko responded, blinking in confusion. “I… I don’t really know. Olivia was a gift.”

“Is that so?” the blonde said, scrutinizing Olivia. “She looks professionally bred. The parent surely must be quite well raised!”

“Yes, my flareon is,” Lillia injected loudly, wide, smug grin on her face.

The blonde woman’s shocked expression was back again. “Your flareon? Your…?”

“Damn right,” Lillia responded. She didn’t wait for a counter argument, looping her arm around Kimiko’s and dragging her away.

“…What was that?” Kimiko asked, struggling in her high heels to keep up with her friend’s speed.

“Nothing,” Lillia said. “These people are crazy, that’s all. They all see their pokémon more like fashion accessories than partners.”

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” Kimiko replied, casting a glance back towards Cornelius and Edward. “Maybe we should go. I don’t think we really belong here.”

“Nah,” Lillia said, nodding her head towards the stage at the far end of the room. Kimiko followed her gaze and noticed for the first time that the orchestra had stopped and someone had taken the stage, but she couldn’t tell who it was. The dim candles only lit the front half. Something seemed to be floating alongside the figure, but all she could see were small red circles of light. “Let’s wait it out a little longer. I think something’s about to happen.”

Illuminated by the candlelight on the stage, Costas stepped forward, wearing a nice-looking black suit. His claydol floating by his side, he collected the microphone from the stand, and adjusted his glasses as he started to speak. “Welcome, welcome one and all! I hope everyone’s had a chance to get some food and do some dancing, because I’ve got something special planned for you all tonight, for being such lovely guests! And let me tell you, it is going to be a long night!”

He paused while the crowed chuckled at some joke that went over Kimiko’s head.

Costas raised his arms outward and over his head, beginning to step backwards into the shadows once more. “So now, prepare yourselves! Without further delay, I shall relinquish the floor. I hope you’re all ready, because…” He made a bow while he retreated, as his form vanished completely into the shadows cast by the candlelight.

“The show is about to begin!”

Mere seconds after Costas finished speaking, all power in the building went out. The ballroom was plunged into darkness, only dimly lit by the floating candles scattered throughout. Kimiko looked up to see even the ones in the chandeliers all darkened. They’d looked like real fire to her earlier…

Several guests screamed in shock and surprise until their eyes adjusted to the remaining pale candlelight. Kimiko rolled her eyes. While she understood the surprise, she never felt the need to scream when lights went out unexpectedly. Maybe that was in part due to how often it happened at a concert or something, but still. She’d already been irritated with the rich guests, and now their shouts grated on her nerves. Good opportunity to practice your control, she told herself. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

But after several seconds passed and the light refused to come back on, she felt Lillia press closer to her. That made her begin to feel uneasy again, drowning out the anger that had crept in over the evening. And while the startled screaming had died down, the unsettled murmuring of the crowd it was replaced by wasn’t helping, either.

A light jingling signaled Olivia shifting in her arms, sensing the change in atmosphere. At her feet, she could just make out Vixen, tails curled protectively around her trainer.

Kimiko leaned in towards Lillia. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” she said quietly.

In response, she felt her friend reach around and grab her hand. “Vixen’s been jittery all night,” she noted; Kimiko remembered seeing her looking around sharply when they first arrived. She hadn’t noticed it after that, but her attention had been occupied. “It’s probably nothing. Whatever was supposed to happen probably just blew a fuse. But just in case… stay close to me.”

“Can Vixen give us a little light?”

The fire-type snorted at the suggestion, while Lillia replied, “She could spit out some fire, but then do what with it? It’s not like she has an open flame like a magmar or charizard, so unless you wanna burn the building down… which I’m not entirely against, mind you. But also, shooting fire inside a building full of scared, jumpy, rich snobs is probably not a great idea.”

Somehow it seemed that no one else at the event had any pokémon that could act as a light source, either. Kimiko felt Olivia start trembling, so once again she stroked the eevee softly. Little time had passed, but it sure felt like it was taking a while to get the lights back on. The rest of the gathered seemed to agree; their restless murmurs were picking up in volume.

A sudden thought crossed her mind, causing Kimiko to look back towards the stage. He’d had a microphone, but Costas hadn’t said a word since the lights went out. No assurances that everything was okay, no yelling at someone to figure out what had happened. This was his party. Why wasn’t he saying anything? Or doing anything?

The dim candlelight didn’t reach the area he’d last been standing in, so she couldn’t see whether or not he was still there. She couldn’t even make out a silhouette. Her eyes had adjusted as much as they were going to by now.

“Can you see Costas?” she asked Lillia instead.

“Hm?” There was a pause in which she assumed Lillia was looking around before she answered, “No, it’s too dark over there. Don’t see the claydol, either.”

Right, the claydol. The psychic-type’s red eyes had been visible in the dark earlier… but now they were gone. The sinking feeling in her gut only grew worse. Why wasn’t he at least making it sound like he was trying to figure things out?

“Maybe we should go.” Without waiting for an answer, Kimiko began turning towards where she thought the exit was, pulling her friend along. Lillia pulled back with a tight grip on Kimiko’s hand, staying rooted in her spot.

“It was a struggle to even get you here!” she cried. “And now you wanna leave? Give him some time!”

Kimiko spun around to glare at the silhouette of her friend. “You just said you agreed with me! We don’t really fit in with these pompous snobs anyway. It’s been too long, and Costas hasn’t said a word. This isn’t part of whatever was planned. Something’s wrong.”

Lillia refused to budge. “Relax! You’re just paranoid because of the dusknoir incident.”

Kimiko started to retaliate, but froze as Lillia’s retort sunk in. Was she overreacting? Sure, the lights hadn’t come back on yet, but… there could be a dozen reasons why that could be. Right?

But then Vixen whined softly and barked up at her trainer. Lillia’s attitude changed immediately.

“Okay, maybe there is something in the air. Alright then, let’s go.”

They didn’t make it halfway to the doors before a chorus of eerie wails split the air, silencing the crowd for a moment. Then the screaming began for real. The sound only worsened Kimiko’s nervousness.

“I know those wails,” she cried, spinning around back towards the center of the room, though she couldn’t see anything. “Ghosts.”

She looked upwards. Where the sun had been visible earlier as it set in the evening sky, ghosts poured into the room through the tall windows silhouetted by the moon, not even bothering with invisibility. Even in the dark, she could make out their motion near the ceiling as they zoomed around.

“Why?” Lillia asked. “What are they doing here of all places?” She didn’t sound worried at all, rather like… perplexed, as though the answer would come to her if she thought hard enough.

She didn’t wait for an answer before finally directing Vixen to unleash some fire, as the ghosts began to get too close for comfort. A fresh wave of screams erupted nearby as the flamethrower roared upwards, scorching several ghosts along the way. The temporary light didn’t last long enough to count all the attacking ghosts, with more still coming, but it did draw the attention of anyone in the crowd who hadn’t yet seen them.

“Now can we leave?” Kimiko demanded, pulling Lillia back towards the doors again. This time, Lillia didn’t resist, spinning around and following, her ninetales on her heels.

The door wasn’t hard to find, even in the dark, thanks to the faint moonlight creeping in through the windows along it. It seemed several other party-goers had the same idea; many crowded around the exit, but none seemed to be leaving.

Kimiko pushed her way to the front of the gathering, dragging Lillia along behind her, and ignoring the shouts cries of people complaining about their heels breaking or their suits getting rumpled. “We don’t have time for this!” she shouted as she forced her way through. But when she got to the door, she discovered why no one had left yet.

An energy barrier flared to life in front of the door as she walked into it, throwing her harshly backwards into the crowd. Her arms tightened around the eevee in her arms, her only thought being to not drop her as she fell. Someone caught her and helped her stay on her feet, but the buzzing in her head made her dizzy.

“Vixen, burn it!” Somewhere to her left, a jet of fire erupted forwards and crackled against the energy barrier, which shimmered as it absorbed the attack.

“It’s probably ghost energy,” Kimiko sputtered. Colliding with the energy barrier left her head spinning.

“Vixen, switch it up!”

At her command, the stream of fire stopped and the ninetales instead started charging and launching purple energy balls at the barrier. But upon contact, it shimmered and sizzled just the same.

Motion in her arms caused Kimiko to look down, seeing the form of her eevee squirming there. Kimiko again started to stroke her fur.

“Shh, I know, I know,” she said, the noise around her making it difficult to speak softly. “It’s scary, but you’ll be okay, promise. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Olivia’s ears perked up at the sound of her voice, but the squirming continued. As Vixen continued to pummel the energy shield with shadow balls, Olivia’s movement slowed, watching the ninetales. Seconds later, a small orb of energy formed in front of the eevee as well, and with a cry, it was launched into the barrier.

Kimiko didn’t have time to be surprised, as Lillia spun around and put a hand on her shoulder. “We’re not breaking through this. Looks almost like those barriers used to protect the crowds during league battles. If these are anywhere near that powerful, it doesn’t look like we’re getting out this way. We’re gonna have to fight our way through and find another way out.”

As Vixen roasted an approaching misdreavus, Kimiko rounded on her friend. “With what? We were only allowed one, all I’ve got is Olivia! I left my team with Alex! We’re not going to be able to fight a swarm of ghosts with just one ninetales. Hell, even if everyone here fights back, we’re outnumbered!”

For one fleeting moment, Kimiko had the thought of, what if that was intentional? What if he knew this was coming, and that’s why he limited guests to one pokémon? But that didn’t make sense… these rich people weren’t pokémon trainers, not in the battling sense, anyway. Not in the way Lillia, or even she herself, was. They weren’t a threat. Besides, the ghosts hadn’t shown any inclination towards wanting to work with humans before.

“I doubt anyone in this room besides you and I are capable trainers, anyway,” Lillia replied, evidently having the same thought. There was a beat where she paused, looking around, before she spoke again. “We just gotta find whichever ghost is responsible for this barrier and take it down.”

“If they’re smart, they’re not in this room while they’re doing it,” Kimiko countered. “Assuming it is actually a ghost maintaining it and not a machine.” Was that how the league barriers worked? Maintained by a pokémon? Kimiko was sure they operated mechanically somehow, but… she shook her head, chastising herself. This isn’t the time.

“If you have a better idea, I’m open to suggestions.”

“Let’s get away from the walls for starters,” Kimiko said, moving back towards the center of the room. “Last thing we need is ghosts sneaking in behind us. At least they’ll be forced to go invisible to try it.”

The ghosts had begun to swoop down into the crowd. Some launched their own attacks, others disappeared entirely into the darkness.

“I don’t like that thought at all,” Lillia said. “Vixen, I need a ring of fire, now!”

Several of the nearby guests screamed as Vixen’s fire spin surrounded their group. It rose high into the air, and immediately Kimiko began to sweat. But she decided a little heat was worth it to keep any ghosts from sneaking up on them; unless they were part fire-type themselves, they’d still feel the fire energy if they tried to pass through the attack while invisible.

Lillia began directing Vixen to attack specific ghosts as they learned to fly over the flames and into the ring, while the ninetales struggled to keep them all at bay. Olivia had begun flinging shadow balls at their attackers too, although Kimiko couldn’t be sure if any of them were making contact. Even if they were, Olivia lacked the battle experience and the sheer firepower of Vixen. Occasionally there was a glimpse of another attack in the distance, but the ghosts seemed to recognize that Vixen was the only one truly fighting back.

“We could use a little help here!” Lillia bellowed, her voice easily carrying over the flames and the voices of the screaming crowd. “Y’all have pokémon, use ‘em!”

A nearby persian hurled a power gem into an incoming lampent without a command from his trainer, and then a few of the other guests seemed to get the message. Fire and lightning and psychic blasts began to hurl upwards out of the darkness and into the ghost swarm.

“You’re right,” Kimiko noted, “none of them seem to be as strong as Vixen.” Only the ninetales was having any success keeping ghosts away from her trainer. Several other pokémon were making attempts now, but their attacks packed less punch. She began to wonder if that was why the ghosts had targeted this event in the first place. “These rich snobs aren’t trainers. We’re not gonna win this battle.”

As if to emphasize her point, a torrential hydro pump tore through the fire spin barrier, slammed Vixen to the ground, then tossed her into a table. She tried to stand again, launching another flamethrower at the frillish that attacked her, but was cut off by several shadow balls.

“Vixen!” Lillia cried out. The ninetales didn’t move, and Lillia recalled her with a scowl. “Welp, time to run blindly through the crowd and hope to slip under the radar.”

With no better ideas in mind, Kimiko nodded in reply. With Vixen injured and her fire extinguished, they were defenseless. Stumbling upon another exit was their only hope now.

But as Lillia started to run, Kimiko felt a chill in the air behind her, rooting her to the spot. She shivered as the cold permeated her, her entire body going numb in seconds. Her movements were sluggish, and she saw rather than felt Olivia leap from her arms. But she never saw the eevee land, as her vision had begun to blur.

She tried to call out, to get Lillia to stop and come back, but her mouth wouldn’t move. She only felt a flare of true panic for a moment before her vision fully blurred and faded to black.