Pokémon Crimson

Chapter 1: Fall

(Gina Ikeda)

Wilbur Amrhein, chief of the Celadon City police, was unavailable for comment about a recent string of unusually violent Pokémon attacks near the eastern border of the city's woods, the other side of which shares the Celadon metro station and underground tunnel entrance. The incidents, which have been cropping up with greater frequency over the past three months, have grabbed the attentions of Celadon citizens and commuters from other cities alike. Much talk about what will be done for a long-term solution is, and has been, underway.

"Wilbur won't talk to the media anymore," Amrhein's colleague, Hikaru Saiki told the Celadon Bulletin in a brief interview last week. "He's been telling the media the same story over and over and he's gotten to the point where he's pretty sure no one's listening. That's not how I feel about it personally—just giving you some insight into Wilbur."

Amrhein, Celadon's police chief for 20 years, has over 40 years' experience in the force, working his way up from an officer at age 18. Generally well-liked and respected in Celadon and abroad, his recent turn against working with the media to give out press releases about this and other newsworthy incidents is raising some eyebrows.

"We love him, but he's getting up in years," one Celadon resident commented, who chooses to remain nameless. "It's almost time for him to retire."

"I hear he's been spinning some conspiracy theories, but doesn't want to get pegged as old and loopy. That's why he keeps to himself so much now," said another source. Among the conspiracy theories Amrhein is reported to be spreading, big name companies, high-ranking officials, and in some cases, even Gym Leaders' names have cropped up. When asked for clarification the source would not divulge specific names or details.

In spite of the attention Amrhein and the CPD are now receiving for their lack of action regarding the aggressive wilds to the east, everything else in Celadon appears to be going according to the status quo.

"Crime rates are at a steady low, we've got the gambling under control, and the new neighborhood watch system citizens are organizing in the southern districts have dropped petty and property crime significantly," Saiki tells our Celadon reporter. "So, don't worry about us. We're definitely looking into the wilds to the east and keeping up with the rest of our work, too. Just try not to harass Wilbur for a statement so much, you're not gonna get one."

"We've fallen for that one before," Kaylee noted, crunching through the shiny, tough skin of an apple.

"True enough," Victoria agreed, leaning up over Gav's shoulder now that she was done reading the words on the tiny screen. Gina remained where she'd been stooped down, squatting near the table where Gav was sitting and using her hands to cling to the edge. She felt sort of like a dog heeling at the feet of her master, begging for table scraps, and wished they could hook Gav's PDA up to a bigger screen so it was easier to share newsworthy things like this.

"You mean with Whittaker-Cheng," Gina said, starting it off as a question and ending as a statement halfway through. She was tired, and sometimes when she was tired she started to ask stupid questions, or questions she already knew the answer to, just out of reflex. The others had gotten used to these statements and Victoria didn't need to confirm or deny what she said. Gina stood up, feeling a tingling up and down her legs from being in the cramped position for too long, and stretched out the rest of her sore muscles.

Training with Jason and Amaris last night had been killer. Gina was more of a do-it-for-fun trainer, preferring to laugh and banter with her opponents, take longer heal breaks, and more importantly take actual food breaks between sessions. Amaris had always been more down-to-business about it, but even his workaholism when it came to training paled utterly when compared to Jason's obsessive level. Even now her two fellow initiates were outside, sparring viciously with their starters. She could tell from the whizzing and chunk sound of Razor Leaves striking and sticking in the wood of the cottage, and the harsh, wet rumble of a stray Water Gun spraying up the side of the house like a high-powered hose. She's been part of that battle for a while, but a full hour out in the sun was enough for her.

It wasn't like she could blame them for being so driven. They'd given themselves a deadline that evening so many months ago when Gav had fatefully told them to reinstate their Master journeys. Even though she was scared for her friends and herself more often than not these days, and had only thought of her own Master journey, apparently on hold forever, once in a blue moon, once he had said those words a fierce, hungry longing had started in Gina and refused to let her go. This was what she had left home for over a year ago, after all.

The Viridian Forest was at the height of its fall splendor. The leaves were reds, golds, browns and oranges, some vestiges of green still clinging to the stems and cores, but for the most part the trees were an explosion of fiery color. When the sun was setting, as it was now, the whole world was dyed an intoxicating hue.

It was chilly here and getting colder all the time. Edith had taken to wearing her boots while mucking out the pens, which meant the next two hours of her day would be spent meticulously cleaning her footwear. The cooler weather was not a deterrent at all for Amaris, Jason or Kaylee, who continued training from nearly dawn to dusk. Gina sometimes wished she could be that motivated to boost her team and sometimes felt grateful that she was the only person left who apparently could handle balancing the "eat, sleep, etc." part of her life with the training part.

Still, she felt she was falling behind and knew she had to get a move on if she'd be able to keep pace with her fellow Initiates on the long road ahead. They had Fuchsia mapped as their first tentative badge stop and were supposed to set off in a few weeks. Time had flown; it really didn't seem like it had been so many months since they had discovered the corruption in Saffron Gym, lost Orion, regained him, and lost him again.

"I'm just gonna flag Wilbur as a possibility, same as Spikey," Gav said, clicking a few buttons on his PDA and setting an alarm so any other news stories about the Celadon wilds or Police Chief Amrhein would be brought to his attention. "We will not be approaching anyone for help between now and the League though," he promised the gathered team members.

"Right," Kaylee said. "I'm totally fine with that. Need to cut down on the amount of unpleasant surprises in life." She turned to Gina, assessing her, and Gina knew what the question would be. "So, according to your Dex, what's your top?"

"Charmeleon's in his late twenties," Gina explained. "I'd like to boost him to thirty or so before we head to Fuchsia."

"Woo," Kaylee said, clicking her tongue. "Better get on it."

"Yeah yeah," Gina said, already hating the idea of even more training when she'd been at it since sunup. The cup of coffee she'd had was long gone and she contemplated another one. "I will."

The sounds of her fellow Initiates battling outside drew there as she took her second cup of coffee outside into the front of Edith's yard. Amaris and Jason had taken to battling with each other semi-frequently, which at first had surprised Gina, but now she didn't bat an eye at the sight. Both of them were extremely focused and had very good, personal reasons for wanting a powerful team to go against their enemies.

The battle was intense, as all battles were between the boys, and Gina was struck with an idea as she unlatched Magikarp's Pokéball from her belt. She'd been forcing her Water-type to watch a seemingly endless reel of battles, and perhaps she was imagining it, but it seemed like he was getting less and less apathetic and blank-faced about it. Magikarp had even managed to learn one offensive move—Tackle—though Gina pretty much only let him fight against Pokémon like Sandshrew or Nidoran, opponents who were more patient and tame when it came to the frustratingly slow process of battling. Magikarp bobbed around in its orb of floating water, splashing a little as he dove in and out briefly. He seemed more lively than normal and turned to watch the battle that was raging before them in interest.

Ivysaur shot forward for a Tackle, but Wartortle withdrew and Ivysaur smashed awkwardly against his highly-reflective shell. It looked like it hurt, and Gina cringed, but Ivysaur shook off the impact and grabbed the turtle with his vines, hefting with great effort and hoisting him completely overhead. Gina's eyebrows rose at that, no small feat, and Amaris dove out of the way as Wartortle was thrown through the air in his general direction.

Wartortle emerged from his shell in mid-air and shot out a torrent of high-velocity, sticky bubbles at his opponent before he crashed into the ground. Ivysaur sent out a slew of Razor Leaves which popped through and stopped most of the debilitating bubbles, though some of them managed to hit target and gum up Ivysaur's limbs. Wartortle shot through the sticky leaves, sustaining some damage from them as they stuck to his yellow underbelly, but a moment later he had closed his jaws tightly around Ivysaur's front leg in a truly painful looking Bite attack. Ivysaur responded by howling in pain and sending out a huge puff of Poison Powder right in Wartortle's face.

There was an unspoken pause to do a heal break and deal with status effects, and Gina stepped forward.

"Mind if I cut in?" she asked, getting the attentions of both boys. They both seemed mad, but she knew that was likely just how they looked when intensely focused on training. It was a competitive thing to begin with, but sometimes with Jason and Amaris it just turned into a pissing contest, too.

"Yeah," Jason said, not smiling per se, but letting his serious expression mellow out into more of a neutral one for her. Gina would take what she could get.

"Hurry up, then," Amaris said impatiently, crossing his arms and calling Wartortle back to position with a shrill whistle through his teeth. Wartortle rolled over to the battleground in his shell, something Gina got the impression he did when he was too lazy to walk.

Charmeleon seemed simultaneously confused but happy to be back in the fray, and as he jumped forward to join the now three-way battle, Gina stepped back and pulled her Dex out of her pocket.

This thing sure had seen better days. All of Gina's things would up broken, dinged up, or scratched in some manner, her Charmander wristwatch a perfect example. Amaris' Dex was somehow immaculate and pristine, as if he'd had it covered in protective shrink wrap that had only recently been removed, but Gina's device was scuffed and dirty. It took a few seconds to load certain pages, too. She called up the view-finder and looked at their teams through a blood-red image of the battle, little lines of scrolling data popping up as she moved the lens from Pokémon to Pokémon.

Wartortle's stats were showing at a speedy and high-defense level 31, and his list of moves blurred before Gina's eyes before Ivysuar instead moved into the lens. Ivysaur was level 30 and had stats highest in HP and Special Attack. It made sense to Gina—Ivysaur virtually only used its Grass-type moves now and she'd seen personally how much of a beating he could take and still brush off the damage to go for another round. Charmeleon, as she had suspected, was bringing up the rear with level 28 but the highest stats in regular Attack and Special Defense.

Charmeleon had learned a sick new move, but it had one extreme downfall—Rage was precisely what it sounded like. Gina had him practice it a lot these days so he could get used to it, and while there was no doubt that it was a powerful thing, he was having a hard time controlling it. Gina was starting to wonder if he'd ever be able to. When she shouted her attack command Charmeleon leapt forward at Ivysaur and Wartortle, going for something that looked like a mix between Tackle and Scratch.

Ivysaur managed to Leech Seed him, the sticky seeds latching onto Charmeleon's red scales right as Wartortle aimed a Water Gun at him. Charmeleon, well-versed in the suck that was Water Gun, ducked and rolled to the side, managing to only get a few drops of water that sizzled off his hot skin. Charmeleon sprang back up to his feet, and not waiting for even a second between attacks, slammed into Wartortle and incited a vicious wrestling match with him.

Ivysaur, who was a few yards away from the battle, lashed out at both combatants with Vine Whip. The vines cracked across both Pokémon, the sound deafening as always, and Wartortle responded with a battle cry and a Water Gun that hit Ivysaur point-blank. Charmeleon followed suit in the wake of the water, trying to land a kick to Ivysaur, but Ivysaur rolled out of the way at the last second and Charmeleon slid in the mud.

Now that Charmeleon was slipping unsteadily to his feet behind him, Ivysaur turned his attentions to Wartortle. He tried to seed Wartortle the way he'd done to Charmeleon, but Wartortle spun in his shell rapidly. The slick shell repelled the seeds in all directions and Gina had to dodge to avoid being stuck with them herself. Wartortle emerged from his shell and shot forward with a Tail Whip, overshooting Ivysaur and going instead for Charmeleon, who was now back on his feet and facing front. Charmeleon seemed not to give a rat's ass about the Tail Whip and instead opened his arms, catching Wartortle and beginning to wrestle with him again. They slid in the mud and Charmeleon yowled in pain as some water hissed off his tail flame.

Gina, Amaris and Jason had been shouting a few orders to their Pokémon here and there, but for the most part this session had been a free-for-all. Gina was going to try to get Charmeleon to break out of his Rage whirlwind of random flailing and attacking, already knowing it wouldn't do much good, but movement to her left got her attention instead.

Magikarp was having what looked like a fit inside his bubble of water. Alarmed, Gina ran over to him and, without thinking, reached into the water to try to grab hold of him and still him. She wound up on the receiving end of a Tackle attack to the palm of her left hand. A shot of pain went from her wrist up to her shoulder and she took many steps back, feeling a numb prickling sensation in her arm as she instead fumbled for his Pokéball to return him.

"No, don't!" Jason said, now peering through his own Dex at her Pokémon. "He just hit level twenty, leave him out—he's—"

"Oh god," Gina said, stumbling backwards and falling hard on her ass as her Pokémon, once roughly the size of a backpack, suddenly exploded into something the size of a body pillow. Magikarp's body expanded, the red scales multiplying with a scraping, wet sound as he writhed around as if in pain. It was the most violent evolution Gina had seen and she couldn't shake the feeling there was something really wrong. She yanked out her own Dex, looking through the viewfinder, but before she could confirm or deny what Jason had said, Amaris' arms hauled her to her feet and dragged her backward as Magikarp grew again in another burst. Now he was as long as the sofa inside the house.

"Back up back up!" Jason said, running forward and grabbing both Amaris and Gina. Gina's heart jumped as Magikarp had another violent growth spurt and slapped his tail against the side of Edith's cottage in a wet thwack. There was some swearing from inside and soon her Pokémon had an audience gathered a safe distance away.

"Holy mother of God," Kaylee said, backing up until she bumped into the Pokémon pen. Even that didn't look like it would be far enough to avoid the splash zone, so she darted over to where Gina, Jason and Amaris were standing a good thirty feet away.

Gina had to admit that this experience was more traumatic than exciting. Magikarp just continued to grow in those unsettling bursts, and now his red scales were starting to ripple with a new color, like someone was mixing paints together on his scaly hide. The red darkened to violet for a while, and for a crazy second Gina thought she might have the world's first purple Gyarados. The scales continued changing, though, and she realized they were just making the most logical transition from red to blue.

Magikarp's face was starting to change now, and that was almost more unsettling than the sudden jump in size. Her Pokémon's placid, bored countenance was elongating and twisting into something that was anything but dull. It was pretty frightening, actually, his jaw unhinging and lengthening to the point where Gina was pretty sure he could swallow her whole now. Sharp teeth grew with a grinding, wrenching sound and the little whiskers at his face elongated into wildly flailing blue whips as he continued to thrash around in his new body. He hit the side of Edith's cottage again and most of their group flinched back. Edith, who was outside with them, seemed overjoyed though. She had her hands clasped in front of her huge grin like she was watching a toddler take its first steps.

"Uh—your house—" Gina said, worried, but Edith shook her head.

"Don't worry!" she said. "It'll be fine." Even as she said this Magikarp slapped against the side of the cottage again and the sounds of something falling off the bookshelf inside came to their ears.

The final thing Magikarp did in his process of evolution was to roar. The sound was a shriek, but also somehow bassy and drummed low in Gina's chest. Their number cringed low again from the noise and finally Gyarados hit the ground with a crashing, resounding thud. The Pidgey flock (what had remained after this shocking experience) took flight, completely done with this traumatic event. The other Pokémon in Edith's pin had taken shelter long ago.

Gina waited a moment before heading over to her Pokémon with extreme caution. Gyarados was lying on his side, looking worn out, and she crept closer, making sure he could see her so she wouldn't sneak up on him.

"Hey buddy," she said gently, edging nearer and finally getting his attention. One enormous red eye rolled up to peer at her. "How you feeling?"

Gyarados made a screeching sound at her, but it was softer and less hair-raising than his first one. Then he rolled over to look at her, his chin resting flat on the ground and his enormous tail whipping to flop down on the grass nearby. Kaylee and Jason barely avoided being crushed by it, dodging left and right. Gina watched the near-murder of her friends with wide eyes, then looked back down to her Pokémon. After a moment of hesitation she reached out and rested her hand against his still-wet head. Each of his scales was about as big as her hand.

Gyarados lifted his head and seemed to want to nudge her in the direction of where he wanted to be pet, and Gina, finally feeling the shock untangle itself in her, let out a strangled laugh and followed where her Pokémon lead.

"Gina!" Jason said, running over to her now that it was established that her Pokémon was fine with her. "Way to go!" She grinned broadly at him and stood up and a second later she was being spun around in the kind of exuberant hug they had not shared since the days of their post-Gym battle victory huddles. Gina laughed louder than she had meant to out of relief that her Pokémon was okay and a feeling like a flower opening to the sun after days and days of nothing but rain. She had started to wonder if this side of Jason still existed inside his tense, serious shell. She squeezed him back and they turned it into a spine-breaking contest.

Kaylee headed over next, still a little wary about the dripping-wet Pokémon but evidently unable to stay away. "Wicked sweet," she said, clearly very impressed. "He's so... he's so huge, are they supposed to be that huge at level twenty?"

"Dunno!" Gina said, beaming proudly at Gyarados and still standing with one arm slung around Jason's shoulders. He moved away from her and for a second she wished he hadn't. Then Beth came over and squeed with her over the new, very badass Water-type and started expounding various tips from her experience training them. Gyarados rolled over on his back as if stretching and the gang had to split and flee in different directions to avoid being steamrolled. For the first time in memory Gina's face hurt from smiling too much.

That night Gina couldn't sleep. Even when she could, some nights the sound of her tooth grinding woke her up, and it was looking increasingly likely that she'd have to bite the bullet (literally) and wear a slip of rubber against her upper teeth at night. Edith had been gracious enough to create one for her, and because Edith had made it Gina knew it was surgically clean, but the thing was uncomfortable as hell and Gina still detested it. Still, she liked sleep, and she liked having a full set of teeth versus broken, jagged pieces, so there might be no choice.

Tonight though her solution would be roaming around and drinking hot water. Victoria's method of giving the body something to do without introducing it to sugar or caffeine past bedtime had really caught on amongst their group, and Gina could now spot fellow insomniacs carrying around hot mugs of flavorless water when she did run into night owls in the living room or outside.

It looked like she might be the only one out here tonight, though. The house was quiet, but not eerily so. Soft settling sounds came to her ears every few seconds, just little shifting creaks of wood or the natural "breathing" of a structure that held so many living things. It was hard for Gina to explain, even to herself, but an empty house and a full house sounded starkly different from each other, even if no one in the full house was making a peep.

It helped her from feeling too alone, but these days it was hard not to feel isolated even when surrounded by people. The happy chaos around her evolved Pokémon earlier in the day had lasted a blessed half hour, but then, slowly, things had gone back to normal. Gina tried to keep it going, asking people if they wanted to battle or see if Gyarados would mind if they took a ride on him. In hindsight it was probably a good thing they'd said no; Edith suggested that Gina and she work with Gyarados on body-awareness exercises since he seemed to be in the throes of awkward puberty and didn't realize where his tail ended and something else solid began. Gina agreed and felt like she was trying to save water in her cupped hands as the group slowly filtered away back to their former pursuits, the smiles turning back into those preoccupied, and at times morose expressions.

It was Jason's return to his training that hit her the most. He'd disappeared with his team into the forest and she actually hadn't seen him return at all. She'd headed to bed early, physically worn out from the day, but had just laid there in bed for many hours, staring at the ceiling and getting nowhere in the process of winding down. By the time she left her room she figured he'd returned and gone into his; at least, she hoped he was in there. Edith usually discouraged him from training in the middle of the night by himself, but Gina got the suspicion he did it anyway.

"Stop," a voice said, and Gina almost jumped out of her skin. She spilled a great deal of her water on the ground, thankfully avoiding being scalded by it herself, but before she could decide whether fight or flight was number one priority she recognized Zahlia's voice and was being fussed over by that same girl.

"I'm so sorry," Zahlia said, actually a little pink in the face. "Haunter was—sorry, I thought you heard me come in," she said again.

Gina chuckled, mostly out of relieved nerves that this was someone she knew rather than a break-in. "I never hear you come in," she said, but with a smile. Zahlia took her mug from her and put it on the nearby counter, then snagged some paper towels and laid them out on the puddle on the ground. Gina moved to help after recovering her brain functions.

"So you said... Haunter was what?" Gina asked, curious now that she spotted the purple Pokémon looking at them from his place in the corner of the ceiling. He was floating upside-down and making chomping motions that were simultaneously cute and a little unsettling.

Zahlia gave Haunter a deeply withering look and Gina could suddenly see her reigning in unruly children. Haunter gave her a sheepish look in return and stopped air-chomping. "He's been very disobedient lately. It looked like he was going to approach you... probably to do one of his pranks."

"Not Dream Eater?" Gina asked nervously, definitely not interested in having any part of herself, tangible or no, eaten by a Pokémon.

"Maybe," Zahlia said, sighing. "He's a handful now. I can't get him to calm down."

Gina's first question was whether or not this had happened in light of Orion's departure, or if Haunter's acting up had started at some other time. She censored it though, not feeling like talking about Orion tonight. Gina watched as Haunter disappeared through the ceiling.

"Blake said Haunter popped some kind of pseudo Dream Eater on him once," Gina mentioned, mostly just trying to make conversation. "And it didn't hurt so... that's good, I guess?"

Zahlia nodded. "Hurt or no, Haunter was grounded in his Pokéball for quite a while after Blake told me that." She glanced at Gina and opened her mouth to continue, but stopped whatever she'd been about to say, moving off to boil more water at the stove instead.

Not really wanting another mug of water but not wanting to refuse, Gina followed her, curious about what she had almost said. "You were gonna say something?" she prompted, leaning her elbows on the counter and stretching out her still-sore hamstrings.

Zahlia was quiet for a while, casting Gina a brief glance before moving off to retrieve her mug from the other countertop. Gina waited patiently, knowing enough by now to realize that Zahlia rarely ever gave a straight answer quickly. If she was pausing that was promising. It meant she was weighing options in her head, and that usually turned out in Gina's favor when she was asking her things.

"I've been doing a little independent research," Zahlia said. "On Dream Eater and what other uses it could have. I'm not completely certain, but I'm starting to suspect based on the accounts I've read that DE can be used sort of like a… lie detector."

"What?" Gina asked, frowning. That made no sense to her, but Zahlia elaborated.

"Dream Eater doesn't hurt humans when it's used against us, so I've gathered from my tests. On Orion it could be used for dream therapy and to help with insomnia, and other people online have said they could use their Ghost-types to forge a sort of temporary link to someone else's mind and see the things that person sees."

"Like... see the world through their eyes?" Gina asked, still not totally following.

"Well, when DE is used against someone while they're asleep, whatever they're dreaming gets eaten... as it were," she said with a smile. "However, I notice that when I have Haunter use the move on me while I'm awake, I experience a vision of sorts."

"Ooh," Gina said, her interest piqued at once. "That sounds kind of neat, actually."

"You think so?" Zahlia asked, now looking just as intrigued as Gina. "Blake sure didn't think so when I brought it up to him."

Gina smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, I can see that. I dunno though, seems like it'd be a really useful skill for Haunter to learn. If the visions that people see are some semblance of the truth and not them just tripping out we could learn a lot if..." Gina paused, realizing the implications of that. "If, uh, we ever take a hostage."

Zahlia smiled wanly. "Yes, it's a little dark. Hopefully we'd never be in the position where using DE as a lie detector would be necessary."

Gina pondered that, wondering not for the first time just how deep into this they would get and how many former boundaries they would push until they broke through. She certainly couldn't imagine herself planning interrogation techniques a year and a half ago.

"If you're looking for a test subject, I could try it out," Gina offered. "I mean, you're sure Blake said it didn't hurt or anything?"

Zahlia looked surprised again. "No, he said it was just unexpected and therefore unwanted. But he mostly just felt chilly when Haunter did it," she explained. After a pause and a quick glance to the right, she added, "Are you sure you don't mind trying it out?"

"Naw," Gina said. "I mean, heck, I'm curious. I could even give it a whirl now since I'm not sleeping anyway," she added with a shrug. Oftentimes Gina felt a little useless in the group, only really offering up her services for domestic things like feeding the group or cleaning the house, or for training purposes. It would be nice to be involved in some sort of project like almost all the others were.

"Okay," Zahlia said, still looking a little stumped but now offering her a smile. "If you're sure."

Gina felt sort of like she was back at one of the few slumber parties she'd attended growing up. Granted she'd never been a guinea pig for a Pokémon attack at one of those parties, but strangely her level of excitement was about the same. Gina navigated her way to the couch and sat down, tucking her feet up under her body and watching as Zahlia gave instructions wordlessly to Haunter. Not knowing what to expect but still looking forward to this new experience, Gina found herself grinning partially out of nerves but mostly because this felt like joining some secret club.

"Ready?" Zahlia asked, and Gina gave her a thumbs-up.

"When you are!"

The transition was seamless, exactly like being unable to pinpoint the precise moment when one fell asleep. Gina was back in Pallet, roaming through quiet streets at sunset, one hand in her pocket and the other around Charmeleon's Pokéball. The world was still and silent and a pervasive feeling of peace washed over her.

There was a figure standing at the entrance to the town, leaning against the log wall, and as Gina drew nearer she realized who it was. A smile broke out on her face and she strolled up to greet Jason, who was looking both lost and lost in thought. He looked up and held her gaze, and for a moment Gina hesitated. He looked so different with that open, vulnerable expression on his face, and she opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong.

Jason pulled her into his arms for a hug, and even though they'd done this before Gina found her body clunky and heavy, unsure of how to respond. She balled her hands into fists as she hugged him back, as if touching him with the pads of her fingers or her palms was somehow too much.

When she felt the pressure of the first soft kiss to the top of her head heat rushed into her face and raged particularly hot in her ears. Her eyes widened against the soft orange fabric of his t-shirt and she held her breath, feeling something she had only ever been told about or had read about in books; her heart actually skipped. She wanted to say something, to ask him what was going on, but no words would come out.

He leaned down and nuzzled the side of her face with his, a gesture so intimate and personal it could not be mistaken for anything else, and every inch of Gina's skin tingled. She had never felt this way before. She hugged him back tighter, mostly out of fear, and then the ground was gone and they were in a free-fall together. The sheer shock and terror almost felt good, and then it was over.

Gina had her eyes open the whole time, but it still felt like she was shocked awake from deep sleep. Her whole body twitched hard and Zahlia even jumped a little at her sudden motion. The two girls looked at one another and in that moment Gina knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Zahlia had seen everything.

Her face burned so bright she was peripherally surprised it didn't glow in the dark. "Think I'm tired now," she said, tacking on a weird, forced laugh to the end of her sentence and getting up. Zahlia stepped aside to let her go and didn't say a word, and Haunter chuckled softly as Gina made a hasty retreat. She made a pointed effort not to look at Jason's door as she passed on her way to her own room, and it was only once she was safely locked in and tucked in bed that the chorus of no no no no started up in her head.

Author's Note: Here we go! Visit my blog for story updates and other writing and Pokemon related things. Pokemonrose dot wordpress dot com