Rebirth of Sinnoh
Volkner's Tale
Chapter One: Stranger in a Strange Land
"Just so you know, it's kinda annoyin' when ya try'n push me like this," the girl said, running her hand over her forehead to push strands of caramel brown hair away from her face.
"Oh, is that so? Well, then, remind me to try harder. 'Kinda annoyin'' is far from what I'm going for." A smile crossed the older woman's lips: the younger one couldn't help but smile as well.
"Lily, I'm not goin' in that place," the younger one said.
"Gardenia, you're never going to get over your fears if you don't," Lily Florence said.
Gardenia Florence shook her head. "Sucks fer me then."
Lily Florence sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "You're a stubborn arse, Gardenia."
Gardenia offered a sly grin, different from the shy smile she wore seconds before. "Where'd'ya think I get it from?"
"...Touche, little girl. Touche. Anyways, I want you in that place by sometime tonight. Don't matter to me when. Bring back an Old Gateau – one I placed inside, lil' Missy, so don't get any funny ideas. I know what it looks like – as proof that you were there."
"Lily-"
"Don't Lily me, Gardenia. This is an order from Gym Leader Lily, not mom Lily or friendly Lily," Lily said.
"...Yes ma'am. But if they find my body there..."
"I'll take full blame," Lily said with a smirk.
"You 'd better!"
Gardenia Florence was, quite frankly, scared shitless. Her one totally debilitating phobia, and of course her dear, sweet mother was going to mak her face it right in the eye. The Old Chateau was a building just less than a mile west of Eterna City, well within walking distance, that had a legend to it.
Long ago, it was said that the rich folks who lived there invited some other rich folks over for dinner. Of course, some variations of the legend said that was a literal interpretation. As in, they ate them. But the interpretation Gardenia believed was that the jealous butler, jealous of their riches and his forced servitude toward them, poisoned them: all of them, and then killed himself out of guilt. The spirits of the two families were supposed to be haunting the place to this day.
That was her fear. Her one and only phobia in which she truly could not face: ghosts.
"A beautiful young lady such as yourself traversing the roads alone? O, the humanity of it all!"
She recognized the voice, and turned on her feet to face its source. A young man with brown hair coming down to his ears, a relatively nicely built body, and piercing green eyes: her lovely companion and fellow gym-trainer, Willow Bryant.
"Will, I suggest ya be quiet," she said.
"I will be as loud as I wish, m'lady. Just as long as you fight me about it." A grin crossed the young man's lips.
"What're ya botherin' me for?" Gardenia asked.
"Lily asked me to join you for your ghost huntin' exploration," he responded.
"...Don't put it that way," Gardenia deadpanned.
Will locked his hands behind his head, beginning to walk forward, and Gardenia continued on her way as to keep the lead. "Well, then, m'lady. Shall we go?"
"...Well, there're these big bushes in our way. And the fence is too tall... L-looks like we ain't gonna be able to m-muh-make it," Gardenia said nervously, turning and beginning to walk the opposite direction.
"Hey, hey! I've seen you do more strenuous things than climb over a fence, Gardenia! Get'cher pretty behind back here."
Willow Bryant grinned from ear to ear, trying to make it as clear as possible that he was loving this chance to torture his childhood friend.
"...Damn it, Willow, I'm-"
"Scared?" His expression went from goofy to serious with the blink of an eye. If all-about-appearances Gardenia was willing to admit that...
"...Yes," Gardenia whispered.
Willow smiled softly, extending a hand. "Ghosts ain't gonna harm you, Gardenia. Especially with me around. Now c'mon. Let's go get rid of this fear."
Gardenia stood silently for a few moments, a look in her eyes as if pondering whether or not to accept. Willow was patient, and after a while, she took his hand and nodded once, weakly.
"Let's go."
The two of them made a quick hop over the short fence that surrounded the building, and began to walk forth.
The Old Chateau could only be called small by a blind man. It stood looming above the trees of the forest, in turn leaving humans as little more than dwarves. It was painted a dark black on the actual home, while the roof was instead opted to be unpainted, leaving it a bright shade of brown. In the black paint, sections of it had started to chip off, giving the walls a sort of polka dotted brown-black scheme.
Inside, things were different, Gardenia mused. From what she could see, everything inside was more of a dark brown color, even the floor tiling. Key phrase being, "from what she could see". Since the home was pretty old, it held no working electricity. Willow's eyes were more efficient in darkness, she realized suddenly – that was why Lily had sent him.
"...Will-"
"Let's get some explorin' done, eh, Gardie? It's got to be interesting, this old place."
"...Y-yep," she murmured.
He winked in her direction, and the two continued forth. The design so far was pretty simple: two staircases, one leading left and the other leading right, a door right in front of them and a statue on the left of the door. As they passed, Gardenia got a sudden chill down her spine, her muscles locking up.
"...Will, I can't shake the f-feelin' somethin' is watchin' us," she whispered.
"Probably is," he said. Gardenia felt her heart rise into her throat. "An old place like this is bound to attract Pokemon. It's 'prolly a Bidoof."
"You scared me!"
"Didn't mean 'ta, believe it or not, m'lady," Will said, a comforting smile still on his face.
"...I don't believe ya. But I'll kill ya later. Let's get this done and over with."
"Righty'o, Gardie."
The two continued to walk through, finding themselves in a kitchen – a big one. But something seemed off here as well, something Gardenia could not quite manage to put her finger on. In the center of the room was a long, but narrow table still dressed in a table cloth, an assortment of rusted silver dishes placed on top.
"Wow... think these things would be worth anything?" Will mused.
Gardenia slowly shook her head. "With all that rust? They're pretty much t-trash.."
"Touche. How about under the tables, though? Why don'tcha check?"
Gardenia lifted up the drooping table cloth, fell flat onto her backside and shrieked in terror. Looking at her were a pair of human eyes.
"Shit! Gardie, you scared me for a second. You okay?"
"...There's...I...you...look..."
Will knelt in front of the table, lifting up the cloth. She saw him visibly shudder, reach down beneath, moments later looking at her, his eyes wide, his face pale.
"...G-...Gardie. Listen up. W-..we... we need to be calm. This guy... he's- he's still alive. Here's the p-puh-puh-...plan... you have your phone with you?"
Gardenia reached into her pockets with shaky hands, pulling out her phone.
"Call a medical u-unit... tell 'em to meet us outside of Eterna Forest. Let's get movin'," Willow whispered.
Gardenia did so, and the two mobilized. But before they left, Gardenia noticed a small object on the floor that rolled out when Willow pulled this yellow-haired guy out. A Pokeball, she realized: quickly, she grabbed it and stuffed it in her pocket, before going after Will.
Volkner Sune felt little more than the steady thumping of his heart, and heard nothing other than a rythmic beeping sound. A heart monitor, he realized after a few moments of silent contemplation. His own? Possibly.
Eyes peeled open to a steady stream of filtered light, various images and shapes forming before him, but none of them were comprehensible. Sounds entered his ears, new ones, fresher ones, but he could not identify them.
"...Nurse, he's awake!"
A thick, country accent. Where was he? No one at home had this kind of accent. And... nurse?
"...Where am I?" he managed to choke out.
An unfamiliar face looked down to him: a woman's. Thin nose, green eyes and caramel brown hair, blocked from inconvenient eye-contact by a black headband. "Yo. Welcome back to Sinnoh, bud."
"...Sinnoh?" The name sounded unfamiliar.
"Right. Eterna City, if ya wanna be specific. But that don't matter. How're ya feelin'?" she asked.
"Confused."
"That so? You ain't got amnesia or whatever, do ya?"
"...I don't think I do," Volkner said. In all honesty, he wasn't too sure.
"You don't think? What's yer name?" the girl asked.
"Volkner Sune."
"Well, at least there's that. Where ya from?"
"Oliv-" He stopped for a moment, wondering if it was a good idea to tell her this. None of this world sounded familiar. The places, the sounds, the people, none of it. After a moment, he simply thought: what the hell? "Olivine City..."
"Here on vacation, then?" she asked, eyebrows raised. "Johto's pretty far away..." Volkner did not respond. He did not need to: after a few moments of silence, she continued. "Anyways, nice to meet'cha, Volkner Sune. Name's Gardenia Florence."
Volkner nodded slowly. "Sure."
Suddenly, she drew in a sharp breath, as if just remembering something. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a small red sphere: no, red on the top, white on the bottom. He stared at it for a few moments.
"This thing yours? Found it near ya. Sorry if it's bein' nosy, but your Pichu is absolutely adorable."
"My...Pichu...?"
Chuseph, you moron!
"Yep. He's lookin' lively."
"...Right...thanks... can you leave him on the desk? Then leave? I just... I just wanna sleep..."
"Sure. I'll be back to check up on ya later- or I might send my friend Will. Either way..."
"...Whatever. Just go," Volkner deadpanned.
"...Okey doke then," Gardenia murmured, setting the Pokeball on the desk next to his bed, then heading for the door. Volkner shut his eyes and thought simply: what the hell is going on here!