Chapter 3 Part 1: Memories.
…
I miss you, Chikorita. I don't know where you are, and it worries me to no end. I'm sorry for all of this, extremely sorry. If I die here and now, remember that… ugh… why is it so hard to even write it, let alone say it?
You know what I mean. I think you've always known.
Chikorita woke up to see that Buneary wasn't in their room. At first, he thought he had overslept, but the appearance of Loudred, who was surprised to know that the grass type Pokémon was awake, made him realize that it was still morning. He went to the main hall of the Guild, looking for the bunny, but found nothing but the usual Pokémon.
Thinking that he might just be busy or preparing for a mission, he went and looked at the bulletin board, picked a couple of missions to pass the day, and went to Treasure Town. When he was at the Kecleon Brother's shop, he noticed a familiar pair of ears in the distance, along with an unknown pair of red horns along with a short, green hair.
"That's weird" said a silvery voice. "Where is your companion? You usually never leave each other's side. Is something happening?"
Chikorita turned around only to see a black and white bird talking to the Kecleon brothers, which then turned towards him while one of them went to get her stuff. He realized that Starly was still waiting for his response.
"We are good, as far as I know. Maybe it's just a little misunderstanding, you know?" Starly just nodded. He decided not to say anything else about the matter. "Maybe she's just resting".
"What about you? Shouldn't you be resting with her?"
"I want to take my mind off of certain stuff. Exploring would help. Now, if you excuse me… " He began walking towards the crossroads, but was stopped by Starly's voice.
"Where are you going, if I am able to know?" she spoke with a smile. Chikorita turned to see her and answered.
"Drenched Bluff for now, why?"
"It turns out that I'm going there as well" she commented, still smiling. "A bit of company wouldn't hurt, but be careful around me, 'cause my missions are not exactly easy. Do you accept?"
"Are you kidding?" he said, feeling a smile appear on his lips. "That's just what I need today, a little bit of more difficulty. Shall I lead the way?"
"Slow down. Come back here and buy some other things" she chuckled. "You'll need 'em".
He had remembered; memories of him walking around the place where he lived, before he thought about stealing that stone. There was a face that he couldn't recall, a familiar one, but the bunny knew nothing else apart from that.
He was sitting at Sharpedo Bluff, watching the sunrise, playing with his ears, still worried about the appearance of Honchkrow. Buneary knew that he was possibly in danger, but it didn't matter. He had a past, back there, and he had left it for a useless rock. He thought about Chikorita's words the last night, before they had dinner: "You're crazy, Buneary". That sentence had been echoing in his head since last night.
Maybe he was crazy. From the bottom of his heart, Buneary wanted to believe those words; that he was just imagining things, that returning the stone was the best way to act and maybe he could be spared of the mental and physical torture that awaited him. His mind, however, stopped him from doing this.
"Buneary, is that you?" said a quiet voice. Buneary's ears moved upwards, startled but enjoying the pleasant tone of voice that came to them. "I never thought I would find you here".
A Pokémon stood next to Buneary, smiling. He had a couple of red horns coming out of his green hair, his skin was mostly green, and a pair of red eyes were staring at him. He recognized his face immediately.
"Kirlia?" escaped his mouth. "You are here!" The psychic type Pokémon hugged his old friend, embracing him in a friendly way. "I thought I would never see you again" Buneary said, hugging the Pokémon back.
"How do you think I feel?" he whispered, calmly, in his ear. He let go of his friend and looked at him in the eyes. "I've been looking everywhere for you. You need to hear what is up at Shadow Ville. You wouldn't believe any of it. You have to go and see it".
"You just arrived here and you want to go back?" asked Buneary, chuckling. "Calm down and enjoy the view". Kirlia just laughed at this, which made the bunny laugh as well. "Besides, I have stuff here, like… you know, exploration teams?"
"Oh right, I've heard they are really popular these days…" he muttered. "So you mean I have to go back home by myself? Even after looking for you all this time?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry…" Buneary turned back and saw a familiar grass type Pokémon, Chikorita, along with Starly, walking towards the crossroads. "But… I think I got the day free" he mentioned. "I mean, at least you can rest here. Maybe I can give you a tour".
Kirlia brought a hand to his chin. "Yes, that sounds nice, but…" The Pokémon looked towards the sun, which was already in the sky above them. "What about a short visit there? I mean, to Shadow Ville. Maybe a couple of days. I'm sure no one would mind".
Buneary nodded. It was a great idea if he wanted to stay away from Honchkrow and his crew. "That's actually a good idea" he said. "Let's begin by exploring a bit of the beach…"
The sun was descending slowly. By the time Buneary had finished with his tour, it was about 12 PM and they were in front of the big Wigglytuff-shaped building he called home for about two weeks by then. Kirlia was so interested in his explanation, he had lost track of the time.
"… and that's pretty much everything in Treasure Town" he finished explaining. There was a short silence between both of them, which the bunny broke"That was a really long tour, I'm sure. What do you want to do now, Kirlia?"
The psychic Pokémon thought for a while, looking at the town away from them. "Is there a good place to eat around here? I'm starving" he mentioned, giving an awkward smile. Buneary nodded and began walking towards a nearby hole. "Oh, right. Spinda Café is over there. Is it good?"
"To be honest, I haven't even tried it" he chuckled. "I was planning on trying it out with a friend. The Apple Diet isn't really my thing, you know?" Kirlia laughed at the joke. Buneary began to walk down the stairs, with his old friend following. "Well, you're a friend, but I'm talking about-"
"Another friend, here, right?" Buneary nodded, stepping out of the stairs to let Kirlia pass. "Is it the green one or the flying bird?"
Buneary couldn't help but giggle at this. "His name is Chikorita. He's a nice guy and treats me well. I really can't ask for more". Kirlia went to sit by a table and rested his chin on his hands, looking at the bunny happily. "What?"
"No wonder you don't want to go back".
"What are you suggesting?" Kirlia raised his eyebrows. "He invited me on a date once, okay?" Buneary answered, smiling. "It didn't really go well, but that's not the reason I am here".
"Then which one?"
Buneary thought about telling Kirlia about the stone, but after what happened yesterday, preferred not to say anything on the matter.
"I wanted to form an exploration team" he lied. Kirlia lowered one of his eyebrows, confused. "It has its benefits. You help Pokémon, benefit others with your work and get paid. Do you want to join us?"
"Excuse me?" the psychic Pokémon asked, sitting straight. "You know we both belong to Shadow Ville, not Treasure Town. We have families there, remember?" Kirlia suddenly paused, staring at Buneary. "Well… not you, but…"
"That doesn't matter. If you join, I would have both of my great friends here". Kirlia seemed to take this comment badly. "I mean… I know you're my oldest friend, but Chikorita made me realize that maybe being from Shadow Ville wasn't my thing. It would mean so much if you just considered it".
Spinda went to their table after all that time they spent sitting, walking slowly and dizzily, trying to keep his balance. When he finally got to their table, Kirlia suddenly stood up, scaring the little unsteady bear.
"We're leaving. We're sorry". With that said, the psychic Pokémon went upstairs, to the surface. Buneary followed, slowly, wondering what had happened with his old friend.
"What's wrong?" asked a confused Buneary. "You reacted a bit bad back there and… to be honest I'm worried about you".
"I want to leave right now, Buneary" he sighed. "If we can get there before it gets late, we can avoid a lot of possible danger. Let's go".
The bunny nodded as the psychic Pokémon began walking. He began wondering when was his grass type friend coming back and how he would react to him leaving so suddenly. Perhaps he would send a letter to him when he got there, just so Chikorita wouldn't worry about him.
The sky was becoming dark, painting itself with red colors. The clouds merged with the dark blue shades of it, making them partially disappear. The sun was still visible, but it was descending slowly. Chikorita and Starly were happy to be back in a piece, before it got darker.
Laughing, they entered the guild, talking about their recent adventure. When they arrived at the main hall of the building, they were surprised to see that everyone was already there. There was a worrying silence in the room, which the grass type Pokémon broke. "What's wrong?"
"Where is Buneary, young man?" Chatot asked, in a high tone of voice. The Guildmaster patted the bird on the head, which made him lower his voice. "Your friend, your usual companion".
"She's not back?" he asked. His surprising tone of voice created a gasp that echoed around the room. "The last time I saw her was in the morning. She was with this… weird Pokémon".
Starly suddenly jumped back because of Chikorita's statement. "You mean you knew where she was all this time? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't think it was important" he answered.
Starly stared at Chikorita with an upset expression and then yelled: "Follow me!" She flapped her wings, rising towards the surface. Chikorita went with her. When they both were outside, the bird yelled once more: "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Like I said, it wasn't important". He rolled his eyes. "It was a weird girl with a pair of red horns and green hair. Nothing too suspicious, don't you think?"
"Red horns?" she thought for a moment, raising an eyebrow. "It sounds like a Kirlia… which is not a good sign for her". Chikorita made a confused expression. "Didn't you listen to what she told you before, about that big black bird?"
"Mr. Honchkrow? Yeah, she thought he was a famous bounty hunter… is he really one?" Starly nodded. "He's looking for a criminal, so I don't know why he would be after Buneary… and besides, how do you know about her?"
"I know the important stuff" the bird mentioned, walking towards the crossroads. "We have to look for Buneary. She might be in great danger".
Chikorita walked behind her. "Alright, now I'm starting to worry…" he muttered. "What do you think happened?"
"Don't ask me about it. The only thing we can do right now is guess, and I guess that it's a good idea that you don't ask any more questions until all of this is finished".
And with that, Chikorita and Starly were also behind Buneary and Kirlia's steps.
Kirlia remembered what happened the night before, at midnight. They called him so he could get some extra money doing an easy job. The night was dark, and only a couple of lights were on, which came from nearby campsites, where traveling merchants slept. He carried a small bag over his shoulder, which he left on the ground once he stopped. A couple of spirits appeared afterwards.
"You must be Kirlia" one of them spoke, in a serious tone of voice. "We need of your services. We are aware that you are in need of money, yes?" The psychic Pokémon nodded, slowly. "That is good to know, because tomorrow you'll be rich!" He crossed his arms, unsure about accepting.
"You two said it was going to be an easy job, but refrained from saying anything about what the mission is about" he mentioned. "I know you both don't have good intentions, but I'm unsure whether these intentions are against me or someone else".
"Chill, dude" spoke the other ghost, in a honeyed voice. "We have nothing against someone like you. You are… interesting, to say the least".
The male Pokémon raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"Your stone. We know you're a criminal as well" the same ghost answered. "In your own words, you described it as 'Bright as day, with a peculiar shininess', right?" Kirlia made a surprised expression. "You really need to stop talking to yourself".
Kirlia sighed and went for his backpack, where he took out a small, shiny stone. It had a small sun-looking symbol in the middle of it. It shined, even under the moonlight. The ghosts stared at it, fascinated by their beauty.
"If I help you… will this stone keep being a secret?" One of the ghosts nodded.
"We can offer you money and a temporary home, for a couple of months" the most serious of them began. "If things get ugly, though, we will try to tell you about it as fast as we can. Your stone will be safe, though".
Kirlia returned his stone to his backpack and then wore the bag over his shoulder like before.
"Then, I accept".
Aaah~ I need to take a small break from this thing. Don't worry, though, I won't take long =w=)/
I just received a couple of more writing projects, a few of them for myself, that is. I'm going to participate in a writing contest in my country. I'll see if I can manage to get accepted and… yeah, it might take time.
ANYWAYS, see ya later! Please write reviews, I gladly accept and answer them!
