The Shadow of Fame, Chapter Four
After learning in exquisite detail what a melding-of-minds entailed, exactly, Hannah decided that really it would be best to do it when all of them were fully rested.
Because she most certainly did not want to get that rest on the ground – out in the wild – where more Pokémon could attack her and the Ralts without notice – Hannah decided that the best place to spend the night would be Celestic Town's Pokémon Center.
She wasn't positive how she would explain to Nurse Joy that she could not – would not – go home to sleep tonight, but even as she thought that she came up with an idea. The Ralts had not come out of the encounter unscathed, and even before that they had been looking somewhat raggedy. Hannah would simply claim that she was concerned for their safety and well-being, and wanted to spend the night with them.
Actually, she mused, that isn't a lie at all. I really am concerned for them.
Hannah started leading the Ralts towards the Pokémon Center as she explained the plan to them. They even agreed to let Hannah carry them into the Center, which all three of them agreed would add a bit more reality to the situation. :In fact, Ha-nah,: the sister Ralts had added quietly to her, :We are not entirely faking our pain. We – my brother and I – put on strong facades for you and for one another, but we have not really expended this much energy in a long time. It – we are glad that you showed up when you did.:
Without much ado and no fanfare, in a short time they arrived at the Pokémon Center. Hannah kneeled down and carefully picked up the two Ralts, schooled her expression to one of a tightly controlled worry, and walked in the door.
As per usual, the lights of the Center were bright, but not overly so. There were two or three people standing around, presumably waiting for their Pokémon to get healed or something, and Nurse Joy stood behind the counter beside the machine that healed all of the Pokémon.
"Good evening, Miss Hannah. I see you have some Ralts there; did you fina- did you catch them today?" Nurse Joy said serenely as Hannah approached the counter at a quick walk. Hannah and Nurse Joy knew each other relatively well because Hannah often spent time volunteering at the Center, healing the minor injuries, cuts, scrapes, and bruises of the Pokémon she came across.
"Hi, Nurse Joy. These Ralts actually aren't mine, per se, but I found them fighting off a pack of Pokémon all by themselves and they just looked so exhausted when they were done that I just knew I'd need to help them." Hannah left out exactly what kind of Pokémon she had "found" the Ralts fighting, figuring that the less the Nurse knew, the more sleep she could get because she wouldn't be answering her questions. Nurse Joy was a wonderful woman, and her sympathies and care for Pokémon of any and all kind were very real, but sometimes Hannah just didn't want to deal with it. "I don't want to take advantage of them by catching them in their current state, but maybe they'll be thankful that I helped them once they're all healed up."
"Ah, I see," Nurse Joy said, an unreadable expression masking her face. "Well, we have the technology to heal them even if they aren't in a Pokéball, so I'll let one of the Chansey come and take care of them to the best of our ability. You can come and check in on them in the morning, how does that sound?" she said confidently.
Here goes nothing, Hannah thought. "Oh, um, well, you see – Nurse Joy, I would really like to stay here tonight just to keep my own eye on them. Not that I doubt that you could take care of them, oh no! I just – Ralts are my favorite Pokémon, and since you normally don't see them around here, I want to spend as much time as possible with them before I return them to wherever they came from. I know you have beds here for trainers that pass through – could I spend the night and sleep in one of those?"
For a fraction of a second Hannah thought she saw Nurse Joy's eyebrow raise, but the sister Ralts whimpered and cringed convincingly and Nurse Joy's somewhat sardonic expression was replaced by one of concern as she snapped her fingers to summon a Chansey. It appeared almost as if it had Teleported there, with a stretcher to put the Ralts on in tow. Knowing the drill, Hannah gingerly set the Ralts down beside each other and fell in stride with the Chansey as they went to the machine that healed wild Pokémon.
This wasn't a machine that Hannah was particularly familiar with; she had mostly handled already-captured Pokémon whenever she volunteered here. The more experienced breeders and healers and Nurses had handled the wild Pokémon. This wasn't to say that Hannah couldn't handle them, she was just never "assigned" to them because she didn't actually have any official training. Now that she thought about it…would that make the trainers of the Pokémon she had treated upset or worried? Well, there was no use worrying about it now.
A pang of sadness ran through her quickly as she realized that she would not be spending her free time here anymore if she went with the Ralts on their adventure or whatever they wanted to call it.
"Chansey, could you show me how this machine works?" Hannah asked curiously. The Chansey looked at her, smiled, and nodded. The Chansey started gesturing at certain levers and pulleys, and Hannah watched and tried to remember everything that she did.
It would be a long night, Hannah guessed.
:Haah,: the sister Ralts sighed contentedly. :If this is how all captured Pokémon are treated, then I almost would not have minded being caught by that trainer before.:
:Nonetheless I think that Ha-nah will be a better "trainer" than that one would have been. Could you not feel the blind, ignorant stupidity radiating from his Heracross? Surely you must have, sister. We are intelligent, sentient beings, and I do not know – nor would I care to find out – what being captured with a Pokéball does to one's mind. Wouldn't you agree?: the brother Ralts admonished his sister. She sighed, nodding ruefully.
They had been put in that strange machine by the kind Chansey, who murmured reassuringly that everything would be fine and they would be cheery and chipper in no time at all. Then the machine had emitted some kind of radio waves that put the two Ralts to sleep, so they weren't sure what had happened during that time. Now, though, they were indeed feeling wonderful – better than they had felt in their entire lives.
When the two had woken, Ha-nah had been sitting right beside whatever they had been sleeping on, a worried expression on her face accentuated by the creased-together eyebrows and lip that looked as if it would start bleeding from being bitten too hard.
:Ha-nah,: the sister Ralts exclaimed, worry apparent behind her words, :You look as if you have not slept in too long. What were you doing while we were resting?:
"Um, to be honest, I was worrying about you two," Ha-nah sighed, looking relieved. "I suppose you're alright since you're worrying about me."
:We are fine, of course,: the brother Ralts assured her. :That Chansey was most kind and comforting. I am not sure if I speak for my sister when I say this, but her aura was very much that of a caring mother from what I sensed.: The sister Ralts nodded happily.
:Ha-nah,: the sister Ralts asked suddenly, :Why don't you use your mind to speak with us, instead of using your voice?:
"I don't think I can do that… can I?" Ha-nah replied, looking somewhat confused.
:Sister, it's possible that she trained the wrong parts of her mind for too long and she weakened the proper part. It might be too late for her to learn,: the brother Ralts mused.
:All the same, we should try to teach her or find someone who can help her learn. I wonder if there are any Knowledge Troves around here?: the sister Ralts pondered.
"What is a knowledge trove?" Hannah asked bluntly.
:A Knowledge Trove is just that – a trove where knowledge is stored. Sometimes the knowledge is on very thin sections of the bark of a tree, which are sewn or glued together and covered with a thicker piece of bark with decoration on it, sometimes it is engraved on large rocks in caves, sometimes it is even written in the stars. Knowledge is everywhere, if you know where to look for it. But Knowledge Troves are concentrations of knowledge.: the sister Ralts supplied helpfully. :You big-walkers should have them, too, I believe. What would they be called… Brother, do you know?:
:Hmm…: the conversation trailed off – or at least Hannah stopped being able to hear it. She glanced at her Pokétch, which read 23:16. A quarter past eleven!
"Wow… it's really late! We should all be getting to bed. Come on, you two. You can come and share the room with me. I won't put you in Pokéballs, so you're going to need some sleep even if you're healthy. We'll try to look for some of those knowledge trove things tomorrow. Hearthome or Veilstone City is bound to have one, or failing all else we could go and ask my grandma or Cynthia – my sister. She knows all about Pokémon mythology and stuff." Hannah stood, a frown creasing her forehead and mouth, and extended her arms to the two Ralts in front of her.
At that moment Hannah realized that even though no formal ceremony had taken place and she had only known these two for a few hours at most, she already trusted them and treated them as if they were indeed her family. It was odd, she supposed, that such a bond could be formed so quickly.
The Ralts seemed to almost hear her train of thought and stopped their hushed conversation to look up at her, twin Pokémon casting their gazes up at her in an expression of smug joy and quiet respect. Time seemed to slow and a calm serenity flowed over Hannah as the Ralts joined hands and started to speak.
:We are glad you have come to join our homing-group, Ha-nah. In the sun-risings to follow we hope we may serve you as you may serve us. In the moons that shine we hope our bond will grow strong. In the passing of the clouds and the turn of the leaves, may we never know the pain of sorrow or loss; may we share our joy and happiness and lean on each other in times of weakness. May the cosmic energies that brought us together and bound us as one be present through starshine and bright skies, through storms of fire and water, through illness and well-being. We welcome you, Ha-nah, as our homing-member.: Both Ralts spoke simultaneously, and their voices melded to make an oddly beautiful sound ringing through her head.
"I'm honored to be a part of your homing-group," Hannah murmured as if she knew what she was supposed to say. Then the serenity of the moment broke and time started to flow properly again. Hannah shook her head, trying to clear it. "But we need to go to bed now, come on."
:That is acceptable, Ha-nah. The melding-of-minds can take place later. It is the bond that truly matters, and the bond is there now.: Hannah could feel the sister Ralts's smile through her voice, and she scooped them up into her arms and walked to one of the rooms in the wing of the Pokémon Center that housed Trainers or other visitors from out of town.
The halls were dimly lit because of the time of day, but Hannah found her way easily enough. She opened the door to a narrow room with two bunk beds on either side of a fairly large window, with whitewashed walls and smooth wooden floors. There was a desk beneath the window and a chair for the desk, and behind the desk there was a large circular rug on the floor, made of white cotton.
Hannah walked over to the bed on the left side of the room and ducked into it, taking the Ralts with her. She kicked off her shoes and pulled the covers up over her and her new homing-members. Curled around them, happily content with the way the world was, Hannah fell asleep.
:Good night,: she thought sleepily to their general direction.
:Good night, Ha-nah,: they replied, as sleepily.
Whoa! There's the end of the chapter. See, the fic isn't dead. I've just been really busy and haven't had much time to work on it. However - it's finally here!~ I hope you enjoyed. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. At least I have some idea of where this is going now, so that won't be a huge factor in why I don't have it up. Okay, so that's about it. Oh, I don't own Pokemon. Only the characters belong to me.