Nothing can prepare me for the steps I am about to take. I slowly walk up the stairs, almost afraid they're going to break on me any second. This is the biggest thing I have done on my own ever in my sixteen years of life. Bigger even than choosing my own Pokémon. Bigger than catching and saving Kyurem.
Up till now, I have always done major things like this with my sister. Mei. She was always there for me when I had doubts. I am now on my own and I'm not used to it. Before we moved to Aspertia, we used to live in White Forest, where we were rather poor. In fact, we were so poor that Mei and I had to sleep in the same bed. That is, until we moved when Dad got a job here in Aspertia.
I always used to think how lucky I was to have a bed to sleep in, fresh food to eat, a roof over my head, clean clothes to wear, shoes and socks to keep my feet warm, electricity for light and clean, running water to drink. We were one of the luckier families in White Forest.
I take a deep breath. One step at a time. Memories come flooding back as I put a foot on each stair. The day I received Oshawott from Bianca. The day I first battled with my own Pokémon. The day Team Plasma came and plonked their daggy pirate suits and orange hair where they didn't belong. The day I first met Hilda. The day I first heard N's voice. The day Mei and I saved Reshiram and Zekrom. And the day Mei and I became the Pokémon Champions.
Cinders dig into my skin when I reach the top. At the end of the hall, there's a fire still burning. I almost go to touch it, but then I realise that fire burns. I learned that the hard way when I put my hands in the fire back in White Forest. I don't think my hands have fully recovered yet, even though we had countless appointments to cure them. Maybe I should ask an Audino at a Pokémon Centre to use Heal Pulse on me. But I've adjusted to having them like this, and I've figured it all out.
Next to the fire is a door. I open the door and find my room is ruined. Except for the bedside table. I run to it, pull the drawer open and see all my eight Poké Balls are still there. I grab them and hold them close to my heart.
"Oh, Pokémon!" I whisper, tears of happiness flowing freely. "I missed you so much! Let's get out of here."
I run back to the staircase to find that it has crumbled away to ash and soot. "Shit," I mutter. The Poké Balls rattle at my poor language use. "Sorry."
"Er… Hilda?" I call.
Hilda runs over to where the stairs should have been. "Ah. Tell me how I didn't notice that." She grabs one of her Poké Balls from her pocket. She enlarges it, throws it up in the air and calls out "Come on out, Samurott, we need your help!" Bright, white energy comes out of the Poké Ball and quickly forms the shape of a Pokémon. In less than a second, Samurott is standing there, right in front of Hilda.
'What do you need me for, Hilda?' she asks. Then she takes in her surroundings. 'Gosh. What in the world happened here?'
"Ghetsis happened," says Hilda, reaching out to pat her Pokémon, the friend whom she chose.
'Typical.'
"Samurott, Rosa's upstairs and, like a newly hatched Meowth up a tree, can't get back down. Could you jump up and bring her back down?"
'Sure. Stand back, Rosa.' I obey and Samurott jumps right in front of me. She turns around. 'Hop on.'
I obey again. Samurott jumps and I clutch onto her deep blue fur with my free hand. Briefly, I feel weightless. Then gravity kicks in. Again.
Again? Then I remember the photo Mei and I got from the Nimbasa City Rollercoaster, the former Electric-Type Gym. Our faces were contorted in masks of sheer terror when we did the Loop-the-Loop. I think Mei was sick when we got outside. Most terrifying experience of my entire life. Before the fire, of course.
I get off feeling a tad dizzy. My knees buckle beneath me as I clutch my Poké Balls tightly. I stand up. "Hilda, let's go back to Pinwheel Forest."
"Alright!"
We head back outside, me clutching my Poké Balls and the photos I found earlier. Zorua is now a human being, the same handsome, red and black haired boy from the first house and Samurott is still out of her Poké Ball. When we get outside, we find Reshiram lying down on the blackened ground and holding her shoulder. Hilda gasps and runs over to the legendary Pokémon. "Reshiram, what happened to you?" she cries, rubbing Reshiram's shoulder.
'It's Hugh!' Reshiram whispers. 'He ran off to where the Pokémon Centre was.' The Pokémon's giant head lolls to the side in a dead faint.
Hilda grabs out Reshiram's Poké Ball. "Return and take a good rest." She puts it back in her pocket and grabs Samurott's one too. "You, too, Samurott."
"Let's go," I say, turning to Hilda. We nod and start running, me in the lead.
More than once I nearly trip on stones and splinters dig into my skin. My feet hurt and I know I can't keep running for much longer.
Finally, we get there. The Centre has been burned down, like the rest of the town, but there's a temporary healing facility there set up under a marquee. Standing just in front of the desk is a lone figure. I know who he is immediately. I know the spiky navy back of the boy's head like the back of my hand.
Marching up toward him, I yell, "Hugh, what in the world do you think you are doing?"
Hugh turns around. "Stand back, Rosa," he says, his blank red eyes looking straight at me. I gasp and stumble back.
I steel myself again and rush forward to grab his shoulder, my other arm still clutching the photos and Poké Balls. "Snap out of it, Hugh!" I cry, shaking him like a rag doll and slapping him like a naughty child.
My actions seem to enrage him.
"Rosa, I'd hoped that it would not come to this, but you leave me no choice." He grabs hold of my wrist and it burns so badly I feel as though it's on fire. I yelp and cry out, kicking and screaming. I drop my photos and Poké Balls.
"No!" I cry.
Hugh drags me along to a little alcove that seems untouched by fire. We go straight through it.
Oh no. We're in the bathrooms. I think I know what'll happen.
Hugh starts to unzip his jacket and lets it slide down on the floor. He starts to reach for the drawstring of his trousers when I kick him where it hurts. He yells in pain and drops to his knees, wincing and crying. Cry-baby, I think.
I seize the opportunity to run. "Hugh, sorry, mate, you're on your own."
Tears stream from my face as I run back to Hilda. My best friend, my only childhood friend, besides Nate, has been hypnotised. What on Earth am I going to do now? Why was Mei so vague?
I run straight into Hilda's waiting arms. "Hugh was going to rape me!" I yell, over and over again. I'm frightened and all alone in this world. I cry for what seems like hours when I hear a voice. It's gentle and caresses me like my parents did. "Rosa, what happened?"
I lift my head and see, out of the corner of my eye, Hugh coming toward me. I shriek and shrink back, demanding him to go away.
"Why would you be unhappy to see your best friend?"
"You tried to rape me!"
Hugh's face turns ashen. Then he sits down and holds his head in his hands. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" he whispers, repeating the same thing over and over again. He looks up at me. Seeing my enraged eyes, he says, "Ghetsis inserted this chip into my brain the night of the fire. Whenever I see destruction, I am under his grasp, helpless to defy his orders. Please, forgive me."
I pull away from Hilda and run over to Hugh. I kneel down in front of him and hold onto his strong, broad shoulders. "Hugh," I say firmly, but not unkindly, "I will always forgive you for anything, but you were really testing the limits here. I forgive you, but I will never forget what you tried to do to me, hypnotised or not. If you had gone all the way, our friendship would be over and I would never forgive you or forget what you would have done. Thankfully, you didn't go there, and I know I'm asking for a miracle here, knowing Ghetsis, but please try and control it!" I hug him and he hugs me back, his strong arms encircling me, filling me with a strength I didn't know existed.
"When all this is over, could you take me to a hospital to get this thing removed?" he whispers. "I would hate for our relationship to be tainted by this."
"Of course! In fact, I hear that the Pewter City Gym Leader, Brock, has a brother who is an experienced brain surgeon. Maybe I could ask him directly to come over here and perform that surgery."
"That would be awesome."
