Real life is making a mess out of my schedule nowadays, and I didn't have a lot of time to look through this chapter. Hopefully this will blow over in a few months, if not the update speed will be getting even longer...

Sad note aside, here's the next chapter! Still a lull in the adventure, but don't worry- it's about to pick up real soon.

Chapter 20

Danger

We spent the rest of the day passing through the Ilex Forest, which took longer than we had thought. As we progressed deeper into the forest, the compass that Tony had been relying on started acting weird, spinning around in circles without giving us a real direction, and we had somehow lost track of the trail. I was totally convinced that this was the workings of some supernatural force, but Tony briefly explained the occurance away as the residual remains of the psychic power that twisted the forest two days ago- plus our own lacking of a sense of direction. I could tell that neither Warren or Alex bought it, but Tony was a fourteen-year-old boy who had probably studied more of the world than we did, so we didn't question him. Much.

Still, for a side-measure, I mentioned the 'residual psychic energy' theory to Girafarig, to which the psychic pokemon merely shrugged as best as it could. "Sure, why not," it seemed to say. "It's not like I'm the one leading us through a deep, dark, and really scary forest. Besides, it's not like being psychic will help you now- I'm just as lost as you are."

All I could do was to shake my head and wonder why I spent so much time listening to Warren. Girafarig just looked at me and sighed.

We spent another five hours wandering around in circles before Alex (somehow) managed to spot a really obscure landmark etched on our map and righting our sense of direction. And then we spent another two hours wandering around until we found ourselves lost (again), and in which Tony and Warren started arguing whether north was towards the left or the right. In the end, a frustrated Alex snatched the map away from Tony and stomped on ahead, leaving us to follow awkwardly in his footsteps. Oddly enough, and quite irritatingly too, the dark-haired boy managed to figure out the way without any hesitation- it was like he was a Pidgey, with an in-built compass in his brain.

Comparing Alex to a Pidgey made me laugh a bit, which then caused the boys to give me weird looks before Tony dismissed it as exhaustion and declared that we set up camp for the night. Personally, I was relieved because my shoulder was aching again and I would have to change the bandages soon... and Alex looked like he was about to punch something soon. And he kept giving these dark glares in my direction, as if he was wondering whether I would make a good punching bag. When I caught him doing so, he would turn away quickly, but not before I caught a glint of smoldering anger in his eyes. I doubted that he would actually hurt me- I had Girafarig out, and besides, Alex was only a ten-year-old kid. A brutal ten-year-old kid with pokemon, but still. Nevertheless, I kept close to Warren when we set up camp.

"So, why'd you let Girafarig out?" Warren asked as we bent over a pile of gathered firewood, attempting to fix it to some semblance of a campfire. It wasn't particularly easy- the weather had cooled considerably since the summer, and a light rain had fell earlier in the afternoon, making the wood wet and harder to set aflame.

"It's a good sentry," I replied cautiously, unwilling to mention the whole 'there's-a-ghost-in-the-forest-but-you-won't-believe-me' thing again. It was bad enough that my psychic pokemon was snickering over my shoulder as it caught that stray thought; I didn't need Warren following suit.

Warren snorted. "Maybe it can tell us what's messing up the compass so bad then," he said with a good-natured grin.

We paused for a moment, and glanced at each other. And in unison, we echoed, " 'Residual Psychic Energy'."

We stiffled our giggles when Tony shot a sharp glare in our direction, but that glimmer of good humor made me feel as though a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Likewise, Warren flashed me a lop-sided grin before trying to ignite the pile of branches we had collected from the forest.

I took a quick glance around camp. Alex was standing some distance away, watching his Bellsprout and Sandshrew spar against each other- training, I guess. Warren's bug pokemon were dozing in a tree as they waited for dinner, while Jaws sat curled up at its base, watching us with its beady eyes. Tony had made no move to release his pokemon, preferring to stand some distance away, looking more and more frustrated as he continued talking to someone on his pokegear. As for myself, I had no desire to let my obviously untrained and hard-to-control pokemon run free while there were others around, so they were left on my belt. I made a discreet note to feed them later after everyone else had gone to bed- the last thing I needed was for Onix to freak out when it was exposed to more strangers yet again.

"It's quiet today, don't you think?" Warren asked as he attempted to coax a flame out of the soddy pile of branches. He was right- even though the sun was already setting, there was still no sound of stirring, no sound of life apart for the moaning wails of the night breeze.

"It's kinda weird, actually," I muttered. "Are the wild pokemon hiding from Esper or something?"

"It was a lot noisier when I went to catch Spinner," Warren remarked, smiling slightly. "The wild pokemon weren't that numerous, but they definitely weren't hiding either. And that was the day directly after the attack."

"Do you think something's wrong, then?" I asked worriedly, catching Girafarig's eye. The psychic pokemon arched an eyebrow expectantly, as if it was just waiting for me to voice my doubts. Hesitantly, I added, "Like... a ghost?"

Warren gave me a look that was both amused and skeptical all at once. "You know that ghosts don't exist, right?" he asked patiently, like one would to a younger sibling or a baby.

"Most people say the same about legendary pokemon," I pointed out.

"Well, they're wrong, then," Warren said flippantly, blowing gently as a small flame ignited deep within the shell of branches.

"So why can't ghosts exist?" I countered.

"Because I'm not wrong about them existing," Warren retorted with a grin. "Why're you afraid for? If anything's out of place, Girafarig would tell you, won't it?"

Girafarig snorted in agreement, and I reminded myself ruefully that of course it would- it was its sole purpose for being here with me, after all. And true enough, ever since Girafarig's presence chased away the ghost earlier, I hadn't been bothered by it since. It didn't explain why the forest was so quiet, but I knew that whatever the case was, if there was any threat to my person, Girafarig would protect me. The fact that it hadn't raised the alarm yet must have meant something, surely.

"So what's for dinner?" If Tony had become the de facto leader, Warren had ended up as the cook. Not that anyone was complaining- when we first broached the subject with Tony, he death-glared us again and Alex went on talking about how awesome Roasted Farfetch'd Stew was. It by an unanimous consesus that Warren was, by all accounts, the best thing we had to a chef- at least he knew the difference between oran berries and pecha berries, and whether or not those random purple mushrooms we saw were edible (they weren't).

"Hold on a sec- oh, snap." Warren sighed, running a hand through his brown hair, a sheepish grin on his face. "I think I left my bagpack by the sleeping bags. Mind getting my stash of berries for me? And that dried jerky too, while we're at it."

I chuckled, stretching my limbs. "Sure. You better save me an extra portion later, though."

"Deal."

I made my way to the other edge of the camp, where we had haphazardly tossed our bagpacks earlier on while thanking Arceus for letting us stop for the night. Tony and Alex were a fair distance away, blatantly ignoring me, and I was completely alone. Or so I thought.

There was an odd sensation- nothing real, at first, but a feeling that something wasn't quite... right. I took a quick glance at Girafarig, who was now watching Warren frantically prevent the flame he had started from going out, and told myself that I was just being skittish. Ghosts didn't exist, after all, and besides I was at camp. Nothing ever happened at camp, not while everyone was awake.

I crouched down by Warren's bagpack. Warren, in his typical style, had just stuffed everything into his bagpack without any semblance of care or order. That said, it wasn't hard to find his stash of berries- Warren had left them in a small plastic bag tied to the bagpack, with berries filling up roughly half of the space, the other half being filled with an assortment of foodstuffs.

Muttering a curse against boys and their messiness, I reached to untie the plastic bag, only to suddenly feel- rather than see- something behind me.

I turned- only to find myself staring into deep, bottomless irises in disembodied, glassy white eyes.

Then, stretching out underneath those eyes, shiny white teeth arched in the shape of a grin.

"Boo."

I did the only sensible thing I could- I screamed and swung the nearest available thing at it, which just so happened to be the stash of Warren's berries. The next thing I knew, I felt something grab my shoulder, so I turned around, ready to attack with a bag of berries- only to suddenly be frozen in my step by those haunting eyes.

It was like when Girafarig had forced me to stay still- except this time, I was overwhelmed by a sense of fear that held me in place, rather than a psychic force. But I was utterly terrified at the thought of not being able to control my limbs, of being stuck like this for the rest of my life.

And then, quite suddenly, Girafarig's hooves smashed through the fog that made up the ghost's body, dissipitating it into thin air. The hold on my body, as well as the overwhelming sense of fear that I felt, disappeared in an instant. I fell to my knees- or rather, I tried to, except I found Girafarig had somehow slid itself under my left arm while Warren held onto my right.

"Are you alright?" Warren asked, his eyes peering worriedly at me. Numbly, I realized that he had pried away the berries from my fingers- it wasn't until he did so that I realized that I had been holding on to them as though my life depended on it, and maybe they did.

"Y-yeah," I muttered, getting back on my feet. He let go of my shoulder hesitantly, as if he was half-expecting me to topple over if a slight breeze were to blow by.

Girafarig neighed worriedly, as if it were expressing similar fears. In fact, I was positive that it was doing just that, considering that it refused to let go of my sleeve. I pet its nose reassuringly, but the psychic pokemon gave me a knowing stare. It knew that my heart was still rapidly beating against my rib cage in a desperate attempt to escape.

"What's going on here?" Tony suddenly burst into my vision, though to his credit, his usual disdain had been replaced with a worried frown. I suppose having anyone randomly swinging a plastic bag before nearly collapsing was enough to cause even the most cold-hearted commander to react somehow, and the screaming probably helped.

Warren, for his part, decided to stand up in my defense. "She saw something- a wild pokemon, probably-"

I shook my head. "It was a ghost," I stated firmly- or as firmly as one could while you were scared out of your wits. "It had glowing eyes and was floating and everything."

"Dew-" Warren began, only to be interrupted as Girafarig dropped hold of my sleeve and instead, nipped me gently on the ear before giving me a stern stare. It didn't say a thing, but somehow, I found its reprimand more effective in calming my nerves than Warren's explanations. Calm down, it seemed to be saying. You're not making an ounce of sense.

Tony seemed to be of a similar train of thought. "Budew," he said in a stern, condescending tone, "I know that the forest looks scary, but it has yet to be scientifically proven that there's such a thing as ghosts. It was probably your imagination."

I was about to launch into a reply on ghost pokemon and legendaries, but catching Girafarig's glare, I figured it was best to keep my mouth shut. Instead, with the best dignity I could muster (which was not much), I muttered, "Sorry. Won't happen again."

The bespectacled teen gave me a knowing look, before nodding. "Warren," he said calmly as he walked away, "you can let go of her arm now. Budew says she's fine, and you probably should get back to preparing dinner."

"Stuffy prat," Warren muttered under his breath once Tony was out of hearing range.

"But he's right," I replied. "I'm... fine now. And you do have to go back to cooking."

Warren gave me a reluctant look, but seeing that I was determined, he heaved a sigh. "Fine. But you better stay close to Girafarig, okay? And you better take good care of her, Girafarig!"

Girafarig snorted, a bit miffed at the fact that he would even bother with the question. Warren smiled slightly before bounding off back to camp, where Jaws had crawled up to the cooking pot and was feasibly wondering what bubbling water was, but even though everyone else was so close, I felt so very alone. Out there, somewhere, I was positive that those eyes were still watching me, waiting for me to slip up once more. Likewise, Girafarig looked tense and alert, scanning the scene every few seconds, its tail swishing as it did likewise.

Nervously, I laced my fingers into Girafarig's soft fur, taking comfort in the warmth of its body. "Now do you believe me?" I muttered childishly.

Girafarig tilted its head to face me and nipped my other ear.

And standing a fair distance away, instead of watching his pokemon duke it out with each other, Alex was watching me with something akin to a scowl.

"We're making a detour tomorrow."

There was a second of silence following Tony's announcement. Partially because of the sheer suddenness of it, and also partially because Tony looked absolutely angry about it. Like, even angrier than when he disapproved of me accidentally tripping over a root earlier that day.

Warren was the only one brave enough- or foolish enough- to speak up. "A detour?"

"Yes, a detour." Tony sighed, tossing the remains of his meal- a beef-kebab with berries- into the fire. "I got a message from the research center in New Bark Town today. They want us- or rather, me- to check up on a day care center nearby. Apparently, the power went out nearby and they haven't had time to send over certain goods through. And, knowing the professor, it's absolutely imperative that I go there and pick up the stuff for them. Even if it's probably just another pokemon egg."

"You work with the research center?" Warren asked cautiously, looking up from dangling a gently roasted berry in front of Jaws' face. He didn't look too surprised though, at least until the ground pokemon ate his fingers.

"No," Tony said shortly, totally ignoring Warren and Jaws' antics. "Professor Elm is just my next-door neighbour. I do him a favor in return for the ones he does for me. Even if it is picking up pokemon eggs."

We exchanged a glance- I had no idea whether Tony was being sarcastic or not, and the irritated look on his face made any questions we were about to ask die on our tongues.

"Well, what's the harm, anyways?" Alex asked lazily, seemingly unperturbed by Tony's irritation. "I mean, it's on the way, and we could probably crash there for a while. Free food, warm beds, the works... Besides, I've never seen a real-life pokemon day care center before!"

"Day care center?" I echoed curiously.

I could see Alex and Tony give me irritated glares almost as soon as I said that. Laughing weakly, Warren slung an arm around my shoulder and tried to pretend that I wasn't getting stared at like a Weedle that somehow fell into a bowl of soup.

"It's where people bring their pokemon to be raised when they don't want to do it themselves," he explained. "Well, breeders mostly, though trainers go there from time to time. It's for the eggs, you see. For some reason, a lot of pokemon eggs come from day care centers."

"Eggs? But- how do they-"

Tony coughed delicately, though I could have sworn that there was a faint blush on his cheeks. "It's a... uh... very secretive process. Only breeders and professors know what exactly goes on behind those doors, and frankly, I doubt that whatever lurks inside is safe for your mind. Let's just say that a pokemon day care center is not a place for children. You might see something that will scar your mind. Forever."

"Oh." I blinked, processing the information. By my side, Alex was stiffling his laughter, snorting periodically. I wondered if I said something stupid.

But the more I thought about it- Girafarig was a bred pokemon, right? Did it come from a day care center, such as the one we were going to? Did that mean that someone there might know who exactly was the one who hatched Girafarig and raised it as their own before sending it to protect me? Mauve did say that it was hard to get a Girafarig like mine, so maybe someone might recognize it- the thought of finding out what Girafarig refused to tell me piqued my curiousity, and I wondered, just how bad could a day care center be, anyways? After all, humans sent their children to day care centers all the time, didn't they?

"A-anyway," Tony coughed again (I wondered whether he was coming down with something). "We better turn in early for tonight. I'd like to wake up as early as possible and get out of this blasted forest as soon as we can."

Everyone agreed, and quickly began cleaning up for bed. And all throughout, the silence of the forest didn't break.

I had no idea how relieved I felt about leaving the forest until we finally broke through the last few feet of trees, revealing an expense of rolling green plains with the sparkling blue sea off in a distance. Unlike Violet or Azalea, you could see pokemon wandering around easily- Rattatas scampered through the grass, while Drowzees lurked near small patches of trees, half-asleep, and wild Hoothoot perched on the branches with one foot tucked underneath their wings. We were standing on a hill that slowly descended into the plains, and from our vantage point, you could see the small villages and buildings that popped out every now and then, a reminder of civilization even in the midst of the wilderness. And if you squinted, you could make out the steel towers of Goldenrod down the single, winding path.

"Route 34, children," Tony announced, a small smirk on his face in contrast to his earlier moodiness. Apparently, he hated the forest as much as I did. "Learn it, love it, be bored of it and cry for the day when you don't see flat plains. We'll be stuck on it for the next few days."

"Anything's better than that forest," Alex declared, stomping past me and taking the lead. "At least we won't get lost out here."

True enough, the route was a lot more relaxing than wandering around aimlessly in the Ilex Forest. It was also a lot less interesting, what with miles upon miles of flat road stretching out in front of us. At one point in time, Warren piqued up and wondered whether we should fight some of the wild pokemon around the area just to break the monotony, but a quick glare from Tony sent that suggestion out of the window.

"Don't forget that we have to reach the day-care center," he muttered, pointing out a small red-roofed building off in a distance. "The sooner we get this errand over and done with, the better."

"Don't you mean 'you'?" Alex asked with a smirk.

Tony merely shook his head. "No," he stated, failing to catch the sarcasm. "I mean 'us'."

Alex shrugged and decided to leave it as that. A focused Tony, I realized, was really similar to an irritated Tony- except that you could poke him and he wouldn't respond. It was a good thing, I decided.

We made it to the building by the time the sun reached its peak. Up close, you could see that it wa old. Made out of wood, there were vines crawling up the right wall, stretching up onto the chimney on the red roof. It looked homely, quaint, with a fenced yard that seemed a lot bigger than usual and a garden that looked as though it belonged in a botanical garden or a manor rather than in the middle of nowhere. However, almost immediately, we knew something wasn't quite right.

"There's no lights," Alex noted with a frown, surveying the structure as we stood at the entrance. "No pokemon or people too."

"Door says 'open'," Warren said, jerking to a small sign that hung on the wooden door. "Is it always like this?"

Tony shook his head, his eyes staring straight ahead as he calculated our options. Finally, he said, "We should go in. But keep your pokeballs at the ready at all times. It could be just a false alarm, but..."

"Better safe than sorry, yeah?" Alex grinned.

In typical Alex fashion, he was the first one in, though, heeding Tony's advice, he kept a pokeball in his right hand. "Hello?" he called, his voice echoing off the walls of the very first room we stepped into. Inside, it looked just as homely as it did on the outside, but the only source of light, a window facing the west, cast a depressing shade to the room. It was almost like walking into one of those abandoned ghost towns in those old Western movies. In fact, I thought I could see a shadow slip in and out of the door frames, but when I looked again, there was nothing there.

"This isn't right," Tony muttered when nobody responded. "The caretakers should be here. I've never heard of them leaving the place before."

"Maybe we should call the cops?" I suggested.

Surprisingly, Tony nodded. "Good idea. Lemme try the phone- ah."

"What is it?"

The older boy grimaced, holding up the phone by the counter- somehow, the wire that connected the phone to the machine had been cut. Quickly, he checked his pokegear, and with a scowl, showed us a "No Signal" screen, only to slam it back into his pocket. "Someone was adamant that nobody would realize what's going on here," he said. "If I had to guess, something around here is jamming the signal. The nearest police station is at least one day's walk away. Which means two things. One- that nobody would have been able to call for help if something happened, and two- that when that something happened, nobody was able to escape. And three, whoever did this planned everything out in advance."

"What makes you say that?" Warren asked, curious.

"For starters," Tony said, "the research lab lost contact with the day-care about two days ago. There was a general power outage in the area due to a fault at the nearby power plant, so nobody thought any wiser when that happened. Apparently, they still haven't gotten the power back up, but there should have been back-up generators working here. The fact that they aren't on means that they, too, were sabotaged, but the fact that they were able to do so- as well as cut the communications lines and prevent any manner of escape- means that the person had planned for everything beforehand, or that there may be more than one person involved."

"So what do we do?" I asked. "Should we leave? Call the cops?"

Tony shook his head. "Even if we managed to make it to the town, the cops are probably having their own troubles dealing with the blackout. Besides, I'd like to see what really happened here. I owe the caretakers of this place a thing or two, and if something happened to them-"

"But, that's not safe-"

"Maybe not," Tony agreed. "But my gut instinct is telling me that I can't just leave now. What if there are people still here? Or what about the pokemon eggs? Without constant care and attention, the babies in them will die, if they haven't already after three days. And what about the pokemon?"

"I agree with Tony," Warren said. "We're pokemon trainers, aren't we? If anything, we should help if pokemon or people are in trouble."

"You're welcome to wait outside if you want," Tony suggested, without a hint of irritation or sarcasm, noticing my fear. "But I'm going in. If anything goes wrong, get out of here as fast as you can and call for help-"

Alex snorted. "You think they'll listen to a couple 'a kids, Tony? Nobody listens to pokemon trainers. 'Sides, didn't you say the police were busy already? They aren't going to get too worried about a day-care center far out into the wilderness."

"I- I agree with Alex," I said, drawing the incredulous glances of the rest of the party. Biting my lip, I said, "Look, I don't think it's safe here, but it's probably more dangerous out there if there is someone trying to stop people from getting help. And, it's probably a lot safer with you guys than without. And I remember last time, when you guys left and I was alone..."

Tony gave me a wry grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Alright then. But any sign of trouble, and you're out of here, you understand? You, of all people, should know what could happen if things were to go south."

I nodded slowly. I was grateful that Tony hadn't simply commanded me out of the building, but at the same time, I kinda wished he did. Being brave wasn't my forte. Being brave in the midst of some creepy abandoned house was much worse.

"Alright." Tony folded his arms. "Then maybe you can help us out- your Girafarig is the only psychic pokemon we have right now, but it'll make things a lot easier than recklessly charging in. Use its psychic powers to scan the building top to bottom. Look out for any signs of life, any signs of anything strange. Understood?"

"I'll try." I did as he instructed- Girafarig seemed barely fazed by the order, and seemed to understand exactly what to look for. All I needed to do was to stand back and watch as it stared into empty space for a few minutes before turning its calm, brown eyes back to me.

"Gii," it neighed, trotting down a few feet down a corridor before turning back to look at us. The message was clear- it found something, and it wanted us to follow.

"You lead," Tony suggested gently. Noticing my hesitation, he smirked. "Don't worry. We'll be right behind you."

I was too scared to come up with a response. But I knew that the older boy meant every single word- and I knew that Girafarig itself would never willingly lead me into danger. And so, biting back the fear that was hammering in my heart and the doubts that were circling in my brain, I stepped into the empty corridors of the building, hoping that nothing dangerous was lurking beyond the next corner.

Next: Another opponent, another evil plan. And an unexpected savior when things take a turn for the worst.

The whole pokemon egg problem is ridiculous in the fact that absolutely nobody knows where they come from. I mean, I suppose it's expected, considering that Pokemon is for kids but seriously, guys? All the best minds in the world and all you can come up with is "Oh, uh, we have no idea how they got there durrr?"