CHAPTER 29: Daddy Dear
August 12th 341 – Wednesday
Valeria stumbled out of the tent with fresh clothes thrown over her shoulder, her muscles clumsy from sleep. She squinted against dawn's soft glare. The morning warmth hugged her like a blanked, whispering treacherously about the comfort of an extra hour's sleep.
Valeria did not let it sway her. She poked her head back into the tent, where Ann still lay curled, her eyes fluttering and her fingers clenching as she attempted to leave the dreamworld.
She was so cute. "I'll grab a shower and go get the pokemon, Ann. You sleep in until 6.15."
"M'kay. Thanks," Ann muttered, fumbling to reset the alarm. Her smile was thick with sleepy gratitude and her body relaxed, surrendering to sleep once more.
It left Valeria feeling very grown up and pleased about herself. Ann rarely needed looking after, but it was rather nice when she did.
A yawn stole out of her jaw. Ugh. 5.30 AM was a lousy hour. The bedlum and their mine were a promise of an adventure, though. After such long weeks of sharing Ann and putting training first, Valeria was dying to go explore with just her best friend (and pokemon, that kind of sharing Valeria didn't mind).
~Milord, can you send some cold my way, please?~
Hopefully it'd work like a bucket of water without the getting wet part.
Sudden chill stole away the morning warmth. Valeria yelped when the cool mist brushing her mind became a block of ice. Ow! Her goosebump-covered arms instinctively went around her chest and she made a dash for the showers, shivers shooting through her whole body.
Ugh, maybe she should try coffee instead.
"It's all or nothing with you," she muttered under her breath as Gengar side-eyed her by the empty shower lot.
"Let's walk, Milord," she told Gengar once she was ready to go. She rode a bike in her sleep. It was like she had a fifth limb or something. It couldn't be healthy.
~It'd be brilliant if you could stick around when there are no shadows,~ she added. ~Like, I could buy a big cloak and hide you.~
It was way too hot for that right now, even with Gengar's cold aura. She also had no clue where people went to buy big cloaks. She'd have to ask Rosie.
Gengar flashed her a gleaming grin before vanishing behind a tent. He was barely a flash of purple, a trick of the light, a glimpse-and-miss-it shimmer in the air, as he found a path a shadows that made him almost invisible.
The sun was creeping up the horizon, painting the sky blue and pink. The campsite was oddly silent. No insects, no birds, Valeria finally realized. The trees marking the edge of the tent-zone grew tall and proud, behind though, stood an army of buildings and factories that chased nature away. Rustboro was a city for people.
Valeria frowned when she reached the main streets. Silence gave way to life. Loud life. Half the city was out. Whole families, and loads of Jennys. What was going on? Normal people were supposed to be asleep right now.
And – whoa!
Delivery trucks were normal, but those weren't supposed to be crashed in a wall.
Valeria blinked. There was no screaming, just a small crowd and Jennys taking care of things. What-
~There is a mystery here.~
Gengar left a building's shadow in a flash of dark purple to go hide in another's, melting into it until he'd vanished completely. Wicked. She never got tired of it.
But her eyes wouldn't leave the smashed truck. ~You think the driver's okay?~
She knew she should just ask, but that was never as easy as it sounded. Walking up to those busy, tight-faced Jennys… or to the bleary-eyed families staring around as if they expected something to burst out of the streets and attack them…
It was easier to start running and see for herself.
She tripped over a crate as she turned into a side street and barely caught herself on a… skunktank? Orange eyes bored into hers, warning her this wasn't the nice kind of fluffy.
"Sorry," she yelped, scrambling back upright.
"He won't bite you, girl. You saw one of those duskull? Hear they vanished."
"Duskull?"
The big woman groaned as she lifted a crate. Those were everywhere, making a drunken path to the other end of the street.
"About damn time!" the woman suddenly exclaimed.
A sweat-stained, red-faced man was running towards them with a machamp.
"Hurry," he panted, picking up a crate, "we're blocking Elm Street, and the Jennys want their machamp back in ten."
The massive muscular machamp had four crates in its arms and hurried back the way he'd come. Valeria stared wide-eyed at the chaos around her.
"They'd better catch that sick son of a weezing."
~I have found others.~
So Valeria ran, only to see a terrified little girl and her not-much-less terrified parents running after a Jenny who was walking fast with a big radio in her hands. The dad looked furious.
"I respect the law, Officer. I respect the law and don't keep pokemon illegaly in my drawer. When the Professor ruled that my pokemon weren't domestic, I let them go after my Journey. But the deal was I don't need them to protect me. If people can't count on – Do not ignore me!"
"Sir, I hear you and I agree. I'm looking for any duskull that might be hiding."
"Oh now you are. That driver could have died, those –"
"Daddy, what if there's one waiting for us at home?"
"See, Officer? See? Now get that machine so my daughter can go back to sleep."
"Sir, we're going to escort you home." Three more Jennys with two growlithe had appeared. "Or we'll detain you," the leader snapped when the man took a new angry breath, "your choice, Sir."
This was nuts. Valeria stayed hidden behind the side-street wall so they'd not see her.
Duskull. The hooded skull-masked ghosts had always sounded darkly fascinating, but she'd never seen one for real, much less even heard of one causing an accident.
~Why couldn't anyone stop them?~ She took a deep breath. ~You think you can find one, Milord?~ The Jennys were looking but Gengar was… Gengar.
~Children's cries attract them.~ He paused. ~I can help with that. Do you see a suitable child?~
Valeria snorted. She was glad he wasn't holding back so much anymore.
~None came for the camp?~ They could have made so much trouble.
~Trainers have pokemon. The camp is a fortress. The city is a banquet table. City dwellers sleep with open windows in this heat. Those duskull targeted the dawn drivers to make noise and have the sleepers wake to panic,~ Gengar's voice was soft, echoing with cold and promise. It wasn't clear, whose side he was on. ~Fear spreads fast, especially in the face of an unknown threat. This is too organized for wild behavior. The question is, what motive?~
Valeria shuddered and lengthened her strides despite the pulsing ache in her side. She hoped the duskull hadn't made trouble at the pokecenter. She checked the time. Ann had to be awake now.
Valeria glimpsed an ambulance and swallowed hard. She didn't want to think about the duskull anymore.
~You didn't seem to care about my badge yesterday,~ she said as they neared the center.
She'd been too tired to ask, but not not to notice.
They were alone and red eyes turned to her. ~You want me to care?~
Valeria shrugged. Winning was nice. Roxanne had told her she was 'quick-minded', and that felt brilliant. ~If I can win against Gym Leaders, then I can hold my own in the real world.~
~You seek power.~
Gengar's lack of hesitation, his sudden confidence, had her clamp her lips shut. He understood bad guys. It wasn't like that for her. ~ I don't want to control people, or give them orders, but I don't want anyone being able to overpower me. You're here, Milord, but I don't want to be helpless without you. So… I need battle skills.~
The chill in her mind intensified, swirling with unvoiced questions. She impatiently waited for Gengar to talk.
~ Seth told you that my strength would flee if I did not make use it. You never asked.~
Valeria almost tripped over her own feet. Gengar had fled to the shadows when they'd heard an engine sound. Anyone looking would think she was nuts, making faces at nothing.
She gathered her courage. ~Are you fainting pokemon at night?~
~That would create trouble. Would you like to see what I do, one night? ~
~If you're fine with it, I'd love to! I mean, you don't have to show me everything, but -"
An ice-whip cracked in her mind. Valeria shut up and winced. Ow. What -
~Say what you want of me!~
Valeria shut her eyes as the invisible ghost's exasperation crashed all around her. Seriously? Did she have to spell out everything? She couldn't help it: she laughed. It tasted bitter, because it reminded her that he'd been owned by slimeballs who gave orders and just didn't care, but still, it was great that he wanted to make her happy.
~I will,~ she promised cheerfully. ~I'm not upset, Milord.~
~Behind you,~ Gengar abruptly said.
Valeria spun round. They weren't alone in the narrow side-street anymore. She froze like she'd been bound by steel ropes. It couldn't be.
He was tall and muscled, in a short-sleeved sports jacket and black chinos. He'd shaved his head bald and his beard was longer, fuller. His silver eyes trapped hers.
Him. Just like in her nightmares.
Her brain wouldn't work.
"I'm so glad to see you."
His voice was soft and thick with emotion. He looked at her like she was the most precious thing in the world. He sucked her back to when she was seven years old and had loved him more than anything.
She couldn't breathe.
~Shall I attack, cub?~
~Shall I attack!~
The cold echoes suddenly left place to something she'd never felt before, like a storm of polar lights and dancing stars, something fresh, singing, a spike of energy in her limbs.
Valeria inhaled sharply. She wasn't eight anymore. She wasn't alone. Mama wasn't here for him to hurt. He couldn't do anything.
~Stay hidden!~ She had to give Gengar his pokeball. She didn't doubt he could break out, but as long as he didn't see the pokeball, he wouldn't get a chance to cause harm. ~I don't think he'll hurt me.~ She added as Gengar's increased suspicion wrapped around her like a protective mantle.
She'd lose Gengar if he hurt a man in front of witnesses, no matter the reasons. People would come running if they heard a shout. She'd lose her license. She wouldn't be able to travel with Ann anymore.
She pushed her panic back, far down where He'd not know.
"I… I didn't expect you."
The polar lights had dimmed. ~Why is the air humming, Milord?~ It had felt… great, in an almost overwhelming way. ~How are you doing this?~
~This is fear's taste. Your fear.~
Valeria had already been staring, so she just kept staring ahead, a blush creeping at her cheeks. That was fear?
No wonder Gengar loved it.
Unfortunately Chester wasn't vanishing in thin air. He was looking at her so patiently, like the best of dads. Like when he'd taught her to ride or swim.
Valeria's heart squeezed painfully. Why had he been so mean to Mama!
"When did you get to Rustboro?" she said, taking a step away from him.
"I found a thrilling job," he replied with a smile. That smile she had loved so much. "I kept an eye on the Gym records, hoping you'd come."
Gym records. So he knew about Eeveevee and Geo. And Anabel. Valeria stiffened. Ann would not get hurt because of her.
"What's Mauville like?"
He knew where they lived.
The singing polar lights crawled once more through her skin. An awed smile cracked Valeria's lips. It was so strange, to be thrilled by her own fear.
"I'm doing my Journey," she managed. "Caught a brilliant geodude. She's rough, she makes the best fighter." Better he think Geo was her favorite. "Eevee's cute. More of a plush toy, though." Sorry, Eevee. "I'll trade her for something better once she's a bit better trained."
He nodded and smiled, as if he'd never done anything wrong.
"Which starter did you pick? I remember agonizing over that for weeks"
"I… Treecko… I," No. She wasn't going to open up. She took another step back and forced her eyes off his face. "I just have Eevee and Geo now."
Turn away and run. She just had to turn away and run.
~Ghost!~
The shadows darkened in a flash and Valeria shrieked when something yanked her pokedex and her vidphone out of her belt. She inhaled sharply, from the pulse of cold anger in her mind as much as from shock. ~Don't move, Milord.~ She was definitely buying a new belt, something with a digital code on each slot or something.
~I was distracted. Those duskull are no challenge.~
~Don't. It's okay.~ She had to find out why her father was so confident.
Valeria crossed her arms, pretending her heart wasn't bursting right out of her chest. "May I please have my pokeballs back?"
The duskull, that floating horror with its skull-mask and a single orb of red light where the eyes should have been, handed her things over to him. Dad's face was funny, as if he was sorry, but not, and maybe a bit scared.
"You will, Petal, I promise. I need you to give me a chance first."
A duskull. With her father. A hysterical chuckle built in Valeria's chest. How fitting he'd go around with a ghost that fed on children's cries. She wasn't a child anymore, though. She was eleven. She wasn't Petal anymore. She wasn't a Chester.
He said they'd be nothing without him. She balled her fists behind her back to hide that they were shaking.
"I think I can find out where your starter went, Petal."
He was so much bigger than her.
He- "You know the guy who bought Torchic and Treecko? You're friends with poachers? You-"
Her thoughts were drowned by a howling gust of wind. ~Stop giving him information! The theft is not common knowledge.~
Valeria gasped for breath. She was dumb. She was so dumb. She flinched harder when her father looked sorry.
"I heard of a man with a gengar near Lavaridge. It's the kind of story that people like telling for a good scare around a drink. I heard he gets you things if you pay enough."
~Not simple people; people in the trade. No one else knows.~
Valeria couldn't see Gengar. She could imagine him clearly, though, glinting fangs bared, ready to attack.
~Don't let him see you, Milord. Don't you dare let him ruin any more of my life!~
"Let me help, Valeria." Chester winked, his arms half open. Arms she'd rushed into so often for a hug. Arms he'd crossed to say awful words to Mama, over and over again. Arms that had been relaxed when he'd locked away Mama's things, to teach her, as if that was what good husbands did. "I'll teach them to mess with you."
Valeria's shoulders slumped. Ann would be so happy if she got Torchic back. She had to try.
~Do not trust those who steal your pokeballs.~ Gengar's voice was dry ice.
Valeria smiled despite herself. She had Gengar. Everything had changed. She could risk it.
"Okay," she said, watching Chester light up thinking the smile was for him. "Where do you want us to go?"
"You get in the truck. Let me get your pokemon, and we'll have an adventure." He smiled, his silver eyes singing like he was truly happy. "You'll love it."
She'd almost forgotten how confused and furious he made her, and yet how good she'd gotten at pretending she was fine. She walked towards the small blue truck on the corner and kept her feelings in, like she'd done so many times before and hoped she'd never have to do again.
Alongside her shame, cold fury not hers burned against her mind. ~I can make him tell you everything. You do not have to make deals.~
Valeria clenched her jaw. 'I won't let anything or anyone make me evil.' She'd promised. Her father had made her evil before. Not again. She needed a different plan. He wasn't worth losing Gengar over.
Gengar, who was furious for her. A hard smile bloomed on her lips. He wasn't half as powerful as he thought.
~Milord, I have no idea where he's taking us. The moment we stop, I need you to find a phone and call Ann.~
He had her vidphone. Would he call Mama? In a fight, could Gene win? Gene was smaller, but he did care, and -. Valeria clamped her teeth together. She had to keep calm.
~Did you hear me, Milord?~
Grumbling assent rang between her ears like muted thunder. ~We will get even,~ Gengar vowed, his voice oddly calm, and never had his presence felt so strong.
Where was he? She needed to give him his pokeball. She let it slide out of her fingers and against the back of her leg, and kicked it behind a trash can while her father was giving the duskull orders to watch over her. ~Keep it safe.~
The cold swirl of questions was becoming uncomfortable.
~He's my father and he's a evil. He almost destroyed Mama and I hate him. He's risking jail by being so close to me. He's dangerous.~
~Why are you so furious at him?~ she asked the lingering cold in her mind as she and the duskull traded careful curious stares.
~I am not prepared to change master just yet.~
~I'm not your master, Milord.~
~Precisely, cub. I enjoy this new freedom.~
Left alone by the truck, Valeria made goggly eyes at the duskull. It tugged on its mask, which was just its face, and tried to make its creepy eyesocket-eyes even bigger. Silly ghost.
Her father –it had been easy to think 'Chester' while he'd been far. Now, though…- was back quickly. With two pokeballs she recognized all too well.
A rock lodged itself in Valeria's throat. If he hurt Eeveevee…
Polar lights and singing stars tore her once more from her fear, back into the present. She blinked, because the sun was brighter. She felt more aware, more rooted in her surroundings. She frowned at the window across the street. Lush flowers stood behind. Her eyes flickered to the other windows, suddenly curious.
She took a deep breath. This sizzling awareness, Gengar's gift, her fear. She giggled softly, overwhelmed.
~You have me, cub.~
That she had. And her father wouldn't be able to get Ann's pokemon. He'd have to have called Ann in front of Nurse Joy and gotten permission. Espeon and Machop were safe.
Her smile was half gasp as she allowed herself to focus on her ghost. He mattered. Chester did not. ~The fear, it makes you feel more alive.~
~You take your senses for granted. Ghosts are cut off. Everything is dimmed. Life tolerates our presence but we are not part of it like you are. Fear dissolves the barriers. For a time, the shadows lift.~
So that was why he was so hungry for it. It was messed up, yet... A grin bloomed on Valeria's lips. ~I'm glad my fear's not wasted.~
Fear could be good warning and avoid mistakes, Chester, though, he brought out bad-fear, ugly and paralyzing that made you forget what was good and the person you wanted to be. Bad-fear threw powerlessness back in your face.
It also made Gengar alive. It made him alive and yet he shared the feeling, even if it made her less scared. She'd been right. He wasn't evil.
Soon, a net of red transformed the duskull in energy and revealed her father a few yards away, his stride relaxed and confident, a small trustworthy smile on his handsome face. She'd once thought him the most handsome of dads.
Valeria's face was blank. She had too many emotions inside to have any to spare for her face.
Gengar had slipped unseen under the truck. It was what reminded her to breathe.
"You saw a psychiatrist, didn't you, Petal?"
V. She was V.
"They helped a lot I imagine. Did you know I saw one too? I knew I had to change, but I didn't know how. She taught me how. We can make things good, and instead of anger, it'll be nice things and nice memories."
'You say that, and then send duskull to make people crash their trucks and go into people's windows?' Valeria wanted to say. 'You saw a rubbish therapist.'
"What about the duskull?" she said instead, opening the truck door and climbing in.
"I didn't send the duskull. Those other duskull aren't mine. Only this one, and all I asked him was to keep an eye out for my daughter, so I should find her."
Yeah, definitely. Just the one duskull. Sure, that made it alright. He thought she was super dumb for real.
Valeria smiled, though, and pretended to give him another chance.
Oo*oOo*oO
When he'd pulled over in the woods a few minutes after leaving Rustboro and picked up Eeveevee, Valeria almost told Gengar to attack.
Instead, she'd just stood there as he called Ann and used his kind voice. Lies, lies, lies. She could see all the missed calls on her vidphone.
She caught a glimpse of Ann's confused face.
She hated him so much.
~How did you not notice the duskull spying on me, Milord?~
"Your friend looks nice. V, huh? It makes you sound all grown up."
Valeria stiffened. He couldn't call her V. He'd ruin it. "I like Petal better," she managed.
"Me too." He kept smiling like he was winning.
He kept her vidphone and left her pokedex outside in the grass. 'I'll buy you a new one, one that doesn't have a tracking chip.'
She said nothing. Catch, why would anyone normal care about the tracking chip? The chips were there to save lives. She vowed to learn every single important phone number by heart from now on.
The truck's engine noise was oddly soothing. It was louder than Gene's truck. Gene's was new and didn't go off the big roads, though. This one wasn't much bigger, but it had much bigger wheels.
Valeria cradled Eeveevee's pokeball in her hand. At least she had her fluffy princess back. It had worked: he'd kept Geo and had handed her Eeveevee, to prove that 'he just wanted her to trust him'.
Trust him, after he'd taken her pokedex and just left it there. Maybe she should just open the door and run. Geo might be mad at first, but she'd be okay. She'd fit right in with people like her father. Valeria dug her nails in her palm. They'd make Geo evil.
He'd pay. "What do you want? I still want to do my Journey." She couldn't run. There weren't enough trees to hide. He had the truck. He ran faster.
"I know. I loved my Journey. I was scared Nalani wouldn't let you. She doesn't understand these things. I... I'm sure she's a great mother otherwise."
Valeria's mouth opened in shock. Dad never said good things about Mama.
Could a therapist have taken away all the bad parts? For real?
"You could do a Journey much more interesting, with whichever pokemon you'd like, common or rare, and not have to worry so much about battling, badges, deadlines and paying your way through. Admit it, you're like me, traveling is the most fun part."
I'm nothing like you!
He chuckled. "Your hair's the mark of a true traveller."
Valeria stiffened when he turned away from the wheel and put his hand on her arm. He removed it immediately, looking sad.
"Petal, aren't you sick of being poor?"
Roxanne's words were bitter in her throat, 'badges are only one way of doing thing' and how hard it had been not to blurt out that she needed the badge prize money to keep going. Was everyone else rich?
"I was a bad husband, but I can be a great father, offer you a real home. You'll get opportunities instead of getting stuck with some lousy job because you'll have to work at sixteen. You'll still see Nalani as much as you want."
Valeria bit her lip before she could blurt about Gene and how Mama had found a job. Shutting him up wasn't worth getting him mad or worse, have him try to find Mama.
"You're right, it's been hard." And it was your fault. "Even if you just have one of the duskull, though, that still means you're friends with criminals."
"Life's complicated, kid," he said with a sigh. "You're not dumb, you know people simplify thing with words. Illegal doesn't always overlap with evil. It doesn't here."
Valeria forced a small smile when what she wanted was to bang her head against the window –or maybe his head-. The nice-talk about Mama was super confusing. The fact he thought she'd not mind him being a criminal, the kind that made trucks crash, that was nuts.
"The laws pretend to make things fair and simple, but they favor big corporations instead of helping talented people who lucked out. We don't hurt anyone. We just create opportunities. We'll be happy now, you'll see." His smile softened. "I missed you, Petal."
Valeria looked down, her eyes stinging treacherously.
"Everything's changed now. I promise I'll never bother Nalani again. I loved her wrong, I realize that now. I won't try to contact her. But you know the reason I couldn't see you was because you convinced the judge I couldn't co-parent with Nalani or be a good dad." Valeria had just told the truth. "The first… I don't blame you, but the second is unfair. That's why I came to show you I'd changed."
Sorrys and promises, and Mama believing it over and over again. Questions to twist Valeria's mind, change her memories, and make her unable not to agree with him. Catch, she wouldn't listen! She was done with him.
She cleared her throat. "Are you going to introduce me to the people you work with?"
"Valeria, my job is just finding good people. You are good. You'll get paid, and you can do your Journey. You and Anabel will get your starters back."
~What do you think, Milord?~
None of the cold leaked inside from under the truck. Valeria crossed her fingers. He couldn't find out about Gengar.
~He will get you to commit a crime. With your License is in peril, you will depend entirely on his goodwill. Forget Treecko and Torchic.~ Gengar's voice echoed harsh and chilling.
~Let me make him leave you alone. Tell him he is not your family.~
Valeria's throat was dry. She'd never shouted at Dad. Never said the words I hate you. Even when Mama had come back, Valeria had just walled off behind bland politeness.
~He'll see you and he'll tell! He'll know you're the same gengar.~
~ I have many names of poachers among those he claims to know. There are those that protect the poachers, but the clones will find my information invaluable. If he does not fear the clones, he should fear his… colleagues.~
Why hadn't Valeria just screamed the moment she saw him?She'd had Jennys in the street right next to hers!
~Think to me what he says and what you answer, cub. He is not the only one here who knows manipulation.~
~Okay.~
Gengar made her feel safer. She was still in his truck, though. He had her geodude. Rustboro was too far to run to, even if he didn't follow her.
"You've gone quiet. We'll be there in fifteen minutes." They were taking a road that could only be called road because there weren't any trees or too deep holes in the middle.
~He is going to the mines. There is nothing else of interest in that direction.~
"Just thinking about everything, Dad," Valeria quickly said, keeping her face firmly towards the window.
He grinned and she realized it had slipped out. Dad.
Her jaw clenched. She'd not let him ruin her life again. She'd not risk anything happening to Ann.
"What about my friend?" she said. "Let me call her. She'll figure out you're the one who sent those texts. She'll call her parents unless I talk to her. They'll call the Jennys." She took a sharp breath. "Dad, please."
Her father slowly nodded. He handed her vidphone. "Call her."
Anabel answered immediately. She was flushed and on a bike.
"I'm with Dad, in his truck," Valeria said before Ann could blurt anything. "I'm fine, we're kind of catching up. Where are you?" Where was Ann going?
"I… I don't know. I… I'm just… riding." Ann said slowly between gasps for breaths. "You really okay?"
Valeria hated to see her so worried. "I'm fine, for real." They should set up code words. "Did you call anybody?"
"No! I keep your secrets, you know that! Where are you going?"
~Repeat my words: you must go where we had planned to go. It will take you just twenty minutes. He is reading all my messages, please do not send anything embarrassing. Say the last as though it is a joke.~
"Ann, you should go where we'd planned to go. Really. It's just twenty minutes away." Which wasn't true at all. "It's okay. Dad's reading all my texts, though, so don't send anything embarrassing."
Gengar was a genius. Dad snorted and didn't look suspicious at all.
Valeria smiled before ending the call, wishing she could make Ann feel better. He'd made Mama miserable, and now he was making her best friend miserable. He'd pay.
~I can help you hide the body,~ Gengar volunteered. It felt different. Lighter and cutting, melting in with her own anger. Was that sarcasm?
It made her feel protected. She smiled brightly as she ended the call.
Her father sighed. "It's better to never know of poachers than to meet them and later reject them. It gets… ugly. I can introduce you to wonderful people who will make the best friends if you're scared Anabel won't understand."
~'It gets ugly' is a threat. He wants Anabel out of the way.~ Gengar's voice, his angry shadow looming in her mind, made her think of spikes of ice.
If only she had a big sharp spike of ice.
~He takes a reckless risk by including you. You are a witness and a liability. His masters would be furious. You see him as much bigger than he is.~ Gengar's chuckle was cold and scornful. ~He sees himself as much bigger than he is. I have shared the mind of many like he. He can be manipulated.~
~How, though?~
"There's going to be Jennys guarding the mines. Are they your friends, Dad?"
Dad raised his eyebrows high. "The mines?"
Gengar's voice pierced through her sudden terror, thick with singing polar lights. ~Smile and say 'I'm not dumb, Daddy. There's nothing else around here.'~
In Gengar's voice it sounded super ridiculous. When she said it, it worked. Dad laughed.
~Milord, you're brilliant.~
"The Jennys will be busy when we arrive. I won't hurt them, Petal. We try not to hurt people."
"How will you make them busy?"
He didn't answer. He just smiled. She'd never seen that smile but she liked it. It was smug and almost evil. She'd have been much less confused if he'd smiled like that before.
"You won't hurt them for real?" she insisted.
"No. It's bad, Petal," Dad said with an eyeroll. "And it doesn't pay off. Hurt a person and you have to watch your back for life. If you have to hurt, you've already made a mistake somewhere. The criminals that beat up and kill belong to tales and History." He smiled at her in the rear view. "Journeys are possible because we're civilized."
~Is that true, Milord? Don't criminals ever hurt each other? Your old master -~
~Violence among criminals does not follow the same rules as violence with others but even among themselves they are careful. I was valued because my threats are perceived as real. I am not held to the same rules as humans. Whispers of murder are used to cow unfortunate witnesses. There is little that money, rewards and threats cannot do. Once corrupt, liabilities will not contact the clones.~
A shiver ran up Valeria's spine. Gengar sounded like he knew these things so well.
"You look far away, Petal."
"I'm just thinking," Valeria muttered. The rumble of the engine and the tires against dirt track made her ears ring.
She let herself fall back against the seat. Catch, she was exhausted. Just emotions and thoughts, and she was exhausted. That those could be worse than running for hours was no news to her, though.
They cut through tall grass, snaking around gnarled trees and bumping over roots. No wonder the truck's wheels were so big.
~There's no way Ann can ever get here in twenty minutes.~
~The dragonite. Your friend asks for help with more ease than you do.~
Valeria flinched. Ann would tell Seth?
"You look bothered, Petal."
Couldn't he just leave her alone? "I'm thinking about pokemon thieves," she snapped.
The memory of her fear left a fresh bubbling taste in her mouth.
Valeria stiffened, her brain piecing pieces together now that she finally had a second to think. Gengar had known about the duskull! He'd told her everything. She'd just not noticed it straight away.
He hadn't answered her question about the duskull following her.
~You didn't see Dad's duskull watching the tent because you were in town all night! You told me to solve the 'mystery'. You wanted me to find the truck and all the scared people.~
Her mind stayed silent. Catch. ~I'm not mad. I know I can't expect you to be a person, Milord. Everyone's been telling me that over and over. You're right, the fear's amazing.~
He was there again, wariness and questions riding a frosty wind.
~The driver from the crashed truck was alive when the ambulance took him away,~ Gengar's echoing voice was even slower than usual. ~I could have stopped the duskull. I risked being seen but it is unlikely they would have traced me to you. Intervening is not what I do. I… I did not think of it.~
'Say what you want from me,' the chill whispered.
~I want you to tell me things and not hide, Milord. I won't hate you.~
Was that last echo a huff? ~I hear you, cub.~
The scares trees and barely-drawn paths looked all the same now, but after a time Dad took his vidphone and muttered a few words inside. He winked when he caught Valeria's gaze. "The Jennys are going to think dumb trainers got lost and wounded in one of the old mine tunnels. They're blocked with wooden boards and warning signs, but," Dad shrugged "trainers."
He had to be joking. "You are going to lock them in there?" A dark, underground corridor that might collapse? "That's nuts!"
"Not me. I've got friends, Petal. A lady with delightfully efficient pokemon will keep them in for a few hours. They won't have a scratch on them."
He wasn't alone. He had more pokemon. Catch! ~Milord, we've got to-~
~Yes. I will send the dragonite there.~
Valeria couldn't help the giggle leaving her lips. Her father had no idea.
She blinked when she finally saw constructions out of the window. Dad pulled over just before the last trees left place to huge industrial-like storage shacks and other buildings. They circled a huge hole that looked like an inverted hill with different levels, and tunnels that looked like gaping mouths.
She didn't want to go inside.
"Here we are. The famous iron mines of Rustboro. We're taking a side entrance, come."
They'd taken side paths since the start. There was a very nice, wide, asphalted road going straight to the mine. Nothing like the bumpy sorry excuse for a road they'd just taken.
~I am going to find Anabel.~
That tore a smile from her lips. Her shoulders relaxed. ~Hurry!~ She still had her phone, her father must have forgotten. Or maybe he thought he could trust her now.
"This where the party is going to be, Petal."
He'd opened the back of the truck. Valeria paled. Almost twenty pokeballs. One after the other, duskull filled the air with lifeless eyes and creepy masks.
He didn't even spare her a look of apology for lying.
"Stay close to the mine," he told the one-eyed ghosts. "If someone comes, surround them, distract them and flee towards that mine over there if they are strong. You, and you," he pointed, "come find me immediately if you see anyone."
The duskull drifted away and Dad grabbed what looked like a huge water gun.
He caught her stare. "Spore-gun. It'll put any pokemon to sleep. We'll be clean and quick."
This was nuts. Her father was nuts.
~Duskull everywhere,~ she thought-shouted. Please don't go too far away.
~These are not loyal pokemon like in your teams.~ She could barely hear him, but the mockery in his tone was unmistakable. ~They are cowards and not very bright.~
"Have you ever seen a metagross, Petal?"
She gingerly took the odd full face-mask, like those masks for dangerous science, her father handed her. "What's that for?"
"To breathe through the spores. There's enough to put the whole mine to sleep for a week."
Catch.
She gaped when she saw him wrap a belt with seven, seven, masterballs around his waist.
"Your vidphone, Petal."
He'd been smaller in her memories. Valeria swallowed and gave him back the phone, hating herself.
Ann had better get here in time.
Poor Valeria is terribly conflicted, and she won't admit even half of it to herself.
Next chapter, Bedlum Havoc, will take us inside the mines.
