How could have Crystal endure those pests? They grabbed his legs, took his pokeballs from his belt without permission and asked a lot of stupid questions. When they asked "why do you wear your cap backward?" and he answered, "Cod it's cooler", there was a burst of laughs around him.
Gold didn't have the patience to handle children and maybe the problem laid in their similar level of maturity; he quarreled with them over meaningless things and he didn't backed down until he won the argument, or tried at least, childred have a twisted logic.
He mentally cursed the moment where he accepted Crystal invite to help at the orphanage.
-Please!- she pleaded, -In summer there are less volunteers. Children are not so different from baby pokemon, you just have to play with them while I put the attic in order.
He was adjusting his tuft after one child grabbed it when another came to him with a serious face.
-What?- Gold asked with frowned eyebrows.
-Stay away from Crystal. She is mine.
Gold could have simply laugh and let it go, Crystal wasn't even his girlfriend, but it was stronger than him.
-Oh, really? How money do you have aside? You don't even have a job…
The child seemed to have lost his determinationless. -What?
-You're asserting your property over a girl and you don't even know about it?- Gold laughed. -If you want a girl to be yours, you need an expensive ring, but that is just the start: jewels, flowers, dinners in exclusive restaurants where she will order just a salad, and, obviously, a big wedding and the most expensive of dresses that she'll use for just one day.
-Liar- the kid said clenching his fists. -Crystal is not like this.
Gold felt irritated, he had underestimate him. -Maybe on the surface… she is the type that says: "I don't need expensive things, all I need is you!"- he said trying to imitate a feminine voice. -But she'll look at you with delusion if you don't buy all those cra…
He stopped his tongue just in time when Crystal arrived carrying what seemed an heavy cardbox.
The boy looked at him with a mischievous smile then ran toward the girl faking a cry. Crystal let the box on the ground and kneeled in front of the kid. -Julian! What happened?
He threw his hands around her neck. -Gold is nasty!
She embraced Julian whispering encouraging words to him, while him, resting on her chest, glanced at Gold with a pleased smile.
Little bastard… he thought feeling a hint of jealousy sting him, that kid arrived where he, in all those year, failed. Distracted, he jolted hearing his name called.
-Gold, what did you do?- she asked with the hands on her waist.
-Why do you think it's my fault? He started it!
-Because you're the adult, you're supposed to be more mature than him- she sighed then she rested a hand on the arm. -Well, maybe it's my fault for asking you to came.
He crossed his arms. -Oh yeah, I can't be trusted with anything…
-You know that I didn't mean this!
-But you think it. I know you do.
While they were arguing, curious, Julian opened the cardboax, it contained old blankets and broken toys. He took out one of those puppet with a string on the back that he tried to pull, but it came off and he remained with the plastic ring on his hand. He looked at it then at Crystal, that was telling Gold to stop while he walked away and the kid didn't noticed the toy's eyes glowing for a moment.
The next day, at the orphanage, Crystal seemed more absentminded than usual and she sighed often while doing her chores. She turned to look at Julian the third time he called her.
She lowered smiling at him. -What is it?
-Here!- he said handing her a plastic ring that he coulored with markers and with one of fake jemstone on top that maybe he detached from a toy for girl.
She took it and thanked him, but he stood still in front of her with his usual serious expression.
-Wear it- he order.
The ring was a little too small and she was worried that it could have remained stuck on her finger. She didn't wanted to hurt his feeling so she tried to put it on her pinky but he protested gesturing on his own hand.
-No, on the annular.
She insert the ring on her finger without pushing it too much and he seemed satisfied. When he was far enough, she immediately tried to take it off, but it was stuck.
When she walked home that evening, she was feeling more tired than usual so tired that she stopped to lean against a wall panting. Could she be sick? Even standing still she couldn't catch her breath, her whole bosy felt heavy and hard to control and her finger hurt.
She raised her hand and once again tried to get the plastic ring off, but It didn't matter how much effort she put into it, it was stuck. If possible, she felt the ring becoming more and more thight and, to the voice telling her to remain calm and that was only her imagination, another one added, but it wasn't her own.
-W…who are you?- she asked, trying to sound calm.
She couldn't hear the words clearly but, somehow, she understanded them and, the moment she heard what seemed a child sobbing, when her pity overcomed the fear, she lost control over her body.
-Oh, he is so cute!- the girl exclaimed kneeling down to pet the baby vulpix.
-I raised it by myself from when it was just an egg, I was even the one that hatched it- Gold boasted admiring pleased che cute swarm of girl that came towad him. Baby pokemon were an effective girls' bait.
-Then you must be very good even with children- one commented.
Gold fell silent and all the girls' head turned to look at him.
-Of course!- he lied showing as much confidence he could. -I'm a huge family lover and I wish I'll have a lot of kids one day!
They seemed to believe him, things were going smoothly but then, a call. It was Professor Oak.
-Sorry girls, I need to answer, don't go away- he sighed and answer the call.
Covering his mouth with a hand, he murmured to the screen. -Call later, I'm occupied.
-Have you seen Crys?- Professor Oak asked concurrently.
-Uh? No, I think the last time was… two days ago.
-She didn't came to job today-, the professor explained. -Her mother said that she didn't returned home yesterday and she doesn't answer to my calls. It's strange for her… Well, let me know if you find her.
The call ended and Gold remained still holding the pokegear and the weight of what he just heard started to creep painfully into him. He was lost in thought when he heard a cry and he turned toward the girls. The vulpix got tired to be caressed and picked up by so many hands and and spat some flames.
-How rude…
-You should raise him better!
The girls commented while walking away, leaving a crestfallen Gold.
-Wait!- in vain, he tried to stop them.
He walked down the road so absentmindedly that he didn't gave any attention to any girls that crossed his path but he mentally repeated to himself that he had nothing to worry. She wasn't any other girl, she was Crystal! She knew how to care for herself. Still, it was not like her to disappear like that.
He reached the orphanage; the gates were closed but he could see the pile of boxes where Crystal stored old and broken items to throw away. She left the work inconcluded because he went away and no one was watching the children. Now, with them there was another adult, could she be in the attic to finish her work?
He was going to call the man when he heard a voice from below. -Hey!
He looked down and saw the little pest that caused his last arguing with the girl.
-Why are you here? Where is Crystal?
So, here's the answer he didn't hoped for till the last step. Anyway, for how much he didn't like the child, he didn't wanted to make him worry.
-Looks like she is too occupied for you today.
He had still those angry eyes. -Liar.
Gold had the temptation to scare the annoying kid by threatening to feed him to Explotaro. He lowered at his height. -What happened yesterday?
Julian tormented his hands nervously. He seemed on the verge of tears. -I gave her a ring... but it was made of plastic. Didn't she liked it?
Gold smiled at him and, through the gate's bars, he placed his hand on his head. -I'm sure she liked it. Don't worry, I'm sure she had a good reason to not come today.
Their tender moment was ruined by a clatter and Gold saw that a ball overturned the pile of cardboxes, making the work done by Crystal useless.
Every children stopped what they where doing to look at that mess, surely fearing Crystal reaction when she would have seen it. Gold almost had pity for them, almost… he would have enjoyed to see Crystal scolding someone who wasn't him for once.
Gold's eyes locked on the ones of an old puppet, he was sure he had seen them glowing red, a strange thing for a toy, unless the purpose of its creator was to traumatize children. He resisted the urge to blink and he saw it again.
-Everyone, don't get near those toys!- he shouted and, with his pool cue, he sent a pokeball toward the suspicious doll.
Aibo came out of his pokeball but, just before reaching it, the toy started to levitate at midair. The sew that formed his mouth widened in a creepy smile, the ambipom tried to hit it, but it wasn't effective.
-A ghost?!- exclaimed the trainer. -Is it a pokemon?
The doll emitted a laugh and vanished.
-It's that!- said Julian with a panicked voice and looked up at Gold. -I gave Crystal the plastic ring on the back of that thing…
Gold clenched his hands to the gate's bars, then he recalled his pokemon. -Let's go Aibo!
While running, he turned toward the kid, shouting one last thing. -Don't worry, I'll find her!
Despite saying those things, Gold had no idea of where to look for Crystal, he even called professor Oak and described him that pokemon, or whatever it was.
-Uhm, a ghost toy…- the professor repeated with and hand on his chin. -Reminds me of the pokemon Banette.
Seeing the empy expression on Gold's face, he explained what he meant.
-Banette is a pokemon that once was an abandoned plush doll and he seeks out the child that thrown it away to get revenge. Maybe there is a similar story behind this ghost.
He ran everywhere and asked everyone he met if they had seen Crystal or the pokemon, but he didn't find any clue. In the end he had to stop to catch his breath, but he refused to gave up the searching even if it was night now and he couldn't see anything in the dark.
He was about to resume his search when he heard a laugh above him. Among the branches and the leaves of a tree, he saw a pair of red glowing eyes.
-You like to play, eh?- He said between breaths, but then he straightened up. -Enjoy it while it lasts.
The pokemon laughed again and vanished but he heard a chuckle came from further away. Gold laid his eyes on an abandoned amusement park.
He ignored the signs that forbade stepping inside and, without hesitation, he climbed over the tapes on the entrance. There was a dead silence there but, sometimes, the wind made crackle some old metallic structure
Thinking about it now, that was the perfect place for ghost pokemon.
He sent out his Explotaro to made light on the surrondings but still, there wasn't any sign of the pokemon. Walking, he arrived to what once was a hall of mirrors. Seeing his reflections in the dark was creepy, even Explotaro was nervous.
He tried to tranquilize him, and himself, caressing the pokemon's back. -There is nothing to be afraid of.
When he looked up again, he recognized a familiar shape, one of a girl with two side ponytails. -Crys!
He ran toward her just to end up with his face against a mirror.
He heard a chuckle and turned behind him and he saw the girl running away and the mirrors around him reflected her image.
Doing that chasing game with her might have felt thrilling under other circumstances but, all he was feeling was frustration after finding himself in front of so many dead ends. Eventually, he found a way to get out the labyrinth of mirrors but the girl wasn't anywhere near.
The clouds moved and the light of the full moon flooded the park with a white ghostly light and he saw a shadow on the ground moving. He looked up and saw Crystal hovering on the rusted rails of a roller coaster. The old structure was crackling under her feet. He sent out his flying pokemon in case of her fall but ordered to them to not fly right away to her to not scare her. He climbed to reach her, that was still walking and looked amused by the situation.
-Crys, can you hear me?- He talked softly walikng toward her. -Isn't it ironic that the catcher has been catched by a pokemon?
She stopped. She was just some steps away but, even from there, he saw that one of her finger turned purple. He repressed his anger and slowly stepped toward her, but she started to walk again and then, suddenly, she jumped off.
-Crys!
He ran forward, almost sliping off, and looked down, afraid of what he could have seen, but she was there, on the roof of the ticket office that, with the dark, he hadn't seen.
He was sure that she made him lose at leats ten years of his life, rage was boiling inside him.
-Crys, I had enough! Stop it!
She ran away again and vanished in the shadows.
He lost his balanced and fell off, fortunately, mantaro and togetaro catched him just in time, then he set off again in pursuit of the girl.
He followed her down a slide and almost ended up and a wooden spear placed there on purpose for him, but he succeeded on stopping just before losing a man's most important thing.
Next, he chased her inside a crumbling building that once was a haunted house. He received in his face fake dusty zubat, besides real ones, that fell from the ceiling and stuffed ekans that came off the walls when he stepped on certain points.
Somewhere, in the spooky silence, he could heard her distant steps. Eventually, he reached her in the last room.
-I had enough of being gentle with you- he declared and ran toward her.
She was laughing and stepped back but froze when her hand met something sticky. She looked above her and saw something big coming down the ceiling, at the same time, Gold throw himself above her, to made sure she wouldn't ran off again.
-I got you!- he shouted victorious but, suddendly, he felt the ground missing under him.
Their weight broke the rotten wood of the floor and he embraced her tight to protect her from the fall. He felt pain through is arms as they were crushed under the weight of their two body.
He tried to rose up and check on her but he was stuck in something sticky, a web, a real one and its' maker was coming down from the upper floor through the hole they made. An ariados, a very big one.
Under him, he felt the girl trembling with open wide eyes and, just few steps from them, he saw the puppet that was controlling the her, it was frozen too.
His hands were blocked, he couldn't do nothing. The spider pokemon was almost over them when a blaze hit him. The ariados withdrew into the shadows and Explotaro, from the upper floor, looked down to him. The pokemon was left behind while he was chasing Crystal and Gold forgot to recall him in his pokeball. The typhlosion jumped through the hole and freed his trainer from the web.
-Thank you bud- Gold said wiping the sweat on his chin with the back of his hand.
He was about to raise up when a pair of arms around his neck blocked him in that position. Only in that moment he became aware of his position, he was above Crystal, she was warm and tiny confronted to him and he could feel her chest brushing against his own.
He was starting to feel his body heating up, in conflict of his mind that was trying to command him to remain calm.
-C…Crys?!- he muttered, looking everywhere but down.
Then he heard her wispher to his ear. -Thank you for playing with me. It was fun.
He heard a sound and saw a the plastic ring falling on the wooden floor beside her head and, when he rose his eyes, the puppet wasn't there anymore.
Under him, he felt Crystal body wincing and she looked like she just woke up. -Uh… what?
Her eyes met his and they looked at each other for a moment, until she pushed him away with a hand on his face. -What are you doing? Pervert!
He was now sitting in front of her, massaging his cheek while she had her arms crossed on her chest.
-How grateful! I just saved you.
She was about to retort but then she looked around her with perplexed eyes. -Why are we here? This place is creepy.
-Seriously?! Don't play innocently after what you've putted me through!- he shouted but then he sighed, calming down, it was unreasonable to get angry to her. -Well, whatever, let's leave.
He rose up but then a joilting pain crossed his leg and he fell back on the floor with a grunt.
-Gold!- she exclaimed, concern was obvious in her voice and she came near him on all four.
Only now, looking at his leg, he noticed a piece of wood skewered in his thight, his pants where soaked with blood.
-It's nothing- he said to tranquilize her but his voice betrayed his pain. -Rather, how's your finger?
Just then she noticed her purple finger and he could tell by reading her expression that she really didn't remembered anything of what happened. He saw the light in Crystal's eyes shaking. -Am I the cause of this?
-Don't worry Super Serious Gal- he said trying trying to mask his pain better this time. -Just… let's leave this horrible place.
-You're lucky that it didn't hit any vital spot- the doctor said to Gold and Crystal was sure she heard a harsh note in his voice, and she saw her suspicious confirmed by his next words. -The next time you want to... be alone, there are better place than an abandoned park.
He turned his back to them and headed to the door without paying attention to the embarrassed protests of the girl.
Once they remained alone in the room, they looked at each other.
-So…- Crystal begin. -What happened there? Didn't you try anything funny on me?
-Do you really have so little faith in me?- he stated indignant scratching his nape. -You're the one who should give an explaination here, you're the one who suddenly disappeared.
She tried to recall her last memories for some moment. -I remember that, after putting the ring that Julian gave me, I felt tired and weak and I heard a voice in my head. It was the voice of a child. It sounded so sad, as if she was crying but I don't remember her words, but I am sure that she wanted to play.
-Well, it succeded!- Gold commented with a pout.
-And… I saw someting- Crystal continued to talk. -It was like a dream… more like a nightmare, but it was of someonelse. I don't know, maybe it's silly…
She looked at Gold that was listening to her without flinching.
-I was a little girl at the orphanage…but it was different from today, like if I was in the past… anyway, my only toy was one of those puppet that emit sounds and move when you pull a string. I was extremely jealous of it and I didn't liked when other children touched it but, some kids stole it from me and, knowing I was afraid of going in the attic, they left the toy there. I went to take if back but those kids locked me up there and-, her voice was shaking, like if remembering it was painful. -… by the time someone came back for me, it was too late, they only found a group of spinarak…
Silence filled the room and Gold relived in his mind that moment in the hauted house, when that ariados appeared.
-That explains it…- he murmured. -So, was it a ghost or a pokemon? I'm not sure of the difference…
That was the last thing he said on the matter, he hated that gloomy atmosphere and grinned to her direction. -You know, you were behaving like a child, running away and chuckling…
Crystal blushed. -That is not possible!
-You also said: "Gold, catch me!"- he continued imitating her voice. –"Play with me Gold!"
-Liar!
He pursued on teasing her, it was so funny and he loved to see her flush. He'll remember that night to her for the rest of their life.
In the end, she regained her composture and, before leaving his room, she turned to him and said: -Thanks Gold and…
Her cheeks turned red again and she tried to hid it turning her head. -Gold, I trust you.
Crys' finger returned to his natural colour in just few hours and, right from the next day, she resumed her usual activities. The children at the orphanage welcomed her warmly and Julian bursted into tears sobbing countless "sorry" but she reassured him with an embrace.
As for Gold, in the following days, he needed to use a crutch for walking and he had no scruple in using his limping to instill compassion in girls, inluded Crystal.
He was sure that, after so many days from their mishap, Crystal knew that he was faking in order to receive her attention, but she pursued anyway to get along with his act, being unusually gentle with him and even letting him rest his head on her lap.
-Gold, get up- she said after closing the book she was reading.
Reluctant, he opened his eyes. -Why?
-Unlike you, I have things to do.
-Enjoying life is an activity- he protested without raising his head from her thighs. -Do you have to go the orphanage?
-Yes, do you want to came?
-Hell no! Those children are little devils and that Julian… using his innocent appearance to take advantage over girls.
Crystal rose an eyebrow. -Doesn't he remember you of someonelse?
-No! I'm not like him…-, he ran his fingers through his forelock -I'm more handsome.
-Come on Gold, get up!- despite her words, she couldn't hide a soft chuckle.
He put his arms around her waist and buried his face against her belly. -Just a little more.
She sighed and caressed his hair. -Just for a while…