21.11.02
There was a knock at my door. "Brendan? Sweetie? Are you alright in there?"
It was my mom.
I tossed and turned in my bed, still half asleep.
"Look," she took a deep breath. "I made you breakfast. You haven't been eating well these last… I mean, recently. Please eat, Brendan. You're not doing yourself any good."
Tired of my failed attempts to tune her out, I groaned out a response, "I'm fine, Mom. I'm not hungry right now. I'll eat later."
"That's the umpteenth time you've used that excuse with me, and you still haven't even taken a nibble." she huffed. "You know what? I'm not going to leave the plate in front of your door today. If you want to eat, you'll have to come downstairs."
I heard her pick up the plate, and walk away from my door without a second thought. I reckoned that it was about time that she got fed up with my behaviour, but at the same time, I don't expect her to understand what I'm going through.
I would've ignored my growling stomach any day, but even I have my limits. Giving in to the tempting scent of breakfast ham and butter, I got changed into my normal clothes, and walked to the kitchen.
"Thank goodness!" Mom sighed. "I was beginning to forget what you looked like, Brendan." she pointed with her spatula. "Your food's on the table. You might want to eat it a little quickly, though. It's getting cold."
"Thanks." I mumbled, but it wasn't out of spite.
"Uh-huh." Mom curtly replied. She was washing the dishes, which I assumed were from last night when she was eating with Dad.
I finished soon, and got out of my seat to add to Mom's pile of dirty dishes. She didn't say anything about it, but I could see her frown in slight disappointment.
As I was walking past the television, the weather forecast segment that had been playing ended, and a news story soon took its place.
"And today… we're sorry to bring this to you, but we have heart-breaking news from Mossdeep City." the reporter announced. "We received word that just several days after the failed space shuttle launch at Mossdeep Space Center, one of the two astronauts-in-training who were injured during the accident died in the hospital. The young astronaut was none other than May Birch, the daughter of the renowned Pokémon Professor Birch. TV Mauville has gotten in touch with those closest to Miss Birch, and here is what they have to say-"
I wish the damn television wasn't on.
They don't know what they're talking about! Not only did they get the story wrong; according to them, the "closest" people to May were her colleagues at the Space Centre!
It's obviously a cover-up.
It wouldn't surprise me if the Mossdeep Space Centre was paying the hospital and the media to keep quiet about the actual incident in order to maintain their public image. After all, the reason why May is dead in the first place is because of their inability to think of another solution to destroy the asteroid, and irresponsibly letting one of their trainees evade his duties.
I haven't heard anything from Mr. or Mrs. Birch, but I imagine that not even they know the truth about what happened in Mossdeep. Although they are victims of this whole affair, and they do deserve to know the truth, I cannot tell them without being entirely positive that my conjectures are correct.
There goes another reason why I have to go through with this investigation.
I headed upstairs, and packed my things to get ready to go out. May's pokémon were still in her bag, which I left on my chair, so I decided that it wouldn't hurt to take one of them with me to accompany my travels. I decided to take Swampert, because he was the closest one to May. In order to keep the rest of May's pokémon safe, I would have to deposit them in my PC at the Pokémon Centre. So, I took them with me as well, but only for the time being.
I went back downstairs to find that Mom wasn't in the kitchen anymore. She probably went back to her room to take a break for a while.
Using this opportunity, I slipped outside, finding myself taken aback by the intense smell of nature that I had long forgotten. It brought back so many memories for me…
Once I reached Oldale Town, I went to the Pokémon Centre to deposit May's pokémon before I went anywhere else. As I was getting the pokéballs out of her bag, a small square of paper fell out and landed on the floor in front of me.
I bent down to pick up the square, and flipped it over to find... a photograph of me. At first glance, I looked like I was studying a star map very intently, but upon closer inspection, you could tell that I was actually sleeping. May had also placed a blanket on my back to keep me from getting cold, as evidenced by her hand pulling the corner over my shoulder.
When did she take this?
It appeared to be from several months ago, but I couldn't exactly remember when I fell asleep like this. I looked really childish, and I couldn't help but ask myself why May chose to take this particular picture and decided to print it out.
I carefully placed the picture in my wallet to avoid bending the corners. Then, I finished my operations at the computer, and stepped back outside.
A light rain had begun to fall. I checked the sky for any signs of lightning, but could find none. I determined that it was safe for me to travel through the air, so I called out my Flygon to take me to Rustboro City.
I made my way to the Devon Corporation Pokémart, where I spoke to the cashier at the front.
"Hello, and welcome to the Devon Corporation-sponsored Pokémart; where you'll find all of the exclusive, newest products being made and sold right here, in the heart of Rustboro City!" the cashier exclaimed. "How can I help you today?"
"I'd like to purchase one Pokénav+, please." I replied.
"No problem, sir! That'll be 1500P." He grinned.
I paid him the correct amount for the Pokénav+, and left the store after a brief goodbye. I made plans to adjust the settings later, and hopped back onto Flygon's back.
This time, I was headed towards Fortree City.
I wasn't going to do anything there, but I chose to go to Fortree because it was the closest place to Route 119.
It was still raining, much to my dismay, but it could be worse. I internally thanked my mom for buying me waterproof running shoes as I walked down the familiar forest path.
Finally, I arrived at my destination.
I climbed up the vine leading to May's secret base, and walked in, feeling an intense nostalgia overcome my senses.
I breathed, letting it all sink in.
As far as I knew, May and I were the only ones that knew about this secret base's existence. I hoped that no one would find this place and realize that it belonged to May, mostly because I had come to distrust the media so much.
There was a lock on the makeshift door, but it was nothing that a really strong kick couldn't break, so I decided that it would be better to change the sign next to the door. Not wanting to cross out May's name, I used some weather-resistant adhesive and carefully pasted a thick leaf on the back that covered the entire sign. Then, I flipped the sign over and wrote my name. The adhesive wasn't permanent, and could be removed, but the leaf on the back wasn't too noticeable, so there was a smaller chance of it being flipped over and revealed.
Satisfied with my craft, I went back into the secret base, and sat down on the floor where I always did to watch May's improvised star shows. I knew how to set everything up by memory, so I configured all the devices, and let the lights roll.
I felt a sense of wonder, watching the artificial stars, as I did the first time…
But it just wasn't the same.
What was I expecting?
I turned everything off, and went to sleep instead