Chapter 7: Secrets of the Forest
Dawn felt like screaming in triumph as she stepped out into the sunlight. Three days of waiting, trapped indoors by healing wounds, her own and those of her Pokémon. Days upon days of nothing to do but scroll through the Pokédex, update Strategies and Training Plans, Vol. 1 with any new ideas and nap. She had been all but banging on the walls to be released when Nurse Joy finally called her over to say her Pokémon had finished healing and she could be on her way.
Aries had joined her in confinement two days before the others; he only had some bruising so while he could be released, they hadn't been able to train. She took the opportunity to get to know Aries, spending time together without the others around to divide their attention. They spent lazy mornings settled on the floor reading and afternoons wandering through the flower fields near the Center, aimlessly talking through new training ideas, telling him stories of her life in Twinleaf Town and her time on the trail with the team. When it got dark out they would go to the window or outside on the lawn, where Dawn would point out the constellations and tell the tales of ancient heroes and Legends. Aries was always excited to listen, pressing his nose up to the Pokédex as if to read alongside her and paying rapt attention as she pointed out the location of the constellation that shared his name.
But while their time together had been wonderful, nothing could replace the feeling of dirt beneath her boots, the wind moving through her hair, Zephyr's cheerful screams from above, Ion's mewls, Crest's trills and Aries' quiet companionship by her side as they set off down the road, heading for the bridge to Route 205.
She'd just set foot on the worn wooden planks when someone called her name. "Dawn!" She turned around, Ion's fur rising slightly and Crest's beak glowing with the faintest hint of blue. Even three days in the Center hadn't taken the edge off their nerves.
Nando was walking along the path behind then, deep green cloak flaring out in the wind and harp nestled in the crook of his arm like always. A Roselia strode at his side. It was smaller than most of her Pokémon, but the bright color of its flower-hands told her it was more powerful that it appeared at first glance.
"My friend, I've been looking for you for days! I heard you got caught up in that awful business at the Valley Windworks."
Dawn shrugged, not quite managing to make the movement natural. "Yeah, had a couple days in the Pokémon Center to recover. We're just setting out for Eterna City again now."
"I'm sorry you had to endure such trials my friend, but you appear to have overcome them and come out stronger." Nando smiled down at Crest, noting the longer wings and deeper blue color that had become more apparent since their battle at the Windworks. The water type stuck his beak in the air haughtily, knowing a compliment when he heard one.
"Oh Nando, I almost forgot, what was your decision? Are you going to do Contests or Gyms?" Dawn asked, attempting to steer the conversation away from bad memories.
Nando looked up again, gracing her with a wide, beaming smile and a quick trill of light, happy notes from his harp.
"I have decided to take your advice my friend; I shall do both! When tracking down Chikorita during the catching contest, I thought equally of the beauty she exuded and the power she could wield, and in catching her my partners displayed their own beauty and strength in equal measure. I could not reduce them to less than they are by asking them to take one road only! When next you see us, we shall have stood proud on the stage of the Contest Halls and fought in the dust and dirt of many battlefields!"
Dawn reached out and clapped him on the shoulder, smile breaking out across her face. "That's wonderful Nando, I'm glad you made a decision you're happy with. It'll be a hard path but I'm sure you can do it." She let go and took a step back, hand moving to brush the tops of her Pokéballs. "But since I'm no Contest trainer, how about I take you up on that challenge from a few days ago?"
Nando laughed, spreading his arms wide. "I was about to suggest the same thing! Two Pokémon each?"
"Perfect." They moved off the trail a little bit and backed up, leaving a wide expanse of grass between them for their Pokémon to ruin. All of Dawn's Pokémon were looking up at her now, Zephyr having returned from the sky the second his sharp ears heard the word "battle."
"Swablu, I need your assistance!" Nando's Pokéball flashed in midair and a small blue Pokémon with wings like clouds appeared. Its body was maybe half Ion's size, but the fluffy wings added extra bulk to the small form.
A Flying type. Dawn wished she could use Zephyr, he needed more experience with midair battles, but his injuries meant he couldn't battle for another few days. She really didn't want to have to bring him back and face Nurse Joy's wrath.
"Aries, let's show them what we've got!" Aries baaed and raced out onto the field, the rest of the team looking disappointed they hadn't been chosen but cheering for their teammate in their own tongue. Twin vines grew from the grass on his back, slowly waving back and forth in anticipation.
Nando took the first move. "Swablu, please use Mist!" Swablu trilled a high note and began flapping hard, rising into the air as icy mist formed around and fell from its cloud-like feathers. Aries' vines shot forward but Swablu was already nothing more than a shadow in the mist, more and more rolling out to cover the field. Vines lashed randomly over the field but encountered nothing, their target camouflaged in the white cloud.
Dawn glanced up at the cloudless sky. With this much light the mist wouldn't last long unless Swablu was constantly pumping out more. If they added to the pressure… "Aries, keep using Vine Whip and keep moving! Disperse the mist!" Aries charged forward, vines whirling, the wind created by his charge punching a hole in the mist.
Nando didn't let their plan go unchallenged. "Swablu, Disarming Voice if you please!" Deceptively sweet song echoed from all around, a burst of pink fairy-type energy carried by the sound smashing into Aries. The grass type stumbled, his charge brought to an abrupt halt.
Swablu's notes rang out once more and Aries went down, pink energy lancing into his front right leg and sending him face-first into the dirt. He was struggling to stand when another burst hit his left leg, causing him to squeal in pain.
Nightmares, how could they defend against an enemy who could hit from anywhere, who was too high to hit back and hidden to boot? Dawn had to give Nando credit, this strategy was a masterstroke against grounded opponents. What could they do?
"Aries, you need to get up! Use Growth to keep you going and plant the seeds!" Aries staggered to his hooves, his grassy pelt beginning to glow faint green. Swablu's notes rand in the air and pink energy rained down from all angles. Aries wasn't able to dodge them all, enduring bolt after bolt of fairy energy as he did his best to keep moving, running all over the field. He held his head high even as his body began to shake from pain and exhaustion, the green glow of Growth beginning to dim.
Nando didn't wait for him to fall on his own. "Swablu, Round! It will fall!"
"Aries, Vine Whip! Throw the seeds!" Arie's vines shot out. They dug into the ground a foot away, where the dirt thrown around by missed Disarming Voices hid thick green vines. A firm yank revealed a thick web of roots and vines knotted around one another, forming a net about half the size of Aries' body. His whole body turned as he yanked it up and threw, the net of grown Leech Seeds flying through the slowly thinning mist. Swablu didn't appear, but they heard the sound of quick wingbeats. "Again!" Another Leech Seed cluster flew through the air, half of it blasting apart as Swablu defended itself with Disarming Voice.
In the end, the thinning mist meant that only three Leech Seed nets were needed. Swablu's squawk when the third net hit it gave Aries a target to grab. His vines shot out, thick and strong, faster than before. They dove into the thin, neglected cloud of Mist and came out holding a struggling Swablu.
"Slam it!"
"Swablu, Peck! Make it let go of you!"
Aries was faster, the constant Growth giving him new strength even in the face of his many injuries and growing exhaustion. A proud bleat rang out as his vines swung down, Swablu unable to Peck though in time. The ground shook slightly with the force of the blow, Swablu crying a last note before falling silent. The dust cleared to show Aries shaking but still standing and Swablu lying in a crater in the grass, wings flopped in the dirt and eyes closed.
Nando recalled his partner with a sigh, a smile still fixed on his face. "Good effort my friend, I thought we had you for a while there."
"Aries may be new to the team but he's tough," Dawn said, grin stretching wide as Aries stumbled over to stand in front of her, his head held high.
"Indeed, but I believe my next companion will prove more than a match for him." Nando gestured to the Roselia at his side and it strode out onto the battlefield, rose-hands opening wide.
Grass type vs. Grass type and Aries was heavily injured. Not ideal, but they'd make do.
Dawn took the first move: "Aries, Tackle!" Aries charged forward, slower than before and steps a little unsteady. His bulk and momentum powered the charge more than his legs.
Roselia dodged with a twirl, allowing Aries run past. The roses that were its hands left a residue hanging in the air, of some sort of…
"Aries, get back!" It was too late. The Sweet Scent spread through the clearing, pinkish spores spread into the air by Roselia's elegant twirls. Aries' head lifted and he hesitated, stepping forward slowly, as if in a dream. Dawn shouted again but it had no effect, her teammate lost to the alluring scent wafting on the breeze.
"Roselia, please use Poison Sting." One rose lifted and spikes shot out, embedding deep in Aries' flank. He stiffened and toppled over, hitting the ground with an audible thud. Dawn sighed and recalled him, whispering thanks to the Pokéball even as she attached it to her belt. He'd need potions and an antidote tonight, to make sure there weren't any lingering problems after taking that much damage. But thanks to him she had a better idea of what Roselia could do now, and that could make all the difference.
"Ion!" Zephyr would be her first choice, but he was still healing. Nurse Joy would murder her if she took him back only hours after he was released from her care. Ion needed more battle experience anyway, especially since they were once again facing a gym where he was at a disadvantage. Ion scrambled to his feet and raced out onto the field, tail flicking about and ears twitching. Roselia didn't move, eyes never wavering from Ion's small form.
Nando took the first move. "Roselia, use Poison Sting please!" Stinging needles buried themselves in the ground where Ion had been a moment before. Ion ran towards Roselia as fast as he could, strafing from side to side to avoid shots of stinging needles as he closed the gap.
"Spark!" Ion's body glowed and sparked, electricity crackling over his fur as he closed in. Roselia spun to the side to avoid his leap, roses raised above her head in an artful twirl. Spores began to spread form the flowers, her dancelike movements directing the cloud towards Ion.
Dawn gritted her teeth. They'd caught them that way last time. It wouldn't happen again! "Charge! Rev up Spark!"
Ion's fur began to crackle with renewed intensity, bright sparks flying off his form and leaving little patches of burnt grass behind. Ion whirled, chasing Roselia across the field. He was faster than Roselia, but she was more precise, whirling away from Ion's charges and leaps, leaving spore clouds of Sleep Powder and Stun Spore in her wake. Ion was too slow to dodge around one after three misses. Dawn's heart leapt to her throat as the spore cloud hit, but the Charge in his coat burned away the spores that got too close.
Nando frowned as his strategy failed, visibly reaching for a different option. "Roselia, Poison Sting! Hidden Vines!" Roselia's flower hands extended as she let loose a barrage of Poison Sting, forcing Ion to focus on dodging and keeping the Charge going rather than attacking. Dawn, furiously wracking her brain on how to help Ion, didn't notice the pattern in her shots until too late.
"Look out-" Ion ran right into an area of grass that was strangely lumpy, squealing in shock when vines burst from the ground and ensnared him. The Leech Seeds glowed green and Ion's squeals got quieter and quieter, his struggles weakening. Roselia was lining her roses up for one last shot-
"Flash!" Light flared, blinding Dawn and everyone else watching. When she could open her eyes again, her vision still blurring and eyes watering, Ion was tearing off the last of the Leech Seeds with Bite. He was free and charging in moments, closing the distance to the still-recovering Roselia.
His Spark was vicious, bowling Roselia over and leaving scorch marks in the dirt. Her cry of pain rose higher when Ion bit down, letting go only when Roselia stopped struggling. He stood atop her chest and mewled as loudly as he could, head help high in pride atop his downed foe.
That was when Roselia struck. A cloud of spores erupted from her roses, a last revenge. Ion's eyes shut and he slid to the ground, knocked out in an instant by the concentrated Sleep Powder.
Dawn sighed and recalled him, murmuring words of gratitude and congratulations to the Pokéball as she set it back on her belt. They were so close…
"A great battle my friend! I feel for all those who stand in your way," Nando said, walking across the field to face her, fingers already rising to pluck at his harp after recalling Roselia.
"Thanks, you're no pushover either! Roselia's dodging strategy was unique, I never saw that Sweet Scent coming," Dawn complimented. If she hadn't already known she would have guessed he was a Coordinator just from watching Roselia battle. He knew how to make his moves both flashy and effective.
"Thank you, we've worked hard on it. However, if I may offer some advice- you are heading for Eterna City next, are you not?" His fingers paused on the strings of his harp.
"Yeah, I'm planning on challenging Gardenia for my next Gym Badge," Dawn told him, leaning forward a little.
"Gardenia is strong indeed, and I have faced her in the past. A word of warning? Grass types are well known for their mastery of powder and other incapacitating moves and Gardenia in particular knows how to use them to great effect in battle. You just saw their effectiveness for yourself. I recommend that you work to find strategies to deal with such moves or you will find your Pokémon are quickly made helpless." Nando watched her, shoulders stiff and fingers tapping on the edges of his harp as he waited for her reaction.
"I…" She hadn't been expecting powder moves, even though Grass types were notorious for using them. He'd just shut her down at every opportunity, hiding his Pokémon and forcing hers to stay at a distance or use up power defending themselves. Aries had been helpless until the Mist thinned and his nets had time to grow, and if her crazy Charge strategy hadn't worked Ion would have been defeated in less than a minute. He was right- they needed to work on that. She already had a few ideas… "Yeah, you might be right. Thanks for the tip. Anything else I should know?"
His shoulders relaxed, slumping back a bit and his smile returned. "Just an old story from the mouth of a bard, a teller of tall tales. Legend has it there is a place in the Eterna Forest, an old mansion that appears to the lost. If you enter, you will not return, for a dark power haunts the place, trapping the souls of the lost forevermore. Be wary of what waits in the forest, and do not stray from the path."
"I'll keep that in mind. Thanks Nando, I wish you luck with your journey." Dawn held out a hand and Nando shook it.
"I am sure we shall see each other again my friend, and sooner than you might think. Farewell!" He turned and walked away, plucking the melody of an old traveler's tune from his harp as he wandered back to the flower fields.
Dawn turned to face the river and the distant trees, Crest falling in at her side and Zephyr taking off to soar above them. She would see Nando again, and next time their battle wouldn't end in a tie. For now, it was time to get going.
#
"Okay Crest, use Mist Bomb!" Crest's beak opened wide and a torrent of glowing blue bubbles with swirling white contents streamed out, the bubble cloud growing until it was bigger than a tree.
"Zephyr, Whirlwind!" A flap of mighty wings summoned a tiny tornado and Zephyr threw it forward, the wind crashing into the bubble cloud and popping them all at once. A huge cloud of Mist swirled in place of the bubbles, hiding Crest and everything more than three feet away from Dawn's view. She couldn't even see shadows in the swirling fog to discern where her Pokémon stood.
"Perfect! Great job Crest, we've finally gotten it down!" She heard his cry of jubilation from somewhere in the Mist but couldn't tell where he was standing. "Okay Zephyr, can you get rid of the Mist for us?" Another burst of wind and the Mist began to clear, revealing Crest and Zephyr where they stood a few feet away.
"Mist Bomb will be important in avoiding damage and status moves during the battle with Gardenia. You aren't fast enough to dodge every attack so keeping them from seeing where you are will be a major advantage, and you can cover allies with this new move too," Dawn said, walking over and kneeling down to give Crest a scratch on the side of his head, right where he liked it. He learned into her hand slightly but straightened up immediately when he saw Zephyr watching them.
"You can't avoid every move though, even with Mist Bomb, so we're going to start learning a new move," Dawn told Crest, reaching into her pocket and retrieving her Pokédex. She pulled up a view and showed Crest the screen. Onscreen a Miltank took a harsh punch from a Machoke, reeling back for a second before spitting out a huge beam of gray-white energy that sent the Machoke flying back. "That's Bide. It's an energy redirection technique- you take an opponent's attacks, storing some of the energy and building on it so that you can dish out an even bigger blow in return after a few attacks. Think you're up for the challenge?"
There was only one response to that. Crest puffed up his chest and squeaked an affirmative. "Great! We'll need Zephyr's help for this one. He's going to practice using Take Down while you work on trying to absorb the force of his attack for Bide." Crest looked as close to apprehensive as he got while Zephyr perked up, already shifting from foot to foot and wings raised like he was about to take off.
"Zephyr, no. For the last time, you are still healing. You don't get to use a full Take Down yet and certainly not on Crest. You're going to use the weaker version we've been practicing with until I'm sure you're healed, and you've proven you can use the move without wrecking your body. Am I understood?" Zephyr's little hops stilled, and he looked away, beak tilted towards the sky.
"Look over here and nod to say you understand or no Leppa berries for you tonight." His head snapped around to face her, eyes wide and beak hanging open slightly. "Yes, I mean it!" Zephyr finally ducked his head and shrieked, somehow making the high notes sound mournful. Dawn pointed up and he took off, banking in lazy circles twenty feet above them.
Crest took up position at the center of Zephyr's circle and Dawn backed off, snapping three times to signal Zephyr that they were ready. A moment after her last snap he dove, already cloaked in harsh white light. Dawn sucked in a breath to yell at him, but the intensity of the light lessened as he got lower until she could see his body instead of an incoming comet. He smashed into Crest, the impact making him stumble back a few steps. Take Down at full power, especially when used by a Pokémon with Reckless, was devastating for both the target and the user. After some experimentation they'd found that using it at the lowest possible power helped Zephyr get used to it and didn't cause much damage to the user or target, making it perfect for training Bide.
She watched Zephyr dive in twice more, Crest squawking angrily after the third time his beak opened and no Bide appeared, before calling out, "I'm going to check on Aries and Ion. Four more times then stop for a while!" Zephyr and Crest squawked affirmatives and Dawn moved off, walking over to the other side of the clearing where Aries and Ion practiced Razor Leaf and Discharge on some poor, unsuspecting rocks.
"How's it going you two?" Taking a look at their targets, she could see that success was mixed. There was a pile of leaves around the base of Aries' rock, but most had blunted, soft edges and there were only a few cuts scored into the rock face, all of them at the bottom edge or sides of the stone. There were plenty of scorch marks around Ion's feet and a few black marks a few feet away in any given direction, but only one small black mark on the stone he'd been aiming for. Both of her Pokémon were looking disconsolate, shoulders slumped and panting for breath.
Time to try a different approach. Blasting away at rocks didn't seem to be helping much. "Hmm, let's try something else you two. Get ready, we're gonna try some aim practice." She turned to face Ion. "Ion, you aren't allowed to move from your spot; you're going to try to hit Aries with any electricity you can at range. Maybe try using your tail to aim? In the videos we saw it looked like that Luxio was using its tail to control where the lightning hit."
She turned to face Aries, who was already looking happier at the change of plans. "Aries, you aren't allowed to move either. Your job is to mess with Ion- every time he produces electricity away from his body, you're going to aim a Razor Leaf at it. Don't worry so much about making them sharp right now, we'll work on that once your aim is a little better. You just have to hit the sparks, especially if one is coming right for you!" She backed up a few steps and raised her hand, looking between the two. "Are you ready?" Both made noises of agreement, staring at each other with excitement in their eyes, so she slashed her hand down. "Begin!"
Ion's coat exploded into a mass of hissing, spitting yellow-gold but Aries struck first. A trio of leaves grew from his coat and shot forward, missing the spark he'd been aiming for by a few inches. As the spark had been less than a foot away from Ion at the time, Ion had to jump to the side to avoid the leaves. His coat dimmed as he lost concentration, Ion's high-pitched growl of frustration echoing around the clearing. Dawn didn't say anything, letting the two of them practice and get their frustration out with moving targets until Ion's errant bolts of lightning hit a little too close.
Dawn jumped up as Ion's coat exploded, his control lost and a thousand tiny strands of lightning hit everywhere around him. For a moment she was back in the Windworks, helpless before the Hyper Beam that was about to end her life. Before she registered what had happened, she was on the ground, curled up behind a nearby stump, hands over her head and shaking like a leaf caught in a windstorm. She sucked in a ragged breath as she took in her surroundings. It was fine, she wasn't in any danger, she was safe, the Valley Windworks was far behind. Wait, her Pokémon!
Aries and Ion were still where she'd left them when she looked back at the clearing, Ion mewling and looking around frantically while Aries had been driven to his knees. The ground around them had numerous black spots burnt into it from where the uncontrolled and minuscule Discharge had hit.
The growing anger at herself at her own reaction died in a second, her concern for Aries overpowering. Dawn rushed out from her last-second cover and went to check on him. She reached him at the same moment Ion did. Her right hand gave Ion a distracted comfort pet while she examined the wound on Aries' side. He was breathing heavily and there was a small burnt patch on his grass coat where she could see actual skin poking through, but he otherwise looked unharmed.
"You okay buddy?" He grunted and pulled himself to his hooves, shaking his whole body like he was trying to get rid of water. Ion mewled an apology, but Aries shook his head, baaing something Dawn couldn't understand but which made Ion stand a up a little straighter.
"He's right buddy, that was the closest you've gotten to Discharge yet even if you don't have the aim or power down yet! You can only get better from here! We'll let you rest for a while and I need to see to that burnt patch on Aries. Can you go watch Zephyr and Crest and make sure they don't go overboard?" Ion perked up and nodded, tail swishing back and forth as he trotted off to go make sure his teammates weren't… well, being themselves. Having him look after others was the best way to make sure he didn't beat himself up for an honest mistake.
Dawn sat back on her heels, doing her best to calm her still-frantic breathing, then turned back to Aries, studying the burnt patch critically. The grass on and around the burst patch was various shades of black, with long strands like weeds snaking away from the origin point of the strike. His natural resistance to the electric type helped him shrug off most of the other effects but this grass was dead. After asking permission and receiving a nod from Aries, Dawn began to tug at the grass with careful fingers, pulling away the dead parts of the plant. Most of it crumbled to dust in her hands but some still had enough cohesion to remain together as she dropped it on the ground, ignored the second it left her hands.
Dawn was much more interested in what lay below the grass coat; a mixture of the thick brown fur and what looked a thin coat of soil, rich and black and slightly soft under her probing fingertips. Looking from the grass growing on his back, the soil under her fingers and the moss growing on the rocks around the clearing, she was struck with an idea. "Aries, have you ever tried to grow a different variety of grass?"
He looked back at her with his head cocked a little to the side, black eyes large. Dawn hastened to explain, growing more and more curious and excited with each word: "You have soil underneath this grass you're growing, as a medium for the plants on your back to grab onto, but I took the dead grass off. Is there any reason you couldn't grow a different plant on your back other than grass? Or even a different variety of grass? If I put different grass on this bare patch, will it grow? Can I try?"
Aries still looked a little confused but shrugged, his grassy back and exposed soil and fur rippling with the motion. With shaking fingers, Dawn dug into the grass at her feet, making sure to get as much of the roots of the plant as she could before carefully transferring it to Aries' back. She patted down the soil, made sure it integrated with what soil was already there and checked to be sure it wouldn't fall right off him. Dawn stood up and stepped back, admiring the tiny patch of differently colored grass in the sea of green on the grass type's back. "Okay Aries, try using Growth. That should help it integrate if it can."
The green glow raced across his back quickly, fueled by the sun shining overhead. Dawn watched the new grass closely as the plants began to grow. It took longer for the green to spread to the new grass, but it did spread, and within moments the new grass was as vibrant and had grown just as tall as the old.
"Yes!" Her shout and fist pumped into the air caused Crest, Zephyr and Ion to look over from their side of the clearing and Aries to back up a step. "You can grow different plants! Oh this could be huge, just imagine the tactical implications! You could grow fire resistant grass, or maybe ice resistant, and what would happen if you started growing grass that was naturally better at photosynthesis? You're probably growing some Kalosian variant on grass right now, but if you switch to Sinnoh's native grass you might have an easier time resisting ice type attacks because the weather here is colder! You could grow a full Berry bush on your back! No, the roots on those probably go too deep for you to handle…"
Dawn was already digging around in her backpack for Strategies and Training Plans, Vol. 1, she had so much to write down! She'd have to find out more about plants and maybe get some small pots to keep new varieties of plants in so they could experiment, she could probably get those in Eterna City, right? There had to be books on what kind of plants grow best in different conditions…
Dawn was too enamored with her new discovery to notice the looks her Pokémon were trading around her. Or at least she was too excited to pay attention to them anyway.
#
"Ion, Spark!" Ion's collision with Machop made the battlefield light up, crackling electricity unable to drown out Machop's roar of pain. The fighting type fell to the ground with a thud moments before a beam of red light sucked it back into its Pokéball.
"Man, you two are good, we haven't been beaten that soundly in a while," her opponent said, the older trainer walking over to hand her her winnings.
"We've worked hard these last few weeks," Dawn replied, accepting the cash and bending down to give Ion a congratulatory pet.
"Well the Eterna Forest shouldn't give you any trouble then," the trainer said, nodding to the tall trees visible in the distance. "Just be careful and don't stray off the path."
"That's what everyone says," Dawn sighed. Four days walking down Route 205 and battling every trainer she came across, and not one had anything else to say. It was always, "Don't stray off the path, avoid suspicious buildings." Seriously, she had at least an inkling of common sense!
"Yeah, it's super creepy in there and it's way too easy to wander off if you aren't paying attention. No one wants to end up at the Old Chateau," the trainer warned her, oblivious to her train of thought.
Dawn just nodded and walked on, not bothering to reply. She just wanted to get there already, the suspense was building, and she wanted to see Sinnoh's most notorious forest for herself. The dark interior, wandering paths and mysterious artifacts of Eterna Forest were famous for a reason. If she didn't already have Aries, she'd be looking for a new partner there, but she wouldn't trade her newest friend for the world. Instead, she would just enjoy watching the rare Pokémon as they passed by.
The trees on the horizon came closer and closer as the hours passed, beginning to loom over the trail like silent watchers, their shadows growing until it felt like night had come early. The sun was still high in the sky, the coming summer solstice and Sinnoh's position near the poles extending their summer days long beyond those of more equatorial regions, but Dawn couldn't shrug off the feelings of foreboding the shadows on the path caused. Ion appeared to feel it too, walking closer to her heels than usual, his ears twitching constantly. She didn't release anyone else, but her hand kept returning to her belt, her fingers regularly dancing around the familiar shapes of her Pokéballs.
There were a few trainers on the road, but few were willing to battle. Most were headed the opposite direction, heading away from the Forest with harried, tired expressions. More than once Dawn caught them looking back over their shoulder towards the trees in the distance.
Dawn had just reached the signpost at the edge of the tree line, engraved with the words Eterna Forest; please stay on the paths at all times when she heard the sound of soft footsteps on path behind her. Dawn whirled around, Ion turning to hiss and spit sparks from his coat as her right hand flew to her Pokéballs. For a moment all she could see was the sterile white walls of the Valley Windworks and Mars' scowling face-
It was a woman, tall, with green hair that matched the color of the evergreen trees in the forest behind her tied up in a long braid. Her green and white dress added to the camouflage, making her almost hard to pick her out among the shadows and greenery surrounding them. She had one hand raised, playing with the strands of her braid and her feet were turned inwards towards each other, shifting her weight from foot to foot. Her smile was kind despite her apparent nervousness, and this more than anything made Dawn calm down, focusing on the woman instead of the heartbeat in her ears and the memories pushing at her consciousness.
"Hello, my name is Cheryl." Her voice was as soft as her features, almost hard to hear over the sparks spitting from Ion's body and the calls of Pokémon in the trees behind her. "And you are…?"
"I'm Dawn," she replied after a moment, nudging Ion with one rubber-soled boot. He'd worked his way around so that he was standing between her and the woman in the moments they'd been studying each other. He looked up at her, then glanced at the woman, before grudgingly allowing the Spark to fade from his coat. "This is my partner Ion."
"I'm sincerely glad to meet you Dawn, Ion." Cheryl smiled down at Ion, opening her hands to show there was nothing in them before looking back up at Dawn. "Dawn, may I ask a big favor of you? I want to get through this forest, but I'm afraid of doing it alone. I've heard that there is a sinister group of people called Team Galactic about. I'm not very strong on my own but I think there is safety in numbers. Please, may I go through with you? I'll keep your Pokémon in perfect health." Her hands came together in front of her, clasped together in supplication, eye wide and voice pleading.
"I…" Dawn glanced at Ion, who looked just as surprised as she felt. Trainers were often hired to do escort duty for non-trainers in dangerous areas, but Cheryl must be a trainer to make it out to the forest alone. She'd mentioned Team Galactic, but how had the word gotten out here so fast? She hadn't been in the Pokémon Center that long! Besides, could she really train and prepare for her gym battle with another person along?
Cheryl's smile dropped off her face at Dawn's hesitation. "If you don't want to, it's-"
"No, no! It's okay, you're welcome to join us. I assume you're headed for Eterna City?" Dawn said before she could stop herself. Oh well, Cheryl had offered to heal her Pokémon. It was always a benefit to buy fewer potions and medicines in Eterna City. Besides, if Cheryl was a trainer maybe she could battle her later!
"Oh, thank you so much! I promise I won't be a burden! Now, let's get going!" Cheryl waved to the path into the dark forest, stepping onto the path and walking forward as though she'd walked it a thousand times. Dawn and Ion traded a look before running after her, allowing the pines to swallow them up.
#
Eterna Forest was like nothing Dawn had ever experienced before. The trees grew thickly above their heads, casting the path into shadow. Only a fraction of the sunlight above filtered down through the leaves and pine needles to dapple the ground with spots of light. The scent of pine mingled with earth hung strongly in the air. The sound of needles rustling above and around them was softer than Dawn was used to, the familiar sounds of leaves moving in the wind much rarer than in the forests to the south. In fact, the entire forest was quiet, almost unnaturally so. Dawn and Cheryl's footsteps made little sound on the path, cushioned by a thick layer of fallen pine needles, and the air inside the forest was still, holding a somber, contemplative weight that made the simple act of walking feel almost otherworldly.
It was strange and wonderful, foreboding and familiar at the same time. It was so different than the forest around Lake Verity, but it was still a forest, and she had grown up among the trees. After the weeks walking through the wide-open fields leading to Floaroma and their riotous flower fields, it felt good to return to a place that felt even a bit like home.
Dawn and Cheryl had walked in silence for most of the day, the stillness and nearly unnatural quiet making it harder to speak than usual even if Dawn had known what to say. When they did break the silence, it was normally Cheryl doing the talking. The older trainer had an easy, quiet comfort with conversation and making small talk that Dawn wasn't sure she'd ever master. She'd pointed out some of the rarer Pokémon species they'd run across, including one rare Buneary that she'd squealed over the cuteness of so loudly that the normal type had been spooked and run off.
When Cheryl wasn't waxing philosophical over the many rare Pokémon they saw darting between the trees, she was pointing out different plant and tree species, or directing Dawn to the next turn in the path. The close growing trees of the forest meant that the entire place was a natural maze, and the path twisted and turned quite a bit to reflect that. It was narrow at times and wide at others, twisting and turning so much they nearly lost track of it often.
Only when the sun began to drop deep behind the trunks of the trees and leave long, thin shadows across their path did Dawn and Cheryl begin looking for a place to make camp. By the time they finally found a good clearing with enough space for the two of them, the sun was nearly touching the horizon. Checking her watch, Dawn's head shot up to look at the bits of light seeping past the trees, then back at her watch.
"Something wrong?" Cheryl asked, tossing the last bit of firewood she'd collected onto the pile growing in the middle of the clearing.
"No, I'm just surprised at how late it's gotten. The long Sinnoh summers always throw off my sense of time but I didn't think it was already eight. Guess the forest blocking the light made me lose track of time." No wonder she'd been feeling exhausted for the last few hours.
"They say this is the place where time stands still. Perhaps Dialga's blessing on this forest made you lose track of the hours." Cheryl bent down and started arranging their firewood into a proper campfire, smile fixed on her face.
"Do you mind if I do a bit of light training with my team?" Dawn asked. She'd returned Ion a while back, allowing Zephyr to fly free as their guard instead. She hadn't wanted to deal with introducing Crest to someone new while they were walking, instead gambling that Zephyr wouldn't want to fight someone who looked so harmless.
"Of course not, I'd love to meet your Pokémon! Mine tend to be shy, so I hope you don't mind if they stay in their Pokéballs?" Cheryl's smile was guileless, but something about the excuse didn't sit right with Dawn. Whatever the reason, as long as her team could stay out, she was okay with it.
"Whatever makes them most comfortable." Dawn released her friends in a flurry of red light, making the medium sized clearing feel a lot smaller. Ion and Zephyr didn't reach to Cheryl's presence but Crest and Aries both looked momentarily surprised to see another person around. Crest puffed his chest up and raised his beak the moment he saw Cheryl, eyes narrowed and edging closer to Dawn. Aries in contrast looked curious, head titled slightly to the side and vines extending towards her.
"Oh, they're so cute!" Cheryl gushed, reaching forward to tap at the vine Aries sent her way. Taking the gesture as an excuse to get closer, Aries spent the next few minutes being thoroughly examined and examining Cheryl in turn while Dawn got the other three started with their training. The clearing was too small for the stamina training they normally started with, so she'd have to focus on move training tonight. It took Dawn three tries to pull Aries away from Cheryl but eventually she got him started working on sharpening his Razor Leaves.
As had become habit during the walk to Eterna Forest, she went to watch Ion first. Dawn sat down and leaned against a tree at the edge of the clearing, pulling out her pencil and Strategies and Training Plans, Vol 1 from her backpack. After watching him work for a few minutes, she began to write:
Ion hasn't come close to replicating the near-Discharge from a few days ago, though he has managed to pack extra power into his Spark while trying. While a helpful side benefit, this wasn't our aim, and he hasn't managed to produce anything resembling a real ranged attack in the hours and hours we've spent trying every strategy I've written down in this notebook. He's doing his best to channel the electricity to his tail, but it tends to collect near his paws and just spits out light sparks or channels into the ground when he tries to add more power to extend it. It looks pretty but does just about nothing else. At this point, I think I might have to consult a specialist-
"Hmm… Are you trying to teach him a long-range move?" The unexpected sound of Cheryl's voice pierced through Dawn's thoughts like a spear. She dropped her pencil and whirled around to face the older trainer. Cheryl had snuck up behind her and was now watching Ion attempt to wrangle the electricity.
"Yeah, we're trying to get Discharge down. He needs a long range move and this is one of the only ones he can learn. We're a little stuck at the moment, but I'm sure he can do it!" Dawn said, discreetly trying to scoot away and grab her fallen pencil.
Cheryl watched Ion for a moment, one hand caressing her chin and eyes narrowed in thought. "Not the worst thought in the world, but trying to get him to learn it this way won't accomplish anything. Let me guess, he's trying to channel electricity to his tail to aim and concentrate it, but he can't get it to go any further than his coat?"
Dawn blinked. "Yeah. That's exactly, precisely right. How did you know? Do you have a Shinx or Luxio?"
Cheryl laughed, "No, I've just picked some things up about the species in my travels. The Shinx line always has a hard time learning ranged electricity moves because their biology is quite different than the majority of electric types." She beckoned to Ion and at a nod from Dawn he dispelled his golden, glowing coat of sparks and walked over. Cheryl began petting him, pointing to various parts of his legs and claws as she explained.
"You see, unlike most electric types the Shinx line has electricity creation and storage organs in their paws in addition to one in their tail. This arrangement happens because they communicate using electricity released into the ground through their claws. In addition, they have particularly dense muscles in their legs to help channel the electricity. This combination means that the Shinx line are amazing close-range fighters with their electricity, channeling it through their body in a way most electric types can't match. But it also means that it's harder for them to make the electricity leave their bodies for long range attacks; they have to use the organ in their tail to create long range attacks, and since they're specialized for close range combat with their electricity, it can take a lot of hard training to learn to channel electricity to the tail. Even then it takes a while for them to build up strength with their long-range electric moves, one side benefit of this training is that it teaches them to overclock their physical electric moves, since those come so much easier."
Cheryl gestured to the scorched rock Ion had been practicing with, either not noticing the sound of Dawn's pencil transcribing her words or ignoring it. "Right now he's trying to simply force all his electricity into his tail. Since he doesn't know what he's doing, all that energy doesn't know where to go and just spits itself out as sparks. Instead of forcing it, try teaching him Thunder Wave first. It's a long range move even if it doesn't have the range or power of Discharge, and it's much easier to teach him at the Shinx stage. It's released as a thin bolt and since it doesn't need much power, he can produce the electricity in his tail directly instead of forcing power to his tail from his feet. The hardest part will probably be learning to aim it and how to make it paralyze an opponent."
Dawn's mouth was hanging open by the end of the explanation even as her pencil flew across the page. It made so much sense; she was almost tempted to hit herself for not recognizing some of this earlier. But how did Cheryl know so much about Shinx biology? She'd been researching this problem for days and hadn't gotten anywhere! She realized Cheryl was looking at her oddly and shut her mouth, coughing for a second before replying: "Umm… Wow. Thank you for the explanation, we'd have never figured that out on our own."
She looked down at Ion, whose ears had perked up as the discussion went on. "Want to try out her suggestion buddy? We can come back to Discharge when you've gotten a bit stronger." Ion mewled and backed up, his tail already crackling with a bit of electricity. He thrust it forward toward a nearby tree and a thin spike of electricity shot out, impacting the grass two feet away from the tree he'd been aiming at, not yet powerful enough to leave a scorch mark behind.
"Yes! That was way better!" Dawn yelled, hands raised above her head in celebration.
Cheryl laughed, standing and returning to the fire. "I'll leave you two to it then."
"Of course, thanks for helping!"
"Anytime!" Dawn watched her return to the fire, stoking the burning coals with a long stick and occasionally saying something to Aries, who was training nearby. She noticed that after a particularly long moment of conversation between the two, Aries had a lot more success with sharpening his Razor Leaf.
Who was this trainer, who was weak enough to want someone to travel with her through Eterna Forest, but was knowledgeable enough to fix her own training mistakes? Who was Cheryl?
#
"Chansey, Heal Pulse please." Pink light spread in a wave from the Chansey's short arms, spreading over the gash in Aries' side. Dawn watched the wound close and the grass grow over the gap in his coat with no small amount of interest and a healthy dose of wonder. Cheryl was certainly keeping her promise to keep Dawn's Pokémon healthy. It was their third day of wandering through the forest and they'd come across more wild Pokémon than either of the days prior, some of which didn't appreciate their presence. Cheryl's Chansey wasn't much of a fighter, but it had absolute control over its Sing and could heal any of her Pokémon's injuries in a snap.
Aries baaed and stood up, inspecting the now nonexistent injury with a pleased bleat. Those Murkrow had come out of nowhere, leaving the deep gash in Aries' side before he beat them out of the air with Vine Whip. Cheryl fussed over the grass type, playing with his horns and twining her fingers into his coat. They'd been almost inseparable for the majority of the trip; she was fascinated by the foreign grass-type and Aries appeared interested to get to know another human that wasn't Dawn. When he wasn't watching Cheryl, he wandered in wide circles around them, investigating each new plant and Pokémon he found and occasionally bringing back interesting specimens for Cheryl or sometimes Dawn to examine.
Dawn didn't acknowledge the growing relationship between the two beyond letting Aries be their primary walking companion as they explored the shaded paths of the forest. They'd have to split up once they left the forest but Dawn saw no reason to force them apart early on. She turned and left them to investigate one another, moving on down the path, ignoring the bleats and giggles she left behind.
They were about a mile from the site of the Murkrow attack when she realized that she couldn't hear footsteps behind her anymore. Dawn turned around, an admonishment waiting on ready lips, but found Aries frozen in his tracks, head turned towards particularly thick patch of brush to the left side of the path.
"What is it buddy?" Dawn asked, annoyance melting away at his uncharacteristic seriousness.
"I don't know, he just stopped and looked left all of a sudden. Maybe he senses something?" Cheryl said, sidling up beside Dawn.
"We'd better be careful then. The Pokémon here seem to like attacking in groups." They'd been attacked by at least two Pokémon at a time in every encounter, and the wild Pokémon were steadily growing stronger and more aggressive. "Let's keep going, maybe we can leave their territory before they find us if we move fast."
Cheryl nodded and took another few steps before turning to face Aries, who hadn't moved. "Aries?"
The Skiddo didn't move a muscle, still staring into the close growing pines and thick underbrush that blocked out what little light made it through the filter of the canopy of pine needles above.
"Aries!" Dawn was somewhere between annoyed and concerned. They didn't have time to waste, she wanted to be out of this forest as soon as possible. What was he doing?
The second the thought crossed her mind Aries stepped off the path, walking straight into the undergrowth.
"Aries! No!" Dawn's cry appeared to wake him from whatever trance he'd been trapped in. His head jerked up, horns catching in one of the low hanging branches for a moment before he shook himself free and took a step back. He didn't move completely back onto the path, keeping his front hooves in the undergrowth, but he did turn to look at her, shoulders tense and head lowered like he was tired or about to charge.
"What's wrong buddy?" Dawn asked, keeping her voice soft and low. She walked back towards him and stood beside him, one hand gently lowering onto his soft back.
Aries baaed, a long, low sound she couldn't quite decipher the meaning behind. His head turned to face her and he opened his mouth, catching her shirtsleeve in his teeth and tugging gently, taking a step forward into the undergrowth.
"It seems like he wants you to follow him into the forest." Cheryl loomed over them, playing with something near her neckline as she stared down at the two of them. Dawn suppressed the surge of irritation that sprung up at her words; she could guess that, what she wanted to know as why!
"What do you sense? Why do you want to go there?" Dawn asked, probing as best she could and ignoring Cheryl. Aries baaed again, gesturing with his head, but it wasn't as if he could give her a descriptive answer. She revised her question, asking instead, "Do we need to go there? Everyone we've met over the last couple of days has told us not to leave the path."
Aries looked at her, at Cheryl, the path stretching deeper into the trees, then back into the tangled undergrowth. He turned back to face her again, then nodded.
"Are you sure? We'll have a hard time finding it again." He nodded again, without hesitation this time. She couldn't respond to his certainty with anything less than her trust, now could she? He'd put himself in the path of serious danger countless times for her, on the first day they'd met no less! He'd been seriously injured fighting Purugly, gotten himself hit with Poison Fang to protect her. She had to prove his trust in her would be returned.
She met his eyes and nodded. "Then we'd better get going." She stood up, cinching her backpack closer to her body. Only when she heard the soft sound of footsteps on needles did Dawn remember Cheryl.
She was standing not a foot away, looking down at Dawn with an inscrutable expression. "I'm sorry," Dawn said, suddenly ashamed to have forgotten her promise to the older trainer. "Aries says this is important and I trust him. I'm sorry we have to go off so suddenly and leave you alone-"
"Why are you leaving the path? You know it's dangerous." Cheryl's voice was more serious than she'd ever heard from the woman before. Her expression didn't change; there was no emotion that Dawn could decipher in her expression, voice or demeanor. It was a simple question, with a simple answer, but Dawn couldn't shrug off the feeling there was something deeper behind it.
That didn't change the fact it had a simple answer. "Aries is asking me to. He's my friend, my partner, and if he thinks this is worth pursuing even knowing we might get lost, then I trust him."
Cheryl looked at her for a moment, expression still indecipherable, then turned to face Aries and walked forward. "Well, we don't know how far we have to go, so let's get going before the sun goes down!" Her voice was once again cheerful, as if nothing had ever changed.
"Um, you're… coming with us? But we might get lost?" Dawn said, her confusion leaking into her tone.
"Well, I did say that there's strength in numbers! Besides, I want to see what he has to show us!" Cheryl said, pushing aside the undergrowth and disappearing behind the trees. Aries bleated and raced to catch up, the plants parting slightly to allow him through. Dawn was right on his heels, pushing away all the branches that came to slap her in the face as they moved back into position following Aries.
The undergrowth was thick, and the trees grew close together. The plants might move aside willingly for Aries, but Dawn and Cheryl fought a hand-to-hand battle with the greenery, forcing it back with muscle power and more than once teaming up in order to overpower the unrelenting stems and branches. The cool forest breeze was a relief to their sweat-soaked bodies as they shouldered on, following the constant sound of Aries' hooves hitting the dirt just up ahead.
It was just about the only sound to hear. The further they progressed, the darker and quieter the forest became. Their harsh breathing and footsteps, accompanied by the occasional grunt of effort or muttered swear, were the only noises to be heard. The trees made little sound, the thick canopy of needles swaying silently above. The sounds of Pokémon moving through the undergrowth and the trees faded as they walked, until there was no sign of sentient life anywhere. It was an eerie experience, one Dawn tried to ignore by focusing on Aries in front of her and Cheryl by her side.
Gradually, she noticed that she could see more light filtering through the trees. No longer was the forest so thick that she feared she would miss a root and fall on her face; in fact, the underbrush appeared to be lessening now, to the point where she could see all of Aries walking in front of her instead of just a flash of green, white and brown. Sunlight lit small patches of flowers and vines in golden light.
Abruptly, the tree trunks became thicker, taller, the canopy soaring high above them, before melting away. Their trio stumbled into a brightly lit clearing, the canopy of the trees not gone but forming a thin ceiling high above their heads like the roof of a cathedral. Sitting in the middle of the clearing was one of the most beautiful sights Dawn had ever seen.
A huge stone, so tall that the top of it soared well above their heads. The rounded sides were gray stone, glittering where the sunlight shone as embedded mica caught the light. The top of the rock was covered in a thick layer of moss growing in a thousand shades of green, covering the stone so fully that no hint of gray could be seen. The clearing around it was a riotous mixture of colorful flowers, berry bushes and different plants, mixing freely without any sense of order to their placement. Grass types of all shapes and sizes ambled all over the clearing, mostly Sinnoh natives like Cherrim, Budew, Roselia, but Dawn caught sight of a few Seedot hiding under a bush. Her breath caught as she spotted the rare Leafeon asleep in a patch of light next to the great stone, leafy tail twitching in its dreams. The entire clearing was cooler than the surrounding forest, a welcome relief in the summer heat.
"What is this place?" Dawn whispered, her growing sense of awe keeping her voice low.
"I think it's the Moss Rock. The legends say it's a stone at the heart of the forest blessed by the Legends, that it has special properties. I can't believe we get to see it in person!" Cheryls voice was nearly a whisper, her own awe apparent.
Aries walked into the clearing, his hooves appearing to carry him in of their own volition. Dawn made to go after him but Cheryl held her back, shaking her head. They watched as Aries approached the stone, a few grass types turning their heads to look at him as he passed but none moving to bar his path. He stopped a foot in front of the stone, extending one front leg and kneeling on the other in an elaborate bow, his extended hoof nearly brushing the Moss Rock. Dawn could not have said how long they stood, watching him pay his respects to the stone. After an endless moment he stood, nodded once to the Leafeon watching him from its place beside the stone, then strode back to meet Dawn.
As he made his way through the clearing to meet then Dawn took one last look around the verdant space, noticing a patch of familiar flowers growing close by. She took a few hesitant steps into the clearing, leaning down to pluck one from its stem with a nervous glance towards the many grass types. None even looked her way, so she assumed it was fine. When Aries arrived back by her side, she offered it to him with a hesitant smile.
"This is a Gracidea flower. Us humans like to offer them to one another to show gratitude. Thank you for showing me this amazing place Aries. I'll never forget this as long as I live." She held out the flower.
Aries head butted her, not hard, but it was still enough to nearly knock her over. As she stumbled back a step, he plucked the flower from her fingers and touched the stem to his coat, glowing with Growth. The flower attached itself to the grass on his back, but he didn't stop using Growth.
When they left the clearing behind, tiny nubs of future flowers were growing all across his back, the fully grown Gracidea taking the place of pride in the middle his chest.
#
They were lost. They had been for the last two days. Dawn wouldn't change her decision to follow Aries to the Moss Rock if Dialga Himself had offered her the chance to go back in time, but she couldn't deny their current situation was… less than ideal.
They'd been wandering through the endless trees for two days, finding no landmarks or any sign of the path no matter what direction they walked or how long they walked. It was just trees, trees and more trees, with a side dish of thick vegetation and territorial wild Pokémon. If Cheryl hadn't ordered Chansey to use Light Screen at the last moment Dawn wasn't sure they would have come out of that encounter with the Combee hive without some serious injuries. They'd had to flee the moment they had a chance, totally losing their sense of direction and wasting most of yesterday afternoon trying to get it back.
For now Dawn and Cheryl just walked east, waiting for Zephyr to return with any news of the path or at least the general direction they should walk to reach Eterna City. Her backpack was heavy on weary shoulders and her feet had begun dragging a mile or so back. All she wanted to do was collapse and sleep for a week; they'd had to set watches last night to keep an eye on the wild Pokémon and Dawn hadn't gotten as much sleep as she would have liked. The main roads and trails were generally clear of aggressive wild Pokémon, but out here in the forest they had to be more careful.
"What is that?" Dawn's head shot up at Cheryl's words, forcing her sluggish thoughts to focus on what Cheryl was pointing to. Frowning, she walked over and studied the object.
"It looks like… an old, rotting fencepost." The wood of the post was heavily decayed, but flickers of white paint stubbornly hung on, peeling away in places but not yet gone. "Look, there's another one, and over there as well. You can even see the connecting pieces between the posts in some spots."
"I think you're right. Look up there, where the trees start to thin out. It looks like there's a sort of path between the trees." Cheryl pointed again, this time towards a section of the forest ahead that was conspicuously absent of any trees. They stepped forward as one, walking around the old fence towards the possible path. As they approached Dawn could see old paving stones scattered haphazardly down the corridor, most of them riddled with cracks or fully broken into pieces, moss and grass growing between the cracks. The fence had a gap to allow the path to cut through.
They reached the gap and turned to look down the treelined path, only to freeze in their tracks. Down the path to the left was an old, stately manor house, standing tall in the middle of Eterna Forest. Even from this distance, it had an air of neglect- Dawn could see where many of the windows were broken or had fallen out of their holdings, some of the wood had rotted away exposing parts of the interior. But it stood tall, as if trying to recall older, grander days.
"I think that's the Old Chateau," Dawn whispered, the sudden chill up her spine making her whisper in the silent forest. Memories of the litany of trainers telling her to avoid this place, warnings half-forgotten and half ignored. The chill up her spine refused to go away, her fingers seeking out the familiar shapes of the Pokéballs on her belt and eyes searching the sky for Zephyr.
"Wait, there's someone there!" Cheryl's words make Dawn look back at the Chateau, focusing not on the high windows and rotting roof but on the huge entrance. There, just before the towering wooden doors, was the shape of a person.
"Let's go see who it is!" Cheryl was walking down the path before Dawn could question the sense in that plan. Huffing internally, Dawn ran after her, eyes fixed on the figure ahead and all her senses on alert. The hand on her belt moved, plucking one of the Pokéballs and hitting the button to release Aries who fell into step beside her.
As they got closer, Dawn could pick out some of the details of the person standing in front of the Chateau. It was a woman, with short red-brown hair and pale skin, a little taller than Dawn and a decade or so older. She was wearing a green poncho and boots, a long-sleeved black shirt that exposed her midriff and torn brown shorts that had bits of grass and twigs stick everywhere.
"Gardenia, is that you?!" Cheryl's yell made both Dawn and the woman turn around to face her, shock on both their faces.
"Cheryl! What are you doing here?" the supposed Gardenia (Gym Leader Gardenia?!) came running up to Cheryl, throwing her arms around the taller woman and squeezing her in a tight hug. "I thought you'd be-"
Cheryl cut her off with a hurried whisper that Dawn didn't quite catch, speaking low and fast, Gardenia's arm caught in her grasp even when the Gym Leader let go of their hug. After a moment of whispered conversation (honestly, didn't they have any manners? Dawn was right there) they both turned to face Dawn.
"Hi there! I'm Gardenia, the Gym Leader of Eterna City! I've been friends with Cheryl since forever! What's your name? That's a strong looking Skiddo you have there? Are you planning on challenging me? Why are you here? Did you come to investigate the rumors too?"
"I- I'm Dawn. Umm, yes I'm planning on challenging you, no we didn't come here on purpose. What rumors?"
"You know, people have been talking about the ghost Pokémon of the Old Chateau. I've been hearing rumors about sinister shadows, too. I thought should check it out myself, but going in there is... Well, you know, being that I'm a Gym Leader, I'm always busy. So, since I'm so busy, I can't go in. It's not because I'm s-scared! " Gardenia's stuttering and nervous glance up at the building meant she missed the sinister look appearing Cheryl's normally cheerful face.
"Oh Gardenia, this is perfect! We have a big, strong Gym Leader to protect us while we investigate the mysteries of the Old Chateau!" Her smirk was positively evil now, and both Dawn and Gardenia were well aware Cheryl hadn't let go of Gardenia's arm yet.
"U-umm, I'm s-sorry but I can't-"
"Nonsense! You'll keep us amateur trainers safe while doing important work, making sure the Old Chateau is safe! Isn't that the job of a Gym Leader Gardenia?" Cheryl's voice was honey sweet and by the slump of Gardenia's shoulders, she understood she wasn't getting out of this. Keeping Gardenia's arm locked in a death grip, Cheryl pulled the Gym Leader towards the giant wooden doors, both of which were oddly free of rot, dust or plant life. Cheryl wrenched one open with her free hand, the door sliding open with nary a whisper of sound, and yanked her friend inside, gesturing for Dawn to follow.
She looked up at the rotting roof, the west wing of the house that looked just about ready to fall in on itself, the shattered glass hanging on in threads in the windows and littering the ground below the windows with sharp shards, the open doors that showed nothing but blackness beyond. She looked at Aries, who titled his head slightly to the right and looked back at her.
"Yeah, you're right. Can't let them get into trouble without us." Dawn strode through the doors, Aries' grassy ruff gripped tightly in her hand the whole time.
#
The lights were on.
That was the first incongruous thought in Dawn's head as she examined the foyer. There were two flights of stairs leading to the second floor a few feet from the doors, with a large carpet occupying most of the space between the stairs. A wrought-iron chandelier half the size of a Snorlax hung from the high ceiling. Paintings hung on all the walls, and a pair of statues of unknown Pokémon framed the entrances to a hallway on the far wall. All of it was heavily degraded and covered with a thick layer of dust. While the stairs still looked sturdy enough to walk on, there were multiple missing boards and holes. The once vibrant carpet now looked threadbare, much of it obscured by dust and fallen glass shards. Many of the paintings were peeling or so darkened by dust or soot that nothing of their original colors or shapes could be seen. The wallpaper was almost entirely gone in most places, revealing the original stone and wood of the walls.
What few intact lightbulbs remained in the chandelier were on, casting everything in soft yellow light. It felt out of place in this dank, dusty hall, as if pushing back the natural light filtering in through the gap between the doors.
A puff of dust rose into the air as Dawn stepped onto the carpet, Gardenia and Cheryl's footprints showing their paths though the room. Aries strode behind Dawn, head moving back and forth and eyes darting around the room ceaselessly.
"So, where should we explore first?" Cheryl's cheerful voice was incongruous against the silent, decaying hall.
"Erm… we could go explore the gardens!" Gardenia's voice was a little higher pitched than normal, with her eyes darting about faster than even Aries and her hands clasped together in front of her.
"We can save that for last," Cheryl said, pulling her captive along. "Let's go explore the kitchens! This place used to be rich person's house, I bet they'll have a fancy dining room." They disappeared through the entrance at the back of the hall, Cheryl all but dragging Gardenia.
Dawn made to follow her, but she only made it three steps before she noticed Aries hadn't followed her.
"What's up bud?" She looked over her shoulder to find him staring straight up at the chandelier. His eyes were fixed on the glowing bulbs, the line of his taut muscles starkly outlined as he stood, frozen.
"Come on bud, it's just a chandelier. It can't hurt us." She stepped back and tugged on his grass. It took two tugs to make him face her and another one to get him to follow her into the far hallway.
She took a footstep past the threshold of the hallway, and the lights went out.
A shriek of surprise escaped her mouth and she whipped around, only to find that the only light in the foyer behind her was the natural light seeping in through the crack between the open doors. Shadows crawled up the walls and curled around the edges of the stairs, making the door shadows seem twice as long as they should be. The chandelier was dark, as if it had never been lit… or someone had turned off a light switch.
"Who's there?" She got no response. Light flickered behind her, and she whipped around to see electric light coming on at the end of the hall, the shadows of Cheryl and Gardenia extending into the hall. Maybe they turned on the lights in the dining hall and the old wiring shorted out the lights in the foyer?
She tried to shake off the scare, turning back towards Aries, who was likewise frozen, staring at the foyer. The tips of his vines were visible against his grassy back. She gripped his grass and pulled him behind her, walking a little faster than normal to catch up with Gardenia and Cheryl.
The dining room was as grand as the foyer, and similarly degraded. The chairs around the huge wooden table that dominated the room had all lost at least one leg or their backings to rot, cracked plates stood stacked in the kitchen, part of the wall on the west side had fallen in, and once again everything was covered in dust. The gold fittings on the walls, doors and candlesticks called to mind images of finery and great dinner parties, but that time was clearly long over. The only remaining bit of the room that looked untouched was a wide painting hanging on the back wall, showing a battle between two armies, with a king holding a sword high in the center, a long blue tassel with a swirl on the end hanging down from the pommel.
"Oh wow, imagine how great this place would have looked back in its prime!" Cheryl said, wandering down the length of the table.
Gardenia had finally extracted herself from Cheryl's grip and gone to investigate the kitchen. "There are a lot of spices and remains of dried herbs in these cabinets," she remarked. "They must have had a great garden out back… and left in quite a hurry if these are still here."
"Maybe wild Pokémon attacked or something?" Dawn asked, eyeing the destroyed wall on the left side.
"Maybe, but it doesn't really explain why they didn't come back," Gardenia noted. "You know, this place would be able to house a lot of people if I got some people to fix it up." She cast an appreciative eye over the room, most of her nervousness vanished in the face of an idea. "Maybe it could be a halfway house, for people coming through the forest. Turn Eterna Forest into a place to travel to, not travel through. Oooh, imagine how many more tourists we would get and all the new trainers to challenge and money coming into Eterna-" The lights flickered for a moment, cutting Gardenia off and leaving them all in darkness for a second before coming to life once again.
"First, I'd say figure out why it was abandoned in the first place" Dawn said, eyeing the lights above them. Their light was back to the same steady electric light that had illuminated the foyer, but she knew better than to trust the lighting in here now.
Wait.
This whole place was worn down by time, walls and wiring degraded. Significantly. Why were the electric lights still working at all?
Dawn went to investigate the light switches, which were right next to the entrance. She flipped one into the off position, expecting darkness and a shriek of surprise from Gardenia; nothing happened. She tried all of them in turn, only to meet the same result. Wiping a bit of sweat off her forehead, she tried all of them in the off position, and all of them in the on. Nothing.
She had to wipe the sweat out of her eyes again before turning back to face the room. When had it gotten so hot in here?
The shriek of rusty metal moving broke the silence. Gardenia had opened of one three ancient looking microwaves, the one that still had a bit of orange paint on it. She pressed a few worn buttons, trying to make it work.
The lights went out. A wave of fire exploded from the microwave's heart.
Three screams echoed in the cavernous hall, the sound of feet scrambling back and the hiss of fire hitting wood and metal lost among the shrieks and Aries low-pitched bleats. When the light and heat faded Dawn lowered her arms and dodged around Aries, who now stood in front of her, grass on his back rustling. Cheryl scrambled around the table and ran towards her friend, now fallen on the floor, arms crossed in front of her face.
"Shadow's spikes, are you alright?" Dawn demanded, falling to her knees beside Gardenia. Cheryl hovered over them, a looming shadow, while Aries placed himself in front of the group, facing down the quiet microwave.
"I-I… I'm fine, I think" Gardenia said, voice shaking slightly. She patted at the exposed forearms, frowning a little as she poked at herself. "I don't think that fire even burned me. It was… almost cold." She was right. There were no burn marks on her skin; a quick glance at the microwave and cabinets around it showed no signs of burns, despite the noise she heard and the sudden heat they'd felt.
"Okay, I think that's enough of the spooky abandoned house party. Let's get going?" Dawn wasn't entirely successful at keeping the pleading note out of her voice.
"Yeah, yeah let's get going." Gardenia pushed herself up to a standing position, one hand falling to rest on her belt near her Pokéballs. "I'll come back another time, with a bigger team, to get this place into some semblance of order."
"Um, guys?" Cheryl wasn't looking at them, but at the wall near the entrance. "Where's the door?"
"What?" Dawn looked up at the doors they'd come through. It wasn't there; only a smooth wall remained where the double doors had been. She could even see where their feet and hooves had swept away the dirt, but the door they'd come from wasn't there. Cheryl stepped forward and touched the wall, leaning against it, pushing, slamming her hands into the wall.
"Come on, there's a door here!" Gardenia gestured, pointing to a door at the other end of the kitchen. Dawn opened her mouth to argue- shouldn't they figure out why the door had disappeared before going through a new door? Gardenia and Cheryl were already through the door before the words escaped her mouth.
"Oh buddy, what have we gotten ourselves into now?" Dawn dug one hand deep into the grass on Aries' back. He bleated a long, low note, and looked at her, stepping a little closer, but didn't push back when she pulled him on towards the door.
It led to a long hallway. The wallpaper was peeling here, large paintings hung on the walls hanging off kilter or fallen to the ground, debris littering the faded rug. She walked by one that covered half the wall on the right, eyes drawn to the gold and black… something at the top of the tower depicted in the painting. Purple and black mist, like fog rolling in over the sea back in Sandgem, hung at the bottom of the intricate stone tower. No, wait, that tower wasn't intricate, it was nothing more than a pile of stones. And what was that, hiding within the fog…was that a face?
She tore her eyes away with difficulty, stepping away until she was nearly brushing the opposite wall, keeping her gaze firmly fixed upon the dark figures of Cheryl and Gardenia near a door up ahead. There were no lights hanging here, to her simultaneous annoyance and relief. What was that noise coming from up ahead? It was almost like… chanting, in a language that she'd never heard before. The silence in the dining hall or foyer was preferable to this. Maybe it was just the wind in the trees outside?
Gardenia had a Pokémon out now, a tall Roserade standing at alert by her side. It raised one of its flower hands at Dawn's approach, but Gardenia flicked it absentmindedly on the head. "Leave her alone Roserade, she's a friend." The fear rising in her chest ever since they entered the Chateau fled for a moment, chased away by the warm flush of pride at hearing a Gym Leader name her as a friend. She hadn't even gotten her second badge yet!
Gardenia finally managed to yank the door open. This was a bedroom, with a large fireplace, rotting bed frame and mattress, frayed curtains drawn over the windows, electric fan spinning lazily above.
Wait.
"Back!" She was too late. A burst of wind, somehow tinted slightly purple, pushed against them. Dawn felt it smash into her, throwing her to the floor. She couldn't feel the impact with the ground, too occupied with the numbness, the tingling shock, the biting cold in that unnatural wind. It felt like it stuck to her skin, leeching her warmth away even as it pushed against her.
Cheryl screamed, backing down the hallway away from the door. Gardenia pushed herself to her feet and followed, grabbing Dawn and hauling her to her feet. Aries and Roserade followed behind them, running just slowly enough to guard their fleeing trainers from the back.
Lights came on in the hallway one after another, one flickering to life for a bare moment then going out as the next one in line lit up, creating a strobe effect that made Dawn's head hurt. She tripped, stumbling over something that wasn't there as they reached a fork in the hallway that led forward, to the right and to the left.
Gardenia stopped, grip on Dawn's hand iron-clad but hand shaking enough to make Dawn's entire hand and wrist shake as she looked down each hallway. Cheryl stood a few feet down the path to the left, the general direction of the front entrance.
A grinding noise, like gears grinding together. The pop of electricity. The high-pitched whine of a motor in motion. Giggles.
Something tore down the right hall, screaming towards them too fast to make out details other than the large size and vaguely orange color. Aries was faster than Dawn or Gardenia, plowing into his trainer and pushing her down the northern hallway before whatever it was got to them. Gardenia fled down the western hallway, Roserade right on her heels. Cheryl flattened herself against the wall of the northern hallway, letting the thing screech down the hallway at full speed. Was that a… lawnmower?
It was, but only if lawnmowers with electricity dancing in an aura around them, glowing with bright orange and white light, were allowed to exist. Lawnmowers certainly weren't supposed to giggle.
Aries didn't give her time to contemplate where in the natural order of things this particular lawnmower should be placed. He continued to push her down the hall, even as she tried to go back for Cheryl and Gardenia. There was something else gathering here now, a coldness that she could feel in her bones, something unsettling about the way the shadows moved when she wasn't looking. The colors of the hallway, already muted by the darkness, appeared to fade in her sight.
Ghost types.
It really shouldn't have taken her this long to figure that out, but panic did strange things to the brain. She could see the shapes of Gastly in the shadows now, their perfectly round bodies giving them away. The strange chanting must be Misdreavus. A glance backward told her that they'd have to fight their way through if they wanted to return to the dining hall. Clouds of Gastly watched her from down the hall, fanged smiles laughing at their frantic retreat.
Anger fought for dominance with terror now. Laugh at her, play games with her would they? She would show them! She snatched one of the Pokéballs from her waist and clicked the release. Ion appeared in a flash of light, turning to rub against her legs. He caught sight of the ghosts watching them and hissed, electricity popping to life around him and crouching down, eyes harder than diamond and focused on the ghosts. The chuckles died off a little as Ion appeared, the light from his growing Spark and teeth dripping with dark energy making them back off.
They waited, the standoff growing as the Gastly watched her, their numbers ever growing, Ion and Aries poised to strike, Dawn standing stock still before the hallway exit, the sound of her heart pumping in her ears keeping time to the chanting of the Misdreavus and the sparking lightbulbs.
"Ion, Flash!" Light, everywhere. Dawn shielded her eyes and ducked into the next room beyond the hallway, not caring where it led so long as it was away from the Gastly and whatever that terrifying orange ghost-lawnmower thing had been.
This looked like… an electronics room? No, that wasn't right. There were all sorts of discarded machines in here, but their placing didn't look natural. A fridge laid on its side underneath three broken fans, a few weed whackers stacked in a pile against the wall, a TV sitting on top of an old washing machine. There were junk electronics of all types in here, tossed together in here to be forgotten, a graveyard for old technology. Ion and Aries raced into the spacious room, neatly leaping over a few forgotten nuts, bolts and spare or broken parts on the floor. The Gastly crowded together at the door but did not enter. She looked at them, afraid of being swarmed, but they just stopped at the entrance. What were they waiting for?
The single lamp in the middle of the ceiling flickered on, glowing with a steady, warm light. A whir, as the motor of many old electronics turned on, without being plugged in. Phantom sweat built up in Dawn's palms as she waited for the blow, unsure of where it would come from but sure it would come. The room went dark, lamp flickering out.
The fridge opened, letting loose a howling gale full of shards of ice and freezing wind. Dawn dropped to the floor and Aries and Ion sprang to the side, letting the icy gale blow right above her, feeling the chill sucking at the heat in her body and the hairs on her arms stand up straight. Shards of ice lodged in the wall across from her, melting in an instant, leaving no marks or water behind.
A flash. The lamp was on again, the brief flash highlighting the shadows climbing up the walls. A whir, Ion's snarl, the swish of water moving fast. A jet of water spat from the center of the old washing machine, now glowing with that strange orange light. The jet nailed Aries in the side, making him stumble into a tower of old parts with a crash. His confused bleats were lost beneath the roar of the spinning drum of the washing machine and the grinding of metal as bits of old electronics tumbled down onto his back.
Dawn pushed herself up on her forearms, ignoring the freezing chill in the room and the water soaking the front of her shirt and pants from where it pooled on the floor. She glanced up as the light flashed again, shutting off right before the sound of something else turning on and heralding a cry of pain from Ion as something tossed him across the room. Something shadowy this time, barely lit by his sparking electric coat. A glow of orange from the corner, a gaping maw, a twisted smile. The lamp flashed again.
Dawn ducked her head down, using her arms to shield her head, to block out the sounds of battle, of creaking metal and whirring electronics, to block out the continual flashes of light and the creeping chill. The orange. The light. The electronics, all piled together in this room, like a stockpile. Their unseen attackers, or maybe attacker? They were all connected, somehow. She had to think, had to still her shaking fingers, blink the sweat from her eyes and calm the breaths that were coming too fast, too harsh. Had to quiet the thunderous pounding of her heart. She had to think!
The orange. The mower that tried to run them down glowed the same color. Hadn't she seen something similar, on the microwave before Gardenia disturbed it? It had looked like old paint or rust then, but what if it wasn't?
The lights. The electricity in this Chateau wasn't working, she was certain of that. But the lights, they'd flickered in the foyer when they'd entered. They'd come on in the kitchen when they'd just been looking around. All their encounters with the strange attackers, they'd come through electronic objects, like the microwave or the mad mower.
The ghosts. This place had ghosts, plenty of them. The illusions, the creeping, sucking cold, the Gastly and the chanting of the Misdreavus, all signs of a long-term ghost infestation, or so her textbooks would like her to believe. But it hadn't been that way at first, had it? It was creepy, yes, but it hadn't been cold, there hadn't been outward signs of the ghosts. None of the otherworldly chill or feelings of irrational terror like she'd read about. They were here now, the ghosts themselves visible and watching her, but before it had just been the strange electricity where there should be none.
The attacker. Orange. Electricity. Ghosts. Dawn looked up, right as the lamp flashed once again. She ignored the lamp, keeping her eyes on the exposed wires running along the wall.
There! Sparks, running in a continuous line, traveling along the wire. She pushed herself to her feet, soaking wet, hands still shaking from fear and adrenaline, chilled to the bone and terrified.
Ready to fight back.
"Aries, next time something attacks, grab it!" They didn't have to wait long. It was the fan this time, turning on in a corner of the room and attacking with a swift gale tinted a shadowy purple.
Aries didn't dodge, He put his head down and braced himself against the gale, bleating at the top of his lungs. Dawn dodged behind a tower of old computers and Ion tucked himself under Aries' legs, using his companion's bulk to block the storm. A pair of stout vines shot forward through the gale, snatching the glowing orange fan from its precarious position atop an old TV.
A shriek greeted them, like the earlier giggles but higher and longer. A pair of glowing orange arms extended from the sides of the fan, ethereal but brightly lit with power.
"Ion, overload it!" Ion didn't have good aim or real ability to hit something at range, but with Aries towing the glowing, twitching fan back towards them, it was just in range for him to jump. Ion's electrified claws hit the fan and poured voltage into the fan. A shriek of pain, the crackle and pop of electricity, almost blinding if they hadn't been dealing with erratic lighting for the past few minutes.
Aries dropped the fan, the tips of his vines slightly singed. The orange glow faded and something shot into the air above it. It was only a quick glance, a vague impression of a form. A tiny form of orange energy, a wicked grin, dancing sparks in the air around it like a halo of light.
A Rotom!
One of the rarest, most intriguing Pokémon in all Sinnoh and it was here!
She grinned so wide it felt liable to split her face in half. "Batter it! Don't let it hop into any more electronics! If you can't stop it, overload the circuits and force it out again. We can wear it down!"
The chill in the air and the shadows creeping along the walls, the face hidden between the debris littering the floor, none of it mattered as Dawn directed her Pokémon in blow after blow. Rotom danced around the room, sometimes as a line of electricity but more and more often as a dancing streak of orange as Dawn directed Ion and Aries to cut off its escape routes. They couldn't stop it hopping into various electronics, there were too many to choose from, but they were getting better at anticipating its path and trying to hit it in the air or shock it senseless in one of its host bodies.
Her hand itched at the empty Pokéballs at her waist as she watched it grow slower and slower in the air. Ghost types were hard to hit- their airborne attacks like Aries's sloppy Razor Leaf or Ion's attempts at Thunder Wave didn't appear to phase it at all but overloading it in its mechanical bodies did the trick. It tried to escape hosts before they could try that trick now, but it was much slower than earlier in the fight.
Aries dragged the discarded lawnmower, the very one that had tried to run them down only a little while earlier, out of its attack pattern and into the center of the room, Ion racing forward to pounce, electricity crackling in the pools of water he upset.
A Gastly threw itself out of a shadow nearby, exploding into mist when Ion ran into it. He stopped and spat, hissing and shaking his head to clear the fading gas. Other Gastly rose out of their shadows, converging on the glowing orange lawnmower. Misdreavus began chanting, floating above Rotom's current host, the collection of ghosts almost hiding the bright orange light from view. What was going on?
Ion snarled, teeth dripping shadows and claws extending as he made to leap forward.
"Wait!" He froze, ears twitching back to her, eyes remaining locked on the cloud of ghosts and tension evident in every line of his body. His unmarked body. Aries beside him looked back at her, the only signs of injury on his sturdy frame a few crushed grass stalks and mussed furs, a bit of metal stuck in his back from where debris raining down from one of the towers had struck him.
They'd been fighting for a while now. Why was Rotom the only one truly hurt? Why were the other ghosts defending it?
Dawn took a hesitant step forward. "It's okay, we won't hurt Rotom." She tried to keep her voice steady, soothing, but the fading adrenaline and fear make it shake a bit. The ghosts didn't back down, clearly unwilling to trust her word.
"Ion, Aries, back up. Let's give them some space. I don't think they, or Rotom, want to hurt us." Aries followed her orders immediately, looking relieved to give the ghosts their space, but she had to call to Ion again to get him to back up, and he kept his eyes on the gathering of ghosts the whole time. She was a bit worried she'd have to command him to blink.
The ghosts still didn't back away. She took her hand off her belt, somewhat reluctantly, and knelt down, opening her hands wide as she faced them.
"You all live here, don't you? And Rotom is your leader. You moved in to stay away from humans, so when we came you hid and didn't show yourselves. I bet that's what you always do when humans come to investigate. Make the house creepy enough to make us leave quickly but not enough to make people think it was haunted and come here looking for ghosts, the way they do in the Towers. You just wanted to be left alone. Rotom started trying to scare us off but didn't want to hurt us for real. That's why Ion and Aries are fine and none of us humans have any injuries. Is that right?"
The ghosts were still, not even bobbing in the air. The orange glow on the lawnmower faded, coalescing into a singular point. Rotom rose above the crowd of ghosts, orange form still fluid, almost hidden by the corona of electricity. It moved forward hesitantly, occasionally zipping in and out of the various electronics scattered around the floor rather than approach. It wasn't as fast as at the start of the fight, its cloak of electricity dimmer. It looked so much smaller now, not the monster that has been terrorizing them ever since the-
"Why did you suddenly start trying to scare us? We weren't doing anything different when the fire started." She tried thinking back. Had anyone said something to offend the ghosts?
Rotom screeched, a high, crackling sound that she couldn't hear externally. It felt more like… hearing an echo of an echo, a sound distorted by traveling long distances until it wasn't a sound at all, a ripple inside that was sound but not. Like a hidden fish touching the water's surface, causing ripples on the side facing the air, a disturbance from a hidden plane. Rotom's body expanded, it's electric aura growing, sparks tossed into the walls and causing electronics all around the room to wake up, glow and hum for a brief moment before fading away, aura shrinking to even smaller than it had been before.
Okay, that hadn't meant anything to her. Playing charades with a ghost type wasn't the easiest. Maybe…
"Ion, Aries, can you ask? I should be able to understand you two better." Ion's eyes narrowed and he hissed at the ghost, tail thrashing, but Aries was more amiable to the idea. The grass type withdrew his vines and stepped forward, baaing at Rotom. Rotom crackled back and they spoke for a minute, Dawn waiting for the results with bated breath. Rotom might be hurt, might not want to hurt them now, but her books all spoke of the terror of a ghost driven to hate, or even just one that was scared. Especially one that was scared.
Aries broke off the conversation and baaed to her to follow him. She followed him out of the room, keeping a wary eye on the ghosts that followed them in a procession, Rotom at their head. Ion kept himself between the ghostly cavalcade and his teammates, fur standing up straight, eyes hard and sparks crackling over his fur and claws at irregular intervals. He reached the fork in the hallways where Dawn and been forced to split up with her companions and nodded down the hallway Gardenia had gone down.
"Something about Gardenia?" Aries nodded and Dawn tried to think back. What had Gardenia done? It had to have happened in the dining hall, that's where Rotom had started its pranks and scare tactics. What had they been talking about… wait-
"Gardenia mentioned coming back, turning this place into a halfway house. Is that what you were scared of?" Dawn asked, turning to face Rotom. Several Gastly hissed and one Misdreavus screeched a high note. Rotom's crackling grew louder, the sounds traveling like deep bass notes through Dawn's body, shaking something inside. Dawn looked down the corridor again. So, they'd been nervous about Gardenia coming back and throwing them out and tried to scare them off.
"Gardenia's a Gym Leader; they don't scare easily. You may have made her all the more determined to come back here and fix up the house by trying to scare her away."
Rotom's aura shrunk and it screeched, the noise so unearthly it was painful, like static in her body. Dawn stumbled away and Ion growled loudly, claws flexing in and out and shadows gathering around his fangs. Aries yelped as well, all the grass on his back standing straight up. Dawn's hands rose, frantically trying to calm the little ghost down. Okay, maybe it hadn't been the best idea to mention that. The other ghosts were moving around more now, floating about in a way that reminded her of a nervous man pacing.
She had to do something. "I'll convince her not to come back. I can tell her you-" Rotom shrunk back and she cut the sentence off. "Okay, I'll convince her to not come back, but I won't mention you all. I can tell her that it's not worth building this place back up, that the wiring is faulty, that it's more trouble than it's worth. I'll convince her to not come back, I promise. Then you can continue living here in peace."
Rotom's aura of crackling electricity grew a little bit as it considered. Dawn watched, waiting for the conclusion. Part of her still wanted to whip out her Pokéball, to catch this amazing, rare Pokémon. But how could she tear it away from its friends, its home? It loved this place enough to scare off any humans that came calling, to fight desperately to defend its fellow ghosts and the home they had made for themselves. She wouldn't take away their home for her own or anyone else's greed.
She couldn't see Rotom's eyes, hidden as it was behind the constantly shifting electricity that appeared to act as arms, but she could it evaluating her. An agonizingly long moment passed, and she held her breath. Would it be enough? Would she be enough to protect them?
Slowly, Rotom moved, nodding.
#
"Dawn, you made it! We were worried about you!" Cheryl rushed forward as Dawn strode out of the front entrance of the Chateau, Aries and Ion safely ensconced in their Pokéballs once again.
"I'm fine, just got turned around. That place sure is a maze, especially since the lights are so wonky. Honestly, I bet some electric type has been chewing on the wiring. Even if you replaced it, they would just sneak back in through some hole and eat it through again." Cheryl might not be the one Dawn needed to convince, but it was best to start early. Gardenia walked over from where she'd stood a few feet back, surveying the house.
"I'm glad to see you're alright Dawn! I wonder what all that commotion was? It was creepy! It disappeared when we got split up and I got a chance to see more of the house, it's in horrible shape but nothing that a bit of love and restoration work couldn't fix, just like a plant that needs a bit more water! Maybe you two could come back and help me fix it up sometime?" Gardenia had returned to the chipper, happy Gym Leader Dawn had seen before entering the house. Like she'd guessed, despite Gardenia's apparent fear of ghosts, she wasn't willing to back down from a challenge.
"That'd be a lot of work Gardenia. Would it really be worth it? Plus, I've got a Gym Battle to prepare for, and so do you. It wouldn't look good for me to steamroll you too easily, would it?" Please work.
It worked. "Ha! As if! You'll see what grass types can really do when you come challenge me Dawn! I'll have to get back to the Gym soon and make sure my early badge team is in their best condition to show you our power, you won't get an easy victory from me! You're right, I'd better get back, it was great to meet you and I'll see you soon Dawn! Cheryl, you'd better not ghost me again, we'll have to have a battle sometime soon! Bye!" Gardenia was gone, running off into the trees with her Roserade appearing at her side almost before her sentence was complete.
"Honestly, how that woman runs a slow, storied city like Eterna I will never understand," Cheryl sighed, cinching her backpack on a little higher and turning to face Dawn again. "Ready to get going? I'm ready to leave this horrible, creepy place in the dust!"
"Yeah, let's leave it in peace," Dawn said softly, turning back to face the stately, ruined Chateau one last time. She didn't think she was ready to forget this place, and didn't feel inclined to. Sometimes it was better to ask why before jumping right into battle.
She turned from the old house, and followed Cheryl back into the embrace of the trees.
#
The sun didn't come out all at once, the way Dawn expected it to. Sunlight broke through the trees gradually, like a child peeking out from behind interlaced fingers. It dappled the pine-strewn path below her feet, growing brighter and stronger until she could see a clear blue sky and streaks of cloud through the trees. When the trees finally thinned and the path led on to open ground, she still had to blink to get her eyes used to the light.
"We made it!" Cheryl was smiling, not a relieved smile, instead a familiar one, the one a person wears when returning home after a time away. She turned to face Dawn, saying "Thank you for coming with me through the forest! I don't know what I would have done without you."
Dawn turned to look at Cheryl. The older trainer looked much as she had at the beginning of their journey- green dress and locks, soft smile, hands clasped together in a gesture of thanks. She could see what she'd missed back then though- the toughness hidden in the lines of her body, the wear and tear on her Pokéballs, the natural assurance in her stance, the calculation hidden behind her eyes.
"Why did you ask me to come with you?"
"What?" For the first time that Dawn could remember, Cheryl looked surprised, and confused.
Dawn gestured to the Pokéballs at Cheryl's waist. "You only let me see Chansey so I'd think you only had weaker Pokémon, but you have much stronger Pokémon than any of mine. You've been through Eterna Forest before. Probably more than once. So why did you ask me to come through with you? Why pretend to be weaker than you are? I can't figure it out."
Cheryl smiled, a rueful grin. "It's been a long while since anyone caught me in the act. Mind if I ask what gave me away?" She stood taller now, shedding the disguise of meekness like casting away a heavy cloak.
"You almost had me fooled," Dawn admitted, "but you knew too much about training. That made me suspicious. Why would a trainer who didn't have one know so much about the Shinx line, or how to train them well? And when we ran into threats, you weren't as scared as I expected. I had real trouble with some of those Pokémon, and you weren't scared at all despite asking me for help getting through the forest. Then, well, you seem to know Gardenia pretty well. You can't be just some ordinary trainer. So why ask me to come with you?"
Cheryl's smile softened and she spread her hands wide. "Oh Dawn, that should be much a much easier to solve. I didn't ask you to accompany me because I worried about my safety, but I was worried about yours. I often help younger trainers cross the forest when I get the chance."
"But I still don't understand - why did you ask me to come with you instead of ask if you could come with me? Why the charade?"
"Would you have accepted an older trainer offering to help you travel through the forest?"
Dawn opened her mouth to say of course but closed it after a second of thought. Would she? A random older trainer, coming up to her and asking to travel together? No, she wouldn't have. It would have felt too much like needing a babysitter. She thought she knew what she was getting into. Even the thought of getting help with training probably wouldn't have overcome her pride. But after traveling through the forest and experiencing tough battles fought under the trees, Dawn knew that without Cheryl's healing they might have gotten in over their heads more than once.
"I guess a lot of new trainers have turned down your offer," Dawn said eventually.
"Yes," Cheryl agreed. "So I learned to ask for help instead. It's been a pleasure traveling with you Dawn. I think you'll go far, if you keep training hard and honing those instincts of yours." She turned and dug something out of her pack, holding it out for Dawn to take. "Here, I want you to have this."
Dawn reached out and took the item, holding it up to the light critically. It was a medallion of carved wood, a little smaller than her palm, emblazoned with a carving of a familiar flower. The Lily of the Valley, entwined with another plant she didn't recognize. A spiky plant, like those that grew high in the mountains. "What is it?"
"Keep it as a reminder of our journey, and our friendship." Cheryl turned away, striding back into the forest, her green hair and dress blending into the soft greens and browns of the pines. "I've got to get going. You aren't the only rookie who will need help with this forest, especially with this news I've heard about Team Galactic. Thank you again for your companionship Dawn. I'm certain we'll meet again." A parting wave was all Dawn saw of her before Cheryl disappeared back into the shadows of the trees.
Dawn watched her go until she could no longer see movement or hear Cheryl's steps on the pine straw. She released Crest, who grumbled and looked up at her, perking up immediately when he saw the trees behind them and the glimmer of light reflecting off water in the distance where the path lead.
"Ready to go buddy? We've got to be prepared. It's time to get our second Gym Badge." Crest nodded, puffing out his chest. Dawn tucked the medallion away in her bag, and they set out towards Eterna.
#
Up was down and left was right. Time was still, accelerating and slowing. Space was shrinking and expanding and yet neither. All was still and all was moving. There was infinite light and yet no light. Swirling, endless purple, water falling and flowing from island to island, pillars of ice and quartz taller than planets but thinner than toothpicks. Crystal skies that reflected eternity and the nothingness therein. A universe of contradictions, of nonexistence, the antithesis of all and the preserver of all. Empty of life, bursting with life that was not.
A small form, darting between floating islands, flowing waterfalls, flares of ghostly flame dancing forever, pools of darkness from which the unwary would never return, lost treasures taken as trophies from the other worlds, clouds of purple haze that obscured entire islands before vanishing like smoke in the breeze. Moments eternal and fleeting passed by. The little creature, one of the smallest residents of this world, arriving before the largest, the king, the savior, the Legend, the Shadow.
A torrent of squeaks that made no sound, of memories, emotions and stories that needed no words. Acknowledgement, and interest. A wordless command. A swirling portal opened, light seeping through and destroyed the moment it entered the endless realm. The little being slipping through just before the portal collapsed into a point, then vanished.
"How intriguing…"
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I have now learned that I really can't promise when chapters will be coming, as my brain doesn't work on a schedule. On the bright side, in honor of Pokémon Day, the Sinnoh Remakes and Pokemon Legends: Arceus announcements, you get an extra-long chapter today. Plus, three more chapters have been written and are in the editing stage, so it definitely shouldn't be long until I'm back with more chapters!
