Chapter 7
Phillip:
We stayed at the remote Pokemon Center for two more days as Brian and his Scyther and Golbat recovered some more. We finally headed out again after four days of downtime. Nurse Joy gave Brian a bunch of stuff to continue treating Scyther and himself before we left, and then we were off. We didn't travel quite as fast as before because Brian still wasn't a hundred percent, but we made decent time. We headed northeast and spent the night in the inn at the town of Occey, too small and out of the way for a Pokemon Center to be built there. They did have a Pokemon Clinic that was run by a nice old lady named Dr. Joyce Ugurashi, and she was pleased to see how well Scyther was doing after hearing the tale of the Zubat cave and all the horrible details. We headed out of town and passed through some hill country before finally reaching Cerulean City. After so long out in the middle of nowhere and staying over in so many podunk little towns and villages the big city was a welcome change. Not that we didn't enjoy spending time out in nature, but we were just a little tired of it all at the time. We passed up everything else in town and headed straight for the Cerulean City Gym where we were to meet up with Misty, a Gym Leader there and one of Brian's old friends. We were walking past a shop full of clothes and appliances when a guy came out from behind an alleyway and snatched Brian's duffle bag off his shoulder. The shady looking character sped off at top speed through the streets and down another ally. We ran after him, although I was out running Brian of course. He still wasn't quiet up to so much excitement and exertion just yet. We asked a few people along the way if they had seen a guy dashing around with a blue duffle bag and they all pointed us along until we came to Cerulean Park. We began searching the whole place and just when we were about to give up we turned the corner of a small souvenir stand and found him. The guy was rummaging through the bag and didn't notice us at first, and only saw us once I got behind him and blocked off his escape route.
"Hey, give me back the bag now, punk!" Brian hollered at him. The guy scrambled to his feet.
"Not a chance, its mine now." His hand moved to his belt and he grabbed a Pokeball there. He flung it into the air and out came a Dodrio. I and Brian both backed up to give them some room and then Brian called out Golbat. The two stared each other down for a moment and then the battle began.
Brian:
One thing after another after another, it just never seemed to fail. The Dodrio looked angry and ready to tear a hole in me, but then again Dodrio have never been known to be friendly Pokemon. I called out Golbat and our Pokemon sized each other up.
"Dodrio, attack it with Drill Peck now!" the thief commanded his Pokemon. The huge three-headed bird leapt up into the air and aimed its beak right at Golbat.
"Golbat, move out of the way and counter it with Wing Attack!" I yelled up to him. Dodrio, while flightless birds, can jump like nobody's business. The big turkey came right at Golbat but he was too fast for it and dodged out of the way, slamming his foe back down to the earth with his wings. The Dodrio managed to land partially on its feet and kind of roll with the attack. Its trainer called for a Tri-Attack and each head charged up a shot of a different type. The multi-colored beam blasted towards Golbat but he was able to dodge this attack as well. This Dodrio was obviously a poorly trained Pokemon. I decided I could probably end the battle quickly with some luck. As the bag snatching trainer called for another foolish Drill Peck I had Golbat counter it with a Confuse Ray. Golbat's eyes glowed and dark flashes of light surrounded and enveloped the Dodrio. When the dust settled so to speak the triple-headed Pokemon was staggering around squawking like a total buffoon as the three head began attacking and pecking at each other. Dodrio are so much fun to confuse. I called for another Wing Attack and Golbat struck the bird hard with its wings, bringing the overgrown chicken down, unconscious. The thief thought better of attacking us and decided that a bag full of clothes and personal items wasn't worth it. He called back his Pokemon and dashed off through the bushes. Phillip walked over to me.
"Nice going," he complemented me with a grin. "What was with that guy? Was he pathetic or what? I shrugged with an evil smile.
"Heh, I mean really, steal from me? It only brings trouble, I tell you!" I called Golbat down and it landed on my shoulder. "That was some nice work, Golbat." It screeched softly in triumph and I put it back into its Pokeball. I went over to my duffle bag and knelt beside it on the ground. My clean clothes were no longer clean as they lay strewn across the dirt and it looked like the guy had made off with about twenty bucks. "Dang," I muttered under my breath. Wasn't this just like my luck? I mean how many more things could happen in one month? Really, it was just ridiculous. I snatched up all my clothes and crammed them back in the bag and zipped it up, and shouldering the bag Phillip and I continued or walk towards the Gym, both of us grasping our things a bit more tightly.
"So," Phillip said slowly, considering. "What's the real deal with you Brian? I mean I try not to pry, but you've run away and are being really careful to stay out of sight and all. You can't sleep at night, I've seen you," he looked over at me. "I mean, insomnia is a serious condition. I wouldn't normally say things like this, but it really isn't a good idea to be traveling around, tiring yourself out and all without getting any sleep." I didn't know what to say. I realized that I was sleeping poorly. Well, that was an understatement. I hadn't slept at all in the last forty eight hours, roughly. I felt tired all the time but I just couldn't sleep.
"Hey, I mean, I sleep. Maybe not that well but you know, it's not like I don't sleep at all." I mumbled, lying through my teeth. Phillip fell silent for a moment.
"Well," he began finally. "I guess I can't force you to tell me anything. But I know you're hiding something Brian. I just wish you could tell me about it." I thought about telling him everything. I wanted to blurt out the whole story right then and there and get it all off my shoulders. But I just couldn't. I don't know why. I guess I just felt it was my fault somehow. I don't know.
"I…I just can't right now." Was all I managed to reply. Phillip didn't say anything more for a while. I guess we had grown pretty close over the last few weeks. I didn't blame him for being angry or upset or whatever for my secrecy. But he seemed to understand. At least a little. We trudged on in terrible silence as people milled about us down the streets of Cerulean. We finally made it to the Gym, which was near the center of the huge city. The outside had changed since the last time I had paid the sisters a visit. The building was just as massive as ever and reminded me of a huge glass fishbowl because there seemed to be more glass windows than brick and mortar. What can I say? It was a Water-Pokemon Gym. Four archways covered part of the Gym and the center two led to the front doors. We made our way towards the rightmost entrance and walked through into the Gym as the sliding glass doors parted for us. The interior had been redone as well. I guess that kind of thing is to be expected when four women are the ones that run the place. We walked through a massive lobby which was peppered with aqua-blue couches and chairs and glass-top tables. There were a few plants scattered about but mostly the room's emptiness and soaring crystal-clear glass ceiling, which filtered in the sunlight, made it feel as though you had walked into the ocean. It was more than a little impressive. Phillip let out a low whistle.
"Nice." He said softly, gazing awestruck at the massive expanse of the room.
"I heard that." I replied softly. All the sudden I heard her voice.
"Brian, oh my gosh it's really you!" Misty came running over through the lobby and Phillip and I tried our best not to look like a pair or little kids staring at something so cool for the first time. Misty rushed up to me and jumped on me, embracing me in a hug. A pretty painful one considering that I still wasn't over all my injuries.
"Mmmm…" I tried to hide the pain as well as I could so as not to make her feel guilty. I could see Phillip wincing out of the corner of my eye. She let go of me and took a step back, looking me over.
"Wow you've gotten so tall Brian, you used to be barely bigger than me and now you're like seven feet tall!" she said, exaggerating. I gave her a crooked smile.
"Seven feet? Ummm…more like six four, dork." I corrected her.
"Sure, whatever you say, looser." She shot back playfully. She seemed to notice the scar across my eye and face. "Oh wow, what happened here?" she asked as she touched the area with her fingertips. I tried not to flinch noticeably. I took her hand away from my face.
"Well, there were these Zubat," I said darkly, remembering the cave. "Long story short, they decided they didn't like me too much," I jerked my thumb back towards Phillip. "They didn't care for his company too much either." She looked over to Phillip.
"Hey, you must be Phillip right?" she asked him with a broad smile. Phillip took a small step forward.
"Yes that's right. Misty was it? Nice to meet you." He replied. She smiled again.
"Nice to meet you too." She said sincerely. "So, did you guys enjoy your trip over here?" she asked. We both glanced at each other.
"Uh…some of it…" I told her carefully. I knew she would only keep pressing if she thought I wasn't telling her something. "There was the Zubat attack in Igneous Cave," I said. "Then earlier today some guy mugged us and made off with this," I continued, holding up my blue duffle bag.
"And then of course," Phillip began with a grin. "The Chansey…" He just stood there grinning like an idiot. I thought I might smack him but Misty cut in.
"The…Chansey?" she repeated, cocking an eyebrow as she looked at me waiting for an explanation. I sighed.
"Ummm…well you remember that time like, what, seven years ago? When I crashed my bike and you grandmother was visiting and decided she would help me out? Well it was that all over again, except here," I said, pointing to my face scar. I also started pointing out other marks on my legs and arms. There were plenty. "And here, here, here, here, well, pretty much everywhere." I finished grimly. Her eyes got wide as she realized what I meant.
"Oh no. Ouch," she gave me a funny looking 'poor guy' kind of smile. "I mean, ouch."
"Tell me about it," I grumbled with a roll of my eyes. The mood lightened a little after a couple more seconds of us standing around feeling sorry for me.
"Well, it sounds like you guys have had quite the adventure. Here, let me show you to your rooms. I had better get dinner started." We followed her through the rest of the lobby and took a right at its end as we began walking down a long hall. We took the stairs at the end of the hallway and arrived at the guest rooms on the second floor. Misty swung open one of the doors. "Well, here they are," she smiled at us. "Hope everything's comfortable, just hang out here or walk around or something until I can get the food ready, okay?" We both nodded at her.
"Yeah that's fine; just yell at us when you're ready." I answered her.
"You should probably take a quick nap; I bet you're pretty tired from the trip here." Misty suggested.
"Well, not really…" I muttered grimly. She looked at me funny for a second but decided to let it go.
"Okay then, do what you want. I better head over to the kitchen. See you two in a bit." She turned on her heels and started off down the hall and disappeared around the corner on the west side.
"Well," I said. "I guess I'll just lie down for a while. See you later." I told Phillip.
"Yeah sure, see you then." He replied before I closed my door behind me. I dropped my bags and stuff on the floor next to the bed and plopped down on the soft mattress. I was so tired that I thought I might actually be able to sleep for a while. I closed my eyes and surprisingly I fell right to sleep.
Phillip:
Brian closed the door of his room behind him and I stepped into my room. The guest rooms appeared to be all the same; sandy-tanish carpeting, cream-colored walls and some basic furniture. There was a full-sized bed, a small desk in the far corner of the room next to the window, and a comfortable looking recliner situated in front of a medium sized television set. In the far left corner of the room was a door leading into the restroom, and aside from these things the room was left bare. Not that is was really all that big. I tossed my bag on the desk and flipped off my shoes as I dropped down on the edge of the bed. I was a bit worn out but not sleepy so I decided to channel surf for a while. I shuffled over to the recliner and took a seat as I clicked on the TV with the remote. I clicked through the channels, passing up a few sitcoms, a golf tournament and some local newscasts. I continued to move through the channels until I stopped on one that had Professor Oak on it. He was standing in front of a dry-erase board a lecturing about Pokemon evolution. I listened in for a while as he discussed evolutionary stones and evolution "branches" as he called them. I began to doze off a little bit when a knock came at the door, jarring me from my half-sleep state. I clicked off the tube and glanced at my watch; it had been about twenty minutes already.
"Who is it?" I called through the door.
"Por, poreon!" came a muffled answer. Poreon? Who was that?
"Just a minute!" I shouted back. I climbed out of the chair and moved over to the door. I opened it and was greeted by a Vaporeon. "Hey, cool, a Vaporeon." I commented with a smile. The water Pokemon returned the gesture and it was then that I noticed a small card in its mouth. "For me?" I asked and held out my hand. The Vaporeon dropped the card into my hand and then turned around and took off down the hallway. I pulled the card towards my face and read it.
"Hey guys, dinner's read! Come on down to the dinning room. Don't expect anything too special, I never could cook, one of my friends had always handled that the past few years. See you upstairs!"
Misty
Well, I thought to myself as I read the part about not being able to cook. This oughtta be interesting. I pocketed the note and knocked on Brian's door. I waited for a few seconds and then knocked again; there was no answer.
"Brian, you in there man? Dinner is ready!" I hollered through the door. A few more seconds and still there was no answer. I decided to try the doorknob; it was unlocked, so I entered. Brian was lying on the bed completely unconscious. I hadn't seen him asleep like that in almost a week. I moved over to the bed and tapped him on the shoulder. He didn't move at all. The only sign I had that he was still alive was the steady rising and falling of his chest. I grabbed his shoulder and shook him lightly with still no response. "Brian, wake up, come on we gotta go eat!" I said in a loud voice. I shook him more violently and suddenly he jerked like he had been punched and sat bolt upright in the bed.
"Don't go!" he screamed. I jumped back a bit from the sudden movement and outburst. His face looked really pale and he was breathing heavily. He looked around confused for a second or two and then put his head in his hands as he realized it had been a dream. He wiped the light sweat from his forehead and swung his legs over to the floor and stood up slowly. "Sorry, sorry, didn't mean to scare you Phillip." He said in a shaky voice, almost a whisper. I have to admit that, sadly, I wasn't all that surprised.
"Brian, I mean, maybe you should see a doctor, you know? I mean, it's not normal to not sleep for days at a time and then when you do sleep for just like a half hour you have these horrible nightmares." He didn't say anything for a moment.
"Nah, I'm okay, it won't last forever. I just have a lot on my mind right now. Don't worry about it." He said, brushing me off. Again with the secrets and lies.
"Fine, whatever," I replied. There wasn't any talking to some people I guess. "Dinner is ready, this note said to go upstairs to the dinning room." I told him, taking the letter from my pocket and handing it to him. He took it with slightly less shaky hands.
"Oh yeah, I know where that is, let's go." He said, seeming grateful for an excuse to walk away from any more discussion. I decided it was just better to let it go. Anyway, if I ever did decide to press him about things it wouldn't be when he was rattled or coming out of a rough dream. We left his room and I followed him as he headed down the hallway to the right of our rooms and then up a flight of stairs at it's end. After we reached the end of the staircase we headed around a corner to the north and walked halfway down another hall until we came to a room where the door was slightly ajar. Brain knocked and then opened the door without waiting for someone to give him permission to enter. I followed him and we came into a large dinning area. The carpet was a brilliant red and connected to eggshell white walls with paintings of people and Pokemon hung there in elaborate and expensive looking frames. The table was made of fine oak that had a simmering coat of gloss and was long enough to seat five people comfortably on each side and then on person with plenty of room at each end. A huge white tablecloth with embroidered edges lay across the table and a fabulous centerpiece made with what seemed to be hundreds of kinds of flowers and many candles dotting it took its proud place not only in the center of the table but the entire room. Misty was setting the table with fine looking china, the kind I wasn't sure if people should be eating off of. She looked the same as she had when we arrived at the gym; her nearly shoulder-length red hair hung untied down her head and her bright eyes complemented her amber locks well. She seemed to favor swimsuits a lot as she was wearing a deep blue one-piece suit with the emblem of a Poke'ball on her chest. She wore a pair or lighter blue shorts and a completely see-through silk shirt unbuttoned over it all. She had removed the sandals she was wearing previously however. She looked over and registered that we were standing there gazing around the room, amazed like a couple of total peasants who had stepped into a mansion.
"Umm…guys? Are you okay?" she asked us as we shuffled around slowly, taking in the sheer extravagance of the room. I was pretty much at a loss for words and Brian couldn't manage much.
"Misty I…I love what you've done with the place." He whispered. She smiled and shook her head.
"I guess you two have been away from civilization for a long time, huh?" she said with a soft giggle.
"No civilization ever had rooms like this…" I muttered. We finally snapped out of it after a while and took our seats near the southern side of the table. Misty sat down on the left side and I took a seat opposite her as Brian was ushered to the head of the table by Misty.
"The man of the house sits at the head of the table," she said matter-of-factly as she raised a finger in the air. "And since you're the only man in this house, you're it."
"Ummm…what am I then?" I asked, being sure I didn't sound too offended.
"Oh, well, I don't really know you that well yet, so I'll just stick with Brian for now." She told me with a wink. I smiled back.
"Oh, okay then. I guess I shouldn't say anything stupid since I'm getting a free room."
"Ha, you got that right, Phillip!" she chuckled, clearly joshing me.
"So," Brian began with mock fear. "Ummm…do I dare ask what's for dinner?" he trembled. Misty slapped his arm.
"Hey, be nice, it took me a long time to order all this." She told him as she whistled towards a door in the northeast corner of the room. I leaned over to Brian.
"Did…did she say 'ordered'?" I whispered to him. He waved me off.
"Trust me, when eating with Misty, 'order' is the best word you could ever hear. Misty turned her head back to Brian and shot him an icy stare.
"I heard that you know." She told him. Brain swallowed hard.
"Oh, well, you see, what I meant was that the shear exquisite flavor and decadence of your cooking is sometimes more than any man can…" Misty cut him off.
"Save it. I know I can't cook." She admitted with a roll of her eyes. She turned back towards the door. Brian let the air he had been holding in his lungs go and his face returned to its normal color. Just then the same Vaporeon came out pushing a small silvery cart with its head. It wheeled it over as the cart squeaked along softly. It brought it to rest beside Misty and at the sight of Brian is hurried over to him and jumped up on its hind legs, resting its front paws on Brian's leg.
"Hey, is this Eevee?" Brain asked with a huge smile. Misty nodded.
"Yes, well, was Eevee as I'm sure you can see. She has missed you so much Brian." Brian and Vaporeon looked absolutely joyous to be with each other. Brian leaned over and gave Misty's Vaporeon a soft hug and Vaporeon nuzzled him happily.
"Oh, it's been too long hasn't it Vaporeon? What, a whole year now? A year and a half?" He hugged it again. "I'm so glad to see you again." He said looking like a little kid who was greeting his mother after she had been away visiting relatives or something.
"Poreon, Vaporeon!" it cooed back softly. It dropped down on all fours now and smiled at Brain who patted it on the head. It lied down next to Brian's chair and looked very peaceful there.
"Well, without further ado, here is dinner!" Misty cried like a showman getting ready to reveal something spectacular. Show woman on second thought. She lifted a silver lid off of the cart and revealed three white pizza boxes. I could see Brian trying really hard not to fall over laughing and I couldn't help but let a smile creep over my face as well. Misty looked at us with a smirk. "Go ahead guys, laugh, I don't care and I know you want to." Brian had had it.
"If…you say so!" he managed to squeak between his lips before he was overcome and roared with laughter. Misty rolled her eyes. I was fortunately able to repress my laughter into no more than a soft chuckle. Brian sat there nearly in tears for almost a full minute before he was able to calm down and gasp for breath. "Misty…heh…you could have hung out with us by the pool or something for pizza. Why all of this?" Brian asked with a snicker as he swept his hands around the vast dinning room. Misty got a real sad look on her face.
"Well, I can't cook at all but you barley ever come to visit me so I just wanted to make it, I don't know, a little special." She said softly and looked like she might start to cry a bit. Brain's eyes widened and all the humor suddenly drained from him as he got this "DOH!" look plastered across his face. I shot him a bonus "Nice job, doofus!" stare just to make sure he felt enough guilt for what he had said.
"Oh, Misty, I didn't mean…I was just…" he picked up her hand in his and looked her in the eyes. "It is special, but not because of all of the fancy plates or the big room, but because I'm with you. I wish I could be more, I swear I do, but it just isn't possible." Misty nodded and breathed in deeply.
"I…I know. But I just wish we could spend more time together, you know, after last year..." She trailed off as she glanced discreetly over to me. I suddenly felt completely out of place, like I was a criminal for sitting there. I thought about excusing myself but Misty perked up a little, or at least pretended to and opened the top box. Jalapenos and Sausage; my favorite.
"How…how did you know?" I cried as I stared at the pizza. She gave me a puzzled look.
"Know…know what?" she asked as she cocked an eyebrow at me.
"T…that…" I cried, pointing to the pie. "That's my favorite pizza! Jalapenos and Sausage! We can't get jalapenos back where I used to live. I was lucky if I even had it once a year." Misty got a surprised look on her face.
"You're kidding, this is my favorite too!" she yelled excitedly.
"Ugh, you're both nuts." Brian grumbled and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Misty jerked a thumb in his direction.
"He doesn't like it at all. He won't budge." I tried not to gasp too much.
"You…you don't? You monster, how could you not?" What's wrong with you?" I asked him, flabbergasted.
"I know, right?" Misty said in total agreement. "Sheesh Brian, what is wrong with you?" Brain rolled his eyes.
"Well Vaporeon agrees with me, right Vaporeon?" Brian told us confidently. Misty's Pokemon got up at the mention of its name.
"Vaporeon, you want this?" Misty asked it, holding up a Jalapeno. Vaporeon trotted happily over to her and accepted it in its mouth and gulped it down, smiling the whole time. "Well?" Misty asked, turning back to Brian with an amused grin.
"Traitor." Brian muttered as his eyes narrowed to slits. Misty giggled.
"Now Brian, don't go calling names just because you're totally out-numbered three to one." She scolded him. He dropped his head in defeat.
"Okay, okay, just tell me you got one…" he began.
"With extra cheese and light sauce?" she finished for him as she opened the second box. Brain's eyes lit up like a little kid in a candy store.
"Oooo…" he said as his mouth began to water. Misty served him a few slices on a plate and passed it to him. He began rubbing his hands together and licking his lips. I couldn't believe it.
"Plain cheese and light sauce?" I asked incredulously.
"Yeah, so what? You have a problem with it jalapeno boy?" he retorted defensively. I shrugged my shoulders.
"No I'm just saying, wouldn't it be cheaper to eat a loaf of bread with a slice of cheese on it? I mean, that's about what you've got there."
"Hey, there is some sauce you know!" he told me. He peeled back some of the cheese on a slice to reveal some slight reddish coloring on the crust underneath.
"Wow, you're right," I said with a smirk. "What was I thinking? Sorry about that." He narrowed his eyes again.
"Watch it…" he warned.
"Okay, okay, let's play nice, boys," Misty intervened with a sigh. "To each his own, okay? Let's just agree to disagree and think the others are crazy." Brian and I told her okay and we all began scarffing down the pizza.
"So," Brian asked between bites. "What's in box number three?" Misty looked over at it and nodded her head.
"Oh, I had a buy two get one free coupon so I figured I might as well use it," she explained after taking a sip from her coke. "I just got a regular pepperoni. I figured if we don't eat it I can just warm it up in the microwave some time." You could tell he resisted, but Brain saw the opening and took it.
"Really? So you finally learned how to work that thing? Don't all those buttons confuse you?" He asked her with a grin. She slapped him on the arm again.
"I've known how to use the microwave for years, I'll have you to know." She snorted, shooting him a frigid glare. But it was all in fun, you could tell. There was something else there too. I couldn't figure out what it was, but there was some kind of odd feeling in the room. I just decided to ignore it.
"So, how are your sisters?" Brian asked as they continued to chat.
"Oh you know them, they're out traveling the world again," she grumbled. "I keep trying to figure out where it is they could possibly go next. You'd think they could hang around at least a little bit from time to time, you know?" Brian shrugged with a small smile.
"If I remember correctly, it was you just over a year and a half ago who came back after several years out on the road with those two guys, am I right?" Brain told her as he cocked an eyebrow in her direction. She rolled her eyes at him.
"That was different, we were traveling on foot like you guys are and there were the three of them here to handle the Gym. Now," she said in a lowered voice. "Now they just leave me alone." Brian frowned.
"Hey, you aren't ever really alone," he said in a choked voice. "You have your Pokemon, and you have me…even when I can't be here…you know?" Misty looked really upset but nodded and tried to smile.
"Yeah I know. It's just really hard sometimes." Brain nodded back at her and then we continued to eat in silence. I got that same feeling again deep in my gut that even if they didn't think I was intruding that I was. I just had to get out of there and let them talk about whatever it was that they wanted to talk about, so I finished the pizza on my plate and was just about to excuse myself when Brian decided it was time he turned in. We both thanked Misty for dinner and offered to help clean up. She refused and sent us off to bed.
"Go on to bed, guys, I know you both must be pretty tired still." She told us, waving us off. We agreed and Brian said good night to Vaporeon and Misty and then we headed back towards our rooms. We walked the entire way down the hall and then the stairs and then through the other hall in total silence. He was obviously lost in thought and I didn't dare want to say anything, especially something like "What's the matter?" We opened the doors to our rooms and I was about to head inside mine when I noticed that he was just standing there, staring at nothing inside his room. We stood there for a good several minutes until he looked over at me. He looked pretty bad; I mean anyone who got as little sleep as he did wouldn't exactly look great but all this other stuff was piled on top now and he looked like the weight of it all might collapse him. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something to me, then he closed it and shook his head ever so slightly, almost unnoticeably.
"Phillip…" he started.
"Yeah?" I leaned over to hear him better because his voice was a crackled messy whisper. After a few seconds of silence he spoke again.
"Good night." He said. I didn't say anything for a few seconds and then returned the good night. He went into his room and shut the door, locking it behind him. I did the same and decided to take a shower. I changed into clean clothes afterwards and plopped down into the recliner. Why in the world would he not be able to talk to me? Didn't he trust me? There were too many questions I had but I still didn't think it was my place to go digging around for them. I decided that I just needed to hope that he would tell me sometime and in the meantime I needed to try to be supportive. He was obviously going through some kind of terrible times, that was for sure. I sat in the chair for a while and just kind of relaxed as I stared at the ceiling and walls. After a while, there was a quiet knock at the door. I snapped out of my trance and checked my wristwatch; nearly midnight. As I opened the door I thought that maybe it was Brain, finally ready to give me some explanations. But, to my surprise, Misty stood before my door.
"Misty?" I said. "Brian is next door," I told her. "He may not be asleep yet so…" Misty cut me off by putting her finger to her lips and making the 'shhhh' sound. I was surprised by this but I lowered my voice anyway. "Misty, is something wrong?" I asked her in a hushed whisper. She shook her head.
"Sorry to bother you at this time, but could you…ummm…come and talk with me for a bit?" she asked me. I couldn't believe she wanted to chat at that hour and with me no less. I mean, we had hit it off pretty well but I still barley knew her; what could she possibly want to talk to me about?
"Ummm…sure I guess." I answered. I figured there had to be a pretty good reason for something like this at midnight, and she seemed to want to talk without Brian knowing about it. I stepped out into the hallway and closed the door quietly behind me. She made a motion to follow her and so I did as she led me up not one but two staircases until we finally reached the roof of the Gym. She walked out onto the smooth paved surface and led me over to a small balcony that overlooked the Gym's outdoor Olympic sized swimming pool. The moon appeared to be nearly full and there were about a million stars in the sky, which was surprising to see in a big city like Cerulean. We sat down across from one another and Misty offered me a glass of water. "No thanks," I replied. "So, what exactly do you want to talk about with me?" Misty took a drink from her glass and answered me.
"I want to talk about Brian," she told me. "I can tell that there is something wrong with him, something or things are bothering him, a lot. He probably hasn't been sleeping much at all lately, right?" I tried not to look too surprised at her ability to somehow know all this.
"Yeah that's right. Unless he's asleep right now, I bet he hasn't slept but about three hours in the last four or five days," I told her evenly. "I don't really know what to do though. I suggested that he see a doctor but he just brushed me off. I don't really think there is anyway I can help him, but I'm kind of concerned because it's just not healthy to go like this without enough sleep. I mean, I don't want to be out in the middle of some mountain range and he just collapses from exhaustion, you know?" Misty looked really worried now. I hoped I hadn't made it sound worse than it was and worried her too much, but there was defiantly something wrong, no doubt about it.
"It's was never this bad before." She said in a shaky voice. This was big.
"Before? You mean this isn't the first time he's been like this?" I asked, intrigued. Misty shook her head.
"No, its not. About a year and a half ago when I had just come home from traveling Brian paid me and my sisters a visit," she began to explain to me. "Now, I've known Brian for years and years. We met at a convention that his mother and my sisters were attending in Pewter City. That was when we were like, oh, about six I guess. We're both nineteen now, so that's, what, about thirteen years? I mean we go way back. Anyway, when he last came here a year and a half ago he had the same problem, but it wasn't quite as bad. You know, his home life and all, well I suppose it just finally got to be too much and he just started to shut down." I interrupted her.
"His…home life, did you say?" I asked, curious. She nodded but then seemed to realize that he hadn't told me.
"Oh, he didn't tell you about it yet?" I told her no and she continued. "Well, I guess I shouldn't say anything then. I'm sure he'll tell you sometime but I think that should be up to him." I nodded.
"Okay, I can understand that. So, he had these same problems back then. So what happened? I assume he recovered?" She nodded her head.
"Yes. It took him a while to admit it, but I suppose he felt that he could trust me. So he told me everything. So much stuff was weighing him down it was no wonder he couldn't sleep. I would have nightmares too if I were going through all that he was," she stopped and took a few breaths before continuing. "I told him that it was perfectly okay, and that he could stay here as long as he felt like it. He hung around here for a couple of months, actually, just trying to forget everything. It took a while though. For the first few weeks I would find him up and swimming laps in the pool at three in the morning. After a while though he started to come around. We talked several times and sometimes even every day for about a week we would just hang out and work through everything. I think it helped him. After a few months had gone by he seemed better and told me he had to go back, he had to leave, even though he didn't really want to," her voice trailed off for a little bit as she apparently remembered painful things about that time. After a bit though she regained her composure and continued. "So he went back home and that was that, I suppose. We had grown really close though and after we…um…well...we emailed each other a lot. It just hurt to be apart from him." She stopped talking, apparently finished with the story. I kind of sat there for a while, taking in what I had heard. So this was a repeat of what had happened to him previously; a relapse into a disturbed mental state. Vivid nightmares, insomnia, it was all because of what? What was so terrible in his life to invite such horrible things into his dreams? Misty had mentioned something about his family life. Was that why he had run away? What was it that he was running from exactly? A death in the family? Something else? Who knew? The point, I realized, was that my friend was in a terribly unstable mental condition. I was pretty sure we wouldn't be able to move on for a while. I didn't know how long, but there was no way that he should keep traveling like this. At some time, the pressure and stress could become too much for him.
"Well," I began to talk to Misty after a moment of silence. "I guess we had better hang out somewhere in Cerulean for a while. Maybe you and I can get him through this too. I don't know how, but I think we have to help him." Misty nodded.
"Absolutely. I think I'll try talking to him in the morning," she yawned. "Well, I'm pretty tired so I think I should head off to bed. Good night."
"Good night." I called back to her as she left the balcony. I decided I should turn in as well and so I made my way back to my room and the last thing I remember is feeling guilty knowing I was about to drift off peacefully to sleep.