Tuesday, March 27th, 2018
I awoke with a groan. Like I had every day for the previous few days, I lay in bed for several minutes, trying to think of something to do. And like every day before it, the only thing that came to mind was training. There simply weren't enough things to do to pass the time when I was stuck inside for the winter. Wandering the Minneapolis skyway and taking the occasional trip to the Mall could only do so much to stave off my boredom. It was finally starting to get a bit warmer, but there was still more than enough snow on the ground that I wasn't interested in spending any amount of time outside.
It had gotten to the point where I'd almost considered looking for a job in order to have something to break up the monotony, but I decided against it every time I had the thought. While I wasn't nearly as worried about it as I had been when I'd originally come to the Pokemon world, I still wasn't confident that my ID could stand up to any scrutiny. It didn't help matters that I had no way to prove that I'd graduated high school, much less college.
Eventually, I managed to pull myself out of bed, and after getting dressed and feeding my Pokemon, we made our way down to one of the smaller training centers in the city. I was about to start giving my Pokemon their objectives for the day when I was cut off by a buzzing from my pocket. "One minute guys," I told my Pokemon as I fished out my Poryphone to find that I'd received a text from Al.
The last time that I'd talked to the researcher was the day of my match with John when he'd texted to congratulate me. Somehow I had completely missed the fact that the match had been televised and learning that had given me a bit of retroactive stage fright. I had barely gotten over my discomfort with battling in front of the larger crowd in the Midway, and battling on live TV was another matter entirely.
Pushing aside that memory, I saw that the message from Al was asking what my plans were once it got warmer. I tapped in my response saying that I'd planned on heading up to the North Shore and challenging the gyms in that area. Even back in my own world, it had been a couple of years since I'd been up to the North Shore, despite the fact that it was one of my favorite places. With basically infinite free time as a trainer, I had ample opportunity to make the trip. Plus, part of the reason why I had the time to spare was because of my sponsorship and I figured that being seen biking around and challenging gyms would be a good way to make sure I didn't lose it.
Al quickly responded saying that sounded like an excellent plan and asked if I would be able to swing by Aitkin on my way up. I'd just been thinking about how much time I had, so I shrugged and replied sure. It would barely be out of the way and it would be good to see him and Betty again. After a second I added that it might be a while still since it was too snowy for me to want to bike anywhere anytime soon. Al assured me that was fine and to let him know when I had a better idea of when I'd be making it up there.
I replied that I would before returning my Poryphone to my pocket and my attention to my team. With something specific to look forward to, I started to feel a bit better and helped my Pokemon get set up with their training with more enthusiasm than I would have had a few minutes prior. As my Pokemon started working through their different tasks, I decided that I would have to start keeping a closer eye on the weather so that I could get out of the cities as soon as possible.
Tuesday, April 10th, 2018
I looked around my room one last time to make sure that I hadn't missed anything. While I didn't own much in this world, there had been a surprising number of things that I'd needed to repack into my backpack since everything had been taken out at one point or another over the winter. When I was finally satisfied, I set my keys on the desk and left the room, making sure that the door clicked shut behind me. The Brawl didn't require trainers to formally check out of their rooms, so the process was surprisingly quick and easy.
Between the ease of the process and the fact that I'd already said my goodbyes to John and Cait, there was nothing stopping me from heading out right away. The three of us had decided that we would stay in touch over a group text, especially since John had mentioned that he was planning on leaving Minneapolis not long after me. Cait still hadn't come up with a better plan than moving back in with her parents, so she was planning on staying in her provided room as long as possible.
When I reached the Mightyena building's lobby, I walked straight for the doors leading outside and was immediately blasted by a gust of cold air. It was still barely above freezing outside, but there had been enough warm days in a row that most of the snow had melted off. Coupled with the fact that the forecast for most of the next week looked good, I'd decided that it was as good of an opportunity as any to leave, despite the less than ideal temperature.
Moving a bit off to the side of the entrance, I removed my backpack and pulled out the yellow and white bike that I'd picked at one of the Boltund Bikes shops. No matter how many times I saw it, I couldn't believe how it managed to easily fold up to be smaller than my backpack, but I was definitely glad that it could. Once I'd finished getting the bike set up and made sure that the tires were good, I pressed the button on my second Pokeball.
"Ready to head out?" I asked Blitz when he appeared on the sidewalk in front of me. He cawed affirmatively and took off to start lazily circling above me in the air. I finally got on my bike and started working my way around the streets of Minneapolis to head north. Like I had when I'd made my way north in the fall, I planned on following the Mississippi to start. Though before I'd stayed on the banks of the river for a couple of weeks, this time it would be closer to a day before I broke off and started heading due north.
I was glad for my jacket, hat, and gloves as I biked through the chilly air, and I quickly realized that my trip to Aitkin might take a bit longer than I'd originally thought. Biking through the cold was definitely doable but I wasn't sure that I'd be able to put up with it without the occasional break to warm up. It also didn't help matters that I'd neglected my own training over the winter and my legs quickly began to feel sore as I worked the relatively unused muscles. I almost wished that I hadn't eaten lunch before leaving since an excuse for a break would have been more than welcome.
I didn't even make it out of the cities before I decided to call it a day when I reached the Coon Rapids Dam. I tried to tell myself that I wanted to give Blitz a chance to visit the place where he used to live, but really I was just tired and cold. After breaking to a stop, I called up, "Hey, do you know where any big trees would be?"
Blitz circled above me a few times before banking his wings so that he was headed to fly over the dam. I winced but didn't complain and started pedaling again to catch up with him. I should have known that he would know the eastern side of the river better since that's where I'd caught him. Predictably, it was very windy as I biked across the dam, making it an even more miserable experience than my travels up to that point had been.
Ten minutes later, I finally reached the spot that Blitz had been heading toward. To make things worse, he had led me down a trail that I was pretty sure had never been cleared over the winter, meaning that there was still a decent amount of snow on the ground. However, while getting there was a pain and a half, I had to admit that the tall oak that Blitz had picked out was perfect.
I wasted no time in sending out Peren and it was hard not to feel like Peren's spring coat was taunting me. It was apparently warm enough for him to switch coats, but I definitely wasn't willing to say it was spring yet. I shook my head and then pointed to the tree. "Can you use Secret Power on that?"
Peren nodded, then stared at the tree in deep concentration. I had only seen the move used in battles before, so I was surprised when it manifested in a completely different way. Instead of being a ring of energy, the move turned into a blast of green energy that hit the tree right where the branches started to thicken. Nothing happened for a second or two, then a knotted rope appeared out of nowhere and slapped against the tree's trunk. I followed the rope up with my eyes, but it almost seemed like it was coming out of a black hole in the tree, making it impossible to see what it was attached to.
"Awesome job Peren. Thank you," I said before returning him since he couldn't exactly climb the rope. Blitz wasted no time and flew into the distortion while I started my ascent. Oddly, the black hole didn't seem to get any closer as I climbed, though after climbing for a while, I realized that there was a wooden platform where the tree trunk had been a moment before. Blitz was already standing on it waiting for me, so I climbed up a couple more knots before stepping off of the rope and onto the platform. My head hurt slightly as I tried to work through the spacial weirdness I'd just experienced. After a moment I decided it would be best to simply not think about it and move on.
I absently sent out the rest of my Pokemon while examining the secret base that Peren had made for us. I was a bit surprised by how spacious it was, as it was barely smaller than the living room and bedroom that I'd had back in Minneapolis for the Brawl. The edges of the platform were met with thick foliage and after the small headache I'd gotten just from climbing the rope, I didn't even want to know what would happen if I tried to exit that way.
On that note, I turned around and started pulling the rope up onto the platform so that we couldn't be followed. It wasn't really something I was concerned about, but it was definitely better to be safe than sorry. Oddly, when I'd finished pulling up the rope, it measured only about a yard long when I was positive that I'd climbed further than that. I stared at the coiled rope on the floor next to me for several seconds before I abruptly turned around.
My Pokemon had already settled into our temporary camp with Nin joining Blitz in lazing on the ground while the other three explored their new surroundings. However, given that the platform's base was completely flat, it didn't take Scout long to inspect every inch of it.
I looked around with an approving smile, pleased at how convenient Secret Power turned out to be. The only real downside that I could see was that everything was made out of wood, so fires were out of the question, which was a shame. Although it was warmer inside of the base than it was outside, it still was a bit chilly for my tastes. I made a mental note to try having Peren make a base out of a cave or something else to see if that was any better, but I knew that we wouldn't have many opportunities for that until we got to the North Shore.
After we'd finished our dinners, I automatically moved to set up my tent, already back in the motions from fall. I ended up deciding against it since setting up a tent in an already enclosed space seemed like a pointless hassle. Instead, I spent the next few hours reading and talking to my Pokemon before we finally decided to call it a day.
Tuesday, April 17th, 2018
"You guys ready to go?" I asked from atop my bike and was immediately answered affirmatively by Blitz and Shadow, showing that they were just as eager to leave as I was. We'd taken our time heading north from Minneapolis, both so that I could get back into shape and so that Shadow could experience the outside world for the first time since she'd hatched.
I didn't regret that slowness, but it did come with an unfortunate consequence which was we'd been forced to stay in Garrison for two full days as it rained and snowed outside. Those two days stuck in the secret base had been particularly awful since I'd wanted to leave the cities to get out more, only to be forced inside yet again. We'd done a little training to pass the time, but without a full training facility, it was a more difficult process than usual. Other than that, we simply passed the time with me reading more books to my Pokemon that were interested in listening.
As we made our way out of Garrison, I decided that I was just glad that we would be able to reach Aitkin that day. Al had been understanding for the delay, but I got the feeling from his texts that he would rather I arrived sooner than later. However, he'd been frustratingly silent about what he actually wanted to see me about. I was looking forward to seeing him again, but it seemed like he had something specific in mind. As I continued thinking about it, it occurred to me that he probably just wanted to meet Shadow. He'd given me her egg and his Rapidash was one of her parents, so both of them had a vested interest in seeing how she was doing.
Thankfully, there was only good news on that front. Once we had gotten out of the cities, she had been interested in exploring the areas around our secret bases, which was something that Scout and I were more than happy to encourage. She had also started running alongside me after the second day, and I'd been impressed with how easily she'd been able to keep up with me on my bike. I'd never put much thought into how quickly Pokemon grew after hatching, and somehow this drove the point home even more than seeing her in Brawl matches had.
The last leg of our journey to Aitkin was very peaceful, with Shadow running at my side and Blitz soaring above. I occasionally felt pings of curiosity from Shadow when she noticed something on the side of the road, but she stayed with me the entire time instead of running off to investigate like Scout might have done.
We finally arrived in Aitkin mid-afternoon, and since it was a Tuesday, I figured that Al would still be at his lab. As I biked into town, I looked up at Blitz and called, "Do you remember where the lab is? Want to let Al know we're here?"
Blitz silently stared down at me for a few seconds, then nodded and slightly changed his directions to head to the lab. He easily outpaced Shadow and me as he darted forward, being able to take the direct route instead of having to follow the road. What ended up slowing us down even more than our indirect route was the number of people that greeted us as we passed, with some even calling me by name. I hadn't thought that I'd made that much of an impression when I'd been staying in the town, so it felt both strange and nice at the same time to be recognized.
I dropped that thought when I heard a sharp, angry-sounding cry from ahead that I immediately recognized as Blitz. I glanced at Shadow for a split second before taking off at full speed toward the lab with Shadow instantly increasing her speed to match me. Nothing seemed amiss when I turned onto the road Al's lab was on, but I also didn't see Blitz, so I kept moving to get to the building's back entrance.
When I turned the corner, I saw that Blitz was perched on the lab's sign, beak open and wings extended, making himself look as large as possible. I followed Blitz's glare to see what he was so upset about and just about fell off my bike when I saw the target of his ire.
There was a single Poochyena sitting on the lab's doormat with its hackles raised as it stared down Blitz.
I couldn't help but stare at the dog Pokemon for several long seconds, trying to figure out how and why it was there. I realized with a start that if there was one Poochyena here, the rest of the pack could be nearby. While Blitz's full attention was on the visible Poochyena, I quickly turned around, looking for any sign of the rest of them. With how strong my team had gotten over the last few months, I was far from afraid of them, but our first encounter had given me a healthy level of wariness.
I got a confused ping from Shadow, who I belatedly realized was missing important context. When I'd checked all around us and didn't see any sign of the rest of the Pokemon in the pack, I sent back Shadow a feeling of reassurance that I wasn't sure I could justify. When I returned my attention to the one Poochyena that I was aware of, I found that neither it nor Blitz had moved while I'd been checking our surroundings. Left with nothing else to go off of, I was trying to figure out what to do next when the lab's door handle started to turn.
"What in the world is going on out there?" Al's voice came a moment before the door opened, revealing him standing there with furrowed eyebrows. As soon as he saw me, his expression relaxed. "Oh, Thomas, it's good to see you again. I see you've met my guest," he added with a half-smile and a nod down toward Poochyena.
Dumbfounded, I stood there for a second before parroting, "Guest?"
"Sure," Al said lightly. He used one of his feet to lightly brush against Poochyena's tail. "You can relax girl. Blitz won't hurt you."
I didn't quite share Al's confidence and flashed Blitz a look of warning. I didn't know what was going on but figured that I should at least trust Al about it. Blitz reluctantly relaxed and Poochyena did the same a second later.
"Excellent," Al said once the two Pokemon were no longer threatening each other. "I see you have Ponyta with you. She looks healthy, and I was very impressed with what I saw in that match against your rival."
"Yeah, Shadow is great," I answered distractedly, keeping both eyes on Poochyena. I felt bad about glossing over Shadow like that, but I couldn't really concentrate on anything else. "What's going on with the Poochyena?"
Frustratingly, Al didn't answer and instead gestured back to his lab. "How about we talk inside so I can stop letting out all of this heat? Only thing is-"
"No Pokemon in the lab," I finished for him. I tore my eyes away from Poochyena to glance at Blitz and Shadow. "Do you guys want to be returned?" Blitz shook his head without taking his attention off of Poochyena while Shadow sent me a flash of red a moment later. "Alright. Let me know if something happens," I added, mostly talking to Shadow.
Al stepped back into the lab, leaving the door open behind him, though that meant that I had to get past the wild Pokemon that was still sitting on the welcome mat. Thankfully, Poochyena shuffled to the side so I wasn't forced to step over her. As I entered the building, I gave Blitz a final look that I hoped conveyed the message not to start anything, then closed the door behind me. Al was already sitting in his desk chair and I automatically moved to do the same, sitting in the chair that I'd worked in for a month and a half.
Once I'd gotten seated, Al finally started to explain. "It was a few weeks ago when she started to show up. At first, I ran her off with a couple of my Pokemon, but she just kept coming back day after day. Since chasing her away wasn't working, I gave up on that and found that she was perfectly peaceful. That's when I decided to text you since the only reason that I could think for why she'd be here was to find you. She's been coming back every day since then."
"Alright," I said slowly. "But why?"
Al shrugged. "At first I assumed that she wanted to thank you. Even with how cold and long this winter has been, she appears to be in decent health, which says good things about her pack as a whole. I have no doubt that wouldn't have been the case if you hadn't released that Mightyena. That food that you gave them when I picked you up certainly didn't hurt either."
I'd completely forgotten about the food that I'd left behind for the pack, but didn't mention that. Instead, I focused on the first thing Al had said and asked, "At first?"
"Well, after a few days, I realized that she seemed more intelligent than most of the other wild Pokemon around these parts, so I ended up just asking her what she wanted."
I frowned at the vague response and started to ask, "And what did you find," but then trailed off when Al gave me a meaningful look. It took me a half-second to connect the dots and I violently shook my head. "No way. Even if I wanted another Pokemon right now, and I'm not sure that I do, adding her to my team would be an awful idea. You saw how Blitz reacted out there."
"Yes, but I've also seen how persistent this Poochyena is. I wouldn't be surprised if she follows you out of town now, no matter what you do." I refrained from interrupting Al and pointing out that it would be his fault if that did happen. "At least give her a shot. Why don't you stay in town for a few days? Betty would love to have you over for dinner again and I'm sure some of those kids you trained would like to see you too. And while you're here, you can spend some time with Poochyena and make your final decision."
"I… agh, fine," I reluctantly agreed, far from happy about the situation I'd been put in. I was so put off that I didn't object to Al saying that I'd trained the kids in the fall.
Al smiled despite my lackluster response. "You can stay on the futon again while you're here."
"Nah, I'm fine there," I said after a defeated sigh. "I'll just stick to staying in a secret base. It'd feel weird to not sleep in the same room as my Pokemon at this point." I tilted my head slightly as I finished talking, somewhat surprised by what I'd said without thinking.
Al gave me a knowing nod. "In that case, why don't you look for a spot to set up at and then swing by our house for dinner?"
"Sounds good. I'll be over around five-thirty then?" I asked while I stood and made my way back over to the door. When Al said that sounded like a plan, I gave him a short wave goodbye and opened the door to deal with the situation that had been forced on me.
Blitz and Poochyena were still both intensely staring at each other while Shadow impassively regarded them. While the continued tensions between the two of them weren't exactly ideal, I was just glad that they hadn't started fighting. I closed the lab door behind me and addressed all three Pokemon. "We're going to be staying in town for a few days. Since Al asked, Poochyena… is going to be joining us, at least while we're here."
For the first time since we'd arrived at the lab, Blitz tore his eyes away from Poochyena in order to give me an indignant squawk. Poochyena also broke eye contact for the first time, turning up to look at me with wide eyes. I pointedly ignored both of their reactions and walked over to where my bike stood next to Shadow. "C'mon. We should set up a base while it's still light out."
I was about to start biking toward the city park but stopped right before putting my feet to the pedals. It probably wasn't the best idea to bring a wild Pokemon, who had attacked at least one human before, to a public park. I briefly rubbed my forehead and then turned to instead head for the small river about a block away from Al's lab. It was a bit further out of town which would hopefully forestall any potential issues with Poochyena, and I was sure that at least one of the trees at the edge of the Mississippi distributary would work for a secret base.
When we reached the small river, it took a few annoying minutes to find a tree that was big enough for a secret base. Most of the snow had melted off, but that just meant that we had to trudge across the damp ground instead of through snow. When I finally got to the tree's base, I reached to send out Peren but hesitated. I hadn't taken off my jacket all day, which meant that my Pokeballs had been covered and the rest of my team hadn't seen Poochyena yet.
"Hey, Poochyena, would you mind giving us some space?" I asked. Without hesitation, she turned around and ran about twenty feet away before facing me again to sit down on her haunches. Even with Poochyena being a bit away, I was nervous about the rest of my team's reactions. Then again, my most volatile Pokemon had already been taken care of so I hoped that the other three wouldn't be too much of a problem either.
When Peren finished materializing out of the Pokeball's red light, he started to greet me as normal, but then hesitated and sniffed the air. His head swiveled toward Poochyena a moment later and he quickly repositioned himself so he was standing in front of Shadow and me, shielding us from Poochyena.
"It's alright Peren, she's not going to hurt anyone," I said, trying to sound both calming and confident. I was about to ask him to use Secret Power on the tree but decided better of it. I would have preferred to have our conversation regarding Poochyena in the base, but since she wouldn't be able to climb the rope ladder, it would have to be done outside.
With no real reason to delay it any longer, I sent out my last two Pokemon, being sure to send Nin out on the driest patch of ground that I could see so that he wouldn't freeze. Nin noticed Poochyena's presence even quicker than Peren had and stared down the wild Pokemon with his head lifted off of the ground. Scout took a bit longer and looked around her surroundings curiously but then went rigid when she saw Poochyena. Instead of moving to put some extra distance between her and Poochyena as I'd expected, Scout stood her ground, and electricity sparked across her fur.
I quickly repeated what I'd told Peren before any of them started something. "It's alright guys. I let Poochyena come with us." This time Blitz squawked something after I spoke, and it must have been positive since the other three marginally relaxed. I made a mental note to thank him for the unexpected help later. "I don't know what the full story is, but from what Al said, she wants to come with us. It's not a done deal and I wanted to get all of your thoughts first."
I'd expected another round of protests at that, but instead, Poochyena began barking from where she still sat away from the rest of us. She barked, yipped, and softly growled for almost twenty seconds, making it by far the longest I'd heard a single Pokemon 'talk.' As she continued to communicate, the sparks on Scout's fur slowly faded away while Nin lowered himself back to the ground, making me desperately wish I knew what she was telling my team. There was a brief pause from her when she made an odd coughing noise, but she continued on a moment later as if it hadn't happened.
The moment that Poochyena quieted, I got the impression of a green checkmark from Shadow. Though I appreciated her vote, she was the only one that didn't have a negative interaction with the Pokemon in question. As expected, Scout didn't share Shadow's surety, and while she'd become more relaxed, I could see that she was still staring at Poochyena with distrust. Peren was in a similar boat and had his eyes narrowed at the wild Pokemon.
On the other hand, a look revealed that Blitz had fallen back into disinterest while Nin was relaxed, both of which were a distinct improvement. Neither of them tended to give their full support to much outside of battling so I had a feeling that it was as close to a 'yes' vote as I'd get from them.
While I was certainly glad for the general change in the mood, I couldn't help but wish that I knew what Poochyena had told them. I felt my connection to Shadow strengthen almost immediately after thinking that, but I only got the impression of a black void instead of the usual images or feelings. After a few seconds of no change, Shadow turned to face Poochyena. When that still didn't make a difference, Shadow lightly stamped one hoof into the ground, making it clear that she was incredibly frustrated.
I wasn't sure what she was trying to do, but given her attention to Poochyena, I said, "Psychic things don't work on dark types like Poochyena." As I finished, Shadow turned to face Peren instead, and at the same time, the dark void that she was sending was replaced by a blurry image of a grove of trees with several indistinct shapes beneath them.
Peren jolted suddenly, making the image become even more blurry and hard to discern. He gave Shadow a questioning look, then nodded a second later. The image slowly began to solidify, revealing the shapes beneath the trees to be a group of six Poochyena. Realizing what the two of them were doing, I leaned back against a nearby tree and closed my eyes so I could fully focus on the vision. We'd never done anything like this before and I figured it would be good to simplify the situation as much as possible.
The scene was fairly static for a bit as the Poochyena barely moved beneath the tree. Eventually, a white shape that I recognized as the Mightyena dragged an unmoving Bunnelby into the picture. While the rest of the Pokemon were somewhat blurry still, the Bunnelby was in clear focus, leaving no doubt in my mind what Peren was hung up on. Five of the Poochyena immediately began to dig into their prey while the Mightyena and one of the Poochyena stayed back and watched.
The image soon shifted and changed, making much of it white as snow covered the ground and trees. Even the Pokemon followed the trend with four of the Poochyena being replaced with the white-furred Minnesotan Mightyena. While the regional variant was normally thinner than a normal Mightyena, the ones in the image were unusually gaunt. The Poochyena didn't appear to be much better off and were thinner than they had been in the previous scene.
The image continued to slowly change with a few more prey Pokemon being pulled into the frame and devoured. However, one of the Mightyena and one of the two remaining Poochyena disappeared from the image. The snow eventually faded away from the image until they were once again standing on grass, but the group was still two members smaller than it had started with. Finally, the last Poochyena stepped away from its evolved forms and the image faded away into the black void from before.
I waited several more seconds but then opened my eyes when nothing new showed up. I turned to Poochyena with a slight frown and asked, "So you all-"
I was abruptly interrupted by an incredibly sharp pain in my head and I almost fell over while reflexively clamping my eyes shut. I heard concerned noises from most of my Pokemon and even a surprised yip from Poochyena. "I'm alright guys," I tried to say, only for the pain to redouble when I tried to open my eyes again. Deciding it would be best to leave them closed, I weakly said, "I don't think that was the best idea. I… don't feel so great."
As I tried to work through the headache, I felt Shadow nudge against my leg, and even through the pain, I could feel her apologetic message come through. "It's alright," I said in a slightly strained voice. With the effort that it took me to speak, I didn't even want to try to convey the feeling across our connection. A few seconds later, I heard the hum of Secret Power being used, presumably by Peren.
"Thanks. I think I'm going to go lie down for a while." I turned to face the direction that I thought Poochyena was in. "I'll have to talk to my team some more… later." Poochyena whined at that, but I thought that it sounded sympathetic and not like a complaint. Turning around again, I cracked my eyes open just enough to find the rope leading up into the secret base. The light reflecting off of the snow on the ground made the few steps to the base's entrance particularly painful. Once I had the rope securely grasped with one hand, I returned Peren, Nin, and Shadow, and then started my slow climb.
After what felt like an eternity, I finally reached the secret base's platform by blindly ascending the rope. I was fully aware that it probably wasn't the safest thing to do, but I didn't want to open my eyes again unless it was absolutely necessary. Once I was safely off the rope and on the platform, I sent my three Pokemon back out, assuming that Scout and Blitz had made their own way up.
I got a few more noises and feelings of sympathy from my Pokemon as I shrugged off my backpack. It took significantly longer than usual with my eyes shut, but eventually, I was able to find and retrieve my sleeping bag. However, I groaned in annoyance as I uncurled it, remembering that Al was expecting me at his house for dinner. Since there was no way that I was going to be able to make it there with my migraine, I pulled my Poryphone out of my pocket and gingerly cracked open my eyes to see the screen.
To my intense relief, the pain wasn't nearly as bad inside of the secret base without the extra light coming off of the snow. That said, it certainly wasn't pleasant, so I sent Al a text as quickly as I could, saying that I wouldn't be able to make it because of a massive headache after trying a new communication method with Shadow. The moment that I'd confirmed that the text had been sent, I shut my eyes again and lay down, feeling slightly better.
That didn't last for more than a few minutes since my Poryphone soon buzzed and I had to once again open my eyes to read Al's response. He said not to worry about missing dinner and that he'd had a similar experience with his Hatterene, Tayls, not long after he'd gotten her. Unfortunately, he didn't have any tips for recovering other than getting some rest.
I replied with a quick thanks before flipping the device to silent mode and laying back down. Despite my desire to follow Al's advice, between the dull pain in my head and trying to figure out what to do about Poochyena, it was a long time before I finally fell asleep.
A/N: Thanks to Star (quarknova on this site) for betaing. Next up is Chapter 30: Dear Winter
