"Ughn!" Ray was woken abruptly by a dull and blunt pain in his stomach. He sat up quickly and saw a figure standing over the bed while looking down at him with a rifle. They wore a tan outfit, but Ray couldn't make out their face. It was a blur. "What's in the bag? Give me it," a deep voice demanded.
Ray couldn't get to his pistol with a barrel in his face, so he reached for his backpack as instructed; while he did, Ray saw Crystal open her eyes and hoped she'd keep still, as the person's focus was on him.
"Now!" the person boomed, and Ray handed them his backpack. They threw it over their shoulder with their other hand and pulled the trigger.
Ray shot up in bed while breathing rapidly. That was a nightmare, and he likely had it due to seeing those mysterious people yesterday. Oddly enough, he still preferred it to any good dreams. At least it was real and not some fantasy he wished to have again.
His movement woke Crystal, and she, too, sat up, a bleary gaze in her eyes while looking up at a frazzled Ray.
He sighed and eventually caught his breath. "It was just a bad dream. Sorry for waking you." The sun was rising, so she would have woken up soon anyway.
"Pi…" Crystal walked and brushed her body alongside his back before sitting in front of him. It was her way of comforting him— or attempting to.
She didn't dream much nowadays, but they weren't nightmares when she did. A lot of them made no sense, but who knows?
"We should go search buildings." Ray scooted to the edge of the bed and put on his boots. He needed a new change of clothes and a shower if any homes in the area had water. Neither were his priority, so he would revisit them after evening hit.
Meanwhile, Crystal started feeling an odd sensation in her stomach and lower regions. It was warm, and she suspected it was the outset of her heat cycle but would ignore it for now. It would be hard once the tingles grew in intensity and made her miserable. It wasn't like there were viable males around to relieve her, either. This wasn't the first time Crystal had to cope with such a sensation, and Ray never seemed to notice it.
"Let's go." He grabbed his pistol and backpack, walking outside and into Eterna with her. "Let's try the Mart… even though those are usually barren." He headed toward the one he saw south by central yesterday.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to find food and water, and the day had to come when the entire region ran out since no companies were supplying it.
Crystal scanned and watched for danger while on the way and felt a presence nearby at one point, but they found out it was just a couple of starly nesting atop a nearby building.
"Here we are…" Ray stopped at the Mart's entrance and attempted prying the once automatic door open, but it wouldn't budge. "Locked and not broken into, which could mean there are items inside, but I dunno how we're getting in there. Maybe we could try the back door or roof."
While Ray thought of a solution, Crystal remembered she could use her telekinesis. It had been a while since she practiced it since she mainly used her abilities to avoid unfavorable situations nowadays. She approached the sliding door and put all of her focus on it. The gem on her forehead dimly glowed, and the door started subtly vibrating.
"What the…" Ray took a step back and looked at his focused pokémon. "Oh… you're doing that," he mumbled, watching her work at the door. Ray knew it drained her when she used her abilities for long periods, but this would be good practice.
Abruptly— and luckily it wasn't too loud, the door shattered, which startled Ray. He shielded his face and winced as glass hit him, followed by Crystal stumbling onto her side. "C-Crystal, are you okay?" He noticed that her breathing pattern was quicker than usual. Ray knelt beside her and looked around in case anyone heard it.
She nodded and flicked her tail, huffing. Crystal felt weak and dizzy, was all. She didn't intend to break the door. It was disappointing and meant she needed to familiarize herself with her abilities more.
"Don't hurt yourself, but thank you for getting that door... open." Ray picked her up and set her on the Mart's floor after stepping over broken glass. "If you have energy, you can help search, but sit here if you need to recover." Ray walked around and scanned the aisles. There wasn't much on the shelves, but it wasn't empty. He found that the back door was unlocked. Whoever was in here left the front door intact.
Ray still found a few more waters, two small bags of PokéChow that Crystal didn't enjoy the taste of, and a few potions he could administer to her if she were ever injured. Healing properties were rare to come by.
Crystal searched behind the counter and multiple aisles but found nothing except various types of pokéballs and other miscellaneous items so far. She couldn't see atop the high shelves, but she hopped on counters when she could, nearly falling over once since her balance was thrown off.
"Crystal!"
She looked up from where she was, her ears erect after hearing Ray call. She trotted over and looked at him.
"Look what I found." He held up the pokémon food and grinned. "You'll have to stuff your face with chow for a while. We'll check other buildings throughout the day too." While Ray fit the items into his backpack, he heard it: the heart-stopping sound that came to life every other day.
He froze while in the middle of putting a potion into his bag. The siren blared at random times across Sinnoh for minutes on end. It first played when the virus had spread at an alarming rate and took too many lives to control.
Authorities, such as police, were nowhere to be found, and hospitals and Pokémon Centers stopped providing their services and shut down. The siren served as a warning to the uninfected once upon a time, and Ray had no idea where it originated from. Its system must have been disabled, but it mysteriously started up again weeks ago. Its tone would rise and lower until it fell silent for a second, then it would start up again.
Ray waited for it to fall into its slumber once more. He could never move while it played its chilling song.
Crystal wasn't fond of it either and pressed her ears against her head. It reminded her of the moment a once-controlled pandemic brought society to an abrupt halt. She couldn't even imagine having fun anymore. It just made her feel worse about the present.
After all fell silent, Ray put what he found in his bag. "Next building."
Ray had searched multiple buildings with Crystal before nightfall; among them were all four floors of the Team Galactic structure. Ray felt nervous the entire time they were inside, not only because it was once one of the infamous Team Galactic's headquarters, but there were bodies eaten away on a couple of floors.
Ray didn't spend a lot of time there as a result. The building was creepy and could be a breeding ground for the virus. Plus, most of the rooms had been cleared out.
They were currently in the same house they'd stayed in the night before and were in bed. "It was difficult leaving most of what we found today behind, but I can't overpack again." Ray patted Crystal's side as she lay in his lap. "I'm gonna get ready for bed. I'll be back." He set her aside, took a toothbrush from his bag, and went to the restroom. There was no water, so he had to use some bottles of his drinking water to wash and whatnot.
She walked to the pillow and lay below it, stretching her tired legs before curling up. She'd try falling asleep. They had a long day, which is what most of them have been for the past several months. Crystal was just grateful to be able to rest without trouble finding them so far. She sometimes wondered where all of the murderous groups were and hoped they never waltzed into a city that any resided in. Of course, she could scan and kill, but it was best to avoid a situation like that if possible.
After drying off with a clean towel he found in the closet, Ray put on a new pair of jeans and a long-sleeved red shirt to sleep in. He couldn't be caught unclothed or have to spend an extra moment getting into pants in a dire situation. He slipped on a pair of socks and kept his boots next to his bed so he could easily access them during the night.
Ray let Crystal keep the upper half of the bed while he took the center, staring into space. He felt they should leave this city tomorrow. This was their second night spent in Eterna. Nothing alarming had happened yet, so he wanted to say he felt safe, but that would never be true. He wished it could be, but it was only luck, and it wasn't wise to push it.
That was something to worry about in the morning, though. Ray wanted to sleep and hope he didn't experience another nightmare, nor a good dream.