Hey y'all, it's been almost a year since my last chapter. Sorry about that. COVID and depression are lovely, and I've been struggling to finish this chapter for a year. So here it finally is, if anyone is still paying attention lol. Sorry about my lack of consistency with posting these chapters.
Thank you to all of the viewers of my last chapter, I appreciate you, and just knowing that someone might be reading is more than enough motivation to continue on with this story. Please leave feedback if you have time or have something to say. I always appreciate it.
Disclaimer: gothchic6 does not own Pokémon.
*Calypso's POV; Dreamworld; 3:33pm*
Walking through a dark, stormy world I've only ever seen in my nightmares, I know I'm in for a rough time. My experiences in this world are never positive, and I believe this world only exists to torment me. This is the world I describe in my journals. My night terror hellscape.
Ruth is the most recurring character in my hellscape, though my mind also likes to use other people to twist against me and torture me. This dream feels unfamiliar, so I'm guessing that it's of the latter.
I see a tall figure emerging from the grey, thundering clouds, recognizing the vivid red hair and piercing silver eyes anywhere, even here.
"Silver…," I question the figure hiding in the clouds. Despite the fact that I can see the bright colors of his hair and eyes, the rest of his body is a shadow shrouded by the thickness of the storm.
"Calypso…." Silver's voice echoes across the hellscape, sending shivers down my spine.
The strangeness of this situation is giving me massive anxiety, so I call out frantically, "What do you want from me, Silver?!"
The light in his eyes reflects back piercingly at me through the storm, in a way that makes me uncomfortable. "Come to me…," he whispers menacingly.
And despite everything in my brain saying that going over to him is a horrible idea, my body starts walking forwards on its own! I'm inwardly panicking because I literally cannot control my body right now. He laughs quietly as he sees me approaching, and it scares me because his laugh is saturated in genuine malice.
As I get closer, he starts to step out of the shadows, revealing himself. I try to do anything, literally anything I can think of to get back control of my body, but nothing I do works. I'm trapped! To my intense shock, my body bows down on my knees in front of him. He smiles sinisterly at my forced gesture.
"I knew you'd come to bow to me one day, Calypso. After all, I am the strongest trainer, and nothing you do can ever change that. You'll always just be that helpless little girl who let her parents die."
I bristle at his blatant lies, spouting, "Those are lies, and you know it, Silver, you jerk! Now let me go!"
"No, I don't think I'd do that. After all, I'm not the Silver of your reality, I'm the Silver of your hellscape. But I know what I'm going to do now," he growls back at me before grabbing the hair on the back of my head in a vice grip, and painfully pulling me up to his level.
"Silver, stop, what are you doing-,' I gasp in shock before he crushes his lips to mine in a frantically fierce kiss.
The only control of my body that I have is to fight Silver in this intimate endeavor. Suddenly, getting an overwhelming need to reciprocate, I gain some control over my head in order to change my position to kiss him deeper. Then, I start to gain control in my arms, and when he fists my hair and bites my lip, I wrap my arms around his neck. Just like in our reality kiss.
We break apart for a brief moment, and I can't help but feel a sense of euphoria from this seductive situation.
"I could get lost in you," I whisper vulnerably into his neck, while wrapping my arms around him tightly.
He lifts my chin to make blazing eye contact with me. "So why don't you," he asks before his eyes flash dangerously again.
Before I know what's happening, he throws me to the ground harshly, the hard impact hurting a fucking lot. I weakly try to stand up again, but he once again sends me flying onto my ass.
I barely have any time to think before he walks up to my weak form on the ground. He kneels beside me to roughly hold my chin in his hand to force me to look at him.
"Don't you get it? You will never beat me. Not in battle, and not in love. Not that I could ever feel it anyway. That kiss never happened," he bellows loudly, causing a crashing beneath me.
The ground falls from below me, and I scream endlessly as I free fall into an oblivion of nothing. But, from everywhere, I can see Silver's evil eyes and wicked smile laughing at me and mocking me. And that's something that I don't know if I'll ever forget.
*Tina's POV; Her and Calypso's Home in Ecruteak City; 3:35pm*
"Thump," I hear a loud noise echoing from across the house. Loud noises aren't uncommon in this house because my Pokémon tend to be a bit rowdy. When it happens a few more times, I feel a need to go investigate. Hopefully the Pokémon haven't decided that having a battle inside is a good idea.
My first instinct is to go back to the kitchen to see if my Pokémon are rough-housing outside, or worse, inside. My theory is quickly disproved as I see the rare sight of all of my Pokémon sleeping outside in a pile. This never happens, and I don't even have my camera to document it!
The thumping noise continues again, and it seems to be coming from the northwest part of the house. Calypso's room.
Walking through the hallway, and up to her door, I can hear the thumping louder and clearer as I go to open the door.
"Calypso, you okay," I whisper as I slowly enter the room.
"Ugghhh," Calypso groans while shifting uncontrollably around the bed. I'm 99% sure she's still asleep. She's probably having a nightmare. She was really prone to nightmares when she was a kid, too. I'm not surprised that she still has this problem.
"Stop laughing at me," she demands firmly to someone unknown, "Leave me alone!"
I try to sit on the edge of her bed, but apparently she notices the new weight upon it, because she kicks me square in the back. I go flying onto the wooden floor, my tailbone aching in pain.
"Arceus, Calypso," I whisper aloud, "What are you so scared of? Who won't leave you alone, baby girl?"
"Silver… go away, Silver… Leave me alone," she ends with a desperate scream. Her terror filled scream is one of the most disturbing things I've heard in my life. I can't help but shudder a bit.
But isn't Silver that boy she kissed? Why would she be having nightmares about that?
But, yet, I think back to Akira, who also had the same nightmare problems. She learned how to keep up a mental barrier that prevented her dark thoughts from overtaking her mind during the night.
But as much as I love Calypso, she isn't nearly as mentally stable as Akira, and why would she be? Honestly, considering she spent most of her childhood with Ruth, I'm surprised she's still somewhat sane.
That's partially my fault, of course. But if I want to be any kind of parent to her now, I need to help with these dreams or they might drive her insane.
I get up and attempt to sit on the other side of her bed, rubbing her back when she goes to hit me with her arm in defense. She instantly relaxes, ceasing her thrashing, and leaning into my touch.
"It's okay, Calypso, I'm here now. You've been fighting the bad guys by yourself all your life, and now I'm here to help you. You're not alone, anymore, baby girl. And you'll never be alone again. I promise," I say as I rub her back soothingly.
My efforts to calm her seem to have worked. Her fervent breathing is now slow and deep, and she's started snoring.
"Sleep tight, baby girl. Don't let those dream monsters get to you."
Looking around her room, I see all of her Pokémon spread out amongst the room. They all seem to be asleep, save for her Murkrow, Spirit, who is eyeing me suspiciously from her perch on the headboard.
I spot her bag on the floor, and the front pocket is unzipped, revealing the corner of a ripped up and heavily written-on notebook. I grab the notebook, reading the title, "My Dream Diary #6."
The fact that this is her sixth dream journal is disturbing, yet unsurprising. Like mother, like daughter.
Reaching further into the pocket, I find the other five notebooks. Cradling them in my arms, I go to leave before I hear a caw of protest.
Spirit is glaring at me heavily, probably angry at me for invading Calypso's privacy. "I'm only doing this for her own good," I whisper to Spirit, who I can tell doesn't believe me.
I leave Calypso's room when I'm sure she's calmed down enough. Looking for a distraction from this incident, I decide to go back to my office to search for evidence for Joyce's case, and inspect Calypso's dream journals to help her figure out her nightmare problems.
I rifle through all of my binders for all the information I have on the case. I've got to help Joyce bolster her information, and boy, do I have a lot of documented information from the past.
Starting up a large stack of paperwork on my desk, I shuffle through quite a few shelves and drawers. After a half hour of sorting, I feel accomplished when I have three solid stacks of incriminating evidence.
I call Joyce back with the good news.
"Thank you for your research, Ms. Platinum. What would be the easiest way to transport these files to me? I'd be willing to pick them up, or you could fax them to me if you have a printer with a scanner," Joyce suggests.
"I have a fax with a scanner," I reply, "If you just give me the fax number, I'll send them all to you."
So I fax Joyce all of the evidence I have, and she replies happily,
"Thank you, Ms. Platinum, all of this will be very useful to the case. I'll let you know if I have any updates to report to you.
Also, I'd like to speak to Ms. Primrose soon, because her direct testimony will be crucial in proving Ruth's guilt. Let me know when I can set up a meeting with her to record her testimony. The sooner, the better, Ms. Platinum."
I hesitate in my next response,
"I'm not sure that would be appropriate. I don't know if Calypso is ready to relive her horrible childhood, which includes the deaths of her parents, and being kidnapped from her hometown by a family member she barely knew. Then, said family member abused her until she ran away a week ago.
Joyce, her scars, both mental and physical, are fresh! I'll be honest, I don't know if she can handle it at this point. But, when she wakes up from her nap, I'll mention it to her. See how she reacts. I'll call you when she comes to a decision, all right?"
Joyce stays silent for a few moments, before replying, "That's fair, the poor child has gone through a lot. I'll give her a chance to think it through before I put her on the spot. Call me back when you have an answer."
"Will do," I finish before hanging up the phone.
*Calypso's POV; Her home in Ecruteak City, 5pm*
"Brrrrinng," My PokéGear abruptly rings, waking me up from my sleep. I remember having some sort of weird dream, but the details are kinda fuzzy. My attention is broken when the PokéGear rings again.
Looking at the number, I see that it's JC. I guess she's finally done bed frolicking with JP. I answer the call, curious as to what's been going on with them lately.
"Hey, JC, what's up," I ask.
"Hey, Calypso! I just wanted to update you on what's been going on. So, JP and I are officially dating," JC starts excitedly.
"I'm so happy for you guys! I thought it was going to happen eventually, but I'm glad you figured out your feelings so quickly. So, does the Police Department have any problems with it because one of you is an Officer while the other one is a nurse?"
"Nah," JP replies, "I already told them what's going on, and they said as long as we don't work in the same department or the same route, it's allowed. So, as long as I stick to Violet City on shift, we're fine."
"That's awesome," I exclaim, "Have you guys told your families yet?"
"Well, we haven't formally told our families that we're a couple yet, but a few special Jennies and Joys know that we're together," JC answers fondly.
"You mean Jenny Charlotte and your mom," JP slips in coyly.
"Well, yeah," JC snaps back playfully, "They're the only two family members I trust so far to accept us."
"Aww, you guys are cute. It must be nice to have that kind of relationship," I comment dreamily, thinking of the two people most occupying my mind as of recently.
"Oh, Calypso, you'll find love eventually. JC and I's relationship was so spontaneous, we were just lucky to find love out of our crazy situation," JP responds heartily.
"Oh, Calypso, I almost forgot to tell you," JC remembers, "A female prosecutor from the Goldenrod Judicial Court of Johto called us to talk about your child abuse case against Ruth. She said she was recently assigned to the case, and she wanted to know everything we knew about you and Ruth. We gave her all the information we could think of," JC explains to me.
My eyes widen at her information. "You mean, a real prosecutor is taking my case? Like, she wants to help me put Ruth in prison?"
"That's exactly what it sounds like," JP responds.
I hastily grab a notepad and a pen from my backpack, "Did you guys save her number? I definitely want to talk to her, and tell Tina about her! I can't believe this is actually happening," I exclaim.
"Yeah, it's ***-***-****. I hope you get the closure you deserve, Calypso. You know JP and I here to support you the whole way," JC expresses, making me tear up a little.
"Thanks, guys. I really appreciate all you've done for me. I think I'm going to go get dressed and tell Tina about the new good news! I'll talk to you guys later. Thank you for telling me all of this," I say as I go to hang up.
"You're good, Calypso, we'll talk to you later, see ya," JP says her goodbye, while JC chimes in, "Bye."
"Yes," I can't help but cheer at this news. Finally, someone wants to talk to me about everything that happened so I can get some justice.
"Tina, Tina," I say as I rush out of my room. I look all around the house, but I finally find her in her office.
"Tina, Tina, a prosecutor from the Goldenrod Judicial Court wants to talk with me! Her name is Joyce Hutchinson, and she wants me to tell her everything so that I can help her put Ruth behind bars! Isn't that awesome," I spit out excitedly to Tina, who's sitting at the desk reading something I can't see.
A weird expression I don't recognize comes over Tina's face when she turns to look at me. "Yeah, that's great, Calypso! Where did you learn about her from?"
"Oh, my friends JC and JP called me to let me know that Joyce had taken the case. They said she wanted to talk to me…" Upon looking at Tina's face again, I make a sudden realization.
"Wait… Tina, you know about this, don't you? You weren't surprised by her name at all… When did you learn about her? And when were you going to tell me," I question her angrily.
Tina sweatdrops a little, "Just like your mom, nothing gets past you. I swear, she contacted me when you were in the Burned Tower-," Tina explains before I interrupt her.
"You should've told me when I got home! I would've already called her! When were you going to tell me about this?"
"I'm sorry, Calypso, I swear, I was going to tell you after your nap! You just looked so tired, and I wanted to make sure you got some sleep," Tina tries to soothe me.
"Grrr, I guess that's a reasonable explanation. So, whatcha readin'," I ask as I walk up closer to read over her shoulder.
"Calypso, no-," She says as she tries to cover up what I realize is my most recent dream journal.
I'm too blinded by anger to even cry at this point.
"How could you? Those are my private dream diaries, and they are for no one's eyes but mine! How dare you invade my privacy like that, Tina," I scream passionately at her.
"Calypso, I was only trying to help you! I noticed you having a really bad nightmare, and I was comforting you so you could go back to sleep. Then, I saw one of your dream journals. Your mom also had problems with nightmares, and I was hoping that I could help you try to manage them if I could read them and interpret them. I'm sorry for invading your privacy," Tina confesses, her response only overwhelming me more.
"Tina, you know I love you, but I can't do this right now. I need to leave," I burst out before grabbing my journals from her, and walking to my room so I can grab my bag and Pokémon so I can leave.
Tina follows after, asking, "Where are you going off to, Calypso? What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to go challenge Morty and win my Fog Badge," I reply, ducking in and out of my room quickly, and heading for the front door.
"Calypso, wait," she calls out to me from the hallway, "You're not ready to battle Morty yet! His strongest Pokémon is two levels higher than your strongest, and his is a fully evolved third stage Pokémon. You need to train more! You can train in the backyard with my Team and I to prepare! Come on, kiddo, what do you say," Tina proposes hopefully.
"Ugh, I can't think…," I say aloud before coming to this conclusion, "Tina, I can't be around you right now after what you did. I love you, but I still have to leave. I'm going to do some things on my own terms for a while. I'll let you know if I'll be back tonight," I say as I walk to the front door with all my stuff.
"Calypso, wait," she calls, but her call falls on deaf ears as I walk out the door out into the evening sun of the city.
*Third Person POV; Ruth Marken's House, Cianwood City; 5:00pm
"So, Ruth-," Donald starts before Ruth throws him a warning glance.
"Uh, I mean Gran," he corrects himself nervously, "What were you planning on making for dinner? I know you probably haven't been home in a while, so I figured I'd offer to get us takeout, you know, to help pay back for the fact that you saved me from literally being homeless."
"That sounds fair," Ruth accepts reasonably, "After all, I am short on money right now due to theft, gambling, and this whole impending court case."
Monica chimes in, "Wait, court case? That freak is actually pressing charges against you? I can't believe this!"
"Well, yeah, we broke her out on bail. Technically, the police should be looking to arrest her again because she broke the rules of her restraining order," Donald points out to them.
"Wait, so why aren't the police after you, Ruth? They should've been chasing after us after that freak Tina lost us. That's so weird," Monica adds.
"Once I get to Cianwood, I'm safe. I have certain protections here because of the connections I have with certain people," Ruth explains, "My friend, Chuck, that helped us move your stuff? He's the Cianwood City Gym Leader. I defended his mother in court once, and I won her case. He's been rigidly loyal to me ever since. Even now, with all the accusations coming out against me, he's still on my side. That's what you call a friend."
"No kidding," Donald replies in astonishment, "How does he keep the police away from here?"
"Police aren't really common in Cianwood City anyway because of the lack of crime, but he has a rule that all civilians and police must stay within city limits. Technically, I am within city limits, but most police stay in the downtown area. So I'm usually safe."
"But, what if they happen to come up here," Monica contradicts.
Ruth proposes her solution, "Children, if we ever feel like we are threatened, I have a safehouse in Kanto that we can go to. We'd need to grab my late husband's Pokémon in the Pokémon Center first. He has a Skarmory that knows HM02 Fly, and I have the Gym Badge needed to use it."
"We should go and grab his Pokémon soon, then," Donald suggests, "Just in case you are sighted, Ruth. We need to be able to make a quick escape."
"But which one of us should go get them," Monica asks. "Gran probably can't because she might be spotted."
"Well, to be honest, Monica, you'd probably be the best one because you can blend in with the downtown Cianwood crowd the best. You look like a tourist. If you're okay with doing it, I'll give you the username and password for his PC account," Ruth requests.
"Yay, I get to do something instead of just paying for stuff! I feel useful," Monica expresses.
"Hey, are there any restaurants in downtown Cianwood? I could call in a carry out order, and Monica could pick it up after she gets the Pokémon," Donald asks.
"There's a great sushi place right above the pharmacy," Ruth answers, "What do you kids want? I'm personally a fan of their Cianwood Roll, made with fresh Cianwood Krabby meat, cream cheese, cucumber, and avocado."
"Do they have anything with Staryu or Seaking," Monica questions, "I don't like the taste of Krabby."
"They have a fresh Staryu Seaweed Roll," Ruth suggests, "It's a hand roll that's made of cubed Staryu meat, mixed together with spicy mayo in a fresh seaweed wrap."
"That sounds amazing, Gran," Monica exclaims happily, "Donald, what do you want?"
"I'm in the mood for a good tempura. What would you suggest, Ruth," Donald responds.
"I would recommend the Seaking Tempura Roll; It's made with freshly sliced Seaking filet with cream cheese and avocado, fried with tempura batter, and covered in sweet molasses sauce and spicy mayo. It's the best tempura roll on the menu."
"That sounds perfect," Donald replies, "I'll call the restaurant, and place the order. And remember, I'm putting the order under your name, Monica, so you'll be able to pick it up."
Monica scrunches her nose up in annoyance. "What, do you think I'm stupid? Of course it'll be under my name. Gosh, what, do you think I'm a toddler or something?"
Donald glares at Monica before placing the order, "Hello, Cianwood Sushi? I'd like to place an order for carry out. Yes, I'd like one Cianwood Roll, one Staryu Seaweed Hand Roll, and one Seaking Tempura Roll. It'll be under the name of my sister, Monica, because she'll be picking it up."
The employees of Cianwood Sushi give the Trio a 20 minute wait time for the order, giving Monica the perfect time frame to pick up both the food and Pokémon.
"I can't believe you called me your sister," Monica points out to Donald in a voice that sounds offended, but Donald can hear how happy it actually makes her.
"Well, you're certainly bratty enough to be," Donald counters with a mischievous grin, "As an only child, I definitely claim you as my sister. After all, my not-parents only wanted one child. Too bad I wasn't the kid they hoped for."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I claim you as my brother. The only other sibling I have is my older sister, and she and my parents ignore me because she's both a famous model and Pokémon Trainer. In their eyes, I'm a failure," Monica explains sadly.
"Children, in our lives, there will always be people who will view you as not being good enough. No matter what you do to try to please them, it will never be enough. Instead of focusing on other people's opinions of us, we should just try and do our best for ourselves. It's what we deserve," Ruth ends, prompting the Trio to share a group hug.
After their emotional discussion, Ruth draws Monica a crude but readable map of Cianwood City so she doesn't get lost.
"All right, you guys, I'll be back soon," Monica says as she walks out of Ruth's front door.
*Calypso's POV; Ecruteak City; 5:10*
"I can't believe her," I can't stop myself from saying aloud, "Who the hell does she think she is?!"
Tina has tried calling me several times on the PokéGear, but I've declined all of them. I've been walking the city alone, but Spirit pops out her Poké Ball to join me, flying alongside me as I skateboard around Ecruteak.
'Hey, are you doing all right? I saw what went down with Tina, and I wanted to make sure you're okay,' she comments, noticing my tear-stained face.
I sigh in disappointment. "I just can't believe Tina could do that to me. First, not telling me about the prosecutor, and then, stealing my private dream diaries and reading them! She broke so many unsaid boundaries, Spirit. I need a little time before I can face her again, and tell her how much what she did hurt me."
'I saw her comforting you during your nightmare. She was really worried about you. She was telling the truth about the nightmare, but I saw her take your journals. There is no excuse for that, even if she did it for what she thought was your best interest,' Spirit tries to comfort me.
"Spirit, if she was so worried about me and my nightmares, she could've said something to me after I woke up instead of taking my personal creative property and sticking her nose in it without my permission. She pushed a huge personal boundary.
I do want to work with her to help protect myself from these nightmares, especially since my mom had them chronically as well. But what she did was not the way to approach it."
'So what are we doing now,' Spirit questions, flying steadily beside me only to perch on my left shoulder.
"I thought I could put my passion into us challenging the Gym," I respond stonily, hardening up my emotions in order to not think about my previous stressful situation, and to prepare myself for the next challenge.
'Are you sure that's a good idea,' Spirit replies doubtfully, 'You heard what Tina said. We're under leveled, and Morty has a Level 25 third-stage evolved Pokémon. I don't think we're ready.'
"We'll be okay if we put all of our passion and power into it. I have full faith in you guys. We'll do fine," I shut her concerns down passively.
'Sure we will,' Spirit gets in the sarcastic last word.
So Spirit and I silently travel to the Ecruteak Gym. But, upon walking in, I see a very dimly lit Gym covered almost completely with dark clouds of fog.
The clouds of fog are so familiar… they trigger dark memories within me, causing me to pause by the front door.
'You okay,' Spirit whispers to me.
"No," I murmur back, "I think I need to get out of here for right now."
I see the Gym Guide trying to speak to me, but I'm too overwhelmed to respond. I see him mouthing words to me, probably asking if I'm all right, but all I hear is meaningless blather. Starting to feel nauseous, I hightail it out of there, running outside into the Ecruteak sunshine.
"I can't do this, Spirit. I can't challenge the Gym until I deal with my nightmares and other issues… But I don't know what to do. I'm not ready to face Tina yet, but I can't challenge the Gym until I learn to deal with my nightmares," I confess to her.
'We need to find something else to occupy your time for a little bit. We need to train, so why don't we go to the nearest area with Pokémon Trainers,' Spirit suggests.
I go to say, "Okay," when my PokéGear starts to ring. Looking down, I see that it's Lyra who is trying to call me. What a perfect distraction!
"Hey, Lyra, what's going on," I ask when I pick up the phone.
"Hey, Calypso, I just wanted to let you know that I made it to New Bark Town, and I told Professor Elm what happened earlier today. He's glad that we're both okay, but he was really disappointed to hear that the Pokémon that Mr. Pokémon gave you got stolen.
I was thinking, to make it up to him, you and I could tag-team the Bug Catching Contest, and bring him the two Bug Pokémon that we're going to catch. There's still enough time left in the day! Besides, it would be good training for whatever Gym battle you have going on next. What do you say, Calypso," Lyra proposes.
I think about her plan for a second. It's exactly what I need right now, to be honest. A place to train away from my problems here in Ecruteak City.
"Sure, Lyra, that's honestly exactly what I need right now. Besides, I feel bad for letting Monica steal Togepi, and I feel like I owe Professor Elm something for letting him get stolen. I'm in Ecruteak City right now. Do you want me to meet up with you in the National Park," I finish by asking her.
"Yeah, that'll be perfect," Lyra replies enthusiastically, "I have to walk from Violet City, so we should get there at relatively the same time. I'll probably see you in, what, twenty minutes?"
"Yeah, that sounds good. See you there," I end the conversation before hanging up the phone.
Spirit smirks at me from her perch on my shoulder. 'Well, you got exactly what you needed,' Spirit comments satisfiedly.
"Yeah, now my only problem is that I have to try to ignore possible mushy feelings for Lyra. It was bad when it was just Silver, but now that this has popped up, I'm even more stressed about my stupid love life," I mutter irritatedly.
'Hey, you are who you are, and you like who you like. Do you want to talk about it,' Spirit questions, her concern about my stress making me feel a little better.
"Nah, I already got what I needed to get out in the open. Talking about it in depth would make it feel so much more real than it already is. I don't need to intensify that right now. That's a problem for later. But thanks for the concern, though. I appreciate it," I reply warmly.
Spirit caws her 'You're Welcome' before we settle into a comfortable silence as we ride my skateboard towards our new destination.
*Third Person POV; Cianwood City, Downtown; 5:15pm*
Monica can't help but notice that something feels off as she makes her way to downtown Cianwood City. It seems as if everyone is staring at her. This isn't something to happen out of the norm, but instead of making her feel confident like usual, she feels self-conscious. Like these people know she's hiding something.
Trying not to initiate eye contact with anyone, Monica lowers her shades onto her eyes. She tries to look inconspicuous as she finally spots the Pokémon Center next to the Pharmacy.
A cheerful Nurse Joy greets Monica as she heads inside, but Monica only sends her a half-hearted wave as she's so focused on the task at hand.
She walks up to the PC, looking down at the paper Ruth wrote the username and password of Pete's account. Monica knows that carrying more than six Pokémon is illegal in all regions, but she figures that as long as no one frisks her bag on the way back, no one will ever know.
Monica logs onto Pete's account with ease. Monica notes that Pete has many more Pokémon than the six that Ruth requested. But she figures that these six are his strongest, and that's why Ruth wanted them specifically, along with the Skarmory knowing HM02 Fly.
The PC uploads Pete's Pokémon into their Poké Balls, and with great discretion, Monica stuffs them into her gigantic purse. Gazing around to make sure she hasn't been spotted, Monica leaves the Pokémon Center and strolls over to the Sushi Restaurant that's north of both the Pokémon Center and the Pharmacy.
Upon opening the door, a small bell chimes, startling Monica out of her focus. Trying not to seem awkward as she walks up to the counter, she clears her throat before stating to the cashier,
"I'm here to pick up a carry out order for Monica."
The cashier's sweet smile does nothing to calm Monica's nerves.
"Yes, Monica, we have your order almost ready. It'll be a couple of minutes if you want to sit down and wait," the cashier gestures to a long bench meant for carry out customers who are waiting for their orders.
Monica's anxiety heightens as she takes her seat. She slides her shades back over her eyes as her way of shielding herself from being seen. Unfortunately for her, it's not working.
She's caught the unwanted attention of a young guy who looks to be around the same age as her. He unabashedly stares her down, making no attempts to hide his creepy behavior. When he slides her a sly grin, she shifts her gaze elsewhere, hoping to be able to pretend he doesn't exist.
Trying not to meet the creep's leering eyes, Monica fails to notice him slowly sliding down the bench towards her, and when she finally looks up, he's trapped her into the corner. To her annoyance, the friendly cashier is nowhere to be seen. Probably grabbing her order.
"So where have you been all my life," the creep starts with an overused corny pick up line, while putting his hand on her bare knee. Monica can't help but want to throw up in her mouth a little at the sudden contact.
"Avoiding disgusting perverts like you," Monica snaps in his face, "And if you don't get your hand off my knee right now, I'll let my Arcanine use you as a chew toy. Understand," Monica questions firmly, while giving him her death stare.
The creep backs off a little, not wanting to take the chance that she's not bluffing. When the cashier returns calling out Monica's name, Monica walks up to the counter, and whispers to the cashier, "Can I add some sake to my order? I'm going to need it."
The cashier nods, and grabs a bottle of sake from a nearby refrigerator. Monica pays the difference, while the creep is commenting on her alcohol purchase and making vulgar statements about what he'd like to do to her after she drank said alcohol.
Giving him a final glare and the middle finger as she leaves, she snarls, "Stay the fuck away from me, you creep," before quickly disappearing out the door, and back up through downtown.
Monica makes her hasty retreat back up to Ruth's house, purposely looking back to make sure she's not being followed. When she arrives, Donald is immediately at the door, opening to let her in.
"What took you so long," Ruth barks at Monica when she brings the food and Poké Balls into the kitchen. Donald follows in after her, curious about what made Monica take so long.
"I had no problems in the Pokémon Center or picking up the Pokémon," Monica explains, "It was in the restaurant. The order wasn't ready when I got there, and in the five minutes I waited, this creep cornered me on a bench. I had to threaten him with Pete's Arcanine to get him to back off a little. Then, my order was ready so I escaped with the food and Pokémon, and now I'm here. I also grabbed some sake because I needed it after all of that Tauros shit."
"That seems like a perfectly justified reaction," Donald reasons, sitting down at the kitchen table, and distributing the food among the three of them.
Monica grabs Pete's Poké Balls out of her purse, and hands them to Ruth before portioning out a cup of sake for each of them.
Ruth shocks Monica when she hands her the Poké Ball of Pete's Arcanine, Sampson.
"Pete wanted his granddaughter to have Sampson after his death. But considering the situation between Calypso and I, I don't think that's going to happen. But now I consider you to be my granddaughter, so I want you to have him, Monica. Based on your experience tonight, I think you'll need him to battle off all the creeps that you seem to attract," Ruth heartily explains to her.
"Thank you, Gran," Monica exclaims while tearing up and giving Ruth a hug, who returns it.
"No problem. I was planning on splitting Pete's Pokémon between the three of us anyways. However, until you children train harder and get 4 Gym Badges, Pete's Pokémon won't listen to you. They're too high leveled. But they'll listen to me if I'm around, so you guys should be safe."
Ruth gestures for Donald and Monica to follow her through the house, and into the backyard. Ruth then proceeds to unleash all six Pokémon from their balls.
Upon noticing their mom, all six Pokémon immediately tear up and run over to Ruth, who pets all of them affectionately.
"My babies, did you miss me," Ruth coos at them while taking the time to individually pet all six of them equally. Donald and Monica can't help but chuckle a bit when over half of them request belly rubs, including Sampson, Pete's Arcanine.
Ruth signals Donald and Monica to come closer to Pete's Pokémon. They approach the group with caution, but Ruth pulls both of them over to bond with their new Pokémon.
"Babies," Ruth speaks to Pete's Pokémon, "These are my new grandchildren, Donald and Monica. I hope you love them just as much as I do."
"Okay, so for introductions… There's Scar, the Skarmory… Sampson, the Arcanine… Moosley, the Miltank… Bosley, the Tauros… Mr. Psyche, the Hypno, and last but not least… Mrs. Spooks, the Gengar," Ruth introduces each Pokémon while Donald and Monica take turns cuddling them.
'Where's Calypso,' Sampson asks Ruth, 'It's been awhile since we've seen her. Or you, for that matter.'
Ruth smiles ruefully, responding coldly, "Due to some circumstances resulting in my recent absence, Calypso is dead… to me, at least," she finishes morbidly.
Sampson is suspicious of Ruth's statements. He'd have killed her annoying arse already if he hadn't promised Pete when he was younger that he'd protect her till the end of his days. But Pete also told him to protect Calypso in the same way when she was born, and Sampson knows who he'd have to choose to protect if he has to make the choice.
Sampson snorts unesthusically, but has no choice but to go with Ruth's plans… for now.
"Now, Sampson, this is Monica. I consider her to be my new granddaughter. This means you will protect her as Pete and I wanted you to protect Calypso. You will do everything in your power to protect her, do you understand," Ruth explains to Sampson.
'Understood,' Sampson replies disheartedly. Monica squeals and buries her face in Sampson's fur lovingly. Sampson sighs, but snuggles back, missing the physical affection from his trainer. He can't help but feel a tingle of warmth for Monica. If he can't protect Calypso, he'll settle for protecting another girl for now.
"Now, this is what I'm thinking," Ruth continues on to Monica, Donald and the Pokémon, "I have five Pokémon, Monica has four Pokémon now, and Donald has two. There are five Pokémon left. I'll take Scar, since I'm the one who technically needs a quick escape, and that will round up my team.
Monica already has Sampson, but I also wanted you to take Moosley, since she's a powerful Normal Type Pokémon. She'll fit into your team really well.
And then, Donald, I figured you could take Bosley, Mr. Psyche, and Mrs. Spooks. That way, we'd all have at least five Pokémon to work with. Does that sound all right to everyone?"
The Trio and their newly acquired Pokémon mutter in agreement before all socializing with their new trainers and teammates in happiness.
*Calypso's POV; National Park, 5:30 PM*
I told Forest that he could do the Bug Catching Contest with me, mainly because he needs training and because his Sleep Powder move will be useful. Like I told Lyra, it only takes Forest and I twenty minutes to travel from Ecruteak City to the National Park. Forest spends the entire trip riding on my shoulder, the wind ruffling his leaves pleasantly as I skateboard to our destination.
A minute or two after we enter the building, I see Lyra's cheery face approach us, her Clefairy following happily behind her.
"Hey Calypso," she exclaims brightly to me.
"Hey, Lyra, how's it going? You feeling okay after what happened earlier," I question.
"I'll admit, Clefairy and I have been on edge after what happened earlier today, but I'm ready to put it past us, and move on with our lives. Thanks for coming here to do this with me, Calypso. I honestly feel a bit safer with you around," Lyra replies.
"Thanks, Lyra!" I can't help but blush in response to her last statement. Here come those mushy feelings I was trying to hide. Great. A small irritating voice that I haven't heard in a while makes its presence known in the back of my thoughts.
'Hey, remember me? I'm your subconscious. Remember when I called Mr. GingerHeadMan a stud muffin? Haha, good times! Anyways, I'm back because I need to tell you more stuff.'
'Arceus, damn it! Not you again,' I think irritatedly to myself. I'm definitely not prepared to deal with this right now. 'What do you want this time? The last time you were here, I had to deal with a lot of emotional bullshit, and I'm not looking to go through that again.'
'Sorry, you really don't have a choice in the matter. The more you try to squish me down, the more powerful I get. You better listen to me now before I make your mushy feelings erupt violently.'
'Huh, so my subconscious is threatening me if I don't listen to what it tells me… yeah, that seems like me. I guess I'll listen to what you have to say. For now.'
'Good, now we're talking! Anyways, we obviously need to have another talk. That's because I noticed that you have similar feelings for your friend Lyra that you do for your rival, Silver aka, The Stud Muffin.'
'Ugh, you're just as annoying as last time! And tell me something I don't know!'
'Something you don't know…? Hmmm… How about, quit ignoring your damn feelings and deal with them! Like for instance, you think Lyra is hot! Like cupcake babe hot!'
'Cupcake babe? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. And yes, Lyra is adorable, but hot…?'
'Take one look at her, and tell me she doesn't get your engine roaring.'
I look over to Lyra hunched over her Clefairy, scratching her head affectionately. I feel color rush to my cheeks as another type of warmth develops within a different part of me. I almost gasp in response to this realization.
"Thought so. Congratulations, kiddo. You like girls too. More specifically, you like Lyra. And now you gotta deal with it. See ya, a bye bye,' the voice finishes before disappearing into nothingness.
'My subconcious is such a fucking asshole,' I can't help but think to myself.
'I heard that!'
I go to reply to the voice in my head, but Lyra's energetic voice interrupts my conversation, bringing me back to reality.
"Calypso, you okay? You seem kinda sleepy."
Letting out an exaggerated sigh and running my fingers through my hair nervously, I respond awkwardly, "Yeah, I've just been kinda spacey today. There's a lot to think about lately."
I'm surprised when she nods back, saying, "I know what you mean. A lot's been happening lately."
"You're not wrong there. Are you ready to do this? Hopefully we won't get rudely interrupted like last time," I ask.
"Yeah, let's go. I'm using Clefairy for the Bug Catching Contest. She knows Sing, so she'll be really helpful. Are you using your Bellsprout for the Contest?"
"Yeah, this is Forest. He's been looking forward to some training, and he also knows Sleep Powder," I reply, "He'll be really good for this."
We approach the Bug Catching Contest attendants, who take our remaining Pokémon for safekeeping while we participate in the Contest. They tell us we have twenty minutes to catch the strongest Bug Pokémon we can find before releasing us into the Park.
"You ready to do this, Forest? I know you've been wanting more training since you lost in your rematch against Silver's Croconaw," I ask Forest, who has wrapped himself securely utop my left shoulder.
'Yes, he managed to outspeed me in our last battle. But I will get stronger and surpass him in the future,' Forest states confidently, 'Now! Onword!'
"Come on, Calypso, follow us," Lyra exclaims while running into the longer grass to our right, "I've heard from previous competitors that Scyther and Pinsir hide out in this tall grass!"
Lyra and her Clefairy immediately get into a battle with a Level 13 Paras, Clefairy using Sing to put the Paras to sleep. I don't realize I'm watching so closely until I'm interrupted by a Level 16 Weedle sending a String Shot in our direction. Forest dodges, but I'm not as lucky. When the String Shot hits me dead in the face, I can't help but shriek a little bit, and swat the disgusting string off of me.
"Uggghh, fucking gross," I yell loudly, "Forest, use your Sleep Powder attack!"
Forest rushes the Weedle, sprinkling sleep dust all over it. Once the Weedle goes to sleep, I instruct Forest to go on the offense,
"Forest, take it down with your Cut!"
Forest slashes the Weedle violently, reducing its HP by a third. To our surprise, the Weedle stays asleep for another turn, enabling Forest to take another third off of its HP.
Weedle finally wakes up, and instantly flings a Poison Sting at Forest, who barely feels any of it.
"Finish this, Forest! One more Cut!"
Weedle outspeeds Forest to fling another Poison Sting, but it does nothing as Forest takes it down with the final Cut attack.
I look down to smile at Forest with pride. "Way to go, my dude. Your first Pokémon down since that battle. One down, many more to go!"
'Agreed,' Forest states confidently as we meet up with Lyra and Clefairy after our first battles.
"You guys all good," Lyra asks as she wipes a little sweat from her forehead, "The battles out here are certainly something! It's good for training though! And I have a feeling that I'm going to get so much data for Professor Elm's Pokédex! He's going to be so happy!"
"That's awesome, Lyra," I exclaim back excitedly, "Thank you for inviting us! I'm honestly so glad that you called and asked me to come with you to do this. I've been needing some more training in order to be able to beat the Ecruteak Gym. I've also had a lot on my mind lately, and it's nice to be able to do something fun like this."
Lyra beams at me in happiness, and my heart melts instantly. "I'm glad you wanted to come! You're so cool, Calypso. Honestly, you've become one of my closest friends."
My heart stops dead in its tracks when the word "friends" is mentioned. Why does that bother me so much? We are only friends… right?
"Thanks, Lyra, I think you're awesome too. I'm glad we're getting to be so close."
Feeling awkward and wanting to get out of this situation as soon as possible, I motion over toward another path of grass, and continue,
"We're going to search over there. Time's a wastin'!"
Lyra nods and goes off in a different direction with her Clefairy. Forest looks up at me afterward with a thoughtful expression.
'Something is bothering you, I can feel it. Do you want to talk about it?'
I give him a small sad smile. "Nothing gets past you, huh, Forest? I'm embarrassed to say this, but I've been having problems with my love life lately. I'm so confused anymore.
I'm attracted to my rival, Silver, which is a problem because he's kind of an uncaring dick hole, but he's really sexy and brooding. There's also the issue of him literally stalking me and kidnapping me once. But he's one of the only people who can really get me revved up during a battle! I'd never let him know this, but I'm always so excited to battle him because I never know what's going to happen. Being near him is always so exhilarating because he's so unpredictable."
I pause for a second to breathe, my words flying out in a flurry. Taking a deep breath, I continue on slowly,
"And then there's Lyra. She makes me feel things I've never felt before. She's honestly adorable, and I can't help but want to be close to her. But she's also one of my closest friends, and one of the people who believed me and looked out for me in the beginning. I don't want to ruin our friendship by trying to pursue something deeper if she doesn't feel the same way."
It takes Forest a moment to absorb all of this information, but when he finally speaks, his words surprise me.
'You're spending way too much time focusing on these two people that you're infatuated with that you're not focusing on yourself. You have so many unresolved issues from your past that you need to deal with before you can think about having a boyfriend or girlfriend.
You've been neglecting so many of your emotional and physical needs because of all your unresolved issues. I've seen you in action, Calypso, and I'm telling you that you need to take care of yourself.'
His harsh truth hits me so hard that I tear up a little. "You're so right, Forest. Everything you're saying, it's all true. I haven't been taking care of myself. I've been using this entire journey and being a Pokémon Trainer as an avoidance for my problems. I've been living such a lie!"
Forest snaps back instantly, 'You're not living a lie! You're trying to live the life you always wanted to live, but you have issues that are preventing you from becoming stronger. You need to deal with your issues, and you'll be fine. And, as a Pokémon who's had two trainers, you're definitely the better of the two. Don't give up, Calypso. You deserve this. You can get better, and the rest of the Team and I are going to help you.'
Wiping the tears from my eyes, I exclaim shakely, "I can't believe my Bellsprout is giving ME a pep talk. I'm the one who's supposed to give the pep talks!"
'Sometimes the Pokémon has to train the Trainer,' Forest replies simply.
I can't but laugh heartily at his response. It reawakens a motivation in me, the motivation to try to get better. At everything.
"Let's do this, Forest! Let's train, and try to catch a strong Bug Pokémon! And then let's go home and deal with our unresolved childhood trauma!"
Forest replies with a laugh as we continue to search for more Bug Pokémon.
*Third Person POV; Cianwood City; Ruth's House; 5:45pm*
"And I told Victoria that she could go fuck herself if she thought my tits were fake," Monica drunkenly finishes another wild story from her past.
"Wow, what a bitch," says Donald sassily, while sipping on his remaining cup of sake.
"Dude, I should've gotten more sake. We're almost out," Monica exclaims disappointedly as she pours the last of the container into their three cups.
All three of them proceed to shoot the rest of the sake, and then spend the next few minutes eating the rest of their half eaten sushi from earlier.
After a few minutes of vegetating on the living room couch, Ruth suddenly exclaims, "Children, I just remembered! I have a few bottles of wine hidden in the basement! Who wants to be a trooper and go fetch them for us because I'm way too tipsy?"
Both Monica and Donald go to say "Not It!" but Monica says it slightly faster.
"I win," Monica decrees triumphantly.
Narrowing his eyes at her, Donald spitefully spits out, "You bitch!"
"Deal with it, loser," Monica strikes back, "Basements are way too dirty for me not to wear shoes, and I am not walking down a flight of stairs drunk in stiletto heels."
"Motherfucker," Donald mutters as he gets up and starts walking towards where Ruth told him the door to the basement is.
"They're on the shelf directly to the left of the staircase," Ruth calls out to him.
It takes Donald around five minutes to find them, but he comes stumbling back up the stairs holding the bottles in victory.
"I found them," he cheers. Monica and Ruth beckon him back to the couch where they're waiting with clean wine glasses.
"Hand over the wine, Donald," Monica slurs, "Oooh, it's a Cherubi Moscato," Monica finishes as she pours the first wine.
"Cheers, children," Ruth clinks her glass against Donald and Monica's glasses, "To a new chapter of our lives. I honestly feel like a new person!"
"Cheers!"
And they spend the rest of the night drinking more wine, telling each other crazy stories from their past, and cuddling their Pokémon.
*Calypso's POV; National Park; Bug Catching Contest; 5:45PM*
Forest and I mow over several lower leveled Bug Pokémon, gaining enough experience for him to grow to Level 18.
"Good job, Forest," I praise him, "another day, another level, huh? Well, come on, we got more business to take care of."
The first Pokémon I see an interest in is a Level 15 Venonat. It takes two of my Sport Balls to catch him, but he has relatively high HP so I'm going to keep him for a while.
After a few more battles for experience, Forest and I are still looking for more Pokémon when a Scyther pops out from the long grass.
"There you are! About time you showed up! We've been looking for you," I exclaim to the Scyther, who does not seem to appreciate my humor.
Scyther charges towards us, his scythes outstretched to hack at us. To my surprise, Forest grips my shoulder, and pulls us up by a nearby tree to avoid the attack.
"Thank you, Forest! Now, use your Sleep Powder attack!"
Forest lets me down before hurling himself at the Scyther, his vines grabbing Scyther arms while he coughs sleep dust in Scyther's face. Scyther has no choice but to fall asleep.
"Now, Forest, reduce that HP with Cut!"
Forest manages to get in two Cut attacks before Scyther wakes up, reducing his HP to half.
Scyther uses Focus Energy, hoping to increase its Critical Hit Ratio. I'm determined not to let it get a critical hit in.
"Forest, one more Cut!"
Forest hits the Scyther dead on, reducing his HP to a fourth. Scyther hits Forest back with a Quick Attack that takes away a fourth of his HP.
"Come on, Forest, you can do it! One more time! Sleep Powder!"
Scyther gets in one more Quick Attack in for a fourth in damage before Forest claps back with his Sleep Powder again. Once Scyther falls asleep, I take a chance to throw a Sports Ball at it.
Even though his HP is reduced to a fourth and he's asleep, the Scyther refuses to get into the Poké Ball. He's still asleep, so I throw one more. One click… two clicks… and… three clicks, caught!
"We did it, Forest, we caught a Scyther!"
Forest cheers along with me, and I teach him my victory dance. We are in the middle of dancing when Lyra and her Clefairy come upon the scene.
I freeze when I realize that Lyra is watching me dance. My face reddens instantly, the embarrassment apparent in my expression. To my shock, she starts laughing hysterically before running up to me and hugging me tightly.
"You're so funny, Calypso! I love you sometimes dude," she exclaims brightly while gripping me tighter.
If my face could get any more red, I'd be a Magmar. All I can think of right now is Lyra's chest resting comfortably on mine, and her hands interlocked on my back. I slowly embrace her back, and manage to murmur nervously,
"Love you too, Lyra…'
We finally let go, and Lyra winks at me, before giving me a high five and saying, "Best Friends Forever, right Calypso?"
I reflect a small smile back, replying quietly, "Yeah, Best Friends. I like that. I barely have friends, so that has to count for something, right?"
Lyra shakes her head laughing before switching the topic, "So what Pokémon did you end up catching for the Contest?"
Well, first, we caught a Level 15 Venonat. But then we had this intense battle with a Level 14 Scyther, and we managed to catch him. So I really hope we have a chance at winning," I explain, "How about you?"
"Okay, so first we caught a Level 13 Beedrill, and we kept him for a while, but we just caught a beautiful Level 15 Butterfree that I'm hoping will place in the top three," Lyra replies excitedly.
"Well, there's only a couple of minutes left," I observe, "We should probably start heading to the entrance."
"Cool, let's go," Lyra and Clefairy lead us back to the entrance.
The attendants call everyone to the fountain for the judgment of the Bug Pokémon. Once the judging is complete, they start releasing results,
"Third Place is Lyra with her Level 15 Butterfree! Your prize is a Sitrus Berry!" Lyra walks up to accept her prize.
"Second Place is Calypso with her Level 14 Scyther! Your prize is an Everstone!"
"The winner must have caught a really badass Pokémon, like a Pinsir or something," I whisper to Lyra after I've gotten up to receive my Everstone.
"Probably, but you never know," Lyra murmurs back.
"Now, the First Place Winner is… Bug Catcher Josh with his Level 16 Venonat!"
My eyes widen in disbelief, and I can't help but start to shout, "That's Tauros Shi—," but Lyra interrupts by covering my mouth with her left hand.
Bug Catcher Josh walks up to receive the prize he doesn't deserve. I'm seething at this obvious rigging, but Lyra sends me a warning glance, prompting me to shut up.
"Thank you for participating in today's contest, and we will see you all next time!"
Everyone starts dispersing, and when Bug Catcher Josh passes by us, I give him my death glare. He shivers when he notices that I'm staring him down, and he hastily makes his exit of the National Park.
"Calypso, that wasn't nice," Lyra scolds me.
"I don't play nice with cheaters," I reply stonily.
"You don't even know if he cheated! His Venonat was two levels higher than yours! It's stats might have been off the charts," Lyra proposes.
"I don't know, Lyra, but it feels like my win was stolen," I finish.
Lyra lights my heart on fire when she smiles at me again.
"Well, at least we can say we had a good time. And now I have two Bug Pokémon to bring to Professor Elm! Thanks for doing this with me, Calypso!"
I throw back a genuine smile, honestly happy to be here. "Thanks Lyra, honestly wouldn't want to be anywhere else."
We sit against the fountain in silence for a few moments before Lyra finally stands up slowly. "I've got to start walking back to New Bark Town before it starts getting dark. I'll probably spend the night there with my parents before Professor Elm gives me another Pokédex assignment."
"Are you okay to walk back by yourself," I ask her, "I know you're more than capable, but after what happened this morning, I thought I'd offer."
"I appreciate it, but I think we'll be fine. I don't think those idiots will try to pull anything after your friend knocked them down a few pegs," Lyra finishes with a giggle.
"All right, I'll see you sometime soon, hopefully. We definitely need to hang out again," I say as I get up and take my skateboard out of my bag.
"Yeah, that sounds like fun. I'll see you, Calypso," Lyra replies as she and her Clefairy walk off towards the Route 36 exit.
"Bye," I call out to her distant silhouette.
"Thanks for all your hard work," I say to Forest as I look up at him on my left shoulder, "That Scyther we caught will really make Professor Elm happy, and I'm glad because Professor Elm is one of the people who helped me be able to be here right now."
'You're welcome. I'm glad I was able to get stronger. Are you feeling better from earlier? I know what I said was a little harsh,' Forest asks.
'Yeah, I'm fine. It was harsh, but it was what needed to be said. But you've given me motivation to do better for myself and everyone around me. I need to stop being so selfish and running from my problems, or I'll never be able to handle anything in a healthy way again," I come to another realization.
'I'm proud of you. I'm glad that I could be recaught by a Trainer like you, Calypso.'
I almost tear up at his confession. "I'm really trying my hardest, Forest. I know I'm not the best person and trainer, but I can at least say that I'm trying to do better. That has to count for something."
'It more than does,' Forest replies simply.
We chill in silence for a few seconds before I check my watch. 6:05PM.
"All right, Forest, time to come up with a game plan. I totally blanked on battling the Trainers in the National Park the last time we were here, so I figured we could battle them now, and then we could head back to Ecruteak after we're done here."
'That works for me,' Forest replies, 'but could you spray me with a Potion? I'm gonna need more HP if I'm going to battle again.'
"Oh shit, sorry dude," I blurt out as I pull out the Potion and use it on him, "I was so distracted by Lyra and losing that stupid contest that I forgot. Sorry about that."
'You don't sound bitter at all,' Forest states sassily.
I look him dead in the face, and reply deadpan, "You're telling me you don't think that contest was rigged?"
Forest gives me a sly smirk, but doesn't answer, prompting me to giggle and reply, "Whatever. Come on, let's go. We have some trainers to fight."
The Team and I proceed to battle all four Trainers in National Park.
Zellie takes on PokéFan Beverly's Level 16 Snubbull, while Cyndi overpowers PokéFan William's Level 16 Raichu, growing to Level 24 in the process. She has the opportunity to learn the move Defense Curl, but doesn't because we prefer offensive moves.
We also take on Lass Krise, with her Level 14 Oddish and Level 17 Cubone, and School Kid Jack with his Level 12 Oddish and Level 15 Voltorb. Spirit takes out the Level 14 Oddish while Dusk wastes the Level 12 Oddish. Forest takes out both the Level 17 Cubone, and Level 15 Voltorb, the combined experience enough to get him to Level 19.
I end up getting phone numbers from Beverly, Krise, and Jack, which will end up being useful if they ever want a rematch in the future.
It's now 6:30, and I should probably start heading home. Forest requests to be put back in his Poké Ball for some rest, so I do so. I decide to let both Spirit and Dusk fly/float with me as I skate back to Ecruteak.
Spirit and Dusk each take a shoulder on the ride back. We all talk amongst each other about everything that's happened today, the conversation becoming deeper every second. By the time we've reached my house, it only feels like seconds have passed.
"Okay, guys, I gotta face this head on. Will you chill in your Poké Balls until I'm done?"
Spirit and Dusk both nod and hop back in their Poké Balls. I take a hesitant step towards the door, opening it slowly and softly. Despite managing to make very little noise, I hear footsteps rushing to the front of the house, and then I'm quickly enveloped in Tina's arms.
"Calypso, I'm so glad you're back. I'm so sorry about earlier. I'm so sorry about everything," she sobs into my shoulder.
I return the embrace passionately, missing the warmth of human touch, and the comforting feeling of what a parent is supposed to be.
"I'm sorry too, Tina. No matter what happens, I'll always come back here if I can. I promise. I love you, Tina," I reply while tearing up.
"I love you too, kiddo."
And that's when I start crying in happiness. It feels so good to be loved. And to be able to love back. It feels like a missing part of me has been returned.
And that's the end. I didn't think I could overwrite the last chapter, but I've managed to hit over 11,000 words with this chapter. Definitely more of a filler/character development chapter.
Please read, review, follow and favorite! I appreciate all feedback! See you guys next chapter!
-gothchic6