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Chapter 65: A Glimmer of Hope

Knife Water had a rustic look about it. At least that was the word Cody would have used to describe it. The buildings looked older than the more modern style he saw in most cities, but he wasn't an architect, so what did he know? He did know that it was a town of culture, especially when it came to the theatrical arts. Again, while it was another subject that Cody had little knowledge of, the best playwrights and fiction writers of Skitrex came from Knife Water. The theater community was strong there, as was the battling community, and the psychic community. Interestingly, the Procházka family was famous for the combination of all three of those aspects.

The Procházka family… According to Heather, that name was of Czech origin. The members of the family were descendants of immigrants who came to Skitrex. The first members of that family who arrived on Skitrexian soil became famous for "show battling." Basically, battles that were choreographed and made to look pretty and dramatic, kind of like the professional wrestling of pokémon battling. But such performances only reached a niche audience, so they adapted to becoming great at regular battles as well. So many great trainers in Skitrex were descendants of the Procházka family, including two who carried the name as Elite Four members and one who was champion. They loved pokémon who exuded mysticism, specializing in psychic, dark, ghost, and fairy-types. And many members of the family had psychic abilities themselves.

The Knife Water gym was a massive building and the main arena on the inside was like nothing the trio had ever seen. The battlefield itself was pretty standard, but it was the seating that was unusual. Rather than bleachers or even theater seating, behind reinforced glass barriers, the seats were dining chairs surrounding circular dining tables. At the Knife Water gym, if you battled at the seventh tier or higher, your match was scheduled at night and the spectators would pay to have dinner while watching high-tiered battles. And supposedly, it was expensive to get tickets, order food, and even dress for the event, being that it was a black-tie affair. Cody figured that it might be worth renting some fancy clothes and taking Brooke out for one of the evenings before his battle, not only for a good date night but also so he could get a good look at what he was in for, match-wise.

Of course, their pre-battles weren't set up in the main room, but in one of the basement levels of the facility. Cody watched from the bleachers as Heather was engaged in her pre-battle with one of the Procházka family cousins. He wasn't paying too much attention, however, as Heather was doing well enough that the match wasn't too interesting. Instead, he was more interested in the man who sat by his side.

Gavin Darrows, a man who had no relation to the family, but trained with them, was an interesting case, being the exact opposite of what Cody would normally expect from a gym trainer. Most gym trainers were kids and teenagers who worked for the gyms as they leveled up their skills, but Gavin, a balding man with a thick white beard, was in his mid-seventies. He was well-dressed in slacks, a blue button-down shirt, and a black vest over that, and despite his prim and proper look, he was down to earth and talkative.

"Really? Only two years? Why now?" Cody asked, genuinely curious about how the man got into battling.

"I worked in insurance my entire life," Gavin answered with a chuckle. "But I found retirement to be quite dull and after my wife's passing, I needed something to occupy my time. Battling ended up being a good fit. Honestly, I have no idea why I didn't get into it sooner. I don't have any delusions of ever becoming a champion or a gym leader, but collecting badges is exciting nonetheless. Plus, my great-grandkids love playing my pokémon, so it all works out."

"No kidding." He didn't say it out loud, but Cody was impressed. He remembered hearing something on TV the other day about the rise of newbie senior citizen trainers over the past decade. But he knew not to let his guard down. Even if he started later in life, the man still had a few months on him in terms of being a trainer and he must have been good enough to serve as a seventh-tier pre-battler.

A few minutes more and Heather had won. Nodding toward the battlefield, Gavin led Cody to the plot and they separated to alternate sides. He was wished luck by Heather before she left to get her gym battle scheduled.

"You know the drill by now," Gavin called out. "Three pokémon each, no standard switches. Don't disappoint me."

"Me? Never," Cody laughed, and the battle began.

Cortez entered the battlefield, cackling as always, but he immediately stopped when he saw his opponent: a Dusclops. The Lampent never forgot about how Dr. Merrick's Dusknoir had put him in his place back at the Gracen Research Institute. The pre-evolution was far more stout, standing on two tree trunk-like legs, had big tooth-like growths over its mouth, and its floating hands were disconnected from its body, sort of like a Haunter's hands. For a second, Cody thought that Cortez feared his foe since he stopped laughing, but no, he was just taking this foe seriously, immediately covering the ground in a dark smog.

In response, the Dusclops faded from view to avoid the smog. Cortez did the same. For a moment, things were silent before a gap in the smog formed as both ghosts reappeared, the bigger ghost's fist colliding with the Lampent's appendage. They both faded again before appearing in a different part of the gap, colliding again. This process repeated itself, sort as if both were going for a show of strength. Cortez was trying to push its enemy into the smog where it might inhale the fumes, but he soon learned that the bigger ghost was beating him in terms of physical might. This was to be expected: Dusclops were better suited for hand-to-hand combat than Lampent were.

"Regroup!" Cody ordered.

"Haw!" Cortez laughed, backing off and shooting an ember into the gas and lighting the cloud that encircled the two of them. Inside the flames, he was safe to shoot Flamethrowers. A few of his streams hit, but the Dusclops tanked them before spitting a Shadow Ball back.

"Force him back inside! Future Sight!"

Cortez wouldn't be able to hide forever in the flames. Not only would they eventually die down, but he couldn't be certain where the Future Sight would strike. So, he returned, ready to strike again but at a closer range. As he was charging his own Shadow Ball, Gavin had an answer for that too.

"Imprison!"

"Booh!" the Dusclops rasped, snapping its fingers, and as he did so, Cortez's Shadow Ball fizzled out. That took Cortez by surprise, but it didn't quite realize what was going on because he never had that happen to him before.

Cody knew, however. The Imprison technique was a tricky one. If a pokémon used it on their opponent, said opponent would temporarily lose its ability to use any specialized techniques that it shared with the user. While not always useful, depending on who the user was fighting, it gave ghosts and other types who could use it the ability to shut down others of their same element. His Lampent would have to wait out the effects, but until then, he lost all of his ghost moves. It was a smart move. If Cortez knew how to use the technique, Cody would have called for it first.

Damn. There was too much overlap between the two of them. So no Shadow Ball, no Hex, no Night Shade, possibly no Trick Room. He still had fire-type moves, but not with that super-effective edge he was hoping for.

"Back up and use Flamethrower!"

"Mean Look!"

Well, that didn't go as planned. Cortez was fast enough to keep his distance, but the Dusclops locked him in close range with his latest curse. Dodging a Flamethrower, he disappeared and burst in with a Shadow Punch. And then another. The golden Lampent was struggling to hold on, trying to use Will-O-Wisp to burn the bigger ghost, which would hamper his attacks, but he failed to spark it up. Apparently, the Dusclops imprisoned that move too.

Okay, let's get experimental. "Substitute!"

Cortez picked up that move recently, but he hadn't gotten it down properly yet. He could make a substitute with little energy expenditure, but it also didn't take much to eliminate. A simple breeze would knock it over, but that was okay if it did its job. Step by step, Cody was going to teach Cortez how to recreate the double sub technique he saw Daryl Jones and Martin Hornsby pull off in their final battle together.

The Dusclops easily punched through the Cortez clone but took an Ember to the face. He threw out another punch, but Cortez blocked it just in time with another copy. But Gavin wasn't going to keep falling for this trick. He called for a Night Shade, and Dusclops obliged, temporarily holding the Lampent in place so he could land a proper Shadow Punch. But Cortez saw that coming, as he was planning a close-ranged Inferno. He ended up eating the punch, but it was too late, as the flames erupted around the Dusclops, engulfing him, and when they fell, his body was charred like an overcooked hotdog.

"Don't give up! Shadow Sneak!"

With surprising speed, the Dusclops disappeared and reappeared behind Cortez, but his latest punch was blocked by another Substitute that Cortez had placed behind him. Turning around, the Lampent cackled and cast a Hex on the burned Dusclops, seeming to get his powers back. The Dusclops was ready to cast another Imprison, but he had taken so much damage so fast that he couldn't use it before taking a Shadow Ball to the face. Defeated, the Dusclops deflated like a balloon, collapsing in a heap where he stood.

"Return!" Gavin shouted, returning his ghost. "I must say, Mr. Storm, I thought I'd have you there."

You're not the only one. That was a little too close for a pre-battle. Even if the older gentleman had no ambitions to become the greatest trainer ever, he knew what he was doing. Cody may have underestimated him more than he'd like to admit, but no more. Cortez only had a little bit of gas left, but after he was out, his trainer would go full-throttle with his next pick.

Gavin's next pokémon was one that Cody had little familiarity with. Liepard were not native to Skitrex and they tended to be overlooked in their own regions. But like Persians, they had a reputation for being vicious and tricky. The silky, purple-colored cat lazily licked its paw, not taking the weakened Cortez seriously. And she ended up assessing him right.

"Go!" Gavin shouted. And just like that, the cat ran straight at Cortez.

A little too direct. "Flamethrower!"

"Haw!" Cortez shouted, letting a stream of fire fly at the cat, who made no effort to dodge. Instead, the Liepard ran straight through the flames as her trainer ordered a second command. With her paws glowing with dark energy, she struck the Lampent across the face and he instantly fell to the ground, unconscious.

What the- "Return!" Cody called out, returning his Lampent and processing what had just happened. But he figured it out, remembering the move Gavin called for: Assurance. If a pokémon used that move while taking damage, it would hit harder, kind of like a Counter. Gavin has meant for an overly direct approach there and it paid off. His Liepard's fur was singed, sure, but she only took a little damage to land that move, rather than going for an evasive play where a longer battle may have favored Cortez getting more hits in.

Okay, NOW we're not messing around anymore. "You're up, Ferrari!"

The shining, purple Whirlipede emerged from the flash of light and immediately went for a Rollout, bowling over the feline before she could properly react. When he wheeled around to hit again, Gavin called for Sucker Punch and Liepard stopped the Whirlipede in his tracks. That said, the curlipede pokémon didn't look all that fazed, thanks to his thick carapace. In fact, it looked as though the cat had gotten the worse of the exchange, trying to shake off the recoil of having run into the solid wheel of bug.

"Back off and Hone Claws!"

"Roll forward with a Steamroller!"

The Liepard dodged the Steamroller with ease, as while it was Ferrari's best move, he didn't have as much flexibility with the rolling as he did with Rollout. While running, the Liepard brought her front paws to her mouth between lifts, and they glowed with dark energy. When she dashed toward the Whirlipede, she took a slash at him, but Ferrari blocked it with an Iron Defense, creating a sound of steel scraping against steel when the two collided. As versed as the Liepard was in close quarters combat, she wasn't ready to fight such a sturdy pokémon that was built to absorb hits. As she tried to back off she got it as Ferrari whipped around and struck her with one of his venomous spikes, cutting her open and poisoning her. If the matchup was bad enough already for the cat, it was even worse now that she was poisoned. A long, drawn-out battle would only favor Ferrari, so the Liepard would have to go in extra hard to try and win the battle early.

"Night Slash!"

"Venoshock!"

Bulked up by his Iron Defense, Ferrari didn't even try to dodge the Night Slashes as he splattered the Liepard with green liquid. The feline screamed as the ooze amplified the pain of the venom in her body, her entire form shuddering as she tried to escape. But Ferrari allowed her to escape. He could have hit her again if he wanted, but he was efficient and mechanical, choosing to end the battle as simply as he could. He slowly rolled backward, targeted the staggering cat, and blasted forward with a Steamroller, crushing the Liepard beneath his shell. The cat couldn't come back from that and Ferrari had barely taken any significant hits.

As Gavin returned his Liepard, Ferrari just sat there, waiting. He wasn't a blowhard or a hothead who reveled in his victories or fought with emotion. Maybe it was because he was a bug-type who showed little emotion. And when Gavin sent out his final pokémon, that poise didn't change. But Cody wasn't sure what to think as he looked at the pokémon who looked like a floating, big-headed baby, surrounded by lime-flavored gelatin. He didn't know much about Duosion, other than that they had reasonably strong psychic powers. Being part poison, he'd have to avoid that, but by that same token, the green blob would have to dodge bug-type attacks. It was all a matter of who would hit first and how hard.

"Let's do this quickly: Steamroller!" As little as he knew about Duosion, he knew they weren't fast. But the psychic-type blocked it with a Reflect. Ferrari tried to break it, rolling against the barrier like a spinning wheel on a parked car when the driver had their foot on the gas. But he was wide open for a Psyshock, which he had no time to dodge. It was a strong attack, but unlike a typical psychic blast, this one was more of a concussive blast, which Ferrari could endure, even if it was super-effective. The Duosion must not have known Psychic yet or he would have gone for that move instead.

But just then, Ferrari shattered the Reflect and shot a stream of Poison Stings from his "horns", angled at the Duosion. Cody couldn't tell if the blob was poisoned, but he'd take that risk. As ordered, his Whirlipede rolled way, his speed picking up with each second. He wheeled around, this time blasting past the Reflect before it was fully formed and smacking his foe with a Rollout. He did it again, even faster. And taking a chance on whether or not the Duosion was poisoned, he launched a Venoshock, and judging by the gelatinous blob's reaction, he definitely had venom inside of him.

"Okay, time to end this! Steamroller!"

"Pain Split!"

Son of a- Every time. Every freaking time. Battling the types of pokémon that he'd be facing at the Knife Water Gym was going to be the worst. There were so many different kinds of them battling for the gym and they all had an assortment of unusual tricks. Even if Cody memorized every registered pokémon that he could possibly fight and find enough relevant footage for each of them, could he realistically identify every strange thing that every individual pokémon he could fight would possibly use?

Regardless, the move did what it was supposed to do. The Duosion let out a scream as a white trail of energy linked the two of them, giving the blob some of its strength back and drained Ferrari of some of his, bypassing his defenses entirely. And after that, the Duosion began humming as his body glowed with a green light that was paler than his green form.

Recover. Just like that, the Duosion flipped the tables and Ferrari would have to fight from behind. No matter, since Cody had one monster left after his Whirlipede, but he was hoping he wouldn't need them. He was running possible scenarios through his head of how Ferrari could win, based on what the Duosion could do and what Cody believed it could likely do. Let's see.

"Venoshock again!" Recover or not, the Duosion probably didn't rid himself of the venom that quickly. But Cody had a plan for if the move missed or didn't work.

"Light Screen and then Psychock!" Gavin shouted and his pokémon erected a wall of light that blocked the goop from hitting him. But he couldn't follow up with the second part of the order because Cody saw his opening.

"Screech!"

"TLOCKOCKOCKOCKOCKOCKOCKOCKOCKOCK!" Whirlipede screeched, the sound making the Duosion reel in pain, but his tiny hands attached to his body were too small to cover wherever his ears presumably were. Ferrari knew what to do next: he rolled forward, crashed through the Light Screen (which was ill-equipped to endure physical blows), and hit with a Steamroller. The Duosion survived, but he wouldn't last much longer unless he could recover more energy. If the Whirlipede couldn't get him, the venom would.

The green-goop pokémon levitated up in the air again, his body glowing, but Ferrari wouldn't have that. Utilizing his gas pockets that he used to roll, the curlipede pokémon bounced into the air and shot a close-ranged Venoshock right into the Duosion's face. The blob screamed again, falling back to the earth and Ferrari wheeled back before rushing forward with one last Steamroller, winning the pre-battle for his trainer.

That was close. Ferrari easily could have lost that fight if they weren't careful. But there was no way he could get away with two wins in the upcoming gym battle if his trainer made those mistakes again. He'd need to double down on his research in the coming week.

"Good work, Ferrari!" Cody said, entering the battlefield and approaching his pokémon who rested there in stillness, waiting for another opponent. Even when Cody touched his Whirlipede's carapace, the pokémon didn't react. The bug was getting notably better in battle, but he was still so cold. At the rate things were going, he'd probably always be that way.

Cody looked over to see that Gavin had returned his last pokémon. The older gentleman walked over to Cody to congratulate him, but before he opened his mouth, somebody beat him to the punch.

"Well now, for a pre-battle, that was quite the spectacle."

That voice… both angelic and careless. But Cody guessed correctly who it belonged to and he turned to see two of the Knife Water gym leaders approaching him. The one who didn't speak was a tall, handsome trainer with dark hair and a darker tuxedo. Cody knew he was a member of the family, but he didn't know who it was. But the one who spoke was none other than Vila Procházka.

"I must admit, Gavin is good, but you proved without a doubt that you are more than capable of winning the Paranormal Badge at the seventh tier if you continue battling like that."

Vila Procházka was remarkable in every sense of the word. A member of the Procházka family was pedigree enough, but on top of that, she had genius-level intellect, well-honed telekinetic abilities, excellent battle skills that carried her to the top eight of the 2010 Diamond Beach Tournament… and she was only eleven years old. It wasn't uncommon for trainers to start at a young age, but to start training by age six, earning twelve badges, and then making it to the top eight at Diamond Beach by age ten, all while being homeschooled four years above the current grade she would have been in normally seemed like an unfathomable task. Truly, Vila was a prodigy. On top of all of that, she was one of the gym leaders of the Knife Water gym, and an official one at that; not provisional, not under supervision, but a full-fledged gym leader. There was a reason why Martin Hornsby said that she'd be one to look out for in the interview he gave late last year. At the rate she was progressing, Vila could probably become champion in just a few years. Even if it didn't happen that soon, it wasn't a matter of if, but when she would eventually take the crown.

She was small, as expected of an eleven-year-old, but even for her age, she was tiny, standing under four and a half feet and incredibly svelte. But what stuck out about her was her sense of style. She wore a silky, golden dress and her long, dyed-pink hair was braided, contrasting with her pale-blue eyes that were both soothing yet serious. There was a sort of maturity about her that Cody could sense, but he also knew that she was insanely smart, so maybe that affected his perception.

"Wow, it's you!" He sounded like a massive goob, so he reigned his excitement in a little bit. "My name is Cody Storm. You- you were watching?" That wasn't typical of gym leaders to watch pre-battles.

"I was, I was," she answered, nodding. "My name is Vila Procházka and I am one of the Knife Water gym leaders, but it sounds as though you already knew that. We have a rule here at this gym: gym leaders choose their opponents. And I choose you, Cody Storm."

"You chose me… Why?" It wasn't as if she had seen enough of him to think that he was any more special than the others who came to challenge for the badge.

"Call it a gut feeling…" she answered, smiling slyly. "I feel as though we were meant to battle…"

That's… that's creepy. But she was psychic, so maybe that was it? "Did you see that in the future or something?" he asked, chuckling awkwardly.

"Of course not, precognition was never my specialty. My gifts are in telepathy and telekinesis." And just after she said that, she levitated a blank card from out of the clutch she was carrying and up in front of Cody's face, just by looking at it. Amazed at seeing a human execute such fine control of their telekinesis, the future challenger gingerly took the card from where it floated. Looking at it, he saw that it was an official-looking card, probably for him to schedule his match.

"That's my card. Take it to the front desk and schedule for whatever evening slot is available to you. I look forward to our battle." With one last nod, she and her cousin turned around and left the way they came.

"Wow… that happened so fast." He turned to Gavin, who was still standing nearby. "Does that normally happen here? Nobody came down to talk to my friend when she won."

"Not that I've ever seen," the old man answered, shrugging. "It's true that the leaders pick their challengers, but that's usually done after the trainer responsible for the pre-battle reports the results to them. She must have passed by while we were battling and liked what she saw."

"Huh…" What was it then? Maybe Veronica Lee informed the family that he was coming and Vila took an interest in him? Or perhaps the family would try to make things difficult for him on Lee's behalf. Not that it mattered. This time, he had done nothing wrong and he had no intentions of partying the night before a gym battle, so they wouldn't force him to battle a tier up or anything like that. As for battling Vila, he welcomed it. Any additional challenge was welcome. But he had another problem on the horizon; one that he had been ignoring for far too long.

That evening, Cody was on the phone for about fifteen minutes with the doctor who was overseeing Elesa's recovery. The surgery was successful, but his Zebstrika was now in the rehab portion of her recovery. Cody originally assumed that he could have her transferred between pokémon centers as he traveled, but that wasn't how things worked. She would be working with one team who would oversee her recovery. Cody initially considered staying in the city she'd be at, knowing it would set him back a few months, but he couldn't ask Heather to stay behind with him, nor did he want her to go off on her own unless she really wanted to. Additionally, the doctors recommended against it.

"She's a fiery one, but she needs to focus on her rehabilitation. If you spend too much time with her, it might distract her and make her want to battle. But don't worry. We'll make sure she's well cared for. It's part of our job."

Still, he missed her. His pokémon were used to spending time away when they were at the institute (or in Colossal's case, in some underground cave), but this was different. He was allowed to see Elesa once a week via transfer, but he wouldn't do any more than that. He didn't want to give her hope that she'd be battling again soon.

As usual, he buried himself in his work. Since he knew he'd be facing Vila, he looked through all of her possible sixth, seventh, and eighth tier pokémon that she could draw upon. The only pokémon he expected to be used in the battle, no matter what, was Oberon the Gardevoir. He was the little brother of her twelfth tier Gardevoir and he seemed to be used the most of Vila's eighth tier options. Barring injury, he'd be there.

But after scanning all the possible monsters, he had to address the elephant in the room: Mars. As he had known for a long time, the Diglett was struggling to keep up. This wouldn't have been an issue, as he would have just run Elesa instead, but with her being injured and Colossal being out of the picture, the only other option was his Grookey, who was far too green to be considered. No, he'd have to run Mars, but the mole was his achilles heel. He needed to try again to find more Diglett who would evolve into a Dugtrio with him.

And he definitely wanted that security of having a strong sixth pokémon. He found out after scheduling his battle that if he lost by a three pokémon deficit, he wouldn't be allowed to challenge the gym again for six months. It was a rule that the gym had put in place for trainers at the seventh tier and up since those trainers would be battling in front of the fancy, dining patrons and they didn't want to disappoint paying customers with a bad show. How they were allowed to do that was beyond Cody, but he wasn't about to launch a complaint that would go nowhere.

"You're looking at Diglett maps again," Brooke said, peering over his shoulder. Cody and Heather had set up in the lobby of the pokémon center to study, sharing a few ideas with each other, but mostly working in silence. Heather had her battle scheduled two days before Cody, so she had less time to prepare, so she was busy reading up on strategies for battling fairy-types.

"Yeah, I'm gonna try again," he answered, pointing at a spot on the map. "Based on their migration patterns, there should be a colony right around here. That's about a day's journey from here. I could fly, but the wind chill is brutal this time of year and Antonia's been favoring her right wing lately, so I don't want to make that any worse. If I leave tomorrow morning, I should have about four days to search before I have to return for Heather's battle with a day extra just for emergencies."

"You don't have to return so quickly on my account," Heather said, not lifting her eyes from her book. "I'll be fine on my own. There are good trainers in town and-"

"Yeah, but I already reserved tickets and rented a suit for that night. We were gonna do a date night that night, and it's also a good opportunity for me to see how a member of the family battles at this tier, even if it's not against Vila." He would also be watching recordings of Vila's past battles, but seeing a battle in person was a better way to get a feel for the environment.

Brooke gave him a kiss on the temple at the mention of the date. "So what time do we leave tomorrow?"

"Actually…" His voice quivered as he was ready to disappoint her. "If it's all the same to you, I need to do this on my own. I really can't be distracted."

Brooke was silent for a moment, not expecting to be turned down by that. "I'll stay out of your way. You know that. Plus, if you ever need a break…" She wrapped her arms over his shoulders and whispered into his ear, "I can distract you then."

"Gross," Heather said monotonically, as Brooke hadn't whispered quiet enough.

"Look… I need some time to myself for this. You'll be okay by yourself for a few days, right? There's a lot to see in this city. Theater, museums, the marketplace. Maybe go get your palms read or something?"

"Yeah…" she said, her voice fading. "I'll be okay."

She didn't sound okay, but Cody figured she would have said something if he had just committed a cardinal relationship sin.

"Okay… My brain hurts. I'm gonna get some sleep. You know where to find me if you want." Scooping his notes, books, and map into one cluster, he stood up, kissed her on the forehead, and headed off to bed. He hoped she'd be by soon, even if his actions and words didn't show it. But he needed his sleep. So maybe it would be best if she didn't join him until he was already asleep.

After Cody left, Brooke stood there, staring into space, thinking about what Cody had said. It didn't hurt her feelings that he needed some time to himself, but being left alone for five to six days without him when she knew that the Brotherhood could come to "collect" her did not make her feel at ease. But she wouldn't beg him to take her at the risk of upsetting him or drawing attention from Heather.

Great, do I have to spend a whole week with HER? Even if the other girl had laid off the pressure in the past month, Brooke knew that Heather wanted nothing to do with her. Still…

"What's up with him?" Brooke asked, still staring off into space.

"You know how he is the week before a gym battle," Heather replied, her eyes still focused on her book. "You're not upset about him wanting to go alone, are you?"

"Well, yeah, but that's not what I'm worried about. You notice he's been more distant lately?"

"Maybe a little, but I guess you might notice more of a difference than I would, given how much time you two spend together," Heather said, looking up as she realized Brooke wasn't about to stop talking. "You should probably talk to him about this instead of me. I mean, I care about him too, but I'm just making guesses here. Otherwise, unless he asks me, I figured he wants his space right now."

"Do you think it's about Elesa?" Brooke asked the brunette. "The doctor said she's doing fine, but-"

"She's definitely part of it," Heather agreed. "But then you have his poor sleep, his parents getting divorced, and that fiasco of a gym experience he had up at Crystal Cliffs. He's probably trying to make up for that last one… and then there's that therapist he saw back in Troutberg. I think she got to him."

"What, like you think he's been doing worse since talking to her?" Brooke asked. She wasn't sure how much Cody told Heather about the session.

"No, I think that therapist was right," Heather clarified, matter-of-factly. "The thing is that he actually took her seriously. Like, he's trying to change, but change is hard, you know?" Heather seemed to stare off into the distance for a moment. "Wouldn't be shocked if he starts getting jumpy again." Her eyes focused on Brooke and she squinted. "Kinda like you, right?"

"Me?" Brooke asked, disguising any surprise effectively, but that didn't change Heather's mind.

"You've been… different lately." Her tone was icy, but not accusatory. "You used to be a lot more independent, but lately, you don't go out and do things without Cody like you used to. You spend a lot more time in the motel or pokémon center rooms we get. It's not like you."

Oh shit. Brooke could shake Cody's suspicions, but Heather was never that easy. Was she still suspicious of her? Was her retreat over the past month a tactical maneuver so she could watch her easier? What if that Lunatone was still following her?

"Maybe you need to see a therapist too," Heather suggested, that icy tone seeming to melt. "I've done it before. It's definitely worth the investment, even if you only go once or twice."

"Yeah, maybe," Brooke answered with a sigh. She felt relieved, but only a little bit. Even if Heather had become more friendly, she was still watching. She couldn't forget that, even if she was no longer reporting to the Brotherhood. That said, maybe the next week would be a good opportunity to try and smooth things over with Heather. Not that she expected them to be friends, but if they were at least on better terms, maybe they could go and do things together. She'd doubt the Brotherhood would move in on her if she was with one of Cody's friends.

"Do you want to get coffee tomorrow?" Brooke asked, but when she refocused, she saw that Heather was gone. Must have packed up when she was lost in thought. And just like that, she was on her own again.

Looking around, she scanned the room for anybody who might be watching her. She didn't see anybody immediately, but that didn't comfort her. She couldn't let herself be left alone like that.

I really hope I don't have to spend the entire week in our room. But in her attempt to free herself from the Brotherhood, she found herself feeling alone and afraid far more often than she was ever used to.

Nightmares again. More than fleeting jumpscares, less than the detailed shows of Darkrai's torture. It was still bad, but not as bad as it could have been. Still, Cody was in a cold sweat. Looking down at Brooke, he saw that she hadn't stirred. Supportive as she was, she had grown used to his tossing and turning, usually sleeping through it.

I… I can't even. All the usual thoughts ran through his head: would he succumb to Darkrai like all the others? Was there truth to what Drakrai said about how trusting others would hurt him? Could it take away those he loved like it tried to do with Reflet?

"I can't do this right now." Instead of wallowing in his answerless questions and his unending doubt, he had to keep his mind busy. He had left all of his notebooks and maps on the room's desk, so he went over to them to immerse himself in his studies.

In addition to Cody's struggle in his search for more Diglett, Elesa being out with an injury was not only an emotional loss but a tactical one. She was one of his best sweepers and his Volt Switcher, after all. Even though she wasn't the "star of the show" in his match with Veronica Lee, his Zebstrika had definitely been the glue that kept his strategy together, especially against Hank "The Tank". He definitely needed Mars to fill that gap.

He tried to focus on his notes, but he couldn't stop thinking about Darkrai. Each time he felt as though he was making progress with coping with that fucker, he'd quickly learn that he was fooling himself. While he had comfort through his friends and pokémon, he couldn't stop the nightmares. The only expert on Darkrai that he knew was Stella and she was still off doing who knows what. He could try trolling online forums for other marked people, but that was a longshot, as he wouldn't know who was trustworthy.

Wait a minute…

How had he not seen it before? He completely forgot where he was. Knife Water had a well-known community of psychics; people who could see the future, read minds, and do all sorts of crazy shit that most people couldn't. Maybe some of them had studied mythical pokémon that could invade dreams or had seen Darkrai in somebody else's mind? Perhaps somebody could put a block on his brain that could prevent Darkrai from intruding on him? Okay, the last part wasn't likely, or else Stella would have told him to look for somebody like that long ago. Still, any help would have been welcomed. But who could he trust? He didn't know anybody in town and even if he did, just because a person was psychic didn't mean that they knew about the existence of an ancient, nightmare-inducing pokémon. He'd have to find somebody who really knew what they were doing. Even if they couldn't help him, maybe they could point him to somebody that could?

Then he remembered.

"I feel as though we were meant to battle…"

Vila said that to him after his battle with Gavin. She also said that precognition was not one of her strong suits, but she still had psychic abilities. What if their paths really were meant to cross and not just in some weird happenstance way?

But he couldn't just go up to her and ask. Just going up to her, a person he didn't know, and asking about Darkrai, explaining his situation to get answers... even to a psychic, he'd sound insane. Plus, she was so busy with her duties that she probably wouldn't have time to see some random trainer she hadn't even battled yet.

Okay, so I battle her and I beat her. It was simple, really. He had to beat her anyway, so if he just went and did it, he'd hopefully earn her respect and then he could reasonably request an audience with her. Maybe then she'd have answers for him. And if not, it was worth a shot.

Simple. Even without Elesa, if he could beat Veronica Lee at the seventh tier, there was no doubt he could beat Vila Procházka at the same tier after several months of training. But knowing his luck, it wouldn't be that simple. It never was. But by then, he had gotten used to inconveniences.