POKÉMON: INFINITE LEGACIES
THE CIPRYS REGION
CHAPTER 22
ATOP SPECTRE TOWER: THE GYM LEADER'S DAUGHTER
". . ."
A young child with a round, chubby face wandered down a dark corridor, drawn towards the strange sounds. Her purple-pink eyes glimmered whenever the lights decided to flicker overhead.
". . ."
Dried-up food skirted the edge of her mouth and her hair had recently been cut, short and spiky as if the hairdresser had been in a hurry. The girl looked thinner than she should be and her clothes looked dirty and worn from constant use.
". . ."
The door in front of her was slightly ajar. She hovered there for a moment, wondering what she should do as she clutched a small purple doll with a yellow 'X' on its face. Only one stringy arm ending with a yellow loveheart dangled loosely.
". . ."
Curiosity gripped her. She had to know what was making the noises. She put all her weight on the door. It shifted. She shuffled into the room and stared up at strange boxes with silver nets that were stacked up in towers until they touched the ceiling. She heard all kinds of noises—whines, squawks, moans, hisses, growls—from inside, but all their cries shared one thing: fear.
Which now blossomed in her eyes too. "Mum! Dad! What . . ." she paused, searching for the right words, "are they?"
Silence greeted her cry. She waited. She wanted them to be here with her, to come running in, but there was no response as usual.
Her fear waned, her curiosity returning. She glimpsed feathers and scales and fur within the strange boxes. She shuffled towards one of the boxes that was at her eye level. Something dark and pale, a rag stared back at her. Based on its appearance, it looked like it belonged in the cage with dark eyes and hatred scarring its face. But it backed away from her, deeper into its prison, afraid.
She put her hands up to the silver mesh. It was harder than she thought it would be. She flicked her fingers against it and they stumbled inside. But the rag kept its distance.
"What's . . . your . . . name?" she managed. "Mine's . . . Chloë." Whenever they were around, that was what her parents called her.
The rag made some nervous chittering noises, then slowly, slowly came towards her. Most of its form clouded in darkness. She saw something glinting in the darkness, some kind of thick metal ring around its neck. It didn't look right to her; she wanted to reach out and take it off the rag, but she could only slot her fingers through the silver net. She couldn't reach far enough.
Slam! And then a door slammed open.
"International Police!" shouted someone.
"And Ranger Union! Put your hands in the air, villains, or . . . you'll regret it! Aah, I've always wanted to say that!"
"Concentrate would ya, kid?" murmured the first voice more seriously. "They could still be here."
The girl called Chloë flinched. She backed away from the strange rag. What's happening? she thought. Alarm hurtled through her body. She was shaking vigorously, her eyes dashing around the room. Terror gripped her. Who were they? They weren't her parents! She had to get away from them. Hide! She would be in big trouble if her parents found out she had talked to strangers.
"Shinx, use Flash."
A bright light burnt her eyes. She saw them: a plain-looking man in a simple suit with short black hair and black sunglasses and a basic, unimpressive moustache; nearby was a younger girl with long purple-tinted hair. She looked impressive in her red vest jacket and back shorts, both highlighted by a golden shade of yellow. There was some kind of light blue and black furry creature beside her.
"Heavens," came the man's voice as he peered into the cages. "There's all sorts in here. Hey, Ranger. Here's your . . ." His voice broke off at the sight of the small girl huddled against one of the cages clutching a tattered Pokémon doll in her hands, tightly.
"Not . . . Mum or Dad," she stammered, eyes widened at the sight of them.
Agent Hanson wanted to shake his head at the sight of her—in all his years as an agent of the International Police, he had seen some deplorable sights—but he kept his eyes on her and tried to look as unthreatening as possible. He even took off his sunglasses, his own young daughter flashing in his mind. This girl can't be much older than Kerry. Six or seven, if I had to put money on it. His disgust of these Pokémon hunters only deepened.
"She's not a Pokémon," the Ranger pointed out, standing awkwardly with arms crossed.
"Shinx," her partner Pokémon greeted, stepping towards the girl, but that only seemed to terrify her more, so Shinx stopped.
Agent Hanson ignored her and slowly dropped to one knee, lowering himself to the child's eye level. "Don't worry," he said, hoping his gruff voice wouldn't frighten her too much. "I know you must be scared, but you're going to be okay."
Selina felt uncomfortable at the sight of the wild Mimikyu, huddled in the shadows on the far side of Spectre Tower's seventh floor. She thought she had forgotten most of those memories. They seemed like so long ago. She felt sickened at the thought of that part of her life, flashing in her mind like someone else's bad dream. She could hardly believe it had ever happened.
She swallowed away her past, though it hardly felt like it, then said, "Rowlet, use Leafage!"
Rowlet cooed, spinning in mid-air. Bright green leaves glowed and spiralled all around him. The girl called Selina stared at Mimikyu, concentrating on the battle and the present.
"No! No! No! No! Not another one!" Flame groaned. He pointed accusingly at his mortal enemy. "You don't know how much I hate you right now, door."
Door thought it best not to respond.
Flame was breathing heavily. He'd barely managed the climb up the stairs, having to stop multiple times. There's no way to escape the sun, he thought. Even in the tower it'd only gotten hotter the higher he went, with each floor he cleared. His legs were on fire and he was dripping sweat. He shuffled forward and gingerly started to push the door open, praying he and his Pokémon had reached the top.
Until fresh, cool, beautiful air streamed against his face. "Ahh, yes! Thank you!" he panted as he stepped through the doorway: there were two doors, one opposite and one to the right; to the left, some steps that disappeared into blue sky.
"I think I should be able to manage a few more steps. What do you think, Eevee?"
"Eevee!" Eevee encouraged, perched atop his shoulder. Eevee had struggled as much as he had to climb the remainder of the stairs—and she was not even a quarter of his height! He had tried returning her to her Poké Ball, but she had refused, clambering up his back and onto his shoulders. He knew she wanted to reach the top of Spectre Tower just as much as he did.
"Finally!" exclaimed a familiar voice. "I was beginning to think all your Pokémon had fainted."
Wind breezed against Flame's face as he emerged atop Spectre Tower. Immediately he collapsed alongside Selina onto a bench. "Ahh, that's nice. Yeah, only Eevee's left."
"Eevee!" boasted Eevee.
Curious, she wandered towards the edge of the tower for a better look. The railings didn't look particularly safe. Eevee could fit through them if she really wanted to, thought Flame nervously. He gave Eevee a moment to look, then returned her to her Luxury Ball before an accident could happen.
"You don't have anything else planned, do you?" he asked, leaning back on the bench; the breeze was cooling his body nicely. "I'm so done with training for a while."
"Nope! That's it," Selina confirmed. "We'll go back down the central tower—there's no Pokémon in there, only an elevator."
"Thank Zeurelic for that . . ."
"Anyway, what do you think?"
"Think of what?"
"The view."
Flame's eyes widened. He'd been too exhausted to notice. "Woah, it's amazing up here. You can see so much!"
Spectre Tower rose just beyond the heights of the tallest trees. The tallest buildings in Festivalight, however small they looked, were visible to the east, and the fabled Mount Origin and the mountainous ridge that made central passage between northern and southern Ciprys incredibly difficult were visible beyond the southern edge of Whistltree Forest. The ridge extended into the sky, and left and right to the edges of Ciprys, until the human eye could see no further. A light haze of smoke encircled Mount Origin, and Flame noticed a city to the west, and to the north of that, a group of blackened islands.
Selina's purple-pink eyes sparkled. "It is! I love battling all the Ghost-type Pokémon on the way up, knowing this is my reward if I succeed. I used to come up here all the time with my . . ." Her voice trailed off.
When it was clear she wasn't going to continue, Flame asked, "Why the pause?"
Selina looked at the horizon, her hair flowing freely, then she breathed out. I trust him. "You're a good guy, Flame . . ." she said, trying to find the right words to explain.
Flame stopped leaning back and straightened up, the last time she was so awkward flashing in his mind. "Is this about Declan being your dad?"
Selina nodded. She turned her head and looked deep into his blaze-orange eyes. I can't stop now. "It's no big deal really. But some people I've let know who my parents are in the past have pestered me with question after question, and I don't like that. I swear, Flame, if I hear any laughter, or jokes, or snide comments, just know I have a Drifloon. She will fly you to the top of this tower and throw you right off. The trees might break your fall, but you'll only escape with a broken limb. Or two."
"You've . . . thought this through a bit too much, haven't you?"
"Promise me, Flame."
"Of course, I promise. And whatever it is, it can't be anything that bad." Can it? He gulped. Do I really want to hear the rest? What if they . . . no, it doesn't bear thinking about. "Uh . . . if you don't want to tell me, that's fine too. Less risk of Drifloon dropping me from a great height." He laughed nervously.
Selina smiled slightly. "True, but I want to tell you. I should have told you earlier, and . . . I've realised you've had quite an impression on my dad. So, here goes," Selina breathed in, then out, "instead of just one, I have two dads."
"What's the problem? That sounds cool!"
Selina looked surprised. "You think so?"
Flame smiled. It was bittersweet. He stood up and walked towards the edge of the tower and stared out at the world. "Uh-huh. You have two parents to talk to. That's something to cherish."
"It can be hard to talk about," confessed Selina. "I was adopted. They can be a bit much sometimes, and sometimes I wished I had a mum to talk to, and that makes me feel guilty, but I do love them."
Flame fiddled with his headband. Ciprys seems so small up here. "I trust you too," he said after a moment, "so I'm going to tell you something. My dad passed away when I was seven. And I've not seen Mum in person since I was nine."
"I'm sorry. That must be tough."
Flame shrugged. He felt his throat tightening, but he still managed to say, "Once I was old enough, I was at the Pokémon Academy in Festivalight, so it wasn't too bad." He thought of his mum and dad. He wasn't sure how he felt. "Does any of it matter as long as they're good parents?"
"Yeah, true," responded Selina softly. "I feel like mine was trivial now compared to yours. If you ever want to talk, I'm here."
Flame turned away from the tower edge and smiled at her. "Nah, it wasn't. And thanks, likewise. But I've been lucky too. I've still got my sister, Grandpa, and even Professor Aconite to talk to. It's not as if I've got no one, and I'm thankful for that." He looked away for a moment, rubbed his eyes, and then breathed out. "I'm glad we met."
"Me too." The wind picked up suddenly and Selina and Flame looked out at Ciprys once more. "Where are you heading next?" she asked.
"Probably towards the Ashidue Islands—that's where the next gym is. How about you?"
"Dad would like me to stay and help him with the gym. He has me in his sights as his successor, but I'm not sure that's what I want. I really enjoyed travelling to Festivalight and back, though. It was fun, exciting! Well, apart from that Hypnoku bit."
They laughed.
"I'm only 13," she went on. "I don't know, but . . . I think I'd like to see more of what's beyond Whistltree first."
"How about you travel with me around Ciprys?" The words were out of his mouth before he knew it.
Selina didn't respond.
His hands stumbled their way into his pockets. "You don't have to give me an answer straightaway. It's your call."
"I'd like to. I woulddo, but I'm not sure. But I'll definitely think about it . . . thanks."
"That's fine . . ." responded Flame, trying his best to hide his disappointment.
The sky was turning orange and the sun had started to dip on its own journey, almost behind Mount Origin, an impressive brown bulge in the distance.
"Tomorrow's the day." Selina was the one to break the silence. "Do you think you're ready? My dad's been training hard for this rematch too, ya know."
Flame stared at Mount Origin and thought of his team. "Last time I underestimated what it would take to beat a gym leader. I know it's going to be tough, but I think I'm ready now. I know what to expect. We're gonna smash it, and I know that Phantom Badge's going to be ours."
Author's Notes:
I've been waiting a long time to do this twist: Declan isn't Selina's biological father. I think I actually wrote these chapters six months ago, maybe more, maybe less, but I'm happy with how it's turned out through editing, etc., particularly the dialogue. Selina's parentage came out organically, to be honest, and the first scene was added as a result of one of my readers commenting about wanting to see more of Selina's past, so thanks Kokoro. :P That scene also hints towards what role Selina might play towards the end of the story, so I'm pleased I added it in.
I don't know how much I'll delve into the relationship of Selina's parents. I haven't really thought much about Declan's partner, but I'm keen to have an inclusive range of characters as that's a big problem with mainstream literature, especially in children's fiction, so that would definitely be interesting to develop in the future. And I'm going to keep the story K+ for now as I don't—from an ethical and moral standpoint—think this development should affect the age rating.
(And sorry for the wait! I know I've basically been releasing a chapter a month so far this year, but I had hoped to publish this one more quickly after the last. Because of various external factors, I've struggled to find motivation to write, but I still intend to keep writing this story for as long as I can! I've also been working with KokoroEcho to create a new entry for his Pokémon Chronicles.)
(So, as always, a big thanks to my readers and particularly to any who leave a review—massively appreciated! We are actually coming up to the 1-year anniversary of this story's publication so I will be aiming to release at least one chapter next week. :D)