Chapter Two: Fog

With Every Legend, There's a Beginning

Thick, white smoke-like fog filled the world around me. Everything was white. You would think so much whiteness would lead to a bright world, but even with the light color, it was dark. Behind the fog I could see black and greys, like a sky or something. Never questioning where I was or how I got there, I just sat; curled up, knees to my chest and feet digging into the ground that wasn't there. My mouth was clamped shut, and I wasn't breathing; afraid I would breathe in the fog. Tightening my grip around my knees, I gently turned my head side to side. Same: Fog and darkness. Looking straight ahead again, a pair of red eyes appeared in the in the white stuff, and then they started to come at me. Startled, I gasped harshly, sucking in the dangerous fog.

One of the wisps of fog formed into a hand and shot down my throat. I could feel it stinging and burning everything as it traveled farther. The fog wrapped around me like vines, and my skinned burned like the fog was acid. Suddenly I wasn't too worried about the red eyes.

When I awoke, all was foggy. Beginning to panic and hold my breath—after taking the first gasp of shock—I squirmed in the bed I was in. My vision blotched out, then quickly cleared. The room had cream walls and home-made curtains covering the glowing window. The bed I was in was quite uncomfortable, again with a mismatched home-made quilt. Next to me was an old machine thing, one I recognized to sit in Centers. I'm in a Pokécenter? I thought.

Sure enough, a nurse walked through the opened door. "Good morning." She greeted, with little enthusiasm. I opened my mouth to speak, but she shoved a dropper in and squirted water in my unprepared mouth. "Your throat will thank me." Almost drowning in water, I swallowed hastily and tried to say something. Instead I was thrown into a coughing fit.

"Where are Hilda and Hilbert? Did they tell Grandmother?" I managed to get the words out.

"They're at their house. I'll tell another nurse to notify them. They should be here soon. And I'm not sure."

"Why did you let me stay here? I thought you only accepted Pokémon."

"We have two hospital rooms suitable for humans. We can't do anything huge, but Hearthrome sent us painkillers for you. The only reason we accepted you was Hilbert made us." She said with a hint of irritation. As if saying you inconvenienced us but I want to make my town elders happy… You're lucky.

Thinking of the weird dream I had, I said, "how strong is that medication?"

"Not very. Is something wrong?"

"Well I had the strangest dream, and usually I don't have vivid dreams or…Dreams at all, really."

"Don't look into it. You were out for two days, normally people have some wacked-up dreaming going on."

"Two days?!"

"Yes ma'am. We were all very surprised, just a hit on the head is all." She said it in a way that made me feel like the wimpiest person I could be. She left the room, thankfully closing the door, and I slapped my forehead. My champion journey wasn't starting out the right way. And it wasn't going to go anywhere if I lay in that bed any longer.

Gathering everything I could inside me, I rolled out of the uncomfortable bed. I sighed, because I felt absolutely fine. There was no logical reason for me to sleep two days. Looking down at myself, I noticed I was wearing a nightgown that wasn't mine. Cringing, I looked around the room to see if my bag was around. Thankfully it was and I quickly showered in the bathroom the Center provided and put on fresh clothes. Then I was out of there.

Trying to forget about this mishap, I made my way to Hil&Hil and walked through the front door. Hilda was planted at the main desk, but as soon as she saw me she jumped out of the chair and practically over the desk. "Thank everything!" She squealed, and forced me into a hug. "We were so worried about you, Cynthia." She let me go but then grabbed my face. She flung my head around. "Looks like no scratches or nothing," She stopped and I gave her a weird look, "oh my, I do apologize, I don't know what got into me."

"My, my, look who made it out alive." Hilbert stepped into the room with a Buneary in his arms. "How are you feeling?"

"Perfectly fine." Until your wife gave me a concussion. "In fact, I think I'm more than ready to move on to the next town." I tried a smile, and the two of them returned a more genuine one. The Buneary hopped into Hilda's arm, and she stroked its back lovingly. "How are the ruins holding up? Anymore attacks?"

"The ruins' fine, it could hold a lot more then mild bombs. And no more attacks, plus Lea didn't get interviewed." Hilbert answered.

"And why not?"

"The attacks had him rushing back to the League, apparently."

"Sounds like a bad excuse." It did sound like an excuse to blow off an interview or as a cover-up for not even going to Sunyshore. Who knows?

"Well I agree but…Nothing to do about it." Hilbert slightly chuckled, and then motioned to the sofas. "Before you leave, take a seat." I sat, but didn't get comfortable; I was ready to leave. "Hilly, will you grab me a bottle of milk?" Hilda nodded with a smile and scurried out of the room, and Hilbert leaned towards me. "You remember what I said the other day…Don't you be thinking about Lea. 'Member I said that?" I nodded, and leaned in just like him. "Good, don't forget it. Just ignore him and focus on you. Your life will be better that way." He winked and sat back up just as Hilda came in with the milk.

Standing, I shot the couple a slight smile, "I think it's time for me to be on my way."

"Alright, let's get on our way." Hilbert said as he stood. He grinned at me. Now my smile turned into confusion. Not that I didn't respect and love Hilbert, but traveling with him sounded pretty awful. Wanting to reject, I searched for the right words. "Only to Hearthrome, of course." He added and snickered.

Relieved, I said, "okay, let's go." I gave Hilda a quick hug, and she grabbed my face again.

"Bye, Cynthia. Don't you worry about Carolina, we'll be keeping a good eye on her." She smiled.

"Thank you." With that, we were off. On the way out of town I tried to get into the state-of-mind that I was finally continuing on this long, amazing journey…But that was hard to do with Hilbert whistling by my side. As we exited Solaceon, I realized that I had never gone past here…Ever. The farthest from home I had ever travelled was to Veilstone. Never Route 209.

Nearby I noticed an under-construction grey brick building. It looked out of place somehow. "What's that?" I asked.

"That was what Champion Annie was building as a memorial to lost Pokémon. But then Lea came into the picture…"

"I know." I remembered learning about her in my studies. She was the Champion before Lea, with only Grass and Bug types. Somehow she managed to beat the Elites with them. Apparently she was a force to be reckoned with, even though she was only Champion for a short while. Pegged as earthy and gracious, she was a liked person. "That's so…Nice."

"Yeah, she had a lot of good things planned for Sinnoh. Too bad she was overpowered by Lea before some things could get done." Hilbert sighed and shook his head, "oh well." I agreed with the 'too bad' part, but the 'oh well' part I just couldn't seem to agree with.

Route 209 had perfectly trimmed grass pathways leading to Hearthrome. It was such a comfortable place with little cabins scattered about and the salt-water stream that lined the left side of the paths. Of course, the large electric fence that sat on the edge of the forest keeping any and all Pokémon out sort of ruined it.

"So are you excited about battling?" Hilbert asked me; attempting conversation.

Actually, I hadn't thought much about it. "Yes, I guess." I shrugged, "more excited about Pokémon in general then battling."

He nodded and chuckled. "Ah, Winnie's girl."

Yes, I had gotten my love of Pokémon from my grandfather, that's for sure. Nodding, I asked: "you and he were good friends, weren't you?"

"Oh yes. Hilda and Carolina and me and Winnie. We all got along. It was a shame when—" He cut himself off. But I knew what he was going to say 'when he died.'

"You don't have to be afraid to say it." I muttered. But honestly, I still shuttered at the thought.

"You sure?" He asked as he studied my face. He was a lot like my grandfather in the way that he knew what people were actually saying. I nodded; why not try to get over the thought now? I'm doing everything else now; let's add something else to the list. "Well, it was a shame," he continued, "but I'm glad the attackers aren't going for Celestic, it's just too much for Carolina. Even if there are other elders."

"I agree, and I don't want her harmed."

"Yes, that wouldn't be good. She would put herself right in the way, anything to protect her town…She'd do anything to protect you, too." He looked at me.

Knowing this, I nodded with a smile. "She's already proven it, time and time again." He smiled in response and we both focused on the road ahead.

A while filled with small-talk and simple responses passed and we approached a large, window-less white building. There was no way around it, since the electric fence and a wall met up with it on both sides. "What is this?"

"This is the building separating us from Hearthrome. Don't ask me why, because it's all really a mystery. I don't understand Lea's thinking."

"Well I don't either. Hopefully I'm going to learn to either understand it or…Change it." Determination flared in my tone, and Hilbert gave me a look.

"You're going to let Lea bother you no matter what, aren't you?"

Pausing, I didn't answer. I knew the answer, but I wasn't sure if I was supposed to say it so I shrugged.

"Really?" He raised his eyebrows.

Feeling defeated, I said: "Okay yes, Lea bothers me to death and I can't shake it."

He turned towards me and a sense of seriousness came about him. "Listen, Hearthrome's… Different then here or Celestic. They normally don't let folk like us in, but tell them you have a doctor's appointment. They'll let ya in then. Okay? And do whatever they tell you to do. Broken laws are punished. Okay? Just get in, get your checkup, and move on to Oreburgh. Try and avoid Jubilife. Do whatever it takes to get to Oreburgh and don't get caught! You understand me girl?" His voice was almost at a yell. I was taken aback by this. What could Hilbert mean? I never thought of him as crazy, but from that point on I always looked at him differently. It's a good thing he has Hilda to keep him inline. I nodded, he cleared his throat and scratched his beard. "I've sent a letter to my friend in Oreburgh. He works in the mines. Go there and find him. He'll help ya get to Sandgem." His voice was less hysterical. "His name is Pete. Find him. Okay?"

"Okay," I said, unsureness clear in my voice. He nodded and gave me a reassuring glance. Faking a smile, I quickly hugged him and we said our goodbyes. He started walking away, and I turned and faced the building. Now, this is my journey. I walked to the door, but hesitated. What was a Golden City really like?

The Golden Cities were the biggest and richest cities in Sinnoh; Jubilife and Hearthrome. Only the richest and most honored people lived there, apparently. Sunyshore and Veilstone were in the running to being Golden Cities, too. They bothered my immensely, but I sucked it up and entered the building.

The room was nearly empty, only with a desk placed in front of me. The woman behind the desk gave me a shocked look. And I'm sure I was giving her the same look. She was so odd looking. She had on a purple dress that hugged her body so tightly I wondered if she could breathe. Her face was so white I thought she was sick, but because the whiteness stopped at her ears it was obvious that it was makeup. Her lips were very purple, it matched her dress. Her eyes were an unnatural shiny-gold color, and her hair was jet-black, braided and twirled right on top of her head.

There was silence for a moment before she cleared her voice and spoke. "And what can I do for you?" She had a high-pitched voice that sounded like bird chirps with a weird accent added in. The accent I recognized from the people who did the news, they spoke with a little more flare and a little more sing-song like.

"I'm going to Hearthrome," I said it like it was completely obvious…Which it was.

"I'm afraid you'll have to find another way."

"Actually, I have a checkup I need to get to," I started stepping closer to the desk, "Solaceon's Pokécenter sent something—"

She quickly grabbed my wrist and a pen-like thing. Before I could pull away she poked my index finger and dabbed the blood on some sort of document. I shrieked and ripped my hand away; examining my fingertip. "What did you do and why did you do it?!"

"I used this," she held up the finger poking device, "to get some blood to put on this," she held up the document, "to let you through that door." She pointed behind her to the large door. "It leaves the tiniest mark, so tiny it heals instantly. Amazing, right? Name?"

"What?"

"I need your name." She gave me an annoyed look.

"Cynthia Everheart." I said. She wrote my name at the top of the paper with my blood on it. She then started tapping this weird thing. It was flat and lay on her desk. It had a small fluorescent screen like a television, and on the screen was a series of letter that was in no order. Q, W, E, R, T and so on in a random fashion. She had spelled out C-Y-N-T-H-I when something popped up on the screen. She pressed it with her finger. It was some kind of document. I immediately thought of the folder the nurse had given me. And the paper with my blood on it looked sort of like that. "Why did you need my blood?" I asked, ignoring how gross that was.

"If you want to go into the Golden Cities we need some record of you. So we know you're not a trespasser. Move on." The lady spun around in her chair and ignored me. I rolled my eyes and walked to the right where there was an odd looking doorway. A man was standing there. He looked as weird as the other lady, he had on a white uniform, but other than that he had greenish hair and his lips were unnaturally puffy and his face looked like it was redone many-a-time.

"Walk through." He too had the odd accent, except not high-pitched. He motioned for me to walk through the doorway. I did this. It made a soft beep and he nodded. "Good. You can go." He pointed to the door that was all the way at the end of the building. I walked quickly to it, ready to leave this weird building behind, and I exited; finally entering a Golden City.

Buildings were everywhere. Tall buildings I had never seen in-person before. The ground was a silvery-gray brick, no grass to be seen. People swarmed all over. They all looked like the average Golden City person. Crazy wigs, rearranged faces, unnatural makeup and clothes that I would never be caught dead in. They were normally puffy dresses that the color matched their hair. Pink dress, pink hair. Green dress, green hair. It didn't make sense.

This wasn't Celestic. How could someplace so close to home be so different?

Joining the large crowd of people headed towards what I assumed was the middle of town, I instantly felt swallowed. I kept stepping on the bottoms of contest dresses and muttering apologies as they frowned at me and gave me unpleasant, unwelcoming looks. It was hard to try and get an idea of where I was in this huge city. The crowd made it to another street and went in multiple directions, leaving me stranded on the main road.

The main road was crowded with shops and multi-story buildings. While looking around, my eyes met a crazy-looking lady who stood in-front of a quaint-looking shop. She waved and smiled big, so I approached her. "Hello, hello!" She greeted; her voice high-pitched and seemingly friendly. "What can I interest you in today?"

"Nothing, actually. I want to find the Pokémon Center. Can you give me directions?" I asked.

"Oh." She suddenly lost her peppy and high-pitched voice. "Of course. It's that way." She pointed toward her right. "Thanks for wasting my time." She walked off, and I frowned in her direction.

"Rude," I murmured, and started in the right direction. My first impression of Golden City natives wasn't a good one. They were obviously rude and self-centered. No one from Celestic, Solaceon, or Veilstone liked them. Mostly because they were the rich and famous of Sinnoh, and they essentially took away from us. They're portrayed as perfection on television, and anyone who is different isn't worth your time. But they're not perfection; they're not even close.

Turning onto another street, I saw the Center. It was absolutely huge. I would have never been able to miss it. I stepped in, and the clean smell of all Centers hit my nose and slightly comforted me. While waiting on my Pokémon, I listened as two ladies in the lobby spoke about Veilstone's 'grand mall' that'll be built where the fire had happened and burnt the long row of shops. Those shops were one of the attractions of Veilstone, so it made sense that something even better would take its place, but I didn't like the fact that the ladies said: "If Veilstone wasn't so trashy, it could easily be a Golden City. Maybe this mall will clean it up, so we can actually go to it…Wouldn't that be great?!" I rolled my eyes.

After my Pokémon were done, I was called to the second floor for my checkup. The doctor, who had silver hair and glasses that didn't have any glass in them, didn't say much to me. He didn't do much, either, just put something cold over my heart and shined lights into my eyes and ears. He questioned me on medicine, asked if I wanted anymore, and when I said no, he smiled and said that we were finished.

Next, I walked down the street in search for the post office. Eventually I found it, nestled out of the way of everything else, and I walked in. It was to my amazement that the man standing there looked completely normal; Wearing khaki pants and a dark brown sweater, and no makeup whatsoever.

"Hello." Oh, he spoke normal too. I smiled at him.

"Hello." I replied. "I need some paper and a pen."

"Of course." He walked to a shelf and handed me an official piece of paper and an envelope. I thanked him and sat at one of the many desks in the room and began writing. I wrote to Grandmother telling her I was safe and had spent a few extra days with Hilda and Hilbert. And I had written to Jamie telling her to care for my garden and give the greens to Grandmother and make sure she's eating. And as a thank you to keep some greens for herself.

Then we got all the official stuff taken care of; filling out the envelope.

"Celestic Town, huh? Quite a ways away." He commented as he wrote.

"Yes it is. It took a few days to get here." I said.

He nodded. "Where are you headed?" He sealed the envelope and stuck it through a slot in the wall.

"To Sandgem to meet with Professor Rowan. I want to become a trainer."

"Oh, then you'll be going straight to Jubilife?" I didn't answer right away, trying to figure out if I should say I wasn't or not.

"Actually I'm going to Oreburgh. I want the whole traveling experience." It made sense to me, but he gave me an odd look.

"Really? Hmm." He was still looking at me weird.

"What?" I finally asked, worried I said the wrong thing.

"You do know you can't get to Oreburgh from here, right?" He said.

"What do you mean? It's the next town."

"It's blocked by the wall. Since it's illegal to go into the woods, they made the tunnel to get to Jubilife, but if you want to get to Oreburgh you have to either go through Mt. Cornet from Celestic, or go into the woods illegally." He explained. I remembered seeing a huge wall as I came into the city, but I didn't think a thing about it. I guess it did blend in better than the electric fence on Route 209.

"Is there a way to get into the woods?" I hesitantly asked.

"I know a break in the wall, near the Contest Hall. But you can't breathe a word to anyone." He was whispering now.

"I won't, I swear." I was whispering too. This was odd. Why was he helping me? Why did I trust him? I shouldn't trust him. I'll ditch him as soon as we get outside. I thought. But, wouldn't that be worse? I'll take my chances.

He started walking toward the door, I followed him out. Then, I made a run for it. I looked over my shoulder as I ran; he was just standing there yelling something. But I couldn't hear him over the crowd.

Looking forward, I stopped quickly. A huge man in a white uniform was standing there blocking my way. The man grabbed my shoulders. I quickly jerked away and darted towards the left. I instinctively headed for an alleyway. Down the alley was another row of shops. They seemed dingier than the others, but that was the least of my worries. I flew into the first shop, which was a clothing store, and ran to the corner concealed by clothing racks. I stood against the wall and slid to a sitting position as I caught my breath. One of the workers came over to me. He was a very tall man with glitter covering his body, probably in his twenties. He had gold tattoos covering his face and arms.

"I'm just…I…" I muttered. Honestly, I was intimidated by this man.

"And?" He hissed. His voice was very quiet and high-pitched.

"Can I just stay here for a moment? Please?" I begged.

He looked me up and down. "I guess. But may I ask why you are hiding?"

"I think I'm in trouble. But I'll be out of here soon, I promise."

"And why are you in trouble?" He sat next to me.

"I'm not so sure." I quickly told him what had happened at the post office, but turned the story so it sounded like the man at the post office wanted me to do this illegal thing and I ran off because I wouldn't do it.

"Ah. You're in more trouble now that you've ran, you know. But hopefully the guards don't feel you're some threat. I wouldn't." He shrugged, "nothing to worry about."

"Really?" I sighed with relief. "I need to get out of here. I don't like Hearthrome."

"Why? I think Hearthrome in quite astounding. Lea has been so great to us, giving us gifts, giving us money and food, why not like the Golden Cities?" That sounds like something someone from the Golden Cities would say. How 'astounding it is'. But the Lea thing was odd.

"What do you mean Lea is so great and gives you gifts?"

"He sends stuff every month to the Golden Cities. Money mostly."

This infuriated me. He was sending Hearthrome money when Celestic was going into starvation?! He was sending Hearthrome food when we have none due to bad soil?! He was sending Hearthrome gifts when we have nothing?! How insane! My hands were pressing so hard against my legs I was sure they had bruised. My jaws were crushed against each other that when I opened my mouth they felt sore. I was mad. I stood up and walked to the glass door and looked out, the shop was facing the tall brick wall separating Hearthrome from, well, reality. "Well I'm getting out of this place." I left the shop, which smelled like an overdose of cologne and it had given me a headache, and followed the wall. Eventually it would lead to the break, it had to.

There it was. When one wall looked like it overlapped another there was a space between them. That was my key out. I slid between the two walls and saw the dark forest. I stepped into the safety of the trees and felt myself relaxing. I walked farther into the forest, until I thought I was a good distance from Hearthrome. Climbing up a tree, I made myself a bed on one of the thick branches of a katta tree; a shorter tree with flat branches that were a foot or two long. They were one of the trees that were around Celestic, and only in Sinnoh. I knew about these trees because of the book my mother left me. It had records of all kinds of trees and plants my mother studied, since she studied foliage and plant-life. I always cared for that book well, because it was from her.

Luckily this was an excellent sleeping spot. The forests natural smells and sounds was the most comforting thing I could have asked for. Blindly I dug through my bag and found a sweater and sleep pants. I slipped them on over my current clothes for more warmth and used my bag as a pillow. That day felt so long. How long had I been away from home? It felt like weeks since I had lain in my bed, sat on the couch with Grandmother, walked the paths of Celestic with Jamie or Ember. At first I felt some homesickness, but I pushed all that away and replaced it with anger. I was angry that the Golden Cities even existed. They really were taking away from Celestic, and it was horrible. Do the Golden's know how they're effected other places? If they knew, would they change it? If they didn't know, was Lea shielding them from that? Shaking my head, I didn't want to think about this anymore. My "journey" hadn't started out the way I had hoped, and the idea of continuing was idiotic.

But Lea can't stay where he is, I reminded myself, he's doing a lot wrong and his reign needs to end. Somehow, it will come to an end.

Dreamless I slept. When I awoke I couldn't fall back asleep due to the bitter morning cold; I put on another sweater and multiple pairs of socks. After a few hours of walking, it warmed up and I removed all my extra clothing. Studying my map, I knew (or hoped) I was headed towards Oreburgh. It was rather odd going through a forest and not a Route, but I could handle it.

To my surprise, I only saw Starly and Staravia in trees. I guess these Pokémon were afraid of hunters? But I shrugged this off. In the middle of nowhere, there were no hunters. It was nesting season—being early springtime—so they were all off building homes and being happy. It was sad that only where it's illegal to be, the Pokémon could be happy.

Later, I saw a Stantler once I walked into a small clearing. I knew it was a Stantler because I have heard things about how delicious their meat was on the news. Stantler was a rare treat, shot for special occasions in the Golden Cities since you can only get them around that area. But after looking at it so long, who would want to shoot it? Or battle it and then once it fainted kill it. It was a tall, graceful-looking Pokémon. It stood on four legs and had two antlers just poking up on its head; must be a baby, newly born into the springtime air. It had tan spots covering its brown back. It stood stunned, staring at me, licking its lips. "I won't—" Then it was gone. "…Hurt you." I finished. It ran away so fast it was amazing. That was, really, my first encounter with a Pokémon. That was probably the Stanter's first time with a human, and we were both stunned. I'll never forget that time.

Walking through the clearing, I approached a large pond. I crouched next to it, cupped my hands, and brought water to my mouth to drink. I dunked my arms into the murky water, washing off all the dirt I had acquired from sleeping in a tree. Then I put my whole head in and ran my fingers through my hair. It had turned into a dark brown color instead of its light blonde because of the wetness. When I brought my head up, I twisted my thick—even thicker when wet—hair on top of my head.

Then I heard something. I stopped breathing, trying to listen. It was completely silent, until I heard the snapping of a twig and the crunch of dead leaves. Quickly I stood up; a sensation coursed through me. I felt like prey, and I was about to be attacked. I'm just paranoid. I thought, but quickly decided that wasn't the truth. Should I say something? Let my hunter know I'm not prey? No one would want to hurt me out here, right? Cannibals aren't in Sinnoh.

"I…" Leaves rustled, I swallowed my fear and the lump in my throat, "I know you're there!" I said, no traces of fear in my tone. At first I thought I didn't say it loud enough, but I must have.

Because my attacker stepped out of the woods.

*This chapter has been hardcore edited/rewritten.

Any current readers out there? It's been a while since I've gotten a review on this Fanfiction, it would be cool to get someone's thoughts on this currently. Plus, you would be the 190th review! That's an achievement if you ask me.

Have a great day everybody.