After finishing their lunch the girls decided to relax in Viridian City's Pokémon Center. Bree was tending to a slight blister on her ankle, while Sophie charged her computer and Jade took a nap on the sofa with Charmer curled up beside her. Once she'd fixed her foot up, Bree went to the phones and called home to let her mum know where she was.
"Viridian City already, my you're doing well," Bree's mother, Fiona, gushed as she bounced Louie on her knee. In the background Bree could see her siblings, Damian and Kimberley, running around.
"Is Kimmy feeling better?" Bree asked. At the sound of her voice, Kimmy came running to the phone and the screen was filled with her grinning face.
"Briaaaaanna," she squealed. "I missed you!"
"I miss you too, Kimmy," Bree laughed.
"Are you coming home now?"
"Not yet, Kimmy," Bree bit her lip, as her sister's face deflated. "But, when I do you can meet my Pokémon if you want?"
"No," Kimmy said, jumping down and running away from the screen.
Fiona sighed. "You know how she is," she said, apologetically.
"I know, Mum," Bree said, putting a brave face on though she felt a little sick in the pit of her stomach. "Is Dad there?"
"You're Father's a little busy at the moment, sweetheart," Fiona chirped, though Bree had seen him in the background a few moments before. "Oh, I got a call from Shannon earlier, did I tell you? She's doing well."
"Cool, Mum," Bree said, sighing inwardly. Her mother's subject-changing tactics hadn't been subtle enough to spare her feelings. She could tell her Dad wasn't interested in talking to her.
With the phone call over with, Bree gathered her things and went to leave the Center. Sophie saw her heading for the door, and ran up to stop her.
"Are you leaving us?" she joked, tilting her head to the side.
"There's a gym somewhere in Viridian City," Bree said, her face unreadable. "I was going to look."
"We can come with you if you want," Sophie replied, as Jade sleepily walked over to join them.
"No, I'd rather go on my own," Bree said, a little too sharply. "Just keep playing with your computer."
"It's not playing..." Sophie gasped, a little taken aback. "My story's important, too! Or do you not think that it is?" Her voice rose at the end, defensively.
"No, I never said that," Bree responded, quickly. "You know I think it matters, too." She felt that sickly feeling again. She hadn't meant to insult Sophie's writing.
"But you still think your badges are more important," Sophie replied, carefully.
Bree sighed, feeling her face flush with anger. "Fine," she snapped. "Keep putting words in my mouth all you want. We're going to look for the gym." She spun and walked out of the Pokémon Center, with her Bulbasaur close behind. Because he was the only one who followed her, he was the only one who saw the tears coursing down her cheeks.
Sophie grabbed her own belongings, and walked out into the sunlight a few minutes later. She picked a different direction to where Bree had gone and stalked off, leaving Jade watching over her charging computer.
"Retail therapy," she muttered, hotly. She soon found the shop she was looking for and strode inside.
Moments later she had chosen a top-range fishing rod from one of the display stands and brought it to the counter with a selection of bait. The assistant looked her up and down, frowning. "This isn't a beginner's rod, kiddo," he said, gruffly.
"And I'm not a beginner," she replied, dryly.
"Still," he replied, flipping over the price tag. She glared at him, pulling a card from her pocket and thumping it on the desk without breaking her eye contact. The assistant raised an eyebrow at the credit card, and sighed.
Once paid, Sophie stepped outside with the rod in a compact case and walked over to the nearby river. She fitted the rod together, running a hand over the wood expertly and selecting a bait. After carefully scanning the water's surface, she swapped it for another bait and fitted it to the end of the line, flicking it back and aiming for a spot further up the river.
Within half an hour, she'd walked back into the fisherman's shop, and dumped an extremely large Magikarp on the desk. She glared at the cashier's stunned expression.
"I," she said, slowly. "Am not a beginner..."
Back at the Pokémon Center, Jade was becoming worried. She couldn't leave Sophie's computer behind and, even if she did leave, who would she go after? Having no siblings of her own, and very few friends her own age, she wasn't used to this kind of thing and couldn't be sure who was more at fault.
"I don't really think either of them were," she said to Charmer, who looked as glum as she felt. "I don't quite know how it started, I didn't really get it. They just seemed to miss each other's point somewhere."
"Char..." Charmer agreed, watching out the window for them.
"I'm sure they'll come back soon..."
"Who'll come back soon?" asked a voice. Jade spun round to see a friendly-looking older girl smiling at her. "C'mon, you look like you're in some kinda trouble. What's happened?"
"Oh, it's nothing like that," Jade said, waving her hands a little. "My friends just had a bit of an argument."
"Oh, is that all," the girl said, sighing. Then she checked herself, and cried out, "not that it's not awful, of course it's awful, that's not what I meant at all!"
Jade laughed despite her worry. "Were you hoping it was something else?" she asked.
"Well..." the girl hesitated, before nodding her head. "Let me start again. My name is Dani, and I want to be a police officer."
"Oh, I see," Jade said, thoughtfully. "So when you said you thought I looked like I was in trouble..."
"I do count that as trouble," Dani said, quickly. "Of course, I do! I was... I guess, just sorta hoping it was the more 'crime' type of trouble, you know?"
"I understand," Jade said, smiling. "I'm called Jade, and this is Charmer," she indicated her Pokémon, who was still diligently looking for Bree and Sophie.
"This is Rowdy," Dani replied, waving her hand down to floor, where there was no sign of anything. With a sigh, Dani placed her fingers in her mouth and let out a sharp whistle. Still, no response.
"Um," Jade hesitated.
"We're still training," Dani explained, her face flushed almost as dark as her mahogany-coloured hair. She waved a hand desperately at Jade and ran away from her, hunting under the tables and sofas until she found what looked like the smallest Growlithe Jade had ever seen. He barked, with a cheerful look on his face, oblivious to Dani whispering desperately in his ear. Almost as soon as she'd taken a seat again, he ran under the table and began sniffing Jade's legs.
"He's friendly," she laughed, as he licked her fingers.
"He's impossible," Dani moaned. "He can't track scents, he never follows orders, and he's always moving!"
"He's just keen," Jade responded, comfortingly. "He'll come around, don't give up. Hey," she suddenly noticed a poster on the wall, and pointed it out to Dani. "Why don't you check out the Pokémon Academy and see if they can help? They might do courses, or something."
"That might be a good idea," Dani cried, grabbing Rowdy from the floor. "Thanks! and good luck with your friends."
Jade waved as Dani ran from the Pokémon Center, and wondered if she'd ever notice that she's just as exuberant as her tearaway Growlithe.
Bree hadn't said a word since leaving the Pokémon Center. She continued walking at a fairly brisk pace and, though her Bulbasaur had no trouble keeping up, it was unclear if she even knew he was there. Had she known the way to the Gym it wouldn't have taken very long but, mind racing and eyes unseeing, she walked in circles several time before finding it.
The ornate columns didn't dissuade her as she walked up the steps and approached the doors. Arriving at them, she tugged on the handles, then tried pushing, but it was no use. The entrance was locked fast, and the lights inside were all out.
Bree thumped her fist against the door, letting her forehead rest on it as the tears flowed once again. "All I want," she sobbed, miserably. "Is for him to notice me."
"Bulbaaa," Bree's Bulbasaur replied, watching with a pained expression as his trainer sunk to the ground and sat, with her back against the locked doors.
"He doesn't love me, Bulby," she sniffed. "I'm a girl, and he only likes the boys."
"Baaa?" Bulbasaur replied.
Bree folded her arms miserably on her knees. A part of her almost hated her father sometimes for never supporting her or her two older sisters in their dreams. Yet the eldest, her brother Rowan, need only snap his fingers and her parents would move mountains. She knew her mother did her best for all of them, but to her father she barely seemed to exist.
She could almost hear her mother's voice in her head, defending him. Telling her he does his best with all of them. He's not very good with girly things, even though Bree had done everything she could as a child to be a boy. She kept her hair shorter than Shannon and Courtney, wore Rowan's hand-me-downs instead of theirs, tried to play sports and climb trees. Yet he never taught her how to catch Pokémon the way he had done with Rowan. He didn't talk to any of the girls on the phone as they traveled, but he always made time for his eldest son. It just didn't seem fair.
"And yet she always defends him," Bree said, bitterly.
"Bah?" Bulbasaur wasn't following, since she wasn't saying most of her thoughts out loud.
"Mum," Bree explained, her voice strained. "Dad ignores me and Shannon and Courtney. He only takes Damian when he goes out. And when I say to Mum it's not fair she defends him."
After a long period of silence, Bree's Bulbasaur walked up to her and nuzzled at her arms until she allowed him inside. He sat himself against her, leaning his head in until she accepted his awkward embrace as the first real sign of a truce between them.
"I'll never ignore you, Bulby," Bree whispered through her tears.
"Bulbaaaa," replied Bulby, accepting that the name had now stuck.
It was beginning to grow dark when Sophie, sick of the stares from shop assistants, began to head home. Being on a journey like this one meant nobody took her seriously, and it was beyond frustrating.
"They look at me like I'm some scruffy kid," Sophie spat, as Bubbles trundled along behind her. She was sporting a cap with a teardrop motif and a pair of his very own sunglasses, since he kept stealing Sophie's.
"Squirt," he replied, after learning long before that this response was all that was needed to continue getting presents and not be the focus of his trainer's anger.
"If they knew..." she started, before hesitating and letting out a big sigh. "But then, what good would that do?"
"Squirt," replied Bubbles.
"I didn't leave home to be that person," Sophie added, a little more firmly. "I'm much more than that!"
"Squirt," Bubbles nodded, though without any added enthusiasm.
Sophie glared at him. "Don't for a second think I don't know you're not listening," she said, grumpily.
Bubbles grinned sheepishly, his glasses falling lopsided. Without ears it was really hard for him to balance them.
"Whatever," she said, turning again and walking back towards the Pokémon Center. When she walked through the doors she expected to see at least one of the other two, but neither of them were there. She went to the reception to book in a room, and was told Jade had already reserved one for the three of them.
"I guess that's something," she said, as Bubbles followed her down the corridor to the booked room. Inside, she found Pell sitting on the bed next to her computer.
"Where's Jade?" she asked.
"Pijooo," Pell replied, shaking her head towards the door with a gesture Sophie didn't understand.
"And... Bree?" she added, an uncomfortable feeling forming in her chest.
Pell shook her head, as Sophie dropped her bag in the room and ran back to the reception. She was trying to decide whether to call someone or go out looking when she spotted Bree walking in through the doors.
"Bree," she cried, all thoughts of their fight forgotten for a moment as she ran over. She could tell Bree had been crying.
"I don't think your story doesn't matter," Bree said quietly, through her sniffles.
"Idiot," Sophie laughed, throwing her arms around her friend. Bree took a deep breath and told Sophie a little bit about her dad, and how he never showed he was proud of her.
"Well, your Dad might suck," Sophie said, her voice twinged with irony. "But at least you have one."
"What do you mean?" Jade interrupted. Her hair was damp, and Sophie suddenly realised she must have been in the shower.
"Well," Sophie said, taking a deep breath. "I don't want you to be sorry and stuff, but my Dad's been missing for a long time. Since I was little."
"Oh..." Jade sat down heavily, too shocked to know what to say. Her parents were so important to her that the mere thought of life without one of them floored her.
"That's why it made you mad when I talked about my Dad so much?" Bree asked, carefully.
"It wasn't that," Sophie said, thinking about her words carefully. "My family just isn't like yours. Your life is so loud and busy, mine is just kinda dull really. My Mum and my sister, Lucy, just don't talk. At all. About anything."
"You have a sister?" Jade asked, a little wistfully.
"Like I said, she might as well not be there for all the times we speak to each other," Sophie frowned. "She never traveled like this. I think my Mum's mad that I left, but I won't just waste my life doing nothing. It's like my Dad's dead, even though we don't know that he is, and the whole house just sinks all the time. Does that make sense?"
"Um..." Bree hesitates.
"It's always there," Sophie tried to explain. "The fact that he isn't there is always such a big invisible thing, that nobody talks about."
"The Donphan in the room," Jade said.
"Yeah," Sophie nodded, though Bree still looked blank. "It's a saying," she continued. "Like, imagine there's a Donphan, right there," she pointed to the middle of the floor. "I can see it, you can see it. But I don't know that you can see it. So I don't mention it, in case only I can see it, and it makes me look crazy."
"Right..." Bree hesitated.
"But if I can see it, you can see it, Jade can see it... and none of us tel the others we can see it, then it's just this giant thing in a room that nobody talks about."
"So..." Bree said, thoughtfully. "Your Dad's like a giant Donphan in the room?"
"Oh, Bree," Sophie laughed. "In a way, he is. We never talk about if he's alive, or where he might be, or what happened to him. We never talk about missing him, or anything like that. But you know he's there, we're thinking it. The whole house seems to be thinking it! I just needed to get away for a while."
"Sounds really hard," Jade said, biting her lip.
"It's easier out here," Sophie smiled. "And I'm proud of him. I've seen photos of my Dad, he was an adventurer! These belonged to him." Sophie pulled the goggles from her head and placed them on the table. It was clear they were old, but they were well-made and very strong.
"Do you ever wonder where he went?" Bree asked.
"All the time!" Sophie said, tears beginning to bite at her eyes. "Oh, it's just so good to be able to talk about it, you know?"
"Yeah," Bree said, smiling as Sophie wiped her eyes. "I know it's different, of course, but all the trouble with my Dad. There's nobody to talk to, really. Mum just tries to keep the peace. Sometimes it's just nice to have someone to listen."
"That's what friends are for," Sophie said, smiling back.
Later that night, Jade wrote a letter to her parents. She was beginning to feel really homesick, especially with Bree and Sophie becoming so close over their family difficulties. She found herself sniffling as she signed her name, and was surprised when a hand landed on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" Sophie asked. Jade turned, and both of them were stood behind her.
"The paper's beautiful," Bree said, smiling gently at the page in Jade's hand. It was purple, decorated with blue and yellow shapes, and had a shadowy print of a Dratini in the corner. It reminded Jade of growing up with Princess.
"My family's not messed up," Jade began, tears in her eyes.
"But you're a long way from home," Sophie said, reassuringly. "It's okay to miss them, and we can talk about that too, you know? No matter how messed up our families are."
Jade laughed, as the tears began to flow even more furiously. She let the other two read her letter before she tied it to Pell's leg and sent her flying with it.
"Are you sure she'll find her way?" Bree asked, her eyes wide.
"She wanted to go," Jade replied. "My family never stay in one place. It's the easiest way to keep in touch, and it's a good experience for her."
"Come on," Sophie said, squeezing Jade's shoulders as she wiped her eyes again. "I bought some stickers today so we can mark our Poké balls and make it easier to tell them apart. Want to use them?"
Jade sniffed a little more, and smiled. "Sure," she replied. As she decorated her Poké balls, she told her friends about her home, how she lived in a caravan and slept with her mother's Dragonair, Princess, guarding her every night. It made her feel better to be able to tell her own story like Bree and Sophie had shared theirs, and enjoy answering all their questions about the ranch.
"I'll take you there someday," she promised.
"After Kanto?" Sophie laughed.
Jade smiled. "After Kanto," she agreed.