Eugene sat on a large rock, digging through his bag, while Cúchulainn and Irusan played tag in the thick grass below. He had checked his email this morning as usual, but he had wanted to leave town as soon as possible and did not have time to read them in the Pokémon Center, so he printed them out and found a way to get them in his meticulously arranged bag. Now that he was lost in the forest, Eugene thought it was the perfect time to take a break.
He straightened out the papers by loosely holding the sides and tapping them on his knee, and tilted them so he could read it easily. The midday light that passed through the treetops made reading pleasant. There was enough light to see clearly, but the trees shaded Eugene. He couldn't help but think that it was picturesque, and if he knew where he was he would definitely consider taking a girl there later.
The first email read:
Yo Dawg,
Where you been? Sometimes when I don't hear from you I get worried. Ever since last year, Justin drowned in that creek and we didn't figure it out for like four days. So yeah, Eugene, I hope you're not like in a creek or something haha. BTW I hear theres a party at Marcy's house on Friday. You wanna come? BYOB. There'll be some women there, if you know what I mean haha ;)
See ya!
Chet
Eugene liked to think that he and Chet were merely acquaintances, though in the past year Eugene spent enough time with Chet that they couldn't really be considered just acquaintances. But Eugene didn't really consider him a friend, either. And Marcy was Chet's not-entirely-official girlfriend, who encouraged a habit of drunken "parties" where the three of them got together and didn't do anything worth doing. And there definitely weren't going to be any women there.
He flipped to the second email, which read:
Hey Eugene!
TJ said that he saw you the other day and you were still hanging out in Jubilife with your crappy job at the TV station. What are you still doing there? I know you can do better than that.
Anyways, you obviously need a bit of motivation, so I'm coming to visit you. I'll be in Jubilife around next week, so I'll need your new address. You have at least moved out of your parents house, right? Even you aren't that lame.
Until then,
Kyle
Eugene couldn't help but be offended that his friend felt the need to come fetch him. His life in Jubilife hadn't been that bad. His life as a Pokémon Trainer certainly hadn't been any better so far. Back home he never had to fight his way through dark caves, sleep in strange places, and he'd had his meals cooked for him. Not bad at all.
Of course, Eugene wasn't faltering in his mission. He needed a girlfriend, and he'd already seen that staying at home wasn't going to get him one. So, in the sense that, as long as he was training his Pokémon he could get a girlfriend, his new life was potentially much better than his old life. He just wasn't sure if he wanted to see Kyle at this point. The email seemed a bit condescending, and he felt the need to prove Kyle wrong.
And then, he heard a rustling in the undergrowth.
Eugene peered into the impenetrable forest that lay before him, and quickly found the source. Hiding behind a tree was a large, orange St. David, trying his best to remain unseen with his hands covering his face. Hiding an enormous bright-orange Dragonite in a forest of green didn't really work.
"St. David, you made it out! Come here quick, so I don't lose you again!" He threw the emails on the ground and lurched into his bag, trying to find some food to lure him with.
St. David stayed behind the tree, silent, as if he believed he could not be seen.
"St. David, come on! You can't hide forever!"
St. David only offered his silent dissent as a response.
As Eugene stared at St. David, debating whether he should go in there and get the stupid Dragonite out himself, he fell off of the rock. Eugene almost caught himself on the ground with his forearm, and propped himself up to look at what pushed him over.
She had light, bobbed hair, and a wide nose. Her tank top, shorts, boots and sweatshirt tied around her waist made her look much more prepared for a hike than Eugene. Her backpack was much smaller than Eugene's bag, and had two Pokéballs clipped onto the straps. She was stroking the rock, her gaze fixed in its curvature.
"What's your problem?" Eugene yelled.
"I needed a closer," she said nasally, her nose was pressed flat against the rock now, "look at the rock." She paused for a few moments, rolling her head on the moss, breathing deeply. "And you were sitting on it."
"Yeah but you ask people to move, you don't just knock them off!" he said.
It seemed the girl was taking pages from St. David's book, as she had proceeded to wrap both arms around the rock, alternating between listening to the rock and sniffing it, and even licking it lightly. It was as if she was a snake, constricting around its prey, savoring the moment.
Eugene looked around for St. David, but he was nowhere to be seen now.
The girl began to make buzzing noises with her forehead pressed against the rock.
Eugene began to gather his things, slipping his emails back into his satchel and retrieving Irusan into his Pokéball. Getting out of here soon would be best.
"C'mon, Cúchulainn, we'd better get going," Eugene said. Cúchulainn sprung onto all fours, and then let his tongue fall out of his mouth as he trotted to Eugene's side.
"Oh, you're leaving already?" the girl said, her back stretched out over the rock, head upside down. "Are you sure you know the way out?"
"Not exactly sure, but-"
"I know the way out." The girl was now on her stomach on top of the rock, each limb reaching for the ground. "If you come with me, I can get you to Eterna City before nightfall."
It was tempting. To be completely honest, she wasn't unattractive, if you could get past the crazy bits. Very fit, and while hardly fashionable, her clothes were at least flattering. And she had made the offer to Eugene, meaning she wanted to spend time with him. The prospects of this encounter resulting in a relationship were very real. And once he got to know her a little better, maybe there would be a method to her madness?
But then again, she was clearly insane.
"I can do better," Eugene said to her as he continued to walk.
The forest path was surrounded by lots of green and the elevation change was minimal, so it was easy to look at and to walk along. The only real problem was the fact that everything looked exactly the same. The monotony was only broken by the weak bug Pokémon here and there, which Cúchulainn took care of easily.
About fifteen minutes later, Eugene rounded a corner and saw the girl sitting on the rock, with an Ambipom and Staravia standing in front of her. The girl smiled when she saw Eugene, and she waved to him, beckoning him forward.
"You can't do better than me!" she said, rocking back and forth on the rock. "I can navigate through this forest better than anybody!"
Eugene was dumbstruck. It looked like she had been waiting for him. But there were many paths he could have taken, she couldn't have known he would end up right back where he started from!
"So, are we," she pushed off of the rock, and then recalled her Pokémon into their Pokéballs in a swift motion, "going to get going?"
"Uh, yeah," Eugene said, walking to meet her. He couldn't help but feel that his gait was stiff and awkward.
"My name's Eugene," he said, forcing a smile and holding out his hand to shake.
"That's a pleasant name," she said. She began to walk away. "We've wasted a lot of time waiting for you to get back here," she looked over her shoulder at Cúchulainn, as if she was talking to him, "so we had better move quickly."
"So, what's your name?" Eugene asked, trailing a few feet behind her.
"My name," she skipped a step and then reverted to her normal walk, "is Joanne."
They both continued to walk in the forest. Joanne never hesitated when choosing a path, and occasionally walked off of the well worn path into a thick patch of trees, only to come back to the path a few feet ahead. Her pace was erratic, with bursts of jogging followed by slow, pensive steps.
For Eugene, the situation was painful. Walking alone in the forest with nobody to talk to was one thing, but walking in the forest with someone to talk to and having no clue how to begin a conversation was painful. She wasn't initiating any conversation, and Eugene wasn't sure if she was waiting for him to make his move, or whether she simply enjoyed silence, or that she was feeling the same way and hiding it, or that she possibly delighted in torturing him. He wouldn't put it past her. But he needed something to break the silence.
"Do you mind if I ask why you were molesting that rock?"
"The Mossy Rock," Joanne said, "Is rumored to have strange," she turned around to face Eugene, now walking backwards, with her arms stretched beside her to keep balance, "qualities, that make some Pokémon," she hopped in the air and spun back around so she was facing forwards, "evolve."
"How does a rock make a Pokémon evolve?" Eugene asked.
"A good question. That's what I was trying," she bent her head backwards, looking at Eugene while her body still faced forward, "to ascertain. It is difficult without more data, but," she stopped, held her hand out in front of Eugene, and whispered "I don't have what is necessary to get the data."
Eugene opened his mouth to ask what she meant, but she held a finger up to his lips to shush him. Then, she stared into his eyes, and pointed the finger at a particularly thick throng of trees, connected by thin silk strands that twinkled in the light.
"Be careful. It's a large group of Pokémon, and some of the chrysali have already hatched," she whispered, and then resumed walking, though now with a slow, methodical pace.
Eugene nodded. He couldn't tell from this distance whether they were Silcoon or Cascoon, but either way he didn't see why he should be afraid of them. He was sure Cúchulainn could take them down pretty easily.
He took a step closer to see if he could tell which species it was. He wasn't confident on his ability to tell the difference, since most battles they recorded at the station were between trainers with fully evolved Pokémon, and even then most trainers didn't have such weak Pokémon on their teams. Silcoon's silk was softer than Cascoon's, right?
He heard a snap. Looking down, Eugene saw that he had stepped on a stray twig. He looked up, and saw that the trees were now full of large eyes, staring at him, blinking. He was an intruder. He was a villain. He had to be stopped.
A flood of bright colors erupted from the trees. Immediately he could feel the pricking of proboscis as they prodded at his body to find something to feed upon, aiming to deter the large beast away from their nest. Eugene tried to swat them away, but their sheer numbers overwhelmed him.
"Cúchulainn, attack!" Eugene yelled.
He saw a flurry of purple limbs whirl in front of him, clearing a path. One picked him up and retrieved him from the swarm, setting him down on the ground next to Joanne with only a few Beautifly still attached, which Eugene tried to bat away.
"Hold still," Joanne said.
Eugene suddenly felt a slow, smooth pulling sensation in his back, as if something inside of him was being eased out from behind, like a snake bursting through his skin and leaving. He gasped for breath and lurched forward onto the ground, which pulled at his insides. He craned his neck back, looking for the cause.
Joanne was holding a struggling Beautifly in her bloody hands, and said, "I told you to hold still."
Eugene reached to feel his back. His hand flinched as it met a bloody patch and tender, exposed flesh.
"I'm not a doctor," Joanne reached into her bag, "but, I can patch," and pulled out a bundle of fabric, "you up for now." She walked over to him, and began to lift his shirt up.
Eugene resisted her effort, tugging his shirt down, "What do you think you're doing?"
Her eyebrows scrunched together. "Let me take care of you."
Eugene took off his shirt, and sat with his back straight and arms extended so that Joanne could reach all the way around as she knelt beside him, wrapping the fabric around his chest.
Separated from the action, Eugene could take in everything that was going on. Cúchulainn was wrapped in flames as he fended off a few Beautifly, but he wasn't nearly taking down as many as Joanne's Ambipom. Between its six limbs, it was less of a Pokémon and more of a whirlwind of destruction, a true marvel.
"Joanne, your Ambipom is amazing!" Eugene said.
"Sarah is," Joanne said, clearly not focusing on the battle, "an experienced fighter."
Eugene watched 'Sarah' the Ambipom smash two Beautifly together while chattering maniacally. Cúchulainn was putting up a decent fight of his own. And between the two of them, the swarm was thinning quickly.
But Eugene couldn't keep his eyes on the battlefield for long. He and Joanne were very close. She sPoké strangely and acted bizarre, but her hands were graceful. They wound the cloth around him, gentle to the touch but firm enough to be effective, occasionally brushing against his body. As they reached around it was as if Joanne was embracing him, pulling him closer to her.
Was that look in her eyes concern? Were they filled with the sorrow inspired by Eugene's terrible fate, which she could do nothing to prevent? The agony and torment of souls, knowing that, having just met, they would be torn from one another forever by none other than cruel death? Or was this pulling her way of showing her undying passion for him, her personal expression of love. It made sense, her bizarre behavior was actually her way of hiding her complete and utter devotion to Eugene.
It was all so clear. But the question was, what should Eugene do about it? Should he reciprocate? Should he fully embrace her? Run his fingers through her hair and hold her close? Perhaps a kiss? Was that what she wanted? Would she be angry if he didn't do anything? Would she be angry if he did do something? Even though she had the hots for him, she might appreciate if he waited more than a few hours after meeting her to kiss her. There was something to be said for taking your time in a relationship, right? But at the same time, he needed to be assertive. If he waited for too long, surely someone else would snatch her up! The hearts of women are fickle, and he had no doubt that her affections could wander. He had to get what he could while he could. So he'd have to kiss her, and make his intentions known.
Before Eugene could make his move, Joanne to ran out of cloth and tied the end up tightly, then handed Eugene back his shirt. She stood up and brushed her knees off, turning her head towards the battlefield, and was greeted with a large Ambipom thrusting itself upon her, wrapping its many limbs around her chest, rubbing its face against hers.
Cúchulainn ran up to Eugene and stood up, resting his paws on Eugene's shoulders. He then began to lick Eugene's face with his enormous tongue. It was not quite the oral assault that Eugene had been preparing for.
"You did a good job, didn't you, boy?" Eugene said, trying to regain composure while reaching both hands behind Cúchulainn's neck to scratch his mane.
Joanne returned Sarah the Ambipom into it's Pokéball, and then looked at Eugene. "Now that we got that out of the way, shall we continue?"
Eugene gently pushed Cúchulainn off of himself, and stood up to look Joanne in the eyes. "Yeah, that sounds good." He rearranged his shirt, which didn't fit very comfortably over his bandages, tried his best to ignore the pain of his wound, and set off to follow Joanne, who was already several steps ahead.
Eugene wasn't sure if he had missed his opportunity. Since they had began walking again, Joanne had remained several steps in front of him, and she didn't say anything. He couldn't blame her, he couldn't think of anything to say either. There was just too much sexual tension! It was impossible to think with all of these rampaging hormones! Eugene knew it was up to him to make the move, but he wasn't sure what to do. These things required finesse, not just any line would do.
By finesse, he meant that he couldn't just outright say that he wanted to get with her. That was stupid. He'd have to suggest, imply, use vivid hand gestures even, as long as he didn't directly say it. Even knowing this, thinking of exactly how to do it was stressful. It was so easy to screw things up. He had to be flawless.
"So," Eugene began, "Joanne."
"Yes," Her body curved backwards, her expression was blank. "Eugene?"
"Do you," Eugene continued, "Enjoy the company of," he was doing great, "boys?"
"Yes?" Joanne answered.
"That is," Eugene retreated, "good."
"Yes," she said, turning back around, facing the path once again. "It is."
Eugene wasn't sure how that went. On one hand, it felt incredibly strange. Like it had been driven below the barriers of normal human interaction into some strange environment, where words had far too many meanings and grammar was an accursed foe. The speaker was locked in combat against these troubling concepts in his efforts to communicate an idea clearly. And his body seemed to ache. But on the other hand, every conversation with Joanne was a strange one, and he was wounded, and she did say she liked boys, which was essentially not rejecting him, right?
Eugene looked down to Cúchulainn for help. He was a few steps behind Eugene, with a dangling tongue that was dripping with slobber, like some twisted Growlithe-inspired version of Hansel and Gretel. Cúchulainn noticed he was being looked at, barked, and sped up. Eugene took it as a good sign, and decided that this interaction with Joanne had been a pleasant one. He would need to have a few more conversations to lock himself in, of course, but as far as starts went, this was hardly the worst.
Joanne's head turned around. Was she looking at Eugene? Her face made her seem intent on doing something. She shook her head, and then faced forward again.
"Are you aware," she said, "that a large orange Pokémon is following you around?"
Eugene spun around, hoping to see St. David, but there was just empty, boring forest. Eugene said, "Is it a Dragonite?"
"I' have never seen one before," Joanne said, "I don't know what species it is."
"St. David is my dad's Dragonite. He has been following me around all morning," Eugene explained.
Joanne said, "Oh."
"He's friendly," Eugene said.
"He didn't look," Joanne said, "threatening."
"He isn't." Eugene said.
And Eugene had successfully completed another conversation. At this rate, he could hook up with Joanne in no time. Honestly, this whole ordeal was much easier than he had been led to believe by his encounters yesterday. Everybody has a few false starts before they get their rhythm, right? He had just gone too quickly, brought up the point a little too soon. But with Joanne he'd take his time, and probably be making out with her later tonight.
But for the time being, they returned to their walk. The steady sound of their feet and the occasional call of a wild Pokémon seemed to fade into silence once they became custom. The forest became no more than an unending trail, a wandering, twisting pathway with no discernible origin or terminus, just long rows of nearly identical trees and wicked grasses.
"We are getting," Joanne began before trailing off, staring at the sun in the sky. The sky was a vivid array of purple and orange, but the sun itself could not be seen in the gap between the trees, "close to Eterna City."
"Looks like you kept your promise, then." Eugene said, smiling, trying to walk closer to her.
"I don't make," Joanne said, "promises I can't keep."
But then, Joanne stopped walking, and she held out her hand. She looked at her Pokétch, and turned her head to Eugene. "Wait a second."
"What's going on?" Eugene asked.
Joanne took a few steps in one direction, turned around and took a few steps in another, turned around and took a few steps in another, turned around and took a few steps in another, and then turned to face Eugene.
"According to my Dowsing Machine," Her hand gestured towards a flimsy, withering tree, "There is something here."
"Joanne, that is a tree." Eugene said.
"You have to look past the tree, Eugene," Joanne said.
Eugene looked past the small tree. He just saw even more trees. "I just see even more trees."
"Well, I'm going to," Joanne bent the tree in half, walked past it, and let it spring back into place, "check it out. Sorry."
"Sorry for what?" Eugene asked.
"I won't be getting you out," Joanne's head peeked out from behind the tree, "of the forest by sundown. The city is not far from," her fingers raced along the edges of the thin branch, her focus drifting skyward once again, making it seem as if she wasn't actually speaking to Eugene, "here, if you don't want to come with me."
Eugene wasn't stupid. This was a challenge. No wonder Joanne had been so distant earlier! She had proven that she could take care of him, now he had to prove that he could take care of her. After all, relationships were not one-sided affairs. So Eugene had to prove that he could be a masculine presence in her life, just as she had shown him that she could be a tender caregiver.
He bent back the branch and followed Joanne into the odd corridor. His shoulders brushed against the branches of the trees on either side, and Cúchulainn couldn't walk alongside Eugene anymore because of the lack of room. Cúchulainn did not mind, because he solved the issue by bounding between Eugene's legs at any chance, which became something of a game to him. But the path was shorter than it had seemed, and before Eugene knew it, they were all standing in a clearing in front of an old, large mansion.
Joanne's watch was beeping like crazy, but she just stood, staring at the house.
"Joanne, are you going to turn your watch off?" Eugene asked.
"This house," Joanne began to speak, "Has a strange aura."
"Is that what is setting off your watch?" Eugene asked.
Joanne did not reply.
Eugene looked at her. Her eyes were hungry. She just stared at the house, as if it were a puzzle, intent on dissecting it and learning from it. And then she approached it. At first hesitantly, but then more firmly, until her hand was on the handle, turning and tugging at the old door. But it would not move. She ceased struggling almost immediately, and stared at the handle.
Eugene walked up to her once again, a bit wary.
Her head turned to Eugene, in a moment of cognizance. "There is a key we need to find."
"What?"
"There is a key," she said, "that will open the door."
Eugene couldn't help but feel that this was obvious.
"Find the key, Eugene," Joanne said. She turned him around, and pushed him away. "You search the Eastern half of the yard, I'll take the Western half."
"What, am I just supposed to look in the grass?" Eugene asked.
"No. Look in hiding places, look where someone," she said, "might have kept a spare key."
Eugene didn't find this very helpful. He had never had a spare key to his parent's apartment hidden anywhere before, and wasn't entirely certain where to begin. But he figured he had better look, if he was going to prove himself as worthy to Joanne. Though, to be honest, part of him just wanted to lay down and rest. His back was aching and he was feeling a bit light-headed, and suspected that he had lost a bit more blood than he had thought. But then again, this was all part of the challenge, right? The ability to withstand the physical torment, surpass the body's weakness for the sake of love!
He walked to the furthest point of the house, where it bent round in a corner. The yard itself was nothing special, just a lot of overgrown grass like everywhere else in the forest, surrounded by the same trees as earlier. The house itself was rather plain. Just old walls covered with dreary grey-green moss, topped with an old, tiled roof.. Nothing too special.
Eugene rested his back against the wall, and then slumped down, sitting lazily on the ground.
Cúchulainn barked and ran forward, pausing for a moment next to Eugene where he walked around in a circle, before running past him and sniffing along the bottom of the wall. He stopped to paw at a particular spot, whining while looking back and forth between the wall and Eugene.
Eugene rolled his head onto his shoulder to look at Cúchulainn. He knew he should probably go check it out, but once you were already on the ground it was like, who could expect you to seriously get up? It was ridiculous.
Cúchulainn, unfortunately in tune with Eugene's very thoughts, trotted over to Eugene and began tugging at his sleeve, pulling him towards the spot on the wall. Eugene let this continue for a few minutes before collapsing on top of Cúchulainn, who proceeded to lug Eugene over to the spot in question and shake him off.
Now that Eugene's face was thrust against the wall, he noticed that this particular brick was not actually a brick at all. It was a vivid green stone tablet, smooth and clean. Eugene hoisted himself up so that he was kneeling on the ground, and wriggled it out of the house's framework. Sure enough, in the gap there was a key.
Eugene grabbed it, and scooped Cúchulainn up in his other arm, and stood up, and then buckled over from the pain in his back, and then tried his best to stand up straight as he walked around to the other side of the mansion, finding Joanne hunched over, inspecting individual blades of grass.
"I found the key," Eugene said, dangling it in front of her with his free arm.
Joanne's head whipped around, eyes wide. She stood up and grabbed the key, walking over to the door just as she had before, rammed it into the handle, turned the key, and then turned the handle. The door creaked open, leading into the dark innards. Joanne led the way in, and Eugene followed, holding onto Cúchulainn.
The stale air wafted into Eugene's nostrils. In the dim light, Eugene could make out a large foyer. Two staircases led to an upper level, and in between them was a solitary door, guarded by a decrepit statue of a Rhydon. The tiled floor was cracked, and in some places entire tiles were missing. In the corners, there were dead trees standing in pots, long neglected. Eugene could tell that, at one point, this manor had been a luxurious place, but it had fallen into disrepair. The only noise was the increasingly insistent beeping from Joanne's watch, which echoed through the open space.
For a moment they both stood there, taking it all in.
"So, was this place abandoned?" Eugene asked.
"We'll have," Joanne said, "to look," her gaze fixed itself upon the door between the stairs, "around."
She began to walk forward, but Eugene set Cúchulainn down and painfully jogged in front of her. Proving himself by finding the key was only the first challenge, now he had to show that he was adventurous and unafraid to look into the unknown. And the first step was to just go through this door.
A simple twist of the handle, and a quick step into darkness was all it took.
In the dim light, Eugene could make out a large, ornate dining table, with curved legs and a large, worn tablecloth. There were several candelabras and vases sitting on the table, with half-spent candles and long-wilted flowers adorning each in a display of long-forgotten elegance. The rest of the room seemed to fade into black, and Eugene could not see how far back it stretched.
Joanne stepped in behind Eugene.
"So, there's nothing in this room, let's check out the upstairs!" Eugene said, forcing his way back towards the door.
"Well, I haven't really checked it out thoroughly," Joanne said, hesitant to leave, "but it doesn't look like anything is going on in here."
Eugene entered the foyer again, walking at a brisk pace towards the staircase, with Joanne taking her time behind him.
His first step on the East-stairs was hesitant. While the house seemed stable, he didn't want the stairs to collapse beneath him, which he thought was prone to happen. Not to mention, his entire torso ached with every step, and walking up stairs was sure to do a number on them. But, sure enough, it seemed to be steady. It could support his and Cúchulainn's weight, at least, which was really all he could ask for in this case.
He took each step slowly, methodically testing each step and placing each foot on lightly, hoping not to upset the stairs, clutching tightly on the marble handrail. It was a slow climb. Joanne walked up the opposite Western-staircase without a worry. He was being shown up by a girl! But girls liked stable, reliable guys who took their time to do a good job, right? Eugene decided he could catch up with her. He had already proven himself twice, she could assert her feminism in her own little way if that was what she wanted to do.
Once he and Cúchulainn had gotten to the top of the stairs, Eugene saw Joanne come out of a door on the West side of the building, shaking her head. Eugene noticed that there was an identical door on his side as well.
"It is just," Joanne shouted across the way, "books. I'll investigate later if I need to, but we're looking for something different." She pointed to the door opposite the one she had just exited, and said, "Double check that that one is the same. If there's something actually interesting, come get me."
Eugene gave her a thumbs up, and walked into the door Joanne had just pointed to. That room was also just full of tall bookshelves, chock-full of Pokémon books and photo collections. After a quick look, he realized that, while safe, it wasn't worth his time if he wasn't getting any man-points for looking at the books. The real adventure was elsewhere in this house.
Leaving the book room, he realized that Joanne had already continued on without him into the Northern room. He followed her presumed path, crossing a plush carpeted threshold into what was a very long, dark hallway. He could see it stretch towards both the right and left, with many doors. Joanne walked out of the door right in front of him.
"Nothing in the," Joanne asked, "book room?"
Eugene shook his head, and said, "Nothing in there?"
"Beds," Joanne said, "and not much else."
"So, go on to the next room?" Eugene asked.
Joanne nodded, and walked to the left, entering the door, leaving it open for Eugene and Cúchulainn to walk in.
The room was, like the others, decrepit, and had its own fair share of books strewn across the floor. Whoever used to live here was big on reading, it seemed. However, there was something, and Joanne smiled upon seeing it. In the middle of the room there was a old CRT television, flickering madly with a grin on the screen.
"Is this what you're looking for?" Eugene asked.
"Maybe, let's see," Joanne said, wandering around the television. "It's not plugged into anything. That's a plus."
"How is that a plus?" Eugene asked, "It doesn't make sense! The TV should not be on if it isn't plugged in."
"It's a plus because," Joanne said, resting her head on top of the television, listening to it's innards, "it makes this much more interesting."
"So what do we do with our demonic TV?" Eugene asked.
"Well, we just gotta give it a little coaxing, and it'll show us what we want to see," she said with a coy smile.
Joanne began to pet the television, murmuring softly to it. The television flickered on like always, the grin on the screen still grinning.
"That's not doing anything," Eugene said.
"You're right, we have to," Joanne said, "change our approach. Any suggestions?"
Eugene shooed her away from the television, and grasped the sides. He cleared his throat, rolled his neck, widened his stance, and violently shook the television from side to side.
The television crackled a bit, and Eugene felt a jolt run through his fingers, but otherwise the smile on the screen remained resolute in it's will to stay in the television.
"Wait, get out of the way of the screen," Joanne said, pushing Eugene away, "I have an idea."
Eugene backed off, and stood against the wall. Joanne raised her fist up and then thumped on the television, and in a burst of light something ejected from the screen.
It had a rotund orange body with a single spike on top, with big blue eyes and a blue aura around it, and lightning extending from the aura, reaching out and grasping for just about anything. It made a cackling noise, though it's gleeful little smile had not changed.
Joanne pulled a red metal device off of her belt and flipped it open, focusing it on the Pokémon. "It's a Rotom, a ghost-type Pokémon, known to inhabit appliances. Pretty rare, by the looks of it."
"A ghost?" Eugene asked. "Does that mean that this house is haunted? Is that why it was abandoned?"
"You don't need to," Joanne said, "worry. Ghost Pokémon should be treated," she said, "just like any other Pokémon."
"So, are we going to fight it?" Eugene asked.
"I'm going to catch it," Joanne said, pulling a Pokéball off of her belt, which she tossed between her and the Rotom, releasing the Ambipom once again.
"Okay, Sarah, surprise it!" Joanne said.
The Ambipom curled up in a ball and rolled over to the Rotom, and once it was close, flipped open, making a loud screech and whacking the Rotom with multiple limbs. The Rotom was certainly surprised, and it was knocked backward, stunned once again.
Joanne reached into her bag and grabbed a blue Pokéball, and tossed it at the Rotom. Eugene watched the ball roll around a bit, sparking and sputtering, until it came to a rest. Joanne went to pick it up off the floor, and grinned.
"It's name is," she said, "Max."
"Why Max?" Eugene asked.
"It seems like a Max," Joanne said, "to me." clipping it onto her belt. She turned to her Ambipom, and gave it a high five with it's tail. "Sarah, you did a fantastic job." After returning the Ambipom to it's Pokéball, she took another look at her watch, which had not stopped beeping.
"Guess what?" Joanne said, looking at Eugene, who was still pressed against the wall, trying to stay out of the action.
"Uh, we can leave now?" Eugene asked.
"Wrong, but we," Joanne said, "are close to finding it."
She readjusted her backpack on her back and started to head for the door, motioning with her head to suggest that Eugene should follow, which he did. She had definitely out-manned him in that battle, and Eugene was racking his mind to figure out how he could show her up at this point. He supposed he could find what she was looking for, but she had the watch to help her out, which meant that he probably couldn't find whatever it was.
"What is it, anyways?" Eugene asked.
Joanne turned in the hallway and walked inside the final door.
Eugene thought that it was a bit strange that they were looking for something so arbitrary. Did Joanne really work towards such ill-defined goals, at all costs? It seemed counter-intuitive. Why would you bother working towards something if you weren't even sure if you wanted it?
Now, getting a girlfriend was a respectable, easily defined goal. You either had a girlfriend or you didn't, and there was no question as to whether a girlfriend was a girlfriend or not. This was why Eugene was so smart, he knew what he wanted. Clear, definite, achievable goals were the path to success.
By the time Eugene had walked into the final, windowless room, Joanne had already began to tear it apart, tearing books out of the shelves, examining them with her flashlight.
"I thought you said we weren't going to bother with books," Eugene said.
"We'll bother with," Joanne's head erupted from a stack of books, "books when we're," and she crawled over to another stack, "this close to what we're trying to find."
"How will you know when we find what we are trying to find?" Eugene asked.
Joanne began to toss books behind her, "We'll know."
"But-" Eugene said, picking up a book.
"Eugene," Joanne took a look at him, glaring with a surprising amount of lucidity behind in her eyes, "start looking."
Once he had fished his flashlight out of his bag to see in the darkness, Eugene surveyed the room. Just shelves, and a few stools to reach the higher parts of the shelves. It was, essentially, just like the room she had told him to ignore earlier.
He walked up to the only shelf that Joanne hadn't touched yet, which was against the back wall, and began to rifle through the books. Flipping through the pages, shaking them out, endless tomes of sealed knowledge that he didn't care to retrieve.
It was clear to Eugene that whoever lived in this place really liked to read. And they were clearly rich, given the fact that the house was enormous. You don't just build a house like this without money. Which would also explain why they were able to leave in such a hurry, leaving behind so many of their things. They could always get new things. Things were replaceable. But what would drive them to replace those things if it wasn't necessary? A single Rotom? Considering how deftly Joanne and her Ambipom dealt with the Rotom, Eugene found that unlikely. Rich people could hire an exterminator. So what was it? Perhaps the owner of the estate died while away, and nobody had bothered to clean up the house afterwards. That was probably it. Or, even, it could have just been a vacation home that nobody has been to in years. Too far into disrepair to spend the money fixing it up and making it into something, so they just let it sit there. Also a logical answer. Completely logical.
Eugene felt his legs get spread apart, as Joanne wedged her way between them. He looked down to see her perusing the books on the lowest shelf.
"Any luck?" Eugene asked.
Joanne shook her head.
"Well, good luck then," he said.
Joanne nodded.
Eugene lifted his leg over Joanne and stepped to the side, so that he was not standing in such an uncomfortable position.
"Ah!" Joanne said, "The wall."
"What?" Eugene asked.
"The wall in this spot is different," she said.
Eugene knelt down beside her to see where her flashlight was pointing. Sure enough, in the bottom corner of the bookshelf, the wall bulged out at a certain portion. The raised portion was just barely visible, and normally covered up by the multitude of books, not to mention darkness.
Eugene looked at Joanne. "So, what are we going to do?"
Joanne backed away for a second, "We're going to have," reached into her bag, "to open up the wall," trying to aim her flashlight in while searching.
"Isn't that a big drastic?" Eugene said, "This isn't our house to tear apart!"
"Not really," Joanne said, pulling out a pocket knife and flipping it open, crouching down towards the strange portion of the wall. Eugene backed away immediately as she began to dig around the corners of the raised portion of the wall.
After a few moments of cutting, Joanne tore the rest of the paper from the wall, and pulled something free from the wall with a swift motion. She sat up, with her flashlight on the treasure so Eugene could see it too.
It was a deep blue stone tablet, smooth all over, aside from the clean-cut corners. It had words engraved on it, which Joanne read aloud: "The power of defeated giants infuses this Plate."
"What does that mean?" Eugene asked.
"I'm not sure." Joanne said, staring at the tablet. Her face came very close to it, not to sniff or lick, but simply to look at it, as if getting closer to the object itself would allow Joanne to see through the rocky exterior to some true meaning, held within the confines of its physical prison.
Eugene stood up, looking for Cúchulainn, who had apparently stayed at the entrance to the room due to all of the clutter. But he wasn't just sitting, lying down, or chasing his tail, like he normally would do if left alone. He was growling lowly and quietly, facing the hallway, body stiffly locked in an attacking position, as if he were ready to spring given the trigger.
Eugene walked over to check out what had gotten Cúchulainn so riled up. Several ghost-type Pokémon floated around in the hallway, clouding the air and cackling loudly, glowing eyes illuminating the otherwise dark hallway. They inched closer, a wall of personified gases, tongues hanging open, blocking any path out.
"Joanne, I think we need to go," Eugene said, turning back around to her.
"Why?" she asked.
"There are some angry Pokémon outside, and I don't think we stand a very good chance in here," Eugene said.
This piqued Joanne's interest, and she stood up, closing her knife and putting it into her pocket while still holding onto the tablet, and then walked over to Eugene and looking over his shoulder, leaning against him. Her eyes widened.
"That is a lot," she said, "of Pokémon."
"Yes, but if we run we can probably get out of the house faster than they can," Eugene said.
Joanne looked at Cúchulainn, and her eyes darted down to the corner of the room. "Do you have any other Pokémon, Eugene?"
"Um, Irusan, he's a Shinx," Eugene said, "but we don't stand a chance fighting these off."
The cloudy wall of Pokémon came even closer, narrowing the distance. The room itself began to fog up.
Joanne stamped her foot down before she sPoké. It was clear and concise, authoritative. "These Gastly are fast, and we can't outrun them. I'm going to have my Staravia blow them away, to buy us some time. We might have to fight our way through them at the bottom, but try to get as far as you can before that. You're going to grab Cúchulainn on the count of three and run, got it?"
"Yes," Eugene said, tensing up. He hated countdowns.
"Three," Joanne shoved the plate in her backpack, zipped it up and strapped it tightly to her back.
"Two," she grabbed a Pokéball off of her belt, and held it comfortably.
"One!" she shouted, throwing her Pokéball into the hallway. Eugene dashed to grab Cúchulainn while the Pokéball erupted in a burst of light, releasing a furious Staravia.
"Robert, create a whirldwind!" Joanne shouted, running out of the room after Eugene, and snatching the Staravia's Pokéball while on the ground.
Robert, the Staravia, began to flap his wings in front of him, creating a gust of wind that was nearly strong enough to blow Eugene away. The cloudy Gastly were all sent flying from their spots, through the walls themselves.
Eugene ran with Cúchulainn hoisted up by one arm, his other hand trailing the wall so that he could find the exit amidst the darkness. The air in the hallway was noxious still, and much colder than it had been earlier, but Eugene could barely register this as he darted past, turning into the foyer as soon as he felt the border of the door.
The foyer was now lit up with the eyes of many, many, many ghost-Pokémon, of various consistencies. There was a thick fog, and the air burned the nostrils and the eyes. Scratchy cackles resonated in the large room, and although Eugene tried, it was nearly impossible to go any further. Whenever he tried to take a step forward, a strange force beckoned his legs to stay locked, as if his feet were bolted to the ground.
Until Joanne wheeled around the corner, with her Staravia in tow. She pointed once again, and he created a whirlwind that swept away many of the ghosts and created a small pocket of fresh air.
"Run!" she yelled, and Eugene followed her instructions without a second thought. But it quickly became difficult to move once again. The Staravia created another pocket of fresh air for them, which gave Eugene and Joanne enough energy to stumble down the staircase.
But at the bottom of the stairs, Eugene saw in the corner of his eye a burst of energy from a short, cackling Gengar, who was gleefully twirling on the top banister. The Staravia fell over, unconscious.
Eugene froze. Having seen what Joanne's Pokémon were capable of earlier, something that could take them out so easily was terrifying. They couldn't fight that. There was no way they would survive. But Joanne didn't wait a moment. She returned Robert to his Pokéball and sent out her Ambipom, gesturing to Eugene to pitch in.
"I thought you said we should run!" Eugene yelled, letting Cúchulainn down and signalling for him to attack.
"Without Robert to clear a path, we're not going to be able to get to the exit," Joanne said, "We're going to have to fight our way through."
Cúchulainn's body sprouted flames as he ran forward. He jumped in the air, aiming to tackle the Gengar, which quickly shifted to the side. Cúchulainn tumbled on the ground, but while Gengar was busy jeering at the failed attempt, Ambipom came up from behind him and smacked him around.
The Gengar was stunned, floating through the air for a moment before collecting himself. He gathered some strange energy and fired it at Ambipom, who grabbed onto the staircase handrail with one of her tails and pushed off with her feet, swinging around the rail, landing down on the ground near Joanne and Eugene.
She grabbed onto Eugene's pant-leg and pointed towards Cúchulainn, chattering feverishly for a few moments, and then returned to fight the Gengar in a single leap. Eugene looked, and noticed that Cúchulainn had yet to get up from his tumble earlier.
"He has been fighting all day long," Joanne said, "you should probably give him a rest."
Eugene nodded and fished in his bag, taking out a few items before finding his Pokéballs. He made Cúchulainn return, and sent out Irusan.
Irusan looked up at Eugene, mewed, and then began to run up the stairs, lighting his way with the bands on his legs, to where the Gengar and Ambipom were throttling each other, tumbling around. He began to crackle with light, fur standing on end as he approached. He jumped at Gengar and passed right through him, smacking Ambipom and crashing the pair through the railing down to the first floor in front of Eugene and Joanne.
They both recalled their Pokémon, and Joanne grabbed her last Pokéball.
"Max is my last," she said, holding the Pokéball tentatively before releasing the Rotom, "He's not going to last for long."
Eugene shook his head, stuffing his Pokéballs in his bag, as he said, "My Growlithe and Shinx were all I had."
The Rotom didn't have the energy in him to fight, and the gas was quickly becoming thick around Joanne and Eugene. Eugene's eyes and nostrils burned, his heartbeat began to accelerate, his head was pounding, he wasn't sure if his vision was blurring or if the gas was just that thick, he was pretty sure Joanne had returned her Rotom, and grabbed onto Eugene, bringing him low to the ground, but maybe he was just stumbling, being brought down by his own intoxication.
And then, the ground shook violently. The statue and all of the potted plants toppled over, breaking on the ground. The large windows shattered, and the door was thrust open. A low rumbling sound came from the doorway, and Eugene tried to look. He could see brief glow fill the doorway, before it flew over Eugene and Joanne, clearing the air as it passed.
Eugene looked up in his tear-filled eyes, and saw his hero, St. David, flying around with a grace unexpected from a Pokémon of his size as he clawed his way through the crowd of Pokémon. He made no distinction between Gastly and Gengar, and cleared the room in a matter of seconds. It was effortless, clean, and strangely beautiful.
"Is that your dragon?" Joanne asked, eyes wide.
"Yeah, that's St. David!" Eugene said.
"He is very strong," she said as she stood up, brushing herself off and coughing, "he must be some sort of mythical, ancient Pokémon."
Eugene had never thought about how strong St. David was. He knew that his dad's Pokémon weren't common in Sinnoh, but he had assumed that they were at least relatively standard fare back in Kanto. And that he was strong enough for Joanne to consider him a rare specimen had never crossed his mind. It all seemed rather silly.
"My dad was the Champion of the Indigo League, he's just well-trained," said Eugene.
Joanne hummed a note of skepticism to herself while she picked Eugene up, brushing his hair off.
"I'm serious," Eugene said.
"Oh, I believe you," Joanne said.
Eugene looked back up at St. David, now that the room was clear. He was sitting where the railing around the stairs used to be, holding his Pokéball delicately in his claws, staring at Eugene.
"St. David, it's good to see you!" Eugene said, "are you going to come back?"
St. David cooed once more, gently flew down to Eugene, and held the Pokéball up high above Eugene's reach. He bellowed, continuing to stare at Eugene. Then, he walked over to Joanne, and gave her a large hug, before lifting off once again.
"Why won't he come back to me?" Eugene asked.
Joanne stared at the hole in the ceiling that St. David had just created for himself for a moment before looking at Eugene. "He will take care of you," she said, "But he does not find you worthy."
Eugene's brow furrowed before he sPoké. "He's babysitting me."
"Yes, and you," she said, walked towards the open remains-of-the-doorway, "seem to need it."
Eugene grumbled about how he could look after himself, and didn't need his dad's Pokémon stalking him to make sure that he didn't get into trouble, and began to follow Joanne as she began to walk back down the narrow tree-path.
The stars were out now, and the moon was illuminating the pathway before them. The forest had become an impenetrable wall of darkness in the shadows, but it was all somewhat peaceful.
"We are very close to the city, and I am sorry," Joanne said, "That I couldn't get you there before nightfall."
"It's okay," Eugene said, though he did resent her somewhat. He would have had a nice dinner by now. But, you couldn't be mad at someone if you were expecting them to make out with you very soon. Unless you wanted sexy angry-make-outs, but something told Eugene that Joanne wasn't the kind of girl who would be into angry-make-outs. She was more of a walk-in-on-Eugene-in-the-shower kind of girl, really. She had that spark, the fusion of the bizarre and the passionate, with the tint of the romantic, that led to the spontaneous but classic love-making scenarios.
Once back on the main-path, it did not take Eugene and Joanne long to leave the forest behind and cross over the old bridges to Eterna City.
Eugene had been hoping that it was like Jubilife, but was let down. While the buildings here were crowded together, and lights flickered all around during this evening hour, it was rather unlike Jubilife. The buildings were decidedly rustic, and rarely rose more than three stories. It was more like someone had taken several small towns like Floaroma and squeezed them together than it was like Jubilife. But the paved roads and streetlights were decent consolation, and Eugene gladly took comfort in them. It wasn't so bad.
Joanne paused at the first street corner they arrived at, and turned to Eugene. "Well, I suppose we are going to depart, now. It has been nice showing you through the forest."
"Oh," Eugene said, unsure of how to react at first. He wanted to continue spending time with her, but didn't want to come off as desperate. "Well, I don't know where I am staying tonight, what are you doing?"
"There's a hostel near here," she said, looking in what must have been vaguely the direction of the hostel.
"Can I stay there?" Eugene asked.
"If they have room," Joanne said, "and if you can pay, then they will let anyone stay."
Eugene smiled, "That sounds great!"
"First, we should," Joanne said, "heal our Pokémon."
Eugene nodded, and continued to walk behind Joanne as she turned around the corner, heading to the red roof that indicated the presence of a Pokémon Center. The familiar whoosh of the doors, the same scent of sterilization, and the mild chatter of other trainers passing through the area, providing tips to those who would listen, recounting their tales.
Nobody was in line to heal their Pokémon, so Eugene and Joanne walked right up. He let Joanne go first, since it was the gentlemanly thing to do.
"Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center. We restore your tired Pokémon to full health. Would you like to rest your Pokémon?" the Nurse asked Joanne.
"Yes, please," Joanne said.
"OK, I'll take your Pokémon for a few seconds," the nurse said as she took Joanne's Pokéballs, hooked them up to the machine and pressed a button. A few lights flashed, and she handed the Pokéballs back. "Thank you for waiting. We've restored your Pokémon to full health. We hope to see you again!"
Then Eugene walked forward, handing Cúchulainn and Irusan's Pokéballs to the Nurse.
"Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Center. We restore your tired Pokémon to full health. Would you like to rest your Pokémon?" the Nurse asked Eugene.
Eugene was officially getting a bit freaked out by this whole ordeal. "Yes."
"OK, I'll take your Pokémon for a few seconds," the nurse said as she took Eugene's Pokéballs, hooked them up to the machine and pressed a button. A few lights flashed, and she handed the Pokéballs back. "Thank you for waiting. We've restored your Pokémon to full health. We hope to see you again!"
Eugene dropped his Pokéballs in his bag, and turned around, seeing the computer in the corner of his eye.
"Are you ready to go?" Joanne asked.
"Can you wait a second, I need to do something," he said, pointing towards the computer. She nodded, and he walked over to the computer, logging onto his email account. First, he opened Chet's email to him, and wrote a quick response:
Hey Chet,
I'm not in town, can't make your party. Sorry, bro. Maybe another time?
-Eugene
He hit send and hoped there would not be another time.
He opened up Kyle's email and wrote a response as well:
Hi Kyle,
I'm not working in Jubilife. I'm in Eterna City! TJ must have lied to you because he knew I was leaving with Cúchulainn.
I've made some really good friends so far, so you don't need to worry about me! And Cúchulainn has already gotten pretty strong, it's awesome. I don't know where I'm going, exactly, but I figure I will get there eventually!
From,
Eugene
Eugene hit send, and logged out of his account. He turned around to meet up with Joanne, who was staring at her reflection in the door, and together they walked out the door, ready to call it a night at the hostel.