Chapter 14: Snowfall
" Oh, you actually answered? Man, you wake up early!" Silver's voice sounded so careless it made Tamao flinch.
" Wh-what's that supposed to mean? Since you're calling me now, it's rather obvious which one of us wakes up earlier", she answered faintly.
Tamao heard Silver chuckle. He seemed awfully cheerful for a 'bad guy'.
" Did I wake you up?" he asked with an amused tone.
" No… You were a few minutes too late", Tamao muttered truthfully.
" So you really do wake up early!"
" Not really, no. This was really just a coincidence."
" Oh? You had a nightmare, then?" Silver sounded almost accusing.
Tamao was silent for a while. A part of her tried to think after the events that had occurred in her dreams, but she rejected the idea with her full heart. She didn't want to remember. She didn't want to think about it. She just wanted to forget it… Even though she knew she shouldn't.
But she was talking to Silver right now, she couldn't just… Just for now, it was okay.
" I guess", Tamao finally answered. Very shortly.
" Hnnn?" Silver made a questioning sound, but didn't really say anything. He too stayed quiet for a while. Was he waiting for something?
" That bad?" he finally asked. His voice didn't sound sympathetic at all, though. Tamao sighed.
" That bad."
She gave up; there was no use in trying to hide anything from this fellow. Somehow, it felt like he'd see through her anyway. Even though they had pretty much just met. What a strange person…
" Well then. Then let me cheer you up", Silver's voice now sounded excited. Tamao felt suspicion wake up in her mind.
" And how exactly are you going to do that?" she asked unsurely, but kept her distrust clear in her tone.
" You'll see. You're staying in Mahogany, right? East, west or north?"
" Huh?"
" Which part of the town are you in? East, west or north?"
" Uh… East, I think…" Tamao started, but stopped then.
" Why?" she asked, with extreme suspicion in her voice.
" Excellent… Oh, why? Because we're going east", Silver's voice said casually, as if the two were childhood friends going on a picnic.
" And what makes you think I'm actually going to come with you?" Tamao snapped, not angrily, but still.
" Because I said it'll cheer you up, and you're down. Also, you probably realize that I didn't just call you because I felt like it. This was my plan from the beginning, you know", Silver answered instantly.
" That much I could guess. But I'm still not convinced."
" Oh? Will you come if I beg and plead?" now Silver sounded just ridiculous.
" As if you'd do that. You can't want me to come with you that badly", Tamao was getting really suspicious.
" What's this? We haven't known each other even for a day, and you already think you know me? Oh well. You're right, I wouldn't. However, I do want you to come with me. So badly, that if you won't come voluntarily, I'll come and drag you by force." Now Silver sounded just plain scary. Just like a real bad guy.
" Huh? You go ahead and try!" Tamao answered plainly. She wasn't really impressed by Silver's scary voice.
" You go ahead and try to stop me. I could easily defeat your little pokemon with one attack!" Silver continued in the same scary voice.
" Two attacks, mind you. However, you do realize that Crystal and Eusine are in the same building with me?"
Silver snorted, but didn't sound annoyed. This was all a part of some lame joke of his, Tamao was sure.
" Can this be settled peacefully?" Tamao asked and sighed.
" So you're coming?" Silver sounded delighted.
" I guess. I don't really want to have Eusine go all annoying, which he would definitely do if I'd let him save me", Tamao answered, and shivered at the thought.
" That guy really is annoying. How can you even consider travelling with him?" Silver chatted casually. Though he seemed to be expressing his true opinion regarding Eusine.
" I don't have a choice. That aside, what do you mean by that? You want me to travel with you instead, then?" Tamao asked in a piercing tone.
Silver made a surprised snort, and didn't answer for a moment.
" Oh, be quiet. That wasn't even funny." His tone was annoyed, and Tamao smiled to herself. She had now reached her goal for the day.
" So, I guess now that you're angry with me, you don't want me to come…" she hinted, and to her surprise, Silver laughed.
" Ha! Nice try! You're coming with me."
" Okay, okay. Where are we going?" Tamao asked. She surprised herself though; she was going to give up this easily?
" Consider it a surprise." Silver sounded annoyingly cheerful again.
" I really hate surprises", Tamao sighed.
" I thought you might. Meet me in the start of Route 44 as soon as possible", Silver said simply, and ended the call. Tamao listened quietly to the silent beeping in the gear she left behind.
" I've really become weak…" Tamao muttered in an amused tone, as she put the PokeGear away. She didn't understand her own behaviour at all.
How come she couldn't predict her own actions at all? After such a shocking night, she should have just left of somewhere to think. But instead, she went to who knows where with some random boy she met yesterday? What was wrong with her? It seemed like she had become someone else inside… While she was mostly the same, her actions, what she wanted, was different.
Right now, she wanted to go with Silver, even though she was certain she would have just ignored him a while ago. She didn't want to think about last night, even though she knew it was critical. It was something that really needed to be thought about, she needed to make her decision. Her own life, Umbreon's life… They were both at stake. Yet she couldn't help but to feel disgusted whenever she thought about it. She wanted to forget it… Just for now, even though it was dangerous.
Tamao took up her bag, and walked out of the room. She didn't look back. She didn't want to see the room where that terrible dream had taken place. She ignored the guilty feeling that rose inside when she thought so, and closed her eyes, until she had turned around the corner. She couldn't see the room anymore, anyway.
Tamao walked extremely silently, and held her breath, as she passed the room where Eusine was sleeping. To her surprise, he was snoring quietly. That was something Tamao would never had expected Eusine to do. Tamao got curious, and quickly peeked into the room, while still holding her breath. Since she was absolutely sure it was impossible for Eusine to snore, she suspected that he might be pretending.
However, when Tamao saw Eusine, there was no question that he was indeed asleep. He was leaning his head into his hands, on his side. His cape was gone… It would probably have been in the way when sleeping. The usual "elegant" and self-loving expression was gone from his face. Instead, his face looked peaceful, and actually rather normal.
Not even Eusine would be able to pretend to sleep so well. He looked too normal, too… Un-Eusine-like to be pretending. If he were pretending, he'd look a lot more dramatic, probably with his mouth wide open, with his limbs pointing to every direction, and a loud fake snoring. Since he snored so quietly, it had to be genuine.
Tamao started to really need to breathe, so she quietly passed the room. Tamao didn't know why she had peeked in the first place, or why she had noted all those things. However, she didn't mind. Even if she wouldn't be bale to predict her actions, as long as she didn't do anything dramatic, everything was fine.
Therefore, Tamao didn't try to stop herself when she quietly peeked into Crystal's room. She told herself she just made sure no-one noticed that she left, so that she wouldn't need to explain herself when she came back.
Crystal was curled up in a ball as she slept, kind of like a Skitty. Her expression was bothered, and it seemed she was having restless dreams, as her breathing wasn't very calm. She was shivering slightly, and Tamao realized that her room was colder than the rest. Obviously, the girl would purposely take the coldest room. Even with her sad past, and future, she would still think about others before herself. Tamao felt slightly sorry for her, but she shook off that feeling. Then, she noticed something that caught her attention completely.
There was a white cape placed on Crystal. Tamao recognized it instantly; it was Eusine's. At first Tamao thought Crystal had probably asked for it, but then she realized Crystal would most likely rather break her leg than ask something from Eusine (because he'd get all annoying about it). So, there was only way for it to end up on her; Eusine had probably taken it to her when she had already fallen asleep.
As Tamao continued to walk, she started thinking. Maybe Eusine wasn't as annoying as she gave him credit for. He seemed to be (secretly) somewhat kind by nature.
" Who would have thought…? About a legendary pokemon hunter…" Tamao thought, and smiled slightly to herself. Kindness really could be found in surprising people. Even those who were considered evil apparently couldn't help but to be kind every now and then. Eusine wasn't the only proof. Tamao had a feeling this was also the case with Silver. Why, she didn't really know how to explain. Even though he gave off the atmosphere of a "bad guy", and he had described himself to be a rival (most likely an evil one, since his rival had been Crystal), Tamao still didn't think he was cruel or evil. He had said some pretty kind things to her in Mt. Mortar.
" I need to stop thinking…" Tamao decided after a while. Thoughts like this were only a burden. She couldn't let them reach her. Not now… Maybe not ever. Who knew?
Tamao easily sneaked outside. Escaping the building wasn't that hard; obviously, it was originally built for the ninja, so it was crucial that moving around quietly would be easy. So, even though that wasn't so a young girl could sneak out unnoticed, it was maybe even a bit too easy for Tamao. For a while, she had to question her luck.
The air was rather cold outside. Piercingly cold. Maybe it was because of the gym, or the ice path near by, but Tamao realized that she had once again forgotten her jacket the moment she went out.
" No turning back now…" she thought, and decided to be cold. She had slept outside before; cold was no problem, even with an ice-type gym in the area.
Even so, as she walked down the road, Tamao couldn't help but to wonder if it'd start snowing. She wasn't sure what to think about that. When she was little, her sister had always been overjoyed to see snow. She herself had always just been positively surprised about it. However, now that she had spent so much time in the north in Sinnoh, snow was no big deal at all. Even so, Tamao knew seeing snow might make her miss the place. It was funny, but Sinnoh had already become almost like a second home to her. It was such a peaceful, comforting place.
Tamao could see the beginning of Route 44 ahead. It wasn't that hard; it was like an invincible wall would have separated the route and the town. The small houses ended on the exact same spot, and trees started growing right by them. There was some water ahead, too. Tamao couldn't see it now, but she knew. She had been there several times when young.
The wind made a harsh blow, and Tamao (surprisingly) sneezed. She shivered, and looked around. It was really cold. How could it be this cold? It was like the late fall in Sinnoh, and it wasn't even winter! Johto's winters weren't that cold; so on a time like this, it was really weird… Sure, it snowed sometimes around Route 44, but this was still rather rare.
Even though she felt slightly weird about it, Tamao just kept on walking. She decided to ignore it for now; not everything unusual was connected to her and her current situation.
Just before Tamao managed to reach the end of the town, she spotted a familiar character ahead of her. Well, actually, she noticed his hair first, and then his full figure. But it was rather hard to miss that blazing red hair in the midst of the falling, white snow.
Silver spotted her too, before she managed to consider turning around and changing her mind. It could be that he had been staring at the road all of the time, waiting for her to arrive. However, Tamao couldn't be sure. She didn't know what to think of him. However, she didn't bother finding out. He was just one weird guy; she didn't need to figure him out.
Silver waved his hand with a cheerful leer on his lips. Maybe it was his idea of a smile. Either way, he looked cheerful. That was what was important.
Tamao was about to raise her own hand, but decided not to. She had given into enough already; she didn't need to start acting too friendly with him. She'd just quietly follow along, answer to his random comments and then return before Eusine and Crystal woke up. That simple.
Tamao stopped when she reached Silver. He eyed her outfit with a thoughtful look.
" You haven't got a jacket? Aren't you cold?" he asked with a slow tone.
" Yes." Tamao just answered, and held back a shiver.
Silver nodded, and made a small laugh.
" You're going to be even more cold soon", he announced, and started walking. Tamao followed without a word.
The snow was falling peacefully, and Tamao had to look at the ground. If she would watch the falling snowflakes, their peaceful harmony would probably lull her to sleep. She was already tired, so she couldn't take a chance.
Silver made a glance at her every now and then. Tamao couldn't make out of his expression, but then again, she doubted anyone would. His way of thinking was almost as peculiar as his way of expressing his thoughts.
" Don't you like snow?" he asked after a while.
" There's nothing to dislike in it."
" Then why are you looking down? One would think a kimono girl could appreciate the beauty of rare natural events such as this!"
" Ex-kimono girl. Also, it snows in Sinnoh a lot more often than it does here, so snow isn't anything new to me."
" You've been in Sinnoh? When?"
" I'm thinking of buying a house from there."
" Whoa, you're going to live there, huh? The only place outside of Sinnoh I've been in is Kanto. That too just because it was so close. Pretty pathetic, huh?"
" Depends on how you define pathetic."
Silver was quiet after that, for a while. The fall of the snowflakes increased, and their harmony turned into a happy falling. Tamao could lift her eyes. They were still in the same route, mainly because silver clearly wasn't hurrying his steps. He walked really peacefully, taking time on his steps.
" Did you know that the chance of snowfall during this season is just 5,004 ? Silver suddenly asked.
Tamao blinked.
" I knew it was rare, but how do you expect me to have known exact details? How do you know them, anyway?" she asked carefully.
" I was interested, so I did some research", Silver answered ever so peacefully.
" And why did this interest you…?"
" You'll see soon enough."
Tamao didn't bother getting curious. She was too tired.
The Ice path was right ahead of them now. The cold radiating from inside the cave didn't feel as astonishing as it usually did, probably because the snowflakes falling were cold too. The wind was not blowing, it was almost as if there was no wind, but it was still cold. Tamao thought after Silver's words, and therefore was not surprised when they marched right inside the freezing cave.
Tamao looked up to the roof of that cave, and for a moment admired the icicles. She remembered how one had once almost fallen on Sakura's head. She had never come to the cave after that. Tamao smiled, not because the memory was particularly warm, but just because it felt good to remember without feeling hurt.
Silver had taken up a pokeball. He mumbled something to himself in an annoyed tone, and then pushed the button on the ball. His Weavile appeared from a flash of red light.
The pokemon looked at Silver, and leered. Silver nodded, and the pokemon leered again. Then, the Weavile started walking deeper into the cave. Silver followed calmly, and Tamao did too. For a moment, she wondered if she should let Glacia out and enjoy the coolness of the cave, but she decided not to. It was early in the morning, and Glacia was occasionally grumpy when woken up. Tamao would have plenty of time to bring her here later.
The Ice path was indeed cold. Tamao felt the cold piercing her skin, but she knew she couldn't do anything about it. Also, she remembered the first time she had visited Snowpoint city in Sinnoh; she had been unprepared for the freezing air there. This was not that different from that time. She could cope with it.
Silver's Weavile kept walking deeper into the frozen cave. Occasionally it would break a frozen rock with its strong claws, but other than that, nothing happened. They walked in silence. Silver would even lift his lip to his fingers every time Tamao breathed a bit more loudly than usually. It made her wonder what they were doing in the cave; was the silence because they didn't want to scare something? What?
Tamao had lost her idea of time, so when they finally stopped, she didn't know whether they had actually walked for long, or if it just felt like that. Silver gestured her to come closer, so she took quiet steps. They both crouched behind a stone. The ice was already melting under Silver's hand, which he had placed on the stone. It seemed that the ice was extremely cold; even a small bit of warmth would make it melt.
Weavile sat by them, and made a purring sound. Silver placed his hand on its head and smiled. This smile was different from any smile Tamao had seen Silver make; it was the most straightforward. There was nothing twisted in it. Tamao felt weird when watching him smile like that. She was about to get lost in her thoughts, when Silver quietly pointed forward. Tama followed his eyes, and saw a small opening ahead. Obviously, the three could not be seen from that opening, if they would not raise their heads too high. The stone was their hiding place.
Tamao was surprised to see that the opening was full of Sneasel. She had understood that Sneasels were very rare in the ice path; she herself had never seen one there. However, it seemed that there actually were quite many of them there; and they had all gathered into this one opening. Tamao was awed, but she became even more amazed when she realized what these Sneasels were doing.
They were dancing.
It was a dance that was unlike anything Tamao had seen. And she had seen several pokemon dances; as a kimono girl, she had had to learn the different ways pokemon dance and learn from that. However, she had never even heard that Sneasels could even consider dancing. Yet there, in the perfect silence occasionally rhymed by a faint gust of wind ringing the icicles, the Sneasels were dancing a peaceful dance. Somehow, this dance reminded Tamao of Rain Dance. In the instant she had thought of that, she understood.
The snowfall. Silver had mentioned how rare it was. So rare, that it would probably not even be happening naturally. It was caused by the dance of these Sneasels. It was like a rain dance, but only for snow.
" Hey…?" Tamao whispered as quietly as she could.
" Yes?" Silver whispered back.
" Why are they doing this?" Tamao asked as she kept her eyes on the peacefully dancing pokemon.
" You can't not have realized they're dancing for snow?" Silver whispered unsurely.
" I did. But why?" Tamao still couldn't move her eyes.
Silver was quiet for a while. Tamao assumed that he was thinking.
" I'm not quite sure myself. I first saw them doing this by an accident, and ever since then have come here every time it snows on Route 44. I've done some research, but it seems not many have even heard of Sneasels dancing. The only explanation I've fond doesn't make much sense either…" he finally whispered with a quiet, thoughtful voice.
" What do you mean?" Tamao was sincerely interested. She wanted to know where this beautiful dance came from.
" I once talked to the Gym Leader of Mahogany. I didn't mention what I meant with this, since I didn't want him to learn of this all. However, he said something like 'for ice pokemon, snow is a bow for someone great. For one who causes snow, snowfall from others is the greatest honouring of all'. I don't really get it, though" Silver whispered through his teeth.
Tamao looked at the dancing Sneasels in silence. A time that felt like an eternity, yet way too short elapsed while the two silently stared at the dancing Sneasels. It was a very enchanting view. After, Silver placed his hand on Tamao's shoulder.
" We should go," he whispered.
" Why?" Tamao asked. She didn't want to go.
" Sneasels have very keen senses. No matter how quiet we are, they'll notice us eventually. And then their dance will be disturbed. I know from experience."
Tamao felt slightly disappointed, but nodded. She quietly rose on her feet, still bent so that she couldn't be seen from behind the stone, and started backing with Silver. After a while, they were able to rise up and turn around to leave.
Once again, they walked in silence. Weavile was showing the way again; Tamao had a feeling this Weavile was indeed from this cave. It knew it so well, and without it, Tamao and Silver would probably be totally lost.
The opening of the cave came, and the three quietly stepped through it. The snowfall outside was still thick; Tamao could see the Sneasels dance in her mind. She looked up to the sky, and only saw a tiny piece of the grey clouds between the, small and white falling snowflakes. She heard Silver say something to Weavile, and could imagine the pokemon disappearing in a red light. When she looked back at Silver, Weavile had indeed returned to the pokeball Silver was currently putting away.
" Pretty cool, huh?" Silver said calmly, after he noticed that Tamao was looking at him.
" Yes. I'm pretty surprised that you think that's cool, though."
" Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Silver didn't seem to understand at all.
" Well…" Tamao started, and looked back at the opening of the Ice path.
" That bad guy attitude and appearance of yours… It's surprising that you openly admit that you like to see pokemon dance."
Silver stared at her for a while, but then laughed.
" You're right. Five years ago, I probably would have run up to them and waved my hands. I would have laughed at their scared faces. However, things change, and so do people. I guess one could say I've matured, or something. I've realized that just because I'm 'the bad guy' doesn't mean I can't appreciate beautiful things", he said peacefully. His eyes showed a hint of gentleness.
Tamao thought after his words, and then sighed.
" A lot seems to have happened five years ago…" she muttered to herself. Unfortunately, Silver heard her.
" What do you mean by that?" he asked with widened eyes.
Tamao couldn't help but to talk.
" You mentioned 'five years ago'. Somehow, you make it sound like something changed the course of your actions back then."
Silver thought after, but then nodded slightly.
" Well, yeah, I guess you could say so. Nothing precise really happened, but it was around five ears ago that I started becoming more conscious of my own doings, you know? Started forming opinions and all", he said and looked around, as if he wouldn't have wanted anyone to hear him.
" Right. Anyway, it seems that everything had happened five years ago. You know, the fire of the old theatre happened back then. I hear that Crystal… started behaving differently five years ago. And even you…" Tamao spoke unsurely, not even understanding what she said.
Silver listened, and made a sigh.
" I guess you're right, but you think way too highly of coincidences", he chuckled.
" Oh. I guess…" Tamao answered quietly. She knew she couldn't reveal anything more to him.
" But… I know Crystal's and my case are not a coincidence; they're greatly linked to each other. Silver is closely linked to Crystal. What if… What if this apparent change in him wasn't a coincidence either…?" Tamao thought, worried, but then shook off the feeling. She didn't want to think about it. These thoughts brought her to the verge of the thoughts that were born from the dream she had had in the night. She didn't want to. It was too complicated. She just wanted to run away from it, forget it, and have everything become good. She didn't want to think about these troubling things. She just wanted to be enchanted like when watching the Sneasels dance. She didn't want this…
" Hey… Is it just me or did it just become colder here?" Silver suddenly asked.
Tamao felt it too. The air had become piercingly cold, even colder than it had been in the ice path. The snowfall was so thick Tamao could hardly see Silver in it, even though he was standing right beside her. The snowflakes were so cold they didn't even melt when they landed in her hair; instead, they made her black hair look all white. The red of Silver's hair also only slightly shine through these white snowflakes.
Tamao tried to look up, but the falling snow covered even the sky in pure white. Tamao heard silver gasp, but when she looked at him, he looked confused. As if he would have thought he saw something, but was not quite sure. Tamao shook off that feeling, and looked back up.
That was when she saw it too. A flash of something blue, through the infinite whiteness. Tamao wasn't sure what she saw, but in the instant she saw it, a silent voice entered her mind.
" Don't do it." The words echoed in her mind, even though no-one seemed to have said them.
Tamao made a gasping sigh, not knowing what to think. She looked for the blue in the sky again, but it was once again covered in the falling snowflakes. However, the snowfall was slowly starting to clear up.
Tamao and Silver stared into the sky for a time that once again seemed like a small eternity. The snowfall was slowly coming to an end, and soon the two found themselves staring into a clear blue sky, with the sun already starting to melt the snow on the ground.
Silver was the first one to look away from the sky. He turned his eyes to Tamao.
" Gosh, I'm really stupid. I thought I saw some blue pokemon in the sky or something, but it turns out it was just the sky clearing out. How paranoid can one be?" he laughed mockingly at himself.
" I saw it too", Tamao mumbled, slowly lowering her gaze from the sky.
Silver laughed louder.
" Seems like we're both stupid. The only flying, sky-blue pokemon I can think of are Swablu, Altaria and Articuno. And obviously, there are no Swablu or Altaria in Johto, and I doubt we'd be so lucky we'd see Articuno", he chuckled.
Tamao smiled, and nodded. She pretended to agree. However, from the voice she had just heard in her mind, she was pretty sure the two had indeed just seen Articuno. This caused her a slight state of shock, so she was unable to even consider her reaction to this. She had seen so many legendary pokemon already, something she never thought would happen. Now Articuno?
Silver chuckled for a while, but then looked at his Poketch. It was coloured black, obviously. Silver's smile disappeared, and he looked slightly disappointed.
" Oh, you should head back. Those idiots will probably wake up soon", he said with a grumpy voice.
Tamao nodded. She was tired, and hoped she could sleep some more. Maybe she'd even make it back so that she's have time to fall asleep before Eusine and Crystal would come and wake her up?
" Where are you going, then?" she asked.
" I'm going through the path, to Blackthorn. I have to meet someone there. Actually, I'm already late."
" Oh…" Tamao muttered. She was amazed at how fast time could fly.
" By then", she said.
" Bye. But don't worry; I'll call you whenever I have something cool you need to see", Silver answered her. The turned around, and disappeared into the icy cave. Tamao stared after him for a while.
After that, all the troubling thoughts she had suppressed until now started to surface. She shook herself, and turned around. She started walking, and made her pace fats. She suppressed, or at least tried to suppress, all those thoughts again. She was alone now, but she still didn't want to think about them.
What had Articuno meant by 'Don't do it'? Don't do what? Don't do what Lugia and Celebi had told her to? Don't do what Ho-oh had told her to? Don't do anything to Umbreon? What wasn't she supposed to do? And more importantly, what was she supposed to do? How could she make this right? How could she stop the pain Umbreon was feeling? How, and why? What was really going on? Had Ho-oh really lied to her? What… Could someone please tell her what she was to do?
All these thoughts made Tamao feel desperate. She fell on her knees, and felt the cold snow melting under her knees, making them wet. However, she didn't care. She was so confused; all she cared about were her own thoughts, her wish to forget.
" Please… Please stop… Stop flowing like this!" she muttered though her teeth. Yet her thoughts kept on flowing endlessly. Her anxiety grew, and she became afraid. Everything was just so wrong.
She was supposed to be a happy kimono girl living a happy life with her pokemon. She wasn't supposed to be some girl with a hair way too short for a kimono girl trying to save her thought-to-be dead pokemon from a horrible faith. Why? Why did this happen? Why? And why, now that it did happen, did it have to be this complicated? Why did one legendary pokemon tell her to do something, and another tell her it's a lie? What was true? What?
Tamao tried to desperately clear head, but it was no use. She couldn't force herself to stop thinking, nor could she make herself move. It was like she was paralysed, paralysed by her own confused thoughts.
It was quiet, when suddenly the sound of graceful steps in the melting snow reached Tamao's ears. She looked up, and saw a pokemon ahead, looking at her. It took her a while to recognize it.
It was an Espeon. Tamao was familiar with the features; those large ears, the double-edged tail, and the elegant, all-knowing eyes. However, it was no wonder that she had not recognized it at first. Usually Espeons were light purple, but this one wasn't. Not at all.
It was light green.
Tamao stared at the pokemon, the green Espeon staring at he too. At first she couldn't understand what was going on. Espeons just weren't green. Then, she realized that pokemon with different colourings did exist. If she remembered correctly, they were called shiny pokemon. She had heard of them several times, but she had never thought she'd see one.
An Espeon at that. Espeons didn't appear in the wild, especially not here; they were always owned by someone. Therefore, it wasn't just a coincidence that this Espeon had come to her; it probably wanted something. Its trainer probably wanted something.
Tamao tried to smile to the pokemon. She looked into its eyes, and spoke unsurely.
" Ah, hello… I'm sorry that you see me like this. I've, err… had it though. But that aside, where did you come from? Where's your trainer?" she spoke sweetly, not moving her eyes away from the eyes of the pokemon.
The green Espeon didn't respond at first. However, all of a sudden, its eyes started glowing a bright, light green light. Tamao gasped in surprise, but couldn't move her eyes away from the shining eyes of this mysterious pokemon. Then, she started feeling it.
At first, Tamao felt the uttermost pain. It was like her heart was pounding out her tears, in a speed that made her afraid. Her thoughts started flowing in her head, wildly and painfully. She felt like crying, but she couldn't. She couldn't suppress them either.
The pain ended quickly though, in a feeling of peace. The peace felt comfortable, and Tamao couldn't help but to smile in relief. She felt the power of the shining eyes of the pokemon loosening; she could now stop looking at them. Tamao closed her eyes in relief, and felt even more relaxed than before.
Then, Tamao gave into the feeling that had existed in her mind ever since she had said her goodbyes to Silver. She fell asleep. Into a deep, deep sleep.