Camphrier Town

"A town where you can taste the ages."

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It was as if she were in a small medieval kingdom. The cobblestone walkway, the rustic fountain, the quaint little cottages seemingly man-made and not by technology-and not to mention the humongous Shabboneau Castle as well-all really set the scene. It made Serena feel like a wanderer in one of the fantasy books she'd read not too long ago.

Wherever she went she saw old and new pokémon alike, either trained or wild, or friendly or hostile. The trainers she met were challenging yet satisfying, and the gym leaders weren't too shabby themselves. They put up a great fight, but no one has yet to beat her and Chespin: the almighty duo. The both of them surprisingly made a good team.

And Serena couldn't complain. They were supposed to be almighty, or else it wouldn't make any sense. Chespin was an incredibly bright pokémon. He loved to learn new moves and luckily, enjoyed copying whatever she did. That was another key to their winning streak. However, Chespin sometimes became too self-involved; especially in battles with wild pokémon. He had his moments where he would have way too much fun with the opponent for his own good. He would accidentally faint by annoying the other pokémon out of its mind, and not be aware that it was a battle, not a play-date. The only battles Serena ever lost was with wild pokémon, and it was too many battles lost to count. She bought potions, paralyze heals, antidotes, etc., but Chespin would use it all up with his carelessness.

And he was being careless right then by running straight into the castle at full-speed, leaving her stranded by the pokémon center. Most people would find this characteristic amusing in their pokémon, like 'Aww, how cute!' Or 'Ah, look at that little guy go! He'll be back soon, he'll be safe-'

Yeah, no.

Serena flew after him as fast as her legs could carry her, constantly imagining the worst and praying that he would be alright.

(***)

Calem's footsteps resonated throughout the castle walls as he walked forward towards the royal blue display case. Nothing was inside it. He read the case's label below. A poké flute was supposed be displayed there, so where was it? He needed to find the owner of this flute. That snorlax wasn't going to wake up any time soon.

He looked around some more to find the owner. The insides of the castle, to his surprise, were pretty bare except for a few desks propped up against the walls.

"Some castle," he murmured, and kept going further into the castle until he saw stairs leading upwards. He took them to the next floor, hoping to find the owner there but instead, found no one. To his left was another room and to his right was a mini library. Seeing books made his curiosity heighten, but yet getting that snorlax out of the way so he could continue his exploration interested him just as much too. What to choose, what to choose.

He chose the library. He just couldn't resist.

Smirking, he pulled a dusty volume from out of the mahogany bookcase, reading to himself the title and quickly skimming the pages for anything that could help him on his journey. Hopefully the owner of this castle didn't mind him poking around...

Then he heard faint taps coming from the stairs. Someone was coming. He smoothly slid the book back into place and stepped away, pretending to casually observe the bookcase from afar. He glanced out of the corner of his eye for the intruder.

Calem's eyes widened. It was Chespin. Serena's Chespin. And it was sniffing the air for something. Or someone.

Chespin got close to the ground, crawling and sniffing his way towards the library until he seemingly hit jack-pot, his head jerking up to lock eyes with Calem. He squealed and leaped at dark-haired teen's leg, giving it a squeeze. Apparently he was looking for him. Calem allowed himself a ghost of a smile.

"Shh, alright little guy," Calem hushed, picking the creature up and setting him on his arm like an infant. "Let's not be too loud in this castle." Calem leaned to the side, trying to somehow see the stairs. "Where's Serena?"

Chespin made a sound as if to say 'How should I know', and shrugged. But a while later, Serena came jogging up the stairs, her expression frantic and scared, most likely searching for Chespin.

Calem didn't know why, but he just froze in place as Serena spotted him holding Chespin. Her shoulders relaxed and she neared them, opening her arms wide. Was she about to give him a hug? His mind told him to turn away; don't accept the 'hug'. He needed time to get used to this.

Turn away, turn away-

Only a few more steps and she'd reach him. Why was she doing this to him? She was extremely shy at the beginning of the journey, so who was this girl in front of him? What happened? Why the sudden audacity? He wanted the shy, mute girl back. He wanted to give himself a reason to even be near this chick-

He thrust Chespin into her arms just as she got there. "Your Chespin," he said, his voice nearly cracking. Then before Serena could say anything about it, he sidestepped her and exited down the stairs as cooly as he could. Serena blinked, not even noticing a determined Chespin leaping out of her arms to trail after him.

(***)

She found Chespin near the river shortly after she left the Shabboneau Castle. She knew Chespin was looking for Calem, but the poor thing probably got distracted by the snoring snorlax sprawled across the bridge. She watched as Chespin tried to move the snorlax by pushing the enormous pokémon with his short, stubby forearms. Of course his attempts failed, so Serena returned him back to his pokéball to console his spirit. She stared at the pokéball for a few seconds before tucking it away.

The snorlax snored, blowing and popping spit-bubbles through its flapping mouth. She came up to the snorlax, wondering if perhaps, maybe, Chespin wasn't distracted. What if Calem had passed through here, and Chespin was only trying to get through? But with the snorlax in the way, how could that guy have even accomplished that?

While Serena contemplated this silently-whether or not to help Chespin find Calem-a man with a white robe and a red band tied around his head came up from behind her, asking for her help...

(***)

"Tackle!"

"Scratch!"

"Growl!"

Those were the main attacks he using against the wild pokémon behind the town's walls. He would have considered the constant battles practice for his pokémon-or even practice for him. But the battles were strange and unsettling. He wasn't using any defensive moves, just all offensive. More importantly, he didn't feel like his team was getting stronger. He didn't feel like he was getting stronger. Though they both probably were.

But he did feel satisfied.

It was like he was venting.

He continued battling despite this abnormality, his team quickly losing their health until he had to leave for the Pokémon Center, wondering if the snorlax was still blocking the next route.

(***)

She saw him enter the center with a cross face, and exit with a cross face. Now he was heading towards the castle. But wasn't he there earlier? She made sure there was at least ten feet between them before progressing, hiding every so often behind inanimate objects to ensure her secrecy. She needed to find what his problem was-why he acted so weird when he handed back Chespin. Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor have been warming up to her lately, talking to her whenever they got the chance. But Calem hasn't said a word to her since he invited her to Café Soleil.

She liked this adventure so far. She truly did. She was communicating with others finally after all those years, and her mom told her they weren't moving anymore, so she didn't want to mess things up. Not again. She hadn't done anything to upset him, right?

She hid behind the castle doors, peering inside with caution. He was examining the poké flute's display case, trying to unlock its hatch. Was he trying to steal the flute?

She resisted the urge to run forward and slap him silly. She'd gone through hell to get the flute back. Angered, she forgot about caution and a crack sounded from underneath her.

Calem sharply turned around, nearly catching her presence. She'd accidentally stepped on a branch. As he returned to lifting the top of the case, Serena snatched the branch up and threw it to side, annoyed. She thought Calem was a good guy, not some delinquent!

Then she remembered the snorlax, and thought maybe that was the reason why. But she'd just battled that snorlax, sending the lug on its way! What if that karate guy saw him in the midst of this? That poké flute belonged to the karate guy. The guy would chop his balls off.

She was about to reveal herself and take him to the bridge, but she felt an intense vibration from within her bag. Confused, she peered inside. Her pokéball was shaking in place. Like the inhabitant inside was desperately trying to break free.

Its attempts were successful and her pokéball gave in, releasing Chespin onto the ground beside her. He squealed, jumping in place.

She face-palmed.

Calem turned around, letting go of the case without the flute. Had he changed his mind? Serena sighed, and a small, relieved smile touched her lips as Chespin ran up to hug Calem's leg. Calem patted the pokémon's head absent-mindedly.

"You were watching me," he said, more like stated. And it befuddled the crap out of her. She hesitated before nodding dumbly. She noticed he couldn't look her in the eyes.

"Did you...return. This flute. Back to its case?"

She nodded, wondering why he sounded so surprised...and distant. Chespin looked up, switching his attention back and forth between the two trainers innocently. The air of tension and awkwardness was overwhelmingly thick. It was uncomfortable.

If only she could talk, she thought.

Calem picked Chespin up gently, placing the pokémon in her hands. She watched as he left without a word towards the door.

Still grasping Chespin, she ran past him to block his way. He continued to leave, unfortunately, by merely dodging her obstruction. And without a glance in her direction, not to mention.

Once more, she wished she could talk. She wished she could just blurt out, 'are you mad at me?!' without having to act it out or write it down or running to block someone. She felt helpless. At times like this, her whole life felt helpless, stupid, inferior. She didn't know how talking felt like, but she imagined you could add so much feeling into it. Enough feeling that could stop someone or something in their tracks.

Talking is power. A power she did not have, making her easy to trample over; take things from; steal things from; leave from.

Defeated, she slackened her pace, allowing him to leave without her; just as how she'd let Ampharos too, a millennium before.

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Sorry I took so long-school's officially back to eat my brain! Had to regenerate... So here's an extra long chapter. Thank you for everyone's continuing support! It is much appreciated.

Happy Roaming!