CHAPTER 3

Talbot's camp wasn't what Danny thought it would be. She had heard the word "camp" before on the news, but it was usually associated with Band D or E (or sometimes both depending on the situation). She had expected him to take her to a damp and dirty alleyway that was filled with other people like him all attempting to do things like keep warm or attempt to get some sleep. Instead, it was an open space walled by bushes and trees.

There was a small pile of reasonably sized twigs in the centre of the clearing, which Danny assumed to be the start of the previously mentioned campfire. 'It's not much,' Talbot said when he knelt down to continue working on keeping the three of them from freezing during the night. 'But it should give us enough heat without giving our position away too much.'

That made sense – she had often heard on the news about the sorts of things people in lower bands got up to. Stealing, attacking, threatening others, it was an on-going list of things people would never get away with doing if they lived in Band B like she did.

And speaking of which…

Danny sat down on the grass and dropped her walking stick. 'What Band is this?'

Talbot frowned as he set his backpack down. 'Band?'

'Yes,' Danny replied, nodding to emphasize her words. 'I come from Band B – where New Castelia's high street is.'

Talbot blinked and pulled away from setting his backpack down on the grass. Wigglytuff's eyes followed him, deep and dark. 'So,' Talbot said after a moment. 'You're from up there, aren't you?'

Danny's eyebrows quivered. 'Up there…?'

'The city,' Talbot continued. 'Where everyone in Unova lives.'

Danny hesitated. It sounded like New Castelia to her, and she was pretty sure there were no other places in Unova besides the capital. 'I think so.'

Talbot and Wigglytuff shared a glance before he took a deep breath. 'Listen – Danny, was it? – I don't know how to break this to you lightly but,' he bit his lip. 'You're not in New Castelia anymore.'

Danny's shoulders slackened and her mouth grew drier than it already felt. 'What do you mean?'

'I'm talking about all of this,' Talbot answered, gesturing to their surroundings. 'This isn't part of New Castelia.'

Danny placed her head in her hands and started rubbing her temples. No, that couldn't be right – there was no way that this wasn't part of New Castelia. 'Are you telling the truth?'

'Yeah.' Talbot leaned forward and tugged at the grass. 'Look,' he said. 'Just tell me how you ended up here and I won't ask you to do anything else, all right?'

And so Danny did. She told him all about her brother, the park, encountering Greg, the ill-fated trip to the junkyard in Band C and ending up in the disposal unit. Talbot nodded often and his brow was furrowed throughout the whole story, occasionally looking out of the corner of his eye to Wigglytuff. '… And then you found me,' she finished. By then the sky was turning a brilliant shade of indigo, but there was not a star to be seen.

'I see,' Talbot murmured, scratching his scruffy chin. He crossed his legs and grabbed the backpack, unzipping it and digging through it with his large hands. 'You wouldn't be the first to end up down here, you know.'

Danny froze. 'There are more people here?'

'It's never easy when someone ends up here,' he continued as he took out a rolled up blanket and unfurled it before handing it to her. It looked incredibly thin and Danny wondered if it would even be able to keep her warm. 'Listen – there's a lot to take in, and you've obviously been wandering around for a long time, so I think it would be best if you got some sleep.'

Danny yawned, she didn't think twice about agreeing with Talbot on that matter. She fell back to the grass and wrapped the blanket around herself like a fabric cocoon.

'Don't worry about me or Wigglytuff,' Talbot said, pointing a thumb to Wigglytuff. 'We'll take it in turns to keep watch, we'll wake you if there's any trouble.'

Wigglytuff bounced up and down. 'Yoom.'

What happened after that was all a hazy memory to Danny. She faintly recalled murmuring goodnight to her new companions and pressing her back against the grass, but everything beyond that was a mystery to her. Sleep took over, and she was finally pulled into a dreamless state with only her mulling thoughts to keep her company.

. . .

'Hey, kid.'

A hand, gently shaking her.

Danny stirred, mind fuzzy from drowsiness. That was odd – usually it was her mother that would wake her up. Maybe dad had been given a day off?

'Kid,' it was her dad again – though this time he sounded a little different than usual. 'It's time to get up.'

'Good morning,' Danny murmured. She rubbed her eyes and yawned, her jaw stretching as far as it could go. 'I had the weirdest dream last night.' She pushed herself up so that she was sitting upright. 'I fell down a hole and ended up in a forest filled with monsters.'

And then she opened her eyes and everything became real again.

Wigglytuff stood out the most against the green foliage – it was partway through rolling up another blanket when it noticed that she was awake. 'Yoom,' it said, smiling and offered her a wave before bouncing over. 'Yoom-tah?'

Danny's throat tightened. There was no way she was awake – she couldn't be – there was no way a monster like the one standing in front of her could be real, right? But the haziness of slumber was long gone by now and if it really was a dream, then the sight of a jumping pink blob coming towards her would've woken her up by now.

Wigglytuff's head tilted and it tugged at the blanket draped around Danny's shoulders. 'Yoom-tah?'

Danny cast her gaze down. 'I don't know what you're saying. I'm sorry.'

'Tah.' Wigglytuff tugged once more at the blanket, pointing with its other stubby hand to the partly rolled up blanket. 'Yoom-tah.'

'She wants to pack up the blanket,' the voice that had woken Danny in the first place piped up. It was coming from behind the two of them. 'It's part of our routine, you see.'

'She?' Danny whispered as she passed the blanket over. 'She's a girl?'

Wigglytuff nodded, very much so like a human would despite not having any visible neck. The blob then returned to folding up the blankets.

'Yeah,' the man – named Talbot if her memory served her right – from last night suddenly strolled into the corner of her eye. 'Most Pokemon have genders just like people do.'

Danny's eyebrows lifted. 'Pokemon?'

'It's a silly name, I know,' Talbot said as he started digging through his backpack. 'I think it's short for Pocket Monsters – and they're everywhere down here.'

Pokemon? Pocket Monsters? Danny leaned forward and rubbed her numbing forehead. 'I don't understand any of this.'

'Here,' Talbot said as he took out a red packet. He tossed it in her direction and it landed just shy of Danny's feet. 'Eat up – the more energy you have in you, the better off you'll be.'

Danny picked up the smooth bag, listening as it crinkled when her grasp around it tightened. There was a transparent area on the packet showing what looked like flat pieces of wrinkly bark inside. 'What is this stuff?'

'It's beef jerky,' Talbot replied. 'It'll keep you going until we can scavenge for more food in Accumula.'

Danny's eyes lit up as she pulled the packet open. 'There are other cities down here?'

'There used to be cities and towns,' Talbot said. Wigglytuff lifted the now completely rolled up blankets and passed them to him. He nodded in thanks to her. 'Most of them are abandoned, but that still means we have to be careful – others will be looking for stuff too.'

Danny sniffed the tough piece of jerky in her fingers and wrinkled her nose. 'This stuff smells really funny.'

'Just eat it,' Talbot said as he slung the backpack over his shoulders. 'It won't taste nice, but it'll give you something to tide you over until we set up camp somewhere else.'

He wasn't wrong. The first tough, stringy bite triggered Danny's gag reflex. She barely managed to swallow it without bringing it back up.

Talbot's eyes fell to her ankles. 'How're your blisters doing?'

Danny had completely forgotten about her feet. 'I don't know,' she answered. She got onto all fours and pressed the sole of her right foot against the grass lightly and carefully. Sore pain bubbled up from deep underneath the skin and Danny winced, suppressing a cry and grinding her teeth. 'It still hurts.'

'Right,' Talbot said, rubbing his chin with his index finger. 'We'll have to get you some proper socks to keep them protected – and possibly some new trainers as well.'

Danny frowned. 'But what about getting me back home?'

Talbot turned so that all Danny could see was his back. 'We'll talk about that later,' he said. 'But I think we need to get you some better equipment for travel first.'

That made sense. She had been stuck in the pipes of New Castelia for what felt like forever. Wandering around in the dark and getting more blisters didn't exactly appeal to her and her parents wouldn't be happy with the state of her feet. Danny's eyelids sank. 'My parents must be really worried about me…'

Talbot stroked the top of Wigglytuff's head, which caused the pink blob to start purring. 'I'm sure that they're out there looking for you up top – I'll keep you safe until then?'

Wigglytuff allowed Danny to use her body for support, and was even kind enough to grab her new walking stick for her. Her steps were shaky and stiff, but this time it was merely because of her wounds. While she didn't look it, Danny sort of felt like she had suddenly become an old lady. 'I feel really bad for old people now,' she said when she reached Talbot's side. 'Lots of people get grumpy because old people are so slow in New Castelia.'

Talbot chuckled warmly. 'Come on,' he said, beckoning to both Wigglytuff and Danny. 'Let's get moving – we're burning daylight.'

. . .

Danny didn't know what to expect from the town that Talbot had mentioned. If it was anything like New Castelia, then she thought that it would be a fairly busy place (perhaps even more so if it had Bands, too). She anticipated the chatter of city talk as the forest began to draw back, being reduced to nothing more than the odd tree peppering the sides of the dusty track.

But the air was still, and signs of human activity were non-existent until the three of them reached the end of the path.

'There it is,' Talbot said, pointing to the start of what had once been a tarmac road. Most of it had fallen into a state of disrepair, crisscrossed by grass that had wormed its way through the surface. 'We're just on the outskirts of Accumula.' He pressed a finger to his lips. 'Stay as quiet as you can and keep your eyes open for any danger, okay Danny?'

Danny nodded. 'Okay.'

The first few buildings weren't all that exciting. Forlorn and neglected, most of them were missing windows and the doors had been boarded up. They had probably been sealed a long time ago too – because some of the wood was starting to rot.

'Here we are,' Talbot said, a smile spreading across his grizzled face. 'The Pokemon Center.'

This building Danny found herself staring up at, lips parted and eyes wide, was unlike anything she had seen before down here. Completely made out of glass that looked incredibly thick, this building stood out like a sore thumb. It was the bright red roof, still blatant despite the thin layer of dirt and grime that coated it, that set it apart from all the others.

'Darn,' she heard Talbot grumble. His attention had turned to what had probably once been a pair of glass sliding doors. They had been completely shattered – the remaining sabres of glass protruding like jagged teeth. 'Looks like someone already beat us to it,' Talbot said, passing a glance to Danny. 'I guess we'll just have to make use of whatever we can get our hands on in there.'

The Pokemon Center turned out to be more than met Danny's eye. Wigglytuff ran in first with the others not too far behind. 'Wow,' Danny whispered as she tilted her head to the ceiling. 'It's so much bigger on the inside.'

'That's what everyone usually says when they see a Pokemon Center for the first time,' Talbot said as he approached a counter in the corner of the building. He dove under it and began to search – objects rattling as he pushed them aside. 'Now let's see what we've got.'

Behind this counter Danny could see several gaudy signs that boldly stated: "POTIONS NOW HALF PRICE – FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY!" in brightly coloured letters. It reminded her of the signs in the shops of the high street – if the high street signs were made of cardboard and were coated in a layer of dust, that was.

'Well,' Talbot said, poking up into sight once more. He set some spherical objects down on the table – metal ones that were red and white. 'At least they were nice enough not to take all the Pokeballs for themselves, I guess.'

Danny tilted her head, her brow furrowing. Not these weird names again. 'Poke… balls?'

'That's right.' Talbot nodded. He tossed one of the balls to Danny and pointed at it. 'They're used to capture and contain Pokemon.'

Danny looked down at the ball in her hand – still slightly cool from being exposed to the air for a very long time. There was a button on what she assumed to be the front of the sphere too. 'How do you make it work?'

Talbot dug into a pocket on his coat and pulled out another sphere, this one pink with what resembled a heart on it. 'Like this,' he said and pointed the ball at Wigglytuff. 'Wigglytuff, return.'

All of a sudden the ball began whistling and a red beam shot out from the button. It hit Wigglytuff and began to dissolve her until she was a silhouette of red light. Then the red light drew back – taking Wigglytuff with it.

Danny stepped back a bit. 'W-Where did Wigglytuff go?' she asked. 'Is she going to be okay?'

'Everything is perfectly fine,' Talbot said, fluttering his free hand in an attempt to calm her down. 'Look, I'll just bring her back out.'

He pressed the button with his thumb and the Pokeball grew in size to that of a large baseball. Then he threw it towards the ground, where it bounced and hovered in the air. Then it unhinged and a burst of white light filled the room before it took the familiar shape of Wigglytuff.

And there she was – fully formed, no injuries or signs of being terrorised by being shut in a tiny sphere in the middle of the floor, beaming happily at Danny. 'Yoom-tah!'

Danny was dumbfounded. Nobody had ever told her that stuff like this existed. Not her teachers, not the guards, not her friends and not even her parents.

'Danny?' It was Talbot again. He was frowning. 'Are you okay?'

'I'm okay,' Danny said, shuffling her feet. 'My feet still hurt a bit, that's all.'

'I'm not surprised, your feet took quite a thrashing back there,' Talbot said before diving underneath the counter again to scout for more goodies. 'You're more than welcome to sit outside for a while – Wigglytuff will keep an eye out for trouble so you'll be in good hands.'

The first thing Danny did when she got outside was sit down with her back against the glass walls, dropping the walking stick by her side. It didn't take long for Wigglytuff to join her and the two of them spend a good five minutes taking in their surroundings. But as quiet as Danny was, there was a hurricane of questions building up in her mind – and she was fairly sure that it would take forever to get them all answered. Why had she not known about any of this before? Surely if a place like this existed as part of Unova, then the adults would've known that this place was here, right?

'Mr-ow.'

There was a noise. A familiar noise to be exact. Wigglytuff jumped up immediately, whipping around frantically.

'Mr-ow.'

Danny's fist clenched as she spotted it – a flash of purple clashing with the tarmac just a few feet away from where she was sitting. The creature was sitting down, its tail waving back and forth. Danny gritted her teeth and scowled. 'You again.'

The monster licked its lips – just as it had done when it was preparing to steal Danny's remaining croissant. Its big eyes were half closed – giving it the appearance of someone who looked incredibly smug after winning an argument. 'Mr-ow,' it said, purring softy as it rose to stand on all fours. 'Meow.'

'Yoom!' Wigglytuff barked from beside Danny, now standing firmly like a soldier. 'Yoom-TAH!'

The monster rolled its eyes and tutted sharply, clearly not caring what Wigglytuff had said one bit. 'Mr-ow.'

Wigglytuff's face quickly turned to a deep shade of red, her cheeks puffing up slightly. Danny scrambled to her feet and backed off. If Wigglytuff was going to blow up, then she wanted to be as far away as possible.

The monster threw its head back and laughed as Wigglytuff grew redder and redder. It stuck out its tongue at her as it chortled, taunting her like a small child, and this was when Danny realised that the purple monster had crossed the line.

All of a sudden Talbot's pokemon became someone else – up until now she had shown nothing but friendliness and compassion – but as she roared and ploughed into the tiny purple monster Danny noticed that the look on her face had shifted into a furious glare. The monster had changed too, once wide-eyed and charming, this little creature was now a ball of hissing, spitting fury.

For a handful of seconds Danny could only watch as Wigglytuff put the monster in its place, the sheer force of her body sending the howling creature flying across the tarmac, but it wasn't enough to ward the monster off. Instead the monster raised its haunches and hissed, fur on its back brisling and gleaming claws bared, sharp and hook-like. Then it flung itself back towards Wigglytuff, more than ready to return the attack as a flying purple blur fuelled by anger.

'What's going on out there?' It was Talbot, rushing out from the Pokemon Center. He had a flat pink backpack underarm, sealed in a plastic bag. His eyes met the purple monster as it landed on Wigglytuff's face and started slashing at it. Wigglytuff yowled and began shaking her head rapidly, eventually flinging it off and flinching as she rubbed the red scratch marks on her cheeks. Talbot tensed up immediately. 'Wigglytuff, stop that Purrloin with Sing!'

Wigglytuff snapped to attention and inhaled, puffing up with air. Then she opened her mouth and a surprisingly melodic tune filled the air. It was like a lullaby, and Danny couldn't keep a yawn from escaping her throat.

'Stay awake,' Talbot urged, squeezing Danny's shoulder. 'This is important, take a look at the Purrloin.'

A Purrloin? Was that what the purple monster was known as? Danny turned to see what was happening and found that the Purrloin was no better at staying awake than she was. It yawned very much so like she had and teetered, falling to the tarmac and curling up into a ball.

'Good job, Wigglytuff,' Talbot said to Wigglytuff, smiling ever so slightly. He turned his attention back to Danny. 'See that Pokeball in your hand?'

Danny had completely forgotten that she was still holding the ball. 'Yes?'

'I want you to throw it at that Purrloin.'

Danny's grip on the ball tightened. 'Won't that hurt it?'

Talbot shook his head. 'Not at all,' he said. 'Try it.'

Danny took a deep breath then lobbed the ball towards the Purrloin. The ball spun as it flew across the air, whistling ever so slightly. It struck the sleeping creature firmly on the head and flung open, sucking the Purrloin up and turning it into red light. The ball then landed on the ground with a soft thud, shaking once, then twice and then drawing to a halt while producing a loud ping.

There was a moment of stillness that followed after this, and it was only broken when Talbot finally put a hand on his hip and said, 'That was a nice throw, kid.'

A nervous smile spread across Danny's face. 'T-Thank you.'

'Well,' Talbot continued, gesturing to the ball. 'You'd better pick it up before someone else comes along.' He chuckled gruffly. 'I'd be pretty mad if some looters got their hands on your first Pokemon before you did.'

Danny's arm was halfway reaching towards the Pokeball when Talbot's words finally sunk in. 'My first Pokemon?'

Talbot nodded. 'Yeah,' he said. 'You caught it – so that means that the Purrloin officially belongs to you now.'

'Oh,' Danny murmured, her fingers making contact with the metal surface. The ball was still slightly warm, so holding it wasn't an issue. But she kept her eyes fixated on the sphere. There was something inside it now – a living, breathing creature – and all of a sudden it felt to Danny like the Pokeball had gotten heavier – even if it was merely her mind playing tricks on her.

'We'll have to get your Purrloin healed up before we move on,' Talbot said as he tore the plastic bag apart. 'Most of the medicines in the Center will be useless – the fluids inside will've dried up years ago – but I'm sure I've got some berries that'll wake it up.' He flashed her a quick nod. 'Now, let's start getting you kitted up.'

. . .

Danny couldn't say that today hadn't been interesting. Talbot and Wigglytuff had been very kind to her so far. The backpack fit like a glove on her shoulders and upon scouring the mart a second time Talbot found a pair of socks that were not only thick enough to keep her feet protected, but also covered her lower legs quite a fair bit. Needless to say, Danny felt like she had a bit more protection from her surroundings now.

In addition to the backpack, the three of them were also able to locate a blanket that had been spared the wrath of the elements by being sealed in a plastic box under the counter ('I saw that earlier,' Talbot explained while bunching the blanket up so that he could fold it properly. 'I was just focussing on getting you a backpack first.'), as well as a torch and a few other supplies that would be handy for surviving in what Talbot called "the wilderness".

This was all fine and dandy. But Danny wasn't completely satisfied. She was going to have to ask Talbot the question sooner or later, and she got her chance when the three of them exited the Pokemon Center for the last time that day. 'We're heading north to Route 2 next,' Talbot said as he shielded his eyes, head tilted towards the sun. 'If we move now, then we'll be able to find a good place to set up camp before the sun slips below the horizon.'

Danny blinked slowly. 'Is that how we're going to get back to New Castelia?'

A thick silence fell upon Talbot while Wigglytuff's ears pricked, tense and straight. This tension was so thick that if Danny had a knife, then she was fairly certain she could slice it in half, it felt that solid. 'I'm…' Talbot cleared his throat. 'I'm not sure,' he said. 'But there should be other ways to enter the city.'

Danny reached over and tugged his hand. 'Are you scared that the Guards won't like you?'

Talbot nodded weakly. 'You could say that, yes.'

'Don't worry,' Danny said, offering him a warm smile. 'I can just say to the guards that you're helping me get back home.'

'… Yeah,' Talbot whispered. 'Yeah, sure – if you can do that, then I'll try not to feel so nervous when we meet them, all right?'

'All right,' Danny replied before turning to Wigglytuff. 'Thanks for keeping me safe back there,' she said. 'I'll try my best to make it up to you at some point – that's what my mother would want me to do.'

Wigglytuff patted her shoulder. 'Yoom-tah.'

And so the three of them started their trek – this time with more intention than before. Last night Danny had been wandering about in the unknown, but as she clutched the Pokeball containing her new Purrloin in her little fingers, she knew that she certainly didn't feel half as frightened as before. She was going to get home eventually – it would just take longer than she'd expected, but she was sure that she was in good hands with Talbot and Wigglytuff.

She offered a glance over her shoulder as they left the ruins of Accumula Town, knowing fully well that she would probably never see it again, and brought the Pokeball to her chest as if it were an important trinket that she should never let go of.

At least she didn't have to face this dilemma alone anymore.