Chapter Nine: Feast On The Stars In The Sky
"Hey." The voice was muffled by the door. "Anyone there?"
"Yeah. Come on in."
The door opened, revealing a rumpled-looking Bruno. There was dark shadows under his eyes. He smiled awkwardly and asked: "Can I stay here for a bit? I feel a bit awkward talking to my roommate."
"That's fine." Carla was slumped on her bed, eyes glazed from watching the news. Tess and Zoe sat on the bed beside her, with Rakel hovering close above them. "Tally's giving Boing some exercise; I don't know when she'll be back."
Bruno tentatively sat down on Tally's bed. "Are we...are we gonna get in trouble?"
"For what?"
"You know. For using attacks on those Scythe goons."
"No," Carla said firmly. "We gave those orders to protect ourselves, our teams and other people. We shouldn't get in trouble for that."
Tess cheeped and nestled into Carla's side. Carla instinctively put a tender arm around the warm, fluffy little body. The Vullaby was surprisingly subdued since learning about the events of the previous night.
"Reckon he'll agree with that?" Bruno pointed at the screen, where a man in police uniform was giving a statement to the cameras.
"I'm more worried about Team Scythe."
Bruno was silent. Carla glanced towards Rakel. Bruno had recognised the Misdreavus after seeing her once; if he could, anyone could.
Team Scythe couldn't find out who they were.
Carla needed to move on as soon as possible. They'd stayed in Mauville long enough.
"Are you gonna tell your parents about this?"
"I don't know." Carla couldn't decide whether or not to tell her family. They didn't need to know - but if her father did find out she was in Mauville at the time of the blackout and she'd kept it from him, there could be problems. "Are you?"
Bruno shook his head. He took out his phone and checked it before stuffing it back into his pocket with a sigh.
Carla shifted around to look at him properly. "What is it?"
"I don't know if my dad's friend is still coming. I want to text and ask, but it doesn't feel right, not after..." He shrugged helplessly.
"Does this mean you're going to stay in Mauville?"
Bruno nodded. "Think so, yeah. Don't want to be crushed in the mass exit!"
Police were still taking witness statements, and they wanted to make sure nobody in Team Scythe was still in the city. Carla understood why. Everything had been planned to the perfect detail, including Wattson's absence.
"I'm here with Barnabas Reed, founder of the Pokémon and Trainer Protection League." Gabby Galloway was on the screen now, her short brown hair and trademark pink lipstick as immaculate as they always were. Beside her was a man wearing a black suit with a blue tie. "Mr Reed, is it your opinion that this is indeed the work of Team Scythe?"
"Oh, I have no doubt it is." With his greying hair and warm blue eyes, Barnabas Reed looked like he could be someone's kindly uncle. "Which is why both the PTPL and the Pokémon League will be treating the attack with the severity it deserves."
"Is it true that licenced bounty hunters have been given a free hand when it comes to dealing with members of Team Scythe?"
"A free hand?" Bruno said. "What does that mean?"
Carla had no idea what it meant either, but she didn't care. If that was what it took to get rid of Team Scythe, it was fine with her.
"What about the pokémon rampaging around the city?"
Both Carla and Bruno tensed, their eyes fixed on Mr Reed. Zoe edged a little closer to her trainer.
"Any damage they caused was done in defence of their trainers. They may have been intended to serve as a diversion; if that is the case, the individual who came up with the idea clearly did not think it through as well as he could have." Mr Reed's expression was one of disapproval.
Carla didn't blame him. She hadn't thought that through, but it had seemed like the best idea at the time. And she was glad nobody was hurt. She relaxed a little, soothed by the chill emanating from her Snorunt.
Then she remembered the taser. She reached past Tess and down to where her bag lay. Pulling out her hoodie, she fumbled around until she found the item in one of the pockets.
"What is that?" Bruno asked.
"It's the taser from last night." Carla studied it closely, lowering it so Tess and Zoe could have a look as well. Her fingers brushed against a symbol in the shape of a lightning bolt; she opened a small compartment to reveal what looked like a silver charging area. This meant the taser didn't use batteries; instead, it was meant to be charged by an Electric-type.
She glanced at the clock on the table beside her bed. Tally had been gone for over an hour now. Carla wanted to go and see if she was all right, but she couldn't leave Bruno by himself when he wanted company that wasn't his roommate.
Tally solved that dilemma by opening the door and stepping inside.
"Hey!" Bruno shifted along so that he was sitting on the edge of the bed. "How's Boing?"
"He's fine," Tally said flatly. She didn't come to sit next to Bruno and Carla. Instead, she stayed in front of the door, twisting her fingers together.
"Are you OK?" Bruno asked, frowning.
Tally took a deep breath and brushed her hair away from her face. "I just had a call from my parents. The nanab berries are nearly ripe and they need someone else to help because one of their volunteers isn't feeling well...so they've asked me to come back for a bit."
"But they are gonna let you leave again, right?"
"Yeah. Yeah, they are," Tally said quickly. "I asked if I could leave as soon as the harvest was done, but they're not...They know what's happened here and..." Her voice trailed off and she looked away, down at the floor.
"When are you going?" Carla tried to sound casual, but couldn't.
"Tomorrow morning. They're sending a teleporter at nine."
There was an uncomfortable silence, which was broken by Bruno's phone ringing loudly. He glanced at the screen and said: "Hold on, I gotta take this. It's him." He turned to the wall and answered the phone.
Carla got up and walked over to where Tally was standing.
"What are you going to do?" Tally asked quietly. "Are you going to stay in Mauville?"
For one moment, Carla felt the urge to ask if they needed more helpers. The harvest would be finished quicker if there were more workers. Then an image of her sister flashed into her mind, and the urge vanished. "I don't know yet."
Where was a place that lots of trainers would go?
"I might go to Lavaridge," she said. If she wandered around on the routes between Mauville and Lavaridge and battled as many trainers as she could, she would get lots of money in no time.
After she'd caught a new teammate.
"We can always exchange numbers," Tally said with forced brightness. "I'd like to keep in touch - and maybe meet up again."
She looked so hopeful, Carla couldn't find it in her to refuse. "Let's do that. I will miss you, though."
"I'll miss you, too."
"All right," Bruno said. Carla nearly jumped; she hadn't known the call was over. "If this is gonna be our last night all together in Mauville, we are not going to spend it being miserable. Let's go."
"Where are we going?" Tally asked as Bruno put his jacket on.
"We're going to eat out tonight."
"You guys having a takeaway?"
Carla glanced over her shoulder. There were two guards outside the doors now. "Yes."
"Be careful," the one who had spoken told her. "The Electrike around here are opportunists; they'll steal food from trainers if they get the chance."
Electrike. Those were the pokémon that evolved into Manectric - Wattson was famed for having a powerful one. It would be a long time before Zoe evolved, and even longer for Tess; Rakel wouldn't evolve at all unless Carla found a dusk stone. She needed something to give her team a boost.
"Could you wait for a moment?" Carla asked Bruno and Tally.
"Sure."
Carla walked up to the guards, her feet swishing in the grass. "Do you know a lot about Electrike and Manectric?"
"They're good pokémon to have on your team, and I'm not just saying that because Wattson's got one."
"Yeah, and you aren't saying that because you've got one or anything," the other guard said.
The first guard smiled slightly.
"How strong are they?" Carla pressed.
"If you raise one right, it can take on an Arcanine. Just to let you know, the Electrike on the road west of Mauville are stronger than the ones on the south route."
"Thank you." Carla turned and walked back towards the others.
"Have a good time!" the guard called after her. Carla glanced back at him with a smile.
"What were you talking about?" Bruno asked when she rejoined them.
"Electrike. I'm going to see if I can get one."
"That's the Hoenn equivalent of a Growlithe, right?"
"I thought that was Poochyena?" Tally's forehead was scrunched up in a frown.
"No," Carla told her decisively. "Electrike and Manectric are supposed to be stronger than Poochyena and Mightyena. Besides, over half the people in Teams Magma and Aqua had one of the Dark hound line. Can you imagine someone in Team Aqua having an Electric-type?"
"Over there looks good." Bruno pointed towards a patch of short grass close to a dip in the wall, which would afford them a perfect view of the water.
Sitting down to eat outside felt like a return to normality. With all their pokémon clustered around them, Carla felt as if they could come to no harm out here by the water. She made a mental note to light a candle to Latias at Mauville's chapel - if they had one.
"I'm glad we met each other," Tally said suddenly.
"So am I." Carla didn't take her eyes off the water's surface as it rippled gently under a cool breeze.
"Me too. The blackout night was..." Bruno hesitated. "Nobody wanted that."
While they were talking, the sky above them had slowly turned from deep amber to dark blue. Tiny darts of light appeared in the velvet sky.
"They look like jewels," Tally murmured.
Zoe leaned against Carla's right side. Carla smiled down at her. "My sister would love this."
"You know," Bruno remarked, "you don't really talk about your family."
Carla's shoulders stiffened.
"All you've said is your dad works in a museum."
Carla was severely tempted to brush him off, or to change the subject entirely. But this might be the last night they would all spend together. What harm would the truth do?
"Mum came from Ringtown. Dad's father moved to Hoenn from Lumiose City; my sister is called Glennis and she's three years older than me."
"Wait." Now Bruno was staring at her. "Did you say your mum's from Ringtown?"
"Yes."
"Isn't that in Fiore?"
"Yes," Carla repeated.
"Your mum's from Fiore?" Tally cried. "That's amazing! What's it like over there?"
"She never talked about it." Carla reached over to scratch the top of Tess' head. "We've never been there."
"How come? Are you saying you haven't even met your grandparents in Fiore?"
Carla took a deep breath. "You know all those rumours about Fiore and Almia hating outsiders? They're not exaggerated. Mum's parents really weren't keen on her leaving the country, but she left anyway and that was the last time she saw them."
They hadn't come to the funeral - but nobody had expected them to be there. Carla wondered if she should be upset about that.
"But that doesn't matter," she said. "We've got a family; that's all we need."
"Is your sister a trainer too?"
Carla smiled, grateful that Tally had changed the subject. "No. She wants to be a personal stylist." Since Glennis wanted a career that didn't revolve around pokémon, she could afford to start planning her future a little later than someone who wanted to be a trainer or a coordinator.
"Where are you going to go once you've had your meeting, Bruno?" Carla asked casually.
Bruno scratched Frank behind his ears; the Luxio closed his eyes and uttered a strange purring growl. "I don't know. Guess I'll just keep wandering around."
"Speaking of wandering around...Carla, I want you to have these."
Carla couldn't speak. Tally was holding out her berry knife, flask and bottle of emulsifier. "I...but..."
"I think you're going to need them more than me," Tally said firmly. She continued to hold out the items.
Judging from the way Treble was glaring, 'no' wasn't an acceptable answer.
Carla took the items from Tally, careful not to drop any of them. "Thank you."
"Remember, don't use too much emulsifier. Just two drops will do," Tally warned.
Bruno tilted his head back and looked up at the stars. "It's good to be outside like this. My parents like to eat on the beach when the sun's setting - but we have to keep away from one part of the beach. That belongs to a Kingler, and he doesn't like intruders!"
"Well, maybe you could introduce him to Frank when you get home!" Tally said with a playful smile.
Bruno shook his head. "Nah, I wouldn't do that. He's kind of Floe Island's mascot now."
"Should we exchange numbers now," Carla said suddenly, "before we forget?"
"Good idea."
Tally sighed and flopped back on the grass, nearly flattening her Spoink in the process. "Sorry, Glossie." She sighed deeply. "I don't want tonight to end."
"Then let's enjoy it while it lasts," Carla replied. "We've only got a few more hours together. Let's make the most of them."
Something light and cool nestled into her left side. She glanced down and saw Rakel's scarlet eyes looking back at her.
Once again, Carla was travelling alone. She almost expected to find herself walking between Tally and Bruno. How long would it take her to stop missing them?
No. She couldn't dwell on things like this. They'd keep in touch, and hopefully see each other again. Besides, for the first time since leaving home, Carla had a plan: capture an Electrike, then travel towards Lavaridge, train hard and battle as many trainers as possible.
Unfortunately, she forgot that plans don't always work. Sometimes, all it takes is one mistake.
She frowned in confusion at the large expanse of sand in front of her. Beyond it, a stretch of water divided the route in half. Carla groaned and closed her eyes.
The guard had told her about the west exit from Mauville. She'd used the east exit.
Luckily, she hadn't gone too far and it wouldn't take long to rectify her mistake. She had just turned around and started walking back towards the gates when something rustled in a nearby tree. Carla froze, half-expecting a Taillow to fly out of the leaves.
A blue-and-white blur darted down from the tree and right in front of Carla. She kept completely still as it stopped and looked at her.
Judging from the circles on its cheeks, it was definitely Electric. And there was something about the way it was watching her. It blinked twice, but it didn't take its eyes off her. Its ears and long tail twitched and it tilted its head to one side, just like Tess.
Carla had no idea what species it was. It didn't look like it was particularly powerful and she had been hoping for a significant power boost. And yet, the more she stared at the tiny creature, the more she liked it.
She took out Zoe's pokéball. Time to see what this pokémon was made of.
"Come out, Zoe!"
The minute the Snorunt materialised, the little pokémon flicked its ears and lowered its head, fixing its gaze on Zoe.
"Confuse it with a Double Team!"
Zoe's form blurred into eight identical copies. Immediately, the pokémon fired off a Swift attack at all the duplicates, hitting them squarely in the face. Zoe growled and staggered backwards, shaking herself. All her copies faded away.
The pokémon moved, darting forward so quickly Carla didn't have time to call out an attack. It slammed into Zoe, sending her tumbling to the ground. She quickly got to her feet and narrowed her eyes at the pokémon.
"Weather Ball!"
Zoe shot a fireball towards the pokémon, but it swerved quickly to one side.
"Icy Wind!" shouted Carla. This time, the pokémon wasn't so lucky. It squealed loudly as it rolled to one side, but stood up again, shaking the ice crystals from its fur.
"Use Double Team again - in a wider circle!"
As soon as the duplicates had surrounded the pokémon, Carla commanded: "Use Weather Ball again!"
This time, the fireball hit the little pokémon from behind. It squealed again, but immediately whirled around and focused its attention on Zoe. Now it knew exactly who to aim at.
Meanwhile, Carla had taken advantage of the battle to stealthily take a pokéball out of her bag. As the pokémon rushed forward, she shouted: "Headbutt, Zoe!"
They collided with each other. The strange pokémon seemed more dazed than Zoe; it staggered around, shaking its head repeatedly. Carla seized her chance. She hurled the pokéball at it; the capsule engulfed the creature and snapped shut before rocking fiercely on the ground.
Carla and Zoe watched it.
Then the pokémon sprang out of the capsule, leaving a useless metal husk behind. Carla bit back a growl. This one wasn't getting away.
The pokémon braced itself, planting its paws firmly in the dirt. Carla recognised the move as Endure. This could make things easier for her.
"Use Weather Ball again."
It didn't recover from the damage so quickly this time. The Endure had preserved some of its strength - just enough to take the Weather Ball without fainting.
Carla threw a second pokéball at it. She clenched her fists and held her breath as the pokéball rocked from side to side again...and relaxed when it went still.
"Well done, Zoe. You were brilliant." Carla caressed the top of Zoe's cone, then knelt beside the occupied pokéball. "Let's see." She took out her pokédex, picked up the capsule and scanned it.
Species: Pachirisu
Gender: Female
Moveset: Spark, Quick Attack, Endure, Swift
Carla frowned. Pachirisu. She wasn't familiar with that species. They weren't far away from Mauville; it wouldn't take long to go back, heal her team and look up Pachirisu on the database.
Two hours later, Carla flopped down on a patch of grass and leaned back against a tree. Her feet ached; had she really grown acclimatised to city life so quickly?
A quick search on the database had revealed that Pachirisu originated in Sinnoh, and that they didn't evolve. That was fine; it wouldn't do to become completely dependent on one pokémon, and Carla might well have done just that if she'd captured an Electrike.
One thing she'd noticed was that Pachirisu didn't use normal Electric attacks, like Thundershock or Thunderbolt. They would learn Thunder Wave and Nuzzle, but they would also gain the moves Electro Ball and Discharge. And anyone battling a Pachirisu had better watch out for its teeth.
Now they were back out in the wild, it was time to meet her properly. Carla got to her knees, took out the right pokéball and tossed it into the air.
The Pachirisu appeared lightly on the grass. She blinked up at Carla curiously, head cocked to one side.
"Hi. I'm Carla; I'm your new trainer. It's nice to meet you." Carla wondered if introducing herself to a new team member would ever get any easier - or less awkward. She slowly held out a hand; the Pachirisu came forward to sniff at it.
"You're going to need a name." Now she was repeating what she'd said to Rakel when they'd first met. Like Rakel, the Pachirisu needed a name that could be called out swiftly in battle. "What about...Nixie?"
All she got in response was an ear twitch.
"Does that mean you like it?"
The Pachirisu chittered loudly in reply. She didn't sound upset or indignant, so Carla decided that was a 'yes'.
"I'm going to be the best trainer I can be for you," Carla said solemnly to Nixie. "You're going to get a lot stronger - but we both need to do the work. Are you up for that?"
Nixie nodded rapidly.
"Good. Because someone needs us to be strong. And we have a lot of training to do."
I did say Carla's next pokémon might not be what you were expecting. She may have wanted a large power boost, but Nixie is exactly what her team needs.
Fun fact: the guard who tells Carla about Electrike/Manectric? I imagine him as being played by Ben McKenzie. No idea why!
Thank you for reading so far!
This chapter's title comes from 'Don't Stop' by Oasis.