Chapter 15: Ladder To The Stars
Carla smelled the rain before she saw it. Fighting back a groan, she pulled her already-damp hood over her and ducked under the nearest tree before the downpour could hit her.
So far, it had been a long trek to Fortree City. The only sign of civilisation on the road had been a building Carla assumed was the Weather Institute. Carla had been forced to decide several times to either brave the rain or take shelter from it; sometimes, she wasn't sure what she found most frustrating, walking in the rain, being ambushed by ninja or walking through tall grass after a downpour.
After watching several trainers cruise effortlessly from one side of the giant river to the other, her determination to get a Water-type had only increased.
A warning chitter came from above her. Nixie scampered down the tree trunk and landed on Carla's shoulder, her tail twitching.
"Another ninja?"
Nixie shook her head.
"Is something up in the tree?"
As if in answer, a thick vine suddenly dangled in front of her.
"Hey," called a voice. "Do you want to come up?"
Carla stepped out from beneath the shelter of the leaves to see a face peering down at her. "Come on!" the stranger called. "It's dry up here."
Knowing it wasn't a good idea to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth, Carla grasped the vine tightly.
"Use the leaves as footholds!"
Nixie rushed up the vine first and stood at the top, waiting for her trainer to catch up. The stranger reached out and grasped Carla's hand, pulling her onto a wooden landing.
"Welcome to my temporary abode! Name's Taylor." He grinned and nodded at her. "Cute Pachirisu you've got there."
"Thanks. And thanks for letting me up here." Carla looked around at the little wooden room. The canopy and walls of leaves sheltered it well from the elements, and it was surprisingly warm as well.
"Yeah, it beats camping any day," Taylor said just as the rain began to pelt down onto the green roof. "A bonus is that the ninja don't bother with secret bases."
Nixie scrambled back onto Carla's shoulder and looked out the 'door', as if watching for any mysterious figures.
"They don't?" Carla had been ambushed twice while camping; eventually, she got fed up and put Nixie and Layla on 'watch duty'. It was surprisingly effective: Nixie had been able to perch on tree branches and keep an eye out for would-be attackers, and Layla's brilliant hearing was able to pick up footsteps from a long way away.
"Nope! Can't tell you how happy I was to find that out."
"Do you know how far it is to Fortree City?" Carla asked, shivering slightly despite the warmth.
Taylor pointed towards a large cluster of treetops in the distance. "That's Fortree City. If you keep going in that direction, you'll get there in about half an hour."
Hopefully there were berry trees in the area; Carla needed to replenish her stock. "Are you trying to get there too?"
"Yeah; we're running low on medicine."
Carla opened her bag and brought out the last of her berry mix. "Use this; it's made from oran berries."
She didn't know how else to repay him.
After Taylor had poured the mixture down his Breloom's eager throat, he asked: "You going to challenge Winona?"
"That's the idea." Nixie and Zoe were definitely in the line-up, and Carla was torn between Layla and Rakel for the third. Tess may have been a bird, but she had a major disadvantage because she couldn't fly yet. Carla just hoped she wouldn't be too disappointed.
"Just so you know, they don't like it when trainers use Fire-types around the city."
That wouldn't be a problem.
"Hey!" Taylor looked between his Breloom and the empty bottle in amazement. "That's pretty good stuff. Where'd you get it?"
"A friend showed me how to make it. I think you can get the emulsifier at a berry farm." Carla rummaged in her bag. "Do you have an empty bottle?"
She poured a little emulsifier inside Taylor's empty water bottle, and explained how to make the berry mixture.
"This is great!" exclaimed Taylor.
"You're welcome."
Finally, the downpour stopped. Carla needed to go before it started up again. "Good luck avoiding the ninja."
"You too!"
Carla walked as quickly as she could, taking care to keep below the trees. Breathing in the clean air was refreshing, but her feet were aching by the time she reached Fortree City.
The place was constructed entirely out of wood. People walked confidently on the bridges that connected house to house, and the platforms supporting the houses were entirely secure. Carla was glad to see there were ropes to hold on to while using the bridges. There was a strong feeling of safety and community not unlike Verdanturf, and she felt peace settle over her.
Even the Centre was built out of wood with a canopy of leaves.
"Hi! Would you like your team healed?"
"Yes please." Carla pushed her capsules - except for Rakel's - across the desk. "May I have a room too?"
"Of course!" The nurse slid a key towards her; the key was made of metal and attached to a wooden keyring. "This is for one of our trainer cabins; they're a new addition, and you'll be one of the first guests. The room is for two people. Is that OK?"
"That's fine."
The nurse cleared her throat. "I think it's fair to warn you that there's an embargo on training Fire-types in Fortree. If you need to do that, go outside the city but be careful."
Carla shook her head. "I don't have any Fire-types."
She was exhausted, but still managed to climb up the ladder to get to her room. For one moment, she gazed around her at the view of the city and the treetops beyond before opening the door.
The cabin was filled with earthy, autumnal colours. A russet rug covered most of the floor, and a window allowed sunlight to stream past moss-coloured curtains.
Although she was tempted to just collapse onto one of the beds and sleep for a fortnight, Carla refrained from doing so. She took off her shoes - wincing as she did so - and then changed out of her wet clothes. The launderette needed to come first; there would be plenty of time for rest.
Carla rested her free hand on the railing and tried to contain a smile. She almost wanted to laugh. This could not be going better!
Her phone rang; thanking Latias that it hadn't gone off while she was inside the Gym, Carla took it out and answered it. "Hello?"
"Hey, Carla, it's me!"
"Hi, Tally."
"Where are you right now?"
The wind was whipping Carla's hair everywhere; she might have to get it cut again soon. "I'm in Fortree City."
Silence.
"Hello?"
"Where did you say you were?"
Carla spoke louder this time. "Fortree City, just outside the Gym."
"Wait right there. Don't go anywhere, just wait there." Click.
Carla grinned. She stuffed her phone back into her bag, tilted her head up and listened to the leaves rustling in the wind.
After a few moments, someone called: "There she is! Carla! Carla!"
Two figures stood at the bottom of the ladder, waving; one was in pink, the other in red.
Carla slung her bag onto her back and climbed down the ladder as fast as she could. As soon as her feet touched the ground, Tally threw her arms around her neck and squeezed.
"It's so good to see you!" she cried. "I've missed you!"
"Yeah, I've missed you too."
"Hey, what about me?" Bruno demanded in mock indignation, hands on his hips.
Carla raised her eyebrows as she looked at him over Tally's shoulder. "What about you?" But the moment Tally let her go, she hugged Bruno just as tightly.
"What are you guys doing here?" she asked when the hug was over.
"I met up with Tally outside Mauville and she was going to Fortree, so she asked if I wanted to come too. She said she'd call you as soon as we got here."
They must have been only a day or two behind Carla.
Bruno frowned. "Hey, what were you doing outside the Gym?"
Carla reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bright item. "Guess."
"Oh, wow! That's...what, three now?"
"Four."
Carla was only half-paying attention. Someone was standing a short way away from them, staring at the reunion. The blue jacket looked more than familiar.
"Dave?"
"Hi, Carla! How long have you been here?"
"I got here three days ago." Carla noticed Dave's eyes flickered from Tally to Bruno, then back to Carla. "Oh, sorry. Bruno, Tally, this is Dave Ronan; Dave, this is Tally McBride and Bruno Ellis."
Bruno raised a hand. "Hey, nice to meet you."
"You too. Hey, are you from the Sevii Islands?"
"Is my accent that strong?"
"Yes," Tally told Bruno flatly.
That was impressive. How had Dave identified Bruno's accent so quickly? Then again, his family was probably rich enough to have spent their holidays on the Sevii Islands several times.
"Are you going to challenge Winona too, Carla?" Dave asked.
Bruno pointed at Carla's closed fist. "She already did!"
"Really? How many badges have you got now?"
"Four," Carla answered. "You won against Norman, right?"
"Yeah." Dave ran a hand through his hair, sweeping it back from his forehead. "That advice you gave me really paid off, thanks for that. Oh, and Shiran evolved mid-battle; that was awesome. But we're gonna do a couple of days training before we take on Winona."
Bruno nudged Carla playfully. "Looks like you've got a rival, Carly!"
"No, I don't." The battle against the Gym Leader had been amazing, but the adrenaline was beginning to wear off. "I need to go to the Centre and heal my team; are you three checked in there?"
"Yeah," Dave said. "I've got one of the new trainer rooms."
"Wait, we're not checked in!" Tally cried in alarm. "What are the trainer rooms like?"
Carla put on her reassuring voice. "They're really comfortable; you'll like them. Mine's actually a room for two - do you want to share with me?"
"That'd be great. Thanks, Carly."
"Hey, if you want any battle practice, I'd be happy to take you on," Bruno told Dave. "Frank loves fighting new opponents."
"Maybe he just really enjoys battling," Tally pointed out. She turned to Carla, saying: "I can't wait to meet Nixie and Layla; they sound really cute."
Carla bit back a smile. Winona hadn't thought they were cute.
"So you want to be the Champion, huh?" remarked Bruno.
"Yeah, since I was about five. My sister says I wouldn't shut up about it!"
Shiran was fully-evolved and he was by far the largest of Dave's team; he towered over Treble, Tess, Zoe, Glossie, Layla and Nixie, who were playing a chasing game around him and the foot of a nearby tree. Rakel hovered near Carla's shoulder, watching the proceedings with bored red eyes.
Tally glanced over at the two boys. "They look like they've known each other for ages. How did you first meet Dave?"
Carla kept a close eye on the chasing game, just to make sure it wasn't getting out of hand. "He helped me out when I was lost and we stayed together for a bit. His mum taught Tess Shadow Ball - that's been very useful. Was it good to see your parents?"
Tally beamed at her. "Yeah, it was! I did like helping with the harvest, but...I like travelling, too. There's so much of Hoenn I haven't seen yet, and I'd really like to see all of it. My team missed travelling as well. If Mum and Dad don't need any help, I might go to another region; I've always wanted to see Galar and Kalos. They look so beautiful."
"Hey Dave," Bruno said suddenly, "after you beat Winona, where are you going next?"
"Mossdeep," announced Dave. "Tate and Liza are meant to be really tough, especially if they're using their advanced team."
Carla's heart sank. Mossdeep City.
Or, as she knew it, home.
"But you'll have to beat Winona first," she said. "Got a strategy for that?"
"Oh, yeah. Polly's been helping out with target practice."
"Bruno and I are going to Lilycove next; that's on the way to Mossdeep, right?" asked Tally. "Carla, where are you going next?"
"I haven't decided yet." Carla hoped this was going where she thought it was.
Sure enough, Bruno said: "Do you guys want to come with us?"
"I'd love to go."
"Sure, why not?" Dave was grinning enthusiastically. "I've been travelling on my own for ages; it'd be great to have company. And Lilycove's amazing. We can check out the Contest Hall and the Mart; Abby spends hours there every time we go."
"And there's a Safari Zone on the way!" cried Tally. "We could go there too. I want to catch at least one pokémon..."
Bruno held up his hands. "Hey. First, Dave has to win at the Gym. Badge number six isn't going to be easy!"
"Trust me, I know. And we're going to give it all we've got. Right, guys?" Dave called to his team, who cried out in response.
Dave seemed genuinely enthusiastic about his upcoming battle; Carla couldn't help but be happy for that. She sincerely hoped he had a chance of becoming the next Champion, or at least of challenging the Elite Four.
If anyone could do it, he could.
"Hey, Carla," Dave said casually, "how long have you had Zoe? She's your starter, isn't she?"
"Yeah."
How long had she been on the road? It couldn't have been more than six months - but maybe it had. The seasons bled into one another in Hoenn; it wasn't like Unova or Galar, where you could definitely tell when the seasons changed. Carla couldn't have been travelling as long as Dave.
"Look, I'm not trying to tell you what to do or anything, but if you don't want a Glalie now's a good time to start looking for a dawn stone - or at least start saving up for one."
Carla dismissed his words with a shake of her head. "Thanks, but we've got ages to go before we need to think about that."
"That's what Luka thought."
"Luka?" What did he have to do with this?
"Yeah, he was saving up for a dawn stone, but Greenlea evolved before he could buy one."
Carla barely stopped herself from laughing. "Greenlea's a male?"
Dave nodded. "Dawn stones aren't easy to find in Hoenn and they're not exactly cheap either."
"Glalie it is." Carla looked over to see if Zoe had realised they were talking about her, but the little Snorunt was still happily engrossed in the chasing game. When she did evolve, she would be a formidable force.
Just then, a cold fear settled inside Carla. She didn't know how long she'd been travelling - what if they were getting impatient? What if they visited again?
"Are you OK?"
Tally touched her on the arm; Carla nearly jumped and then pretended she hadn't. "I'm fine."
"You looked really scared for a moment."
Had she? That had been a mistake - another one she couldn't afford to make.
"I'm perfectly fine." Carla smiled as if nothing at all had happened.
"You were right about the rooms." Tally was lying back on her bed, arms at her sides as she gazed up at the ceiling. "They're gorgeous."
Rain drummed ceaselessly on the roof and slid down past the windows. The sound was strangely soothing; it made Carla want to sink into bed herself and just rest, safe and warm, while the weather raged outside.
She contented herself with leaning on the windowsill, watching the rain fall and lights turn on and off. Somehow she knew that when she looked back and remembered the best parts of her journey, this night would come to mind first. If she were to freeze her journey at one specific moment, this would be it.
Suddenly, she tensed and stared downwards. What was that?
A girl in a red coat was walking around in the mire. She stopped and looked up towards the window where Carla was watching.
For one moment, the two girls stared at each other. Then the one in red raised a hand and waved happily. Carla was about to wave back, but the girl had already disappeared into the rain.
This chapter's title comes from No Hopers, Jokers and Rogues by The Fisherman's Friends.
Hope you're enjoying the story so far! Please leave a review if you liked it.