"How does Veilstone sound, Crys'?" Ray asked while holding Sinnoh's map. They were walking north through Route 210's dirt path from Solaceon under a rising sun. He often glanced at the greenery on either side of them in case someone wanted to lunge at them from a bush or behind a tree. He could never be too cautious, although being on edge at every moment was exhausting. The paranoia was necessary.
Noctowl perched on branches in high trees, concealed by thick branches and leaves from predators and awaiting nightfall.
Fresh and decaying bodies of hunted pokémon, such as pichu and buneary, lay deeper in the tall grass and bushes that had succumbed to the virus or their natural predators.
"Espi," Crystal confirmed and nodded, staying beside him. She didn't care much where they went, and she'd agree with Ray's decisions unless she felt it was a bad one.
"I just hope it's not gutted this time. We'll stop to eat once we're there. I have berries that'll rot if you don't finish them." He spoke as if she could reply, but she could understand, and that was enough. It wasn't like he had anyone to interact with, and he wouldn't trust a soul he came across since they could kill or turn on him at any moment, possibly even have the virus. No chances. He folded the map and slid it into his backpack's pocket.
As Crystal strolled, she felt her stomach rumble. Those berries sounded great right about now, but that wasn't all she felt. She stopped dead in her tracks and lifted her paw, perking her ears while peering behind her. Her tail's tips quivered while she honed in on a disturbance in the air.
"What is it?" Ray stopped and looked back as well. He was glad to have Crystal. Her ears and fur were great at picking up noises and movement he couldn't. "Is something there?" he asked again, and she hastily trotted to a line of trees and bushes on the side of the route and hid among them while staring expectantly at Ray. It would conceal them well enough.
He followed without a second thought and knelt behind one of the trunks, flinching and looking back to see the backside of an absol dart off deeper into the forest that must have been hiding here and watching. "I'll bet they followed the gunshot..." Ray set his backpack down and held his holster. He had five shots left and only had two mags in his bag, so he had to be wise about using them. He peeked from behind the tree. "Are they closer? I need nod updates."
Crystal nodded and twitched her ear. The footsteps were getting closer by the second— heavy ones, and it didn't take long until they were in such proximity that Ray could hear them, and they sounded horrifying. The noise stopped a short distance from him and Crystal on the route's main path.
"That shot was nearby, so watch our surroundings."
Was that a woman's voice? Ray hadn't heard that in too long. A part of him wanted to look again, but he didn't know her intentions, and it seemed she was talking to someone. "Crystal… stay," he whispered. He knew she wouldn't mindlessly dart out and attack but reminded her.
"They'd be in the next city for sure. We can check for supplies quickly and head back, but we can't afford a run-in with potential infected." Ray heard a deep male voice this time. She definitely wasn't alone. He heard the footsteps fade and peeked again to see who it was after ensuring they passed. It was a blastoise and two people in thick tan padded outfits, boots, and gloves.
Ray watched them soon turn a right and enter Route 215 toward Veilstone. "That could have gone bad… Thank you." He reached and patted Crystal's head, to which she nuzzled his hand. "I guess going to Veilstone isn't an option anymore. We aren't taking on a blastoise and two bodies."
Now would be a perfect time to do what he'd put off long enough, though. Ray unzipped every compartment of his bag. He wasn't looking forward to it but had to lower his backpack's weight. He didn't want to take another step with it overpacked. If Ray didn't have Crystal and that couple saw him, he would have had to leave his bag behind for a decent chance at outrunning them.
So he spent ten minutes sifting through and taking out items that weren't necessities, often showing certain foods and supplies to Crystal for her opinion. When finished, he left everything on the trail for another survivor to come across. May as well. It hurt to leave behind things like extra water and clothes, but Ray was tired of frequently stopping for breaks and walking slower than he should be.
He slung a lighter backpack over his shoulders and took out his map. "That's better... now Pastoria or Oreburgh?" he mumbled and eyed it. Ray was in deep thought, and Crystal stared curiously while he gazed over it. "Or… why don't we try Eterna? We should get there before dark." It was a major city located west of Celestic. They'd have to keep heading up through 210 and enter Celestic, maybe stop on the way to search a few buildings, but they couldn't take all day doing so.
Ray stood. A lot more walking was ahead of them. Crystal went in front of him in case those people had stopped or turned around, and he watched her trot, thinking only about getting to Eterna before sunset. "Since that threw off our day, I'll get you fed when we're farther from the route. I promise." Ray let Crystal know that he hadn't forgotten.
Today marked the first day he'd killed someone and probably came close to being killed himself. There was no way that couple and blastoise were looking for friendship.
"Tired?" Ray asked Crystal as they approached Eterna from route 211 during the afternoon.
She nodded up at him and stretched her hind legs between steps. She was beat. They'd kept to the outskirts of Celestic and had searched several buildings while walking through the city earlier.
They entered Eterna in minutes, and Ray surely couldn't clear such a massive city but would do what he could with Crystal. He was also worried people would be occupying Eterna. The remaining population had to stay somewhere after all. There had to be some people left. Where were they all at?
"We need a house. Let me know if anyone is around." Ray scanned miles of the usual dead traffic, skyscrapers, peeling and dirtied movie, show, and product advertisements on them or on billboards, and disconsolate businesses with shattered windows. Some had charred interiors, all of which he saw while strolling the central road. One even had a graffiti'd car through the entrance.
Lamp posts and newspaper boxes were broken and on the ground by more cars and trucks with dented bumpers in front of them, along with decayed bodies of people and pokémon they came across now and then, some sprawled or charred under motorcycles and other burnt or mangled vehicles.
An aipom lay lifeless with open eyes and a visible ribcage, its guts spilling onto the pavement over dried blood from what was likely a hungry pokémon, possibly a houndoom or weavile. A jolteon was on its side with gnawed hind legs and a pierced throat. Whatever took its life wasn't looking for a meal.
It all created a collectively somber environment that Ray looked away from before it made him feel any sicker.
"Cities definitely got the worst of it," he mumbled, passing a decrepit toy store with shattered windows, boxes and broken toys scattered along the ground and several duskull floating idly at the back over more corpses, some with collapsed aisles atop them that had crushed them. He heard a soft crunch while stepping on glass from the windows scattered across the pavement.
Ray hated seeing those stores the most. Too many children weren't able to get a shot at life. He was glad he wasn't in a city when things went awry, and Eterna used to be one of Sinnoh's liveliest. It was uncanny hearing nothing but soft breezes whistle past him.
They soon came upon a residential area a mile north. He stopped and looked at the rows of dreary homes. It didn't make a difference which they chose, but none of the ones burned to the ground would do. "The house on the left, I guess..." He led, approaching the white one-story and standing at the door. He looked back at Crystal, whose eyes were shut and gem aglow.
She opened her eyes. She didn't feel any presence. It seemed vacant, and Crystal let Ray know by stepping closer to the door and pawing at it.
He grabbed and twisted the knob, opening it with her confirmation. Most locks or doors were broken due to others breaking in previously. He checked every room as an additional precaution and came across the decayed remains of an adult and child in the bathtub, which looked like a suicide. A putrid stench filled his nose that made him hack and cough, so he quickly shut the door again and went to one of the bedrooms.
It seemed like a kid's one, making it hard to stay in this house after seeing what was in that haunting restroom, but what could he do? It was the region around them, and this house was safe. There was a Wii set up in front of a TV and some toys scattered along the carpet. "We've been in a lot of beds, huh? At least most of them have been made." Ray set his backpack on the floor and took off his boots before sitting on a yellow blanket. The air was stale and stuffy throughout the home. It needed fresh air, but he wasn't even comfortable opening the window.
Crystal hopped on and smoothed the blanket with her paw before sitting. She was famished but wouldn't beg for anything to eat when both of them were beat.
She'd learned to keep it to herself if she could, as Crystal didn't like Ray going out constantly just to find a bite for her. He was tired, as was she, and he deserved to rest just as much.
"Here…" He unzipped the main section of his backpack to pull out a plastic carton of berries he'd put together while traveling. He also poured some water from one of his bottles into a separate carton. "A lot of pecha and oran in here." Ray opened the lid and set it in front of her, putting a few in his mouth.
He watched Crystal lean down and take a few berries from the assortment. Tending to her needs had been the only thing making him happy during the past months. Ray reached his hand and ran it down her back while she ate and lapped at the water, wearing a grin.
Crystal chewed thoroughly and savored the bittersweet combination. After swallowing and consuming around five more, she licked her lips and exhaled while sitting back up. She was grateful and felt better already. She didn't require a lot of food to fill her, especially after adapting to their current lifestyle.
"Full?" he asked and received a nod, his grin growing. "I'll eat later. I just had to make sure I took care of you." Ray patted his lap and moved back on the bed. He didn't eat much either, but he knew he had to at least once a day to hold onto energy, or else they weren't making a lot of ground. He had to get killing that man out of his head before he could build an appetite.
Crystal stood and went to sit in Ray's lap. When comfortable, she looked up at him, which he returned while holding her cheeks in his palms. "You've got pretty eyes." He stared into them, then leaned and kissed the gem on her forehead while rubbing her cheeks with his thumbs. "But they're gonna have to close. I want you to get some sleep."
"Espi." Crystal was beyond tired and could use an uninterrupted nap, but she wanted him to sleep too. Caring went both ways. She just couldn't express it as deeply since there was a language barrier.
"Thank you. I'll sleep in a while. Just..." He set her at the top of the bed so she wouldn't have to take another step. "Sweet dreams." Ray watched her curl up and tuck her tail around her hind legs.
He took a water bottle from his bag and removed its cap, sipping it, then switched his pistol's magazine. Ray knew he would really have to eat soon. He'd lost enough weight and didn't want to end up too malnourished. He looked over at Crystal and yawned. The loneliness hit harder when he was awake by himself. Ray couldn't talk to anyone but himself. He couldn't share his emotions or feel anything. Without his espeon, he'd go insane, and that was sad.
He thought about his old friends, like Jeff, who Ray swore was a city boy at heart since he'd always wanted to run to Jubilife with and drag Ray to go to an overly classy restaurant or to see a new movie every week, and that one girl he used to like from school. Leigh was her name. She was dead now, a brunette about a year younger than him. She loved nature and didn't mind getting dirty. They used to hang around town or stroll deep into the woods often, and she was even cool with Crystal. Ray had let Leigh take Crystal into the forest to explore a couple of times, and if warmed him to see them form a bond.
That really could have turned into something great. The entire thing. Ray's mother knew her too. Leigh never ate dinner at his house or anything, but she had felt comfortable enough to go inside several times for water or a snack if she and Ray were out and about for long.
Shortly after the virus hit, she went into her house and never came back out. Ray had gone to check on her, but her parents only told him she was sick and on bedrest. After his own mother fell sick, Ray was occupied full-time with that. Leigh suffered, and so had Jeff.
He had never been so distraught following both of their deaths. His future and life itself was murdered. He would have given up then and there if Crystal hadn't been counting on him.
Ray felt he'd never get a chance to have a friend or a relationship as long as he was in Sinnoh, which further saddened him. He was too paranoid to trust, go near, or touch people, not that he came across anyone but the man he'd shot and others he hid from. It hurt too badly that he couldn't change that.
Ray set his hand on her side and sifted his fingers through Crystal's fur, running down to her hip while watching soft afternoon sunlight enter the room through the window's curtains.
He had no clue what they would do tomorrow. Search more buildings, maybe travel to the next city? They were surviving under no meaningful purpose besides that itself— unless they were to get out of Sinnoh one day, but what if the virus had somehow hit other regions? Ray lived in the dark. Television didn't work, and he had no radio. He had to believe in hope.