Jenna sat on the living room couch and held her face in her palms. Tonight wasn't successful. She was stressed for multiple reasons and had no idea what to do about any of it.
She stayed a mile east from the western wall and lived in a modest two-bedroom home a few blocks from her older brother by five years— or where he used to live. It was a simple setup. The couch was against a wall, behind it was the kitchen, and to the right down the hall were two bedrooms and the restroom.
The walls used to have paintings hanging up of the family that once lived here, along with pokémon and people with offspring from generations ago that had passed. It also had personalized pottery and dead plants around the home, all of which Jenna had removed and stored away in the room she never entered.
About her brother, he didn't live nearby because he was sick, came down with the rapids days ago, and no one knew how he caught it. He was quarantined and under care in another building and hadn't allowed Jenna to visit him recently.
She'd gone out tonight to search for painkillers and other meds since the local Pokémon Center and Mart were out and had been on her way to Oreburgh when she came across Ray and Crystal.
Jenna didn't regret bringing them here but knew her brother would disapprove. Perhaps he'd want to talk to her as a result; then, she could see his condition. A part of Jenna was afraid to, but she didn't want to live in the dark and needed to see her brother before he worsened.
She heard light steps pad against the wooden floor and lowered her hands, seeing her buizel standing ahead in the dark with his tails slightly raised. He must've heard her come through the door. "Hey, Bizzy."
"Uiz," he replied with a slight rise in pitch. Bizzy was happy to see Jenna back in one piece. He never felt at ease when she left the grounds, although she hadn't until now, and she'd refused to take him along for his safety. However, as her pokémon, the natural urge to protect her from harm was strong. He just never wanted to give her a hard time, so he let her go against what he felt.
Bizzy felt her demeanor and knew what it was from, so he went to her and set his paw on her knee, eyeing her. He was a well-fed and happy buizel. Jenna ensured so. The least he could do was be a source of comfort and company for her.
"I'm good. I just... might have done something stupid, is all. Rescued a boy and his espeon. Chris might get them kicked out." Jenna rested back against the couch with a sigh.
With no cure for the rapids, her brother was guaranteed to die, and she had no idea what the base would become without his lead. She helped build it with him, along with friends and good citizens willing to help the moment the pandemic started to spiral out of control, which was the only time she'd seen so many people come together in her life besides natural disasters and regional conflicts. This base was likely the only of its kind in Sinnoh, which is why over a hundred people resided here.
It wouldn't last forever, especially with word getting around as more desperate people showed up. Someone would eventually plot something huge to invade, if not already, but it had been standing strong for months, and there was enough weapons and ammo stockpiled to take on a small army.
Bizzy climbed onto the couch using Jenna's legs and nudged her stomach and chest while in her lap. He couldn't do a thing to help the situation, which disheartened him, but was here to show that he cared. He could only be as happy as she was.
"Ah, don't touch me, Bizzy. I shouldn't even be on the couch with this outfit." Jenna was cautious not to touch anything outside the wall and had been screened upon entering the base, but she couldn't be too safe, and the whole point of leaving Bizzy behind was to negate him catching the virus or being killed on her watch.
She nudged Bizzy beside her and patted his head. "Let me go shower. I'm all sticky and sweaty too." Jenna went to the restroom and stripped to her bra and panties, tossing everything but her utility belt and glove on the shower floor, which she hung on the shower rack. Her glove heated up via a switch connected to wiring.
She washed her hands and face, letting the dark water drain from her adventures, and went to her bedroom nearby, sifting through her dresser and grabbing a red tee and pajama shorts.
Jenna tried her hardest to keep up with her appearance throughout the times, but it was becoming increasingly difficult. She'd been showering less, had grime under her nails she hadn't bothered to clean and hadn't tended to the light tangles, loose ends, and stray strands in her hair in days, which was becoming more and more noticeable along with the dark bags under her eyes from tossing and turning during the night. She'd also been losing weight due to a general loss in appetite.
Bizzy watched her then enter the restroom and close the door. He sat on the couch for a minute but had the idea to wait for her in bed, so he hopped off the couch and padded to the bedroom, climbing onto the mattress by tugging the blanket.
Bizzy had belonged to Jenna for three years so far and was the first pokémon she captured. She'd found him wandering the route by a pond near Eterna Forest with a guy friend of hers, and Jenna was fixated on him, so her friend weakened Bizzy with his raichu, which actually wasn't hard since Bizzy had embarrassingly missed his hydro pump by a large margin. He was then hit by a super effective thunderbolt that almost knocked his lights out, and Jenna's friend handed her a spare pokéball of his.
It was a fairly common trainer story, even though Jenna wasn't a trainer. She just wanted a companion.
Before the outbreak, his owner was demure and never the type to take action in tense situations or make decisions without aid— dependent, even, and very outgoing. Jenna was always out and about, either with girls or guys and having fun, so he had always wished for her to find a good partner that could protect her in life.
Bizzy saw a slight transformation in character within weeks, and it became more pronounced after her brother fell ill recently. Concerningly pronounced. Chris was smart enough to have pulled himself and his sister out of Eterna, where they'd resided initially, to Celestic when there was a strong outbreak in Eterna. Jenna had to help build on double time, and he hated to think about it to this day, but it may have permanently broken or locked her spirit.
Bizzy rested his chin on the blanket. It was a change he wished he'd never have had to see in her. She used to make the best of every happening and situation and was looking to work even before eighteen at jobs where she'd be working with children. Her life had just begun. He remembered Jenna applying for everything and finding out how she wanted to start out while going out almost daily, sometimes taking Bizzy along so he could socialize with her friends' pokémon. He and that raichu had actually become good friends, but it was awkward the first few times they'd met.
Jenna was also fond of instruments. She used to take piano and violin and practiced both in class and in her room often, constantly looking for new hobbies since she always had to be productive, which not even Bizzy could believe anymore.
At least she was no different toward him.
He hadn't had to change yet, but that could be by design. Jenna had tried her best to shield him during the past months. Bizzy had a few acquaintances here but wasn't close to them in the slightest. It was nice to have pokémon to talk to sometimes since he spent all his time confined to this base, but he typically put his energy and effort into how he could help Jenna. It felt like he lost her a little day by day.
Meanwhile, Jenna was washing her hair and had let her tears join the water hitting her face. She was an emotional wreck with no one to show it to anymore. Life had been a painful drag, and she couldn't catch a break. It was like that for everyone still unlucky enough to live in this region— or what was left of it.
After rinsing, she turned off the shower, stood in silence to gather what composure lingered, and listlessly grabbed a towel off the rack, drying herself and getting dressed. Jenna then made a beeline to her room and shut the door, grinning at Bizzy upon seeing him in bed. "Sleepy?" She hoped to keep him safe forever. He was her first and last pokémon. She used to own three, but her buneary and absol passed during the outbreak, which she tried never to think about. Jenna wanted to hold onto Bizzy.
He nodded. He couldn't possibly have slept while she was off the grounds. He only imagined all that could happen to her while he sat safely in the base left to his own devices and limitless worry. If she never returned after a night, he'd have no closure or guidance.
Jenna crawled into bed. "Let's get some, then." She lay on her stomach with her head on the pillow and reached her hand toward him, slipping her other under it.
Bizzy got up and walked to her, feeling Jenna pull him into a warm hug as she turned onto her side. She hadn't held him for a while, so this brought him joy. Her nights had been restless and full of countless other thoughts. Bizzy closed his eyes and pressed his back to her chest, his paw over her arm that he grasped.
Jenna felt his warm, reassuring pads press her skin and rubbed his fur with her arm. She knew she would be lucky to get merely an hour of sleep tonight, but she needed it since she had to go out tomorrow and search for more meds to help Chris.
Jenna stared into the dark, lost more than she had ever been and in a state of vexed confusion. Where did this virus come from, and why did it have to take everyone it touched without relent? Why was no region stepping in to help? Did they not care? Sinnoh wasn't some expendable region. It was massive with some of the most densely populated cities worldwide, and its loss and abandonment had to be wreaking havoc on the collective global economy.
"Why don't they care?..." she muttered and swallowed. All those militaries. Those guns, bullets, aircraft, bombs, the officials, including Sinnoh's that ditched the region after claiming they cared for their citizens and human lives, and not one region gave a singular fuck about the millions of lives lost and survivors still clinging to what string of life they had left.
The base was a sitting ducklett waiting to be saved. There was no good ending when the region had lost all support indefinitely and everything around them was infected and actively mutating.
Jenna clutched the blanket and shut her eyes, fighting more tears. She'd continue holding on but knew it'd only get more difficult. Her motivation continued to wane.