XVI
Calm Mind
Shiri's hands shook as she pulled the bag of berries out of Ashton's messenger bag. She carefully arranged them on the plate inside the shrine, making them look as pretty as she could. "We don't have any incense," she said as she worked. "I hope that's okay."
Ashton shrugged. "Guess we'll find out."
Shiri picked up the candle. It looked handmade. It was a thick pillar candle, maybe only a couple of inches high, and a single thick wick stuck up in the center. She held it down so that it was even with Houndoom's head. "Can you light this?" she asked.
Houndoom looked at the candle, opened her mouth, and with impressive precision, blew out a small, controlled stream of fire. The wick caught immediately, and Shiri placed the candle back in the shrine. She rubbed Houndoom's head affectionately, and Houndoom licked her hand in return.
Shiri and Ashton gazed into the shrine for a moment, waiting for something to happen. "Do we say something?" Ashton wondered.
Shiri furrowed her brow. "I'm not sure." Her gaze fell on Ashton's bag again. Impulsively, she dug into it and pulled out Boltund's ball. With a deep breath, she placed the ball in the shrine, just in front of the plate of berries, and said, "Celebi, if you are listening, we need help with this pokémon." She bit her lip, then added, "It's a shadow pokémon."
The ball snapped open on its own, and Boltund emerged. Shiri gasped and backed away a few steps, and Ashton stepped in front of her protectively. But Boltund didn't growl; instead, it was looking straight up. Shiri followed Boltund's example and looked upwards, where a small green head with big blue eyes poked out of a hollow in a tree.
Shiri clung onto Ashton; Ashton was stunned to silence. They watched as Celebi shot out from the hollow and floated down to the shrine, their wings moving so fast that they did not appear to be moving at all.
Celebi rested on the top of their shrine, their clear eyes moving from Ashton to Shiri to Houndoom and finally to Boltund. They gave a cheerful little cry.
"You have come."
Shiri jumped. The voice she heard was not heard with her ears. It was in her mind.
"Holy shit, it's telepathic," Ashton breathed.
"You work well as a team." Celebi seemed to be smiling. "This is good. Harmony is important."
Shiri let go of Ashton and stepped forward, her legs trembling. "Celebi, can you help Boltund?"
"Yes," Celebi responded, "I want to help all the pokémon whose hearts have been closed."
A chill ran down Shiri's spine at these words, but Celebi remained smiling.
"Will you help me?" they asked.
Shiri blinked in surprise. She exchanged an astonished look with Ashton. "Me? What can I do?"
"You can see them," Celebi said.
Shiri looked down at Boltund. Even in the darkness of the forest, she could see the black aura.
"Others can see them too."
"What others?" Ashton asked.
"There are many, in every region." Celebi chirped. "But even you who are without the sight can help. All humans can help."
"How?" Shiri asked.
"Proceed with love," Celebi said. They flittered down and hovered in front of Shiri. "Pokémon and humans are the same. When you find a pokémon with their heart closed, give them love. When you find a human with their heart closed, give them love. Let your love guide your judgment. This will lead the way for purification."
As Ashton and Shiri puzzled over those words, Celebi hovered down to Boltund. They touched Boltund's head, enveloping him in a soft green light. A brisk breeze picked up, rattling the trees above them and rustling through the clearing. When the wind died down, Celebi had disappeared, but there was a lingering voice in Shiri's head: "Find the others, and save the pokémon and humans with their hearts closed."
Boltund looked up at Shiri, his tail wagging. Shiri gazed back at him, astonished. There was no more black aura.
Houndoom approached Boltund. They took turns sniffing each other. Houndoom nipped playfully at Boltund, who in turn hopped up and spun around. The two pokémon played while Shiri and Ashton turned to each other.
"I guess I'm not crazy," Shiri said. "Shadow pokémon have an aura, but not everyone can see it."
Ashton squeezed her shoulder. "Are we going to tell Simon all of this?"
"Of course we are," Shiri said. "Why wouldn't we?"
"Because he's part of the group that's doing this to pokémon."
Shiri watched the playing Boltund and Houndoom. "Simon is part of our team," she said, pointing to Houndoom. "And Celebi said to proceed with love. If Simon has his heart closed to shadow pokémon, then we can open it again. I think we can do that."
Ashton breathed out, nodding. "So what are you going to do?"
Shiri raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"
"All this proceeding with love and saving shadow pokémon is probably going to take a lot of time and energy," he explained. "You have a day job. You gonna schedule all this in during your off days?"
Shiri bit her lip. Ashton had a good point. She couldn't keep taking time off, and she wouldn't be able to devote herself to this cause if she had to report to her Poké Mart shifts. But that was her only way of earning a living.
Shiri didn't say this out loud, but the dilemma was plain on her face. Ashton stepped forward and took Boltund's cherish ball from the shrine. He pressed it into Shiri's hands. "Welcome to the world of pokémon," Ashton said to her. She stared down at the red, glittering poké ball in her hand. "I think it's time you became a pokémon trainer."
By the time Shiri and Ashton made it back to Goldenrod City, it was just past ten o'clock. The city looked remarkably different at night when Shiri compared it to Kanto cities. There wasn't quite as much light. Of course, the streets were lit up, and lights lit the windows of the buildings throughout the city. But they didn't quite seem as bright. In Saffron City, one couldn't even see the stars in the night sky with all the lights from that city. Goldenrod's sky was dotted, though dim, and Shiri could still make out the constellations.
The pair were starved. They found a Magnemitey Burger open–always could rely on them!–and settled into a set of plastic booths toward the back of the restaurant as they devoured their well-earned meals.
Ashton sucked down his soda, a thoughtful look on his face. After some time, he leaned back against the booth, fiddling with one of his many ear piercings. Shiri expected him to speak, as he had that look on his face, but he stayed silent. She figured she needed to break the silence.
"Think we'll make the last train back to Saffron?" she asked, keeping her tone casual.
"Actually," he said, his gaze lowering to the table, "I think we need to make another stop."
"Where?" Shiri asked, leaning forward a bit now. She tried to catch his gaze, but his eyes remained fixed on the plastic and paper aftermath of their dinner.
"If we're really gonna do this," he said, his tone oddly resigned, "then I'm gonna need my team."
Of course! Shiri smiled. Ashton had told her of his team many times, but she had never met the pokémon themselves. "Okay, so we find a place to crash and make out for your folks' place tomorrow?"
His brow furrowed. "Yeah, that sounds good."
His energy was off. Shiri didn't like it.
"Is there something I need to know?" she asked after a moment. Finally Ashton met her eyes, and she could see a troubled look in them that he never had before. She reached out and placed her hand over his. "You know you can tell me."
He sighed, gripping her hand lightly. "I don't get along with my folks very much," he said.
"Is it the gay thing?" she asked.
"Not as much as you'd think," he said. "It's actually about the family business."
Shiri didn't quite expect that. He had told her about the farm over the years they had known each other, but she wasn't aware that he'd had strong feelings about it.
"It's a long story," Ashton said, waving a dismissive hand. "The short version is my dad made our little family farm into an incorporated business and has been trying to make it into some big profitable project. It's a total sellout."
Sellout was an interesting choice of words. Ashton hadn't expressed this sentiment before. In fact, when they first became friends, he had often gifted Shiri and her mother products from his family farm. Still, it was clear there were sore feelings here.
Ashton sighed, shaking his head. "I really don't want to go to the farm, but Patches ain't gonna cut it, is she?"
"It won't be so bad. I'll be with you," Shiri said. "And Patches, Boltund, Houndoom. You're not gonna be alone. We're all a team." Despite that being obvious to Shiri, Ashton's eyebrows lifted as if he were surprised, like that hadn't occurred to him. He snaked around the table and slid into Shiri's booth, scooping her up into a hug.
Shiri laughed as she was pressed against his hard chest, and she wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed. But despite the joy of the moment, her thoughts were pulled back to Kanto, to their other missing teammate. She wondered what Simon was doing, what he was thinking, and she wished that he had been with them in the Ilex Forest.