XXVI

Moonbeam

Night had fallen by the time Ashton heard back from Verity. As Simon had predicted, Verity decided he and Ashton should meet at a cafe in Saffron City the following afternoon. His plan was to continue working through most of the night, then go home to sleep for a few hours before a shower and change, and drive out to Saffron. He would keep his phone on and allow Shiri to access his location, so she and Simon could make sure he would be safe the whole time he was away from them.

It was as fine a plan as any. There was no need to worry. Yet Shiri still felt trepidation at the idea.

Perhaps it was because Simon had disappeared for days without notice, and Shiri's mind was simply transposing that stress onto this situation. Perhaps it was the understanding that they were undertaking such a monumental task. Whatever it was, Shiri had to move past it. Ashton was going to Saffron to meet this man, and that was that.

To take her mind off the idea, she brought up something she'd been considering for the last few hours. "Do you think we can find a way to contact Rui?"

Ashton looked up from his screen, his eyes a little bleary from staring at it for a while. "I can make anything happen for you. I guess you got a lot of questions for her."

Shiri smiled. "If I can get a handle on my ability, I can be a lot more useful." What she didn't say aloud was what she still had yet to tell Ashton about her father. If she could find out anything about this aura-seeing ability, it could be the first step to finding out what happened to him.

"Rui, the young woman from Orre, right?" Simon asked to clarify.

"That's her," Shiri said with a nod. While Ashton slept, Shiri had filled Simon in on all he had missed: Shiri and Ashton's journey to the Ilex Forest, meeting Celebi, and encountering shadow pokémon in Goldenrod City. She'd shown him the articles she and Ashton had found about Rui and the history of Pokémon Labs, Inc. She'd told him about the request, or perhaps directive was a better word, from Celebi: to help the shadow pokémon. Simon had been overwhelmed with it all, but he took it in stride.

"I'll see what Secc can do for us," Ashton said. "I'm sure he'll be more than happy to accommodate any requests, considering what we're sending him. That said…" Ashton turned to Simon, a twinkle in his eye. "How feasible would it be for you to get any more information?"

Simon narrowed his eyes at Ashton. "I've given you all I had. Everything I got was on a need-to-know basis, and that information would be removed from my possession once my jobs were completed. And I'm obviously not getting any more jobs."

"Worth asking," Ashton said, stretching his arms over his head.

They were all silent for a moment, but then Simon let out a sigh. "Well, there is something," he said at last. Ashton raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. "My sister is an administrator and my direct superior in the company. She would be the one to assign my work."

"Your sister?" Shiri repeated, leaning forward.

Simon flushed and nodded. "Yes. Marlena Harron is her name. She's the one who got me the job as a catcher, years ago now."

"Two members of the Harron family work for Labs?" Ashton scoffed. "Or are there more?"

"That's it," Simon said with a grimace. "And don't go writing about that, please. I've lived through enough press speculation about my family. Marlena isn't a public figure."

"My blog ain't a tabloid," Ashton said.

"Are you sure about that?" Simon shot, and Ashton glared.

Shiri cleared her throat. "Okay, back on topic," she said quickly, her voice a little loud. "How would we get information from your sister? I don't expect you could just ask her."

"That's a little difficult," Simon said, looking away from Ashton's glare. "Everything will be on her computer. Now, I have a key to her home in Celadon."

"Seriously?" Ashton said.

Simon shrugged. "Up until recently, we were on rather good terms. Now, I could go to her home and see what I can find."

"Not a bad idea," Ashton said.

"What? Yes it is!" Shiri countered, earning her a surprised look from Ashton.

"What's the issue?"

"There's multiple issues, Ash." She held up one finger, then another as she listed the issues. "One, if Simon's seen out and about, he'll definitely be arrested. He's still wanted for theft. Two, even if he has a key to Marlena's apartment, I'm pretty sure it's still illegal for him to go into her home and steal confidential information off her computer. Three," now she looked at Simon, "I'm sure your sister didn't give you a key to her home just for you to steal from it. That sounds like a huge violation of her trust."

Simon's jaw tightened, and he looked away. Ashton sighed. "Yeah, okay, so it's not ethical," Ashton said, "but the way I see it, this lady ain't acting ethical either."

"Doesn't mean Simon should do his sister dirty like that," Shiri argued. "If James did that to me, I don't know what I'd do. We can be better than this."

"James?" Simon asked.

"My brother," Shiri explained. "He lives in Orre, doing pokémon medical research."

"Yeah, he's the star of the family," Ashton added. "So is that a no on the sister plan, then?"

"It is," Simon said in a low voice. He and Ashton met gazes, and Shiri thought she may have caught something between them. But before she could ask about it, her phone rang. It was her mother.

She got up from the table and went into the living room, answering the call. "Hey Mom, what's up?"

"Hey, Shir, my closing manager developed a fever during her shift, so I sent her home. I'll be closing tonight, so I won't get in till a bit late."

"Oh, that's fine," Shiri said.

"I'm sure you'll find a way to feed yourselves, but I'll bring home some food anyway. Will your new friend still be there?"

"I think he's staying with Ashton, so they may be gone when you get home."

"With Ashton?" Elise sounded as if Shiri had told her Simon was sleeping on a park bench. "He has such a small place, I can't believe they can fit in it together. Ask your friend if he'd like to stay with us. We can put him in the guest room."

Shiri bit her lip. Her mother had always been a little judgy of Ashton's apartment, which Shiri thought was rather unbecoming of her. She was right about the space, however. Ashton only had a small futon, and there was no way that would be comfortable for the both of them in the long run. Plus, the less time Simon spent going between Ashton's place and Shiri's, the better. "Okay, thanks. I'll ask him."

Shiri said goodbye to her mother and returned to the dining table. She realized Elise had never spoken Simon's name during their conversation. They really were harboring a fugitive. What a turn the week had taken.

Ashton had returned to his work, and Simon was looking through Shiri's notebook of information she'd compiled when she rejoined them. "Simon, my mom offered you our guest room."

Simon looked up, his eyebrows raised. "That's very kind, thank you," he said, and then in true Galarian fashion, added, "I'd hate to impose."

"You're not imposing," Shiri said, smiling. "You can't impose if it's being offered to you. Besides, it'll be safer if you're here. You shouldn't leave the house."

"I suppose you're right," Simon said with resignation. "I shall have to thank your mother when she returns."

Ashton scoffed. "Elise probably thinks you'll contract tetanus from my apartment, anyway."

"Will I?" Simon asked in an uncharacteristically light tone.

"Man, fuck you," Ashton responded playfully, his signature grin in place.

That was what tipped Shiri off that something had happened while she was on the phone. The energy between Simon and Ashton had shifted from animosity to…not quite friendly, but peaceable and comfortable. She walked into the space between them, folding her arms over her chest and watching them until, finally, they both looked up at her.

"What did you do?" she asked. Simon stayed silent, and Ashton quickly looked back at his screen. Shiri leaned down, putting a hand on Ashton's shoulder. "Ash, you better tell me."

Ashton groaned. "Bro, help me out here," he said to Simon.

"Since when am I your 'bro'?" was Simon's only response. Shiri leveled her gaze on Simon, and he relented with surprising little resistance. "Ashton thought maybe Secc could help us access that information on Marlena's computer."

"What?" Shiri said, standing straight up. "What does that mean? You don't mean…" She looked at Ashton again.

"Secc probably knows some hackers," Ashton confessed. "I just asked him, that's all. We don't have to go through with it, but it would be good to know it's an option."

Shiri let out a long sigh, shaking her head and taking a chair opposite the two men. "I was gone for all of two minutes. I really cannot leave you two alone."

The three of them had continued on into the night, Ashton hardly moving from his chair as he plugged away at his computer. Right before he left, he took out a cellphone from his ever-present messenger bag, turned it on, and handed it to Simon. "You can use this. It's my backup."

"You keep a backup phone?" Simon asked, wondering if it was less backup and more burner. Ashton absolutely seemed the type to keep a burner phone, even if he would never have need of one.

Ashton shrugged, grinning as always. "Set up a new email address and email me." He raised his eyebrows and nodded once, a silent message to Simon so Shiri, who was feeding Boltund in the kitchen, wouldn't hear.

Simon's apprehension had been growing over the last few hours, not entirely at the hacker plan, but at the fact that Ashton had lied to Shiri. They hadn't just made an inquiry to Secc about the remote possibility of getting in touch with a hacker. Ashton had sent Secc all the information Simon had about Marlena's data. It wasn't much, but the right person with the right skills may be able to make use of it.

Simon admired the way Shiri had defended Marlena. She had never met the woman, owed her absolutely nothing, yet the idea of violating Marlena's privacy had seemed to disgust Shiri. She was a much better person than Simon. Simon himself felt a pang of guilt over the plan that was irreversibly in action, but he had been able to justify it to himself quite easily.

What concerned him was how easily Ashton could lie to Shiri about it. Shiri clearly trusted Ashton with her entire being, and up until that moment, Simon believed Ashton felt the same. But was that truly the case? It threw into question Simon's own ability to trust Ashton, particularly when he recalled Ashton's actions in Celadon City.

"You okay?" Shiri asked, pulling Simon from his thoughts. He realized he'd been staring at the phone Ashton had given him in silence for a while.

"Yes, sorry," Simon said. He opened the phone and tapped on the email app as Ashton had directed.

"Cool, I'm gonna head out," Ashton said, gathering his things and stuffing them into his bag. "Gotta make sure I'm at my best for Verity."

Shiri hugged Ashton, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "You be careful."

Ashton laughed, squeezing her hand. "What, you think Verity's gonna kidnap me?"

"I have no idea," Shiri said. "But it can't hurt, right?"

Then Ashton was gone, and without the whirlwind of his chaotic energy, a silence fell between Simon and Shiri. Shiri busied herself with clearing off the table while Simon finished setting up a new email address. He sent a message to Ashton to identify his new address and added the message, "What will you do when Shiri finds out?"

Ashton responded a minute later (Simon hoped he was still sitting in the driveway but a part of him knew Ashton was actively driving while he did this) with, "No worries." This did not put Simon at ease.

"So," Shiri started, getting Simon's attention. She was absently playing with a curl which hung by her ear. "Well, I guess I'm ready to meet Sylveon."

Simon set the phone down. "Are you sure? We can wait until the morning."

Shiri shook her head. "No, it's fine. I've been thinking about it ever since you brought it up. If I wait too long, I may lose my nerve."

"Right," Simon said. His own anxiety over the Ashton situation would have to be set aside. "Well, we should do this outside. I'd hate for any of your things to get damaged." Shiri winced, and Simon regretted his words. "Er, just as a precaution."

"Yeah, I know," Shiri said, and she walked over to the back door. She flicked a light switch on the wall by the door which turned on a bright yellow flood light in the yard, lighting it up as bright as daylight. The pair walked outside, the air chilly with the bite of the quickly coming winter.

They stood together in the pool of light. Simon let Houndoom out first, and she dutifully sniffed Shiri before sitting beside her. Simon pulled Sylveon's ball out of his pocket. She was no longer kept in that ostentatious ball Verity had, although Simon did still have it. He had taken the liberty to recapture Sylveon in a heal ball, as it matched Sylveon's colors.

Gripping the ball, Simon met Shiri's gaze. They passed no words; she only nodded. He let Sylveon out, and Sylveon landed on the ground as gracefully as the first time Simon had seen her. She looked up at Simon first, her short pink tail held high.

Simon heard Shiri inhale a sharp breath, and this drew Sylveon's attention to her. Sylveon's entire demeanor changed, her tail dropping, her back arching. She bared her fangs and claws, a high-pitched and off-putting growl emitting from her throat.

It was just like Pewter City, Simon thought. Sylveon was normal one second and completely aggressive the very next, like a switch had been flipped. Houndoom was on her feet, her own teeth bared in warning, and this may be the only reason Sylveon did not pounce at Shiri.

To her credit, Shiri held her ground. Her hands were shaking, but she balled them into fists to hide this, and she gazed down at Sylveon even as horror filled her eyes.

"What do you see?" Simon asked, his voice cutting through Sylveon's growls.

"Her aura," Shiri said.

"Can you describe it?"

Shiri stammered, shaking her head. It looked like she was doing everything she could not to run away. Simon took a step closer to Shiri and placed a hand on her shoulder. She gasped at the contact, his hand hot on her cold skin, and she tore her gaze away from Sylveon to look at him.

"I can tell this terrifies you," he said quietly in her ear. "Try to describe what you see. I know you can do it."

He really wasn't confident in his words, but they seemed to work. Shiri calmed down a bit, her skin warming under his palm, and she looked back at Sylveon. Sylveon had retreated a few steps, her haunches still up, but she was no longer baring her fangs.

"It's like she's bathed in darkness all around her," Shiri said, her words slow and quiet. "An impenetrable and choking darkness. It comes off her like flames." Shiri looked away again, her breathing ragged. "But worse than how she looks, I can just feel something is wrong in my entire body. Like an overwhelming sense of danger and fear and–and rage. Unending rage."

Simon's grip on Shiri tightened at her words. He could never have imagined such a sensation would come from what was invisible to him. He could not see this aura, could not feel these emotions at all. Yet he could not deny Shiri's reaction, nor the way Sylveon kept glowering at her.

Shiri let out a soft groan and pressed back into Simon. He figured Shiri had had enough, and he held up Sylveon's ball to return her. And that action, somehow, threw Sylveon into action.

With shocking speed, Sylveon lept backwards and then off the ground. Houndoom immediately responded, lunging forward, her jaws open, but Sylveon without any command let loose a Moonblast. A pink beam of energy hit Houndoom full on in the face, and she stumbled and fell into the dirt. Sylveon surged forward and jumped up, claws extended, a yowl cutting through the air.

As this happened, Shiri shrieked, and Simon pulled her into him, his arm encircling her narrow shoulders. He stepped forward, putting his body between her and Sylveon, and so it was his side which took the deep scratch of Sylveon's claws. Simon cried out as his shirt and skin tore away.

"Sylveon!" Shiri cried out, "Please stop, Sylveon!"

And she did.

Silence fell after Shiri's cry, and both she and Simon peered down at Sylveon. She sat before them, calming down rapidly. Her haunches fell back and relaxed, her growl faded, and her claws retracted. Her tail popped up, as friendly-looking as it had been when Simon first released her.

Simon's scratches were burning, but he ignored them as Shiri broke away from him and bent down toward Sylveon. Simon put a hand to his side and felt a warm wetness there, and he tried to ascertain how badly he'd been scratched. He was able to walk over to Houndoom, who was slowly picking herself up. He knelt down, his scratches burning, and placed a hand on Houndoom's back. "You okay, my girl?" Simon asked as Houndoom sniffed at him and whined. She could undoubtedly smell his blood.

Shiri knelt by Simon, grabbing the ball from his hand and returning Sylveon herself. "Poor girl," she said soothingly, reaching out to rub Houndoom's back. "That looked like it hurt. But what about you?" she asked Simon.

"I don't think it's that serious," Simon said through his teeth. He stood up straight and returned Houndoom to her ball.

Shiri grabbed onto his hand, gazing down at the blood on his shirt. "I don't know, you may need a hospital."

"You know very well I can't go to a hospital," Simon argued, hoping he didn't sound snappish. "They'll call the police the moment they see my face."

"Yeah–yeah, they will," Shiri said, shaking her head. She pulled him back inside by the hand, saying, "Well, let's at least do what we can here." Simon had thought to protest this, but Shiri, feeling in her gut that he was about to make an excuse, turned and met his gaze. "I'm not having you get an infected wound. I can take care of some scratches, so come on."

Shiri turned and continued into the guest bathroom without looking back, releasing his hand so she could fish the first aid kit out from under the sink. The bathroom was small, a compact cube of a room that fit only a sink with a narrow counter, the toilet, and a shower stall, all of which boxed her in. With Simon in the doorway, Shiri didn't have the room to swing her arms without hitting something.

The blood on Simon's white t-shirt was starting to oxidize, turning rusty in the fluorescent light of the bathroom.

The pair stared at each other for a long beat, neither moving. Then Shiri inhaled and said, "Well, lift your shirt."

"Right," Simon sighed. He awkwardly tried to pull up the shirt just enough to expose his wound, but quickly found it tiresome to hold. With his neck and cheeks turning pink, he pulled the shirt over his head, slinging it over his shoulder.

An odd, pleasing feeling slipped down Shiri's core as her gaze swept over his great form. The curves and contours of his fat body caused Shiri's breath to catch in her throat. His wide, soft chest was peppered with blond hair. The skin over his big belly looked smooth, creasing here and there and highlighted by stretch marks along his sides. Apart from the four scratches along his side, he looked divine.

She felt a distinct warmth in her belly, but Shiri tried to ignore it as she peered at the scratches. Luckily they weren't terribly deep, despite how hard Sylveon had attacked Simon. They were quite long, however, perhaps three or four inches, starting from just under Simon's ribs where the scratches were deepest and ending just above the waistband of his pants.

Immediately Shiri grabbed one of the white hand towels hanging on the rack above the toilet and held it under the warm running tap. "Prepare for a sting," she said to Simon as she wrung the towel out and gently pressed it to the wound. His ribs expanded as he took in a sharp breath. As gently as she could, Shiri cleaned the scratches, wiping away the drying blood.

She placed one hand beside the wound, carefully stretching the skin taut to better clean it, and she was surprised by how hot his skin felt. Perhaps that was due to the scratch, but it only inspired a hungry curiosity in Shiri. She wanted to run her hands down the rest of his body, feel the soft flesh under her palms. The warm feeling in her belly spread downward, transforming into undeniable arousal.

With a hitching breath, Shiri plunged the towel under the water, rinsing away the blood on it. She chanced a glance at Simon's face, but his gaze was firmly fixed on the decorative bars of soap beside the sink. His expression was carefully neutral, as if he were in the midst of a poker match.

If he noticed that she was losing her mind over him, she could not tell. A glance at herself in the mirror revealed her skin was glowing with a deep blush. Did Simon see this? In her experience, white people tended not to notice a subtle change in the complexion of dark-skinned girls such as herself.

Perhaps that was for the best.

She ripped a couple of alcohol pads from their packaging. "This is going to sting worse," she said, wondering if the raspy note in her voice was only in her head. Simon nodded once, still not taking his eyes off the soap. She pressed the pads to the wound, and Simon inhaled again, closing his eyes now, as the alcohol seeped into the wound, killing any bacteria in its path.

Shiri held the pads there for a moment, her gaze following the flow of Simon's body from his ribs to his wide waist. The smallness of the bathroom pressed in around her, not in an uncomfortable, claustrophobic way, but rather like the walls were gently trying to push her into him. She did not want to resist this push; she would have loved to fall into him, to press herself against his soft form again as she had earlier in the yard.

Sylveon's attack had happened too fast, Shiri had hardly any time to process it. But she did recall the way Simon had placed his hand on her shoulder, the way he had pulled her into him when Sylveon leapt forward to claw her. She had felt the strength in his arms, the agility of his reaction, the warmth of his body against hers as he held her there, keeping her safe as he had promised.

Then there was what had happened to Sylveon after Shiri had called out to her.

Thinking about it all overwhelmed Shiri, so she forced herself to refocus on the task at hand.

Tossing the alcohol pads away, Shiri quickly washed her hands again. Simon shifted in her peripheral vision. He pressed one big hand flat against the countertop, resting his hip against it and leaning forward a little. He was so close now that Shiri's elbow brushed against his belly, sending a shock from her arm down to her groin.

"Sorry," he muttered, leaning away now.

"You're fine," Shiri said, trying to catch his gaze. When he met her eyes, she smiled, and was surprised to see him so flushed. That wound must really hurt.

Breathing deeply and slowly to keep herself together, Shiri pulled some bandages from the little first aid kit and applied them to Simon's wound. She took the excuse to press her hands against his ribs, making sure the bandages were stuck securely. "There," she said, forcing herself to take her hands away. "That wasn't so bad."

"I–yeah," Simon stammered, standing upright. "Thank you."

"Of course," Shiri responded as she caught Simon's gaze. Maybe it was just the lights, but his green eyes seemed to blaze. Lost in those eyes, Shiri had not even realized that they were leaning toward each other, that they were so close until she felt his lips on hers.

Whatever resistance Shiri had to her feelings disintegrated. She kissed him back, pressing her body into his, her hands pressing into his back. She felt his hands, one on the back of her neck and the other at her waist, his fingers feeling under the hem of her shirt to her warm skin. She loved the way he felt, the way he tasted, wanted more, so much more.

"Shiri, are you–oh." Elise's voice startled both Shiri and Simon into separating. Simon's entire body was flushed pink, and he stammered and backed out of the bathroom as Elise looked at them, and particularly the shirtless Simon, with a raised eyebrow. "Apologies. Don't let me stop you."

"Mom," Shiri said breathlessly, smoothing down her shirt. "No, it's fine. We were…" Shiri looked to Simon, whose eyes were cast down, his shirt in his hands. He looked like he was desperately trying to figure out how to put it back on.

Elise chuckled. "Well, whenever you two are done, I have some rice bowls in the microwave." She passed by Simon, an amused glint in her eyes, and made her way to her bedroom at the end of the hall.

Simon had managed to put his shirt back on, and he looked to Shiri, uncertainty on his face. But Shiri could only smile, her heart racing wonderfully. She grabbed his hand in hers, pulled him close, and kissed him again.