FINDING WHAT WAS LOST

In which Natsume invites a mysterious psychic to her annual masquerade ball.

In the apartment above the Saffron City Pokémon Gym, a kettle steamed and screamed.

As it did, the dial of the stove glowed blue and turned off by itself. A minute later, the resident of the apartment – a woman of average height, with long black hair and pale skin – emerged from the bedroom. Her hands tied her silk robe around herself tighter, keeping the chill in the room at bay. Soon it wouldn't be enough. Autumn was turning into winter around her. Frost was creeping over the gardens and there was the smell of snow in the air. Red leaves were browning and falling, while the sky paled from bright blue to a washed-out grey. The sun hadn't even been strong enough to break through the clouds today. It had been a cold white disk in the sky, offering none of the warmth it had shared only a month ago.

There was no stopping the changing of the seasons, though. There was no going back to a more comfortable time. Natsume Himura knew that better than most.

With a sigh, she poured hot water into a mug and added in the teabag. It would take some time before the water blushed its proper red hue, so she carried the mug back to her office. There was a stack of envelopes on her desk, most of which had already been filled and sealed. Only a few remained undone. Their recipients weren't as easy for her to choose.

Sitting down in her chair, she picked up her fountain pen and considered who she might be missing. She had already invited the other psychic gym leaders and elite League members in the nearby regions, as well as the staff members of her gym and institute. Some of the graduates from her classes had been invited, too. That left her non-profession contacts – the ones her mother would say she should go out for drinks with, as if she didn't know Natsume's stance on alcohol and casual relationships.

Her mother had insisted that she invite at least five such people to the gathering. The fact that Natsume had yet to come up with one was more than a little mortifying.

She didn't enjoy mingling. Both of her parents knew that. Unfortunately, that didn't discourage them from trying to get her to branch out. So Natsume had agreed to attend the party they were hosting. They wouldn't make her stay for long and this was the least she could do for them. She owed it to them to try.

In truth, she owed them a lot more than that after what they'd been through. But she could only push herself so far from her comfort zone. If she grew anxious, her thoughts would become unsettled, and if her thoughts became unsettled, so would her abilities. She could not allow that to happen.

Natsume took a sip of her now steeped tea, considering her options. While the gathering was meant to be restricted to psychics, a few non-psychics in the mix wouldn't be too overwhelming for anyone. A crowd of people who didn't know how to shield their thoughts – and thus silently screamed them across the room, deafening all those who could hear them – would be unbearable, but a few could be tolerated.

This is mind, she added Erika to her list. The grass gym leader had a gentle soul and would be agreeable company. Then there was Takeshi and Kasumi, leaders of their own gyms now, and their friend Satoshi. The boy who'd helped her was now a young man. Natsume couldn't be sure he would even be able to attend. Rumor had it that he'd continued his journey to remote regions and returned only briefly after their Leagues concluded. Yet it couldn't hurt to send an invitation. If he and the others couldn't come, then she would at least have tried as her mother had asked. That decided, she pressed the tip of her pen to the next invitation-

The pen burst into foul-smelling smoke. When it cleared, Natsume found that she was holding a stick instead. As she coughed, she heard a cackle behind her and turned to scold the culprit. "Yori, where did you put my pen?"

The haunter stuck out his long tongue. In the curl of it was her pen. She took it and went to clean the ghost's saliva off. The ectoplasm had analgesic properties, and despite how quickly she washed it off, her fingers still went numb from the contact. It would take a few minutes before she could write again, so when she returned to her desk, she told him, "If you were bored and wanted to play, you could have let me know without that trick."

The haunter raised his disembodied hands and flipped upside down, his maw gaping in a smirk. She telekinetically lifted the white ball in the corner of the room and tossed it at him. He caught it and tossed it back. Before long she was flinging it to the far corners of the room. The ghost vanished and rematerialized in them to catch it in time.

The game continued for a few minutes. Eventually her kadabra sat up from where he'd been sleeping in his dog bed. When the haunter flung the ball his way, he caught it with his telekinesis and gave her a questioning look. "Would you keep him occupied while I finish these invitations?" she asked. When he nodded and sent the ball soaring back at the ghost, she said, "Thank you, Yasu," and turned back to her desk.

She finished the four invitations, waited for the ink to dry, and then sealed them into their envelopes. There was only one left. Once it was done, she could go to sleep and send them out by natu post in the morning. She tapped her pen on the parchment, sent the ball that was flung her way back at the culprit, and tried to figure out who that last person should be.

This was where her mother would suggest taking a risk. This was where she would suggest inviting someone Natsume wanted to get to know better. "Take a chance on a stranger. You might be surprised!" Natsume didn't like taking risks, but perhaps it wouldn't hurt to do so this once. She would have plenty of allies in attendance, so if something went wrong, they would help.

She cast her psychic senses out. The city lit up in her mind, shimmering with the colors of a million auras. Each soul was a tapestry of brightly hued feelings and thoughts, and while many had similar patterns, none were the same. The auras of other psychics blazed the brightest through that mist of light. Most were ones she recognized, but there were a few she didn't know.

One of them had caught her attention before now. She'd seen the aura every once in a while over the last several years, and each time she'd studied it, she'd been no closer to understanding the person it belonged to. The colors of the weave suggested that its owner was a pokémon, but the complexity of the pattern was more what she would find in a human. She'd never been able to tell one way or the other, even when she'd traced the threads to get a better picture of who he was. He seemed to have a solitary nature, a great deal of strength, and might just be lonely. She couldn't be sure unless she met him and his aura came into focus.

Take a risk, her mother had said. He didn't seem aggressive, even when he sensed her looking his way. His aura dimmed as he shielded himself, but that was a gentle response compared to some of the others she'd experienced. Some psychics, sensing her interest, had sent back negative feedback, their anger and hostility tearing into her mind like barbed wire before she managed to rip them out.

She would send him the last invitation. He could come or not as he pleased. So, after sensing where he seemed to be staying, she wrote:

To the Psychic of the Eastern Gardens,

You are cordially invited to attend

the Masquerade Ball in honor of All Hallows' Eve

held from 19:00 until Midnight on Friday, October 31st

at Himura Manor

640 North Wisteria Lane

Saffron City, KNTO 60151

You may bring one guest and must present this invitation upon your arrival.

If you wish to join us, please return the enclosed RSVP by Friday, October 24th.

Please note that trainers are prohibited from capturing any pokémon in attendance.

Any acts of aggression, including the use of psychic powers on another guest, are also prohibited.

Those who do not have access to a costume may use a glamor. Masks will also be provided.

We hope you will do us the honor of attending.

Sincerely,

Natsume Himura

Leader of the Saffron City Pokémon Gym

Headmistress of the Esper Institute of Kanto

Placing the invitation in its envelope, she took her container of wax, heated it, and dripped a bit on the back of the envelope. She pressed her seal – a simple circle within a circle – into it, then imprinted the paper with her memory of the psychic's aura. The delivery natu would read it, locate that aura wherever it was, and would fly or teleport to it, depending on the distance. It was more efficient than pidgey post and more likely to receive a response, since the natus were trained to stay until the recipients gave them one. Natsume hoped that the stranger wouldn't be offended by that.

That done, she caught the ball her pokémon were still throwing around, put it away, and told them it was time for bed. Her kadabra laid back down gratefully, while the haunter pouted until she raised an eyebrow at him. Then he settled down as well. Natsume went to her bedroom, laid down, and stared at the moon outside of her window until sleep took her.

She rose at dawn the next morning and, after a cup of black tea to warm herself, dressed and took the invitations to the aviary. A flock of green birds soared into the overcast sky soon after. Natsume watched them all peel off in different directions and then headed to the institute. She had morning classes to teach, then her scheduled battles at the gym in the afternoon. After that would be her weekly dinner with her parents and then a couple hours for her doctoral studies. She had a presentation at the end of the week that needed more polishing. It was going to be a long day, but that was the way she liked it. Better that than being left alone with her thoughts.

The next two weeks passed in a flurry of activity. She received most of the RSVPs back and updated the guest list as they came in. When she wasn't busy with her jobs and her studies, she assisted her parents with their preparations. As October chilled and neared its end, her parents' manor – rebuilt after their reunion – turned into a haunted house. Sheets with ghostly faces hung on the porch, fake cobwebs drifted from the banisters, fake zubats fluttered around the ceilings, and plastic skulls and burning candles became each table's centerpiece. The path leading up to the house was lined with pumpkins with carved and monstrous faces. The sheer amount of sweets, between the bowls of candy and the planned baked goods, was enough to make Natsume's teeth ache in sympathy for those who would be eating them. For her part, she would stick to the roasted pumpkin seeds.

As the deadline for the RSVPs approached, her mother presented Natsume with her costume. Evidently, Natsume was going to be a dark queen, if the long black gown and pointed crown were any indication. "I'm not going in something that revealing," she protested when she saw how much of her chest and shoulders would be exposed. When her mother realized she wouldn't win the argument, she adjusted it and added a shawl. Natsume threw in a pair of white gloves before agreeing that it would do.

She didn't have much time to wonder whether or not the stranger would respond to her invitation. When she did, she found herself doubting that he would. Yet she also hoped that she was wrong. It might be nice to meet someone like her, even if it was for a single night behind masks. She turned her red eyes to the sun and knew that all she could do was wait and see.