Lost and Found

Chapter Eight: Search and Rescue

"Still waking up?" Kiki giggled at the sight of Matthew hiding a yawn behind his hand as they made their way across the grassy field toward the forest where Cookie lived.

"Yup," he grunted; he hadn't slept well the night prior, due mainly to the decision he'd been asked to make regarding Cookie and his Pokémon; it hadn't helped that he'd also thoughtlessly consumed a can of soda shortly before bed. "Cookie?" he called as loudly as he could without straining his throat; he wasn't sure how far his voice would carry into the greenery, and he didn't want to risk any attention from any non-Cookie Pokémon. He received no reply, either vocal or mental, so the pair made their way to the edge of the forest closest to where he remembered exiting the night prior. Land navigation wasn't his specialty, but he figured he could find his way to her tent if he absolutely had to. If push came to shove, Kiki could probably lead him to the other psychic Pokémon. "Cookie?" he tried thinking, hoping that she'd detect his thoughts or emotions and respond.

Still nothing.

Matthew crossed his arms as he looked down at his companion. "Can you sense her in there, Kiki?" Even though the Kirlia was a powerful Pokémon, he didn't want to risk wandering all over the forest and possibly getting into more fights than she could handle.

She narrowed her eyes in concentration. "Barely. I know her pattern and it's in there, but it's faint."

Matthew's arms fell to his sides as he felt the blood drain from his face. "Is she okay? Is she hurt?"

"No, and that's what's strange," the Emotion Pokémon replied. "It's almost like she's asleep, but even then her psychic signal should still be just as strong."

Her answer didn't make a whole lot of sense to the non-psychic human, but the way she said it certainly didn't sound good. "Can you take me to her?"

She nodded before heading into the greenery with a very worried Matthew in tow. As they traveled he tried to suppress his concern; he didn't want to find her only to set her off with any strong emotions.

They came across a familiar setting a few minutes later, where everything appeared to be fine; neither the tent nor the surrounding foliage seemed to be damaged, so there likely hadn't been a fight at her home. "Cookie?" Matthew called experimentally though quietly; he still didn't want any unnecessary attention. "You there?"

"She's in her tent," Kiki said, also puzzled as to why the Hattrem hadn't come out to greet them.

Matthew cautiously made his way to the nearest end of the tent and squatted down to look inside to find... "What the...?"

A young woman lay on her side in Cookie's tent, stark naked; the only thing covering her pale skin was her lengths of long blue-and-pink hair.

"She should be right in front...of..." Kiki trailed off as the tent's occupant came into her view. "Matthew...that's her! That's Miss Cookie!"

"She's...human...?" Matthew breathed as he reached out to gently shake her shoulder, only to jerk his hand back. "She's freezing!" he exclaimed, and he started to quickly remove his light coat. "We've gotta get her out of here!" Kiki hurried out of the way as her trainer hooked his hands under the young woman's arms and carefully pulled her out of the tent. He snaked her arms through the sleeves of his coat and fastened the front, thankfully restoring some of her modesty. "It's not much, but it should help her start to warm up," he said, more to himself than anything. "For now, let's get her out in the sun."

Fortunately, he remembered from which direction they had come, and it wasn't long before the trio emerged from the forest. "Cookie?" Matthew prompted as he quickly yet carefully sat down cross-legged in the grass, holding the woman against him as closely as he could without hurting her. "Kiki, get my phone out of my pocket and call Emergency Services; I don't want to accidentally drop her." The Kirlia retrieved the phone, dialed, and rested it against his neck, allowing him to tuck it between his jaw and his shoulder. A moment later he spoke again: "Yeah, I have an emergency." The teenager was remarkably composed for how distressed he was. "I'm Matthew Jeffries. Yeah, I found a girl in the forest nak-er, without any clothes on. I think she might be a transformed Pokémon. Yeah, I'm at Pokémon Gardens, Gardevoir Section. Yeah. Thank you." He straightened his head and the phone dropped, which Kiki easily caught. "They said they'll meet us at the parking lot," he told his companion as he carefully rose to his feet while maintaining his hold on the woman.