Pokémon: Out of the Woods | A Galar, Unova & Sinnoh Fanfiction

Chapter 64: The Samples

At 5:30 AM, as the sun rose over Glimwood Tangle, the alarm clock in Queenie's old bedroom went off. Perry forgot to switch it off before he took off to Wedgehurst. It woke Heather. She was comfortably warm, even though the bedsheets were beneath her. She wore the baggy Euphoria shirt she always wore to sleep since she arrived in Galar, but Pluto remained in the clothes she met him in. His arms were still around her. Sleep didn't seem to loosen them. Her hand was still on the arm around her stomach. The scarf that Pluto gave her hung from the peg on the door.

She forgot to shut the net curtains. She didn't mean to fall asleep there, without even asking someone if they could lend Pluto some pyjamas, but she apparently did. The glow of mushrooms was as bright as the rising sun, vibrantly tinting the ivy that covered the cottage, peeking around the edges of the window. The scent of roast dinner still lingered.

Tansy and Nashira must have left Queenie's room. No-one switched the alarm off. Heather sat up. That ringing was annoying. She still forgot how annoying it was when Pluto stirred and she turned to see him smiling. Bede's voice drifted up from the living room.

'Someone switch that alarm off!'

'I'm on it!'

Heather jumped up. Tansy was already running in to hit the button on the Eevee-face clock. There was a stricken look in her eyes, but Heather only realised something was seriously wrong when Jamie beckoned her down the stairs.

Triton returned as Jamie recounted the story once again to Heather. He asked who she suspected the child was and, satisfied it was the same man Neptune suspected, took off again. Tansy was still in her mother's room when Heather went back up the stairs. She peered in.

She was going to ask Tansy if she was alright. She was never usually nosy, but the story of the woman who once haunted that room still echoed in her mind. The first thing she saw was a Ballonlea Academy Cricket Club flag. Then she couldn't help her eyes wandering around the pastel walls, from the trough of mushrooms that reached the ceiling to the fake branches that hung over the bed. A giant plush Rapidash sat on the mushroom-print rug. Queenie's clothes, including her school uniform and a pair of fairy wings, still hung in the wardrobe that Tansy opened to take out the photo albums she left behind.

Tansy never understood why her mother's childhood room was so odd. It was more like an extension of the woods than a room in Bede's cottage. Queenie's house in Circhester was so normal, so on-trend and spotless, that it was uncomfortable. Now Tansy understood perfectly. Heather sat beside her on the bed in silence. The photo album contained photos of Queenie and both fathers. Then Heath disappeared. There were six pages of photos of Pokémon and Bede's garden. Queenie was suddenly older. She beamed in the stands at a cricket game. Many photos of games followed, although her camera was cheap and all that could be discerned of her first love was his green hair. It was still obvious who she was really interested in.

The last photos were of the baby. His eyes were as blue as the sky. Perhaps Heather and Neptune were wrong, or perhaps they turned their true colour as he grew. Triton would soon find out. He landed on a street near Hulbury Station. Through gaps in houses and hedges, the morning sun glistened on the ocean.

The man Triton sought stood outside the station. Khalid held a stack of paper. Ace took posters from his best friend to stick them on lampposts and the station's walls. They warned people not to approach Ball Guys, let alone accept balls from them. Their expressions, especially Ace's, were solemn.

'I didn't trust him... but I didn't do anything... I'm angry with myself... if only... if only I had asked him to remove his mask... maybe Ralph...'

Khalid shook his head. 'Don't you dare blame yourself for that. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.'