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

Chapter 75: The Promised Bride

There were hundreds, if not thousands, of Wishing Stars to be dug up around Stow-on-Side. Heather and Pluto couldn't hang around for too long. Even if they hadn't been afraid of seeing the people who possibly accused Heather of murdering Victor, which they remembered when a man in the Pokémon Center spat at her; Pluto already called the Lost Kids to their closest base camp, deep in the mountains north of Route 6. Before they passed under the bunting to leave the town, Heather spotted Laverne. He didn't see them. He stared at his phone. He must have been looking for Wishing Stars.

Someone else was with him. Heather didn't recognise him when he knelt amongst the Dugtrio he commanded to dig for him, but he did see her and Pluto. He looked up. It was Daeng. Pluto waited until they were out of earshot on Route 6 to speak.

'That bloke's being funny with you, isn't he?'

'Is he?'

'I noticed it at the stadium... he was looking at you like he thinks you killed Victor...'

'Do you know that Laverne Lucine? Is he in Team Plasma?'

'Not to my knowledge. But I don't regularly check the names of new recruits. Anyway...'

The camp couldn't be reached on foot, or at least not without mountaineering gear. They flew up to it on Braviary. Heather's screen was bright red. The ancient, rarely-explored mountains were full of Wishing Stars.

Another Hisuian Braviary landed. A young woman, still wearing the wide-brimmed hat that protected her pale complexion, jumped off. She immediately bowed to Pluto.

'Gunvor. This is Garnet. Garnet. This is Gunvor.'

Her handshake was warm and her smile genuine. If Pluto trusted Heather, she did. Heather's gut was often right and it told her that Gunvor could also be trusted.

'Nice to meet ya.'

'And you! Are you joining the Lost Kids?'

'If she wants to,' Pluto said, 'She's more than welcome.'

'I'm just meeting y'all right now.'

'Well, welcome! I think Ed's already here. Yep, I can hear him!'

Gunvor ran around a corner. Heather noticed that her footsteps made no sound. As they followed her, they saw the glow of a campfire reflected on the cliff face. The base camp was hidden under a rock overhang. Tinny music drifted from a portable stereo. Heather felt the chill before she saw the black auras, but the young man dancing around the fire with the reluctant Shadow Pokémon wasn't training them to fight. He was trying to purify them. Although he was a clumsy dancer, his footsteps made no sound, either. Heather recognised him from the Wild Area. He stumbled to switch the music off.

'Hello!'

He, too, bowed to Pluto. 'Your Majesty!'

'You don't have to call me that... anyway, this is Garnet. Garnet, this is Edmond.'

'But you can call me Ed! Nice to meet you! Watch out for these Pokémon. They don't really mean any harm, but...'

'It's fine,' Pluto replied, 'Garnet has experience with Shadow Pokémon.'

'Oh! The more, the merrier, then!'

Heather thought the others were yet to arrive, but although they were nowhere to be seen, to the point that Ed was startled by their appearance; Pluto knew they were there.

'Come forth.'

They indeed seemed to appear from nowhere. Heather didn't show it, but she was actually startled by quite how stealthy they were. A dark-skinned young man was the first to shake her hand. His name was Fadi. The next was another boy whose freckles were framed by a mop of strawberry blond hair. He introduced himself as Gerard. Heather was glad that none of them even considered glaring at her for supposedly killing Victor, but then there was Arlene. She never shook her hand. She only scowled like she carried an infectious disease. She clearly wanted to say something, probably something insulting, but she sat down with everyone else.