The Tortured Pokemon Trainers Department

Chapter 5

Cinnamon

"Are We Out of the Woods Yet?"

A sudden thunderstorm appeared over my cottage one evening, and it was the first indication of the passage of time that I had experienced in some amount of days. The rain crashed against the roof, loud but calming and refreshing. Like magic, it snapped me out of the trance-like state I had been in for - how long now? I checked my phone - the time was 4PM, the day, Friday. So Harmony had been gone for six days now. And I had been like this for nearly five.

The living room was filling slowly with canvases, paintings in various stages of completion. I had not had a spell like this in quite some time. Ideas were coming to me in waves, and I felt compelled to paint every single thing that washed up on the shores of my mind. I still slept - in fact, my dreams were the number one source of inspiration - but I hadn't eaten, showered, or done any tending to the house except feeding Hattie and Karma. Chatty Cathy, meanwhile, hadn't returned, but neither had the Bee siblings to inquire about her.

The ideas came in various forms - sometimes words, sometimes images in my dreams, sometimes sounds or narratives. A chessmaster, a fallen king, mysterious Pokemon I had never heard of before. I had to look up a few on the Internet to get a more accurate picture, and I wondered why I was dreaming of these previously unseen creatures that were likely hiding deep in the forests or the ancient ruins within Unova. Even concepts became sources of inspiration, like when the haunting yet beautiful music box music returned as I painted an impressionist interpretation of "childhood innocence."

But I was stuck now. The latest phrase that echoed in my head was "truth versus ideals" and even in the midst of a painting spree, I couldn't figure out how to translate such a concept onto paint and a canvas. Hattie, sensing my frustration, teleported to the space directly next to me, but she did not offer any input. Karma, on the other hand, looked longingly out the window at the storm raging outside. Being an electric type, he derived power from lightning storms, and I could tell he wanted to go outside and play in the rain.

Maybe we should all go outside, I thought, grabbing an umbrella for myself and Hattie and slipping on a pair of rubber boots. I tucked my paint stained neon pink overalls into the cobalt blue boots and thought to myself how thankful I am to not care about whether my outfit looked ridiculous or not. Rhi's comment about me dressing like a feral child still stung, but what was I to do? I loved bright colors, giant hair bows, and patterned clothing. Today, the weather called for a bucket hat, so I put on my favorite one, the one printed with images of Sinistea, one of my favorite ghost Pokemon, a small Pokemon native to the Galar region that resembled a teacup.

"We're going to go to the market and get some food for us all," I communicated silently to Hattie. She verbally translated the message for Karma, and we stepped outside into the gray rainy day.

I tried to avoid going out in public when the shops were sure to be crowded, as sometimes a tourist or a small child or even an inexperienced shopkeep would get spooked by my talking companion. Today, however, was the perfect day to get what I needed, and maybe even treat myself to a hot matcha latte.

First stop was the pharmacy, to pick up some much needed vitamins for Hattie and Karma. Then we carried on to the general store to get food and see if there were any new books on sale. The ghost stories and horror novels I enjoyed reading were fine being checked out of the town library, but at stores, I was always on the lookout for some math books I could take home and write in to my heart's content.

"Good afternoon, Miss Cinnamon," the elderly shopkeeper greeted me, and I was happy to see a familiar face. She was a kind old lady that, even from the beginning, had not been intimidated by Hattie and Karma coming into the shop with me. "And how are you two little lovelies doing?" Although Karma now stood a full three inches taller than the lady, she still referred to him with words like "little" and "baby" at times, and I had to admit it was quite wholesome. I smiled warmly at the shopkeeper; she was the closest thing I had to a human friend here, and I didn't even know her name.

Because there were no other customers in the store, the shopkeeper was able to accompany me throughout the shop, offering suggestions and commentary on the items I picked. She was aware it would be a one sided conversation, and didn't seem to mind. To everyone else, I was the town freak, but to her, I was simply another customer who just had to know that the MooMoo Milk was fresh and just arrived today, and that the mushrooms were in season and excellent for curries.

She rang up my purchase and put items into a bag for me, and I noticed her slip a rolled up piece of paper into the bag alongside my items. I gave a quizzical look. "Oh, this? Dear, its a map of the Unova region," she explained, which did absolutely nothing to alleviate my confusion. "I have a hunch you're going to need it soon."

As if that wasn't weird enough, there was a flash of light a few feet away, where Hattie and Karma had been standing. I saw Karma jump away from the flash, but Hattie was nowhere to be found, until the light faded, and where my Hatenna once stood, was now a slightly taller Pokemon, still mostly pink, but now I could see her eyes. Her hat-like tail was larger now and had two growths that resembled pigtails, which she was using as feet to stand on. No doubt about it - Hattie had evolved into her second form, a Pokemon called Hattrem!

"I see your Hatenna - excuse me, Hattrem - has been through a lot lately," commented the shopkeeper. "Hatenna become tired when they are exposed to strong emotions. Has something been troubling you these days?"

I thought about it for a second. It was true, my thoughts had been louder than ever these past few days. But emotions? Not so much. I had gone through the past week living almost like a machine of sorts, doing nothing but creating art and sleeping to bring about more dreams and inspiration.

"Not her..." explained Hattie, her voice slightly deeper now to match her increased size. "The world... people are responding to art. Art that imitates life. Something strange happened." She hopped on my shoulder protectively. "Sissy is caught in the middle of some unfortunate emotions, none of which are hers. Yet..."

Officially weirded out, I paid for my goods and left the shop. Deciding I'd had enough excitement for the day, I skipped out on satisfying my matcha craving and headed home. The rain had slowed to a drizzle, but no one was outside yet, so it was a peaceful journey home. But as I turned down the street toward the cottage, I was greeted with a horrible sight.

Reporters and news cameras lined the sidewalk outside of my house. "We're here live at the home of the woman responsible for this mysterious art that has been taking the internet by storm," a news anchor was saying. "She's not currently home but any minute we should be able to accept her comments on the pieces she's created!"

"Yes and we are all waiting with anticipation to find out where the inspiration has come from! Who are the mysterious black and white dragon Pokemon appearing in several paintings? Is the artist aware of the identity of the subject of her 'Royalty' painting?"

This was an absolute nightmare! Who knew posting my art online would have caused such a stir? I tried my hardest to suppress the panic rising in me, but I knew Hattie could feel it. Before I could gauge her reaction to all this, she teleported away, to what I assumed had to be somewhere inside the house as I lost sight of her. I backed away further from the cottage, silently, so as to not attract attention to the flock of reporters.

Moments later, Hattie reappeared, holding a filled backpack. "Let's make a run for it," she whispered, and we began to run back in the direction of town at first, but then continuing further west, frantically trying to create as much space between us and the chaos outside our home as possible. The running slowed to walking after some time, but still we continued to make our way further away from Grey Cottage and Shell Villa. I wondered silently where we were going, but I didn't need Hattie to answer, as I already had a hunch as to where exactly we were headed.

Looks like that Unova map is going to come in handy after all.