Broken Souls

Lain To Rest

The journey between Saffron City and Lavender Town on our way up towards Cerulean is a short one, less than a day's walk even with trainer encounters. Despite how tedious the hordes of trainers are becoming, we walk the route like we own it. My four battle-viable Pokemon work in tandem, sliding in and out of battle in barely legal switches.

"C'mon, you big dragon roll! Put some effort into it." yells Fang to Pisces, who is in the middle of wrestling a Rhydon into the ground.

Anyone else would be dead where they stood but Pisces's lips twitch with amusement and she takes a deep breath and breathes out a stream of bright purple fire at her foe. It's down in seconds and she exhales smoke through her nostrils, casting a backwards glance at Fang.

"Yeaaaaah! That's what I'm talking about." yells the excited Umbreon.

The next trainer puts their hands up and announces, "Woah, man, take it easy."

"Pisces, you're at Level 54 anyways. Would you mind falling back for a bit so Reginae can get some experience? Furthermore, Ten, I'm going to need you to go out first."

Ten waddles forth, confused, and just as the trainer sends out their Nidorino I draw him back. He hoots in alarm just before the red light of the Poke Ball sucks him back and in his place Reginae steps out. I send out Ten again onto the sidelines and he gives me a sharp glare. "Really?" he asks.

"You need the EXP, you can't battle, and we can't afford for any member of the team to fall behind. It was just the best solution." I shrug.

"Ethan's not getting any experience points either." Ten points out as Reginae Reflects a barrage of Poison Stings.

Reginae and I exchange a quick glance. The memory of Ethan recoiling from the Pokeball makes me feel queasy.
Cold. Don't want to.

"I have to let him out at some point." I tell him, panic rising in my voice. "I can't just keep him in there."

"Eyes on the battle!" yells the trainer, and I jerk up.

"I got it." Reginae readies an AncientPower and levitates a storm of rocks, which he hurls at the Nidorino. The Nidorino might be strong, but it's not agile, and after cleaving one rock in two with its horn it finds itself surrounded by stones, which slam it in the face.

"He can't just walk around, either. It's pretty obvious that he's not normal from his condition. Someone's going to call us out on it at some point, even given how oblivious most people are around here." I continue, keeping my voice low. The other trainer's giving me a funny look, but he hasn't the faintest clue what we're talking about.

"No one actually knows what Lugia looks like, though." Fang says, tail flailing from side to side. "I mean, I haven't seen him, but he can't be that bad. I kind of want to meet him, actually. He's Ashley's friend, so he's mine too."

His optimism does nothing to persuade me. "Really bad."

"We could... give him a makeover?"

"Yep. I'm sure most salons can hold a Lugia."

"Oh, good. See, for a second there I was worried..."

"It was sarcasm."

Fang's ears drop. There's a final thud and Reginae walks back over to the group, his foe defeated. "Are we done here?" he asks.

I nod, looking at the short, trainerless stretch between us and Lavender. The town itself is tucked around the bend, but I can still see buildings rising in the distance. A tower (man, Kanto really loves their towers, don't they?) soars through the treeline and far into the air. It's made of stone, unlike the last two, and instead of the almost aggravating glint of the other two buildings this one is worn and somber. The windows, which are just openings in the stone, show nothing but darkness on the inside.