Bridging The Gap; The Final Records In Unova: An Autobiography

Since You've Been Gone

The inside of the Pokemon Center was comfortably warm.

Nurse Joy sat behind her wooden counter, flipping eagerly through a small book with a smile on her face, turning a page every minute.

Audino smiled as she looked around the room repeatedly, standing patiently on her feet.

June sat in a phone booth at the end of the row of booths, in a corner.

I sat in a phone booth at the other end, staring at the blank, black screen.

The lobby of the Pokemon Center didn't have any other souls inside of it, eerily quiet aside from the pages turned in the book Nurse Joy had in front of her.

I turned my head at the low murmurs of June and witnessed her glance my way briefly before disappearing deeper inside of her booth, her words inaudible.

She must be calling to check on her Pokemon in Gringey City, I told myself.

June never spoke about her Pokemon, but she's called back home just about every chance she's gotten.

I never asked her about them, but that was just out of respect, trying to mind my own business about a sensitive subject. She never seemed down about it, and she never was one who was able to hide her true emotions, so I had always just assumed that her Pokemon were still recovering, but were doing okay, and that she'd tell me about them when she felt ready.

With a low sigh, I turned back to phone in front of me and stared at the blank screen again. A small glob of saliva was forced down my tight throat, my body shaking with fright, my heart being gripped by a fist made of ice and shaken about violently inside of my chest. My hand rested over my heart and I felt it beating at the pace of a rapidly dripping ceiling in the middle of a storm.

My body felt as if I had just been through an intense workout, throbbing, sore, and exhausted after the attack June and I had escaped from against the gang of Scrafty a couple of days ago. Row had disappeared after saving us, and June was just fine a little less than a day before I felt back to normal for the most part. She stayed with me in my room until I felt able to walk around again.

My Pokemon had also been with us in my room during my weakened state. Cottonee sat right next to my head on the left side, Elgyem sitting on the opposite side, while Tranquill rested at the foot on my bed. The other three stood close by on the floor.

June was on the opposite side of my bed, standing away from the other three Pokemon, and I knew it was because Palpitoad was out.

Palpitoad looked up at June every few minutes and gurgled sadly before returning his attention to me.

What is June's problem? I thought angrily at one point as my toad Pokemon croaked lowly. We have to sort this out, once and for all. But not now. I'm just too tired...

"Good luck, Gary," were the words June had whispered to me about half an hour ago, her hand giving my shoulder a tight squeeze before she walked away to her phone booth.

Now, I was still staring at the telephone screen, waiting for nothing. I didn't want to make this phone call. How can I not? I thought to myself. I have no choice in the matter. I have to call her. I reached out with a shaky hand and my fingers slowly closed around the phone receiver, a light gasp coming from my mouth at the shockingly cold plastic in my hand. My hand lifted the receiver up, and it slipped into my lap, making me gasp again. My eyes closed tight and I inhaled several times, trying to get my throat to open and allow for more air to get in, hoping that my heart would beat at a slightly calmer pace than the one it was beating at now. I snorted lightly, snot building into the back of my throat, and I swallowed it before clearing my throat and then lifting the receiver again.