Chapter 90

Chapter 90

CHAPTER 90

Strangely, the first thing that jumped at me in Snowpoint city wasn’t the dull, brutalist architecture, how quiet and peaceful it felt, or how everything was blanketed in a thin layer of snow. Entering the city, there was a massive port to our right that took up the entire length of the city’s coast. It was bigger than even Jubilife’s, which made sense when you realized that the only way the city received supplies was through freight shipping, and of course, there was also the fact that civilians used the ferry to get to Canalave. Snowpoint city didn’t have an airport. Huge ships packed to the brim with containers were all over the port, and the city was clearly stocking up. The month of February was brutal up there, and even the biggest Icebreakers wouldn’t be able to get through the frozen waters. That meant that for one month of the whole year on average, Snowpoint was completely cut off from the world, unless you had a Pokemon that could teleport.

It was still relatively early in December, which meant that we needed to figure out if we were going to hurry up and leave, or stick around until February ended, but to do that, we needed information. Unfortunately, all of our Poketches were out of battery, and we struggled for a while to find the Pokemon Center. We kept our faces down and didn’t ask for directions, since we didn’t want to risk anyone finding out we were alive until we found out what was happening in Eterna.

After around thirty minutes of looking, we finally found a Center by using the large, looming gym in the distance. There were always a few Centers next to them, so looking there had been a good bet. We waited to cross the street as a huge snow-plowing truck passed through the street, clearing the city from the ever-falling snow. Cars here were way bigger than I was used to in general— and they needed to be to navigate through the city of snow— but people could occasionally be seen on snowmobiles or even skis and snowboards. I personally couldn’t imagine sharing the road with skiers, but I suppose the people here were used to it. The city itself was rather small, but densely packed. It was probably just slightly more populated than Floaroma.

We stepped into the Pokemon Center, and as expected, it was completely empty. There wasn’t one trainer in the usually packed lobby, which was perfect for us.

“Four rooms, please,” Denzel hesitantly told the half-asleep Nurse Joy at the counter. She stared at us for a few seconds before her eyes widened.

“Um, sure! I— there usually aren’t any trainers here at this time of the... wait, aren’t you... you’re the kids who died in Mount Coronet! How are you even—”

“Please, not a word of this to anyone. We’re currently hiding,” Cece said.

“Wait, you’re hiding?” Chase frowned. “Guess that changes my plan a little bit.”

Nurse Joy raised an eyebrow. “Hiding? Why even— fine. If you want privacy, we’re obligated to give it to you, but don’t expect that to last. You kids were all over the news... people are going to notice you. Still, I’m glad you’re safe. Trainer ID, please.”

We handed her our IDs, and she gave us four rooms next to each other on the first floor, since they were all empty. I had expected us to be in the news, but the fact that Nurse Joy had recognized us instantly didn’t bode well for our plans. Staying undercover was going to prove harder than I thought.

“Well, I’m off to do my own thing,” Chase said as he quickly entered his room. “Then I’ll sign up to fight Candice. See ya,” he said, raising a hand as he closed his door.

“I’m surprised he didn’t ask about us hiding,” Denzel said. “Thought he’d want to know.”

“I feel bad for not telling him, but let’s go. We’ve wasted enough time already,” I hurriedly said as I opened my door. We all stepped inside, and plugged our Poketches in. I sat on my bed, not even caring that my clothes were dirty. It felt so good to be in a Center again. Something about the building made me feel safer than anywhere else.

I watched in anticipation as our Poketches slowly charged up. It’d take around five minutes for them to turn on, and then we’d finally find out what was going on.

——

Emilia Lussier was lying down on her bed quietly as she doom scrolled the Circuit forums while she had a news station on. Seeing Harvey and Clarence gain the ire of the entire public in Sinnoh, and by extension, Unova, was one of the few things that could still bring her any amount of joy, however minuscule it was. Emilia was weak, so she contented herself by seeing how others raged against the ones that had caused the death of her friends. Since Pauline had so magnificently exposed those two rats for who they were, the entire situation had turned up on its head. Anger from the public had been too much, and the League was breathing down Harvey and Clarence’s necks for bringing even more attention to what psychic types could do to a person’s mind. That meant that they had been freed.

The word tasted like ash in her mouth. They were free. The taps had been removed from their phones. Her parents, quick to get ahead of the situation to avoid any kind of negative attention had even called her to give her permission to follow her dreams of being a Pokemon coordinator. And yet, Emilia still felt like she was chained up to her bed. At least they were out of that hotel and staying at a Pokemon Center. That place had felt nauseating and was now the seat of too many bad memories for Emilia to even look at it. The downside, however, was that trainers filtering in and out of the Center kept asking her questions about how her experience through Mount Coronet had been. Pauline and Louis always shut them down quickly, but some always slipped through.

One particular post in the forums made her heart jump, however. The forums worked in such a way that posts that were garnering attention would be ‘trending,’ meaning that they would be on the front page. This particular one was from a civilian in Snowpoint city who posted a blurry picture of four trainers walking through the snowy city and toward a Pokemon Center, and the title read ‘Chase Karlson, Denzel Williams, Grace Pastel and Cecilia Obel spotted in Snowpoint!’

Emilia felt sick to her stomach. This wasn’t the first one of these posts. Some sick individuals liked to pretend that they had suddenly found her friends and Chase out of the mountain for attention. She had seen similar posts with pictures from Celestic, Hearthome, or even Eterna, which was the worst offender. Snowpoint was a new one, however. Emilia started furiously typing a long-winded response on her Poketch to berate the original poster, but she slowed down, sighed, and erased everything. Other commenters were already taking care of that anyway. These posts were getting old, and forum dwellers were starting to hate them. Still, there were actually a decent amount of people calling the picture more legitimate than the others, simply because one of these blurry people had a Riolu on their shoulder. Riolu were rare, but it wasn’t as if only Chase Karlson could own one.

Emilia sighed and kept scrolling.

——

“It’s on!” Cece squealed.

We all swarmed around her Poketch, which had turned on first. With trembling hands, Cecilia connected to the internet. The first thing she typed was her father’s name, Clarence Obel. Her worried stare turned into one of disbelief, then a smile, and then a giggle. Cecilia collapsed on the bed as she laughed wildly, thrashing all over my bed with tears streaming out of her eyes. She had gone too fast for me to see what was going on.

“What happened?” I asked with a slight smile. If she was laughing, it was good news, at least.

“Oh, Legendaries, this is such perfection,” she kept laughing. “Read it for yourselves.”

Cece gave us the phone, and we read the headline of the article she had clicked on.

‘Founders and CEOs of the Bianchi Conglomerate and the Obel Energy Company found to have caused the death of three young trainers, including Cecilia Obel.’

A grin split Denzel’s and my face, but there was still a small thought at the back of my mind. The headlines were excluding Chase, for some reason, and only giving us attention. Scrolling further, Chase’s name was mentioned deeper into the article, but they hadn’t added his picture.

“So that means... that means what?” I said excitedly. “Are we fine?”

Cece grabbed her phone and smiled. “Oh, Arceus, he’s lost so much money. But no, we aren’t freed just yet. They’re still in Sinnoh, and they’ve no doubt lawyered up. I doubt they’ll suffer any legal consequences,” she said, typing something on her phone. “Take a look at this.”

Denzel and I stared at her screen and saw that the price of potions, vitamins, and other trainer supplies had jumped. I sighed. It made sense. Louis’ father’s company had a monopoly on most trainer supplies, so if his company was losing money, that meant that trainers would suffer.

“Yikes,” I said.

“If we’re being pragmatic, that’s kind of a good thing. More people hating Louis’ dad is a win in my book,” Denzel added.

“It’s the same for energy in Unova. People’s energy bill is going to cost a lot more next month. It’s not in Sinnoh’s and Unova’s governments’ interest to let these companies fail. Still, they’re going to lose a lot of money and influence, which is good for us.”

“I think I’m starting to see Chase’s point of view a little bit,” Denzel groaned.

“What about Abel?” I asked. “Is he still around?”

Cecilia typed on her phone again, this time less enthusiastically. “He’s escaped. The League wouldn’t have hesitated to arrest him to extradite him to Unova, but he was already gone. He’s on the loose in Sinnoh.”

“And he’s stuck here,” Denzel nodded. “There’s no way he’ll be able to fly privately now that your dad’s dropped him, and his face is known throughout all of Sinnoh.”

“That means that he won’t be after us, at least,” Cece said with a relieved sigh. “I’m not seeing anything else. The last time he was seen was at the hotel we stayed at, and he’s probably out of Eterna city already.”

“Well, look at the bright side, there’s no way that he’s coming after us now,” Denzel smiled. “He has bigger fish to fry. We can definitely head back to Eterna. If anything happens to us, it’ll be obvious that your dad had something to do with it. He can’t touch us right now.”

Cece nodded. “There’s something else that I think will soothe you Grace, at least slightly. Team Galactic’s base in Eterna city was raided and destroyed.”

I beamed. “What about Mars? Is she gone?”

“No, she escaped. But the walls are closing in for them, too,” she said, caressing my arm.

“But how did your dad— and Louis’ dad get exposed? What happened?”

Cece smirked. “It was Pauline.”

——

Emilia desperately knocked on Pauline’s door like it had personally insulted her. She didn’t care that other trainers were staring at her as if she was crazy, or murmuring about how she was the kid that had gone into Mount Coronet with one badge and lived. Emilia had just seen the craziest— the most unbelievable— the most unimaginable thing posted on the forums. Pauline opened the door and quickly dragged Emi inside.

“What is it?” Pauline said with a sigh. She might have been the one who freed the group from their parent’s clutches, but unlike Emilia, Pauline was getting more and more depressed. She had deep bags under her eyes, and her hair was disheveled, something that would have been unimaginable just a few weeks earlier.

“Pauline!” Emilia yelled. “Look at this.”

She unlocked her Poketch, and scrolled up to the post she had just seen— a video posted by Chase Karlson himself. Pauline’s eyes widened when she saw the thumbnail. The two girls stared at each other, and Emilia pressed play— it was also her first time watching the footage.

“Yo. Looks like I missed a whole shitstorm while I was traveling through Mount Coronet. You heard that right. I traveled through Mount Coronet and lived. Anyway, I made it to Snowpoint. It was pretty easy, and I’m tougher than ever, ready to challenge Candice,” Chase said before pointing his camera toward his window. There was no mistaking it. That was Snowpoint. Did that mean the earlier photo... was real?

“You know what pisses me off the most, though? How is it that the media gave me no fucking attention whatsoever? I also fell down that chasm, you know? Is it because I’m poor? Do I need to start talking about how for-profit media is a scourge on fucking society and that they omitted my name from all the headlines because I wouldn’t generate as many clicks—”

Emilia cut off the video before he could continue into his tirade. Chase looked a lot less smug and kid-like than he had before falling down the chasm. Even though he behaved similarly, there was a certain maturity to his tone and face now. Emilia and Pauline looked at each other, their bodies unmoving. He had fallen down the chasm with Cecilia, Grace, and Denzel. If he was alive, then that meant that... that meant that maybe, the others were too, and the commenters seemed to agree. They kept asking him what had happened to the others, but he never answered any of them, which was uncommon. Chase was one of the most active forum members of the year, who never hesitated to answer anything, even when unprompted. Something about this was fishy. Outside of the room, excited voices could be heard. Every trainer in the Center was probably talking about the same thing.

“Emi,” Pauline said, her voice a whisper. “Call the others. This is— this could be big.”

——

“So can we call our parents without waiting for Mark, then?” I asked Cece.

“I’d say that’s safe for now, although I’d still wait before calling the others,” she answered. “You guys call your parents, I’ll call Mark and see what he has to say.”

Great,” I said. “Um, could I do this in... private? Let’s meet in Cece’s room in thirty minutes, maybe? Or one hour, I don’t know how long this is going to take.”

Cecilia smiled gently at me. “Of course. Take all the time you need, I’ll be in my room.”

“What’s with all the love?” She laughed. “Not that I mind. I like it.”

“I love you,” Cecilia said. And I realized how precious you are to me, she thought. “How’d your talk with your parents go?”

——

Emilia stared at the chaotic scene unfolding in front of her.

“We can’t give up!” Louis yelled. “We’re close to something, I can feel it!”

“Their phones might be dead or broken,” Justin said. “It would make sense after making it through Mount Coronet.”

“Fuck this,” Pauline said, groaning in frustration. “I’m calling this Chase guy. Emi had the right idea.”

“Do you have his number?” Emilia asked.

“No, but I’ll just spam his DMs on the forums until he gives it to me. He knows who we are, he should answer,” Pauline said as she furiously typed on her Poketch. “There... you... go... copy paste fifty times.”

“You’ll get muted for spam automatically if you do it too much,” Justin warned.

“I can’t be bothered to care— ah, he answered!”

“What did he say?” Emilia asked on the edge of her seat.

“He says that it’s not his place to... what the fuck does that even mean? Not his place?” Pauline hissed. “I’ll show you your place, you piece of—”

“Wait, that sounds like they’re alive! At least, I think so!” Justin said. “Why would he say that unless they weren’t?”

“Yeah... yeah, you’re right, that would be absolutely psychotic,” Pauline nodded, her tone brightening. “But we can’t be sure unless—”

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

“—ugh, I fucking hate these stupid clout chasing trainers,” Pauline complained as she strode to the door. She opened it in one brisk motion. “Fuck off— you’re not a trainer.”

Emilia stared at the unassuming man. “Are you a doctor? What is it?”

“Mark Obel sent me. I thought you were notified I was coming?” He said.

“Cece’s brother?” Emilia frowned. “Why?”

“To check if your phones are still compromised. He feels bad about what happened to you. Call it a favor.”

Louis hesitantly handed the man his Poketch.

“Wait, Louis, it could be a trap!” Justin yelled.

Too late. The man grabbed the phone and browsed it for a bit before pulling out a tiny screwdriver and taking it apart. After a few minutes, the Poketch had been thoroughly checked, and the man put it back together and handed it back to Louis.

“It’s clean. Now give me all of the others to check. I don’t do my job half-assed.”

——

I laid down next to Cecilia and showered her with kisses as we giggled like schoolgirls. Not only were we close to finally reuniting with our friends, but calling my parents had made me so incredibly happy that I felt the need to direct the feeling somewhere else. Even Togetic and Frillish had gotten to speak to dad, and I introduced him to the rest of the team too. He said that as soon as I got to Hearthome, he was flying out to see me, which was something I certainly looked forward to. I missed him too much.

“Get a room, please,” Denzel complained as he awkwardly stared out the window.

“This is my room, you idiot,” Cece laughed against my lips. “If you don’t like it, you can wait outside.”

“I know I was your wingman, but it feels really weird being here. It’s like I’m seeing my two... adoptive children make out.”

“Ugh, you had to make it gross,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Whatever, we’ll continue later,” I told my girlfriend.

“But come on...” she grumbled.

“Later!” I laughed. “You’re so cute when you’re clingy.”

“I’m holding back, though,” she said. “And don’t act like you don’t get clingy when we’re alone—”

“TMI!” Denzel interrupted. “Ah, Cece, your phone’s ringing. Thank the fucking Legendaries.”

Cece extended her hand to her bedside table and answered the phone, nodding and agreeing a few times. She got up from the bed and stared at us, suddenly more serious.

“Their phones are clear,” she said. “We can call.”

——

The man had left the room just as fast as he had come, and he had multiplied the confusion that Emilia felt tenfold. She fidgeted nervously as the group fought, debating what to do. Chase was still being vague and had sent Pauline into such a tirade that she got temporarily muted by a bot, and it felt like they were back to step one. The knowledge was right there, at her fingertips, and yet she couldn’t know if her friends were alive or dead—

Suddenly, her Poketch rang. All of their heads turned.

Emilia hesitantly grabbed at it. “It says... Cecilia is calling.”

She heard audible gulps throughout the room, and she answered the phone, putting it on speaker.

“H—hello?!” She shouted. “Who is it?”

“Emilia?”

Everyone around the room gasped. That was Cece’s voice. It was her. Emilia had been in a state of constant worry and anxiety for days— weeks. It felt like a massive weight had just been lifted off her chest, and she burst into tears, overwhelmed with relief. Louis placed both of his hands on his forehead, like he couldn’t believe it. Justin let out a huge sigh and sat down on a chair with trembling legs. Pauline collapsed on her knees and cried like a baby. On the other side of the line, cries could be heard too. It took around two minutes for everyone to compose themselves enough to talk.

“You guys,” Emilia sobbed. “You guys were alive?”

“How?” Justin asked in disbelief. “There was nothing down the chasm? How did you—”

“Mount Coronet can do that,” Denzel said through the phone. Pauline laughed when she heard his voice. “It was tough, and there were close calls, but we found each other and made it through. Chase was a big help.”

“He was,” Cece added. “We wouldn’t have made it without him.”

Emilia was surprised at how close they sounded now, but she supposed a trip through Mount Coronet, route 216 and route 217 would bring any group of people closer. How strong had they gotten now, she wondered. What had they seen and experienced?

“Where are you guys right now? There was this blurry photo of a group of people in Snowpoint,” Louis asked.

“Someone took a picture of us?” Grace said. Emi could tell that she was obviously crying. “Yeah, we’re at Snowpoint. We were planning on holing up here until Harvey and Clarence could be dealt with, but it looks like Pauline took care of that for us.”

“Damn right, I did,” Pauline said. “Cece, I tore Amy a new one for you.”

The girl laughed. “I’m glad you made my wish come true.”

“Cece, you sound so much better,” Louis noticed. “Are you... are you fine now?”

“More than fine,” she said. “I’m sorry for worrying all of you. I thought I had no one, but I didn’t look around me. You’re all family.”

Emilia teared up. “Of course. Now when are you getting back?”

“We’ll find out a way,” Grace said. “Obviously, we aren’t too willing to get back through Mount Coronet again. But there are a few things I want to do first, like battling Candice. I assume Denzel and Cece feel the same way?”

They both agreed. Emilia almost had to do a double take. They were going to challenge Candice for their third badge. Almost no trainers could boast of such a feat.

“Now let me tell you guys all of the crazy shit we went through,” Denzel started. “So first, I dropped at least one hundred feet down into this freezing lake...”

Emilia’s eyes bulged. That was— that was only the first sentence?