Chapter 274

Chapter 274

CHAPTER 274

Encountering a swarm of Beedrill a few hours into Eterna Forest had been seriously unlucky. Aiden wasn't even sure how they'd missed them the first time he and his friends had gone through. His fingers still trembled and he desperately looked for something to distract himself with his hands. If that had been me and June, we would be dead right now, he thought as he looked at his friend. She was pale, though largely silent, as she had been since they entered the forest. While she was outwardly strong, Aiden knew she'd been the most reluctant to try to rush to get their third badge against Gardenia and had wanted to take it easy for the rest of the year. Two badges for first-years was pretty average, after all. Beating Roark's unending offense for their second badge had been tough, and they'd had to try different tactics for months. Ducklett let out a soft quack on his shoulder, and his hands finally settled on the water type's head.

"Are you okay?" he asked June.

"Y—yeah. I'm good," she shakily murmured. "I didn't know there were Beedrill around here."

"There aren't supposed to be," he said. "They say the forest was way more dangerous earlier in the year, though."

"More dangerous than this?"

Her eyes glanced toward their guardian and the rest of her team, walking as if they hadn't been attacked ten minutes ago. In fact, she was joking around with that Lurantis and laughing. Something was clearly wrong with her, but it would be rude to stare for too long, with that Turtonator of hers staring daggers at every opportunity. Grace had said that they would never attack, but he had the feeling that the dragon type wouldn't blink twice if those Beedrill had killed them.

All of her Pokemon were strange, to some extent, save for Electivire who felt like a relatable fellow— though the attack hadn't phased him any either. Jellicent was one of her scarier teammates, with the piercing red eyes that could be seen through its head and it sometimes turning into a writhing mass of possessed water when he needed to make it through a dense area of the forest. The Pokemon that unsettled Aiden the most was that Tangrowth of hers. Something about that silent stare he gave those Beedrill when he moved to grab each with a vine that moved faster than Aiden had been able to see sent a shiver up the young trainer's spine. It was the silence that was terrifying. It made every single one of its actions so banal, like it was just executing them without any thought. Like it was a damn robot.

"Are you kidding me?!" Grace cackled at her terrifying dragon. "You tried to get a Totem Pokemon to fight you one on one?"

For a second, the air seemed to grow slightly hotter, and Aiden and June got ready for the worst. Lurantis made a terrifying hiss that was supposed to be a giggle, he had learned, and more laughs followed suit, all unique in their own ways.

"Arceus, she's being so fucking loud!" June hissed in a whisper. "We're in fucking Eterna Forest."

Aiden winced. It was common knowledge that one should be as quiet as possible when going through this place, lest they alert more wild Pokemon and get attacked. Maybe that was why the Beedrill had come. And if that were the case, then they'd see a whole lot of that. Aiden's breaths grew short, but he took deep breaths like Arthur used to tell him, and he calmed down soon enough. Not before Grace shot him a strange look, as if she'd known something, and then turned back and continued with her conversation.

"I hear trainers at the top are all insane," he whispered back. "I guess it's true."

It wasn't like there had been any way to confirm it. This was the first time they'd even seen a top-tier trainer with their own eyes, and the last place he had expected to come across one was at the Ranger Outpost. Almost every trainer at Grace's level had a flier or a Teleporter and they never went to the forest to train. Aubri Schneider still came sometimes, though she'd replaced this place with Victory Road, and she was one of the crazier ones anyway.

"Can she really understand Pokemon? I thought that was just a rumor..." June muttered.

Good. Talking would get his mind off that terrible buzzing from the Beedrill. "I guess so. Think the theories are true?"

"I mean, she might as well be some League experiment," June whispered. "There was that girl who could Teleport in the raid. Maybe they're from the same batch."

"We don't know that for sure. ACE trainer could be a psychic. Like an immigrant from Kanto-Johto or something," Aiden shot back.

"Well, this girl isn't psychic," she grumbled. "Or she'd be able to move things with her mind and or stuff like that. I just wish she could be quiet."

"She sensed those Beedrill somehow," he said. "I'd be willing to bet that she's one."

"Maybe she just has really good hearing."

There were many theories about Grace Pastel's abilities to speak to Pokemon, and the two largest ones were as follows: she was either a psychic, or a League experiment supersoldier of some kind. That last one went hand in hand with the fact that she'd been present in the raid on the Pokemon Mansion and was an ACE in training. Some said that she was being given unfair advantages in the Circuit— so many that she might as well be a plant— but Aiden hadn't really involved himself in the discussion. He was more of a Craig Goodwill or Denzel fan than anyone else due to Grace's violent nature in battle, though he knew Edith was a huge Grace fan who had tried to replicate her style, which made training with them awful.

I hope everyone is fine.

—

"This is where you all got separated?" Grace asked, stepping off her Togekiss. She'd hopped off before Tangrowth had even wrapped its vine around her waist, like there was unconditional trust it would catch her.

"Yeah," Aiden answered.

This place was truly awful. The forest was denser here than anywhere else they'd been, which had made the Paras and Parasect sneak up on them without any warning. By the time they'd realized what was happening, twenty of them were already all over the camp. He'd told them that this was a bad place to set up camp, and yet they hadn't listened because the first day had been relatively easy. Now they were gone. Aiden felt the instinctive need to hold his breath even if the spores were gone, and he heard the distinct screeching and hissing of the Paras. He imagined them crawling over his legs and body— his face—

Grace gripped his shoulder. "Calm down. We're here to keep you safe, okay? Breathe."

Breathe he did. Rhythmic, slow, but soothing. His fingers stopped twitching, and he stopped feeling the need to itch at his skin. June wasn't in much of a better state, though she kept it better hidden. Not that it worked, anyway. Grace helped her calm down too, even if it didn't work much. After a minute or so, she limped back toward her Pokemon and spoke up again.

"Princess, you feel anything?" Grace asked.

The fact that she'd been in Eterna Forest with a broken ankle was not lost on Aiden, but he supposed that when you could ride one of your Pokemon at all times, it mattered less. He wished he could sit right now. His legs felt numb, and every single step hurt to take. Togekiss and Grace stayed silent for a while, their backs turned toward them. When the second minute passed, he shot June an awkward look. When the fifth did, they started getting antsy, and by the tenth, his friend spoke up.

"Think she's finally gone crazy?" June asked.

"Don't be rude," he said. "She's just letting her Togekiss concentrate, so stay quiet."

Grace Pastel had her quirks, but she was the one trying to help her friends. Not any other of the confirmed people going into the Conference flaming her online, but her.

Oh, she'd made quite the list of... well, not enemies, but people who disliked her, at least. That was mostly where the League plant narrative came from, anyway. Aiden liked to keep track of trends online, as any respectable trainer had to do to stay ahead, anyway, according to Denzel's tips and tricks streams. Most of the... sheesh, calling them low-level felt wrong, but that was the only way to compare them to the people that made it far into the Conference. Most of the low-leveled Conference participants felt threatened by this crop of new first years, and their closeness to the League only left a bad taste in all of their mouths. There were even rumors of her fellow sponsees in Poketch being close to a civil war, and though none of them had publicly spoken out against her, it was well known that their managers were pulling the strings.

"Got it," Grace said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "There are three people... deeper than I would have thought. We can't exactly know how long it'll take us to get there. We'll have to spend the entire next day in the forest, so we'll have to set up camp."

June let out a relieved gasp. "Are you sure it's them?"

"Well, there were multiple groups of three, but they're slightly off the beaten path and a lot more scared than the rest. If it's not them, then we can keep looking. They aren't moving right now, but I know for certain that they're all alive, at least."

Aiden restrained tears, though he couldn't help but let a few fall. They were fine, or at least they probably were.

"How many Pokemon do they have each?" Grace continued.

"Um, three each. I'm the only one who has two," Aiden muttered. He'd wanted to catch something else in the forest, but Grace scared away or negotiated with every wild Pokemon they came across so far. He wouldn't care, though, so long as their friends were okay.

"Princess?" Grace asked.

The fairy type dramatically clenched her eyes, then said something Aiden couldn't understand.

"Well, only one of them looks to have three Pokemon out. The rest have one each, though—" she stopped to wince. "Sorry, it's just a headache. Um, none of them have more than three, so they still fit your friends' profile, though they could be inside of their Pokeballs."

"We should just go right now," June forcefully said. "Get there as soon as possible!"

She shook her head. "You kids need to sleep. It's nighttime already and you've been walking for nearly twelve hours straight. You're tired."

"But—"

"My team will keep watch," she interrupted. "Your Pokemon haven't eaten, right? They're hungry. Mine are too. I promise you, we'll get going. Just get three to four hours of sleep. You look like you're going to collapse."

They reluctantly agreed, deciding to recall their tired Pokemon into their balls so they could rest before being served dinner. Grace released a massive Mudsdale, eight feet in height, whose head scanned all of her other Pokemon. It let out a slight neigh when it saw that they were all okay, and it dipped its head toward Aiden and June. Another normal one, thank the Legendaries, Aiden thought to himself.

"Flatten the ground for us, will you?" Grace asked. "We're setting up for the night."

The floor rumbled under them as Mudsdale slowly shaped it to its liking, tearing out clumps of grass and bushes in the process. The areas around the trees, it left intact. It was as if it could manipulate the earth itself... it probably could, really. Aiden had no idea where she'd gotten herself a Mudsdale, but the world had never seen it fight before, so all they could do was guess.

"Princess, some walls please."

Aiden flinched when four thick walls of earth rose all around them and solidified into stone instantly. The fairy type had been molding some kind of ginormous spear while doing this, like it could use that move without a second thought. It was one thing to see it do it in the heat of battle, and another to see its far more... domestic uses.

"Makes you feel safer, right?" Grace said with a warm smile. "I'll let you kids prepare dinner for your team while I'll feed mine. Let me know if you need anything, alright? I'll give you some space."

"We're the same age," June grumbled.

"I can't believe you didn't wake me up, June."

"Well, you were sleeping!" June groaned. And looking cute while doing it. "Waking you up because I can't sleep is stupid, and since Grace is here, we don't have to do it in shifts."

The sun hadn't risen yet, but Aiden had needed to wake up anyway. Grace had estimated their friends to be around seven hours away, though it had taken her Togekiss a long time to do so. Definitely a psychic, and insanely powerful at that. Seven hours? That was miles away! No Pokemon had attacked during the night, though Grace had befriended a couple of Phantump who had hung out for a little bit while she played her piano. Personally, June had just been annoyed about how cold they made things. Jellicent might be creepy— the scariest of her Pokemon by far— but at least things weren't cold when he was around, skulking between cracks in the ground and tree barks. They were traveling again, now, and despite having all of their Pokemon out, they were clearly only here for decoration, as much as it pained June to admit.

"So you talk to one of the best first-years all night, and you don't get me involved?"

"We only talked for a few hours. Stop being stupid about it," June rolled her eyes. "Here, I'll just relay all of the advice she gave me..."

It spoke to Grace's skill that she had turned Eterna Forest from a terrifying place to a dull one. Really, nothing interesting happened for the next few hours, with only a Scyther taking its chance and attacking before being restrained and systematically put to sleep, all while Grace smiled and muttered to her Pokemon about doing good deeds. June didn't exactly understand what was so good about taking down a Scyther, but she preferred not to ask. She was in a good mood, a mood which improved the more time passed. When the clock struck nine in the morning, a tanned woman with pale hair just appeared out of nowhere through the tree line, scaring the wits out of June and Aiden. A Chimecho followed closely behind her, catching Lurantis' attention and exciting the grass type even more, somehow.

"No, Lurantis, this isn't a party," Grace sighed.

"Well, well," she said with a soft voice. "You certainly made me work for this one."

"Sorry Aliyah," Grace smiled. "Still, you're as punctual as always. Is it okay if we keep moving for this session? I'm sure you'll get annoyed about not being able to set the ambiance, but I'm helping these two find their friends. Aiden, June, this is Aliyah, my therapist."

"Uh... hi," Aiden hesitantly spoke.

"Nice to meet you?" June said.

"Good morning to you too, my dears," Aliyah said. Something about her unsettled June. Maybe it was the way she carried herself, almost like her body had no weight. She turned back toward Grace. "I suppose we'll forgo the candles and pillows for one session. We have much to talk about, don't we?"

"Yeah! This is working, Aliyah. Or I think it is!" Grace excitedly yelled. "Oh, and my Pokemon will have to be around to protect these two. Princess will have to hear what we say, though, because... well, I can't walk here and I'm riding her."

The therapist sighed. "I don't like breaking the rules, but alas. Chimecho, be a dear, will you?"

June hadn't known that sounds could feel like this. This was not like standing next to a loud bass or the engine of an airplane. It was far more subtle, yet the weight of it was immense. Grace and Aliyah kept walking as if nothing had happened, but... their voices didn't carry far enough to make out what they were saying. Lip reading wasn't her strong suit either, but none of the words seemed to make sense anyway, so that was a bust.

Legendaries, people weren't going to believe half of what they'd seen here when they came out.

—

"I feel better than I have in a while, Aliyah. I mean, this girl indirectly shoved me and could have fucked up my ankle, but I was talking to her like she'd done none of that instead of wanting to hurt her!" I excitedly yelled. "I feel like I've made more progress today and yesterday than I have since the raid!"

Aliyah was old, but she did not tire from walking in Eterna Forest. My therapist hummed as Chimecho shot her a curious look, and I forced myself to ignore the emotions leaking out of them. Focus on Arthur, Daniel and Edith, I told myself. The session was coming to an end now, and I'd managed to only look four times.

"This is all excellent news, as I've said," Aliyah said. "But this reflex you told me about. Going for your Pokeballs at the first sign of danger? You're still on edge, Grace. It is a form of PTSD."

"We... we said I wasn't as affected by the actual raid as much as the consequences," I said. "We established this. I'm just not used to getting hurt when something isn't trying to kill me..."

My therapist inclined her head. "And? My point still stands. When I told you this, I was not aware of this part of you. It did not come all at once, of course. The origins of these instincts are deep— a combination of all your close brushes with death. From this very place, to Mount Coronet, to Solaceon, to the raid. You cannot imagine yourself being hurt without being in mortal danger. So much so that you almost put these two in danger. That is trauma, Grace."

I didn't put them in danger, I didn't release my Pokemon anyway, I wanted to say, though I bit down on the retort and nodded.

"Okay. Okay, I get it. How do I fix it?"

"You can't just—" she stopped to snap her fingers. "—fix it like that. It is not something you unlearn in a week, much less months. I would say that time away from these life-and-death situations, along with keeping up your sessions with me would help this matter, but this behavior is not quickly unlearned."

"It's not something I want to unlearn. I'll need it if I get into another real fight. We have a month, Aliyah," I said.

My therapist's expression turned melancholic. "We can have you distinguish between when such reactions are appropriate or not."

"Well..." I turned to June and Aiden. "At least I'm fixing one part of myself."

"That's good, but it is important not to rest on your laurels. I'm not telling you to dive into the forest and save more people, of course. I am warning you about potentially backsliding. Recovery is not a smooth process of continuously progressing upward. There might be slip-ups, if you are not careful. Aiden was shoved into you and knocked your food plate on the ground. That is, by all accounts and purposes, a minor occurrence. Now, if your ankle had been affected, or if she'd been so shaken by her friends' disappearance that she had been awful to you, then what?"

I stayed silent, not knowing what to answer.

"That is not to minimize your efforts. You're making great strides, Grace, and I commend you for that. And of course, you are not obligated to help people, especially if they delay the recovery of your ankle. No one is entitled to your help. What's important is to learn to let go, yes? You are a child, but not as they are. There is real power behind your words, especially with the new abilities at your fingertips, it is important to be aware of that. Before meeting Mesprit, you had to worry about Poketch and your income, and that kept you from making things worse for yourself. Now? You could exact revenge with them and society at large being none the wiser."

"I wouldn't have!" I yelled. "That's the last thing I want."

"Good. Still, you must understand that I must speak of these things, yes? It was not meant to put you in a foul mood."

Well, I'm kind of in a foul mood anyway now. "Sure," I grunted.

"You're doing good," she reiterated. "I see the efforts you go through to curtail your impulses. Your recovery is going well."

I cracked a smile. "I guess it is."

"Well, I must be on my way, now," she said. "Try not to have me come into a forest next time. I would greatly appreciate it," she continued with a hint of humor. "Tomorrow, we begin a new theme. Chimecho?"

Aliyah waved to Aiden and June, walking off into the woods and disappearing behind a tree without a sound.

—

When I reached Daniel, Arthur and Edith, the reason they hadn't moved much became apparent. Daniel's leg was wounded to the point where he wasn't able to walk. It was something I'd suspected, with the way his fear was different than the others, but I hadn't told June and Aiden about it. Their Pokemon were hurt too, beyond what potions could properly heal. It would take weeks for them to properly heal in a Pokemon Center. I watched with a tired smile as June and Aiden reunited with their friends. They were so overwhelmed by relief that they hadn't even registered I was here. This felt fulfilling. I hadn't lost that part of me, I had just buried it deep, and I had needed to claw my way through the mud to unearth it. I began recalling my larger Pokemon, leaving only Princess and Honey out for emergency barriers as I sent out Kadabra. Even if she'd been trained, she wouldn't be able to Teleport my entire team.

Well, that's that, I sighed.

"Do you guys want to Teleport on the other side of the forest?" I asked. If Lurantis wanted to go back, she could, but these kids needed some kind of respite.

They all looked at each other, and then at me, though Edith looked away and made themself small. Looks like you were wrong, June. They're incredibly shy. When I looked at Edith, I saw neither girl, nor boy, but something else entirely. Non-binary then. That explained the pronouns. I wasn't sure until now, really. Even when looking at them without empathy, I wouldn't have been able to tell what gender they were.

Kadabra's eyes bulged. I did not consent to this, you vile human!

"Can you not do it?"

Well, I can, but—

"Please? They've been through a lot, and they at least deserve this. I'll put in a good word for you at the station, and my word matters. Maybe you'll get more time to study—"

Deal, she instantly said. Well? Let's get going.

"I've never Teleported before..." Daniel murmured. "Does it feel weird?"

"Not at all. One moment you're here, and the next—"

I blinked as we appeared in front of the Ranger Station at the forest's exit, which was just as bustling at the other.

"—the next, you're somewhere else," I sighed. "You could have waited!"

The boy is wounded, she said, though I knew that was not at all the reason for her being in a rush.

Well, I had three more days to spend here, so I'd make the best of them and let Sunshine, Mudsdale, and Lurantis spend time together. Maybe make sure that the kids were okay too, because Legendaries, they'd need support after this.

And also, I was so tired I felt like I was going to pass out any minute now. I had a lot of sleep to catch up on.